Omg, I can't believe it's been at least a month since I last blogged! Crazy! One excuse I have for you is that we weren't home for a whole week. I finally set foot outside of the country recently to live it up with Matt in Amsterdam! To say it was awesome would be an understatement. Anyway, let's get started with the barrage of pictures.

 

 

Upon arriving in Amsterdam we tried to check into our room, but failed. Apparently our room wasn't ready at 9am. Go figure! So after checking our luggage we wandered around. While we were walking I was welcomed by an adorable little orange kitty playing on some chairs in a shop. I was pretty hopeful that there'd be cats everywhere, and this was a promising sign. On average I probably saw at least three kitties a day!

 

 

We didn't have a set itinerary for the trip, but here's some of the highlights! Since we had been to a recent Van Gough exhibit at our art museum we decided on the Rijksmuse. We spent a half day wandering around looking at their collection. It's mostly art, however there were rooms filled with other 'stuff'. Stuff like really intricate working ship models, clothes from the olden days, a lot of swords, really intricate furniture, china, old timey clothes... You name it, they had it. Well, as long as it was old and museum worthy.

 

 

Their collection of art was outstanding! The quality was unreal. I think it's because the Dutch used to collect a lot of art back in the old times. They were pretty rich before Napoleon ruined the party and apparently had nothing better to do with their money than collect art and commission portraits (including this one of a really buff baby). I was really impressed with the size of the paintings. The Waterloo painting (middle) went all the way up to the ceiling, which was probably 12-15 feet.

 

 

These pictures are warercolors! I was really surprised because they look so realistic, and nothing like the trendy-intentionally-sloppy watercolor so that are so trendy right now (which I love).

 

 

These bouquets on black backgrounds were my favorites! I think I really like how vivid the colors are on that dark background. I even saw a pair of skinny jeans with a similar print in a store on our last day that I wanted to buy, but apparently they were being saved for the price circus the next day. That's what they called their sales, and apparently they like to taunt you with stuff that isn't currently for sale yet because they wouldn't let me buy them. }:(

 

 

Wandering around a museum works up your appetite, so after a quick search on Yelp we made our way to The Butcher. It was literally the best burger I have ever had. So good that we went back the next day for seconds. Ron Swanson would approve.

 

 

Getting around Amsterdam was pretty easy with the google maps app, even without service. But we wanted to see some windmills, so we took one of those double decker bus tours that filled with other tourists. We dislike being stuck with "other tourists", but it was an easy way to see some stuff outside of the city. At one point Matt was convinced that this trio of older Asian women were following him around and ruining his pictures on purpose. I found it hysterical. At least we have pictures to remember them by. The bus took us to three stops; a cheese factory, a clog factory and some working windmills. This is one of the villages we stopped in.

 

 

I kinda wish I had one of these clog planters now. Some people had theirs hung by the little loop on the back and they were so cute!

 

 

At the clog making factory they gave a quick demo of how a clog is carved. It's mostly automated, but they still cut the toe and heal by hand with a giant knife.

 

 

Since one can't go to a clog factory without at least trying some on, here's some novelty pics of us wearing novelty clogs. They are surprisingly light and comfortable, the real ones, not the novelty oversized ones. Who knew!

 

 

The windmills were pretty awesome in person. The top part actually turns so no matter which direction the wind is coming from, they can use it very efficiently. The one we went inside was a spice mill. Oh, and if you're wondering where the pictures from the cheese factory are, well there aren't really any. We got lost from our tour group for what felt like an eternity and missed half of the presentation.

 

 

We also took a candle light canal cruise one evening. The cruise took us in a large loop to see different parts of the city. This giant boat was right outside of the maritime museum.

 

 

This Chinese restaurant had a funny story. Apparently it is a replication of one in Hong Kong that on opening night started to sink! The fresh water wasn't taken into account when they booked the restaurant to capacity. So just remember that when building a giant restaurant on the water.

 

 

Towards the end of our trip they pointed out the dancing houses and Amsterdam's smallest house. My picture of the smallest house looks like poop, but it was as wide as the front door and two stories. These are the dancing houses, which get their name because of how much they are leaning. I guess that's a downside to building your house where there used to be ocean.

 

 

They also drove us through the Red Light District. We walked around there one evening as well. We saw some ladies get angry at other people for taking pictures, but mostly they were just passing time playing Candy Crush (maybe). We did see one guy take a lady up on her services, they were both very awkward about the situation.

 

 

Even with the activities that we did, the thing that still stands out in my mind is just how beautiful all those old buildings were. This one in particular is a mall with a Toni&Guy inside. I of course had to go check that out.

 

 

This is the royal palace, which before it was a royal palace it was the town hall. So gorgeous!

 

 

We even found a market where we bought some flowers for the room! It's kind of becoming a little tradition to get a bouquet, if they're readily available. I'm. to going to go to the grocery store or anything like that.

 

 

 

And speaking of vacation rituals, here's my commemorative vacation ring from this trip! I found it at this adorable shop called Fair + Fair.

 

 

We were both a little sad to leave, farewell Amsterdam!

 

 

Why can't we be on permanent vacation? Have you been on an awesome vacation lately? Where to?

Nikki Kelly

This Monday was Matt's birthday and I'm so excited to finally get to share what I've been cooking up for him! Since this particular present is what it is, I will save myself from trying to write a proper introduction for it because, well, that would be impossible.


My bff Ali was in on the gift and predicted that he would be experiencing a wave of emotions upon seeing it. She was right. But all in all he loves it.



We're not really sure where it will end up. Mike's (Ali's husband) thought it would be funny to leave it here and invite people over for dinner and see who cracks first.


Where ever it ends up it will stop people in their tracks. Also, I couldn't have done this without my friend Naomi. Actually, I couldn't have done any of this. She painted this whole thing. All I did was buy a canvas and tell her what I wanted. If you'd like to see some of her other work she has a blog that with all kinds of artsy fartsy adventures. Also, she has a son named Rocket (for real), so that should be a quick preview of how cool she is.

Anyway, back to the lamest project in the history of projects painting the exterior of the house.

Nikki Kelly

Recently I mentioned that I'm attempting to embrace my self imposed title as a blogger (you know, because of this little old blog), and I've been trying to step outside my comfort zone a little. Anyway, after going to the Eat, Drink, Create event I wanted to keep the stepping out of my bubble momentum rolling. First up was actually the very next morning! Anthropologie was hosting a little crafty event to get their display ready for Earth Day, and since Anthro has the most amazing window displays I was pretty stoked to be a part of that. The display that we were helping with was going to be a vertical pallet garden, so they had us cutting out leaves galore, making strawberries, cabbage, and kale. Now that Earth Day has come and gone and their display is up I wanted to share it with all you fine folks.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Here is their finished display! This is the tomato garden.

 

 

And here's the cutest little strawberry patch ever! Bonus, they'll never go bad!

 

 

Ok, my next event is a little more recent but also in celebration of Earth Day. Ikea along with the Denver Craft Ninjas hosted an event called Reduce, Reuse, Recraft. Anyone that has ever entered through the doors of Ikea knows that one thing they're not short on is cardboard. So instead of bundling it up to be recycled Annie decided to save some of it for crafts! This is Annie showing just one of the projects available for the day, a cardboard pendant light!

 

 

This is Becky of Denver Craft Ninjas showing off some of the other projects available, faux mounted antlers, cardboard deer head, a moose cut out to decorate however you please, and there was a cute little shadow box with a little bud vase inside.

 

 

 

Since I had already been down the mounted deer head path before I chose to make the pendant light and a moose cut out project. There weren't very many mooses (mise?) so I grabbed one of the scrap panels that they were cut out of. Here are all my supplies that I gathered up. It was so nice that Ikea gave us a big variety of fabric, paper, and decals to spruce up our cardboard with.

 

 

Here's my (almost) finished projects! I glued some of the pink striped fabric to one side of my half circles and have them oriented all the same way. I really love how the moose silhouette turned out with the same fabric behind it. I think I'd like to get a little bit of batting to put behind the fabric before I glue it to the back piece of cardboard. That way the moose will be a little poufy. Oh, and IKEA threw in the light cord and LED bulb for anyone making the light, pretty sweet! Now I just need to find someone to give these things to.

 

 

So have you ever gone to a local crafty event? Make sure to check out Becky's post to see some of the other projects of the day, I'm a little jealous of the black moose with the rainbow fabric background. Now that I've been to a Craft Ninjas event, I'm excited to go to another!

 

Nikki Kelly

 

Well, I didn't finish the projects that I had hoped to before jetting off to Seattle last week, but I did finish them up right when I got back! Lets take a look at the easier of the two projects for baby Ellie first, framing this old embroidery scene. Actually, even before I picked up a frame I gave it a bath. I'll spare you the pictues of dirty water, but I ended up cleaning it four times! It must have lived in a home with chain smokers because it was pretty gross. To clean it I removed the fabric from the board it was stretched onto, it was just held on with regular old scotch tape. Then since I was a little worried about how sturdy the stitches might be I filled up a bucket with hot water and some Woolite and just washed it by hand. After the third go of hand washing and still having water that was far from clear I decided to let it soak over night. The water still wasn't super clean, but it's going to be hanging on the wall, and I had decided enough was enough. After it dried I gave it a quick ironing and re-taped it onto a fresh new piece of cardboard stuff. I could finally put it in a frame!

 

The scene is roughly 18" x 24", so it needed a fairly large frame but not quite poster frame. I headed off to my favorite place for cheap but nice looking frames, IKEA! I picked up this RIBBA frame for $20. Once I had it home I laid the mat over the scene and didn't really like the size of the opening. It cut out some of the tree, the monkeys hand, and a fish or two. Even though the elephant was what sold me, someone had put some long hours into this scene and it all deserved to be seen.

 

 

Luckily, I have a mat cutting thingy. I decided to make the mat the same thickness all the way around instead of thicker on the sides like it was. Also, it was just easier than trying to measure how much bigger I would need the opening to be and keeping it centered.

 

 

Once I had my mat cut I taped the scene in place. Oh, and since this little embroidery scene had some 3-D elements to it I didn't want to smoosh it behind the glass that came with the frame, so I just put the glass behind everything. That way if Sarah ever wants to put something else in this frame the glass right where it needs to be.

 

Umm, and here is a quick PSA regarding the glass in picture frames. It is sharp. I know that you've probably heard it a million times (I have!) but look at what happened to my sad little thumb! I barely knocked it on the edge of the glass but I guess that's all it takes, so frame pictures at your own risk!

 

 

Ok! Duh dunt duh dunnnn! So much better! The monkey had two hands, that lonely fish now has some friends, and that jaguar is eyeballing a tastey little bird snack. Everyone is happy.

 

 

Especially this purple elephant! She prefers flowers that smell like Woolite over ashtray any day of the week.

 

And Mr. Lion enjoys the extra bounce and pep in his mane.

 

Well since this post has turned out to be a little long than expected I'll wait another day or two to show you the topper I finished for the desk. It turned out pretty nicely, I think once its got a changing pad in it and diaper stuff it will look more intentional and less like a giant wood box on a desk, but whateves.

 

Nikki Kelly

 

I am terrible at taking before pictures! At least this one is before I started painting it.

 

 

This is really just a sneak peek at what I hope to be posting next week. My plan is to paint this sucker of a desk grey (just like I painted its brother dresser for my sister) and then put a changing top on it so it can function as a changing table for sweet baby Ellie! Speaking of, lets take a peak at her one month picture. I swiped this from my sister's Facebook page because I just love this picture of her. I love the face she's making.

 

 

Anyway, this desk to changing table is taking much longer than it should thanks to the winter like weather we've been getting every couple of days for the last few weeks. Ok, I might be exaggerating but it seems like whenever I have some time to paint its freezing outside or a blizzard. Thankfully the forecast looks like those will be just a memorie soon enough. I was able to start cutting the pieces for the topper, thanks to the table saw being in the basement. Please ignore that nasty ass carpet. It's in our rarely used basement and it came that way. Just imagine carpet that is twice as bad and that's what we were left with in the living room. As Jimmy Fallon would say, ew.

 

 

Right now the last coat of paint is drying on the desk, and hopefully I can put the changing topper together before I head off to Seattle for a little spring break fun. There's also a high possibility that I'll get this adorable embroidered animal scene that I shared on Instagram framed. I've already washed it four times (ew!) and re-mounted it. I even bought a frame, but I need to cut the matte so the opening is just a little bigger.

 

 

Spring is right around the corner and I just can't wait! How about you? Any projects that are being prolonged because of crappy weather?

 

Nikki Kelly

 

P.S. I signed up on Vine. It's just clips of my cats right now, I guess I'm not clever enough to come up with anything else right now. I'm @nikiley.