A Beautiful Mess

Bedside Table DIY

For some reason I was having the hardest time picking out bedside tables for our bedroom. Do you ever get a mental block about something? Why was finding the perfect bedside tables turning out to be so hard? I think part of the issue for me was that I really did want them to be cute and match the look of our room. But I also wanted them to be functional/useful, because we often sit in bed at night and watch a movie on our laptop, or I'll finish up a little work. Sometimes we read, and I like to keep nail polish and lotion by my side of the bed too. So our bedside tables tend to become a catch-all for lots of different items. Thankfully our friend Josh was in town and kindly volunteered to create the perfect bedside tables for us! Here's how he did it:Bed Side Table tools and supplies:

1.5" Kreg screws (fine thread) you won't have to pre-drill with these screws
.75" wood screws
3/4" hardwood sheet of hardwood plywood 4' by 8'
drill
wood glue
sandpaper (50 and 220 grit)
straight edge
tape measure
pencil
skill saw
Optional:
stain
polyurethaneSteps:

1. Cut (2) 18" by 8' strips from plywood sheet

2. From remaining piece, cut a a piece 3" by 8" and 3.75" by 8". sand and glue together (as pictured)

3. Cut (2) pieces 26.5" by 18"  (sand all edges)

4. Cut (2) pieces 17.75" by 18" (sand all edges)

5. Cut a 16.25" by 18" piece (sand all edges)

6. Cut 13.5" by 18" piece (sand all edges)7. Glue and screw pieces A,B,C,D together (as pictured)

8. Glue E and F together (as pictured) let dry then install into the ABCD

9. Glue in G and H (optional)

10. Let table dry and flip, install casters (as pictured)

11. Sand all edges and surfaces

12. Optional (stain and seal)Jeremy and I absolutely LOVE how the tables turned out! We have been using every little nook, especially the pencil holders. :) A big thank you to Josh for creating these beautiful tables and sharing his process with us. xo. Elsie

Looking for more fun woodworking projects? Check out Emma's Wood Pallet Kitchen Table, Elsie's Light-up Headboard, DIY Triangle Shelves, or the Honeycomb Shelves

20 DIY GIFT IDEAS FOR NEWLYWEDS!

With wedding season approaching we thought it would be fun to share some of our favorite projects that would make fun gifts! Obviously DIY isn't always the best option. I mean, people need bath towels—am I right? But for situations where you may be attending multiple wedding showers, a DIY gift might be the perfect option. Jeremy and I received several homemade gifts at our wedding, and I have to admit: They are among the most memorable. :)1. His & Her Pillow Cases

2. Starburst Mirror

3. Ladder Shelf

4. Coffee Syrup Set

5. Hand Stamped Cloth Napkins

6. His + Her Sharpie Mug Set Note: If you want this set to be dishwasher safe, just use a pebeo paint marker instead of a sharpie! Otherwise, they are handwash only. 

7. What about a painted chair?

8. This tree swing would make the sweetest newlywed (or housewarming gift ever! 

9. Vintage Phone Bookends 

10. Minimal Magazine Rack

11. House Journal

12. Bird Plush (aweee!)

13. Kitchen Wall Art

14. Woven Rug This is an epic (read: time consuming) project. But if you can pull if off, it would make a gorgeous gift! 

15. Textured Vase Set This would be so sweet in designs inspired by a couple! 

16. Recipe Book

17. Paint-By-Numbers Pillow

18. Cigar Box Scrapbook

19. Bike Makeovers? Another epic project, but this would be an incredible gift for a newlywed couple! 

20. Braided Rug I highly recommend this rug, it's been in my home for nearly a year and is still going strong! :)

Some of these projects require a close relationship with the couple and a strong understanding of their tastes and style, and others are pretty neutral. What do you think? Do you have a bunch of weddings and showers to attend this season? 

xo. Elsie + Emma 

Halfway Homemade: Cereal Puffs

Here's a sort of random dessert idea: cereal puffs. These are delicious and kid friendly. They are super easy to make and only take about 20 minutes. Plus you get to use any kind of cereal you like: Fruity Pebbles, Cocoa Puffs, Cinnamon Toast Crunch, Frosted Flakes, whatever! 

I got your attention with the cereal, huh? Sugary cereals are the ultimate guilty pleasure food. :)This dessert is inspired by the Momofuku Milk Bar cookbook. I love how Christina Tosi will incorporate crushed cereal or cereal milk (it's exactly what it sounds like, yes!) into many of her dessert recipes. Yummy and whimsical, love it!Cereal Puffs, makes 6-7.

puff pastry (you can see the kind I used above)
1 cup crushed cereal, I used fruity Cheerios (if want them crushed really fine use a food processor)
1 egg

If your puff pastry comes frozen (most do), allow it to thaw before use. I usually put mine in the refrigerator the night before I plan to use it. Use a cookie cutter to cut out cute shapes from the dough. Brush a little whisked egg over the top of the dough. Press the cutout, egg wash side down, into the crushed cereal and place on a prepared baking sheet. Bake at 350°F for 15-18 minutes until golden brown on the edges.To serve make a small batch of fresh whipped cream and slice up some fresh fruit. I like to pull the puffs in half (this is easy to do once baked, because they will have puffed up so much) and create a small tower of: bottom half of the puff, fruit, whipped cream, top half of the puff and a little more whipped cream.Cute, random, delicious and easy. Make a batch of these for the next shower or brunch you host. Guests will love it. :) Enjoy! xo. Emma

P.S. Want more easy dessert ideas? Try homemade funnel cakes, Nutella Truffles or homemade cake pops.

Tips for Installing a Gallery Wall

This past week I finally finished installing my gallery wall in the living room. It's probably taken me over 3 months to complete this wall, from collecting all the art, buying all the frames, framing everything and then hanging it all up. It was such a fun project, and I LOVE how it turned out!I have always loved the look of large gallery walls in friend's homes and I was very excited about the idea of creating one that fit my aesthetic. I had a lot of fun installing this project, and here are a few tips I learned along the way:

1. Choose Art You Love.  If you are planning to hang a gallery wall in you home, don't feel like you have to make it look like anyone else's. You can include original art, art prints, kiddo art, family photos, personal photo projects or even found objects that get framed in shadow boxes (if needed). Hang what you love and what has meaning to you. If it helps you to get choosing with your color scheme then pick your color story before you start purchasing art or printing photos. You can use the color of the photo frames to help tie everything together if needed (like how I used all black frames).2. Get Creative with Matting Art. For a few of my frames I knew I wanted to fill them with groups of four Polaroids pictures. All these Polaroids are from trips I took while I was in college. I have polaroids of Big Ben, the Eiffel Tower and Platform 9 3/4 (I'm a big Harry Potter fan!). These groupings presented a challenging matting situation. My (inexpensive) solution was to use white poster board to fill the frame and adhere the Polaroids to the poster board. Thicker paper would work well here too, depending on the depth of your frame.

3. Plan out the Frame Placement. This is super obvious but an easy step to skip if you're feeling lazy. There have definitely been times over the years I decided to hanging things without planning the placement first and it almost always results in extra holes in the wall and extra work. No good! There are a couple of options for planning your framed art placement. I chose to cut the shapes of each frame out of poster board and tape them to the wall. This made it easy for me to move the shapes around to find the perfect arrangement before we began hanging them. But don't think you have to stick to your plan exactly. Once you start putting the actual frames on the wall, you might want to shift a few things around. I definitely did! But it was nice to have guide, so I knew the general layout I was shooting for. Can't break the rules, until you know the rules, right?If you're curious about some of the pieces in my wall here's the low down. I have personal photos and Polaroids, a pug portrait made by Hope (Katie's sweet daughter), prints from UO, Pretty Little Thieves, Clare Elsaesser, Lisa Congdon, Vivienne Strauss, Hands Workshop, Ashley Goldberg and United Thread. What kinds of art/photos do you have hanging in your home? xo. Emma