Life lately

Major event: There was a fire a few blocks away from the house. I was video chatting with Grace (from whom I got a postcard!woot woot!) and kept hearing the fire trucks in our neighborhood. I somehow missed the first hour. Still managed to get a picture from the balcony. Tom and I also went for a stroll in the neighborhood. We went as close as we could before being stopped by the smoke (we maintained a safe distance and complied with authorities on scene). No injuries have been reported. However, this was an apartment complex that students and visiting scholars use (both Americans and foreigners). Sadness.

Shopping: Lately, I have been hitting an average of 6-8 stores every time I go shopping. The thrill of finding the best deal usually keeps me going, and at times I come home without having bought anything. Last weekend though, I bought craft supplies, including a sewing machine. This past Saturday, my 3 hour shopping spree included finding two new pairs of jeans and two dresses. I was a bit surprised by the jeans because both were a size smaller than what I usually get. At first, I thought that the store labels their clothes wrong. There have been news reports about how stores would label a true size to a smaller one, just to make their customers feel good and buy the items. I then remembered that all but one of my current jeans are from this same store. Anyways, at the next store, since dresses run on the smaller size, I picked up the same dress in three different sizes  and tried them in order of bigger than actual, actual, and smaller than actual. To my surprise, I fit in the smallest one. I was very happy.

Sewing machine update: I re-did the downstairs curtain. I will have pics later. I love the machine. Thanks Em for the recommendation. I will have to play with it some more. I have three more curtains to make.

Crafts: Here are a few paper flowers that I made with streamers (for the green and yellow roses, and the pink rose/peony) and coffee filters for the large peony. They were part of the Pinterest Challenge and are crafts that I wanted to try and see how pretty/easy/time consuming/costly they would turn out.These are somewhat arranged in the cut bottles that I made a few weeks back. I am debating putting a decorative wrap on the glasses - ribbon, lace, doily, burlap, or leather twine.
Coffee filter peony are the cheapest and easiest. Takes about 15 minutes to make one. Next level: dye the filters.
Green and yellow piece: comes out at ~$4 a pop including the Styrofoam hemisphere. It took me about 5 hours to make one and there were some ouch! from the hot glue gun. That time also includes me changing the set up at least twice.
Pink flowers: saw this from Scrapbook Etc. magazine from Jen. I did not like the unclear instructions in the magazine and there wasn't much more online to help with those. It took me about 15 minutes to make one, but they are very delicate. I have to find a better way to hold them together.

I also made some wire picture holder from 18 gauge steel bought from Home Depot. Next level up: put picture (I just happened to have this picture on hand, Tom and I in front of Vince Lombardi at Lambeau Field) on cardstock and find a more creative way to stand it up. Maybe using wine corks.

It's been a dream of mine to have a wreath up throughout the year. I finally got to this task, in time for St. Patrick's day. I made a yellow yarn wreath to which I will pin different things as we go through the year. This month, we have felt shamrocks and roses. I've rearranged the roses so they are more open. Yes, those are Mardi Gras beads re-purposed as a handing handle (here is the link to one of the tutorials for the wreath: http://www.danielleburkleo.com/2010/10/diy-yarn-wreath-with-felt-flowers.html)