Monday, December 17, 2012

Christmas Home Tour

Welcome to my Christmas Home Tour! I can't wait to show you around. 

The holiday season is one of my favorite times of year, hands down. When January rolls around and I have to take down the Christmas decor, I feel a bit depressed! 
  
This year I decided to decorate with various metallics. Mixes of gold, silver and rose gold in a mix of finishes including glitter, matte and shiny. 

The large garland on my Christmas mantle was a DIY I did a few years back. Simply take various strands of faux garland and weave together. I used a few different styles of garland to give it a more dimensional, real look. I sprayed pine cones silver and gold and tucked them around the garland.


I had these berry stems that were previously red that I sprayed gold. The vase is from Target. The silver tinsel tree is several years old from the dollar store. The glass cheese dome is an estate sale find that I simply filled with a mix of pretty ornaments.


On the other side of the mantle, I filled a large glass Ball jar with more ornaments. This was an estate sale find earlier this year. The wire tree is a simple DIY using floral wire and the large silver tinsel tree is another dollar store find. 



Moving around the room to the star of the show, the Christmas tree. I decked it out in a mix of round bulbs, special baubles, DIY ornaments and glittery dollar store finds. I'll show you some close-ups of my couldn't-be-easier DIY's next week.


The tree topper is a DIY inspired by The Hunter Interior's gorgeous topper. Mine isn't quite as tall or large, but using what I had around the house, I think it's perfect. Yes, I already had a disco ball laying around :)


Here is a side table that I got for a steal at Target. I topped it with a wreath and some wrapped gifts. Who says all of the presents have to go under the tree?! Put them on other surfaces in your home and spread some of the pretty around.


 Large bookcases in my living room hold some pretty DIY Christmas trees I made. The gold ornament tree was made using hot gluing ornaments into a styrofoam cone and then stringing thin garland in the spacing. I simply wrapped tinsel garland around styrofoam cones to create the smaller silver trees.




Here's a shot of the presents nestled under the tree. I used a mix of brown craft paper, newspaper print wrapping paper, and metallic gold and silver. I think mixed coordinating bows, bells, twine and ribbons in to give it an eclectic but coordinated feel.

This is a little display I created for a sofa table that sits next to the tree. I used one of my vintage milk glass platters, more spray painted pine cones, and various ornaments and bells. Those rose gold ornaments may be my favorite. They are from Hobby Lobby. 

Here is more of these painted pine cones! I can't get enough of the rustic glam look they provide.



Moving upstairs, here is the tree in my home office. I work from home and spend most of my time here, so I saw no reason not to bring a little Christmas cheer upstairs. As a complete departure from my main tree, I decided to use the bright jewel tones found in my office already and bring them on to the tree. I love the gradient effect of placing ornaments of the same color in rows around the tree. The topper is made of a cardboard letter from Hobby Lobby spray painted silver. The "tree skirt" is the Missoni for Target Passione throw simply draped around the tree.

 Continuing the jewel tone theme, I created some yarn trees with leftover purple and pink yarn for my desk. The mirrored tree is another dollar store find from a few years back (I'm starting to sense a theme?!). I'll be back next week with the almost-too-simple-to-create-a-tutorial tutorial for these easy trees. 

Thanks for checking out my home tour! I'd love to see yours, so please link in the comments! 

I've linked up to:




Friday, December 14, 2012

Stylish Substitute - Kate Spade Bourgeouis Bow Earrings vs. Kohl's Holiday Collection Bow Earrings


I'm back today to share one of my favorite blog features titled Stylish Substitute. This is in the vein of a look for less, where I will showcase a great find and then a cheaper alternative.

Today's post is a jewelry find that's a major steal!


Kate Spade Bourgeois Bow Earrings, $46 

(no longer available through Kate Spade, but the most recent completed listing on eBay went for $210!)

Kohl's Gold Tone Bow Button Stud Earring, on sale for $2.99

 

Once you use Kohl's frequent % off coupons, you might as well be getting these babies for free. They also come in silver and red tone. I have both the silver and gold and they get constant wear throughout the season.

 Have you found any great stylish substitutes lately? I'd love to see them!  

 

Thursday, December 13, 2012

Back to the Blogging World - Easy Christmas Bow Shadow Box

Wow, it sure has been a long time since I've posted! Rest assured, my absence had nothing to do with projects not being done around here. I've had a ton going on I can't wait to share with you!

Today I thought I'd share a quick and simple Christmas project I recently completed. I am more than willing to tackle all projects, both big and small, but sometimes I just love the simplicity of keeping it short and sweet - especially when it turns out this darling! 



Items needed:

Shadow box
Cardstock, color of your choice
Petite Christmas Bows (I found a pack of 9 at the dollar store)

1. Open your shadow box and take out the insert it comes with. 
2. Trim your cardstock to size, using the frame insert as a template. 
3. Peel backing off bows and stick to cardstock, evenly spaced. 
4. Place cardstock back in shadow box and enjoy!

As you can see from the instructions, this project couldn't have been more simple to complete. Being as I already had the shadow box and cardstock, the project set me back about a $1. You could easily customize this to your decor with different color cardstock, mix and match bows, even painting the frame!

This would look adorable on a mantel or as part of a larger vignette in your home. The possibilities are endless! 

Here it is hanging on the wall in my home office. Warning: it may be hard to focus on the frame with such cute subjects in the foreground :)


What about you? Have you completed any quick and simple Christmas projects lately? I'd love to check them out!

Thursday, August 4, 2011

Vanity Makeover

Today I wanted to share a project I've been working on in pieces for awhile. It is part of my bedroom makeover, and is really what inspired the makeover for the whole space. It started with a white vanity from Target (only mine cost a whopping $25 for the vanity AND the matching bench from Craigslist) and looked like this:

Here it is after I removed the mirror from it, which I thought made it look a little bit "younger" than the look I was going for. 



I then took it outside for sanding and a coat of pretty yellow spray paint. 
And here is the finished product! I absolutely love how it turned out and think the covered bench in one of my new fabrics really helps to modernize it. 


The fabric for the bench is Duralee Dahlia Fabric in the Aegean colorway. I will share the process I used for covering the bench next week. I love that it opens up for storage underneath! 


I love the details on it, including the crystal knobs that came with it. 


Not bad for $40 for the set and materials, huh? 








Friday, July 29, 2011

Friday Favorites

I thought I would start a new blog feature that showed off some of the favorite things found throughout blog land this week. One of my favorite things about blogging is all of the great inspiration available! Here is what is inspiring me (and I'm pinning!) this week! 

I'd love one of these for the bedroom makeover I'm planning but in a smaller size. I wonder what I could use instead?




I plan on making one of these with a J on it! Isn't it genius?!






I smell bridal shower gift! 




 I need to figure out SOMEWHERE in my house to do this. Why am I suddenly considering painting a spare bathroom teal just to use this idea?


Oh.My.Gosh. I'm suddenly so sad I don't have a bar cart in need of a makeover lying around. However, I do have a vanity just begging for a cute monogrammed tray to put on top... :) 
 


How amazing are these lamps? I'm dying for a set for again, my master bedroom. Has anyone else tackled wiring their own lamps?





What were your favorite projects this week? I'd love to see them! 


Monday, July 25, 2011

Master Bedroom Makeover - E Design Inspiration Board

I have been debating for a long time what I wanted to do to makeover my master bedroom, and I've finally come up with a plan! Here's the inspiration board I created:


The jumping off point for this was the Duralee Dahlia fabric in the Aegean colorway. Once I found the Premier Prints Zig Zag in Yellow and the Waverly Lovely Lattice in Lagoon, I had my color palette and I figure the mix of soft tiffany blues with a vibrant yellow will be both relaxing and fresh. I will paint the walls a pale grey and use the rest of this board as inspiration to tie in the metallic and crystal accents. 

I've got a furniture makeover, headboard tutorial and curtain treatment all planned for this room, so stay tuned! Happy Monday everyone!



Saturday, July 23, 2011

Summer Party Printables

Hello bloggy land! I have been away on an extended absence, but haven't forgotten about this blog! Between work, summer weddings and parties and of course tons of DIY projects, unfortunately my blog has taken a backseat. However I'm back to share with you some free printables (and who doesn't love those?!) as a thank you for sticking with me :)

I am currently in full on planning mode for a couples shower for one of my best friends. They are getting married in Key West later this year, and so I have decided to throw them a nautical preppy themed shower. In the prep for this, I have made tons of custom printables for the party including the invitations, food tents, monogrammed cupcake toppers and of course, favor tags in a fun hexagon shape. I thought I would share the favor tags here with you to download for any summer bashes you may be throwing! I have included a couple of fun color/pattern combos below. 




Just click the links to download the pdf's from 4shared. For the shower I'm throwing, I'll be using the navy, green and yellow tags and tying them onto clear bags filled with sand and wrapped lifesavers tied off with twine to go with the nautical theme. I'd love to see the favors you create, so please come back and share in the comments! 

Happy summer everyone!

(Linking up at Home Stories A to Z!)