The Great Escape

Belafonte and Lavender showed little interest in the door that leads out into the hallway until about a week ago. At first it was nervous little ventures down the stairs, but slowly Belafonte braved it, leading the way for Lavender to follow. 

Now every time the door is opened Belafonte is keen to go down the stairs, do a circuit of the hallways and then quickly return to the sofa, quite satisfied with his adventure. 

Crafting with Lavender - Crayon Art

By Emsu

I didn't mean to craft alongside Lavender, but she got very curious with what I was up to and wanted to pretend she was helping out. She wasn't helping out, but I let her stick around because she's so stinkin cute.

Such a little foot.

I bought the small canvas from Michael's. I actually wanted to do a painting, but since we are trying to save money and we had all these crayons, I figured I would just use them instead. My concept was to make a bouquet. You will soon see how this quickly turned into some sort of rainbow tornado..

Lavender trying to assist me.

When doing crayon canvas crafting, you should start by peeling the paper off all the crayons.

Lavender: "You should play with the crayons first!"

All done!

Once your colors are peeled, you should lay out a big spread of newspaper, get some pliers and a blowdryer, and make your art. I use the pliers to hold the crayon close to the blowdryer and the canvas. Without pliers, your fingers can start to burn a bit. Plus, it's easier to get a splashy effect by using the pliers.

And voila! It actually did start to look like a bouquet in the first 5 seconds, but after the colors showed no signs of not splashing all over the place, I just went with it. It adds a nice swirl of color in our dining room. 

Has anyone out there used melted crayons for crafting projects? I would love more ideas! I have tons and tons of crayons!

Our Apartment: The Wardrobe

The wardrobe, just off the lounge, was the last room we focused on. While probably the smallest (it was the smallest room) it was perhaps the most difficult and most physically demanding to do. I wasn't completely sure what to do with the room, but knew it needed some attention. 

I moved the coat rack to the other side, removed some shelves, painted everything and brought shoe rack and hung a mirror to give some depth.

We brought the basket from TJ Maxx, and the rug from Fab.com.

Everything was done for next to nothing, a real simple makeover resulting in a nice clean and colorful room. 

Our Apartment: The Study

For the study we wanted somewhere where we both could do our work, a little space that both inspired and calmed the soul. With little room to play with we opted for two large shelves that run across the length of the room, and a desk on the opposite wall, rather than against the window. 

We painted the walls a light grey again, and filled the room with splashes of color. The red chairs were purchased from a yard sale, while the desk and lamp are from Ikea. The two shelves we got from Home Depot, cut to the length of the room.

The little bits and pieces are collected from our travels, little reminders of where we've been and where we want to return. 

Korea is excellent for picking up cute little stationary pieces. They do cute better than anyone. 

A lot of the room features home made projects. The magnetic pin board is a old picture frame, some metal from home depot and fabric from a thrift store than Mary Soo put together. The posters were quotes from some of my favorite Wes Anderson movies. 

I really like this room and I feel we used the space really well. I hope you like it. 

Our Apartment; The Dining Room

The dining room was the first room decorated. We decided on a dark slate color and a light grey for the walls, and switched the lighter color from the bottom half to the top. I wanted a room that mixed minimalism with thrift store finds. Again, thanks to Ikea, Salvation Army and a host of other second hand stores in Ann Arbor, we were able to do this all for a couple of hundred bucks. 

We brought the table top and the legs from Ikea. Buying them separate is a much cheaper option that buying a complete table. The chairs were purchased from a couple of different thrift stores in Ann Arbor, as was the mirror. 

The art work was our attempt at the crayon paintings you find on Pinterest. Rather than just lining them up and allowing them to trickle down the canvas, we used a hairdryer and just made pretty patterns with the crayons. 

The cabinet is the White PS Locker from Ikea. We got the lamp from another thrift store while the little bunch of flowers are dried from our wedding day. 

The room has become a really nice space to relax in, whether it be for dinner or when Mary Soo needs to spread her books out during a study session. 

Balancing on Belafonte: A game for all ages.

Both Belafonte and Lavender let you do pretty much what you want to them and they won't as much batter an eye lid.

Like the Persian, the exotic shorthair, is pretty laid back. Ok, Belafonte doesn't like being picked up and will only endure the act for a minute or two before he tries wriggling his way out of it, but once released Belafonte just plops down on the floor, quite happy to repeat the process.

So the other day we played our Belafonte Balancing game. Objective; Place as many objects on Belafonte before he gets up.

As you can see, we ran out of objects before Belafonte had had enough. Whether he thinks this means we will buy him more toys to add to both his and our amusement, or if he just can't be bothered I'm not sure. Either way there were no winners on this game day except Belafonte.

Our Apartment; The Kitchen

So it's nearly been a year since we moved into our apartment in Ann Arbor after making the switch from Korea. After living in crappy little flats in Seoul we really wanted a place that felt like home. With limited funds we couldn't do anything too drastic, but with a lick of paint and some purchases (Ikea and Salvation Army) we have started to make it feel like ours. 

We painted the walls a light grey, while we repainted the cupboards to freshen them up. 

I like to cook (and I'm quite skilled at making a terrific mess while doing so) so it was important to have lots of surfaces in the kitchen. We got two kitchen stands from Ikea and put them together. 

The rest of the kitchen is pretty simple, a little few touches of memories from Korea, some on display storage and a cute garlic holder we found in TJ Maxx for a couple of dollars. 

There is still more to be done (pictures on the walls etc) but its a good start with the budget we were working with, and i'm pretty taken with the green lino floors and surfaces now.