weekend projects

this weekend jesse and i made our first collaborative work of art. although we have already bought one commercial painting from ikea (which we do love), it is definitely important to us that we make our own original art. this project was really easy and we bought everything we needed for it from home depot (jesse's kind of art project, for sure!).

finished product

so, like i said, friday night we went and got everything we needed for the project: two six inch wide pine boards, walnut stain, ivory spray paint and a front door mat. that same evening we stained the pine so that it would be dry by the morning.

Jesse staining the boards

before and after

Emi and I watched while Jesse stained... haha

on saturday morning when the boards were dry we started the second step: the spray painting! basically, the rubber door mat acts as a stencil, creating a beautiful and intricate pattern!

Centering the stencle

First Coat

Four coats later on either side...

after the spray paint dried we cut the boards in half and then centered industrial velcro on the wall and the back of the wooden panels. after that we just popped them on the wall! i love how they look. obviously, they aren't perfect, but that is what i like the most about them!

half way up

obviously hanging them was jesse's job

I wasn't sure about this velcro but it worked like a charm!

finished product

after we hung these up i started on the second project of the weekend: the trunk. jesse's parents had this trunk in their basement that used to belong to a family member and i asked if we could borrow it since it was hiding away in a storage room.  obviously, they said yes!

Dusty from the days spent in the basement

it was in rough shape

so, before it was going to be able to hang out in the living room it needed to be dusted and polished. obviously, i didn't want to do anything too drastic since the value of the trunk actually depreciates if you alter the original material but something needed to be done so i turned to google where i found this amazing recipe for an olive oil and vinegar polish - it worked wonders!

right hand side has one coat of polish and the left is the original

oil and vinegar polish

Finished product

trunk turned side table

Finished product!

so, all and all we are really happy with our new, original wall art as well as the antique travel trunk! another productive weekend and we are all tuckered out....so please excuse me while i go join my two loves on the couch to cuddle! happy sunday!

be our guest

this morning i had the pleasure of waking up bright and early to these two hooligans...

what a beautiful little family i have haha since i had the whole day ahead of me i decided that i was going to be as productive as i possibly could. if you read my blog regularly, you know that i have been talking about painting the door in my kitchen for a few months now - all talk and no action. well, i decided that today was the day to follow through with this little plan of mine.

jesse taping the window casing

although i was a professional painter for an entire summer while i was in university (har har har) jesse still felt the need to tape the casing surrounding the windows so that i ended up with a "clean edge" - having a contractor as a husband tends to take little do-it-yourself weekend projects to a new level...

no, he didn't bother to change into painting clothes. there was absolutely no getting him out of his onsie. if you are wondering where this gem of an outfit came from, let me fill you in. my mom had bought this for my dad or brother and neither of them wanted it (hmm, i wonder why?) so she gave it to jesse since she knew he "loves long underwear". obviously, she was right - jesse is a fan. after jesse was done with the painters tape he sanded down the door for me so that i didn't have to tsp. i hate tsping. after he was done, i wiped down the dust and started to give the door its first coat.

first coat

we actually colour matched the paint to the curtains in the eating area - the whole purpose of painting the door was to bring the blue from the curtains into the kitchen and onto the far wall by the stove, evening everything out. the colour turned out amazing and i am very, very happy with the new pop of colour in the kitchen!

finished product

after i was done the door i realized that not only did i have a ton of extra paint but i had a ton of extra time left in my day. why not paint the guest bedroom night side tables and chest of drawers too? honestly, i had been wanting to tackle the guest bedroom for months. i bought these really amazing retro side tables a few months ago with my mom from the interfaith furniture store (my favourite) and have been too busy to refinish them until now. jesse thought i lost my mind when i first brought them home; since they were melamine he was positive i wouldn't be able to refinish them but i was determined. i just sanded down all the melamine, gave them a few good coats of paint and now they look amazing!

original, dated tables

painted

after i was done the side tables i decided that i was going to tackle the chest of drawers. this chest has been sitting in our upstairs living room being used as a front entrance table since we first moved in nearly a year ago. this chest of drawers was in jesse's bedroom when he still lived at his parents - apparently, it was one of the first pieces of furniture that val bought when she moved to calgary so it was in definite need of a makeover!
 

the "before"

originally, val had painted the top, so i had to sad the entire thing down

vandalism! it took me forever to sand that out...

the first coat

of course emi had to get right on in there.

i am the most excited about this chest of drawers. it is possibly my favourite piece that i have refinished to date. i think what makes it so special are the beautiful, hand painted knobs i splurged on from one of my favourite (and incredibly over priced) stores, anthropologie.

the original hardware

the new knobs!

the finished product!

once everything was sanded, painted, dried and all the hardware was put back on i moved it all back into the guestroom. i actually have found this room fairly hard to decorate since it is so huge. it would be easier if we had an unlimited budget and were able to buy a ton of oversized furniture but, alas, we don't and i have had to work with limited resources! i will say that i am very proud of the fact that this entire make over cost us less than 50 dollars! while i did pay 10 dollars each for the side tables, the chest and rocking chair were free. we spent about 35 dollars on paint and 15 dollars on the knobs. the bed, bedding, and curtains came from my old room in my parents house and i collected all the little decorative knickknacks over time. finally, i am pleased with how it looks. take a look at the before and after of this room:

blast from the past - right when we moved in, before we even painted, yikes!

our previous guest room - very bare...

and now, the new and improved guest room - ta da!

    

words cannot express how happy i am with this room. i am actually going to move all my workout clothes, bathing suits and comfortable, lounge clothes into the chest of drawers in here. i also have a lot more room for my accessories like scarves, necklaces and purses! originally, i bought that flower hook set for our room but jesse hated it and said it was too "girly

updates, updates, updates

so far i am keeping the majority of my resolutions! i have resisted temptation to spend money frivolously (when the girl i work with invited me to the mall, i said "no" just to make sure i wasn't tempted), not only have i been eating healthy but i have also tried a few new recipes (tonight, for example, i made a greek quinoa and chicken salad - delicious and nutritious!), i have been drinking less coffee and more water (partly because there was no milk in the fridge at work for the first couple days back and i refuse to drink work coffee without milk - it one step up from sludge) and although i have not yet chosen a gym i have been doing some serious research (goodlife is currently in the lead) and plan on picking one shortly.

on tuesday i finished the girl who played with fire, the second book in the millennium trilogy. i have decided that i owe everyone that i doubted in my previous entry an apology - these books really are amazing. once i got into the girl with the dragon tattoo i couldn't put it down (mind you, that didn't happen until about page 350). thankfully, the girl who played with fire was a lot easier to read - i sailed through it in a few days! i started reading these books because i was inspired by the movie trailer i saw for the american film adaptation staring daniel craig. well, while daniel craig was incredible, as always, i was unimpressed with the movie as a whole. while the acting was very good, i was just not pleased with the changes they made to the story line. i am going to start the third and final book, the girl who kicked the hornets nest, tonight and plan on watching the swedish films once i am done so i will keep you posted on that novel as well as those movies.

my new job is going really well. i am starting to understand the products and process and everything that i have been learning over the last few weeks is finally coming together and clicking for me. yesterday at work i participated in my first ever big girl meeting. i am completely aware that real people do not call them "big girl" meetings but, since i also refer to this as a "big girl job", it seems fitting. i sat in with the regional manager, the inspections manager and the small contracts manager to organize a lien. it was very interesting and i actually had to make a statement about how much they owe us etc. how official and important does that sound, right? obviously, i felt very professional. i think the fact that i was wearing my cobalt blue blazer and new black work shoes may have had a lot to do with that feeling...

hungry for it

ahhhh!!!
two of my favourite things have combined into one!
taylor swift + the hunger games!

my girl taylor collaborated with the band the civil wars to produce the theme song for the hunger games movie. while i have loved taylor for like, 10 years, i just recently discovered my love for the hunger games trilogy this summer! i read all three books in two days and absolutely loved them. just like i forced everyone to listen to taylor i practically forced everyone i knew into reading the series. so, i was obviously DELIGHTED when i learned that they were turning the book series into a movie! the only thing that could have made converting the novels onto the big screen any better is the fact that taylor is on the soundtrack!! yes, i am completely aware that from this blog post it may seem like i am a 14 year old girl but i am completely fine with that.

please, watch these videos and nerd out with me!

i am going to go as far as to say that for your  new years resolution you should aim to read the hunger games in totality and listen to taylor swift more haha but if you are not going to read the books then at least see the movies!

hello, 2012!

happy new year! 

boy, have we been busy the last two weeks. i have decided i was far too ambitious by attempting to do a blog post every day for the entire month of december. personally, i do think i did fairly well for about two weeks... but, i still failed miserably at reaching my one month goal. i hope that i stick to my various new years resolutions a bit better. i know that traditionally you are only supposed to make one new years resolution but i am far from traditional and have about half a dozen. maybe multiple resolutions will lead to multiple successes? unfortunately, this is probably doubtful haha but it will definitely increase my chances of at least sticking to one of them!


1. i want to cook more meals at home. i am obsessed with the food network (iron chef, chopped, eat street etc) but have a very limited amount of dishes that i actually know how to cook. i would like this to change. both jesse and i really enjoy cooking and making new dishes together but it is just so much easier to grab something already made - we just haven't been making cooking at home a priority lately but this definitely has to change. this goal also helps with my next 2 - 3 resolutions...

2. i want to spend money less frivolously. although jesse and i are fairly thrifty, we do tend to spend a bit too much money on eating out and on "wants" rather than simply what we need. i want to really concentrate on only buying what is on sale, using coupons and collecting more airmiles. obviously, if i cook more meals at home i will be spending less money on lunches, wing nights and date nights. two birds with one stone?

3. i want to eat healthier. i have never been one of those people who believe on eliminating foods that you love from your diet but lately we have been eating a bit too much of what we love: pizza, nachos, ice cream, mcdonalds, cheese and bread. i am not going to say that i am not going to any of those foods for an entire year but i do want to try and consume them less often this year than last.

4. i want to drink more water. i am a coffee junky (4-6 cups a day) and i do not compensate by drinking more water. i wake up dehydrated with leg cramps on a regular basis. i am going to bring a water bottle to work and try to drink one bottle in the morning, one bottle in the afternoon.

5. i want to exercise more often. although i am active daily (i take emi for an hour long walk everyday, religiously) i want to prioritize going to the gym again. last year i was working late, in the north, and was not getting home until 730-8 o'clock but this year i am off at 4 and could easily start working out after work 3 times a week. i just need to choose a gym...

6. i want write more. not just blog but also work on short stories and outlines for novels. i seem to go in spurts - sometimes i will work on one idea for months at a time and then abandon it completely. i want to be more confident in my writing abilities and actually follow through on some of my ideas and maybe even produce something tangible.

i guess that most of those resolutions are rather stereotypical but whatever, those are my new years resolutions!

jesse and i had such an amazing year in 2011. we bought a house, got married and bought a puppy! obviously, we had a lot to celebrate on new years eve! we went to 1410 beerhaus with about 40 of our friends to bring in the new year and boy, did we celebrate! this was definitely our most grown up new years to date - we had a sit down dinner and everything! i had the tomato bisque soup to start while jesse had the scallop mousse and both of us had the AAA beef tenderloin and the ginger cake for dessert. oh, and a bit too much champagne!

all dressed up =)

too much fun!

what handsome fellows!

another milestone we accomplished in 2011 was hosting out first christmas dinner. thankfully, we had a ton of help from our parents; pretty sure that they made way more food than we did and it was all delicious! honestly, i think we only made a cheese plate and the turkey... kind of embarrassing! oh well, it was probably for the best, because the meal was absolutely mouthwatering, far more delicious than anything i could have produced alone!

mmm mmm!

carving the lamb!

delicious, right!?

very helpful parents!

straight out of the 50's

christmas puppy!

getting into trouble, like always.

she is getting sooooo big!!

hopefully you had as amazing a holiday season as we did! 

have a happy, happy new year everyone!