man meets meat

...for new weekend traditions.  as a kid, i suffered from sunday night anxiety.  unfortunately, this has only gotten worse as an adult.  taking advantage of the recent spate of gorgeous weather {which i'm sure will turn to rain now that i've blogged it}, we've been enjoying beers and bratwursts as an end of weekend happy moment the past few weeks.  husband loves his grill, and i enjoy standing inside far away from any flareups which might leave one eyebrowless.  win win.

optical illusion squirrels

...for the power of imagination.  this past weekend at target, i saw a random squirrel in the parking lot making a beeline for this tree.  {squirrels and bees and target, oh my}.  he really seemed to be enjoying himself up there.  it looked like he was snuggling against the branch...although he might have been scratching an itch.  dunno.  i took out my camera and tried to get close without scaring him off, but he disappeared before i could get my zoom on. 

so since we're all friends here, just look at the pretty picture above and imagine a squirrel enjoying a sunny saturday afternoon.  and perhaps an acorn or two.  pretend he's one of those rare camoflauging squirrels.

ok, this post is officially ridiculous.  have a good day. 

paint sample art

...that home depot's paint guys don't bat an eye at sample hoarders like me {the same could be said for costco samples, but that's another post}.  still on the quest to decorate our empty rental walls, i found these two fun pins that inspired me.  originally, i tried to use stamp pads for this project.

don't do that.

to be fair, had i been using an actual dedicated rubber stamp for each color of ink instead of my fingers, i'm sure you could totally do that and it would turn out well.

ahem.

diy abstract wall art

materials:

canvas size of your choice {i used 8" x 10" because i had some left over from a michael's impulse bulk canvas pack purchase, but i think this would have been even cuter a little larger}

construction or scrapbook paper, color of your choice

spray adhesive, glue or double stick tape

assorted paint samples {free at any hardware store}

2" circular punch {mine's from joanns}

instructions:

cover your canvas with your construction paper, using whatever adhesive you like.  i used double stick tape because i didn't want the glue to wrinkle.  i'm sure modge podge would work here, too.

punch out your paint samples until you have enough to play around with on your canvas.

create your design.  i moved these little guys around quite a bit until i was happy.  you could go abstract like i did, but i also created a triangle ombre pattern that i really liked.

turn your dots over and apply adhesive, then attach to your canvas.

were i to do this one again, i think i'd use an actual picture frame instead of a canvas.  after hanging it on my wall, i wish it had a defined border.  however, not leaving the house to buy a frame meant that this project could be completed with jammies and dirty hair.  and that's a win in my book.

if you try it, comment/link!

spring fling

...that spring has sprung.  i saw this tree at work a couple of weeks ago and loved the unique color and shape of the blooms.  i took a picture not knowing what they were, only that i enjoyed them.  {i was definitely busted by a student while taking the picture, who thought it was amusing i was standing all up in the tree's business trying to get a closeup.  i told the kid to go back to the playground}. 

flash forward a few days, when i saw an almost identical picture on one of my favorite blogs.  apparently, they are bottle brush.  looking at them now, that makes perfect sense.  i love it when things are named for what they actually look like.  {cough cough red onions, i'm looking at you}.   

california girl

...that my home state is relatively easy to freehand.  i've been wishing after this super cute tshirt for a few weeks now, since they seemed to have popped up all over blogland.  when i realized i could diy it for next to nothing, color me satisfied.

wall art home state diy

materials:  16" x 20" frame

construction or scrapbook paper in the color of your choice

black sharpie

optional:

paint samples {free at home depot}

2" round punch {i used a coupon and my teacher discount at joanns}

1.  cut your construction paper to fit your frame

2.  freehand or stencil your state's outline in pencil first, and then trace with sharpie

3.  i'm a socal girl, so i wanted to place the home script near the bottom.  totally optional.

4.  also optional, but fun, is to use the punch and paint samples to highlight places that you've traveled to throughout your state.  i've been to norcal several times to visit, but i wanted to show places that my husband and i have been to together as a couple. 

considering that i am craft challenged {i didn't post the "places we've visited across the united states" companion piece i made.  trust me.  fail.}, i was really pleased with how this turned out.  leave a comment/link if you try it!

big wall o' stuff

...that we have an extra bedroom for me to practice arranging and rearranging and second guessing myself our future living room gallery wall without making a permanent commitment.  the top two rows {with the exception of our jamaica honeymoon print} are all my own craftiness, but the stars of the show are these photos taken by my brother in law.  i see them {esp. the middle one} and i'm right back at ucsb.

i ordered a map print online {code for free us travel map}, which may or may not make it into this display somewhere before it's finally hung.  but for now, it's  really brightening up the floor of our third bedroom.        

they say the first anniversary gift is paper

amy and ian had coffee, fell in love, and got married.  and they lived happily ever after.

...that my dad always knew the value of a good map.  because my directional sense is...challenged... and occasionally i get lost in my own neighborhood , back in the day i relied on these really cool laminated fold out maps of orange county to get me where i needed to be.  they stayed in the back of my car, unloved, until last month when i used them for an anniversary project.  thanks to these tutorials, i got my craft on and am pretty pleased with how it turned out.  i should have used darker ink, but each map shows the exact location of significant relationship events. 

my inner mushmellow smiles each time i see it.  i'll love it even more after it's hung up on the wall.  my current MO is making cute stuff and then delaying deciding exactly where to put it.  i'd like to blame our strict rental rules, but i can't.  it's just me.

upcycling

...for my poor shopping skills.  i was so excited to find this cheapie frame the other day at ikea; i knew it would be perfect for my currently frameless anniversary map project.  only after getting it home and taking it apart did i realize that the plastic "glass" was not actually meant to protect anything which might be framed.  in fact, it had printing all over it which i somehow managed not to see back at the store.

womp womp.

serendipitous this turned out to be, however, because i've been looking for a use for the extra half of a shower curtain which had been appropriated for window blinds.  with the curtain, some kitchen twine and some fabric glue, i was able to make this cute bulletin board.  right as i finished the board, i remembered that we had some honeymoon postcards hanging out in a bag in the office.

my inner pinterester is so proud.     

if you build it

...for my love of swedish furniture {and meatballs, but that's neither nor there}.  we've lived in our new place for six months or so, and i finally decided that our lack of dining room table was a deal breaker.  {insert husband's, "you just bought the table bc you had a friend coming over."  maybe.  not true at all}.  don't get me wrong.  i'm really proud of myself for putting the table and chairs together without anyone's help.  as soon as it's all stained, i'll post an after shot. 

but let's be honest.  the real accomplishment here was getting all five pieces from the high ikea shelf to the low shopping cart, then into my little corolla, and finally from the garage to the house.  seriously, i won before i even opened the boxes.    

herbs of a feather

...that i can proudly say, "oh, those herbs? yeah, i grew them myself. no biggie." i am so relieved happy that my little chia guys are doing well.  we had a close call with mold there for a bit, but i'm finally able to begin adding my basil, chives and parsley to salads.  no official green thumb for me quite yet, but baby steps. 

of champions

...for vacation breakfast each morning this week, with a delicious side of blogs.  spring break, i'm just not ready to say goodbye. 

married errands

...that my husband enjoys my company so much, he waits to run even the most mundane errands until we can do them together.  on friday nights.  on our way out to dinner.  my whining about being so hungry i could eat my arm falls on deaf ears.

it's cool, honey.  i'll get some gummy bears from the shop inside while you fill er up.  win win.