How (not) To Make a Key Hook

Hello all! I've been toying with the idea of doing more videos in this blog, so lets see how this goes. Above I show you how (not) to make a key hook. Sarah and I have all our keys on hooks by the door that I made out of old, useless mystery keys. Unfortunately in making this video I only had one such key lying around and of course in trying to make it into a hook I just snapped it in two. I swear it can be done though (really, I promise). So if you have some keys lying around that you don't need any more this could be a project for you. Otherwise, I'll see you next Tuesday!

Lazy Mac 'n' Cheese

I know, I know, it's been less than a month since my last post about mac 'n' cheese, but I can't help it, I freaking love the stuff! I also recently came upon this buzzfeed list and immediately was mildly obsessed. I tried a couple of the breakfast ones and they were alright, but then I saw just how easy (some of them are actually more complicated than I would want something of this small of a venture to be....yeah I know, I'm extra lazy sometimes) the diy easy mac one was and I had to have it for lunch! I didn't even really follow it, haha, I just put some pasta in a big mug, and put water so that it covered all the pasta and went for it! I cooked it for 4 minutes on the normal setting in the microwave and that wasn't working and the water was bubbling over, so then I ended up cooking it for another 4 minutes on half power and that worked out well. Then I just used a fork to hold back the pasta and carefully drained the extra water out. 

Remember this cheese from the previous mac 'n' cheese post? Yeah I liked it that much (and yeah it was still in our fridge) that it's what I used for this mac 'n' cheese. And I must say it was a pretty good choice. I cut it up into little chunks (again, I was too lazy to get the grater out to shred it, what is with me today, honestly, lol). I threw the chunks and a splash of milk in, stirred a bit, and microwaved it for another 15 sec on normal power just to expedite the cheese melting. It was a tad bland so I did add a sprinkling of salt and an ever so small sprinkling of cayenne pepper. 

All in all this was pretty damn good. Not as good as baked mac 'n' cheese (will anything ever be), but I'd agree with the original poster of the diy easy mac post in that it's certainly as good as the boxed stuff, and it's definitely faster. The only real downside is that cheese kinda stuck to the sides/bottom of the mug, but it was easily fixed by scraping off a little with my fork for each bite. Problem solved. So yeah, if you're looking for a good grown-up version of easy mac, I'd be a proponent of this plan. Until next time, bon apetite!

The Perfect Desk to Fit and Odd Space

When Lilly first looked at the apartment we now live in there was one space that she wasn't quite sure what we'd do with. It's an awkward nook at the top of the stairs outside of our bedroom, that is a decent size if you ignore the fact that you can't stand in most of it due to the eves. She picture messaged me these photos of that space the day she saw the apartment first:

These don't do a great job of showing you the space, but they're the only ones I have of it before the invasion of our stuff. There were two obvious options for this space, one which I liked more than the other: Storage Space or Home Office Space. A space for a desk and office-like thing appealed to me much more, so I set off brainstorming how best to use the space to our advantage. 

After hearing the description of the space I knew I wanted to run a desk along the wall under the eve, but needed to see the space to make sure there was enough room for this feat. Indeed there was. Plenty of room in fact. So I began designing in my head the 10 foot long desk that now occupies that space. 

Lilly had already gotten a precious yellow filing cabinet from a thrift shop, so I decided that if we got two more, we could run boards across the three cabinets and each have our own desk space. 

While the middle cabinet was already a great yellow color, the two end ones were far less exciting beige colors, so I became no stranger to Home Depot and Lowes as I mis-predicted how much spray paint I'd need to paint the two end cabinets purple (I think in the end it took about two cans per cabinet? maybe?)

My mom got me two of these awesome colorful wooden bowls last Christmas as well as the colored pencils made from actual sticks. 

Lilly has a fun assortment of very retro things on her side of the desk that are quite fun. She still hasn't found a desk chair that she likes enough to get yet, but I found one I absolutely love at Savers for $7! It may not be much to look at, but it's super comfy, and really easy to transport as well.

While I'm sure all of you who may read this can figure out how to make this desk all on your own, if you want my extra insights on the process of making it, and/or can spare $2 to support this blog, I've created Instructions in a PDF format for sale at my etsy shop. Cheers!