DIY

A tale of two nightstands.

Finally getting around to sharing the first of my Brimfield refurbishment projects! The story of my nightstands is a long and excruciating one. To start, I searched for nightstands to fit in the small nooks next to my bed for weeks on craigslist to no avail. At Brimfield though, I magically happened upon two matching nightstands, that fit my measurement requirements, and were only $20 each! Here’s what they looked like before:

They needed some love and some new paint and hardware. I found the perfect color, Glidden’s French Grey, and scored an amazing deal on some knobs at anthropologie. I fell for the intricate carvings and worn ivory texture of the knobs. They were perfect! (Or so I thought).

After painting the nightstands, and adding on the hardware — I was, to put it lightly, devastated with the outcome. From far away (as in — at the end of the bed), the knobs looked like unfinished wood and made the grey paint look much more like a blue. They had a shabby-chic-country look and that wasn’t my intention at all.

After some deliberation (and whining and moaning) I settled on changing out the hardware to see if I could “save” the look. I’ve admired ring pulls before and decided to bite the bullet and order them:

The result? A total save — I’m so happy with the new hardware. The grey looks more grey, and the nightstands no longer look like $20 outcasts!

DIY

DIY Blogger Challenge: Studded Fringe Clutch

Today I’m going to be sharing the fourth and final of my CREATE COUTURE: The DIY Blogger Challenge tutorials, the Studded Fringe Clutch.

If you like what you see, don’t forget to vote!

To make Studded Fringe Clutch  you will need to first gather your materials. You will need: a hot glue gun, scissors, a pencil case (I found one in a perfect brown to match my fringe since it’s back-to-school season, and there is a large selection available right now), suedette fringe (the amount you need will depend on the pencil case you get, plan for a little over three-times the length of the pencil case), and about 20 XL pyramid studs (again, depending how big your pencil case is you may need more or less).

After you have all of your materials, take your  fringe and measure it against the width of the pencil case. Use your scissors and cut a piece of the fringe to exactly the length of the pencil case. Then repeat this two more times so that you have three pieces of fringe trim that are the same length.

Next, line up the first piece of trim so that the bottom of the fringe is even with the bottom of the pencil case. Using your hot glue gun, lightly glue the top of the trim down to the pencil case. Wait a few seconds for the glue to set and then line up your second piece of trim so that the top of it sits halfway between the top of the first piece of trim and the top of the pencil case.

Finally, add the third piece of trim so it sits right under the top edge of the pencil case — make sure not to get hot glue too close to the zipper!

Now you’re ready to add the studs. Push the first stud through the material of your pencil case, making sure the stud lines up with the top edge. Make sure all prongs make it through the case and top layer of fringe, and then push the prongs of the stud back to lock them into place. They are soft enough to push by hand, though you can also use a pair of needle nose pliers too.

Continue to repeat the studding process, keeping the studs close to one another and aligned with the top of the pencil case, until you get all the way to the other edge.

Then enjoy your new rocker-chic studded fringe clutch! Fill it up with your purse essentials, or if you’re feeling particularly studious, perhaps some number 2 pencils!

Remember: Head over to NewYorkDesignShop to check out all of the bloggers’ designs and VOTE!

Other than my eternal gratitude, there’s something in it for you too: by voting for the DIY projects you like the best, you could win one of the winning bloggers’ creations, so head over and cast your vote!

(PS: Thanks to my BFF for taking pictures of my completed projects!)

DIY

DIY Blogger Challenge: Studded Monogram Tank

Today I’m going to be sharing the third of my CREATE COUTURE: The DIY Blogger Challenge tutorials, the Studded Monogram Tank.

If you like what you see, don’t forget to vote!

To make Studded Monogram Tank you will need to first gather your materials. You will need: a plain black tank top and a handful of mini pyramid studs.

After you have all of your materials, take your  studs and start laying out the shape of your monogrammed letter.

The studs are square, so if you have a complicated letter, or want to do more than one, grab a piece of graph paper and try filling in the squares with a pen to plan out your shape. Then copy the shape with your studs by mimicking the number and layout of the squares.

I chose an “M” for my sister’s first name — she’ll be getting this tank as a present for nominating me for this challenge!

Once you have the shape of the letter laid out, then you’re ready to add the studs. Push the first stud through the material of your tank-top. Make sure all prongs make it through the fabric, and then push the prongs of the stud back to lock them into place. They are soft enough to push by hand, though you can also use a pair of needle nose pliers too.

Continue to repeat the studding process, keeping the studs close to one another and aligned with the shape of the letter, until you get all the way to the end of your shape.

Then show off your monogrammed tank — it’s a perfect blend of edgy and preppy!

Remember: Head over to NewYorkDesignShop to check out all of the bloggers’ designs and VOTE!

Other than my eternal gratitude, there’s something in it for you too: by voting for the DIY projects you like the best, you could win one of the winning bloggers’ creations, so head over and cast your vote!

(PS: Thanks to my BFF for taking pictures of my completed projects!)

DIY

DIY Blogger Challenge: Woodland Headband

Today I’m going to be sharing the second of my CREATE COUTURE: The DIY Blogger Challenge tutorials, the Woodland Headband.

If you like what you see, don’t forget to vote!

To make Woodland Headband  you will need to first gather your materials. You will need: scissors, a glue gun, a plain, thick headband, two large  butterfly appliqués, and four large leather flower appliqués (I used the light brown and dark brown colors).

After you have all of your materials, take your scissors and cut the butterfly appliqués in half along the edges of the wings, and then again alongside the edges of the wings, separating the patch into quarters. This should leave you with four pieces for each appliqué.

Next, take your scissors and cut the leather flower appliqués in half, and the separate each half into three individual pieces. Cut the pieces at angles to shape each piece into an individual leaf shape.

Now you should have a pile of leather leaves and butterfly pieces. Arrange the pieces however you like, slightly layering each piece over the next and gluing them down onto the headband.

Keep gluing until you reach the bottom.  I layered mine in such a way to try and create a braided effect. Make sure to let it dry before you try it on — you don’t want glue-gun strands stuck in your hair!

Remember: Head over to NewYorkDesignShop to check out all of the bloggers’ designs and VOTE!

Other than my eternal gratitude, there’s something in it for you too: by voting for the DIY projects you like the best, you could win one of the winning bloggers’ creations, so head over and cast your vote!

(PS: Thanks to my BFF for taking pictures of my completed projects!)

DIY

DIY Blogger Challenge: Bohemian Fringe Sandals

Today I’m going to be sharing the first of my CREATE COUTURE: The DIY Blogger Challenge tutorials, the Bohemian Fringe Sandals.

If you like what you see, don’t forget to vote!

To make the Bohemian Fringe Sandals you will need to first gather your materials. You will need: scissors, plain sandals (mine had some jewels on them, but I just popped them off), and about 6″ of the suedette fringe.

After you have all of your materials, take your scissors and cut all of the fringe threads off of the suede band that holds the trim together. This should leave you with a pile of individual strands of suede.

After all of the strands are cut, get yourself in front of some junky reality TV or a chick-flick, because the next step is a bit tedious! Starting from the top, double-knot individual strands of the fringe around the center section of the sandal, making sure to keep the strands centered.

Repeat this process and continue to tie the strands all the way down the center of the sandal, until you get right to the bridge of where the sandal will meet the toes (you may want to try the sandals on as you get close to the end to make sure the fringe stops at a comfortable spot for your feet).

And there you have it, a little suede tassel trim to spice up your summer sandals:

Remember: Head over to NewYorkDesignShop to check out all of the bloggers’ designs and VOTE! (for me preferably!)

Other than my eternal gratitude, there’s something in it for you too: by voting for the DIY projects you like the best, you could win one of the winning bloggers’ creations, so head over and cast your vote!

(PS: Thanks to my BFF for taking pictures of my completed projects!)

DIY

Finish line.

I finally finished my upholstery class and have a brand spankin’ new desk chair to show for it. Here is what the chair looked like before:

And totally stripped down during the class:


And voila! My finished project:

And just for good measure, a nice before and after shot, side by side:

Now I’m already scheming my next upholstery project, practice makes perfect, right?

DIY

Kitchen chair makeover

I’m beyond thrilled with the outcome of my kitchen chair makeover! As a reminder, here are the craigslist finds I was working with:

And onto the big reveal:

I’m obsessed with them. Can’t wait to have the kitchen all set up and see how they look with the kitchen table!

DIY

Counting down to the weekend.

I’m counting down the seconds until the clock hits 5 tonight so I can leave work and run home to tear open the package waiting in my entryway which is filled with several yards of this delicious fabric:

I hope I can manage to paint the frames and reupholster the seats this weekend so I can share some ‘after’ pictures of these craigslist finds next week:

DIY

A temporary makeover.

I’ve been so busy since I got back from Brooklyn this weekend that I almost forgot to share this adorable chair makeover. In the spring I’m taking an upholstery class and plan to learn the tricks of the trade on this dainty little chair:

Until the class starts, I’m storing it at my parent’s house in New York. My mother, unable to have this eye-sore with stained-fabric ruining her carefully planned decor, decided to give it a temporary makeover with some scraps of fabric and grosgrain that matched her living room. It looks so cute with this little slipcover, I almost don’t want to take it off to work on it for the class! Perhaps this an excuse to sift through craigslist for another chair in need of a new life?

DIY

NYE – Part 2

My mom gave me some crafting materials for Christmas, and among the presents was a Martha Stewart Pom-pom kit. I have wanted to use these at a party for-ev-er, and was so excited to hang them from the ceiling for NYE. Unfortunately the ceilings in my ancient apartment must have 30 layers of lead paint on them, because it was impossible to get tacks into the surface to hang them up.

Plan B: decorating the mantle. My boyfriend suggested I use them to make a display above the fireplace with some big glittery numbers.

A late night trip to Michael’s and we were on our way… I cut numbers out of foam, slid them on a stick, and glittered-the-heck out of those babies.

The numbers stood up on another block of foam…

… and then I nestled them behind the pom-poms…

Of course the night ended with drunken guests wearing pom-poms on their heads and tossing them around the room. We’re clearly not ready to be  grown ups yet. At least I got good pictures at the beginning of the night.

 
 
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