AT LONG LAST: A PORCH RAILING

First of all, let me wish you a very Happy New Year from our little corner of the world. I hope you've all had a fantastic set of holidays! Ours had some highs and lows--one of the lows being a late-night trip to the ER and a diagnosis of croup for Johnnie (who is thankfully feeling 100% better now), and one of the highs being the long-awaited completion of our front porch railing.

This railing was such a challenge. (Ez requested that if anyone asks how long this project took us, I should tell them anything but the embarrassing truth.) The brick, selected to match the house's original chimneys, is quite soft, and finding a way to firmly anchor the newel posts without cracking the brick proved difficult. Our first attempt, using the standard black metal newel posts (shown here) that matched the railings, failed because it required sinking four screws for each post, and a few of the bricks cracked during the drilling. As a result, we had to have the brick man come and replace six bricks--this time with one big hole pre-cut into each one. This new method necessitated a different type of post that could be anchored with one long threaded rod sunk a couple bricks deep. Our only option was a chunky pressure treated newel, which we happen to like exponentially more than the metal newels.

Hooray for Plan B being better than Plan A in every way! Once the wood newels are stained to match the logs, I think it will look just right. In addition to being the far sturdier solution, the wood newels make a more substantial statement visually than the dinkier metal ones. I'm so glad Plan A didn't pan out. Plus, the house looks almost done now, right? So much improvement with one project! (Also, SAFETY! WOOHOO!)

FYI, all the railing parts were off-the-shelf from Lowe's. Note #1: because this seems to matter more and more to blog readers nowadays, this post was not sponsored and we purchased everything ourselves. Note #2, and a tip: for a project like this one, you really need two people. One person can do it, but two people can do it three times faster.

Finally, for those interested, my Christmas/winter decorating took about 15 minutes (including screwing in the hooks for the door garland). Since our only evergreen tree (i.e. my source of free holiday decor) fell in a tornado last year, these decorations cost me between $25 and $30 in pine from the local market--$18 of which was just for the pre-made wreath. It's definitely not the fanciest house on the lane, but I think it works and looks like we at least made an effort this year. :)

Pardon the in-progress mess and oversized light bulb (it's dark way out here in the sticks)... 

I especially love the window boxes. I was going to just take them down until spring, but instead I chopped up two $4 pine swags and jammed the branches into the soil. Boom. Done. This is not the best photo, but it's my favorite thing. 

So that's the railing. Can you believe we finished something? It's been awhile since we've gotten to cross a project off the list. Let me tell you, it feels WAY better than falling down the steps.

A BIG BIRTHDAY AND A PRESENT TO MATCH

Saturday was, whether I liked it or not, my 30th birthday. I thought it wouldn't be a huge deal to me -- it's just one day older than the day before, after all -- but it did feel more significant than any other birthday I've had so far. Months ago I thought I wanted a more elaborate celebration, but as the date approached I felt more and more inclined to keep it simple. Which, as I have learned over and over, is more my style anyway. The day involved sleeping in (thanks for the best birthday gift ever, Johnnie!), pumpkin chocolate chip pancakes (I have the best husband), a pedicure and dinner with a table full of people I love. It was the perfect day.

And speaking of tables, Ez had this big guy waiting for me when I woke up! He'd been working on it in secret for a couple weeks. I was ready to hunt down and confront either his boss or his mistress for keeping him out of the house so much lately, but when I saw this table I felt it really was two presents in one: a beautiful and thoughtful gift made by husband, and also the end of a busy couple weeks of late nights for him.

These pictures don't do it justice. It's a little hard to photograph right now thanks to all the tools and such piled all around the room, but its presence gives me the warmest, fuzziest feelings. He used the Ana White plans I posted recently, with a few modifications. I keep walking past it and petting it. Though I should be focusing on the next phases of the renovation itself, I spent an hour before bed last night drinking birthday champagne and scouring the internet for dining chairs... Like I said -- perfect day!

ON THE BRAIN...

A little brain dump for your Tuesday...

We've gotten into a terrible habit of eating dinner in front of the TV. We eat in the kitchen too, but there's still too much disarray in there for it to be a nice experience. I have been dreaming of a dining room for ages, so that we can have a place to eat and let Johnnie spread out with her crayons and other important business. We could conceivably go bigger, but I think we'll want to stick to a smaller table -- around 6' long -- if we don't want the space and particularly the walkway to the kitchen and living room to feel too cramped. This table design from Ana White (built by Shanty 2 Chic) costs around $100 in materials and could easily be modified to shorten it a smidge. Though an extension table with leaves would be nice for holidays, it's hard to turn away from this much cheaper option that also suits our house's style. We'll see where we end up.

Ez made some progress over the weekend on the coat closet (left) and powder room (right). He decided to focus on these little areas because he wanted to use up the rest of the planking and drywall we had lying around and getting in the way. Plus, having these walls done means we can do a ton of priming and painting in one massive effort. Right now we're in that middle stage where we're wondering if things are actually looking worse than ever and if we'll ever be able to make it all work, but this is the point where you just have to keep moving forward and see it through.

The powder room or half bath is teeeeeny tiny. It's literally just big enough for a toilet, a sink and a person. As such it's hard to photograph, but here's a shot of the wall where the sink will go.

Our plan at the moment is a slate floor (we have some leftover), staining the wall behind the sink, grabbing an old wall-mount sink from Second Chance and using this old metal mirror:

Meanwhile, I can't get this song out of my head. It's available for free download here as a teaser for Gungor's newest album. Ez and I went to see them live at Ram's Head in Baltimore last year, and the show was unbelievable. I can't wait to listen to the new album start to finish.

And finally, last but not least, let me show you the secret to potty training. These little guys, in addition to loads of patience and all the high fives and cheering you can muster, are getting us over the potty training hump. Pretzels and grapes were child's play compared to these magical incentives.

Whenever she uses the potty, Johnnie shouts in the cutest voice imaginable, "Yay, I did it! Now I get a gummie!" Then she takes great pains to choose the exact one she wants. We still have some work to do, but she's doing much better at staying dry, asking to use the potty on her own (a huge step forward) and being generally interested. I'm trying not to pressure her too much and to go at her pace, and it's encouraging to see progress. 

So that's what's going on this week... Here's hoping for another surge of productivity in the next couple days. Encouragement and inspiration appreciated. 

MAKING PILLOWS, BUILDING TOWERS

Johnnie is learning to build towers with her blocks. I'm proud to say that this tower was not staged; she built it all by herself, and celebrated her achievement every step of the way. I think five is actually the record number of blocks she has stacked up so far... She could go taller, I think, but she just can't resist the temptation of sending it crashing all over the place once it gets tall enough to result in a slightly dramatic collapse. So if you ever come visit us, be sure to watch where you step. There is always a stray block lying somewhere, and believe me, those sharp corners are unforgiving to the bottom of an unsuspecting foot.

Meanwhile, I am trying to learn to sew. The blue floral pillows behind Johnnie on the couch were my first house-related sewing project, completed a few weeks ago. It was so easy I'm embarrassed that I was afraid of the process for so long. They are flawed, I'm sure, but Johnnie has taught me to celebrate the small accomplishments, and I'm very happy with how they turned out. (The color looks a little brighter on my screen than in person; the actual color is a bit closer to navy than royal.)

The best part of this whole pillow endeavor is that I picked up the fabric (four Fabric Quarters, actually) at JoAnn Fabrics for a total of maybe $4 on Black Friday. I was looking for a small, husband-approved floral pattern that would complement the IKEA Alpine Spetsig cushion in the center, and this could not have been more perfect. Including the inserts, which I also bought that day, these pillows cost me a total of $12. Not bad for an experiment, especially one that went so well.

I don't have a lot of other sewing projects planned just yet, but I can see why sewing can be addicting. There are so many pretty fabrics out there... Maybe someday I will learn to turn them into cute clothes for my little future architect.

DIY Sweater Pouf

I did something from my To Do list! It was not a disaster and it only took about an hour. (Well, a month plus an hour.) I'll chalk it up as a success. Before I tell the story, here's the final product:

For a grand total of maybe $7, I'll take it. It makes for a nice footstool in front of the rocking chair in Johnnie's room.

Here was the plan: Go to Goodwill. Browse around for a couple discarded plum or, preferably, coral-hued sweaters (so I could make more than one if the first was a bust). Preferably in size XXXXXL so it would be big. Look for stripes or designs that are too ugly to wear, since that might actually work perfectly. (Our Goodwill here is a haven for the most generally unwearable clothes -- piece of cake.) Bring it home, wash it, cut it, stuff it, sew it and see what happens.

Here's what actually happened: I went to Goodwill. Johnnie took one whiff of the funky stale coffin smell and started crying as soon as we got inside. I whisked her back to the sweater section. She sneezed. I grabbed the first sweater that was remotely somewhat related to the color family that I was looking for. (It's neither purple nor orange... I guess you'd call it cranberry aka "good enough.") I dashed to the register and paid my $3, apologizing about my fussy baby to the girl behind the counter, who couldn't have been older than 17 or over 100 lbs. but said that her three-year-old always fusses when they shop. My mind was blown and my heart felt heavy. We had to get out of there.

Then I went home, and the sweater sat around for like two weeks until I located a needle, some heavy quilting thread and a pile of clothes bound for the donation bin. (And since I only had time to grab one sweater, I needed time to build up courage because I figured this was an all-or-nothing scenario since Goodwill + Johnnie = incompatible.) Finally I got my act together, put the baby down for a nap and got to work.

There might be better ways to do this, but in case you're interested my assembly process went like this:

1. Prepare the sweater. I chopped off the sweater's sleeves and cut straight across the top, lopping off the neck and shoulder seams so that it was sort of a big cylinder.

2. Sew the top of the sweater closed to form the bottom of the pouf. I just started gathering the cut edges toward the middle, as evenly as possible, and just sewing them together. (This would be the bottom, so I wasn't terribly worried that it was 100% perfect.)

3. Stuff your pouf. I used 2 old pairs of jeans (since they're heavier) on the very bottom. (Size 1, which I will almost certainly never fit into again.) Then I used a regular old IKEA down throw pillow insert that I had lying around. Then I rolled up some some t-shirts and tucked them around the edges to make sure the pouf would stay round and be firmer around the edges. You could probably do a more careful job than I did at making sure there are no lumps. Then I firmly tucked a fluffy fleece baby blanket down around the whole pile to sort of "unite" everything and keep it from shifting too much.

4. Close your pouf. I closed it by sewing opposite sides of the opening together, very evenly. The bottom of the sweater had a nice finished hem, so that's how that little detail at the top was achieved. Then I let it sit around untouched for another two weeks (procrastination is the key to success) before I finally bought a button from Amazon because it nicely completed my Super Saver Shipping order.

5. Make and attach your button. I used a 2.5" half ball cover button and two circles cut from the sweater's sleeve (to make a double layer of fabric so you couldn't see the metal button through the sweater's holes) to make mine. I must warn you though, sweaters are too thick for the button to work properly. (I improvised in the most hillbilly fashion. It involved the broken-off prong of a plastic fork...) You could just as easily use the lid from a jar or anything else that's round, sturdy and the proper size to cover the ugliness of where everything meets in the center. Sew the button to the top.

Voila! Pouf!

That's pretty much it. Obviously we all knew this project was not going to be all that special or technical, and I made it up as I went along. I do wish the center would indent more, but I have yet to come up with a good solution for that since the pouf is about 12 inches high, so it would be hard to thread anything down through the center of all the stuffing. If you have ideas, let me know. (But let's face it, for $7 and maybe an hour of work tops it does the job for Johnnie's room, so I'm not about to disassemble it and try again.)

Also it's funny how your perceptions and preferences can change when you have a baby... I wasn't going to go all girly in Johnnie's room. Now look at these colors! All that sugar and spice hurts my eyes, but I can't stop myself.

What do you think? Should I quit my day job and just make poufs all day? Anyone else making anything out of their tiny old jeans? Can you believe I have a daughter named Johnnie whose belongings are all pink?

Natural Designs Studio

My Aunt Sally (who did our wedding flowers and arrangements five years ago) recently re-launched the website for her business, Natural Designs, and I couldn't resist sharing it with you because I think some of you naturalists out there might really enjoy it. I've been told it's a work in progress, but I really like where it's going.

One of my dad's six multi-talented sisters, Aunt Sally is essentially the much-less-fussy Martha Stewart of the Amish community -- or maybe Martha if she were less of a brand and more of a "real" person. Her site is all about incorporating nature into your lifestyle through decorating and design, cooking, gathering, etc.

Her website has how-tos, recipes, tips and so many pretty photos of her work and of the Amish valley where she lives, just a few miles from where I grew up. I've clicked all through the site several times in the past week just enjoying the rustic beauty of it and the nostalgia for home.

"Rustic" (if that's the right word) is sort of a trend in decorating and especially floral design right now, but this is much more authentic and effortless than that. There's no gimmick behind it. The vast majority of her materials are grown and gathered in her own backyard -- no need to harp on about sustainability or buying organic or local, because that's just part of it.

In this way, Natural Designs is more reflective of a way of life than a particular style -- which is refreshing to me. I'm reading fewer and fewer blogs these days, because it seems so many bloggers are trying to be the next big thing and create a niche for themselves that doesn't seem to suit who they really are. I don't want to discourage people from pursuing their dreams and trying new things, because that's part of the great fun of having your very own blog, but it doesn't take long to separate the authenic from the inauthentic. And authenticity is so much more engaging, even if you're not quite sure why.

I don't know if I'm just looking at the site and the photos through the lens of a biased family member, but I think she has something special going on here. This is all so pretty, right? Side note: at Aunt Sally's suggestion we used a lot of corn leaves in our wedding, and to me they look like a natural version of grosgrain ribbon. (And -- bonus! --if you or a neighbor grow any corn, they're totally free. Love that.) More great ideas at http://www.naturaldesignsstudio.com/.

Oh, and I was not paid to write any of this -- though my aunt did knit us the most beautiful baby blanket you ever did see! (If this baby ever decides to arrive, I'm sure it will show up in a photo or two.)

A Dresser, Redressed

I finished my little craigslist dresser project over the weekend! It's already being put to good use by officially storing the baby's little clothes.

S did the dirty work by stripping and sanding it, taking off two really thick layers of old paint (cream on top and dark green underneath) and the original stain. He also replaced the bottoms of the two large drawers, as they were a bit warped. The top was much nicer than the rest of the dresser, which was rather banged up, so I decided to focus the most care on getting the top stain-ready and then I just puttied, primed and painted the rest. (Don't worry -- I wore a mask and gloves and used low-VOC products when possible!) The black iron drawer pulls are from Lowe's.

I'm pretty thrilled with how it turned out. Not bad for $50 (plus the cost of new drawer pulls). High five to S for the teamwork on this one. For reference, here is the original photo from craigslist. I was too lazy/busy/preoccupied to take one myself...

Let me add that I'm SO glad to have this done! The past couple days I've felt like I could go into labor at any moment (as of Thursday I was 1cm dilated and 70% effaced), and I really wanted to get this project finished beforehand because a) we really needed the storage, and b) I wasn't sure when I'd have time to finish it once the baby arrives. S has been trying to rein me in and keep me from over-exerting myself and bringing on labor too soon -- we need more time for the kitchen and laundry rooms! -- so taking frequent and lengthy breaks didn't help my progress very much.

Finishing it on time was a nice little victory -- the fact that I love the end result is the icing on the cake!

Mobilize

I've been encouraged to take it a bit easy during the heat wave, so I took that opportunity to make something fun for a certain baby. Here's a preview:

I'll let you know when it's eventually hung. (Not sure when that will be.) It was rather time consuming and tedious with all the cutting and stringing, but it cost less than $5!

Simple Twisted Hanger Wreath

Now I'm not saying this wreath is a Christmas masterpiece, but I'm feeling proud of it because it was easy to make and 100% free. This week I was trying to think of what I had lying around to use to make a very simple wreath with some pine stuck in it. We have about a million wire hangers hangin' around thanks to the dry cleaner who keeps S's shirts looking crisp and professional, so hangers it was. I had grand plans to make it more elaborate and fabulously messy with lots of different sized loops, but bending the wire hurt my fingers so I gave up after the first layer.

I had thought this was my own original idea, but then I saw this wreath from Haus Interior on Remodelista today and realized I'm not so creative after all. Oh well -- I wasn't planning to get rich and famous from it. Does it look a little too country? It looks kind of country... Maybe if a stick pine all the way around that will help? I dunno. I'll keep playing with it. It's a work in progress but I still like it.

I clipped the pine from my neighbor Mort's giant pine tree when he wasn't looking. I guarantee he saw me anyway though. He is the self-appointed neighborhood watchman, and he needs no backup. If he makes a stink about it, I'll remind him that we honored his request (so far) not to plant any hedgerows or treelines between our properties so that he can ride his lawnmower through our yard to visit the neighbor.

And I don't know what you call the decor style happening in this corner of the living room. "Big 'ol mess" just about sums it up. We had to rearrange to make room for a hideously large new treadmill we just got, which doesn't help things at all. (Its eventual home will be in the garage, but there's no heat or electricity out there right now.) So in addition to this being our living room, it is also our kitchen and our gym. It's not the prettiest, but it's not that bad either. The kitchen situation stinks, but living in a smaller space isn't so bad.

Well this is more holiday decorating than I thought I'd do, so we're chalking this up to a win. Don't you love wins? Have a great weekend!

Rug Pillow Redux

In case you were wondering, yes I did finish the Martha Stewart rug pillow I started making two weeks ago. (Some projects do actually get finished around here once in awhile.) I had planned to make two big pillows, but one was enough for our bed (they're big). So I used the two leftover rugs to make two small envelope-style pillows. So easy! They took about 15 minutes each to make, once I got them pinned how I wanted them.

A couple tips: I simply folded one standard (albeit thin) pillow in half for the insert -- no special size needed. Martha recommends stitching down each corner to secure the flap, but my pillow seemed to want to bulge in the middle so I tacked it in 3 places along the fringe instead to keep everything in place.

I don't know if I'll get around to decorating much for the holidays (keep in mind I have a refrigerator in my living room) but these lil pillows bring some warm coziness to the room. The perception of warmth is very important right now -- we haven't turned on the heat yet because we're in the middle of some duct work. A little space heater has become our best friend. (It got down to 26 degrees this week.) Brr!!!

Oh, and when I inevitably get tired of the pillows, I can undo the stitches and use them as actual rugs. Brilliant.

I made something.

I've been operating in two basic modes for the past few months: working like a madwoman at one of my two jobs, or collapsed in a heap. Last night I felt like doing something productive other than staring into my computer screen, so I went to IKEA and picked up a few $3.99 Signe rugs to shamelessly copy the Striped Rug Pillow idea from a summer issue of Martha Stewart Living.

via marthastewart.com

We've been trying to think of cheap ways to add a little rustic oomph to our lame, too-girly bedroom. (I really want to change the wall color to something more cabin-appropriate, but that's not a priority any time soon.) I really like the slubby texture of these rugs, and I was happy to discover that our IKEA had other color options than what was shown on the website.

I won't repeat the instructions since Martha covers them pretty well here, but I did modify things a bit by stitching both ends closed from the outside. (Martha says to sew 3 sides closed while it's inside out, then sew the 4th side from the outside.) I wanted the fringe to be visible on both ends instead of just one, and as long as you sew somewhat straight you don't really see the stitching if you pick the right color thread. I also needed 3 standard pillows to fill it (probably because I used the 99 cent IKEA kind) instead of the recommended 2. Overall, it was almost embarrassingly easy.

Word to the wise: hand stitching takes forever. I thought I could finish two pillows last night, but I only finished 3 sides of the first pillow before I gave in to sleep -- hence the still-gaping 4th side. And a note for perfectionists: the rugs are not woven exactly the same, so get used to the idea that the stripes won't line up 100% perfectly.

It's been awhile since I've made something with my own two hands, and it feels good. (Thanks Martha!) What are you guys making lately?

Birthday Surprise: Homemade Marble Baking Station!

S outdid himself for my birthday again this year. He made my baking station!!! The top is made of two old marble slabs found on Craigslist (yes, from the same source I had blogged about last week -- S fibbed about their thickness to throw me off the scent), and the legs are made from 100+ year old timbers we removed from our kitchen. I was floored. Could it be any cooler?

We're planning to put a shelf across the two side supports for storage, and maybe add some hooks for keeping oft-used tools hanging close at hand. I love it. It's perfect.

Kitchen items are starting to accumulate all over the house, which is a bit untidy but very exciting. The blanket on the floor is what we've had our wall oven wrapped in for protection until we can use it. (The oven is that silver box peeking out behind the table.) The fridge is still sitting in the corner of the living room as well. We won't know what to do when we finally have this kitchen finished! Oh right, we'll have a feast.

Seriously though, that husband of mine is so stinking thoughtful. Best birthday gift ever. Can't wait to bake that boy a pie.

DIY Apple Crate Shelves (in progress)

One thing we've been planning since the very day we bought this old log house was to set up crate shelving. It just seems to fit the log home concept, and we especially thought it would bring some of the rustic wood theme into our shiny new living room without being too overpowering. Verdict: success!

At $5 apiece (and some weird looks from strangers) at the local orchard, they're just as economical as IKEA shelving but with much more Thirtyeight20 pizazz. We also just happened to have the perfect cranny to fit them into our living room scheme, since the wall is recessed to the right of the beam.

We're planning to put another set on the right side of the window to finish the whole wall, but what you see is all that would fit in the car. So we're gonna have us a nice reading nook back there (our living room is huge, if you haven't noticed) and I'm pumped!

I have resisted the urge to unpack all my books, because we still need to fasten the crates together and to the wall before we get too crazy filling them. (Note: This is super important if you're going to build crate shelves! Safety first!) We'll get to that at some point in the near future...

If you'll notice, we still haven't even screwed on all the outlet or halo covers, which are just sitting on the same shelf as the drill, waiting. We've been putting some seriously long hours in at work, so it's only partly because we're lazy that we still haven't completed those simple tasks. One thing at a time...

UPDATE: We reasoned the best way to secure these shelves was to screw them directly into the wall.

Homemade Thirtyeight20 Business Cards

Now, let me preface this by saying that I did not invent this idea. This is a direct and shameless ripoff of Amy Merrick's recent post on Design*Sponge. I thought it was genius, perfectly rustic and something I really needed to try. You see, when I started Thirtyeight20 on a whim last year, I should've thought about how difficult it might be for people to remember the url. It's numbers, it's letters, it's a mess. Now I have something to help them out.

I bought a Cosco Custom Stamp Kit (similar to this) at my local Office Depot for $22, and I made these little ditties over the weekend. To avoid cluttering it up with an extra line for my name, I used my personal email address -- which I've conveniently blurred in these photos, since my last name must remain a secret around these parts for now. That is, unless you meet me in person, at which time I will give you a card... and then you'll be one of the lucky ones who knows my name, has my card and reads my blog! Stalker...

Lingering Holidays, Home and More Ornament Craftiness

Let it be known that I am really sad the holidays are over. They come and go so quickly that I never get to enjoy them as fully as I want to. After New Year's Day, everyone's decorations come down and everything is just plain cold and dull. (I spotted one of our neighbors taking down his twinkle lights the morning after Christmas, that scrooge.) Which is why I'm posting these photos my parents sent me of their dining room, decked out for Christmas a few weeks ago -- because I just need ONE more dose of holiday spirit before I'm set for the winter.

The main reasons you might care to see them are 1) my parents are the inspiration behind my love of scrounging for cool old things, and 2) these photos feature the first ornament/glue gun project I attemped several years ago: the legendary "Ball of Balls." I love that I am 26 years old and my mom still puts my "artwork" on display.

I also love that I never know what fun items are going to be swapped out and switched around when I visit their house -- which they've been working on renovating and restoring for about 20 years now. It's still a work in progress, but it has come a long, long way since I was a kid, when the heat was questionable and the kitchen nonexistent. It makes S and me realize that our own house probably won't (and doesn't have to) be an overnight project. Home is home, whether it's decorated for Christmas or scattered with construction debris.

The Technicolor Wreath -- on Design*Sponge!

Look at us, spreading holiday cheer all over the internet!

This morning I was extremely excited and honored to get an email from Grace Bonney at design*sponge letting me know that she would be featuring my Technicolor Ornament Wreath on d*s today. I've been reading d*s daily for about 3 years now, so I'm extremely pumped to have something I made get a shout-out from one of my favorite sites.

Check out the full post here.

Many thanks and holiday wishes to Grace and the d*s team!

Holiday How-To: Technicolor Ornament Wreath

I've always loved colorful things and making collages, so this wreath makes me happy on multiple levels. Martha Stewart has a fancy how-to on her website for making a similar ball wreath, but 1) using glass balls all wrapped together seems like a terrible idea to me (what if one breaks, Martha?), and 2) her version is a little obsessive in its use of floral tape and seam binding for my level of patience. So basically mine is the shortcut, cheap-o version. (And don't tell Martha but I like mine better!)

What you'll need:

• Wreath Form (I used an 18" straw version, but you could use styrofoam)
  
• At least 200 plastic balls/ornaments of all sizes and shapes for an 18" wreath (I bought lots of silver and gold balls at the "Everything's a Dollar" store for cheap, plus a couple tubs of colorful ones at Target. Multiple sizes are recommended for filling in gaps. The crazier the better.)
• Fabric or paint of your choice to cover the wreath form
• Craft wire
• Hot glue gun or fast-drying clear craft glue
• Twine or heavy ribbon for hanging

How To:

This is the easiest thing ever, so I probably don't need to write out the steps... but here goes anyway:

1. Wrap the wreath form in fabric and secure the ends with glue, or spray paint it so the form doesn't show through any gaps. (I didn't do either of these, but if you want it to look extra good you might want to.) Let dry.
2. Tie a large loop of twine or ribbon around the wreath now so you can hang it when it's done. Trust me -- it will be way too hard to do it once the balls are on it!
3. With the wreath lying flat, secure the first few balls at various points all over the form with wire and glue so that you have a solid base. I don't think there's any real technique to this part. I start with some of the duller silver and gold balls first to save the prettiest ones for the top layers.
4. Once you have the first one or two dozen firmly secured, start gluing the rest and filling in gaps. I work in various places all over the wreath at once to make sure it's laid out with relative symmetry and evenness. My advice for this: don't place the balls on the first layer too close together -- you'll be filling in gaps with second and third layers, so leave space for them to nestle in.
5. Let dry thoroughly, and hang it someplace where it won't take a beating (i.e. not on a high-traffic door.) Stare at it regularly to let Christmas cheer fill your soul.

Some tidbits of advice: Always think ahead regarding groupings of color and size. Also consider that your wreath has a top and bottom since you've already tied the twine. And be sure not to glue any balls in a way that would obstruct the twine, because they'll pop off when you hang it.

Word of Caution: Transport and store your wreath carefully. Mine has survived a few moves, but not without having to reattach some ornaments along the way. It's a labor of love, having a wreath this cool and festive.

Refined Pallets

I worked the night shift at the Mead factory for three summers in college, paying for my tuition with paper cuts, hard work and sexual harassment. (Ahh, memories...) I learned a lot of valuable life lessons for sure -- but as I packed box after box of freshly minted notebooks and stacked them onto splintery pallets, never once did I consider the pallet's potential as home decor. Until now.

Pallets have been making the rounds on design blogs lately, and because I'm cheap and don't mind a little sanding, this is a fad I can get behind.

Simple, serene and surprisingly inviting. (Sandbox Studio)

This has been featured everywhere, and with good reason. Coolest nursery ever. (Ashley Ann Photography)

Painted white with a more sophisticated vibe. (Apartment Therapy)An unexpected and beautiful non-bed idea. (Remodelista)

Before I try any of this myself I want make sure the pallets I use are free from any of the unsafe chemicals that are typically used to treat them. Anyone have any ideas about where I can find safe or otherwise untreated pallets?

Accomplishment: Stair Railing Edition

One of my elementary teachers always used to say, "Now give yourselves a pat on the back," whenever we'd do something smart. Even to a second grader that kinda got lame after awhile (cuz we were like, super smart all the time), but today my back is practically sore from all the pats I've been giving it this weekend. After about 5 weeks of preparation and measuring, we finally assembled all the pieces to the stair railing -- and it is awesome.

Check out the step-by-step process:

3 newel posts set in place

Measured and marked the spacing for the balusters. I'm not a math person but after 2 hours of puzzling I did an OK job.Drilled the holes for the balusters. The easiest, breeziest part of the show. Set the railing. (So hard! I had to stick my finger in a tiny hole underneath the rail and awkwardly screw on a nut without being able to see it. Much swearing ensued.)Trimmed and installed the balusters and the fillet strips in between Repeat! Voilà!Très Magnifique!

Even though we still have some details yet to finish, I have never loved a safety feature this much. *Pat pat pat.*