Polka Dots

Something is seriously wrong with me!

TWO crafty blog posts in one week?  I've caught the DIY bug.

I'm sure it won't last long, but I'm taking full advantage of this new found motivation.  This weekend, besides trying my hand at my geometric wreath, I also decided to spruce up our bookshelf in the living room.  I've had the bookshelf for about 6 years and it was part of what I like to call my "Pier 1 dark stage".  Everything I bought back then was dark wood.  And while I still love many of my darker furniture pieces, it is hard to pull off in a tiny condo with limited natural light.  Over the years I've been trying to lighten things up a bit, mostly with accent pieces.  

I have seen many bookcase makeovers but most of them involve painting and I definitely did not want to spend the time or money on that.  So I did the next best thing and bought some scrapbooking paper (fancy people use wallpaper...) and double sided tape and voila! (plus it helped that I actually straightened up my books!)

Before

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 kind of embarrassed for posting this mess

After

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I love the polka dots and it really brightens up that corner of the living room.  A few dollars later and a new look!

DIY Geometric Wreath

I was feeling pretty crafty this weekend and decided to try my hand at one of my many pinterst pins!

A blog I follow, VintageRevivals, had posted a tutorial on making your own himmeli wreath and I loved the simple, yet complex lines and how it added a nice touch of modern to the space.  As I continue to evolve my own style, I find myself leaning more and more towards clean and modern lines.

All in all, the wreath only cost around $4 and took about 2 hours to make --- I'd say it was definitely worth the try :)  

Supplies needed:

30 gauge floral wire (silver)

black cocktail straws cut to 4 1/2 inches

The finished product looks more like metal than plastic straws!

The wall I hung it on originally had a 3 part frame holding some Colorado postcards I had bought in Boulder before I graduated back in 2006.  While I love the cards, I am not a fan of the frame anymore.  Too contemporary and not the right look.  

 For full instructions visit VintageRevivals

$7 Art

I don't like to have empty walls in my house.  I love collecting art and photographs and being able to enjoy them, hanging all around me.  We've have this huge empty wall above our television and for over a year I couldn't find anything to put on that wall.  Everything I found was completely out of my price range because of the size I was looking for.  

Before

I've always been fond of the more industrial/loft look (Restoration Hardware is my dream store) and have seen some cool examples of "unfinished" art i.e. non framed.  The idea started to grow on me and I thought if I could just find a print I loved then I could hang it using other non traditional methods without spending hundreds of dollars on a frame.  Then I saw the Pintrest pin floating around about how a woman went to Staples and was able to print a 3' x 4' black and white print for 7 dollars using their Engineering Prints.  Yes this is what I needed! 

Bobby and I headed off to Staples yesterday after finding a print we both really liked.  I didn't have any photos I had taken myself that I wanted to use so I started looking online.  I found this great website Unsplash that has beautiful high resolution images and all for free.

Staples printed it for me and as the lady was handing me my reciept she asked, "Did you get this idea from Pintrest?"  haha!

We just hung as is, not going through the hassle of framing or gluing to a giant piece of particle board.  I'm pretty pleased with the results!  And if one day I finally find the most perfect piece of art then I won't feel bad for taking this one down!

 We used the clear reinforcement labels to prevent any possible tears from the nail

Small table DIY

When I headed off to graduate school I had no furniture to my name, except for a small table that my mom gave me that she had found at a flea market.  While it is a cute little table and has served me well, I thought it could use a bit of a face lift.  It is a bit out dated and its coloring clashed next to the darker ikea bookcase.  

I still had some of my LaFonda Teal (which I loooved) left over from my dresser makeover and thought it would be nice to have something bright in the living room.  

It only took my 1 and 1/2 episodes of the X Files to finish! (oh how I wanted so badly to be Agent Scully when I was little)

DIY Face Mask

One of the blogs I love to follow is

Delighted Momma

She has great paleo and healthy reciepes and amazing skin care regiments.  

I thought I would try out one of her skin care recipes and see how it worked with my skin.

Its pretty easy and it smells delicious.

Original recipe found here

2 tbs of cocoa powder 

(I found I needed a little bit more to get the paste like consistency)

1 tbs of honey

1 1/2 tbs of coconut oil

mix together until you get a paste like consistency

Let sit for 15-20 minutes and rinse with warm water.  Its suggested to follow with a toner and moisturizer.  

The benefits of this mask are to:

help smooth out wrinkles (cocoa)
clear out toxins in your skin, which can make you look older (cocoa)
natural moisturizer (honey)
antiseptic and antimicrobial agent, helping with acne (coconut oil) 

New Face Part II

FINALLY finished my dresser makeover--Ta-da!

What do you think?  I'm pretty happy with the Lafonda Teal.  Hehe the name makes me laugh and reminds me of the movie Napoleon Dynamite.

I love the new ceramic knobs.  They are bright and pretty and get the job done.  I think it has been a nice change to the bedroom!

Dresser knobs found here 

A New Face

I'm not a very crafty person.  I enjoy the idea of DIYs and taking something old and making it new again.  But I have been a little bored recently and decided to work on giving our little dresser a face lift.  I wasn't quite sure what I wanted to do, except that it needed to be repainted.  The dresser was passed down from one of Bobby's old roommates and has never really gone with any of our furniture.  Its dark blueish/purple color would have gone better in a little boys room!

I finally decided on a bright teal.  Lafonda Teal to be exact!  I wanted something bold and a little tropical looking.  Last weekend Bobby and I headed to Lowe's and picked out our paint and I got right to work.  I only have a few more coats on one more side and then it should be done. 

I am planning on purchasing these new dresser knobs to replace the big wooden round ones!

As soon as its finished I'll post a final photo!