cabinet.

i got this sad cabinet for free. where i work there is tons of empty old office space and thus abandoned office furniture. my friend rachel and i would go for walks in these spaces during lunch sometimes. one day, we spotted two of these cabinets in the hallway, and i knew i wanted one. 

after much encouraging from rachel and a lot of confusing phone calls to various maintenance departments, this cabinet showed up in my cubicle. complete with various drawers full of door pieces. a coworker then helped to wheel it out to my car using my desk chair as dolly. i'm pretty sure he thought i was crazy.

after this grand adventure, it probably sat in our garage for a year. i'm actually not quite sure how long it was, but a year seems like a conservative estimate. fixing it up just seemed daunting.

but a few weekends ago, in an apparently delusional state, i decided to start get my doing on one ninety degree saturday.

there was a lot of dremel-ing and prying (as the handles were riveted on, not screwed) and sanding and power washing and priming and spray painting. so much spray painting. so much spray paint on my arms, toes, feet, shoes, hair, glasses. i think delusional may have been an understatement, as this monster has thirty drawers. thirty!

but was it worth it. i don't think i can express how much i love how it turned out. i love it. love love love. so much so that it currently lives in the living room. which doesn't make any practical sense, because really, what am i going to do with thirty drawers in the living room, but i think i'm going to keep it there. because i like looking at it. all of the time.

and i put a lot of things that make me happy on top. like that giant wooden thing i got at a thrift store for ninety-nine cents which i'm pretty sure is a cassette tape holder. and that glittered hippo. and that cross stitch that i actually finished and didn't post about.

man, that sure is one handsome cabinet.

quilt.

i made a quilt. i think it turned out pretty swell.

quilting was quite the adventure for me. i had no idea what i was doing the entire time. which was pretty fun. the internet is fully of incredibly talented bloggers who make really awesome tutorials though.

it didn't turn out perfect, and i recommend not looking too closely at it, but it makes me happy to have completed a large-ish scale project.

if you've been putting off trying your hand at quilting, i recommend just going for it. and if you get stuck, to the interwebz!

cross-stitch.

i bought embroidery hoops at the thrift store. sweet oval ones. i don't really embroider though, but i liked the shape and thought they'd make nice wall hangings. and i think they were fifty cents. how can i pass that up?

and since i don't really know how to embroider, i cross-stitched. i think it's a skill i mastered when i was eight and haven't used since i was about eleven.

i made these awesome chevrons! and then i got stuck.

now i don't really know what to do with the rest of the space. i'm thinking a word. something silly and a bit pointless. so i need suggestions.

and go!