Thursday, September 30, 2010

sneak peek

for whatever reason this has been a crazy week for me. not necessarily busy, but crazy. most of this craziness has been craft-induced and i've got so many craft projects to show you! but first i need to settle down and take some photos. 
so until then, here's a couple sneak peeks:




i also just added some new things to my shop and i would love it if you took a look! it still needs a lot of work {especially the photos} but little by little i'm getting there.

Tuesday, September 28, 2010

reasons to love manhattan #2

kstate football!
saturday i attended my first wildcat football game. {and sadly my last, because football games are outrageously long and my system can't handle being outdoors for more than 15 minutes. literally}
but, besides the sneezing and watery eyes, it was awesome!

 {our favorite player, #8 daniel thomas}

 i may have mentioned it before, but wildcat pride is pretty fierce here, so you can imagine the crazy excited energy going on in that stadium.

so even after the game was delayed for over an hour because of lighting and heavy rain {which we waited out in the stadium} it was full by the time play resumed.
{during the rain}

{and after. completely packed!}

i think you should all come visit so i can take you to a game and you can experience thousands of people doing the wabash cannonball {our unofficial school song}
{and oh yeah, we won! we're 0-4!}

Monday, September 27, 2010

frame and screen jewelry organizer

today you will find me guest posting at salsa pie, one of my favorite blogs since the beginning of time {or at least since i started blogging} caroline's blog is full of wonderful ideas and is always an inspiration. she just had a beautiful baby boy and while she and her family are spending some quality time together, she's asked some blog friends to help fill in.

so if you want to learn how to make this:
go check out my guest post! and make sure you say hi to caroline while you're there, she's the best!

Friday, September 24, 2010

a bestie crafty banner

last year around this time, my bestest bestie sent me a wonderful handmade paper bunting banner. unfortunately, it's too small to fit over our large living room window, but it's perfect for our little kitchen window:
{forgive the weird photos, i had to take them in the evening with all the lights on since the sun usually shines in so brightly} 



so, inspired by that wonderful window treatment, i made a slightly larger one for the living room window. 

someday i'd like to make a fabric one, but this was so quick and easy. and i do love paper.
 
  it's these little things that make our house feel like a home.

Thursday, September 23, 2010

i love my job.

yeah, i love my job. i get to plan fun stuff.
and this year we're celebrating all kinds of random holidays, like skyscraper day, when any and all building is encouraged:



mini-golf day, when i set up a little indoor course, and gave each kid a ping-pong ball to blow through the course:





or elephant appreciation day, when we painted with our feet {inspired by these elephant artists}:


we have fun. and i can't wait until chocolate-chip pancake day!

Tuesday, September 21, 2010

vintage couch love

this weekend we got an early christmas gift from my mom and dad
it's a couch. and it. is. awesome!

i walked into one of our local vintage stores {second thyme around} and there it was. it's in excellent condition and fits perfectly. {and it totally matches the vintage gold chair we already have}

{the price tag}

and besides the fact that husband and i have been without a couch for over a year {and our previous couch was a futon} the kitty loves it, too.

yeah, we stayed inside all weekend cuddling and sleeping on our new couch. 
awesome.

Sunday, September 19, 2010

monogram extravaganza!

we've been in our new apartment for just over a month, and so i've been doing a lot of crafting lately. and furniture rearranging. and general "nesting" stuff. it all started with the wallpaper, and now i have totally redone our livingroom artwork.
i've gone monogram crazy!

i went bigger, i went better, and i used the existing nail holes! {which explains the random placements} i'm really digging the whole thing. and since our last name won't be changing anytime soon, i'm thinking these little jewels will work in all our future housing.

my favorite part? i used craft materials i already had around the house. nothing new needed! i'm all about using what you have on hand.
{a stenciled "m" on a burlap coffee bag in an old record frame}

 {husband's favorite. this was an {ugly} metal wall-hanging. i covered it with contact paper with a scrap paper "m"}

 {my favorite. this is actually a frame which the glass was broken out during the move. i covered it with a piece of wool to make a stretched canvas of sorts, and embroidered the "m"}

  {a blank canvas i already had. it's just wine corks sliced up, painted, and hot glued on.}

 {another blank canvas i had on hand. painted, with buttons hot glued on}

{a frame that was already on the wall. i used my exacto knife to cut the "m" out in white card stock, glued that to the dark green, and glued that to the bright green}

{another frame already on the wall. just a variety of "m"s drawn out in tan fine-point sharpie}

i want to add a few more that aren't square or handmade by me, so i'm keeping my eyes peeled for vintage "m"s-  something along these lines.

i've definitely got a few other things going on in our place {both big and small}, so this may just end up being a week of apartment posts!

Saturday, September 18, 2010

cupcaking

i made some more of martha's cupcakes yesterday. i tried some new things {like candying orange slices} and they turned out great!
i present, orange-vanilla bean cupcakes with candied orange slices and swiss meringue buttercream:
these are some yummy cupcakes, even without the delicious toppings. heavy cream, lots of vanilla, and fresh squeezed orange juice and zest in the batter. i may or may not have had a couple for breaky this morning.

my kitchen smelled good all day from those orange slices.

i just wish i didn't always make the biggest mess possible. i spend as much time cleaning up as baking, and that's no fun at all.
{good thing it always tastes good!}

Thursday, September 16, 2010

creative camping equipment

husband and i like to camp.
or at least we used to, before we moved to kansas where the summers are stiffing hot and the cool fall air is full of toxic pollen.

so, sadly, all our backpacking stuff sits in a box, way in the back of our closet. 
 {photos from backpacking in the u.p. with these guys

 but i have found new uses for some things, such as our head lamp. i get up for work much earlier than husband, so to avoid having to pick out clothes the night before {yuck} or stumbling around in the dark without ever finding a pair of clean underwear {double yuck} i'm using the headlamp. it's pure genius.
and now i'm thinking: fondue party in the living room floor with our camp stove? there may be something to that....

Wednesday, September 15, 2010

cute overload

i got to babysit this little doll one afternoon this week:

 it was awesome.
but don't get too excited yet, we already have a baby in the house and we're not ready for another just yet!
 
this kitty wasted no time jumping in the playpen and sleeping the afternoon away.
it was ridiculous.

Tuesday, September 14, 2010

subway art by me

so we've been in our new apartment for about a month, and it looks pretty bare. 
so i decided it was time to jump on this subway art bandwagon and make us something. which i hung in our teeny-tiny little "hallway" over the fuse box. 

i used one of husband's favorite quotes, from dostoevsky's house of the dead.


i painted the letters in orange and outlined them in orange and brown sharpie {classy, i know} i didn't want it to look perfect- i like a little sloppy in my art. but i think it might just be all sloppy. oh well, i still like it!

Monday, September 13, 2010

reasons to love manhattan #1

wildcat pride!
it's football season! and to celebrate, last weekend the city kicked off with "purple power play on poyntz" the annual street festival held in historic downtown {on poyntz street}

and we painted the town purple.
more accurately, more purple than it already was.
and this weekend we did it all over again for the annual band march. 

 there's always something for a wildcat to do around town, and i'm trying to soak up as much spirit in our last year here as possible!