Mission: Kitchen

I mentioned a cleaning spree a few weeks ago and I have finally started that! My mission is starting in the kitchen.  Today is garbage day so I figured last night was a good time to clean out my pantry.

All of our cabinets are pretty organized except for our pantry.  It wasn't terrible, I just wanted to put like items together and throw away some stuff that needed to go.
 

Here is our pantry before:
 

 

And our pantry after!

 

Top Shelf:  All canned and jarred items

Second Shelf: All pastas, boxed rice/noodles and crackers

Third Shelf: chips, Salad toppings and pancake batter

Fourth Shelf: All spices, seasonings and cooking oils/liquids

Bottom Shelf: All baking goods

 

 

It's so nice to have everything is some sort of order.  It's not perfect but I'm not having to dig for certain things and I know about where everything is. :)

 

I also tackled the shelf above the pantry.  There were empty bottles I wanted to keep for who knows why, honey, rice, pasta Tupperware... lots of random stuff.

 

 

Now its much better! The rice and balsamic stayed because they are too tall to fit on the other shelves.  I also keep my tall Tupperware storage up there and Plastic utensils, paper plates, etc..

 

 

Moving on to other things....

 

You all probably remember the little chalkboard I made out of a mirror last year...

 

Well, we use it all the time.  Whether it's to track our budget, write our favorite bible verse of the day or just to jot something down, we wanted to scribble space to put our thoughts, inspirations and day to to day info.

 

 

Well... I had a bunch of leftover paint and decided to paint the whole wall! 

 

Here it is after the first coat...

 

 

The second coat...

 

 

and finally the last coat with all the tape taken off!

 

 

My plan is to put my little chalkboard back up there and have our bible verses on there while the rest can be used for whatever!  I also was thinking about adding 3 months worth of calendar space on there so we can see what events/holidays/birthdays we have coming up.  Things are about to get real busy and it's nice to keep things straight. :) 

 

I also love the contrast it adds to the kitchen.  Having a dark wall makes all the darker features in the kitchen pop!  We're also going to add a piece of quarter round to the top and upper right corner to completely frame it in.

 

We need to let it cure for a few days but when it's ready I will give you an update post!

Christmas Gift Making

I love homemade gifts.  I think they are more personal and I like getting crafty and making things.  This year I only made a couple different things but next Christmas I fully intend on owning a sewing machine and making every gift I give.  Pretty ambitious I know, but I really want to do it!

One gift I knew for sure I was going to make was chalkboard wine glasses.  I had the chalkboard paint already from this project, and after the purchase of four wine glasses, had a fun unique gift at a low cost!

I was inspired by Pinterest and read a few different ways to apply the chalkboard paint to the bottom of the glass.  Some tutorials dipped the bottom in while other painted on.  I went for the painted on method because I thought it would be less messy and would give the paint less opportunity to drip.

I used a small sponge brush and added the chalkboard pain on thin layer by layer and set them on parchment paper to dry.

After it was dry, the chalk went on nicely and now my mother-in-law has four wine glasses to use for hosting and everyone can write their name on them so there's no oopsie switcheroos!

The next Christmas craft I chose to make was so easy and fun! I have been saving wine bottles for something and was excited to finally find a purpose for them!

I set 4 bottles at a time in the sink and soaked the labels off.  Once they were all dried out, I used the chalkboard paint again to paint a chalkboard square on the front of the bottle.

I picked up a couple packs of 12 free flow pourers for $4.99 each and put one on top of each bottle.

With the chalkboard paint on there, the gift receivers can used it for whatever the deem necessary!  Some ideas I gave them were soap, olive oil, coffee syrups and really anything else liquidish!

Many people received one of these this year and I still have a few a home that need to be gifted!

While perusing on Pinterest, I found some other ideas I can't wait to DIY...

These I plan to make with my future sewing machine:

adorable dish towels

Christmas burlap pillows

sweet ruffle aprons

sentimental date pillow

At work, a group of ladies (including myself) and being taught how to knit by a co-worker.  I plan to make the following with my newly acquired skills:

Chunky Knit Scarfs

Blankets

Kitchen Extras

and much more!

For more fun Pinterest inspired DIY ideas, check out my DIY Board on Pinterest!

What you do in the Kitchen...

Well... you...

Here is a new addition to our kitchen :]  I found these letters for $2.00 a pop and couldnt resist.  The green matches perfectly with that in the kitchen curtains and well, it makes sense right?

I think "EAT" paired with our chalkboard (made like this), are just what was needed to make the kitchen complete.  We loves it!

Ottoman Overhaul

You might remember this post... 

Well, I finally did something about them :)

Here is the before, luckily it kind of matched our couches but they definitely had that unfinished look to them.

I followed this tutorial and it worked perfectly!

So off to the fabric store with my friend Kristina and here is what I picked out.  The cream tones matched the couch and chair perfectly while the chocolate matched the curtains.  I chose the design to add a little texture to the room, when we first painted the main floor we chose a lot of neutrals and its starting to get a little boring.  I thought this fabric would add a little visual interest.

This was my first sewing project ever, with that said, it took me about 3 hours just to cut the fabric. 

Once I got to the machine I was cruisin :)

Here is the final product! I was just short of fabric to finish the second cover but I think another yard will get the job done.

I Love it!

It's MINE, ALLLLL MIIIINNNEEEE!

Celebration is in order!  I am now in possession of a SEWING MACHINE!!!

My WONDERFUL aunt gave this to me! It's definitely a little older but it's the perfect beginners machine and if needed I can upgrade later! 

Now I need to get on those ottoman covers! Aimee, Sarah, Learn me.

8 Days a Week.....

I know, I know there are only seven days in a week but everyone loves a little Beatles - No?

Last year I made a calendar inspired by this one and I have now completed updating it for 2011. It will proudly hang in our kitchen. :]

I used Microsoft Word and inserted a table (6 rows, 7 columns) and tweaked the table till I got it to a vertical rectangle - exactly how I want it.  I used the font "Broadway" at 14p for the month titles, dates and month name.  For birthdays, anniversaries and special occasions I use the font "Arial Narrow" at 8pt. I like to used colored fonts for the month title and month name while keeping the dates and occasions a jet black.

I print on 81/2x11card stock and cut in about an inch on each side.  The cut gives the calendar a unique look if you're bored of the usual square shape.

I punch holes in the top center of each page and hang from a regular ol 3m Hook.

Easy Peasy, Cheap Free, Unique. :]

Pretty View in The Loo

Our bathroom walls needed something besides a silly towel rack and hook.  I didnt want to spend ANY money, so I got creative!

I had three white Ribba frames from IKEA that weren't in use and would look UH-MAZING in the bathroom.  So I swiped those from storage and sat down at my computer to think of what might be good art for a place you do your business and get clean.  Hmmmmmm...

In trying to keep with the "old, vintage, retro" theme going on in our home here are a few ideas that came to mind before deciding what to do.

1. Vintage vacation postcards.  These are a lot of fun and I love the feel they bring to a room. However, for the style of our bathroom which is feminine and light, the bold colors from the cards clashed and were to bold for the space.  Plus, I'm planning in similar artwork for the den. No.

2. Vintage Pin-up pictures.  Going more with the feminine vibe, I thought Pin-up girls would be really cute.  Then I realized that the bathroom didnt need to get any more "girly" and Justin squashed the idea almost instantly. No.

3. Vintage Wallpaper.  I glanced over to my shower curtain and realized how much I like the soft, daintyness of the pattern.  I decided to search the internet for other vintage patterns that would specifically bring out the navy and gold and brown tones of the space.  SUCCESS!

Here is the shower curtain...

And here is the finished Product!

I printed the three patterns I like most on regular 8x10 paper, shoved them in the frame, hung them on the wall and called it good! Instant, free, art. You can't beat that! Eventually I would like to do something a little more creative but for the time being, this will work just fine!

D-World Card & Pin-Up Chick

Hand Cramps.

After sending out 80+ Christmas cards, my poor right hand needed an umbrella drink and a massage.  Not only did it cause me great pain but as each envelope passed through, the writing got uglier and sloppier and messier...  No Bueno.

Now that we are at a permanent residence I REALLY want to get one of these puppies!

A return address stamp. <3  I WANT IT AND I WANT IT NOW!

Well at least before next December :]

This thing would seriously make Christmas cards SO much easier.  The thing I love most about them are all the different styles they have to choose from.  I came across this site, http://www.sweetpapery.com/ and they have some super cute self inking stamps.  Here are a few that caught my eye:

 This one I really like.  It's cute and modern but I think my name might be too long and would make it look wierd.

 This one I love because it's all over the place! I like how they use different fonts for each line. Very cool.



This one I like because its classic. The only thing is that it might be hard for people to read.

Yep. Definitely need one of these :]