Hiccup #1

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So, I haven't posted in a while... BUT! I have a good reason! The intended full time job I had lined up, fell through. And of course, with no full time income, means no moving out of my parents house. Le Sigh. And because I had no apartment to move into, everything I make/buy would have just gone into my fully furnished storage unit. Which is just a little depressing. So I fell of the wagon with making/blogging/being inspired.
I have secured a part time position at the local Anthropologie (a store which I am obsessed with!) and have been working there over the holidays. Of course I tend to spend all of my earnings on clothing and our wonderful home goods! But the good news is, since Anthropologie is such an inspiring place to spend the day, I have pulled myself out of said rut and now I have decided to journey on!
It is my New Years resolution to keep up this blog! So I look forward to lots of new projects and fun times in 2013!

Vanity Tray

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If you're like me, you can sit for hours pinning and repinning items in the 'DIY and Crafts' category on Pinterest. Which wouldn't be a problem - except for the fact that I spend so much time pinning, I never get to  doing! Now that I actually know where I'll be living for the next couple of years, I can get to crafting and actually have a place to put all my creations! With that being said, I'm starting small with a cute bottle cap tray for my vanity (did I mention I have a fabulous built in vanity at my place?!)

I used the instructions from this blog: http://sweetsomethingdesign.blogspot.com/2010/07/bottle-cap-tray.html

Of course, since I drink my coffee black, I don't really need a tray to keep sugar, creamer, and other coffee fixins. But I was thinking a colorful tray with some glass apothecary jars (like these: http://www.etsy.com/listing/107557166/vintage-apothecary-jars-4-jars?ref=usr_faveitems) and perfume bottles would look really cute in my bathroom. So I got to craftin!

I grabbed some spray paint from my personal stock and filled in the gaps by picking some up at Lowes. I used a total of four colors: gray, white, turquoise, and black (the blue on the far right in the photo below actually looked just like the turquoise color, so i grabbed a black spray paint out of the craft closet and it turned out just as well if not better!). I went to the craft store and grabbed an unfinished wooden tray, and a box of floral setting resin. Then I pulled out my collection of bottle caps and headed to the back yard to paint.

The tray took some experimenting before I got the color right. first I sprayed it black, but I changed my mind, so I tried spraying it in the gray, but then it looked really green. So finally, i ended up just brushing it with a cool gray interior paint that was in the garage.

Here is the before:

And after:

I bought the 12 oz box of resin, and it just barely didn't cover the top of the bottle caps, so I'm going to go back and grab a 6oz box to add another thin layer to the top to cover everything evenly. But other than that, and it taking 36 hours to cure, its done! I'll post more pictures once its in place and doing its job.

Overall, I'd say I'm pretty satisfied with the way it turned out. I definitely should have sanded the tray before I spray painted it, and unfortunately there was just barely not enough room to add another row of caps, so there's a little more room around the edges than I would like, but what can you do? I can hardly tell now that its done anyway.

If I ever make another in the future, I think using buttons, paperclips, pencil shavings, yarn scraps, or beads could be fun.

the beginning.

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I'm just going to go ahead and put this out there: I have never been a good blogger, journal writer, diary keeper, what have you. But this time, things will be different. That being said - you were warned.

Now for the fun stuff:

I have officially applied and reserved my first post-collegiate apartment. Estimated move in date: October 27th. This blog is my attempt at an outlet for all of my excitement and activities related to this new adventure. I am a DIYer, an organizer, a planner, an artist, a designer, and a total neat freak. My hope is that this blog will be a timeline for me, and maybe provide my readers with some fun inspiration and ideas!

I suppose I should start with my list of necessary things to buy/accomplish first:

• buy a vanity chair - my apartment as a marvelous built in vanity area! I am currently on the hunt for a most fabulous place to park my butt while I put on my makeup.
• coffee table - obviously a necessary item. I'm still on the fence as to whether I will create my own, or buy one.
• buy a desk - i need a place to do some blogging!
• wall art - gotta personalize people! I'm talking photos, paintings, clocks, etc. 
• bedroom furniture - as many who have learned before me, my college days were filled with mix and match furniture (if you could technically call it furniture at all). This includes my bedroom set. I have never had a dresser. There was simply not room in my tiny little apartments. My "nightstands" were rolling plastic storage bins. Needless to say: its time to buy furniture.
• washer and dryer - the one disappointment about my new place is that it only comes with a washer and dryer hook up - not an actual washer and dryer! Thankfully, there is a laundry room at the clubhouse, so the purchasing can be put off for a little while, but eventually will need to happen.
• deck chair(s) - my marvelous apartment has a deck!!! I cannot tell you how much I appreciate the fact that I'll be able to just sit on the porch, kick back, and enjoy some fresh air and a cold beer.
• and all the other things I haven't thought of yet!

So it seems I have a lot to do! And there will be lots of fun, shenanigans, and hiccups along the way, and I hope you'll be there to join me. :)