Bridal Showers, Weddings, and Birthdays oh my!

The first half of my 2015 has been filled with "milestone" celebrations... bridal showers, baby showers, weddings, and birthdays have booked my weekends solid. Not only have I been able to spend more time with the people I love most, but I have also had an excuse go on a DIY frenzy...

I have a tendency to bite off more than I can chew when I am presented with DIY opportunities - I find myself saying things like  “of course I will make all of the invitations by hand!” or “ I'll make 50 glass tags – no big deal at all!” – But when push comes to shove, the reason I commit to all of these crazy projects is because I love making my loved ones feel loved (sappy, I know). With that being said, I had to be rather strategic with my decorations for all of these events, both from a budget stand point and a size standpoint- transporting center pieces on a Bolt Bus from NYC to Connecticut was simply not an option.

My next few posts will highlight a few of the things I made for a few of my favorite people in the last 6 months…First up, my cousin Carly's bridal shower that was held at my parent's house.

Invitations: 

Despite what I mentioned above, I opted to order the shower invites from minted.com rather than make them- not only do they offer a gigantic selection, they really let you flex your creative muscles when it comes to designing the final product. 

Carly's wedding inspiration was rustic yet feminine- I wanted to make sure that her shower felt the same way all the way down to the invitations. Below is a snap shot of what all the invitees received in the mail....

Decorations:
I wanted to keep it simple and personal. 

Carly and her new husband, Andy,  have been together for quite some time, and so most of their story can be told through pictures...with 6+ years worth of facebook photos and a very sweet email response from Andy it was easy to come up these gems:

As you can probably tell from the photos above, I wasn't kidding when I said that I committed to making over 50 drink tags...each had a different floral pattern and each  had a different "wedding" word...

And whats a bridal shower without  "days to go" and "bride-to-be" signs ?!

A few more for your viewing pleasure!

Hemnes Hack- Part One

Things our apartment has: a great location (+), a renovated kitchen(+), a horrible layout(-) , and two people living in 300 sqft (-)...we clearly like each other...(+).

Things our apartment doesn't have: closet space (-) (remedy found here), a couch (-), a place to work/study (-), any extra storage space what-so-ever (-).

So when Mr. Landlord asked if we'd be renewing our lease, our first instinct was a resounding no. However...

Moving is a royal PITA. Not to mention disgustingly expensive. Did we really want to pack everything in our current apartment up only to move a few streets away and into a place that would likely be just a smidgen larger than our current apartment? The answer: a resounding NO! (clearly a "no" with more umph than the one above)

And so, I put my dusty DIY hat on and  whipped out my tape measure. I, my friends, was determined to craft something that would make our space at least a little bit more functional.

Here is a photo of our living area pre-Hemnes Hack. Cute? Sure- but, in reality, the space was looked at more than it was utilized...which when you live in a space as small as ours is a really big waste o' sq ft.

The space is long and narrow making it really difficult to define different areas (office area/living area, etc)- I knew that my solution had to be multi-functional: in my dream world it would offer comfy seating, an area to work and eat, and would provide extra storage- dream on, right? Wrong!

It just so happens that Ikea's Hemnes TV Shelf is 72 inches long- the same length as the area I was working with- it is a mere 18 inches wide and the height of a standard bench....oh, and it has 3 deep drawers along the bottom. Jackpot.

The Ikea in Brooklyn wanted to charge me $229 for the unit + $175 shipping (they are the ones who should dream on), and so, I became obsessed with craigslist and krrb....searching for "hemnes" morning, noon, and night. After may hemnes-less days, the "no-results" message turned into "1 result"...  1 hour and $100 dollars later, she was all mine.

As you can tell from the below, my plan was pretty sophisticated...Color coded and all.
In all honesty, I knew what I wanted the finished product to look like, but really had no idea how to execute it.

It wasn't without numerous expletives, but my vision ended up a reality. Take a look at our new work/dine/store living area below.

Merry Christmas Frankie. With Love, Auntie Jenna

It took a lot of self restraint not to post about the gift that I made my nephew, Frankie, for Christmas before today... But, let's face it, a gift for a one year old is really a gift for his/her parents... fortunately my sister and brother in-law support me enough to read my blog... unfortunately, they are the reason why you are just reading about this DIY project now. The idea to make Frankie's gift struck me while I was running a few errands around the city. I happened to pop into Home Depot (shocking, right?!) and made my way to the "Oops paint section." If you've read this blog from its inception, you know that I am a big fan of the Oops section. During this particular trip to the Depot, I found a pint of vibrant blue paint for $0.50. Yes, fifty measly cents.

Not sure what I was going to use this pint o' paint for, I wandered over to the scraps of the lumber section- it was here where I came across a piece of pine... a perfect piece of pine. She was a beauty: 5.5 inches wide, 48 inches tall and nick free. Cue the light-bulb over my head.

Here is what transpired following that trip to Home Depot:

Making Frankie's growth chart really was quite easy- I divided the project into stages and tackled one at a time. This forced me not to rush (which I am prone to do when working on these sorts of things). From start to finish, it took me 3 weeks to complete and cost me just over $30 (Stain, paint, wood, stencils, oil based paint marker). Read on for the steps I took to make the chart.

Step 1) Sand on. Sand Off. 

Using fine sandpaper, I gently sanded the wood- concentrating on any ragged edges. Once done, I wiped the whole thing down with a damp rag to remove any dust or dirt. When the wood was completely dry, I applied a thin coat of stain- once that was dry (approximately 5 hours later), I applied a second coat. 

I used a two in one primer/stain. This not only saved me some time, but money too.

I opted to stain the back of the wood even though it will eventually be against the wall.  This step is optional, but I think it makes the finished product more "finished". I wrote Frankie a little Merry Christmas note on the back of the chart too.

Step 2) Make the mark(s)

Similar to the inch markers on a ruler,  the foot markers on the growth chart should be the most prominent. I used horizontal pieces of painter's tape and a basic 12 inch ruler to mark off where each line should go. 

Before painting, I placed a piece of painter's tape, longways, down the wood so that each foot line was the same length. 

After aggressively smoothing down the edges of the tape, I painted the markers (using white paint and a tiny paint brush that I already owned). Once the foot markers were dry, I repeated these steps for the half-foot and quarter-foot markers- just being sure to make the lines thinner and shorter than the ones I made right before.

Step 3) I wish I skipped this Step

In an effort to save a few pennies, I opted to create my own letter stencils. If and when I make another one of these charts, I will not be so over zealous and will buy stencils.

*** If you decide to make a growth chart AND go all gangbusters (read: make your own stencils), make sure you paint over them with your stain  (and let dry) before painting the letters with a colored paint. This bonds the edges to the wood and prevents the colored paint from seeping under the tape.

4) Get Your Paint On

This is the pointillism technique by way of q-tip....super advanced stuff :)

Here is what the chart looked like when the letters were dry, messy edges were cleaned up, and I recovered from my self-induced anxiety attack (DIYing stencils is not for those that are Type A)

5) Paint dem digits.

I bought number stencils and a white, oil based, paint pen to paint the numbers on the chart... at the

very last minute used the paint pen to outline the F R A N K I and E to help the letters pop and also used it to paint the note on the back of the chart that is pictured above.

6) Last but not Least 

I attached two clawed pictured hangers that I already owned to the top/back of the wood  and then wrapped it up to go under the tree! I tied a new oil based paint marker in the bow of the present so that my sister and BIL had something to mark the chart with as Frankie gets taller.

And there you have it, a DIY growth chart - Made with Love, Paid with Pennies style.

Graph Paper: Kicked Up a Notch

Perhaps it's a sign of my inner-nerd (I'm sure some would argue  that it's not so "inner") but, when I created the trick that I am about to share with you, I had to restrain from fist pumping and breaking out into a very exaggerated victory dance. For some this trick may seem trivial, silly even... and maybe the mysterious nature of this intro is an unnecessary lead in to the rest of this post...but (cue exaggeration), I think I may have made the world a little bit better of a place with this one.

I was given the task of redesigning a bedroom with dimensions that are slightly larger than a queen sized bed (60x80).

The redesign had to include the following:

1) Space for hanging clothes
2) Space for folded clothes
3) Desk/Study space (with an area for books and office supplies)
4) A queen sized bed
5) Space to walk ( perhaps the hardest component of this project)

I am a DIYer, not a magician, but I was determined to make this room functional, organized, and feel as spacious as possible.

Figuring out how much space, beyond the queen sized bed, that I had to work on was obviously an essential first step, but simply drawing a floor plan wouldn't suffice. So I DIYed some graph paper in Excel...here is how:

Highlight all of the cells by clicking the small triangle in the upper left hand corner of your workbook (A)

Click the "Format" button located in the Home ribbon to adjust your cells height and width (B)- your row height should be 9 and your cell width should be 1.

And there you have it: Excel graph paper. Awesome, huh?
and your scale? 1 box=1 inch.

This room is tiny and has a awkward shape which makes for quite a bit of unusable space. I wanted to know the exact dimensions of the areas that I could utilize so, instead of simply using lines out outline the floor plan, I used the number 1...it looked like this:

Dragging my mouse along a wall of 1's (and looking at the sum in the bottom right hand corner) told me how much room I was working with- no adding and no guesstimating.

From there, I created shapes (using the "shapes" tool under the "insert" tab) to represent different pieces furniture. I rearranged the shapes until I settled on the final layout. These shapes turned into my shopping list.

Moving? Rearranging? Make some excel graph paper...you won't regret it 

PS: For those of you who cannot get enough of this post (Excel graph paper is a riveting topic afterall), below is an image of the storage system that I installed in the room described above:

Desk? Check

Hanging clothes? Check

Folded clothes? Check

Horrible image quality? Check

The best part is that every piece that you see in the system came from the clearance section of the Container Store. I ended up working with a fantastic sales associate at the NYC (6th ave) store. She and I were literally scouring the store for discounted pieces (basement included). To say she hopped on my "made with pennies" bandwagon would be an understatement. Pauline, this is a shout out to you! Thank you for helping me turn an $800 project into a $192 project! 

Closet Capacity Goes from None to Some

Living in New York has its pains…. paying (incredibly) high rent for an (incredibly) small space, (trying) to catch a cab when it’s raining, riding (read: melting on) the subway in the summer months…Just to list a few.

I have yet to find a solution for the high rent, drenched walks home, or muggy subway rides, but what I have been able to do is maximize space in my (under) 400sqft studio apartment.

Finding an apartment in New York is a feat of its own, I’d reckon that it is near impossible not to feel defeated in the process. I looked at over 15 studio apartments before I “pulled the trigger” on mine. What this really means is that I looked at 15 apartments that were either smaller than my wing span, cost more than a Birkin Bag, or ranked a 10 on the 1-10 Dirty Scale.

So, when I walked into my (now) apartment, I quickly realized that I had to snatch it up…renovated, 2^nd floor, in my price range, and four...yes, FOUR windows…I knew I had found a gem.

One thing that I didn’t think of: closet space.

You must think I am drinking again. (actually, I am…enjoying a nice glass of wine after a hellish Monday) but that is besides the point.

Here is my apartment before I moved in…

I get it, it is not much...but it was like striking gold during my apartment hunt. 

You've already seen the after .... but what I left out when I posted about my new studio in the city was the battle that my wardrobe fought with my closet (or lack-thereof)... if it wasn't for my drill, my level, a handful of screws, and Ikea, my clothes would still be on the floor.

With no real plan in place, I added the following items to my Ikea.com cart:

(4) MULIG Clothes bars 

(2) ALGOT Wall Uprights

(4) ALGOT Brackets and (2) ALGOT Shelves

(2) KVARTAL Triple Curtail Rail ,(4) KVARTAL Cieling Fixtures, and (2) packages of the KVARTAL Gliders and Hooks

As soon as they were all delivered I got to work.
3 Hours later, I had sore shoulders, tired hands, lots of pencil marks on my wall, and a "Custom" closet

  

Overall this project cost me under $100. I had the curtains already, the clothes bars were a mere $4.99 each, and the shelving units came in under $30.

Installation was a pain, but that was mostly because I was impatient and wouldn't wait for someone to help me. It took some acrobatics, and some spiderman-like moves, but in the end I am proud to say that I completed this solo.

New post, no joke.

I was recently asked to share a "fun fact" about myself and responded with: "I write a DIY decorating blog".

As soon as those words left my mouth, I called BS (internally, of course). The last post that I published was about my sister's baby shower...we celebrated my nephew's first birthday two weekends ago.

I, my friends, am a blogger that once was. 

With this said, I have every desire to return to the blogging world....to make things out of love but pay mere pennies to create them. I sincerely miss scouring the aisles of goodwill in search for a gem disguised as junk. The thing is that, despite yearning to make headboards out of shower curtains, my current living situation makes DIYing ridiculously difficult.

So, what's a girl to do? Complain or confront a challenge? My answer: a little of the former and a lot of the latter.

I mentioned in my second ever blog post that I am a big fan of Apartment Therapy... especially the apartment tours. When I started blogging, I decided to create my own tours..those tabs at the top of this page: Boston Studio, Uptown Loft, Tree House... yep, those are them.

Given that this is my second ever attempt to get back on the blogging saddle,  I suppose that it is only fitting that I give you a bit of a life update (what's a blog without some personal juicy stuff) and a new apartment tour.

I have found myself living in New York City... what?! Yes, I am a resident of the big apple, and have been since this past October. Oh, and I work in fashion.

How does one go from living in Boston working in finance, to living in Charlotte working in sports television to living in Manhattan working in fashion? Teach barre, that's how.

You guys must think I am drinking...

You know that I am passionate about decorating and DIYing, but what you may not know is that I am equally passionate about fitness- during the time that I was neglecting Made with Love, Paid with Pennies, I got certified to teach Barre.

One of my regulars took note of my energy level at 6am and took a liking to my rather "intense" personality. She asked me to interview for a position on her team... I told her I wasn't looking for  job. She then mentioned that she was a VP at a fashion company in NYC... you can guess the rest.

See, not drinking.

So, here I am bringing MWLPWP to the big city. Buckle up. The blogging may be sporadic and inconsistent, but I will do my best.

Take a look at my new apartment tour by clicking the  "NYC Studio" tab above.

Enjoy!