9.25.2011

she's crafty

I've had a very crafty DIY weekend. Saturday morning I went to the antique consignment place nearby, and bought a cool desk & chair set for $29 and an old window for $15. I had actually gone there to look for a dresser for our guest room (in the basement, which is almost done!). There were no dressers to be had, but I'm really excited about my two purchases. I will devote separate blog posts showing their transformations. While on Pinterest all weekend, trying to gather some inspiration for what to do with my new found treasures, I kept stumbling upon all these cute wreaths. Not like traditional greenery wreaths for the holidays, but like cute indoor, all-year-long kind of wreaths.

This one caught my eye when I was looking for what to do with my old window:



I followed the picture's link and it took me to Kelly Hicks Design, where she shows step-by-step how to make this pretty ruffle wreath. It actually seemed super easy, so I decided I wanted to make one, but with a few tweaks. Then, I saw these on Pinterest:






So, I ended up kind of combining all of them. I used Kelly Hick's wreath method exactly, except that I used gray felt instead. Then I made some felt rosettes and hot glued them onto the wreath when it was done. Here's how it turned out:


I'm not exactly sure where it's going to go, or why with all of the other things I need to be doing, I spent an evening making a wreath that has no definitive home. Regardless, I'm really proud of how it turned out!

9.20.2011

fall finds

Anyone who knows me, knows that this, hands down, is my favorite time of year. After a sticky hot summer, I love the crisp, cool days of fall. Fall has the best weather, the best smells, the best seasonal drinks from Starbucks, and by far, the best clothes.

So for this fall, I have decided the following would make excellent additions to my wardrobe:

1. a pair of wide leg, high-waisted jeans (like these, "Hutton" jeans from Citizens for Humanity)



2. a tie neck blouse (like this one from Marc Jacobs, but definitely not this exact one since it's over $300, and my husband would die, and not like Rachel Zoe die, but like actually die!):

3. a pair of pointy flats like these from Alexander McQueen (they look polished, but I can still sprint through a parking lot after a two-year old, if needed)



4. a pair of great boots (I bought these Frye Dorado boots and super love them!):




5. a pair of moccasins (like these from Minnetonka):



6. A fun fall-colored jacket (mustard, plum, pumpkin, etc.). I like this one from Anthropologie:

So....what's everyone else buying for fall?

9.12.2011

Some DIY bedroom art

Awhile ago I found this on Pinterest:




I didn't know exactly what it was, but I knew I loved it. So the other day when I was at Michael's buying stuff for Emerson's upcoming woodland fairy party, I bought a blank canvas (16" square, I think!), some acrylic paints (light gray and a chartreuse) , some letter stencils, and a paint brush. I thought I'd make some sort of art for our bedroom. It is in desperate need of something (anything!) on the walls.

It was gorgeous outside today, so while Declan and Finlay were napping, Emerson and I spent a couple hours outside in the driveway painting. First I painted my canvas with some leftover chalkboard paint I had. I wanted a dark background and thought chalkboard paint would look a little more distressed and interesting than just painting it black. So after that dried, I used the Martha Stewart stencil kit and letter by letter, painted the song lyrics to our wedding song. I wasn't able to fit the whole thing, in part because I put our wedding date in the lower corner, but I love how it turned out. When I went back to find my inspiration photo, I found the blog where the photo above originated. It turns out the words she used are her wedding song lyrics too. Here is the link.

So here's how mine turned out:





So, I know it's totally different, but you can see where my inspiration came from. I'm so happy with how it turned out! I'm going to hang him in my room soon along with some frames I just ordered from West Elm. I'll post pictures when it's all put together!


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