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Smart gift-giving: Feel good, save money, and support the economy

We are in the thick of the holiday season, and the obsessive compulsion to shop-shop-shop is upon many of us. I admit, it’s been getting to me despite my commitment to stay away from the malls this year. It was as I was getting my gym bag out of my car today that I realized how overwhelmed I’ve become with the holidays: I had been planning to buy my brother-in-law a gift this week, yet there sitting beside my bag was something I’d put aside just for him. I think the constant barrage of advertisements was finally getting to me, and I found myself getting swept up in the shopping spirit. Well, no more. Let me show you some ways we’re having a more ethical, eco-friendly, frugal, and meaningful Christmas.

WRAP IT UP:

In the USA alone, it’s estimated that holiday gift wrapping contributes 4 million tons of garbage to the landfills. Crazy, right? Yet we’re all going to contribute, for two reasons:

1. It’s cheaper than a lot of the clever DIY wrapping out there, using fabrics, etc.

2. We’re novelty junkies, and we think each present has to be wrapped in a unique, thematic piece of paper.

 My solution: brown paper packages, tied up with string. These are a few of my favourite things. You can get a roll of brown parcel paper at your local box store. Wrap all your presents in this simple paper, then go old-school and tie it with old fashioned twine. Or, if you want a splash more pizazz, get a few rolls of different ribbons and tie up those packages with a bit of festive colour. The best part? These rolls of paper are pretty huge, so you can keep the leftovers and use it year-round for all your gift-giving needs. Too plain for you? Make a potato stamp (easy tutorial here) and stamp for the specific holiday; or buy a cute rubber stamp set and stamp the paper. It takes only a moment of extra time, and it will actually look more suave than the usual whacky-coloured paper.

GO LOCAL.

Project: Priceless (our family of blogs) is very pro-local buying. So is UsedEverywhere! Whether the gifts you’re looking for can be bought off your local Used site, or if you need something fresh from the manufacturer, buying local is easy. There’s a few ways to do this:

Handmade locally in Ottawa, posted on UsedOttawa.com

1. Schedule yourself with 3-4 major craft shows during the season; bring your gift list, and you’ll find something for everyone. Having troubles with manly gift ideas? Remember that culinary crafters offer a range of BBQ-specific meat rubs and sauces. Some artisans craft wonderful wood statues, ceramics, or even cufflinks.

2. Choose a locally-owned shop and buy ALL your gifts there…or at least as many as you can. It’s actually pretty fun, and if you meet the owner, you’ll get to see what a happy impact you can have on them with your relatively large bulk purchase. If that’s too difficult, choose a couple local vendors to support. Hint: a local shop that carries various local brands may be an easier first attempt at this, rather than, say, one shop that makes only cat sweaters.

RE-GIFT.

Yup, I said it. Re-gift things. Tacky? Not as tacky as holding onto gifts for a couple years ‘til you finally get the nerve up to toss ‘em in the trash. Why not re-gift, say, that set of cupcake-scented body products if you’re allergic to perfumes? If you have a sweets-lovin’ person on your list who’ll squeal with joy over the set, it seems only right to pass it along. Re-gifting, in my eyes, is only tacky if you’re not trying to match the person with the present. Our culture is obsessed with the idea that everything has to be new from the store. Ask yourself why you believe that, and if it really jives with your eco-viewpoint.

MAKE IT WITH YOUR HANDS.

In a nutshell: you can make something. And if you’re not crafty, handy, or coordinated: think smart, not hard. You have a best friend? Get a really pretty cigar box (available at cigar shops for $10 or less) and fill it with photos of the two of you. Try the same idea, but with recipes. Get tee-shirt transfer paper and print off your kid’s favourite superhero, then iron it onto a hoodie. Assemble a ‘Guy’s Night In’ package, complete with (locally brewed) beverages, popcorn, pretzels, a magazine, and a DVD, all tucked creatively into a milk crate or toolbox. You may have found some handmade snacks at the craft show to include!

IN SHORT: THINK SMART, NOT HARD.

The average Canadian is spending over $600 this year on Christmas gifts, and we produce 25% more waste during the holiday season through all this gift-giving. For your budget, your planet, or your desire to get creative, ‘tis the season to try something new! Once you conquer the notion that ‘expensive, elaborate, and over-packaged is best’, you’ll find a whole new world of gift-giving opens up to you..and best of all, you’ll find people notice the extra effort and will treasure your gifts for longer! Give it a try; I’m certain you’re gonna love it

An adventure in clothes swapping: Not as risque as it sounds

THE TRADING POST

If you’ve never participated in a clothing swap, the rules are simple: bring the requested minimum number of items (in this case, three), lay them out on the labelled tables, then wait for the start of the swap to jump on the clothes you like. Try them on, and return what doesn’t work out. Take as much or a little as you like. It’s that simple.

Last Thursday, my husband and I attended a clothing swap, hosted by Ef Magazine, called Swapapalooza; I also had the distinct pleasure of supporting the event in my role as Marketing Ninja for UsedOttawa.com, providing tote bags for swappers as well as other cool swag. I knew that on a professional level, we definitely wanted to support this event in any way we could, but to be honest, I wasn’t sure how much I’d enjoy the actual swap, myself. Both my husband and I brought along an armful of clothes, though, figuring we’d at least contribute to the goods available. I’m so glad we did, because I was totally unprepared for the awesomeness that is a clothing swap.

WHY IT WORKS:

I couldn’t imagine how this system could work out. Surely there would be a shortage of clothing? Surely we’d all be vying for the same pretty skirt, tearing at each other like wild dogs? Or surely everyone would bring the worst of the worst clothing from the back of their closets? I brought about a half-dozen pieces myself, and I lay my treasures out on the various tables, feeling a little shy about people seeing my clothing, most of which was no longer my style. But no one was judging, only analyzing my castoffs to see if they would now find a new home with a new body. I found myself spying several lovely items as I perused the tables before the swap started, and was happy to discover many diamonds in the rough.

My swapped outfit.

Why wasn’t there a shortage of clothing? Well, first off, many people brought more than the bare minimum. When someone promises you that anything you bring will get a new home either with a swapper or with charity at the end of the night, you tend to bring anything you’ve been ready to part with. One girl actually brought a giant Tupperware tub full of clothes, so there was a seemingly endless supply of things to touch, hold up, and try on. Oh, and for anyone out there who’s an unusual size, height, width, or shape, no worries: when there’s enough people attending, you’re bound to find something that will work for you.

Why weren’t we all fighting over the same outfit? Because every person had a different personal style. Miniature floral prints suit many ladies, but they make me look about eighty years old; so naturally, I didn’t fight anyone for those pieces. Knee-length sweaters are a nuisance to a sporty girl, but to a Gilmore Girls fanatic like myself, any long sweater is just another chance to look a bit more like Lorelai. There was, I will confess, one glittery silver dress that I pined for after another woman grabbed it (and took it home without even trying it on, SIGH), but other than that, I think I got a chance to try on everything else that caught my eye.

By the end of the night, all but one of my pieces had found a new home, and I had found about five stunning new-to-me treasures to bring back home. My outfit today, seen here, is actually ¾ from the swap—everything but the jeans! (Sorry for the messy room, we’re packing for our moving day next week—another reason why it was great to bring a bunch of old clothes and be rid of them at the swap!)

LESSONS FROM THE SWAP EXPERIENCE (AND TIPS FROM A FASHION KNOW-IT-ALL):

I learned a couple things while helping to keep the clothes folded and tidy on the tables throughout the evening:

The swap was hosted by Bowich, an organic sandwich joint!

-People were giving away a lot of muted colours, like beige, brown, grey, and black. The question is, did they end up in the swap pile because the women who first bought them felt as drab in them as they looked on the table? Or do we over-purchase on dark neutrals?

-Some of the black fabrics had that faded look of too many washes. Holding onto your clothes for another season may simply mean that you need to buy a colour-friendly or cold-water laundry soap.

-There appeared to be a lot of discarded items made of that infamous jersey knit. You know the stuff: thicker than a tee shirt, thinner than a sweatshirt, and usually used to make camisoles and tank tops. The problem with jersey knit: it’s cotton, which means it stretches and shrinks—and usually in all the wrong places. If you like these styles, treat them with some extra love and they may not end up in the swap pile as quickly: wash in cold water, then lay flat to dry or hang over a towel rack…don’t hang them on a hanger or by the straps while they’re wet because they’ll stretch.

-This next piece of advice is something I’ve been wanting to share for a while. In a past life, I received my training in image consulting, and actually worked many years as a cosmetics artist. So trust me when I tell you what I tell you next. Wildly trendy prints will end up in your swap basket—and that’s okay, but beware how much you pay for it if you’re going to toss it the next year. What will also end up in the swap bin: clothing that is cut in a trendy-but-unflattering style. I’ll say this now and only once: you have to be very flat-bellied to wear anything high-waisted. And if you are busty, don’t wear a empire-cut dress or blouse, or you will look like you are the width of your bust the whole way down: accentuate hour glass shape with something more fitted. And pleats belong on super models and the guys from Mad Men, so stop torturing yourself with them. Oh, and please be kind to your body: pause and ask yourself if that miniskirt that rises all the way up to your underwire is actually flattering…or is it that you just really want to look like the American Apparel model, despite the fact that you can’t walk around all day contorting your torso for maximum positional flattery?

 STAPLES VERSUS SPLASHES IN YOUR WARDROBE:

The best way to buy your wardrobe: spend the extra dollars on your staple pieces—jeans, tights, tops, and underwear—and then go wild with a few items per season. A swap can be a great place to try something outside your comfort zone: I usually hate a heavy-knit tunic, but the purple one in my photo here turned out to be lovely on me. Or maybe it’s the time you try a splash of colour or trendy print. When the only cost of an item is the effort of bringing in one to exchange for it, you can afford to go a little wild.

Now that I have experienced a clothing swap, I’ll be looking for more to attend. I’ve already started saving up a few more items of my own to bring. What was old is new again, and hey: maybe I’ll even get a swing at that sparkly dress next swap around.

Easy Craft, Pretty Gift: Teacup Towers

So one of the local radio stations has begun 24/7 Christmas music, which means that even though it’s still warm and green here in Ottawa (thanks, climate change), it’s the holiday season and we have to face it. I love this time of year in many ways: amazing baking, sparkly decorations, gatherings, and mocktails. What I hate is the crowded parking lots, malls, and lines everywhere. Last year to avoid all of this, my then-fiancee (now-hubby) Brian and I made as many of our gifts as possible. This year because we’re moving, we won’t be able to do that, but we will, where possible, reduce our shopping list by making things with our own four hands. Here’s a fantastic and easy craft for those of you looking for something inexpensive and awesome to give to your loved ones: tea cup tea trays.

YOU WILL NEED:
1-3 tea cups
1-3 saucers, or alternatively, 1 dinner plate, 1 side plate, and 1 saucer
E-6000 glue
Windex and paper towel

I made these babies for our co-ed wedding shower, and used them again at the wedding itself. I now have about 8 of these, and I’ll be gifting some of them this Christmas; others, I’m selling on UsedOttawa just because I have way too many. At our shower, we used them as cupcake stands for mini cupcakes; at our wedding, we had them out for cookies to sit on. Now I have one in my bedroom and I drape my jewellery all over it. It’s turning out to be one of my prettiest and most versatile craft creations ever.

stack your pretty china

use glue. love the glue.

INSTRUCTIONS:

1. Clean the cups and trays with the Windex so there are no body oils or scudge on them. Pay particular attention to the bottom of the tea cups.

2. Pull out your E-6000 glue. This glue is used widely in craft tutorials across the interweb, whenever a solid seal is needed. I didn’t understand how good this glue could be, until I got some for myself. Use the glue. Love the glue. It is your best friend. (Warning: it is a bit smelly, so ventilate the room.)

3. Practice stacking your plates and cups ‘til you like the way it looks. I tried a bunch of different ways, but usually you put the largest plate on the bottom and work your way up…if all your plates are saucers, it’s not so much of an issue. Sometimes the tea cup handles will get in the way if they rise above the lip of the cup; you may just need to try a different saucer on top, or you may need to try a different teacup.

TIP 1: Do not make your tower taller than three tea cups. I did all of ours with only two tea cups to be sure they were solid, sturdy, and not too easy to topple.

4. Put glue on the underside of the first tea cup (lots of it) and stamp it down onto the plate. You can clean the excess away now, or wait til the glue hardens and use a scalpel—it’s a bit like rubber.

5. Put glue on the rim of the tea cup and now place your next saucer/plate onto the tea cup.

6. Repeat for as many layers as you like.

7. Allow the glue to dry over night before attempting to lift the structure. But afterwards, do indeed lift it and give a gentle shake to be sure everything is secure. Out of all those teacup towers, I only had one plate let go, and I think I just didn’t use enough glue.

lovely cupcake stand

store your bits & bobs

TIP 2: Be sure to remove any goopy excess dried glue. It’s ugly, and technically it’s not healthy if you do put food on your tray. These babies should definitely be gently washed by hand; as we only had icing get on them, I just wiped them down with a soapy water-soaked cloth, then rinsed them.

This is such a simple craft, and all you need is old china and glue. How awesome is that?! Think about it: one trip to the craft store for glue, plus one search on your local UsedEverywhere site for old china, and you’re done. Hardly a line, parking lot, or shameful mall foodcourt lunch to worry about.

Colour Confident: How to Choose Your Decor Shades

We’re in the process of moving. For reasons we’ve highlighted on the NEST–our blog–we had really no choice but to vacate a situation involving a melting floor and copious amounts of mould. But what’s great is, we’re moving up, not just out. Our new place is the top two floors of an old house, and we’re going to have our bedroom in the attic! The art studio/office will also be up there, with a big window where my desk will look out over our street. Our kitchen’s a bit tiny, which I have no doubt will lead to frustrated blog posts in the future, but we’re hopeful that we can work out a hanging system on the wall for pots and pans. What’s novel is that the apartment is actually separated into very definitive rooms—our current place is quite open-concept—so we’ll be able to have some fun with decorating. Thus far, we’ve managed to gather a number of things for our place with over 90% of it coming from UsedOttawa.com, thrift stores, and freecycle groups. But when you’re not buying a coordinated furniture suite, and most of the items up for grabs are really outdated, you have to have some imagination. The first step, without a doubt, is choosing a theme and colour palette.

For those of you out there who find colour to be a little daunting, here’s the most basic first steps for you:

1. All colours are derivative of the primary colours: primary colours are red, blue, and yellow. Secondary colours are made by mixing together two primaries, and the results are orange, green, and purple.

2. Colours have a friend on the colour wheel called their complimentary colour. That’s why, defying all logic, yellow and purple look good together: they’re complimentary. Same with orange and blue, and red and green.

3. So when you go to decorate a room, you have a few colour options:

a-Decorate all in shades of the same colour: navy blue, sky blue, blue-tinted white.

The colour wheel. Credit: http://mydreamwedding.ca

b-Decorate in shades from one-quarter of the colour wheel: yellow, to green, to blue.

c-Decorate with one or two main shades, then have a complimentary colour to add some pizazz.

(Note: this is a really simplified how-to, and if you have a creative idea that you think looks good but doesn’t fit in this tutorial, try it out anyway. You can always start over!)

It’s option ‘c’ that I love to do the most, and this is why we chose the bedroom colours that we did: Caribbean blue, a fresh pure orange, and some hints of butternut yellow. Our theme is folkart owls, deer, and mushrooms, but done in these updated colours. For the most part, all we have so far is a comforter, bedskirt, and ideas…that is, until we painted our nightstands.

These nightstands were a freebie, found online through UsedOttawa.com. You can see they are a)from a different era, and b)made of fake wood. Actually, they’re made of real wood but someone painted them with fake woodgrain. I don’t understand the logic behind this. No matter: we set to work fixing them right up…

First step is usually a sanding, using a really nubbly sandpaper to give the surface some ‘tooth’, a fancy word for scratches. After that, a coating of primer will be your best friend: primer sticks better to slick surfaces, plus it is toothy, itself. If you’ll recall, I am a big advocate for letting your primer dry: don’t rush layers when you’re painting, or you’ll end up with more work in the end, trying to cover up the mistakes that arise. We did  two coats of paint on the nightstands. We asked at the store for the best paint to stick to a poorly primed, nasty surface. This is because, as much as I preach good priming, I am not a detail person…I know the primer is important, but I may not work on it all day, meaning that my paint needs to be good and sticky. It also needed to be resilient, as the surface of a nightstand is exposed to water glasses, coffee cups, pens, notebooks, and various lotions and toiletries.

Whatever line of paint you go with, there will be different mixes and different finishes; go with the recommended formula in terms of wear-and-tear, but for the finish, I’m a fan of semi-gloss. Sometimes a high gloss paint can be a bit translucent and give you more grief with bold colours.

The nightstands now go perfectly with the $2.00 thrift store lamps that I found, and so we now have a good start on our grand bedroom vision.

What a change a bit of paint makes, right? We are debating on using an applique technique to decoupage on some paper owls, but I think we’ll have to see how everything looks in our new apartment. If you want to keep apprised, follow our nesting journey on our newlywed blog; in the meantime, I DARE you: be brave and bold, embrace a rich colour and try pairing it with its complimentary. Then comment below and include a link to photos, if you can.

And always remember: colours are trendy. They always change, so there’s really no way to choose colours for the long haul. Almost guaranteed, your shades and tones will be outdated in five years’ time. What does this mean? It means have FUN and don’t worry too much about playing it safe: even the most subdued taupe will eventually be considered blatantly gaudy. If you’re going to raise eyebrows, raise ‘em with something that will make you love your home.

A Frugal Fashionista Confessional

Film Noir by Darell Berry via Flickr

I stalked a woman at a shop the other day. This is my confession; forgive me, for I have lost my marbles. You need the context, though, before you judge…

I was at the nearby second-hand store, looking for housewares. Which means, of course, that I got distracted in the clothing aisles and lost track of my original mission. Poor Brian was left to search for a coat rack and a nightstand while I wandered the racks of shirts and dresses, looking for a bargain. It was as I neared the skirts that I saw a thrift store staff member sliding a fabulous skirt back onto the rack, and my breath caught in my throat: the skirt was phenomenal, just the kind of thing I’m always looking for and never find. It was done in strips of suede, brown lace, and subtle plaid, hung past the knee, and had a crocheted waistband. I was in bohemian heaven. I took a step towards the skirt, one hand outstretched, my mouth nearly watering with the fashion lust I was feeling…when another woman swooped in and grabbed it.

I was still too far away from the rack to claim foul play, so instead I stopped dead in my tracks and pretended to examine a silk blouse. I watched the woman inspect the skirt, holding it up, checking the size, turning it this way and that, tantalizing me with every swish. My palms itched with the desire to snatch the gorgeous thing away from her, but I restrained myself, balling my fists and gritting my teeth. I took a breath and prayed for patience as I realized the skirt was probably not going to fit her, even though she’d flung it over her arm with some others to try on. Okay, so all I had to do now was bide my time and wait ‘til she tried it on, saw it was all wrong for her, and abandoned it. I started to walk towards the changing stalls, prepared to settle down beside them and wait for her…but then I became anxious that she may realize sooner that the skirt was wrong for her and put it down on some other rack—or worse yet, that she may just buy it without even trying it on. No, I couldn’t wait by the change room; I was going to have to keep an eye on her.

Ten minutes later, I was still stalking my prey. Like a detective in an old film noir, I followed from a distance, even flipping through the second-hand magazines to make me look busy. That’s when Brian came up to me, bored of shopping and ready to move on to the bagel shop. I gestured him closer, and explained what was going on. I probably should have been more embarrassed of my covetous stalking as I filled Brian in, but the desire for that skirt had narrowed my focus until it was all that mattered. And Brian, heavens bless him, just nodded in complete understanding, and got right down to the business of stalking the lady, too. There stood the two of us, both pretending to consider a cardigan I held up for us to peer from behind. Looking back, I think this is one of those indescribable moments that defines what a happy marriage looks like.

Eventually our target made her way to the changing area, just three free-standing stalls at the back of the store. I had another item I wanted to try on, but I was afraid to leave off watching the woman’s stall in case she left while I was changing…but the clock was ticking and there was only five minutes left until the store closed. I told Brian the situation, jumping from foot to foot in my distress, and he reassured me that he could watch for the lady while I tried on my thing. I reviewed with him what to do if she left the change room: check her hands for the skirt, and if there was no skirt there, run into the stall and grab it off the ground. He nodded solemnly and vowed to follow my instructions to the letter, so I handed over command of the surveillance post to Brian and went to change.

It was while I was putting my jacket back on in my stall that I heard a quiet knock, and looked up just in time to see the coveted skirt fling over the top of my door. I squealed with joy and called out, “She left it?” Brian whispered that she had, and he’d deeked into the stall and grabbed it. Oh, what joy! I slid the skirt up my hips, hands quivering in anticipation as I fumbled with the zipper…and it was perfect. In the mirror, I looked fabulous. This was the nicest skirt I’d seen in at least two seasons, and it was a whopping five bucks. Incredible. I did a little dance on the spot (picture Snoopy dancing on his dog house), then opened the door and flung my arms around Brian. My hero of the hour, he looked proud as a peacock as the cashier rang in my purchases and commented on what an incredible skirt I’d found! He smiled at her, stuck out his chest, and told her that, indeed, we’d stalked a woman in the store to get it. I immediately turned bright red, but the cashier wasn’t in the least bit surprised and said that her own daughter had stalked a man just last week in pursuit of a particularly handsome fedora.

I confess it was a bit insane, following a woman around for twenty minutes just to grab a five dollar skirt. In less than half an hour, I’d burned with fashion lust, I’d coveted from my neighbour, and I’d put my husband in a position to appear like a crazed creep, running into change rooms and grabbing women’s clothing off the floor. But considering you readers are fans of the UsedEverywhere sites, some even seeking out clothing on the sites, I’m hoping you’ll understand the weaknesses of the bargain hunter, and the lengths we sometimes go to to get our hands on a specific treasure. And if I’m really confessing here, I’ll tell you that today when I wore my skirt, and received a dozen compliments on it, it seemed that the ends justified the insanity. Can a girl be sinfully devious, yet angelically frugal? I like to think so.

Hallowe'en, Cheap and Easy: Dive-bombing Potato Spiders

Are you getting sick of Hallowe’en yet? Shhhhh, yeah: me, too. But you know why I get sick of it? Because so many ‘experts’ seem to think we have the time to be experts, too. There’s a time and place for perfect Jell-O moulds of brains, and individually decorated cupcakes, but if you’re living fast and on the cheap like me, well, I’m just not sure when the time for the Jell-O is. So for those of you out there like me, who grew up with homemade holidays made of popsicle sticks and pasta art, here’s a three-step tutorial for awesome hanging spiders:

1. Start with a potato, some pipe cleaners, a screw, and some fishing line. Scissors are a bonus.

2. Stab (careful, now) four holes into the side of the potato. Repeat on the other side. This will make it easier to skewer the potato with the pipecleaners, which you can start to do now. These are legs.

3. Bend all the legs up to the sky…

4. Now bend ‘elbows’ into the legs. Move, bend, and arrange the legs ‘til they look leggy.

5. Take your screw and screw it into the back of the spider, basically right in the middle. Now tie the fishing line to the head of the screw.

 
6. Hang your spiders from anywhere you like.

BONUS STEP:

7. Take two buttons, and two of those sewing pins with the colourful ends. Stab the buttons into the spider’s ‘face’ area to make two eyes. See, now he’s kinda cute.

BONUS CREEPY FACTOR:
These spiders are a part of my childhood. My mom was always the crafting fanatic in our household, but Hallowe’en brought my dad a-runnin’ with glue gun at the ready. My brother and my costumes were always handmade by my parents, everything from Mr Fantastic, to Wednesday Addams. My dad loved to blast the War of the Worlds soundtrack from the windows of our house, letting it echo and bounce across the street and traumatizing me for years to come at the very mention of Martians. One year, Dad donned a Grim Reaper costume complete with giant scythe, and, with face hidden in the voluminous hood, he stalked the neighbourhood all evening, chasing kids and scaring toddlers to tears. This was one of the things that raised my father in my esteem from an early age…this, and the potato spiders.

Every Hallowe’en, Dad would stand outside and rig eye hooks into the little awning over our front door. He would then slide the screens open in the living room window, and we would help him feed yards of fishing line out the window. From these lengths of line would hang my dad’s army of potato spiders, all tied to pens and pencils like kite strings, the spiders pulled up tight under the awning. The neighbourhood children would come to the house, ring the bell for candy…and down would come the potato spiders, swooping like Valkyries from the awning to child-height. Genuine screams of terror were guaranteed; and woe to the parents who screamed, too, for their children would sense their fear and run, run, run. My father would give his fantastic belly laugh, reel the spiders back up, and wait for the next victims.

This may seem too scary for your neighbours’ kids, and perhaps you want to stay friends with your locals. In that case, don’t try the dive-bombing spider setup. But as a little girl who helped her dad crouch by a window ledge all evening, his Reaper hood thrown back and his spider minions terrifying everyone, I can tell you my dad was my Hallowe’en idol…and now I dream of one day having a house of my own, where I can dress up and drop potato spiders out the windows on a new generation of soon-to-be arachnophobes.

Hanging your hat without losing your mind: Apartment searching.

For those of you who follow Project: Priceless—the NEST, you know that Brian and I have been looking for a new apartment. Our current abode has, quite literally, melted under our feet: many years of a leaky tub has resulted in the entire bathroom needing to be replaced, and the mold is driving us crazy. We began our search in early September, and I’m happy to say, we have just found a place. I could say that we ‘lucked out’ in finding exactly the type of place we were hoping for, but a lot of hard work went into the search, and very little was left up to chance. For those of you out there who may be looking for a place—to rent or own—in the future, here are some tips from an all-time expert (yours truly):

Make a chart

Yes, this sounds anal retentive, and yes, maybe it is. But it’s the first step to keeping sane during a lengthy and particular search. My chart is simple: make a ‘table’ if you’re using MS Word. Have the table be 7 cells wide, and as many deep as you like. Across the top 7 cells, fill in these headings: DATE, BEDROOMS/TYPE, CONTACT INFO, PRICE, UTILITIES, PARKING, NOTES. With each new apartment you find in your online search (may I recommend your local UsedEverywhere site?), write in the details of the ad and any additional details you get by email or phone. This chart will help you to be sure you don’t forget what you’ve seen; I can’t even count the number of times this simple table has stopped me from settling for a mediocre apartment, simply because I would have forgotten about the one I saw three days earlier.

 Set 5-10 priorities

Make a list of ten things you want your apartment or house to have or be. Then go through and put a star beside the five that are non-negotiable. If there’s more that need stars, mark them, too; but beware that the more stars you have, the harder it may be to find a place.

Checkerboard tiles a deal maker or deal breaker? (via UsedVictoria.com)

Set a budget

I have a stellar budgeting system, and one day perhaps I’ll blog it, but the part about your rental allowance is the key here. The experts say that your rent should never be more than 30% of what you take home on your paycheque. Now, depending on your city and your family size, this may or may not be possible, but it’s a good goal. Don’t forget to ask how much utilities cost the last tenant; if the landlord doesn’t know, you can often call agencies like your electricity provider and get an average monthly estimate.

Be safe

I’m a believer that bad things happen to people, and it doesn’t matter your gender. I always encourage people to go in pairs to a viewing, and if you want to be extra safe, give the address to someone who can be your ‘back up’; set up a plan to call them fifteen minutes after the appointment time, and let them know what you want them to do if they don’t hear from you. This may sound paranoid, but safe is always better than sorry. (Hint: this is also a very good practice for anyone who is using internet dating sites.)

Another important safety tip: visit the rental’s street at night time. Some places just seem a little rundown during the day, but at night can be downright scary. When considering new neighbourhoods, I have always made a habit of jumping in a car with a friend, driving down to the area, and sitting with the car off and the windows open a bit. Do you hear types of activity that make you uncomfortable or would drive you crazy if you lived there? Do you see anything going on that would make you feel unsafe? I lived in a neighbourhood where I had to keep someone on the phone with me the entire walk home from the bus stop, so I know what it’s like to live in a scary neighbourhood; man or woman, you’ll need to evaluate for yourself what you feel up to handling.

Be creative in your search

Do you have a specific neighbourhood you’re interested in? Search for that keyword (ie. ‘Wellington Village’ or ‘Britannia’), but also try searching the names of specific streets and apartment buildings. Some people in really great neighbourhoods don’t seem to realize the extra value their neighbourhood’s name may give to the property; our new place, actually, wasn’t listed under its neighbourhood’s name, even though the area is very trendy and is a popular search word for renters. Because we familiarized ourselves with the local street names, we were able to dig out this ad with the search engine and snatch it up before any other locals found it.

 Be nosy

 You are allowed, and entitled, to turn on the taps, open windows, shut doors, look in basements, flick light switches, and flush toilets. I admit, it freaks landlords out, and sometimes I can’t muster up the courage to do it, especially if the current tenant is still living there…but if you have the chutzpah, do it. You may save yourself a year of grief when you discover that the shower just sort of spits on you rather than showers you.

Found the place of your dreams? Not sure? Join the crowd

Once you find the right place, my opinion is that you’ll know it in your bones. But many of us get attached to one place because of some specific aspect: the price maybe, or the view. If you have any doubts about a place, take the application home with you and think it over. Take a couple photos if you can, and talk about the place with someone who didn’t come with you; if you find that you keep making up excuses for the shortcomings of the apartment, you know you need to keep looking.

 When you find the right place, get your application in as quickly as possible and be sure to take a moment and tell the landlord a bit about yourself. They are happy to hear that you plan to stay for four years while your partner finishes school, or that you like to volunteer with the neighbourhood watch. Make yourself a real person in their eyes, not just a name on a sheet of paper. And when they call you to offer you the place, there’s only one more piece of advice I can offer you:

Celebrate. You can find boxes and packing tape later

Editor’s note: Have your friends and family stopped answering the phone at the end of the month? I have two words of advice. HIRE. MOVERS. Seriously.

The Ten Photos Project: self-inflicted photojournalism.

Around Easter, when I first really started to get into Twitter, I noticed a hashtag that read ‘#10photos’. Hashtags, for those who don’t tweet yet, are words (or sometimes numerous words squished together) with a number sign in front of them. You can make anything you want into a hashtag on Twitter. The fun part is, it becomes a hyperlink that takes you to all the tweets with the same hashtag. Anyway, when I noticed this hashtag being used by a local Ottawa blogger named Andrea Tomkins from A Peek Inside the Fishbowl, I got curious. Turns out, #10photos is Andrea’s genius idea: she takes a picture every hour on the hour, posts it to twitter, and encourages others to do the same. You can read more about it on her blog.

When I discovered #10photos at Easter, it was well into the afternoon and I felt like I was too far behind to participate. I decided to give it a whirl this Thanksgiving weekend, though, when I saw that Andrea was back at it again. In my role as Tweeter for @usedottawa, I also ‘retweeted’ (reposted) a bunch of other people’s photos as they came up on Twitter. We immediately loved it here at Project: Priceless, for the sense of community it managed to create amongst total strangers. The pics posted here are from myself and Brian at Project: Priceless.

This was a really cool project, and it’s a great way to illustrate the coolness that is Twitter. Picture Facebook three years back, when it was primarily used to keep track of what your friends’ status updates were. Now imagine that, other than being able to post photos and links, no silly games, apps, or virtual farms could be added to the system. Twitter is deceptively simple, but don’t discount it, as I did for so long: it’s a fabulous networking tool, and a surprisingly fun way to keep in touch with your networks. I should note here that the Ten Photos project can also be done using other photosharing sites…but man alive, Twitter was the place to be for Ten Photos this Thanksgiving!

Because this is such a simple concept—set an alarm, take a photo, send the photo—I really didn’t expect it to be too engrossing. But I became fascinated, not only with seeing what everyone else was up to at the same moment of the day, but also with my own photos. So often a day can fly by without us really noticing what we’re doing or where we are, but this project made me stop, reflect, and ‘memorex’ ten separate moments in time. I feel like this is one Thanksgiving Day that I won’t soon forget; everything from the sun through my office window, to the guy roasting chestnuts in the market, to my sweetheart rubbing my feet, are all perfectly recorded in simple photojournalistic perfection. I may actually try this on all my future special days; I’m enamoured, in a time of digital cameras that take a thousand shots a minute, with the idea of going minimalist here. Ten shots, just ten shots, to tell a story…I love it.

You can see more by going to http://hashtags.org/10photos but hurry: tweets on Twitter don’t last forever, they eventually aren’t searchable. Here’s a few favourites that I retweeted from our @usedottawa Twitter account. The anatomy of a tweet: the word preceded by ‘@’ is the tweeter’s ‘name’; their comments follow that, with the #10photos hashtag, and then a link that will show you their photo. Enjoy…

@ottmomgo: Reading solo #10photos http://yfrog.com/18hm5djj

@thesmallmoments: 8 am CST “foggy morning”. #10photos http://lockerz.com/s/146036236

@sangtrinh: Lysandre do dat. #10photos http://instagr.am/p/Pt3w6/

@nickilynnm: Today’s to do list that I am successfully ignoring. #10photos 11:00am

@usedottawa: http://ow.ly/i/iUBT #10photos we are in the byward market giving out pens and tires! Look for the green striped hair.

@kcsoupfox: Going mobile at Third World Bazaar in Manotick Station #10photos lockerz.com/s/146101585

@kcsoupfox: “Rage! Rage against the dying of the light!” – my maple tree at sunset #10photos lockerz.com/s/146131969

@katsima: #SoThankful my dad kicked cancer’s butt this year, so he could cuddle his 5th grandchild. #10photos bonus instagr.am/p/Pw9vI/

Next time a holiday rolls around, consider giving this photo challenge a try, whether or not you share it with the world. It’s an exercise in mindfulness, and one you’ll remember forever. And hey, maybe it’s time to try Twitter, if you don’t already? ‘Follow’ @usedottawa and @projectpricelss, our twitter account for Project: Priceless…and say hello…I’ll say hello right back!

Antiquing an Antique: DIY Tutorial with Foil

Do you ever find yourself standing at a certain Swedish furniture store, staring at a cool coffee or end table, thinking, I want it because it’s a little different, but it’s made of wood chips and seems overpriced? You may be a good candidate for DIY furniture projects! It can be so much easier to find a unique and special piece when you make it for yourself; when you find yourself looking through local thrift shops or UsedEverywhere, there are often bits of furniture that are almost cool, but are sometimes in really bad shape, or are really outdated. The trick is learning to use your imagination…and when that fails, piggyback on the imaginations of others by looking up tutorials like this one.

I found our coffee table early in the summer, put out by a garbage bin. I loved it immediately, but took my time deciding what to do with it. I scanned numerous crafty sites, looking for a killer idea, and somewhere out there on the internet, I spied a tutorial on using aluminum foil to faux-gild your furniture. If I ever find the tutorial again, I will give credit where due and post the link…but in truth, I only read it the once, and then didn’t really follow the instructions anyway, surprise surprise. But my advice for the DIY’ers out there is to give yourself some time: don’t rush into a project before you’re certain of what you want to do. Not following this rule can result in a botched project that may cost you a treasure.

We started off by sanding and priming the table. Primer and paint were the only expenses for this table, as all our other materials were already available around the house, and even then, we had a gift card from our wedding that we used to buy these items. The trick to priming and painting: be sure to let the coats dry. I think we rushed ours, but follow the directions on the back of the can—and if the can doesn’t tell you, the rule of thumb is three days for water-based coats, seven days for oil-based coats. Typically primer (versus paint) needs much less time, but always read to be sure. Paints do something called ‘off-gassing’, and if you rush, you will pull off layers of paint. We rushed on this table, and we ended up having to do three coats instead of two.

We painted the entire table green, even painting the areas that would eventually be gilded. Why? Because if you miss a tiny spot that ends up showing despite the gilding, it will drive you nuts. You will hate it. You will pick at it. It will haunt you until you either throw out the table, or end up using a three-hair paintbrush trying to get enough paint in there without painting over the gilding work. Trust me: use up a little extra paint and just paint the whole darn table. Once we got our coats of green onto the table, we began the gilding process. For this, you will need:

• Acrylic glaze or gloss medium (we used gloss medium because I have a vat of it left over from a painting I did)
• Soft-bristled brushes—the Wallacks Student brushes are cheap yet very soft. Flat-headed ones are best.
• A roll of aluminum foil
• A lot of time. Rent some movies, this will take a while.

1. Rip up some foil into pieces that are random shapes and sizes.
2. Crinkle them up, then flatten them out. It’s up to you how crinkled you want them.
3. Spread a generous coat of glaze onto a small section of the gilding area. Press the foil into the area, then use your finger to rub the foil ‘flat’. (It will never really flatten out, staying crinkly.) We put the dull side facing out, because it was plenty shiny enough.
4. Use your brush to coat over the top with more glaze, generously yet not too thick.
5. Apply another piece of foil, overlapping slightly. Tear, bend, fold, or crinkle the foil to make it fit around corners or into the space you’ve planned out. Be sure to have some overlap on every piece; it’ll make the look much nicer.
6. Keep doing this until you run out of foil, space, or patience. It took us two evenings to finish this part.

Let the glaze dry three days. After three days, you can either use a water-based polyurethane to seal the table. We also did a more difficult secondary technique with dry-brushing to enhance the ‘antiqued’ quality of the foil, so if you’re not already hyperventilating in fear, head over to Project: Priceless—The Nest to find out more.

And voila! You have a lovely table/chair/bench/ottoman/whatever else you want to refinish! It’s far more interesting than just stripping and varnishing the wood…though you do have to be ready to paint over your treasured item. Another tip: you will get grief from people for painting solid wood; don’t let it bother you. If the piece was so worn out, ugly, or outdated that it was going to end up in a landfill, there is no value in leaving it wood-coloured! This way, you’ve made the piece something beautiful for you to love, and when it comes time for the next home to love it, they’ll be much less worried about painting it again, themselves. (Also important to note: fake wood laminate furniture requires special primer. Leave a comment, if you want some specific tips.)

The paint and primer cost about $20.00 for this table, with oodles left over for the rest of the house. So, for the cost of a Swedish coffee table made of chip board that will always lean to the left just a bit, we saved a table from the landfill and made ourselves a showstopping treasure for our living room. The green matches perfectly the green of our wedding tablecloths, too…which is awesome, because we kept a couple and are making curtains for the room. It’s so much fun, “Doing-It-Yourself”, and definitely eco-economical. And it’s tons of fun to show off…so the next step is learning to cook so you can serve coffee and cake, and make your friends green with envy.