craft area: revisited.

Last fall (almost a year ago?! How on earth...) I mentioned that we have space for me to have a craft area in our current living situation. What a blessing! Or a curse - I may have acquired more things because I have the space for it... 

Regardless, here's the somewhat makeshift area that I've created for myself using extra items from my in-laws. Tables, stool, lamp, crate, sewing machine? All theirs. Thanks guys! 

Favorite parts about it? 

» crate for organizing fabrics & yarn

» pretty quotes & ideas on the wall

» baby clothespins. cute.

» lamp, although it doesn't provide a ton of light. still awesome.

Thanks for visiting :) Shout out to our old Massachusetts license plate on the wall. Miss that guy.

learning-ish.

I'm not a photographer at all. I've always said that I didn't really have an interest in learning because I feel like everyone and their mom is all, "yeah, I'm into photography" and I think "sure you are." Not to be rude, but we can't all be photographers. Some people have definitely got it and some people don't. If you want to learn a new hobby, that's fine, but I can't help but think that so many people want to learn photography just to be "artsy" and cool.

And I admit that I'm not a photographer in the slightest, but I found myself playing around on Saturday morning just to see how it worked. My hub gave me some lessons on shooting in manual and it was definitely tricky and took a lot of time.

Here are some of my experimentation shots from around the house as I was tinkering with adjusting everything on manual. There are also some things I've been meaning to show some friends, so this is for them. Don't judge, because I'm not claiming to be talented, or artsy, or cool.  ;)

{inspired by this}

Some art I made my hub for Christmas - see my reflection with my father-in-law above :)

{inspired by various things on Etsy}

This is a gem I found at a yard sale. Best 5 bucks I've ever spent.

A friend of ours gave us two of those mason jars as a "wedding present" because he knows me so well, so I filled them with the most perfect pine cones as Christmas decor by our kitchen sink.

And that green bottle is from my brother's amazing home-made beer. 

It's a wonderful life being related to a gourmet chef.

I made two spice racks out of wooden pallets (so many uses for those!) 

and there's our Russian nesting doll measuring cups :)

Above you'll see my favorite place in all the land.
(The three windows above our bed overlook the ocean, where the sun rises. I know, it's a hard life.)

 Look who's still kickin' around! I adore the tree and won't get rid of him before his time.

The end.
Thanks for tolerating my tinkerings. I was half impressed with myself since it was so tricky!
But don't worry - I'm not a budding photographer like the rest of the world.
Real photographers, how did I do?

a kitchen craft

A long while ago, I posted about a random craft that I did around the homestead. 

Baldwin craft number two, comin' your way...

kitchen inspiration board

1. 12x12" black frame (yes, with a bowl of raisinets for good measure)

2. 12x12" piece of cork board

3. Hot glue a little left over wedding burlap on for style's sake. Obv.

4. And now my "10 ideas for boneless chicken breasts" clipping from Real Simple has a home.

Right beside the crock pot recipes and my husband's boutonniere. 

He thought that was a nice spot for it. I'm inspired already.

Once again, a 10-15 minute project has brought us to 

a fun and creative new level of organization. Win.

super cute restyle

Everyone has an old bummy crewneck lying around, right? If not, it's probably worth it to go thrift one just to do this adorable restyle I saw on A Beautiful Mess.

Click here for the tutorial.

Just wanted to share a pretty find :) Happy Wednesday!

11/11/11

Happy Wish Day, everyone!

November 11th... what a long anticipated day! I've already heard of so many people who chose this as their wedding day, and not gonna lie, it was one that we considered for a short stint! I'm praising God that we didn't settle on that though. First and foremost because an engagement that long would have made me self-destruct, but also because it's extremely blustery out today. Very yuck. Very... November in New England. 

But my co-workers and I were all amped about the day and celebrating at 11:11AM. We were going to dance around, make lots of noise... you know, all the things that are necessary at an arbitrary time on an arbitrary day. But lo and behold, we missed it. What a fail. It wasn't until almost 12:30 that someone said, "Oh no! We missed 11:11!" and we all mourned. And we all know that I won't last until 11:11PM, so there goes that fun. What a waste.

Know any wedding happening today? Any fun plans to celebrate this rare occasion? The hub is going away for the weekend (our longest time spent apart since being wed, by the way - sad), but my very best friend is staying with me all weekend! How could I be so blessed? We'll paint nails, drink tea, and have the ultimate girl's weekend of nothingness. I'm thrilled.

Have a fabulous weekend all! 

Here's some fun thing to peruse in your spare time.

world's coolest loft

a must-do DIY project

something I don't think I'm smart enough for

a distant dream

oh where is my hair

I'm pretty bummed that my hair is growing slower than death these days. I'm seeing so many awesome fall hairstyles that I'm simply lacking the locks for. But check this out! How cute is this!

Elsie over at A Beautiful Mess posted this tutorial.

So I'm sharing this for all of my long-haired friends who are lucky enough to try it. I'll get there someday.

craft central.

Not to toot our own horns or anything, but Will and I have been pretty crafty these days around the homestead. Nothing too tricky, but I think because we're always so busy/tired, I'm just surprised they were accomplished in the first place. Here was project number one...

earring organizer

1. frame: purchased for $1 at Second Glance in Rockport

2. screen: purchased for $1.50 (2 feet) at a local hardware store

3. staple gun that sucker right on there (thanks to dads & husbands)

4. and BOOM: your earrings have a happy new home.

I know. Nothing too revolutionary, but it's pretty to look at 

and makes my life easier, so I'm pleased. More to come!

map attack

Inspired by something I saw on another blog (can't remember which because it was so long ago), I'd like you to meet the new addition in our home:

Ta da!

That's not our exact door, but the concept remains. Using an old atlas, I backed our paned glass door with el mapa and it looks fancier. Our door unfortunately doesn't have a crystal knob leading to a bright beautiful sitting room, but it DOES have a brass knob leading into the basement laundry area. Same? Or on the other side, our dark bedroom with no windows and a maroon rug. Same? No. I know, but it certainly dresses it up a notch. 

So here's another gem I found along the same lines and I can't quite tell how I feel about it.

Definitely a unique idea, but maybe only in a really simple room with simple decor and such. That busy's up the joint real fast, in my opinion. What are your thoughts? I think this photo does it well, hence my attention to it, but I think it's a fine line they walk. Would you ever do it? Or compliment it if you saw it?

For our new hive?

It would be so sweet to live in a hive.

I'm sorry for the unbelievably deliberate pun. I couldn't help myself.

But forget about that and look at this sweet shelf!

I did it again. I'm so sorry. It was completely unintentional that time. Just go make me this shelf and it'll be fine.

Something like this would look awesome in the living room that I'm about to move into. Moving this weekend! Our new living room has honey-colored walls and they are simply delicious.