Here’s Mum sewing a pillow closed for me, with a smashing hot pink manicure.

Here’s Mum beautifully side-lit while she continues to sew a pillow closed for me.

And here are the finished products, that I swear I worked on, too.

See? I’m holding them. Proof that I contributed. I did.

And here’s Mum holding the baby whose room the pillows are now in.

Here’s Evelynne laughing at the joke she just told Mum.

Here’s me holding Evy (my niece) whose room the pillows are now in. Aren’t babies fun? Evy’s going to love her Aunt Amy.

(She has lots of this to look forward to.)

Oh! And the pillows. I think they turned out pretty fun, too. For the small one, I cut the front off a favorite tee I ruined with a snag. And for the petal pillow, I followed this tutorial from Cluck. Cluck. Sew.

Don’t answer that. (Besides, now recycling is cool.)

Well, that same sense of pride still wells up when I find uses for would-be tossers. Like jars! Sara Vahle got me started with her recycled jar centerpiece. Since then I pretty much save every jam, salsa, and spaghetti sauce jar I empty, figuring I’ll find some use for them.

Jars have taken on a new level of excitement now that we have zero containers (only packed clothes and electronics). So I’m pretty happy with my two little salsa jars

that make my earrings easy to see, grab, and put back,

(which beats the gift box I stuffed them into for packing… even though it IS a Tiffany’s box… that came with a free key chain from the grand opening I covered as a reporter… because I’m not actually a Tiffany’s kind of girl… though I do love their signature turquoise…),

and that keep my wine bottle stoppers from rolling around in the classy/handy cardboard box I repurposed from some Ikea purchase,

and a garbanzo bean jar that makes my art supply shelf look charming enough to belong to Van Gogh, or someone. (Nevermind that my art supply shelf has one box of tiny acrylics, one jar of paintbrushes, and a few tiny canvases (not shown).)

Exhale. There.

Any other ideas on how to use empty jars?

After

Over 36 years ago I bought a wicker clothes hamper right after we got married. It started out being a salmon pink. I’m not a pink person so I painted it yellow and covered the lid with a piece of oil cloth. Oil cloth is a plastic coated material…like the plastic table cloths your grandma (or great-grandma) used to have. Get the picture?

Before

A few years passed and I got over my yellow craze and went with neutral: cream fabric on the lid and cream paint.

While the kids were growing up the hamper was a favorite hiding place when playing hide and go seek on rainy or cold winter days. It’s hard to believe any one of them were small enough to get into it!

A few years ago I looked around for a new hamper but quickly realized they don’t make them 1) sturdy enough or 2) big enough for a week of laundry, so I’ve kept my old relic.

I often put my foot on it while applying lotion to my legs, and the cats sometimes sit on it so they can visit with me while I’m brushing my teeth or applying make-up.

It needed a new look so I went looking for fabric that would hide dirt and the random cat hair, found a multi colored piece. The new color of paint is called “Caramel Latte,” Krylon’s spray line of brushed metallic spray paint. (You may have noticed in previous posts I am becoming the queen of spray painting stuff.)

I still love my old hamper!

{Note from Amy: I never appreciated this hamper till this very moment. Mom, when you’re done with it, can I have it? And I’m just sure I could still fit in it.;) }

I read an article a while ago about a woman who was organizing her closet, and got rid of 2/3rds of her clothes. She only kept what she loved. In moving, we sort of did the same thing. We only brought the clothes we could fit in our 200 pound baggage limit, which amounted to just our favorites.

Good thing, too, because our new closet isn’t the spacious expanse our closet at home is.

But! It’s my new favorite thing!

The closet is in the hallway right off the front door. Ees stylish, no? However, upon opening the doors, my immediate reaction was, “That’s all the hanging space??”

But then I started unpacking our clothes, and realized I can fold and stack most things.

There’s even plenty of room for our fall and winter, on the very top shelves, and in the side cabinets with cool push-doors.

And these collapsible Ikea boxes are awesome. They’ve become impromptu drawers for underwear, belts, socks, etc.

And last but not least, I’m loving the full-length mirror on the inside of the door. So smart! Right where you need it, right when you need it.

Next up on the “My New Favorite Thing” list: open shelving!

That’s my story and I’m stickin’ to it.

As my husband and I were prepping for our move, I asked around for travel advice. One of the sweetest ideas I gathered was to pack little things from home for our new apartment. I took it literally, and brought little things from home. Here’s what made the cut:

Original art from some kiddos at our church. A pretty rockin’ portrait there on the right, if you ask me.

Beloved vintage apron. To guard against splatters during all the cooking I’m going to do. Because Prague is magical… you lose weight easily, you become the perfect housekeeper, you drop your procrastination habit….

Button magnets. If only they could decode the oven dial pictures for me.

Handmade flower cozy. So that every week I can look like a dork at a street-side flower market buying one flower at a time. (I don’t think people here do that.)

And my tiny art. To complement our tiny apartment. Actually, I’m pretty proud of how perfectly it matches our red front door and red closet doors. So stylish.

So far, our apartment is indeed so stylish, and we’ve only been here a week, that I’m not homesick to the point of lying on the floor below the oven pouting, staring up at my magnets, and longing for home. That probably won’t happen till next week.

I love lavender. I love the look of it, the smell of it, even the taste of it (yup, that’s right – just read on before you make a judgment!).

So, I jumped at the chance to visit Hood River Lavender Farm on my recent trip to Portland, Oregon with my mom.

This farm is nestled in the Hood River Valley, amongst a slew of tasty wineries (yes, we made a few stops there, as well!) about an hour and a half drive east of Portland.

The farm was a beautiful site to see (and smell!), and for only $5, I was able to cut a huge bundle of lavender – they had over 70 varieties to choose from, so this was no easy task! After spending almost in an hour in purple-fragranced heaven, we enjoyed some delish lavender shortbread cookies made by the farm’s owner. You know you want to make some! Check Hood River’s slew of recipes here.

Traveling home with it wasn’t as tricky as I thought – I wrapped the bunch in newspaper and laid it flat in my suitcase for the flight back to Austin. It arrived perfectly, and I immediately hung it upside down to dry. I placed the dried bouquet in a spaghetti jar near my reading chair – looks cute and I get some sweet whiffs while chilling in my chair. It’s been a month since I’ve been back from Oregon, and my lavender bunch STILL smells amazing! It’s like having a candle burning 24-7 in my room.

Not only does lavender smell wonderful and look great dried, it also has antiseptic properties, calms the nerves, helps with insomnia and can aid in digestion! Read here for more specifics.

Not in the Portland area to grab a bundle of fresh lavender? Not a problem, there’s bound to be one in your neck of the woods! If you’re in Texas, here are a few places to check out:

Central Texas – Hill Country Lavender, Chappell Hill Lavender, or Wimberley Lavender Farm.

North Texas – Lavender Ridge Farms.

So, the moral of the story: lavender is pretty much the best herb ever. Find a farm near you and bring a bunch home!

Interestingly, the most frequent visitor was (and still is) my cat, Heidi.

But wait, I digress. Back to the blue birdbath. It’s color made me want MORE dark marine blue in my yard. So I painted a neat old wrought iron table I found in an antique garden shop that was painted a bland white and showing it’s years. I love the way it provides a contrast to my brown patio chairs.

Then I painted a piece of garden art – a hoop with a bird perched on it, only painting the bird. I have a lot of pink and white flowers so the blue accents compliment the flowers (and weeds) quite nicely.

Maybe your accent color will be purple or yellow or orange! Paint a flower pot or a watering can. Once my husband even painted a long-handled lug wrench and stuck it in the ground.

(Note from Amy: I’m pretty sure you can’t go overboard with this one, Mom. Need more cobalt! And Dad’s lug wrench is pretty cute… particularly because only a man could turn a car tool into yard art. I’m pretty sure it’s his version of a yard art flower.)

Several years ago a friend gave me a recipe for Organic Plant Insecticide that really works. The ingredients are common household items, and are nontoxic to people and pets, besides being environmentally safe.

For this photo I decided my recycled Glass Plus bottle (with label permanently afixed) was not acceptable for HNWN so I invested $1 in a new spray bottle at Dollar General. Whether you use an empty bottle or get a new one, just be sure it holds about 32 ounces. I used a decorative label to write the recipe in permanent marker and stuck it on the bottle.

Organic Plant Insecticide

1 32 oz. spray bottle

1 c. brewed tea

1/4 c. distilled vinegar

1/8 c. dish detergent (not the degreaser kind)

2 c. water

Pour all into bottle. Screw on sprayer top and shake to mix.

Spray on plant and soil. After a few minutes spray plant foliage with water.

Great on rose bushes and safe on vegetables.

(I don’t think this concoction will work on fire ants. Those beasts need the really toxic stuff like Ambro.)

{Note from Amy: Mom, can you also share a recipe for some magic spray that keeps plants alive through drought and neglect? Mine would love you for it.}

It should probably read:

“How To Pack for a Move Overseas”

“How Do You Pack for a Move Overseas?”

“How the Heck Do You Pack for a Move Overseas??!?!?!!”

Shall I back up just a bit? The husband and I are moving to Prague. (Follow this link to read all about it, and this one to see our apartment!) We leave in two and a half weeks, and I just started packing last night.

With a total allowance of four checked bags at 50 lbs each, plus two carry-ons, I’m not entirely sure how to pull this off.

Shoes seem like a good place to start. Maybe I should leave every pair that pinch, pull, or make my toes look fat (after all, cobble stone isn’t terribly forgiving), even if they are the only pair that go with the funky bohemian skirt?

How ’bout my heels? Tote only my favorite pair, because they’re black and bound to go with everything, and I only wear them twice a year as it is?

PJs: take one winter and one summer set? But what about the cute ones that remind my husband how adorable I am? That’s a key ingredient in making a marriage last through culture shock, right?

Under-britches: pack only the ones that don’t give me wedgies, which will mean doing laundry more than once a month?

Suits: since I don’t know what kind of job I’ll have, do I take all 11 of my favorite suits and blazers that have gathered a fine coat of dust across all the shoulders because I haven’t worn in more than a year?

And how to decide which knock-around T’s and tanks are essential? They’re knock-arounds. They’re all essential!

What am I missing? Favorite recipes handwritten by Mom, computers, cameras, that rubber lid taker-offer for the jars I seem to be powerless to open, my hair straightener. How’s it all going to fit? What to pack now? What to bribe friends to bring on a visit? What to pay to have shipped (ahem, $250/50lbs, thankyouverymuch postal service). What to buy there?

Wait! Dangit. I forgot about the husband. Where’s his stuff going to fit?

Wait. That’s not going to work.

In your mind’s eye, picture a wall. It has a door, or window, or light switch at one end. Now hang some art on it. Where’d you put it?

If you hung it in the middle, prepare to be un-borified*.

I’ve recently discovered the joy of hanging art on unexpected wall space, like my in-a-line arrangement where I lined five pieces up along the corner of a wall.

I have my friend, Kim, to blame. She has masterfully decorated wall space the rest of us would overlook. Namely, Kim has perfected light switch candy. (Though I take credit for coining the term. I’m sure it will make waves in the interior design world.)

She has also perfected framing the most adorable piece of an Anthropologie bag as art. Looove it! (And the adorable pic of her and her man, taken right after Kim’s skydiving adventure.)

And I have tried to mimic her by hanging a hot air balloon print above a light switch on an otherwise bare wall. I rather love the asymmetry of it.

You should try it, too… with that art you don’t think you have anywhere to hang, and that little section by the light switch you’ve never seen as a possible spot for a nail and some art. Let me know how it goes.

(*The process of becoming un-boring. ~Amy’s English Standard Made-up Words Dictionary)