DIY Menu Planner

This may be one of my favorite crafts to date. I have been wanting to make one for awhile, and Kevin and I have started a little health initiative, so I figured this was as good a time as any! I also always have a hard time remembering meals I know how to make, so this will help with that as well. I present to you, my menu planner!

I bought a frame from Goodwill for $1 as well binder clips from Target for $2. Everything else I had on hand. I used spray paint, acrylic paint, a fabric quarter, fabric paint, bottle (ok, beer) caps, and sharpies. 

First, I spray painted my binder clips.

Next, I painted my frame. I let the clips and frame dry while I did the rest.

I measured out my fabric and with a 1/2 in allowance along the sides.

I used fabric glue to glue the fabric to the cardboard back of the picture frame. I discovered hot glue does not work well with fabric.

Once the clips were dry, I used a sharpie to write the days of the week.

I decided half-way through to use bottle caps as well. I just spray painted the tops and wrote "menu" with a sharpie.

I cut up some strips of paper to write the meals on. Rather than turning this into a dry-erase menu using the frame's glass like many I've seen, I wanted to be able to remember the meals I've made since I am such a terrible cook and have no imagination :). I made a little pouch out of fabric to put extra paper to write new meals on, as well as store old meals. I also thought it'd be a good idea to write recipes (when needed) on the back so I don't have to search through a cookbook.

Using fabric glue again, I cut out circles using the same fabric I used on the pouch and glued them on the frame, then I glued the binder clips on top.

I'm looking forward to planning my meals in advance which will hopefully lead to healthier choices! :)

Home Tour

I really love our apartment. A lot. I really hope we stay here for more than a year, as I haven't lived anywhere for more than a year in almost 5 years. That's a lot of moving! I am settled in here and I want to stay. As I mentioned earlier today in this post, I went on a cleaning frenzy Friday and the apartment is spotless. I literally walked around for probably far too long, admiring my handiwork. I'm not a cleaner, so this was a big deal for me. Well, us, as I live with two guys. I showed pictures of our apartment when we moved in in October, unfurnished, so I thought I'd share an update since the place was looking spic and span!

Welcome to our home! As I looked through the pictures, I realized I have a ridiculous amount of crafts in the apartment. I hardly have any store-boughten decorations. I'm actually pretty proud of that. I thought I'd link up to the posts of my crafts if anyone is interested.

(Yarn Wrapped Wreath)

As you walk in, you will see the living room, dining area, and kitchen. I should have probably shut the TV off for these, but I'm not ashamed to admit I was watching Boy Meets World.

 (Spray-Painted Vintage Magazine Holder)

I love how open our living space is. It feels very big and it is the perfect size for all of us. It's always so bright and sunny, too.

I love what we've got going on our coffee table. I have been loving the mustard and teal color combination as of late. I love all the vintage-ness going on there. I'm planning on using that suitcase for cards at our wedding, but I just think it's so cool and I wanted to find a nice place for it in the meantime without hiding it away in a closet.

(Thrifting Finds- Suitcase)

(Fabric Candle Votives)

 (Yarn Bouquet)

I love our fireplace! It kicks off so much heat in the winter and make our apartment feel so cozy.

(Sock Monkey)

(Yarn Bouquet)

Kevin has a thing for beer signs, and I will admit I like them, too. He's gonna have a badass man cave someday. When we were originally trying to figure out where to hang them all, he wanted them all over the apartment, which was a little much to me. I love them clustered in this nook, though, it's not as overwhelming but it balances out all the crafts and stuff I have strewn about.

And this is my little craft corner. Those drawers are all packed full of crafts. I can't wait to have a spare room/guest room/office to store all my stuff in! I used to have all my craft stuff stored in that green bucket there, thankfully mom got me some organizational drawers for Christmas.

Here is our dining area/crafting area/office. I do my sewing and crafting here, and the boys do a lot of work here. Nobody ever eats here! HA. The only time we've eaten there is when Kevin and I cook "romantic" meals for each other, like when we're celebrating Valentine's Day or anniversaries. I'm still not happy with the yarn balls over my crayon art. I'm thinking of switching the grey out for white to match the yarn flowers on the table.

 (Crayon Art)

(Pom-Pom Garland)

(Yarn-Wrapped Bottles)

(Yarn Bouquet)

I love our kitchen! I hope someday I OWN a kitchen that's as great as this kitchen. So much cupboard space and countertop room. It's a little dark for my liking for a kitchen, but it's just so fantastic, I can't complain.

This is the rest of the kitchen area, with our breakfast bar area. Nobody actually eats here much either. Sometimes I'll eat breakfast or read the paper here. We should work on not eating in the living room for every meal, huh? Mostly this is where we keep all our mail or food when we entertain.

You also get a glimpse of the giant light up beer bottle in the hallway. I guess I allowed the beer signs in the hallway, too :).

(Thrifted Shutter)

(Paper Tree) 

Here is our room! I love our room a lot and spend a lot of time in here when the boys are watching ESPN or something equally un-intriguing. I just got that-I don't know what else to call it other than fabric--at the end of the bed. It's a very pretty vintage fabric that is becoming the color inspiration for the room--pistachio, mustard, brown, and aqua. I am planning on making some throw pillows out of it soon.

(Burlap Framed Letters) 

Here is the other side of our room with my newly hung shadow boxes and thrifted mini shutter.

(Hanging Shadow Boxes and Shutter)

(Thrifted Shutter)

I am also infatuated with our big closet and I hope I can OWN my own walk-in closet someday. I recently reorganized it to allow for better storage to free up space in our room. 

Here is our bathroom, where Kevin proposed :). Another reason I want to stay in this apartment for more than a year. Such great memories!! I am planning some fun crafting for that boring green shower curtain that we inherited from Kevin's last apartment.

(Burlap Jewelry Display)

(Kevin's Proposal)

(Peas and Carrots Embroidery)

There you have it! Hope you enjoyed this little tour of our home. Believe it or now our apartment is still immaculate. (I left out Brian's room and his bathroom, I'd feel a little stalker-ish taking pictures of his room! I also left out our half-bath off the living room. It's nothing exciting.)

We spent the weekend in Webster City visiting Kevin's cousin Curt and his wife Kari. They just announced they are expecting, so it was exciting to see them and be excited about the baby. Our roommate Brian also came with us, as well as two of our good friends Matt and Emily. It was a really fun weekend just hanging out, enjoying the weather, and celebrating St. Patty's Day. The weekend flew by, I can't believe it's already Sunday night! Luckily for me, it's still spring break :) I have lots of crafts planned as well as productive grown up things, like cleaning out our cars and applying for more jobs. 

What did you do this weekend? Are you on spring break? Make this week a good one! :)

Hanging How-To

Friday was probably the most productive day of my life. It was my first day of spring break, so I had the day off (and this week, too!) I woke up early and started cleaning right away! I cleaned for 5 hours! I don't know what got into me, but it felt good. After the apartment was spotless, I decided to hang up some things I've been putting off.

I have 3 shadow boxes that have awkward spots for hanging. They're hard to get straight and positioned how I want them. I also wanted to hang the shutter I found at the antique store, which didn't have a spot for a nail. I hung both with tricks I saw on Pinterest that I thought I'd share.

The first is the ol' toothpaste trick. Use this trick when planning out where you are hanging multiple pieces. Just put a little blop of toothpaste on the hook of the piece you are going to hang. Eyeball it to make sure you know where you want it. Press it against the wall to leave a toothpaste mark, then hammer in your nail. Since I had 3 boxes to hang, this was especially helpful in getting the positioning right.

The second trick I tried out was using a pop tab. This worked like a charm, too! Just put a nail in the piece you want to hang, slide on the pop tab, nail a hole in the wall where you want to hang your piece, and then hang the pop tab from the nail in the wall.

Ok, so this is a terrible picture. It's blurry and looks like I have a few tiny things on two giant walls. I promise it looks good in real life.

I'm pretty proud of my little corner of antique goodness. Handkerchiefs, a vase, brooches, and a shutter. I am glad I found a way to display a few of the items I've been collecting for the wedding.

I'll be back later with some pictures of our apartment! Remember when I shared pictures of our apartment before we moved in? I realized I never shared pictures of it now that we've been living here. I figured since I got it all cleaned up nice, this would be a good time :) I'm off to enjoy the beautiful weather reading on the patio. Hoping to soak up some sun and start my summer tan!

Happy Sunday, friends!

DIY Stemware Stand

I found this idea on Pinterest and decided to head to Goodwill to make my own.

What you need:
Vase or Candlestick (I've also seen this done with wine glasses or anything with a tall stem)
Plate or basket (Use your imagination)
Heavy duty glue (That's right folks, the hot glue gun just wasn't good enough for this one!)
Spray paint
Tin foil

I went into Goodwill looking for something with a tall stem and something flat, not really having any specific vision. Don't feel confined to what I've used! I got the spray paint at Hobby Lobby for about $4-$5 I think. The glue you can find at any hardware or craft store. Make sure it says it works on glass.

Even though it was about 15 degrees I did this outside so I wouldn't ruin our apartment. I would recommend using more tin foil that I because I did end up with some purple cement. Oopsie! Spray a thin coat and then let dry. I sprayed a thick coat and had some running spray paint marks. I'm also impatient. Learn from my mistakes.

I also sprayed the basket, but kept the plate orange.

Put glue on the stemware and stick to the center of the plate or basket. Let dry for however long you can be patient for. I let mine dry for about a minute and a half. I think the tube says 24 hours :)

There you have it! I used the purple and gold one for a "catch all" basket on the counter (next to my DIY shopping list).

The purple and orange one was a little sturdier so I used it to pretty up our sink area.

I'm not sold on the purple and orange one yet. Turns out the plate was not made symmetrically and I can tell and it bugs me. OCD.

I'm trying to find my inspiration from Pinterest but the search function won't cooperate. I'll update later to give credit where credit is due. I also had NO idea what to call this DIY (a functioning Pinterest would have helped) so I hope the title makes sense?