A Cart to DIY for

I am not one of those people for whom interior design just comes naturally.  I have a few of those people as friends - hell, my mom was one of those people - and their homes always look like it belongs in a magazine.  Or on Pinterest.  My home usually looks like two lazy (tightly budgeted) young people live in it.  Because, you know, we do.  Anyway, whenever I feel like I accomplish something in my house, I feel like I have to take a minute to brag.

So here I am.

There is this space of a couple feet between where our kitchen cabinets end and our back door begins that I've never really known what to do with.  J took to stashing the recycling bag there, which wasn't very attractive but...whatever, it meant he was more likely to take the recycling out.

After seeing endless bar carts on blogs and on Pinterest, I decided that was what I wanted.  The only problem was that I kept falling in love with carts that were WAY out of my budget.  I found a few DIY ideas where people spray painted Ikea carts gold to make them look fancier.  Gold isn't my color, but it at least put me on the right track.

I bought and assembled (and cursed) an Ikea Bygel cart.  The frame itself was fine since our appliances are all stainless, but the white shelves bothered me.

I then bought some marble contact paper and covered the three shelves.  Boom.  I now have a bar cart I like that cost me less than $50.

My next step should probably be to diversify the "bar" part of my cart.  If you come over, you can have your choice of vodka, a different brand of vodka, flavored vodka, a different flavor of vodka, or wine.

I also need to get something nicer to put straws in since this goblet from a casino in Vegas doesn't exactly match the nice bar set that KB gave me for my birthday.

I love it, but the thing I probably love most about the stupid thing is that I made it what it is.  I feel like DIY home decor is so much more rewarding than buying something.  (Not to mention SO much cheaper.)  The only problem is...now I'm on another DIY kick.  If you'll excuse me, I have some very important Pinterest scouring to do. ;)

The DIY Gift That Bombed

J and I did not plan our relationship well.

You see, right after Christmas is J's birthday, then in the beginning of January is our anniversary; my birthday is at the end of January and then we fall right into Valentine's Day.  It's basically a month and a half of planning and buying gifts, so somewhere along the way we've started making a tradition of DIY anniversary gifts.  

Since I'm trying to declutter, it didn't make sense for me to craft him something that would just sit on the shelf so I wanted to make him something that he'd actually use.  I was stumped until I realized that the most obvious answer was in one of his favorite past times: baths.

I started out just making bath salts in his favorite scent.  They're pretty and all, but lacked the cheesiness factor that I prefer when giving an anniversary gift.

Side note: green bath salts in the making are disgusting looking.

I then decided to make bath bombs...with a twist.  If you're curious, here's how to make some of your own.  If you're not curious...move along, move along.

In a bowl mix together:

1 cup baking soda

1/2 cup citric acid

1/2 cup cornstarch

1/2 cup epsom salts

(optional) Cosmetic glitter!

In a smaller container, mix:

2ish teaspoons coconut oil (in liquid form)

6 teaspoons of liquid made up of scent, color and water.  The exact ratio depends on the strength of the essential oil and coloring.  (Make sure that both are bath and body grade.)  Keep in mind that it will be less strong once you get in the tub, but it's safer to be on the underscented/colored side.

Slooooowly stir the liquid mixture into the dry mixture.  If you add it too quickly, it'll activate and start fizzing.  This is bad, mmmk.  The consistency you want will hold its shape when you squeeze it together - if it's too dry, add a little more water.

Okay, so here's my twist.  I went to a party store and got a bunch of cheesy, cheap little party favor toys.  I used the King Cube ice tray I got from Popsugar long, long ago as my bomb mold.  You can also use a cupcake pan, candy molds, plastic Easter eggs...whatever you have sitting around the house.

Fill your molds half way with your mixture, add your toy, then dump the rest of your mixture on top.  Try to be a little more even and neat than I was, obviously.  Then, press down on the top of each of your bomb mold area things until it's firmly packed.  Let them dry overnight before removing from the random-thing-you're-using-as-a-mold. 

I was sick when I was trying to put these together, so I derped and forgot to take a picture of the finished tray.  (This is also why the photos I did take aren't Pinterest quality ;) ) I also stuck some sugar hearts (like for cake decorating) in the bombs before letting them harden.  

I wrote some sort of cheesy note corresponding with each toy (like this one for the bracelet that had Rockstar printed on it and "You make me smile!" for the smiley face ball) and wrapped each bomb and note up individually in aluminum foil.  You can also use saran wrap, but I didn't want the notes to show through and...well, shiny.

 I tucked all of the bombs into a box with a - you guessed it - cheesy note.

 The biggest downside of making these as a gift for someone you live with is that it sort of ruins the surprise.  J knew the house smelled extra fragrance-y, but he said he was actually expecting me to give him candles.

Cheap toys and bath products might not seem like the makings of a perfect gift for a 28 year old guy, but the bombs went over really well.  He's used two so far and apparently had been bragging to some of his friends about his "epic gift."

Here There Be Dragon (Thumb Tack Eggs, That Is!)

Using Accio Lacquer's tutorial, I made dragon eggs!  Mine are larger than hers, though, and required about a million more thumbtacks.

The egg on the left is made with Color Club Haute Couture topped with Essie As Gold As It Gets.

The egg on the right is Sinful Colors Black on Black topped with Essie Shine of the Times.

I'm going to be giving a lot of dragon eggs away for Christmas this year. ;)