Not-Great Habits

So I bite my nails.


Ive stopped a few times for a few months at a time, but sooner or later I start again. They'll be nice and long and elegant, but one day I'll just be sitting watching tv and look down only to find I've absentmindedly bitten off my hard work.



But not this time.

This time, I'm going to make it stick.

A family friend once told me that he's always thought that being your nails means you're afraid to grow up. These words have stuck with me. I think they're true, too. I mean, I'm terrified to be a grown up and avoid it when possible. That doesn't mean I want my hands to look mangled and sad anymore, you know?

So this is the month that it all stops. I'm going to keep them painted and neat, maybe put that gross tasting stuff on them if I need to. Here's my starting point, and by next month I'll have long, healthy nails. Or at least I'm going to try.

What about you? Do you have any habits you're trying to break?

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Makin' It Happen: Smashbook

Hi; I'm Katie and I'm addicted to scrapbooking.

No really though, I just finished my first scrapbook this week and I'm obsessed. Theres something deeply satisfying about taking paper and glue and making something adorable and, hopefully, worth treasuring. 

Today, while out on a grocery run, my roommate and I stopped my Michaels (cuz why not?) and I found this:

That's right kids; It's my first Smashbook.

I guess that means I'm finally a woman. 

Smashbook is a line of scrapbooks designed to be, well, smashed together. That is, it's not meant to be a particular style or theme but a conglomerate of scrapbooking bits and pieces. It's like a spiral-bound notebook but the pages are all cute and ready to be decorated. 

I'm going to use my Smashbook as a personal challenge: fill it up in the next 52 weeks. Hopefully, setting aside time every week or so to craft, create and look at old pictures will help keep me inspired. 

Here's to hobbies!

Makin' It Happen: Chip Clips

Sometimes you have some extra scraps of fabric.

Sometimes you also have clothes pins.

Some other times you also need clips to keep chips and such fresh; a chip clip, if you will.

When you live with a Master Crafter, the math is really easy on this one. We made really cute fabric covered chip clips.

So here's how we did it:

First, we took apart the clothes pins completely, careful not to loose the spring.

Then the sticky part began. Using (FIND OUT WHAT GLUE), we stuck the flat sides of the clothespins on the fabrics. Once that was thoroughly stuck, it was wrapping time.
Little by little, we would spread some glue and use our fingers to roll the clothespin on the fabric as tight as possible and our fingers to spread the glue (hence the sticky).

We let it dry after each step.

After that, we Modge Podgeed them to seal them (and make them shiny)

Next day, we put them back together and BOOM- we have adorable chip clips.

Not too shabby, right?

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.

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. 

Makin' It Happen: Knob Hooks

I love hooks. I like to be able to hang things up and see my options.
I also love doorknobs and dresser pulls. A gander on the anthropology home website is one of my favorite ways to spend time. Looking at all these glittering, delicate, beautiful little gems gave me an idea: turn the knobs into hooks. I can hang my apron, coat, outfits for the day, and handbags on them when I get to my new place! So let's make this happen:

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