Wednesday, March 30, 2011

Photo Fun: Iris

This purple beauty showed up and surprised me the other day! I had no idea how many iris' there are in my backyard!

Snagged some time this afternoon to enjoy the warm sunlight in my yard, and take some pictures.
Enjoy!


And it becomes my tropical paradise...


*Favorite* :)

*I love the pattern of the dark lines in the back. Very exotic*


The beauty of nature never fails to amaze and inspire me

Tuesday, March 29, 2011

Pillow Talk

There are some really great pillows out there! Here are some on Etsy I am really drooling over! I'm thinking I am going to make some pillows soon, but I like to look around and get ideas for the things I want.

Peacock tree pillow

Pop garden large daisy pillow

Retro leaf pillow

Purple with birds and branches

Nautical Reef Throw Pillow

Colorful Birds Pillow cover


Can you tell I'm into the whole retro deal?
I am totally digging all the color! That is what spring and summer are about- brighter days, and brighter colors!

Its the small things in life...

Yesterday I was blessed with my afternoon class being canceled. My teacher was sick (so sorry for him) but that meant that I had a whole afternoon off, and it was a sunny, beautiful day! I hung out in my yard, and then worked a little around the house, which included some small little changes around the living room.

This is the left side of the couch, and it previously had no table at all. It is a dark corner of the living room, and there is a closet just to the left of the picture which really limits space. I have been on the look out for an end table that I can put there, but in the meantime I really needed something to fill the space. This cute little table came with the house- some previous renter left it- and it works for the time being. I am also in need of a lamp for this corner, so I am on the look out for that as well.

This little tray and the decor I just moved over from the other end table on the other side of the couch. I really love the layout of this sweet thing, and didn't feel it needed a change of any kind.

This is the other end table. The white metal candle holder also came with the house- and up until now it was sitting outside. I cleaned it up a bit, and added it here!

The lamp here is one that I made over a while back- I'm still in love with it!

This is where my TV is at right now. I love the dresser- it was given to me from a friend and my boyfriend and I gave it a little makeover. Oh, and pardon the cords in the backround- you like how we still have christmas lights in our living room?! We decided that the ambiance ruled out for a while over the tackiness. I will get over this once we get a lamp on the left side of the couch... Anyways, the dresser is nice and simple, but I added a smidge of pizzaz!

I don't have 4 green knobs, but I do have two! I thought it looked better, cause now you can actually see the knobs! I just need to see if I can find two more to finish off the look!
This pic, I am actually show-casing my curtains too... You like? I scored them at Cost Plus! Its layered with one pattern, one blue on each side of the window.

I really need to paint in here... and clean up those cords! It is a terrible sight!

Here is a close up of the knobs. I like how the green ones are the same color, but they are a different shape. I think I am going to work with that, and look for some with the same color but another shape- maybe square or something (if I can find them).


I love how I can just do some small things around my house, and feel totally satisfied! I love change, and I really love to rearrange, but I don't always want to do my entire house when I get a little bored. This is a perfect solution for me- something small and simple! Do you do the same?

Monday, March 28, 2011

Spring...

Is it here yet?!
I am wanting it so bad, I decided to make a little Spring of my own for my house... It has helped break up the study sessions, and the homework cramming I have been doing non-stop!


This new Crochet obsession of mine is really taking over my life at this point! I am having so much fun doing it, and I have tons of cool projects tucked away for when I have time.

The past couple months (or year really) I have come to find out a lot about myself. I am blossoming as a person, and an artist. I have new passions in life, and I have new aspirations as well- which is driving me in many different directions. I love it!

These flowers are for another couple projects I am working on, and I laid them on a blanket I have been working on for months! It is slowly coming along, and I can't wait to curl up with it on the couch and have the soft, warm, fuzziness cover my entire body...

Flowers are in bloom all over my backyard right now, bringing lots of photo opportunities, and inspiration into my life.

How are you welcoming spring?

Recycled cereal box Sunburst mirror

I have literally been working on this mirror for weeks now. I started it a while ago, and then got busy and wasn't able to work on it- but it is finally done! I got the directions from Under the Table and Dreaming, and it was very simple to follow and make my own masterpiece!


When I finished it, I decided it felt a little retro to me, so I went with it, and gathered up random things to complete the vignette in my bedroom. Here are a couple different things I came up with, from start to finish.

This owl feels retro, but it blended in with the wall a little too well...

Aren't the shadows of the mirror fun?! I love how they create the look of a whole other layer.

Milk glass seemed like a good idea, with some retro fabric, but it wasn't screaming at me...





I finally settled on this setup with my glass dish, and some bangles in it with the plant, milk glass vase, and a pic of me and my honey ;) While I don't love this setup either, I was getting tired of standing around and thinking so hard about it- it will come to me in time :)


Well worth the wait! Glad I decided to finish this one up, and I love how it looks paired with my other DIY'd sunburst mirror. I am thinking about making another one of some sort (different from these two) so I have a cluster of three. I already have the mirror, so be prepared!


Tuesday, March 22, 2011

An apology and explanation

I feel the need to apologize to all my readers... I used to post (or try) daily- sometimes twice a day! Lately, my schedule has been super busy, and I am spending all my free time doing homework or studying. I know, lame right! My personal and social life are severely lacking too... Anyways, I haven't been posting at all lately, but I wanted you all to know that its just for a little bit, until I calm down- until my schedule calms down- and then hopefully I will be back to posting more often. Its lame, cause as soon as I got new followers, I got busy! I haven't even had time to do crafts or decorating or anything which has been hard on me.

Okay, sorry- enough whining...

Wednesday, March 16, 2011

Some new projects...

This new obsession I have developed with crochet is starting to take on a whole new level! I find myself actually dreaming and daydreaming about it on a daily basis. My thoughts are all jumbled with excitement and just bubbling out-I can do some pretty amazing things with this new hobby of mine! I have been trying my knack at a couple of different things lately, and I thought I would share a few of my latest things...

Let me know what you think! ;)



I was originally going to go somewhere a little different with this one, but my boyfriend convinced me to do this instead. I'm still going to do the other one, but the both of us were pretty stoked on this one. He designed it, and I made it. It fits his head perfect and is pretty cozy! I think with this yarn though, I need to use a larger stitch to make it a little softer looking. But I could also keep it nice and tight and make a little bowl- for keys or jewlery, or any other random things...

This reminds me of a hostess cupcake or something!

The next thing I wanted to try was jewelry, and with a much much smaller hook and string.
This is what I ended up with...

I watched a video on YouTube-Earrings by Teresa- it was super simple! I already had the earring part, and I love how light they are! I thought it was challenging to work with such a small hook and such a small string size, but in the end I really enjoyed it!

After I made the earrings, I was on a roll and made up this design for a ring...

I used the same base as the earrings, and then just made up how I thought you could do the ring part.

You can be sure you are going to see more of these bad boys in the future!

Its not perfect, but heck, for my 6th project its pretty damn good! I love the satisfaction and reward for putting a couple hours, or even a couple of minutes, of concentration and focus into something I am so proud of. The creative juices are a flowin'!

Friday, March 11, 2011

Crochet Beanie with Flowers

I crocheted a beanie! So incredibly proud of myself for this! It wasn't as hard as I was expecting, and it didn't really take that long!

I followed directions from a video on YouTube, and found it to be very helpful. Although, the size of this one is a little bit more snug than I would have liked, so I might just need to give it away some someone with a smaller head, and make myself another one!

I love the flower embellishments! It reminds me of vintage hats from the 20's or something.


I know what I am doing this year for the holidays! Everybody I know is going to get a beanie for Christmas this year!


This is such a great hobby, and I am so excited that I am understanding all the little things easily. It is keeping me busy, and entertained- I couldn't ask for anything more!

Crochet Knoted Headband


I had the day off yesterday, and for once I didn't have to fill it doing homework or studying! Instead, I learned more about crochet and made a couple things I am quite proud of! Here is one of them, but this one didn't really require a whole lot of crochet. It was simply a couple really long chains, knotted together to make a headband- I used this tutorial from You Seriously Made That!?.

I love to wear headbands, but I have a hard time wearing them for any long length of time cause they pinch my head and give me a headache. Thats why I am in love with this one- it is so soft and comfortable to wear that I can keep it on all day.


I love the way the ribbon looks at the bottom! Especially since I have short hair, you can see the ribbon hanging at my neck- I think it looks super cute!

My bangs were being challenging this morning, which is why I have that ugly hair-clip there :)


I most definitely see more of these in my near future!

Thursday, March 10, 2011

Tropical Getaway

I'm not actually going anywhere, just enjoying the colors, and the feel of tropical decor lately. I love a relaxing environment!



Its all about the plants and trees in your house...



Are you as ready as I am for a tropical getaway?