Mother's Day/Upcoming projects

So since Garette and I have yet to officially move in together it's hard to convince him I need to make all of the things I want to make for a house I don't even live in yet. Blah. Blah. Blah. So I've set my focus on Mother's day. I'm not sure if I have mentioned this yet, but my parents moved to the gulf coast of Florida about a year and a half ago (I bet my mother gets mad at me because I don't know the exact date, but I don't). This makes it difficult to celebrate any holidays together let along the smaller holidays like Mother's/Father's day, but luckily my mom is coming up on May 1st to visit for a week. So my sister and I don't get actual mother's day with her, but we do get to see her.

In the spirit of my new DIY adventure of course I am making her gifts this year! Obviously, I can't actually post anything about them until she gets them or else that would ruin the surprise, but rest assured I will post on everything once she receives them!

I also found (read: scavenged around the dumpster in my apartment complex) some wood! For my first wood project I am going to make an herb garden for the Dining Room/Kitchen at Garette's. We both LOVE to cook so I was able to convince him this was needed even before I actually move in. I have been struggling on if I should stain the wood or paint it. Since we may end up painting the whole living/dining/kitchen area this is tough since I don't know what color the rooms will be in six months.

What do you guys think? Paint or Stain for now? What are some projects you are planning/have done for Mother's day?

My best friend's wedding!

Sometime back in August of 2003, I met my soulmate and best friend. Our friendship has had it's ups and downs (mostly because of my going through some stuff), but no matter what I knew I could always count on her and hope now she knows the same of me. After almost nine years of friendship she is stuck with me for good.

In November of 2009 (I believe I am doing my math correctly), she starting dating her husband to be. Just seeing her face and hearing the way she spoke about him after they first met you knew he was going to be someone special in her life. I hope he realizes that he is also now stuck with me for good!

I am so excited to celebrate the beginning of their lives together. No two people I know deserve this moment more than these two!!

Sidenote: I can't wait for all of the projects I will get to do because of this and will document it as much as possible! What are some of your favorite moments/photo ops/traditions at weddings?

Chevron Stripes

Chevron stripes are my current obsession. I wish I could decorate the whole house with them and I wish I could incorporate them into my wardrobe everyday.


That being said, I decided to paint some onto a canvas to hang in the guest bathroom... without a pattern (side note: if you Google chevron pattern you can download/print a pattern to follow which I will use next time). Which led to a more "unique" take on the chevron stripe. Again, I had some issues with the painters tape not sticking completely so some paint got through.


For this I just used painters tape to create the chevron pattern and then painted with a silver metallic paint.

You can see the stripes are a little wacky and the paint seeped into the white space, but it made it into the room it was meant for! This was a victory for me. I think the little mishaps made it more interesting than just a classic silver/white chevron.

It's the imperfections that make life interesting.

My First Project - Crayon Art

Ok, crayon art seemed like a simple enough starting point. I'm sure you have all seen pictures with the melted crayon all over lately. I decided to try the "rain" effect using only shades of blues with some purples, greens, grays, and even a black (I suggest NOT using black as I feel it made this piece seem really heavy) with the painted silhouette of the man and woman.

I ventured out to my local Michael's to get the supplies which I think was the most overwhelming part of this, but luckily I had a good friend come along for the ride. I bought a canvas, paint brushes, black paint, and crayola crayons. I'm not kidding when I say I was starting from scratch here so most crafters would probably have most of this on hand. I need to work on building a stockpile. I also ordered a glue gun and exacto knife earlier that week from Amazon.com. (side note: if you sign up for Michael's email list online you get a ton of great coupons!)

Simple enough, I glued the crayons in random order to the top of the canvas and then (I'll admit) traced a stock silhouette and than painted it in. If I was doing this again, I would have melted the crayons first and then painted the silhouette because I had some issues with the painters tape not working super well, but we live and we learn. So once the black paint for the silhouette was dry, I took Garette's hairdryer out (which could possibly be the first hairdryer ever manufactured, it practically breathes fire) to melt the crayons. I think the hairdryer was a little too hot and I wasn't patient enough to use the lower setting so they melted very quickly and into a big blob. Round 2, I would go with the lighter setting which may take longer, but would get a better result.

This was my outcome:

Not too bad. We have created a rating system based on rooms in the house. This was meant for the dining room wall, but ended up in the upstairs hallway. I'll take it for my first project!

I've also seen online people have used a glue gun to melt the crayons. I feel like this would create the "rain" effect well, but I don't think it would have a positive outcome on your glue gun. What do you think? Has anyone tried it this way?

A little more about me...

So I'm at that pivotal point in my life we all hit at some point, or multiple points, where I am trying to decide if I'm on the right path for me. Changes have happened in my work place which leave me less than satisfied, but thankfully still employed. I am pursuing my MBA at Montclair State University although I have yet to pick a concentration due to lack of current direction. I am using this blog as a way to fuel the creativity I feel I am lacking in my life and hoping that documenting my adventures will help me find my direction.

Two things have happened recently which led to my decision to start this blog, the launch of Pinterest and the decision to move in with my boyfriend, Garette. Thanks to Pinterest I have come to realize there is nothing I can't make (or try to make) on my own instead of purchasing it in a store. Thanks to Garette (who actually suggested starting this blog) for having a whole house for me decorate/paint/diy anything I can make a case for having. This is adventure is bound to have many ups and downs, twists and turns, but I am positive I will enjoy every second of it.