Stuff I've Been Thinking About Lately.... The Art of Zen via Coloring, Faulty Puppy Waste Disposal Units, and Downton Abbey

Stuff On My Mind Lately...

The Art of Zen via Coloring

YES, it's official, I'm on the coloring bandwagon. 

Don't hate!  :P  And jump on, it actually IS amazingly calming...  This is my favorite book, pretty designs and wonderful mottos  / mantras.  Here are 

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Easy DIY Wall Art for the Superhero Fan in Your LIfe! Comic Book Canvas, Gallery Wall, & Decoration! Plus the Happiness is Homemade Linky Party!

When my husband and I discovered a giant stack of his childhood comic books at his mom's house a while back, we knew we had to do something fun with them!  We went a simple route, and produced some pretty awesome superhero wall hangings, if I do say so myself...  It is incredibly easy, but here is the process broken down in steps if you want it.  If not, just skip on down to the Happiness is Homemade linky par-tay!  ;)

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Coffee Nook Free Printables + Rental and Dorm Friendly Wall Hanging Hack - Decorating With Masking Tape!

This is just a brief post ("Brief?" you whisper to one another when you think I'm not watching, "CAN she be brief?" ;P) to share some free printables I've been enjoying lately, and the rental-friendly nails-free hack I've used to hang them.

My husband and I are in a season of life that involves a lot of moving, and will likely continue to involve moves for another couple of years (oh me...), so printables are perfect for adding to our decor in a non-permanent, non-bulky-for-packing kind of way.  While some of you in a more settled stage of life might look askance at my method of hanging them, it's perfect for a rental or dorm room where you don't want to leave a lot of nail marks, and would also be handy for testing out a gallery wall arrangement for a period of time before commencing with the hammering.

The hack is simple -- use masking tape to create a psuedo-frame around the item to be hung.  I left the edges hanging off because I liked that look, but you could also cut it more precisely for a cleaner look.

It works great!  No falling down, even with the huge poster you see above, and no nail damage.  Perfect for a rental, a dorm room, etc.  Here the lighter colored standard masking tape works nicely because of the contrast with the dark walls.

Below is our "coffee nook" (yes, our current kitchen backsplash is basically a mirror... weird huh?) decorated with the awesome "but first, coffee" printable from Chicfetti, which I found originally through the Goddess of Printables, Vanessa at Little Gold Pixel.  I had it in my head that I wanted to hang this one with black masking tape, but according to the people at Target and Home Depot, there was no such thing in existence.  Amazon thought otherwise though -- black masking tape there is only $4.46 with free prime shipping!  I'll clearly be updating this post soon with a black tape boarder.  ;P  They also have a slightly fancier black "artist tape", for $8.75.

This printable makes me happy!  And because of the simple way I've displayed it, it is also easily interchangeable... lucky thing too!  Because there are a ton of other awesome options out there, and I like to keep things fresh.  Click through to see a few of my other favorite coffee-related free printables that will likely soon be in rotation... 

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Why Yes, We WERE Mad Scientists in Another Life: DIY Vanilla Extract and Hard Cider

I've always loved crafty projects, and tend to have a bad habit of going "Hmm I could make that..." on a regular basis.  My husband's DIY streak is of a much more of a science-y variety, which is totally cool with me since I seriously considered majoring in chemistry in college, and already had a habit of conducting science experiments in my kitchen from my homeschooled high school years.

Which is all to say, the husband and I were totally mad scientists in a previous life.

Our most recent projects are homemade vanilla extract (inspired by Simple Dollar, but these instructions were actually a lot more helpful) and homemade Hard Cider (inspired by Paupered Chef, who has excellent directions and a very science-y four-variation experimental run).

As you can see, we went with the big ol' jug of 365 Organic Apple Juice and have the fancy schmancy air lock mechanism (that thing that looks a bit like a torture device at the top) as well.  We even bought the lager yeast that the Paupered Chef ended up preferring.  Yeah, we're groupies like that.

We add a good bit of cinnamon as well, which should add a fun kick.  Its about half done now, but we already sampled it just to, you know, see how it was going.  It's... going.  As far as we can tell.

I'm also super excited about our homemade vanilla extract... we started the process about a week ago, and our vodka has already turned a promising vanilla-brown.

I just HAD to get the organic vodka, but hey there was a rebate offer on it so it was actually about as cheap as Smirnoff would have been... (and, spazzy girl moment: isn't this bottle just SO much prettier?)

We bought the vanilla beans at Costco.  They were pretty affordable but not organic... I'll probably hunt down organic ones online in the future.

As you can see, our apartment is quite the temple to culinary experimentation at the moment.  If you've heard of any other interesting/weird edible/drinkable DIY projects lately, do please tell... we might try them next.



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Crafting: An Avalanche of Hobbies...

I've been reading about some really amazing DIY and craft projects lately, and it's inspired me to take inventory of all the various projects I've started over the past few years, and have yet to finish. Maybe if I can keep track of them all, and their relative importance to me, I can actually make some progress with them! Which would be nice, because at the moment I feel as though my personal motto should be, Stockpile craft supplies against the coming apocalypse! When the day of Armageddon comes, I'll be serenely knitting and making collages off in some corner somewhere, and scrapbooking the whole experience too...

1. Knitting: I have two scarves mid-process... One of which is fairly urgent, since I'm making it for my boyfriend and he keeps reminding me that his neck is still distinctly chilled every cold morning at the train stop... or, to be a little more 19th century about it... I begin to fear for my dear suitor's health, as he is greatly at risk with his throat so exposed to the elements each day! Surely he will catch cold, and must suffer greatly, though in his infinite strength and kindness, of course he makes nary a murmur regarding the unpleasant situation. Of course, if I did go all 19th century like that, I'd be lying -- perhaps typical of many 19th century narratives? -- as I've heard quite a few "murmurs" regarding his ongoing lack of scarf. But it would be my first priority regardless, so I'll rate it a 10.

2. Decoupage: About a year ago I painted a side-table/drawer unit black, with the intention of decoupaging a calender cut-out of what appears to be a Japanese Phoenix onto the top, going for a kind of imitation lacquered look. To my frustration, it has remained un-lacquered in my living room ever since. I think I'm afraid of doing a poor job and ruining the very pretty print... I'll rate the priority of this one a 7, since it involves conquering a fear and that's always a good thing. Another ongoing decoupage project is making collaged picture frames as gifts for friends... I did finish these for several people, but I still have several more to go. This one I'll give a rating of 5.

3. Greeting cards: I'm make a whole batch of these at Christmas time, and they seemed to go over well... Besides holidays, my favorite technique at the moment is to clip cartoons out of the Sunday paper, and then make up a suitable greeting that matches it and fits the person/situation as well. In my first burst of crafting since the New Year, I just finished a Valentine's Day card for my boyfriend that I had been mulling over for a while, so I feel like I'm maintaining this hobby decently well. However, as it's particularly handy, Thriftie, and a very personal expression of caring, I'm pretty keen on continuing to develop the talent. I'll rate this one a 6.

4. Cross stitch / Embroidery: I've had the same cross stitch sampler for about 12 years (it's huge, ok? And counted-cross stitch is hard for me because I tend to get distracted and lose my place...) but haven't picked up in probably at least a year. It would be nice to get back to this one eventually... but really only rates about a 2 for me. Also, my great-grandmother taught me how to embroider a long time ago... French knots and daisy chains and all. I would like to keep that skill up because of its flexibility, and the emotional association, so I'd really like to try embroidering some towels or pillowcases soon. I'll rate that one a 3.

5. Scrapbooking: I'm currently scrapbooking things that happened 2 years+ ago. I want to catch up at least through college, ASAP, so that I can be scrapbooking memories more quickly after they actually happen, haha! Also, a good bit of my bedroom floor is covered in stacks of photo and paper memorabilia of everything I want to decoratively document for future remembrance, so this one is integral space-wise too. I give it a priority level of 8.

6. Painting pottery: I've promised my boyfriend a set of ceramic shotglasses painted with characters from his favorite webcomic Looking For Group... If I'm aiming for his birthday in September it's not exactly urgent... but I am planning on doing three or four of them, which is kind of a big project. It will also be probably the most detailed painting I've ever done. This one gets a 6 or 7...

7. Sewing: I bought a sewing machine for a good deal on eBay last year, and at the time was very excited about being able to make clothes/drapes/quilts/basically everything... and I got to where I could mostly sew a straight line. Mostly (but not quite). My roommate has some rudimentary sewing machine skills as well, so one of our joint New Year's resolutions was to learn how to use the thing, and then successfully create skirts we'd actually be willing to wear in public. Skirts have to be fairly easy right? Mostly just sewing two ends of a piece of cloth together, and making the top part the right dimension to fit your waist... That's our reasoning anyway. But I don't really know when we'll get around to tackling it, so I'm going to have to give it a 3, or maybe stretch it to a 4, since it would be cool bonding time with my roommate.

8. Furniture painting/redecorating: I have an unfinished wooden table currently in use as a desk, that I very much intend on painting/decorating in the near future... However, right now it's a little inaccessible (being buried in papers and books will do that), and the idea of wrestling it outside to paint it sounds unappealing. Hmmm, though come to think of it, I'm going to be moving in a couple of weeks so I'll be emptying out my apartment then anyway... in theory, if I got it all planned out soon, I could probably take that opportunity to at least give it a nice coat of spray paint. This one has a rating of 2, but if I'm struck by inspiration pronto, I'll change it to a 7.

9. Jewelry: I'm currently (and have been for years now) very well stocked in the arena of glass beads, macrame cords, necklace fasteners and earring hooks. I've had mixed success with this hobby, turning out earrings that were nice enough to wear to work, as well as necklaces that just looked dumb. A more encompassing issue highlighted by this one is that I tend to buy craft supplies as they strike my fancy, rather than specific components to fit particular items I'm crafting... and thus end up with an extensive inventory, and hardly any coherent plans. Frustrating yes, hopeless no. And I am determined to reform. Honest!

So yeah. To be perfectly honest, I didn't realize I had that many crafting projects/hobbies until I started typing and didn't stop... They're all things I enjoy and would like to master, so it's good to have them all clear in my mind. There are some other odds and ends too, that overlap the categories (like decoupaging necklace pendants) but we won't even think about adding those right now. Hopefully having anonymous cyber accountability will be helpful on this one too, so I'll keep you posted on my crafting progress! And if you have a project that you're feeling stuck on, whether a hobby or something that just needs to get done, I'd love to hear about it. With productive togetherness, we shall overcome! :P

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