crate night stand

So my husband needs a nightstand. Like REALLY REALLY bad. I have been looking at Craigslist and checking yardsales, but all to no avail. And before anyone thinks to herself, "Surely one could find a reasonably priced nightstand at a thrift store," let me assure you, the thriftstores here are not thrifty. It's depressing. I haven't given up, but in the interim I decided to make one.

Tutorial after the jump!

what to do with empty pickle jars?

I don't like to throw away jars. I can't do it. They're so useful and reusable and dishwasher safe! Jars. Love them.

So what do I do with my jars? Mostly I just use them for leftovers, and I've seen some really cute jars used for giving homemade hot chocolate, but I do have a few jar projects around the house. Some, like the one below, are hardly projects at all. "Spray paint lid and fill with assorted tchotchke" is hardly a tutorial:

 These wooden crates were a steal at Joann's Fabrics, by the way. I should have gotten more of them. If you need some, I'd get them now. And don't they stain beautifully??

These hanging jars were another Pottery Barn-inspired project. I don't remember how much PB's' were, but these were free to me, using what I had on hand. Floral wire, river rocks and some long burning emergency candles:

I don't know. Perhaps my jar love is excessive...

PB knock-off angel wings

What follows is my first ever tutorial. It is very image intensive and possibly difficult to decipher. I apologize in advance. Happy DIYing!!

Tutorial after the jump!

firewood holder

Today I'm going to show how I repurposed a clearance sale drink tub into a rusticky (rusticy?) firewood holder. It's not an extravagant redo, but I like it.

Tutorial after the jump!

5-minute cream cheese danish

I don't post too many recipes. I personally recommend Allrecipes, actually, and I rarely feel I have anything to add to the world of cuisine. But this recipe is too easy and too delicious to keep to myself.

If you have a can of crescent rolls and a package of cream cheese, you're in business.

Recipe after the jump!

gifties

I'm a huge Harry Potter Super-Fan perfectly rational person who is casually aware of this "Jerry Kotter" fellow. As someone who has sat in line for hours to catch the midnight show friends who have sat in line for hours to catch the midnight show, I thought it would be apropos to seek out Harry Potter-themed gifts for them.

Dig it:

This is the Golden Snitch Locket from Etsy seller spacepearls. Note: I am not affiliated with this seller beyond the fact that I bought six of these from her. They are so cute. She's got a ton more HP related jewelry and gifts, and they're all super cute and affordable.

Anyway, for a unique gift with a pricetag that doesn't send you into an apoplectic fit, you can really never go wrong with Etsy.

pottery barn knock-off spoon & fork wall art

Alright. So Pottery Barn has this cool fork and spoon wall art set. I love it. I do not love so much the price tag: $279 plus &30 for shipping. Ouch. So I set out to plagiarize it.

Tutorial after the jump!