Pipe Dream

Justin and I worked all day, and my pipe dream (what Justin started calling it), is finally a reality. Our giant fire place wall is now adorned with pipe shelves! I know what you really want is to see pictures, so here ya go...

 

TA-DA!!! I'm so pleased with how they turned out! It was a little iffy for a second whether or not they would fit, but even my midnight math skills are pretty good apparently. I'm kinda in the middle of transitioning our fall/winter stuff into our spring/summer stuff. The big geese picture in the before photos is part of our winter stuff. The empty frame is on it's way to becoming something colorful and fabulous. (Spoilers)

Ok, if you are not a total nerd like me, you might want to stop reading there... but I took lots and lots more pictures, and I want to post them!

 This is what the sky looked like for us all day... Which is not a bonus when you need to spray paint, BUT it never did rain, and I made it through. (YAY!)

 

Like pretty much everyone else who has made pipe shelves, I cleaned them and spray painted them. Most people go for black, but I am not big on black, so I went with gray. I used Painter's Touch, my absolute favorite spray paint, and my spray paint gun attachment. This is the first time I've used the gun thingie, and I will never do another project without it! This is the first time I've spray painted without A. having a sore pointer finger and B. being covered in spray paint.

OK, more pictures of my shelves (quick and dirty) styled up. This is "my" side. The top shelf has some of my favorite things, owls, driftwood, and a funky puzzle box. It also has the Laura George print Goggles. It was one of my first art purchases, because it reminds me of me and all the different glasses I've worn since Kindergarten. I bought her print Mustachios at the same time because it reminded me of Justin. (It's on "his" side) My second shelf needs some help, but for now it has a cool ceramic piece I picked up at a thrift store, one of my favorite sets of teacups, and two canisters from Delft Holland. I am really excited to finally have a good place for the All You Need is Love set I made Justin for Valentine's. The bottle collection all along the mantle is Justin's... he's been collecting them forever, and that is another thing I'm glad finally has a place.

 This is Justin's side. The giant orange flame vase came free with our dining set forever and forever ago. On the top shelf you can see Mustachios. The ceramic cross piece is called Resurrection, and it was made for me by a friend in a ceramics class we took together. She made three Death, Burial, and Resurrection, and I was really honored when she gave me one. Justin's second shelf needs a little help too. (I had planned to put books on them, but now I'm not so sure.) The three bottles are from our wedding. The middle is our unity sand. (Try lighting a unity candle on the beach!) The other two are Jone's bottles with sand from the beaches where we were married and honeymooned. The piece next to them, I bought at a craft fair from a really sweet lady who actually went out and found the letters of the alphabet in her area. I really liked her eye, so I picked out RANEY. (Our last name for those of you just joining us.) Then more and more bottles... and this isn't even all of them.

 This is my favorite view... it's like pipe shelf porn.

Here's the break down of what we did

1. went to HD in the morning to buy everything
2. cleaned the pipes and fittings
3. put them together
4. spray painted (1 coat primer, 2 coats paint)
5. we left the shelves raw (poplar)
6. assembled
7. attached to the wall
8. cleaned the shelves
9. applied a wood cleaner 
10. styled them up

We used lots and lots of flanges, which are like $5 a piece, so this was kinda expensive to do. It has such a big impact though. I don't know how much it cost, and I don't want to. Justin knows I operate on a thrift store budget all the time, and I get terrible sticker shock. We decided just using a bunch of flanges was way easier than using a paddle bit and drilling a hole for the pipes to go through. Also it's true what everyone who's been making these have been saying, these are really sturdy. I can't really give you a tutorial because ours were specifically for our space and wouldn't work anywhere else, but there are a bunch of good ones out there I could direct you to if you're feeling the pipe shelf love. I'm so excited about mine, I think I'll go make myself some tea and just stare at them awhile :) ta-ta

midnight math, mama, tea, sleepy Journey

Justin gave me the thumbs up for a project I've been dying to do for a while- pipe shelves! Unless you've been living under a rock (or you don't have pinterest, read the cool blogs like Apartment Therapy and Design Sponge, or seek out new interesting home design stuff... which is kinda the same as living under a rock) you have probably been seeing some pipe shelf awesomeness slathered all over the internet. For example here are some I've been pinning...

 

I could go on and on and on, because I seriously LOVE pipe shelves! (I won't though, I promise.)

If you are a long time follower of my blog, you might remember my behemoth of a fire place... if not, I will refresh your memory.

Well, since we decided to buy this place I've been wanting to put some built-ins over all the brick(brick, brick, brick) to balance it out. The fireplace wall is at least 20 feet long, and while it's always cute at Christmas time, the rest of the year it's this big expanse that taunts me, lol. I've thrown lotf of ideas Justin's way, but he wasn't crazy about any of them, until pipe shelves, because seriously, there is a coolness factor that transcends gender, style, age, class, all of it. (Ok, maybe that's taking it too far, but my mama likes them too, and we are opposites.)

I've spent the last few hours plotting, planning, calculating, sketching, comparing materials and prices... AND (mostly because there aren't 24 hour hardware stores) tomorrow is go-time! I'm sooo pumped to finally be getting the shelving I've been dying for in the living room. I'm soooo stoked! Wish us luck, you know there will be pictures as soon as possible.

pillow case to dress :) finally

You might remember these pillow cases I found at the Goodwill outlet a few weeks ago.

I have since turned them into a pretty fabulous dress. (The original post says tunic top. I didn't think they would be long enough for a dress. I'm glad they were!)

Also in the original post I said I would do a tutorial... unfortunately, I'm one of those crafty minds that can create, but cannot explain how I created. It's frustrating I know. I will try to come up with something if anyone is interested :)

What do ya think?

so retro

Justin and I have been super busy working on the house here lately. We've painted the exterior (mostly), worked on our garden, installed a dishwasher, a washer, and a drier, cleaned and rearranged things, and done a few small projects. I've got to show you one that we are both loving.

Remember all my wonderful finds from the New Athens town wide yardsale? Well, I got that amazing little record player, and I was trying to decide between fixing the record player and gutting it... we went with gutting it. Here's what we did :)

 This is the infamous before shot :)

 This is my wonderful husband getting those pesky screws out.

And this is the interior... Our Ipod and a little radio. We love it! It has a cool distortion from being in a box. We had a graduation party for Justin a few weeks ago, and everyone was like, "where's the music coming from... omg, is it coming from the record player? that's awesome." We are pretty proud of ourselves.



Now, the project that is driving my nuts at the moment is getting this last little bit of our kitchen done. When we moved in we had no appliances and a weird little desk thing in this spot. We tore out the little desk thing pretty early on because it served no purpose besides annoying me by taking up needed space.

I bought our dishwasher for $35 a few weeks ago. (Score!) My MIL's boyfriend Jim and Justin hooked it up, and it works great. TODAY, I bought this base cabinet from the St. Louis Habitat for Humanity Restore. I expected to pay around $20 for a base cabinet. I could not believe my eyes when I saw that the tag said $1! ONE DOLLAR PEOPLE! That made my day for sure.

 Now, it's door and handle do not match our cabinets, but I am working on that. I'm also working on getting a piece of counter top as close as possible to our existing counter top. Usually Home Depot comes through for me, but it looks like I'm going to have to go to a custom cabinets and counter tops place. This doesn't hurt my feelings too much since I got the cabinet for a dollar. SERIOUSLY A DOLLAR!

Since the cabinets were only a dollar, I also picked up this long skinny one. I've got some big ideas for it, but we will have to see. I'm thinking about hanging it horizontally  in my awkward little nook thing. Also, I think I want to put one of those lift up hydrolic frosted glass doors on it. I might use it to store my tea in. (I am already taking up a whole cabinet of just tea.)


I also went to the Goodwill outlet store. It's a giant Goodwill with bins that you have to sift through and everything in the bins is .79 a pound, books are .39 a pound, and none of the furniture or appliances is over $15. It was amazing! I got a bunch of cool stuff that I really want to show you, but I will have to save it for later. My poor pooch is very sleepy... and I am pretty tired too... sorting through all those bins tuckered me out, lol.

Good-night :)

knock me up :)

I've got baby fever here lately. Justin and I are looking to add a little birdie to our nest, and I've been searching up some baby inspiration, mostly upcycled and fabulous and crafty... so while you puruse my recent finds I have two songs for your listening pleasure.

I didn't put any links cuz these are purely for inspiration's sake. If you are savvy with google though, you can search up any of these :) If you really, really want to find something from here, I can probably tel you what I searched to find it. (AND, just in case anyone misconstrues this post... no, I'm not pregnant yet, but could be soon)

Sooo many cool new DIY's!

Hello all... so "I'll post these later tonight" didn't happen. It almost never happens, and I should really stop typing things like that, lol. ANYWAY, as I promised, I do have some cool DIY's for you, heeeeeere we go!

Karen's coffee can lanterns. Ok, have you seen that Peir 1 commercial, "he has his man cave, and you've created wonderland" where she has all kinds of lanterns hanging in her tree? I want a wonderland. I'm on my way!

Karen's lamp globe bird feeders. (same Karen? if so I want o be her friend) I'm also planning some of these for my wonderland :) I think I might do lantern versions too. These are those bathroom light globes, can you believe it? They look so designer and expensive, plus I'd get to use a new kind of glue, score.

While I'm on the subject of luminosity, check out these amazing candles. This tutorial uses ready made pillar type candles (after Christmas discount, oh yeah) and remakes them into vintage tin candles. I'm a tin collector. I really wanted to make candles as Christmas gifts last year, but get sticker shock. This way I could make them on the cheap, which is always a plus :)

Cookie cutter Christmas ornaments! Finally a use for my cookie cutters, cuz Lord knows I can't bake!

Upcycled electrical spool ottoman. I tried really hard to come up with a snappy segway from ornaments to ottoman, but I'm not a big enough cheese ball I guess. I added this to one of my look books years ago, but I had no idea the image was part of a tutorial! This is a great upcycle!

Alright my dears,that's all I've got for this DIY post... Now I'm going to start post number 2.

SOoooo Maaaany Pictures!!!

Ok, just because I haven't been posting much, does not mean I haven't been working. I've been working like a dog (and for all of you who think dogs are lazy... I've been working like a narcotics sniffing dog or a lead the blind through NY city dog)

My most fabulous work has been what I've done in my master bedroom. It's not finished yet, but it definitely presentable enough for some pictures :)



This is not the quilt that is meant for this room, but it will work for now. My mom is making us (our wedding) quilt. She hopes to have it done by our 4th anniversary. (If you quilt, you probably know why it's taken almost 4 years to complete, lol).

Here's pictures of Justin's dresser and my dresser respectively.

Now for the two things in my bedroom that make me the happiest... First my brand new jewelry armoire!

I have been wanting this little guy for months. From the first time I saw it in my favorite antique store, it was love at first sight. However, it had a higher price tag than I could afford since all our money is going towards renovations right now. BUT, if you remember me mentioning my mom's yardsale, I also had a bunch of stuff on her lawn, and I made more than enough to buy this little beauty, which matches our bedroom set perfectly! I'm tickled pink about it. I had three mismatched jewelry boxes stuffed full (I love costume jewelry), and they did not look very good on top of my dresser. It's so nice that my jewelry finally has a proper and organized home. (I am kicking myself for not taking pictures of the insides of the drawers!) Here's a close up of the little arrangement on the top.

The little tree was a thrift store find. I've seen these at anthropologie and fancy pants boutiques. Here's an easy peasy DIY link. I made the little jute basket to hold my hair ties and bobby pins. I'll put a close up of that in a second. The bottle is a vintage Clorox bottle I found a few years ago. My DH collects bottles, and I bought this for him. He laughed at me, apparently I never noticed the trend in his bottle collecting... he only collects bottles for DRINKS... oh well, I guess you could drink Clorox, but it would be a terrible idea! I liked the bottle though, so I decided to plop a few fake flowers in it... which I will replace with prettier fakes when I get the chance.
ALright, my little jute basket. I crocheted this out of jute (obviously, lol). The little metal bit in the flower, I found a while back in the street. (I'm worse than a mocking bird... when I see a shiny bit, I have to pick it up.) The blue yarn, I recycled from a scarf that I didn't like. (The inside is also lined with the blue yarn). I like to recycle whenever I can. I think I will make more of these little guys and sell them at the flea market. :)

OK... but back to my room... The other thing in my room that makes me soooo happy is my closet! It has been 7-8 years since I have had a decent closet all to myself. (my last bed room at my mom's did not have a closet, so I used a wire cart thing, then I was in a triple occupancy room in college... ugh... then Justin and I shared an itty-bitty closet for three and a half years.) Yes, it has really been that long!

Well, all the space behind these doors is mine, all mine!
Justin's shower is in the basement, so logically his closet is in the basement. (It's a closet he made for me when I lived at my mom's house over 5 years ago... but I'd moved out before he finished it) But anyway, shall we peek behind door #1?
It's organized! Hallelujah it's organized! I got the shoe rack at a garage sale a visited when I was taking a break from my mom's sale. It was $2. Not too shabby. I actually don't have enough shoes to fill it... but I can take care of the problem easy :) And behind door #2?
More organized fabulousness :) I only have one dream that has not been totally realized in this closet... I want to finally have all matching hangers. I almost do. I have all my tops and dresses hung on white hangers, All my tank-tops are on black hangers. I am gonna get some more white hangers here shortly and fix this. I have always wanted a closet that had all the hangers the same color. Never in my life have I been able to make this happen, but I'm like a pack of ten white hangers away,,, so it's totally doable :)
Don't stop believin' hold on to that feeling :)

And one random picture....
This is most of our books... I have no where to set up our book shelves currently, so this is where they are living. There are a few more boxes I still need to go through too... who knew we had so many books, lol! I have been doing a lot of in bed reading... I just finished Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, and I'm working on John Ortberg's The Life You've Always Wanted. I also want to read Stephen Cobert's I am America and So Can You, but I don't own it yet.

Ok, I was going to add the kitchen progress to this post, but since this is soooo long already, I will open a new post for that.

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