Dorm Room DIY

As most of the schools have already had their move-in days by now and students are settling into their dorms or apartments for the school year, I know everyone is gearing up for classes to start. {who's excited!?} The start of a new school year was always so exciting - You're finally back and reunited with all your best friends, whether you're preparing for recruitment as a freshman going through rush, or a sister prepping to welcome new members, or you're really excited to start finally taking classes that actually apply to your major - There is one thing everyone has in common. The living experience.

Dorm/ apartment living can be tough. Miles away from home, you don't have your bed, your walls, your bathroom and you feel like you're missing a piece of home. Here are a few DIY projects that can help you gear up for the new school year and make your room or apartment feel a little more you!

1. Colorful Table Lamp || Turn a thrift store table lamp into a fun lighting feature on your desk with bright punch of color. Spray paint the base with your favorite color spray paint and make that old ornate lamp a little more interesting.

2. Washi Tape Letters || Not so great with a paintbrush but want to be crafty? That's okay! Use washi tape to create fun patterned letters and initials to hang on your door or sit on your desk!

3. Chalkboard Drawers || Sick of seeing all of your clothes through those cheap plastic drawers? Use chalkboard paint to paint the faces of the drawers and have custom labeled drawers for all of your things! This is a great idea {i wish i did this in college..}

4. Brick Bookends || Using 2 bricks {preferably without holes} take a can of spray paint to the bricks and add your touch of lace, fabric or glitter to create fun and inexpensive bookends.

5. Washi Tape Pinboard || Spice up a cork board with washi tape and create a fun way to pin up your photos, notes, and more!

6. Painted Mason Jars || Spray paint a few mason jars to sit on your desk and hold all of your school supplies. This tutorial is great and easy to follow.

7. Lilly Pulitzer Wall Art || Don't throw away your old Lilly planner just yet - Use those old prints and patterns to hang on your walls! Tear out those pretty patterns and put them in frames to create a photo gallery wherever you need a punch of color.

8. Daily Dry Erase Board || Turn a photo collage frame into a daily calendar by filling the frames with scrapbook paper that has the days of the week written on them. Buy the perfect frame here.

9. Lamp Shade Photo Display || Wrap twine around a lampshade to create a modern twist on the bulletin board.

Hosting & Toasting: Part 2 {DIY}

I hope everyone is as happy as I am to see Friday again! Welcome back to the Hosting & Toasting mini series! If you didn't catch the Part 1, {see here} Today's post features a very simple and easy DIY that I'm sure you've seen on Pinterest a time or two. These wine cork table settings create name tags for your guests to feel extra special at that dinner part or mimosa brunch you're hosting! And when I say easy, trust me on this one! So, crack open the wine and drink up cause we're going to need those corks for this one!

Here's what you need:

First start out by using a pencil to practice writing out each of your guests names. {my roommate and I like to drink wine, so why not use our names as an example} Once you've found the style you like, go over it with a sharpie or pen of choice and make it look like calligraphy.. {Here's a great tutorial}

Stick each named label back to back with a blank label to create your name tags.

Next, cut off the bottom of your wine corks {less than half as shown} This will help your corks stand up straight.

At the top of the cork {opposite side of the bottom you just cut off} create a slit in the top for the name tag to sit in.

Neatly place your name tags into the slit that you have created at the top. And you are complete!!

But really, how simple was that? I think the hardest easiest part will be consuming all of that wine to get your wine corks {let's hope you're not having a large guest list for dinner!} Have you tried anything similar to this for table settings and name tags?? I'd love to hear about your Hosting & Toasting DIY's!

Don't forget to enter the giveaway with The Blush Label to win a set of their beautiful placemats!! The giveaway ends next friday!!

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Making It Your Own

Who doesn't love a good shopping trip to IKEA? Well, if you just shouted at your cubicle reading this - then you're going to love this. Today I'm featuring 10 Ikea products that are great for spray painting! Did you see my bar cart hack the other day?? Go check it out and see for yourself what a can {or two} of gold spray paint and some matte finish can do!

But really - that desk lamp doesn't come in the bright fuchsia color you really want? Grab the desk lamp and a can of good ole' spray paint and make a weekend project out of it! Now, next question.... Why Ikea products? Well, because in most cases they come unassembled and in a million parts {i know sounds treacherous..} but that's actually the good part. In most of those cases, you can spray them down with a few coats and THEN put the furniture together and BAM, it looks like a professional did it!

A few of these are on my list...Which of these are on yours??

Shop these Ikea Products:

Finding Organization

After packing up my entire life and moving into a new place recently, I think I've finally realized how much stuff I have.... A  L O T. Whew - I've been here for a little over a week now and I feel like I haven't even made a dent in my unpacking! I can't figure out where I'm going to put all this extra stuff I have whether it's crafting supplies {oh my lanta - The crafting supplies} or the mass amounts of paint I have collected, or even just design magazines or books I've saved. Why? Not a clue. Good thing I love painting cause I could open up my Hobby Lobby with all the paint I have!

As I sit here in my {unpacked} living room staring at the buckets and boxes of stuff just piled up in the corner of the room, I'm thinking I need to get something to help me organize my own personal Hobby Lobby. My criteria for this:

1. Appealing to the Eye - This is a must, being a designer I needed my space to look very well put together.

2. Easily Accessible - Hey, A girl can like to craft and paint right? I would love for my paints especially to be organized, hidden and easy to get to.

Just two simple requests and the more I think about it I know the perfect resolution to this. One word - IKEA. The Expedit shelving series would be perfect for this situation! The only question now... Which one? Check out some of the looks I love using the Expedit series:

Made by Girl | Pinterest

Bien.hu | Pinterest

lolalina | Pinterest

BloigPluss | Pinterest

Birch & Bird | Pinterest

Live Creating Yourself | Pinterest

Apartment Therapy | Pinterest

Flickr | Pinterest

Design Sponge | Pinterest

I love the thought of putting legs on the long, skinny Expedit shelving unit and filling it with pretty decorative baskets. What's your thought on this organization idea? How would you style this ikea product?

Traditional vs. Modern

The Holiday season is a time for giving, friends, family, fun, and spiked eggnog. But you can't forget everything that leads up to the giving, family and of course - alcohol. From the minute thanksgiving is over all the way up to Christmas Eve the decorating is in full swing. But the question in my mind when it comes to decorating for the holidays: [Traditional or Modern] 

For me, I'd like a little mix of both, but we all know thats hard to pull off. [and make it look good] Traditional holiday decor just feels like home to me, so you can never go wrong, but modern decor has such a bright and merry flare to it that you can't help but feel happy when surrounded by it.

Thoughts?

Well, Put on your elf ears and take a seat because we are going to spend today hashing out the greatest aspects of Traditional and Modern Holiday decor! [Want to make a colorful ornament wreath like pictured above? Visit Four Generations One Roof for all the details on this fun and easy DIY project!]

As for the Traditional Decorations:

And for everyone loving the Modern/Non-traditional decorations:

[Traditional] 1 | 2 | 3 | 4

[Modern] 5 | 6 | 7 | 8

And for everyone [like me] in an apartment this season; The prettiest Charlie Brown tree ever.

[via]

Any thoughts or preferences?? How is your home decorated this Holiday Season?

Tabletop Trends: Christmas

Let me take you back a minute to my thanksgiving post on Tabletop Trends.

Alright, now that you're caught up.. lets get started with the Christmas version of that post.

Entertaining seems to be a prerequisite for the holidays. Whether you're hosting your family's Christmas feast, or you're just having a holiday dinner party with your girlfriends - Here's a few tricks and tips that'll have everyone noticing the table! [not to mention they'll notice your craftiness]

 Use extra ornaments to create a unique centerpiece like this.

 Spray paint pine cones for a centerpiece.

 Have extra boxes laying around that your not wrapping presents with? Wrap them up anyways and place them on the table as another type of centerpiece.

Speaking of extras... Wrap some candles up with candy canes and ribbon for table settings.

 Paint everyone's name on an ornament and use them as name tags for seats & place settings.

Turn wine glasses upside down and tie holiday ribbon around the stems for a simple place setting.

 Modern & Traditional ways to hold silverware settings.

[1] Cut a tree out of construction paper or felt to hold silverware

[2] Tie up a napkin and silverware with festive ribbon or twine

Already have plans for the table? Tie some extra large ribbon around the chairs with a bow in the back to make them more festive for the holidays!

For more ideas check out my [Winter Wonderland] pinterest board.  It has everything you could possibly think of for holiday decorating!

xo,

Tabletop Trends

I know I've been saying the holidays are right around the corner for a few weeks now, but lets get real.. they have been. But now it's crunch time. They're here.  There's no messing around. All that procrastinating that you've been doing to put off your "to-do" list for this thanksgiving has finally hit you. You've got a house full of people coming for a huge thanksgiving feast and the last thing on your mind is decorating the table for dinner. [OR] You just got home for thanksgiving break from school or from being a [successful post grad] and you realize that you need to help mom with the table situation cause it's not looking too hot.

Don't worry. I've got you covered. Here are some oh-so-simple ideas that can hopefully spark your imagination and bring out the craftiness in you! Get out your paint brushes and glitter cause these DIY tabletop trends won't break the bank either!

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Instead of just placing the silverware on a nicely folded napkin, why not tie each set up with a festive colored ribbon? Adds a nice touch I think!

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Need placemats? Cut up wrapping paper or old paper shopping bags! Not only good for a placemat, but a little way to share what you're all thankful for this weekend!

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Same idea but for the kids table - Cover the whole table in disposable paper and put crayons on display as a center piece. Keeps the little ones entertained and keeps the mess easy to clean up for later!

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Popcorn isn't just a snack anymore... Grab some candles and popcorn kernels and you'll have yourself the easiest centerpiece ever.

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Not sure what to do with those mini pumpkins or gourds from when you went pumpkin picking with the family? This is where the paintbrushes and glitter come in handy - Paint them white and create a center piece of your own!

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Change it up - Paint the pumpkins white & gold, add some candles, leaves, flowers or anything you see fit and get creative with the center of the table!

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Want to keep it simple? Line a bunch of candles down the center of the table and call it a day!  [I like the added touch of the gold napkin rings - keeps things interesting]

Do any of these ideas make you want to stop procrastinating in time to make you're table look festive for dinner?! Find some other budget friendly [tabletop trends] on my Pinterest board!

Happy Thanksgiving!!