Saturday, June 30, 2012

Small Spaces

So this past week I've been in San Antonio visiting some family and friends. I really enjoyed my week off of work and am definitely not ready to go back. It's been pretty relaxing but geez it's so hot! I swear I thought I was physically melting at times. I can't believe I lived here for 2 years!

Anyways this week has been filled with a lot of shopping. Today, we shopped the outlets in San Marcos for about 4 hours. These are literally the best outlets ever. This weekend kicked off their 4th of July sales so there was some great deals to be had. Williams-Sonoma and Calphalon were having GREAT sales. Williams-Sonoma was combined with Pottery Barn and if my mom hadn't dragged me out kicking and screaming I might not have ever left. Plus they had the best air conditioning.

The biggest score today:

8-piece Calphalon Contemporary Non-Stick 8-Piece Set for only $120; Retails $349.99

To say I'm in love with these pans is kind of an understatement. But as much as I loooove them not only because they're beautiful functional but also for their quality, I am very concerned with where to store them. I really like my house but at 1234 sq. feet it definitely lacks storage space. First-time homebuyers should definitely have a checklist on what you will definitely need that I didn't even notice until it was too late. For one, a linen closet! We don't even have a coat closet. All we have is the closets in the bedrooms which don't really provide any room to store towels or extra sheets. But back to the kitchen. We have a decent sized pantry and my boyfriend eats so much usually it's only packed with food for so long. The biggest problem is the cabinet space. We have four upper cabinets, two lower cabinets, and a corner lazy susan. With one completely taken up by various spices and cake decorating supplies it doesn't leave much room for dishes or cookware. Also we don't really have room for a hanging pot rack especially with the boyfriend being so tall. 

Here are a few ideas I've been thinking about that I might try making work in my kitchen not only for the new pans but maybe free up some counter space or cabinet space:


I really like this idea of using a wall mounted planter to store fruits and get them up off the counter. Definitely wish I had this much space between my cabinets and counters. But alas, I don't. I might be able to make it work on a different wall though. Found this on pinterest but there was no original source. 



I really like the use of these drawer organizers to store spices on the pantry walls. This would free up about two shelves in a cabinet and definitely is a smart use of unused space. 



These wall mounted pot racks are something that I'm considering. I just really don't have the wall space. I would have to remove two corner shelves that I really like. Do I have anything on the shelves? 
Not really, but I really like them :(. 

I am also considering putting a hanging pot rack over my sink. That way it's out of walking space but might give the boyfriend a reason why he can't do dishes. Possible head trauma is an acceptable reason I guess. 

I'm going to take some pictures and some measurements and see if there really is room. Update on that later this week. 







Wednesday, June 20, 2012

Pinteresting Things

So one of my favorite things is Pinterest. I just think the concept of it is pretty awesome. No more trying to follow every bookmark or filling up your hard drive with random pictures. It definitely inspires me to create, but also distracts me from actually creating the great things that I find! Here are a few things catching my eye lately that I need to get on with making.


Raggedy Scallop Baby Quilt:




I just found this on Ucreate today and fell in love, hard. I love this for a few reasons but one of the main ones is the fabric is adorable! I love Riley Blake and that hasn't changed with their new collection "Apple of my Eye".  Also, the scallops create visual interest and up the cuteness factor. The only problem is who would I make this for? It's honestly so cute I would think about saving it for a future baby but then watch I'd only have boys.

Car Seat Cover For Your Dogs



This is definitely something I need to invest in making. Not only does it keep hair off the seat but it protects the dog from falling off if you need to make a sudden stop. Of course, I drive a Honda Civic Coupe so my 80 lb German Shepherd is definitely not in danger of falling off the seat (he'd have nowhere to go!). But his hair gets EVERYWHERE. He loves to take rides but the clean up afterwards totally outweighs his happiness. I always seem to forget about his shedding problem. This tutorial would definitely help with the cleanup and could easily be stored in my trunk.


Chevron Blankets/Quilts







Now I know I'm not the only one who is in love with chevron. I can't get over how popular it has become recently. In fact I didn't even really care for it until I saw these two blankets. The first blanket from Aesthetic Nest inspired me to try my hand at making your own chenille from layers of flannel. She has a great tutorial on every step. I even have the same chevron sitting in my stash just waiting for me to create this blanket. We'll see if I ever do. I love that the blanket is quilted without actually having to piece anything, you just follow the chevron lines. The second blanket brought me on over to Blue Elephant Stitches just to find out she was retiring from blogging! How depressing for me since I just discovered her! But she left her followers with a picture of this beautiful baby blanket. I love the chevron and the dandelions together. Not to mention the yellow and taupe. Something similar is definitely on my to do list. 
These are only 4 of my 1211 pins. I might have a problem. Check out my pinterest if you don't believe me.....



Tuesday, June 19, 2012

The Start of Something...

I feel like this blog has been on the back burner for ohhhh about 4 years. It was four years ago that I decided I wanted to start making things to sell in an etsy shop and chronicle my diy addiction on a blog. During the past four years it was only until this past March that I have actually made any progress. Kind of depressing but hey life has been pretty hectic. I graduated last year with my Bachelor's in Business Administration/Marketing so I've definitely gotten lazy used to not having to study or do homework. But what to do with all this free time?





Ripley and Buster chasing their stick