IKEA HACK: Toddler Kitchen

My friend Brooke is super-mom and did the best IKEA hack I've seen in a while to the DUKTIG play kitchen. ISN'T IT ADORABLE??

Here's how she did in case you are motivated (unlike me, I want to buy one from her ;P)

"I just built the bottom part without the upper shelving and spray painted everything with two coats of primer first and then spray painted it all white. I spray painted all of the appliances with the primer as well and then metallic gold kyron spray paint (two coats). 

I then primed and spray pained the upper part with white as well. Used faux wood contact paper for the countertop. Assembled everything and then just hung some Home Depot wallpaper for the backdrop. Printed off a cow photo from Pinterest and called it good!"

Love it, Brooke! Thanks for sharing. 

Pinterest: Help or Hindrance?

I saw this article on "Pinterest Stress," and I almost said out loud, "I'm not the only one!" When the website was first launched I hopped right on and was enamored with pinning clothes, recipes, quotes, etc but over the past year I've stopped pinning altogether. There is something about it that totally overwhelms me. It could be that I have no energy for cooking/baking/crafting right now or that my house is never going to look like a magazine or that I'm sad that I'm not going to get around to sewing that quilt for the nursery. I know other people that still love the site, saying they draw inspiration from it for projects they are working on or new types of food to cook. 

What do you think? Love it or leave it? 

PS. Have you seen this hilarious website, Pinterest Fail? Now that's the type of site I could waste hours perusing. ;)

(The images are two of my favorites from Pinterest Fail: stuffed owl and cake pops)

Pinterest ups its game!

Have you ever wanted to pin something but didn't because you didn't want to share it with everyone? Pinterest has finally taken the hint and is adding private boards just in time for you to pin to gift boards for holiday shopping. Check out how to do it here. 

Personally, I'm interested to see how this changes what my friends are pinning. Looking at other people's pins is a window into people's personal style, eating habits and even their future dreams in the case of all of the "When I Get Married," "Future Children," "Dream House," and "Bucket List" travel boards out there. Seeing what people aspire to have and do has been one of my favorite things about Pinterest. 

We will still be publicly pinning lots of great things. Do you follow us?

Snow Day!

Here in Seattle we've been hit by a "major" snowstorm! This is very exciting as winter around these parts usually means rain, rain, and more rain. I felt like superwoman navigating the snow covered roads in the dark this morning, listening to KEXP's fabulous snowy morning mix on the radio. Here are a few photos from Pinterest inspiring me on this cuddle-up-and-be-cozy kind of day:

Adorable Fox licking his lips...yum!

Quilt I want to sew

I like to think of this as an aunt hugging her little nephew...did I mention I'm going to be an aunt!?

Journal time in the bath

Calabria, Italy

Cluster of pictures

Gluten-free Chocolate cookies!

Leanne Shapton Painting