Year of the Tiger

We geek out a little over Chinese New Year around here, so I’ll be posting a few things we like to do leading up to the big day.  This year, the new year falls on Valentines Day, which is great for us since we kind of loathe that particular “holiday”.  We do it up for the kids, but not for each other.  We’ll have a date night another time, when restaurants aren’t slammed, understaffed and overbooked.  I know, I’m a crankenstein, but this works better for us…trust me.

Anyway, back on topic…last year, I made some DIY plum blossom branches, and I still have some of those fabulous DIY dragons left for the Minors to decorate.  This year, I’ll share my fortune cookie recipe (yes, an American creation) and we’ll surely make some new lanterns to adorn the house.  Bowls of oranges, red envelopes with surprises..all part of the fun. Here’s some old snaps from last year to get you in the spirit…..

Blank Dragons

Cookies with kid-friendly fortunes to share with classmates.

Sale

I’m going to spend some time this weekend getting some new stuff in the booth since the mall is having a multi-vendor sale.  (25% off all booth 50 items.)  I made up a bunch of tags while watching TV this week so I’m ready to start tagging and dragging downtown.  There’s a new category for the booth so locals can see what’s new.

Got a couple of new lamps going in too.

Have a great weekend!

Aid

For those who missed my Facebook and Twitter post this morning: A really EASY way to help…..

Text “HAITI” to “90999″ to make a $10 donation to the Red Cross for earthquake victims.

To Do: Half Bath

I warned you I had some heinous bathroom action going here…and I haven’t had the guts to show the master bathroom in detail yet…it may take some time to muster the courage. The best bathroom in the house by far, was the upstairs jack and jill used by the Minors.  Probably because no one used it for the past 10 years or so.

The half bath is actually our kind of project.  This will really happen this year, because we can do it ourselves, and do it inexpensively.  The Crafty Counterpart has some pretty good plumbing skills, so that always makes it easier/cheaper. The half bath will also take priority since it’s what our guests use, and its proximity to the playroom makes it the most used bathroom in the house.  The beige potty doesn’t flush unless you hold the handle down, etc..even the Minors have been asking when we’re going to “do something about that bathroom.”   The color in here is that shade of beige that looks dirty all the time.  No matter how many magic erasers I use on the walls, it still feels dirty.

I had debated keeping the floor in here.  It’s a groovy tile, but if I keep it, that means I have to keep the vanity cabinet.  The cabinet is actually decent, paint job, new countertop and sink/fixtures…it would look great, but since it’s such a small space, my vision was to have a floating countertop with freestanding storage underneath.  It will certainly be faster and simpler to rehab the cabinet. I’ve brought home about 30 swatches and can’t find a color that I like to use with that tile. At the end of the day, busy tile means no busy walls, so methinks the tile floor goes.

For the walls, I really wanted a groovy 70’s inspired wallpaper, but I have stripped too much wallpaper in my life and I can’t do it. It’s a shame, since there are SO many beautiful papers, but I refuse to put it up in my houses.  It’s too big a commitment. (I can hear the collective gasp of horror now…sorry.)

So, my plan has been to take a page from Kellie, who I saw featured on this Design Sponge post last year.  Brilliant!  All the wallpapers I had been eyeing were metallic patterns on a rich color, so I could do something like that in the half bath! If I screw up, I paint over it and start again.  My kind of project.

photo via Kellie/Scraplog

photo via Scraplog via Fossil catalog

Problem is, one day this summer, when it looked like we might get started on the half bath any day, I grabbed the paint pen and started doodling on the walls.  Just testing some ideas..you know…6 months later, it’s still there.  Kind of embarrassing when guests are over, but hey…it is what it is.

You know you’re jealous of my fancy hardware and faux marble laminate countertop.  So, should I rehab the cabinet or go floating like this one we built in our last house?

Birthday!

It’s my bloggiversary, or blog birthday!  I’m still not really believing that it’s been a year since my first meager post of the mailbox.  A recap of the year is here.

I need to thank my friends Jim and Susan, who told me when they first saw the Regal Beagle,  “You need to blog about all this stuff!”

I completely dismissed the idea at first, but they pointed out that I might actually have fun with it…and it could be useful to some readers…even if only themselves!  A few weeks later..it was done. Thanks for the vote of confidence guys!

So what’s cooking for year 2 of ModFruGal?  Anybody’s guess.  The 2010 To Do List has many more entries to come, and there will likely be a LOT more DIY by yours truly since our renovation budget this year is very different from last year’s. There will be better photos (I hope) and it only took me most of the year to realize that, no matter how many plug-ins you try to make them better…galleries suck all the way around.

I have both a Flickr and a Tumblr account I’ve never touched, so maybe that will actually happen….I need to educate myself further on this popular media that likes removing vowels…it’s all a factor of time isn’t it?

This little blog will be getting a smattering of Botox, nothing major, but a little cosmetic update for the new year…I’ll let you know when we’re up, so you can jump out of your reader to check it out.

Well, enjoy a little blast from the past and thanks for reading.

Modern Mailbox