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!)

Life

Brimfield Recap

Brimfield totally lived up to my expectations; I was like a kid in a candy store, rifling through piles of junk and having a ball.

There was tons of jadeite, to my delight, though most of it was very overpriced, so I just enjoyed looking but didn’t come home with any new pieces. This table had me in a fit of excitement though:

One of the “trends” I noticed was lots of vintage bikes. This yellow one would have been helpful to tote around our loot with its big basket:

And this blue one caught my eye:

I saw that bike right at the end of our thrifting-marathon. The sun was wearing on us and I’ll be honest, I may have been feeling a little sleepy and full after hitting up the “food court” field (what can I say? I love fair food!).

Right behind the blue bike though was my score of the day — just what I had been hunting for, a pair of matching night stands, with drawers, that were under 16″ wide — a feat I thought for sure would be impossible. And they were just the right price, 40$ for the pair!

They’re an atrocious color and are missing hardware, but I’m planning to give them a fresh coat of paint and some fancy new knobs to spiff them up.

My other find of the day was a vintage tool chest that I’m also planning on giving a new life with some fresh paint. When I’m all finished I’m going to use it as a jewelry armoire.

All three pieces are being housed in my entryway, next to a Craigslist chair that’s also on my to-do-list to revamp. We’re now referring to this as the “furniture graveyard” until the temperatures drop and I can actually do some work on them without passing out from heat exhaustion!

Overall a successful trip — I will definitely be making this an annual (or bi-annual??) trip!

Life

Entering Brimfield.

Tomorrow could very well be Christmas morning, because I couldn’t be more excited to get out of work, go home, and go to bed, so that I can wake up at the crack of dawn tomorrow to go BRIMFIELD!

I remember my mom going away for girls thrifting weekends when I was a kid and coming back from Brimfield with all sorts of treasures  (she was scooping up those tin picnic baskets before they became martha-stewart-chic).  So I’m elated to be making my inaugural trek out the mecca of flea markets tomorrow morning.

On my list? Tiny night stands to squeeze into the narrow spaces next to my bed are a top priority, and of course I’m always on the hunt for more jadeite for my collection. Fingers crossed I find some good deals… I’ll report back with my loot!

Image via Selectism

Home

Another after.

I have another before and after today — this time of the mirror I scored at the Todd Farm flea market. A fresh coat of black paint and this:

…now looks delightful in my living room like this:

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?

Home

Cooking is fun again.

My new kitchen is a million times more functional than my old kitchen, cooking is finally fun again. It didn’t start out super functional though, here is what we were working with when we moved in:

The cabinets you’re seeing in that picture are the extent of them — I guess they just gave up and forgot to put one more cabinet in that space next to the sink. Have no fear, after some extensive craigslisting, the perfect stand-alone cabinet was found to fit into that spot. Here is what it looks like now:

The cabinet did not look like that originally though. Wish I had remembered to take a “before” picture, but trust me —  It was a 20$ mess that needed a fresh coat of paint, new handles, and a new top. My handy boyfriend popped the dingy old linoleum top off of it and replaced it with a removable butcher block cutting board. Good as new!

I also whipped up a quick valance last night — I’ve gotten sick of staring at curtain-less windows, they were making me crazy.

Recognize the fabric? It’s one of the Liberty of London scarves from Target!

Just need to hang up some artwork over the kitchen table and I can check off this room as complete (for now).  I’ll share more soon!

Home

Exactly what I didn’t know I was looking for.

After several failed attempts, I finally made it to the Todd Farm Flea Market this weekend (last year, I drove up with my mom and aunt on a Saturday morning to check it out, only to find out that I had misread the website and the market is actually on Sundays…embarrassing). I came with a hunting list: night stands, small dresser, console table… and of course I found nothing I was looking for. But in true thrifting fashion, I found exactly what I didn’t know I was looking for:

This gem set me back a mere $20 — a steal considering the convex mirror is in such good shape — can’t wait to paint it a glossy black and get it up on the wall!

I’m considering hanging it over my new docksta kitchen table and chevron upholstered chairs as an homage to the ultimate cliché Domino spread. Of course I’ll need a python tray and some Pimms to round out the quintessential styling.

Entertaining

Too pretty for eating.

Eddie Ross is a genius. This table setting is so phenomenal, I would genuinely feel bad eating off those plates. I love it so much, I want to frame it — or at least start scavenging etsy for some French opaline glasses.

Check out his how-to on his blog!

Home

Back in action.

After a much needed blogging break to deal with moving, I’m finally back in action. Boxes are almost all unpacked, and I’m onto tackling some projects to make the new apartment feel more like home. The first project checked off the list? Color-coding books and assembling them in my newly acquired West Elm bookcase. (It’s not on sale online, but in the store I got a floor model for much cheaper — it was a steal!)

I’m also very excited to finally have my horse print framed and up on the wall, it fills out the space perfectly!

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!