This week in crafting land..

Not only was I busy cooking, but I wanted to keep on spicing the house up.  The living room/dining room area is especially lacking in the decor department.  Here's what I did!

I found this DIY for yarn covered wine bottle vases and decided to give it a go.  I always knew there was something I could do with wine bottles but never had the inspiration--until I found someone else's idea!

Another DIY that I found was how to tint your own mason jars--because buying them is expensive!  I got some globbed mod podge at the bottom, but when they're filled with flowers or stones, you can't tell.

And finally, for the new table I pulled a few ideas in.  I've seen tons of people using cake stands to use as a centerpiece but those are expensive.  I just took one of my plates and hot glued a candle holder to the bottom.  It worked out pretty well!  And you can see one of my homemade tinted jars is on the table, too.


I linked up to Not Just a Housewife's link party

Our bathroom has needed a little love.  The guest bathroom is great, mostly because it doesn't need a whole lot except some soap.  Everything is just decoration.  But the master bathroom.... we've got the washer and dryer in there which already doesn't look good and all our daily hygiene stuff on the counter so trying to make it look pretty is rough.

I was reading Miss Indie this morning and she showed an awesome way of organizing your bathroom stuff with cake stands and it got me thinking...

I've had these cake stands since our wedding, because I had my sister help me out with making it.  It was a great idea, but now I've had these stands hanging around with nothing to do.  So I covered the inside circles with scrapbooking paper I picked up about a year ago (remember that papering everything stage?), hot glued a thrift store brandy glass between to the two layers, lined it with wedding cake lace and voila! Pretty solution to a clutter problem.

I'm considering a third layer, since I've got one more cake stand left.  Any thoughts on the final result?  

More Entryway Projects

This week has been full of projects and it's been awesome.  Whether it's finishing up school projects (which are now done!) or household projects,  I've been busy doing one thing or another.

Here is my most favorite of the week.  I found my inspiration on Pinterest several months ago and thought it was such a neat idea.  Mine isn't an exact replica, but I took the idea and ran with it.

I had so many scratched up CD's around the apartment that I've just been dragging from one place to the next, attempting to find a use for them.  Once something has expired from it's original use, I try to find a new one.  The fabric was left over from when my sister and I made bunting flags for my wedding.  As a side note--don't put that project off if you ever decide you must have bunting flags at your wedding. 

Another project I worked on this week was a wreath for the inside of the front door.  Using scrap fabric and some yarn I purchase over the winter, I think it goes well in this space.  I remembered having seen something use newspapers and weekly ads to create the base for a wreath, but I cannot seem to find the original tutorial.  So I just kind of made it up as I went along.  It's slightly lopsided, but I chose to leave it that way as I think it gives a nice "imperfect" look.

So that's the kind of thing I've been doing lately.  What about yourself?

Distractions

I should be working on homework and housework right now, but see what I'm doing instead? 

The other day, Miss Indie was talking about a photo editing site called PicMonkey that she had discovered and I couldn't help myself but try it out.  It's so fun to be able to mess around with all the neat effects and features.

That shopping bag is now my favorite.  I couldn't help myself when I saw it (I could, but you know sometimes...), even though I know I don't need anymore reusable shopping bags.  I'm certainly going to have to limit my needless purchases with so many shopping centers so readily available close by.

What fun things do you find to distract yourself from what you should be doing?

A festival, perhaps

With Coachella happening over the last few weeks, everyone seems to be in the music festival mood.  I love music festivals but I haven't really been able to locate any good ones on our little island.  I think that's something we'll have to travel to the mainland for, as if festivals aren't expensive enough as it is.

Shirt: Urban Outfitters

Bandau: VS

Belt: Somewhere in London (H&M?)

Skirt: Thrifted

Earrings: Birthday present!

If I were going to a festival anytime soon, this is probably what I would be wearing.  All elements are incredibly breathable (except that massive belt, perhaps) and make for a fun "I'm going to be in hippie land and enjoy my free spirit" feeling--especially with these neat earrings!  About that belt for a second, I bought it four years ago when I was traveling Europe and haven't worn it once in the states.  I figured it was about time.  

When accidents make for the best surprises

When Erik and I got engaged, I immediately set out to looking for absolutely everything we would need to pull this thing off.  We had about a 2.5 month engagement (AH!) and had to get everything done as fast as we could.

One thing I really wanted to do was find mis-matched dining ware at thrift stores.  I made some great finds, shopping at Goodwill as often as I could and finding pink/green/blue/red tagged items whenever those were 50% off.  And then I found out the town we lived in at the time did a Plate Project, so we could just borrow mis-matched plates, cups, silverware, napkins... everything.  Amazing, right?

Well I ended up with all these plates and bowls that I had started picking up.  I realized, however, that a lot of these plates are gorgeous and would definitely earn a place in our home.  So I picked through all the ones I liked and re-donated the ones that were leftovers.  

These are my favorite dishes and I have a lot of little plates, which makes eating reasonable servings a tad bit easier.  One other thing I have ended up with a lot of after the wedding (and not so much by accident) is lavender.  So much lavender... 

More mason jars

I know I've mentioned my obsession with keeping glass jars from absolutely everything around.  I go through lots of pickles, so we end up with tons of pickle jars.  When we moved, it was really sad to have to sort through them and keep only the best looking ones.  The rest landed in the recycling center for some other use.  I was slightly heartbroken.

I realized after that experience that I need to find more uses for my jars so I don't feel like they are just taking up much needed cupboard space (which is lacking in our apartment).  I went searching for some projects that would utilize jars and fabric scraps, when this one from FellowFellow really caught my eye.

               FellowFellow

While the original project is for votives, I was thinking to use them to hold pens, flowers, etc.  Anything to get more color and prettiness into this house, while using up scraps of fabric and all my random jars.

               FellowFellow

I'll still make some for votives, though.  They're too beautiful not to.

 

For all those fabric scraps...

Because I love finding beautiful fabric to use for many of the various projects I end up doing, I also end up with a lot of little bits.  Those odds and ends are difficult to find good uses for but if you're anything like me, you won't throw any of them away.

On the hunt for something to use those pretty pieces for, I found this gorgeous bit of inspiration!  Anj at Snowy Bliss offers a tutorial on how to make long stemmed fabric roses, complete with several gorgeous photos to gawk at. 

Finally, something to do with all those extras. I can't wait to get settled from our move so I can make some!

Happy Friday!  



 

Repurposing mason

I am obsessed with saving glass jars.

And my husband absolutely cannot stand it.  The most recent jars I added to the collection I had to rescue out of the trash bin because they had ickies inside.  "But I can USE it!" is usually my reply to whatever else might be said about the poor jar.  Sanitized and happy, it gets stashed away in the cupboard set aside specially for my finds.

I'm often told that my hoarding is reminiscent of my great grandma, whom we lived with for several years when I was a child.  A woman of the Great Depression, she saved e.v.e.r.y.t.h.i.n.g.  At seven years old, it seemed strange to save yogurt containers, clothespins and pieces of wrapping paper.  But now at a point in my life when I want to learn to reuse, repurpose and recycle, returning to the habits my great grandma developed doesn't seem odd at all.  In fact, it's smart.

Those pickle jars are now filled with other goods, such as nuts, granola and coffee.  The bathrooms are becoming more organized, tossing bobby pins and cotton swabs into their topless glass homes.  I even scavenged for more during trips to the recycling center, to be used at our wedding.  And I love it.

What things are you known for obsessively repurposing?