This is what happens when I watch hours of HGTV.....

While I was home over the holidays I got bored and watched hours of HGTV. Which I will admit is never safe considering who I am. I was so mesmerized. I knew I should have turned it off, but I couldn't. Every time they took a sledge hammer to the wall, I became more and more excited by renovation. The whole day furthered my love for home design and decor, and specifically inspired me to finish my own house. So, here we go. First I revisited my bedroom. Below is what it looked like before.

I always keep a running list of projects I want to do in each room.  The bedroom consisted of:

1. Lamps
2. Redo Starburst
3. Table for Jewelry Armoire
4. Dresser upgrade with new knobs
5. Frame for mirror
6. Bracelet holders
7. Setup ironing board in closet
8. Knobs for nightstands
9. Fix back of Jewelry Armoire
10. Fix paint spill on baseboard
11. Add in some accessories

Funny thing is this list originally only had 5 things on it. After HGTV Palooza it seemed to more than double to 11. I did the small and cosmetic things first. I rearranged some of the furniture, fixed the paint spill on the baseboard, set up the ironing board in my closet, and fixed the back of my jewelry armoire. 4 things crossed off the list just like that. Once the cosmetics were taken care of, I got to the fun part....making things! I went on a bracelet binge a couple of months ago when Michaels had a sale on beads. However, now they were all over the place. I created a few holders a while back, but they were long and a giant pain when I wanted a bracelet in the middle of the tube. So, I decided to remake them smaller. I grabbed a bunch of empty toilet paper rolls from my bathroom. I stuffed them with plastic bags for support, and then wrapped them with felt. 

I made 6 holders and loaded them with bracelets.

Next up was the Starburst. Now I know originally I said I loved it. I also said I liked the sparseness of it. Well now I'm not feeling it so much. It's still nice, but I needed to fatten it up a bit. I wanted it to make more of a statement. I was going to just add more spokes to the current one, but then I took to Pinterest. I came across one with an interesting shape, and it inspired me to do something a little different. I sketched out my idea first, and then used mat board to cut it out. 

I painted it with a silver spray paint and added a mirror to the front. To hang it, I added a picture hook to the back.....and VOILA!

Next up the jewelry table. Since I moved in, my Jewelry Armoire has been on an IKEA Lack table by the side of my bed. 1 Lack table was too small, and 2 tables was a little bigger than I needed. So, I decided to go with my gut on this one, and made something the exact size I wanted. The Jewelry Armoire is 12"x 24", so I went with a table of 18"x 30". I made a trip to Home Depot and got a sheet of plywood and some 1x2s.

Using wood glue, I put all of the cut pieces together to create the table base. 

To create the edges I used 3" craft wood. Much to my delight when I found out that Home Depot now sells these pieces. I used to only be able to get this size wood at Lowes. I am so excited, one stop shopping. 

For legs I wanted something with a girly feel. I bought 14" decorative legs. They didn't have much of a selection so I was limited in my choices. I ended up with the same legs that are on my ottoman. However, to make them just a little bit different, I added decorative wood pieces I found at Hobby Lobby. That way they weren't the exact same, and it also gave it a little bit more height.

I glued a piece to the bottom of each leg and let it set. 

While I waited for the legs to dry, I added the leg plates to the bottom of the top. 

I put all of the pieces together, and painted my table black. 

Now for the pizazz (because you know it wasn't going to just stay black). For the top of the table I got the idea to use mirrors. I had a bunch of mirrors left over from another table I did and then changed my mind. So, I decided to repurpose them on this table. 

To push the flare further, I covered the mirrored top with decorative transfer paper. This was the same paper that was originally on my desk, and then the plan changed. I bought a ton it, so I feel like I need to use it now. 

I covered the entire table

Isn't it fancy! It so girly and decorative.

My Jewelry Armoire fits perfectly.

As you can see I moved the whole situation to the corner and away from the bed. I actually like it here a lot better. 

For the last project I made lamps. Well maybe not make lamps, but rather constructed shades. The area by my bed needed some color. I really really wanted to buy finished lamps. At the most I was expecting that I may have to recover the shades. However, I was unaware how expensive lamps were. I just could not find anything that I wanted. However in the midst of Home Depot research, I found decorative sheet metal and thought it would make perfect shades. So, all was not completely lost 

Only problem is that the diameter and height of the shade was now contingent upon the size of the sheet metal. Which in theory sounds a lot easier said than done. To make an actual frame requires heavy metal and specialty tools. I can't see this becoming a regular thing, so I didn't want to invest the money. I did however find wood embroidery rings in Michaels. They were not only the right size, but also durable enough to hold up to the process. 

I spray painted the sheet metal bright pink, and let it dry completely. Then I attempted to glue the sheet metal to the wood rings. I did some research and there was a suggestion to use liquid nails. I used binder clips (so nicely provided by my coworker) to clamp the pieces together while the glue dried. I let the whole thing set for 24 hours.

Unfortunately the liquid nails was a total joke. Might as well have used Elmer's School glue. I had to go back and do it again, this time I used Gorilla Glue. 

The Gorilla Glue worked perfectly. To finish off the shade, I used craft wire and wrapped it through the holes to create a closure.

Again I let the piece dry 24 hours before removing the binder clips. 

Now here is where it gets a little experimental. I had the shade, but how do I keep them attached to the actual lamp base. At this point I could not believe I just did all of this work. I should have tried harder to find a cool "already made" lamp shade. I'll admit this part is not organized, and very much so trial and error.  I walked around Home Depot and just looked for pieces I thought might work. 

I decided on galvanized wire (which is what lamp structures are actually made from) and random plumbing pieces. You'll be amazed at all of the useful things you can find in the plumbing and electrical section of Home Depot. Just a wealth of unconventional project pieces. I created a tripod situation using the thick wire and glue to hold everything in place. 

Then I set the piece inside and used Gorilla Glue and binder clips to affix the piece permanently in place.

I have shades, but what about the base? After all of that headache I found one I liked in Walmart of all places. 

I wanted to add a little bit of color so I spray painted them gold, and added the shades to the top. 

Now since I took this pic, I came to the realization that the shades weren't very secure. So, I went back to Home Depot and found additional pieces to attach to the bottom to create more of a tube shape. Also I didn't like the color. It was too bright, so I spray painted it again this time in a Mauve color.

So after all of that, this is the result.

I found this cool rose gold box at Homegoods.

As you can see the frame for the peanut mirror didn't really end up a frame at all. As I started putting the pieces together I didn't want anything too bold that competed with the rest of the room. So, I ended up using the same spray paint that is on the Starburst, and creating a few cutouts to create interest. 

After all is said and done, my list now looks like this

1. Lamps

2. Redo Starburst
3. Table for jewelry armoire
4. Dresser upgrade with new knobs
5. Frame for mirror
6. Bracelet holders
7. Setup ironing board in closet
8. Knobs for nightstands
9. Fix back of jewelry armoire
10. Fix paint spill on baseboard
11. Add in some accessories

As you can see a few things were not crossed off. The knobs on the nightstand, I can kind of do without. I did make some at some point, but felt it didn't really add anything. The dresser upgrade, I could not figure out what I wanted to do. I'm contemplating a lot ideas, and must have run at least 15 different designs in my head. So for now I'm going to just hold out, and do it when I'm completely sure. Don't worry, there will be a blog about it. 

So how was that for a month long project. Sorry for the overly long post. I just thought it made more sense to cover it all at one time. Hope your eyes aren't burning. Until then...it's on to the next project. 

Weekend Project: Closet Art

So I decided to start something new. I'm calling it Weekend Projects. Basically projects that I start and finish in a weekend. Honestly, the thought sounds really nice considering how long some of these take. Especially the ones that I anticipate taking me a couple of days, and a couple of weeks later I'm still working on them. There are times that a project drags on so long that by the time I'm finished, the only excitement I have is that it's done. Sounds bad, but true. My intention is to love everything I do, but some projects are just stubborn. Oh and let's not forget the fact that sometimes, I'm just doing too much. 

Now on to my newest creation. I created a piece of art for my closet room. I wanted a new piece for the back wall. I already had something there, but I wanted to change it out for something a little more girly. I contemplated a few ideas and I had settled on some sort of lips/kiss print, until I started looking for an image to reference and totally lost my excitement. Then somehow right before bed....it came to me. 

I started with a piece of 1/4" foam board. I had extra in the closet and cut it to 22" x 32".

I painted the foam board with a layer of white acrylic craft paint. While I waited for the paint to dry I started on my letters. I went to Hobby Lobby and got 4 big wood letters. Between you and me, all of the fun letters they have in craft stores excites me. I always want to buy them, but never have a reason.

I painted my letters gold. I had originally started spray painting them, however it was difficult to get an even coat around the edges. So, I switched to hand painting them instead. 

While the letters dried, I turned my attention back to the board. For design I went with stripes. I got out my blue Painter's Tape and taped off where my stripes would be.

Now comes the trick. People always ask how I get my stripes so precise. Well here it is. When I was painting the stripes for my office. I did a lot of research on what the best techniques were. I had done stripes in the past and even though I used tape, I would still get bleeding and thus not so crisp lines. I found out that bleeding is almost inevitable, so the key is before you paint the second color paint the first color at the tape's edge. 

By painting the edge with the first color, when the color bleeds under the tape, it is essentially bleeding onto itself. Ah haa. *Eureka Moment* Once it dried I went ahead and painted the black on top. 

Once the black dried I pulled up the tape, and I had nice crisp lines. (Of course I didn't photograph it. It was beautiful though...trust me) Then I put the whole thing together. I placed the letters down first to get the right placement, and used E6000 glue to secure them. 

Then I brought it up stairs and used nails to hang it on the wall.

I love it! Oddly it was nothing like what I had envisioned for the last month. Somehow though I've been having some of my best creative ideas at bedtime. Go figure. I might put a frame around it, but I'm not sure yet. We'll see what tickles my fancy. 

So, what do you think of the "Weekend Project"? I'm kind of feeling it. I always like smaller projects. I think about them, I get excited, I create them, I get super excited, and then it's on to the next one. Just like that. That means more blogs and more projects. YAY! *Snaps for that*. Oh and be prepared for a few back to back blogs. I seemed to have finished like 4 projects within the last week. So stay tuned...you never know what might happen over the weekend. 

2 Years and 50 Posts Later...

So it's 2015 and all of my walls are still intact...for now. You know the builders of this house kind of boxed me in with the design. They didn't leave much room for things like knocking down walls. It is also another great milestone. This is my 50th post! Yayy! I can not believe I have written 50 blogs. When I first started this thing 2 years ago, I wasn't sure what would happen. So to see people still interested is nice. Now, let's talk about this 50th post, which also happens to be my first post...Calendars. I know technology is all the rage these days. Call me old fashioned, but I still like wall calendars. It just helps my brain to see things hanging up in front of me. The typical ones they sell in stores are a little big for what I need. Last year I found one that was a great size, but the design repeated each month. It was nice at first, but by May/June I was OVER IT. So this year I went back to making my own. 

Last time I made a calendar, I designed everything on the computer in Photoshop. This go round I decided to use scrapbook paper. They've been having crazy sales in the craft stores lately. Sometimes as low as 7 sheets for a $1. I used a mixture of pieces I already had in my stash and some new ones I bought. 

The average piece of scrapbook paper is 12" x 12". I didn't want my calendar to be that big. I cut off an inch on both sides to make an 11" square. For the actual calendar portion I bought a new 9" x 12" sketch pad and cut each piece to 9" x 9-1/2".

I glued the white piece down to the printed piece to create the base for each page. 

Then repeated the process with the other 11 pieces.

To create the actual calender portion I used my Sharpie Markers. I don't know what it is about these markers, but I get excited every time I get to use them. I grabbed my ruler and measured each space evenly to create the boxes. I contemplated doing the whole design portion on the computer, but I thought just free handing would be easier.

Once the lines were set I added in the dates, days, and month.

I was quite impressed with January, and at this point quite inspired. The remainder of the months I designed one at a time as an idea came to me. You know I couldn't just make all of the months the same, so I took my time coming up with a different design for each one. It took me about a week to complete all 12. 

I have to say I love them! I had my doubts on whether or not I could create 12 font designs that all looked different, but I pulled it out though. I will probably never buy another wall calendar again. Especially when I can make such fancy ones myself. I put them all together with a clamp and hung it up at my desk. 

Now I just need to actually write on it. It's so pretty though. Honestly, I'm still slightly reveling in it. Well until then...It's on to the next projects. Yes, projects plural. I'm in total redecoration mode this month. In other words, trying to find a way to satisfy my creative craving that comes from binge watching HGTV. 

An intervention might need to happen soon...maybe. :)

Making Presents Everywhere!

And just like that, Christmas 2014 is in the bag. Can you believe we are at the end of 2014 already? Where did the days go. I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday, and that Santa was good to each and every one of you. I went to Boston to visit family and friends. Good times. I even ran into one of my high school crushes. He is still just as dreamy as he was when I was 18. Now comes the oh so fun task of putting everything away. Its all fun and excitement putting up the decorations. Taking them down is another story. So, now that the holidays are done and gifts have been given, I can talk about my last project. It seems like every year I find making gifts is just easier and more personal. This year was no different. 

First was my aunt. The last couple of years I got her something butterfly related. She recently has started collecting Wine Bottle Stoppers. I was going to buy a monogrammed one, but in the midst of my Googling I found that Hobby Lobby actually sold the blank piece. That was all I needed to know.

I was originally going to paint right on it, but then felt it needed some extra pzazz. So I made a trip to Michaels and found an embellishment to use in my design.

The pieces were to go on either side of the bottle stopper. The back side I knew I wanted a little sparkle. I brushed the inside of my piece with glue, and filled it with pink glitter (Which happens to be my aunt's favorite color). 

Now for the monogram. I tried out several techniques. First I decided to freehand with markers, but it looked a little too crafty. Then I attempted to create something in Photoshop, but I didn't seal it properly so it blurred when I added the pendant gel. Then it hit me. I could use more glitter. That would let me freehand, but without the marker look. I attached my pen size tip to my glue bottle and wrote her initials inside

Then I covered it with a dark pink glitter

To attach the pieces to the actual stopper I spread the backsides with E6000 glue, gave them a firm press, and let the whole piece set overnight.

Now for my uncle. He is probably one of the easiest people to get gifts for. He loves t-shirts and hats. He wears them all the time, so you can never go wrong with either one. (Well unless the hat is a bright color, or the shirt is argyle.) I looked around for a hat, but couldn't seem to find one that was plain or the right color. I did however have a hat that I got from an event I attended. The only problem was that it was already embroidered. Yeah, let's just talk about how much you have to love someone to unstitch a heavily embroidered item. UGH! My uncle is totally worth it though. 

 I thought about a lot of different and cool things to put on the hat, but somehow settled for a simple monogram. He has a lot of hats, but none with his initials. I purchased some hard felt fabric from Michaels. I measured the size of the front and cut out the letters to size. I almost got fancy, but I kept it pretty simple with a thick block print.

I turned them over and gave them a generous layer of fabric glue before placing them on the front. 

I put several pins to hold the letters down while they dried. However the fabric glue did not create a secure enough hold so I applied a a little bit of E6000 for extra security. Once the letters were fully dry and secure, I brushed some black fabric paint over them to deepen the color. 

The last gift belongs to my sister. My sister really loves writing in journals, and for the last few years I always get her one. This year I wanted to find a journal and customize the front. However it was a little harder to find the journal that really worked for my idea. It did cross my mind to just make one, but that still wasn't going to give me what I wanted. I did buy one with the intention of recovering until I realized I actually kind of liked the front. The inside cover was totally fair game though. 

This is before,

and this is after. 

All in all it was a good Christmas. Everyone really enjoyed their gifts. My aunt and uncle both really loved theirs. My uncle wore his hat Christmas day. He said it matched what he was wearing...gray. Go figure. My sister was quite happy about hers as well. She found my doodle to be "So Awesome!". It just makes me happy to know that they are happy. I always wonder about giving handmade gifts. However people seem to really like them so I must be doing something right. 

So I guess this is my last blog for 2014. It's been an amazing year. I appreciate everyone's love and support. 2015 is going to be busy say the least (I already have projects for January all lined up). I ended up having quite a bit of down time while I was home and binge watched HGTV for several, several hours. It was sooooo dangerous. So needless to say my creative brain is on Hyper drive. If I had a wall to knock down, it may have already happened. I mean, I started last year with demolition. Why not make it a yearly tradition? No...I can picture the mass *smh* from all of you. HA! Until 2015...it's on to the next project!