DIY Project: bookshelf for too many books on the cheap

It's true, I own way too many things....especially books. So now that I have to add my books to the bf's collection it is obviously time to get a bookcase so there are not random stacks laying around like in my previous place.

We had an empty wall that is perfect the home for our books, but we didn't want to spend a bunch of money at Ikea for something that would break in a year as most of their furniture has in my experience. Thus, we borrowed an idea from my friends Erin & Chippy and decided to build one with wood and garden stones. (Their shelf was for CD's so we had to adjust as necessary for the varying heights of books).

All we needed were 5 pieces of lumber that we later sanded and a shit ton of garden stones:





















We stacked the stones like so:












After stacking the stones, the bookcase became stable:











Thus it was time to fill it up:









I think the bookshelf makes a great focal point for the room. It's also right across from the bed so I'll have something else pleasing to look at every morning (other than the bf who was patient enough to listen to my idea for the bookshelf, then help me make it).

DIY Project: desk for the corner

The bf and I recently moved into the master bedroom of a great house and the room is huge. This is good news as I'm a pack rat who tends to keep everything (which was apparent when my stuff helped to overfill a car and a moving van).

Thus we're trying to keep our new room minimal, yet functional. The bf bought me a great dresser that also doubles as a desk which is perfect for storing my laptop. However, he has a desktop and we needed a place for it without taking up a lot of room.

We found the solution in a folding table from IKEA for about $60. When it is folded in half it fits perfectly in one of our corners.











The shape was perfect but it was kind of an ugly looking. So I decided fabric in a pretty, yet manly design (this is for the bf, not me) would make it an excellent addition to our room. Before covering it with fabric, we gathered some paper bags from Trader Joe's and Whole Foods and cut them into long strips which we covered the table with to protect it as we might want to use the table for something else down the line.











Once covered with the strips of paper bags it looked like a miniature ironing board:











Then we flipped it over and began to cover it with fabric. It was easier to do so with the table upside down, especially when working with a hot glue gun that pretty much burned me every chance it got:











When finished it look like so:











And finally all set up in the corner:

sock it to you

I've been dreading the attempt to make socks ever since I started knitting. A few weeks ago I got over my fear and about 2.5 hours later I had to frog the whole thing. It looked like it would fit a baby which is cool cause I love babies. And I'm sure a few of my soon-to-be expecting friends would love some socks. The problem is the socks were supposed to be for ME. Thus, this business of making socks isn't as easy as I thought it would be and it confirms why I've been subconsciously avoiding them.

Yet, I'm back on the sock bandwagon and so far things are going swell. Now I just need to get used to knitting with 5 needles and feel like I'm wrestling an ornery octopus.

See what I am about the mess of controlling 5 DPN's at once?









And this time there's lots of ribbing so hopefully the sock will stretch to fit properly: