// Springtime in Paris: DIY Decorative Pots

Spring is my favorite! Oh man, when things start turning green again, I get such a rush of motivation, inspiration, and excitement. I truly feel like I'm hitting refresh once the weather starts to break. Forget New Years! Give me Spring!

Since it's still incredibly gloomy and wet around Tennessee, I thought I should start infusing a little greenery around our house to get me pumped for the upcoming season. The challenge for the Michaels Makers this month was "Springtime in Paris" so it was the perfect opportunity to take a few of my favorite colors and add ALL THE PLANTS! I actually did about four different projects for this challenge, but in the end simplicity won out. The little pops of green around my workspace bring me too much joy to ignore.

What I did was incredibly easy and relatively quick. I just spray painted a few terra cotta pots that I picked up at Michaels and then I painted on some French phrases and doodles. The black chalkboard is a stark contrast to the white and pastel pink, but I feel like Parisian women are always so chic and decked out in black, so I went with it. Plus I love how matte it is next to the lighter two. If pink isn't your cup of tea, or you share your space with a less than pastel-compliant partner, you could totally do white, black, and red! These hues fit my workspace so perfectly though, so pink it (always) is! It reminds me of the cherry blossoms and floral stands on every corner. So dreamy!

Now for the more exciting (!!!) portion of this post: a super fun contest announcement! Michaels is giving one lucky winner (plus a guest) a trip of a lifetime! I'm talking a four-night trip for two to Paris, 1,000 euros, a VIP tour of the Louvre (!), and private classes including sketching, floral arranging, baking, and more! (Please don't enter... Like, none of you. Just forget I mentioned it. Because I'm entering and I really want to win! HA! Just kidding, but not really!) Okay, well, if you insist on tossing your hat into the ring, here's what you gotta do: Create your own Parisian-inspired art, floral, baking, or paper crafting project and upload a photo of it to Paris.Michaels.com now through March 31st. You can also share your project on social media using the hashtag #SpringtimeInParis. If you need a little inspiration to get the wheels turning in your head, check out a few of these project on the Springtime in Paris page at Michaels.com, or click through to any of the Michaels Makers posts below! (But really, no need to enter... ;P)

An InLinkz Link-up

// DIY (No Sew!) Burlap + Denim Throw Pillows

You know how in movies there is always that couple with the insane amount of throw pillows on their bed? They spent an insane amount of time taking them off, putting them away, and then arranging them back in place the next morning... and it all seems so ridiculous and unnecessary. We are that couple. Or I should say I am that "couple" haha! Mike couldn't care one way or the other if we had throw pillows, but me? I'm a little bit into them. I used to think throw pillows were so stupid and such a waste of space and money... now I like to change them out every season. February's Michaels Makers challenge was simply "denim," but I was surprisingly stumped. I had no idea how to incorporate denim into my home or crafts because it's typically not my go-to fabric. After Mike and I strolled around Michaels for a good bit of time, I found these burlap pillows. I thought about the denim ribbon I had seen and then lightbulb! I could make my own fun throw pillows!

Our bedroom is already a hodgepodge of textures and neutral colors, so I thought adding in a couple more pillows couldn't hurt. I realize we now have a lot of throw pillows so we'll probably put a couple away, but for this post they're all up there (with the exception of the one Mike made me for our 2nd wedding anniversary). 

When I decided to do the pillows, I thought I'd do one more "masculine" and one more "feminine," that way there was a bit of balance on the bed. (Ha! Balance! Because all of the pink and florals and ruffles can be balanced...) When I found the big denim bow in the Make Market section, I immediately threw it in my buggy and was determined to find a way to use it. Even if I didn't use it for this project, I wanted to use it somewhere. It was too cute to deny. I also found the thicker denim ribbon with the lace overlay and that's when I put the two together to create a pillow. I picked up two different colors of thinner denim ribbon and thought a waffle weave pattern would be cute to try. Mike ended up deciding on the asymmetrical look of it and I like how they contrast each other but are both made on the diagonal. (Word to the wise: If you decide to use the thinner ribbon like this, grab some fray check! I didn't have any on hand and boy oh boy, it shed like crazy!)

You can use a variety of supplies to adhere the denim to the pillows. A couple of options include hot glue (I did this as a test, and it worked well enough, but obviously wouldn't hold up to washing. To be honest I'm not sure if anything would?) and hem tape (my preferred choice). Of course you could also go the traditional route by sewing the pieces down. The burlap covers have a small zipper on the bottom so you can slide the pillow form out, but I couldn't manage to navigate the covers on my sewing machine without having to cut up the sides. If you wanted to hand sew a line or just tack them down in various places, that could really make it last. Now that I have them both done, I'll likely go back and tack down the edges here and there because I really do love how they look. I could've just done that from the beginning, but I guess I like to take the scenic route haha

Despite struggling with the theme of the challenge in the beginning, I'm really happy with the end result. I had no intention on creating pillows from the start, but I'm glad it lead me in that direction! If you pop into your local Michaels you'll see the new Make Market line which is full of denim, chalkboard, burlap, cork, and galvanized items and I seriously want all of it! I'm going to drop in Saturday to pick up a few more pieces and I'm definitely planning on stocking up on some goodies.

Happy Monday! xo

An InLinkz Link-up

// Bunny Ear Baby Teether DIY

The nesting instinct has kicked in full throttle as of late, and I've been trying to be as productive as I can on all ends of the spectrum. I've been perusing Etsy lately looking for unique toys for the nursery and I stumbled upon some cloth teething rings. They looked so incredibly simple to make so I thought I'd give it a go. Even though Baby Flynn won't be using these for quite some time, I wanted to get a head start on some simple DIYs because who knows if I'll even be up to thinking about doing them once he's here. These are seriously so easy to do and they take about 5 minutes each (if that!)... and the best part? They're so cheap to make! Since they take such little amounts of fabric I've been tearing through my scraps to make some and even sending them to a few friends who are expecting. I love that I can just toss the fabric part in the wash and scrub the wooden rings with some soap and water in order for them to be good as new again.

SUPPLIES:

+ Sewing maching
+ 1/4 yd. fabric (organic cotton is great for this!)
+ Wooden teething rings (I bought mine on Etsy)
+ Thread
+ Scissors
+ This handy template (Optional. I printed mine on 8.5x11" cardstock + cut on the fold)*

INSTRUCTIONS:

Step One: Since I only had 8.5x11" cardstock available at home, I opted to print my template* at 100%, but "in half" so I could cut on the fold. (Do not scale the image to fit your paper - If the template gives you trouble,  just cut a 14" x 3" rectangle [or 7" x 3" on the fold like I did] and shape the ends however you prefer!) Because my paper was smaller than my template, I just doubled over my fabric and made sure the short end of my pattern piece was on the fold. Since I had really sharp scissors I was actually able to cut both pattern pieces at the same time (Your fabric should be 4 layers thick to do this!) This way I ended up with 2 perfectly uniform 14x3" pieces of cut fabric. Win/win!

Step Two: I placed the wrong sides of the fabric together and started my stitch in the middle of the longest side. I used a 1/4" seam allowance. I sewed all of the sides together, but left a 1" opening in the middle of the longest side so I could turn my fabric piece right side out. Once I had the fabric right side out, I poked the seam so it'd be flat and then I ironed the whole thing. This makes it easier to sew up the little gap. You can choose to do a slip-stitch or you can keep it simple by just running a topstitch around the entire fabric piece.

Step Three: After the fabric piece is sewn, fold it in half and slip it through one side of the wooden ring. Then take the "bunny ears" and loop them through the center part of the ring. Once you pull tight your teether will start taking shape. You can iron the bunny ears of your teether one last time to make them nice and crisp looking. Voila! You have a teether! Told you it was simple...

I opted to do a fatter, rounder top on the mint polka dot teether and I love how cute they all look together. I wish I had ordered more wooden rings but now that I know how simple it is to make these, I plan on cranking them out like crazy! They make the perfect little "happy" for babies of friends and family. And since they're so inexpensive and easy to make, I won't be heartbroken when they inevitably get lost.

Let me know if you decide to give it a whirl! I'd love to see what you come up with (and the fabrics you choose!) Happy Tuesday! xo

* I used the full/original template in my photos, but opted to upload a smaller version to cut on the fold so you don't have to mess with your printer's cropping settings! If you have any questions about the template, please leave them below! You can just wing it with a 14" x 3" cut if you prefer!

// Project Nursery: v.1

We finally said goodbye to our gorgeous, glittery and pink geometric wall last week. If Baby Flynn had been a girl, we would have undoubtedly kept it. But even since we're bringing a little dude into the world, we couldn't really part with the fun look and feel of a mosaic wall. Rather than scrap the idea all together, we decided to channel the nursery theme around a much more subtle and masculine geometric design. The best part? This project is so budget friendly. The whole thing cost us less than $20!

Now, I've received a lot of questions about how we got the glitter off the original wall, and I'm happy to report it was much easier than we expected! It still took some elbow grease, but a spritzing bottle of warm, soapy water and a putty knife did the trick. After we got all of the glitter off the wall and then off the floor, Mike painted over the pink design with Kilz primer. I busied myself elsewhere for that portion since the fumes are pretty tough. After that he threw down a layer of satin white so the lines would match the finish of the geometrics, and then it was time to tape! If you remember from our original wall, we used regular FrogTape in the .94" size. Last time we had some issues of it rolling up on us, but this time around was perfect! We seriously couldn't have asked for better lines. 

I've also been asked a few times if there's a rhyme or reason to the way we tape the shapes. The simple answer: Nope! The longer answer: We try to do the longer/larger lines first, to sort of set the stage on the wall. Then we break those down into smaller lines. We put more time and effort into the execution this time around, but I think both walls turned out great (I'm totally biased). We didn't use any glitter this time since I didn't want it to get stuck all over everything in the nursery, but we'll be adding some extra color to the room with the accessories. 

If you're still interested in giving a geo wall a whirl, here are a few tips and tricks I'd recommend employing in order to help you get the best results:

1. Run your fingers over either side of the tape after you put it down. This will push out any wrinkles or bubbles that might have formed while placing. If you don't do this, you run the risk of getting paint caught under them and then ruining your crisp, white line.
2. After everything is taped, choose your middle color and then mark the shapes you want to be in that hue. We did this by taking small pieces of FrogTape and marking them. Mike was able to start painting the first color while I worked on figuring out what color was next.
3. When picking colors, get three colors from the same paint swatch for the best results. Of course that's if you want a cohesive ombre color palette. Loads of people have used our original tutorial with contrasting colors and it turned out great. We just greatly prefer the coordinating hues. (Our middle grey is the exact color of our other 3 walls in the nursery. This made it feel really cohesive overall)
4. Allow the paint to dry for roughly an hour or two, then remove the tape. Try not to leave it on longer than you have to. It's way easier to pull off when the paint is just sticky enough to release, but not so tacky it pulls with the tape. Last time I said ~15 minutes or so, but I think we had a better experience this time around.
5. Try not to work from left to right or top to bottom with the paint. Step back and view your wall from across the room and pick shapes here and there to mark. This will ensure you have a better balance of colors at the end of the project.
6. If you're only doing one wall, buy the Valspar paint samples! They're $4 each and 3 of them did our entire wall. That's only $12 spent! (We only have 8' ceilings, but you could make it work with 10' ceilings as well) This does not have to be an expensive undertaking!
7. If you want to know the Valspar colors we used, they were: Cinder Block, Rocky Slope, and Cathedral Gray (from lightest to darkest).

Now that we have this tiny little bit of the nursery done, I'm excited to try and dive in deeper. It's hard to do much when you don't have the first piece of furniture, but I'm holding out hope we can spring for the items on our dream list. We printed the first pieces of "art" for his room this past weekend and now I just need it to all fall together. It'd be nice if it were that simple, right?

I'm working on a nursery moodboard right now and it's focused around the theme of his room. I'll be sure to share it soon, along with our ultimate nursery wishlist! That way y'all can chime in let me know if you have any experience with any of the brands or products! I'm going into this totally blind haha

Thanks for reading! xo

// DIY Geometric Paint + Glitter Wall

Okay! I'm so stoked on how excited y'all were about our geometric glitter wall! Seriously I've been dying to share this project since we did it and it's so easy! I think everyone should have a glitter wall in their house but I'm obviously super biased so whatever. Let's talk about a few things first, yeah?

Before you dive head first into adhering glitter to your walls, ask yourself these questions:

1. Are you the type of person who will go bonkers if you have glitter stuck to you after 3 days/showers?
2. Does the thought of finding more glitter in your bra than on the wall freak you out?
3. Does the room you want the glitter wall in have carpet?

If you answered yes to any of those questions, you might be best just sticking to the geometric flat paint or opting for a glitter paint (Martha Stewart has one!). You can get around #3 by laying down a slick dropcloth (don't do a canvas/fabric one!) but seriously, don't blame me if you're stuck with glitter in your carpet forever! That's my disclaimer! Real glitter ends up looking so much better than a glitter paint in my opinion.

But really, you will find glitter everywhere. In your bra. In your hair. On your eyelids. And quite possibly your underwear. I don't know how it got there either. Maybe wear a turtleneck if it gives you the heebie jeebies. Picking tiny pieces of glitter off of yourself for a week is so worth it! I promise.

Okay... now the part you've been waiting for! Let's get geometric!

I was totally serious when I said this wall cost us around $15. Granted we had the glitter and ModPodge already, but it doesn't take much at all. We painted an 8x11' wall and had plenty of paint leftover afterward. We picked a Valspar paint swatch with 3 colors on it and just had the lady at Lowes mix up a sample size ($3!) of each color. We knew these shades would work well together since they came from the same swatch card. (Our colors are: Baby Blush, Peach Whisper, and Peach Punch)

SUPPLIES:
Satin finish paint in the colors of your choosing (we used 3 colors + a metallic spray paint)
ModPodge (Gloss)
Glitter
Foam brush
Aluminum pie plate (or paper plate)
Frogtape (we used .94")

INSTRUCTIONS:

Get crazy with your Frogtape! Whatever shapes and lines you want, slap that sticky stuff on! We had no rhyme or reason to our design, but we started with larger diagonal lines and then just built off of them. To be honest it's sort of a blind project where you have no idea how it'll turn out until it's done. We were skeptical, too, but now we are believers!

Once you've laid your Frogtape down, decide what color will be your "median" color and paint those first. We painted our medium pink to start, then we painted the lighter and darker shade at the same time. We just eyeballed what we thought would look good and went for it. You can always fill "holes" with the median color, too. You'll start to see how it all works together once you get 2/3 of your wall painted.

Our photos are a little out of order considering we opted to do gold spray paint on a few shapes first. The metallic paint fell a little flat for us so that's where the glitter came in. If you want to do the spray paint, just be sure to cover up the shapes around it with paper first. The smell of spray paint in your home should be enough to make you not want to do it, but hey, it's a lesson learned! All ideas can't be good ideas, right?

Be sure to pull off the Frogtape about 10-15 minutes after you finish the last color. This way the paint is still a little pliable if you need to fix it a bit. The Frogtape did a good job for us but there were a few small spots we needed to touch up afterward.

Let your paint dry for several hours before attempting the glitter portion. It gets messy and you don't want the glitter falling into the other colors.

NOW! THE GLITTER! (Sweep your floor if you have hardwood! This way you can just sweep up the glitter and reuse it if needed) Grab some more Frogtape and tape around the shapes you want glittered. It worked out well for us because our base was also gold so it didn't matter if the coverage wasn't even. If you can, I recommend matching the base paint and glitter, but it's not the end of the world if you don't! Now, dip your foam brush in the ModPodge and give your wall shape a good coating of it. Not super thin, but also not so thick that it's runny. As soon as you do the ModPodge on one shape, dump some glitter in your pie plate and fold it up a little bit. (You don't have to fold it like I did, but I noticed it made a huge difference in the coverage on the wall!) Start at the bottom of your shape and blow the glitter onto the wall, moving side to side and upwards. You'll have to do it a couple of times for each shape, but don't worry, it's amazing how much it'll cover! Repeat as necessary on the amount of shapes you want and voila! Remove the Frogtape and you have you a fancy, sparkly, glittered wall!

Hopefully that was easy enough to follow! I know many of you expressed your excitement at making a geometric glitter wall of your own. I've read so many awesome color palette ideas! I think the mint ombre + silver might be my favorite! (Well, second to my own of course haha!) Mike and I said that if we ever have a little boy we're totally going to do this with a grey wall. (And if we have a girl then voila! We've already got part of the nursery done! Dreaming way ahead there...!) Let me know if you end up giving it a go. I'd love to see some shots of your own walls! Good luck! xo

// DIY Wooden Multi-Purpose Box (Picnics! Tools! Crafts!)

Mike has been wanting to build himself a handy little wooden toolbox for some time now, but we finally got around to it a few weeks ago. The best part? The only thing we had to buy for this project was the dowel rod! We had a lot of scrap wood as usual, so we were able to cut all of the pieces out of our overstock. When we realized how easy it was to make one of these little guys, Mike popped outside for about 5 minutes and then came back in with one for Toby, too! Aren't they so cute when placed side by side? If a toolbox isn't your cup of tea, don't worry! You can also use this wooden box for: craft storage and transport, picnics, craft shows, book or vinyl storage, etc. There are so many options for what this little box can do. Aside from the staining the finished piece, construction should average about 15 or 20 minutes! It's a super fast DIY and you don't need any fancy equipment either.

Material List:

One six foot 1x10

One six foot 1x3

One 48 inch 1 1/8" dowel rod

1 1/4" (1.25") nails

Two 2 1/2" screws

Wood Glue

Cut List:

Two 15" 1x10s

One 17" 1x10

Four 17" 1x3s

One 17" dowel rod

ONE: After you have all of the pieces cut, the first thing you need to do is shape your two end pieces. Take one of your 15" 1x10s and start marking off for your cuts. For our design we decided we wanted a 3" top. We also decided, based on how we wanted our side slats to be spaced, that the cut would start 8" from the bottom. 

For the top you will find the center of your board and put a mark 1 1/2" (1.5") out on each side. Now you should have a mark on each side 8" from the bottom and two marks for your 3" top. Take a straight edge and draw a line between those marks on each side. Now cut both sides. I used a jig saw, but you could just as easily use a circular saw or even a hand saw if thats all you have. 

TWO: For each of your joints you'll want to use a little wood glue, so just run a small bead like this before you nail it in place. Make sure to wipe off excess glue that seeps out because it will not accept stain later on. (A good rule of thumb for this project is to put wood glue on every board that touches another board. You'll then nail those meetings in place.)

THREE: Start by nailing your two side pieces to your bottom piece (17" 1x10)

FOUR: Next put in your first row of side slats (17" 1x3). Nail them in from both the sides and the bottom. 

FIVE: For the next row of slats we decided we wanted the bottom of the top slat to be placed 1 1/2" (1.5") above the top of the bottom slat. So place a mark on each side, line up your board and nail it in place. It helps to get your nail started then line up your board and drive it the rest of the way in. 

SIX: Now it's time to attach the handle. We wanted to use a couple of screws on the handle since thats what will be holding up all the weight. We put the top of the handle 1" down from the top. Just make a mark 1" down centered from the top of each side so that you can line up your handle while you screw it in place.

Now you have a (basically) finished tool box. 

Wait for your glue to dry and then you can sand everything down to get it ready for stain or paint. We used Minwax stain in Red Oak for ours, but any paint or stain would be fine. 

SEVEN: We applied our stain by just wiping it on with an old rag, then we added a finishing wax to shine it up a bit. This is totally optional, but we liked the final result. Now your tool box is ready for any and every occasion! Load it up with your favorite tools, pack it up for a craft night with your girlfriends, or fill it full of yummy bites for a family picnic. You'll be amazed at how handy this little toolbox can be! (You can even finagle it to be a planter or use it for a craft show set up!)

There are so many ways to use this handy little toolbox! I even loaded it up full of pears from our tree in the backyard and took them to some friends I was meeting for dinner. It was a much more stylish way of carrying 10+ pounds of fruit, ya know? I didn't to fiddle with plastic bags or anything like that. Plus I can't get over how adorable Toby's little toolbox is! You can make the sides any size or shape you want as long as the edges where the side slats meet are flat/straight. I'm already dreaming up a few different designs! Maybe I'll make one or two of them and share the finished product on the blog :)

Let me know if you end up making one! I promise you won't be disappointed. xo