Elfa master closet

Here's some photos of my closet build. Please note my awesome hand drill (also a Christmas gift from Mom and Dad) and the little magnetic level I got at the hardware store. The beer is optional.

Our Burbank door

David, of Crestview Doors, has designed our door, and even named it the "Burbank"! We're ordering it, finally, and can't wait to get it on the front of the house.

Light tent

I shoot photos for my Make magazine articles, so I built this light tent using these instructions.


I used about $12 worth of PVC pipe, three $8 lights, and a $9 shower curtain liner from Target.

Onion art

I poured this latte art this morning. Not great, but an improvement over my usual blob.

Roasting coffee

I got some green coffee beans and a stovetop roaster from sweetmarias.com as a gift for Christmas from my Mom, as well as a book on home roasting from my sister Silvia. These are the fruits of my first labor -- I under roasted them, so I may actually try to see if you can bring them back up to temperature to darken them up just slightly.

Feeling guilty

Contains Lead by cindy47452

Our daughter, who's now 20 months, failed a lead screening. Even though we were out of the house for the worst dust, I have to think it's because of the demolition/construction, which encompassed the first 16 months of her life. Her finger-prick test was 17; the cut-off is ten. I'm taking her for a blood draw this week, which is a more accurate assessment. In the meantime, I'm trying to up her iron intake, and have ordered a HEPA-filter vacuum, because our current vacuum is old and dusty, no matter how new the bag is. In addition, I'm going to wipe down the walls and windowsills with disposable wipes and wash all the toys.

Out pediatrician says this isn't such a high level that we need to freak out. I'm crossing my fingers that this will resolve itself without too much fallout, but if I had to go back, I'd have bought a HEPA-filter vacuum before construction and used it frequently.