Now that we have a little yard, Mary and I have been waiting for it to be nice enough to start a garden. Neither of us have much experience with it, but we’re excited to maybe try a few of these ideas in our little yard space.
Vertical Pallet Garden from Home DIT
Pallet Compost from Curbly
Hanging Planter from Gypsy River
Raised Flower Bed from Garden Design
Trevor
Trevor came to visit me in Brooklyn this weekend for some Super Ball fun (Downton Abbey). We also made time to make these rubber dipped chopsticks. We’ve had the materials for a while and haven’t gotten around to it. It was fun. I sort of wanted to dip everything in the house. Also, I got to sing Da’ Dip, by Freak Nasty for an entire day.
Mary
Since we’ve been engaged, I’ve shocked Trevor with my love of organizing and spreadsheets. We have so many shared spreadsheets on Google Docs. My favorite and one of the most useful is our wedding checklist. It has a list of everything we need to do from now until the wedding date, who is in charge of it, and what date it needs to be completed by.
The biggest thing was finding a venue, which we did quite quickly. The only thing we needed to complete this month was to choose and notify our wedding party. My friend had sent the cutest card asking me to be her bridesmaid, so I decided to do a card as well. I saw this awesome Will You Be My Bridesmaid? DIY and decided to do something similar.
I only had photobooth pictures with three of my four bridesmaids, so I needed to go a different route. I thought I’d make signs that said “Will you be my bridesmaid?” and hold them up in a photobooth. This proved to be harder than anticipated for two reasons:
1. I couldn’t figure out if photos are mirror images or not. I made the signs in regular writing an backwards writing just in case. This truly boggled my mind.
2. The bright flash of a photobooth combined with the bright white of a sign will make any writing on the sign disappear, as well as make your photo super washed out from the glare.
These problems were easy enough to solve. No, photos are not mirror images. Yes, I do have photoshop and can add text that way. Despite all of the unexpected obstacles, I was really happy with the results!
Mary
It’s been years now since I’ve had a real Christmas tree, but hopefully this will be my last tree-less year.
For those like me who are either in small apartments or are without a vehicle to transport a large tree in, here’s a great list of DIY Christmas trees you can make to ensure your home is still festive for the holidays.
Mary and I made the first one when we had an apartment together in Chicago, and it turned out great.
Tree of Charms from Apartment Therapy
Chalkboard Tree from A Leg Up
Wall Branch Tree from We Heart It
Ladder and Coat Rack Tree from Leah Daehling
Book Tree from Very Merry Vintage Style
Trevor
Most pet owners I know give their animals a little gift during the holidays. Here are some cute ideas for cats.
Cate cave from vaivanat
DIY cat toys from Design*Sponge
Organic Japanese Catnip from ItchyKnee
Ceramic milk bowl from ORE Pet
Mary
Since Mary and I will be up north this weekend I won’t get to attend this event myself, but I wanted to spread the word on Metro Detroit Etsy’s Holiday Boot Camp happening at TechShop Detroit this Sunday, November 11 from noon-6 p.m.
The whole event focuses as a helpful guide on how best to sell what you make on Etsy. You can view the event here and I’ve listed the flier below. If you’re selling online and live in the Detroit-area, check it out!
Trevor
A few weeks ago, I started a list of goals for this fall. Eventually, the list got so long that I decided it was unmanageable and unrealistic. I decided to par it down to two goals:
1. Learn to play one song on guitar
I’m going with Moondance by Van Morrison, because it is only a few chords and it seems seasonable.
2. Learn to knit socks
I have wanted to know how to make socks ever since I began knitting and can’t seem to figure it out on my own. This year I’m biting the bullet and signing up for a class. I will have cozy feet this winter, no matter what.
Everything else on the list is still in the running, but instead of using the intimidating word “goal,” I am going to call them “projects.” I guess my reasoning is that projects left unfinished aren’t necessarily a sign of failure.
Here’s a roundup of some of my fall projects:
I think it would be a blast to get a group of friends together and pickle vegetables or make jam. Martha Stewart has a ton of recipes for both on her site.
Since I’m obsessed with Puritans, I want to make a few detachable collars to spruce up basic dresses. I love this DIY Detachable Collar Pattern from A Common Thread.
I love a good mug. There’s nothing cozier than curling up on the couch with a book, wooly (handmade!) socks, and a mug of coffee. I live in a tiny apartment and don’t have room for a lot of dishes. So, I can only get new mugs when I break an old one. Fortunately, I recently broke a mug so now I can design my own with this Sharpie Mug Tutorial from Wild Olive.
Lastly, Trevor and I are planning a brewery biking tour in Michigan this October. The plan is to bike from Bell’s in Kalamazoo to Corner Brewery in Ypsilanti over a weekend. I am so excited to finally be taking a longer bike trip. Plus, I love anything involving a microbrewery.
(photo from Bon Appetit)
Mary
For some time now, I’ve planned on building a piece of furniture out of pallets, but switching apartments every year or two has made me apprehensive about building and then having to move more furniture, so I’ve been putting it off.
I had only imagined building a simple coffee table out of pallets, but after reading through this homedit article this morning, I’ve found a new excitement in all of my new options for pallet-furniture building. When I finally do build one, I’ll have to choose a single idea, but for now, here are a few of my favorites that are in the running.
A fairly simple, but nice looking dining room table. This would also be great for an outdoor patio.
I’d have to choose different cushions or at least do something different with them, because they seem too generic to go with the rustic pallets, but I like the general idea of a pallet couch.
This is similar to what I had originally imagined as far as a simple coffee table, but I like the addition of wheels and I think I prefer it as an outdoor table rather than a coffee table.
A perfect garden solution for the backyard-less.
A great little bed for a visiting niece or nephew.
All images are from homedit.com
Trevor
I’m from Michigan and I’ve always dreamed of getting married in the northern Michigan countryside. I love the understated charm of a rustic DIY wedding. It’s easy to get over your head with craft projects for your special day and sometimes it’s best to hand over some of the work to the experts. Here’s a roundup of some of my favorite handmade wedding products from Etsy sellers.
What could be easier than using these personalized wine labels from Creative Crabbe as table numbers?
I’m a sucker for an ampersand and anything with wood grain. This mahogany cake topper from better off wed is such a refreshing deviation from the norm. They also have a “mr & mrs” which I love.
No rustic wedding is complete without mason jars. These mason jar tumblers from Poppy and Pearl co. would be charming glasses for mint juleps as well as fun favors for guests.
This pennant banner from You’re That Girl Designs would add some whimsey to your photos and double as a decoration above the dessert table.
Mary
Two of my best friends are getting married this weekend. I am the maid-of-honor and I couldn’t have picked a more low key, DIY bride if I’d tried. I have weddings on the brain, so I made a vintage and handmade wedding treasury. Etsy treasuries are so addicting! I though this was a fun turquoise and yellow theme.
Congratulations Nicole & Travis! May your wedding and marriage be a dream come true.
Mary
