Milk Crate Bookshelf

Have you seen these bookshelves made out of milk crates?

http://www.pinterest.com/pin/486459197220750094/

I love them, and we've been in desperate need of a bookshelf around here.  The crates are only 14 bucks at Michael's and they give out coupons like candy on Halloween. So far I've purchased 3 crates for $25 and a tube of chocolate brown paint for $10.

I think staining the crates would come out really nicely and take a bit less time but I don't have the space for that.  I used Basics acrylic paint in burnt umber.

I only did a light coat because I wanted the grain of the wood to show.  It gives the appearance that it's stained instead of painted.  I'll show you the finished project when I get around to actually finishing it, but I have about umpteen projects going on at the moment.  

Here's what I have done so far...

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Pine Cone Ornaments

On our little bathroom walks around the apartment complex Little Bear and I have been picking up pine cones.  They've just been catching my eye, I'm not used to seeing them so big and beautiful.  I decided they would make the perfect addition to my DIY Christmas tree.  I looked up a few ways to preserve them and decided on drying them in the oven.

I lined them up on a baking sheet, don't worry about covering your baking sheet.  I was nervous something would happen to it to ruin it but it came out perfect.
Bake them at 200 degrees F for 30 minutes. Let them cool for about ten minutes.  When they're done they come out with a bit of a shine from the sap seeping out of them.

I bought glitter paint, I was a bit nervous that it wouldn't come out very nice but I went with Martha Stewarts brand.  Can't go wrong with her, right?  I wouldn't suggest a generic brand for the glitter paint.  It mind end up needing way more coats than necessary.  The paint I used looked much better as it dried.  Anyway, I used a smaller paint brush and just went to town on the outside half of the little prickles.  By the time I finished the sixth and last pine cone the first one was ready for a second coat.

I finished them off with bows in either ribbon or twine and small loops on top.  I also added a few buttons to a couple of them so they fit with the tree theme.  The glitter looks a bit better in person but I didn't want it to be overwhelming, I think it will be the perfect effect with the lights reflecting off them.

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Christmas Stockings

Since this is out first Christmas together we don't have any stockings of out own.  I really would like to crochet them so they are personal and one of a kind but I don't know if they're too complicated for me.  I've found two patterns, I'm horrible at reading patterns though, I'd rather see the YouTube video.  Anyone have any suggestions or experience?

DIY Button Garland

I had originally done one strand of garland for my DIY tree, my plan is to have three strands of garland vertically on the front of the tree.  But my original didn't make me super happy.  I decided I wanted garland that was all buttons!  Michaels had two bags of mismatched buttons in silvers, bronzes, and golds.




  I took some of the twine I've been using for the ornaments and measured out from the top of the tree to the bottom, cutting three strands.  If the buttons had a hoop on the back I just pulled the twine through and glue gunned them in place, if the button just had holes I glue gunned the less-pretty side on to the twine.  Ignore the old post office box I use has a craft table, my space is a bit limited.

Little Bear made sure I made every move perfectly.  I think she gets a little jealous of my craft sessions.










The final result was amazing!  I'm so happy with how it turned out.  I think it will look great with the lights from the tree reflecting off the buttons.

Thai Chicken

If you don't live in or haven't visited the New Orleans area you're missing out on a fantastic restaurant, Zea.  The Duck Empanadas are the definition of heaven, my favorites are the Honey Island Chicken sandwich and the Sedona Chicken Panini. The best part about Zea is the fact that you can buy the sauces they use.  The favorite sauce in this household is their thai sauce.

We just cover the small bits of chicken in thai sauce and throw it in a skillet.  Don't forgot the rice on the side.

That's Little Bear wondering how I can possibly sit down on the couch while cooking is happening in another room.

It's such a simple dish but the flavorful taste of the thai sauce is really all you need.  Give it a try!

5K!

In the past year and a half I've really turned my physical life around.  I was 30 lbs heavier than I wanted to be and could barely make it up a few flights of stairs.  I don't know what clicked to be honest, I just saw myself in the mirror one morning and knew I didn't want to look like that anymore, and knew I didn't have to.  I completely changed my eating habits and woke up between 5:00 - 5:30 am almost every day to hit the gym.  And trust me, I hit it hard.  Eventually it went to the next level; jogging, yoga and pilates classes, boot camp style classes.  Anything I had time to do, I did it.

Then I got a stress fracture in my foot, well maybe, but that's another post.  Things started to slow down a bit but I had lost all the weight I wanted to and then I moved away!  Four months ago Boyfriend and I signed up for a gym.  This is his first experience working out and he's doing so amazingly.  I want to take both of our workout experiences to the next level.  What is the next level?  A 5k!

A friend of mine mentioned interval training so I searched around and found one that was not rushed, it goes at a nice 9 week pace and the first 3 days seemed fairly do-able. Today was day 1 and let me tell you, 1 minute running, 1.5 minutes walking, repeating for twenty minutes is tougher than it looks.  Before this I was up to 1.5 miles running straight through so I thought this first day of interval training would be a piece of low-calorie cake.  I really worked up a sweat and poor Boyfriend had to sit down for a few minutes afterwards.  All and all I think it will be a really productive 9 weeks...

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My Scarf!

I finished my scarf yesterday! And I have to say it's the best thing I've made so far. I'm so in love with it, now if only the temperature would drop under 70 degrees.

Isn't it beautiful?

I used two steins, so around 300 yards of fabric.  It comes together so fast, I'm pretty sure I could have finished it in a handful of hours if I sat down and focused on it.  I already have three requests for Christmas, the holidays are going to be a snap this year.

Here's a sneak peak of what I'm working on between other smaller projects...

A throw blanker to match our couches and the pillows, I cant wait for it be finished.  If it ever gets cold here it will come in handy.