Past crafts and home do-it-yourself projects

Soon after we first moved in to our new apartment, I started getting this itch. It wasn't just a small, nagging itch, it was literally consuming my thoughts, and I couldn't let it go unscratched. No, it wasn't poison ivy: it was my urge to decorate, craft, and create an overall amazing looking space for my little family. I did not bring this upon myself (completely): my co-worker, Angela, began linking me to all these DIY home blogs and the seed grew into a plant, which eventually grew into a huge Redwood.

I started out pretty slowly, gathering hundreds of ideas and never quite deciding which ones to act upon. Until the day that I realized there's a craft store not too far from the apartment...

Let's begin with one of my first experimental crafts: Canvas Wall Art. There are so many walls in our new apartment and they are depressingly bare, so I decided to do something about it, which resulted in this:

I was so proud that I completed my first ever crafty DIY piece! However, this was months ago and the pillows have been replaced, vibrant throw blankets added, and all that remains of the Canvas Wall Art are the tan pieces.

Moving on to the second pièce de résistance: Dining Space Shelving Creating Illusion of Separation. Before moving in to the new place, we wondered where in the world we would put our dining room table since the kitchen is too small to hold it and there is no separate dining space. We plopped it down against the wall in the living room nearest the kitchen, calling it a day. But it just didn't seem right to me. Are we eating in the living room? I began to feel like all my culinary masterpieces were somehow becoming TV dinners. Something had to change. Enter the crafty dining space shelving, which creates the illusion of a warm, separate dining space:

Now, instead of feeling like we are eating with the entire cast of King of Queens (Alex's hands-down favorite show in the whole, entire world), I feel like we are eating in a Parisian cafe. Mission: accomplished.

Keep an eye out for future projects, which will be explained step-by-step, so you can try them out for yourself!