Staycation Commencement

Today is the first day of my staycation!!! I worked last night so it was hard to drag myself out of bed this afternoon, but then it turned into a rather productive day. Can I share?...I have an awkward hallway at the bottom of my stairs that was painfully white. Being as we are renting and only planning on staying in this home for a year I am trying to not paint if at all possible. The problem is that I hate white walls. The other problem is that I dislike throwing away perfectly good things when I think that someday I could reuse them and make them something special; like 16 cheap, black frames that Devin and I have collected from our dorm/college years. Here is a visual of the problem at hand...

 The solution was to create a photo collage to eat up some space on my eternal white wall and find a creative way to use boring black frames that does not look cheap or "dorm-room-y". We found some of our favorite pictures from various adventures, birthdays, moves, our wedding, friends and family and turned them black and white giving it an artistic feel. The entire project cost less than $10.

A tip if you decided to do something like this yourself:
Take tissue paper and tape it together to create one large sheet. Play with your collage design until it is the way you like it. Then, lay the frames out on the tissue paper and trace around each, marking where the nails need to go to hang from the various fasteners on the back.

Then tape the tissue paper to the wall and put the nails where you marked for the frames. The tissue paper is easily removed and then all you have to do is hang your frames up and they are spaced exactly how you want them! Big time and stress saver!
 Here is how it turned out:

I was happy to have a project done on the first day. My day ended with an evening drive to the south Bronx to pick up an ugly mirror and lamp I found on craigslist. Next, I have to turn said ugly mirror and lamp into something pretty! I have my work cut out for me, here is what I have to work with:

 On our way back to the freeway we saw a street named "Casanova", so fun!

Good night all, tomorrow starts early with more projects! Chat soon!

DIY 5 of 26: Placemat Bath-mat

After much searching I could not find a bathroom mat that I completely fell in love with for my new powder room, so I made one using circle place mats. And you can too, super cheap, super easy, super fast! Here is how...

Supplies:

• Four Round Place Mats
• Scissors
• Pins
• Non-slip Rug Pad
• Thread/yard and a Needle/sewing machine (I used thread and a sewing machine, but you could create a more organic or boho look by using yarn! Super cute!)

#1: Line up the place mats so that each of them is on top on one side and underneath on the other side, forming a pinwheel look. Pin them down.

#2: Stitch them together. The black line indicates where to sew.

#3: Cut a piece of the non-slip rug padding so that it completely fits under the mat without showing from the top. Slide the pad under the mat and voilà, you are all set. Here are some pictures of how mine turned out!

Have fun and enjoy making your own colorful, unique bathroom mats. I found some gorgeous place mats at a discount store, made in India with beautiful designs and stitching in gold tread. They did not fit my plan for my powder room but they were so pretty. I am sure you can find some really interesting ones out there for a steal! The whole project cost less than $8, gotta love it!

A Month of Fullness

Hello All! What a month-and-a-half this has been. I thought I would share a few pictures and a quick update as to why I have been MIA in the blogging world.

Since May 29th I have...

Said goodbye to my first New York home of three years.

 Signed a new lease, giving me 1470sq feet of blank, white canvas to play with!!!

Headed to Seattle for a quick visit with my best friend her her lovely gentleman who were in town from the Ukraine. We took him for a rush tour of downtown and the market after some very satisfying WOW BubleTea -- a teenage-years must. I enjoyed some birthday celebration with my family and my sweet inlaws! My late great-grandfather and I were always birthday buddies; he has been gone five years now but our birthday tradition lives on! And of course a trip to Seattle could not be complete without seeing my baby brother's ("baby brother" is now over six feet tall) baseball game.

I returned from my Northwest whirlwind to have time to work and move before heading out again, we literally threw everything into our new place and packed a bag...so thankful for our wonderful friends who recruited others and helped us move in one afternoon!

With no rest for the weary we headed out to Houston, TX for Devin to take the first portion of his national boards exam. My aunt was beyond hospitable, allowing us the use of her home and car, not to mention feeding us and entertaining us for a week after!!! We jumped into Texas culture and enjoyed the most amazing food, weather, and of course the shooting range. I cannot wait to share more pictures of our trip later but here is a personal favorite...

Back home to get some of the unpacking and decorating started and then the privilege of hosting my best friend Megan for a busy 48hour layover on her way back to the Ukraine. She has started an English school for missionaries there over the past few years! Check out out her blog. She is truly an incredible person and I have always hoped to be just like her when I grow up!!! Friday evening we hit up Times Square and Broadway for a lovely girl's night out.

















As if that were not enough to keep us busy: Devin has finalized his decision of medical specialty, I worked 18 twelve-hour shifts, we squeezed in two date nights, had to make a couple of difficult and emotional decisions, we bought a tree, and have been designing custom furniture, collecting the pieces, and assembling it for our new home! Nothing like a relaxing summer huh?! What have you been up to? Everyone I chat with agrees that time is flying -- hard to believe it is mid-July already! Whether you are lazing by the pool or running around like crazy I hope you have a lovely week!