Home Tour: A Chicago Apartment with Rustic Touches

Surprise! Today's home decor feature is my apartment! I was inspired by Compass, a real estate website in NYC, and their Starter Stories project to share with you my new apartment and all the work that my boyfriend and I have put into making it home. Since it's our first apartment together, it's most definitely been a learning process that has involved a lot of compromise. We've only been in the space for about 6 months, so there are still a lot of things that we're figuring out how to make work, but I am finally ready to do a little unveiling and let you all into my world! Especially since I've been talking about this new apartment constantly (like here and here and here, for example).

DIY: Simple Beaded Necklace Tutorial

Sometimes you're in a bind and need a quick gift for someone. Sometimes you have some beads and some chain. Sometimes that turns into a present and the day is saved! Like in the case of this necklace. I just couldn't find the perfect gift so I decided to make it.

You can never go wrong with a handmade gift. People will appreciate that you took the time to make it even if they don't wear it. But, hopefully, you know the person you're trying to buy a present for well enough that you know they'd love your gift (or at least fake it). So here's a quick and easy DIY gift that you can put a lot of love and personalization into. 

Easy Beaded Necklace Tutorial

Loving Right Now: Kitschy Vintage Kitchen Decor

I'm still in the process of trying to make my new apartment feel like a home and it's been so hard to focus on just one room. I want to buy everything, for every room, all at once! Anyone else understand this feeling?

Of course, I can't do that because as much as I wish I am, I am not a millionaire. So, I've been doing it slowly — paycheck by painstaking paycheck and cutting corners where I can. Like the responsible human being that I am. Unfortunately, all this has allowed me to do is continue adding items to an ever growing list of "wants". That combined with my inability to focus on one room has created an odd list and caused be to buy things on impulse - making for some very odd, half-finished rooms. To combat this insanity, I've decided to share it with you! Aren't you excited? In an effort to focus, I'm just going to share my wants, my loves, my hopes, and my dreams for my new apartment room by room. Maybe that way I won't wonder why I have an extensive plate collection for the kitchen walls but still no table for the craft room (yes, this is a real problem).

Favorite Things: Cozy Winter Necessities

If the constant snow storms and freezing cold are any indication, we're still in for a long month of winter ahead. Luckily for us, there are plenty of ways to bog down, get cozy, stay warm, and pretend that the outdoors don't exist. So to help each other out through these rough and windy days and dream of blankets, candles, and warm tea, I've put together a collection of all my favorite things that make winter hibernation not so bad.

First off, what everyone needs to start hibernation season is something warm to drink and nothing makes tea better than an adorable tea pot with an even cuter infuser. I'm a loose tea drinker mainly because I like the idea of wasting less packaging, but with all these new and adorable infusers, it's hard not be a loose tea drinker!