DIY: decorative copper ladder

I feel like my downtime in the last 2 months can be described as “spend as much time as possible trolling the internet for cool/cute home things”. (gosh I can’t believe it’s only been a little over 2 months since I put an offer in on this place)

I think I’m doing a good job and on the right track since I’ve seen similar colour patterns, influences, and general decor options pop up in decor magazines, websites, and blogs recently. I’m not trying to be trendy but like to stay up to date with what’s on trend and integrate the more timeless pieces in my house. I do most of my home shopping at Homesense so if I’m really, really not feeling something anymore in a year or two it’s nice to know I can replace it without having spent a small fortune on it. This does not apply for my couch; other than my home and car, I have never spent so much on one thing and Sven will be with me for a long time to come. 

The one downside of condo living as compared to house living? The lack of storage. Heck, my linen closet is only 8.5″ deep. You really have to be deliberate with the towel and sheet folding to get them neatly tucked in there. I am always cold and have a plethora of throws and blankets in all rooms. ‘Welcome home: you will never be cold’ should be the condo’s unofficial motto. I needed somewhere to store the blankets since taking up a whole shelf of precious space in the linen closet didn’t seem like a good option so I started searching for decorative ladders. 2 things: 1. these are not widely available in most stores/websites I frequent, and 2. if they are, they’re “shabby chic”, splinters and peeling paint included free of charge. Yah; no. 

So I made my own. 

And. It’s easy. Like, really easy. I did a quick search and saw the ladies at A Beautiful Mess had made one. I read their directions and recap about 12 times, decided on the scale for my own, did a drawing, consulted my local hardware store’s website to make sure they had everything I needed and the costs. With plans with a friend looming I kicked my own butt and got everything I needed and got to work. 

My size:
6 feet tall
18 inches wide

What you’ll need:
18 feet of copper pipe (either 1/2″ or 3/4″) I went with 1/2″ and bought six 3-foot pieces because I thought the shorter size would be easier to cut and manage
8 tees (1/2″ or 3/4″ depending on what size pipe you decided on)
4 caps (1/2″ or 3/4″ depending on what size pipe you decided on)
a pipe cutter
super glue
measuring tape and a marker
(very important note: the A Beautiful Mess guide said their hardware store cut the pipe; mine did not. A handheld pipe cutter is about $6 and is very easy to use.)
(less important note: I’ve linked to what I used to give you an idea what these things are)

[2 above photos via A Beautiful Mess]

How to:
– measure (twice), mark and cut pipe – for this size and shape you’ll need 2 x 24″, 4 x 18″, and 8 x 12″ pieces
– applying a thin layer of glue to the ends, attach 12″ pieces to top and bottom of each tee and a 18″ piece to the center
– keep building and fitting together. Check out my diagram above, it comes together fairly easily and makes sense if you just remember you’re building a ladder.
– instead of finishing the last “step” with a 12″ piece at the bottom I went with 24″ (I wanted the extra room to use the bottom rung)
– put the caps on the top and bottom to make it look finished
– let glue dry at least 24 hours

Total cost (based on what I purchased): 
1/2″: $65.64 + tax (buying three 6-foot pieces instead will save you $5.70)
3/4″: $96.02 + tax (buying three three 6-foot pieces instead will save you $0.75)
Don’t need glue or a pipe cutter? You’ll save $13.

For about half of the advertised price of the only decorative ladder I would have considered purchasing (wood finished in a stain that doesn’t even match my living room, not copper) I was able to make exactly what I wanted. Useful and pretty. 

And makes me feel really gosh darn accomplished each time I glance over at it. 

 

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It goes without saying that you know you can not use this as a real ladder, right? Just making sure. 

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DIY pom-pom garland

My favourite thing about Valentine’s Day is the ability to drape my home in all pink and hearts everything. 

Lately, I have been very, VERY into garlands. And twinkle lights. So much so that I figured indoor (LED, cool to the touch) lights aren’t Christmas specific and should stay up all year long. My living room is the cutest! I picked up a very adorable and inexpensive heart garland from Target but wanted one more (more is more at my house) that was delicate and….fluffy? 

Lets make pom-pom garlands, friends! 

Wait. First, the good news: these are easy, inexpensive, and can be scrunched up and stored in a sandwich sized ziplock bag. Ok, let’s get our craft on. 

What you’ll need:

• yarn (I got mine from Walmart, it was $4 for 100g. I bought two different kinds and really preferred the BERNAT Giggles brand)
• scissors (the sharper the better)

How to:

• watch this video on how to make yarn pom-poms. Easy to follow, very descriptive. 
  • I did not trim my poms like she explains
  • I wrapped around 2 fingers
  • around the 4:00 minute mark she mentions keeping the ends long, YES, we’ll need long ends. Don’t trim them yet. 
• make as many poms as you like; this is a great activity to do while watching Netflix in bed on a Sunday 
• I thought long and hard (or for about 147 seconds) about what I would use as the rope. I’m a little (a lot) OCD about things matching so didn’t want to use ribbon or other twine I have, which is how I came up with the idea to make a braided rope for the poms to attach to. 

• cut 9 pieces of yarn at least 6 inches longer than the final length you want your garland to be. There’s no harm in adding more than 6″ cause if it’s too long you can snip it later.
• tie all 9 pieces together at one end and (this is very important) secure the knotted end in a drawer (see incredibly shitty left photo above). I used a bedroom dresser because the drawers are not on rollers so a bit of force didn’t pull it open. Securing the knot makes it possible to get a good grip to make a tight braid.
• grouping yarn in pieces of 3 (it makes your rope thicker than using just 1 piece), braid the length of your rope, remembering to untangle every so often. Honestly, this is a bit tedious and a pain in the butt, but the final product looks great. 
• measure against where you want to hang it, remember it should drape a bit. Perfect? Great, proceed. Too long? Cut some off and proceed. 
• tie off the bottom end; voila, yarn rope! 

• start at the ends with the poms that have the longest end strings
• first, tie the pom-pom snuggly to the yarn rope than tie the ends together a double knot so you have a loop that’ll attach to a hook (see white pom-pom photo above on right). Do this at both ends. If you ends aren’t long enough it’s easy to thread a piece of yarn through the end of the braid and tie the ends together to make a loop. 
• tie the rest on with double or triple knots, wherever you like, and snip the ends 

• my garlands weren’t quite long enough (definitely did not measure beforehand) so I looped them to my lights (which stay cool, so we good) but a few 3M hooks would be perfect to hang your garland. 

That’s it. Essentially: make poms, make a rope, tie them on and tie loops at the end to easily hang. 

Once I move I may buy yarn is every colour to fashion pom-pom garlands for every occasion! 

And and! Like she says in the video, wouldn’t these be PERFECT as gift toppers?! I’m so doing this. Imagine cute poms with extra yarn wrapped around a craft box? Maybe a few different colours. Yes yes! 

DIY: gifts, ornaments, and sweets

Ok friends, one full weekend before Christmas and I’ve got some cute and fairly simple ideas if you want to add a personal touch to a Christmas gift. 

You may recognize these from…last year…cause well, they were pretty great and I’m feeling pretty lazy. This is a bit of a do-as-I-say-not-as-I-do post because other than 1 batch of red velvet snowballs, 3 banana breads, and 6 Christmas breads I’m not making anything for anyone this year. 

Hope there’s something here to inspire you…

DIY gifts

clay jewelry dish //  notebooks // monogram mug // mountain range photo holder // glass set // bath bombs // gold dipped mixing spoons 

From the archives: cards // glitter frames

DIY ornaments

While I adore finding the perfect gift for the perfect person, something that says “you probably won’t buy this for yourself but you deserve it”; I also love adding something homemade. A little handmade touch shows the little extra time, the little extra love. DIY ornaments as a gift tag or tied to a gift in gorgeous, flowing ribbon may just be my favourite. (maybe this year I bought cute ones from Sugar Paper for Target; if I get my shit together one year I’m totally making some ornaments.)

glitter confetti // black & white // gold leaf monogram (would also be great with gold marker) // sequins

From the archives: DIY gold glitter bulbs. 

Sweet treats

Cookies and baked goods are usually easy and quick to make and with a little cellophane and a big bow, look lovely to receive. My goal was only finding you easy recipes that don’t require any strange ingredients and don’t need a degree from Le Cordon Bleu to ensure these are perfect. 

christmas bread; a Christmas morning staple in our house

soft snickerdoodles, love anything with cinnamon

brown butter oatmeal chocolate chip cookies; love the chew from the oats

cake mix chocolate fudge crinkle cookies; or lovingly referred to as CaCookies (cake-mix cookies). If you have time for only one cookie, make these! They are so easy and elicit endless compliments. This is the basic recipe, feel free to add whatever you fancy to the dough…like mint chocolate bar chunks. So good. 

orange spiced gingerbread with a cranberry glaze; ’tis the season for gingerbread

totally fun and unexpected, cake batter bark. (other delicious combos: dark chocolate, orange, and almond; chocolate with crushed pretzels; white chocolate with cranberry and pistachio)

salty + sweet: peanut butter pretzel chocolate chip bites

small batch, 2 ingredient fudge. Please make chocolate-orange. 

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ps: don’t forget the playlist

summer DIYs

I am right on the border of loving DIYs and being super lazy. Make it at home lip chap? Are you freaking kidding? Oh hells no! Craft your own gift tags? I am all for that! 

Though I have a very limited DIY list in my repertoire I do like the accomplishment of making things for myself…but mostly making things for other people. So they can tell me how great I am. 

…

TELL ME HOW GREAT I AM!

And I like DIYs that make my office cuter. 

Maximum output, minimum effort. 

These are four, relatively quick and easy projects you can DIY for yourself (all of them) or gift to a friend (all minus coffee ice cubes, they don’t really travel well) for lots and lots of praise, hugs, hopefully some flowers from their garden. 

[photo from howsweeteats]

While Dad was away last week I swore I would finally make some no churn ice cream. Grand plans. Cream was not on sale, Drumsticks were. There’s boys weekend next month…so maybe then? Peach season + ice cream? Match made is summer heaven. If you brought me roasted peach no churn ice cream I would like you a lot more than my neighbour Mary who thought I would like a 14″ zucchini. No Mary. Zucchini are mushy, disgusting vegetables. But more of those chocolate walnut muffins would be good. Don’t even try to sneak zucchini into them…

We’ll just continue on the peach theme. While Dad was at boys weekend last September (let’s not do the math on how long I’ve lived with my Dad, mmmmkay??) I made quick peach jam and drop biscuits. Aka: a good reason to have sugar and carbs with my fruit at breakfast. This recipe is fast and easy (TWSS…) (do the kids still say that? they don’t, do they? how old am I?) and delicious and lasted in the fridge about 2 weeks. 2 birds, 1 stone? (which is an awful saying) make the jam then put it into ice cream. Also goes well with super buttery sourdough bread. Are you a bread + butter + jam girl? I wasn’t BUT butter your bread, then lightly toast, then put jam on. YES! 

Let’s stay in the kitchen just a wee bit longer, shall we? I love iced coffee and because I’m a little strange crave it the most in early spring (instead of the height of summer).  Do you know what totally ruins iced coffee? Regular ice cubes. Regular ice cubes water down the whole thing. Actually, aren’t regular ice cubes kind of the worst? No recipe here because it couldn’t be easier: brew a full pot of coffee, drink some (I would recommend warm, coconut syrup, warm milk and microwave foam), cool the rest, pour into an ice cub mold and freeze. Need a recipe for cold brew? I have one of those.  

Even though the only thing my right foot brushes up against in the middle of the night is my left leg I have become obsessive about ensuring my feet (and legs and arms, for that matter) are smooth and soft. I love body scrubs to exfoliate all the dead skin and then super thick and rich body butter to keep everything soft. Seriously, in the most uncreepy way, you should totally feel my legs. How to: whip a 1/2 cup of solid coconut oil – mix in 1 cup sugar. Store in an 8oz mason jar and seal tightly. Optional add-ins: lemon zest or 1/2 teaspoon essential oil. 

DIY gifts

Day 2 of DIY Christmas week: gifts. 

For the most part, these are easy and everything you need should be easily available at craft stores. I’m not a bath person, but a lot of my friends are and I think holiday scented bath bombs (wrapped in cellophane and pretty bow) would make a great gift. 

Gold dipped mixing spoons? I think I’ll add these to the new house list (oh no, I haven’t found one yet; but I do have an ever growing list of things I want for it). 

Alternative name for this post: dip/spray/paint things gold and give them to me. Or copper. And especially rose gold. Copper and rose gold make my heart beat fast. In a good way. 

clay jewelry dish //  notebooks // monogram mug // mountain range photo holder // glass set // bath bombs // gold dipped mixing spoons 

From the archives: cards // glitter frames

Don’t forget the Christmas playlist: