1st Spanjer Christmas...in February

I know it is a little late for christmas, but I wanted everyone to see our first christmas together in Germany. Unfortunately, I left my camera here on our trip to the States...hence, christmas in February. 

We did our best to decorate our little apartment and hang our stockings over the mantel, I mean radiator! Our stockings were extra warm on christmas morning!

We also received this smoking Santa  Weinachtsman from our landlords, it puffs out scented smoke. 

I made our first christmas skirt with inspiration from pinterest.....so addicting. I am pretty happy with the way it turned out and am glad that I can mark that project off for many years to come.

You may recognize some of the material from the lazy-boy....trying to get rid of scraps!

I was unaware that the advent wreath is such a huge tradition here, but it is. I was invited to make one with a friends family and must say it is a fun tradition. We got to light a candle every sunday leading up to Christmas and the greenery we used made the house smell wonderful.

Now to the good stuff, Christmas Day! We tried to start some Spanjer traditions, but it is extra hard when your husband is a pastor and has to work on Sunday. So we settled for a taco dinner after the christmas eve service (don't be too horrified....that tradition might not stick) and then started christmas around 1pm on Sunday. It was a bit anti-climatic but we did the best we could.

First we opened our stockings and then ate a "breakfast-lunch" so it seemed like christmas morning.

Can you tell who's wrapping is who's? Boys and their camo!

It was a great 4 hour celebration (we had to take all our decorations down that night before we headed to America the next morning) and did just the trick. I am looking forward to next year. 

Oh the Lazyboy!

Okay so we have this lovely Lazy-boy in our dining room, it is well, how should I put it, not my favorite piece of furniture. 

For a while I was stumped, I mean what do you do with this thing, slip cover it....thought about it but the weird stretchy slipcovers you have to buy for them scare me a little....I mean how can a single piece of fabric stretch that far? (No offence if you own one and really love it, I have never owned one so I would love your feedback if they really are the cat's meow!)

So I decided I would recover the mustard brown corduroy with a fabric I purchased when a store was going out of business. They did not have many choices left so I took what I could find. It is a very heavy weight fabric though so I am not complaining. 

It was not a very hard project in the end accept for the tufting...it was a bit time consuming but worth it in the end. I found a tutorial randomly online here about how to cover buttons without a fancy machine and it worked like a charm. I couldn't find whatever sting it is you are supposed to use so I ended up with floss attached to washers on the back...I won't show you the trainwreck on the backside of the cushion, luckily that never shows.

So all in all not bad for a cheap solution. Sorry the pictures are a little grimy looking, it has been very grey here lately.

Ikea Hacking

So as you know living in Germany limits your resources for buying home goods, there is no Target, Restoration Hardware, or Pottery Barn and with the outrageous prices/euro to dollar ratio most non-chains are a little pricey. Well what is a girl to do...go to Ikea!

I am sure you have realized by now that almost all of our home accessories and furniture, except the stuff left from Grandma are from Ikea. It is a relatively inexpensive solution to most decorating needs. Sometimes it is not the cutest solution I have ever seen, which brings me to the point of this post. I have been making a few alterations and what I like to think of as improvements to my Ikea products. (For more inspiration of "Ikea Hacking" check out this website: http://www.ikeahackers.net/)

First off, our bedroom trash can. A simple white wicker basket that I got for about 5 Euros. It did the job, but it felt a little cheap because the wicker is semi-plasticy and shiny.

Before Ikea Basket

So I decided to add a little fabric (I bought a cheap fitted sheet in France that I have used on 3 baskets) and some ribbon that I got on sale when a fabric store was closing!

After

Here is where she sits. Not bad for a trash can.

Bedroom Corner....the Bedroom MakeOver is coming soon...just have to finish the pillow for the bed!

Next up are two cork boards that you have seen before in the Guest Room MakeOver. They were a cheap office solution for 4.99 each, but they lacked a little something.

Before Ikea Cork Board

To blend them in with the room I decided to paint the wooden frame green and add some fabric (that I also got when the fabric store was closing for 3 Euros a yard). To get a vibrant green I first primed the frame with white and then added a second coat of the green. I am pretty happy with the result.

Sorry for the poor lighting, I took these at night!

Once I got rolling with the "hacks" I couldn't stop myself. I picked up a cheap serving tray from Ikea last time I was there for 8 euros and decided that there was too much wood in our apartment already.

Wooden Ikea Tray Before

Solution: paint it and add fabric (are you seeing a pattern here?). I went with light grey since we had it leftover from the bathroom and added a striped fabric that blends the colors from our living room together. I still need to do a light sanding on it and glue the edges of the fabric down, but you get the idea. 

After

Thanks Doziers for the great cups, I use them all the time!

I am not sure the fourth "hack" really counts but I will share with you anyways. First I have to confess I am semi-obsessed with Pinterest and got this idea from there, so I am not taking credit. I was looking up fall decorations and came across a great wreath tutorial that looked semi easy so I gave it a try. I did not have any linen fabric (that is what the tutorial called for), but I did have some leftover Ikea curtain material. I decided I would try it first with material I had since it could turn out really ugly and I did not want to invest to much on a DIY project.

I started with a wire hanger and bent it into a ring (this was not as easy as you would think). Next I ripped my leftover white fabric into 3 inch strips (approximately) and started making the wreath. Basically no skill is required, all you do is punch the fabric onto the hanger making 3 inch folds back and forth. As I was going I started twisting the fabric in between folds and decided I liked the texture better along with needing less fabric to fill up the wire. After about 15 minutes my wreath was assembled and I added another scrap of material as a bow. Not the greatest thing I have ever made, but not bad for scraps!

FinIshed Wreath: sorry for the poor picture quality again (night time).

Well hope you enjoyed the Hacking and let me know if you come up with any of your own.

Guest Room MakeOver!

I know the anticipation has been building so I wanted to show you the new guest room. It is the larger of the two bedrooms in our apartment so we decided to use it as the catch all room. It currently serves as our guest room, office, ironing room, equipment storage (if you are married to a baseball player you know how much "stuff" they seem to acquire that I have been assured "are necessities!"), winter storage (they do not believe in closets in German construction.....hence two wardrobes in one room), and last but not least an art room. 

I know what you are thinking: "How can one room serve so many purposes?" Well, we gave it our best shot and here is what we came up with. 

Before Pictures:

Before: Side Wall

Before: Front corner

Before: Front Wall

After Pictures:

After: Side Wall
(this is the view when you enter the room)

I am thinking about adding a bedskirt to the guest bed so we can raise it up a little. I think another pattern would be a nice addition to the room. We bought the least expensive wooden frame from Ikea to go with Stephen's old mattress, but I like the way it turned out. It is really comfortable so you can look forward to a restful night when you come and visit!

After: Bed

After: Back Wall

I love the way the desk area turned out. We debated in Ikea for a while about what kind of desk to get, but when we saw these saw horse legs that tilt the desk top up we were sold. It also works well because there is a ledge below the window to protect the radiator and it helps to create less awkwardness with the desk top butting up to it. I used leftover material from the bottom of the curtains by the bed to just soften the desk windows and am pretty pleased with the cheap solution.

After: Corner View
(sorry the picture is a little dark, we have a chair on the corner by the wardrobe)

After: Front Wall

We found the desk chair in our attic and I recovered the 1970's hunter green corduroy with some fabric from Ikea. I am not in love with the botched stain job someone did on the chair, but it serves it purpose and maybe one day I will get around to painting or restaining it.

After: Desk Chair

After: Desk Area

And last but not least we got these cute little cork boards at where else but Ikea! They are nothing much I am planning on adding some fabric and painting the frame to add some personality. They are practical and hopefully soon will be a pop of color on the walls.

Upcoming Project!

We Came, We Saw, We Conquered!

Well, we know The Ikea Store in Freiburg like the back of our hand. We have made multiple trips to get much needed supplies and furniture for our apartment and could not be happier with our purchases. 

Ikea stores originated in Sweden and let me tell you...those people are smart (except for the whole socialism thing). They have EVERYTHING: furniture, storage devices, custom built kitchens, accessories, picnic supplies, bedding, fabric by the meter, curtains, artwork, plants, pots......and even a cafeteria! They craftily placed the cafeteria right in the middle of the store so half way through your 5K marathon you can stop for re-hydration, a bite to eat, or even a little soft serve! It made our afternoon even better that we could eat lunch while we made our final selections. 

Anyways, it was a great trip and we highly recommend visiting one in your city if you are in the need of cost-effective, practical, and endless decorating options. I will warn you though that it is cost-effective for a reason: ASSEMBLY REQUIRED!!!

Stephen posing at a bean shaped desk......we did not get this desk, but we did get a new one for our guest room.
Let us know if you need to do some work in Germany.

"I love Ikea...."

"and it is all ours now!"

Laura: "Please let me get down, everyone is staring at me while they drive by!"
Stephen: "No they're not, they are just jealous."

Stephen: "Are you getting my good side!"

Good thing we did not buy anything else!

Thank you to all or friends and family that made our Ikea trip possible. We are very thankful for your generosity and will be posting pictures soon of our apartment.