Still haven’t got anything done that’s really notable enough to blog about. But, I’m preparing for a few projects in my apartment. Here’s a sneak peek:

So, I created this little mock up, using my favorite website, Polyvore.

However, there will be some variations.  The smaller photos (which are intended to be stand ins for my Black and White photos of various old Hollywood actors) are being switched out with some colorful art prints and Sita Rupe  paintings I purchased instead. Also, the brown wall, is a bit of a lighter brown. AND, sadly, I will not have the DOT coffee table. But, that’s okay. maybe I’ll find something wood on Craigslist eventually to use.

Here are some pics from my preparation last night:

Buying paint at OSH, the color in the can came out wrong, so it had to be redone. the sample on the counter is what i’m going for, and ended up getting.

Elsa, getting prepped for her mounting at the Michaels framing table.

60% custom framing at Michaels this week!!!!! I’m actually glad I waited so long to take care of it. Homegirl has been chilling in my closet for a few months :/ But, she looks great!

That’s all for my preparations for now.

Check out my sis in laws Nursery creation/makeover, over at emmiebee.com. You can see some in progress pics here, and the amazing finished product here.

I want to do this:

Found over at Young House Love.

I have a small collection of corks started. but it is not nearly enough to complete 1 of these even.  Sooooo friends, guess what? It’s time to come over and drink some more wine!!!

I know I haven’t posted much, but I promise things are coming with the weekend, and the time I get during it!

For now though, I really just want to share this (written by Kelle of Enjoying the Small things):

“The thing is, I hate being sad. I hate being negative. And while I may be teased on my over-positivity or need to find a cape emblazoned with “Enjoying the @#!*-ing Small Things,” I too wallow in a bad mood from time to time. However, I’ve found I am quite healed by the Fake It Till You Make It Strategy–searching for the good (and there’s lots to find), writing about the good, taking pictures of the good, talking about the good–basically bathing in the many little things that bring joy to our life until I am no longer faking it, I believe it completely and have allowed the good to rise above the bad in that ever present glass of “Half Full.” Unrealistic? Perhaps, but I don’t think so. Regardless, I’d much rather live life as an unrealistic optimist than a realistic miserable pessimist. It’s so much more fun.”

So well said. This woman, Kelle of Enjoying the Small things may very well be my hero.  I just LOVE love that paragraph.

Thanks to Emily for leading me to her blog by chance. I Love the beautiful photos,  such lovely writing.

and again, for kicks and a smile

“I’d much rather live life as an unrealistic optimist than a realistic miserable pessimist. It’s so much more fun.””

Yesterday, my first nephew officially turned 1. eeeeek! Over the weekend, my Sister in Law, Emily threw an AMAZING party for him to celebrate. Here he is at the party in love with a friends doggie, Smokey.

And Now, the Saga of my first Felt food making experience. (Sorry for the amount of text)

For his Birthday I wanted to something cool. I saw some of the felt foods people were selling on Etsy, and thought it would a cute gift and a great way for him to learn to say the names of the foods. At first I thought about buying them, but I got greedy and wanted more than just a few, and they get up there in price. I decided I would give it shot making some of the easier looking pieces. I figured the hamburger and sandwich and ravioli I could take care of easily. and I planned to purchace some fruits and veggies.

So, I began my mission. First done were the Ravioli’s and Lettuce pieces. Super easy. Next were Hamburger buns, pancakes, tomato slices, and an egg. Next was bread. the bread took me a few tries to figure out. I ended up with 3 rejects in the scrap pile looking pretty sad. But, I finally found a way to work it where I could do it.

After, those were done. I got ambitious and was having way too much fun! I went for the veggies. The carrot came first. Again, 2 rejects in the trash, but the 3rd, lived up to my standards. The tomato was the easiest thing, next to the PB&J blobs. The broccoli came pretty natural at that point, although it is pretty special looking :/

Then, I found the mother load. This tutorial, for a banana and accompanying banana peel!!!! This I was MOST excited about. And, surprisingly again, super easy. I came out with no rejects on this one. I could not believe it. Strawberries and Orange were just as easy as the tomato.

Lastly, came the Bacon. I had to do the bacon. After it was done. I wrapped the gift. I had to cut myself off, because I kept want to add to it and I had feared I was overdoing it. I do now kind of regret not doing the Corn in the husk and throwing it in. But, I’ll just do it and drop it off next week

here are some pics of the finished product:

I plan to do a few more sets. And will document the process and take pics along the way.

I’m convinced this is MY perfect coffee table…

The West Elm Dot Coffee table.

Pretty spot on for what I want out of a coffee table. Seemed so simple, but I could not find anything anywhere, until BAM! today this crosses my path in an internet search.

Now, to consider spending $400 on it….. blech. I’m pretty sure i’m the cheapest person alive and collectively my living room furniture currently in total cost under $400.

Everytime, I see these damn Sam Edleman Zoe Booties somewhere on the internet, my heart is sent into a flurry.

Has anyone (that reads this) ever spent over $300 on shoes. Or even over $200. I haven’t gone there yet. How do you justify it? Because, I’m totally considering it :/

Maybe I’ll purchase this (Since, it is on SALE now!!!!! Yay.) in hopes to kill 2 birds with one stone… or something.

naughty.

So, recently I have discovered the JOYS of printable artwork. All I ever have are photos  or mirrors hanging on my walls (vain much?). After reading a post over at Harper’s Happenings, (this post to be exact: how about yes) I went through all the printable art on How About Orange and found some super cute stuff to print. I later ventured beyond and went on my own quest looking through other sites for high resolution printables (not a real word, I know). I’ve turned into a crazed printing, framing, hanging machine. I have them printed at CVS and I’ve even begun to cut my own matting for some of them, because those can be pricey, and sometimes a matted print looks just so much more, I don’t know, something.

my gear all laid out. the matting making is way easy! I just used an exacto knife and a ruler, while using an actual matte as a guide or tracing one out myself.

a pile. all to be hung after the living room gets painted. Lots of Kukula. I plan to actually buy some of her work as soon as I can afford it. Same goes for any artwork in general. I really am longing for some real paintings or artwork, that does not require hiding behind a sheet of glass. I have a few paintings my grandmother did that I love.  And I have recently purchased a few pieces from Etsy, they will get a separate post. But, I would LOOOOVE to own something by Kukula or Mark Ryden. Someday….

just a few examples, throughout the apartment:

Something I accomplished over my 10 day vacation:

Dressed up my boring old huge wall mirror above the bathroom vanity with a decal.

Super simple idea. Slight pain in the ass, (because I’m a perfectionist but not at all perfect). And super cute in the end, in my opinion.

I got the idea from a picture I found during a web search, but for the life of me, I cannot find it again :/ So, sorry to whoever I stole the idea from. I will credit you if I ever find you again. I bought the wall decal from an eBay store called Art Wall Project. When I got the thing I was so confident I knew what I was doing because in High school and a bit beyond I worked at Pottery Barn, and part of my job was to do the front window decals. Which is the exact same thing. I scanned over the instructions and declared “Oh, I’ve totally done this a ton of times” and tossed them aside. Idiot. Flash to me crying because this decal that I just spent $30.00 and I was sooo excited about was not sticking because I peeled off the wrong side! and was trying to stick the decal on the mirror by the non sticky side. Yeah, I’m a god damn genious.

Anywho, Jeremy came and help me carefully put it back on the right sheet and peel off the backing. Finally got it up. It didn’t take long at all. It would have taken even less time, if I wasn’t so self righteous and just paid attention to the instruction in the first place. There are a few imperfect spots, little wrinkles or bubbles toward the bottom (But, the top actually is PERFECT), and it’s ever so slightly off center. None the less, I’m totally happy with it.

Finally taking some time to update. Sorry, I suck. I’m working on a few projects, one being my nephew’s Birthday gift. I want to post the photos of my progress, but I’m going to wait until after his Birthday to post the photos of the finished product.

Otherwise, I have been making little changes here and there around the apartment. I took down my Christmas tree and all my Christmas decor before New Year’s! A first for me. I tend to enjoy keeping everything up until after New Year’s, but I had the week between Christmas and New Year’s off from work, so I thought to take advantage. Besides, let’s face it, if I didn’t do it then, it would still be up today… I’m THAT bad.

So, the living room is just a tad bit more bare and ready for the few changes, fixes and projects I have in store.

On the list:

Fabric or Tissue paper pom poms. After seeing Stephanie’s post, I begged her to come show me how she did them. I think I want to do something with these in the living room/kitchen. My kitchen could use some pizazz! It’s soooo white. Photo from EssEmmBee.

Furniture! I plan to change out my coffee table, and I would ideally like to get a sideboard or long and low media cabinet of sorts for the TV. I also want to get rid of that tall white bookcase I have. Right now, it just looks too random. I’ve moved it all over, and can’t find a place it looks right. So, I need to come up with an alternate book housing solution.

Paint. That Red wall was great for Christmas and a great bold color for my first ever getting to paint a wall experience! But, it’s time for something different. And something more neutral. I have considered another bold color, but something in the brown family is all I can imagine looking good with my grey couch and planned artwork. So, I went to Osh last week and grabbed a TON of paint samples in various browns. I have it now narrowed down to a few.  Also, I imagine if I stick to white furniture, the brown will look especially awesome.

More to come.

Since some changed have been made, and I never really posted pics of the place completely in the first place, here is a peek of my Living Room as of now. These are my before pictures, keep in mind. I am just finally okay with everything. I still have little projects and changes lined up…

The red wall is scheduled to be painted in January. I’m looking into some browns actually. I have a good amount of colored decor at this point. The room could handle a neutral, yet dark wall, I think.

I also have new Artwork to put up!!! That I’m really excited about. More than likely it will go above the couch. I have couple things that need to go up though, so we’ll see.

Currently, my Christmas tree is taking up a huge chunk of wall, and I have no idea how the space is going to look when it’s gone. I really hope it doesn’t look bare. I know it probably won’t. I do feel right now in pictures it looks too cluttered, so maybe the tree leaving will just relieve some of that.

I am currently and have been for some time now actively hunting for a coffee table. This ikea one is Jeremy’s, and I am having him take it with him when he moves out. I want something a little taller, this one is too low for my tastes.

The media cabinet I am back and forth on. It’s quite handy and hides things nicely, even with the doors open, but my new TV!!!! is lower than the old one, and I cannot put in the shelf it comes with since I did not get the pegs with the unit. (downfalls to buying $20 used furniture) Still, I mostly don’t care that much. It’s lower on my list of priorities