Life is what you make it {pt.1}

So why not make as much of your life as you can? When we began remodeling our first and current home we decided to use as many re-purposed items as possible and to hand make as much of it as possible. So far I'd say we've really done great rethinking traditional products on new applications. We have made our own light fixtures, counter tops, floors,cabinets, furniture, and so much more.For nearly 3 years I have wanted to diy a chandelier for our dining room. Believe me when I say that the current one isn't really as bad as it could be but it has just never fit in the style of our home and certainly doesn't make a statement. I have been looking for one of those ugly old 80"s light fixtures for about 2 years and just last week we were able to get one off craigslist. Seriously, I waited 2 years for this...

Yep, 2 years! I know, I know it looks like it needs to go back from whence it came but after removing the ummm...interesting glass shade I was left with this...  

It's a little better anyhow! More importantly, it has loads of potential. There are so many many things I could do with it from here but I've had my heart set on 1 light fixture and 1 light fixture only for ages...

Something between this and this, both over a grand, and both from restoration hardware. I had seen a few other bloggers make similar chandeliers using laminate edge banding so off I went to the hardware store and bought 65 ft of adhesive backed oak veneer edging.

 Because the veneer is so thin and because I did not want to have to look at the bumpy surface of the adhesive I decided to iron 2 strips back to back in order to have a sturdier and better looking hoops. But, in order to have nice smooth round hoops I needed to iron them together in the circular shape and size they needed to be. Just ironing them together on a flat surface makes it so they cannot bend with out the inner strip buckling. I could find lots of things the same size as I wanted my hoops but none of them would be able to withstand the heat from my iron. Lucky for me my man is a homebrewer so out to the garage I went to drag back his giant 10 gallon keg. All I had to do was lay the strips back to back and secure them with tape to the keg. After the first one it only took me about 20 minutes to do the other 5 hoops.

Carefully I ironed the strips together without joining the ends (so I could remove them from said keg). Once removed, I double checked the circumference of my hoops and secured the ends, turning them into rings. 

As I mad the rings I would configure the piece to make sure they fit properly

The final piece will be similar to this, but with a lamp inside...I think

After lightly sanding the edges of the rings I prepped the lamp and the rings for paint. Initially I had planned on staining the rings a dark brown and painting the lamp black but after really thinking about it I decided to paint the entire thing black.  

Today I will finish the painting and see if I can get the whole thing put together without an extra set of hands. We are also re-staining our deck this weekend so the Mr. has sworn off any of my projects until the deck is finished. I am hoping to have it up by next week so I can include it into my Halloween decorating, we'll see!

Speaking of Halloween, My Diction-fairy costume from last year has been getting a lot of love on Pinterest so I thought I'd show all of you how you can make your own. with just a glue gun and an old dictionary you can fashion a super cute and unique costume so make sure you come back for that.

Is dining under good light!

Ruffle Skirt

We are home from our trip to Long Beach and our stay on the Queen Mary. While it will take me a few days to edit all the photos of the traditional Cambodian wedding we attended I thought I'd show you the skirt I made for the first day of the ceremony. I made the skirt by using this tutorial from No Big Dill for the cutesy coastal skirt. The only difference is that I decided not to add in an elastic waistband as recommended in her tutorial. The fabric is so nice and stretchy that I decided it would be more comfortable and have a better silhouette if there were no waistband.

The bow of the Queen Mary makes for a perfect photo shoot of my pale gams!

I ordered my fabric from Rufflefabric.com for $20 a yard. I purchased 2 yards but really you only use 1 so in total the skirt only cost me $20!  I received so many complements, however my favorite comment by far was when a Cambodian woman walking by the ceremony told me I looked like a very fancy princess, but my skirt should be a different color. When I told her I made it this way she said "it very pretty, next time you make different color, okay?" then she kept walking. You might think I'd be offended but it was totally worth the laugh!

With only 1 seam the skirt could not have been any easier to make! The best part is that it is not only very comfortable fabric but you can also just wad it up and stuff it in your suitcase, so it is even perfect for traveling! Since I have fabric left over I'm thinking about making a few big ruffly pillows for our bed. And speaking of our bed I'm headed back to it to decompress from 4 very busy and culturally overstimulating days of music, food, incense, city driving, and ceremony!

&  Pink Ruffles!

Before we head out of town for a few days I thought I'd show you my September arrangement for my diy'd pottery barn shelves. As I have said many times I love to re-arrange my junk according to the seasons. I do not have much clutter in my home so I really like to use these shelves to display my treasures. I'll probably decorate for Halloween here in a week or two so this arrangement is very temporary...Yay Halloween!

via Pinterest

The cork "C" and the painting on the bottom are both inspired by pintrest pictures. The little nest painting was the outcome of my doodling with paint rather than art journaling the other day. I love how the colors of the paintings just blend right in with all my other items. The fall always makes me feel like nesting so I thought I'd translate that literally into my September display. I also fashioned a few little nests out of spanish moss from the dollar store and placed those in mini  apple crates. In other places around our home I have hung fall wreaths and placed baskets of blankets and pillows. What things are you beginning to rearrange in your home as our days get shorter and our nights get cooler?

Well I better run, I have so much to do before we leave. I'll be back soon with pictures to share!

& pumpkin spice candles!

Falling into autumn

Although September is usually our warmest month here in Humboldt county, I cannot help but look forward to autumn. I love how things always seem to settle back down from the hectic summer pace. We are all still struggling to get used to our new school schedules and my youngest, Mason, is still having a hard time being away from mommy and going to Montessori 2 days a week. Luckily, Orion loves his new school, and at only 104 students he is getting to know all his school mates pretty fast.  We are leaving Wednesday to head to southern California to be part of a 3 day traditional Cambodian wedding. While I am definitely not looking forward to driving to the other end of the state for the second time in a month I am so happy for our dear friends and cannot wait to share in their celebration. I have never been to a Cambodian wedding and am really looking forward to all of it. We will be staying on the Queen Mary which neither my husband or I have ever done.Summer is certainly coming to a close and there are still many things left undone on our bucket list. While we got to do so many fun things it seems the small things managed to get away from us, I feel guilty for not getting around playing board games and certainly for not volunteering.  Perhaps, We will have to devote our last few weeks of summer to those 6 undone things. 

Yep, still a lot to do!

We have been working feverishly in our yard and last few weekends and that wonderful hubby of mine removed the (and I'm not kidding you) 30 ft. tall bush in our back yard. This bush was not only taller than our house it was also the entire length of it and about 10ft. wide! What was once planted to provide a little privacy was already ridiculously over grown when we bought our home almost 3 years ago. 3 years of procrastination later we have gained back about a third of our yard! 

It looks small in this pic but really it is about 10 ft. by 24 ft!

Removing the mammoth hedge was really just the first step, now there is an entire side of our home (that of course faces the street) that has been neglected all this time. It's not pretty! So now the plan  for the reclaimed space is to build a woodshed, a taller and more private fence, and maybe even a dedicated chicken yard.

Anyone else tackle a very overwhelming can of worms lately?

& pardon my naked house!

Mamma's little bento!

Wanna know a secret...? I hate Ziploc bags! Yep I can't stand them, I mean I keep a few in my house because some things are just zip necessary, but overall any single use packaging really angers me. Wanna know something else, I also dislike paper towels! I refuse to but them and my husband loves them so he makes special trips to the store just to buy paper towels, it's pretty comical really.That's why when I was planning our upcoming school year I decided that all school lunches coming from this house would be waste free. Last year I made a few attempts to keep Orion's lunches waste free but the tupperware I was sending with him never seemed to make it back home in his lunchbox.

After a lot of  internet researching I decided that the best bento lunch system for us would be Laptop lunches. The box was a good size and seemed to be well made, plus the individual sealing containers meant that I could send messy stuff along too.  The thing I didn't like about laptop lunches was the price tag $40 plus dollars for plastic, Yikes! Luckily for me I was able to find a brand spankin' new one on ebay for half the price. The system even comes with the cutest little fork and spoon and a "users guide" which is mostly about living a waste free and organic lifestyle. Maybe the best part of the whole thing is that Orion loves it and feels really special as he is the kid at school who has the coolest lunch, maybe that's why he is eating all of it, I dunno. Either way I am getting to express my love and creativity by packing an ecologically sensible lunch which is also super healthy, Jackpot!
We are just wrapping up our first week of bento lunches and I couldn't be more excited to tell you that the boy who hardly ever ate his lunch last year has brought home an empty lunch box every day! (well, except for the 1 bite of something he saves for his little brother, seriously, how sweet is that?)While it does take a bit longer to pack his lunch I am finding that I really enjoy trying to make each lunch special. There are so many great resources for bento ideas but I have found that the laptop lunches Menu library page  offers all sort of great seasonal ideas. 
Here's what was on the menu this week:

Monday

Star quesadillas, Black bean salsa, tortilla chips, mixed fruit & banana chips

Tuesday

Peanut butter banana wraps, grapes, cottage cheese w/ strawberries, cheese pac-man w/ cucumber ghosties & pretzels

Wednesday

pb&j, egg man, strangely long tomatoes, an aussie apple* and a V-8 (the boy loves V-8!)

Someone may have forgotten to put the lid back onto his cottage cheese after eating so his regular bento box was in the wash but no worries glad ware works fine for bento-ing too!

Thursday

Mini salami & cheese sandwiches, cherry tomatoes, grapes, banana, pretzels & black berry yogurt with a few frozen blackberries thrown in to keep it cold

Friday

The other half of that cheese and salami sandwich from thursday, dried cranberries, asain rice cracker mix, tomato and cucumber salad w/ black sesame seeds, a banana and 2 frosted molasses cookies

* The aussie apple is a super cool way of sending a cut up apple to school with no baggie. Simply cut the apple into 4 pieces, put them back onto the core and place a clean rubber band around the belly of the apple. The apple stays fresh and crunchy until it's time to eat.

I hope this inspires a few of you to try out a less waste lifestyle for your little ones lunches. Next friday I'll show a few of the everyday items I use as tools for crafting a fun lunch!

is a  cheesy pac-man!

I love school!

The anti-boring antipasta!

I hope everyone else is having as great of day as we are! 

The boy is back and has proclaimed his love for the 1st grade!

& googly eyed eggs!

First day of school

Today is a very special day! Today is not only the First day of school but it is also Mason's 3rd Birthday!

I'm so excited for both of my little gentlemen! I hope everyone else is enjoying their first few weeks of school!

&  Cupcakey kisses!

A Grand Vacation and a busy weekend

I'm Baaaack! We are finally home from our 2 week vacation to Arizona! To make the most of the last of our summer vacation, my mom, the boys, and I packed our bags and headed to my Aunt & Uncle's sunny home in Williams, AZ. We got to see the Grand Canyon, a cowboy gunfight,   live black bears up close and so much more! I'm so happy to be back! There is nothing like a trip to hot and dry climate to really make you appreciate living on the foggy coast of California!  Plus being in the desert with no internet and even worse cell phone reception does a lot to break one of their media addiction.

the cowboy and the train conductor! waiting for our bus ride into the park

bear wrassiling!

I take them all the way to the grand canyon and their favorite part is the bus rides around the park!

Go figure!

Cutest engineer ever!

Taking in the early morning view at the Grand Canyon!

And what did my dreamboat husband do with all that time to himself...?

Install my solartube skylights of course! thanks honey for crossing almost everything off your honey-do list!
With both Mason's 3rd Birthday and  School starting on Monday we certainly cut it close and have a very busy weekend ahead of us but we sure had a blast! Orion will be starting 1st grade at the brand new charter school in town and we are both very excited to see what's in store for the coming school year. Be back soon with some back to school fun!
& happy road trips!

Shut the front door...

Last week while driving up to my house I decided I'd had enough. My deep red door was bringing me down and had to go. Now, don't get me wrong, I love a classic red door, but I was just tired of seeing red everytime I walked through my door.

The door had been painted by the previous owners and could have used a few more coats when they did it. Combine that with the fact that it was dingy and scratched up it was neigh time for a fresh coat. So out came the swatches and the strange looks from the neighbors as I sat on the curb staring at my front door covered in little squares of color.

 In the end I went with  Bennie Moore's Mountain Laurel.

Here's my handy tip for keeping the rim of your paint can tidy while you paint

Then you can just dip and wipe on the band instead of the edge!

2 coats later I had a fresh and fun new door. I need to do a bit of plant trimming/re-arranging out here, but the color sure is fun!

I love the way the color goes with the greige walls and charcoal trim, plus it really makes the hardware pop. 

Honestly the color did look a bit darker on the paint chip and I would have liked to have it be a bit darker but      

I am really happy with the color as it is. I was a bit worried what my older neighbors would say, but just a few days ago I got a phone call from one of them just to tell me how much they loved the new color! You know you live in a boring quiet neighborhood when your door is the topic of neighborly conversation!

& Picky Neighbors!

Wow, it's been a busy few weeks! I apologize for not being around much but first grade is looming just around the corner and I have been trying to pack in as much fun as possible before school starts. When last we left off this momma was checking activities off our summer bucket list like crazy. we have just a few left and after we go camping this weekend will be almost done, and with almost a month to spare! here's a few things that have been going on the last few weeks...

I finally got around to putting chicken wire into this old window frame so the boys have there own place to hang their treasures. There room is slowly coming along, now I'm just looking for dresser.

We need a new dresser because this guy is officially potty trained! I cannnot get over how much easier it is the 2nd time! We no longer need the giant dresser/changing table so I'm looking for something that will fit better. please ignore the slipcoverless sofa and toy strewn living space in the background :)

I have been on a "make it myself " kick and have been making all my own jam, cottage cheese, butter, bread, root beer and so on. I usually prefer to make rather than buy but I've recently attempted things I've never tried before, like butter!

I found this blog called The Italian Dish, where the author has an amazing recipe for really fast, really delicious bread dough with out kneading!  Although skeptical, I decided to give it a chance and can honestly say that it will forever change the way I make my dough. You seriously mix up the dough and put it in the fridge, then just take it out and bake it when you want fresh bread. I have now made everything from beautiful crusty loaves, to pizza, to cinnamon rolls and not one of them took longer than a few minutes! Honestly it almost makes me angry when I think of tall the time I've spent kneading and trying to make a perfect dough when this is sooo easy!

Farmer's market pizza, recipe to follow in a few days

Cranberry pecan cinnamon rolls

Well, I'm off to pack up for our camping trip. 4 days of  tubing, s'mores, swimming, and sleeping under the stars with our very best friends! Hopefully I'll be able to get some good family portraits while we are on the river, fingers crossed!

& Smokey campfires!