CHRISTMAS TIME!!!!

It's officially Christmas time. Which means I am allowed to sing the songs I love far too much, watch the movies that make me feel warm inside, and decorate the bajesus out of everything.

SO naturally we've put up a tree, and we found some glitter-covered friends to go with.
Take a peek:

pizmas tree

clive, bixby and larry

christmas hippo

What about you guys? Do you decorate for the holidays?

Apartment Updates

Can you believe it?

It's been two whole months in our apartment. We're getting fairly well settled in, and we've finally gotten some finishing touches done (well, for now- you know how it is)

Thought I'd give you guys a peek!

Say Hello to My Jewelry

I finally have all my jewelry unpacked and set up.

Although many people subscribe to the jewelry box school of thought, I prefer to hang up all me jewelry. That way I can see it all and grab what I'm looking for in the morning.

Take a look and see what you think

Wish List: Vases

Here at our apartment we've gotten into the habit of having fresh flowers in our living room and... foyer? welcome nook? front hall? I don't know what it's called, but its the first thing you see when you get home and I like it. Anywho, since we've had flowers around a lot, it's got me thinking about vases. So here are some vases i've had my eye on.

Enjoy!

Inspiration: Gold

I'm a bit of a magpie. 

I love all things that sparkle.

That in mind, I started to look around me and I noticed how happy and warm and... fall like gold things make me feel. So in the spirit of the season, I put together some of my favorite gold images to keep me inspired all fall long and into winter. Hope this warms you up!

Wish List: City Prints

Theres a blank space on my wall.

It's so sad, like a duckling that just cant catch up with her siblings or the dog that legitimately can't understand why he can't catch his tail.

Naturally, I wandered over to etsy to find a little something to make my wall feel a little less sad. And I found something. A few somethings, actually:

I love them so much. I want to get one for each city I've lived in (plus Paris). Now the only question is... do I get all the same series OR do I do all different?

Quandaries...

Things I Want To Make.

Living with a master crafter makes one want to do nothing but craft. It's literally all I want to do. You may have noticed that my Pinterest has been inundated with DIY after DIY... this is no coincidence.

Seeing this, I decided this morning to focus in and maybe zero in on some crafts in particular that tug at the heartstrings. Or make me say "I-want-to-go-to-there". Either way.

Let's take a look, shall we?

Ok, lets break it down.

There are a few different categories going on here. There is jewelry, home, and cute little things.

The biggest category is jewelry. I have always been drawn to jewelry making, and have even worked for jewelry designers, so it makes sense that my brain would click when I see jewelry ideas. I really like that the DIY ideas I choose also happen to be my styles of jewelry: small and delicate or simple and linear.

 Then there's the home things. These consist of mainly shelves or vases. The shelving ideas is mostly wishful thinking (let's be honest), but it's really fun to look at. Maybe Future Katie will get around to those things.

Some of the projects I really get excited about are the vases, especially the ones with gold leaf or gold paint. I swear I must be half magpie; I just can't resist a sparkle!
I mean, look at those square vases with the little succulents- how cute are they?


Then, last but not least, there are the too-cute-to-stand things. like this guy:

I mean... do I even need to justify these guys?

I didn't think so either.

Apartment Update!

my picture wall in my room

So it's been about a week in the new place, and we are settling in quite nicely. Here's some of the updates we've made:

bits form the living room- our theta wall, our wall of pictures, and our amazing bookcase complete with tea set AND joan holloway barbie 

from this...

to this! dining room table- we found an awesome little grocery stores that has a great flower section

sad bar...

happy bar!!- those are our royalty/ LU shot glasses

empty bathroom...

cute bathroom! my babushka glasses, my side of the sink, and our bathroom post cards

my amazing bed and nigh stand- not over how much i love the lamp

first bedside table...

bedroom details- my bedside table, my jewelry and a purple tray (i made it!)

What do you guys think?

Inspiration: Bar Carts

Is there anything more elegant than a sophisticated little bar cart?
I think not.

I realized this little item has become something of an obsession for me, so I thought I'd compile my favorites and give you guys a peek:

What do you think? Which are your favorites?

Makin' It Happen: Ikea Honeycomb Mirror

We went to Ikea the other day.

the project

sad nook :(

The best part of any Ikea trip (besides the meatballs) is finding the little bits that brighten up a space. On our harrowing Labour Day trip to Ikea, my roommate, Schroer, and I found a few choice bits. One of my favorites is the honeycomb mirror we found.

See, we have this nook right when you walk in and it needed a mirror. Badly. So when we came across this one, it seemed like a no-brainer.

Naturally, the moment we got home and had put together the furniture we'd gotten, I pulled out the pieces and began arranging them. The mirror isn't just one piece, but ten smaller octagons that you can arrange to your liking.
My favorite part of the mirror is that it's half silver mirror, half bronze mirror. When I first saw this, I didn't like it one bit, but as I arranged the pieces and put the bronze ones in at random, I grew to love them. The warmth of the bronze is so welcoming, especially in our front hall.

Remember when I said my roommate is a master crafter? Well, she came up with the genius idea to put papers behind the mirrors to frame them.

the piece in progress with it's creator, the magnificent Schro

We immediately pulled out paper and started arranging them.

We went with different papers for each piece- it gives almost a quilted effect.

So after deciding on the final arrangement of the mirrors and papers, Schroer traced the octagons and measured out about an inch. Then she carefully cut out the strips and placed them around the corresponding octagon. After it was all laid out, the dangerous part began: sticking it together.

Schroer stuck the paper to the mirrors using her handy dandy double sided tape tool. Then, I volunteered to help out.


Not my brightest idea.

I was in charge of sticking the final pieces to the wall. Well, the adhesive squares for the mirrors are a one-shot deal. So, naturally, I stuck the first one on slaunchy. And then panicked.

But it turned out ok; Schroer fixed it.

It turned out amazingly. The nook is now cheerful and welcoming when you walk in.

final product, with Schoer as a disney princess. 

And, we all learned an important lesson:
Schroer really is the master.

And I should not be in charge of the hard-to-fix steps. 

The Apartment

It's happening: I'm moving in to my new place. This can only mean one thing: it's decorating time. Remember all that planning I've been doing? Well now I get to put it all into action! So let's take a look at the blank slate:

So I have a nice big space to work with and an awesome roommate who is a master crafter (words I never thought I'd say). So with a little bit of time, a few Target and Ikea runs and a LOT of picture frames, this place will soon feel like home!

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