casapinka

Cardigan, Poncho, Wrap, Shawl

This is my canvas for the weekend. Soft merino wool bought in the 9.4 minutes it takes to administer processed sugar and yak fat snacks from Dunkin Donuts to two children in the corner of a yarn store. The magic number of minutes it takes the sugar to cross the blood brain barrier and for Junior to start manically pressing the imaginary Buzz Lightyear laser on his forearm and taking his sister down. This is not a quiet process.

They didn't have a lot of any one color so I bought a rainbow. The fun part is not knowing the result, which depending on how it turns out, may never be seen in public. I'm not even sure what I'm making -this is risky knitting, folks...make no mistake about it.

Turquoise and pink chair

It's impossible for me not to anthropomophize this sweet chair (she's clearly a girl.) All she needed was a bit of love and attention and now look at her! I think this Sis Boom fabric is everything good in the world: Fuchsia flowers, turquoise and aqua stripes, birds...all against the imperfect chipped up white of my $4.99 adopted chair. I know she wants to thank me.

Crocheted turquoise bag

This was a project I did yesterday. I thought it was going to be a larger shopping bag but instead it's a slightly smaller pretty bag that I probably won't use for shopping. I was so pleased at the way it turned out and there is not even ONE chocolate stain on it from Junior (big pat on mommy's back.)

And here it is empty on the left and filled with yarn on the right. Perhaps I should make some for my Etsy store. 

Sis Boom fabric

Remember how I was going to recover the seat of my chair this weekend? I didn't actually do it but I did order this - a bit for the chair and the rest to make a quilt.  I just thought it was very beautiful and happy. I think I'll use the fabric on the bottom for the chair seat.

This has absolutely nothing to do with recovering chairs but I would love to have this shirt from Etsy seller Azmara. 

Happy Weekend!

My bathroom with the pink bathtub has been incomplete for a while, mostly because I couldn't find the perfect towels and bath mat for it. Well, I found them and they are so fantastic I almost fainted on the spot (that, and the larger towel was on clearance for $6.99.)  

Other things I hope to enjoy working on this holiday weekend include: Making this hat. I'm a big believer in sunscreen and hats and I love working with beautiful yarn. Doesn't a new project hold so much potential and excitement? Even looking at this yarn makes me want to drop everything and sit in a rocker (I actually typed "rocket" first by mistake...which is truly more apropos) with a cup of tea and just go to work.

 Finish this cushion so it doesn't look like a granny in a mauve polyester pantsuit is the owner.

Get started on this book. Admittedly, I bought it because I thought it was sooo cute it had to be good. I am guilty of judging books by their covers (and it was $2.99 which probably means it's entirely lame.) But reading this in my pink bathtub should be fun, some night this weekend when the kids have drifted off to sleep...

Give this $4.99 chair a seat with a pretty fabric cover. I guess that's enough for the long weekend. I'm looking forward to my little projects and having time with my family, playing in the grass, going to the beach, flying a kite if it's windy. I hope you enjoy your long weekend, too!

Today I made...

A little milk bottle cushion out of an upcycled white felted sweater. Thinking it would be a nice accessory for a nursery but it could go anywhere, really. Stuffed with bamboo and edged with cotton. I like that these don't have to be perfect and they just sort of make themselves while I listen to music.

Hanging Train Table

 

I managed to just squeeze Junior's hanging train table between the radiator and dresser. Living in an apartment makes a proper train table nearly impossible. Having a two year old makes a train table almost necessary! So, I went to the Ikea bargain basement - you know all those random discarded countertops and bits of wood that are already smooth? I bought one for $7, primed and painted it, glued the tracks down and left room for him to build some of his own tracks. I then mounted a heavy picture hanging kit onto the back and here it is!

I need to find some good storage for the trains/trees/stoplights etc. I think .a nice bright bucket underneath might be just the thing.

While mounting the hanging hooks on the back I accidentally went all the way through. Thus, the funny circle of tracks which covers it up. It also lets him launch the trains off of the table which of course causes lots more noise and chaos (i.e. a true success.)

Tenth wedding anniversary

Last night I made honey lime chicken for dinner and I took this picture in honor of our tenth wedding anniversary which is today. We get a whole, entire evening to go to Boston, so if anyone has a restaurant suggestion we'd really appreciate it. Please don't suggest Friendly's (my daughter already has about nineteen times.) No places that serve blue raspberry soda, have skee ball or make you carry a pager. Martinis and romantic, cozy, dark seating and chocolate on the menu are all ok, though.

I was thinking of wearing this thrifted prom dress tonight...for no reason in particular. Wouldn't that be fun?

Apparently, them's fightin' words! Someone else has the same idea.

Oh, and here's a little peek of a toy box I just repurposed for the kiddos' room.

The core is wallpaper from the dresser that I papered a few weeks ago.

 

Whatever you are celebrating this week and weekend, may you enjoy your family and the small things that make you smile. I know I will. Thank you for visiting Casapinka and letting me share my funny little life with you.

Honey Lime Chicken

Combine equal parts honey, olive oil (say a tbsp or two) in with lime rind, juice of a lime, some chopped garlic if your kids will eat it, fresh thyme if you have it. Dump over chicken breasts and bake at 375 F for about 30 minutes, rebasting and turning at 20 minutes. Tasted good with spinach with a bit of Irish butter.

Target placemat backsplash

 

Plastic Target placemats that I had (and love) reversibly stuck to the oh so gray (read depressing) backsplash.

"Before" photo: You can see how grey the backsplash is (and how much stuff is on the counter.)

One of the goals of The Cure is to get rid of things you don't love or don't serve a purpose. I adore these placemats but when I use them at the dinner table, the kids actually drop food on them (the nerve.) So, I retired them to a drawer where they were taking up space. Now they serve a purpose and I still love them!

Orla Kiely refrigerator

This was my weekend project. I had so much fun wallpapering it and I adore the result. I can't believe I get to wake up to this every single morning! 

The "Before" when I tried to cover it in wrapping paper (disaster.) I can post a tutorial if anyone is interested. I'll also be posting the rest of the "cured" kitchen this week with before and after photos.