Tag Archives: apartment

March 12, 2017 · 5:02 PM

DIY Washi Tape Light Covers

Lookie at what I did today!

And you should, too! Here’s how I did it!

Well, I started with my plain light covers…..many of them in a 1-bedroom apartment!

And that’s boring! So….Washi Tape to the rescue!

I collect ’em when they’re on sale!!

I have lots of Christmas and Valentine’s Day themed ones, too…but those stayed on the shelf for this particular project 🙂

And so I went to town!! Grab your flat head screwdriver and take the plates off of the wall. Then you get the Washi Tape and just stick ’em on where you want ’em…and fold them over the back! You can see that I used shorter strips over the switch rectangles. And it’s Washi Tape…so it’s super easy to reposition it!

If you want to go diagonal over a switch rectangle, you just have to cut diagonally into the corners and fold it down! Like so…

PicMonkey Collage

Here are my completed works!

And here they are in their natural environment. Much cheerier than they were this morning, that’s for sure!

Watch for when Washi Tape goes on sale, and start building up your stock!

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Filed under Crafts

Tagged as apartment, craft, diy, home, light, light covers, personalize, style, tape, Washi Tape

October 12, 2016 · 7:58 PM

Every Day is Special

Check out this picture of part of my old apartment, before it burned down. Now, take a moment to read the black canvas.

This is something I made when I was in college, and it was hanging on my wall during my apartment fire.

Now, here is a picture that the contractors took with my phone after the fire, of the same area, but from a different angle. See that black canvas?! It’s still there! It was saved! They were able to bring it down to me, though it looks a bit more rugged than it once did. And I love it even more. It wasn’t moldy, or smelly, so I kept it!

Oh, and that black/gray thing in the top left of the picture? That’s the roof. Yup. This picture still makes me cry as I long for what was lost.

However, remember what that canvas says, y’all?

Don’t save something for a special occasion. Every day of your life is a special occasion.

How true this is, y’all.

How fitting that this is the first thing that I hung up in the living room area of my new apartment.

Y’all, every day of your life is a special occasion. Enjoy things while you can.

I often now think of my fancy hat collection, and that I should have worn them more often instead of saving them for special occasions. I think of my flamingo serving platter that I should have used to simply eat dinner, instead of using it only when someone came over. These and many other things that I have lost I now wish I’d used more often.

Yes, it’s important to have special things that you only use for special occasions….but seriously. Use things. Love them.

Use them. Get out your fancy plates and USE THEM. Get out your special shoes and wear them. Get out your nice dress and enjoy it.

I really love this picture because if you compare it to the first picture in this post, you can see that it has some scars from the fire. And I love it like this.

Every day of your life is a special occasion.

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Filed under Thoughts

Tagged as apartment, fire, lessons, special occasion

March 7, 2015 · 9:58 PM

A Sitting Apparatus or Two

When I moved into this apartment, I realized I needed a place to sit and eat. I didn’t want a table and chairs…no room for that in my apartment. I just wanted a sitting apparatus (actually, 2) to put up against the counter ledge that juts out a bit. But because I had just moved, I didn’t have a lot of money to buy them.

But then I saw the pile of things that were waiting to be hung on the bare walls, and I remembered my $5 savings plan!!! I couldn’t believe I had $240, since I had spent 4 months that year in Romania and Ireland (where I wasn’t adding to my $5 savings plan at all since I was using a different currency). Yet alas, here it was! And I had $240!

I wasn’t sure how much I would need, but I had it!

If you don’t know what the $5 savings plan is, click here to read about it.

Well, I set out with the Solises to Trader’s Village (a flea market here in Houston) to find some!

Natalie had fun counting my $5 bills on the way there…

I only found one that I semi-liked…

But here’s the thing…I wanted ones that spin. I had qualifications (1) must spin (2) must have a back (3) must have that leather(-like) seat, not fabric or wood.

So that wouldn’t do.

Kept looking, and found one!

I was glad that Aldo was with me, because he speaks Spanish and could barter for me…

The whole time, I was updating my friend Teo on my progress. When we found this one, this conversation ensued:

Aldo: I like them
Me: Me, too.
Aldo: I hope Teo likes them.
Me: I’ll send her a picture.
Aldo: You’re crazy.

So I sent her a picture, and she approved! Opinions matter.

Aldo talked down the price to $108 for both of the chairs that are there, since they are the display ones and had some imperfections from everyone sitting on them and moving them around. Or I could buy them new and get them next week and have to put them together, for $145.

SOOO I said I’d think about it.

We walked around and got some other stuff (I scored on some Christmas presents!) and then I decided to buy them new! I would have to put them together and wait a week, but I would have them without blemishes, and that was nice.

So I pulled out my $5 bills and paid! The guy was surprised, and I was proud. I love using my $5 savings plan!

I picked them up a week later, and Clara helped me put them together!