DIY Drink Stirrers

Now, I have some friends out there who are not crafty, DIY girls but this project from Studio DIY looks so simple anyone could tackle it.  These gumball drink stirrers are so bright, colorful, and modern I wish I was having a party sooner.  I'm already thinking of the color combos for Christmas parties, Halloween, the possibilities are endless.  What would you use these cuties for?

Loving Gold Polka-Dot Walls

Darlings, I don't know if you've seen these gold dot decals popping up but I absolutely love them! I am all for easy and cheap room transformations and how can you beat temporary decals for $10.00 or less?  They remind me of this fabulous temporary wallpaper.  

These cute highlights have me missing my old 1920's apartment with it's crisp white walls.  I am so grateful for our mid-century house but somehow I feel these wouldn't be the same on our current wood paneled walls.  If anyone has used these for a DIY transformation send me a picture, I'd love to see how you adapted it! 

You can find all seizes of these cute polka-dots here on Etsy. 

Photos via and via

Guest Welcome Basket

Since we've moved from Southern California to the Central Coast we have been flooded with house guests, which we love!  Living in a vacation destination makes our home a vacation spot for many of our friends.  Because of this the summer has been filled with barbecues, wine tasting, dinners out, kayaking, and morning coffee on the water.  

Lately I've been loving the idea of having a welcome basket for our house guests sitting on the guest room bed when they arrive.  If our friends are here for vacation why not make it really feel that way.  Here's a list of a few quick and easy things to make your own "house guest welcome basket."

• Welcome note
• Water bottles
• Bottle of champagne
• Cookies from your favorite bakery or homemade 
• Seasonal magazines
• Locally made lotion and soap
• Guest towels
• Toothbrushes
• Advil
• Room Spray

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Party Perfect DIY Pom Pom Ballons

Aren't these DIY balloons from Land of Nod just too cute?  I came across these looking for easy DIY ideas for my dad's birthday this weekend.  My niece is visiting and I have to say I love that her summer visits always coincide with my dad's birthday.  Free child labor, yes please!  

If we can get our act together then Friday night may be us with a big bag of pom poms, a hot glue gun, and a room full of balloons.  Easy, inexpensive, and a fun project for the little one to work on.  Heck, these would just be great for a backyard BBQ or 4th of July.  What do you think? 

Looking for more party inspiration? Here are a few of the projects we did a couple years ago for my dad's 70th birthday.  

4 Easy DIY Mother's Day Gifts

What's better than getting mom a fab Mother's Day gift?  Making one that's cheap, easy, and from the heart.  These are four DIY projects that I've been wanting to try and I know I would love to get myself.  

• Don't have a lot of time?  Why not turn this free printable from My Fabuless Life into a Mother's Day card and throw in a gift certificate to her favorite nail spa for a little "me time."

• Add some sparkle to her life with this super cute and super easy DIY glitter bag from Style Me Pretty.  Who doesn't love their inspiration?

• Give her a day of pampering without the cost by making this fabulous rose, coconut oil, sea salt body scrub...a personal favorite from Lark & Linen. 

• Make her smile every morning with a monogrammed mug from Pinegate Road.  I've been adding gold to everything in my kitchen and this mug is next on my list!

Take these ideas and run with them darlings.  Wouldn't these even be great hostess or "thinking of you" gifts for your girlfriends? 

Easy Gold Dipped Vase

Easy, quick, gold...I'm in heaven.  I've been obsessed with this look and decided to hunt down a few tutorials.  Any excuse to add flowers and gold to my casa are always a welcome addition.  

This DIY gold vase from Dream Green looks super simple.  Just a vase, masking tape, and gold spray paint.  After the spray glitter inspired champagne bottles I am all about easy crafts with a big impact.  What do you think, time to add some color to your place?  Wouldn't they be great, fast, and cheep party decor?

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Last Minute Easter Ideas

Can you believe it?  March is almost over and Easter will be here in a few days!  Just in case you're like me (and looking for some serious inspiration) here are a few fun ideas I've come across that would be great for brunch with friends, spending time with family, or decorating with little ones:

Chocolate Shavings rubber band eggs (mint and pink, love)
Studio DIY sprinkle eggs
The SoHo NY subway eggs
Fellow Fellow printable Easter egg stickers (perfect for gifts)
Whats Gabby Cooking blood orange mimosas
Roxana's Italian Easter bread 
Fawn brilliant paint chip Easter garland

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Sunday DIY Chevron Rug

I woke up Sunday morning and decided I wanted a chevron rug.  There is a tiny whole in one of the floor boards in my new craft room at Mac's house.  Rather than tripping in it over and over or redoing the entire floor, I decided that I was going to finally put a rug in the room like I planned and that it needed to be chevron.  I looked up a few DIY chevron tutorials, bought a $20 black rug, and took half a  gallon of white paint down from the shelf in the garage.  

Used these to guide me here and here.

Mac was skeptical about painting a rug, and laying out the lines was not as easy as we thought but I am so happy with the way it turned out.  To create our rows we divided the seven foot rug evenly and chalked out lines.  I originally wanted a white rug to paint black (easier you would think) but when the store only had black rugs and we already had white paint, what ya gonna do?

I wanted each row to have two zigzag peaks.  We divided the width by four and marked each point along the vertical lines.  I connected the bottom corner of the rug to the first point in on the vertical line and continued to connect the dots up and down with tape.  I know, confusing right?  This is why Mac and I had a debate laying it out, we're not mathematical people.

Because I don't trust myself with paint I marked every other row with chalk so I wouldn't end up with two white rows back to back and was sure to tape the edges of the rows that would be painted.

After a coat of a "dab and brush" technique and some touch ups the rug turned out exactly as I wanted!  It's not perfect but for something that is going in the craft room and that the cat is going to shed all over I am happy.  

It was so rewarding to wake up in the morning with an idea and have it in the house by that afternoon.  If you're dreaming on a budget or you're not sure how long the chevron trend is gonna last give it a try and have some fun!  


Hopefully we'll be adding storage for my supplies and get some pictures on the walls soon.  The room is a work in progress but so far I'm loving it!

Paint Chip Wall Art

Isn't it amazing how one project can evolve into something new?  Well, that is what happened in my living room.  As you know I was playing with the idea of doing a gallery wall to fill the white space over my new couch.  The plan was to paint the frames all one color, and since this was going to take up the majority of the wall I decided to hang a few paint samples to get a feel of which color suited the room best.  

Three weeks later and I still had a few yellow,coral, and turquoise chips hanging on my wall. I loved having the bright colors in my living room and thought, why not expand on the idea and create "paint chip art." So yesterday on my way home from the gym I stopped by Home Depot grabbed a bunch more chips in a few different colors and started sticking them to my wall.  It's a little haphazard but is so much fun to look at, and it's free! I may still move forward with the gallery wall but I'm loving this right now. What do you think?

DIY Wreath

I know not everyone has time for this but if you have family around or find yourself inside on a rainy day this is such a fun, inexpensive and easy project.  These photos are from last year when our family was all together after Thanksgiving.  We decided to go on a hike and collected bits of greens and berries as we hiked to turn into a Christmas wreath and it turned out beautifully. I suggest having some cocoa and gingersnaps on hand!

(our finished product)

Here is a quick how-to:

• Green cuttings-many tree lots will give you their scraps, or take a hike and collect like we did.
• Wreath frame-I would suggest getting a wicker frame from a craft store, I've used these before and they work really well.  We didn't have a craft store near by so we used a wire coat hanger and formed it...it worked but can't handle too much weight. 
• Assemble the cuttings and berries into small bouquets.  
• Wrap floral wire around the frame to make an anchor, then place a bouquet on the frame and wrap the wire 1/3 of the way up the bouquet. 
• Over lap the additional bouquets (hiding the new wiring under the foliage of the previous bouquet) and wire wrap onto the frame hiding the wiring as you go. 
• Add any ribbon, bows, glitter and ta-da!  You have a wreath!

Partially assembled, cocoa on hand 

One of our many green bouquets and our finished wreath!

DIY Chalkboard

When it came to decorating my kitchen I knew exactly what I wanted.  I wanted to keep with the black and white color scheme and add pops of my favorite blue.  I decided I wanted a big chalkboard above the stove to display my favorite recipes, take up space, and add the hint of the blue.  

Let me tell you slate chalkboards are not cheap.  So I went for the alternative, a can of chalkboard paint and an evening in the garage.  I have to say I'm so happy with the way it turned out. 

I found this frame at a thrift store.  After taking out the glass you should be able to paint the chalkboard paint on the backing.  Unfortunatly, the backing on ours was cardboard, but we did come across a peice of press board Mac's neighbors were getting rid of that worked perfectly.  

 

 

 Roll on two coats of chalkboard paint, found it at Home Depot.

I painted the frame the same color as Mac's kitchen, my favorite!

I had to trim the board down.  First Lesson, buy a frame with a real back.  Second lesson, the saw is way to awkward/heavy for me without a real work bench ... enter boyfriend. 

Rub the entire board with chalk then wipe it off with a cloth.  This keeps it from getting those ghost marks when you write.  And wiping with a paper towel will leave little white flakes everywhere, be warned. 

 All put together.

Hanging happily in my kitchen!