de Jong Dream House: dinette

Showing posts with label dinette. Show all posts

Wednesday, September 11, 2013

Celebrate Plate

One last back to school tradition to share as we kick off the new year. Actually, this isn't just a back to school tradition, although we will certainly be using it. I'm talking about the Celebrate Plate.

Many moons ago...pre-kiddo, pre-hubby, pre-Ohio, pre-brain injury, I worked for a Christian bookstore. One of my friends was a buyer and came up with a custom "You are Special" plate based on the German original.

Waechtersbach Plate (<--Affiliate link)

It stuck with me because I was writing my first book (<--Affiliate link) at the time, and was researching family traditions. While I loved the idea of having a special plate to celebrate birthdays and other milestones, I wasn't crazy about the verbage, "You are special today." I like to think my family is special every day. I looked on Pinterest for ideas and found both "the Happy Place" and "Celebration Plate." I liked the way "Celebrate Plate" sounded so I had my phrase.

I used the tutorial from Darling Doodles Design, who made a super fun set of dinnerware using a Sharpie instead of a special pen. (Seriously, I'm not posting a photo here so you'll go check it out on her page).

I bought a square white ceramic plate from Target (from the Threshold collection). Then used Sharpies to freehand the design.

I had fun with the word "celebrate."

To "seal" the ink, I turned the oven to 425 degrees and put in the plate while it was still cold, set the timer for 30 minutes after the oven was preheated, and kept the plate in until the oven was completely cool

Here's the plate after cooling in the oven.

Our son was very excited to be the first recipient of our celebrate plate, as we commemorated the completion of his first week of school. (Because a certain mama didn't have the plate done by the first day of school!)

We had our own version of bubble & squeak for dinner, which was just begging to be shaped into a heart.

I've always loved to watch D eat. He makes the best facial expressions. Look at those eyebrows!

On ordinary days, we keep the plate in the window sill above our hutch.

Linked to:
The 36th Avenue * Cherished Bliss * The Dedicated House * DIY Showoff * Life After Laundry * Serenity Now * Tatertots & Jello

Thursday, January 17, 2013

Remembering Daniel

Like most of the world, we were horrified by the events in Newtown, CT on December 14, 2012. To be honest, I limited my exposure to the news coverage, in part because my heart couldn't handle the grief, and in large part because I was shielding our four-year-old son from learning how evil our world can be.

When I learned that one of the victims shared our son's name, I felt a deep connection to and sorrow for his family. With Christmas so close, I looked at the gifts under our Christmas tree, and thought of all the families who would not see their little ones tear open their packages. We had just celebrated our Daniel's birthday, so I couldn't help but think of all the birthdays Daniel Barden would not reach.

As a parent, I tried to think of how to process such overwhelming grief in a way that is honest and helpful, but doesn't introduce fear to our child. I love the idea of the 26 acts of kindness that many are doing. In a more specific way, we made a donation to the Daniel Barden fund. But I wanted to think of something that would keep Daniel's memory alive in our family, not only as a reminder to savor the time we have together and not take it for granted, but also to remember to pray God's continuing comfort and blessing over Daniel Barden's family.

It's so small and insignificant in the grand scheme of things, but I found three things we could do:

First, I created a Google Alert for "Daniel Barden." Whenever there is a media mention of Daniel, I get an email with link. This reminds me to pray for his family, and keeps me aware of any needs that family may have.
Second, I joined the What Would Daniel Do Facebook page to learn more about the kind, musical, sweet boy who was taken too soon.
I framed a photo of Daniel Barden and always keep a candle next to it. We light it when we have a celebration. So far, we've lit it for Christmas dinner, our New Year's party, and my birthday. It's a way for us to remember Daniel as we celebrate all the milestones and moments of our life, and a way to appreciate the time we have together.

Our Daniel doesn't know what happened at Sandy Hook. When we showed him the photo of Daniel Barden, we said that he was another little boy, just a little older than him, who went to heaven, and that his family is very sad. Our tenderhearted son, upon taking in this information, leaned forward and kissed the frame.

On Christmas Eve, our church sang "Silent Night" acoustically, with white candles lit. My mom and I couldn't help but think of the SNL tribute and could hardly hold ourselves together. We had twenty-seven candles of our own ready to lit at dinner.

We also have a frame with a list of all twenty-seven victims. (Note: we chose to honor the shooter's mother as a victim as well).

As time goes on, we plan to continue to make "lighting Daniel's candle" part of our family tradition. Daniel's candle was lit for our New Year's party.

And again on my birthday this week.

I wasn't sure I was even going to post about this. It's certainly not the usual happy post, but today I learned that a friend's mom died unexpectedly two days ago (on my birthday). Today is her birthday. It is also my mom's birthday. I called my mom in tears to wish her happy birthday today. In five days, it will be nine years since I sustained my traumatic brain injury. Life can change so quickly. Part of Daniel Barden's legacy is to help us remember that truth.

Linked to:

Alderberry Hill * Blissful & Domestic * Bowl Full of Lemons * Carolyn's Homework * Clean & Scentsible * Crystal & Co * The Grant Life * Happy Hour Projects * Home Stories from A to Z * House of Hepworths * I Heart Naptime * It's Overflowing * Kurtz Corner * My Uncommon Slice of Suburbia * New Nostalgia * Nifty Thrifty Things * Shabby Creek Cottage * Shabby Nest * Simply Designing * Southern Lovely * Sumo's Sweet Stuff * Tatertots & Jello * That's What Che Said

Wednesday, November 14, 2012

DIY Dinette Decor

For the past ten months(!), our dinette looked like this:

I knew I wanted to put something on the wall above the sliding doors, but wasn't sure if it would be the frame of our wedding invitation and vows, which were signed all our family and friends, a vinyl art quote, or my own word art, like this:

BHG

I've seen the "Eat" letters all over Pinterest (like here and here and here and here) and only recently learned that they are inspired by the kitchen in "Cougar Town." While "eat" is fitting, I was drawn to the word "savor."

Savor. [Sey-ver]. verb.

1. to perceive by taste or smell, especially with relish: to savor the garden's odors.

2. to give oneself to the enjoyment of: to savor the best in life.

I cook most meals from scratch each night, and we eat almost every meal together as a family in the dinette. Eat, to me, implies too much "shovel in your food as quickly as you can so we can do the next thing." Savor, to me, conveys a sense of enjoyment, not only of your food, but also of your conversation and company. Savor is about slowly appreciating the food that is nourishing you and strengthening your relationships with your dinner companions. I want my son to have a healthy relationship with his food. I want him to learn to listen to his body telling him if he is hungry or full or bored. I want him to appreciate the time and effort his mommy takes to make a nourishing, satisifying meal for him. A lot of pressure for five letters, but I like the idea of intentional decor, and for our dinette, this is it.

I found the five wood letters at Flower Factory:

I liked that the letters were clean and thin.

I'm still working on my spray painting skills. No drips on these letters. (I can't say the same for the other project I was spraying, the A Z bookends, in the photo below.

The top coat was super easy.

I took a little more effort to get the sides painted.

I love how my drop cloth reminds me of projects past and present.

I ran out of steam so the letters hung out on the frame for a few days.

After a good night's rest, it was easy to put the letters up. I thought I bought more Command Velcro Strips, but I bought the sticky ones instead. No matter.

After a few calculations, I decided to eyeball it.

I put four strips on each letter. I had to hold them down a bit because the adhesive doesn't love wood.

I started in the middle and worked my way out.

I love it.

P.S. If you'd like to know more about our light fixture, which is one of my favorite lights in the whole house, check out this post.

Linked to:

At the Picket Fence
Crystal & Co
Happy Go Lucky Pinterest Challenge
House of Hepworths
I Heart Naptime
Miss Information

Friday, April 20, 2012

House Tour

This post will be a bit of a work in progress as we continue to unpack and make our house a home. Funny story: for most of the build, I (Jen) have been taking the daily progress photos. I'm blessed enough to stay home with our son, so daily (or twice daily) trips to the new house were a big par to how we spent each day. When the house was finally complete, Niels spent the day with D at the house to be on hand for the final inspections and blower door test. I was in our apartment, packing like a mad woman. In between inspections and playing trains with D, Niels forgot to take photos of our completed house. Oops. The next day the house was full of boxes and we missed our window. It seems to be a family tradition of our house to forget one big thing in our projects. We forgot to hire a videographer for our wedding, which will be one of my the greatest regrets of my life because my brain injury has robbed me of making long term memories. My only "memories" of my own wedding are the actual photos we have. I have no "moving picture memories" of the day. Sigh.

So, we're moving ahead with the next best thing. Photos of the room as they are completed. Of course, we fully expect each room to change and transition over the years, but for now, I have a goal of having each room, at some point--perhaps not all at the same time, but at some point--looking "staged." I have staged my last two homes and received kind compliments that I did a better than average job. Where "staged" before has meant, "anyone would feel at home in this room," now it means, "we feel at home in this room." I look forward to making our house a home that feels like us. It's a big project, but there's no deadline and I've got nothing but time.

Here's how the house looks today:

Exterior: In need of a little landscaping...