POP! {...goes their confidence}

Pop quizzes are the worst. Apparently, even when you're the one giving them!

I co-teach an introductory lab course with two professors, and they created a quiz on statistics and experimental-design (which I briefly mentioned here. It really was killer). Yesterday, we gave it as a pop quiz. Yes, we gave it on the last day of classes.

Oh my gosh I almost DIED when I handed it out to them, especially when I saw their faces. 

Heart=broken {seriously, i had really bad heartburn throughout class}

I had to be super serious, when all I wanted to do was give them a hug. I prayed so hard for them the whole time. And then went through the whole process again with the second section.

If any of you read my blog, I'M SO SORRY!! 

On the other hand, though, I really hope they did well... 

taking rentership - vase makeover

Low-cost, high impact, multipurpose. My home decor checklist.

When husband and I were thinking about wedding reception decor, we faced the same problem that we're having in our home: everything was so white! We ended up bringing color to the tables using bottles we had painted with our wedding colors.  

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I thought we could do something similar with our table at home. Rather than painting the outside of the bottles, though, which gave a nice matte appearance, I tried something different. I got inspired by Martha. As usual.My version // Martha Stewart's version . I loved how shiny and deep the color on her bottles looked! She got the effect by swirling enamel paint on the inside of the bottles, rather than painting the outsides. .For my version, I just used regular 'ol paint, though. Enamel paint was pretty and all, but it was pricey, and it seemed wasteful to buy it for one project {and for a project I wasn't even sure would work, too!}The process was pretty simple: I just dumped a little paint in them, swirled it around for a while until the inside was coated well, and then turned them upside-down to dry.  For the smaller "vase" {formerly a glass candle}, I added some white paint to the teal so they wouldn't match so much. It took about a day to dry for the large vase, overnight for the smaller one. It was pretty messy, but a quick wipe with a damp cloth took care of the drips. I love them. And with the little yellow vase I thrifted last week, I'm starting to shape the color scheme in there!
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Thing is, since I used interior paint rather than the special enamel stuff, my vases aren't waterproof. Which, if you think about it, is a pretty dumb characteristic for a vase..But wait! I totally thought of that. The smaller cylindrical vase is the perfect size for a tea light holder (or shot glass, when I can't find my tea light holder). For the larger vase, I can just barely sneak a plastic cup inside the mouth.

Tricky tricky. But once the flowers are in there, you can't even tell.

 

 We're all ready for Spring! :)

Linking up to: Shabby Creek Cottage

taking rentership - the seating situation

{We did this project forever ago, but it was the first step in the quest for color in our home, so I figured it's about time I blogged about it.}

I've made mention of this before, but our dining room table was a "rescue". As in: rescued from the side of the road.

It had some imperfections. And it only came with 3 chairs, all of which were in pretty bad shape. We could have refinished the chairs, but sanding really sucks, so we upholstered them instead {using a method similar to the one we used in our headboard}. Waay easier.

The fabric was from Ikea (now discontinued), and the padding was a mattress pad. They're nice and fluffy now. And, like, really bright and stuff.  We like that.

taking rentership ~ palate inspiration

This is my home.

YAWN.

Countertops, cabinets, floors, walls; everything is so white white white white white. Not even a place for us to hang a bright handtowel. Lame. Whoever built our little string of condos had very little imagination.  And husband and I didn't really help things by adding in a giant white table. (okay, I'll admit it: I wanted to paint it a really bright color but my vote was vetoed).  It's really hard to add color to a space without painting it! But, because I have decided to start loving the place we call home, it was time for some changes. We needed some "us" in the space!   And I wanted as much color as possible. Because we're still renting, and can't paint and all.Here's the color palate we (okay, I) decided on: 

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 cake central // honeytree on etsy // inspired bride 

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craft berry bush // photocard boutique // tumblr, original source unknown :(   We'll incorporate various shades within these palates, with probably some cranberry in there. We'll see.  I can't wait to get started.

Little Notes

Dear Husband:
You rock. Thank you for getting up and making me breakfast ON YOUR FIRST DAY OFF. You're way better at this than I am.

Dear spiders who seem to be invading my home: Where did you come from? And why won't you leave? I understand that the weather has been a little unpredictable lately, and if I were you I'd TOTALLY want to take shelter in my house too, but this is getting a little teensy bit old. Also, our bedroom is OFF LIMITS.    Dear Students: Press on, you're so close to the end of the semester! Don't sweat the little stuff; a grade's a grade and learning is a lot bigger than a GPA. Enjoy every little moment. Soak it in. Finish Strong. You'll be glad you did.
Dear Martha: I never cease to be amazed by you. Your website, along with Pinterest, has catapulted me into decorating mode. Now, could you sprinkle some of your fairy dust on me so my projects come out as pretty as yours? I'm almost 100% positive that you don't finish your projects covered in paint and glue, either.
Dear "Hoarders": The fact that you're on at dinnertime disgusts me. You ruined our fabulous dinner.
Dear ReStore: You really do have some gems within your warehouse. It is definitely a treasure hunt in there, but I'm glad that we discovered you! 
Dear last week of classes: Bring it. 

My office, this time last year. We're paperless now, but I've got twice the students. LETS GO.