Ruffled Love

I have been doing a lot with ruffles lately.  It's kind of like when I got on a rosette obsession, only now everything I own has ruffles AND rosettes!  I think the hubs is starting to worry that our house is turning a bit too girly for his manly taste.  I say... it looks pretty:)  Anyway, my first ruffle project I sort of cheated.  I didn't actually make the ruffles but I still think it turned out SOOO fantastic!

I took this adorable shabby lamp that I found at the Goodwill and made it even better.  I loved the chippy blue paint but the shade was just so plain.  All I did was buy 3 yards of ruffles (you can find it in the fabric/ribbon section of any craft store) and started wrapping.  The greatest part is, when you buy the pre-made ruffles, although they are more expensive, the edges are all finished so you don't have to take the time to sew them all.  It was a HUGE time saver!

Check out how pretty my shabby chic (or as the hubs would say, raggy shaggy) lamp turned out:

Hope you are all having a wonderful holiday season!

Dear Martha... You Did It Again

I just wanted to take a moment to share with you my new found love...Martha.  Ok, I have always loved Martha (she is sort of a guilty pleasure) but I stumbled across her new paint at Home Depot and fell in love all over again.  I tried the metallic paint and it turned out SO cute.  She also makes crackle paint that I am going to try next.  I know it will be just as fantastic, Martha never disappoints! 

Check it out:

Cheers!

DIY Fabric Rosettes

So here it is, the rosette tutorial I promised a while ago.  It is SO simple, I promise. 

To start off, cut a piece of fabric about 2 inches wide and however long you want.  The longer it is the bigger the flower. 

Next, take one end and tie it in a knot and cut off the end.  This will make the center of your flower.  Now, you get out that hot glue gun and the real fun begins.

All you do is put a dab of hot glue down, twist your fabric and stick.

(yes, that is spray paint on my fingers, and writing on my hand... crafting is fun, but not glamorous!)

 Repeat this every few twists until you have reached the end of your fabric.  Then glue the end of the fabric to the bottom side of your flower. 

(I tend to do most of my crafting in the evenings after Luci goes to bed, so you will have to forgive the poor lighting in the photos.)

What you do with the flower now is your choice... and the possibilities are endless.  Let me show you a few of the things I have done with these pretty little rosettes.

 Rosette Clutches

I didn't blog about this project but it is one of my favorites.  My rosette bib necklace. (this is also a pinterest inspired creation.)

Two projects from my girl's crafting weekend

DIY Dry Erase Chore Chart

Lampshade Redo

And of course my Pinterest inspired Bracelets and Flower display

If you would like to learn how to make a very easy paper rosette check out my tutorial here.

Hope you have enjoyed this little visit to rosette land!

Hot Glue Gun + Pinterest = Love

Yep, it is another Pinterest inspired post.  Lets take a look at the inspiration shall we.

Mmmmmmm perdy.


And a look at what I came up with:

I will leave you now with that happy little image:)

P.S. On Friday I will be posting the rosette tutorial that I promised.  Just a little something to look forward to!

Dear Pinterest, You Make Me Happy

Dear Pinterest,

You make me happy.

To any of you out there who don't know about Pinterest... I am sorry.  You should probably drop whatever it is you are doing and check it out right now. 

Warning:  This is an addiction that will consume the next hour/day/week of your life.  (Remember when you started Facebook and you lost entire days to stalking your friends?  Well, it is like that, only way better). 

With that said, here is the inspiration for my latest creation:

I love them!  I wanted something a little more neutral and shabby so here is my version:

What do ya think? 

Now get out there and pin to your heart's content!

Linking To:




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Ding, the Light Bulb Went Off Again

Well, you all are probably starting to think I am a little nuts... OK a lot nuts, but I am good with that.  It happened again, that pesky light bulb above my head went off, and this time I got to use spray paint!  You can check out my other random thoughts here if you need more crazy ideas:)

Ever need a solution to storing all those random little things in your office space, or little earrings, or nails/pushpins, or WHATEVER tiny things collect in random places around your house? 

We have 3, yes 3 junk drawers chalk full of, you guessed it, junk!  Well, now I have a pretty little place to keep all of my rubber bands, push pins, paper clips, etc.  Check it out:

Yep, I just spray painted a muffin tin in a fun color and now it has a whole new life :)  Let's face it, I never bake muffins anyway! 

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Makeover Madness

Another small project down, but at this point in my crazy life I am celebrating ANY victory... no matter how small! I found this adorable foot stool at a local thrift store in Boulder. She was all worn out... I could relate! See:



After a little spray paint, glazing and sanding she started to come to life again!  I have been sticking to very safe colors lately so I thought I would spice it up a little.  The fabric is very pink and SO much fun.

So I staple, staple, stapled, and added some pretty lace and this little lady's makeover was complete!

I am very happy with how girly and sweet this came out.  Hope you enjoyed this small makeover:)  

I'm linking to:

CH-CH-CH-Changes!

Where do I even begin? Warning: this post will be sort of long but stick with me.

Lets start at the beginning, makes sense I guess. A month or so ago I decided I was DONE with the insurance world. I love my bosses but oh my gosh I wanted out.  Do you know how boring insurance is???  My husband always says "it is what it is."  I HATE this saying, what a terrible defeatist attitude!  So instead of just letting "it" be and going along with the flow, I decided to grab the bull by the horns, or is it balls?  I emailed an estate sales company I have been eyeing and asked if they wanted help.  It was that simple.  They emailed me back a few weeks later and the answer was YES!  Holy guacamole I almost weeeed in my pants!  So, I put in my 2 weeks (which is actually getting drawn out longer because this girl is a softy and can't say no) at the insurance office. 

So, do you think I was going to stop there???  NOPE!  The truth is I was satisfied with this change and really looking forward to a fresh new career digging through other people's crap.  But, as I was still rolling on the high of this career change I asked myself, "self... what do you REALLY want to be when you grow up."  And myself replied, "You want to own a store in The Barn."

To all of you non-Colorado peeps out there The Barn is my own personal heaven.  It is absolutely FANFRIGGENTASTIC!  Words cannot possibly describe it's awesomeness but I will do my best.  It is an old barn... shocking I know... and it is HUGE.  It is sectioned off into a bunch of different "stores" and each vendor has their own space.  They sell furniture, handmade goods, home decor, clothes, you name it, they have it... and it is better then anything else you could find in a regular old store.  If you want to check it out, hop over to their website... it doesn't do it justice though.  http://www.thebarncastlerock.com/.  They have been mentioned in Colorado's 5280 magazine as well as in Flea Market Magazine as one of Colorado's top market places!  Needless to say, they are kind of a big deal. 

Well, I contacted the owner and set up a business meeting (talk about grabbing that bull by the balls!).  I called up my partner in crime and artistic idol Rachelle and we gathered up the best representation of our products... a.k.a. furniture, paintings, and handmade goods... Then we were off.  I felt like I was 16 again getting ready for my dance try outs, so nervous/giddy with excitement.  The owner of THE BARN was about to decide if we were good enough to grace the store with our presence.  We met up, showed off our crap, and bam... we were IN!  (guess we nailed this tryout)

So, I am now here to announce that starting December 1st, Rachelle and I will be the proud owners of our very own store: The Dented Lampshade!  So there ya have it.  In a matter of weeks I am going from a boring office job that makes me want to pull my hair out to 2, count them, 2 brand new shiny careers!  You will all have to forgive me if I am unavailable or acting crazy for the next few months... you see, I will be very VERY busy:)

So, the moral of the story is... GRAB THAT BULL!  "it is NOT what it is".  If you don't like your situation, then change it.  I'm not saying I will succeed at this, I am not saying I will even be good at it, but at least I am trying.  A little prayer and A LOT of hard work can really go a long way.

And here is our future space: (the lady in it now has some FANTASTIC stuff!  Those are some big shoes to fill.)

Wish us luck!

Another AH HA! Moment

This is not a tutorial.  This is probably not even that exciting for most of you out there, but for me this was one of those AH HA! moments that makes you do a little happy dance, kind of like my napkins to pillows idea you can read about here. 

This fall I decided I wanted some new scarves.  I didn't want those boring old regular scarves though.  Nope, I wanted an infinity scarf.  You know the kind that never end... Did anyone start singing a girl scout's song like I did??  "A circle's round, it has no end, that's how long I want to be your friend!" 

ANY WHO... back to the scarf.  With our limited budget these days shopping trips for me are strictly food based (at least until the house is done).  This is just no fun.  But then the light bulb above my head went off, it may be dull but it is there!  I have TONS of scarves I never actually wear.  They are way too cute not to be utilized, so I ventured into the depths of my closet and pulled out these two beauties.

The goodwill tag was still on one of them haha!  These scarves are cute just as they are, but now they are going to actually find a life outside of my closet as INFINITY SCARVES.  I just got out my sewing machine, sewed together the ends and VIOLA... my new scarves.

(I am aware these pictures are not great... sorry for that.)

Hope you enjoyed this little peak into the crazy inside of my mind... and you made it out alive!

 

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