Crafty Things

Why can't I live in the friggin' MOMENT?! Ugh. I was listening to one of my podcasts this morning and a guest of the show was chatting about her life now as an empty nester since her triplets have all recently left for college. She said she sleeps in, goes to the gym, goes out to ladies lunch, is remodeling the house, and overall is pretty "lazy". Omg that sounded so great! I found myself thinking: "wow, after my kids leave for college I can't wait for that time!" What? That's crazy.*

Anyway, if I was an empty nester right now I would spend my week making these crafts for my friend Megan's upcoming birthday:

Heart-pattern Friendship Bracelet via The Purl Bee.

A Handmade Giant Flower via Green Wedding Shoes.

This adorable sprinkle cake via KissMyCakes...

And I'd make some super cute bunting to mark the occasion...{via ohcrafts}

*I've sortof already had my "empty nest" time: aka "funemployment" but that was riddled with guilt and no money so obvs not a very desirable lifestyle.

AOTD: books & dollhouses

AH-mazing topographical-looking sculptures carved from books by Guy Laramee. {via HonestlyWTF}

This dollhouse is ridiculously fun. One time I turned a Lucky Charms cereal box into a troll house (with elevator, thankyouverymuch), but I never accomplished anything quite like this house by Nicole from Making It Lovely. {via Decor8}

Happy New Years Eve!!!

One of my top two favorite holidays. It might not be too late for you to make this craft if you live near a Michael's and already have your party appetizers made (unlike moi) - I just think these are so brilliant and fun (from Martha Stewart, of course)...

Sequin-Wrapped Cocktail Party Rings:

Christmas Craft: Modern Trees

Check out this great idea for "Modern Trees" to decorate your home:

Supplies needed:

• Papier-mache cones, available in the doll making section of the craft store
• Electric drill and assorted drill bits
• Fine-grit sandpaper
• Matte white or any color spray paint
• Battery-power tea lights
  

I think they're fabulous! {by Curbly via Craft}

Bookworm Christmas

This is for my friend Josiane:

Totally adorable.

Re-purposed Horse Stall Doors

LOVE how they re-purposed these doors from a horse stall to add character to simple bar and pantry shelving. {via ApartmentTherapy}

Paper Elegance

How awesome is this and how fabulous would it be if you used glitter paper?! I'm thinking of so many different ways you could make one of these paper chandeliers: for a nursery, holiday, party, etc. I like the monochromatic look here the best - maybe you could do shades of cranberry for Christmas? And it doesn't require hardly any special materials other than jump rings, a circle punch, dowels, paper and glue. And maybe a good movie to watch while you're putting it all together :)

{from LilSproutCreations via Dooce}

Hi Again

Wow so I guess I needed a little blog break! Hiatus = sometimes necessary. Lots of moving parts and pieces around our life lately, and I just really needed to step away from the internet and focus last week. A few things got accomplished that were on my to-do list forever!

1. Save-the-Dates are printed, and almost 100% addressed.
2. DJ has been booked.
3. Laundry, finally got done.
4. Scored some majorly overdue wardrobe staples just in time to get Macy's sale prices.
5. We found and bought some early Christmas gifts! (my goal is to be done by Thanksgiving - lofty, I know, it just makes December so much more enjoyable when that's done ahead of time).

Don't know about You Guys, but I'm really loving this time of year. I'm finding it hard not to get excited for Christmas too. Don't worry, I'll be over it by December and lusting for Summer by then. I'm just so good at living in the moment! (subtle sarcasm.) Anyway, how about some more fun Fall things?

How amazing does this Pull-Apart Cinnamon Pumpkin Bread look? {from Sunny-Side Up in SD}

I'm thinking about making this Honeycrisp Apple Sangria for my next shindig. {from Nutmeg Nanny}

Must make this Pumpkin Roll! {from Sprinkle Bakes - she has some amazing baking stuff on here}

Love this Apple Rose Pie. Utterly time-consuming, I'm sure. But what if you took each rosette and made little mini-pies instead? How adorable would that be?

You Guys, I LOVE acorns! They're a bit harder to find in the NW than they were on the East Coast, but if you start looking you can find acorn hot-spots :)

Check out how pretty this effect is - probably a bit messy, but great results! {via myblessedlife}

Later Dudes!

Things that made me think of...

Some of you know that I started this blog back in the day for two reasons: 1.) To kill time at my BOOO-ring contract job. It was seriously boring. You know how contract jobs go where you are on contract because basically they don't have enough work to justify hiring a full-time person, so...it's the nature of contracts sometimes. But anyway, I had to do something. Reason #2.) To share things that I found on the internet and thought were cool with my friends.

Lately I've found some neat things...

This one is for my sister:

This one's for Megan (gurl I think you would DIE for this wall art):

{via housetohome}

This one is for Kim:

(we can relate, right Kim!?) {via icanrelate}

This one's for Paula:

{via someecards}

This one's for Wendi:

Isn't this adorbs for a little girls room?

This one's for my mom:

Isn't this cute? Could fit any size and can be embroidered with anything! {via hazelnuts}

This one's for Josiane:

{Colorwheel by Jonathan Whitfill via ttuartalum}

Somebody loves paper projects

And it's *THIS LADY*. Made some more paper earrings. So easy when you have the right tools. This Martha Stewart Circle Cutter has paid for itself...I used that and a regular circle paper punch, with some fun printed scrapbook paper. (BTW, I've had this exact jar of decoupage since the 6th grade when I discovered this stuff and went crazy collaging all things)

.............................................................................
Makin' Paper Beads:
1.) Glue your paper together front to back and let dry (I usually set a heavy book on top so it doesn't buckle).
2.) Cut out your larger circles. Then using the small circle punch, eyeball where you want the inner circle punched out and just go for it.
3.) I have an itty bitty hole punch (not pictured) that I use to make a hole for the findings to attach.
4.) I coated my paper in decoupage & let dry. You won't need to do this if you used really heavy cardstock, but it still gives it a nice sheen.
5.) Add your findings and you're good to go!
.............................................................................

Ta-da! They're not indestructible given that they're still made out of paper and all, but really fun if you want to add some more options to your earring collection.

Huzzah and happy humid Friday Y'all!

Talkin' 'bout PROJECTS

Yes, Projects that take days and days and hurt-ey backs to complete. But I know there are people out there who just get shit done (you know these people) and I am not one of them. I take FOREVER to do anything. I annoy myself. But anyway, 3/5 of my painting projects are done right now. 3/6 if you count the headboard project I'm planning on. But let's just call it 3/5 so I get a better sense of accomplishment, shall we?

Anyway, I've had this little shelf since the day I stole it from my parents house (thanks Mom!). It came with me to college apartments, then other apartments, and it's seen a lot of coffee rings and make-up and hairspray and general abuse. So after I bought the sander, and the paint, and all the stuff that goes with a painting project, I got to it. I wish I had a better "before" pic of the shelf, but just know it had a ton of scratches (thanks a lot Door 2 Door moving!) and it was really sad.

The top of this shelf is where I always dump my beat-up purse of the moment, and in this picture is a bottle of my new favorite nail polish: Sephora by OPI's "Spark-tacular". It's like confetti on your nails! It's also housing my self-help books. Don't judge!

For paint I used Martha's semi-gloss "Tailor's Chalk" for the white and "Enamelware" for the back inside of the shelves for a little contrast.

It is soooo satisfying to see a crisp clean white shelf instead of a junky one. I also painted both bedside tables to match but they're not quite complete yet (still need new hardware for one). Let me know if you guys have any tips for quicker painting. I listened to my podcasts to make the time go by, but it still took forever!

Ask MansionMogul XI!

You Guys, the painting project I mention here has foreals been on my to-do list for OVER 4 years. Ridiculous.

And here's a link to Bunnies for Birthdays. So cute! Also: Via Tribunali.

Now I'm all outta questions for Ask MansionMogul so shoot me some more Y'All!

Cheap DIY Upgrade

Since when is carpet in the bathroom, an upgrade? Well, it is when you have faux brick linoleum.

BEFORE:

AFTER:

I wouldn't normally decide to 80's-style carpet the bathroom, but seriously there was something about that faux brick that made me just not want to see any of it, ever. I bought this remnant from a carpet store and it was really easy to cut it to fit with a box cutter. Someday if I find a great rug that fits in there I might replace it so it looks a little bit more modern, but for now, I'm diggin' it. That there's your Cheap DIY Upgrade I completed this 3-day weekend!

Cubicle Craft

I decided I'm going to start calling these "cubicle crafts" - so to all my peeps stuck in an office right now, here is another delightful one to help pass the time - enjoy! {via Craft}

Download the pieces to cut out and create a Paper Nyan Cat Machine here. If you have no idea what this is in reference to, and you're bored, then check this out.

Crafts of the Day

I totally want to make one of these of Pearl! {via Craft}

There Martha goes again, making awesome crafts...this is just a cookie sheet wrapped in fabric. Brills! (also note: anyone who is using spray-mount for the first time, it is VERY messy. Use it outside for sure on a surface that you don't mind having get sticky!) {via Martha}

Memories. Ladies - amiright? If you were a nerd kid like me who was terrible at sports, you probs made a bunch of these bracelets...maybe while watching Back to the Future for the one billionth time. Sorry about taping this to the coffee table mom! I kinda want to make some again.

I think I'm becoming obsessing with all felt crafts.

Penguins {via allthingssmall}

Houses {via napkittenpattern}

Gnomes {via allthingssmall}

Cute, easy, felt flowers. Would be so cute on pillows! {via FWYTID}

I'm Free!!! (for a month)

Whew. Just finished Summer Quarter, and now I get an entire month break until Fall. YAY! I feel so free to do WHATEVAHIWANT. I still have freelance design to keep up with, but other than that I'll be filling my days with socializing, home improvement, crafts, and wedding stuff.

List & Comment Friday: Ambitions for Over Break:
1.) Sand and paint my cruddy old bedroom furniture. I HAVE to do this now before the weather turns. For example: we've got mismatched bedside tables. I want to re-vamp them so they don't look like hand-me-downs!

2.) Design our Wedding "brand". Oy. I am really trying not to be a perfectionist on this project to the point of paralyzed. I think the majorness of the whole event makes me put pressure on myself for it to be the best wedding design the world has ever seen. It doesn't have to be perfect, it just has to be "us". Loving this invite for example (this is mostly more "me" than "him", but lucky for me, I'm in charge of this task!)...

3.) Frame and hang some stinkin' art already. We have so many fab pictures from Europe that I'd love to have printed and frame, wouldn't they look great? We still have almost nothing on our walls, even though we moved over 6 months ago. How do other people get it done so quickly? I love how all these tiny frames right next to each other make one big piece of artwork.

4.) Stay tuned for a really fun storytelling of how I found a piece of wood for "free" on the sidewalk and am going to turn it into a headboard. I want to paint it with a border similar to this one, but add a pattern in the middle.

5.) Sign up for Dance Classes. The fiance very sweetly got us certificates to take a dance class, and I really really want us to learn at least one dance. Now I feel like I finally have some time to sign us up!

side-note: culturally, don't you think it's crucial that Keene watches this movie with me?

*Something* to Post...at least

I'm at a loss for what to post today, so I thought how about just the last 5 things I pinned on my Pinterest board:

I like how this combines my want for "tea candles" and "mason jars" on a wedding tablescape.

What a joyful photo. Remind me to "pop" my foot up for this perfect picture pose! {by A Bryan Photo}

This is ridiculous. And I'm still loving watermelon right now. Watermelon cake!

Baby barrette necklace. I totally had these! {via Aunt Peaches}

{via Aunt Peaches}

These Brian Atwood heels are ridiculous and I would totally wear them.