It’s your home. Pull it together.

Many, many years ago my mom made a skirt out of my grandfather’s ties. I always admired that skirt, so about a dozen years ago Mom gave me her stash of ties. And when my dad retired from the corporate world I got several of his ties. Then I cleaned out my husband’s closet and claimed some of his old ones.

I have made my own necktie skirt, but my obession didn’t stop there!

I have made pillow tops out of ties to give as gifts, a wall hanging out of men’s ties for a church fundraiser auction, and a couple of framed pieces (one for Amy and one for me).

I even made a vest out of the scraps. Sorry, I don’t have a pattern, I just create as I go.

I still have a bunch of ties and have decided to make a Christmas tree skirt out of them this year.

So if you are wanting to dabble in the fiber arts using men’s neckties, don’t be shy about asking for freebies from the male population. I’ve seen ties at garage and estate sales and in thrift shops. Go ahead – Tie one on!

{I have always loved my mom’s tie art. Namely because she hand-sews each seam with a different decorative stitch, and they’re so amazing! I love to study them. My other favorite thing is that the wall hanging Mom gave me incorporates three generations of men in my family: my great-grandfather, grandfather, and Dad. What a cool piece of family history!}

{Added: And for your musical entertainment, my mom is as resourceful with ties as Joseph with his Little Overcoat!}

Move over fridge door, I’ve found a new gallery space.

Actually, I came up with this, one of my favorite brilliant ideas of late, because our European fridge/freezer is only about elbow-high. But I’ve decided the door on our closet (more closet pics here) is more fun than the fridge door as a catch-all, anyway. It’s a happy detail. Now I have all those cute faces and funny kid drawings staring back at me every time I dig in the closet.

Portrait Art by a cutie mc-cute, Abigail, at our church. I don’t know what I like best: our flat tops, my pink pearls, or that we’re holding hands. It makes me happy to think it’s obvious that Dennis and I like each other.

Scrunchy-face birth announcement that makes me giggle. Cute, no? And one of our first pieces of international mail! Double win!

Some of our Kids’ Church kiddos brought their neighbor to Vacation Bible School over the summer. I’m glad I was so vere nice to chubby-cheeked Pehlay, because I love showing this off.

For a month, Dennis sported a cape, yellow afro wig, and a giant letter “U” every Sunday as “Unique Man.” Just one of the reasons he was really the favorite with the kids.

Thumb-printed thank you card from sweet Noah — Dennis’ biggest fan — for coming to his birthday party.

And the one that melts my heart the most, my favorite big blond head! But my nephew needs some company… I’m missing a picture of our niece.

What unexpected place could you put some personal notes and pics that kind of crack you up?

Moving overseas has been the perfect experiment in living minimally. The husband and I have aspired to it for years, but never quite made the plunge. But moving, we packed six suitcases with as many clothes and electronics as we could fit for two years, and packed the rest of our stuff into a storage unit to deal with later. See? Perfect.

And save for one dreamy trip to Ikea for kitchenware and linens, I haven’t done much shopping since we arrived.

Shortly after realizing I’d have to get all my loot home on public transit, but still smiling. Totally worth bumping into all those old ladies on the tram.

So for the past three months, we’ve been living on exactly four bowls, four mugs, four plates, four glasses, three pots, two pans…. you get the idea. I wondered if this would feel like living without, and lead to periodic and unpredictable cases of The Grumps, but I have to say, it’s really plenty! There’ve only been two times I’ve had to made-due:

1. After a mighty acidic batch of pancakes where I realized my 1/2 cup Ikea measuring cup was in fact a decilitre. What the heck is a decilitre? But trusty Tablespoon helped me figure out that our drinking glasses are exactly 1 c. Bring on the non burn-your-mouth-off-from-too-much-baking-soda pancakes!
2. When I wanted to bake veggies and chicken, but separately. I just created little pans out of foil, and put them on the same cookie sheet (which conveniently came with the oven). I have a feeling this won’t work for banana bread, though. I’ll have to break down and buy a loaf pan.

Probably my favorite advantage to a minimalist kitchen is the natural combatant against the Tower ‘O Dirty Dishes Syndrome. Just simple math, really — can’t dirty a tenth plate to leave by the sink if you only have four. And with so few dishes, it’s faster just to hand wash. I’ll admit, I do seem to do dishes multiple times a day, but I kind of like it. Good thinking time.

The only instance I know I’ll need more dishes is when we throw a big party (which is absolutely on my list… it’s almost Christmas, you know?), but I’ll just go disposable/recyclable, so as to keep our kitchen simple.

Before our big move, we purged more ruthlessly than ever before, but I imagine when we unpack our giant 3-D Tetris cube someday (as seen right here), I don’t think we’ll have any trouble trimming out even more extras and hand-me-downs.

I do love our posh little pad. But it’s almost too posh. Every corner is planned. Every inch used to its best potential. The curtains are hung. The walls are painted. Basically, the decorator in me has nothing to do! It’s stifling! And not because it’s 100 square feet.

Pre-fab frames: Before

There is one thing, though. I find these photographs to be a yawn. In a city full of amazing architecture, how do you manage to choose the most boring photos of the 11th century church up the hill? So I fixed it.

Pre-fab frames: After

And anyway, I think my graphic DIY art fits the feel of the joint much better.

Not to mention how well they draw the orange from the curtains into the room.

*Dusts hands.*

Now I just have to remember to remove all signs of my improvement before they deduct it from our deposit.

(For DIY chevron instructions, I hit up kelly + olive. And Jess’s chevron art at Makeunder My Life is my favorite yet.)

At the language school where I’ve done a bit of teaching here in Prague, the owner, Ivana, always has a lovely bouquet in the entrance. Sometimes it’s a bunch of what look like backyard flowers, sometimes it’s a big spray with leaves and branches. Always very earthy, you know?

I’ve complimented the arrangements more than once, and Ivana always seems to get a kick out of how much I like them. Recently I found out why.

I was complimenting the latest arrangement when Ivana’s husband (with his funny, thick Czech accent) popped his head into the conversation to declare, “Zey are cry-sees flowers!”

Prior to the recession, Ivana bought flowers from a shop every week. But since the crisis (as it’s called here), she’s been gathering big handfuls of greenery from various places… the courtyard, her father-in-law’s backyard, the running track down the street. I just love them!

I love them so much, Ivana had a bouquet of crisis flowers waiting for me next time I came in.

Don’t they look stellar on our patio? In the “crisis” vase I had on hand?

My kids’ special name for my dad is Paw Paw. He’s a great cook and an even better grill master. Many years ago he concocted a seasoning mix that absolutley everyone loves. It can be used on chicken, pork, beef and fish. I have even used it on vegetables. And it’s not just for grilling — I use it when baking chicken or pork chops. I like that I can make it low sodium, and I tend to use it generously (that means I season heavily!).

Paw-Paw’s Famous BBQ Seasoning

2 parts BBQ Seasoning (try 1/4 cup)

1 part of the following: (try 2 Tbls. each)

Garlic Powder

Onion Powder

Ground Celery Seed

Poultry Seasoning

Ground Marjoram

Ground Thyme

Salt & Pepper to taste

Mix everything up together.

Then I use a funnel to fill my recycled seasoning containers. I’ve also bought little glass shakers (from Bed Bath & Beyond or The Container Store). I’ve given it as office Christmas gifts, birthday gifts, thank you gifts, and just because gifts. I’ve even been asked for refills from a recipient!

{Note from Amy: Paw-Paw is only half the grandparent name fun. My grandmother’s name is Hazel, so we call her Hay-Hay. Hay-Hay and Paw-Paw. We like it.:)}

{Oh man… Sara finds the best treasures! I think next time I need a gift for a girlfriend I’ll hit up this Etsy shop. (Link at end of post.)}

I’m not much of a seamstress, so I don’t have mounds of scrap fabric lying around after sewing projects. But, I can appreciate someone who takes fabric that can be so easily discarded, and creates something new and beautiful out of it!

Meet m•o•m, a brand created by the mother+daughter team of 42nd and Orange, a shop based out of Encinitas, CA. Inspired by the older female generations in their family, nothing is thrown away! Instead, their accessories are made solely from vintage and remnant fabric scraps. They also create breezy and fun children’s clothing to round out the m•o•m brand. Everything is hand made, with a self-described “hip, nerdy, laid back Southern California vibe”.

They even give you a wooden ruler when you make a purchase to encourage your own hand made projects!

My friend Shelly first introduced me to them when she brought be one of their belts made out of a hodge podge of fabrics.

The bright, mismatched patterns actually flow together nicely, and the belt is just so cheery, that it’s a great accessory to put on when I’ve maybe gotten up on the wrong side of the bed (which hardly ever happens!

On my last trip to visit Shelly in San Diego, we took a trip up the PCH and made a stop at the 42nd and Orange shop in Encinitas. Their delightful little shop is maybe a two-minute walk from the beach – not bad working conditions!

While there, I picked up a dot headband (every time I wear it, I get tons of comments on it!), and I’m still kicking myself for not picking up a dot garland for a blank wall in my bedroom. Good thing there’s an 42nd and Orange Etsy shop!