Sunday, January 16, 2011

moving into our first home

we moved into our very first home the first weekend of december.  with help from my parents, brothers, and my roommate that now lives in san diego, but came for the weekend.  we had some painting to do before moving in, both inside and outside.  but we were so excited for that moving day.  since then, getting everything settled has been a continual project, and we've loved most of the process.  here are some before and after photos of the interior.

the living room/dining room is one large room stretching the spans of 
the front of the house.
before


after we moved in.
(paint: martha stewart spud)






one decorating project has been this collage above our entry table.



the bedroom

before
after
(paint color: martha stewart arrowroot)


I love the walk in closet!

and the small office/dressing space that is attached to the master


the bathroom

before... the yellow was far too bright!

after a little paint and cleaning... I love the vintage tub, shower, and floor
(paint: martha stewart tidewater)


the kitchen

before


after... we have so many plans for this kitchen in the upcoming year...





second bedroom

before and after!  


making our house feel like home has been a process.  we've enjoyed every part.  there are many projects on our list and items we want to purchase, but for now it's perfect... a place we can come home to at the end of the day and enjoy.  and so close to places we enjoy.  the move has been great.

Sunday, January 2, 2011

homemade gifts :: personalized pilsners

the husband drew my older brother's name for our homemade gift exchange.  the biggest challenge for the hubs and me is to make something that the gift receiver will not only enjoy, but use.  so for my brother this can be really challenging.  after multiple ideas we came up with something that the hubs thought the brother would really enjoy.  personalized pilsner glasses.

the project started with a few simple supplies: 
a set of pilsner glasses from IKEA, etching cream, and left over shelf liner.



then we needed an image to make into a stencil and etch on to the glass.  so, the "H" from the family business and his last name was a perfect image to use.  husband printed multiple sizes of the "H" on to cardstock, he decided on the perfect size for the size of the glass.


the image was then traced on to some shelf liner that I had left over to make an adhesive stencil, the stencil was then cut out with a razor blade.  an individual stencil was needed for each glass in order to be sure that it stuck strongly enough to leave a crisp edge to the image.  this was the most time consuming and difficult step of the process, both the cutting and placing of the image took patience and attention to detail. 

the etching cream was used according to package directions --brushed on in one direction and let to sit around 10 minutes before rinsing off. rinsing it off.

the final product was great... a nice sharp "H"... we were happy with how appropriate they were for a guy, not at all crafty and girly.  my brother loved them too!

the gift was accompanied much like the wine stopper gift.  we added my brother's favorite, a 6 pack of bud light and a bottle of clamato to make his own "red beer".