diy

spring makes me super excited for the wonderfulness that is summer break. though i know i'll stay busy working, nannying my little cousin, and traveling, summer still allows SO much more time for fun things like crafting and DIY projects.  mostly, it's an opportunity for me to revamp my apartment.  i've already mentioned redoing a chair for my bedroom, but i have a few more things in my queue:

Like a variation of this yarn wreath from here

and a repurposed scarf like the one here

and a diy headboard for my bed

there are a couple other projects i need to dig out of the depths, but maybe they'll become something different altogether! 

p.s. on a similar note, i have a new obsession with pinterest, which is basically an online swatchbook of ideas, images, books, anything. if you're not on it yet, get on it! it's still in beta, but i have a couple of invites to share. as a lover of all things pretty, it helps feed my obsession with living in a beautifully lit, pretty thing-filled fantasy world. 

ooooover half-way there.

okay, so it appears that grad school has about gotten the best of me. i turned in a huge paper today and have been working on a presentation all evening, so i'm going to think about something besides school for a minute. and as a means of letting you inside my brain for a moment, here's some fun inspiration...tis ALMOST the season, which means 'tis the season to prep for the season!

i'm so excited to decorate for christmas. i know i never really showed you my completed apartment because, well, it really isn't even close to completed. but my parents and brother are coming to town on SATURDAY, so i'm hoping they'll help me get a few more things on my walls and perhaps a few curtains.

so...here's some christmas inspiration. break + much less school work for the next few weeks leaves me lots of time to decorate. i'm excited!

garland...murdock designs

best tree skirt - martha stewart

OchristmasTree

mrbutton

i mean, really, how cute is this stuff? so...i may splurge on the stocking, but i intend to make the rest. i may need to invest in a tree here soon! 

okay...so i promise to update soon. for real. because i'll be freer! 

color

so i don't know if i've really officially mentioned it before, but i love color. like, love love LOVE color. so, in thinking through decorating my apartment for next year, and as thriftily as possible, i've totally settled on having brightly colored (refinished) furniture and decorating in color. and, although i will be a broke, rice&bean-eating graduate student in just a few weeks, i can't think about sacrificing my sanity or a happy space in which to live! SO, instead of just going nutty creating images of what i can (and mostly cannot) have in my future apartment, i've created a special beautiful happy "inspiration book" where i can save pretty pictures from magazines and catalogues and doodle ideas. said book is mostly a way of talking myself down from things i think i need while helping me create all that from what i have.

for instance, my mom AMAZINGLY remembered that she has a desk in the attic that I of COURSE may have--and paint! i've also remembered that i can sew and am a pretty crafty person, so why shouldn't i be creating my own accessories and artwork for the apartment. when i stumbled upon this awesome tutorial for fabric roses, i knew i needed to do something with them. so, i'm endeavoring upon a new sewing/quilting project creating a rose-covered pillow.

step 1: make roses

so here's the start. i've made 18 roses, so far, but i'm thinking i need about 25--so, 2 more colors? i'm glad i've had a start to creating something fun and beautiful and i can't wait to see where these colors take me.

aside from my personal apartment design crisis, i've mostly been hanging out and babysitting. seeing this guy's smile on a regular basis doesn't make anything too bad.

oh, and i made a really, really dangerous decision in stopping by peace camera yesterday to "test out" a 35mm prime lens for my camera. talk about coveting. so...anyone who has babysitting to be done can just holler so that i can save some extra money for a new lens!

so much more fun than school work...

i've been on a knitting kick lately. probably because it's a good procrastination tool, but also because it's served as a very good stress-reliever over the past few weeks.

this will someday (it's moving very slowly...) become a funky neck-warmer. i'm currently working on learning to make buttonholes. hopefully it'll be fun. and not ridiculous looking.

i also would like to mention that i greatly appreciate the sunlight that comes into my room during the morning...and how nice it has been to use that sunlight on a snow-day morning. i'd be okay if the snow days (or at least snow mornings) continued through the week.