DIY // Craft Stick Geometric Pendant Light

March is National Craft Month and to celebrate I'm taking part in Jo-Ann Fabric and Craft Stores' National Craft Month Campaign.  I've been a little unmotivated lately so coming up with a cool craft was not the easiest of tasks.  Luckily, Jo-Ann.com has an amazing spring crafting inspiration website to help get those creative fires burning.



Inspired by the whole geometric trend and my math teacher husband, I decided to finally tackle something I've been coveting for awhile...the good ol' geometric pendant light.

DIY // The Kitchen/Mudroom Renovation - What We Love & What We Don't

It's been a good 6 months since we finished our Kitchen/Mudroom renovation, so I thought I'd share a breakdown of what we have loved and what we kind of don't.



Let's start with the positives and a good ol' before and after as a refresher of how much this space has changed since we first moved in back in December 2011.

Uncovering the Hardwoods

Just peeking out of my unmotivated state (have you noticed?) to share a funny little story.

I know I've mentioned this before but sometimes I get in a manic I-need-to-change-something-NOW mood.  You'd think that I'd learn to not give in to these crazy episodes.  There's lots that I could do...like finish peeling the wallpaper border off our bedroom wall (which is a result of another day where I let the crazy get the best of me), paint the trim, touch up paint in the living room where we removed the baseboard heaters or deep clean the house, but none of those would satiate me.  I.wanted.those.floors. I've dreamed of wood floors since the day we moved in and when I discovered them a couple months back it's been itching at me to uncover them.

So the other day, during a very rare two kid nap, I set out to pull up the carpet. I moved the furniture out of the way as best I could, unassembled the sofa (the chaise detaches and the pull out bed comes out) and started pulling it up - moving things around as I went.  It was exhausting.  But I was fueled by grand thoughts of refinishing this beat up flooring to a more beautiful state and had visions of Nicole Curtis egging me on.

I rolled up the carpet (very unprofessionally) and pushed it out the front door.  Then I grabbed the pliers and small pry bar to pull up the tack strips, nails and staples that were left behind.