Pinteresting Wednesdays!

I don't know why I haven't tried linking up sooner! It helps me have something to post at least once a week! (PS does anyone know if I'm linking up right? I'm a blogging newbie sort of)

My friend Blake actually pinned this and I saw it on her page, but I love the idea! I think if I made some stencils they'd probably be very easy to make. 

Some more monograms! I think this would be a easy craft that could add a lot to my room! I need to buy two smaller canvases though.

I love this little bird and wish I could paint something like it. However, I'm not sure I could do the fading at the end. 

And lastly this is my newest cooking experiment! Butterbeer cupcakes in celebration of my trip to Harry Potter World! However, I want to use some prettier straws instead of the plastic one. 

Like these! You can find these paper straws at Bibelot! Not a pin, I just think they're cute :)

Happy blogging

Claire

Pinterest!

I decided to link up for the first time with The Vintage Apple for Pinteresting Wednesdays! I found this link up/blog through one of my favorite blogs Keep Calm and Carry On. 

If anyone doesn't know what Pinterest is, its like an online bulletin board. You can pin anything you come across on the internet in one place. You can make different board and what not. 

Follow Me On Pinterest!

Anyyyy wayyy, Oh How Pinteresting Wednesdays entail posting some favorite pins!

This is a Siberian Husky (my third favorite dog) Pomeranian (fourth favorite dog) mix. My dad and I are looking to get a new dog and I feel like this little guy would be perfect! We currently have a King Charles Cavalier Spaniel and my dad already nixed my first two favorite dogs, Golden Retriever and Rottweiler because they are too big for poor little Thor. 

This is two siblings recreating a childhood picture years later. They also did this in Modern Family. Peter and I want to do it for my mom's birthday this year. 

Because my dog thinks I'm awesome. I want to frame this and put it somewhere in my room.

These are just old soup cans with holes poked and spray painted. They have a teal light in them to light them up and I want to do this for our apartment. 

Another apartment idea. One of my roommates, Blake (another Pinterest fanatic), and I love this idea. I found a window shutter that I could paint and hang, but I'm not sure if its too big. So Blake, if you're reading we have a shutter!

These are homemade moon pies. I was going to make some cupcakes or cake pops this week, but I decided I'm going to try these! Apparently they've very Southern and a lot of Northern people haven't heard of them. I'm not sure if thats true for Missouri since we're kind of in a weird limbo between North and South, but I bet some of my friends are fellow moon pie lovers and would enjoy these!

Well anyway, those are some of my favorite pins! If you want to see more check out my Pinterest and follow me! 

Happy blogging :)

Claire

Nautical bags and Satin flowers

Was my blog heading enticing? I decided I need to work on them so my posts don't sound so boring. 

Well I was going to wait and make one whole 'summer crafts' post later on, but I wanted to share this stuff with all 20 of my followers haha!

First, I have these cool flowers to show off. 

They're pretty easy to make, but include some fire. 

Here is the complete tutorial at Jones Design Company:

Flower Tutorial (click here)

You should just also go check out her blog in general. Emily Jones has great (and pretty easy!) tutorials and just regular blog posts that are pretty interesting. 

In the tutorial, she says that some fabrics ignite. I found that very vague and was worried I would spend a bunch of money on fabric that just sets on fire. However, I went to Hobby Lobby and got 'Poly-Satin' and it worked just fine. I bought a yard of a few fabrics and do not get a yard! You will not use all of it!

Anywayyyyyyyy

I made some of these flowers for my Dad's girlfriend's daughter's Spanish themed party (mouthful I know). She had tapas, Spanish ham and music and all that jazz. I made the flowers into barrettes and headbands so they'd look like flamenco dancers. 

(You can click the pictures to enlarge them)

The first picture is the barrettes I made. I just attached the flowers and some ribbon to those snap clips from Walgreens with some hot glue. Easy peezy lemon squeezy. 

The second picture is the headbands I made. I sewed the flower to a purple ribbon and connected it with a bit of elastic to make it difference sizes. 

The last picture is just some extras I made for them to put on the food table and make into crafts later. 

And now on to the more exciting craft! 

When I was making the shower curtain, my friend Lauren brought over some tote bags with the idea that we could paint/decorate them! I was a bit wary about the idea because those things don't usually turn out that well and look a bit tacky (with rhinestones and what not). We didn't get to the purses that day, but a few days later Lauren came over to plan our trip to Harry Potter World (yes, I'm going! I will be posting lots of pictures of the trip later!) with a tote bag she made it was so cute!

(I know they're sideways, I'm sorry for my horrible blogging etiquette.)

She monogrammed it and didn't use rhinestones and it was cute and classy and looked very artsy/professional!

Well anyway, she came over today to decorate another one for her boyfriend's mom (points!) and help me make mine. 

I absolutely loved this one. It looks very refined and like a shopping bag from an upscale boutique, dontcha think? If she hadn't monogrammed it I probably would have stolen it. 

Now, I am crafty, but I am not very artistic (difference!). I'm probably a little better than most people (mostly because I've taken art camp and classes every since I was seven), but I never took any time to hone or develop any skill I had. And Lauren is very artistic so I was worried mine wouldn't turn out very well, but I think it actually came out pretty dang good, if I do say so myself!

(I only included one picture because I'm lazy and didn't paint the back.)

Mine was not as perfect as Lauren's. The monogram is too small and a bit off center and I ran out of the paint  color on the stripes and made a new one that didn't quite match. You can't really tell in real life, but it really shows in the picture. Anyway, I can go back and fix the monogram by starting over and painting a new one, but I'm not sure if I will. I love the color though and I kind of did it by accident. I was trying for lime green but ended up with this nice sea glass cover and loved it. I bought the rope at Hobby Lobby a few weeks ago and Lauren made the knots. 

EDIT:

I forgot to explain how we made the tote bags! They're pretty simple, but I realized it might not be obvious. Lauren and I measured and put pieces of tape down to get the lines even and used something circular (I used the tape roll, Lauren used a lotion top) to make the circle. We also both just free-handed our monograms, but drew them with pencil first! Lauren also recommends painting the inside of the circle white so you can go back and use white to fix any messups! Perfect as Lauren's looks, no artist doesn't have a few mess ups! I had lots, but haven't fixed them yet. 

I told Lauren she should sell them on etsy and I think she might. What do y'all think? Would you buy one of her bags (I promise the monogram looks better than mine)? What options would you like? Stripes, polka dots, stencils? 

Happy blogging :)

Claire

Mischief Managed

A few days ago, Matt bought two tickets for the midnight premiere of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2 on July 15th. I can't believe the end is almost near. 

This sounds so silly, but Harry Potter has been such a big part of my entire life (I'm sure I'm not alone on this). Its actually pretty funny how Harry Potter came into my life. My grandma sent me the first book and I kind of tossed it aside, uninterested, but one day when it was raining I decided to pick it up and fell in love with the first book series I would ever follow. I went through the first book in about two hours and begged my mom to take me to the book store and get the second (the only other one out at that time), but she decided to extort my new found love of the Wizarding World and bribe me. She told me I had to pass a spelling test before I got the second book. At this point in my life, I had trouble with b's and d's and I failed that test. And the next one. So I just read the first one seven more times in a week and finally my mom broke down got me the second. From then on, there was no hope for her any more. 

I was full blow obsessed. 

Most people have an important event in their life where they remember exactly where they were when they heard the news. My event was when I heard a Harry Potter movie was coming out. However, no one I knew had really heard of it or was into it so I was the only one I knew who was excited. However, the movie looked good so everyone went to see it. I saw the midnight premiere and the 3 AM premiere. In the same night. I was that dedicated. 

From then on I went to every midnight premiere (movie and book), except for the midnight premiere of the sixth movie because I was at sleep away camp. Believe me, this broke my heart. 

And much to my excitement, after the movie, the series blew up in my small town! Our Wal-Mart got every Harry Potter toy you could ever imagine. Conveniently in time for Christmas. And I got it all.

I had the Potions Making Kit, Wizard Chess, Hedwig stationary and journal with the Harry Potter gel pens, Trivia game, Hedwig pillow, mini owls, Mrs. Norris and Hedwig stuffed toys, etc. etc. Believe me y'all, I think my family bought out the Harry Potter section of Wal-Mart. 

Obviously, in my old age I no longer pine for every toy Wal-Mart puts out (even though I still have an obsession with owls, really, ask anyone), but the books and movies have still been a huge part of my life.  Since the first time I picked up the Sorcerer's Stone, I've read the book series over 20 times (still doubting my obsession?) and am glad I can read them over and over, but still a bit heart broken that Harry, Ron and Hermione's adventures are over for us. 

So thank you, J.K. Rowling, for my childhood. 

A little crafting

So part of our big plans for redoing the bathroom is to rip out our shower doors and put in a shower curtain. I personally like the shower doors, but they are just too tough to clean. 

So the other day I headed to TJ Maxx and picked up an inexpensive shower curtain. I originally wanted to a V embroidered on it, but thought 'Why put a $15 initial on a $8 shower curtain?'. 

So I decided to paint one.

Step 1. 

Buy the shower curtain (duh).

Step 2. 

Find whatever you want to put on it. (I'll include a few at the bottom of this post). I printed a variety, like my initials, monogram, bees, birds, birds in cages, fleur di lis, flowers, anchors, etc. etc. because I wasn't sure what I wanted to do. 

Step 3. 

Figure out your design/Call in your artsy friend (Lauren) to do it for you. We just kind of did it as we went, but Lauren measured and figured out how far apart to put the bees and how high up, etc. 

Step 4.

Using an Exact-o Knife (or scissors and a steady hand. Thats what Lauren did) cut out your design.

And tape it to your shower curtain using masking or painter's tape. 

Step 5. 

Then, using a paint brush or a sponge, dab the paint on. Its best to dab, especially if your picture has small details like mine did. 

And let it dry.

Step 6. 

Once the paint is dry-ish, carefully lift the stencil off and set it somewhere to dry. It needs time to dry a bit or the small details will start to rip off. 

You're done! Easy as Key Lime Pie. 

This shower curtain is for my upstairs bathroom so I didn't want to girl it up too much (because of dear old dad). So I kept it simple with the bees and a decorated V.

We also added some little bees around the V to tie the curtain together. 

It was so easy, I decided to do another!

I was at a loss for what to do for my bathroom at school. I was going to use an old shower curtain my dad bought in his 'I'm a bachelor and living alone and still line cool beer bottles on the window sill like a frat house' days. Trust me, it looked like a drunk frat guy bought it because it was ugly. It also didn't match my hot pink towels I got last year for graduation. I wasn't sure exactly what would match them so I just went with a creme curtain and did black bees. I was going to try something new, but I just love the bees so much! Lauren recently informed me they're the symbol of French royalty. Ohhhhh!

But anyway, here is my apartment's bathroom curtain.

Matt was my model. He helped hang it to dry. 

I used the same V so I could interchange them while at home. No bees though. 

The little bees just weren't by the V, but they were there! Lauren and I made four corner bees and lots of little bees buzzing around. You can click on the picture with Matt for a closer look!

Well everyone, thanks for stopping in! If anyone is curious, I will be putting up 'after' pictures of my room soon! Suzie is coming over tomorrow to help with the finishing touches so hopefully they will be up as soon as I clean it!

Happy blogging! :)

Here are the stencils I promised. You should be able to click on them so the original size pops up in a new window. If y'all want something different you can always google 'whatever you want' silhouette. I recommend fleur di lis, shells or flowers!

Home Redecorating!

Hello to all my lovely followers (I have 20 now! Exciting!)! I'm so sorry I have been such a bad blogger these past few weeks. I just finished my three week intensive course and started my summer Calculus class a few weeks ago and it has kept me wayyyy busier than I thought it would! Let me tell y'all, Calculus is not my thing. 

Anyyyyy way, 

my reason for posting today is not only to share some small updates, but to show everyone some before pictures!

My dad and I decided to repaint our house. Our house is about 80 years old so of course it has had some previous owners who did all their own stuff to it! All the walls are a neutral taupe, which is fine, but when you have as little decorations as we do, it looks pretty boring. They've also put a ton of hooks and holes in the wall. And I mean a TON. In some places they have five or six hooks within one foot of each other. I mean seriously, how many things can you hang????

So at first we were just going to paint our living room and dining room, but that turned into painting the foyer, which turned into the bathroom, which turned into my room.

Well my room and the bathroom had wallpaper. And if anyone has ever ripped down wall paper they know it is no fun! I can't tell y'all how many times I cursed the former owners. So with all that work we decided to focus on my room and the bathroom this summer. I'll leave what colors we chose as a surprise for the 'after' pictures!

Here is my room before!

Ignore the messiness please! I was busy moving things around the repaint. This was the wallpaper that Matt, my friends Lauren, Evan and I gladly ripped off. 

It was just kind of old ladyish, some of it was falling off and the room just needed a redo!

The part of the wall not painted (two walls were fully papered, two half) were a dull gray brown and just made the walls look dirty. 

Does anyone ever notice that homes don't look as nice as you thought they did once you photograph them???

So we stripped it. 

(You can see my birdie Spice in the corner)

We stripped it all. 

We put the first coat up last night and it looks great! I can't wait to show y'all!

On a side note we got a new addition to our family!

Her name is Kevin (like from Up!) and she was given to me by Matt's friend Kevin (I know, I know). She's not quite used to us, but I think she's so cute. Hopefully she calms down and gets a little more friendly. 

And crazily enough, I'm also moving into my first apartment in August for college. I'll probably only stay there a year because junior year I'm going to try and be an RA and if not, I'll probably move back into the dorms anyway. 

But anyyyy wayy, since I'll only be there a year, I'm decorating it in the same theme as my room. Except when I say decorating, I really mean making my bed the comfiest thing ever. My dad says I won't ever get out of it and go to class! Pshhh Maybe.

I thought I'd show some of my 'decorating folder'!

My main focus is on my bed. The bed in the apartment is a full and my dad is handing me down his full bed so he can get a king. I wanted my bed to be able to go into my apartment and then into my room and match both. So I picked an all white bedding with lots of down. So far I've only bought the down insert and featherbed, but I have my duvet cover and curtains picked out so I'll have to blog about them when I make my purchase!

Even though I'm not worrying too much about decorations I still have a few things I'm really wanting to do!

For example, my boyfriend first gave me flowers on Valentine's day and I pressed and would like to frame them and put them above my bed! 

I've also come up with a few other things which I'm hoping to craft over the summer...

We'll see how they turn out!