Preparing my DVD Collection for Tiny Living

I finally finished transferring all of my DVD collection into plastic sleeves. I love it! I am saving so much space, which will make a big difference when I have my tiny house.

Here is what they looked like before:

I had them stacked on my bookshelves and on top of the TV.

And this is the after:

They all fit in a paper box, and there is still more room!

I bought these sleeves from Amazon. If you are patient you can get them for $11.99. Eventually I'll either buy storage containers or just build a shelf for them into my tiny house. I haven't decided.

Fun fact: my dvds are arranged by year.

Why I Will Build My Tiny House on Wheels

I've made a really big decision regarding my tiny house this week!

Originally I did not want my tiny house on wheels. My plan was to buy some land and build a tiny house on a foundation. My logic being that I would have my own space away from others and just live in peace. I was planning to commute up to an hour to the job I have currently so that I could live out in the country.

I made this plan last year sometime. Since then I have paid off my student loans and I'm a few months away from being completely debt free. And I've been reading and learning a lot about tiny house options.

A couple weeks ago I started feeling less confident in my decision to build my tiny house on a foundation. The more I thought about building on a trailer the better I felt. I asked my friends and family what they thought. I posted the question on Facebook. The response was overwhelming! Most people agreed that a trailer is the best idea for me. My friend Nate summed it up perfectly when he said, "With a house that small there's no reason not to. What you gain by putting it on a foundation isn't as much as what you lose by not making it mobile."

On Sunday I officially decided that my tiny house will be on wheels. I started looking at trailer sizes prices too! I'm still not sure what I'm doing there. I would like to tell you why I'm going to put my house on wheels. I'll list my main reasons below.

1. Freedom. Besides my job I have nothing tying me down to anywhere. It seems silly for me to choose to tie myself to some land and a house when I'm so young!

2. Cost. Since I'm no longer buying land I will be saving a significant amount of money. Hooray!

3. Dreams. I don't want to be an administrative assistant forever. Ultimately I'd like to work outdoors. If I build on a foundation I'm limiting my job options to one area. If my house is on wheels I can go where ever the jobs are!

Well that's it! I'm really excited. I feel so great about my choice. Plus how fun will it be to learn to tow my own house?

Sewing for My Best Kids!

It's the post you've all been waiting for, well at least my Facebook friends have been waiting.

My sisters and I took their kids fabric shopping so that I could make them some fun outfits. The only fabric that the kids didn't pick was bodice and pocket fabric and lining on the Sally Dresses for the girls and the pocket fabric and lining for the boys Sunny Day Shorts.



The first ones I made were the circle skirts, which was a good call because they were easy and got me really excited for sewing! You can find the tutorial I used here. Easiest skirt of my life! And the girls LOVED them.

Eleanor

Kayla

Mackenzie

Next I made their Sally Dresses. When I saw this pattern I knew I had to have it. I even paid $9.95 for it. I never pay for PDF patterns! This one is totally worth it. There is even two different sleeve options, but sleeves are a pain and I'm lazy. Eleanor originally didn't want to try this dress on, but once she didn't she didn't want to change out of it! You can buy the pattern here.

Eleanor

Kayla
 

Mackenzie

Finally I made the boys shorts. This post from Handmade Frenzy inspired me and then I used this Sunny Day Shorts pattern. I also added pockets and lengthened the shorts. Sadly I have no idea if they fit because my poor boys were sick, they didn't get to come to Easter dinner.

I think the shorts turned out pretty fun!

David

Thomas

I am so proud of the clothes I made for the kids! They turned out so cute! I was kind of sad to see them leave my possession, but it was worth it to see their faces and watch them enjoy my creations. I love that I was able to express my love for the kids by making them something.

This final picture is the best one of today and just needs to be shared:

Africa Dress

First off, I'm calling it the Africa dress because the fabric print actually says the word "Africa" all over it. Now, keeping in mind the taking good pictures of myself, by my self, is not my best skill, here are the pictures:

Above is how I wore the dress to church (my tights are gray). I received lots of compliments! Some from people who didn't even know I had made the dress (the best kind)! In all reality I thought maybe the dress wouldn't make it through church. While getting ready (putting on my coat, moving things around in my car, etc) I kept hearing seams popping! At least that's what it sounded like. Everything appears to be fine and fully in tact, so I don't know what was happening. 

Overall I'm really proud of the dress. I can't remember the last time I made something for myself and actually completed it!

Because I'm downsizing I decided that my fabric stash must fit in a small tub (27 quarts). That means if I don't use my fabric I don't get to buy more. I bought this fabric over a year ago, I'm glad I finally found it's purpose. On to the next project!

Oh and here is my favorite picture from the bunch:

Going Through My Vinyl

Today I was possessed with the desire to go through my vinyl. And it went really well! I always have a hard time getting rid of vinyl because some of it can't be found in any other format. This time I went through it with my tiny house goals in mind and it was really easy. I got rid of about a fourth of my collection. Huge deal for me!

These are the ones I'm getting rid of (same pile, different angle):

 And these are the ones I'm keeping:

Back to Blogging

I haven't blogged since January! But I've decided that I need to resurrect my blog. I'm working towards building my own tiny house and would like to blog about that.

I think one of the first things I posted when I started this blog was my hair cut. It seems appropriate to bring the blog back to life with a hair cut and a perm. Here you go: 

On My Nightstand

So right now I'm reading five books and I have one waiting to be read. Then I have two other books that I've finished, but haven't put back on the shelf. Plus my journal. It's getting a little crowded.

Above you see my current reads, plus my journal (which I write in every night). They are upside down because that's just the way they get placed right before a fall asleep. I'll list them for you in the order I started reading them.

Mountains of Memory: A Fire Lookout's Life in the River of No Return Wilderness by Don Scheese

John Steinbeck's short novels includes: Tortilla Flat, The Red Pony, Of Mice and Men, The Moon is Down, Cannery Row and The Pearl.

Unbroken by Laura Hillenbrand

Speaking Ill of the Dead: Jerks in Montana History

Fire Lookouts of the Northwest by Ray Kresek

I've finished reading two of the above books and one of them is hopefully going to be read soon.

The finished ones are:

The Message by Lance Richardson

An Affair to Remember: The Remarkable Love Story of Katharine Hepburn and Spencer Tracy by Christopher Andersen

And next in line is:

Armour: Divine Protection in a Darkening World by Kim B. Clark
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The Message was good, my grandma let me borrow it. It's about a guy who crosses over into the next life while in a coma. Very powerful.

I really enjoyed An Affair to Remember. We all know I love Katharine Hepburn. I also love Spencer Tracy. I think it's amazing to see how they influenced each other. Also they were both incredible actors.

via amyhollingsworth.com

Another great book I recently finished is The Simple Faith of Mister Rogers: Spiritual Insights from the World's Most Beloved Neighbor by Amy Hollingsworth. I LOVE Fred Rogers. I'm certain that he was one of the most Christ-like men to even grace this earth. He was so wise and I love reading about how lovely he was to people.

What have you been reading? Are you learning lots?