home improvement

One of the fun bonuses of being married is creating a "home." In college with my roomies, we were never really motivated to spend what little money we had to decorate our apartment. We knew we would be moving soon, and didn't have a lot of time for crafting because we were so "busy" studying, socializing, dating and making music videos. But now, I feel a moral obligation to make our little basement more homey. So starting small, I have made a few DIY things to help improve our place.

First, just a little upgrade at the sink.
This hideous Costco dish soap bottle:

 to this cute mason jar soap dispenser!

All it took was the old pump off my shampoo bottle, some nails and a hammer, and a mason jar and lid. If you want to make your own, there's a little tutorial at fineandfeathered.com.

Next, a vase makeover!
I took a plain old vase from that came from the florist with a bouquet. I wrapped it in twine and it looks much nicer now!

I have a bunch of cool, old mason jars that I found in the basement of the slightly sketchy but amazing house Paul lives in (he has a beautiful kitchen that, of course, he never uses). I had a craft night with my friend Alise and we put the mason jars to good use and made candles!

I just bought some wax, wicks and scents at Hobby Lobby. We melted, poured and waited, and they turned out really cute! We used a little technique for the wicks that was quite helpful. Check it out at the blog abeautifulmess.com.
They look great for an autumn arrangement!

I've obviously been feeling crafty lately and I thinks it been rubbing off. The other night Kevin said to me, "I want to do a project tonight!" I pulled up Pinterest, we hit up the DI thrift store, and Kevin got out his power tools. We made an iPad stand for our kitchen! Kevin got to do a lot of pounding, sanding and drilling and I got to do some painting.
This Pottery Barn knock-off was our inspiration:

 And here's ours:

We used this old cutting board, and Kevin pounded off the ledges. Then we used wood glue to attach one on the front for the iPad to rest on, and the other on the back for support.

We used the wedge off of a knife block as the other support. Kevin really had to pound and drill to get that baby off the knife block! Then we glued the wedge on the back of the cutting board.

It turned out so lovely! I have already used it a bunch for recipes while cooking. I love it!

Maybe I have too much time on my hands, but I'm loving these little projects that are making our house a little more homey! We are getting ready for Thanksgiving and having a cozy fall!