i’m back from a mini-break to my family’s cabin in west virginia.  it was an amazing time away!  the cabin is so remote there’s no cell phone reception and no tv, so we spent 3 whole days cut off from the outside.  (we did take a day trip into pittsburg, so i was able to check my email once!)  we drank coffee (lots!), sat on the porch swing, read, hiked, and inhaled fresh mountain air.  i’m going to post highlight pics soon!

well diy sunday turned into diy monday.  we got home today and after we ate dinner (breaded rosemary shrimp with garlicky cannellini beans—yum!)  we started putting together a shelving unit for b’s office.  finishing in record time for ikea furniture (and no fights), i decided to continue on with the productivity.  i’m in the process of redoing our “junk counter” and the walls were looking a little boring.  in order to spice it up, i decided to use those corks i had gathered up to create a diy wine cork board.    so here’s what i’ve been up to the past hour or so:

i painted cardboard black and cut out two circles for the backing.  then i cut all the corks in half with a sharp serrated knife—careful!  i practiced laying out the corks before glueing them on.  i put my favorite cork at the center (veuve clicquot!) and worked from there.  i thought i’d have enough for two…clearly we need to drink more!  i glued the second piece of cardboard to the back to make it more stable.  i’m not exactly sure how i’m going to attach it to the wall permanently, but for now i attached a ribbon to the top for it to hang.  and there you have my new wine cork board!

i love the texture, the wine stains, and the uniqueness of each cork!  have you done anything with your old wine corks?

a couple weeks ago i posted about making fabric covered file boxes instead of forking over $$ buying them from the container store.  today i decided to finsih that project.  i started off going to joann’s fabric and buying the supplies:

i picked two fabrics that have greens, blues, browns and a little purple.  not exactly what i had in mind, but they look nice in b’s office!  oh yeah, and i picked up a treat for working—gummy bears!

also, b and i went to ikea on saturday and i picked up a tv tray.  i’ve wanted one for so long.  it held all the items from my work area.  (oh, and notice the corks..that’s coming!)

i started by tracing the boxes and making a patern out of newspaper and then cutting the fabric.

then i sprayed the boxes with adhesive and carefully applied the fabric.

one down, three to go.

not too bad for a couple hours work.  although when it was all over i was so sticky from the spray adhesive!  if you attempt using that stuff, remember oil works best to get it off.

inspiration (my girl crush!)

my book club has been reading The Time Traveler’s Wife by Audrey Niffenegger.  i finished it last friday and i must say that i did enjoy it.  i recommend it for a great bed-time-read or if you’re looking to read something with twists and turns.  as a bonus, they’ve turned it into a movie with Rachel McAdams and Eric Bana!