Sewing a Curtain

One last thing I needed for my bathroom was a curtain. I'm lucky enough to have a washer and dryer in suite in my apartment, but they're a bit of an eyesore in my bathroom so I decided to make a curtain to keep them out of view, but still in easy access.

I had this Ikea fabric I bought a few years ago (long before I sewed!) and this seemed like the perfect accent to the room.

I'd never made a curtain before but this seemed easy enough. A hemmed rectangle and loops at the top. Not too tricky.

And the finished product! I still need to get a hook so I can keep the curtain to the side when I'm using the machines but I'll wait a while to get that.

Contrary to what it looked like, I ironed the curtain twice before hanging it up. I blame lighting for pointing out all the wrinkles.

Bathroom Mini-Reno

As I talked about in my last post, my bathroom in my apartment has been lacking.

It's a lot of shades of beige and didn't really have a lot of character.

I decided to paint my bathroom last week with having some free time (I took a week off work for the holidays! It's been amazing!).

I did have a hiccup along the way though. The first paint color I picked out was an utter flop. It was called Silver Drop and was a light grey. However, with the lack of windows and horrible lighting in my bathroom, it just looked like the walls were dirty rather than being a COLOR.

Thankfully, it only takes about 1/4 of a quart can of paint and an hour to do two coats of paint, so I didn't have a problem with buying another can of paint and trying out another color.

The color I ended up with is called Rain Washed by Behr. I like it! It's a light blue/slightly aqua/greyish color and it looks really clean and fresh.

I made the print on the wall based off of one I saw on Etsy. I still want to get a better frame for it yet.

I really wish I could do something with my sink/cupboard area! It's so hideous. If I get brave enough, maybe I'll paint it. I'd probably lose my damage deposit though.

I hung up my pretty petal hooks from Anthropologie! I got them in May while we were in Seattle and hadn't had a chance to use them yet. I didn't want to hang them up on a white wall because I thought a colored wall would add more contrast and help them stand out more. Either way, I think they add a cute feminine touch to the room!

Medicine Cabinet Makeover

I live in an apartment and while I love it, there's a few things I've wanted to change. I don't think I'm legally allowed to do too much as far as renovating, but I figure if I'm going to live here a few years, I'm going to make it as comfortable for me as possible, right?

That said, I had this ugly medicine cabinet in my bathroom. My main problems with it were that the top was stained, and that the doors to it were glass so everything on the inside was visible at all times.

I didn't take a proper "before" picture, but I took this one once I had started blocking off the doors to redo.

I found this great product at Home Depot called Frosted Glass Finish, a specialty product by RustOleum. It's in a can like spray-paint and you just spray it on the glass surface you want. It shows up clear and then minutes later dries into a soft frosted finish! Very cool and so easy to do, and for less than $10 it's such a great quick fix.

In this picture I've already started frosting the glass (it took a few coats), but you can see the stains that I really didn't like on top of the cabinet.

I decided to paint the metal surfaces with a high gloss white paint to create a clean and modern surface.

Finished product! I think it looks a lot better than before and I'm happy with the results, considering what I had to work with (if it were my own house, I would have just ripped it out and done something else with the area).

Crocheted Cowl Scarf

In the midst of knitting the orange scarf below, I had the urge to go back to my roots and do some crocheting. I saw these pretty cowl scarves by jenloveskev and thought they'd be pretty easy to make myself.

(this one's by jenloveskev)

Three evenings later I had myself a pretty blue cowl scarf. I'm super happy with the results.

I love that its warm enough that I can wear it with a jacket outside, and yet light and chic enough that I can wear it with a sweater to work inside.

It's also something that I can whip up and give as a gift. I'll probably end up making a few of these for friends yet too, and experiment with feathers and buttons like Jen does.

Knitting

After several months, I've finally finished my first knitting project!

I started off easy and made a scarf, following a Purl Bee pattern called Easy Mistake Stitch Scarf (can't go wrong with a name like that, right?)

For knowing nothing of knitting before starting this project, I was surprised how easy it was, though it seemed a LOT more time consuming than crocheting. It ended up being big enough to easily wrap around my neck twice and used up two skeins of yarn. Plus, it stretches out a lot in width!

Jenloveskev

I wrote a long time ago about a blog I've been following called Jenloveskev, about an art teacher Jen in New York who posts yummy recipes, daily fashion updates and neat homemade projects.

Every now and then Jen sells her goods on Etsy and I was lucky enough to pick up one of her beautiful homemade headbands!

My pictures don't do it justice, so I apologize for that ahead of time, especially for the close-ups.

The Most Beautiful Die

I stumbled upon an absolutely gorgeous die cut piece today.

This die piece is done by Arjowiggins Creative Papers and is absolutely amazing.

From a blog entry about the piece:

Responsible forestry management can and will make a significant contribution to the preservation of the environment. Ahead of the United Nations Climate Change Conference taking place next week, Arjowiggins Creative Papers is launching an innovative and thought-provoking campaign to support the global summit.

Click here to see a full-size version of this piece.

DIY Light Fixture Facelift

I live in an apartment and can't do too much for permanent redecorating but I wanted to give a light fixture in my entranceway a facelift. All the light fixtures in my place are pretty outdated - lots of tinted glass and brass and not the most beautiful.

I had to come up with something that was removable and decided to bring nature inside. Luckily, the glass cover of the fixture is easily detachable so I thought it would be a good idea to wrap something around it. I live next to a riverbank so I walked along the bank and gathered fallen branches (not too sure what kind, they have beautiful little knubs and seeds on them though!).

A few hours of twisting twigs and gluegunning later, I had a beautiful new cover that just slips over the glass part of the lamp.

I love the shadows it casts!

The best part is that it didn't cost me a penny and I can take it with me should I decide to leave this apartment.

Bean bags

I have a sweet two year old nephew who I lived with first the first 14 months of his life. My sister recently asked me to make a few bean bags for him for her to keep in her purse. She's really big on homemade and wooden toys for Ben.

After a bit of delay from a jammed sewing machine, I finally got them done recently! I made a lining with a thick fabric and put the rice inside of that, so that even if Ben gets a hole in the beanbags, the rice still won't spill out.

I made three different bean bags - one with patches of Guatemalan handmade fabric, one of a ladybug (Ben's favorite animal) and one with the letter B on one side and Thomas the Train on the other.

The cutest thing was when I gave the beanbags to Benjamin, he thought they were tiny pillows and promptly put them on the floor and laid his head on them and snuggled with his blanket, his Curious George, and the beanbags.

Blog neglect :(

Sorry for neglecting my blog here - I've missed it! I've had a crazy busy fall. Lots of overtime at work working on proposals and lots of freelance keeping me busy in the evenings.

Speaking of freelance, I have a shameless plug to make. Since June, I've been working on a freelance project for an independent book publisher. I've done the cover design and interior typesetting of a book about a local Winnipeg activist named Harry Lehotsky. Harry passed away of cancer in 2006 and was well known in Winnipeg for his inner-city work, confronting pimps, working to eliminate pawn shops and helping homeless people get into stable living situations. Harry renovated a few homes that were considered unlivable into low income rental properties and established the Ellice Cafe & Theatre and was a well known minister in the area.

The book I worked on was the official biography of Harry and it was an honour to work on a project in his name. The book was launched last week and it's been great to see the support after working on it for several months now.

If you want to check out more about the Urban Saint: the Harry Lehotsky Story by Paul H. Boge, check out their website.

Sleepy City

Have I mentioned recently how much I love this city?

Click for a bigger picture.

Before and After - Telephone Bench

I got this telephone bench a few months ago and absolutely fell in love with it.

But the upholstery was outdated and worn out, with a little hole on the seat.

I've been meaning to upholster it again since I bought it, but had been waiting around for just the right fabric. Well, I decided yesterday that I'll probably never find the perfect fabric, and decided to just use some leftover Amy Butler fabric I had from creating pillows in my living room.

I just did a quick hack upholstery job, without removing the old fabric, but I think it'll hold up fine until I find that perfect fabric!

(For a second, I was considering leaving it like this. I'm glad I didn't.)

I'm happy with the results, it looks cute and summery.