Crafting A Better Home

Winter is still firmly here, with lots of snow falling (then again, I live in Canada). So, there's not much incentive to store away the Christmas decorations. Yet, I started on it, then stop midway through due to an epiphany: some of the unused elements could be used to whip up a nice centerpiece. The elements in questions were a velvety gift box and some fake flowers and branches. I initially thought about adding ribbons, but eventually decided to keep this minimalist. The box had been gathering some dust, but a lint roller took care of this. The ribbon on top of the lid was delicately removed, to be glued to one of the side instead; that way, the lid lies flat, tucked under the box. A small block of floral foam was purchased and cut to size: same square base, but slightly less tall than the box. To make extra sure the foam would no be visible, most of the flowers on the periphery were placed to cover the lip of the box.  The flowers were stuck in the foa

Hello! So I promised I'd do something with ropes, here it is. It's more like twine, but semantics... My new home has a beautiful blue and white bathroom. And one element I'd brought from my previous abode did not fit that colour theme: My 70's-inspired toilet paper holder Not that it'd ever fit any of my previous bathrooms, but it is handy. And I was looking for a small project to get into crafting, with low-risks of mauling an actually-valuable piece of decor. After a small Google search, I decided on this Buzzfeed idea . Pretty sure it's not original, but that's where I got it in any case. The first part was easy: use liberal amounts of glue to secure the twine to the pink box: Working in the sun The second part was a bit trickier. And not less because I first needed to get more glue ! So I wanted to replace the pink lid with one made of twine. The difficult bit was creating a knob to make it easier to remove and place back down.

To start crafting like a true blogger, last week-end I got a small glue gun from Canadian Tire . (I may be French, but I can at least try to act like a true Quebecker.) Why this gun? Well, it was the cheapest. Since I'm only starting with crafting and not quite sure I'll keep at it, there's no point in spending a fortune (yet). Plus, well-known brand, dual-temp (which seems to open more possibilities), and readily-available (and inexpensive) glue sticks; in short, an easy choice. No, I didn't just buy a glue gun for the sake of buying, I actually have a project for it, involving some rope, acquired at the same time as the gun . Here it is, with my cat for reference: What is the cat looking at? Well, our marvelous view!  (Yes, we're very proud; we may have double- and triple-check that the house itself was solid, but this was THE selling point.)

Hi!  Today is January 2018, 1st. It's also a Monday. That already makes for two good reasons for trying something new. Plus, both my significant other and I have recently started new, awesome jobs. Oh, and there's that teensy tiny little thing: we bought a house a couple months ago. However, a house does not become a home just like that. It takes a little TLC.  And so, I'm starting this blog to chronicle my attempts at crafting a home, with cooking, crocheting, decorating, repairing, improving, gardening, and more. In the spirit of this time of year, here's my fireplace.