Prettying up the house

I may disappear from the Internet for the next week on so. I mean, I can only rely on pictures with pithy comments to entertain you all for so long. But my trip to Colorado approaches, I'm swamped with preparations and trying to write a draft (or at least part of one).

Can I fob more pictures on you? My parents were in town this weekend, and when my mother the photographer snapped away I realized we had completed some more styling projects that I hadn't managed to slip into a post. The first one shows the shelf that Andrew built in our living room. My inspiration for this project was a built-in, back lit shelf, filled with objets d'art in a swinging bachelor pad from the movie "Down with Love." I really like how it turned out, although I'd like to replace a few of the things up there, especially the boring clear glass vase.
A more recent product of arts and crafts time was this clock. I learned how to take apart a wooden Ikea lazy susan and use the wooden disks as clock faces on Ikea Hacker. It sounded pretty easy, so I found inspiration in a 60's children's picture book, Harry the Dirty Dog. (No, it's not X-rated - Harry just doesn't like baths.) I mod podged the pictures on and installed a clock kit through the back. I make it sound a little easier than it was: I foolishly didn't realize that the size of the clock kit determines how thick the face can be, and Andrew had to carve out the back to make it thinner. So, if you decide to try this on you own, I recommend either measuring first or having your own carpenter on hand to fix your mistakes.

(A shout-out to my styling dad, who did the final assembly of the clock. Thanks, dad!)