Design/Living, General, Good stuff, Home, The Apartment

Things I’m loving

50 Comments

Don’t you love it when technology actually solves a problem? Two quick examples (with grainy Instagram pictures) from my daily life lately (and no, I’m not being paid to plug these products!):

1. Command picture hanging “nails” from 3M
We have plaster walls. Most rooms in the apartment have picture rail, so we can hang art from hooks without putting nails in the walls, but the bedrooms and kitchen are exceptions. Hanging art has generally required putting a screw into the molding, which looks terrible and is a pain. I have been using 3M’s Command Strips–which are like velcro with a sticky backing that supposedly removes from the wall without leaving a mark–to hang small frames in a couple places around the house, but when the time came to rearrange the art in the nursery I had some bigger frames that I wanted to use, and I really didn’t want to punch a bunch more holes in the molding. As I stood in the hardware aisle at Target trying to decide whether I could use the Command Hooks (no, they’re for hanging up…I don’t know, dog leashes? A single scarf? They stick out too far for pictures but only hold 5 pounds.) I noticed these:

Genius for plaster walls.

Um. This is genius. There are double-stick strips of the removable sticky stuff, and you use that to attach a metal plate with, essentially, a nailhead sticking out of it. The large one holds up to 8 pounds, the small one up to 5; I weighed my frames on the kitchen scale (…I know) and the heaviest was 4.5 pounds because I have plexiglass in the bigger ones instead of glass. They were super-easy to use. (You do need to put them in place and then let them sit for an hour before you hang the art.) And Ta-Da! Perfect for gallery walls.

Art hung without nails

2. Nail Effects from Sally Hansen
I am terrible at painting my own nails. It’s always a mess. And I hate getting a manicure, because it takes ages and then I ruin it immediately. Anna at DoorSixteen wrote about the nail polish strips a couple times last month and I was intrigued: Strips of actual nail polish (thus, removable at home, unlike a shellack manicure) that are already dry once you put them on (thus, no smudging)? Fascinating. The downside is that there aren’t really any “normal” colors. It’s all crazy patterns or really bright neons or glitter, I guess because they’re about $9/box and who would pay that much to just get nude nails at home? I would. But I’m guessing that’s the reasoning. I got the most muted option, a dull gold, and OMG MY NAILS LOOK GREAT:

Gilded nails: Those Sally Hansen polish strips actually work! Thx to @doorsixteen for the tip.

There’s a bit of a learning curve, but it was fairly easy to put them on once I figured out how to remove the correct backings in the correct order. Also, I didn’t press the edges down firmly enough on my thumbs. But I was able to use half the package and do both hands, since my nails are short, so I’ll try again once they chip. For $4.50 it’s completely worth it and very fun. I want to try the gold glitter, like Anna did, for the holidays.

50 thoughts on “Things I’m loving”

  1. Hi Kate! *waves*

    Quick note about Command hooks: it might be due to humidity or how uneven our walls are or just bad luck, but they have not lasted forever, for us. A year, usually; maybe two, tops? I definitely second plexiglass as a good choice for over the crib…just on the off chance they unexpectedly slide down one day.

    In the meantime, adorable. And ingenious. 😀

  2. One of the crazy thing about living in SF is that it I basically verboten to hang anything above or near the crib because of earthquakes. I had so many great ideas and instead ending up making wall decals with fun paper I got at a paper shop and clear contact paper.

  4. That nail polish is NOT easy to get off! It took me longer to get the nail polish stickers off than it took to put them on. Or maybe that was because I went with crazy leopard stripes and not flat color, but either way it was very difficult.

  5. OMG. I think I’ll have to try those Sally Hansen nail strips. I saw them and agree that the colors (this was like last summer) were neons and ridiculousness. But that gold is just plain fine.

  9. I don’t think the title of your article matches the content lol. Just kidding, mainly because I had some doubts after reading the article.

  19. Can you be more specific about the content of your article? After reading it, I still have some doubts. Hope you can help me.

  26. I don’t think the title of your article matches the content lol. Just kidding, mainly because I had some doubts after reading the article.

  29. Thank you for your shening. I am worried that I lack creative ideas. It is your enticle that makes me full of hope. Thank you. But, I have a question, can you help me?

  30. Thank you for your sharing. I am worried that I lack creative ideas. It is your article that makes me full of hope. Thank you. But, I have a question, can you help me?

  33. Interesting analysis! Seeing more Filipino players embrace online gaming is exciting. Easy registration with phlwin.games sounds great – quick access is key! Check out their phlwin online casino app for a fun experience and convenient payment options like GCash. Solid platform!

  43. Interesting analysis! Seeing platforms like JLJL99 prioritize secure onboarding-especially with options like GCash-is key for responsible gaming. Considering risk assessment is smart. Check out jljl99 download apk for more details on their security features-it’s reassuring to see that level of protection!

  50. Really enjoying this article! The convenience of having so many games in one place is a huge plus – I checked out ph90 apk and love the streamlined access. Makes casual play so much easier! ?

Leave a Reply

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.