Happy New Year!

Wishing everyone a fabulous and fun New Year and all the best for 2014!

xx
Keeks

ps. I don't make resolutions...

So here are some NYE party inspirations instead!

Completed Cork Wreath

It's finally done! I'm proud to announce that the wine cork wreath I've been working on since...well, since June, is finally DONE! I could have completed it in much less time, but I put it off for awhile when school got busy.

I got the inspiration for this wreath from Pinterest, but I didn't love the ideas I saw there. Most had the corks laid out flat on the base wreath. I wanted mine to look much fuller. Of course, this meant collecting a lot more corks. I thought the wreath would be the perfect addition to my house, the Wine Cellar, for our front door. Luckily, my friends and I drink a lot of wine and with the help of some family members, we were able to collect enough for me to make a full wreath. I love the many of the corks have personal stories that go with them; one is from a vineyard in southern Illinois where my roommate lives, others are champagne corks given to me by my boss, and many were saved up during my semester in Europe.

If you want to make a similar cork wreath, here is what you'll need:

plenty of wine or champagne corks (I would estimate I probably used 200 or so)

a styrofoam wreath for the base

metal floral pins

ribbon or other accents

Basically, I used pliers to bend the metal floral pins straight and poked one end into the cork and the other into the wreath. I used the synthetic corks I had for 'fillers' along the inside rim and saved the prettier, natural corks for the rest. I also tried to place some of the stained ends from red wine face-up for color variation. After putting in the corks one by one, I left a small space for a bow of printed burlap ribbon from Hobby Lobby. I couldn't decide what to put in the center, and I had a few leftover champagne corks, so I just decided to use those and I'm so happy with the way it turned out!

Planner Organization 101

Yikes! It's been over a month since I've written a post...sorry everyone! You would not even begin to believe how busy my life is now that school is in full session and nearly every hour of my day is planned. It's finally starting to feel like fall (despite the 80-degree forecast for the next couple of days) and my birthday is 6 days away! yippee!
These days, my life is kind of a whirlwind. My roommates always joke that they never see me. Sometimes I wonder if I'll ever have time to get a full night's sleep or work out at all this semester. I'm taking 16 credit hours this fall, working about 25 hours a week at my internship, volunteering, I have weekly meetings for three different organizations I'm in, sorority commitments, and I'm trying to have some semblance of a social life. If that wasn't enough, I just applied to another Greek honors society and I'm nominated for Homecoming Queen. Whew-just thinking about my life wears me out.
I don't know where I would be without my trusted planner, however. We all know my obsession for Lilly and my beloved agenda. I've promised a glimpse inside this sacred territory, and it's your lucky day! Here it is, ladies and gentleman...A Look Inside Kira's Agenda:


If you've never seen the inside of a Lilly agenda (you're missing out) but every one comes with these adorable stickers on the first page. I've only used one so far, but they're fun little additions to the already cute pages inside!


Another great feature of the Lilly agenda that is a new update this year is the laminated tabs for each month. They make flipping from month to month easier and they don't bend like the ones in last year's version did.

I really like how they have a full month calendar before each of the weeks. It helps me outline my month and all the big things I have to do, but I can write individual assignments and plans on the daily/weekly sheets.

The planners have a great section for notes. Inside mine, I've written my color-coding system. Color-coding is HUGE for me. More in a minute...I also included my class schedule, which was more for the first week of class so I would remember the room numbers and instructors.

On color-coding: I cannot stress to you enough how important color-coding is when writing in an agenda. I use brightly colored pens to distinguish between events. For example, homework assignments are written in light green, work is in red, and so on. The markers I've been using are pictured here, but unfortunately, I bought them in Spain when I studied abroad and I can't find them anywhere in the U.S. or online. If anyone has any suggestions, please let me know! I've also been using Sharpie Pens which are great too because they are really fine tip but won't bleed through paper.

Now that I've ranted about school supplies and things that are probably boring to everyone but me, please just take a moment to appreciate how beautiful the month pages are in this planner:

It's that time of year again...

Back to school time. I always have mixed feelings about going back to school. On one hand, I'm so excited to see everyone I haven't seen in awhile; on the other hand, I am NOT ready to start classes again. Luckily for me, I have a week and a half before the first day of class and I'll be spending all week next week with my sorority sisters as we prepare for recruitment. The week will be full of workshops, sisterhood events, and plenty of practice!
Despite dreading classes starting, the thought of school supplies is always a fun thing for me. I'm absolutely obsessed with organization. I've always loved back-to-school shopping-from clothes to notebooks and pens, I'm a sucker for starting fresh in the fall. So what are my favorite new things for my senior year, last year, for this year of college? (I'm a little bitter about being the "s" word...)

1. My new Lilly Agenda of course! I finally wrote everything in and have my color-coding down. I can't wait to do a future post about my agenda organization.

2. The best color-coding markers EVER: MoLin markers! Unfortunately these awesome marker pens are only sold in Spain, where I bought them when I studied abroad. The next best alternative in my opinion are Sharpie Pens, which come in several cute colors now.

3. I can't get enough of how comfy this J Crew chevron maxi dress is! I got it in green and blue at our J Crew factory store for a great deal.



4. Speaking of new things to wear for the school year, I found this amazing tortoiseshell and gold chain link bracelet at the Polo Ralph Lauren outlet. It was 30% off and with my student discount, I ended up getting it for only $15!

5. I bought a lot of great things at our outlet mall a couple weeks ago, including a white jean jacket from Gap, some crewneck sweaters from J Crew and Gap, a new black patent leather Kate Spade wallet, and a classic white Ralph Lauren oxford shirt.

6. A new phone case! Mine was cute, but didn't protect my phone very well. I'm in love with this one from Vera Bradley.


7. Ok, so my final back-to-school favorite I just bought today from....WALMART! I was walking down the aisles, when the most adorable notebooks caught my eye from across the store. They're CHEVRON. Are you kidding me? Chevron, anchor and whale notebooks in the most adorable colors!! And the best part was that they only cost me 97 cents each. 97 CENTS PEOPLE. I showed a tiny bit of self-restraint and only bought 5. They also had folders and several other prints. They make starting classes a little bit easier!

Why my "& Co." is amazing

So by now you've probably all figured out that my "& Co." is my best friend...my mom. She's been the biggest help in making The Wine Cellar the cutest off-campus house Bradley University has ever seen. Seriously, she is awesome.
Last weekend, my mom, sister, dad, grandpa, uncle and great uncle came down to visit me! The guys went golfing while us girls did one of our favorite activities...shopping. I found some really cute clothes and jewelry, as well as few more things to decorate my room with. My mom also brought a bunch of stuff to finish the last room in the house that needed some TLC. I think our house might finally be complete! For our living room, we had to work off the colors from the plaid chair, so our accent color was kind of a burnt orange and some navy blue as well. Of course we weren't going to take the easy route and just buy some pillows and wall art. Instead, & Co. found some cheap pillows at Goodwill and re-covered them with fabric in our accent colors and stenciled them, just like my stenciled rug! She also made the most adorable wall art for the awkward wood wall in the living room. Each picture is just painted and stenciled on recycled pieces of wood!

Lilly Agenda Upcycle

I never thought the day would come where I would cut up one of my old planners. I am incredibly OCD about my planners and writing everything I have to do in them, so I have a ridiculous attachment to them. I have every planner I've used since my Sophomore year of high school- it's crazy! So why did I suddenly decide it was okay to actually CUT UP one of the most expensive, beautiful planners I've owned? Well, it's quite a tragic story actually. While in Spain last semester studying abroad, I brought along my beloved Lilly agenda. On one of the many rainy days there, I had the planner in my backpack and my travel-sized umbrella dripped water all over my backpack, causing my planner to get completely soaked. I was absolutely devastated. I spent over 2 hours with a hair dryer on the pages and all of my notes were completely smeared. Once it finally dried, it was a crinkly, warped mess.

I'm still a little heartbroken, but I've tried to make the best of this minor tragedy. The day the new Lilly agendas went on sale for pre-order, I placed my order for the Large Agenda in "Resort White Chiquita Bonita."The new agenda starts in August and I can't wait to start writing in it! I'll do another post in the future about my organizing tips for my agenda and how I stay on top of things (hint: LOTS of color coding. It's marvelous). So now that you're brought up to speed and my new agenda is just waiting for me, I feel at peace with cutting up the old one. I bought a coffee thermos at Starbucks today that is blank and you can put any pictures or paper inside to decorate it yourself. It looks like this:

Next, I went to town cutting up the old planner. I have a lot of leftover scraps that I'm in the process of planning a new craft for.

I traced the shape of the paper onto my own scrapbook paper and glued the pieces into a beautiful Lilly collage!

Here's the finished product!

Hope you enjoy!
Keeks

Confessions of a Book Nerd

I love books. I always have. From the time I was a little girl, my mom could put me in a room with a stack of books and come back hours later and I'd still be there, entertaining myself. I'd finish the books and then sit and make up new stories or new endings and to this day, I can finish a 500-page novel and minutes later pick up the next book on my list and dive right in. There's something so magical about getting so wrapped up in the lives of the characters in a book for a few days or weeks or however long it takes you to finish, only to part ways and meet a whole new set of friends (or enemies, as the case might be) as soon as you pick up a new book.
As much as I love to read for pleasure, the schedule of a college student doesn't exactly allow all that much free time. This is one of the many reasons why I love summer! Even though I'm working, I don't have homework to come home to or tests to study for so I can spend my free time reading book after book after book-just the way I like it!
Side Note: I have also been spending a lot of my free time lately getting wholeheartedly addicted to the show Downton Abbey. If you haven't seen it, you're missing out. I can't WAIT for the new season to start this fall!

So I'm here to bring you some of my summer reading suggestions, or at least what I am reading and plan to read in the next month before school starts!

1. Where We Belong by Emily Giffin. This is my current read at the moment! It's a great summer read, but if you've read any of Giffin's other books (Something Borrowed, Something Blue, Baby Proof, etc) you can expect this novel to have quite a bit more substance and meaning than her other books. Another fun fact is that Giffin is actually from my hometown of Naperville, IL!


2. Harvesting the Heart by Jodi Picoult. I don't know how you feel about Picoult (sometimes her books can get a bit repetitive) but I do like to throw in one every now and then because her storylines are just so compelling! You can't put them down! This is an older one of hers, but I enjoyed it. I just finished reading this one a little over a week ago.



3. The One I Left Behind by Jennifer McMahon. This came recommended to me by my roommate, and it's probably the next book on my "to-read" list for this summer. It's supposedly quite suspenseful, a genre I adore.


4. Inferno by Dan Brown. I LOVE all books by Dan Brown. The DaVinci Code and Angels and Demons are two of my all-time favorite books, so naturally I was thrilled when I found out he was coming out with a new novel for the summer. I need to make a trip to the bookstore to add this one to my collection and can't wait to start it!


5. The Kitchen House by Kathleen Grissom. This is another recommendation, this time from my "& co."-my mom. She read it a couple summers ago and I've never gotten around to reading it, but hopefully I'll find the time this summer!



That's the shortened version of my summer reading list, although I always keep a list of books I'd like to read. I add to it every time a friend recommends something or I see a new title in a store that is just calling my name, which means that I never get to finish my "to-read" list. I think that's just wonderful, though. There are always new (and old!) things out there to read! And here's my last little plug to reading...I do NOT own any sort of e-reader. I appreciate the convenience behind traveling with a Nook or a Kindle, but I don't think I will ever be able to bring myself to buy one. I 100% prefer old-fashioned books that you can physically close once you've finished them. There's something so satisfying about that! I don't judge those who use e-readers, but I personally am so sad that so many bookstores are closing and the notion of paper books is quickly diminishing. SAVE THE BOOKS! (and hey, paper books look better on your bookshelves!).

Decorating My New House: DIY Projects for "The Wine Cellar"

It's your lucky day-2 posts in ONE DAY! Actually, I'm just really behind on getting all my cool projects up here. The wall grouping for my bedroom is basically done! I added the painted quote canvases I just made, and a few other things but I still need to add some splashes of apple green, my other accent color.

I like how they turned out! The shelves used to be navy, so my mom painted them black and I put up the two canvases I painted. The glass bottles are an old vase and an empty glass dressing bottle that I filled with the same pink paint from the canvas. I made the letter "K" for my dorm freshman year and decided to use it again-it's just Mod Podged with magazine clippings and painted black on the front and back. Finally, the plate is from my grandma's house and I laced it with cute pink quatrefoil ribbon. I'm ordering another one of my favorite monogram stickers for the center.

Also in my room now is the amazing headboard my mom made! It's really hard to see how cool it is in the picture unfortunately. It started with an old crib my mom bought from Craislist (we repurposed another part of the crib, which you'll see soon!). She used two pieces of foam core board on the side of the crib with the bars, tied with dental floss or embroidery floss through punched holes. Next, she covered the foam with batting and stapled black fabric over the whole thing. Finally, she purchased a button covering kit to do buttons in the same fabric and make it tufted. I love it!

In the living room, here are a couple of the cool projects my mom also did. (She's been SUCH a big help in crafting all sorts of things for the Wine Cellar house while I started my internship). These were all originally inspired by Pinterest crafts. The rug we have in the living room is a cheap $10 grey rug that my mom actually PAINTED with a stencil and white paint. It turned out really well, I think.

For the wall above our TV, she took a frame and picture we already had and cut up paint samples to make this cool design.

Finally, the famous sunburst mirror, made from gold-painted paint sticks!

This might just be my favorite project, also made from a part of the crib she purchased. The end of the crib (the flat, non-slatted part) we painted with chalkboard paint and a white trim for an entryway chalkboard! I did some cute lettering.

Decorating My New House: Craigslist and Clearance finds for "The Wine Cellar"

In case we don't personally know each other, I'm a college senior at Bradley University and this year I'm renting an off-campus house with four of my best friends. The house is old, but we've made a major effort to decorate it as cute as possible (and for the least amount of money!). On my campus, it's a tradition to name your house and the name gets passed down with the house if other members of your sorority or fraternity rent the same house the following year. We are the first Sigma Kappas to live in this particular house so we got to re-name it! Let me show you some of the cute things I've done for my room, kitchen, and living room in The Wine Cellar!

First of all-Craigslist.org is AMAZING. A real lifesaver when you have to completely furnish a house, especially a college house where you don't want to buy expensive things quite yet. I'm also a big fan of upcycling old, used furniture. With just a few small changes a piece can go from shabby to chic so easily! 

Here's a few examples of my "upcycled" furniture and Craigslist finds. 

Ikea chair: originally $199 at Ikea, bought for $20 on Craigslist

Matching ottoman: $5

Desk: Free! This desk was originally garbage-picked by my grandma in the 1950's. It started as a flat black paint, then a funky pale green in the 60's, a screaming electric yellow in the 70's, white with country flowers stenciled from the 80's-90's where it lived in my little girl room, then a nautical navy blue for our basement, and finally back to classic black for my college house! We spiced it up with cute clearance knobs from Hobby Lobby for $1 each. 

Dresser: Also free! This was another roadside find that got spray-painted black and some new knobs. We also lined the drawers with cute wrapping paper. 

Scalloped edge bedside table: Free from my Great-Grandma's house, then painted black and topped with an old lamp and $5 lampshade from Craigslist.

Chair: This was an old, nasty orange chair from my grandparents' old house and my mom sewed a slipcover from a treated painter's dropcloth for $6

Pillows: Made from clearance printed duck from Hobby Lobby or muslin fabric from our sewing box at home and recycled pillow forms. 12 pillows for under $12!

Coat Hooks: This shelf came from my grandma's house as well-it didn't have coat hooks and was an ugly oak, so we painted it and added hooks. It still needs artwork on top.

More clearance finds came from my favorite store, Hobby Lobby. My mom and I were shopping and happened to come across an 80% off home decor section. I found 3 adorable prints for my kitchen! The "Kitchen" print only cost me $9 and the two square prints ended up being $6 apiece. 

I know the pictures are a little dark, but you get the idea.