my life in photos- week 2.

Happy Monday, dolls! Sorry for my lack of posting this week. Work was out of control busy, and it was 85 degrees all week. It is now back to 34 degrees, so I knew I had to be out enjoying it. I did find plenty of time to Instagram though. There is always time for Instagram.



1. First crocus of the spring!

2. Sweetie Newman, one of my fur babies.
3. Jelly beans before bed. Love Easter time!

4. Sexy? Long hair!

5. Bucky, one of our tree faces.

6. Brunswicks extra toes.

7. Delicious Ocean Roll. MMMMMMM.

8. My friend Toby helping me play Yahtzee.
9. First frappe of the season!

10. Newman learning to make Brunswick Stew.

11. Grants first IPhone photo- of him attacking me.

12. Productive Sunday- refinished an old hutch.

Tomorrow I will be posting photos of my hutch redo, and DIY instructions.

Happy Instagraming- xxx

 

 

 



My life in photos- week 1

I religiously follow the blog of Jenni from Story of My Life and I just can't get enough of her. Every week she does a "Best of Instagram" post, and I've really started to look forward to them, and so I've decided I shall do my own!

Yesterday it was 76 degrees out. As someone born and raised in New England, I can tell you there has never been a time that I've ventured to the beach on a mid-March day and not been able to park. Anywhere. It was filled with beach combers and sunbathers (even though the ocean is still a brisk 40 degrees). Eventually I did park, and walked the beach, enjoying extremely early summer weather for us New Englanders. I can't imagine living in a landlocked area. The ocean is amazing, stunning, and vast. It is my calming factor and in some ways, what I worship.

1. love Galileo thermometers. decorative AND helpful.

2. rocky shore at North Beach

3. start fish found among the pools
4.&5. hookahing on the deck. perfect way to end a beautiful sunday
6. one of my parents babies, tosh.


Have a great week, all. A new DIY project will be here soon! xxx

To wallpaper or not to wallpaper?

This is a question I've been asking myself, for quite some time. And I decided, yes, yes, and yes! Originally I was going to wallpaper the risers of my stairs, but decided that since we plan on reselling the house, that wouldn't be my wisest decision.

So, I started my search. What could I wallpaper? The better question is what CAN'T I wallpaper? I settled on Grants old dresser, which is a piece of furniture he brought into our relationship. It sits next to where I lay my head every night, so I have to stare at it. Today was my day off, and it was 70 degrees, so it was time for a change!

So, lets start with your supply list:

 Wallpaper (mine c/o: Graham Brown)

Spray adhesive

Exacto knife

Screwdriver
Paint/Primer
Paint brush/Foam brush
Polyuerethane

80 grit sandpaper

1. Remove your drawers from dresser.
2. Sand down everything. (Don't worry too much about this, but any sanding helps.)
3. Prime the base of the dresser
4. Remove the hardware from the drawer fronts
5. Lay out the drawer, face down, on the wallpaper. With your exacto knife, cut around all four sides. I think it is best to leave extra around the edges, as it can easily be removed later.

6. Spray your adhesive onto the front of your drawer and the back of your wallpaper. Wait until adhesive becomes tacky, then position your wallpaper on the drawer front. Rub your hands along the front to adhere and prevent bubbling.
7. Paint your base it's first coat of paint.

8. While that dries, cut the excess wallpaper off the sides of the drawers.
9. Paint your base it's second coat.
10. With a foam brush, paint a THIN coat of poly onto the wallpapered drawer fronts. Let dry for 3-4 hours.
11. Once dry, reattach hardware (or attach new hardware, as I did) and replace drawers.

I did a distressed look on mine, because I have a small obsession with distressed furniture of any kind. I love the way it looks in any room. If you want to distress, simply use the same sandpaper you used in the beginning. Lightly rub until some paint/wallpaper starts to come off. Don't get too picky with your sanding, distressed furniture is supposed to look like it aged on its own.

I will definitely post a picture once it is up in the bedroom and set up. Husband and I were just too sleepy to do this tonight.

Happy Papering! xxx

Love is in the air

Incase you were wondering, the reason our "Love Story" is incomplete, is because I am waiting until our wedding to tell the whole story. Our wedding is this coming June 9th- so we are in full planning mode. Today, a few of my gorgeous ladies and I made the invites for my bridal shower. I know, I know, this event should be a surprise to me- but I detest surprises. So, I help! And lets get real, if I didn't help there'd be no tutorial, so it benefits us all.

So to start, let me just say that 2 of my girls own a Cricut. If you have never seen this machine, it's a godsend for the crafty folk. We used the Cricut to cut out the umbrella, and the words Bridal Shower. But, there are always ways around this. I found a ton of umbrella stencils online that you could use to cut out, and you could use a stencil to do the words if need be.

1. Supplies: Scissors, glue, ribbon, words and card. The card was printed in a regular printer from a Word document.

2./3. Glue your umbrella to the middle of the card. If you have cut out words, apply glue to the back and stick them on either side of the umbrella.

4. Apply a small amount of glue to the edges at the bottom and stick on your ribbons. Once the glue has dried, cut your ribbon edges off. Done!

Since everything was preprinted and cut, this took us 15 minutes. You could use this for a bridal shower like us, or a baby shower, with just a change of colors.

The Power of Paint

Happy Friday! I wish I could get as excited as everyone else about Friday, but I have to work 9-5 on Saturdays- so today is no good for me. Alas- spring is quickly approaching. Looking for an easy, inexpensive DIY project with a lot of punch? (yes, Christa, yes!) Why not update your kitchen? Incase you haven't ventured into the novel that is "My Home", you haven't seen the wonders a few coats of paint can do to a kitchen. Let me give you an easy visual:

Time consuming, but cheap and effective. Here is a step by step for you.

1. Remove all doors and hardware. Buy a good degreaser and wash, wash, wash. Nothing prevents paint from adhering like grease. And your doors are dirty, trust me.
2. If your cabinets are finished (which they probably are), you need to sand. I apologize, I know sanding is awful. I have yet to try the primer sold that supposedly eliminates the sanding step, so I can't reccommend that to you.
3. Once sanded, find a well venetlated area to paint your doors and PRIME. While the primer dries on your doors, you will also need to prime the bases still attached to the walls. This step is pretty quick, since priming doesn't need to look perfect. If you're feeling ambitious, prime twice.
4. Once primer is dry, start the painting. My cabinets are painted with Benjamin Moore "Bare". We used less than a gallon for the whole kitchen. Alternate between painting your doors and your bases, and this will be more time effective for you. Once one is done, the other is usually ready for its next coat. I did three coats of paint to make sure I had complete coverage.
5. If paint is all you want, once it is dry you need to seal it. I used a spray polyuerethane. I antiqued my cabinets using a Minwax stain.
6. After you've sealed, it's best to let dry overnight. Once dry, add your hardware back on. I bought new knobs and pulls, since mine were gold and outdated. I also went to buy new hinges and DIED over the price. It would have cost me more than the whole rest of the project. FOR HINGES. So, I bought some spray paint that matched my new oil rubbed bronze hardware and spray painted them to match. $7.00 hinges.
7. Hang your doors! New kitchen! I also have added a new wall color and glass backsplash (clearly), but you can not believe what a difference the paint made. Even made me hate the floor and countertop a little less- though there will be no stopping me from ripping both out soon.


Happy Painting. xxx

Say "NO!" to bare walls.

Hallway display

It's been in the high 50's to mid 60's this week (for us New Englanders, this is summer like!), which means happy Christa, which means crafty Christa. SO- today we're talking about wall art. Something near and dear to my heart. I despise empty walls. What a waste. But if you're like me, sadly, there aren't unlimited funds. This doesn't mean you need to waste precious wall space! You can make gorgeous, unique wall art for a few dollars (or doll-hairs, as I like to say.) Here is what you need to do:

1. Get in your car! Head to A.C. Moore or Michaels, and Walmart.
2. Pick out some of your favorite scrapbook paper. They sell big books or seperates, and they range from $0.59 to $1.50. All will come in a 12x12.
3. Pick out some frames. I went to Walmart and got basic black frames for $0.96.
3. Decide on your hanging design, and lay out your frames. I knew that in the hallway I wanted to do a simple verticle line, and in the master bedroom I wanted more of an abstract grouping. Do this right at a dining room table, and you can position them as you like, and move them around until you are 100% pleased.
4. Decide what paper will go where. Again, in the hallway I wanted to use the same paper for all three (because I was OBSESSED with the pattern.) The master bedroom has a mix.

5. Easiest way to make sure you cut your paper to the perfect size is to use the little piece of cardboard that comes in your frame. Place in on the backside of your paper, and trace it. Then cut!
6. Once you've cut everything, place it in your frame and hang. Voila!

Reduce, Reuse, Recycle

I have a problem. With candles. Meaning I have too many. Well, there is no such thing as TOO many, but I have a lot that look like this photo. One small morsel of wax left, and a nice blackened top that screams "I've had enough!" So while browsing my other addiction, Pinterest, I saw an amazing post about "upcycling" candles. So, I decided to try.





First things first, a trip to Michaels. Your buying list is:

1. Wicks. They sell many kinds, I bought 9" because the glass container I purchased was taller.
2. Glass container! You can always search your house for one as well. For the next time, I will use something I currently have.

3. Popsicle Sticks

First thing is place a wick in your container. Wind it around the popsicle stick to keep it in place for now.

Try to avoid having a nosey kitty, who trys to steal your popsicle stick.

Next, boil some water! Depending on the size of your candle, and the amount of wax left, it can take 5-10 minutes before it's totally liquid.

This is what your candle will start to look like! Make sure the wax is completely dry before you pour the next on top. While my next candle melted, I put it in the freezer to speed up cooling time.

Having a few curious chaperones is never a bad thing!

This is the candle after I poured the final candle in. I used all "like" scents like Gingerbread, Candied Caramel Pecans, Cinnamon Vanilla, and Banana Nut Bread.

Once your last scent is in, and it's dried for a bit, cut your wick and BOOM! Pretty, delicious smelling candle! Burn immediately! Loving this so much already, I can't wait to do more.

Curiosity

My good friend, Mac (and cheese)

I constantly wonder, how are there still people in this world who don't respect animals. As cliche as it sounds, they are so wise. Do I sound ridiculous yet? Where in the human species do you find such unconditional love? They pass no judgement, listen without interruption, love you at your worst, and hold no grudges. They comfort you when you're sick, keep all your secrets, and sometimes bring out your wild side. So how do we still see them as "just pets"? How have we not realized that the neglected will still wag their tails in excitement when their neglecter comes home?  I constantly wonder.