IKEA hack

Wanna see how I transformed two ugly and scratched LACK coffee tables from IKEA into a functional and fun coffee station? Side note, this is not my original idea, I originally saw it on pinterest from apartment therapy. See the original post here.
This is how it started:

You can buy these tables form IKEA for about $10 a piece and they come in a variety of colors. Why we choose to get the fake dark wood I have no idea! But I was completely over them and was about to donate them to Salvation Army when I saw the idea to transform them into something else.
I started by giving them a light sand and priming them white:

After they dried I gave them two coats of a super light grey paint that we also have in our living room and bedroom. Once they had dried over night I used wood glue to stack them on top of each other. I still find the paint to chip really easy and am planning on sealing them somehow (dad, any ideas?). I am still on the lookout for a butcher block or any piece wood really to attach to the top, but it's good for now, and I am so happy to have a designated coffee station in our kitchen. Here's a closer look at the bottom and top:

Total cost of this project:
2 coffee tables: 0 - rescued from heading out the door
Primer and paint: 0 - leftovers from painting earlier
Wood glue: 0 - already had
Green mats: 4 - these are simply to protect the paint

Total: 4 - not bad at all!

simple bunny diy

My house was seriously lacking in the spring/easter decorations. Even though we are going to be away for easter I figured we needed some spring-y cheer!

This was super simple to make, and only took me about 5 minutes start to finish! I found a piece of striped paper that I liked and cut it to size for my frame. I also found a piece of textured white cardstock and cut it the same size. I drew a simple outline of a bunny on the back of the white paper and used a craft knife to cut it out. I used some blue ink on the inside edges of the silouette, but that step isn't really necessary. I then stuck both pieces of paper in my frame and voila, instant easter crafty goodness!

I think it would be a neat idea to switch out the paper and silouettes depending on the season. I'm thinking flowers for summer, pumpkins for fall, and a christmas tree for winter. I'm excited!

basket make-over

I originally bought this basket for cheap from Wal-Mart before I headed to college. I don't know what my original intention was for it, but since moving out of dorms it has held our small games in the back of a closet since I no longer liked the fabric it came with. I pulled it out the other day since I figured it was something we used on a regular basis and it should be easier to access. The fabric just didn't work for me though so I decided to make a new lining for it.

Before:

After:

Ahh, so much better! (and as you can see I've been having fun playing around with Instagram on my new phone!) To make this, I picked apart the seams of the original lining, laid the pieces on a fat quarter of fabric I liked and cut around the pieces, so simple! Now why on earth hadn't I done this months ago?!

project life: recap

Yesterday I wrapped up my project life album. I had fallen (quite) a bit behind so it was time consuming to catch up, but I am so so glad I stuck with it and finished, the end result is totally worth it. Some things I liked about this system is that it's simple. Shoot, print, write, and you're done. It is a great way to capture the everyday moments of life and pay attention to the details that you might have otherwise skipped over. I wanted to include a bit of 'normal' scrapbooking into my album so I ended up doing 3 double sided 12x12 spreads. I simply inserted the page in between the week's pages. See below for the finished pages:

What can I say, apparently I love kraft paper! Another thing that I included in this album was a newspaper clipping of the fundraising campaign I headed up. I simply cut the page to the size I wanted it, inserted it into a page protector, sewed up the side and cut off the excess, so simple!

The kit comes with pieces for the end page already in it, but I wanted to do something different for the other side so I cut down the Christmas cards we got and included them to. I thought that was a great solution since you realistically can't keep a stack of cards around all year, but I didn't want to just throw them out!

I hope you have enjoyed my 'project life' posts here on the blog, and would recommend this product to anyone interested in memory keeping. The possibilities are endless!

my first attempt

well i'm by no means a pro, but i don't think i did all that bad either! while my mom and dad were up for a visit in july i had my mom teach me how to do free motion quilting. this is always something i have wanted to learn how to do but have always been incredibly intimidated by. it is a little bit tricky to get use to but then it's not so bad. i am planning on free motion quilting the quilt i made at the 'surprise party' quilting class i took that same weekend.
on another subject i love the look of the gradient on the back of this quilt. it's a little bit more fun than just a solid color don't you think?

tips & techniques

source

Are these not the most cheerful cushions you have ever seen? I am just so smitten by them I can hardly believe it! The best part of it all is if you follow the source link you will see just how easy they are to make!

tips & techniques

source

If you are looking for a last minute Easter decoration idea I believe I have found the perfect one! Simply cut out flower shapes from yellow or white cardstock. You could free hand it for a looser feel, or use a machine to cut identical ones. Fill spring-y baking cups with your favorite selection of candies and place on top of cut out flowers. There you have it, the perfect spring daffodils for your Easter table :)

tips & techniques thursday

Hi everyone! I apologise that my blog has been a bit neglected lately, it's the last week of school so I am very busy finishing that up. but I am excited to be done tomorrow and then hopefully my blog will get  a little more love :)

Today I want to intorudce a new weekly series called 'tips & techniques thursday'. Each week I will share a new tip, tutorial, technique or tool related to the crafting world! Sound fun? I think so!
So first up I want to share a link to niftiest ideas I have seen. You can follow this link to make your very own fabric tape! I cannot wait to get out my scraps and make some of this over the Easter holidays!

Don't forget to enter my giveaway in the post below, I'll be drawing a winner tomorrow!