{love}

Craft night was lovely as usual and everyone was pretty happy with their project. I love how I think every time it's going to be laughter and chitchat and loud, but mostly it's quiet as a mouse because everyone's so absorbed in what they're making. Not that i'm complaining, since in the end I had good friends, warm drinks and a crackling fire.

After everyone headed out the door I sat down and made this cute set of coasters for my kitchen. They have the valentine theme but I think I could easily keep these out year round. The red and pink make me smile. This set was made using simple paper and rub-ons.

Thanks to the 18+ inch dump of late night snow, I'm enjoying a slow morning with some tea and cranberry orange scones. It sounds all fancy, but really I just bought them ready to bake. They're from the Immaculate Co {all natural} and oh my are they delicious. I over cooked a couple yesterday, but today I cut the baking time to 15m and they were just perfect. Those along with the strawberry banana soy smoothie, and i'm feeling pretty healthy!

ye old bedroom closet

Well since this room is no longer a bedroom {or hideous}, but a dining room, there's really no need to have a closet here.

Here's the new office nook:

Funny story, J didn't want me to put a shelf up there. He hasn't seen it yet, but i'm pretty sure he's going to be happy with the results. As long as it stays clutter-free, which I think was his big concern. I did however need some additional storage for frequently used things. We were running out of drawer space.

I know the 'C' is a bit self-centered of me, so I'll be keeping my eye out for a giant 'L'. And the location of my mini-vacuum bugs me but I just can't find anywhere else to put it! Oh and this set-up is just temporary since I'm planning to create a built in center that matches the kitchen cabinets and countertop...but that's for later, and this works for now.

loads and loads

So since you guys are so awesome at giving opinions {I'm definitely painting the mirror red thank you all very much...} I was wondering if you think I should add another shelf up there. I know it would be great for more cleaning supplies storage but I don't know if it would be too difficult to reach everything? And would it look too cluttered?

Up to my eyeballs in warm clean clothes,
Tinkerwiththis

baby it's cold outside

Well here I am again, blogging Kate's wedding photos. I'm going through them all now and I just keep finding favorites, and since this is MY internetz space you all have to sit there and look and like.

I love the colors in this. It has an oil painting feel to it:

I love to capture the details of the day for the bride who may or may not have had the time to pay attention. You work so hard to plan every little detail, you should at least have proof that it all looked fantastic:

I love the composition of this shot and capturing her aisle decorations that she and Paul worked so hard on creating:

This was one of the few natural smiles I got out of the groom, but after teaching him a couple of relaxation tricks we have some other great shots:

I love this one of Justin working his magic. I told him next time he helps I promise to get him a more manly camera strap:

Kate right after saying 'I do':

And the trooper of a bride outside in frigid weather looking fabulous. This was one of the few shots where she looks cold. And she doesn't even look that cold!:

It was a great/fun/exhausting day for me but I would do it again in a heartbeat. Luckily my next wedding is planned for the end of July! Oh right, did I mention I've been asked to do another one? This is really a fun gig...and I learn so much more with each wedding. And what a good excuse to buy a new camera ;)

mirror mirror on the mantle

Okay, I need some opinions here. I bought this mirror on clearance but the black doesn't stand out on the fireplace. I knew I was going to either a: distress it or b: paint it, and I'm leaning towards b right now.

Now my question to you is, should I paint it white {I know I know, too much white?} or a pop of color, like red?

Confused in repurposing land,
Tinkerwiththis

don't go in the basement

And yet I have to. I'm not a huge fan of basements, in fact, when we were house hunting I don't even think I went in half the basements of the homes we saw. They're just creepy to me. But thanks to the New England weather, I found myself in need of a work area warmer than the garage. Enter, the basement.

As you can see, it wasn't the most serene of spaces. You know when things are just in disarray and you find yourself tossing things left and right because really, they have no actual 'home'? Doesn't this space just say, come down here and get some projects done? No? No kidding.

So after a morning/day of cleaning, this is the organized space I needed. All it took was a 70 dollar workbench from Home Depot, some peg board and a few bins on clearance at the place that shall not be named, and voi la! A project friendly work zone.

Those red totes are the best, not only were they 2.50 a piece, but they have handles so I can grab and go if I need everything in it on another floor...oh and the pegboard would NOT screw into the concrete walls no matter what I tried, so after creating a few holes, I decided to make an H bracket {I don't know, but it's shaped like an H} out of 2x4s and screw it into that. It's good for now, until I figure out just what it takes to conquer concrete. Oh and I forgot to take an after shot of the space at the bottom of the stairs but there's nothing there now, so it really doesn't matter...

officially official: craft night info

So for the next couple of months, I will officially hold an open craft night each and every tuesday. This coming tuesday, we will be making these.

Now in her tutorial, she uses felt on the bottom. I used a cork contact paper which I think will hold up better and it's self-stick, so it saves me a step. Problem is, it's $10 a roll at Target. So if you want to splurge on the cork back, I would recommend going in on it with someone. There is plenty of roll to share and you can keep your cost down per piece.

I bought the tiles at Lowe's for .16 cents a piece. Talk about inexpensive. And the scrapbook paper is part of a pack I found at Marshalls/TJMaxx for $6. A steal for 50 sheets of paper and all the coordinating's already done for you.

If you don't have a cutting mat, a clear lined ruler, and an xacto knife, I HIGHly advise you to pick those items up. They'll be a small investment now that will pay off big time in the long run. Also, you'll need some mod podge. You may already have some from when we made the chip clips.

SO check out the tutorial here for a list of supplies and steps or just follow this quick list and i'll explain everything when you get here:

mod podge
brush
xacto
ruler
cutting mat
scrapbook paper
4x4 square tiles
felt or cork contact paper for backing
clear acrylic spray sealer

I think that's everything. And don't forget, you don't HAVE to do the project, you can simply bring something you're already working on and just join us for the company. Hope to see you on tuesday {6pm}!

pretty potty

It's been a while since I've shown any real before/after photos, and there's a good reason why. I've pretty much stalled on my progress. So the sad part is I'm showing you an 'after' that isn't even a real after photo. But that's a minor technicality...

As you can see the before was glorious, with it's dark wood, giant vanity and missing toilet. The cabinet was truly a thing of beauty along with the pineapple themed wallpaper. Not to mention that amazing faux brick laminate flooring. Why would we even change a thing!!

Well the after required wallpaper removal, wainscot application (in horizontal lines to avoid seams, but I personally like the look with all the horizontals in the room...), paint, a new strategically placed mirror, new sconces, a new toilet, new floor, new trim, etc etc. It's safe to say we changed every single surface, because we did.

Still waiting to be done: corner round in the edges of the wainscot, new edging trim over the wainscot, baseboards and a new window. And THEN it will be DONE. For now it's in a lot better shape than it was. To quote wee Kali when the potty was in the between stage: 'You have a yucky bathroom!' She was right! But I don't feel that way anymore....

dish drying mat

Ok, so ever since seeing THIS over at Andrea's blog, I've been literally antsy to make one of these. Our last apartment lacked a dishwasher, and although I hated the idea of washing everything by hand, it turned into a pretty therapeutic chore for me. Plus, dishwasher or not, there's always that favorite bowl or giant pan or just the small things that are simpler to wash by hand than try to locate after a round in the machine.

So since I had my machine out to hem those stupid long curtains, I decided to wing it and make a couple dish drying mats. The choice of fabrics was easy since I've been on a sick robin's egg blue kick lately, and the amy butler fabric was actually used to make the coasters I use every morning for my tea. Matchy matchy I guess.

I really went with whatever on the measurements depending on the cut of fabric I had, so one is much larger than the other. It's just a rectangle though, nothing difficult about it. I tend to hate HATE hate having to measure and cut. I think it's the rebellious spirit in me.

I used an old towel that the husband accidentally ripped through with his massive muscles. Eh, it happens. Cutting through it was an absolute nightmare to clean up after. I'm pretty sure I'll be picking up little tiny terry cloth pills for the next two months, but I digress. My main tweak to the idea was to add the ribbon so I could just roll and tie to store. See:

{On a side note, these would make great housewarming gifts.}

snow day

If you have a tv, a radio, a computer or a smart phone you at least heard that the northeast is getting slammed with snow. Suck that Al Gore! Ha. Seriously though, this global warming stuff is pretty! We have about 16 inches that I measured earlier but it's still snowing and I say bring it on. Mostly because I don't have to venture out in any of it if I don't want to.

Today is the perfect day to bake, so some apple cinnamon muffins were on the docket.

And on a side note, I found another vintage pyrex piece at the thrift store this week. It's so pretty with the pink onions and leaves but I feel i'm not doing it any justice by stuffing it with toothpicks. Unfortunately, I can't think of anything else to fit in this tiny dish. At least it'll look lovely next to a plate of appetizers at our next party.

cough cough zzzzz

Well, I wish there was more Zzzz happening. I'm sorry I've been quiet, I caught a nasty icky virus over the weekend and I'm slowly recuperating. What a way to bring in the new year! So I'll see you guys on the flip side, and hopefully after I get this crazy work project off my plate, I'll be posting more fun stuff. Promises promises right? Anyway, who likes the new banner? Anyone? Too much white space? To me, it feels tranquil and clean, which are my intensions for 2011...