Foundation Work: Day 2

Well, it's Wednesday. Yesterday was Day 2 of the foundation work on the house. And as you saw in my last post here, it snowed. Trent and I were both at work for the majority of the time the work was done yesterday. They were able to make progress by covering the whole area to protect it from the rain/snow. 

Here's a photo Trent took from underneath the house, through the crawl space/basement area:

They dug the old foundation wall out, then poured a new footing (the cement part), which the new foundation wall will sit on. The old footing was apparently pretty much gone, so they had to start fresh. The sill plate, which is what goes on the top of the foundation wall, also had to be replaced. These replacements cost us an additional $1500. Ouch. We were under the impression that those would be included in the original quote they gave us, but I guess they didn't account for those things. A little setback, but I'm trying to stay optimistic!

Here you can see the sill plate (on the top) a little better:

On the right is the temporary covering they built to shield the space from the rain and snow. The kitchen is above this photo. It is currently just being supported by a few jacks. We've seen a couple of cracks appearing in the walls, which is a little scary. But it's also kind of expected. I'm hoping they are able to raise the kitchen a bit and make it more level, but that is also a little scary! We'll see what happens today and in the next couple of days!

Mother Nature's Cruel Joke

This was my view at work today:

Yes, it's October. Yes, it snowed ALL DAY! And it was freezing. No one could believe it. Is this a joke? Wasn't it like 70 degrees last week?

Only in Illinois I guess. It would figure that the week our foundation is being done would be the week that it snows in October.

Here are the photos Trent took at his work:

Luckily the snow didn't stop the work crew from making progress on our foundation. They had the area all covered and were able to pour the footing for the foundation wall today. We're running the heat to help it dry quicker (plus, it's really cold in the house without it....)

I'm hoping tomorrow we have better weather. Or else I'm officially moving to Florida!

Foundation Work: Day 1

Yesterday was Day 1 of the Foundation work. It was a small crew of about 3 guys. They started at 10:00 while I was at work (and Trent was home), and left around 5:00 when I got home. 

Here's the side of the house Before they got here yesterday morning:

And here it is once the digging was underway:

They had equipment lined up all alongside the road. 

One good thing is they were apparently nice enough to let Trent take pictures of them working. Ha. I'm sure Trent looked like a creeper.

When I got home today, this was the scene:

So far I'm happy to report that after the first day of work our house is still standing. It hasn't collapsed from under me quite yet, so I'll take that as a good sign. Of course...it's only the first day.

We'll see what today brings. We were supposed to get some rain and/or snow, so that should be interesting. I hope they are still able to work a little!

Gatsby-Themed Halloween

Happy Monday! Hope everyone had a fantastic weekend. Today's the day the foundation work begins on our house! Super nervous! We're hoping all goes well. In the mean time though...Saturday we went to a wedding where the guests dressed up in costumes. Trent and I 's costumes were Gatsby-inspired! Has anyone else seen the movie? I loved it, especially the 1920's fashion. And it was really fun dressing up. So I thought I'd share a little Gatsby-themed costume inspiration for you all.

(Original image from here)

It was fun dressing up, although I think I was the only one out of the two of us who really had to put together a legit costume. Trent just had to look nice. Haha. Here we are at the wedding in our costumes:

I had been gathering ideas on Pinterest for a while and it was fun putting together an authentic twenties, flapper-style look. So without further ado, here are some ideas if anyone else is planning a similar costume for Halloween, or any twenties, Gatsby-themed party!

First things first, accessories are what make this outfit! I'm not normally an accessory girl, so it was crazy for me having so many things to keep track of in my outfit...but there's certain things that are essential to making the "flapper" look:

(Original image from here)

• Hair - Curls, or short hair. Both looks were popular for that time. I went for the more wavy look, but remember that short hair was really in then, and also the really tightly curled locks.
• Headband - Gotta have the flapper headband. Preferably with feathers and sequins! You can get these at costume shops or online. I got most of my accessories at Halloween costume stores.
• Makeup - Smoky eyes and red lips. I wore my red lipstick and fake eyelashes. Gotta glam it up!
• Feather boa - Or a fur stole. But the feather boa really completes the outfit and adds to the glam factor. I went for classic black.
• Other accessories - Cigarette holder, sequin clutch, fishnet stockings, long pearl necklace, silk gloves, and glam jewelry. You can find most of this stuff at costume stores. Although the jewelry you can get almost anywhere, of course.

Another important, obvious part of this costume is the dress! I was excited to wear a flapper-style dress, and wanted one that wasn't really "costumey" but found that those are really hard to find! I didn't find much in the stores, and those I found online were either not available or more than I wanted to spend. I ended up just buying a fringy, flapper dress from a Halloween store. It was cute and didn't look too cheap like a lot of store-bought costumes do.

Here are a few dresses I found on Pinterest that inspired me - I'm not sure where they're all from, but I believe the last one is from ModCloth:

Aren't these dresses gorg? The sequins, the bling... All of the embellishments, etc. are all very Art deco. As for the shoes, I didn't put much effort into finding vintage-looking heels; I just wore some generic black strappy heels that weren't too tall. I felt like I had a lot going on with the whole outfit, so I didn't want to overdo it with crazy heels or shoes that stood out too much.

I loved this theme, and it was really fun going as a couple and actually having a theme this year! We even had a little fun in the photo booth at the wedding....

Good times! For more ideas and inspiration for a Gatsby-themed costume, feel free to check out my Pinterest board here. There's video tutorials for twenties hair and make-up, and lots more!

Easy Burlap Frame Mat

Thought I would share an easy little crafty project I did this week. I picked up some burlap from JoAnn's to make some fun fall projects. I've been wanting to use it as kind of a mat in my little frame gallery. So the other night, I finally did it. And was actually really surprised how quick I whipped it together.

I've seen lots of different ways to add burlap to frames, but mine just might be the easiest. (Don't know if that's a good or bad thing. Ha!) 

Here's how I did it. I just started with a roll of the burlap fabric, and opened up my Ribba IKEA frame. Then I set the frame on top of the fabric and cut around it. I knew it wouldn't have to be perfect, because the edges would be covered by that small edge inside of the frame anyway. So I did ZERO measurements!

Then once I had a piece that would fit into the frame (see those imperfect edges? Doesn't matter!), I just took a black and white 5x7 photo I had taken and literally just taped the back of it onto the center of the burlap with a couple of pieces of scotch tape rolled up on the back. It's just enough to make it stay in the center. You can even use Scotch mounting photo squares or double-sided tape if you have it.

Then voila! Close up the frame, and there's your burlap mat. It only took me about 10-15 minutes. Now that's the kind of project I like!

I love it for fall and winter. It adds a nice bit of warmth to the frame wall.

Here's some wider shots of how it looks in the living room:

Pardon the glare. There was way too much light coming in from the windows to take a glare-free picture of these frames! But you get the idea.



I love burlap crafts. It's so easy to form and cut, and it has great texture. Super versatile! Can't wait to make more crafty things with it. :)

Linked up to:  Tatertots and Jello, The Pin Junkie, Suburbs Mama, Liz Marie Blog, Domestic Superhero.

More Foundation Prep Work

In preparation for our foundation getting fixed on Monday, the utility people stopped by again today and did some more marking of utilities in the yard. Not going to lie...our front yard kind of looks like an obstacle course now. It's getting real, people!

It's also making us a little more nervous. Who knew we had so many utilities around? These make for more obstacles to hit. I've seen HGTV and the DIY Network where they hit a line and it sets them back a day. Scary! We're hoping for the best, though! (10 points if you can spot Saleen in this picture).

Apparently the blue line is a water line, and the green line is some kind of sewer thing? I have no idea.

Trent talked to the guy again today briefly and found out that he will have to be home when they start Monday morning. We're planning on doing some prep work, like taking down my beloved dishes in the kitchen, and other breakable stuff. More to come this week!

Preparing for the Foundation Work

The day is fast approaching...Monday is when we are scheduled for the foundation work to start on our house. Today while Trent and I were at work, the utility people came and marked where the utility lines are in the yard. 

Please excuse our dead grass. We had a legit drought this summer.

Here are some "Before" pictures of the foundation. This side of the house is the side that we're getting fixed. You can see where it looks like it's crumbling and falling in.

It's kind of a mess, to say the least.

This picture really shows where it's cracked and falling apart, and how the insulation is seeping through:

But you might say this one looks even worse....



I can't believe the day is almost here! I'm both excited and nervous for it to be done. And I have so many questions before they start. Like what we need to do to prepare, etc. I will keep updating throughout the whole process. It should hopefully only take a few days. After it's done, if all goes well, we should have a much safer and more level house! And we'll be able to finish the hallway and redo all the rooms on that side of the house - the kitchen, back room, and laundry room...not all at once, though. :)