Valentine's Day Banner

I've never really been into Valentine's Day, but but something about having a kid brings out the kid in you again, and I thought it would be fun to make a Valentine's Day banner.

I started with a 24-pack of paper doilies that I got from the grocery store for $1.

I looked through my scrapbook paper stash and found this pink plaid. I don't know if anyone else does this, but I buy pretty scrapbook papers and then do nothing with them because I love them so much and don't wanna cut them up. I know, it totally doesn't make sense (recognizing you have a problem is the first step to recovery though, right?), but I figured if I use the paper for my banner, at least I would get to see it once a year.

I found this cookie cutter in my stash o' stuff and traced hearts onto the pink plaid paper then cut them out.

Then I glued them to the doily hearts.

Next, I cut out 'BE MY VALENTINE' with my silhouette machine and glued the letters onto the hearts.

I then decided to use two tags to separate the words.

I glued some of the green paper on so that it covered most of the tags. Then, using the plaid paper, I cut out 'XOXO' and Feb. 14' with my silhouette machine. I added some pink ribbon between the green and white to give it a finished look.

I wanted to cover up the holes in the tags and also wanted to add some bling, and these rhinestones were perfect for the job.

Ahh, much better!

Lastly, I placed some random rhinestones on the letters and hot glued it all onto some pink velvet ribbon.

I love how it turned out!

It kinda has a Rachel Ashwell shabby chic vibe to it.

Yeah, the XOXO is totally crooked! Haha.





The Start of a Vanity

Remember how I showed you guys half of my bedroom a while back? Well, I'm ready to show half of the other half. Why can't I show you the whole half, you ask? Because that's where all of the things I don't know what to do with are hiding. Like, my turtle I made out of plaster and a basket for one of my art classes years ago. Seriously, what on earth am I supposed to do with that! I just don't have the heart to throw Frank away (yeah, I seriously named him!).

Anyway, I'll get to the other half of the half someday, but for now, I'll just have to settle with showing you the half of the half where my 'vanity' resides. I still need to add a few things, but this is my start.

On the left side of the desk is my candlestick pedestal. I just picked out some of my beachy colored jewelery that I could display for some added color. I also threw in some pink, which I so was not planning on adding to the mix of colors for my room, but it sorta made it's why in with my curtains (which have pink roses on them, which has absolutely nothing to do with the beach). But I guess that's why I claim to have an eclectic style.

=)

Right next door to the candlestick pedestal is this candle. Well, the candle is inside of this container, but you know what I mean. Isn't it purdy?

On the other side is this mirror my mom bought for me when we went to Mexico years ago. It cost $25. About a year after our trip, I was browsing a little gift shop in California and came across the same exact mirror. It cost $125. Moral of the story: things are much cheaper in Mexico!

 The desk itself was something my dad bought years ago at a garage sale for only $25 bucks. I've always loved it, so my dad let me take it with me to NJ.

Look at the awesome handles! Love!!

And of course no beachy room is complete without a staged beach bag brimming with sandals and a beach towel. But considering there is snow on the beaches here, that bag will be sitting there for quite a while.

I also have a silver tray front and center on the desk. Not sure if it will stay since it's a little stuffy for the casual beachy look I'm goin' for, but I needed something to fill up the space for my lil' photo shoot.

The little bench is the vanity bench I made a while back and the little drawer sitting on top of it was a $5 find I got a while back.

I definitely am going to add some more beachy stuff to this area, so stay tuned. And maybe one of these days I'll be able to show you the other half of the half.

 

Moss Thingamabobs

I have a super duper simple project to share with you guys today that takes maybe all of 10 minutes to do.

Remember these little guys I purchased from the thrift store for .25 cents each?

Well, they were looking a little plain on my bedside table, so I picked up a bag of assorted styrofoam balls at the Dollar Tree for - you guessed it - a dollar!

You want the balls to be a little bit smaller than the containers you will be putting them into.

Next, I took some leftover moss (from my bedroom urn project) and hot glued it on the styro balls (which is why you want the balls to be smaller so there will be room for the moss).

I just popped them in their new homes without attaching them (although I don't know how long that will last with a curious 3 year old). I love the bright green of this moss. It adds so much color to my bedside table.

 Can someone tell me what those silver holders are for? I bought them in the kitchen section, but have no clue what they are for.

New Seashells

I made a quick little change in my bedroom and I think it looks SO much better.

I started out with these seashells I printed out from the graphics fairy...

But I knew they wouldn't be staying for long. I ended up painting a seashell blue, and adding Minwax Early American, and then gluing it to the burlap background. Even though I like the seashell print, I think this fits the look I was going for much more.

And here's a little before shot for comparison. I think the urn on the shelf looks so much better too.

The Power of Paint On A Picture Frame...And A Question

Years ago, I bought an unfinished picture frame at Michael's and attached a wood applique (which may or may not totally be the same applique I used on my medallion wall plaque), which I painted green, but the color just wasn't working with my new color scheme.

What was that? You wanna see a closeup of the picture? The little chunker in the front would be yours truly and the other two are my sisters.

So anyway, I just painted it the same blue as my headboard and distressed it with Minwax Early American and changed out the picture with one of my sweet angel.

Isn't he so adorable? =)

I had to throw in this picture to show you guys the difference between the picture frame and the window frame. Same paint color. Same stain. Yet they look so different because the picture frame has more stain. I'm thinkin' when the weather warms up, I'm going to add some more stain to the window frame to get more of a steel blue.

So now my question is do you guys like the bigger pictures on this post or the smaller pictures on all of my other posts?

Dining Room Map Art

Before I moved to New Jersey, I got 2 cupboard doors from the reject section at Ikea.

I had no clue what I would do with them, but at $4 each, I couldn't pass them up.

I finally decided they would look great in my dining room and I remembered that I bought an awesome calendar of vintage maps from a museum in NY. I got it years ago with the intention of framing them, but I knew 2 of the maps would be perfect for this project.

I originally wanted to somehow cover the front panel of the doors, but after failed attempts at painting them (I totally forgot to use primer so the paint just wiped off) and using burlap, I realized they looked better as is, so I just taped the maps on with double-sided tape.

They looked great, but I wanted to add a little bit more to the mix, so I picked up one of these shelf brackets from Ikea ($3) and stained it with Minwax Dark Walnut.



I attached the bracket to the wall inbetween the maps and rigged a lantern to the bracket, using wire, a washer, and a bead (the bead is just a temporary solution).

 I just love this lantern!! I bought it on clearance at Cost Plus a few summers ago because I loved the patina... and I just love lanterns!

And here you can see it in relation to where the airplane panels are.

The bamboo ladder is there temporarily until I get a plant for that corner. 

I'm thinkin' something tropical-looking, like this plant from Ikea: