Book Charging Station

This idea I got from one of my favorite blogs. It essentially takes a common prison movie trope and alters it for the first-world, free-person among us.



All you need is:
A book/journal
Box cutter
Sandpaper
Mod Podge



The original tutorial uses a hardcover book but, being the perennial lit nerd, I could never *twitch* destroy a book like that. Even for crafting purposes. (Something Lauren Conrad learned the hard way). Thankfully, I average about two journals purchased for every journal used. This one (with one of my favorite Mark Twain quotes on the cover) is not only a hardcover journal, but deserved to be out on display, if only for its quote.



Using a pencil and ruler, make an outline of where you will cut. You want your rectangle to be roughly .5" from the edge. Mark where you will cut your notch as well, but remember: you are not cutting the notch just yet. That is for near the very end of the tutorial.



And then: you cut. Hold the pages firmly in place with one hand, and cut with the other. This is a long and tedious process (I think it took me about half an hour straight), but it's worth it. Remove the pages as they are cut out, continue the process until you've cut out all the pages. In order to avoid cutting the back cover, place a thick piece of cardboard between the pages and the cover.



Place a light (and I do mean light) layer of mod podge around the top and sides of the pages. Place a piece of wax paper between the glued edges and the front cover so as not to glue the whole thing together. Place the book/journal under a whole stack of heavy books to keep the papers from warping. After about an hour, return to your journal, add a few more layers of mod podge, and repeat the process. You know you're done when the outlined area feels firmly in place, with no pages wiggling out.



And now: cut your notch. You'll want to go about 1/3 of the way down, if not more. As you can see, the wax paper had shifted in the drying process, leaving a few areas by the spine ripped, which I would find various ways to solve this little problem (as you will see in the pictures below).



And now you're done! Feed the cord through and charge away! A great way to charge up your phone without interrupted the room's decor.





I made this at the apartment, shortly before moving. It now has a lovely home in the den and I love the way it accents the side table.

Photo Friday: The Bonneville Salt Flats

Where can you see desert sands as white as snow? In Utah! One drawback: that's not sand. That's salt leftover from a previous lake.


We didn't visit the Great Salt Lake until our return trip towards the East, but we got to experience the incredible effect that another salt lake had on the area between Great Salt Lake and the Nevada border. Combine that with geology that you just don't get along the coast and we were in awe for hours.

Baker's Rack into a Coffee Bar

I've been dreaming of a coffee bar ever since we started searching for a house. And, once we had that house in our possession, I needed to figure out how to implement such an idea. I originally went with the idea of a wooden kitchen island with shelves drilled into the wall. But, given how exhausted we were with micro-renovating the house, this idea got nixed.


The result? A baker's rack that got transformed into a coffee bar. I got this for dirt cheap on Craiglist (and from a lady who lived not even 5 miles away from us). Baker's racks are typically for microwaves or knick knacks or as a mini desk, but this particular rack would go down a path less taken.




I placed a few S-hooks on the back bar and used it to hang a few of my coffee cups. It serves both as a place to store more of my cups and as a nice backdrop/decoration.




My favorite yoga teacher has this exact same tea box, and I was floored when I found it on Amazon.



It does exactly what I need it to do: which is hold (at least some of) my absurdly large tea collection.



I got a little froggie as part of my birthday present from my husband (because of the froggies we caught while in St. Louis and the little frogs and toads that we find around our house now). Turns out that, when you sit him up, he looks like a little yoga froggie. And, since the only reason why the tea box caught my interest in the first place was because of my yoga instructor, I placed my Namaste Frog on top of the tea box.



I know everyone and their daughter loves these jars, but, seriously: a nice glass jar like this is so much neater than the plastic/aluminum bags that most coffee grounds come in!



I put all my necessary appliances on the counter (my trusted coffee maker and my tea kettle), along with my coffee grinder and French coffee press.



Everyone is finding ways to make coffee quicker and quicker. Meanwhile I use a coffee press. Granted, I've only used it a handful of times since I got it last Christmas, but still. It's safe to say I have not caught up with the modern world.




I used the bottom racks for my canisters and my espresso maker. I don't know what it is, but I'm obsessed with the Simple Lines collection. I got the canisters during my Ohio bridal shower, even though I use OXO containers for my flower and sugar. They now hold the rest of my tea collection. The Simple Lines pitcher is there for the cat's water.



Which rests nicely on a microfiber mat. I touched upon that in my kitchen post. On top of being a great alternative to the plastic mats for drying racks, these are great to put under water bowls. Especially if you are me and tend to spill as much water as you put in.


It's nice to have my little coffee bar, away from the usual hustle and bustle of the kitchen. Makes coffee and tea time just a little more special.

Pinterest Fail: Baking Sharpies, Part 2

Again: glutton for punishment. I'm way too willing to give things a second shot. From people to jobs to even crafts, I'm too stubborn at admit that some things never change.


But I couldn't help myself. I saw an addendum to the baking sharpies craft that said I simply needed to rub down the porcelain with rubbing alcohol and bake the item for longer/at a higher temperature.



So I tried it out. At worst, it was an excuse to purchase yet another pure white porcelain item from Target. This time: a spoon rest.


I first scrubbed the porcelain to within an inch of its life. I ran it through the dishwasher and repeated the process, this time leaving the alcohol to dry.



I made my little design, hoping against hope that this would work (since I really liked what I created). I blasted the oven to a good 485* and left the spoon rest in for a whole hour.



The problem I noticed when I took the spoon rest out is that the oven actually baked some of the color off. Some areas were gray instead of black, orange instead of red. I knew then that, if the color come off this time, it wasn't because of the hot temperature. And if it needed to be hotter and baking for longer, it wasn't worth it.



And -- lo and behold -- another catastrophe. A simple wash with soap and water and it came off like sequin outfits at a strip club.



However, my husband pointed something out to me: maybe I was washing too soon. Maybe the sharpie needed time to cure. So I tried again. Made my design, again. Baked it to within an inch of its life. Again.


And then I waited. I left the spoon rest alone for a solid 3 days.


And then the moment of truth: did I finally -- finally -- get it right?


Nope. While it stood up to a gentle soap and water rinse, the sharpie came of fast once I introduced a simple sponge to the mix. The rest came off in the dishwater.


I've heard the other way to fix this Pinterest fail is to sand down the porcelain, so the sharpie can get into the pores. But do I really want to do that? Sacrifice the smoothness of the porcelain for a pattern? At that point, I'd rather get a marker that is meant to be used on porcelain and call it a day.

Photo Friday: Utah, pt 1

I need to be honest: I had very few expectations when it came to Utah. When your main export is Mormonism, I'm going to have (more than) a few disparaging things to say. And I was ready: we would be going through Utah on our way back as well, after visiting both San Francisco and Reno. We were ready to stock up on all the Mormon no-nos (alcohol, gay propaganda, cotton-poly blend underpants). But Utah -- especially its capital, Salt Lake City -- absolutely blew us away.


We left the state with a newfound love for its geology and metropolitan areas. Granted, we won't be wearing any "magical underwear" anytime soon, but we might just be back in Salt Lake within the next 10 years.

Cardstore Cards

I got a chance recently to try out Cardstore. It's a wonderful alternative to going to the supermarket or stationary store and hoping you can find the right card. Because, like a million other women, I care a little too much about that perfect card. It doesn't help that my husband and I have a twisted sense of humor to match our extreme sentimentality -- so we can get either a sentimental card (and we write "BOOBS!" in pen on the inside) or a humorous card (and we write something sappy and sentimental in it).


With Cardstore, I got to choose from a pretty impressive variety of cards. They have cards for everything: holidays, weddings, birthdays...even "just because". Since no holidays and birthdays were in sight for us, I decided to send my husband a love card "just because". And, given the stress of everything (including a government shutdown *sigh*), I felt it would be a nice way to balance out all the negative.


I went with a picture card, specifically the Photobooth card, and filled it with pictures from our wedding. And, since I can't do anything without a little immature humor, I customized the inside with some snark (and an inside joke).


The best part is that you can send the card directly to your recipient -- just for the cost of postage. With your return address printed on the back for no charge. And the cards themselves are the exact same price as the cards at the store down the street. And those cards don't have your picture on them. I sent mine to my husband's work address and only time will tell what he thinks of the card =)


I'm excited to use this site for Christmas Cards. You can also order invites through them, which is something I wish I had known when I was planning my Housewarming party! Sites like these should come with a warning, because now all I want to do is create cards for my friends and family -- "just because".




Want me to review your product? Feel free to email at abigailrosmarin[at]gmail[dot]com. I'd love to hear from you and I love introducing new ideas and services to my readers!