Monthly Archives

April 2016

Family

Happy Burphday, Murph!

April 20th marked the start of our cat Murphy’s 12th year on this planet, demanding all of the soft blankets, lap time, and treats.  We don’t have kids of our own yet, so this little one is our fur child and we celebrate his birthday accordingly!

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Let me tell you a little bit about this guy.  We adopted him 5 months after we started dating in 2004, when we were broke college students.   WHO DOES THAT?!  We did, because in your early 20’s you always make really good decisions and this seemed like one at the time. (Reason: brains take a long time to mature.).  We adopted him from the Kalamazoo Animal Rescue when he was just a scared, quiet little kitten.

Picture022Little did we know that he was part Ragdoll, which meant he would grow up to be the most talkative, friendly, floppy cat we’d ever meet.

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Although we were dumb kids when we adopted him, I don’t regret it because he’s been with us for the entirety of our relationship, and we’ve all sort of grown up together.  He’s our little buddy, and a really great cat most of the time (except for 5am when he’s tapping my nose, demanding food because he’s “STARVING”).  If you’re interested in adopting, check out your local shelter.  There are tons of cats out there just like Murphy, waiting for you!
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In honor of Murph, and all of the shelter animals out there, we volunteer every year for the Humane Society of Huron Valley’s Walk & Wag 5k fun run.  It’s a really unique fundraising event where you can run or walk a 5k with your pup, and all proceeds go to helping the shelter animals.  If you’re interested in donating or signing up for the walk/run, go here.  We hope to see you there in May!

For Murphy’s Birthday, we celebrated by giving him a “cake” crafted from all of his favorite foods:
Wet Food + Tuna + Cheese + Grass.  Yum?

IMAG1436 (2)He didn’t even know where to start, but once he realized what it was made of, it was GAME ON.  It lasted for about 2 seconds before he demolished it, and now he expects that same treat everyday.

For years, Murphy has begged and cried to be let outside.  Unfortunately with his genetic makeup, he isn’t suited to be an outdoor cat.  Ragdolls are too friendly and trusting of other people, which can lead to bad things happening to them when they’re left outside on their own.  So as a compromise, we got him a harness so that we could take him outside under supervision.  The instructions say that you should be careful to acclimate the cat to the harness indoors with “lots of praise, petting, and play”.  But I’m telling you, once we got the harness on and set him outside, he was like:

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Not. even. phased.  He LOVES it, so I think we did pretty good with the gift this year.

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Happy Birthday to the master of making beds, “helping” with projects, being our shadow, and getting comfortable wherever he is.  We love you, Murph!

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Have a great weekend!
Smied Watermark

Favorites

Birthday + April Favorites

April is one of my favorite months.  Not only does Michigan weather start getting its act together, but it’s also my birthday month!  Wednesday was my actual birthday, and although I had to work, I came home to quite a surprise from Jeremy.  A homemade chorizo taco bar, margaritas, balloons, and he tried shooting confetti at me when I walked through the door, while blaring this song.  The spring in the confetti popper didn’t work though, so he sort of just ended up throwing it at me, and then the spring came flying out like a terrifying jack-in-the-box.  It was hilarious.  Also, TACOS.  Tacos, chips & salsa are my weakness – I could eat them for breakfast/lunch/dinner, and need to be supervised when I do, so I don’t eat myself to death.how-do-i-stop-eating-chips-und-salsaThis question is right up there with the meaning of life for me.

Spring + Birthdays are some of my favorite things, so for this post I decided to share some of my other current favorites with you.
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1.  Fixer Upper Season 2
GUYS.  They just released this on Netflix last Tuesday, and I may or may not have binged over the course of two days.  I love Chip & Joanna, Chip’s goofy personality reminds me a LOT of my husband (who is nicknamed “the golden retriever of humans” because everyone just loves him).  Their house transformations are always amazing, but I get so sad when I watch, because I want them to come redo our house for free.  Her designs actually inspired me to put up white subway tile in our kitchen (before-and-after in an upcoming post!), and I have plans for some serious ship-lap in the near future.

2. LifeFactory Water Bottle Turquoise, 22oz.
I’ve made a pretty vocal effort to start drinking more water, so Jeremy picked this up as one of my birthday gifts.  It’s super cute, and the silicone grip is really nice.  Plastic water bottles have always weirded me out and leave a plastic/metallic aftertaste in the water, so I really appreciate that the bottle is made of glass.  I also love that the top enclosure doesn’t make an obnoxiously loud *POP* every time you open/close it to take a drink.

3.  Essie Chillato
Some women collect an obscene amount of shoes…for me, it’s nail polish.  With the weather warming up, I’ve been in the mood for spring-colored nails and picked up this beauty at CVS.  It’s like pastel yellow + lime green had a baby, and has a solid finish with two coats.  So pretty.

4. La Quercia N’duja Americana
This is a spicy prosciutto spread that Jeremy introduced me to, and it is soooo good.  It almost tastes like a spreadable pepperoni, with a little bit of heat.  We’ve tried it spread on crostini and crackers, and thrown it in pasta sauce, but I’m sure there are a million other things you can do with it.  They sell this at Zingerman’s, and Jeremy was actually just recently in a video promoting it.  There are scarves, space cheese kittens, and a flawless delivery on Jeremy’s part, watch it here.  You won’t be disappointed.  He’s ridiculous.

5.  Saucony Women’s Scoot LX Capri
I’ve had these for a while now, and they are easily the most comfortable pair of workout bottoms I own.  They’re light, flexible, airy, and super forgiving so they don’t squeeze you like some running tights can.  I can wear these in both warm and cold weather when running outdoors, and they keep me at a comfortable temperature.  I want them in more colors!

6. Chalk Markers
As I’ve mentioned before, I love making chalkboards.  I started out several years ago just using regular crayola chalk dipped in water, but for really fun/bold boards I love these chalk markers.  I did boards for a friend’s wedding last September, and these markers made the boards look so crisp and bright.  PS – that friend is Adrienne over at Appetites Anonymous, she’s a foodie with amazing cooking/styling skills  – check her blog out!
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7.  Swagbucks
I make an extra $50/month through this website.  It’s an online rewards and cash back program, where you receive “swagbucks” for each survey you fill out, website you visit, etc.  Each swagbuck = 1 penny.  I’ve been a member for the last 5 years – so I can tell you it’s legit.  I save the gift cards I earn towards light fixtures and other home improvement wants (not needs), that wouldn’t normally fit in my budget.  You can sign up here.

8.  Smith + Hawken Boxwood Wreath – Target
If you follow my instagram, you know that I love a festive front door wreath!  The last few months we’ve had some pretty colorful wreaths up, so for spring I’ve been keeping an eye out for something a little more subtle.  I love the look of a Magnolia wreath, but haven’t been able to find a faux wreath that was affordable, and the cheaper ones look pretty obviously fake.  This boxwood wreath is a good alternative.  Its full, green, and a fresh look for our spring front door.

What are some of your favorites lately?
Smied Watermark

DIY Decor Home Improvement

DIY Pottery Barn Raleigh Bed

This bed tutorial has been a long time coming – we recently finished this project, and I’m so excited to talk about it!  I know I’ve said this before, but I love just about everything Pottery Barn makes.  If I had a million dollars and could furnish my entire house with their products, I would. Sadly, I don’t have that many zeros in my bank account (yet!).  For YEARS now I’ve coveted their Raleigh Camelback bed…but there was no way to justify spending $1500+ on it.

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Look at this cozy bed.  Sooo pretty.

Thankfully Jeremy and our friend Kyle are handy, handy dudes and agreed to build it for me!  If you’ve ever lived in an older home, you know that they’re not built to hold ridiculously large beds. So this tutorial is for a queen-sized bed and headboard, but you can adjust the measurements against your own box spring and mattress if you’re going for a different size.

You can get most of your materials from Home Depot, Lowes, and Joann Fabric.  We went to our local lumber yard for all of our wood- Chelsea Lumber, because they’re always friendly, helpful, and we like to support local businesses when we can.

12959508_10100789926697758_572382453_o12986744_10100789926787578_1518052260_oMaterials List
1: 4’x8′ piece of 1/2″ birch plywood
1: 4″x4″ board, 10 ft. length
4: 1″x12″ boards, 8 ft. length
2: 1″x2″ boards, 8 ft. length
11: 1″x4″ boards, 8 ft. length
1 box of #8-3″ deck screws (self-tapping is the key to less swear words.)
5 yards of fabric – I found this pottery barn dupe (in Natural) at Joann’s for $7/yard
2 rolls of Batting
1 sheet of 2’x 6′ upholstery foam (can find at Joann Fabrics or Home Depot)
1 can of adhesive spray
1 box 13/16″ nailheads
Beer (Optional, but really helps when you reach Part II, step 6.)

Tools Required
Staple Gun + staples
Miter Saw
Jig Saw
Hand Saw
Drill
Measuring tape
Iron
Rubber Mallet
Air Compressor + Brad gun (Optional, but can be helpful to tack things together quickly)

Instructions
Part I – Building + Upholstering the Bed
1.  A day or two before assembly, you’ll need to stain the legs of the bed.  Cut your 4″x4″ into 8 12″ lengths.  This will not only make for a taller bed, but will also allow ample room for under-bed storage.  Stain the legs with a color of your choice.  We did a layered stain for darker legs, with 1 coat of Minwax Dark Walnut first, and 1 coat of Minwax Ebony on top.

2.  Measure your box spring to find the dimensions for your bed frame.  Add a 1/4″ to each
measurement to give your box spring a little wiggle room when placed in the frame.

3.  Cut your 1″x12″ boards to match your measurements, these are the sides of your bedframe. Assemble the frame – we inset the short lengths inside the longer length sides, and secured with screws.

4.  Measure your 1″x2″‘s – these will run along the long sides as slat supports.  You want to leave at least 4 1/4″ at the ends to allow room for the legs.  We wanted our box spring to sit flush, so we measured the height of the box spring, added the 2″ of the 1″x2″, and that determined how far from the top we needed to screw in the supports.  Screwing them in flush with the bottom of the board, about 10″ from the top – this is for the sides.  For the header and footer supports, attach the 1×2″ sideways and flush with the bottom, so the 2″ is sticking out – you can see this in the bottom photo below.

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At this point it would be a good idea to set your box spring (we have a split box spring) inside the frame to ensure that your measurements were correct.  Success!

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5.  Attach your legs, one at each corner, with the top of the leg sitting 10″ from the top of the 1″x12″.

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6. Now it’s time to assemble the support framework.  As you can see in the photo below, you’ll need to cut 3 1″x4″s to run parallel, and 8 to run perpendicular.  Measure and cut the 3 parallel lengths first, because these will lie underneath the boards running perpendicular.  Divide the width of the bed into quarters, and attach your boards to the support slats with screws.

7.  Measure and cut the 8 perpendicular widths.  Attach these boards to the support slats on the sides, with these boards laying on top of the 3 boards running parallel that you just attached.  Attach the additional 4 legs – 2 each under the outside 2 parallel 1″x4″s where they meet the 3rd and 7th perpendicular boards, respectively.  Below is what the bed should look like when you’re done with this step.

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8.  Unfold 1 roll of batting.  Measure each side and cut batting to match, with an extra 2-3 inches to allow for wrapping.  Wrap over the top and bottom side, and secure with staples.  Repeat on all 4 sides.

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9.  Cut your fabric to match each side, with an extra 2-3 inches to allow for wrapping.  Iron your fabric, then much like you attached the batting, wrap the fabric over the top and bottom side, pull tightly, and secure with staples.  When you get to the corners, fold over to create a seam and glue with either hot glue or fabric glue.  Pull the top and bottom of the fabric at the seam over the side, and secure with staples.

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Part II – Assembling + Upholstering the Headboard
Did you know there are a ton of different headboard shapes, all with their own names?  I had no idea until we tackled this project.  The shape of this headboard is the “Eccleston”.
eccleston_large1.  Stencil or freehand (we freehanded) the shape of your headboard on your 4’x8′ piece of birch plywood.  Cut out your shape with a jig saw.  Sand down any rough edges left by the saw, we used an orbital sander with a 220 grit pad to get a really smooth edge.

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2.  Lay your foam down, then place the plywood on top.  Trace the shape onto your foam, and cut.  We decided to attach the headboard directly to the bed, so we stopped the foam 12″ from the bottom.  We were able to use 1 sheet of upholstery foam, cut in half length-wise for the entire headboard.  In order to get the smoothest cut, use a small hand saw…trust me on this.  We used a box cutter and it wasn’t pretty.  Jagged foam edges make for difficult upholstery later on.

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3.  Apply a generous amount of spray adhesive to your plywood, and attach the foam.  Let dry for 30-45 minutes to make sure it’s secure.

4.  Unfold one roll of batting, and lay your headboard foam-down on top of it.  Attach firmly with staples, but don’t pull too hard or the batting will tear.  Trim the excess batting.

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5.  Measure and cut your fabric to fit the headboard.  Iron the fabric!  Upholstering with wrinkled fabric makes an already hard task even more difficult, so don’t skip this step.

6.  Now it’s time to upholster!  Attach your fabric with staples.  This will be the most time-consuming and frustrating part of the process.  Be prepared to pull staples out as you move around the headboard, to eliminate wrinkles.  It’s a slow process, but don’t give up – it is so worth it when it’s done!  When we got to the corners, we folded the fabric over like we were wrapping a present.  We had never attempted upholstery before, so this video was a great tutorial.

7.  For the final touch, tap your nailheads into the upholstered plywood with a rubber mallet.  We started at one end of the top, and spaced the nailheads out 1 1/2″, making sure to place them towards the front of the plywood so they wouldn’t overlap the back edge.  You can measure out the width, or create a little template like we did – it made the process much faster.  Continue all the way down both sides.

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8.  If you’re attaching directly to the bed like we did, add your 1″x2″ strips along the bottom of the foam.  Here are some examples of how the bed will sit on the frame:

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9.  Attach your headboard to the frame.  If you have someone to help hold the headboard up while you’re screwing it in to the back frame board, great!  If not, clamps can help as well.  Screw it in until secure, and you’re done!

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Looks like the real thing, and is Murphy-approved.  Now we just have to find some cozy new bedding to fit our new bed.  What do you think? A HUGE thanks goes to Kyle for making the drive from Kalamazoo to spend a few days to help us – you’re the best!

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If you attempt this project, please comment on how it went for you – and send photos!
Smied Watermark