The Project List for 2017

(I began writing this post during the January Cure when we were challenged to make up a list of projects to do around the house.)

This is always interesting.

Last year I made a list. The year before that, I made a list. I updated the 2015 list last night, thinking it was the 2016 list so now everything is messed up.

Oh well.

Moving on.

2017 is going to be a strange year. Sometime in the fall, my husband will be laid off from the job he has had for 35 years. He will be 61...and he does not want to start drawing on the government pension...there are severe penalties for doing so "early." As well, the union which was in charge of his work pension made a shambles of it: so there's no money to draw from there, either. So, to make up the slack I may have to apply to go full time where I work. There's a fellow in my department who wants to retire at the end of June.

As well, I am going to lose one hundred pounds this year. And I have no idea what my life will look like while I do it. All I know is that my life will have to change --profoundly-- to support the habits and activities that help a 53 year old woman live strong and lean. I have professional help for this. I'm writing about it over at the other blog.

So, there are a few small projects I want to complete---though, honestly, this list is quite ambitious for our circumstances at the moment.


Outdoors.

All outdoor projects (except for a little project on the right side) will be postponed.

Upstairs Bedroom:

This one is new.

As I was washing the floors in our bedroom, I decided that the yellow in this closet has got to go. I do not know how I have lived with it for 19 years! That will be a quick gratifying project.

Hallway and Stairs:

• Finish staining the handrail and topcoat
• Touch up dings and scratches and scuff marks on stairs
• Make or buy and install screen for window. (summer breezes!)

Dining Room:

• Put this engineering print into the new frame I designed and had Chris make for me last summer!
• remove resin on floor
• attach legs to the top of the table. It would make it easier to move when we need to do that.

Kitchen:

• Touch up paint on cabinets.
• Touch up paint on walls where the chairs have rubbed
• Put up hook for pendant light cord by plug in

• oops--I forgot to paint this side of the cabinet white! Do that.

Downstairs Bath:

Ok. I lied. Well, actually, I forgot. This little room needs a major overhaul. We should probably just tear down the wallboard on the exterior wall and insulate properly. That is part of our problem. The other part of it I hope can be fixed with a more expensive fan.

• Clean grout and seal it
• Repaint walls
• Replace the toilet
• Redo ceiling panels.(Scrape and sand off peeling paint, prime and re-paint or varnish.)  Chris re-sealed with a shellac based varnish last summer, but they are still yellowing
• Wash ceiling in tub/shower area. Re-paint.
• Install a hook or a towel rack on the back of the door
• purchase and install a better fan

Basement:

• Paint stairs and re-tack stair mats
• Declutter basement storage area with the recyclables and the bottles and cans.

I also have a gazillion projects I want to complete at my Mom's.  There is a lot of clutter to excavate (mostly in the basement, now). But she doesn't really have any systems or routines for dealing with daily life so we need to put those in place so the house does not become so cluttered we cannot move again.

And as for decorating? Well, at Mom's house there's still the living room, the kitchen, the eating area and upstairs bath. It proceeds at a snail's pace however, between her low energy levels when I'm not there and my not getting over there very much what with one thing and another. Plus, my husband doesn't have the energy he used to have anymore either. But the more we do, the easier it will get, right?

I will be putting this list in the side bar and updating as we go, if I think of it. Who knows, I may even want to blog about the odd project now and again.

PS: Did you see that Apartment Therapy is offering a 20 day Spring Cleaning Cure starting April 10th? I've signed up! I'll be starting on this project list in the mean time.

How to Sew a Spiffy Pen Quiver for your Bullet Journal*

*or any other book you like to write in! It does need to have a fairly rigid cover, though.

There's nothing worse than searching for a pen when you need to make a note. Well, except for asking for a pen to jot a note. I was at a meeting the other night--and I had my bullet journal to take notes--but no pen. Everyone else was taking notes on their phones, of course, so I didn't want to ask for anything so old school as a pen. Yeesh.

A pen quiver was past due.

It's quite easy, really.

1. Take two pieces of fabric you love.

They don't have to be different, but it is more fun if they are (and easier for a tutorial!)

 2. Measure.

A. Measure your book lengthwise.

B. Determine how much you want your quiver to overlap your cover on the back x 2.

C. Add on your seam allowance x 2.

A + B + C = length of both pieces.

You are essentially cutting the two pieces of fabric the same length and width even though the top piece will be positioned lower on the cover.  Later, you will simply fold down the extra fabric of the front piece to make a nice edge for your pen caps.

D. Determine the width you want. Add 1/2" for seam allowances.

3. Using the above measurements, cut out both pieces from your fabric.

I got carried away before I took the photo and started pressing on to a few steps ahead. 

For an 8 1/4" x 5" bullet journal, my pieces were 12 1/4" long x 3 1/2" wide.

4. Fold down the top piece where you want it to be relative to the bottom piece. Press.

I had started out thinking I would make side seams but when I pressed them together, I realised there would be far too much bulk. You don't want your pen quiver to be so thick it makes the left hand pages of your BuJo wobbly.

I folded down the top piece so that about 4" of the bottom piece remained in view.

5. Place the top piece of fabric over the bottom piece as you want them on your cover. (both right sides up). Align the bottom edges.

Turn the piece over so that the wrong sides are now facing you and fold back both pieces your allotted seam allowance (C).  Press. Sew. Cut off the corners.

6. Fold over the top piece and sew. Cut the corners.

7. Take your pinking shears and cut along both edges. I hope you can cut straighter than I can! If you don't have pinking shears it will be fine if you just cut with straight scissors.

8. Turn the piece back over and secure the top folded edge with pins.

My apologies, those pins should be lengthwise. This way they will get caught in the machine, as I soon discovered. In other words, pin the edge with the heads of the pins pointing left to right.

9. Sew both sides. I used a zig zag stitch, but you can use a straight one if you prefer.

Securing the elastic.

10. Fold over the bottom piece and mark where the elastic will go. You certainly don't have to place it as close to the edge as I did.  (I'm not sure why I did that, frankly!)

11. Sew the elastic to the fabric.

12. Place the quiver on your cover and fold over the top and bottom pieces. Stretch the elastic to the top until you have some --but not extreme-- tension. Mark.

No, I am certainly not the neatest sewer in the world. In fact, I'm pretty bad. As long as it holds, I figure we're good. That bookplate is from Tsh Oxenreider's e-course, Upstream. 

13. Remove, turn inside out and pin.

Again, please change the direction of the pin before sewing.

14. Sew the elastic to the fabric.

15. Turn your completed pen quiver right side out and slide it onto your cover.

I used an old elastic saved from some defunct pyjama pants--that's why it looks stitched. Old pyjama pants not required for this project. Just some elastic. 

Load up with your favourite pens.

And there you have it.

No more fumbling for a pen at the bottom that black hole better known as a purse.
No more embarrassing moments, whispering in the weird face phone glowing dark: "Can I borrow a pen?"

Linking up to these parties;
DIY Show Off: The Summer Edition.
That's What Che said: Monday Funday Link Party
Sand and Sisal: Inspire Me Monday

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Make Room Challenge Two: Primping and Pampering with Jewellery

I am part of a team to promote and publicize Melissa Micheal's latest book, Make Room for What You Love: Your Essential Guide to Organizing and Simplifying . As part of that, we are participating in weekly challenges to set up our homes to help us move through life with ease and grace. (I love that!)

 Part of doing that, of course, is preparing the space to make yourself pretty and put together. The task last week was to organize our jewellery. About three years ago, I decided to keep my necklaces on a corkboard set into an old, unused picture frame. How I did that is here.

The necklace collection, 2013

That worked until this past January when I noticed the cork had come loose from the frame.

Rather than take the whole thing apart, I decluttered the necklaces I rarely wore (and I rarely wear necklaces, they just aren't practical for work) and inserted a band of cardboard along the top to hold the corkboard in and under the lip of the frame.

necklace collection, 2016

Unfortunately, the cardboard is not as attractive as it could be, but it gets the job done!

About the same time I made the necklace holder, I made an earring holder out of a frame and screening material. That did not fare as well. (Sort of like the first two times I tried to pierce my ears!)

It was just awkward to use.

Then, my daughter made this great ceramic dish and I wanted to find a use for it, so I started putting my earrings into it. It is now my official long dangly earring holder.

Studs go into the other, smaller ceramic dish.

It's incredibly easy to put on those finishing touches--and I quite enjoy seeing it all out there.

*This post contains affiliate links.*

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A Project at Mom's: Tool Organization. A Job Well Begun...

...is a job half done.

When I last talked about this little project, I mentioned that this window needed to be properly sealed up. Unfortunately, it proved beyond my meager capabilities. I had plans which involved insulation and cardboard and plastic--but, in the end, it wouldn't have been mouse proof. Mom's handyman said he could seal it up with a plywood board--so I am going to let him do that.

But, meanwhile, we need a place to put the tools!

It really only took a couple of hours to go from this:

to this:

as you can see, because of the ductwork, I couldn't use the last shelf. I could not move it to the left either as other pipes were in the way as well.

I labeled all the containers so it will be easy to get things out--and, hopefully, return them.

I haven't actually seen my mother in about six weeks, so this was a fun little project to do together.


We need to organize all the screws and hooks and table legs and drapery hardware and the other one and a half million things she has. But one step at a time. We need to make room, first.

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A Project at Mom's: Tool Organization. Day One

So, when we left off, we were staring at this:

For now, my plan is to remove the cabinet and the card table and set up some shelves. Since I can't really build anything right now, they're going to have to be those black resin shelves. She has a few of these units throughout. Here's one on the porch--wouldn't you know it? It's already holding some tools.

I actually bought another one--I wasn't going to even attempt to extricate this one! But I might use a few of the baskets on it!  

This porch needs to be torn down and replaced--another reason to get the tools into the house!

I've also bought some plastic bins and I'm going to try and use them to wrangle some organization out of the mess that way. The goal is to make the tools accessible--easy to find--easy to put back.

But first, I needed to get that cabinet down and see what's going on with the window back there.
What a chore! It took me probably twenty minutes to find a screw driver. Then, I had to spend another ten looking for a work light so I could even identify the screw head! I will be so happy once this is done!

Anyway I got it emptied and down. Then I brushed the walls with a corn broom. Her old dryer used to sit here and the area was just caked with lint.

That's a seriously boosted photo, folks. No way is that area that well lit. It might be when we're done, though.

My Mother had an addition built onto the side of her house about twenty-five years ago. (It's the area with the little shed roof to the right of the front door in the photo above.) That addition totally blocked this window--it no longer had any access to the outside. However, she had used it for two things:

1) Her outside tap ran through the opening, and
2) Her dryer vent also ran through it.

The animals who worked on her house decided to run the heating duct through the opening. And I suppose that would have been OK--except they never sealed it back up.

Never. sealed. it.

In a climate where it can go forty degrees below zero. In a climate where it is below freezing five months of the year.

So, I have to seal it up. Obviously. But it isn't all that obvious exactly how I am going to manage it.

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The House Project List for 2016

One of the best assignments of the January Cure is to make up a list of projects we want to complete around the house. I love doing these--they set the tone for the whole year. 

Last year's list was quite extensive--and we got a fair bit of it done too. Some of the projects we did are linked to blog posts and some we've done and haven't posted yet.

I have carried over some of the items I didn't get to on that list to this one, so this will replace that one.

Outdoors:

There are a lot of weeds, there, right where I want some decent plants. But you can appreciate how shady it is. This is July. Noonish.

Maybe one shrub this year. I may give up on deciduous. A low growing cedar, perhaps?

Front Entry:

• Replace ceiling fixture. done, not blogged.
• Wash lower walls and baseboards.
• Paint the wall to match the back hallway? done, not blogged.

Stairwell:

• Finish staining the handrail and topcoat
• Touch up paint nicks on stairs. (Yes, already! We only finished in September.)
• Sew new curtains for window. 
• Make or buy and install screen for window. (summer breezes!)

Coat closet:

• Install a hook for the step ladder

Cleaning Closet: 

• clean turntables holding cleaning products. Done! One of the January Cure's projects.
• declutter, done. (see above.)

Living Room:

• Wash and iron curtains
• spot clean, bleach and wash slip cover  done.
• spot clean carpet

Dining Room:

• Rehang this engineering print.
• Scrape up paint on the floor done, not blogged
• remove resin on floor
• sand and remove resin topcoat on table. Replace with a matte topcoat or rebuild table top?
• attach legs to the top of the table.

Kitchen:

• Touch up paint on cabinets.
• Scrape up paint spots on the floor. done.
• Put up hook for pendant light cord by plug in.

Downstairs bath:

• Clean grout
• repaint walls
• make hole for fan bigger and/or buy a better fan. Chris made a bigger hole, but it didn't seem to solve our problems.
• figure out why the toilet isn't flushing properly and fix it.
• Redo ceiling panels. (Scrape and sand off peeling paint, prime and re-paint or varnish.)  Chris re-sealed with a shellac based varnish, but they are still yellowing.
• Wash ceiling in tub/shower area. Re-paint?
• Paint the back of the bathroom door. Done!
• Install hook or towel bar on door (or both).

(There's a one room challenge starting April 7th. This just might be a candidate!)

Upstairs bathroom:

• Wash walls. Walls washed and painted. Almost. We've been at this bathroom refresh for a month!
• Remove wire shelving? done.
• Remove clog in toilet plumbing we bought a new toilet! Post to come.

Basement:

• Organize paint supplies. Done.
• Paint stairs and re-tack stair mats
• Declutter basement storage area with the recyclables and the bottles and cans.

Other:

Scrape up paint in hallway and dining room

Call phone company to install jacks on main floor

Sell/Donate the boxes of books in the garage. Done.
Begin the process to wire the house properly.

I'm also involved in a few projects at my Mom's this year. It's going to be a busy year!

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