gnome.

i like terrariums. especially ridiculous terrariums. like ones with gnomes in them. and plants that look like jellybeans. and i especially like lilly. so i made her this.



he has a nice little world. even though he has a hard time enjoying it, as he has no eyes. but his large nose and beard make up for it.


sometimes he ventures into the world, but he hasn't gotten very far yet. venturing is sort of hard when you don't have any legs.


and now i'm a little jealous of lilly. because i want a gnome of my own.

smokey.

i have the greatest husband. you could try and argue that yours is better, but i think this picture proves otherwise.



he made these. aren't they beautiful? and they were delicious. and smokey. and did i say delicious?

smoking takes grilling to the next level. for this, jon took the hot coals, and small tin of hickory wood chips and an old cookie tin of water and put them at the bottom of the grill below the grate. he put the chickens on top and closed the lid, with the vent closed. that's it. an hour or so later, magic.

if you're going to try this, i advise making more than you need. because you'll want leftovers. smoked chicken quesadillas. smoked chicken pizza. smoked chicken on a salad. you just can't go wrong.

hexagons.

i've been trying to figure out what to put on the wall behind the couch since we finished the living room. the christmas decorations were nice, but they were meant to be a temporary thing. if temporary is sixth months, then sure, they were temporary.

hello hexagons.


we made these shelves this week. i've been wanting to for a while now and we finally made it happen. and i thing they look pretty awesome.

they were easy too make too, with the help of geometry and a compound miter saw. what can't you do with those two powers combined.


since we already had the stain and the paint, they were also cheap. eight seven cents of wood per shelf. and i got to use power tools. and i still have all my fingers.

we even hung them to have proper tessellated space between them. this involved paper templates and a lot of trial and error to get a layout that worked aesthetically.



i'm pretty happy with them. i'm still not sold on the yellow, but i probably won't change it. i think i'll just book it as a win that there is something on the wall that isn't made of paper.

dishes.

i like dishes. a lot. i tend to buy them at thrift stores. if i didn't have self control (or jon) i'd buy dishes every time we went to thrift stores (which happens often). but i try to refrain.

i've discovered that they make markers that let you draw on dishes. now i can use the excuse that i don't want to draw on our 'real' dishes to buy twenty cent cups and plates.

i started with these cups. i think i may have bought them in high school, before i really drank coffee or tea regularly. i just thought they were cute. i don't really use them much though because they're pretty small, so they were perfect for experimenting.



the marker was a little fickle, but it worked well enough. i highly suggest getting one and giving it a go. perk up some tired old dishes. like these now even cuter little cups.

now the only question is what to draw on next. i'm thinking a set of plates with some sort of theme, but i don't have any ideas beyond that. suggestions?