The Ugly Christmas Sweater

Well, it's that time of the year again - Ugly Christmas Sweaters!  Am I the only one that thinks some of those sweaters are actually really cute?  Maybe I just have the taste of a 70 year old woman.  Which might be completely true because my Grandma buys me clothes occasionally as gifts for the holidays and I usually really like what she buys.  Gma just got good taste!

I don't own a Christmas sweater anymore, so I figured I could make one.  I got this sweater from The Limited a year ago, and I love it over a cami.  Sadly, my dryer snagged it, pulling it out of shape, and it became unrepairable.  At least from the Renee skills point of view.  I just donated a few bags of clothes of mine, and this sweater would unfortunately have to make it into the trash if it didn't become my new Christmas sweater!  (although after Christmas it will most likely become a fatality...can't re-write destiny).

Materials:
Safety Pins
Christmas bows - as many or little as you want!
Sweater

Before we start, I'm warning you to expect throbbing fingers by the end!

Instructions:
 Decide where you want to pin the bows.  Using the safety pin, I strung it through the staple on the bottom of the bow.  Pin to the sweater in whatever pattern/design/cluster you want.

Mine is supposed to be a bow in the middle.  I personally think it looks like one, but Sid didn't think so.  But, he doesn't celebrate Christmas either, so I'm going to pretend he doesn't know what he's talking about.

This is, sadly, the best picture I have of me attending this year's Jingle Fells which is an Ugly Christmas Sweater bar crawl in Fells Point Baltimore:  Happy Holidays!

A Bright Idea?

As promised, here's Part 2/2 of the lamp shelf thing.  Last week I modgepodged some scrapbook paper on the lamp's shelves.  This week I'm sharing my "lampshade."  Can you sense my lack of enthusiasm? 

I've had this awesome idea in my head for a long time to create a lampshade out of buttons.  So I have literally been saving buttons for the past three years, you know those extras that come with new clothes as a spare?  I must be really thrifty with clothes shopping because when I went to my bowl of button collection, I literally have like 6 buttons saved up.  You can clearly create a fabulous lampshade with 6 buttons...

Alas, plan A will have to wait.  I did try to buy buttons in bulk at my local craft store but I found no buttons!  My home collection of buttons was more extensive.  How impressive.  I suppose you have to go to a fabric store for things like that.  Or maybe I missed the aisle that said "buttons."  Regardless, I was forced to come up with a plan B.  Luckily not that serious plan B...I jest.  And, as you can see in the picture below, this lampshade that has a hole in it was driving me crazy.  No lampshade is better than this lampshade.  Oh and here's a cat in a lampshade.  See, I already found a much better use for it!

 
Recently I've been making most of my own jewelry (stay with me, this has a point, I swear).  I took a jewelry class 2 years ago and I have never felt like such a shining star.  I was the golden child of jewelry making.  This was, of course, a basic intro to jewelry making class so it's basically stringing beads together but I personally believe I have a knack for it.

So I pulled out my beading box and decided if I couldn't do buttons, why not give beads a shot?

This was a terrible idea.  Okay, maybe not terrible.  I'm totally into putting forth my best effort into these craft projects.  But, most of the time I'm really happy and feel accomplished.  Time well spent, pat on the back for me.  This ended with one of those not-so-good feelings.  Almost like a "well, I kind of like it, I can grow and force myself to like it.."

Let's get this over with, and tell me what you think please!

Materials:
Wire cutters, pliers, beads, jewelry wire, fishing line, tissue paper, modge podge

Step One:
Cut wire and wrap around one end of lamp.  String random beads, and wrap wire around the other end to close.  Repeat for however many rows you want!

Step Two:
Cut tissue paper to size.  Modge podge onto the inside of the lamp for the "shade."

Step Three:
String beads onto fishing wire at various lengths.  Tie around top of lamp frame.

Although this is easy, it takes FOREVER.  And I'm unhappy because I think I need to use way more beads/wire lines/strings to get the look that I want.  But I used up a ton of beads and my fingers hurt from wire wrapping, and the total time was probably 4 hours.  For something that's so small scale, and probably not a permanent piece in my house, I just felt like this was wasting time.  I like the concept, and hope to use it in the future on a piece that I love and want to keep around!  I suppose all projects won't go as planned.  But that's part of the learning and blogging process of discovering life, right??

Scrappy

This is Part 1/2.  The holiday season is upon us, didn't it seem to get here so quickly?  Every year I tell myself "Okay, this year I'm going to get all my shopping and holiday errands done early so I don't have the scramble the week before Christmas."  And then every year a few days before Christmas I say "Oh crap, I didn't get any shopping done..."  I'm sure this sounds familiar to most of you.  Isn't it so tough to come up with the perfect gift for someone?  I promise I always have the best of intentions.  Sid's birthday is Christmas Eve too.  How awful is that?  Even if I nail the birthday gift then I have to wonder woman it and get a second awesome thoughtful gift the next day??  It's a good thing I'm a super hero.

So this atrocity in my house is a plastic, yes plastic gross, (the italics are supposed to highlight my discern), floor lamp/shelf.  Had I realized this was plastic I would have thrown it out but I thought it was a cheap wood.  Because that's obviously much classier.  So this guy is definitely a temporary item, but I figured why not snazz it up inexpensively a bit while it lasts.

Before:

Materials:
ModgePodge, Foam brush, Scrapbook Paper, Scissors/Box Cutter, Acrylic Sealer 



Step One:
Cut the Scrapbook Paper to size for the shelves.  The corners were a bit tricky, and thus I used a combo of my box cutter as well as scissors.

Step Two:
Using your foam brush, brush on a coat of ModgePodge to the shelf, and press your scrapbook paper on top.  Let dry.

Step Three:
Spray with your acrylic sealer.  Do this outside!  I'm super lazy, and thought I could do this in my sunroom with the windows open.  Terrible idea.  It smells toxic and I probably killed my brain cells.  Oops.  Also, I didn't use one but a high shine/gloss acrylic sealer probably would have looked better.

And that's it!  I love that super cheap scrapbook paper can easily snazz this bad boy up.  And you can virtually do this on anything - shelves, dresser linings, etc.  A fancier, more expensive option would be using wallpaper.  But, for this plastic guy, I think scrapbook paper is perfect.  Stay tuned for next week's Part 2/2:  The Lampshade.  In my mind it's going to be awesome.

Bye Bye Birdie

There's this amazing antique shop in Fells Point Baltimore called The Antique Man.  It's only open for a few hours on Saturdays and Sundays, but this place is a fascinating treasure.  It's more like a museum of oddities than a true antique shop.  I mean, they've even got a two-headed mummy in there... how cool is that??

Anyways, about a year and a half ago, when I first moved to Baltimore, I brought my darling cat Willow with me.  Willow seemed lonely without a friend, but I wasn't sure I was ready for the commitment of another cat.  In retrospect, how ridiculous was that thought process?!  Now Willow has sister and partner and crime Ivy to carry out their adorableness.   I could probably start a blog to just talk about the cats and the crazy things they do.  And lots of people would read it because they're as cat crazy as I am.  Ah, that's the dream.

But back on topic.  So, as I was pondering over the dilemma of Willow's loneliness, I was exploring the vast treasures of The Antique Man and I came across this amazing birdcage.

Now initially I was thinking "Perfect - I can get Willow a bird to keep her company when I'm not home!"  Although a foolproof plan, I ended up getting Ivy shortly after and loved the birdcage and its antique-eyness too much to put an actual bird in it.   

By itself, it is a beautiful accent decorative piece.  Dress it up with some white lights around the holidays and it's an elegant semi-festive decoration.

A Welcoming Workspace

This project comes from a wooden desk that was left behind from previous tenants.  I believe the source was another IKEA put together yourself furniture.  When I moved in, I figured I could use this desk as I left behind my last desk a few years back when I graduated from college.  This desk was probably one of my biggest neglects.  You couldn't see the ground underneath the desk as I stored boxes full of seasonal decorations, cords and cables, odds and ends.  The top of the desk became a place where I'd put my laptop to charge and "important" papers that I figured I should keep.

Unfortunately I didn't capture a before shot with all the junk surrounding the desk, so use your imagination when looking at this pic:

I've been obsessed with the color palette of grey and yellow, and thought grey would be perfect for this desk.  Plus, I scored a brass lamp with a funky shape at goodwill a few months ago that I spray painted yellow and added a grey lampshade that I thought would complete a grey desk perfectly.

Materials - Paint in a color of your choice, paint roller/paint brush, sandpaper, primer

Step One:
Sand the desk and clean thoroughly!  I always use traditional soap and water to clean pieces.  It's always shocking to me how dirty things like this get.  After using the soft side of a sponge to soap up, I dried with a paper towel, and that thing was black.  How gross.


Step Two:
Prime!  I'm all one for shortcuts because I get so impatient (I hate waiting for paint to dry!) but this is one that you can't skip.

Step Three:
Paint!  I was able to use only one coat, plus a second in some spots for touch up areas.

Step Four:
I wanted some new knobs, preferably yellow ones that went with the lamp.  I got these beauties for $8 each at Anthropologie.  They have got the best selection of knobs.  Unfortunately not the best price, particularly for the reinventing goal of this blog, but I had gotten a coupon in the mail for 15% off your total purchase for your birthday month, so I decided to treat myself (treat yo self from Parks and Rec anyone?? You tube it, and then treat yo self!).

I also got this awesome book called The New York Times 36 Hours:  150 Weekends in the USA & Canada.  After perusing through a few cities, it is a very precise scheduled weekend that highlights more local and off the beaten path activities so I'm really excited to try some of these out.  I'll keep ya updated after trying one out.

Finished Product:
Painting furniture is easy and really adds an instant upgrade.  The only thing it takes is patience, which unfortunately I have a short supply of... but I am really excited about this desk!  Even typing up this post I'm sitting at my new desk, which rarely got used previously.  Hopefully the non-clutter looks stays!

    

Bottle Cap Coasters

I've been saving my bottle caps for awhile with the intention of doing a bottle cap project.  Initially, I was thinking a bottle cap table, but, alas, now that I'm old enough to not be in the glory of college days, I had a gut instinct to take a different route. 

Sadly, I've never owned coasters of my own before.  I'm a total coaster moocher.  I figured coasters would be super easy to make, and a nice way to display some beer bottle caps.

Materials:
Bottle Caps, Hot Glue Gun, Coasters, Scissors/Box Cutter, Cork

Step One:
Save your bottle caps!  Or if you're really excited for this project you could go out and buy a case of beer, and then you get the value of drinking a case of beer and making a set of coasters for the price of one!  The coasters that I made consist of 7 bottle caps per coaster (I know, a shame that I couldn't convert a 6-pack into one).

Step Two:
Arrange bottle caps on cork and hot glue into place.  

Step Three:

Cut out the cork around the bottle caps.  I used a combination of scissors and a box cutter.  The cork is used to keep the bottom of the caps from scratching your table (kind of worse than glass rings you'd get without coasters..).  You could also use felt or foam or a similar material.  I chose cork because I kind of like that classic coaster feel.



Step Four:
Repeat til you get the desired number of coasters.  I chose to do this set as each coaster with a single beer type, but I'll probably experiment with mixing and matching.  I personally think these are great gifts.  Someone loves Victory beers?  Make them a set of Victory coasters.  Plus, you get to drink a lot of beer while looking thoughtful and considerate.  Win-win.

An Olympic Skeeball Halloween

After moving to Baltimore, I formed a Skeeball team with a group of friends after seeing a flyer in a bar.  Yes, Skeeball, that arcade game found at Chuckie Cheese where you roll wooden balls up a ramp to get into tiered point rings.  It gets pretty competitive, and I am proud to say that Team Skeepin It Real is the undefeated Fells Point Champion.  My team became good friends with another team, 3 Skeets to the Wind shout out! and it just so happened that we would be playing each other in Skeeball on Halloween night.

We wanted to have some kind of competitive themed costumes, and ended up with Summer Olympics versus Winter Olympics (props to Kelly!).  Each person dressed up as a different Olympic event in either summer sports or winter sports.  It was awesome because it was relatively easy to pull together and you could put as much or as little creativity into it. 

As an obviously expert crafter (uh huh..), I volunteered to put a few props together:  Olympic Torch, Olympic Rings Mask, and Gold Medals.  And they were all so easy to make and really pulled our two Skeeball teams into a cohesive unit - USA!  Plus, it's always so fun to go as a group costume.  This would also be a great themed party during the Olympic Season.

Olympic Torch:  
 Materials:  Brown Construction Paper, Hot Glue Gun, Tissue Paper
Shape the construction paper into a cone, and glue.  Insert in tissue paper to look like fire and fluff.

Olympic Ring Mask:
Materials:  Pipe Cleaners, Hot Glue Gun

Step One:
Cut the pipe cleaners in half.  Then, shape all pieces into linking circles, using a google image as a guide to the Olympic Rings layout, and wrap the ends so the shape will stay.  

  

Step Two:
Hot glue the circles into the Olympic Rings set up.  This was the most painful step as I burned my fingers a million times!  If you do ever get hot glue on your skin DO NOT try to get it off immediately.  Let it dry and then you can peel it off painlessly.  

Step Three:
Hot glue a pipe cleaner to the side, and you have an Olympic Masquerade!

Gold Medals:
Materials:  Ribbon, Construction Paper, Aluminum Foil, Hot Glue Gun, Gold Spray Paint (optional if you're not and winner and "going for the gold")

 Step One:
Cut construction paper into circles.  I folded each paper twice, so you get four circles per sheet.

Step Two:
Cover the circles with aluminum foil.  I added just a touch of hot glue to make sure it stayed.   

Step Three:
Spray paint both sides of the aluminum foil gold.  Let dry for about an hour total. 


Step Four:
Cut ribbons in a color of your choice.  Hot glue the ribbon to the medal, put around neck, and now you're a gold medalist!

The Finished Product:
Although it may be a bit difficult to see the props in the below pictures, it was so fun to make these and see them bring displayed at this Halloween's Skeeball Olympics!  Happy Halloween!

 

Café Corner

I got a Keurig single-serving coffee machine my senior year of college.  This always reminds me of the quote from Fight Club:  "Everywhere I travel, tiny life. Single-serving sugar, single-serving cream, single pat of butter. The microwave Cordon Bleu hobby kit. Shampoo-conditioner combos, sample-packaged mouthwash, tiny bars of soap. The people I meet on each flight? They're single-serving friends."

Even though my coffee is a single-serving friend, it's a warm and delicious one that brings me lots of happiness.  My kitchen is actually ridiculously spacious for living in the city, but somehow I've acquired a vast collection of kitchen goods that I don't really use, but the motivated cook that I know is hidden deep down is reluctant to get rid of any of it.


Anyways, this comes from another donated item of the boyfriend.  He had this black TV Dinner Stand in pretty good condition.  I picked up some silver spray paint from ACE.  This Krylon brand is the best spray paint I've ever used!  I've spray painted a lot of furniture before, and it's a long and tedious process for large pieces, and my fingers literally feel like they're going to fall off at the end of the project.  This can is somehow enhanced for maximum finger spray comfort.  Genius.

So, all you do is spray paint, let dry, add a few accessories and you're good to go!  I added the tea cups and saucers courtesy of Sid (so now I can drink all the tea and cappucinnos in them that I want muaha!), and had this vase and candle already.  I added a bag of aromatic coffee beans to the vase, inserted the candle, and voila, your very own café corner!

Pretty Pumpkinhead

Halloween might just be my favorite holiday.  Fall is definitely the best season, with those perfect weather days, crisp colorful leaves, pumpkin pie, apple cider, pumpkin and oktoberfest beers....yum.

This post is a quick take on my ritual pumpkin carving.  This year I wanted to do something a little different with my pumpkin.

I am ashamed to admit I got a medium-sized pumpkin from Safeway this year for $4.99.  I am all about the fresh pick-your-own pumpkin from a family run farm after a scenic tractor ride.  But my fall social weekend calendar filled up quicker than usual this year and I couldn't make the journey.  Also, I've become way lazier since living in the city.  Anytime I actually have to get in my car and drive is a huge feat.  Instead of lazy, I'm going to classify that as "going green."  The benefit is that this pumpkin was a lot cheaper than a normal pick-your-own, in which I like to get the fattest pumpkin I can find and that adds up when it's priced by the pound.

Materials:
-Pumpkin
-Potted flowers (I used $3.99 Mums from Safeway)
-Knife

Step One:
Cut the top of the pumpkin as normal.  Also, tip for anyone that is carving a pumpkin:  Cut the hole from the bottom.  Then it's way easier to put a tea light on the ground and pumpkin over it.  Plus the pumpkin will last longer.  Scoop out the guts, and make sure to save the seeds to bake for later!  

Sidenote:  My quick and easy pumpkin seed recipe for lazy people: 
-Clean seeds by putting in a colander and rinsing with water
-Heat oven to 350 degrees
-Mix pumpkins seeds in bowl with melted garlic butter
-Spread seeds on a baking sheet, sprinkle with garlic salt and pop in the oven for 40-45 minutes

Step Two:
Take the potted plant you have out of the plastic, and smush into the pumpkin vase you've now created.  Clean off the pumpkin, and you have a lovely pumpkinhead vase.  You can see that my flowers are a bit too big/the pumpkin too small, but I still like the look!  Happy Halloween!