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Since Anne and I moved into our apartment in Philly two and a half years ago, we’ve made an effort to put together a small bar cart with some essential components for making cocktails. It’s been an ongoing project, and has really evolved over the past few years. We’ve received some bar cart items as gifts and others we’ve purchased together. Today I’d like to take you on a tour of our little bar! Have you ever put together a bar cart? What are some of your go-to items?

The inspiration for this bar came when we first saw the cart in IKEA. (You can find if for sale online here.) I love that it sits on four casters, and can fit just about anywhere. For now, it works perfectly next to our sofa. Below you’ll see how we’ve divided the three levels into loose categories.

Spirits, Liqueurs, & Bitters

Spirits:

Clyde May’s Alabama-Style Whiskey
Journeyman Distillery’s Red Arrow Vodka (pure Michigan!)
Camarena 100% Agave Tequila

Liqueurs:

Triple Sec
Peach-Flavored Brandy (delicious in sangria)

Bitters:

Dram’s Citrus Medica
Bittermilk No. 4: New Orleans-Style Old Fashioned Rouge

This limited selection allows us to enjoy whiskey sours, Moscow mules, greyhounds, and margaritas, to name a few go-tos.

Tools & Books

Tools:

Shaker
Strainer
Jigger
Muddler
Stirrer, fork, garnish knife
Bottle and wine openers
Citrus juicer
Decorative straws

Books:

Shake, by Eric Prum and Josh Williams
The Drunken Botanist: The Plants That Create The World’s Great Drinks, by Amy Stewart
Tequila Mockingbird: Cocktails with a Literary Twist, by Tim Federle
The Art of Vintage Cocktails, by Stephanie Rosenbaum

Glassware & Mugs

The bottom shelf holds a few different types of drinking vessels for various drinks. We use stemmed wine glasses, stemless flutes, and rocks glasses for almost all of our drinks — and we recently welcomed two copper Moscow mule mugs into our collection. They’re settling in quite nicely!

In The Kitchen

We keep a lot of bar items in the refrigerator, too! Citrus, cherries, olives, seltzer, and ginger beer are great ingredients and garnishes for many a cocktail.

We love using this cart for hosting our friends and family. It undergoes changes as we learn more about cocktails and become inspired by drinks we enjoy out. While the supplies for a bar cart are somewhat limitless, we have found that our cart is a perfect mixture of essential and supplementary ingredients.

Next week, I am excited to host another guest blogger on Scissors & Sage. I won’t spoil it, but she is going to be sharing a delicious cocktail recipe with us! Cheers to a happy week!

After the December holidays pass and I set off into the new year, I often make time to reorganize things a little bit. It’s time to check off long overdue to-do items. There’s something, too, about putting all of the Christmas decorations away that feels weirdly good–like a needed fresh start. You could say that I get a borderline-sick pleasure out of how uncluttered and spacious things feel around the apartment post-holidays.

Once the Christmas tree, stockings, and other decorations are away, it’s time to clear up everything else. Have you been meaning to do some post-holiday tidying, but haven’t gotten to it yet? Dreading going through that stack of papers piling up? I hope this post acts as inspiration for you!

I’m here today to share with you my drafting table/crafting space. It’s where I do 99% of my work. I’ve “crafted” this corner of our apartment meticulously so that it fits my needs exactly. This drafting table acts as my desk, hangout spot, and crafting corner. I love it, and I hope you do, too!

Oh! Now seems as good a time as any to mention that our apartment was recently featured on a NYC-based digital magazine, William & Park. If you like what you see below, head on over to take a look at the rest of our apartment and to read our story!

My dad found this drafting table at a garage sale eons ago. I came across it in our basement a few years back, and have taken the liberty of looking after it ever since. My dad also found this metal set of drawers at a garage sale, which I believe originated from IKEA once upon a time. These two go together like peanut butter and jelly. The drafting table (which does indeed tilt and adjust height) doesn’t have any storage, so these drawers are invaluable.

The solid oak desk organizer sitting on the table was Anne’s find at the Brown Elephant in Oak Park, IL. The drafting table is so deep that the shelves don’t take up any significant amount of workspace.

Anne and I live on the 20th floor of our Philly apartment, so natural light is always guaranteed. (We also don’t have curtains because 1. it’s really expensive to cover 11 windows, and 2. we’re so high up that privacy is not an issue.) I almost always use the windowsill as a second workspace, as it transforms my table into an “L”-shaped desk.

Above is a close up of the oak desk organizer. I use it for all kinds of crafting and desk supplies. Cigar boxes hold extra pens, markers, and cords. I often keep my eyes peeled for ways to reuse items in a fresh way, and the Sclafani tin can is a perfect example of that. Also pictured above is my recipe box. I wrote a post on that box in October–check it out here! It means the world to me.

Has anyone noticed my fern yet? I may or may not have named it Dr. Fernie Spleenwort. I bought it at terrain a few weeks ago. If you are a garden expert, or know anything about ferns, don’t worry: I only placed Fernie here for pictures (isn’t it so photogenic?). It usually resides in our sunny bathroom where it’s nice and humid.

Over the past few years, I’ve collected lucky pennies that are heads up. I send someone I know positive intentions whenever I add the lucky penny to the bowl. I have over 250 of them. Also shown here is a little dish of Tiny Things. I’ll let you be the judge of whether I’m a hoarder or not.

Isn’t this coaster cute? Anne’s mom, Janet, made two of these for us last Christmas. The front has mustaches, and the back is a perfect yellow and white polka dotted fabric. It has quilt batting in the middle to give it some structure.

(We like Scrabble–learn to make a DIY Scrabble game here!)

Here’s a close-up of my metal drawers. I recently reorganized these drawers, and decided to use old berry cartons for storage. I love how it turned out! I have so many odds and ends in these drawers, including salvaged pieces of ribbon from presents past. (Again, I’ll let you be the judge of whether I’m a hoarder.)

The picture above gives you a better sense of the whole area. Those four built-in bookshelves play a crucial role in storing crafting supplies, books, and old school papers.

I suppose the last item to note here is my drafting stool. I searched long and hard for something that was both comfortable and tall enough for the drafting table (a desk chair is too short). I decided on this stool from Amazon, and the tractor seat is incredibly comfortable. It rolls right under the drafting table and out of the way!

What do you do to organize your workspace? Is there anything shown above that you want to find out more about? Leave a comment in the comment section below and I’ll gladly get back to you! Here’s to an organized and craft-filled 2015!