shoe obsession: Seychelles

I may have found a competitor for the navy blue shoes I've been drooling over at Miss Meers. I had seen these teal Seychelles heels before, but hadn't ever tried them on...which was probably the safest thing I could have done because these shoes had me at first step!

Not only are they an adorable shade of teal--bright enough to make a statement but simple enough to wear with just about anything--but they were comfortable! Like, really, really comfortable!  The sole had the perfect amount of padding to make them easy to stand and walk in, but not so much that it made the shoe feel bulky. I'm in love :)

diy decor: pumpkins

Fall is officially here, and I am officially ready to start doing some fall-related crafts. This first one I decided to try out is super easy, super cheap (always a plus) and super, super adorable....

Toilet paper pumpkins!  That's right, toilet paper. I can't take credit for this idea though, I saw a tutorial for these on one of my favorite blogs, Crazy Domestic (the original post is from The Sweet Life, another of the regular stops on my blog list.) Let me just show you how easy these puppies are. 

Supplies: 

Step one: 

Step two: 

Step three:

And voila! Adorable pumpkins to kick off my fall decor. 

I really like that you could choose any fabric you want to go along with existing decorations. I chose four different plaid patterns in warmer colors, so they still felt fall-ish, but weren't over the top (though these would probably also be cute with halloween themed fabric!).  I also made some pumpkins larger than others, by taking off layers of TP or adding more newspaper (or the extra TP taken off the smaller ones.) These are just the first of many pumpkin crafts I have planned, yay fall!

Sully Monster!

I can't get enough of this little guy!!

He's so playful...

...and curious...

and silly!

He thinks he's sneaky, which he sometimes is

He loves (let me repeat, LOVES) socks...

and his new pal Remy!

But most of all he loves to sleep. A lot, and in the most adorable positions!

Ghosts of crafting past

I have an unhealthy obsession with crafting. Sometimes my projects turn out good, and sometimes they turn out kinda crappy, but nonetheless my apartment is now filled with stuff I've made. A lot of them I'm pretty proud of, and I thought I'd share them with you...who ever you are that reads my randomness. Enjoy! 

This guy is one that turned out a little less than perfect. I learned the hard way that a curved hurricane wasn't quite the best surface to try tile mosaic for the first time. Consequently, I also made the little plate it's sitting on (also not perfect....but let's be honest, none of my pottery will ever be perfect!)

This picture isn't the best, but this is a set of magazine holders that I made pretty. I'm not ashamed to admit that these are full of my Martha Stewart Weddings collection...don't worry, I have two more holders so I can expand :) 

This one was surprisingly easy to make, and honestly one of my favorite things I've ever made. I found the frame at an antique shop in town, added a little lace, some beads, and now I can proudly (and neatly) display at least 1/4 of my earrings! Maybe I should focus on my earring addiction next....

This last one is one of the longest-to-make crafts I've done. I started out saving my wine corks to some day make an epic cork board. I got to about 7 corks before I got impatient, and then serendipitously found a HUGE bag of corks at Goodwill, and I knew it was fate. The corks are actually mounted on a mirror, and the daisies at the bottom were a last minute addition to cover up the line of mirror that was too thin for corks. I'm pretty happy with the way it turned out, and it gave me the perfect background for my beautiful friend Katie's beautiful wedding invitation!

delicious discovery: chocolate pasta

Turns out chocolate pasta is delicious.  Every time I go to Seattle I see the dark chocolate linguine at Pappardelle's Pasta, and every time I see it I'm skeptical. I finally gave in and bought some, aaaaand I'm glad I did! It came with a recipe to serve it with ice cream and raspberries and lots of other stuff I didn't have, so I served it with strawberry sauce (strawberries + sugar + lemon juice + simmer 15 minutes) and whipped cream--I think it was still a success. Of course I never think to take pictures of these delicious things I make until I sit down to write about them, so if you weren't one of the three other lucky people who got to try some you'll just have to use your imagination :)

kitten smitten

Yesterday I acquired a new addition to the family.  Blog, meet Sullivan!

He is only 3 months old, and we adopted him from the Heartland Humane Society here in Corvallis.  He is such a sweetheart, and really loves to cuddle and follows me everywhere! He is extra curious about EVERYTHING, especially the computer (especially right now as he crawls all over the keyboard while I try to type!). Looks like all crafting will be restricted to table-top only for a while :)

shoe obsession: Biviel

I saw these shoes a few weeks ago at Miss Meers and I can't stop thinking about them. I don't know what it is about me and zipper details lately but I can't get enough.

The color is a perfect shade of navy blue (not too dark and not too light), and they fit like they were made for my feet. The functioning side zipper kind of locked my feet in, making them very stable despite the height of the heel. I haven't quite convinced myself into justifying a non-work shoe purchase just yet.....I give myself two months.  :)

here comes the sun[flowers]

Well, it's official....Labor Day is here, which we all know signifies that the end of summer is just around the corner. Hopefully we'll have some sun at least for the next week (before I join the adult world of full time work!), but just in case I'm glad I have these beautiful sunflowers :)

diy decor: button coasters

I simply love buttons, and I don't hesitate to incorporate them into my crafts whenever possible. Having just re-stocked my button supply (gotta love the button bin at Creative Crafts!) and being in need of some new coasters, I decided to put those buttons to good use. 

I started with a blank coaster set (also from CC)

Add some paint...

and most importantly, the buttons!

Add a little glue, and voila:

And the box:

I can't wait to use them!

diy decor: record bowls

I love finding new projects, and I especially love projects as instantly gratifying as these fun bowls!

Who knew that old vinyl could be transformed into something so cute (and functional)! I first saw a how-to on these in a craft book during one of my many browsing sprees at Borders, but a quick Google search gave me countless instructional videos for a refresher. These bowls were super easy to make, and easy on my wallet too after stumbling across the $1 record bin at Happy Trails Music downtown! I selected a few of my 70's and 80's favorites to try out...

  

Aright, here's the low down: heat your oven to 200° and select your first victim (for me it was Maynard Ferguson's 1974 album "Chameleon"). Place the record on an inverted oven-safe bowl, and in the oven it goes! Set your timer for 5 minutes and let the magic begin.

Once time is up take the record out (use hot pads!) and immediately start molding it into whatever shape you want! I tried a variety of methods, from putting the record inside the bowl to shaping it by hand.  

(I didn't get a picture of the molding step, I wasn't sure how long I had before the record was set and didn't want to risk it!)

When all was said and done I was left with 5 awesome record bowls...now I just need to find places for them in the apartment!

pedal pushers

With summer coming to a rapid close (how is it September already?!), every sunny day is precious.  Not wanting to miss any opportunity to get out and soak up some rays before they are replaced with clouds and rain, we took an impromptu bike ride through Corvallis yesterday.  I'm not much for riding near cars, but taking the back-roads is usually more fun anyhow!

Our somewhat longer than planned ride took us through town and back, ending with Corvallis' scenic covered bridge.

It was nice after such a long ride to be rewarded with such a picturesque setting. We enjoyed the view, but something told me the bridge just wanted to be left alone.....