{ Well, that was unplanned }

Thirteen days without a post! I'll have you know that I have a draft of a very respectable and oh-gee-don't-I-have-my-ducks-in-a-row post about how I made myself a chore chart and it's revolutionized my addiction to penchant for housework, and THEN my sweet mother-in-law gave me a book for Mother's Day. It's this book, which I've been wanting for months, and she didn't even know it but thought it looked perfect for me!

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I started reading and I.can't.stop. I can't stop, folks! As a matter of fact, this book prompted my spontaneous decision to take down EVERY SINGLE PHOTO hanging on EVERY WALL in our entire home and start over. I will spare you the juicy details of how I traced templates of every single frame onto paper grocery bags, spent days tweaking the arrangement on the wall, and then conquered my fear of the level and created a gallery wall all by myself. {Or maybe I won't. It all depends on whether or not I ever get around to taking photos, editing them, and uploading them to blogger.} This book is also responsible for several new pieces of art made by yours truly and a new look for the bathroom. The only thing that stopped me was the realization that when your home is only 900-ish square feet, it starts looking "full"--too busy--really quickly. It doesn't take much decorating to make our living/dining room area feel "loud." I actually removed four photos from my new gallery wall the day after I put them up, and I'm in the process of editing down the rest of the decor to help "quiet the space." {Thank you, Nester, for that concept.}

 

My hope is to share photos, just because I'm so darn excited and happy with how things turned out, not because I think it's amazing or that y'all are dying to see it. But that does require me to remember to take photos when the light is decent, and then to have time to upload them and write a coherent blog post. I'll have you know {sheesh, second time I've said that today!} that I am putting off washing the dishes--perhaps till tomorrow--to write this post. You're welcome. You should feel special because I'm kind of addicted to cleanliness in the form of a clean, tidy kitchen.

 

There are heaps of photos on my camera that I want to share--Mother's Day with the cutest little chubby almost-11-month-old girl {can you believe that!!}, and other things that I can't even remember because they happened so long ago. Something about springtime and going on evening walks and spending afternoons at the park makes blogging take a back burner. This week has been cold and rainy, hence blogging is actually happening. ;-)

 

By the way, do you have any recommendations for good, enjoyable fiction for Mike or myself to read? We've finally squeezed in a wee vacation next month, just a few days on the Washington coast, and we want to read something fun and light while we're there, but we need suggestions! Think Robin McKinley-type stuff for both of us...plus L.M. Montgomery/Louisa May Alcott for me, and those crazy sci-fi books {Xanth, I think?} for Mike. Thanks bunches!

 

And now, I'm going to upload some of those photos before Little Miss wakes from her nap. Cheerio!

{ Help, My Fingers are Stuck Together! }

My glue gun and I have been busy during naptime.

 

Don't kid yourself...it's taken me over a week to finish these two super easy, super fast crafts. And that's even with leaving dirty dishes piled on the counter and little bits of leaves and grass stuck in the carpet for days. Never take for granted all the free time you have before babies--even if it doesn't seem like much, it is PURE GOLD! Even if it's only 15 minutes at a time!

 

First off, we have a book page wreath {tutorial here}. I was itching to do a new wreath, and have been toying with how to fill up the blank space on this wall for awhile. I tore apart on old wreath and used the wreath form, and I already had an old thrifted copy of Little Women that was torn up from a previous project. I used a red satin flower from the old wreath {tutorial here} and made a green felt flower {tutorial here} to add some festive flair. The only thing I had to buy was more glue sticks for the glue gun!

 

 

 Next up, wine cork coasters. Mike and I have saved the corks from most of the wine bottles we've opened since our dating days. Some are displayed in vintage canning jars, but the collection is starting to get a little out of hand. We're always short on coasters when we have guests, so I whipped these up in a jiffy. They are plenty big enough for even a giant coffee mug to rest comfortably. and they are surprisingly stable. It was fun to pick out the most visually interesting corks and arrange them so that the ones with bigger patterns were on the outside, so more of the cork "art" is visible on the finished coaster.

 

 

You can see the glue up close, but I don't really care. I'm also not sure how well they will hold up, especially with repeated exposure to hot beverages. A tutorial I saw online said you HAVE to use crazy glue, NOT hot glue, but I tried that and the corks refused to stick together. Go figure.

 

Christmas is only two weeks away! Can you believe it? I'm guessing these will be the only "Christmas" crafts I do this year, but that's okay because in a condo this small, it doesn't take much "stuff" to decorate for the holidays!

 

What have you been making lately?

 



{ DIY Bonanza! }

It's no secret that I've become a big fan of interior decorating the last year or two...especially the do-it-yourself variety. Fueled partly by necessity {budget}, partly by desire {I enjoy being craft-y and making pretty things}, and partly by curiosity {how on earth did she make a starburst mirror out of cereal boxes?!}, I regularly prowl the interwebs for inspiration.

A few weeks ago I hit a veritable goldmine. A treasure trove, if you will. Vast new horizons of DIY gorgeousness opened up before me when I found Home Stories A to Z: How to Decorate {For the DIY'er} Series. It's a 30-day series of posts on how to decorate beautifully and on the cheap, by 30 different ladies who do it well. Really, really well. You don't want to miss this!

From old friends like the Nester {I feel like I know her, I've probably read most of her site over the past year}, to House of Smiths and Centsational Girl {never heard of them before!}, my head is spinning with ideas and inspiration. Go ahead. You know you want to.

Check out the How to Decorate {For the DIY'er} Series--on the double!

{ Cake Pops }

For your prayers, comments, and just for being with me in this, thank you.

It's always with a bit of trepidation that I hit "publish" after writing a bare-my-soul sort of post like the last one. A blog is such a public forum, so beyond my control: Every word I write is available for anyone to see. As a girl who struggles with authenticity and vulnerability, who has spent decades trying to convince other people she's perfect, this is a good exercise for me. Nerve-wracking at times, but good. Thank you all for the grace you've extended to me, for reading and responding and being part of this journey I'm on.

For today, I'm moving on to something a little lighter and oh-so-delicious:

Cake pops!

Have you heard of cake pops? Have you ever had one? Ohhhhh mercy, they are good!! A few months ago, one of my coworkers brought in some Starbucks cake pops. I had never heard of such a thing: Little balls of deliciously dense, sweet, moist cake in a hard candy shell, all on a popsicle stick. Yum! I was hooked. I hardly ever go to Starbucks....who am I kidding, I don't go out much period, and I thought these were just one of those amazing little Starbucks-only treats that reminds me why they're the king of coffee shops.

Last Sunday I went to a baby shower, and...what's this? Cake pops! Two platters of them! But not the Starbucks kind. I couldn't find the hostess fast enough to ask her where she got them, and lo and behold: she had made them. I hope my eyes didn't pop out of my head--I can make these? I can have luscious little cakes-on-a-stick anytime I want? Any flavor? Any time? Me? And my new friends cake pops? Yes!!

As a result of this revelation, I've been scouting the internet for cake pops, and you know what? I'm late to this party. Apparently cake pops {or cakesicles, whichever you like} swept the blogging world by storm a few years ago {I've seen a few people credit Bakerella with lighting this fire--you can see her initial cake pops post here}, and I completely missed it. Things are probably better this way, considering that I'm concerned about my ability to fit into my bathing suit next month as it is. But you can bet your boots that once we're back from Kauai, I'll be trying to justify baking up a new variation of cake pops for all kinds of events! Take a peek at some of the glorious, mouthwatering, sweet-tooth-pleasing, eye-candy worthy cake pops I've found: 

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The internet is positively bursting with cake pops recipes: Here, here, here, and here {this last is an entire website dedicated to cake pops recipes--be sure to take a look!}, to name a few.

Have you had cake pops? Have you made cake pops? What's your favorite recipe? Any tricks for a newbie?

{ Crafty Christmas recap }

One of my goals this Christmas was to make some of the gifts we gave. I've always loved the idea of handmade Christmas gifts; one year I knitted scarves for all the women I gave gifts to, but that has been the extent of my holiday craftiness. This year, I made little fabric flower pins as stocking stuffers for all the girls, via this tutorial. I also made smaller flower magnets for a few gifts. Super cute, super easy!

{ Ikea bedside table, Painted }

I've had a plain white Ikea bedside table for ages. It has been with me through four moves, two beds, and a name change. Little White Nightstand is booooooorriiiiiiiiiing...not to mention that having one stark white piece in a bedroom of dark wood furniture is a little jarring.

I forgot to take "before" photos, so I apologize for the poor quality of the two pictures I present below to jog your memory:

It looks a lot worse in real life. Here it almost looks matchy. I promise it wasn't.

See? WHITE!

The internet is full of conflicting accounts regarding the feasibility of painting Ikea furniture--or melamine of any kind, for that matter. I really like the color in our hall, we had an extra quart, it goes well with our bedspread, and I figured I had nothing to lose. After removing the drawer, door, and shelf, sanding every possible part, and spreading the pieces across our balcony, the transformation began.

Let me just say that "primer + two coats" turned into "primer + three coats." And that wind is not our friend when we are painting outdoors. And that when you don't get started till 11:30 A.M., chances are you won't be done by the time it's dark.

But I digress.

Here is the finished product. What do you think?

I like it, but oddly enough it's not quite the rich, saturated color it is on the hallway walls. It's definitely an improvement over clinic white, but I think ideally I'd paint it even darker. It's still the oddball of our bedroom furniture; it's just not as odd as it was before.

I'm pretty sure it will scratch and scuff if we're not super-careful with it. I'm not terribly worried, since it is currently very lightly used. If it becomes a high-traffic piece, it'll probably look trashy in no time! For now, I'm happy with the results.