Finally on Facebook: Design-Aholic

Yep, that's right!  Don't get enough Design-Aholic?  Want more?  Want sneak peaks, and extra content?!

Well, Design-Aholic now has a FACEBOOK page!  :)

CLICK HERE

I have to admit, I've been a bad blogger.  Well, no, I haven't been a bad blogger... I've been a bad blog reader!  I've been so busy with all the upcoming projects (see this post for a quick and dirty list) that I'm days behind reading all my favorites!

So, don't let this happen to you- get updates through your FACEBOOK feed, and direct links back to the site!!!

See you all real soon over there.  :)

Sweet little Birdie Friend

I've been looking for a little birdie friend to add to my collection (of decor, not of birds) for a while now.  This weekend, I found said birdie friend.  Birdie friend needed a "birdie bath".  Enter, spray paint.

Here we have birdie friend, with a splash of primer!  She just couldn't wait for the makeover, and we missed full on before photos:

 

Yes, that's a burgundy glazed ceramic, and cream color wings

After the bird bath, she was looking much better in all white [primer]:

Then,

...all spit shined up, and feeling tranquil in grey...

Now, where to live?

Enter, milk glass compote, a weekend thrift store find (for $0.75) and a bag of spanish moss ( for $1.00 at the dollar store), and some crumpled newspaper for support:

Add the newspaper to the bottom of your display so you don't need as much moss

 

Fill over newspaper with spanish moss, and place said birdie into her nest.  She loves that "Live Laugh Love" sign, because it was just as thrifty as her, at a whopping $1.70 to make.  She suggests you check it out here.

Hmmm, I'm wondering if she'd lay golden eggs.  Just in case she wouldn't, this whole project only cost $2.75.  Birdie was $1 at thrift shop, compote was $0.75 at thrift shop (50% off day), and moss was $1, and I didn't even use the whole bag.

Very country, yes, but modern with the colors, at the same time.  I love her, but she needs a name.  Why is the name Penelope jumping into my head?  What's your suggestion?!

Fluffy Fabric Valentine's Wreath

Yesterday, hopefully you saw my post about phase 1 of setting up our new office/craft room.  If not, GO GO GO!

Anyway, if you did, you may have noticed that yes, I made another wreath.  What has blogging done to me?  I'm wreath crazy.  I swear they could make a group for us me.

This one shockingly took me some time to decide.

I had this, which was a good start:

But, what direction to go?  There are plenty of Valentine's wreath tutorials out there.  To be honest, I even tried a few out before I decided to go in one distinct direction.

First, there's this one found at The Idea Room:

...but I had already made my felt kissing balls, so I moved on...

I found a few other miscellaneous versions looking through Google Images (if you know what blogs they're from, I'd love to put a credit up!)

Cute, but too much work with all those yarn balls!  (Ha, if only I had known how long the version I DID make would take!)

I love the roses on the red wreath.  What else screams Valentine's Day than something like this?!   Still, I didn't have roses, and couldn't find a rose-out-of-fabric tutorial, so I moved on...

While not a wreath per se, I love the texture on this one, and I tried to figure out how I could do this to the wreath.  Unfortunately, I couldn't channel my inner girl scout, so I couldn't accomplish this one.

I love the texture on this bad boy.  Similar to the same issue I had on the rose wreath above.  sigh.

Totally cute with the scrapbook paper, but I had a heart shaped wreath, and I figured hearts on a heart wreath may make Z puke.  Or me.  I didn't want to temp fate.  

BUT, FINALLY, ALAS,
There's this version, from Little Birdie Secrets:

I knew this one could TOTALLY work!  So I started!

First off, I used much smaller squares than Little Birdie Secrets did.  I was making this, not a kid, so I figured I could deal with the time it would take.  And yes, it did take a lah-hot of time.

Here's my final version:

So,  the tutorial is below, even though you may have already read it online at the site I found it.

I used my Christmas present, a rotary cutter and mat, to power through cutting strips of my fabric, at about a 1" width.  I then cut those strips into squares that measured about 1" square.

Then, you use the point of a pencil, and some white glue.  First wrap the fabric around the point of the pencil, and then dab the point in the white glue.

Press the point of the pencil into the foam wreath, and it should stick.  The glue on the end also helps keep it in place.

That's about it.  Do this a few hundred times, over a few hours a few goods tunes and tv shows, and you've got yourself a snazzy wreath that's oh-so-fluffy, and perfect texture that you want!  :)

Next, use a 3M command hook to install on your new shelves in the office/craft room, and wah-la (sense my typing humor there.  Typing how I speak, you know)! 

(ok you can hang yours wherever you like...)

So, there you have it.  Oh, and if anyone knows about a "wreath's anonymous" meeting, you should probably let me know.

Happy Early Valentines Day to you and yours-

Office Craft Room, Part 1

By now, you've probably read a little about my new office (or what I'm lovingly referring to as my "craft room").  (if you haven't read up about it here, here and here...)

I thought I'd give you the first half room view of the side that I've adopted as my own!  The walls are blue in here already, from when we moved in.  Since I found this lovely fabric, I picked the accent colors to be green and blue with touches of black.

Oh, and as a forewarning, this post is FILLED with projects I'll share with you over the next little bit.  Yay! 

Without further ado, here is phase 1 of the office orgnaization, and the colors.  :)

Yes, right now it's sort of decorated for Valentine's day with pink and red accents.  Plus, I'll show you how I made those felt kissing balls, and the red fabric wreath later this week.  :)

This is my functional organization that's supposed to be "pretty" since it's out in the open.  I have 4 fabric lined baskets that are a color somewhere between green and blue.  The four magazine holders are from IKEA, and house folders with all my magazine tear outs, and a few magazines that were packed with ideas to the point I needed to just keep the magazine in tact.

 

Remember my sneak peak post about our Roman Shade in this room?  Well, this fabric is what set the tone for the room.  

 

Here's a better view of the desk.  I've got a full empty shelf at the very top I get to fill.  I'm sure that'll be easy if I put my mind to it.  Watch out HomeGoods!

Did you see that Live Laugh Love sign that I made for $1.70?  Check out that post here.

 

To the left of the desk is my magnetic chalkboard that I turned from super ooogly, to more modern.  Bonus was I didn't realize it was magnetic until I repainted the chalkboard itself.  A before and after post of that one coming soon too!

Oh, and did you notice that key artwork?  Check out how I made that here.

 

While this is kind of a cruddy shot, it at least shows my corner of the office, and the color scheme, and where things are in relation to each other.

 

I found these baskets at HomeGoods on the day I went crazy in their clearance section.  They're perfect for my shelves!  They were $3 each.  Gotta love that!  Plus, those IKEA magazine boxes were the perfect color and size too.  I bought those MONTHS ago. Glad I finally got to pull them out :)

 

 Oh, and a sneak peak under basket liner- I just taped these jute laced mini chalkboards to the basket to get them to stay.  Those came from World Market.

Do I dare even remind you about the office before?  Ugh, at least this way you'll pat me on the back (or at least tip your head?) at our progress

So, let me just quickly recap all the projects in here I have YET to post about:

- Chalkboard re-vamp (from oogly, to OOOOHAHHHH)

- Felt Kissing Balls

- Fabric Heart Wreath

- Desk jar organizer

- Jute wrapped Vase/object

- Fleur de Lis print

- Orangization in the organization: pretty folders and how I organize my magazine rip outs

Yes.  This week will be busy with posts!  Stay tuned, because on top of the great stuff in the pictures above, there are about 5 other projects and ideas not even posted yet.

Here's a sneak peak at one I can't wait to finish and post for you all:

YEP!  I painted that, and no it's not done, but I LOVE IT.  Check out this post for more inspiration info.  :)

Gosh, I'm just so excited I'm jumping out of my skin at the amount of good stuff to come.  Good thing it stopped raining here in CA for a day (it's back again Monday and Tuesday, heavy they say).

Anyway, I hope you all had a great weekend, and have a great week!

Sneak Peak at my Office Roman Shades

Since I've been lucky enough to have a "new room" to decorate- the office- I've been having a blast pulling together projects from tutorials I've read online.  In addition, I'm trying to branch out and do things as tests, just to see how I would like them.

So, as I've mentioned at least once before, the Home Fabrics store by my house is closing.  They're in the early stages of putting their fabrics on sale, so there's a great selection, but still at 50% off prices!

I picked up two yards of this awesome fabric, just because I loved the colors and pattern (two good things, I guess!) and then it hit me- I could totally use this in the new office!  It was only $13 for 2 yards.

I decided to make the no-sew roman shades I found here and here.  I had to make a few modifications since the fabric was heavy upholstery weight, and I was working with super cheap mini blinds that were in the house from the previous owner.  I made it work though, and here's what it looks like now:

Bad picture I know... what kind of blogger worth their salt puts a photo like THAT up?!  One that just wants to tease you and let you know that things are progressing quite well in the office (there's tons of projects finished just waiting to be hung, that are just off camera view :)  )

Here's the window before, at night, when I was working on these:

 See, the mini blinds are already down in this photo (and on the floor).  I was anxious to try this project

out!

Anyway, more to come soon.  Stay tuned!

VOTW #4: Bye Bye Blank Canvas

We're ba-ack...

This week's episode of VICTORY OF THE WEEK has me giddy as a school girl to share with you that I'm painting my very first painting on a real(ly) big canvas, and plan to actually hang it in the house!  Eek.  So, technically my victory is yet to come, but I am stoked that I've got a direction.  This week is also different, because I need your help.

So, my date, the one with the 30x40" gallery style canvas, and a bunch of paint is Sunday morning with my friend Danica, who also will be painting up a storm on her own canvas.  The only problem?  I'm not quite sure what I'm striving for on the finished product!

Bye, bye, blank canvas:

Because I'm intending to have this large canvas on a wall with a valted ceiling, and adjacent to my new modern living room (that I'll be working on this weekend too), I wanted a bold, geometric pattern.  I've really been loving the fretwork, and ladder styles lately, so I wanted your opinion!

First off, the wall color is currently painted "Cappuccino" by Restoration Hardware:

Secondly, the art will need to blend well with the orange accents and the blue walls in my new living room decor (click here to see the full post).  Here's a current photo of the wall... it's towards the left of the photo below that the new art piece will be hanging on.

But, here's the "new" living room inspiration photo, so replace those brown drapes above with these, and throw in a wild zebra ottoman:

(our floors will even be dark brown like this soon)

So, here are my ideas for my artwork for this weekend... very modern, geometric, fretwork type patterns.  I do need help with the colors still too!

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

So, color suggestion?  The ottoman in the middle of the adjacent room is going to be black and white zebra print, so I was thinking a high contrast on the artwork would be good.  Black and white may be too contrasty, but maybe dark grey and white?  Or even muted orange or red and white?

And, what about pattern?!  I would love to do the whole wall like option number 1 above, and kind of am leaning towards that shape.

You guys out there have a better eye than me who sees the same entryway everyday, so let me know your thoughts!  OR- is there an even better option that I don't have here?!  I NEED to know!

Anyway, I can't wait to read all about YOUR Victories this week.  Remember to link to your post, and grab a button, or add a link so that everyone can blog hop.

*MckLinky was having some problems earlier, so lets hope it works now.*

Can't wait to show you all my final product soon!  Happy weekend everyone, lets party cause it's Friday!