Guest Room: The Reveal

After ...

• painting 2 dressers
• making a new mirror and hanging another
• installing trim for the chalkboard
• mounting 2 besides lamps
• adding a duvet and new blanket
• painting the walls with Martha Stewart's Sharkey Gray

I have come up with this:

I love the crispness of the gray paint with the white curtains and trim. I have to say that the chalkboard is great, but I'm kind of scared to write on it, it is just so nice and clean! OCD I tell you. The pop of the yellow lights and the texture of the print on the duvet that I used for a bed skirt, it all just falls together nicely. I hope you like it too.

For fun lets look at the evolution...

{ 1 }

{ 2 }

{ 3 }

I think I'm done now. Guest Room we are no longer enemies.

Guest Room Project#2- The Dressers

The jumping off point for this whole guest room re-do was my childhood dresser.

{The before}

It was mine when I was a baby- it converts to a changing table- and it followed me through college and into our first home, but it shows its age. Old hardware and a blah brown finish didn't help the aesthetics of the room. With my mother not too happy at first, I decided to repaint it and update the hardware.

{New Hardware too!}

The drawers got a few coats of white, and the body of the dresser a coat of Ralph Lauren's Modern Loft- a brilliant navy blue that we also used in our Master Bedroom. Since the paint was flowing the other dresser got a splash of navy too.

{Before}

I kept the original ceramic hardware that my Pap gave the dresser back in the day. Needless to say, I was soo happy that when I showed my mom the pictures of the newly finished dressers, and she loved them. I always tell Erik and my family that I know they think I'm crazy when I come up with these plans, but in the end everything works out. The dresser has a crisp, clean feel and with everything else that was done in the room it looks much more modern. I still have to share the rest of the room, so don't be shy...

{Sorry for the blurry pics, no flash and tired hands from all that painting!}

Guest Room Redo, Project 1

{source}

I have always liked the symmetry of sunburst mirrors. What I don't like about them is the steep prices. Every one that I find and like is well out of my price range. { The one above is $200!!} So I was out in the interwebs, and I stumbled onto this blog tutorial that opened my world to having my own little sunburst.

{ It is identical!! }

I had a smaller, more simple version in my thoughts so I adapted the recipe a bit.

My materials were: a 7" diameter mirror, bamboo skewers, hot glue, gold spray paint and a finished roll of tape. Crazy list I know. I started with drawing two circles on the back of the mirror to use as guidelines. I then glued the skewers starting at 12, 3, 6, and 9, relative to a clock. And then just filled in the gaps between.

Obviously neatness isn't super important- hello wobbly circles! When I couldn't squeeze in anymore, I used the tape roll as a base to hang the mirror from. Once everything was secure out to the driveway I went to spray the skewers with a generous amount of gold spray paint. Here it is hanging at the top of the chalkboard headboard I painted:

Isn't it adorable! The total cost of my version was under $10 including the cost of the mirror, paint, and skewers. More details tomorrow on the dresser refinishing, and the reveal is soon to come. Have a great weekend!

Inspiration: Chalkboards

Yet again I find myself at the mercy of my guestroom. I h.a.t.e. this room. I have redecorated this room 3 times in 5 years. It never looks the way I want it to. I make the mistake of hurrying the process and do quick fixes that I end up hating in the long run. It drives Erik crazy because he says it is a waste because the room doesn't get used- except to hold our backpacking gear.

**Side note: why do house guests that are male and under the age of 30 sleep on the couch and not a bed??

Anyway, upcoming house guests are the motivation behind my latest itch to get the room in shape. I am working on the tiniest of budgets so whatever I do has to be cheap and a DIY project. I have wanted to update my childhood dresser and give the bed a headboard. Both involve some paint and labor but I have a week so I think it is possible. After searching the web I found these awesome inspiration pictures for the headboard dilemma:

{source}

{source}

One day when the room houses a little one, a chalkboard is a must in my eyes, so this could easily be adapted later on when the double bed is no longer. Plus I love the idea of guests leaving us a message. Heading to Ben Moore for some paint! Wish me luck that Erik doesn't flip... :)

The Deck Monster

It all started last summer... we wanted a way to beat the heat and enjoy our back porch. We started with this:

Then did this:

I thought we were done here:

Again I made some changes and had this:

Most recently we added even more wood and stain to help camo the ugly underside of the deck monster.

The last thing we will do is add some lattice to the stairs to conceal the dirt and weeds under there too. I hate lattice, but it is cheap and I'm going to find a sun lovin vines to creep and crawl all over it! Plants make me happy...

Weren't here to get all the details during the big build? Go here to see it all go down!

New Items: Yo Yo Pins

I have been working on some new pieces for the shop. Mini Yo Yo Pins!

These little bits are made with fabric and felt. I will be selling them in pairs and singles in the shop very soon!

UPDATE: The Pins are listed in the shop and ready for purchase!!

For the little ladies, I'm making these mini clips with rosettes and/or yo yos.

Don't forget to check out the mini showcase on the right sidebar.

Hope you're having a great weekend!

Produce

Radio silence usually means lots going on, however because it is my summer vacation I have been very lazy. Usually I make a list of projects to tackle and go at them full steam ahead, but this summer has proven otherwise. I did make the list and it has about 8 items on it, but I have yet to fully complete one. Oh, well, I earned this time off right? At least our garden has been hard at work:

{Zucchini}

{Poblano}

{Better Boy Tomato}

{Roma}

Erik and I are trying to undo all of the cook-out gluttony that has occurred over the past couple weeks. We want to try and incorporate more vegetarian meals into our diet to lighten things up. I could live off pasta alone, but veggies need a more starring role. So I need help!

Do you have any go-to meals that you make with only veggies? Or can you recommend any cook books for veggie-friendly meals?

Much obliged.

How They've Grown...

It has been a year since I planted my Confederate Jasmine. My dream is to have my porch columns be completely covered in the fragrant beauties. Last year they were barely scraping the base of the columns...

But after 365 days of water and sun they have met in the middle and are going strong!

I hope Erik and I are in this house long enough to see them mature like these that I saw on a trip to Serenbe- a beautiful neighborhood in South GA.

Have anything good growing at home?

Knit Necklace

Remember when I fell in love?

Well I studied that beautiful necklace and realized that I had just learned a valuable skill that would allow me to create a necklace of my own- Finger Weaving! Actually one of my 3rd grade students taught me, teacher became the student. I found some thick chunky thread at Joann's and I rummaged through my scrap box of fabric and beads and created this beauty:

I love how it turned out. The buttons, yo-yos and ruffles look like a fine collection that just happened along. For the ties I cut up an old t-shirt that was hanging out in the back of the dresser. Cakies will be putting hers in her Etsy shop soon, so go visit for one of your own! This guy, however, will be my personal treasure and a shout-out to all those creative moms out there who inspire us everyday!

Craft Space

Here are the pictures of my new craft nook:

In case you hadn't seen the office before:

To transform the office to an office/craft room I bought this desk from Ikea to use as a work space for my headbands and other projects. I have room for my cutting mat and my sewing machine.

The desk has 2 drawers on the front. One drawer is reserved for my crafting supplies and the other houses sewing essentials.

The wall rod keeps my scissors, and hair clips in order.

I also picked up new boxes to keep my fabrics in order. They are on the Lack shelf I already had in the office, which also has my felts, beads, and threads on it.

It is nice to have a dedicated space for my creative ventures. I can just swing the chair around and have Pandora rocking on the iMac while I make fun pieces for my Etsy shop or any other project that comes along...usually every day or so!

Do tell: Do you have a creative space that inspires you?

Inspiration: Cakies

I love this lady. She is a mom to 3 adorable girls and still finds time to work her creativity. When I saw this necklace on her blog I was in awe.

The texture of the yarn is amazing, the color of the jersey is perfect, and those buttons! If you haven't had the pleasure of viewing her blog, you.must.go, NOW!

Business Happenings

I have added 2 new pieces to the shop!

These new elastic headbands are eclectic with their ruffles, rosettes and beads. One has a yellow ruffle with a patterned rosette and turquoise beads...

And the other features a navy ruffle, gray linen rosette and gold beads...

I have decided that I like the elastic bands much better than the metal ones. I must have an odd shaped head or something. The elastic also holds flyaways and unruly curls at bay. Look for some more additions to pop up soon. I must say things are easier to do with a new craft corner. Pictures of that later...