baths and books

every night this week I have taken a bath around midnight... I know that's a random thing to start with, but my last papers, homework, packing, moving, and preparing for finals has really been getting to me lately... so my solution is to take nice hot baths and then go to sleep warm and relaxed... as I'm preparing for tonight's bath, I thought I would share a bit about my day...I turned in the last paper of my bachelor's degree :) so good to have that off my mind!
My lovely husband took me to my first #D movie :) we saw Clash of the Titans. I really enjoyed it.

Then we wandered around the Mills a bit, and I found two new design books.
Then I met with the ART group I started on my college campus for the last time... bittersweet. We took a bunch of group pictures :)
Today has been a good day :) and I'm glad, I really needed one of those.

Tomorrow my goal is to finish my kitchen cabinets... I need to put the last coat of paint on the fronts of the doors, paint the insides blue, and then put in the contact paper... Saturday is the town-wide yardsale, so I'm spending the night down at the house tomorrow... and after the yardsale, I'm going to a friend's wedding... can't wait. It's shaping up to be a good weekend too :)

ok, off to my midnight bath :)

tutorials to try

So lately I have been looking up diy projects because I love doing them. Here are a few of my favs that I have discovered recently...

1. Eames Hang-It-All Inspired Tutorial
2. Pipe Shelving Unit
3. Modern DIY Outdoor Planter
   
4. How to Hang 30' of Curtains for $40
5. Wood Veneer Butterflies
6. Chain and Branch Hangers
7. Moroccan Pouf

I hope you enjoy :) Let me know if you've tried any of these

more are to love :)

Today while blog searching I found the most wonderful artist! Laurageorge of Chicago's prints are so happy and whimsical, I can't help but love them. These two remind me of my husband and I...































He is a mustache man and fan, lol.































And I have worn glasses since kindergarten... when they fortunately dicovered that I could not see two feet in front of my face. "Clare look at the board"... "There's a board?"

Yay for art on etsy! I think these prints might find a home in my living room :)

Trash Love!

So, I've been working on my paper unceasingly for three days now, and I had to make an emergency trip to the library for two more sources and to three-hole punch my project which is due tomorrow. (ugh... l...o...n...g... couple days) Needless to say I needed a pick me up.

WELL!!! On my way back from the library to make dinner, I found these in one of the dumpsters by my apartment!
They are two mid-century style chairs (possibly teak?) that are actually in pretty good condition. Since it is raining out, I had to take a picture of them in my backseat, but since they are a guaranteed future diy upcycling project, never fear, there will be better pictures :) The upholstery on them is really stained and yucky, but I have been wanting to to some crochet upholstering for a while now... so these are perfect. They are even labeled.

I have never heard of Benny Linden Design... does anyone know anything about them? I did a quick search and they are teak, and Benny Linden is a Danish designer... woot! and squee!

if I don't write them down now, I won't remember...

source

Ideas:

I had two good ideas last night as I was falling asleep. By a miracle I still remember them now, lol.


source

1. For my kitchen, I want to make a cafe curtain. I've been playing around with all kinds of stuff, but have recently been really inspired by Feeling Stitchy's Blog. I think I just want to make a plain white or creme colored pocket curtain and then add little embroidery doodles as I feel so inspired. I might make the doodles tell the story of our house, our love, and our future kids. So I'll stitch important dates, pictures, quotes, and memories. I like the idea that it will be an ever changing curtain, and it will make me happy to have something so sentimental in my kitchen. It's gonna be kinda like a embroidered curtain scrapbook :)
   *I may or may not use the little boxes... I like the idea of a more organic and free flowing curtain.
   

1. 
2. I have a "Florida Water Birds" poster that used to be my Grandma Hilda's. It hung over her hat rack. She would always make us grab a hat to wear to the beach... she had a ton of hats, but they were all kinda old ladyish, so I hated wearing them. I would do anything to go to the beach though, so I would just grin and bear it. Grandma's house was full of wonderful things. She had that "museum of natural history" style that's so hot right now down. She had pinned butterflies, jar collections, and picture books everywhere. I loved that about her house. I'm so glad to have this poster because it reminds me of all those good times. My mama had it mounted to protect it from further damage, it got a little beat up on it's way to me. (I think it actually looks even cooler now.)

BUT ANYWAY, the idea! Recently I acquired this huge print and frame. I have been looking for

a frame big enough to put my poster in for a while now... and this one is big enough... and a little too big...

I was pondering where I would go to get my costume mat... which I new was gonna be really expensive, but i was willing to bite that bullet because I got the frame for free. But then a light bulb went off. I used to do photography and we learned to cut mats. There are always scraps :) I think I want to collect a bunch of white, creme, blue, green, and brown mat scraps and upcycle them into a giant mat for my giant poster. It looks really good in my head... so after we move I think I'm gonna go to all the places around town I know who do custom framing and ask if I can have their mat scraps to recycle. :) Hopefully they will let me have them :)

OH, and as a bonus, I think I'm gonna reuse the black and white print in a decoupage project I'm dreaming about.... Ok, enough dreaming, I need to get down to business and work on my last paper... *trudges off to the less fun part of her day*

I'm really moving...

Today, I need to pack... I've made a good start :)



And, I really need to write my paper! (Also, I think there are tornadoes headed my way... not all that conducive to either of the things I need to do, lol. If I survive I'll post more...)

I survived... That was a crazy storm though! There was hail, fierce winds, rain so thick I couldn't see across the street, lightning, and thunder. I actually had a really cool experience...
source of crazy pink lightning picture

Lightning stuck so close to my apartment that I could actually hear the electrical buzz. I have never been that close to lightning before! It was pretty crazy!

Paper log: Paper two of three is done. I just need to put it in a binder to fancy it up a bit. Tomorrow and Monday I will be slaving away on paper three. I have one more week of class... and everything is due... of course!

upcycling ideas

Mostly Nursery Related:
(source)

I lead an Art group on campus, and our art show is tomorrow :)

I can't sleep, I'm too excited, lol.

So what am I doing... googling upcycled projects :)

Here's some of my favs!

I want to make a penny rug for my nursery out of recycled wool sweaters :) I love the white background and crazy mix of colors :) (source)

For some reason these just really crack me up :P (source)

I've actually made a tie skirt before, but since ties are so heavy is wasn't that comfy to wear... I love how it looked though... This is making me want to resurrect it and add a top making it into a dress... oh the possibilities.

OK, so I've gotten off track... google does that to me... before I go I will share one last nursery idea. So far these are the must have for my nursery.

Berkley Illustration- He is a genious... I love all his work. My second favs after the ducks are his skunks and rabbits. He puts up new stuff a lot, and they are all so cute. These are definitely going to be in my nursery. My DH likes them too... our first date was feeding the ducks.

Nursery Ideas

• handmade toys
• books, books, and more books
• quilts
• recycled rugs
• bird mobile
• convertible crib
• rocking chair made by Justin's grandpa
• cute storage bins
• upcycled dresser
• very vintage feeling, nostalgic
  

That's all folks :)

The Kitchen

The Kitchen:
I've been working hard on the kitchen cabinets for almost a month. They started out as icky laminate stock cabinets...

But then we took all the doors and hardware down, and sanded the heck out of everything. Two coats of primer later and the kitchen already seemed brighter and happier :)


Today I put the first coat of paint on the fronts of all the doors. Everything else has two coats. MIL came over and primed the insides of my cabinets, which I'm really grateful for... it looks MUCH better that way! I might paint the insides blue or yellow... I think a pop of color inside would be nice.


This is my basement workspace. Yeah, it's dreary... but it was too cold and wet when I started to paint outside.

There will be pictures soon of the new color. It's called "Alpaca" and it's a tanish creme color.

In the works

• paint the insides of the cabinets
• put the cabinets back together
• find some contact paper I can live with (I HATE contact paper but the former owner had it, and the shelves are all nasty and sticky, and I can't get them clean... I feel I have no choice... unless someone has an idea!? I'm open to ideas!)
  
• sand, prime, and paint the yellow and black tiles
• paint the accent wall
• lay down the tiles for the floor
• find inexpensive pulls and cups (or spray paint the old ones)
• make a cafe curtain
• make recycling bin
• and a thousand other things, lol
  

Lucky :)

Found this song today... it's exactly how I feel today... yeah it's a bit mushy... even after three years I'm still a sap :)

Lyrics:
Do you hear me,I'm talking to you
Across the water across the deep blue ocean
Under the open sky, oh my, baby I'm trying
Boy I hear you in my dreams
I feel your whisper across the sea
I keep you with me in my heart
You make it easier when life gets hard

I'm lucky I'm in love with my best friend
Lucky to have been where I have been
Lucky to be coming home again

They don't know how long it takes
Waiting for a love like this
Every time we say goodbye
I wish we had one more kiss
I'll wait for you I promise you, I will

I'm lucky I'm in love with my best friend
Lucky to have been where I have been
Lucky to be coming home again
Lucky we're in love every way
Lucky to have stayed where we have stayed
Lucky to be coming home someday

And so I'm sailing through the sea
To an island where we'll meet
You'll hear the music fill the air
I'll put a flower in your hair
Though the breezes through trees
Move so pretty you're all I see
As the world keeps spinning round
You hold me right here right now

I'm lucky I'm in love with my best friend
Lucky to have been where I have been
Lucky to be coming home again
I'm lucky we're in love every way
Lucky to have stayed where we have stayed
Lucky to be coming home someday

(Lucky Jason Mraz ft Colbie Caillat)

I'm in LOVE!!!

Today I was browsing other blogs for inspiration, and I found LOVE! (Furniture love, but love nonetheless!)

I've been a fan of Tejo Remy's recycled chest of drawer projects. We have one of his pieces at the St. Louis Art Museum, and every time I see it, I think, "I wanna make something like that!" Problem is I don't need a piece that big, and it would take me a long time to find that many drawers.

My drawer search is going to be revived, however, because I've been re-inspired by a German designer, Franziska Wodicka of schnubladen. I don't think I will be able to fight the urge to do a recycling project like this much longer. I love recycling projects! This is gonna be a picture heavy post, but I have to share all the beauty! You won't believe what this woman can do with cast off drawers!




Probably my fav! It's like a little secret :)


Since some of these only need one or two drawers, I think they would be an easier project to start with. I could use these anywhere in the house. So those of you who know and love me... DON'T THROW AWAY DRAWERS, PLEASE! I want them. I think I'm finally gonna do this. I'm not afraid of MDF and elbow grease anymore, lol. I can't wait to try this!

Clare :)

edit June 30- I found this adorable table/bench... and I think it will be one of my first upcycling projects... provided I ever find the pieces to salvage.

So focused, lol

My Bathroom:
My DH is so focused today. He is on a mission. He woke up early this morning and off he went. Since I have homework to do (got to graduate), I have to stay at the apartment today. He went home got his mom's truck and then picked me up to go get the vanity for the bathroom. I'm so excited! I've been ogling this vanity since Christmas time, and we've been saving up gift cards to get it, and finally I have my perfect vanity. (It comes with the top and matching mirror, nice!)
He dropped me back off, and now it's back to homework... but I wanted to share anyway :) I also bought some cute hardware for it. This picture isn't great, but it says "hot" and "cold" on the little porcelain handles. So cute :)
OH! And my fabulous mother bought my housewarming gift today as well. I had picked out some bathroom accessories, and she just ordered them for me. I'm getting a cast iron mermaid soap dish.and some seahorse hooks for towels and robes.
I love them both, and they are really gonna set the tone for my bathroom! The beach is very special to me. My grandma Hilda used to take us every year when I was a kid. She knew the names of every shell, bird, and fish. She and my Aunt Emilia truly believed for the longest time that I was a mermaid in a previous life because every time we'd go to the beach we would see dolphins and manatees. One time when they were at the beach without me, they started talking about how the dolphins always came for me, and at the mention of my name the dolphins came. I always loved that story :) I've been fascinated with the ocean since I was really little, and I've always had fantasies about being a real mermaid, lol. Justin and I even got married on the beach on Sanibel Island FL. I love the rustic look of these pieces, and they make me think of all the good times I've had on beaches.

Also in my bathroom is some art Justin bought me on our honey moon. We framed and matting it, and I decorated the mat with tiny Coquina shells, also called butterfly shells. (sorry for the glare)
Here's a close up of the shells. They look like tiny colorful butterflies. They are kinda like snowflakes because no two are exactly alike :) They are my favorite type of shell.
Obviously, you can see a theme forming. I'm calling it "Classy Beach". There's a point where a beachy theme starts to look kinda tacky, and I'm trying to avoid that. (Don't want a tiki bar in my bathroom, lol) These are probably going to be my only theme items.

Other bathroom stuff:

• I'm going to use antique white bead board where the tiles used to be.
• In the shower we are going to use crisp white tiles accented with mottled blue and green tiles, called Caymen Dolphin.
• The flooring is gonna be a sandy color tan tile or vinyl.
• The shower curtain is gonna be a soft striped material. (probably seersucker) I'm gonna make it.
• I don't know about the bathmat yet, but I saw a pretty fabulous one at Home Goods.
• I'm going to paint above the bead board a sea glass or tan color.
• Don't know about towels yet.

I'm so excited about my bathroom. I think it's gonna be very pretty :)

EDIT: I need to find a new vanity fixture because those florescent tube lights are definitely going. (They are kinda dangerous...) Here are two fixtures that I like, and the glass globe things that you put over them.

I worked hard today!

Today I worked on the house... all day :)

I

• put a second coat on all of my cabinets, drawers, and the back side of all the doors. (All I have left is to two coats on the front of the doors.)
• Sanded down my credenza.
• Put the first coat of primer on my credenza. (It's gonna turn into a design sponge type before and after project :)

My hubby

• grilled us some hot dogs :)
  
• pulled up a few of the vinyl tiles in the kitchen
• got a dresser from his mom's house
• disappeared for 30 minutes
• then helped me a bit with my credenza

His big work day is gonna be tomorrow. He's gonna try to get the floor done in the dining room, get the vanity for the upstairs bathroom, mow the lawn, uhm, and something else.

I'm pretty tired, but I wanted to share a picture of the crazy cabinet I found at a thrift store yesterday!

It's about four feet tall. It has dovetailed drawers. It was made in St. Louis. As an old man was leaving he said, "I haven't seen one of those in years!" Which made me laugh. And the best part... it was only $4! It's so crazy, I love it. My sister used to say I would pick things because I knew they were crazy and no one else would like them... Well, Annie if you are reading this, there were three other people who wanted this and were mad I beat them to it. It must not be too ugly, lol. Just ugly enough to be awesome! Here's the inside label, which cracked me up.


My sweet, sweet friends Brian and Kathleen drove twenty minutes to help me move it to my apartment. Gotta love friends with trucks :) Brian said it reminds him of the Partridge Family bus, lol.
I'm gonna use it in my sewing room. I think I'm gonna store yarn in it. I'm gonna put the different colors of yarn in the different drawers. (White shades in the white drawer, pinks in the pink drawer, etc.) I just really love how bright, happy and fun it is :)

I can't wait to see all the work Justin does tomorrow, and get some more progress pictures up :)