I was up way too late last week trying to finish the first of three bathrooms in our house, I've just been so burned out since. I haven't done a single thing to the house since last Saturday morning. Putting a house together takes a lot of work, creativity and patience; especially when working with DIY projects and a small budget.

I feel like our bedroom is the next space to get the overhaul, but there are quite a few big DIY projects that need to be tackled. I don't see how it could be done in one week, unless there was nothing else to juggle.

I think first on the docket is to address my dresser. We sanded it down over a year ago, but I've had the hardest time figuring out the right color to stain it. Do I go traditional and use a dark walnut like we have throughout the house? Or do I go more contemporary and stain it a color? I'm leaning towards a color, but I'm not sure if I should use my fall-back, yellow. I'm thinking maybe an indigo or purple? Or maybe a light sage? I dunno. I also need to organize my jewelry above my dresser. I think that'll be pretty easy, just a matter of motivation.

The thing is with these DIY projects is that they require nice weather. Fall has really hit full force around our neighborhood. I'm currently in long sleeves!!

Let's hope I can get something done during the long weekend.

I found this little mini skirt in the junior's section. It was super short, at least I thought so. I'm not one for wearing things too far above my knees let alone something that's just below my rear. But I love the print! The skirt was on clearance for $4, so I had to have it. I just measured, zipped up one side with the sewing machine and handed it off to Penelope. She loves the print and the length is great for her, too. At this length, Penelope can still do everything she loves, but her underwear still gets covered. We're finding that Penelope + short skirts and dresses don't quite work for Penelope much, as she sits with her legs uncrossed and hangs with boys almost every day. I should really just make her little boy shorts to go under everything. Next week, perhaps.

While practicing with a new nib and paper this phrase came to mind. It's a bit on the nose with the flowers on it, but I'm pretty thrilled with how it turned out. It's available for sale (both original and digital download) in the shop.

I'm working on a little devotional for a church function tomorrow; as I was reading up on a few things I came across an old German legend about the forget me not. The story goes that just as God finished creating and naming all of the plants on the earth, one little flower stood unnamed. He pleaded, "Forget me not, O Lord!" And God confirmed its name. It's really quite a cute legend about a little flower. The plea in the phrase makes me think about remembering others that need our love, support and service. It also makes me think of my dark times and how I've been able to rely on God and loved ones to support me.  

I learned what a stroop waffle was this last Valentine's day. OH MY, those things are heaven! If you've never had one, you must give this recipe a try. I'm over at the Rhodes Bread Blog sharing how to make stroop waffles with little more than a panini press and Rhodes rolls.

Click here for the full recipe.

No make up and crazy hair today. I'm going to a clothing swap tonight so I'll probably get make up on before I go. Maybe. I'm itching to layer with sweaters soon, but I have to remind myself to enjoy these warm days of late summer/early fall. We're in for a long winter, up here in the mountains.

• necklaces: Forever 21, twig creative (I think)
• top: thrifted
• belt: hand-me-down from grandma
• pants: Ross
• shoes: c/o Blowfish

I sorta want to foil the tips of these shoes in silver. Not sure how well they would wear, but the idea sounds nice. My grandma has killer taste. She turned 88 on Sunday, but she still acts like a 70 year old.

I have a leather fashion DIY on its way, but it's taking a bit longer than expected, so instead I'll share my easy Pad Thai recipe. A few of you on instagram requested a recipe, so here it is.

No decent pictures were taken of the finished dish, it disappeared too fast.

I learned how to make Thai food at a church function several years back, ordered a recipe book (as suggested by my friend who has lived several years in Thailand and makes the best Thai food) and started going through those recipes. Thai food isn't particularly hard to make. It's mostly throwing things together, which is definitely my MO when it comes to dinner. I stopped making it regularly when we moved away from my favorite oriental market, but every now and then I'll do something like this for dinner. The great thing about Thai food is it's tasty and uses a lot of different fruits and vegetables. Penelope didn't want to touch the stuff last night, but Felix had his way with the noodle dish. Broccoli, peppers, tomatoes and all! Below is my adulterated version of the tasty dish.

Pad Thai

Serves 4

• broccoli (half to a full head)
• 1/4 red onion, shallots are best
• garlic
• red pepper
• 2-4 eggs
• 2 chicken breasts
• carrots, shredded
• tomatoes
• cilantro
• peanuts, finely chopped
• lime or lemon juice
• bean sprouts
• 2 packets of ramen noodles
• sweet Thai chili sauce
• peanut sauce, find this and the chili sauce in the oriental aisle

Cut all of the vegetables and chicken into bite-sized pieces. Separate vegetables into the raw and cooked piles. You will saute broccoli, onion, pepper for a few minutes on high. I typically preheat the pan on high, add the veggies so they blacken a bit. Once the onions have gone transparent, add about 1/4 cup-1/2 cup water and cover until the veggies are cooked all the way through. Set aside in a serving dish. Crack eggs in the sauce pan and scramble. Add a little olive oil to the pan and cook the cubes of chicken. While chicken is cooking, prepare the ramen by boiling water and cooking them all the way through. Do NOT add flavoring. Rinse. Add ramen, chicken and eggs to the serving bowl, then toss in a few tablespoons of chili sauce (THE SWEET STUFF!) and 1/2-1/3 cup of peanut sauce, or until it's coated. Add raw ingredients and serve with a little wedge of lime or lemon. I don't always have bean sprouts on hand, so I usually go without. No big. Pad Thai is really great, it takes a lot less oil than most dishes, you're using a whole load of veggies for the recipe and it really is a matter of throwing ingredients together. Hope you enjoy!

I have this regular problem that I can't seem to find pants that fit in both the waist and the legs. I don't feel this way, but according to most clothing stores my legs are disproportionately large compared to my waist. I think my legs are fine the way they are, so I've been trying to figure out easy ways to alter my jeans. I've taken jeans in from the back seam, but it always looks glaringly noticeable. Susan took some jeans in at the side for me, but I'm too lazy for her sewing skills and for jeans that were only $10. I've also tried the elastic approach and making my jeans bigger, but I wanted something easier. Yes. Even easier. Then I had this genius thought while Chris was complaining of the same thing with his pants. I was pinching and thinking of how to take his pants in, then it dawned on me. DARTS. It's virtually invisible and takes less than 5 minutes. That's my kind of fix! I was so proud of my original idea, then I remembered that I saw it somewhere else way before I thought of it. Liz has two tutorials on how to take in pants with darts. You should check them out. Doing darts is super easy. It's a little less noticable on pants that don't have decorative top stitching, but I'm more concerned about the fit and the fact that I didn't have to do any unpicking in order to get the right fit. Much better silhouette. See, I smile when my pants fit right. Also, I smile when I've just gone clothes shopping. I went on a bit (for me) of a clothes shopping binge last week. It feels so nice to have new duds! Outfit Details:

• headband: handmade
• necklaces: handmade, c/o Tai Pan Trading
• top: Forever 21
• cuff: handmade
• jeans: Forever 21 (I love their $10 jeans)
• shoes: thrifted

Do you have a magic brand of denim that fits you perfectly, or how do you alter jeans to make them fit you?

The end of this week was a doozy. Between Chris taking on some side jobs and the kids refusing to nap, publishing this project was not going to happen. To be completely honest, it's been pull-out-the-hair maddening not to get things done. My sister took the kids for practically the whole day on Thursday which helped me get work done, especially since I've not had a break earlier in the week or since. Unfortunately, I managed my time poorly and spent about 80% of it applying dots to one of the walls in the bathroom. It took FOREVER. This room really just called for some tidying and styling. It's not a huge reveal, but I put in a few surprises that makes this space fun. See, not much has changed from the before (above). First on the list was to hang art. The photograph on the left was taken in front of a store front with a sort of comic message on the door. As I snapped this photo, I just about got beat up by whomever owned this "shop". From the looks of things at that time, I wouldn't have been surprised if illegal things were going on. I like the photo because it reminds me of the joys of finding your surroundings art-worthy and making excuses for adventure. The photo on the left was taken by my sister-in-law while she was in Costa Rica. The composition of this piece is really great. Here's a better view of what I did to the cubbies: a spot for brushes, a bud vase that hides the soap (she's only allowed bar soap for now), a vintage jar of q-tips and an extra roll of toilet paper. Above the cubbies I feature the second of my pair of Dachshund lamps. He's like Penelope's little watch dog to make sure she washes her hands. I made the white box next to the watch dog out of a vinyl banner my cousin gave to me. I used this method for sewing it up. It houses all of Penelope and Felix's bath toys. Since it's vinyl, I don't have to worry about it getting wet and grubby. I spray painted Penelope's stool a bright orange I had on hand. I thought I had the same green that's featured in the shower curtain, but nope. That would've been perfect, but the orange still looks nice. Much nicer than the dirty pink caused by Penelope and her bathroom adventures. You can see the dots on the far wall, right? They don't photograph as well as I would like, but they look really lovely in person. I opted to do the dots here and forgo any artwork on this wall because the door is typically open and covers up a good portion of the wall. The shower curtain and towel hooks were already there when we moved in (Thanks Nikki!!!), so no real work needed here. And it just so happened that I had charcoal towels to match the flooring and curtain. Score. I found it really hard to photograph the entire bathroom. What are your tips on photographing small spaces? Maybe next time I do a bathroom, I'll do video instead. I ended up moving the Love artwork from Merrilee from the studio to the bathroom. I think it fits here better, and ties in Felix's red towel. The print on the right is a litho I made in college of Chris and I super imposed onto the poem, "Le Pont Mirabeau". I learned it in Jr. High. It was an awkward situation learning it, but I really love the poem. In it it says, "La joie venait toujours après la peine." Which basically means joy follows pain. Oh how lonely and sad I was before I met Chris. That summer before we met was brutal and filled with awkward facebook and myspace blind dates and plenty of relationships ending in disappointment. When I met Chris, there wasn't an instant firework moment. I just liked being around him so much I would go to the library the same time each week in hopes that I would bump into him again. For months we were just acquaintances or just running buddies. Then we had a disastrous first date. Sparks flew. A month later we were talking love and a few short months after that we were married. Since our first date, no one else has ever mattered. I printed this piece just after we started dating, so it's a really fun reminder of our story and love. And now you have every right to call me a cheesy romantic. Back to the room - It's nicely put together and this room didn't cost me a dime! I'm pretty thrilled with the end results. Now only 7 more spaces to go!

This sweater vest was a hand-me-down from a friend. She gave me a bunch of sweaters for crafting. I was going to make this into another sweater pillow, but I'm really trying to add more color in my decor, so I decided it needed to become back-to-school clothes for Penelope. She already has a sweater dress I that I thrifted some time ago, so I used that as a template. Just by taking in the sides and the neck at the V, I had a new dress for Penelope. I think the jury is still out on if the dress is liked or not. She says it's scratchy, but I don't think so. It's a cotton wool blend, so it shouldn't be. But she does have extra sensitive skin, though.  

This post is sponsored by Art.com. Find your art and love your space with art.com's prints and museum-grade framing. Follow Art.com via twitter and facebook.

 Over the last ten years, I've lived in ten different places. It's a lot of moving around, if you ask me. Each space that I've lived in where I've taken the time to put artwork on the walls has felt like home. Even when I was just starting out in college, sharing a small apartment with 5 other girls, I made it a point to hang artwork on the walls. I believe I have a few pictures from that time, I'll have to do some digging and share with you later, but our apartment was the coolest, quirkiest apartment in our building. At least that's how I felt. Majoring in painting and drawing helped getting real art on my walls very early on. The biggest hurtle that I ever faced was how to group artwork together and frame it. I rarely worked in standard dimensions (and Ikea was a foreign thing to me at that time), so I would have to get creative. I still use a lot of the same techniques for hanging artwork today. I feel it's important to have at least a few framed pieces to put on the wall. It adds a heck of a lot of polish to your space, with very little effort. Do it yourself with a stock frame, or have it framed from the get-go. I took a framing class from BYU's Museum of Art back in college, it gave me a whole new perspective on art. Before we started framing art, we ventured into the bowels of the art museum and saw originals of the most inspiring artists that have ever lived: Vermeer, Miro, Warhol . . . It was from the guys that framed and handled the art of those artists that I learned how to frame. I'm not saying I am any good, but it sure was a special learning experience to witness first-hand the care and respect was given for artwork. For odd shaped prints and flat works, I like to use hangers. I scored these sample hangers in San Francisco a few years ago. I have about 20+ still, and love having them around for misc. artwork. It's also great to have them around for giving art pieces. Simple, easy and they ship well. I've also used bulldog clamps for irregular shaped pieces. They're very low-impact, visually, and don't affect the surface of the art. For irregular sized pieces that are not flat, I like to use upholstery tacks and strips of leather. It adds a more tactile experience to the art, which I can't get enough of. I like to mix and match these high and low techniques for hanging artwork on my walls. It's true to my diverse aesthetic and gives me no excuses for an empty space on my wall. How do you hang art on your walls? Push pins? Stock frames? Vintage frames? I'd love to hear in the comments below.

Last week I participated in the semi-annual Creative Collaborative gift swap. Last christmas was amazing, so I wanted to participate again. Trying to think outside of my normal make-jewelry-from-my-leather-scraps box, I found a use for these sweet little tins I picked up from Pick Your Plum last year.

DIY Painted Magnetic Shadow Boxes

I guess you could consider me a sucker for mini packaging. I am. I thought these little containers would be perfect for little spices, but they're much too small, coming in at about 1 1/8 inches in diameter. They've just been sitting, begging to be used for something. I've been trying to get back into painting, so a little lightbulb hit: make watercolor shadow box magnets. I had originally been inspired by the idea of doing a magnetic spice wall (like here and here). Simple enough, fun and I get to paint! The DIY is pretty darn obvious, but read below for supplies and tips on how to make your own. You will need:

• clear tin lids (I used these exact ones, but papermart and specialty bottle have them, too)
• neodymium magnets
• e6000
• watercolor paper
• watercolor paints
• scissors
• pencil

Open your jars and trace around your jar with a pencil. Trace as many as you want out on a page. Make your mini watercolors, but don't worry about staying perfectly inside the lines. It's nice to have a bit of a bleed with these kinds of projects. In the Instructables magnetic herb jar tutorial, the author talks about putting the magnet on the inside of the jar. Since you're not putting food in there, the magnet on the inside would be perfect. Glue your magnet inside the jar. Cut out your watercolors, but just inside your pencil line, for a snug fit. Insert into your jar. I had a really snug fit, so I didn't have to glue it in place. Stack them and take pretty pictures with your watercolors. Enjoy! This would be a fun way to hang to do lists or children's artwork. Heck, if this is a great way to immortalize your child(ren)'s artwork! Just cut out small vignettes of their paintings and mount! Even using larger jars and mounting to the wall would look absolutely lovely.

This tutorial/freebie is free for personal use and should not be distributed/republished without the express consent of Melissa Esplin. I love getting shout outs from around the web, but please, link with love. Do not copy this post, publish more than 2 photos or outright steal this idea for commercial publications. If you would like to use this tutorial for commercial purposes, please email me. Thanks!  

I've had these shoes in my closet for some time, and they don't get as much attention as they should. They're so comfy.

• top: thrifted + refashioned
• belt: thrifted
• pants: PacSun + refashioned
• shoes: thrifted
• bracelets: handmade (1, 2)

 

It feels so good to have four rooms in our house organized and decorated already! We've lived here for just over a month, so this is pretty good progress. This week's challenge might seem super basic and lame, but I've never really decorated my bathrooms before. They're purely a functional space in every home I've lived in, never a hang-out space. Nikki left us with some really cute shower curtains and cool metal cubes, so I'm thinking I need to push myself to decorate the bathrooms. First up, the guest bath on the main floor. This is the kids' bathroom for bathing and whatnot, so I don't imagine this space will stay clean for much longer after I decorate it, but it'll be fun to do and see if Penelope will be willing to participate. Come back on Friday for the big reveal!

This week's project was a bit of a challenge. I'm always using this space, so cleaning it up has been an ongoing process. Especially since Felix loves opening up the cabinet drawers and pulling out all of our office supplies. Getting this room in working order was fairly simple. It came down to painting the room white, adding a few pieces of artwork, and keeping stuff off of surfaces. I'm constantly bringing in papers, projects and miscellany so I need the room to be as bare bones as possible. With the white walls, I thought this would be the perfect chance to include my bright artwork that doesn't usually match any anything else in the house. I even busted out some old artwork I forgot I had! Here's a quick reminder of what it looked like just days after we moved in. It's nearly impossible to get inspired in such a haphazard and messy place. The bright artwork is a homage to the yellow on the walls previously. It brings in a nice pop of color. I bought the print on the left ages ago for Father's day for Chris. It was from the Beehive Bazaar, but I can't remember the seller. I love the neon square background pattern. If you know who sells these, leave a comment. I'd love to give credit! The middle piece I did my sophomore year, using latex house paints. It will probably deteriorate in about 15 years, unfortunately. The two smaller pieces on the right were made at Design Camp of Alt Summit last year with Eva from Sycamore Street Press. I'm planning on putting a family photo in that bottom one. I just need to get all of us together (and dressed) at the same time. For the desk, I wanted to add a bunch of storage, but I still needed to take the photo corner into consideration. I tilted the Expedit on its side and slid it underneath the desk. It makes the desk a bit on the tall side, but I like the functionality of it. We have all of our hard drives and cables neatly tucked into cubbies underneath the desk. This is definitely the cleanest set up we've had thus far. We have two tethered screens (which I love), two keyboards (his and hers - Chris's is the blank black one) and two mouse pads. Chris has switched completely to mousing with his left hand, but I'm too impatient give it a try, hence the two mouse pads. And the blank keyboard? Well, it's set to PC functions, so I can't use my keyboard commands, so I use the regular mac keyboard. I mounted the shelf above the computers to house my Silhouette cutter, camera remotes, headphones and other compy gear. I should put some artwork above there. It looks really lonely up there. The quote is by AnnilyGreen - I scored it at a gift exchange last Christmas, and the painting below is one of mine that I completed when chris and I were just starting to date. Artwork is very much like having my personal history up on my walls. You know how songs can take you back to a specific memory? Art is totally the same way for me. Of all the guys I dated in college, Chris was the only one that was actually game to come to my painting studio and study while I painted. Heck, he even busted out a painting while he visited. It was then that I knew he was a keeper. Behind the door I house the tripod. Right here, it's set up for studio shots. I like having it set up in the corner of the room, so I can just butt the leg up to the corner and have the camera in the same position every time I bust it out. I'm trying to work on consistency this year. The above artwork is self made. The big painting was recent this year, and the print was a litho piece I did back in college. The closet is still a work in progress. I put my paper storage in there along with photography, watercolor and bookbinding supplies. I'd like to have it more organized with shelving, but it works well enough for now. And here's the corner where I shoot all of my pictures now. It's so lovely to have this space all ready to rock and roll at a moment's notice. Back when we lived in California in an insanely overpriced 1 bedroom apartment, I just dreamed and dreamed of space and light like this. It's heaven. Along with making matching his and hers mouse pads, I decided it was high time to recover this desk chair. I have recovered it three times now. This time I covered it in a plush leather that will resist stain and wear well. I was hesitant to work on this thing again. It's a $15 office chair from ikea from 4+ years ago. There are so many prettier desk chairs out there, but updating this was free. I figure, if we ever end up trashing this and sending it off to the thrift store, I'll strip the leather off the bottom and use it for something. Heaven forbid this amazing soft leather goes to waste. Overall the only expenses on this room (counting from the time we moved in until now) were: the paint $45, photo floor $10 and rolling drawers $40. Everything else I had on hand. If I could do more to this space, I would tile this (and the whole top floor) in slate, add a rug, swap out the desktop for reclaimed wood and hairpin legs and get a taller drafting desk chair. For these ideas and more, check out my office pinboard here. 

Way back when, I participated in a fashion swap and scored this awesome plaid halter wrap dress. I don't wear halters by themselves, so I didn't seem to wear it often or even more than the one time here. The bust was too big and the skirt seemed to be a reverse high-low (high in back, low in front - which totally drives me crazy). I'm so picky with how clothes fit! After sitting in my closet for over a year, it was time to get refashioned. Since reworking this skirt late last week, I've worn it several times! Here's what I did:

• I chopped off the halter part as evenly as possible
• hemmed the top with biased tape
• rounded the ends of each side of the wrap so the skirt goes a bit higher in front than in the back.

The refashion was super speedy with the biased tape and my rolled hem foot. I believe I got it done in under 30 minutes, which is incredibly fast! Chris couldn't even tell where I reworked the skirt, so that was also a major bonus. The plaid has tons of fun colors in it, so it works perfectly with my summer and fall pieces. Here are the outfit's details:

• top: Target + refashioned
• skirt: swapped + refashioned
• shoes: thrifted

I've been itching for a clothing swap lately! Have you done one before?

I'm feeling settled enough to host another live, modern calligraphy workshop! A few of you have asked if/when I would be offering another live class, and it's time. I hope to be doing more of these kinds of workshops on a regular basis. On Saturday September 1 from 2-4pm, I will be teaching a modern calligraphy workshop out of my home in Draper, Utah. I would love to see you there!

CLICK HERE TO SIGN UP FOR THE COURSE. 

In the two hour workshop, you will learn the basics of traditional Copperplate calligraphy, a brief history of its beginnings, how to work with the pointed pen and how to make calligraphy your own. The workshop includes the two hour session and a basic kit for getting started. This does not include access to the online course or gallery. Space is limited. The workshop (including materials fees) is $60.

This week's challenge is the office; part two of my studio space. We opted to put our work stuff in the two small bedrooms upstairs and the kiddos in a shared room downstairs, creating a kid-friendly lair that Penelope and Felix can call their own. This room started out a buttercup yellow, but I changed it to white on a weekend while Chris and the kids were out of town. That has helped the space, however, nothing in this room really has a permanent place. This week, I'm looking to organize all of our office stuff in shelves and the closet, cleaning up the debris that quickly collects in this room. Hopefully we'll be able to work out a system for keeping the paper clutter down.

A few weeks ago I attended a blogger event at Ikea in Draper. They wanted to collaborate with bloggers, show off their new PS collection and brag about being completely solar powered. I'm already in a love affair with Ikea, so all those things made me love them even more. At the event, they challenged us to find something in the store to work into a DIY. I wasn't planning on participating until I found this pillow case in the As Is section. I love this print and the tooth of the fabric, but it doesn't match my house. I've been mulling over the idea of making a leather tote for years now, so this case was screaming to be a leather-bottomed tote. The tote took about 5+ hours to complete because I took my time and did things right the first time. Leather is a bit tricky to work with, so here are a couple of tips to help if you're thinking about working with leather any time soon:

• use a leather needle - they are made for puncturing through the material
• use a walking foot - they keep the leather from slipping
• use bulldog clips instead of pins for keeping pattern pieces in place
• use the widest stitch length possible
• sew once, and only once - once you puncture the leather, you can't un-puncture it!
• go slowly
• iron your seams - cover the leather with a cotton cloth and iron at the hottest steamiest setting

The pillow already had a zipper set in, so I worked around that. It's super roomy, so this tote could easily work as my diaper bag, but transition effortlessly into a weekend tote. I added lots of pockets for compartmentalizing my stuff and the kids' stuff. I used a charcoal grey canvass for the lining instead of the typical black. It looks clean, but it's not so dark in there that you can't find your black pen (a dilemma of mine all the time). Doing the leather bottom and handles wasn't as hard as I thought. It helped to have a walking foot, leather needle and kick-trash sewing machine. This project is evidence of how much I love my new sewing machine. I can't help but check out the As-Is (Chris and I call it AZEEZ) every time we're at Ikea, and we always find great items for DIY projects: my tabletop for fabric storage, our poang chair for our music room and now this tote. We were at Ikea this weekend looking for a couch and I found lots of great ready-made panels perfect for wall art there, too. Outfit Details:

• top: Walmart
• necklace: handmade
• jeggings: PacSun + refashioned
• shoes: from Sarah
• tote: Ikea + refashioned

This post is not sponsored by Ikea, but the materials were given to me by Ikea.

Getting the studio finished this week was a necessary evil. I kept dragging my feet, but once I started working on it, I was on a tear. It was great to have today's reveal as motivation to get it 100% done. Working on this project forced me to go through a lot of boxes and throw out quite a bit of miscellaneous crap I've not used or needed in some time. I think I'll hang this banner somewhere, but for now, it just rests on the door nob. I made this last year, two houses ago. Remember what this space looked like on Monday? Nothing productive can happen in this space. A lot more junk can get done in here. I added wall storage for calligraphy supplies, business cards, stamps, envelopes and more. The goal was to get as much off of my desks as possible, so I can use that for work and to keep it from Penelope's grubby little fingers. I had some of the white Ikea boxes and shelving before, but I had to supplement to get it all up there and done. That was less than $20. The table is currently covered with my cutting mat and cutter. I'd be inclined to take the mat off, but the paint is really wrecked. At some point I'd like to paint this little table. We scored that table ages ago in California on the side of the road with "FREE" written all over it. I love that table. I put some miscellaneous artwork up to keep my sewing books and receipts company up top. I don't get as much utility out of the shelving up top besides inspiration and resources. Artwork (from left): Birds of Ashmae temple, photo of Penelope, unfinished painting in back, Kantan Designs quote, Love painting by Mer Mag, Esplin by me, tiny illustration scored from a housewares swap, empty frame for Felix (couldn't get the printer to work). In order to fit the white boxes on the shallow shelves, I oriented them sideways, making it impossible to read the label for what's on there. I cut out little squares of chalkboard contact paper and applied it to the sides. It looks nice, and if the contents of the box ever changes, I can just rewrite it in chalk. I decided it was time that I permanently set up my easel. It's a constant reminder to paint. This piece is about a third of the way done, so it taunts me every time I walk in the room. It's a good taunt. I organized my fabric, again. I've recently scored several yards of fantastic prints, which give me no excuses! I must make some awesome clothes with them now. I had this fabric storage set up in the last two places we've been, and I love it. It's cheap, I can use the top for laying out patterns, I can see the contents and everything's neatly contained. My ironing board isn't a standard size, so I need to make a new cover. Can you tell how baggy that cover is? Yikes. Artwork (from left): scored at a housewares swap, mine, mine, cork board with various inspiration. I took advantage of the storage space in the closet and used that to stage the tailoring and refashions I have queued up. Last night I knocked out about 1/3 of the mending, but I still have my work cut out for me. Back in my California days when I taught bookbinding, one of my students was a teacher at a local school district. The school was dumping REAMS of strathmore parent sheets, so she snapped them up. She asked if I wanted any. Of COURSE. Over 3 years later, I've not even gotten through half the ream! It's fantastic warm-grey paper, but it's heavy and takes up a lot of space. I had a brilliant brainwave to hang the paper over the clothes rod in the closet. It feels pretty fantastic to have it all right there, so neatly put away. Below is my assortment of clothing patterns. I have quite a collection! I have a fair amount of white storage boxes, most of which are empty. It's nice to keep a few empty spaces in this room to allow for growth. Below are bins of packaging supplies and leather. Opposite of my desk is my sewing desk. We bought the legs over a year ago to DIY a kitchen table that totally failed. I ended up just buying a top from Ikea and moving everything to my studio instead. It all worked out nicely. The green table elevates the trash nicely, so I can throw away threads as I'm working feverishly on projects. I made that table like 9 years ago. It's a favorite of mine, for sure. I wanted to make sure that I got the thread and scissors off the desks to keep Penelope and Felix from getting into trouble. Felix absolutely LOVES thread. The yellow box has my current projects inside, neatly organized. I can easily store it under the table if I need the extra table top space. Artwork (from left): SeeSaw, A Vintage Poster, Me, Penelope, Thrifted And here's the wall that connects the sewing with the crafting. It's so fantastic to have my own dedicated room for creative projects and to have it all organized (for now). Decorating and organizing this room came just under $20 with the extra shelving and storage boxes. Not bad! I've debated on changing up the color of the walls to match the rest of the house, but the blue fits for now. Check out my old studio here (two houses ago). I think I'm in a great place with this room. However, if budget were not an issue, I would put in wood floors to match with the kitchen, paint the walls a light grey, and get a couple of odds and ends for organizing. See what I have in mind on my Pinterest Board. Next week, it's on to my office!!

I love these pants. My father-in-law got them for me not long after I had Penelope. They're high-ish waisted, so they're perfect for flattering a mom body. I wore them quite a bit, until they shrunk. My sister borrowed them while I was expecting Felix, and I think (not sure) that she may have put them in the dryer at some point, because they came back about an inch shorter. When it comes to a wide leg trouser, that makes a huge difference. I could no longer wear them with heels, and wearing them with flats made me feel like my legs looked stubby. They were in desperate need of a makeover. They are nice jeans. Hello, Anthro. The problem with them is the fact that they're double felled on the side seams. DOUBLE FELLED. there was no way I was going to unpick crazy felled seams to take them in. So I made darts. I lined up the seams and laid out my favorite pair of jeans on top and marked out my darts. The refashion ended up taking 2 hours instead of 6. I'd say that was a win. They're at about a cigarette width at this point, but I may have hemmed them too short for that, so I think I'm going to go back and make them more of a skinny jean. Yay for a new pair of pants! I've been whining to Chris about how I only have 2 pairs of jeans that fit. Now it's three. I think if I actually exercised I could fit into my old jeans again, but I'm just too darn lazy for that. Outfit Details:

• top: handmade
• pants: Anthropologie
• shoes: c/o Blowfish

UPDATE: I couldn't stand the cigarette pant with that length for long. I just skinnified them. AHHH, much better!

More often than not, I have dreamy clients. It never gets old, though, when something just clicks. Working for Linnea was totally that! She was working with a graphic designer and web developer for her branding, but wanted a hand-lettered touch for her logo. She approached me and we got right to work. One of the best things she did was curate a pinterest board of mood images that helped me get a clear picture of what she wanted. It wasn't all graphic design and branding, but mostly just inspirational images that mimicked the feel she wanted when people clicked over to her site. I've never really thought about it before, but it really helped that it wasn't all graphic design inspiration. There's such great design out there, it's hard not to 'pin' it all when looking for new branding. She kept it curated and tight with some design inspiration to draw from. I LOVED that. Linnea emailed me a couple days ago letting me know her site is now live. It's beautiful. I had nothing to do with the design or layout of the blog, just the lettering of the logo. Cathy of Love Inspired did all the design and development, and she's good.

I just don't feel like wearing summery clothes at the moment. The shoes don't really match, save for the little hint of yellow in the necklace. These shoes are looking very ratty, though. They need a bit of a makeover at the moment.

• necklace: handmade
• dress: Ruche + refashioned
• belt: Asos
• bracelet: Target
• shoes: Ruche

First off, I'm totally giddy about tomorrow. I have a babysitter lined up to come 3 days a week for the next two weeks! I've been going crazy trying to get the house in order, keep up on crafty projects and pay attention to Penelope and Felix. They're needing more attention than ever, too. Second, we bought a little toy that's been a joy to use. We've been so tired of over-sugared soda and flat club soda, we decided to buy a soda siphon for making our own club soda. It's always fizzy, never dull and we can add anything our little hearts desire! Yesterday I experimented with peach and mint. Mmm! So good. So far we love our siphon. We just mix whatever into our fizzy water and enjoy. It's been particularly wonderful with the little heat wave we've had. It gets to about 85 degrees up here in the mountains, so it's not bad, but it's definitely hot enough for a refreshing drink. See the recipe below for yesterday's tasty cocktail.

Mint Peach Italian Lemonade

• 1 peach
• a few sprigs mint
• simple syrup
• lemon juice

combine peach, a handful of mint leaves 1-2 tablespoons simple syrup and 2-3 teaspoons lemon juice in a blender. Let sit and macerate for about 15-20 minutes. Pour a few tablespoons mixture over crushed ice. Add club soda and cream. All measurements are approximate. I usually add a little here and a little there until I get it to my desired taste. MMM!

My sewing/craft studio frustrates me to no end. It's nowhere near organized and I use it just about every day. It's one of those gigantic messes that's so overwhelming, I don't even know where to start. I've got to do something about it now before it becomes something from an episode of Hoarders. As you can see, I have a giant pile of clothes in the corner. That's my refashion/tailor/alter pile. It grows every day. The sooner I get on it, the sooner I'll have new clothes to wear. It's a bit daunting, but I think I'll have everything ready to rock and roll in this space in no time. The goal: create an inviting space for crafting. I need to open up as much table top space as possible by wall mounting everything that can be mounted on the wall. Put supplies and tools in bins and boxes that are easy to access and put away. This room serves many purposes: sewing, bookbinding, calligraphy, leather crafting, painting and more. I need to keep it as organized as possible so I can make those transitions as effortlessly as possible. Follow along on instagram @melissapher #zerobudgetproject for sneak peeks on progress, and check back here on Friday for the big reveal.

Yesterday as I was planning out an awesome fancy pleated skirt, I realized that the expensive yardage that I bought at Britex was not enough. I should've bought two yards of the stuff, but oh well. I made a maxi skirt. It's super boring, but with the rad floral print, you don't really even notice. And I don't even care. I'll be pairing this floral with summer, fall and spring items for sure. I love the print!! I sewed it similarly to my single seam pencil skirt, but I added a waistband and tailored the seam to fall at the side instead of back. I made a slit with a curved hem on either side, which allows for more leg room for running around. If I were doing it again, I would sew the slit much higher. Like another 10-12 inches. I love it, but between the cost of the fabric and my time, this skirt would be something like $100 in a store. Not sure I would pay $100 for a simple maxi. Outfit details:

• top: Walmart
• necklace: RiteAid
• leather cuff: handmade
• skirt: handmade
• shoes: c/o PB&J shop

Talk about a serious mix of high and low here. 

Attacking this room was a lot less work, but not nearly as climactic as Penelope and Felix's space. I don't really have a whole lot of furniture for this space, so we'll likely end up bulking this room up over time. I'm pleased with it for now, though. I can walk around it and Chris can practice his guitars in it. Remember, this below is a reminder of what it looked like before: Most of my work was putting guitars and artwork on the wall. Even after I put up my pretty art.com piece I felt so much better about the space. Here's what Felix was up to during the shoot. He was excited to be in all the fun. This space is easy to work with. The McBride's left great window treatments, so I didn't feel the need to hang curtains (although I may later). They also left most of the upstairs painted a bright, warm grey. It doesn't translate as well into photos, but it matches pretty much everything and it's not a bandaid tan. I feel like it keeps the space light, airy and open. This interior wall is where I would like to place a piano, so the bench is a good place marker for that. Eventually I would like to reupholster the bench in a tangerine leather with natural wood legs, but that may be down the road. Chris doesn't mind practicing his acoustic here. The art fills the space nicely, but I do think I will be adding more artwork along each side as we get more settled. I've been brainstorming a potential series recently, so I may use this space to hang a couple of those pieces. The bench I found at a thrift store ages ago, the Poang chair in the corner was from As-Is last year, the lamp is from ikea and the art from Art.com. This expedit cube was originally in the living room shanking one of the sides of the entertainment center, but this space needed something to keep it from feeling barren. This is mostly knick knacks, magazines, a few favorite books and a cheap bongo drum that Felix can't leave alone (it's so cute to see him jam with Chris!). The suitcase is another place marker. Chris has been thinking about getting another guitar sometime down the line, so I hesitate to fill the space with a big gallery. The elephant was from Urban Outfitters a few years ago. The painting is by Brittany Scott (from a Creative Collab gift exchange last year), the jar was a wedding gift and the bongo drum from Guitar Center. The trumpet is Chris's. He played for several years, but hasn't picked it up in ages. It's far too beautiful to keep in a box, so I thought I would put it on display. It's likely that Chris will actually pick it up and play if it's out. Heck, I picked it up and played it the other day. I actually got a decent sound out of it, and it was HARD to do! The succulents are an assortment from Ikea and home depot. The aloe in there previously died, so I repotted this and a few other succulent pots a couple weeks ago. The panton S chairs (scored at an antique shop last year) were at each end of our dining table, but they scratch up the flooring in our new kitchen, so they've been relegated to the music room. They add a nice modern feel to the room, but I would love to have a modern bench that spanned the room here. It would be great for small gatherings and jam sessions. The chairs work well for now. The pillows I made (pleated + leather). I did the far left painting back in college, the center intaglio print is by friend Emily Dennis and the right photo is one of Chris and my engagement photos. My mother-in-law took the photo, I cross-processed them and framed it in my great-great-grandmother's frame. I love this frame - it's a circle inside the square (which I have engraved on my wedding ring). The globe is a hand-me-down from my parents. It's super old - when the U.S.S.R. was a thing and colonies still existed. The side table is on loan to us until Shelley (my sister-in-law) settles down. She made it at her grandpa's house last summer. He's an architect and makes the most amazing stuff. I would love to find something similar that I could permanently use in the room. We didn't do a single thing to the entryway besides decorate it. I found the basket at DI a few years ago, and the bench I rehabbed from a home decor swap. From left: Colt Bowden, Print from BigCartel, me, me, me, Lindsay Denning, Urban Outfitters. There you have it. If budget were to allow it, I would buy a piano, reupholster the bench in orange leather and use it as the piano bench, add a gigantic rug in the space, more pillows and a gigantic modern bench along the windows, and maybe do some fun shoe storage by the entryway. Check out my pinboard for my finished vision of the room. I feel like the area is thinly decorated right now, but it's organized and clean which is all that matters at this point. I'm crossing this room off my checklist. Next week I might attack my studio.

I'm working on a couple of small projects to post today (hopefully), but in the mean time, I thought I would share a couple links to my writing elsewhere. The fantastic and really real and awesome Erin just had her sweet baby Bee. I'm over on Design for MiniKind sharing my thoughts on motherhood and advice that I try to live by daily. Click here to see the full post. Fellow blogger and friend (we'd be super trouble if we were neighbors), Mandie is hosting a series on dating every thursday through the rest of the summer. I'm sharing a quick tidbit on what Chris and I try to do on our dates. Click here to see the full post.   

I thought I would supplement my magic braided bracelet tutorial with a plain video (previously it was a 10 minute segment I did on local TV).  

Magic Braided Bracelet Video

This week has been a doozy. I've not gotten nearly enough sleep over the last week, so I'm beat. The music room is pretty much done, save styling and photos. I have a few tutorials that I'm working on and I'm working up the energy to use the fabric I bought at Britex and Yellow Bird Fabric. I need more clothes, but I'm being really good about not buying any clothes. I need more pants that actually fit me, but I don't plan on making pants for myself any time soon. Anyone up for a clothing swap? I'm dead serious. I've got a bag of shoes and clothes that I don't/can't wear anymore.