Saving

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Tonight I'm trading in all my old manual photography equipment and putting that money towards an DSLR camera. Just something basic, but it'll be such an upgrade for me: Canon Rebel T2i. 

There are free classes at the local camera store, so I'll probably go to some of those, and check out some tutorials online. Gotta get on this because it seems I'm tardy to the photography party.

Nice links:

Tips for taking photos of your home.
Source for contemporary fine art photography.
I also still want to get an instant film camera like this Polaroid or Fujifilm Instax.

Granola Gifts

source via Pinterest

I decided to make homemade granola and package it in mason jars for my officemates this year. I can't decide on a recipe, but I have to whip it up tonight, so I gathered all sorts of nuts, dried fruit and lots of oatmeal. I'll be putting mine in half pint jars with a nice little tag and ingredient list. 

Here are a few that I'm deciding between: 

Crunchy Granola via The Minimalist

Maple Almond Granola found here (and pictured above). 

Big Batch Olive Oil Granola from Everybody Likes Sandwiches.

'Tis the Season

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Happy Friday and Merry Christmas! Happy Hanukkah, too--we celebrate both at our house.
I hope you are doing something fun and seasonal. This weekend I'll be strolling through Georgetown to get a few small presents, going out with friends for a double birthday party, and staying at the Ritz downtown for a night. Definitely not the norm for a weekend, but I'll take it. I hope to have some really good hot chocolate and see the national Christmas tree while we're out and about.

Here are a few nice things:

I'll be making one of these to hang up this weekend.
I've been waiting for a reason to buy one of these boxes.
Inexpensive holiday decor.
Stressed at work? Perfect sign for above your desk.
Sweet minimalist jewelry: here, here, and here.

Halter Dress Apron

A great pattern caught my eye at Goodwill the other day, and it turned out to be a nice little halter dress from H&M. I originally wanted to cut up the fabric for another project, but the dress fit, so I wore it out a few times. After having those strings on the halter dig into my neck one too many times, I said, oh well, and decided to chop it up after all.

Then I thought I could use the back of the dress for fabric, and keep the front of the dress to wear as an apron. 

This is the dress before I did anything. Its a nice graphic print with a halter and ties that go around the back.

This is after I cut out the back of the dress along the seams. I kept the black liner since the fabric is pretty thin. The only tricky part was getting the zipper out with my seam ripper. I cut off the ties that go around the back at this point, so I could move them down about 4 inches lower. This made it more comfortable and wrapped nicely around my waist.

I folded over the edges I had just cut, placed my apron strings where I wanted them, and stitched all the way down both edges. Easy!

Getting Engaged

In Boston over the weekend! I was so surprised and happy. Tyler was so relieved and happy.

Entering to Win a Trip to Paris!

One of my favorite blogs is Oh Happy Day! written by Jordan Ferney. She lives her life, that's all I can say. And, she's giving away a trip to Paris!!

Visit Oh Happy Day ! to enter to win

Making over a Dresser

I made over my childhood dresser because it needed a little TLC.
I guess I forgot to take a before picture, but just use your imagination.

First I sanded away the stain on the wood. This step took the longest and I went through a lot of sandpaper.

Then I primed the wood

Then I did 2 coats of white semi-gloss and added pulls from World Market

Nice!