Happy New Year

Hope your New Year is Blessed one!

Che's Christmas Present, or "The Gift that Nearly Drove our Downstairs Neighbors to Call the Cops"

Sparrow's been keeping a secret....Husband's Christmas present!

Now that Christmas is passed, and Husband has his present, we can let you in on the secret too.

Before sparrow tries to describe it, here's a little peek:

So...what is it?

It's Thread Typography (of course!).  Or, for normal people- thread art.  No this isn't like your Mom's string art hanging in her shag-carpeted rumpas room.  This is tactile.  Modern.  And it took months to make in total secrecy.

Here's a closer look.

Yes, those are nails, wire nails actually, holding all the thread in their little patterns.  And yes, sparrow had to tap every single nail, which might be around 350 or so, into very specific places.  When the project started, back in October,  the work room was the nest, where the first few dozen nails were tapped into place.  This quickly became a problem however, when the downstairs neighbors began wandering around outside the nest, wondering where that strange tapping noise was coming from. 

Fast forward a few weeks later, and sparrow found a new workroom, one in isolation where no one would be complaining about that silly tapping.  Ironically, this place was Husband's office.  Since Husband has band or music rehearsals at night at least twice a week, that left sparrow at least four hours each week to tap tap tap away in secret.  As Christmas day drew close, the workroom was once again relocated to the In-Laws where work could continue later into the night.

So why put one's self through so much work for so long for one little gift?  Simple!  Sparrow loves Husband.  Husband loves typography.  Sparrow is crafty.  Add all of these things together and you have your reason.  Also, the project, in terms of supplies was very inexpensive.  Here's a breakdown:

-One 26x40(ish) piece of particle board, actually a cut down shelving unit from Home Depo- $12.99
-One bundle of red embroidery thread (the very large kind)- $5.99
-Five packs of wire nails -$1.99 each
-Tools from home: Hammer, Needle nose pliers- already owned
-One reproduction Map of Italy, from a local art store- $4.99
-Modge Podge and Mounting glue- already owned.
= Just under $30

Folks, for hand made art, $30.00 is a steal!  But the look on Husband's face when he finally received his gift Christmas eve, that was priceless.

For a look at how this was made, tune into the blog later for a to-do on making your own Thread Typography art.

Pie Ogling...We'll Allow it

Whats that?  Oh, you know...

Just a lemon meringue from scratch with a braided butter crust.

Yeah.  I know.

A Song Trade: Brianna Gaither

Recently, we arranged a good ol' fashioned song trade with a great friend and fellow artist Brianna Gaither. The rules were few:

1: {Pick a song you love by the other artist.
2: {Keep it a secret.

Ladies and (most likely more ladies), our song trade:

Brianna covered "On the Edge of Morning".

The Wallings Jr. covered "Harvest Moon".

For the original versions, check the artists' YouTube Channels.

A New Best Friend

Look who just joined the Nest...

World,  meet Thomas-Digby.

He would like you to know his favorite foods are Spinach and Kitty-Crunchies, he loves rainy days, and thinks you should feed him more often.

From Canada with Love

The blog has been on the quiet side lately, but as usual, that signals a wave of projects in the nest.  Stay tuned tomorrow for updates.  In the meantime, check out what Casey sent via Etsy all the way from Canada-land!  (Or I like to call it, Northern Montana).

What can I say?  She's got Sparrow pegged.

Attack of the Pies!

I came across some pictures of my pie handy work today, and thought I would share them.

You might be wondering why I put extra effort into the crust....because its the best part!

The Nest: Kitchen

Nest up on the Nest Tour, every grandma's favorite room, the kitchen.  It just so happens to be my favorite as well.

With that said, it needs work.  Even after the MAJOR scrub down it received after moving in (possible post on that someday).  Like most of the apartment, its dark and a bit outdated.  One feature I do like is the opening into the dining area, which you can see here:

 Notice my baby?  That is my Martha Stewart teal kitchen-aide mixer in the corner.  Thats right, mixing is serious business in the Nest.

I'm definitely not a fan of the honey colored cabinets or the (impossible to keep clean) white melamine counter tops.  The appliances (big surprise!) are also outdated and (!) bisque colored.  Ick.  Since painting the cabinets is out of the question, I'm considering removing the top cabinet doors and using colored contact paper on the wood to make the kitchen look lighter and less heavy.  As for the appliances, well, not much can be done for those, though I have seen some pretty transformations on similar appliances using stainless steel sheets...I dream.

I do like the layout, which you can see in the blue print I made below:

It's a relatively small space, large enough to move around in, but not so large that using multiple surfaces is like running a long distance marathon.  I've had to be a little creative with storage, though that's new to no one.  Here's some storage I added to the kitchen wall:

This represents about a third of the gadgets I have floating around.  You can also see my beloved pot rack, a holdover from our first tiny studio apartment.  I've now sworn allegiance to always storing my pots like this, so convenient!





Notice the earthy tile back splash?  That's the only kitchen upgrade the landlord had done.  Its not bad, but has noting to do with the look of the rest of the apartment.  Not sure what to do with it.  Ideas anyone?

As far as improvement goes, I've already done most of the painting, a cheery blueish-green color (Martha Stewart) and installed several wall storage options. 

There's still so much to do:
-finish painting
-remove cabinet doors
-cover cabinets with contact paper?
-upgrade cabinet lighting, think Ikea
-buy or crochet kitchen rug
-install stainless steel sheets on appliances
-install dish drying rack over sink
-hang art work or plates on wall above cabinets
-make eco-friendly cleaners
-replace ugly lighting fixture
-replace brown light switches