creating a canopy

So, crazy story. I found an adorable bed frame at Restore last spring. It was perfect. I'd been hunting Craigslist up and down for this exact bed frame. I'd found a few, but they were so, SO far away and I had no way to go all the way across the state for a good deal, because I was asking friends to help me pick it up. So, one day in Restore (the Habitat for Humanity store), I found this frame. I was so excited! It was exactly what I'd been looking for. It needed to be refinished or painted or something, but I figured that would be part of the fun. I was still living in a dorm, and had no place to put it, but I got it anyways. I had a friend who was going to let me store it at her house, but I had to keep it temporarily in my dorm room until she was free.

The bed frame looked exactly like this, but it was just a dark wood stain without the paint:

A few months later, right before school ended, some lovely friends from church said that they liked refinishing furniture, so I brought it to their house for them to refinish while I was studying abroad in Spain.

Went to Spain, had an awesome time, hiked, traveled around, bought lots of blankets from a particular blanket vendor who was my favorite. He was really sweet and we'd always chat for a while.

Got back to the States and went to pick up the bed frame. Whatever finish had been on the frame previously would NOT come off, so he just recommended that I paint it. I was totally fine with that, so my roommate and I packed it up in her car and headed back to our new place. :)

We set the bed frame up, and played around with where in the room it should go. A few days later, my dad and brother brought my mattress down. I'd been sleeping on a pallet on my floor next to my bed frame, which was fine, but I was definitely excited about the bed. 

We needed plywood to support the box spring, so we made a trip to Lowes, and purchased and cut the wood to size. We came back to the house, and put the boards into place. 

It was time for the moment of truth! We pulled the mattress out of the hallway and tried to put it in the bed frame. The operative word is TRIED. Because the bed was an antique, and handmade, and everything I wanted in a bed frame, it was not a modern, standard mattress size!

It was only about 1 inch too short and too narrow for my mattress to fit, but there was no forcing it to work. Disappointed, I asked my dad what I could do. "Get a custom mattress." But the very word "custom" is out of the price range of a college student.

So we de-assembled the bed frame, put it in my dad's truck to give away, and just laid the mattress on the floor and he headed home.

A few days later, my roommates came bouncing into the house with a metal bed frame they had found while dumpster diving. While it wasn't my favorite, antique, handmade frame, it was useful. My roommate's boyfriend helped me set it up a few days later when I finally decided that my dreams of an antique frame were not going to happen.

Life happened. I got more settled. I went to work. I fought the ants that continue to invade my house. I organized my desk. I still wanted to do something with my bed, but I wasn't sure what to do with it. 

Then I saw this picture on Pinterest:

It's so inviting and comfortable and cozy looking! Some pictures I see online and they look nice, but they don't look like something that I would like calling home. But this did!

I had a gorgeous blanket with the tree of life pattern on it from my favorite blanket vendor from Granada in the Arab Market. It was folded up, draped over a chair in the living room, so you couldn't see how lovely it was. So yesterday, I set off to AC Moore to find supplies to some how hang my blanket up like the one in the picture. Unfortunately, there's not many tutorials on how to create your own canopy. In fact, there's not any. Lots of pictures. Lots of canopies you can buy, but no how-to instructions. I just decided I would have to figure it out.

About an hour later, I had this: 

 

I also hung up my picture of a flamenco dancer that I got in the Arab Market, as well, and a picture of a little girl painted by Diego Rivera. 

Because there's a lack of knowledge or instructions on the internet about how to make this super simple way to turn this:

to this lovely canopy, I'll explain.

It is a matter of balance. BALANCE is the most important thing ever in this project. I screwed stuff into the walls and took it out several times because the distance was too great or too small and the blanket would slip through off. If you balance it correctly, it just hangs there nicely. :) 

So I used a picture frame kit that I got at AC Moore for $3 and a curtain rod from Target for $13.

For the main, first drape, hang up the curtain rod following the instructions on the box. I got a standard 28-48 inch rod and adjusted it so that the length was about five inches shorter than my bed was on each end. 

The structure of my room helped me with the next step, but you can totally hang the picture frame wire from the ceiling if you don't have the little soffit. I then used a screwdriver to screw the wire brackets to the walls, each a few inches narrower than what I had done with the curtain rod, leaving the wire slack, but not hanging low.

I then pulled the fabric through the wire, and TADA! 

(and washed the sheets, and made the bed, and plumped the pillows and then tada, but you get the idea).

Eventually, I'll find my twinkle lights that I know I have somewhere with the blanket so it will look even more cozy at night, but for now, I'm really happy to have something above my bed other than a beige wall. And best thing, was that it was super easy and didn't cost nearly as much as it would have for me to go find and buy a wooden bed frame. 

If you have any questions, or want to post pictures of your homemade canopy, just post below :)

Happy Sunday! (and happy nesting!)

Daisies and dinner: making a home

While enjoying the busyness of work, I've also been finding great joy from creating a home. Having a place to call my own and being to welcome people into it for meals, and prayer, and late-night talks, and spend-the-nights, has been amazing. 

One of the responsibilities and joys of a home is grocery shopping and cooking. Aldi's has become my favorite grocery store because there I am able to purchase healthy, raw ingredients for yummy food to feed anyone that comes by.

The other night I made spicy turkey meatballs in my cast iron skillet. 

Ingredients:
Ground turkey
1/2 onion, chopped finely
Italian breadcrumbs
Generous sprinkle of crushed red pepper flakes
Sprinkle of garlic powder
Marinara sauce
Pesto 
Pasta

Mix meat, onions, breadcrumbs, and spices together in a bowl while about 1/2 inch of vegetable oil is heating in the skillet on medium heat. Roll meat mixture into 2 inch balls. Drop into hot oil. Cook for about 5-7 minutes, turning them over ever two minutes to cook evenly. Once finished, place them on a plate with a paper towel in order to soak up excess oil.

Boil water for pasta. Cook pasta according to directions on box.

Mix marinara sauce with a tablespoon of pesto sauce and heat over medium heat.

Drain pasta. Serve meatballs and sauce over the pasta. Sprinkle with Parmesan cheese, if desired. And it's always desired :)

Salad and summer watermelon go great as sides. 

New home . . . new beginnings

So sometimes a long silence is necessary . . .

College, and work, and study abroad are my reasons! I recently got back from traveling to Spain (and a weekend trip to Ireland) and studying in Spain and I've just moved into a house with a few friends. It is such a blessing to feel more settled in this city. After living in a dormitory for two years, it was time to get more settled and practice more adult habits (i.e. cooking normal adult food on a regular basis).

This post will mostly be about settling into my new residence. I'll talk later about Spain and those adventures. 

Last weekend, I found an adorable bedside table and a quilt rack from The Venue with one of my roommates. 

This lamp was a hand-me-down from my piano teacher, Shelley. I painted the brass base with white paint and I found the lampshade at Hope of Glory, a local thrift shop for $1. 

Most of the boxes have been emptied. Thanks to several friends (and family), my bed is assembled, and almost everything is settled. 

The desk and chair are actually both from Restore. I repainted the chair to match the desk.  I was amazed how much a few coats of paint can help an older piece of furniture. Unfortunately, because I was too eager to get started on the painting, I neglected to take a before picture. It was simply an average kitchen chair with worn out and scraped off finish, a honey wood color. It would have been pretty before the several years it has seen in someone's kitchen, so it was definitely time to paint it. The quilt above the desk is one I posted about a while ago here. I started that quilt a while ago (more than a year ago) and it finally has a place to go in my new bedroom. The purple quilt on the rack was my first quilt when I was fourteen. The pink one was made for me as a little baby by my grandmother. 

I found this little succulent at the Umbrella Market (basically a mid-week farmer's market with tents over the tables) today. It fits perfectly in the kitchen sink window next to our cow salt and pepper shakers and my little candle. 

My life has become very busy with the routine of working, which is great. I work from home in the mornings for an editing job and in the afternoons, I work at the gym. So I've been cooking and nesting in the mornings, and learning how to make food that packs well. After not really having access to a kitchen for two or so years, cooking is awesome. I've made spaghetti (from a can of sauce with adding lots of my own vegetables and meat), banana bread with chocolate chips (and applesauce), plenty of salad, sandwiches, beer can chicken (more on that later), and chicken pasta salad. Currently, I'm making whole wheat pita bread pockets and tzatziki sauce, which I will complete as a gyro with some chicken, lettuce, red onions, and feta cheese (seriously, this stuff is the best). We also had some fresh blackberries from a nearby farm from the Umbrella market. 

 If any of you have suggestions for good meals to make on a budget or meals that pack easily, please leave a comment! :)