DIY Coffee Sack Boot Stuffers

My Mom and I both struggle with saving money because we like pretty things too much!  But we spend money differently.  I'll splash out on something big (like our light fixture from Modernica) but then scrimp like it's the depression to make up for it in other ways.  My Mom doesn't treat herself to many splashy purchases, but she will buy fancy soaps, new linens, new towels - little indulgences that add up.  She and I both have small budgets to work with, so I've been encouraging her to forgo little indulges to save up for her bathroom reno.  Because of my relentless nagging, she fondled boot stuffers at HomeSense no fewer than twenty times, but never made a purchase (go Mom!).

She wanted to keep her pretty boots upright while they're stored in the closet, as opposed to flopping over and creasing, but we decided to make some instead of buying them.  We had everything on hand, so they were free!  Sure, it might be a drop in the bucket, but it's another $10 she can put toward her dream bathroom.  That probably buys two or three square feet of tile (and her bathroom is so tiny, that is actually a pretty good chunk).



Here is how we made these adorable little boot stuffers.

We started with pretty little coffee sacks - but really, any fabric will do.  They were too wide and short as-is, so we cut them apart just to make use of the interesting design.

To make up the length, we sewed a scrap of silk to the top.

Once the silk was added to the coffee bag fabric, the sides were sew up and then the top edge - the opening of the boot stuffer was sewn down into a channel:

(The channel was added for a drawstring).

When the sides and top were sewn, the bottom of the inside was tweaked a little.  Both corners were pinned and sewn flat:

Once the boot stuffers were turned right side out, the sewn corners created a flat bottom so they sit more snugly inside boots.

Finally, we threaded through a drawstring using a safety pin and stuffed the finished sacks with batting.  We also added a sprinkling of lavender to keep things smelling nice in there!  We opted for the drawstring top so we can adjust how much batting is inside - and freshen up the lavender from time to time.

So do they work?

Perfectly!  Exactly what my Mom had it mind. 

Is the Modernica Case Study Planter Worth $200+?

I recently splurged on a case study planter from Modernica.

It was $189 USD, which is about $250 Canadian (yikes), but at least the shipping was free!  Because I live on a part of Lake Superior that is close to the US/Canadian border, I have access to a US address for parcels, which makes shopping online a lot easier because I can have things shipped within the States or Canada.  When I cross the border on my way back, sometimes I have to pop into the CBSA office and pay HST (although they usually wave folks by if the value of goods is under $100).  This time I had to pay tax and as I walked out with my receipt I was kind of stunned by the final price.  I only made it a little way up the road before turning the truck around and marching back in, certain they'd made a mistake calculating my HST.  They had not.  When the border guard I was harassing showed me the exchange rate for the day I actually blurted an expletive and he had a difficult time keeping a straight face.  When I drop an f-bomb with my 12 year old voice, it tends to be more amusing that combative.  Thoroughly embarrassed, I informed everyone who was eavesdropping that I have a PhD, and then I quickly egressed. 

All this to say that I experienced some serious sticker shock making this purchase.  When the dust settled, I paid around $282 CAD for my planter.  Despite that staggering sum, I actually saved $100 by ordering direct from Modernica and using my US shipping address, because to order from a Canadian retailer is $384 CAD.    

So, what possessed me to drop nearly $300 on a planter?

Truthfully, I'd been lusting after the case study planters from Modernica for awhile, but the price was too steep for me, even though I have been very happy with the two side shell stools and trio of bubble lights I'd purchased from them.  The stools and lights are functional pieces that see daily use, while a planter seemed like a bit of an indulgence.  I ultimately decided that I didn't deserve one because I'm terrible to plants.

As you know, though, I recently inherited some very precious plants.  You already saw me caring for the orchids by making over a plant stand, so they can bask in the perfect light, and then spending major bucks on fancy orchid pots.  In addition to these orchids, I also inherited a snake plant and I decided that it, too, deserved a fancy new habitat, especially after it spent two days in a bumpy, stuffy, over-packed u-Haul trailer.  I'd seen some really great DIY case study knock-off tutorials, but I really liked the actual ceramic planter Modernica sells.  The walnut frame would be easy to duplicate, but not the pot (Kim and Scott, from Yellow Brick Home, had a tough time finding a large, cylindrical pot for their cool, globe-turned-plant stand project).

I decided that I didn't want to hunt for the right planter and reasoned that this plant, of all plants, is special enough to warrant buying the real deal.

Was it worth the price?

I don't regret buying it at all (and I can say this having already paid the credit card bill with this purchase, so that's saying a lot!).  I've been really thrilled with the quality of the bubble light and side shell stools we purchased.  We experienced a bit of sticker shock with both of those purchases too but, almost two years later, we still love the looks and the quality.  So far, this planter is what I expected too.  The structure of the base is very simple (the legs just slide together for assembly), but the walnut is beautiful - no stain can hold a candle to genuine walnut.  The ceramic pot is very substantial (it must cost a fortune to ship) and it was flawless when it arrived.  I wish that the timing could have been better - only a few years ago the CAD and USD were at par - but I didn't want to wait.

If I ever stumble across a planter with the same shape and look of this case study planter, you better believe I'm going to take a stab at a knock off, but for now I'm super thrilled with my purchase.  

I read about some plants dying in the case study planters, but I suspect that might have something to do with a lack of drainage so I filled the bottom with large rocks before adding my soil and re-potting the snake plant.  Hopefully that helps keep the roots from getting soggy, but I'll also take care not to over water this fella.  After hauling rocks from the shore and completing the messy task of re-potting, I read about someone using packing peanuts, which seems infinitely lighter and easier (but is it good for plants to have that synthetic material near them?).  I'm not sure which method is better, but if you have any tips I'm all ears!

For now, at least, the snake plant seems happy with its new home.



The greenery that you can see from the kitchen, dining and living room really adds some more life to the lakehouse -  I've missed having plants!

 

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Better Blog Photos, Coming Soon!

I finally did it: I splurged on a new camera - my first DSLR!  I actually purchased it way back in May but, as you know, a family emergency took precedence and learning to use my new camera definitely slid down my list of priorities.

On the advice of a photographer friend, Melissa Oivanki, I bought a modest Canon Rebel T5i and a Canon wide angle lens.  I also purchased a simple light kit (something like this).  Melissa gave me excellent advice, explaining that it's the lenses that really make the difference.  I'm already saving up for better lenses!

Because I often talk about money, I decided to be honest about this purchase and admit that I really struggled with spending the money!  It took me a year to finally go for it.  I questioned whether it was worth it to make this investment, but I really enjoy taking photos.  With my new camera, I'm thinking that I might even take some photography courses.  My old Panasonic Lumix  DMC-FZ28 (discontinued, but this is similar) was a wedding present Hubs and I bought ourselves in 2008 and it served us well, documenting international adventures in Greece, France, Portugal, and Hungary - plus many trips to the States - and all of our memories at home.  Ultimately I decided that it's worth it to not only support a creative endeavor (it's good for the brain!), but also capture fun memories.     

Unfortunately, my old Lumix was slowly failing. The biggest issue was the colour sensor - it stopped reading aqua properly!  Aquas came out looking like a flat blue and pictures started turning out grainy and dull.  It's been difficult to set my old Lumix aside and reach for my new Canon, but already I can see a major difference in photos - look at the velvet chair below! 

New Camera

New Camera

New Camera

I've never been able to show you how vivid it is, and how much green is in the hue - it always photographed like a flat blue microsuede, not the luscious velvet it is:

Old Camera

I'm so excited to be able to photograph the lakehouse more accurately, without everything looking yellower, bluer, paler, brighter, darker, grainier, or more washed out in photos.  Hopefully I can depict things more true to life, like our DIY solid maple counters, which are quite pale in real life but always photographed with a yellowy tinge.  With my new Canon, I'm capturing them a bit better already:

New Camera

My old camera still photographed close up details fairly well...

Old Camera

But I love how crisp close up photos are with my new camera, even with my having no clue what I'm doing:

New Camera

New Camera

Some days, though, I feel a little overwhelmed and frustrated.  Although I've always enjoyed taking photos, the technical side has never thrilled me as much as compositions.  Frankly, some of my photos are ending up worse than with my old camera, but I'm trying not to get discouraged and just focus on the joy of learning something new.

I'm especially having trouble focusing when I take photos of rooms and I have to be careful with the wide angle lens that I don't end up with weirdly stretched out real estate listing-style photos!

New Camera

I'm slowly phasing out my Lumix, so you'll see a mix of photos for the next few months.  Once I get the hang of it, I'll be taking new photos of the lakehouse so you can finally get a better feel for the space (and maybe even a video tour...).

While I try to figure this out, if you've come across a great tutorial - especially for shooting interiors - I'd love to know about it!  Also, if you happen to stumble across an aqua camera case, I'd love to know about that too ;)

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A New Mid-Century Modern Inspired Exterior Door

Last year I asked you to weigh in on my door dilemma: paint the existing door (which Hubs and I didn't love), save up for an expensive, mid-century style door that we did love, or buy an affordable replacement that was better, but not perfect.

Here's the door we had:

At the time, I had a voting widget embedded in the post and 75% of you thought I should just paint the existing door, while 20% said keep questing (although some of you cheated and said paint the door and keep questing).  There were some great comments too, with some excellent ideas, and I am so thankful for the sound advice.

In the end, I took your advice and painted our existing door aqua, using Beauti-Tone's Cyan Sky (C13-3-0681-4). 

Paint was a fabulous, budget-friendly way to spruce up the old door.  In a bright and cheery shade of aqua, it already made me smile, but I have to admit that we still didn't love it.  As luck would have it, I recently had the opportunity to partner with a Canadian home improvement store to help our little lake house make a better first impression.

Although we lived with the aqua-painted original door for about a year, these days we're greeted by this beauty:



You'll never guess where it's from...  

Home Hardware!  Canadians, are you a little surprised?  I kept ogling Crestview Doors, thinking that was the only option for an exterior door with mid-century style.  I was so wrong!  The floor models at our local Home Hardware store are very traditional, but once we started to peruse catalogs for special order doors, we found a bevy of modern exterior doors, including the door we ordered - the Linea, by Standard Doors.  (It's from the Sophistica Collection).

The Linea has the mid-century feel we wanted, plus it lets a lot of light into our formerly dark and windowless hallway.  The glass is deceptive because it actually provides a lot of privacy by completely blurring any shapes more that a foot or so away from the door.  It actually rates a 9/10 for privacy in the brochure.  So although you can tell from outside if someone is standing right in front of the door, you can't see what (or who) is inside the house from outside.

It was professionally painted, courtesy of Home Hardware, using Beauti-Tone's Cyan Sky.  I liked the original shade of aqua from Beauti-Tone so much that I wanted to use it again for this door.  It was painted with an alkyd (oil) primer, followed up with a trim and door topcoat, from Home Hardware.

We had already replaced the old door hardware with a nice brushed silver knob and lock set, so we just moved that over to the new door.

The hallway has seen a lot of changes: we've painted the walls and trim white, updated the light fixtures, thermostat and smoke detectors, and also the door hardware.  It's a much brighter, happier space now!  Some more changes might be on the horizon, though, because we've considered replacing the linoleum floor in the entry (and kitchen, laundry room, and powder room).  We originally thought we'd put it off until we renovate those spaces and we invest in something like tile or concrete, but it's been driving me nuts so we've been looking at affordable options for the interim. 



What a difference a door makes!

 
Thanks to Home Hardware for providing the Linea door and the Beauti-Tone paint.  I really shouldn't be surprised that I found something so stylish at Home Hardware because that's also where we purchased the fabulous green glass vessel sink in the townhouse - we were so smitten with it, we drove to a neighboring town to purchase it!  I wasn't paid or prompted to provide a positive review - it's pretty much a given that an aqua door with a mid-century feel will get my approval :)

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