2013: Best Year Ever!

Happy 2013! And happy third blog post from yours truly. I remember being 6 and my dad telling me I would graduate from high school in 2006 and I thought that seemed like lightyears away. Well 6 year old self, now we're 7 years after that. Time is weird.

A lot of junk went on in 2012. Let's recollect. I moved out of my apartment and in with my parents, quit my job and started a new one, bought a car somewhere in between there, moved back out into the glorious apartments I described in my first post (jk they're awful), took my second trip to Portland and I'm still not entirely convinced I shouldn't have just stayed there forever, and last but not least got accepted to grad school for counseling. I'm currently writing this post because I'm taking a break from studying and crying incessantly.

Anyway, as a result of the insane stress I am now feeling because of grad school, and also thanks to my subscription from Birchbox, I have decided to make 2013 the BEST YEAR EVER because it's the only way I'm going to make it out alive. Basically in my January box, Birchbox included a "25 Ways to Make 2013 Awesome" poster which is primarily focused around beauty products and fitness (start a Sunday evening ritual, work out and eat healthy, leave your iPhone/iPad at home, etc.) And since I hate New Year's resolutions, I've decided to commit to small and attainable changes to maximize my happiness.

I started out simply eating better, and less for that matter, along with running and doing yoga every night. And wouldn't you know it, I can focus a lot better on studying after doing both of those activities AND I've lost 7 pounds this month. Also I really want to be this person:

Then last night I cancelled my cable (WHAT?!) because I wasn't using it and I could use that money for shoes. Or saving, which was the actual intention. But also shoes.

So I'll be focusing this year on overall self-betterment. I turn 25 in a few months and that's pretty gross in itself so I want to be a totally awesome 25 year old. And I'm always on the look out for additional ideas!

DIY: Headboard!

When I moved a few years back, I purchased a new bed frame with the intent of making my own headboard. This idea didn't come to fruition until a month ago with an idea from pinterest and help from my handy dandy dad. I don't have any pictures of the process (well, I have a diptic that I made) but I vaguely followed this tutorial except that I made mine better.

So first, the general design. Pinterest called for a piece of plywood cut to the size you were desiring, 1 or 2 inch foam (I went with 2), batting, and fabric. I have a queen-size bed so I was aiming for a headboard that was 60wX36h. I COULD NOT find 2 inch foam in a size that wouldn't have involved me buying a bunch of squares ($$$) and cutting them to size so I opted for a roll of foam that was 27 inches high and decided to shorten my headboard. We tweaked the frame design because plywood isn't sturdy, it's often warped, and it's expensive. It's wood! I'll cut my own wood, thank you very much. Instead, we fashioned a design that would create a frame out of 1x3s and a couple slabs of 1/4 MDF because I am all about the cheaps and the goal was to make this for under $100. Also the big fat frame would contribute to me having a super thick headboard..

After cutting the 1x3s to the correct length and screwing them together (or was it nails? it doesn't matter, just get them attached) we cut the MDF boards down and screwed/nailed them on top to create a slab I guess. It turned out like below.

The frame!

BTdub, my dad cut all the wood down with a table saw. As if he'd trust me with doing that and not severing an arm.

We then attached the foam using some kind of spray adhesive he pulled out of his toolshed. I would say this is necessary but it wasn't a step in the original post. All I'm saying is you don't want it sliding around. We then laid the batting over the foam and staplegunned it to back of the frame.

Then came the fabric. I used canvas because I wanted it to be durable. Turns out canvas doesn't iron well, which you'll need to do before you attach the fabric. We had to stretch that shit super tight to get out all the wrinkles. After you staple it to the back and trim the excess fabric off, you'll have a giant pillowy headboard.

The last part was to attach the buttons. Pinterest said to drill holes through the board and sew the buttons on (AFTER covering them with fabric. What?!) but I was like, no way. A staple gun probably won't work here either, at least it didn't for me. We drilled some screws through the layers, gently of course, to make the divots and then I hot-glued the buttons right in because I wanted this to look real nice.

 The finished product!

All in all it cost:

Fabric and buttons: $29
Batting and foam: $47 (COME ON)
Wood: $25
$101 total. So close.

I also stained and attached legs to the back of it. Another idea is to hang it on your wall which I think gives it a really modern feel. My only problem with that is then spiders and shit could crawl from your wall onto your headboard and then down to your bed and I spend an unreasonable amount of time trying to prevent insects from getting near or onto me.

Getting Started!!

Here we go! I'm excited to try and keep this blog afloat. I'm notorious for my complete and utter lack of follow through, among other things. Let's discuss!

I'm Libby, currently residing in beautiful brown Lubbock, TX. At the moment, I'm exhausting all efforts to find my calling in life (that's not true, I'm not exhausting any efforts) but in the meantime, maybe I can find fame and fortune by being a blogger! It's happened, you know.

This is where I live:

My apartment complex is home to every tree in Lubbock. Seriously, there's plant life everywhere in this small radius and almost none in the rest of the city. This picture doesn't even do it justice.

My apartment is also home to the scene of a (probable) murder here in this swampy lake:

These are my roommates:

Jude

Fig

Jude is 4 years old. Fig is 10 weeks old and still in the phase where everything she does is cute. She climbs into my fireplace, constantly licks me with her scratchy tongue, attacks me in my sleep, and claws up my new couch. Super adorable. 

These are some of my totally presh friends:

This is how I open packaging:

Which is only relevant because I'm currently attempting to hang curtains in my living room and failing miserably.

And this is me back in my glory days of being an HCo manager, always looking good:

And we're off! Feel free to follow me on twitter and instagram (@libbyanne for both). And if you like food as much as I do, you can follow all the food I repin on pinterest (@libbyhilde).