Weekend Project

I have always loved fancy door knobs and switch plates and thought that when I own a home I would invest in them. I came across a post on Design Sponge for a DIY switch plate and decided to try it out. Since I'm living in an apartment and couldn't use the "original" plates so I went and got what I needed at the hardware store and spent less than $5.oo. I already had craft paper as well as the glue and tape I used. Design Sponge suggest that you use glue. I used Mod Podge for the first plate but it ended up being tricky to use. I used double stick tape for the rest and it was much easier to use and less messy. I switched out my plates with the original and walla! I'm super happy with the results, it adds just a punch of color. I didn't do every switch in the house, just a few. I think all the paper I used were from Amy Butler's collection, I think she's my soul sister!! If they made wallpaper out of the blue and green print it would be up in my bathroom--I love it.

Heather Bailey

You must check out Heather Bailey's latest post. These are the cutest pincushions I have ever seen, Henrietta and Edna are my favorite.
P.S. I want to be Heather Bailey when I grow up :)

Can I get a Hallelujah!!

So today was my first day of school. All in all the day was very painless. I had to buy my books this afternoon and I was not looking forward to it. My chemistry book was listed at $169.00--big big ouch! Seriously, how can a textbook be so much money? I was not happy. When I got to the book store I found out I could rent the book for $55.00. I almost shouted right in the poor man's face that was helping me..."Can I get a Hallelujah!!" I managed to contain my excitment but believe me I walked out a happy girl. I had a sense of serious accomplishment. It was as if I had been sweating the day away searching for a certain pair of fabulous shoes and the last store I got to had just run out, but then, just before I left the store the clerk shouts "wait, I just found the last pair, and they're on sale!!" Oh happy day!! I smile every time I think about it. Instead of spending $400 on books I got out there with only spending $275. I don't know how it's possible that there's and only in that sentence, but there is!!

On a sad note, my favorite most comfy chair broke. I'm seriously bummed. It was my spot...for one because it's comfy and two because it was the best spot to pick up my neighbors internet signal for free. I'm going to have to see how much it would cost to get it fixed and weigh it against monthly internet access....lol. I know that's probably bad but a girl's gotta do what a girl's gotta do!!

I finally have a job interview tomorrow at the Children's Hospital in Portland. The job is only part-time and I'm not even sure that the hours are going to work with my school schedule but if nothing else it's practice for the many more interviews I will have in the next few weeks....I hope. I figure it takes 2-3 weeks after you apply for a job to hear back so I'm not panicking yet, that will be next week...stay tuned!

Flower Power

After I made the flowers from my previous post I came across Heather Bailey's flowers on her blog. Hers were so cute I had to try them too. There are directions on her site for the flowers. These are the ones I made, they all ended up to be larger than I expected but I still love them. I can hardly wait for the weather to get cold so I can pin one on my coat and I'm going to have to go through my stash of purses and find one I can add a flower to. I added both brooch pins and alligator clips on the backs so I can pin them or clip them onto anything I like. They were so easy to make and there are so many possibilities.....I have a feeling this could be the start of a serious addiction:) I need a job, quick!

Drivers license

In order to get my drivers license here in Oregon I had to take a drivers test. Well, I took it once and didn't pass, I got one too many questions wrong....seriously?? one question....I hate that!! After I finished the test the lady that was helping me, who by the way was adorable and called me “love” which is pretty much my favorite thing ever, says, “Oh I can't believe I didn't give you a manual to look at, oops.” She was so adorable there is no way I could have been upset. I left with my manual, and I had to go back today and re-take the test and I only missed one question, just $59.00 later and I had my license.

I've been needing a microwave and decided that I would go to Wal-mart. According to my GPS the closest one was 8 miles away. 8 miles didn't sound too far but it took me 40 minutes to get there and it wasn't even because of traffic. What a pain. I can't complain too much though because I had to cross the river and go into Vancouver Washington, and it's pretty much gorgeous in every direction so the scenic drive wasn't bad at all. I can't say I want to make that trip every time I need something so I guess I'm going to have to get used to Fred Meyer. Not that I have anything against Fred Meyer, it's just a change. It's a good thing I got my license because living on the Washington/Oregon border can be tricky. I had to prove that I was an Oregon resident at Wal-mart to buy my stuff because there is no state tax in Oregon but there is in Washington....another interesting thing is that no one can pump their own gas in Oregon. I don't know why but it's just fine with me.

I also applied for every job I could find today and I've decided that there should be a universal job application. One application that would work for every job, wouldn't that make life so much easier?

In between looking for jobs I have been working on a few things. I got this adorable mirror a while back I've always thought it needed a little something. I was debating about doing some gold leaf on it and then remember I had some gold leaf wax. It's basically the same thing just easier to use, just rub it where you want it. I'm happy with the outcome. As long as it has a bird or owl I'm going to love it.


before

after

I was going through some of my craft stuff and found these flowers that are supposed to be for cards but I thought they would make the cutest hair pins or broaches, or you could even attatch them to a headband. I made up a few and I think they turned out really cute.




This one is my favorite

And then there was one...

So my dad worked some serious magic with gorilla glue and fixed the broken knob on my dresser. THANK YOU DAD. He also helped with a few other things like getting an aerator for my kitchen faucet and installing a splitter switch on my lamp. It was nice to have his help because I would have never gone and bought an aerator, I would have just dealt. After helping me out he headed for Boise and then there was one....me, myself and I.

I was able to get my apartment all finished, there are no more boxes in sight. Whoo Hoo!! Not bad for two days, right?? I got my camera working so I thought I'd share a few pictures.

Jewelry boarddresser

entry way and living room
These were my first attempt at decoupage.

I'm excited to finally live by myself, don't get me wrong I've had some great room-mates but I think I will be the best room-mate I've ever had. I can't wait to explore a new city and have time to myself which will probably end as soon as I get a job and start school, but hey I'll take what I can get. That's all for now:)

New adventures

This is the start of a few new adventures for me. The first is this blog. I've thought about doing one for a while and finally just decided to do it after some encouragement from my friend Courtenay-miss ya already :)
I just moved to the Portland area, and what I mean by area is Gresham, a suburb. I will be starting school in 2 weeks at Mt.Hood Community College to get my degree in Funeral Service. I'm still looking for a job which is another adventure of it's own. Oregon is gorgeous. My dad came with me to help me move and we have had a few funny experiences. For one, while we were checking out apartments we accidentally walked into someones house and surprised the poor man. You see the 'Office' was not clearly marked so naturally we thought it was the first door we came to??! oops, sorry about that whoever you were. Then, while we were carrying stuff into my apartment my dad went to the wrong door and started kicking it, frustrated because it was closed. Once he heard the dog barking he managed to get away before the person answered. We like to take the initiative to welcome ourselves into peoples lives!
Before we found my apartment we stayed at a hotel and on our way out one day we told the lady at the front desk that I was apartment shopping. She said "Good luck finding anything in your price range." I'm not sure what she meant by that but if she was trying to imply that I'm cheap I've just got one thing to say-- I've seen what cheap looks like, and it aint me!
I've been trying to get my apartment together and it's looking pretty good. I was going crazy trying to get a few projects done before the move, one of which was re-painting a dresser. I got some seriously adorable knobs for it on clearance at Anthropologie-my absolute favorite store. Well, one broke off in the move and I'm completely bummed, sad face. I'm still in love with the dresser though, it's a super high gloss sapphire blue. My other project was a jewelry board which I am pretty proud of too. I took an old frame and had some peg board cut to size, added some paint and S hooks and walla! I was planning on posting pictures but I can't get them to download at the moment so I will have to do it another time.
I guess that wraps up my official first post, more to come later :)