A Little Project: The Letter "N"

Last year with my birthday money I bought a Silhouette Portrait on a screaming deal. I had ideas of what to do with it, but mostly I've used it to cut out paper to frame.

I've done a couple small vinyl projects, but when a friend found a letter "N" at Hobby Lobby in the clearance section for 90% off making it only $3, I could see exactly what I wanted it to be:

And now, working backwards...

This was just before the Krylon Short Cuts Gold Leaf Spray Paint was applied. Putting on the vinyl and figuring out what I wanted and how to do it took about 7 hours. Had I known, I may not have done a design that was so complicated.

This was just after the Krylon Dover White Spray Paint was applied.

 And this is what it looked like when I bought it (for $3). Gross.

 And this is what it looks like on my wall. I know the wall needs work, but I like the "N."

And here is a detail of the pattern...imperfections and all!

And here is how my visiting sister kept James out of the vinyl and spray paint. And being his photographer is how I kept her busy.

I love how it turned out and how it adds some sparkle into my decor!

A couple quick tricks:

• Your X-acto knife is your best friend! By the end of the "N" you really can't tell I pieced strips together because it took me so long figure out that an X-Acto knife was exactly the right tool for the job.
• I tried to use a cardstock stencil, but the lines were just not as clean as with vinyl that stuck all over and not just on the edges where I would have taped it.

42 Books in 2014!

Okay, I didn't make my 2013 reading goal...not by a long shot. I know I didn't read much at all in November or March, but ultimately I read 30 books in 2013, so yay!

But let's focus on the future, shall we? I'm going to take things down a notch this year to something still challenging but doable. Last year I wanted to read 4-5 books a month, I actually read 2.5 books per month on average. So in 2014 I'm going to shoot for 3.5 books a month and make a goal of 42 books for the year.  I'll keep track right here for ya and also on Goodreads for those book nerds out there!

Currently Reading:

Jo's Boys by Louisa May Alcott

and

Cinder by Marissa Meyer

Read in 2014:

January

1. The Last Lecture by Randy Pausch and Jeffrey Zaslow, January 4th: ★ ★ ★
2. The Hangman's Daughter by Oliver Pötzsch: ★ ★ ★ ★ 
3. Night by Elie Wiesel, January 22nd: ★ ★ ★ ★ ★
4. Young House Love: 243 Ways to Paint, Craft, Update & Show Your Home Some Love
by Sherry Petersik, January 24th: ★ ★ ★

February 

5. The Rosie Project by by Graeme Simsion, February 12th: ★ ★ ★ ★
6. Atonement by Ian McEwan, February 20th: ★

March

7. Animal Farm by George Orwell, March 2nd: ★ ★ ★
8. The Girl in the Green Sweater, March 8th: ★ ★ ★
9. My Story by Elizabeth Smart, March 19th: ★ ★ ★ ★

April

10. The Goose Girl by Shannon Hale, April 16th: ★ ★ ★  

May

11. Above All Things by Tanis Rideout, May 15th ★ ★

12.  Bel Canto by Ann Patchett, May 23rd: ★ ★ ★ 
 

To Read:
• Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen
• Cinder by Marissa Meyer
• Moneyball by Michael Lewis

A Little Project: DIY Window Seat

Nick has been working late pretty much every night for the last 3 weeks...and a girl can only read so many books (especially when she's in a bit of a reading slump -- more on that later). Anyway, as I've been clearing out our home of stuff not going to New Mexico with us, I came across a little shelf in the garage, decided it was serving no practical purpose and decided to re-purpose it. This is what I came up with:

And this is what it looked like before:

 My thought was that if I'm going to try my hand at upholstery, I wanted it to be a no regret situation, just in case it went south. So this is actually a Walmart shelving unit we bought years ago for our specific needs and has been collecting dust and junk in our garage since we moved to our condo. If I ended up destroying it, nothing lost!

Which brings me to what I did and how I did it. Well, I followed this tutorial which was featured here and then I adapted it to my needs (like sanding everything down and then painting the unit because there was scuffs and chips and exposed particle board on the bottom of each shelf and the unit itself...we're cheap like that).

About the paint: I got a quart of Glidden Smooth Stone in Satin from Home Depot which ran me about $13. I wanted the color to have both grey and cream in it so it would mesh with whatever room we put it in (and there's quite a bit left in the can). I also took the 1/2 yard of fabric I got at Hobby Lobby for $2 so I could see them side by side.

The rest of the project was just like the tutorial, except I did end up buying the 1" thick roll of 6' long foam from Hobby Lobby, and using my 40% off coupon it ran me like $11. So the total cost for the project ended up being about $30, which I can do on my budget. Plus, I'm just pretty excited about how it turned out!

I know it's nothing really to write home about, but it filled two needs in our house (de-cluttering the garage and a small place for a few books in Alexa's room). It also filled a creativity and exploration bug in me, so now I'm cured for a while (until we move into a new place hopefully). Plus, with all that extra foam, it looks like I'm going to have to try another upholstery project!!

And now I can say I pretty much can woman-handle a drill. BAM!

AND I also proved once again that Pinterest can actually be a useful endeavor! YAY Pinterest!

(Speaking of...did you see our new social media buttons I put up on our sidebar?? Now we're a little social!)