To celebrate the holidays -- and the end of my first semester in my second go-round with college -- I made myself a little Christmas present. Isn't it purdy? I've been crushing on the Pottery Barn JOY sign the whole Christmas season, but as a poor college student, I didn't have 59 discretionary dollars to spend …
Collecting | A vintage Christmas book
As I was leafing through my stash of Christmas books this morning, I came upon this gem, published in 1968, that I thought I'd write a quick post about. I picked the book up at an antique store about 15 years ago. I love the cover of the book, and the inside illustrations are divine. …
Crafting | Making a woven wreath
This week's project -- a DIY woven wreath -- has been on my to-do list for about a year and a half. That's when I dragged this wire frame home from a garage sale. Actually when I dragged it home, it was green, but I forgot to take a "before" picture until after I had …
Thanksgiving | Robot Turkey 2.0
With Thanksgiving coming up, I thought I'd make a turkey. Technically, he's a "turkey assemblage," but I am calling him "Robot Turkey 2.0," because he follows in the footsteps of last year's original Robot Turkey (pictured below). Off and on over the last 12 months, I've been hunting for turkey parts at garage sales and …
Makeover | Decoupaged jewelry box
Here's my latest makeover project: a jewelry box. Here's what it looked like when I found it at a thrift store: The grey pleather and the plastic handles were a little sad. But when I opened the box up and saw the beautiful blue velvet interior, I knew it had to come home with me. …
Makeover | A new look for an old chair
Old, unwanted chairs have a way of finding me. This one was waiting for me on the curb outside of my son's apartment building in Milwaukee. Here's what it looked like when I found it. The hunter green was a little dated, but otherwise the chair was in great shape, so (much to my son's …

