Sunday Funday DIY


 In high school, I could get down with a can of spray paint.
 
And by that, I obviously mean every fall for our homecoming float competition. The smell of spray paint still inevitably reminds me of October evenings, where I’d make the mad dash from cross country to somebody’s barn, where we’d spend hours decorating a flatbed themed around something like Noblesville Schmoblesville.

But, since then, I’ve lost touch with it. That is, until this weekend. Growing up, we had these Adirondack chairs on our front porch. When I moved to Atlanta, I was fortunate enough to bring two of them with me. During the last two years, though, the white washed beauties have become anything but.


See? Sad city.


This weekend I decided the chairs needed a new coat of paint for the new house. After scrubbing them down, I quick dry spray-painted them in about 10 minutes. It would have been faster had I not run out of paint and had to dash up the street to Ace Hardware to buy three more cans. Who knew one can had so little paint?

 Let me tell you, this is a DIY that speaks my language. And by that, I mean quick to complete, minimal detail orientation and instant gratification.

Those high school float days never did spray paint justice. The stuff is magical!

Ta da!:

get get get it poppin

My relationship with holidays is like this: I have a serious obsession leading up to it, am on cloud nine the day of the holiday, but then following it, I am totally, completely done with it. Once New Year's Eve is over, I'm ready for spring. Out with the pine scented candles, in with the blossoms and beaches.
But the great thing about Thanksgiving > Christmas > NYE, is that they can all blur together in one beautiful season, during which time we can just love holiday living for two full months.
So, although Thanksgiving is long over, I thought I'd share these pie pops my parents and I (sort of not really that much) made.
The vision was my mom's - she saw the recipe on the Today show and immediately bought all of the tools to make them. Check it out below for the steps (full tutorial) - they were a big hit - and you should definitely make them for a party sometime between now and New Year's. But definitely not after - unless you make them spring themed, of course.
L to R: Soak sticks over night (if you use bamboo version), then pat dry.
Roll pie crust thin - 1/8 inch, then cut out small pie crust shapes.
Lay first crust on a wax paper covered pan.
Add dallop of filling to each one - then lay the pop stick in the middle of the pie.
Cover pie with the other crust side.
Use extra lollipop stick to crimp sides.
Dust top of each one with egg so they don't crack while baking.
Bake at 350 until golden brown.
And enjoy :)

PS: Don't let the speed of this tutorial fool you - they're a little time consuming once you get into it. But well worth it!

pat your weave


I've expressed my feelings about DIYs before, but in case you missed it, let me refresh you. I think DIYs are awesome during the planning and supply purchasing phases. But once the actual D-ing starts, I tend to lose interest. Unless the projects are 30-seconds or less, they are normally too long. I like to think of myself as an excellent DIY delegator. But not so much an executor.
Courtney and Ashley, on the other hand, tend of have a higher skillset and level of patience for such projects, and, being ever so inclusive as they are, allow me to participate in their craftiness.
This weekend was no exception.
Saturday, Ashley busted out in a rocking necklace, which, it turns out, she made. Yep. She rules.
So, Sunday afternoon, we thought we'd try our hand at finger weaving. She turned t-shirts into yarn (for real) and then let us use it to make bracelets. Apparently a lot of little kids do it, so Ash thought we could handle it. I had a few struggles, including a loss of circulation for pulling too tightly and not unweaving at the right time, and having to start over once (or twice), but all-in-all, I'd say the task was a success.
And, as your DIY delegator, I feel it my duty to provide instructions. So check out V and Co's tutorial, which is exactuhly how Ash taught us to make them, and go forth with braceleting vigor. It's your charge.

table 2.0

I don't think it's been lost on any of you that my family is a group of do-ers. There's never a lot of sitting going on and last weekend was no exception.

My mom has excellent taste and can visualize what any room needs (seriously). Within hours of arriving at my house, she'd taken one look at our chairless table and figured out exactly what kind it needed.
From there she took on the coffee table - turning it from greyish-brown to green in no time.
Muff efficiency at its finest: pouring the paint onto the table.
Duke, providing moral support. 
Tada!