marker on the wall

I've been planning on stenciling a design on the walls of our new half bath.
It's a pretty small room, but the joke may end up  being on me, since the stencil will have to work around a doorway, window, toilet, pedastal sink, light fixture, mirror, and switches/outlets.  hmmm...rethinking...

Here's my hall bath inspiration photo again. 

via decorpad.  photo by Tria Giovan.

Our bath will be painted a base coat of a taupe-y gray.  The color swatch I've been carrying around is from Wal-Mart.  Dutch Boy/Better Homes in the color Creamy Pebbles.  No photo.  I still have a few weeks to decide.  Anyone know the perfect taupey-gray color?

But then what?  Do I buy a stencil, make one?  What pattern?  Geometric?  Intricate?
Here are some of the photos floating around my desktop:

(from centsational girl, jones design company, Graciela Rutkowski Interiors, houseandhome.com, and the rest are from pinterest)

But I have since stumbled upon the idea of DRAWING my pattern on the wall.  A quick search on the interweb shows that several people have had great success using paint pens or Sharpies to add a pattern to their walls without all the hastle of paint, brushes, cleanup, messy patterns, etc..

No mess, count me in!

 gusandlula.com

apennysavedblog.com



See Cate Create

Here are some links to lovelies that have tried it with much success.  Hope to add my name to the list soon!

Sharpies from A Penny Saved



DIY Stenciled Wallpaper from The Lovely Cupboard

Easy Paint Pen Wallpaper from See Cate Create

Painted Wallpaper from Mal-licious

Sharpie Wallpaper from Gus and Lula

glitter baby

I'm considering an update for Caroline's white dresser and nightstand.

Right now, the plain white dresser, is adorned with simple painted wooden knobs.

The dresser looks a lot like this:

I'm hoping to add some glittery, sparkly, crystal knobs.  Won't it make for a more personalized, girly dresser?

 I've found these examples from Anthropologie.  They are all pretty reasonably priced at $6-$8 a piece. 

Or these pale pink numbers.

But still, for 16 knobs + tax and shipping, that can get really expensive.  So I think I'll have to do some more searching.  I did see the top Anthropologie knobs on ebay for about half the price.  It would still be an $80 project, so we'll see.

Any tips for scoring some great glass/crystal/plastic knobs on the cheap?

bedroom chair

Many years ago, my husband gave me this blue chair as a birthday gift.

We had seen it at Storehouse Furniture in New Orleans, and I must have commented about it.

And, of course, I was thrilled to receive it as a gift.  It was certainly a gift I wouldn't have talked myself into.

Anyway, it's kind of been the inspiration for our master bedroom for the past 6 years or more.  I mean, it's not the kind of chair you just stick in any room and hope it fits!

But now, the light blue decor is being moved to the guest room, in order to have a more glamorous master bedroom.  {I posted some ideas here.}

And the blue chair might not make the move.  Although the new guest room hasn't even begun construction, I can tell that it might just be too small for a chair in the corner.

 So here is my idea for keeping the blue chair in the master bedroom....a slipcover.

 Not typically my style, but I think it might work.

 Now, only to decide to attempt it myself, or get an expert involved?

Paint Chips

Look at the creativity of some people just using paint swatches from the hardware store.

 I saw a invite like this online, and since I have a little experience designing stationery, I thought I'd try my hand at making my own moving cards.

I have a bookcase full of envelopes left over from the time I sold custom stationery, so I think I'll print these up and send them out when the time comes.

Coffee Filter Wreath

Only 2 days before Thanksgiving, I decided not to clean the house, but to make a beautiful wreath to decorate our dining room for Thanksgiving.

Can you say "procrastination"?  I'm an expert.

With the kids down for nap, I gathered the materials I had purchased earlier in the morning:

-14" straw wreath form (half price of $3.47 at Hobby Lobby)

-200 natural coffee filters (99 cents on sale at Target)

-hot glue gun

-glue sticks (LOTS)

-scissors (didn't end up using)

-ribbon for hanging

I found A LOT of tutorials around the web for coffee filter wreaths.  And I picked and chose from the several I read to make up my own version.

I started with a straw wreath form, but I left it wrapped in the plastic cover.  I had read about this on a tutorial from The Nester.  The plastic wrap provided a nice even surface to attach the coffee filters.

 Then I covered the entire wreath with a solid layer of coffee filters.  I picked up this tip from Jones Design Company.  I was worried that if the coffee filters didn't completely cover, I didn't want the straw/plastic to show through.

 Then I started attaching the filters.  I don't have photos of this part, but I folded the filter in half, then in half again, then in half again (is that eighths?).  At first I was cutting the triangular end of the filter off to create a flat surface, and then attaching with hot glue.  (see it here)

This is about as far as I made it with that method.  It was just too hard to keep the filter folded up, standing up, and attached.  So I stopped cutting, and just folded that little end piece over, and using that to glue the filter to the wreath.

 Here you can see my little flaps glue down.  Despite having that little flap to adhere...I still burned my fingers on almost ALL 200 filters.  Ouch.

 About halfway done.

...200 coffee filters later!

I simply tied a brown satin ribbon around the wreath (you could attach with hot glue or pins) and tied the ribbon around my curtain rod in the dining room.

I had considered hanging it on the mirror along the opposite wall, but I was afraid you could see the ugly back in the mirror's reflection.  Plus, simply tying it on the curtain rod was SO much easier.

I'm very pleased with how the wreath looks with my goldenrod drapes from Restoration Hardware. Next, I'll show you how it looks with my Thanksgiving table all set!

Happy Birthday to my Mother in Law!

So, my glass etching didn't turn out PERFECTLY, so my MIL is just getting the pitcher.  The glasses were a little less uniform.  I hope she'll be pleased.  I also added my newest craft craze...satin flower pins, as the "wrapping" for the pitcher.  I've been making these like crazy.  Here are a couple that I whipped up to wear to a Fall Harvest Festival on Friday:

You can find the flower tutorial here.

Blessings,  Michelle

glass etching

Quite a while ago, I found this tutorial for glass etching at Create Studio.

So I decided to give it a try and make a gift for my MIL...oh, for last Mother's Day.  I didn't get to it as quickly as I would have liked, and on the first go-round, I messed up the pitcher a little.  Good thing she and I share the same last initial, because I have a new pitcher with a slightly messed up "H" etched on it!

So the gift has been put off 6 months, and now her birthday is around the corner, and I'm determined to get to it again.

So, I'm going to give my hand at a pitcher (straight sides this time!) and 4 drinking glasses.  I can't decide if I want to etch all the pieces with the same "H", or if I want to use a different font for each glass.  My thought was, that if each glass was different, then you would never get confused as to which glass was yours!  I narrowed it down to 6 choices.

Here's what you (and I) need to remember:

-etching cream is EXPENSIVE, but also REUSABLE.  Be prepared to do LOTS of projects.

-pick a glass item with straight sides.  Cylindrical is ok...but not rounded or bulbous.

-be prepared for a little imperfection!

-check Create Studio for all her other tips as posts about etching.

I'll post some pictures when I'm finished.