We're thinking of sprucing up our apartment a bit. We live in a shabby little college apartment, but I think it's still important to make the area you live in beautiful and habitable as possible, no matter what your budget and what you have to work with. :)
While we won't be shaping things up as perfectly as these beautiful living areas, here's some inspiration we're leaning towards:
As Brian Regan points out though, throw pillows (and every other bit of home decor) can be pretty spendy. ("I didn't know they were doin' that well...") We'll just move one little piece at a time and see where we get:)
This week I started with a new pot for my plant King Julian II. He looks pretty good in his blue ombre pot.
I made a birthday cake for my friend and it turned out so cute! I made it mint chocolate.
Unfortunately, as I was running up the stairs to deliver it my phone popped out of my pocket and landed on the ground.:(( Luckily, I came across this guy who fixes cracked screens on craigslist. :) I got it repaired the next day, and it's mostly fine. There's still a few quirks now, but it will last me until I get my next phone. So probably like 10 years. ;)
My adorable BFF for life just had a baby! A little babe! A Wee Bairn! And she is so perfect. And Rosi and Patrick are the most adorable parents ever:)
Me and Cece!
Babies have such a special spirit:) It was so wonderful to hold her!
Here's a little baby quilt I made for Cece, it's the first quilt I've ever made by myself! I can see how it would be easier with more of the proper tools...but it still turned out:)
I used double high loft batting, because I just wanted it to be super fluffy!:)
Of course, I had to incorporate duckies for the Hoffmeiers! :)
I quilted it in diamond crisscross on my regular sewing machine since it was such a small quilt. I just rolled it up to keep from being too bulky on the machine side.
Here we are at Rosi's baby shower:) And now little Cecilia Rose Hoffmeier is here!
It's funny because it's true and you laugh so you don't cry ;D
But yes, debt. Ew.
I'm like the opulence guy...
"I like the best. But I also like savings da money."
I definitely try to make smart financial choices, although of course sometimes I make mistakes. But I've had a budget that I've TRIED to stick to!!! For the last 3ish years, I've tracked every purchase and made payments on my debt. I have a little debt from my car, a lotta from school, and just a tiny amount from my recent gum surgery.
I've always been pretty good at not getting financially out of control, but I've never really felt on top of my finances. As they say, "If you don't control your money, it will control you." That's how I'd sometimes feel. Like I was living paycheck to paycheck and trying to get my debt paid off and just not making any progress. :/
It was on my mind a lot especially because at work we were setting lifelong goals. I wanted to make sure I was being smart about my money, not just going along for the ride. Another quote I love, "Money is a a game. You have to figure out how to win it together."
I really, really, really liked this pin I came across. So simple. Yet, it's been making all the difference for me. In the last couple months I've been trying to get my financial house in order.
I've made all the bills that I can automatic. I used to pay them manually, because I would sometimes get my paychecks late, etc. and I didn't want it to overdraft my account. But I sat down and planned out which bills would come out of which paychecks to make sure they were semi-evenly split between my two monthly paychecks. Then I set up auto pay for them all a few days after my paycheck is due. It's awesome, because I'm not worried anymore if my paycheck is a day or two late. It's nice to have that stress gone. Now I just have one manual payment per paycheck, and the rest just get taken out, including some automatically going into savings.
Because the first step is to build an emergency fund! This is so important. I've always felt wrong somehow about saving while I was also trying to pay off debt. Dave Ramsey says that's a common mistake, that people think it's one or the other, when really they should do a little of both. I love this, because I've had little financial emergencies where I just need a little more money, and I've borrowed from my loving sis, but I hate having to live with that worry. It already feels SO NICE to know I have just a few dollars in the bank just in case. My plan is to save and put half towards a $1,000 emergency fund and half towards other things, like dental work and fixing up my car and stuff. Then, once those things are all taken care of all of my mula is going to go to debt repayment.
Seriously, it will be so nice to just be that financially stable:) But after a small savings and getting those odd expenses paid for, I'll be able to start really focusing on my debt. By then my gums will probably be paid off, so I'll focus on getting my car paid off then snowball that towards school. I should be out of debt in about 2.5 years, which will be awesome!!! My goal is by April 1, 2017, which will be my 27th birthday. (Weird...)
There are a few more steps after that which are just as important, but these first couple are what I'm focusing on for now. It feels so good to just have a plan and know that I'm getting in control of my finances and I can feel good about where I'm at, even if I currently have debt and even if I'm not a zillionaire. :)
I bought this dress for six bucks at Plato's. I really like it, but it was extra big on me. I decided to buy it anyway, and take it in. I actually do this to most of my dresses so I can get a good deal ;)
This one was a little tricky, because of the gathered v neck front, v neck back and extra wide armholes with a side zipper.
I ended up taking in the front and back seam down below the dresses waist to just above my natural waist. If there's one complaint I have about Downeast dresses, it's that they make their dresses for short, rotund people, no matter what the "size."
I took in the right side seam up through the armhole, and I created two new seams from the waist to armhole on the left side on either side of the zipper.
I did a quick tack together of the sleeves on top in a V to create a more fitted sleeve. That's another thing I do to the sleeves of most dresses I take in.
It's not a full body shot, but here's the finished product!
I made this pretty afghan and just finished a few days ago. I love it soo much! I love how it turned out with the X. I wish the light pink was a little darker.. you can barely tell it's different than the white. I wanted it to be more of a fade than light/dark contrast. Oh, well:) I have ideas of what I want to make, it's just hard to translate them into blankets with very limited colors at the craft store.
Holla. My bike's done! I finished a while ago... I'm just finally putting up photos. Thanks to the help of the Provo Bicycle Collective, I was able to repack the front hub. It's pretty pitted, we tightened it until it rode on the brakes a tad, and there's still a lot of play. I will have to get it replaced eventually.
I replaced some of the cable housing that had rotted to the cable and shortened the cable a little to tighten things up.
I greased the chain, A LOT, because as Zach says, "bike grease is cheap, bike parts ain't." I replaced the handle bar with one with a little more rise.
I put on slick tires to make it better for road riding. I replaced the saddle and put on Orly handle bar grips from Mad Dog Cycles in Provo. They don't get sticky as you use them, which is nice. I used Krylon spray paint in Bright Idea. Krylon is good for projects like this because they have paint specifically designed for plastics and such.
I removed the rack, (I might put it back on, I can't decide.) And bought a blue matching helmet. Cuz that is public health. Ready to hit the road.
Awesome. I got a free bike:) But it needs a LOT of love. It's a super pretty frame and a nice bike. I cleaned it up and removed as much of the rust as I could, stripped the saddle and polished the chrome with aluminum.
Nas. Ty. There were spider corpses all over this bike.
It was pretty rusted up in here, up in here.
About halfway through washing it, I thought I should take before and after photos:)
The sidewalls of these tires were coming off like dried grass.
Supes cute chevron fabric. The design was smaller than I had anticipated. Was going to be a skirt, but maybe an apron now.