DIY

A Nautical Summer DIY.

I don’t know about you guys, but this past weekend felt like a summer weekend to me — we had our first warm night out on the porch with friends and sipped on some warm weather beverages. With Memorial Day coming up this weekend, I partnered with Seagram’s Escapes to put together a little DIY to get you in the summer entertaining spirit! I am a fan of all things nautical, and decided to customize some koozies to keep my cocktails cool as the temperature rises. Read on for instructions to create your own nautical drink koozies.

Seagrams Escapes Summer DIY 2

To start, use painters tape to mark off the stripes at consistent intervals on plain white drink koozies (I use the width of the tape to mark off where the next one starts to space them evenly). Once the stripes are taped off, paint the space between the taped lines and let it dry completely before removing the tape. Next, use a pencil to mark off your design — I used a stencil to draw an anchor for a nautical motif — and paint inside the traced shape. You may need to use two coats of paint when using a lighter color over a dark stripe. Be sure to let the koozies dry completely before using! 
Seagrams Escapes Summer DIY 3Seagrams Escapes Summer DIY 5Seagrams Escapes Summer DIY 1Seagrams Escapes Summer DIY 4Seagrams Escapes Summer DIY 9If you’re interested in getting into the summer entertaining spirit, head over to the Seagram’s Escapes Facebook page and enter to win a Seagram’s Escapes party kit!

This post was sponsored by Seagram’s Escapes; all opinions and DIY ideas are my own. 

To make your own custom koozies visit:  Imprinted Koozies

 

 

DIY

DIY Holidays: Painted Cork Coasters.

I hate to play favorites, but I think I saved the best handmade holiday gift idea for last this week — painted cork coasters. Using plain cork coasters, I painted stripes and color blocks in pink, teal, and gold, and then finished off the top of them with a matte sealer to keep them waterproof. You could play around with color combinations that match your gift recipients’ home and style to make a customized gift, and pair them with their favorite wine or spirit. Are you trying any homemade gifts this year?

Cork Coaster 1 Cork Coaster 2 Cork Coaster 3

Looking for more DIY present ideas? Check them out here.

DIY

DIY Holidays: Kitchen Spoon Set.

Today’s handmade holiday idea is all about creating a simple hostess gift. I purchased a few different sizes of  wooden spoons, and taped off stripes at various intervals with painter’s tape, and then painted in the lines with black paint. After the paint thoroughly dried, I peeled back the tape to reveal the pretty stripes. Make sure you add a matte coat of clear finish over the top so that they’re safe to hand-wash.  And of course, presentation is everything — I wrapped the set up in a  shiny silk ribbon to make them gift-giving-ready!

DIY Spoon Set 1 DIY Spoon Set 2 DIY Spoon Set 3 DIY Spoon Set 4

Looking for more DIY present ideas? Check them out here.

DIY

Pink Polka Dot Pumpkins.

The calendar has flipped to October, which means it’s pumpkin season! My apartment isn’t exactly conducive to pumpkin carving, so I opted for a cleaner project and painted my pumpkin patch with some neon pink paint and my favorite patterns: stripes and polka dots! Are you decorating pumpkins for Fall?

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Pop of poppyseed.

It’s sad that took me almost a week after I finished painting in my bedroom to get enough natural light to take a good picture of the results! But the rain clouds finally parted and now I can share with you how my weekend project turned out:

Painting the wall behind my bed was so gratifying. $14 worth of paint, one Saturday of work, and it totally transformed the room. I love the color; it’s called Poppyseed, and looks just like it sounds… a near black hue with hints of navy blue.

Here is what the room looked like before, major blah:

And for fun… one more stellar “after”:

Checking one project off the list of course means I’m just thinking about I want to do next… lamp upgrades, a new duvet, and perhaps some art above the bed? I’m never finished!

 

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!

 
 
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