A Simple Nest

Dining furniture

I have been loving this chair for a loooong time now.  It's way out of my budget of course.  So imagine my excitement when I found this:

A square table that seats 4 (and fits nicely in my tiny apartment), then folds out into a circular table (I've always wanted a round table with the legs in the middle) that seats 8.  Plus 8 chairs.  Plus 4 bar stools.  ALL of this for the price of 1.5 of those chairs up there.  Of course its not the same chair, but it's so close, and within my budget.  I really am SO excited to be getting this into my house soon.  I've also redecorated the dining area this week.  Pictures very soon.  (As soon as my brother gets a chance to deliver it for me...love him!)

Glass Jars

Glass Jars!  Greatest organizing solution ever!  My reasoning?

1. Inexpensive
2. Tight seal
3. Easy to find in any city/time
4. Different sizes
5. Versatility (use to preserve food, not just store dried, or use for leftovers in refrigerator)
6. Beautiful
7. Easily see what ingredients I'm running out of, or which need to be used up

 

(I reorganized the WHOLE kitchen 2 weeks ago, but waited to show you because I can't seem to get a decent picture.  The lighting in my kitchen is retched.  These will have to do. 

A pack of jars is about 10 dollars.  In a pack you get a dozen quart jars, or 6 half gallon jars.  The half gallon jars are perfect for things like pasta, rice, beans, oats, and brown or powdered sugar.  Half gallon can be tricky to find in a pack, but don't get them at the craft store....arm and a leg!  Call your grocer before making the trip in to see if they have them, or even buy them online!  The quart jars are better for things like cinnamon, cocoa, salt, dry baby cereal, or smaller amounts of rarer used rice/beans.  I also have pint jars, and half pint jars in the cupboard for other smaller things and I'm saving up my baby food jars to streamline my spice rack.  

For long pastas (spaghetti, linguine, etc.) I used jars from Ikea, but they are found at most super stores.

For larger commonly used ingredients like flour and sugar, I'm going to need some 5 gallon jars, but haven't gotten there yet.  But I can picture them lined up on my counter.  

To label, I'm using a dry erase marker on the back.  This is mainly for my husband, since I can identify them by looking, but I might get confused or forget what they are, so it's best to label.  Also good for putting the expiration date on.  I might try stickers in the future, but the dry erase allows for versatility.  Etching is an great option for modern glass jars, but my basic canning jars would look silly etched,

What about directions?  Well, you really should try to memorize how to cook rice, beans, and pasta for one thing.  For other things that aren't so basic there are plastic adhesive sleeves from the office supply store that come in different sizes.  Just stick to back of jar and cut out the ingredients of the bag/box and stick it in the sleeve.

Here's a peak at my BEFORE, ew.

Paper Butterfly Tutorial

Paper butterflies are so easy and fun to use for many craft projects.  I made wall hangings and a mobile for my babies nursery pictured above.  I also like to use them as gift toppers.  You could make teeny tiny ones for scrapbooks, or use them in flower arrangements.  They sky is the limit!  View my video tutorial or use the written instructions for the how-to below.

 

Written Instruction:

1-  Fold 2 layers of tissue paper (or one layer of other paper) in half and cut out shape similar to the one shown in photo below.  A rounded top wing will look like an upside down figure 8 shape when unfolded.  A pointed wing will have a triangular or squared off top.

2-  Unfold and scrunch in the middle (for tissue) or acordian fold the paper horizontally.

3-  Twist bendable wire around the middle leaving the ends long and rounded back in on themselves to make the body and antenas and spread out the tissue or paper wings

Note that card stock is not a great choice as it tends to be too thick and rips to easily and does not flair out

Play around with the shape of the wing tips, it's fun.  Now let your imagination run wild with what you can do with these paper butterflies. 

 

This tutorial was part of these link parties:

 

Living Room Makeover (part 1: Fireplace)

We live in a rental, and for a while I put off decorating thinking we will just move very soon anyway.  We've been here over a year now!  And it looks like many more months, so I finally got down to it and painted our living room.  I removed the paint off of all the hardware (gross job) and even painted the fire place!  It was a bit time consuming, but so worth it.  It feels FRESH!

BEFORE

AFTER
 

   

I originally wanted a turquoise room, but the color didn't work with our couch, so I ended up with this sky colored blue.  It's slightly grayish.  Our apartment can be very dark and these colors really bring the outdoors in.  It's like blue skies and clouds with the sun rising in the closet (I removed the doors of the closet, put up curtains and made it into an office nook, and yes it is yellow!  Pictures coming as soon as I can get it organized)  I also came up with a solution for the inside of the fireplace for now (who knew I had these beautiful branches and tulips in my back yard!  A bit neglected, but they were there)

Oh!  And I made a video tutorial for the paper butterflies that I made a garland out of.  (They are also in my babies nursery in bright colors)  I'll be getting that posted by next week!  They are GREAT for present toppers.

Nothing to show for it

I just finished painting my living room, stripped paint from all the hardware (yuck) and sewed drapes for the closet/office.  Doing so much, but it's still not completely presentable.  I might just have to take some work in progress pics to share soon anyway cause I'm so eager for someone to see!  What to work on next?  Storage, organization, etc....(not nearly as fun as drapes or flowers)