Drowning in a Sea of Cords!

So, I've been having a problem. I've been obsessively looking at everyone else's apartments, trying to figure out how they deal with it and honestly, I can't figure out WHAT they do, so I finally had to break down and figure it out myself.

What's the problem?

CORDS! So. many. CORDS. 

This problem occurs at what I think you could think of as the nexus of all technology- the TV, the DVR, the DVD player, the modem, the router- it's a hot mess. My main technique has been trying to shove them all under the shelf, but it really didn't work, and having to unplug something made me want to cry.

What do you do about this kind of problem? 

HIDE IT! Yes. Hide it, like a 5 year old cleaning your room.

In my googling, I saw some products on line meant for this, but they didn't seem up to the job of dealing with my massive cord snarl. I went to IKEA, where I'd seen some of these advertised, and they were just really small. But what they DID have were these cardboard boxes. I was already using the polkadot ones to hold DVDs (and elsewhere, photos) so it seemed like a natural choice. 

Basically, what you see here is a double-wide powerstrip with all kinds of stuff plugged into it. The tricky part is that what I did was to feed the cords in through the back hole of the box (meant to be a handle). I did want my laptop cord to be available, so I fed that one out the front of the box. Put the lid on, and seriously, it was like magic. I spent a lot of time obsessively checking the bottom of the box to see if it was hot, or anything like that, but nothing like that happened, and it's been about a month at this point so I'm confident in the system, provided all your cords are in good shape and not sparky or anything crazy like that.

Here it is again... magic!

Mason Jar Pendant Lights (repost)

So, my Hallway Wall Art, is turning out to be the most popular thing I've ever posted (second is definitely this adzuki bean soup which is somehow always at the top of the views. More mysteriously, this old random post mentioning the Children of the Corn is also always high on the list- you wouldn't believe how many people get here by googling that). Anyhow, I figured I might post a few other decorating related posts from the archives... first up are these mason jar lights, which frankly, were adorable. Enjoy!


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Ok, so people all over the interwebs are making these mason jar lights, and they're so cute I finally couldn't stand it any more (who are these people, you ask? some of them are here, and here and here...)

I wanted a weekend project, but I'm kind of swamped these days, so basically was going for pretty much instant gratification- I wouldn't call the results here instant, but it was close. I followed the instructions over at secretpocketblog, and I suggest you do the same. If you can find vintage, or colored, jars, that would be really cute, but I just used regular mouth quart canning jars by Kerr, which I got at Smart and Final. I then went and got cord components from Ikea ("Hemma". unfortunately, they force you to buy a lightbulb you don't need with it, but oh well). The lightbulbs I used here were display bulbs (found easily at the drugstore)- 40W clear Showcase/tubular bulbs.

The basic idea is simple- you trace the outline of the circle where the lightbulb screws in onto the flat part of the jar lid. Then, you use a hammer and a flathead screwdriver (on top of a board, or something you don't mind the screwdriver punching into) to punch out the circle. Stick the fixture through, screw on the bulb, screw on the jar, and you're set!

I felt like the light was a little industrial for my living room (although it would be great over a desk or workspace), so I used some fabric I had sitting around and wrapped it around the jars and glued it with a glue gun.

The light these put out is so nice and warm (without actually seeming like colored lights, which might be a little much) and the curves of the glass make light patterns on the ceiling. I love them! (note- it is REALLY hard to take a good picture of a lit lamp, turns out, but these at least get the general idea across).

Freezer Sangria

As we've discussed, it was very very hot for a while, lately it has been perfect and not too hot, but this freezer sangria is still an awesome discovery anyways. I found a version of this over at NoRecipes, and went from there.

I don't think I need to explain why sangria is the best summer drink ever- it's cold, you can take advantage of delicious seasonal fruit, it's super flexible so you can make it however you like it, and it is really easy to pretend like you're in some kind of exotic location instead of in the middle of a hot city. The genius behind the freezer idea is that it makes it possible to have sangria on hand whenever you want it- this could actually get kind of dangerous.

What do you need?
- a good sized tupperware (mine was the same one I use to take brownies places, if that helps)
- a bottle of white wine (I used sauvignon blanc)
- some variety of hard alcohol- all I ever have is gin, so I used that, but vodka, triple sec or something else clear would also have worked and maybe been better
- lots of fruit- I used a quarter cantelope, a sweet red grapefruit, and a peach or two. chop it all up.
- a little bit of juice to add sweetness, all I could find was mango so I used that! you could also put in a little sugar if it is too bitter
- soda water and ice for serving

Basically, dump it all into the tupperware, taste it and add the alcohol/juice until you like it and stick it in the freezer, how's THAT for simple.

The good thing about the freezer system is: 1, it's super cold and the fruit acts a little like ice; 2, the ice crystals in the fruit break it down and release more juice; 3, if you don't want to drink it all at once, days later you can hack off a chunk and make a drink!

To serve it, put an ice cube or two in a glass with some soda water, and dump chunks of frozen sangria in- stir it around, it'll be almost like a slushy, a delicious refreshing, alcoholic slushy. Enjoy!