{Latest Project ~ Rain Barrel}

A couple weeks ago I installed a rain barrel on the side of my house to collect rain from my roof to water my plants. The rain barrel was made by a company called Terracycle, owned by two Princeton graduates. They turn unwanted wine barrels into useful things like rain barrels and compost bins. The inside is still stained from the wine and you can still smell it when it's wet. Pretty cool. I'm quite proud of my accomplishment because I did it 99.9% by myself. The only thing I had help with was getting it into and out of my car. Thanks Jeffy! However, this sense of accomplishment was a teensy bit marred by the fact that, in the process of installing this barrel, I cut a wire that screwed up our sprinkler system. The problem has been fixed but it cost some dough. Anyway, it gave us an excuse to upgrade our ancient control box. Below, you'll find some pics of the project. Next project will be to complete a gravel and steppingstone pathway, next to the barrel, leading from the driveway and through the garden.

{Welcome Fall}

Wow, I can't believe I haven't posted since Memorial Day! That goes to show you that I've been kind of busy the past few months. I went back to work at the end of June so ever since then, I've had about 45 hours less a week to do the things I really love to do. My spare time seems to be filled with laundry and other unpleasant chores.

This is a photo of Cooper with his big cousins, Alex (left) and Jake (right). Summer's officially over but we sure had a great one. Check out my other blog at http://www.babybolis.com/. People ask me how it is going back after having a year off with Cooper. Well, it kinda sucks but it kinda doesn't at the same time. It still feels wrong to me to pay someone to raise my child and I wish I could stay home with him every day. Trish gets to spend more time with him than I do and I'm jealous! :) But lucky for us, she's great with him and she genuinely cares about the kids. Coop loves her and gets all excited when Jeff pulls up to the house. A lot of times he doesn't even look back at Jeff to say goodbye, he just make a bee line for the toys. Trish's job as a childcare provider is highly admirable and I don't know how she does it. I'm not sure I'd be able to pull it off. This is where it's nice to go to work in the morning....to relax and to enjoy the quiet. I like what I do and enjoy being around other adults and having a purpose other than wiping butts and sticky faces. But when it comes down to it, I think I could do a better job and feel much more rewarded as a stay-at-home mom. So that is it in a nutshell!

Now, onto more exciting things...my new venture, One Cozy Nest, has been pretty successful in the last couple months. I've been able to sneak away on a couple Sunday mornings to go flea marketing, one of my favorite things to do. I look for interesting things like old books, flash cards, vintage games, and paper ephemera, etc. Then I sell them to other creative people like artists, crafters, and collectors on Etsy.com. I made the decision to put handbag making on the back burner for now. Maybe I'll go back to it or maybe one day I'll haul off and sell all my supplies, I'm not sure right now. But what I do know is that I'm bored and competition is tremendous. So I'm shifting gears to focus on One Cozy Nest and on making things for myself, friends, and loved ones.

Speaking of...my sister and I were recently talking about my handbag boredom. She asked me if I had any interest in making dolls. I hadn't even thought about it for a second until that day but I figured I'd give it a try. So, I came up with a couple sketches and made a doll in the shape of a bird. Her body is made from linen, her wing and breast are vintage fabric, her hair is yarn, and her face is hand embroidered. The wing moves on the vintage button that I attached it with. I added a nice detail of a vintage pearl pendant for her necklace and styled her hair in a pony tail in the back with a twisted section on each side. Right now she sits on my red couch with my handmade pillows and growing art collection in the background. Here are some pics:

Then, for my second doll, I made a black folk doll named Celie and gave her to my sister, who loves The Color Purple. Last year I bought her tickets to see The Color Purple on Broadway and Celie is the main character. If you've ever seen the movie, she's the character played by Whoopie Goldberg. Her body is eco-friendly felt made from recycled plastic bottles and her hair is black 100% wool yarn. Her face is hand embroidered and her dress is made out of vintage fabric in the color purple, of course! Here she is, sitting in my sister's back yard getting some fresh air:

I'm working on a third doll right now but I'm not sure what or who she'll be.