Katy Needs a Project.

You know it's time for Katy to get herself a project when she starts referring to herself in Third Person.

So we did what I've been itching to do for a while now.  We gave our tiny apartment kitchen a mini facelift!

Living in squalor means that we had to REALLY limit how much we spend on this little project.  This included spending as LITTLE money as possible and working with the fact that we can't change much about the kitchen... not even painting the walls!!!! 

We got to work and this is what we have (so far).

 Computer Area

 I'll add some details on how we did, how much it was and was it worth it...

 

A

 The Elephant Art was the most fun little project we did.

It was only a few bucks.

DIRECTIONS:

• Get some wood flooring ($8 for a lot...we've got a ton of boards left over)

• Stain the wood... we wanted it really really dark. ($5 for stain)

• Get a print blown up

• Cut out the silhouette with contact paper underneath

• Peel away everything you want whitewashed

• Whitewash (we just diluted some white paint with water, easy peasy)

• stand back and feel really artsy, when in actuality, you're really not.

 B

With this Bird Silhouette picture, I simple drew it on a piece of paper and free hand cut it out.  Taped it on the background, and voila.  Just don't look at ANYTHING too closely when you come over... seriously.  Don't do it.

C

Finally framed our drawn portrait from Nan Lawson in a frame we painted grey.  

D

Stuck a Degas print from an old calendar inside this already-black frame.

E

Spray painted this Christmas decorative star bright red.  (spray paint $3.50)

F

Spray painted this crappy lamp we had lying around upstairs black and the even crappier lampshade we bought at D.I. for $1 red.  The crooked lampshade in ALL of these pictures will be what lands me in the insane asylum.  I'm starting to obsess over how off it is!!!!  (starting to drool and froth at the mouth a bit.)

G

This was a project that started small, but took a lot of time (time reminding myself that I'm not cut out for this crafty junk.  It's just not me.)  But in the end, I'm glad we did it.  I like the way the computer monitor is sitting up and when I'm not at the computer, I can stick the keyboard and mouse underneath the small shelf.

The bookshelf we USED to have up on the wall (where the elephant pic is) is now down and we cut it up and nailed it together into this shelf.  Then I taped off the top into the design I want (for the LONGEST time, I tried doing a chevron pattern... but I swear, getting perfectly spaced, perfectly angled zigzag lines were more laborious than... labor.  I kid you not.  For I didn't have an epidural for this stupid project. 

 

Tape down.  Cut out.  STOP looking so closely.  I KNOW... there are a LOT of mistakes.  I blame it on the fact that I'm a lefty.  And we lefties are naturally charming, incredibly smart, and effortlessly flawless in many ways... but our penmanship looks like a 13 year old boy's chicken scratch.  And it ALWAYS WILL. 

 

DONE.  Finally. 

 
Anyway.

All in all... this section was fun to do.  I love that it just FEELS cleaner... Not the cluttered bookshelf of books on the wall and a more centered color theme.  Ahhh... getting more zen as I type.

Alright.  On to the next part.

The kitchen.

 Hi, Ava.  Your cheesiness makes me happy.  Cheesy happy.

I didn't do too much here... just a few simple changes.

• I did the dishes.  I'm not always a slob.  Okay, yes I am.  No, not really.  Wait, who am I kidding... I am.  Moving on.
• Changed out the fabric of the framed measuring spoons above the oven.  I really love those spoons.  
• Bought the black plates from KMart on a whim.  Set of 4 for $7... good whim, I say.
• Made the mini tiered cupcake stand out of plates and candle holders from the thrift store and painted it black.  Total cost: $2

Next is the Desk.

Pretty cut and dry here.  Slapped some black paint on it (by the way, we had all the white and black paint already from projects I started, but never finished, long ago. This made picking our "colors" very easy... because it was Free-Ninety-Free.) (shoutout to Sharee!)

I remembered to take the "before" picture after I started... they didn't originally have white, smudgy edges!

I also stuck a piece of fabric (which we DID buy) to cover my crafty crap drawers.  The mess was way too tempting for Ava to poke around in.  I was constantly getting on her for licking all of my stationary envelopes closed and sticking them back in the drawer.  Cruel, cruel joke, Ava. 

 The Table

 

Painted the legs white

Painted the top black

(I don't know about you, but I LOVE when people state the obvious.  It makes me feel like I'm valued for my brain.)

Oh and I threw up a simple valence curtain thingamajig... I didn't even sew the hem... I IRONED them with "NO-SEW"!!!!!! hahahahahaha!!!  I totally feel like I cheated the system, whatever system that is.  Breakin' the law.

The CHAIRS!

This was one of the biggest reasons we chose to do Black and White in here.  We already had most of the fabric already from other projects.

 

 

We had all of the pieces of fabric except the striped one, which we got for a smashing deal of only $3.50.  Total.  It was rad.

And to finish the table off, since I didn't heavily lacquer the top (too pricey, not enough value in this set, maybe one day... those were the excuses), I threw together some crude place mats.  I didn't spend a lot of time on these since they're just there to protect and get Spaghetti-O's spilled upon them.  But it does add a bit of razzle dazzle to the plain black.

 

Oh and I did these balls.  Here's how I did them.  This blog is great... She's super talented and honestly, I love her... and it's not only because she used to live in our apartment complex and I have a bit of a celebrity crush on her.  Nope, not only because of that. 

But the crafty ball thing was super simple and cheap.  I bought styrofoam balls for a total of $7.50 and instead of buying hemp (which is what the tutorial said to buy) I bought Jute instead.  It's much MUCH cheaper ($3 for a big roll) but it's crap.  I would NOT recommend stupid JUTE.  It's much thinner and more shed-ier (?).  It took a lot of tacky glue (which I already had about 3 half used bottles in my plethora of junk).  And then once I was finished, I just slapped some paint on and... boom shaka laka.  Does anyone say that anymore?  BOOM SHAKA LAKA?

No?  Just me?

Well.

Okay.

And for the final amount spent on this entire project:

$37

seriously. 

I'm not joking!

I know.... I'm awesome.

but it's not my fault...

I AM a Lefty after all.

I've got two more smallish projects that I'd like do finish, and when/if I'm done- I'll show ya.  

And the pièce de résistance.

A little segment, I'll call:

 

•  Don't test the paint with your hefty thumb.  Just trust your gut.  It's NOT. DRY. YET.
•  Freaking out about how "HORRIBLE, HORRIBLE, HORRIBLE" this looks after just one measly coat of paint on the table will just make you look foolish when your husband calmly slaps another coat, and another one on... and it looks better each time.  Baaaahhh... *sheepish after the ranting*
• Why, Oh WHY did I feel the need to have EVERY item in this room being worked on at the same time?  Did it ever occur to me that I have a three year old?  Who loves to "help"?  Nay, it did not.
• And lastly, don't, after hours upon countless hours of harping on your family to "STAY COMPLETELY AWAY FROM THE DESK" because the paint is still wet, go and sit down at said desk and promptly, absentmindedly stick your ELBOWS up on the wet paint.... and force yourself to start over.  After mumbling an apology for screaming at my innocent family for breathing near it.  I am so graceful.  So very graceful.

Goodnight and Happy Crapping.  




I mean... Crafting.

The ABC's of Our Summer

Since I've been on a major hiatus from blogging this summer, I decided to go with the School-Has-Officially-Begun-So-We'll-Review-Some-of-the-Basics. Namely, the ABC's (remember, I haven't been in class since 2005!!)

Here we go, Pupils. (Pupii?)

A: Anniversary! 6 years. We made it. All is well. However, we decided to forgo the dinner/date theme this year and we're currently in the process of giving our small dingy apartment kitchen a facelift. It's called Crappy Kitchen Facelift Do It Yourself Style Without Spending An Arm and A Leg. Pictures to follow.... soon! It's been so much fun doing this with T... it's something we have always enjoyed doing together... re-purposing... painting... making messes!

B: Bangs. Yes. I got them. And I like them!

C: Cone. As in FARSON, WY BIG CONE at the best little mercantile in America.

D: Derricott's!!! We loved seeing our good friends, the Bennett's for a quick weekend as they were driving through to their new home. We also got to play with Brittney's family, the Derricott's (who throw the Best Thanksgiving Feasts EVER.) What a completely awesome weekend.

E: Eggs. Nearly every single morning this summer I ate two eggs for breakfast. I still am not sick of them.

F: Family Reunion. The Aaron's finally got it together enough to get together!!! Seeing the nieces and nephews playing with each other was awesome. Oh and playing with my sibs was pretty great too!

G: Granite Falls. I finally got to take Taylor and Ava to Granite Falls that's just a hop away from our old cabin. We also got to take a gander at the cabin too... the new owners are amazing and our family is so grateful there is a family there who loves the place as much (or almost as much) as we did. (wish I took photos of the cabin, but thought it would freak the sweet couple out a bit as I went through and started snapping up pics!)

H: Half Marathon. I made a goal.... trained... got pumped.... got freaked.... got sick... got even more freaked.... ran it... got blisters.... finished.... Elated. I'm so happy I did it, but I realized (around mile 11) that I'm not a runner. I'm just not. OFFICIAL TIME: 2:15 That was 45 minutes UNDER my goal.. woop wooooop!

I: Infant Photography. I picked up my camera for the first time in a very long time. Took some pictures of two delicious babies and one yummy toddler. I'm getting hungry... for a wee human being.

(Archer K on the top row, Emery M in the middle, and Dallin W on the bottom row)

J: Jumping. and Jumping... and Jumping.... and.... jump....ing......... all summer long we frequented a small play place with these bouncy toys for kids (and adults!) called R-Jump. But these pics were taken at the Riot Zone in Rigby.

K: Kitten. Ava's hooked. Totally smitten.

L: Leonardo DiCaprio. In the movie Inception. The best movie of the summer... bar. none.

M: Marathon. I'm still flipping out that he did it. After my Half, I couldn't physically imagine doing it again. Amazing.

N: Nursery. Taylor and I got the calling. Yes. That's right. But between you and I, we actually really like it. We've got an insanely cute class of 18 month olds. When they're not crying for their moms.... for an entire hour. Thankfully it's nothing that a little Popcorn Popping and sitting with Taylor can't cure. I swear, he's a baby whisperer.

O: Oh boy... Ava started preschool. It's choked me up more than I ever thought it would... seeing her with her little backpack and curls bobbing about as she runs away from me into the arms of another woman. Then I remembered that I only have two and a half hours of sweet, sweet freedom and I snapped out of my sobbing mess. She LOVES preschool. The other day when I had her sit in time-out for a bit, she cried for "Miss Mickey" (which is actually Mrs. Nikki... but Ava prefers the more exciting name).

P: Pounds lost. To date I've lost 33 pounds... give or take two on those crazy days.

Q: Quickstep. Yes. We tend to "break it down" often. And trust me, you don't want to get in the middle of our sweet mess. It gets pretty wild.

R: Riding in go-carts with Taylor. Not me... I didn't dare. But Ava braved it.

S: Sleeping. Lots and lots of it this summer. We were one laaazy bunch these last few months... and we loved every blessed second of it.

T: Tutu's and Truck building. MONSTER truck building to be more exact. At Lowes' they have a Saturday project that you can bring your kids in and let them go nuts with the hammer and nails. Smart, Lowes', real smart. ps. Ava did the hard part. The stickers. She's so proud.

U: Underwhelming summer. Really... we did close to nothing this summer. No major vacations. And to be honest, I was being slightly selfish because I was scared I'd lose momentum and motivation to keep trying to get healthier if we left town often... because vacation food and I... well, we love each other TOO much, ifyouknowwhatI'msayin'. Oh and all I wanted to do was read a lot of good books outside. And I did that.

(not me. thanks, getty)

V: I have the VERY best fan in the world cheering me on. Who wouldn't want to run hard to a finish line when you've got this little jewel yelling for you?

(Taylor made the bulk of this shirt... but those little chicken scratch marks at the bottom in the back... all Avababy)

W: Wilson. Yep. Couldn't think of any other "W" word. It's late. I'm loopy. (but as soon as my head hits the pillow tonight, I'll think of 80 thousand other things that start with W)

X: X-citing (eXciting) boat ride. It was crazy. I'm a total freakshow. (Here's the storyboard of actual events)

Y: Yay! Taylor turned 29 and Ava turned 3!!! I'm too lazy to post any more photos. But I love em dearly.

Z: Zumba!!! If you haven't discovered the absolute joys of this class, I highly suggest you go out immediately and enroll in one. It. is. SO. fabulous. These two look cool. Don't you want to be like them? I know I do.

Hope your summer was as great as mine! Welcome Fall!!