Craft Corner (I'm a Giant Nerd)

I read a lot of blogs. A lot. All different topics, really. News tidbits (Gawker, NY Mag Daily Intel), Celebrity Gossip blogs, friends' blogs (Do You Fancy Us, Tex and the City, The.Well.Set, Could Be A Crackhead y many mas), Cooking Blogs (Kiss My Spatula, Sugar Laws), Dating/Girlie Blogs (Lemon Drop), Mommy Blogs - weird I know, but some are hilarious! (Dooce, Mommy Wants Vodka), and last but not least, Design blogs (Apartment Therapy, A Cup of Jo, Design Sponge, You Are My Fave, Sweet Designs, and much more..). These are my newest obsession. When it comes down to it, I lurve pretty things. No, I'm not anywhere close to as talented as these people, but I cannot help but lusting over their ideas.

A la Costanza, I too would make Marine Biologist and Architect my top two fake careers choices. And along the lines of architecture, I have always had a love for interior decorating, for making a home beautiful and unique.

So really, the point is, having this new apartment has been my newest project, and I could not be more excited to have a "canvas" to make pretty. The other day I even excused myself from hanging out with J and his friends because I had crafts to attend to! Crafts don't craft themselves! I'm not the only one taking the time to make this a home, The BFF has transformed her room into what I now refer to as a "secret garden" - literally there are flowers everywhere, either in fake form, picture form, duvet form - but it truly looks magnificent! - and not too over-done.

When I posted here, the awesome, new apartment wasn't yet finished. I don't know if you give a crap or not what my apartment walls look like, but sorry, I'm going to show you my hard work anyway (plus I know my mom will appreciate it):

[Note: Sorry these pics aren't great quality - they were taken with my phone, so they're not as nice as I would obviously prefer. Also, one of my major failures in life is the ability to hang pictures straight, and that, coupled with the fact our apartment is legit slanted (just like that episode of Lily & Marshall's in How I Met Your Mother!!), it is super noticeable. Please don't judge too harshly.]

Front wall:

Thanks, Santa, for my new TV! The BFF and I are like the children I'd always love to babysit: glued in front of it and well-behaved. I wanted something above it, so I found a few Papyrus cards to frame and then some beautiful paper from an art supply/design store. (It took me 20 minutes to buy the bird paper, 15 minutes of which I spent hyperventilating because of everything else I fell in love with.)

I don't love birds as animals, but I do like birds as design elements.

Pink frame from T.J. Maxx (great place to get cheap frames!) and Papyrus card, which has cute apothecary jars with little labels).

Similar card, similar frame.

Shadow Box:

This is when things got really crafty. I found this "shadow box" - actually a drawer! - on the street with another piece of wood that I'd hoped was a frame. I brought it home JIC I could use it, then painted it grey with our leftover trim paint and voila a cute little decorative shelf. I haven't decided what I'm doing with the paint colors yet, but I've always loved sample strips so I might leave them as is. 

I think Honey Bears are so cute, and filled this one with fake Blue Bonnet (state flower of Texas) petals my mom sent me like two years ago. Little bird cut-out here and on the mini-canvas too.

Someday I want a real fish in one of those vases, not just a stuffed animal. The BFF and I need to "keep something alive" to prove our capacity for responsibility.

Side Wall:

I wanted to incorporate some bolder colors, and really liked this red Keep Calm poster. The chandelier pic is a Papyrus card.

Other Side Wall:

My paternal grandmother was a great painter, and I brought these two cloud landscapes of hers back with me after one of my last trips. The Flatiron painting was a gift from my wonderful friend Ash. She bought it for me for Christmas (WHEN WE WEREN'T SUPPOSED TO EXCHANGE GIFTS, BIATCH), and it turned out to randomly be from the exact artist in Union Square I had considered buying from before. Fate! The frame for that is actually the other piece of wood I found (which turned out to be a cabinet face, not a frame, but it worked perfectly to mount the canvas on).

Book Shelf:

Great to have the space to exhibit my 1000 scarves, movie collection (missing very important RomCom DVDs suspected to be stolen by Kris), books, etc. Note the bottom shelf contains my super awesome wicker picnic baskets I scored from the give-away pile at my old apt. WHO WOULD GET RID OF THOSE BEAUTIES!?!

Coffee table:

I bought this Ikea table off Craigslist, hoping to paint it. That peeled off so I was at a loss of what to do with it. I had to make it work. Partially due to the Olympics, plus I've seen a lot of maps used in recent decorating trends - I was feeling very global - so I thought covering it in a world map was cool. And the colors help tie everything together nicely.

And there you have it, hope you enjoyed this tour of "Four Walls and a Coffee Table." Stay tuned for whatever a-mazing project I get myself involved with next.