Crafts

I like to do crafts, but I haven't been doing any for a long time. My life has taken a different turn in the last few years and so has my interests. When my children were little, I used to sew and craft all the time. Since they have grown up I don't have much opportunity to make fun stuff anymore. It doesn't mean I still don't enjoy crafts, and I suppose our new hobby of fixing up houses involves the same skills as crafts. Design, color, making something from scratch. I like using my hands and art. I still have hopes of making fun stuff again someday. Until then, I have several bookmarks of craft blogs, websites, etc. that I still use and look at on occasion. One that I want to share with you is Mirkwood Designs. It has a lot of paper templates for boxes, cards, etc. Maybe you will find something here you would like to make!

Paint Colors

Picking a paint color is not easy. I didn't have a choice in our apartment; we had to use what was already there. Yesterday I watched "Property Ladder" and the lady on the show had the worst time picking out colors for her walls. She bought 37 paint samples and ended up painting about 10 different colors in her house. It didn't look to bad when all was said and done, but she just couldn't make decisions. I also had a difficult time picking a color out for our flip house. You are supposed to use neutrals so it appeals to all people. Do you know how many neutrals there are? Oh my! There are thousands of shades of beige, white, grey, greens, etc. And you have to love all the delicious, colorful names for each shade. I ended up buying a lovely yellowish, beige color called, "Wishes" after much research. Of course, when I went to buy it, the paint company no longer made the color! I ended up somehow getting a sample and had it made. While researching paint colors, I came across this blog: http://colorbuzz.valsparblog.com/. I love looking at all the colors and pictures of rooms and ideas. If you have time, check it out. If you like paint and color as much as I do, I'm sure you will enjoy it!

Paint and Spring Cleaning

I have been busy this past week; painting. I love to paint. I like the smell of a freshly painted room and I like the look of clean walls that don't have any marks on them. I like to see fresh, white, shining trim and white crisp doors. The apartment we are living in right now really needed a good paint job. We received permission to paint and had some of the boys paint for community service. Mike and I painted our bedroom, bathroom, and closet and the boys painted the rest of the apartment. It looked so nice - not a mark anywhere! Of course that lasted about a day. Boys are hard on their surroundings. They can't help it. They are growing and clumsy and have lots of paraphernalia to carry around with them (especially at a golf academy:) It's okay. It still looks a lot better then it did and I feel better knowing it looks better. It also allowed me to do a lot of spring cleaning which was really necessary! I packed a few things, got rid of clutter, dusted the fan, and shined the windows. How about you? Have you done your spring cleaning yet? Warm weather is just around the corner! Wouldn't it be nice to welcome it with a clean house?