Mockingbird Hill Cottage

Mockingbird Hill Cottage

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You are here: Home / Archives for DIY

A Project

January 3, 2012 at 11:35 am by Claudia

Thanks for all the great comments on our crazy little video! If it brought a smile to your face, it was worth it. It makes me laugh every time I watch it. My favorite part? Right at the top when Scout walks between Don’s legs while he’s cooking.

Okay. I’m going to share some pictures with you. Pictures of something which is just plain ugly at the moment. I was editing these in Picnik when I suddenly thought, “Why are you spending any time on these? Just post them!”

Husband brought this home a month or so ago. He found it on the street in a neighboring town.

It’s a university town and this was clearly some student’s desk. He obviously came to his senses and got rid of it.

When Don proudly showed off his find, I must admit I was thinking, “Take it back.” Don’t you love the holes? Most likely for electronic cords, etc. Why do I keep seeing a face when I look at them? Oh and wait – there’s this:

A slide out shelf that is clearly homemade and covered in hideous contact paper which reminds me of the kitchen table we had when I was a kid.

The top.

Normally, I would pitch this thing. But, I need a little desk downstairs. Don has the one in the office/guest room/studio. Our little spinet desk by the stairs is a wee bit fragile. This ‘thing’ is rather petite and fits into a corner of the den.

And I am being extremely frugal this year.

Should I take this on?

It’s a challenge, for sure, and I do love a challenge. I have a few ideas floating around in my head. Since I didn’t win any chalk paint in any of the numerous giveaways I entered, I have no idea what color to paint it. And I don’t want to spend much money. Still thinking a creamy color might be the best choice, as the cupboard that holds our television is right next to this and it is a creamy color.

The colors used in our den are red, tan and cream, with a dash of teal.

I need your help. Tell me what you envision for this ‘thing.’ Other than the trash.

I would be very grateful for any and all ideas you might have!

Filed Under: DIY, vintage 35 Comments

A Little Bit of Random on Thursday

December 29, 2011 at 10:40 am by Claudia

Some thoughts on a cold day in December:

:: I’m seeing “Best of 2011” posts all over blogland. The very thought of going back through all my posts and figuring that out exhausts me. If you’d like to visit my archives, have at it. I won’t be doing a “Best of” post. (I can barely remember why I just got up to go to the kitchen.)

Don gave me this hat for Christmas. I love it.

:: This one has always bugged me. When I see a bumper sticker or anything else that says, “I (heart shape) something,” I read that as “I love.” Isn’t that what it’s supposed to mean? When we were young and we wrote our initials and made a heart and then added the initials of whoever was our latest crush, we  were saying, “Claudia loves so-and-so.” Not “Claudia hearts so-and-so.” But everywhere I turn, someone is writing the word ‘heart’ instead of what the heart symbolizes – love.

It makes me nuts.You can love, but you can’t heart. Heart is not a verb, it’s a noun.

:: I’ve been itching to write this for a long time. I understand that correct spelling doesn’t come easily to everyone, but in this high-tech age we all have spell check or a dictionary as part of our computers. I see this particular error everywhere in blogland and on Craig’s List. Please, please, please: it’s Dining room, not Dinning Room.  A dinning room (if there was such a word) would be a room where a lot of noise is made.

:: What’s with news programs fudging the facts? I see this every so often on CNN and I know it happens elsewhere. The talking head makes a sweeping statement that simply isn’t true. It may be partly true, but a quick bit of research will prove that it isn’t entirely true. Or it might be out-and-out wrong. Here’s an example: Last night we were watching the local evening news, which in our part of the country comes out of New York City. That’s a big market with well paid anchors. The anchor was talking about Chris Christie, the Governor of New Jersey, who is apparently stumping for Mitt Romney. He made a reference to Christies’s ‘having withdrawn from the Presidential race.’ He never was in the race. There was a lot of press speculation about Christie’s presidential aspirations several months back and a lot of air time was taken up with all that, but he never entered the race. Considering a run is not the same as running. You can’t withdraw from something you never entered. Word choices matter. Shouldn’t a newsperson know more about political facts than me?

Am I being too picky? I don’t think so. News organizations have a responsibility to report the facts. Even a little fuzzy reporting is too much. Walter Cronkite must be rolling over in his grave over what passes as reporting nowadays.

Okay, enough complaining.

I have a project in mind for this. I need to think it through and buy a few components. I’m not sure which way I will go with it….stay tuned.

Filed Under: blog, DIY 36 Comments

We’ll Give it an A for Effort

December 15, 2011 at 11:27 am by Claudia

I’m a fan of Dottie Angel. Have you visited her blog? She’s the Queen of Granny Chic and makes all sorts of wonderful things with doilies and embroidery thread and vintage fabric. About a week or so ago, she had a wonderful post on making a table runner. In her wonderfully quirky way, she put it together with bits of lace and doilies and old hankies and embroidery thread.

I thought: ‘Hey, I have lace and doilies and old hankies and embroidery thread! I’ll give this a try!”

I gathered together all my ‘bits and bobs’ as Dottie, aka Tif, calls them. Then I saw an old square of linen in my stash and decided to use it as the base of my creation – sort of a mini table cloth.

It didn’t come out the way I had planned.

Problem: Linen stretches. It wrinkles. See evidence above. Because of that, attaching strips of lace and other thingamabobs throws everything a bit out of kilter.

I like all the doilies and the lace and the hankies. Maybe I need to add more?

I feel like I have to add more to the blue handkerchief, to disguise the fact that it isn’t laying flat. Pardon me, the photo is a tad blurry, rather like I feel at the moment.

We show so many successful projects on our blogs. In the spirit of total transparency, I figured I’d share something less than successful.

I’m just an inch or so away from shoving it in a drawer.

And yet, I like it. Should I try to rescue it?

Filed Under: crafts, DIY, vintage 28 Comments

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Welcome!

Welcome!

I live in a little cottage in the country with my husband. It's a sweet place, sheltered by old trees and surrounded by gardens. The inside is full of the things we love. I love to write, I love my camera, I love creating, I love gardening. My decorating style is eclectic; full of vintage and a bit of whimsy.

I've worked in the theater for more years than I can count. I'm currently a voice, speech, dialect and text coach freelancing on Broadway, off Broadway, and in regional theater.

Thanks for stopping by.

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Scout & Riley. Riley left us in 2012. Scout left us in February 2016. Dearest babies. Dearest friends.

Winston - Our first dog. We miss you, sweetheart.

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