04/28 DIY

DIY Crystal Knob Boxes

DIY Crystal Knob Boxes

A while ago I had gotten these crystals and decided my plan with them would be no plan, but a simple idea like this one to use them for embellishment still fulfills my need to just stare at them while making something else even prettier, so why not!  If not for storing random things, they’d otherwise make great gifts that can also double as gift boxes, and in light of the upcoming holiday, they’re definitely Mother’s Day worthy, don’t you think?

 

Materials:
-wood boxes
white acrylic paint
foam brush
gloss varnish
-crystals
E6000 glue

wood boxesAt first I thought I’d be going with rectangular boxes, but then I found these circular ones at Michaels and thought they were cute enough to change the plan.

Paint and varnishNow here’s one thing I need to mention.  If I were to do this project again, I’d for sure just use a glossy white spray paint because it combines the steps I took, plus I imagine it will give a more even and streak-free finish.  I went with acrylic paint and gloss varnish though because it was what I had on hand at the time, but if you’re going to try this DIY, definitely definitely use spray paint.  Several light coats and that’s it.  If you’re like me and insist on acrylic paint, I roughly applied about 3 coats with drying in between before applying 2 coats of gloss varnish.

Crystal Knob Box DIY

After everything dried, I glued on the crystals to the top of each box with E6000.  I got these crystals at a local craft store and don’t know of an online source for them, but I believe they’re typically available at most craft stores.

Crystal Knob Boxes DIY

DIY Crystal BoxesPretty darn easy I say.  I considered painting the inside of the box as well but loved how modern the raw wood looked with the white.  It gives a softer contrast than a colored paint would, but that option would still be fun, especially if it were pastel, which I imagine looking very cute for this.  What do you think- would you paint the insides?

 

04/24 Life

On Turning 28

LilacsToday I turn 28.  I had dinner with my parents last weekend and my dad said “You are old now.”   Thanks, dad.  I think that was his way of saying you are a grown and mature woman with many accomplishments to be proud of and this year will hold many new milestones for you :)  Good thing I know how to read minds.

Turning 28 does feel very different from the other birthdays.  This is the most I’ve ever thought about the future, about entering into major life experiences I’ve looked forward to for so long that now feel closer to reality than ever before, things like getting engaged, getting married, figuring out our “forever home”, starting a family, all fast approaching in this tail end decade of my 20’s.

With that in mind, the biggest thing I’ve come away with from year 27 is that the relationships I have with people are what matters most.  Life’s best moments are always remembered and defined by the people that made it amazing.  Reuniting recently with old friends and seeing how time hasn’t changed the strength of our support system, how mom and dad still are my lifeline and help me navigate life’s plot twists, my boyfriend who holds me up when it can feel so hard just to stand, even my coworkers who threw me a birthday party a day in advance because I’d be taking the day off work today, it’s clear more than ever- family is everything.  The people I can add to the list that I call family is the greatest sense of success I can think of.

Some of my friends came in from out of town last night, and I’ll be spending the weekend with them celebrating my birthday and catching up.  I’m excited, grateful, and just happy to be around people who matter so much to me.  It’s going to be a good one for sure.

Thank you x a million for sticking around and being a HUGE part of making 27 so special.  Cannot say that enough- thank you.  Wishing you all a very happy weekend and time spent with the people who matter most to you. <3

04/20 DIY

Bedroom Progress

Blue headboard and banana leaf pillowSure, I probably should wait till everything for the bedroom is done in order to have a grander reveal later, but I’m impatient and just want to talk about things as they progress because I’m too excited and also found that this whole thing is going to take even longer than I planned for (when isn’t that the case) and by the time it’s all done maybe you’ll have forgotten all about this so I gotta hash some stuff out on here along the way or I’ll explode.  Can you all feel me on that?  Good, let’s chat!

First, that gorgeous blue velvet headboard, which is helping me cope with my lack of a blue velvet couch.  It came on Saturday but the bed frame still hasn’t gotten here, which clearly didn’t stop me from building it immediately and taking it for a test run.  The blue is exactly what I had hoped for- more of a royal blue than the navy color it was described as on the Target website.

Blue velvet headboardIf you had seen the post I did on pillow options I was considering, you’ll recognize that I went with the banana leaf print, which is what most of you voted for and what I was 99% sure about going with (thanks for your input on the that!)

Here’s the thing.  I think the blue and green combo looks super sharp, but I’m having a hard time getting used to it.  As much as I love the banana leaf design and have wanted to bring it home for so long, I’m not sure it’s 100% right for my bedroom now that I’m seeing it all together in person.  I feel like I’d love the pattern more against a black and white palette, but with the blue headboard, it feels a little too energetic when I want to go more for calm.  I’m still contemplating other options to possibly bring the color scheme back to something more neutral, but I do expect that with some more changes they may fall into place better for me.

Blue headboard banana leaf pillowSo some changes to come… first I need to say that seeing a space through photos really helps me identify what works and what doesn’t, which is why I even started taking these photos and then now ended up sharing a couple here.  How nicely that worked out!

To-do list:

-Figure out what’s going above the bed.  Original plan was to just hang back up the black and white art that was there before, but it depends on what I do with the bedside mirrors.  I’d love to put nothing above the headboard, but the blank space is extra jarring with the mirrors hung up so high.

-The mirrors on the sides either have to go or get moved further away (with the dressers) from the headboard, though space is already limited.  Because of their size and how close they are to the headboard right now, everything looks a bit cramped.  Going to do whatever I can to make them work because I love those mirrors!!

-Bedding.  The shams and duvet cover I’ve had my eyes on forever are sold out, so I’m just waiting for them to come back… and researching a back-up plan that I hopefully won’t have to use, but basically, the pin-tuck duvet I have right now feels redundant with the tufted headboard, so I’m welcoming a change aka something to carry us between laundry days heyyy.

-Throw for the end of the bed.  Something with texture or a small scale pattern, depending on the pillow situation.

-New sheets.  We’ve been using percale sheets because we wanted something more crisp but they wrinkle so. freaking. horribly. forever.  I’ve never experienced sheet wrinkling so intense like this.  No one wants to iron their sheets, right?  We’re getting new sheets.

 

Sounds like a lot of changes, but they’re changes I’ve been wanting to make for a while anyway, and oddly this headboard is making them happen.  Any thoughts you have about anything here, let me know about them!  Also if you want more on sources or you’re going through a room update yourself, chat with me about it.

04/16 DIY

7 Simple DIYs to Try

7 Simple DIYs to TryMan.  A lot of DIYs in blogland lately that I’ve been really impressed by and are making me wish I had the time to make all of them.  My guess is that you don’t have that kind of time either, ha, but the inspiration is always welcome and definitely worth checking out for fun at the very least, yea?

Everything in this roundup is simple in design, which is generally what I’ve been gravitating towards most, and from what I hear is also what you guys like to see, too!  Take a look around and see if there’s anything here that might inspire your decor or next DIY project.

moon phase magnetsI’ve been super intrigued by the moon phase design trend, though mostly unsure about how I’d incorporate it into my own space, but these moon phase magnets are definitely somewhere I’d want to start since they’re not a huge decor commitment and there’s gold, duh.

leather luggage tagsLeather stamping is something I’ve kept on my to-do list without knowing what I’d do with it, but THIS, this is the thing to do.  Prettiest luggage tags I’ve seen.

fringed boho lumbar pillowI remember staring at this table runner at Target thinking there had to be something that could be done with it.  Never would’ve thought to make it into a pillow cover!  Such a cool idea.

mid-century modern ball clockI looove this modern update to a starburst clock.

DIY triangle shelvesTriangle shelves are such an interesting way to display decor.  I dig how the wood for these shelves was kept raw.

Metallic tattoo gemstonesMetallic tattoos are having their moment right now, and I thought these rocks were a really unique way of using them.

DIY mountain necklace displayI’m in love with how beautifully simple and functional these mountain jewelry displays are.

Any favorites here or ideas you might want to try?

04/13 DIY

DIY Painted Bottles

DIY Painted bottlesIn light of Earth Month, my friends at PBteen prompted me to come up with a recycling DIY, and a painted vase project is always a good idea to me!  This was actually one of the first ideas I ever shared on this blog (which I won’t link to because it’s so embarrassing now and makes me cringe really, really hard and I totally think you shouldn’t try looking for it ever) and thought it would be cool to do an updated, colorful version of it that’s still just as simple and easy.

See the full tutorial here at the PBteen blog!

DIY Spray painted bottlesNote.  I used Montana Gold spray paints in Bazooka Joe, Malachite, and Liberty and they seriously are some of the best quality spray paints out there.  Super fast drying and excellent color pay off, except the gold chrome color was extremely disappointing.  It was more of a brassy bronze and I didn’t like it at all, so I stuck with my favorite metallic gold spray paint from Rust-Oleum, which is the one you’re seeing here.

Striped vase DIY

Painted bottlesFlowers are protea, lilac, and freesia, which you might’ve seen me share on Instagram last week.  I’m planning to embrace colors more especially for spring and summer, and flowers are always my go-to for that.  The best low commitment option for color experimenting ;).

If you passed the link for the tutorial, see it here at the PBteen Blog.

04/10 Friday Links

Friday Finds

OG Coachella

First, an IMMENSE thank you to everyone that weighed in on my post from earlier this week about blog life, and still a thank you to anyone that came by and showed up for it.  I’m feeling 9,365 times better because of you and cannot begin to express how grateful I am for you guys.  Y’all are seriously the reason I don’t completely lose my mind <3.

I’ll be in Palm Springs this weekend for Coachella as a first-timer, and while my initial reaction was to feel stressed about how this would be another weekend where I wouldn’t be able to take care of  blog stuff, I somewhat got over that once I learned that the Air BnB we’re staying at would have a pool.  We gotta see the best in everything, yea?  Anyways, here are some of my favorite links from the week to get you through the rest of your Friday before we all head off for some weekend fun.

I shared the photo above on Instagram and so many of you were really feeling that bathing suit.  Old Navy, guys.

The best DIY luggage tags there ever were.

It’s always fascinating to watch someone be a master at their craft.  I would like to watch this all day.

There’s no question my future home bathroom will be black, white, and brass.

Possibly my favorite clock DIY yet.

Another glam home tour I love.

I’ve never tried bath bombs, but maybe it’s time I did by making some…

GAME. OF. THRONES.  Life will be normal again this Sunday.

 

Really though, any Game of Thrones fans out there? I’m CRAZY excited for it to come back!

Happy weekend, friends.  See you back here on Monday for a quick and easy DIY :).