Under the Weather to say the least.

Feel free to

So aside from it being the busiest season of school...I've had the fun situation of being sick for the past month and a bit. It goes from one thing to the next, with maybe a couple of days of still tired, but not completely awful feeling, relief in between.

Our theory is that it is mono with all the other fun things thrown in.

I haven't been nearly as productive in my school, social, or personal projects life. Particularly finding part-time employment so I can afford my Spring semester, and starting up this bloggin' hobby.

Hopefully things get better soon...

At least I have D to bring me ice cream float supplies when I'm couch-ridden with strep throat, the flu, migraines, and head colds.

Here is two of my highlights of my sicky-face day...well part of D (his arm), and my rootbeer float. Yummy!

Not the best picture, I apologize. I literally spent all day yesterday on the couch/in bed sleeping and barely remembered to capture the highlights of my day*. 

The benefit of currently being under the weather?

...at least I don't have to go out in this right now:

 (the sad parking lot behind my boyfriend's house)

This is what the road I live off of looked like Tuesday morning (also Tuesday's highlight):

Sunrise Aflame! - Isn't it pretty?

...I'm hoping by the time I'm up and at 'em again it will look closer that that ^. 

:)

Happy Friday Everyone!

*A note on this topic: I am trying to be better at documenting my highlight of the day. I have so much to be thankful for, even when I'm sick and stressed to the max with school. Life is still good, and I need to remind myself of that more often.

St. Patty's Day

In case you hadn't guessed from my appearance, I just might be a little bit Irish.

I like to celebrate the fact...particularly on St. Patty's Day.

To do so this year I threw a 12 hour come-and-go party for St. Patty's this past weekend.

Due to unforeseen circumstances I was unable to have everything ready before people 

got there and dug into all of the treats, so no pictures this time! :(

Next time I promise!

But I'll share with you my own recipe for what my friend's dubbed the:

"Green Drank"

1 bottle white wine

1 cup green sour puss (apple...yum.)

1/2 cup vodka

Fill with soda water and lemon lime pop 

    -until it's at your appropriate level of booze and sweetness 

         (I did about 1 part soda water to 2 parts lemon lime)

I added a bit of green food colouring to get a really rich bright GREEN.

I also made kiwi and grape ice (cut up fruit, put in ice cube tray, fill with water...freeze) -the more fruit and less water the tastier it will be!

cutting the grapes means that their deliciousness escapes as they melt. yummy.

It was a hit, we went through TWO huge jugs of it...Everyone says it "tasted green" which is kinda what you're going for on St. Patrick's day...no?

Some other lucky party ideas I utilized:

-Different flavoured green Jelly Bellies

-Gold chocolate coins...classic

-Rainbow sour belts (Bulk Barn was all out...I was so sad!)

-Chocolate dipped pretzels (with "gold" and green coloured sugar sprinkled on top)

-Guacamole and Tostito rounds (gold coins!)

-Brownies with minty frosting and shamrock sprinkles

Hopefully I was able to inspire some Irish pride even without pictures this year ;)

ERIN GO BRAGH

UPcycling adventures so far

Feel free to

For my first ever post I'd like to share with you my most memorable upcycling attempts so far.

 In 2010 my big thing was furniture because that was when I ventured from the nest. Yeah Freedom!

I have yet to finish my side and coffee table (a beautiful $17.00 solid wood thrift store find) because I have no where to work with them in my apartment and I didn't want to die from toxic paint fumes.

That may be a little dramatic...but life gets in the way and you tend to forget that your parents have them tucked away in a storage shed for you. How convienient!

Here's the last pictures I took before they were stuck in storage:

 Side Table:

 Coffee Table:

The tops were quite damaged but it is still beautiful wood, just in need of some TLC

I hope to one day finish them. Although there is now a coat of primer on there that I didn't get the chance to photograph...I've started to think I might like them more with the natural or a stained wood top and painted legs....we'll see! Sandpaper is a girl's best friend sometimes!

I bought a table and chairs set for $25 off of Kijiji and the seats of the chairs were horrendously stained and white. I re-upholstered the most stained of the two before I decided that picture documentation of the before and after would be fun.

I chose the blue and ivory fabric because my new kitchen had blue knobs on all of the cabinets. I love how they turned out!

(Truth be told...they are VERY uncomfortable and would be better as stools... But they look good, right?)

Notice my mom's homemade squirrel quilt hanging over her rocking chair. How cute is that?

 I was able to finish my $5.00 nightstand from Value Village which is my upcycling love, as well as my kitchen chairs.

 Mint green....How shall I even begin to explain my love for you? It is vast. 

I plan on lovingly sharing your beauty with my world.

I ended up leaving the primer showing through my brushstrokes of mint green and it gave it a cool antique-y vibe.

Here is the final product in my room where it belongs! I apologize for the dullness of the photo...the actual color in person is much closer to the above photo.

The top drawer hardware is original, the bottom two are pulls I found at Anthropologie for $8.00 a pop (OUCH!) but they matched the tarnished brass look of the original hardware.

This false key hole made it 20x harder to find matching hardware because the bottom drawer had those annoying plastic binders as pulls. Very ineffective!

I have an old love. This old love is my pre-teen-hood quilt.

My parents got my sister and I matching quilts when I was around 10-12. I was never in love with the quilt then, but over time I have developed a deep respect and attachment to this old thing.

Over time it was too well-loved (that used to be a much darker burgandy!), and it was time to either repair the holes developing, or find a new spin to keep it around for another 11 or so years.

Here is the reverse (and softest side)...don't you just love reversible things?

In January 2012 I enlisted the help of my mom to re-cover this old love of mine with some pre-loved home decor.

This was an old Ikea (1990's baby!) curtain and a blue sheet I found at Value Village - total cost was around $7.00

The curtain is similar to a light white denim, and the sheet was a very slinky/slippery material so it was a little tricky to work with. I'm thankful that I had Mother dearest to help me through the process.

Here is the final result. I must admit I am not proficient with a camera in case you hadn't noticed yet...also, I took most of these with my phone...not the best of the best quality, but I'm sure you get the jist!

One of the best parts? I had fallen in love with this quilt:

...at V.Village a couple of months before, but it had a huge orangey stain on it so I couldn't bring myself to buy it-I was so torn!

I feel like my upcycle was successfully close enough as a replica...and that was unintentional too! I must have really liked this quilt! ;)

So now that you are all caught up on my upcycling adventures thus far, I hope you'll stick around for my future endeavors!

Have any of you had any major re-do successes or flops?

<3 Happy Friday Everyone! <3

Ern.