Tuesday Treats #9 {Inspiration from around the web}

Good Morning! I was hoping to wake up to some white stuff floating from the sky, but I guess the weather man was wrong again. No rest for the weary, normal day as planned.

Thank you all for the sweet comments from yesterday's Valentine's Tea post. It was such a great time and I am hoping to do it again next year.

As usual on Tuesdays, I have found some great inspiration and ideas around the web and I just had to share them with all of you. AND...if you ever find something you think would be fun to share with my readers, please email me with the link and I will definitely give a shout out! I am always looking for great ideas to inspire me and those around. Enjoy today's treats!


1. Don't be too hard on yourself
I love the quote below. It reminds me to not take life so serious, to enjoy the day! When I mess up I need to give myself grace. I am not perfect and neither is the person beside me. Good reminder..don't you think?

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2. DIY Cloud Mobile

Obviously I am in the decorating the nursery mood. I found this adorable fabric cloud on the Ikea's DIY site and fell in love. I am thinking I might have to make a few of these either as a wall hanging or a mobile above the crib. How easy would this be to make?!

3. Can you mix gray and beige?
I have gotten this question a lot from clients and friends. My friend Abby explains why those neutral colors can go well together. Hop on over to check her post out HERE.

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4. Kitchen Before & After

My friend Holly is a local blogger here in the Raleigh area and she is amazing with paint! She does custom work for clients on furniture and now has even taken to painting cabinetry. Holly just finished a neighbor's kitchen and what a transformation. With paint and new cabinet hardware she transformed this space into a whole new kitchen. It was quite dark before and I love the airy feeling white paint can bring to a space. What a cheap fix too! The client left the same backsplash, countertops and lighting. The Power of Paint! Click HERE for more details and what type of paint Holly used. 

5. Valentine's Round Up

Since Valentine's Day is this Friday, I have found some cute DIY ideas around the web for a quick project! I  especially love the dinner for two idea from TheEveryGirl.

One: Sequin Love Sign

Two: Embroidered Canvas Love Sign

Three: Vinyl Love Tray

Four: Dinner at Home for Two

Five: Eraser Stamped Valentines Cards

Hope you have a great day! I am getting ready to cozy up and get some home projects done while watching the snow fall. Yes...it is suppose to snow again in NC! Crazy Winter.

Recovering from Haven Conference

Hi my beautiful friends! It has absolutely been a whirl wind of a few days and I am trying to catch up on some sleep and projects throughout this week. I enjoyed my time at the Haven Conference this past weekend. It was motivating, inspiring and just plain amazing! I met so many wonderful, down to earth bloggers. It was so neat to see hundreds of people with the same interest inspiring one another.

It was located at the gorgeous Grand Hyatt in Buckhead, Atlanta. The service was amazing and the food was an A+ in my book!

When I was finished with my conference late Saturday night, I came home and told my husband that I was a little depressed! I don't know if any of you have ever gone away to summer camp, but it was exactly like that. It was so exciting and so fun connecting with lots of friends that I didn't want to leave. 

Postcards from the ridge, Storywood Designs, me & Living Rich on Less

The Jean Jacket Posse

Can I tell you how amazing Jen@Iheartorganizing is? She taught a class on organizing and is one talented lady and not to mention the sweetest! If you aren't following her blog...well shame on you!

Emily from Emily A. Clark was the first blog that I ever started to follow. She is seriously the sweetest southern lady ever! It was so amazing to finally meet her in person. I feel as though we have been friends for a lifetime.

Do you know this face? Some of you may if you follow Young House Love's blog! This is Sherry and she is exactly the same in person as she is on her blog! Full of energy, humor and a real genuine person. 

I also met up with a few other of my favorites like Cassie, Courtney & Holly! Make sure you stop on over and say hello!

I will be posting some recaps of last week here on the blog. I learned so much and really want to share it with all of my fabulous readers! We will talk about some great sponsors and vendors that I met, some organizing tips as well as top decorating no no's! 

Have a Marvelous Monday All!

{DIY} Jewelry Box

 

Last week I was given a challenge by Cassie at Hi Sugarplum! Her challenge was to find something on pinterest, create it, then share it with the blogosphere! Now, you might think that is an easy task, but no way! Have you seen how many awesome DIY ideas there are out there? Absolutely thousands of ideas big and small. And, for someone who has been so indecisive lately...ummm PROBLEM!

I looked through my pinterest boards and I just wasn't feeling them. I needed the project to be simple, cheap, but would make a great impact once completed.....that's when my dad entered the picture. (What? Dad? What does he have to do with pinterest?)

My dad happened to send me a link to a DIY blogger that had a fabulous posting on making a Jewelry Box out of an old book! I was so taken with the project. I knew this was the one for me!!!

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Sincerely, Kinsey is a wonderful blog about DIY, Fashion & Photography. I love finding new blogs to follow...don't you?? Definitely check her out when you get a chance!

So I dove right into the project without turning back.

Materials Needed:
Old Book, Exacto knife, Mod Podge, Small Paint Brush, Pencil, Hot Glue Gun & Silk flowers of your choice.

Steps: 
1. Open the book and draw a rectangle leaving 1/2-1  inch border all the way around the book.
2. Next, using your exacto knife cut a rectangle using the lines already drawn. (You will repeat this step multiple times because of the thickness of the book)
3. You will notice that your book pages won't line up exactly.  I think it gives it a bit of a vintage look!
4. Once you have cut all the way through, leave the cover to book up and start Mod Podging every few pages together as well as the outside of the pages and inside of the newly made box.
5. Using your Hot Glue Gun, glue some fake or dried flowers to the top of the book.
6. Once the Mod Podge is dry, you may add some beautiful jewelry to make this project complete!

What do you think? Pretty Easy? It was a fun project and one I will enjoy on my dresser for a long while! Thanks for the idea Dad!


**For more DIY ideas visit my Pinterest Boards or if you aren't a Pinterest member, shoot me an email so I can tell you how to join!!**

Linking Up at: Hi Sugarplum! & The Artsygirl Connection &

Blogging Tips for Leaving Comments!!

Hello All! Happy Monday!

I will have an organizing post for all of you this afternoon, however I needed to tell all of you about a post that my friend Cassie is sharing over at her blog Hi Sugarplum!

There are many of you that visit my blog on a daily basis and leave wonderful comments! I absolutely love comments and love getting to know all of you by being able to comment back with an answer to a question or just to thank you for stopping by!

Well....I can't respond to even half of you because of a little thing called a no-reply blogger!!

So to help me reach all of you and be able to become best bloggy friends....I need you to hop on over to Cassie's blog to find out how to become a reply blogger!


Leave me a comment to let me know you have changed your settings and I can now respond to you! I promise I haven't ignored your questions....I just haven't known how to get in touch with you!

Snow Globes- Featured at {Hi Sugarplum!}

Hello all you wonderful Wednesday readers! Just wanted to let you all know that Cassie from Hi Sugarplum featured my DIY Anthropology knockoff snowglobes on her blog today.

We had a link up party last Tuesday with so many wonderful craft ideas from some fabulous crafters! If you want some great ideas for christmas crafts visit Cassie's link  from Tuesday: Christmas Cheer Link Party

Cassie is also a craft diva herself. Check out some of her fabulous projects and designs:

Advent Calendar

DIY Sequin Trees

Scented Pinecone Wreath

Cassie also has a great series called Outfit Inspirations.

She takes a color combo and relates it to a room design. So clever! My kind of girl!

peacock blue & green

Isn't she just a fabulous lady! Thanks Cassie for today's feature and sharing all of your wonderful ideas!

DIY Weekend Projects- Homegoods Tray & Sunburst Mirror

Wow! Where did the weekend go? It is already Tuesday and I haven’t shown you my weekend projects! It was a busy and fast weekend with two cookouts with friends, a 5-year-old birthday party and lots of catching up around the house (cleaning, laundry, cooking, yard work, etc.).

I did have a little time to be creative and rummage up some DIY fun!

My first project was very simple…but I LOVE! I bought this tray at HomeGoods on clearance for $2.00! Yup….two-dahlas! I was pumped!

As you can see… I am not a fan of the world traveler look. It might work for some…..but it’s just not my cup of tea. This tray would look great in a library with lots of old books, high back leather chairs and an old man smoking a pipe! HA! Just not in my chic bedroom!

So off I went with one of my favorite DIY items…Spray Paint! First, I sanded the tray down and used a rag to wipe all the excess dust. Then I went to town spraying it with High Gloss white paint. The first coat surprisingly covered most of the map, but wanted to make sure it didn’t show at all. So, I waited for a few hours and then put a second coat on.

And…..

Drum roll Please……

What do you think? I Kind of Like LOVE IT! Chic I say!….and Easy too!

This whole project cost me around $4.50. That included the tray, white paint and sand-paper. Awesome!

SECOND WEEKEND PROJECT

I have to admit that this next project was NOT my own idea. I have been interested in this on-going trend of sunburst mirrors. They have been around now for a while and if you know anything about me… I don’t typically jump on the bandwagon as soon as something comes out. If it doesn’t fit in my home or my style, I just don’t go for it.

However, once I saw this sunburst, I knew I could make one of my own and use it in my home somewhere! This mirror was made by one of my favorite bloggers Hi Sugarplum!

I liked how it brought the natural element of wood into a room. So I started reading Cassie’s instructions and knew this was a project for me! The supplies were simple, 2 floral rings from a craft store, one round mirror  and 2 packs of wood shims from Home Depot. (Cassie used the same size shims, I used two different lengths) Then a pile of glue sticks!

Here is a picture of the back after I glued all the shims to the floral rings:

As you can see, I didn't use quite as many layers as Cassie did. I didn't want mine to take up the whole wall in the guest bedroom. I used one layer of long shims, the second layer consisted of the large shims minus 2 inches. I broke them down so they would be a little shorter then the long shims, but a little longer the the short shims. The last layer was made up of the short shims. I wanted to alternate these different lengths to give it some depth.

Next, I took the 7 inch mirror from Michaels and used Gorilla Glue Epoxy on the back and attached it to the front of the wood shims. I then had to wait patiently for 24 hours until it dried! Believe me...that was a long 24 hours.

Then Wha-La......!

Isn't she a beauty?! {Minus the boob fixture you can see in the reflection}

I really like how it looks in this room. The guest room is finally coming together!
A special Thank-You to Cassie from Hi Sugarplum on her awesome sunburst tutorial! I couldn't have done it without you.

What did you all accomplish this past weekend?

Linked up at: Carolyn's Homework Blog