Time To Say Goodbye

Well, it's the end of an era. A relatively short era, but a very important one in my life.
The Cabindo is empty.
I have moved.
It's exciting and sad all at the same time.

Mr.Man and I bought a townhouse about a mile away from the Cabindo a couple weeks ago. The Cabindo was a lady, and new place is definitely a dude; so while it's a very different vibe; he's a handsome fellow, and I'm so excited to get to live there.

When the moving truck was full and the Cabindo was empty this past Saturday, I sat on the floor and ugly cried.
I loved living there.
In that moment, it didn't feel empty; it still felt like home, but somehow I was missing all my furniture and stuff, or just didnt see that it was gone.
The new house did not feel like home at that point, and still doesn't; but it's getting there. We have a mountain of boxes in every room, so hopefully as the trove of stuff gets sorted and put away (or thrown/given away), it will start to fulfill the job of 'home'. It has big shoes to fill, but I think it will do very nicely.
Eventually.
Once all the damn kitchen stuff is put away.
And there is a bed to sleep on.
And a dresser in which to put clothes away. (I know, how could I have refinished so many dressers and not have one? Answer: I'm after 2 matching ones.)

On a less sappy note: anyone looking for an apartment to rent in Reston, VA??
Thats right, the Cabindo will live on in my life as a rental property. I'm even leaving the highly prised Porch Couch for the next occupant to enjoy.
I'm clearly biased, but see above: it's a great place. And you can have kitties/puppies, and a boat, and lots of happies.
Seriously, email me if interested.


Remember the Alamo Cabindo!!


-Lindsay P


PS. I have so many half finished posts about the Cabindo, I'll surely throw a couple of them on here before all is said and done with home #1. And there's always the new place...... ;)

Artful Antique Tool Storage and Display

So, I don't really keep this blog up to date anymore. All of the things have been happening around here but some of them have made it to instagram....

But overall; I have become a social media slacker. #firstworldproblems
This is a post I wrote a long time ago and was just waiting to take a final picture for. Today is the day!


I have a thing for antique tools and industrial trinkets.

They are such a beautiful combination of form, function, elegant design, and craftsmanship. You can look at them and truly say 'they don't make em like that anymore!'. Because this, while it does a great job, is darn ugly:

Bumblebee jr.

My engineer grandfather was a man of many tools. A good example is his file 'collection': off the top of my head I'd say he had at least 20, with more than a couple duplicates. Since he passed away I have been fortunate enough to inherit some of his treasured tools and hardware items.

Sprout gazes into the distance, lost in her dreams of becoming a lumberjack.
Alas, she knows it's a dream that cannot be.....curse you, lack of opposable thumbs!!

I want to use the tools where I can; to keep them, and his memory alive.  I would also like to have them on a wall somewhere to be able to appreciate how beautiful and special they are.

Not so much going for crazy:

Ettore Guatelli

As I am sleek and modern:

source

source

source

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I like the idea of using a framed out space to delineate that these are pieces for display, rather than 'Hi! I'm sadistic!'. I tried hanging Sprout's saws artfully on a wall, but it came across more 'Preppers' on a good day, and horror flick on a bad one. Those babies came down soon afterwards.

I picked up two matching heavy duty wood framed cork boards from Public Surplus for $10.

Sorry Sara plain & tall, it's Cork board plain & wide's turn now. 

I knew I wanted to cover them with fabric and mount them on the wall, but I had no fabric laying around that sung out to me. As I'd just dispatched with a good chunk of change buying fabric to make slipcovers for the living and dining room seating, I was not about to go out and bleed more money. It tends to stain the fabric anyway.......
There was some gingham laying around that was heavy weight and would tie in with the lumberjack/tool/etc. thing, but the high contrast colors would not work in an already high contrast yellow & magenta room. I dug through a craft box and found bottle of dye, so I did a test run.

+

=

um......what the what??
Not what I expected.

Actually, I think it's way better than expected! The blue dye clearly did not come out blue at all, but the shade of purple it ended up ties in well with the rich magenta wall on which it will live.

progress

As you can see above, I covered the cork boards with the dyed fabric. I started at the top, and using a staple gun attached the fabric going down both sides and then across the bottom. It was important to keep the fabric tight and be mindful of the pattern to avoid wavy lines everywhere. I had one box of oil-rubbed-bronze colored upholstery tacks laying around, which I used to anchor the front in several places.

The dye is not totally even, nor is the pattern completely wave-less.
Oh freekin well! I'll be putting tools all over the thing anyway, and there are too many other things to worry about; like when will I get around to laundry/sleeping/riding my scooter/etc.? Yeah I'm 30 and said scooter. Whatevs.
I put the better of the two panels right above the desk, and hung the other one wonky-side-to-the-window. (Wonky side pictured above)

I used silver push pins to hold down each item because they don't distract you visually from the tools.

board for all the small tools

Because these are HEAVY, I used 50lb wire in a triangle method to distribute the weight and ensure the structural integrity of the frame.

will be hung from the horizontal section on a anchored screw

I did not have enough D-rings, so rigged up a different kind of bracketed attachment at the bottom of each frame.

thats dust from drilling, not crumbs

It worked great and validates my hardware-hoarder tendencies.
I think Grandad would be proud.

hey there craiglisted (free!) mcm day bed, let's snuggle
and pray no tools attack us

-Lindsay

Instagram - Because it's Easy

It's a revolving door around here of thrifting, free stuff, projects, and kitty shenanigans.

I take a lot of pictures but clearly am not great at keeping the blog up to date. So, at the entirely needed urging of several friends; I've started an instagram account so they can see what I work on without wasting their breath on urging blog updates.

I am enjoying it thus far, but think I need to work on my hashtagging, which seems a bit anemic as compared to other users. #kittysnuggles #newfinds #ilikewine

I put up a feed at the top of the blog too, so enjoy the oversharing.
#thecabindo

-Lindsay

Weekend thrifting finds

Did you know Lowes has a discount plant rack?? I did not, but now I do.
Tons of poor little plants that just need a good watering and to be in either less or more sun.

I picked up a succulent mixed pot from that little forlorn orphanage on the way home from thrifting with a friend. (this happened about forever ago, as you can see from all the greenery in the background)

And I certainly did not ditch what was dead in the mix and
cherry pick from the other forlorn pots a few replacement pieces.
Perish the thought..........

It turned out to go perfectly with a little brass bowl snagged for $2 that morning!

bowl me over

Brass and succulents, it's a thing I hear.
I feel so 'hip', or whatever the kids are calling it these days....

It's happily living on the long n low mid-century dresser I'm using as an entertainment center.

When it was perfect and compact.
Now it's a little gangly.

-Lindsay

Say whaaat? - Stool edition

On my way to a friend's house for dinner a few months ago, I stopped by a bakery to grab some treats for dessert. The pastries were delicious but the real score of the evening was a wooden stool from the dumpster behind the neighboring optometrist's office.
And that's saying something, because I really love dessert.

Scandinavian simplicity? Check
Solid build? Check
A good place to set my drink/feet/cat/remotes? Check
Not ikea? Check
Freeeee? Check

The legs were pretty dinged and dirty, and though scrubbing cleaned them up; they still needed help.
I gave them a quick sand and a few coats of bright blue paint to bring them back to life.

I got a fever.
And the cure is more cowbell paint.

They got reattached to the also-scrubbed seat.

Et voila; portable side table extraordinaire.

I'm in the camp that considers painting good wood semi-sinful. But these legs were not in great shape, and in the end I really like the combination of wood grain and paint much more than straight wood on this little guy.

It fits well in the corner between my couch and trunk, and gets A LOT of use. ie. dinner table for 1.

No Mr.Stool, stay away from the light!!

Only today when writing this did I look up the makers mark.

I found out this is an Alvar Aalto 'stool 60'; designed in 1933, and considered an iconic modern design piece.
They have been in production since then, and new; a single stool is worth upwards of $300.
Um.......... wow!!! That is one good dumpster diving investment.

My feet/beer/cat/dinner are feeling FANCY right now.

-Lindsay P

All Keyed Up

My Grandfather the engineer loved tools. At one point several years ago as he was getting older, my Grandmother was tidying up his extensive assortment of tools and gave me a box full of keys. This accidental collection of unusable or orphaned pieces seems to have grown over the course of many decades, as there were both shiny new keys, and older worn pieces ornate enough to be art.
I've moved several times since then, and had put the keys in a 'safe' place somewhere along the line......famous last words.
Naturally, I didn't see them for years until just recently when I opened a random box labeled 'office desk'. It was all keys and pens.
I blame the cats.

Name: Navy
Likes: long walks on the porch, snuggles, and grouping things together

She really is a bit of a hoarder and likes making piles of things. Mostly her toys and dolls. She only likes the ones she can mother, no jingles or non-soft cat toys for this little lady.

"Don't you touch my babies, mama!"
-As she sprung into the frame to keep an eye on me

New rug? Needs babies!
STAT.
Those are her two favorites.

As usual, I digress.
So, I love shadowboxes. Very much. We have a storied past, and bright future together; me and shadow boxes. I had gotten a large (~1.5'x3') one several years ago on sale for dirt cheap, earmarked for displaying Grandad's keys. It too was in a 'safe' place for a while.
When the keys resurfaced the other day, I went about getting them in said shadow box before I lost one or both of these key ingredients again.

Materials: Ruler.Chalk. Hot Glue Gun. Wine. Keys. Shadowbox.

I counted out the keys and got really lucky that they, along with two key rings, numbered such (36) that they would all space out neatly within the frame. Because no one deserved to be either left out or crammed in.
(Side note: here is a tumblr that will make all the OCD pieces of you happy)
Things were going well as I measured out a grid for the keys and made a chalk mark at each point where a key would sit.
I put all the keys on the board in a rough approximation of where they would go, and started to rearrange them in the most attractive order I could muster; distributing like items and putting the best ones towards the middle.
Then I realised that I had made 13 too many little chalk marks......and the chalk wouldn't come off. Whoopsies.
Cross that wine off the materials list I suppose?
Nah.
It turned out to be a happy accident in the end. I just scooted the keys in between each chalk mark, and hot glued them down. #wineforthewin

The little blue chalk marks add a lot of interest and charm to the piece. What a good mistake!

I showed it to my Mom (the daughter of my Grandfather), and she thought it was great. I did not have a suitably honorable place for it in my home; so it will be going to live on a prominent wall in her kitchen.

I'm so pleased with how it came out, and glad I finally was able to put it together, especially in time for Father's Day this year. Even though Grandad isn't with us anymore, he was a fantastic father to his small herd of girls (5!), and it makes me happy to have things of his displayed and enjoyed on a daily basis.
Here's looking at thinking of you, kid.
:)


-Lindsay

Cheater, Cheater, Baby Blanket Eater

I know infants gnaw on their blankets, I just fake-make them. Don't get me wrong, I have made many an adorable crocheted baby and large person blanket; I just lucked out recently and got to pass off someone else's handiwork as my own.

I stalk Craigslist, as is well known. One day I came upon a photo-less listing for two bags of yarn, located just a few streets over from me (in the swanky part of town, no less).
Yes please!
Upon pickup, I saw that there were several already worked on items in the bags. Bonus! Perhaps I can finish them, thinks me. But they were already done. And BEAUTIFUL.

I fish out a lime green cable knit baby blanket and think about a blanket I have already promised a friend with a very pregnant significant other, which I have neither made nor even started.

He might have forgotten if I'd substituted a cake.

But then I told the momma-to-be that I’d add her little man’s initial (which I had never done before). 
Look at me go with lots of talk and no plan! 
So with a looming deadline and a perfectly good blanket literally in hand, I knew what I had to do….fake it.

I've liked lime green & turquoise color combinations recently and decided a darker border and baby's initial, on top of the existing lime green blanket, would look nice.

Bing, bang, boom: a boarder.

I dont have a picture of the initial, as I finished that up minutes before having to wrap up the blanket to go to their baby shower.

 Just imagine an 'L' in the corner pointing to you. For baby Logan. Awwww
(I can say that now as he's out in the world; the name was a closely guarded secret before his arrival).


-Lindsay