Wrap It Up!

We had a roofer out.

After having to hang trash bags from our ceiling, we were afraid the entire roof had to be replaced. Can you say “$$$$$$!!” Luckily, it seems like the roof only needs a new silver coat & some flashing around the skylight & roof hatch.

The bigger problem is our chimney. While it looks better than our neighbors, the masonry definitely needs to be replaced. The bricks are all loose. I’m surprised the wind hasn’t blown bricks off. It’s super awesome. /sarcasm

To top it all off, we’re getting more rain. YAY spring in New Jersey!!! RAIN!!! Soooooooo…… to keep the rain out of our house, we made our chimney a little hat.

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Out of a big blue tarp & some Gorilla tape.

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It is raining. Our ceiling is dry. Fingers crossed it keeps on working!

YAY!!!

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Live Blogging & Life.

Last night the Newark Museum hosted an after hours party – A Night in Rio.

I went to hang out and live blog with some of the other Glocally Newark bloggers. It was a blast!

Live blogging with glocally

I thought about giving you guys the heads up, in case you wanted to “join” us. But then felt weird about the entire internet knowing where I’m not {namely, home}. So Brick City Love was quiet for yet another day. I’m sorry!

People dancing

If you’re in the area, you should swing by the Newark Museum and check the installation out {it’s called BLACKOUT}. It’s all neon-y!!

Neon arches

In house related news, I promised the tufting tutorial {finally!} this week but that doesn’t seem to have happened. I still need to edit the video {yes! there’s video!!} but that’s on the TO DO list for this weekend. It would seem promising something on the blog is a surefire way of guaranteeing it won’t happen. Anyone seem to have that problem? C’est la vie. So I’m just going to say, “Maybe next week.”

Now I’m off wait for some roofers. We’re getting quotes to fix the leak that created our urban stalactites {or ceiling-udders, as I also see them}. Is that gross? Ceiling-Udders. Sorry. Hopefully this guy will show up. I hear with all the massive amounts of damage in these parts, things are rather busy for the roofing business.

Have a great weekend! Get out there & enjoy this weather.

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The Leaky Roof

Remember our stalactites?

The issue is in the back room we’re using for boxes, so luckily no furniture was ruined.

I finally uploaded the pics before we covered things up.

The water seems to be coming in from a few places. Around the hatch was easiest to see –

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Notice the droplets?

water droplets

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In the ceiling of our back room had this drywall seam that had obviously been patched {badly} and painted over.

Rob picked at it. A little.

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So we made giant funnels out of trash bags.

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Yes I have a box of boas. Doesn’t everyone?

boas

So that’s where we’re at. Contractor bags taped to our ceiling.

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Roofers have been called. Appointments have been scheduled for quotes. Fingers crossed guys, fingers crossed.

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Urban Stalactites

This past weekend, we’ve been HAMMERED with rain. Hammered.

If you’re a super long time reader of Brick City Love, you may remember we got hammered with rain back at the end of July/early August and had the roof leak. We’ve had rain since but nothing like we got this past weekend. Everything was fine until all of a sudden it wasn’t.

Our home now has the latest trend in home decor –

Trash bag udders

Urban Stalactites!! YAY!!! Like 3 giant funnels for the leaking seam of the drywall.

Urban

Super classy, don’t you think? More pictures to come.

{And for those still waiting for the tufted headboard “How To: Part 2”. this week! Promise.)

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Ferry St. BBQ

I’ve given up fried foods for Lent, in a show of solidarity with my Catholic husband. And also because they’re awful for you. But this meal from Ferry St. BBQ is always delicious. So is the chicken, shrimp, salmon and everything else they have. Yum.

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How To: Pillowcase Version 2

As I mentioned yesterday, I made 4 pillowcases for our Master Bedroom redo. Yesterday’s pattern worked great with a single yard of fabric but every fabric’s different.

My other fabric had these long stripes of flower. I wanted the pattern to wrap around the short end of the pillow, so I cut my 2 yards of fabric lengthwise {instead of in 1 yard pieces like Version 1}.

pillow 2-a

1. Start with your long strip of fabric that’s been ironed nice & flat.

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Sometimes it’s easiest if you use a pre-made pillowcase as a template.

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Fold the ends up about 6″ and iron in a crease.

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On both ends, fold the raw edge over about 1″ and then under itself 1/2″ to finish it.

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Stitch the edges folded edges.

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2. This pillow will also have a pocket, so only sew in the big 6″ edge on 1 end.

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{“What pocket?!” you’re asking. The one that folds over the end of the pillow to 1) hide it & 2) keep it from falling out.}
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3. Then fold in half {right sides together} and stitch down the sides.

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Turn right side out & you’re done!

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Super simple!

Make anything fun recently?

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How To: Make a Pillowcase (version 1)

I made 4 pillowcases for our Master Bedroom redo {2 in each pattern, as you can see in the photo}.

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This is actually the first time I remember making pillowcases and I tried it two different ways. Both versions worked equally well. I would use either, dependent on the fabric’s pattern. Completely your choice.

This post is going to illustrate version 1 and works best if you have a single yard of fabric for a single pillowcase. Version 2 {which we’ll get to tomorrow} works best if you have 2 yards of fabric and want to make 2 pillowcases.

So let’s get to it.

Pillowcases: Version 1

1. Start with 1 yard of fabric. Iron out all the wrinkles and lay it out flat.

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Use a pillowcase as a template.

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Leave about 1/2″ at the top for seam allowance (you could go down to 1/4″ but I had plenty to work with).

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Fold up the bottom over your existing pillowcase.

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Remove your template pillowcase and press the fold up.

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To finish the hem, just fold the raw edge over about 1/2″ and then tuck the raw edge up into the fold. Press.

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Now the bottom raw edge of your fabric has been pressed and folded up thusly.

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2. Stitch down the edge

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3. Fold it back up and find the middle of your fabric

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Stitch the fold down but only up to the middle of the fabric. {I like a pocket to keep the pillow in the pillowcase.}

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4. Fold the right sides together and stitch up the sides & top.

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Turn right side out and you’re done!

By not stitching down that one half of the fold, it tucks over the end of the pillow.

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Stay tuned for version 2, coming up tomorrow!!

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Happy sewing!

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Go Play!

New Jersey has been hit with a bout of superb spring weather. It’s mild, sunny and in the mid to high 50’s.

Yesterday I started another project simply for an excuse to be outside.

painted wood combined

Of course it’s now sitting in pieces in the dining room but those 5 hours in the backyard – wearing a tank top! – were utter perfection. It was warm, my skin was absorbing glorious amounts of vitamin D, and several power tools (& 1 iron) were involved.

You know that feeling after a really great workout? This is my version of that. The rush. The hard work. The stress melting away. The feeling of accomplishment that you just did something good for yourself. It was perfect.

And because I played outside all day, I didn’t accomplish a single productive thing. Photos weren’t edited {Bill, Paula – by this weekend, promise!}. Chapters weren’t read for class. Homework wasn’t done. The dishwasher wasn’t emptied. Today’s blog post wasn’t written.

But after all the snow and cold, wasting a beautifully warm day inside would have been sacrilege. I hope you understand. Chapters will be skimmed quickly before class, photos can be edited tonight, and we can use clean dishes straight from the dishwasher. Tomorrow we will be back with a full “How-To” post.

In the meantime, I don’t know how long this weather will last. Lets enjoy every single second of it. If you don’t have to sit at a desk all day, go outside and play. Don’t waste it sitting in front of a computer! Shoo now. Go. Play. We’ll see you tomorrow.

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Thrifty Tip: Closets

Kasey at Thrift Little Blog feaured our two closet makeovers today in her closet roundup post.

I totally love her blog! If you’re not familiar, check it out. I love a girl who’s not afraid to talk about money and keeping more of it in your pocket. I’m so flattered she included our closets in her round-up!

In honor of being included, I’m going to share a couple thrifty little closet tips of my own.

1. Use what you have

small closet after

Our laundry/linen closet makeover cost a measly $8 because I used materials we already owend and just freshened things up with a coat of paint {which we already had!}.

2. Wait for sales & watch for deals

brickcitylove elfa before & after

As you may remember, we went with the free-standing Elfa system from The Container Store for our walk-in closet. The Container Store runs an annual 30% off ALL Elfa components sale every January. For those in The Container Store “know” this is a well established fact. If you can hold out until January, do it.

ALSO – this year The Container Store ran a holiday promotion from Thanksgiving to Christmas. Buy a $100 gift card, get a $25 gift card for yourself! That’s basically a 20% sale right there {hellooooo free money}.

The promotional $25 gift cards didn’t expire until February 2010. The 30% off sale started in January. And there’s no limit to the number of gift cards you can use in one transaction {even if there were, all the components could be purchased separately}.

Add all that up and we got a tricked out closet worth $2,383.99 {including 7% sales tax} for $1341.54. Over $1,000 savings?!? Thrifty!!

Thanks again, Kasey!!

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Subtle Inspiration?

I was looking through my flickr account last night for a picture and stumbled onto long forgotten bedroom inspiration photos. It seems I saved these back at the end of August {so right around the time we were selecting a bedroom paint color}.

I don’t save a ton of inspiration pictures. If I see a post in my google reader I like, I’ll star it. If I think other people would like it too, I may share it. But to actually save something to my hard drive and upload it to flickr has happened 10, maybe 15 times.  I’m sure that’s shocking to many but getting back to the topic at hand…

These inspiration photos I just re-found.

It’s interesting how many similarities there are between them and our final master bedroom design.

gray bedroom from babs blog

In the first photo, wall color is a similar tone to ours (though obviously more gray to our blue/green). The white velvet drapes that pool on the floor. The dark gray comforter with a lighter bedskirt and nubby light carpet. The comforter even seems to be a Matelassé type pattern!

master bedroom wide angle

light gray bedroom from babs blog

Check out the tall, light colored diamond tufted headboard with what looks like a matching bedframe. While my diamond tufted headboard has a dark wood frame around it, it is also pretty tall and matches our bedskirt. Again with the velvet drapes (although their radiator is white). Their dark floors are a little darker than ours but a similar idea. What REALLY stands out to me though is the light fixture. Have you seen ours?!

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Almost exactly the same!

Crazy right?!

I remember saving these when we were looking for paint colors. I had already purchased the theatre curtains and remember thinking it was cool these pics showed similarly textured drapes. So was everything else coincidence? Or subconsciously influenced?

{Photo credit Canadian House & Home via The Bab’s Blog}

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