Pretty Keys

Today I'm swapping ideas with German-based blogger Katja (of Katbuzz.com).  She loved the knotted cord bracelets Erica and I whipped up and is sharing the project with her readers today. 

I have keys on the brain because we're still toying with the option of buying the dream house (we've met with our mortgage lender, I found a real estate agent here in Ottawa, and we're really thinking about doing it.  The problem: a verbal offer made by a prospective buyer who has been dragging her heels for months).  So, with keys on the brain, I wanted to share this sweet and easy DIY to help identify different keys.  It's easy: stick your keys into a piece of foam and paint on some nail polish in fun hues.  I did this to my house key years ago and, although not so fun (I only have pink, deep plum and red nail polish), it has held up surprisingly well and I'd be lost without the reminder as to which key goes where!  Next up: adding a glow-in-the-dark sealer!

Our Dream House . . . Just Out of Reach, or Not?

If you've read the blog for awhile, you know Hubby & I have this dream of living on a lake (Lake Superior is my first choice).  Our plan was to wait until I'm done my PhD (I hope to submit this August), then wrap up house projects during the fall, sell the townhouse early next spring and move.  But we weren't sure where, exactly.  Lake Superior living would mean moving back to our hometown, which has benefits and drawbacks.  Until now, we've moved where I've gone to school.  It seems scary and exciting to think that we could move anywhere next because Hubby's job has flexibility like that.  So do we want to move anywhere . . . or back home?

To help decide (and to totally distract me throughout the week), Captain Distracto keeps tabs on Lake Superior homes for sale and emails me listings.  Until now we've done our best Goldilocks impressions: too small, too big, too expensive, too far.  But Hubs found a house so perfect, it's making me go all crazy-eyed.  I actually suggested buying it now, living off ramen noodles if we have to, carrying two mortgages until we're done in Ottawa and then selling the townhouse and moving. 

The house: good price, fabulous location, lakefront (on Lake Superior), 1400 square feet, two bedrooms and two bathrooms, two car garage and cart port, work shop (hello painting studio!), guest house with its own (extra) bathroom, sauna, a dreamy open layout with spacious living area and sunny kitchen.  It is a bit dated even though it's only 13 years old, but it has SO much potential.  Imagine it with all white walls and trim, bright artwork, painted kitchen cabinets, updated tile and counters . . .

The back, facing the lake.

The view.  My word, the view.  Rainbows not included.

Guest house with its own bathroom.

Two car garage with so much spray painting room!

The living room is huge with a fireplace, million dollar view, and great hardwood floors.  Just hand me some paint!

Love this dining room!  But I'm already dreaming of a new light fixture.

A kitchen I can finally paint!  I am thinking pale turquoise cupboards with white counters and grey tile floor.

I know when we're ready to move, we won't find something as perfect (or affordable) and I'll be disappointed.  Before when we looked at homes, I was willing to make ridiculous concessions ("axe the guest bedroom!" "who needs an office!" "kitchens are overrated, we can live without one!") because I knew to buy a lakefront property we'd have to make sacrifices.  But this home has everything we want and need and more, so I don't think I'll be able to be so chill about sacrifices from now on.  Everyone think good thoughts so no one else buys this and it's available when we're ready . . .

Stylish Fix for a Damaged (or Plain) Sweater

Spring is the time to say "see ya later!" to all my winter clothes.  I don't actually have a special place to put them, but I do shuffle things around in the closet so really out-of-season things are hidden and spring/summer clothes are front and centre.  I also take this time to make sure every last sweater is washed in Eucalan (the stuff I use for "dry clean only" woolens).  I also use a sweater shaver to de-pill my sweaters so when I haul them out again in a few short months, they will look sharp.  I know, I have issues with wool.

My Mom is doing the same seasonal song and dance so we thought it was high time we mended a hole ruining a perfectly lovely, if a little boring, cashmere sweater of hers.  Inspired by my wooly round up of projects in the winter (particularly this tutorial), we thought a DIY needle felted wool patch/applique would be a perfect dose of whimsy - and a perfect hole-hider.  Here's a short cut to the "after" photo, because it's just so cute:

Instead of just a heart where the hole was, we needle felted on a row of hearts to hide the small hole but also give a basic sweater a little character that Jessica Day would surely approve of (if it were yellow or pink but I couldn't convince my Mom of the merits of more zing). 

Supplies:

• Wool sweater
• Needle felting needle
• Foam block
• Wool roving (I recently noticed Michael's has a small selection of rovings)
• Cookie cutter
• Iron

We used a cookie cutter to help keep the shape, but you can also draw on a design and felt in the lines.

First we slid the sweater on to the foam block.  Then we simply pulled off a small amount of wool and placed it in the shape of the cookie cutter.  We bit off  more than we could chew and felted a huge wad for the first heart.  Multiple, thin layers workers better!

This is the best part: stab, stab, stab.  If you haven't been tempted by my needle felted art, let me say again: nothing relieves stress like stabbing something wooly with a barbed needle!  Just watch the fingers because these needles are terribly painful.  But this is really all there is to it!  Stabbing the felted wool repeatedly works the fibres into the wool sweater.

Once all three hearts were felted neatly, we used an iron on the "wool" setting and gently pressed the hearts to smooth them out (I've seen other people skip this step, I've seen others mist with water first).  The finished sweater needs to be hand-washed (which means soaking and rinsing and laying flat to us) just like before.

Cute, right?  The same technique would look great on a cozy wool pillow.  Needle felting is quick and easy work, so a pillow with a dense pattern or repeating design would look amazing and take very little time.

If you don't have a cookie cutter, like I mentioned you can also draw on the design using tailor's chalk, but you can also freehand it!  I freehand felted this teeny heart on a half felted ball that I intended to make a ring out of when I made these ones, but just never did (the destiny of too many projects) . . .