Operation "Deck the Door"

Christmas is coming! And since one of my goals from my Fall Bucket List is to decorate my apartment, I've been setting aside some time here and there to do just that. I LOVE how my door decoration turned out this year:

It's definitely an improvement over last year's door decor!

This is the angle I usually approach the door from. This makes me so happy! It was a group effort between me, my roommate, and a friend of ours who lives in the same complex we do. My roommate did the bow and our friend hung the tiny little ball ornaments because I didn't have the patience to do it!

The ribbon and the "wreath" (it's actually a 12' garland I wrapped around a few times) came from the Dollar Tree. This red ornament came from Michael's last year and the frame is something I picked up last year and spraypainted.

The "JOY" letters came from Target's Dollar Spot and the ball ornaments are also from there, but I got them last year. The silver ornament is from Michael's last year. Notice the little spider hanging out on the "J"? He stayed there the whole time I was taking pictures and as soon as I was done he scurried away to his home!

I crouched down so I could get a child's perspective of our door. I think it's even better from this view :).

Since I already had most of the materials for this project, the total cost was only $3! You can't beat that! If I'd had to buy everything fresh, it would have come out like this:

$4 - two ornaments from Michael's (with 50% off coupon)

$3 - frame from Goodwill

$1 - little ball ornaments from Target's Dollar Spot

$1 - "JOY" letters from Target's Dollar Spot

$1 - 12' garland from Dollar Tree

$1 - red ribbon from Dollar Tree

$5 - blue spray paint (for frame)

That would make the total $16, which is still really cheap, especially when you consider that you can easily spend that much on just a wreath alone!

When I hung up my door decor, I wanted to make sure our peephole wouldn't be covered by it. I was not expecting this lovely surprise, though - the view through the peephole is so sweet! This was taken at night so the lighting isn't great, but you can at least tell what I'm talking about.

"Finished" Art Wall

Wooo! I FINALLY finished the art wall over my desk in my bedroom. I use the term "finished" a bit loosely, since it's still not 100% where I want it to be, but for a good while at least, any changes I make will be minor ones. Here are the photos and sources of it all.

This is the view from my doorway. I'm not sure putting that frame below my light switch was the greatest idea I've ever had, so it might be one of the things to get moved around if I do any tweaking.

Clockwise from top left: 1) This is a collection of 4 sunset photos I've taken over the past year. The first was taken in Prescott, AZ, the second was taken from the top floor of one of the parking on my college campus, and the bottom two were taken last fall on my way back to Sacramento from my parents' place. 2) I purchased this print from Mae Chevrette and the frame came from Target. 3) I purchased this "&" print from Milk Box Prints and this frame also came from Target. 4) This photo of my and my siblings was taken about 5 years ago. 5) This is a simple little hand-me-down frame and I cut a piece of scrapbook paper to fit. 6) A small whiteboard that I purchased from Target. Currently it has some lyrics from Mumford & Sons written on it. 7) This is a frame I picked up at Goodwill and then spray painted a while ago. I stuck in some miscellaneous photos that'll be pretty easy to change out if the mood strikes me.

 Clockwise from top left: 1) This collage frame was a hand-me-down from my older sister. I put some older photos of my four younger siblings in it. 2) Another hand-me-down frame, this time with some photos taken during my 2009 Grand Canyon backpacking trip. 3) This "&" print came from Cursive Art. Frame from Target. 4) This is an engagement photo I took for my sister and her husband 4 years ago. Frame is, you guessed it, from Target. 5) Small corkboard from target. 6) Photo of the cross at InterVarsity's Campus by the Sea on Catalina Island. I'm fairly sure it's a law that if you go there, you have to take a photo of the cross. 7) Silver-toned tray I picked up at Goodwill for about $2 that I've been using as a magnet board. I love it! 8) Photo of my mom and dad at my sister's wedding and two notecards from Target's dollar section. 9) Another frame from Target with a photo of my family at a time trial we all rode in about 6 years ago.

And here's the whole thing, including my desk. The left edge needs some work. I'm not thrilled with how even things are compared to the right side, so that'll most likely get changed within the next couple months, if not sooner.

Overall, I'm really happy with how this turned out and I can't wait to keep adding to it and improving it! If my roommate agrees, there's another spot in my apartment that I think would be great for a gallery wall. Now to find some inspiration for it...

"Keep Calm" Posters

I've never been a fan of the "Keep Calm and Carry On" poster trend, but ever since I saw one of my best friend's versions of the poster that reads "Lose Hope and Despair," I've been a huge fan of the parody versions! There are a lot of them for sale on Etsy, like this "Freak Out and Throw Stuff" one, for instance.

Anyways, this past weekend has been a rather lazy one for me since I've been recovering from a cold and this afternoon, while I was messing around on my computer, I came across this site that lets you create your own version of the poster. I had so much fun playing around with different versions! Here are a few of the ones I made (feel free to download and print for your personal use):

This translates to "Deeds not words," and is the motto of the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy.

This is, of course, a paraphrase of Lizzy's acceptance of Mr. Darcy's second proposal in the 1995 BBC version of Pride and Prejudice.

"Love Conquers All" 

"God and Glory"

A key phrase from Captain Wentworth's letter to Anne in Persuasion.

This is a paraphrase of the motto of the Air Force ROTC's Arnold Air Society motto: "The warrior who cultivates his mind, polishes his arms."

This is for my brothers Nano and Jon who are headed to cycling nationals this week. I hope they do well but most importantly, stay safe!

An epic line from the epic movie, Ben-Hur.

I thought it could be cute for someone to use this poster trend to propose.

In Persuasion, there are a couple quotes that talk about Anne having to choose between duty & prudence and romance & risk in breaking off her engagement with Captain Wentworth and in refusing the proposal of Mr. Elliot. I think this is a dichotomy that many people can relate to.

North and South is easily one of my favorite British novels and BBC adaptations. This is a line from Mr. Thornton's ill-fated proposal.

An Ampersand & Another Ampersand...& More Ampersands!

Sorry for the poor quality. My phone has a terrible camera.

If the above photo has you thinking that I'm addicted to ampersands...you're probably right! I love them. I cannot get enough of them. And while I'm not sure exactly what it is that draws me to them, I suspect that it's a combination of their graphic beauty, straight lines, and gorgeous curves. Here's where all my ampersands came from:

1. The & pillow was made for me by my sister and co-blogger, Ashton. Etsy has a variety of ampersand pillows, in case you'd like to purchase one.

2. The poster print of ampersands in various fonts was purchased on Etsy from here. The frame is from Target.

3. The large, rusty metal ampersand was a birthday gift from my three younger brothers. They found it at an antique store in Oroville, CA during the California State Open Fiddle and Picking Championship Contest.

4. The smaller, thicker ampersand was purchased at Kohl's a while back. Judging from their website, they no longer have them.

5. The black & white ampersand print was purchased from this Etsy seller. The frame is from Target.

Wreath Redux: Spring Edition

Remember the frame wreath I hung on my front door for Christmas? Well, I decided to set myself a little challenge and bring it back with a new twist for every season this year. Here's what I came up with for spring:

The "welcome" sign thing came from the dollar store and therefore cost only $1 - my only expense for this project! (The ribbon was wrapped around one of my birthday gifts from my parents. I'm pretty sure it came from Costco - that's where my mom buys all her ribbon.)

The entire thing only took about 10 minutes, which includes the time it took to go the dollar store on my way home from work.

I never really understood the point of wreaths, but I actually quite like them now! Even if my roommate and I were the only ones to ever see it, it would be totally worth it - the wreath adds cheer to every day and makes coming home extra special!

Linking up to Rhoda's Spring Door Decor party.

Words for Your Wall

Ever since joining Pinterest, I've been finding some perfectly lovely word art, so I thought I'd share some of my favorite discoveries here.

It took me forever to find the original source for this one! Aren't the pins that link to tumblr the absolute worst?!

Original source.

Cicero hit the nail on the head with this one! Original source.

I actually bought this one. It's lovely! For sale here.

Good motivation to stop procrastinating! For sale here. 

Bedroom Changes

I recently made two changes in my bedroom. Unfortunately, I forgot to get before pictures, but here are the afters!

The first change I made brought more organization to my scarf collection. I was given a couple scarves for Christmas and I also recently purchased a couple more. My once stuffed-full scarf drawer had been overflowing for a few weeks so I knew it was time to reorganize them. My bedroom has two closets, a large walk-in one and a random, very small one. So I decided to move all my clothes into the large closet and use the little one for scarf storage:

I still have some knit scarves in my drawer, but all the flow-ier scarves are now hung in my closet. I used a chrome tension rod from Target along with doubled-up plastic shower curtains rings to hang the scarves. I didn't put much thought into the order in which they're hanging, but I generally put the winter-weight scarves on the left and the summer-weight scarves on the right...though the thickness of my summer-weight scarves does vary quite a bit!

My summer-weight scarves.

My winter-weight scarves.

Here's the second change I made:

I've been meaning for a very long time to set up a little jewelry station on top of my two (stacked) bedside tables and I finally got around to doing it last week.

The great thing about this organization project is that I merely used things I already had. The white tray I got on sale from Target last year for only $5! The multi-colored dish is a present my sister brought for me when she went to India back in Fall of 2001. The other items are from a variety of places, including Target, Marshall's, World Market, and Ann Taylor Loft.

I purchased this ring holder a number of weeks ago from Amazon for $8. It's definitely worth it to have my rings so easily accessible.

  

 This dish came from World Market a couple of years ago and I use it to hold some of my more frequently worn bracelets.

So these are the two little changes I made. So far, I love them! My jewelry and my scarves are so much easier to access that I actually do put things away more often than I used to. Hooray!

(Linking up to Thrifty Decor Chick's closet link party.)

It's the Small Things

People often say that it's the small things that make life utterly wonderful or utterly unbearable. Well, this is a very small thing but it makes a positive difference in my morning routine.

I got the idea for the cup & mason jar from Pinterest, only I put flat little cotton pads in mine. I've had it set up like this ever since I moved to my current apartment and the system works really well. The mason jar is one I got from my mom and the cup that rests inside the rim is a $0.50 find from Goodwill.

The clock is a very recent addition (found at Target for around $6!). I was having a hard time keeping track of the time when I get ready for work/school/life in the mornings, so I bought this clock to help me stay on time. I love its shiny finish & the roman numerals.

Apartment Holiday Decor

I was really hoping to put up some nice Christmas decor in my apartment - even though my roommate and I didn't get a tree (our apartment is too small and we'll both be with our families for Christmas, anyway) - and even though finals & my work schedule did their best to prevent me, I was still able to decorate a little bit! Here are some photos:

(Sorry for the poor photo quality. I lost my camera and have not been able to find it anywhere! All of these photos were taken with my phone, which has an indifferent-at-best camera.)

This wreath made with a frame and ornaments was inspired by this project I pinned on Pinterest. If I have time, I plan to redo it (I think it would look a lot better with the ornament hanging lower) and trim the ends of all the ribbons. But for now, it gets the job done. And with only a few days until Christmas, I'll probably just call it good and do it properly next year :).

This was a fairly cheap project, I got the frame from Goodwill for $3, the ribbon and the little ball ornaments from the dollar tree (less than $2 total because the ornaments came in a set of 9), and the really cool spiky and swirly ornaments from Michael's for around $4 for both. Everything else I already had on hand for other projects, so this one only came to around $9! Not too shabby, I think, especially since almost everything can be reused or repurposed.

This photo shows how badly those ribbons are in need of trimming. I meant to do that, but then completely forget in the excitement of hanging it up and taking pictures.

One other bit of decor I put up in our apartment is this little miniature tree that I've had for a couple years now. Aside from spending $1 on some fresh ornaments, everything here was already on hand!

 I love the little ornaments, especially the shiny silver ones. They really bounce around the light. The skirt for the tree is a bit of a red scarf I've been working on. I put it on hold over the holidays and simply wrapped it around the back of the tree and stuck the needles through the other side to keep it together. I think it adds a really interesting texture to the base of the tree!

In Brief: IKEA Trip

A few weekends ago my roommate and I went to IKEA after church (the same trip when we picked up this bookcase). I snapped a few random pictures while we were walking around that I thought I would share here.

This is similar to the type of chair I want in my room, but the wrong color and wrong price. But the lines are quite close to what I envision!

I loved this silver tray, only $15 but I resisted the urge to purchase it. I've been trying (and failing horribly) to buy only necessities.

I took this picture as more for anit-inspiriation. I don't think I've every seen anything uglier than that coffee or side table.

Who knew that IKEA sold farmhouse sinks? Okay, probably lots of people, but this was the first time I noticed one there. It is my dream to have a home with a double-basin farmhouse sink and this one was only $299!!! Score! (No, I didn't buy it, haha. But it would be a total score for anyone who's in the market.)

Harmony & (A)cord in the Dining Room

I may have mentioned before that my apartment's dining room is really, really small. So small, in fact, that my roommate and I decided to skip a table & chairs and just get stools to eat at the kitchen peninsula. So for the past several months, the only thing in our dining room has been some boxes waiting to be put away and the cords for our internet modem and router.

The cords were quite annoying and looked really messy because the one phone jack in our apartment is halfway up our dining room wall. Definitely a reminder of the day when phones were mounted to the wall and you could just follow the coil cord to find whoever it was that was talking on the phone! Anyways, thanks to a recent IKEA trip, I was able to make our messy cord situation not so messy, all while adding some additional shelf space to our apartment!

This was my first time building something from IKEA entirely by myself. It was exciting! I started by laying out all my pieces and from there the entire process was incredibly smooth.

The final screw! Almost done and I decided to take a break to mess around with depth of field.

Assembling this bookcase was super quick & easy! It took me less than an hour to assemble it and if I hadn't been sidetracked by texting friends, it would have taken even less time. Overall, I'm happy with how the bookcase turned out; it could be better in some places - those IKEA peeps are certainly no perfectionists - but it looks decent and is sturdy enough to hold what we need it to (the instructions said each shelf can hold up to 25lbs).

All done and already looking much better...but it's missing something.

There it is! Does my heart good to see those shelves actually being put to use.