DIY

DIY studded painted pumpkins

October 14, 2013 by Angela

I’ve always preferred painting pumpkins to carving. When I was little, I remember entering a pumpkin painting contest led by my mother with the rest of the kids I knew. I have amazing memories of carving, too, as she came up with a new design every year. I also made friends over pumpkin carving in college, but painting has always been fun for me and a lot less messy (and squishy).

By now I’m sure you’ve seen this painted pumpkin by a beautiful mess, or at least the photo which is having its moment on Pinterest. It’s a white pumpkin dotted with different color fabric paint. So. Easy. I gave it a try myself with the colors hot chocolate and copper from Scribbles 3-D paint and came up with these pumpkins. Don’t the dots look like little studs? Perfect for Halloween.

I got out the glitter paint and did this cute red polka-dotted one too. If you want to decorate the pumpkins to look like studs, go for an iridescent paint like the copper color. What is it about white pumpkins? I don’t know but they’re the best.

These were adorning my coffee table until I came home to bite marks all over one of the unpainted ones… (thanks, kittens) and now they’re a center piece for my patio set.

Do you paint pumpkins for Halloween?

DIY thrift store coffee table tray

October 9, 2013 by Angela

So I don’t know the exact purpose of this old metal tray. What did it intend to hold? I just know that I desperately needed a tray for my coffee table, which is an ottoman, because I can’t set drinks down without fear that the cats will jump on it & knock them over. Plus, I love the look of trays on ottomans for organization, they keep misc. items like remote controls in the right area.

I came across this tray for $2 at a local thrift store (yes! I have finally discovered a few gems in LA county after almost giving up and moving back to Washington. Not really – but close). It was the perfect canvas for paint.

So I cleaned it up a bit and then draped newspaper over my entire deck and spray painted it with a seafoam green color that matches some of the accent colors in my livingroom.

I left the bottom as-is, and it matches the table itself.

This project went so fast that it was hardly a DIY, but I’ll call it that since it did involve a can of spray paint. So far it’s holding a few fall decorations and pumpkins that I’ll be sharing in a few days!

Bookshelf and coffee table styling

September 18, 2013 by Angela

We’ve lived at our new apartment for almost three months now. Like I said in my last post, I decided to mix neutral beige tones with bright whites in my living room. Sometimes having a specific vision in mind can hinder the overall project, however. I had originally hoped my coffee table would provide that much needed pop of color, but after searching the famous Los Angeles flea markets, vintage boutiques, and thrift shops alike, I found nothing that fit both form and function – especially with our little space.

We gave up our (my) thrifty dream of finding the perfect vintage trunk or mid-century piece of furniture to paint, and headed to the mall. We came back with this small ottoman-style bench/trunk. It honestly doesn’t match anything but two months into our move to California, it was time to have something to put my drinks on. Now for executing my vision of a DIY vintage tray + this styling will be complete.

A few magazines + some pretty candles that I can’t light with kittens around.

Trying to beautify the boyfriend’s Xbox with a lit quote and fake flowers (Kona ate the dried rose I first had out.) When in the alcohol aisle of the grocery store I do not ask myself what cocktail I’ll be making but how flowers will look in the bottle afterward 😉

Little Harpo loves to laze around in the walk ways.

Not bad for a $20 Ikea shelf. Things were neater here, too, before our cats.

It’s nice to have things like boxes (also shown on my craft shelf here) and a coffee table that doubles as storage for use in a small apartment like ours.

DIY gallery wall

September 17, 2013 by Angela

My personal art gallery wall is nowhere near completion, I’m planning to expand it left and down, but this is how it displays the art above our living room sofa. We have a warm beige wall, which feels too dark at times. I realized after collecting different pieces with a similar aesthetic that most of it either falls into the category of neutral color or bright whites. Our couch is a light beige itself, so I decided to run with the idea of mixing white and beige, which I originally thought would clash. With the other elements of the room (more to come), I feel like the different colors of my art wall help tie things together.

Because this is the main wall and focal point of a small room, I’ve carefully arranged the elements. (but, this apartment is rented so framing everything was out of the question). Here are my gallery wall tips below…

Choose design elements in your art pieces that complement each other, not necessarily match. I did this inadvertently because I’m really into art that uses elements of nature. These are all depicted in some way or another by the different artists I chose.
Go with a few simpler pieces to create a balance. I think the clock and small photo frame break up the busy pieces of art.
Consider texture. The monogrammed A, clock, and frame are the odd elements out here, but I think they create a texture that my wall would lack, especially given the lack of framed work. I agree that you can’t beat a perfectly framed and balanced gallery wall, but that’s for later, when I own my home 🙂

What are your tips for displaying art in your home?

Find my pieces online here, here, and here.

A small, good space for crafts

September 5, 2013 by Angela

Our small one-bedroom apartment doesn’t quite allow a separate craft room, nor a place to write (I normally bring my notebook or laptop out here instead). At first I was focused on gathering really pretty shelving to sneakily store my yarn away because I knew it would have to go in the main room. Eventually, not wanting to pay hundreds of dollars or search through disappointing Los Angeles thrift shops for months until I found the perfect solution, I settled on the practical: cheap Target + Ikea goods.

To spice things up a bit I added vintage book pages to the back of the main shelf, a bit of washi tape around the top border, and put mismatched boxes throughout.

Even though the shelf itself is pretty narrow, it will easily store large stacks of boxes.

I put pens over here as opposed to the drawers by my desk, which are already full with paint, stamp, and other craft supplies. It’s a little scattered but it’s not like I have to go far.

Here’s the magnet board above my desk.

One of my only complaints about our cute apartment is the lack of natural light. We only get a yellowy flood of light in the main room around seven a.m. when the sun is rising and even then it’s just enough to wash out a little corner of the room – so pictures like this aren’t so light and beautiful.

I really wanted a separate room for all my things at first – but with moving that definitely wasn’t going to happen, and I realized in the end that I don’t need it at all.

Our outdoor space

August 12, 2013 by Angela

Happiness is a bright + shining thing. A few shots of the new, cozy (read: tiny) sitting area outside my apartment…

…adorned with freshly painted flower pots, plants that I’d like to say will thrive under my watch (I already succeeded in killing an indoor cactus due to lack of sunlight, all plants will now live outside), notebooks and a post-photo session addition of sunflowers and candles. I can’t wait to relax out here, watching the hummingbirds fly by (away from over-eager kitties, sometimes one needs a break from the clapping of kitten paws on the floor…) with coffee and my new writing book.

PS notebooks are an eco-friendly brand found at Target (I love) + in case you’re on the market for the tiniest patio set ever, Ikea has what you need. We searched for most of Saturday for a set that would fit our space.