The grass is always greener...

Rather than redact my previous post, I thought I would give you a brief sampling of all the ways that I have tried to be crafty and DIY-ish in the last couple of weeks.  Please consider this my attempt to put a soothing, verbal ice pack upon the somewhat inflammatory remarks I unleashed upon the internet regarding crafters, shabby chic-ers, hoarders, etc.

Like I mentioned earlier, our apartment is pretty bland and leaves a lot to be desired, so I thought a personal touch or two could make the stark white walls look a little livelier.

First off, I journeyed the extremely perilous half mile to Pier 1 Imports to spend what I thought was a $50 giftcard, plus a little extra shopping moolah we'd saved.  By the time I made it to the front with a basket full of (heavy) goodies, I was too tired to put back any of it when the cashier said my total came to $40 something.  (That's right folks, the card held a mere $25 in decorative delight.  When I got back home and double-checked, the card paper definitely had "$50" written on it. Lies! I hope the folks who gave it to us did not actually pay $50 and get ripped off...)

One of the goodies I was NOT able to fit in my basket was this cute chalkboard hanger for the kitchen.

http://www.pier1.com/Catalog/Gifts/tabid/978/CategoryId/130/ProductId/33025/ProductName/Rolling-Pin-Wall-Hook/Default.aspx

The ones in the store were actually painted a pastel blue color.   Anyway, I remembered that we had purchased a wall hook set (is that what they're called? I don't have a clue) at IKEA a few months ago and had never quite figured out where to place it.  In a stroke of genius, I channelled my inner Katie and busted out the chalkboard spraypaint on a picture frame I found that matched the wall hook mount.

Wow, that sure was easy! And cute!  The Mister's fancy grilling utensils have also found a home here. AND it covers up the unsightly phone jack which haunts our kitchen with the Ghost of Landlines Past.

FYI, these pics were all taken and edited with Droid's inferior substitute for Instagram.

Thanks for the inspiration, Katie!  Check out her tutorials for all things chalkboard at Thrifty Finds and Redesigns.

Since I was on a roll, I decided to keep myself entertained while my other half hollered to high heaven at the TV about baseball and football.  His cousin had given us a really pretty glass jar as part of a wedding gift, and I had just been waiting to figure out a perfect purpose for it.  It may not be totally finished, but I decided to fill it with different layers of dried goods from the pantry and have it hang out with the other kitchen utensils.

I like it because it makes me think of Vacation Bible School sand art, and I felt accomplished when it finally took its rightful place in the countertop lineup.

A cool thing about marriage is that your whole kitchen will be full of things you didn't have to pay for! Thanks to everyone for the knives, Kapoosh block, utensils and spinner, frying pan, Caphalon saucepans, spoon rest, Keurig, napkin holder, and hand towel! ...OK, so I guess I did pay for the PAM and the Salt n Pepa.

Finally, I tackled the most daunting project: seasonal wreath.  All the supplies were super mad cheap with my variety of AC Moore coupons, and after fist fighting only two or three old ladies for the best fake pinecones, I came up with this:

Yay!  I love Fall!  ...Which is exactly what the wreath did, about an hour after I hung it on the front door with a Command hook.  I've been too afraid to experiment further with the hooks, so it's resting quietly in the corner until I have the time to go rustle up some ribbon or a real wreath hook.  I still feel like it's lacking something, but I can't decide exactly what.  Either way, I already bought a bunch of Christmas/Winter things for the holiday wreath I will soon be making!


There you have it, folks!  I have seen the green grass and smelled the paint fumes on the other side of the homemaking fence.  While the point I tried to make (albeit unsuccessful) in my last post about greed and really weird trendy things still feels right to me, I am sorry if I made anyone feel bad.  If there are two things I have ever been good at, they are being creative and being cheap, and all of these fun activities certainly meet those requirements!  


Keep an eye out soon for a couple of new posts about my Triple Coupon experience, as well as (finally) some wedding vendor rave reviews. :-)

And for goodness' sake, follow me on Pinterest so it will send me emails which remind me that I have a Pinterest account!!