Pinspired Make-up Brush Storage

Like so many, I'm addicted to Pinterest.  (So many great ideas! So many pretty things to make!  I must pin them all! Pin them all!)

To justify my pinning time somewhat, I feel like I should be using some of my "Pin-spiration" to actually do something.  So I thought I would show a pinspired project that I love.

Here is the pin that inspired me:

Source: shelterness.com via Genevieve on Pinterest

This looked like my kind of project - cute, useful and quick to do. 

And, when going through my tubs of Christmas decorations after the holidays, I had found several strings of white iridescent beads.  I have been storing these things for probably 10 years and  I had never managed to actually string on my Christmas trees to they looked half-decent). I was seriously considering sending them off to the donation bin, when I remembered seeing the beads-as-make-up-holder idea.

I plunked a few strings of beads into one of my milk-glass containers and stuck a few brushes in there.  Success! 

I actually like the strings of beads better, since I figure that the container is inevitably going to get knocked over one of these days.  This way I won't be chasing individual beads all over the bathroon floor.

Blocks, cats, and a vase

Lego is a great toy.  Except for the mess that it makes - and the agony of stepping on one of those little blocks (I had another b word in mind, actually, but blocks will do). 

In an attempt to keep the blocks under control, we have come up with a lego table.  It is something of a work in progress, but - since I`m not sure when more progress will actually happen - I`m going to put a picture of it up here anyway.

I found someone selling a set of a coffee-table and two end tables for $40 on Kijiji.  Real wood and very sturdy, with the added bonus of a storage shelf underneath. Sold!  We added a melamine top with a wood frame around it (providing a lip so the cats are less likely to knock the blocks off to play with), which is just sitting on top of the coffee table.  We bought 3 Lego sheets online and I glued them on with spray adhesive. Theoretically at least, we should be able to flip the top over if we want a smooth surface. 

So far, I`d say it is a smashing success.  The lego is up off the floor, the boys like to use it, and - even unpainted - it is better looking than the plastic shelf that was in the playroom as a coffee table previously.

Our kitties, Asoka and Skye looked so cute all cuddled up together that I had to take a picture of them. 

I picked up this vase at Frenchy`s in Coldbrook for $0.75.  I loved the rope texture.  It has a few chips, but I am cool with that.  Yay Frenchy`s!

Bread

My aunt and uncle gave me this bread plate for Christmas.  It belonged to my grandmother.

I love gifts like this.  It is so special to have something with a real history and family connection.

I also love that the plate has some dents in it.  I wonder how they got there.

I'm not sure where I will put my plate just yet.

But perhaps it will inspire me to actually make some bread, something that I did over Christmas for the first time in probably close to 20 years. (Oh dear, can I be old enough that I was an adult 20 years ago? Good heavens.)

Happy New Year

I've been thinking about what I want to focus on in 2012.  Not resolutions or goals exactly, more themes that I want to think about and to guide me in setting more specific goals.  I've done some reflecting about what areas of my life I think need attention and where improvements would make the biggest impact on my overall well-being.  So here it goes...

Vitality.  In 2012 I will turn 40.  And I am starting to realize that, although I am far from old, I'm a fair distance from young as well.  I need to take better care of myself.  I've experienced some health problems in this past year - mostly pain in my hands, arms and neck - and it it really the first time that I have felt like my body is non co-operating with me.  I need to treat it better.  And that means doing all the things that I know I should do, but so often don't - get enough sleep, drink water, eat good food, and move.  Not anything earth-shattering.  I just need to give my physical vitality the attention it deserves.

Peace.  I am far too inclined to obsess over my work life and it bleeds into the rest of my life so that it is sometimes hard to enjoy anything.  I want to work on keeping control  of my work, so that I at least have a grip on what work I should be getting to even if it is impossible to get to it all as I would like to.  And I also want to focus on letting go of work when I am not there and being present in the rest of my life.

Connection.  I'm not a super social person by any means, but I am thinking more and more that something that is missing in my life is close connections with other outside of my family.  I do have very good work friends (and for them I am eternally grateful!) but I miss having friends outside of work.  I have met some wonderful people in my neighbourhood since Owen started school last year, and I would like to actively try to build some of those relationships.  I also have a number of good friends with whom I have lost touch over the years and I would like to reach out and try to re-connect to them.

So there you have it.  My areas of focus for 2012. 

I am glad to see you arrive, 2012.  Bring it on!