Another weird week gone! Weird for me since boyfriend has been out of town and somehow that resulted in me reverting back to the college dorm lifestyle and diet. Mac and cheese, anyone? Other than that, I’ve just been feeling really off about blogging lately. I’d best describe it as a mix of being in a funk, a case of the blahs, and craving change. I might talk more about that later, but I sense a shift coming, or I dunno, maybe I just need to get a drastic hair cut (ladies, I know you know that feeling.)
Anywho, always happy for the weekend, which everyone around here in LA has been talking about how hot it’s going to be- up in the 90s. I foresee ice cream in my near future. Hope your weekend plans involve ice cream, too <3 .
Here are today’s finds:
Currently on a sofa hunt and I gotta find something blue and velvet. This space (photo above) is added to the list of reasons why, but yes, this is going to be a long and patient hunt for something that won’t cost a million dollars.
Everyone needs to read this piece about online negativity.
It’s been about a year since I first wanted these vases, and I still wanted them a year later, so I got a couple, and I LOVE them.
A really, really cool coffee table DIY.
A round-up of posts to help you rock at social media.
Can’t get enough of jacket earrings, and I’ve got this set coming to me soon for a happy mail day.
I was misty-eyed at my desk at work when I was reading this and watching the video. Have you donated to this cause yet?
If you’ve got any finds of your own or something I need to see, definitely let me know about it. Happy weekend, guys!
It recently occurred to me that I don’t have a single ring dish in the apartment, and that crazy realization happened after I spent forever looking for a ring I couldn’t remember where I last placed. Will making a bunch of small clay dishes to sprinkle around the apartment 100% prevent me from putting my rings on random surfaces? Maybe, maybe not, but I gotta at least try. These dishes are cute anyway to keep around, and while they’re intended for rings, they can be catchalls for anything tiny that would be annoying to lose!
I traced the lid of a papier mache hexagon box (found at JoAnn fabrics) with an X-Acto knife into the clay, which I rolled out to about 4mm in thickness. At first I tried using one of those plastic clay cutting tools, and it didn’t work nearly as good as the X-Acto, so definitely, definitely, use an X-Acto.
The clay lifts off with the lid, so after carefully peeling it off and removing the parchment paper, I draped the hexagon clay on top of the bottom of a bowl and baked in the oven according to the clay packaging instructions (230F for 30 minutes). I used the bottom of the bowl so that it would create a flat base for the ring dish.
After letting the white paint fully dry, I taped a different design on to each dish using 1/4″ tape. Really, really, really, really make sure to go over the edges of the tape with a finger nail to make sure the seal is tight.
I colored in the designs with a gold leaf pen, which does leave a more textured appearance. If you want that airbrushed flawless finish, spray paint is definitely the way to go, but will require extra steps to cover the parts of the dish you want to keep white. It’s definitely possible that I was too lazy to do this and thus used a gold leaf pen instead.
Something reeeally different around here today. It was originally unplanned, which means there’s a story behind why it even happened. Oh ok, I’ll tell it to you!
I found everything at JoAnn, and at first I was positive I’d go gold, but then I walked past the rose gold beads and immediately changed the plan. The end caps I used are yellow gold because there weren’t any in rose gold, so I rolled with it. Also, please ignore the crimp tubes. I thought I’d be using them like beads, but ended up not, so #bloggerfail.
I made two bracelets with three strands each, but we’ll just talk about one bracelet from here on out. I cut three, eight inch strands of leather cord. My wrist is six inches around, so I roughly measured eight to give some room to work with it.
I bunched the leather cord strands together at one end and crimped on the end cap, squeezing super super super tightly with needle nose pliers. The cap had these flaps on each side that needed to be bent over one on top of the other. After doing that, I cut off any excess leather cord (as seen above, sticking out beyond the top of the cap).
For the next part, I used the clip of a clipboard to help keep the bracelet in place. Now this next step is a little weird, but I had to do it. On the middle strand, I applied Mod Podge with a Q-tip along the center of the strand before sliding the round beads over it. A couple beads at the end needed more reinforcement so I slid them off, applied more Mod Podge, then slid them back on, wiping off any excess that oozed out.
For that lobster clasp, it’s very simple.
This is where the second pair of needle nose pliers comes in handy. I didn’t show it in the photo, but I clamped each plier at opposite sides of the jump ring opening and bent it open. Once upon a time I thought it was a pulling apart motion, but no, it’s a sideways bend. Once hooked through the loop of an end cap, I bent the ring back shut in the same way. Then all was good in the world.
At any given moment these days, you’ll find me wearing this combo. I love the way the bracelets look with my favorite watch ever and how they keep to the simple and minimal feel. With everything lately, I find myself gravitating towards simpler things, “less is more”, all that jazz.
Well! I’m still in shock. I never thought I’d get nominated for an award like this, then after seeing all the other amazingly talented nominees in the final ten, it seriously, honestly, truly, no joke, feels like I’ve already won. Having my blog selected by Better Homes and Gardens and being put alongside bloggers that I insanely admire is so much already. It’s just CrAzY, that’s all I’m trying to say.
Today’s finds are all over the place, just how I like it. You, too? So much good stuff out there and maybe just enough time to check them out, which I’m hopefully helping you discover some fun and interesting stuff. I’m dying over the edible one, which sounds like a weird attempt at being vague in order to build suspense without overhyping. You’ll have to get there by scrolling through this post.
A great 
Currently on the hunt for new dining chairs and considering going with color. Really 
Once upon a time, I attempted a nail polish marbling DIY and it went horribly bad. I never shared it because it was hideous, and if I had to point my finger, I’d say it was both using some really old nail polishes and trying to do a million colors at once. I love the way Lidy kept it simple with just black nail polish. 
So this donut craze, right. I don’t think I’ve ever felt so strongly about them as I do with these 
Y’all. Succulents. They’re back. I know, they never went anywhere, but it’s been a while since they’ve dominated the blog. Also thought this would be a good time to replace the ones that didn’t make it through winter (RIP) and to bring just a teeny tiny bit more color into my life. The latter wasn’t a part of the original plan, but like what happens every time I visit a local nursery, I wanted to bring everything home, and this time I was most captivated by these blue and purple ones (let me know how gorgeous they are.)
I believe these are meant to be candle holders, but they are just 3″ glass cubes that I wiped down with rubbing alcohol and spray painted white.
I applied three light coats of spray paint on all outside edges of each cube, waiting one minute between each coat, then finished off each surface with a few light coats of clear acrylic spray for protection. Since the surface is going to be handled in the next step, it’s best to wait 24 hours to let the paint fully dry before moving on (ugh, I know, so boring, but hang in there.)
Next, I applied copper foil in this radial design, starting first with the strip in the middle, then the strips on the outside, then the strips in between, smoothing my finger over every piece. After each application, I cut off any foil extending beyond the edges.
I switched the direction of the design on half the planters thinking it would be cute to pair them up like this. Wouldn’t this set make a pretty sweet gift?
Here’s a thought. Plants are a great way to bring in color without making drastic design commitments. Flowers are even less of a commitment. I’m thinking this is more of the way I’d want to do color as opposed to going super colorful with decor, especially if I’m experimenting. Whatever the case, Spring is hitting me early this year and has me thinking about color all of a sudden. Check out