Pillow Covers

Conference weekend, more like crafting weekend. Am I right? This year during priesthood session I went to Gardener Village, which is always super dangerous for my bank account. Luckily I left my wallet at home, otherwise I would currently be filling out bankruptcy applications. All of the Halloween decorations made me sad that we don't have any. But here's the thing, what would we even do with them the other 11 months of the year? If there are two things we don't have an abundance of at the moment it's money and storage space, so holiday-specific decorations are just not super realistic.

Nonetheless, the trip to Gardener Village set off the crafter inside of me, and the next day I pulled out all of my mom's fabric scraps in an attempt to make some holiday pillows. Free, foldable, festive. Bam.

I also made a pillow cover for Carter's room, which is slowly but surely coming together. How cute is the blanket my mom made? If anyone has a cute vintage airplane and/or hot air balloon that hangs from the ceiling, I am accepting donations. 

Craftiness.

The Goal:

The time has come for me to move into a new apartment, and with this change in scenes comes new decorations. And you guys, I love me some decorations. Bronwyn and I went to start moving in some things today and, well, we were sad. The apartment is so bare and foreign feeling. The smell of old cleaning supplies lingered in the air and the couches looked neglected. The bedrooms were far too empty and the bathrooms had that scary, dirty, foreign feeling that all college apartment bathrooms have until you get used to it and call them home. However, once we started moving in our old apartment wall hangings and I reminded myself that my beloved roommates would be there with me, things started to brighten up.

So, in the act of making this house feel like a home, I turned to pinterest. Naturally. My boards have been piled high with apartment inspiration, and this past weekend I decided to tackle the painted crates.

Supplies: 

I went on over to Joann's and got me some wooden crates and spray paint. I snagged the last three crates at $8.99 each, which was 25% off the original price. 

As far as spray paint goes I got four cans: a color for each crate and a primer. They cost $7.99/bottle.

Take it from someone whose been there, go with the Rust-oleum, not the Krylon. I don't know much about spray paints, so maybe the Krylon would have worked better if I had the same brand of primer? I have no idea, but what I do know is that, after priming, the green went on beautifully while the purple and blue took up the entire bottle of paint and left me going back for seconds. Even then I was more pleased with the green than the others. 

The Method:

After setting some old packing paper on the grass I went at it with the primer. I coated the boxes with three layers each.

After this step I moved the boxes to different parts of the yard - I didn't want the wind to blow the paint from one box onto another. Turns out this was the best decision I made all day, as the paint was going everywhere. I probably could have let them sit a bit longer, but I just waited until the primer was dry to the touch and went at it with the color. I did one layer just after the primer, then came back about two hours later to do the second layer, and did the third layer after a few more hours. The purple took a few more mini-coats after that, but the blue and green were good to go.

I'm not sure exactly how the crates will be used in the apartment, but I am thinking of stacking them and using them as a form of book case. I'll let you know where they go :)

To see some of our apartment crafty makeovers from last year click here, here, and here.

Pinterest Money Saving Tips

I was doing some pinterest scrolling the other day, the kind where you aren't actually looking at anything, you just keep going to take up time. The only thing noteworthy enough to stop my scrolling would have been either seriously awesome or something that made me go " . . . what?" Like a can of Crisco on fire.

via

The caption on the pin said: "Insert a wick in a can of Crisco for a long burning candle."

I see the purpose in this. I'm a Mormon. I get the whole 72-hour kit, survival mode stuff, but a Crisco candle? Really?

My first issue here, does it bother anyone else that something we eat can double as candle wax? Just me? Cool.

Second issue, insert a wick? I feel like candle wicks aren't the sturdiest of things, and Crisco isn't the softest. I just can't see myself sitting in the middle of a hurricane, in my basement, in the pitch black, thinking "wow, I'm so glad I have this wick and this can of Crisco. Good thing I didn't get the flashlight and 48 pack of batteries, or one of those pre-made emergency candles."

I just think that maybe people are a little big too into saving money on these things. Like, we're talking about your livelihood in the case of an emergency, I think it's worth the investment. But alas, pinterest is the place for crazy money-saving ideas to spread like wildfire.

So, for your convenience, I have compiled a few items that I do/do not find to be worth it.

Do Not:

 

1) Homemade toothpaste.  

I have touched on this in a previous blog post. Really? Is your budget that tight? When it comes to your hygiene, it's time to invest a buck 60.

2) DIY dry shampoo.

It's called baby powder, and it will last you forever. Also, your powder base will work. Only if you're blonde.

3) DIY cleaning products.

The bottle says it all: "ghetto febreze." Now, I'll admit, febreze and glass cleaner aren't super cheap, but they're not over the top either. The time it takes to make these things is worth the store price for me, especially when febreze and glass cleaner are not things you use every day. They will last. 

4) DIY dishwasher detergent.

I feel like this falls under the category of cleaning product and hygiene. I just wanna know that my dishes are clean, ya know?

Do:

1) Nail polish.
I am not a fashion person. I embrace chipped nail polish. In fact, the main reason I put nail polish on is so I can chip it off when I'm bored. That being said, this might be a cheap fashion-less girl's opinion, but $30 for a bottle of nail polish?? Sure, it will last, but that is just not something I am willing to invest in.

2) Sideways toaster.
A while ago Jennie was making a grilled cheese with our toaster turned sideways. She was telling me how it was such an awesome idea from pinterest, and I said something about how we could just get a toaster oven. Her response? "That's like looking at every tip on pinterest and being like 'What? Why not just do the hard expensive thing!?'" Touche. I don't know what had gotten into me. There are many pinterest tips that take something with one function and give it a few more. I love these tips

3) Swiffer stand-in.
I know, this is a cleaning thing, but fo real swiffer things are so expensive and a rag is like, the exact same thing. Save the $$.

4) Newspaper bags.
You save money, it's cute, and you look like you put more effort into the gift. Worth it.   

Part III

The Goal:

A collage of beautiful pictures.

As you may or may not know, my apartment was once adorable. We painted the walls turquoise and stuck a tree branch decal on that thing, and it was a sight to behold.

But then we got new management, and we had to repaint.

So this semester we were faced with a blank canvas, and we decided to do a picture frame collage! The frames have yet to be filled, but we're getting there :)

The Before:

The Process:

The After:

Craftiness Part II

The goal:

A cute turquoise key holder thingy.

The process:

It all started wit a yard sale where we bought the cutest hanging thingy EVER!!!
We then painted said thing turquoise and then, well, hung it.

This picture makes it look ugly blue. But it's not. It's beautiful blue.

And, just for fun, a picture/quote of the day:

"I haven't even made a dent, so I can't have eaten that much, right?

Craftiness Part I

Today was a day of craftiness in my apartment.

The first project I will share with you was the brain child of Pinterest.

The Goal:

The Process:

What we learned:

-If you blow a fuse from using too many blow-driers, it's fine. Just move to the bathroom. 

-When your colors seem to explode (see picture 7), don't worry. It'll look cool in the end.

-The nail is stronger than Allison's shoe. Take the extra time to find the hammer, it will pay off. 

More of our awesomeness to come, but for now we're headed off to a 24 hour theater production :)