DIY Ornament Wreath

I have been planning out my Christmas mantel early this year, and I wanted a wreath to be the centerpiece.  Only, I didn't like anything I found in my price range and I didn't want to spend a fortune.

Finally, on Pinterest, I stumbled across this tutorial from Live, Love, DIY.  Here is the link and a picture of one of hers:

http://www.livelovediy.com/2013/11/how-to-make-christmas-ornament-wreath.html

 

 

 

So, I took my happy butt down to the Dollar Tree today, just like the blog tutorial woman did, and bought about 150 various red and gold ornaments, (large, medium and small.)  I also bought some ribbon and a Styrofoam floral wreath form from Joann Fabric.  I probably spent about $20 total.  Still worth it, compared to the high prices of wreaths I had been scoping out.

 

Here are my pictures and the final product!  I am going to make a fancy bow closer to Christmas with this Bow maker thing I got at the church penny auction last year. 

 



A Purple and Teal Baby Shower

Hello!

So, I hosted my sister Jen's baby shower for little Eva Marie this past Sunday.   Purple is Jennifer's current favorite color, and when we were children, she was obsessed with teal.  We both had teal and purple leggings back then (It was the 90's: don't judge lol.)

So, I chose those colors for the theme and I think it turned out well.  Here are some pictures that my other sister Shannon took during the party.   The cake and cupcakes were courtesy of my cousin Michelle, and her business "Happy Cake."

Does Jay Gatsby Live Here?

Right before Christmas I was wandering through the local Ocean State Job lot.  (If you live in New England, you know what that is) and I found myself perusing the nail polishes.  Because, well, you can never have enough nail polish.  It is clearly a necessity for someone such as myself, who only sporadically paints my nails, to own at least 30 colors I will hardly ever wear.  But I digress.

I am seeing this black and gold thing everywhere and it intrigues me.  I had to buy this.  Because, why not.  I wore it on New Years Eve.

And it definitely has me thinking about this obvious trend.   I get it: "The Great Gatsby" has inspired an art deco resurgence.  For the record I liked art deco before it was cool!  Actually, I mostly liked art deco jewelry.  Leave it to Leo DiCaprio to bring back 20's opulence during a recession.

So, it's not surprising that I'm seeing this pop up everywhere: pinterest, the blogsophere, the red carpet, wedding magazines and even in drug store nail polish displays.  But will this trend have any sort of longevity?  It's forcing me to reconsider gold.  I thought gold was long since gone, by way of the 90's, along with brass fixtures and jewel-toned carpeting.  But like other recent trends (leggings, off one shoulder shirts, and tapered leg jeans) it is back but better.  Still, I can't help but be a little reluctant to embrace this trend in home decor, because I'm not convinced it has staying power.  I'm leaning a little more traditional these days (gasp, at 30+ I might finally be channeling my mother.)

Still, with my love of black I can't help but appreciate these recent Pinterest Picks.

Oh, and mini rant.  I hate it when pinterest images don't seem to link to the original.  It's not cool to not give credit to the originators.  Come on pinterest pinners!  Get your acts together!  I try to attribute all photos I share on here to the original source IF I can find it.  If not, by default, I give the pin link. 

http://zsazsabellagio.blogspot.com/2012/05/gorgeous-day-to-you.html

http://media-cache-ec0.pinimg.com/originals/ae/40/4e/ae404e4a2be1eb96799b3a0449138728.jpg

http://iheartshabbychic.blogspot.com/

                     I could not find the above image on that blog link, so here is the pin link: Pinterest

http://media-cache-ec0.pinimg.com/originals/cf/a3/5b/cfa35ba884eebbe7182e67f7b36d4155.jpg

Hello French Provincial Meets Art Deco!  Love it. 

http://zsazsabellagio.blogspot.com/2012/04/house-beautiful_28.html

Fresh Bedroom Inspiration: Pinterest Picks

I haven't disappeared!  Just lost in a post-holiday funk.  Taking down the holiday decorations is always anti-climatic for me.  And the house ends up looking so bare afterward.  Not to worry, I got right to work on making some Valentine's Day decorations.  On the one hand, my entire house is red or pink next to black and white so it's almost like I have a V-Day themed apartment year round.  But no matter, I will share a few of the little touches with you next week.

In the meantime, I have been thinking about bedroom design and how I'm so bored of seeing the same color schemes and ideas over again.  Here's a few ideas from Pinterest that stood out to me as being a bit more interesting and fresh right now.  None of these are in my comfort zone, none of them represent my go-to color schemes.  All of them are visually interesting.  I am seeing a real trend with bohemian inspired fabrics, or in the case of the metal bed (third picture) a modern take on soft, vintage, romantic farmhouse style.  Loving the coral/aqua and coral/navy inspiration as well.  I would never think to use coral normally.  Enjoy!

Rate My Space, HGTV

Nordstrom bedding set

Pinterest

 

Pottery Barn Kids

Asian Inspired Purple Bedroom

Colorful Bohemian Bedroom

Pinterest Bohemian Inspired Bedroom

A Joyful Apartment Tour

I am a lousy photographer.  Never has it been more obvious to me then when trying to take pictures to upload to this blog for all of you.  My New Year's resolution will be to purchase a decent camera and start trying to learn how to use it.  In the meantime, this is what you get: my lousy work.  Just remember that everything you ever see from me, looks much better in person.  Too bad I can't invite you all to my home to share, but sadly, since I cannot, we will have to make do.

The ornaments on this year's tree are a mix of store bought and handmade: the black globes with silver snowflakes were a fun find from a vintage shop in Dover, New Hampshire.  The silhouette frames were found at a discount shop, and I printed out the black silhouettes myself from clip art and fit them inside.  The needlepoint stars I made myself, and the wooden star ornament I painted with acrylic red paint and red glitter glue.  I also painted several porcelain bulbs with red acrylic and gold acrylic, brushing with red glitter glue to finish .  The "PEACE" sign in red gingham was a Michael's Crafts bargain bin find for a $1 and this year's red, black and beige plaid stockings were a Christmas Tree Shop steal at $3 a piece.   One boring Friday evening I cut out all the snowflakes that you see on the cabinets a week or two ago.  I enjoy mixing DIY projects with purchased decor items.

Happy Holidays from my small space to your home!