Snippets of Normal

It's been SUCH a transitional month that I'm starting to forget what "normal" looks like. But I have seen comforting hints of familiar over the last couple days.

Like the familiar faces of family and their smiles (after a week of lots of tears).

And treasures from Granny and Papa's house that have found their way into our new living space (aren't Papa's old shoes sweet!). The rug was made by my great-grandma.
This vintage sheet found deep in their closet. I plan on making a simple quilt with it once I find time for crafting again.
And art supplies that are finally getting a little organized.
We're slooowly starting to find our rhythm again...one that will hopefully include lots of art, long walks, cozy fires in our fireplace, dates with my husband, gardening, picnics, and family...LOTS of family.

Treasure Hunting

The owners of our borrowed home will be coming back at the end of this month which means we'll be moving into the now unfinished (hopefully soon finished) basement. I'm excited about it, actually. I love the design challenges that small living spaces present. I've always wanted to live in a tree house or a converted train car or something like that. And our years in Japan taught us that small, if done right, can be so much cooler than big.

We gave away pretty much all of our furniture when we moved here from Boston two and a half months ago so we're kinda starting from scratch. But I'm determined to be a beggar AND a chooser when it comes to furnishing our space. I want cheap/free AND cool. So I've been scouring craigslist, thriftstores, and my grandparents' house (thanks for never throwing anything away Granny!)

This old pie safe from circa a long time ago that now sits in my grandparents' garage will soon be our new dresser or pantry, not sure yet. But I love it!

I've got my eye on that old refrigerator drawer. Papa, you might have to find a new container for your rolling office chair parts.

He probably still uses this old fan when he works in his shop in the summer. So I won't steal it. But it IS pretty sweet.
Same with these old tools--I don't want them, just thought they made a cool picture.
Several of our furniture-building plans call for some re-claimed lumber. Thankfully Papa has been reclaiming lumber since the 40's.
Granny keeps EVERYTHING--she's got shelves and shelves of little glass jars just waiting to be re-purposed...hmmmm...
And I think this braided rug my great-grandmother made will also find its way into our new living space. Nothing says vintage chic like 75-year-old dust.

So HOPEFULLY over the next several weeks I'll have fun remodeling/refinishing/repurposing photos to show you. But who knows, life seems to be anything but predictable these days : )

Granny and Papa's: Prints and Patterns

We just got back from our trip home--great time with family, a beautiful wedding, reconnecting with friends---all very very good. Part of the time was spent at my grandparents' house. They're in their upper 80's and have lived in the same house for almost 40 years. They built it themselves using a lot of materials (rocks, wood) they gathered from the area around them.

It seems like it's hardly changed during my lifetime--same wallpaper, same carpet, same pictures on the wall, books on the shelves, magnets on the fridge, etc, etc. So this time there I tried to capture some of the prints and patterns in their house that are sooo familiar to me. Here are a few....


Tools in Papa's shop. He remembers where he got each one and many are older than me.


a button from the old, broken organ in their guest room


The living room carpet. My guess is that it was made with threads left over from every carpet ever made.


The wall and door of the basement bathroom.


A collection of tins and jars that have lined the top of the bathroom cabinets as long as I can remember.

There are more photos here if you'd like to see!

Granny Bird

These discontinued wallpaper samples are some of my finds while rummaging through my grandparents' garage and basement. They are compliments of my Papa who used to own a hardware store and never throws things away.
Here he is hard at work (and he's 87!)



Here's a print I just added to the shop-- a homage to granny and papa's house : )

Great, Great, Great.

Over the weekend we took a trip to visit what's left of the house my great, great, great grandfather built some time in the mid 1800's. Pretty amazing.

Happy adventurers.

My mom, grandpa, sis, bro-in-law, my boys, and my man : )

Here's a picture of what the house looked like back in the day.

 The house is full of amazing textures that tell stories of generations of inhabitants.

Papa--age 91. He's pretty much the man.

Jude holding a picture of George Henry and his wife who built the house-- his great, great, great, great grandparents. Wow.

George Henry's signature is still scribbled on the wall!

My sis and our matching baby bumps....30 and 32 weeks along : )

Jude the turtle whisperer.

It was quite a day. There was just something so cool about being pregnant and watching the boys hear stories from their great-grandpa while exploring the home their great (x4) grandparents built.  Generations past, generations to come!

Arian

Crafting Legacies

 Andrea and I spent the afternoon keeping Papa company at his house while my mom is out of town for the week. We chatted, cooked, did some laundry for him---easy stuff.

 We also spent some time rummaging through Granny's old crafting wardrobe that still has a lot of her patterns, supplies, and unfinished sewing projects.

 I didn't even know she crocheted but apparently at some point she was quite the doily and lace maker.

 There are yards of handmade lace, tiny vintage crochet hooks, and a giant tin of old buttons.

 I see where we get our habit of organizing by color. : )

 And there are boxes of antique necklaces, tiny wrist watches, and beautiful brooches that belonged to Granny or some of her relatives. I love seeing what my grandma and great grandmas thought was beautiful.

 It's stuff like this that keeps me crafting. How cool would it be for my great-granddaughter to wear my favorite jewelry or a dress I made (like the green dress in the first pic that was Granny's) or my kids' kids' kids to warm up with something I crocheted.

Like maybe this scarf I finally finished for Andrea's birthday.  I used this pattern. I didn't add the tassels and I think my edging turned out differently than the pattern shows. But I love how it turned out and it was a fun challenge to make!

Tomorrow morning we find out if our December baby will be a boy or a girl!! I'll be excited either way. We love having boys and there is something really special about raising boys to be great men. But having a girl would also be pretty sweet too! We'll see!!

Either way, I plan on swinging by my favorite indie yarn shop right after the ultrasound to get gender-appropriate yarn on our way to vacation. My December baby needs at least one mommy-made blanket to keep cozy : )

I'll pop in here and let you know!

Arian

Christmas-ing Part 2

Christmas with the Armstrongs

Did everyone have a great Christmas?!  We're in North Carolina on the last leg of our three-state, 2 week, family Christmas extravaganza!

 This is a fraction of the mountain of presents at the big Armstrong family gathering. Craziness.

 And here's how our fabric gift bags turned out. Cute, right? They were fun and easy to make. I want to make a whole stash of them so we can have them handy for birthday and other holiday presents throughout the year.

And I've been getting crafty with my crochet hook...a great way to pass all the hours we've spent in the car the past week and a half!

Christmas at Papa's

Beautiful views...

cuddling...

playing...

 

staying in pajamas well into the day...

I looooove Christmas vacation.

Arian : )