New Year, New Post!

Hello long-lost blog! It's a new year and a new chance to stay on top of things in the blog-o-sphere. While my posts are sporadic, I'm hoping to put up more tutorials this year, so at least they'll be semi-interesting instead of some personal moaning about law school. Speaking of which, that's almost done with (graduation's in MAY!), so come summer I'll be MIA for a few months while I study/take the bar, then I'll be back for another few months while I (hopefully) work and wait for results. But, while that's going on, I'll likely have more free time and, thus, more time to post! Woot!

Ok, let's get on with it. With my new soon-to-be career getting underway, I've been, slowly, trying to transform my craft/junk storage space into a real-life, functioning office/craft room. First stop, besides pinning many, many organizational ideas, is to implement some storage space to stash all my stuff. I have tons of paperwork laying around everywhere, so I figured what better way to store it than in a file cabinet. So without further ado,

Today's project: FILE CABINET RE-DO!




Here's what you need:

File Cabinet (I got mine at Thrift Town for $7.95!)
Painter's Tape
Chevron pattern (found here)
Spray Primer - make sure it's suitable for metal surfaces
Spray Paint in your desired color

1. First I cleaned my file cabinet with a little soap and water and let it dry. Then I removed all the hardware and sprayed it down with the primer - this took a couple of coats, but it dried pretty quickly




2. Print out your chevron pattern. I printed only one copy and cut along the lines so I had chevron strips. If you're using the same chevron template I did, I used the dark portions (the positive) as my guide and basically taped where the white stripes (the negative) would go (you can see in the photo below what I mean). I took the top part (positive stripe) of my chevron pattern and taped it to the top of my cabinet. Then I used that as a guide to tape off the negative stripe below it. Then I took the second (positive) portion of the chevron template and taped it below that. Then taped off the 2nd negative stripe below the 2nd piece of the template.




I continued taping until I reached the bottom of one side, then I shifted everything over to the front of the cabinet and continued to repeat until I had taped all outward facing sides (I chose not to paint the stripe the back or the top). The template isn't long enough to reach the entire side, so I just kept the tape attached to the template and shifted it as I went along. This was pretty time consuming, but once I did once side and got the hang of it, it started to move a little faster.

3. Grab your colored spray paint and begin painting! I painted in light, over-lapping layers all around, then repeated with a couple of coats until there were no streaks and the primer was fully covered. Be careful not to paint it too much though, because you don't want it to get so wet that it begins to drip. Let it dry a few minutes (maybe 5), then remove the tape. You can touch up the uneven parts with a paint brush if you want. Let it dry overnight.




4. Finally, I decided I wanted a more modern look, so I replaced the hardware. I just went to Home Depot and picked out a new set that I liked better and that matched my paint color - if you do this, be sure to bring the old handle with you so you can make sure the screw holes will be equally-spaced. Then I installed the new handles and kept the old ones for a future project. Voila!




Hope you enjoyed my file cabinet re-do.  Stay tuned for future projects as I continue with my Office/Craft Room Clean-Up!

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We planned. We prepped. We married!

Hello long neglected blog - I've been gone too long.  So much so, that Wedding Wednesdays are extinct - why?  Because we got married!  Yes!  We did it!  And, if I do say so myself, it was wonderful.  We haven't gotten the professional photos back yet (though I'm dying to see them) but we have gotten a few from various family and friends, so here are a couple to share.



My mom walking me down the aisle and giving me away. Contrary to how this looks, there was a actually a full house (probably at least 110 people). We had the first few rows reserved for family members, but somehow (probably because we didn't have ushers) some of the family never got the memo, so they were all sitting in the back. Woops.



A shot of our first dance - we had it semi-choreographed, only because had we been left to our own devices we would've looked like we had two left feet (which we do). Thank you Linden Street Dance for the lesson!



Here's another from the first dance. This one features my dress in all it's glory. Though I guess you don't see the train since this is post-bustle, it was quite pretty too.



Remember the beginnings of the cake topper in the post below?  Here's how it turned out!  I was pretty pleased.  I mean, yes, it was kitschy, but most cake toppers are, so that was okay with me.  And I think it was personal to us and our day, so that's what counts :)



And here's the cake cutting!  We just got our cake from the caterer, but they did a wonderful job - people loved it.  Each layer and the grooms cake were all different flavors, so there were 4 varieties too.  We were definitely pleasantly surprised with how it turned out.

I'll have to do a further recap of some of the more stylistic details of the day, as well as a general reflection later on, but for now I'll say that C and I had an amazing day and we loved that all of our family and friends were able to be there.  And most importantly, we were thrilled to finally be married!  I couldn't ask for a better partner and I am so excited to start this new chapter in our lives together.

Wedding Wednesday

It's back in full force! Tomorrow is my LAST final as a 2L, then it's summer break, so I will have ALL the time to plan and craft for the wedding. Except for the 40 hours per week when I'll be working, but that's just a small detail. In any case, there are only 80 days until the BIG day and I'm itching to tie up all my loose projects. Here's our checklist so far:

honeymoon - check! (we're going to Aruba!)
hair/makeup - check! Plus I've already done a makeup trial
ceremony/reception music - check!
Flowers - still need, but I'm ordering online
Booze - still need, but I've ordered samples of wine labels to print myself!
Night of Hotel - check!
Transportation - still need

That's the stuff that was sort of pending. All that's really left are the projects and crafts. I've started on various different things, but completing them is the big goal right now. Anyways, without further ado, here's the "start" of our love birds cake topper. Final product still to come, so look out for it!





So far it's been pretty cheap to make too - budget breakdown for the cake topper:

Styrofoam disks (2/pack) - $1 (Dollar Tree!)
Styrofoam balls for bodies (1 bag had 8 balls in various sizes)- $1 (Dollar Tree!)
Colored Craft Sticks (100/bag, various colors) - $1, but only 6 used, so it's more like 6 cents (Staples dollar bin)
Colored popsicle sticks (100/bag, various colors) - $1, but only 1 used, so 1 cent (Staples dollar bin)
Still needed:
sand paper, white craft glue and white tissue paper to smooth out the bodies - all on handFabric for tails/wings and to cover base - 1 yrd of Midnight Colored Satin - $3.59
Beads and flat pins for eyes - on hand
colored tissue paper for banner - on hand
Total Cost: $5.65 Woo, I love a cheap craft!

Also, here's a peek at our invitations - they went out a few weeks ago and I was pretty happy with the way they turned out. Now we're just waiting for the rsvp cards back - what a fun thing to get in the mail every day!





Ok, check back Friday for another update!!!

Last Minute V-Day Gifts

I already put together a little gift bag for C this year, but as I was looking online in my daily blog readings, I kept coming across some cute diy valentine's gift ideas that I'm so tempted to make and add to his gift.  Unfortunately, that probably won't be happening since I still have this annoying appellate brief to work on (who makes an assignment due on a holiday anyways?!), but I figured, at the least, I could share them on the blog in case someone else needed an idea. 

Ok, here's a mini round-up of some of my faves:

These cheeky sugar cookies from How Does She. Hah, get it?



A cute idea for leaving little love notes to your sweetie from Made by Lex 


Or these cute heart-shaped brownie treats from Twig and Thistle, seen via Style Me Pretty
(clearly I think sweets are way into anyone's heart):



I've also seen some cute ideas for v-day gifts for the ladies in your life (I usually send a little mini-package or card to my mom and grandma):

Like these cupcake pin cushions from Dollar Store Crafts



Or these mini covered notebooks, also from Dollar Store Crafts.



Well, hope that gives you some sweet ideas. Have a lovely weekend!!!

p.s. Speaking of lovely, one last bit of eye candy for you: I am LOVING these crafty heart photos seen at A Creative Mint. These would be really cool pics to put up in an office/craft room for inspiration. Swoon!

Wedding Wednesday

Exciting news: invitations to my San Diego bridal shower went out last Friday, so I'm hoping mine is waiting for me back at the house when I get back from school.  Is it weird I'm excited about the invitation to a shower in my honor?  Like, I already know I'm going, so do I really need confirmation that I'm invited?  Whatever, I'm excited all the same.  Here are a couple of pics of the assembly and the inside of the invite:







These were from a set from the now defunct Martha Stewart Celebrations line and I love them.  My mom and I found them at TJ Maxx for, like, $7 a box of 24 - we bought 3 boxes so there are more than enough for both my San Diego shower and my Bay Area shower.  Perfecto!   They're great too b/c they're printable (translation: easy) and so springy/summery - perfect for the timing of the shower(s).  So, that's that.  I can't wait for the shower - my mom and one of my bridesmaids have been working on it and I think it'll be chock full of creative goodness.

What else - I've been contacting deejays, so I guess that's some progress.  I'm kicking myself because I'm finding that a couple of the cool ones (who I could've booked had I started this process earlier) are already taken, so I'm stuck finding alternatives.  So annoying since I've been engaged for the longest, but oh well.  My fault for leaving this til the end.

I've also started to make some headway into wedding crafts, so that's good too.  I need to pick up the pace though because I'm definitely not setting enough time aside to focus on it.  I sort of have just been using it as an excuse to avoid writing crappy appellate briefs homework.  I really need to just make it a priority to ensure that I have enough time to actually get through it all before the wedding.  Siiigh.

Left on the current to-do list (just for this month):
- print/assemble invitations
- finish favor bags
- create hangings (explanation/post on this later)
- book/order dj, honeymoon, flowers, booze

Litigation, Trials and Briefs - oh my!

Has anyone seen this movie? It is EXACTLY how law school is, mostly.

So it's official - my life is consumed by school. 2 things I've realized lately: (1) it is REALLY intimidating to stand up in front of a group of people (say a jury or a panel of judges) and talk about whatever it is you're supposed to be talking about, (2) law school is exhausting... just saying.

Lately, I've been mostly focusing on preparing an appellate brief to be argued in front of a panel of judges. Additionally, I've been learning various trial techniques for a trial I'm presenting in front of a "real" jury at the end of April. And out of all these experiences, what have I learned? That I hate public speaking. There, I said it. I know I want to be an attorney and all, but really, it's the worst. My stomach knots, I blank on what I'm supposed to be talking about and no amount of preparation seems to fix my sudden urge to throw up before getting up there. It seriously makes me want to quit everything and run to the world of crafts... is that bad? I could make a good living and pay off my crazy amount of student debt, right?  (for the record, the answer is probably not, unless I was Martha Steward - oh, how I wish!)

I hope that eventually this feeling will go away, or I'll at least be able to figure out a way to manage it, but let me tell you, as of now, it is def impinging on my ability to seem competent and articulate. No bueno in the eyes of the people judging you. Someone should really warn future law students that litigation is more acting and public presentation than anything else. What I wouldn't give right about now to have actually taken advantage of the acting classes in high school. Like, not to say lawyering is all an act, because it's not in the slightest. But an acting class would be useful in giving someone the ability to memorize, say, an opening or closing argument, and would help ease the shock and horror of having 12 pairs of eyes blankly stare at you while you're trying to persuade them to see your side of the story. It's so scary being up there! Ugh, I hate it.

I guess I shouldn't complain though - law school isn't all bad. On the plus, I've made some good friends, so at least something positive came out of it, right?




My study group at the halfway there party - because we're halfway done- woo!

Anyways, in other news, I totally was driving behind a lady this morning that was doing her hair in the rearview mirror while driving (poorly)- like literally, she was in two lanes at once, swerving because she was too busy trying to get a good look at herself in the mirror. I seriously just wanted to lay on my horn and be like, "wake up crazy lady- get ready at home or once YOU'RE NOT OPERATING A MOTOR VEHICLE." It was ridic.

Also, I'm v. excited for the weekend because we'll be celebrating valentine's day in the city - yay fancy date night!  We got a Groupon awhile back (like, December or something) for a deluxe suite in a fancy-schmancy hotel in the city, and they totally let us book for the Saturday night before Valentine's Day - sweet!  Unfortunately, I have the aforementioned appellate brief due on Monday (on a holiday?  Really?), so most of my weekend I'll be stuck doing that.  Hopefully that won't ruin fancy date night though, so we'll see.  Anyone else doing something fun to celebrate?