Ombré Art DIY

Inspired by this DIY on a lovely blog called Two Delighted (which of course I found on Pinterest), I decided to take a canvas I had on hand and turn it into a personal piece of art.

As the blog said originally, there are no real step-by-step instructions for this DIY. Basically, if you start with a darker paint color and keep adding white paint to it, the ombré effect will happen naturally. 

It was fun, actually painting and getting results because let's face it, I am no artist. My dad was a for real artist (paints, easels and everything), and I always dreamt of having that talent... but no dice. I just don't have the kind of creativity that can turn nothing into something with a flick of my wrist and a palette of paint. I wish!!

But anyway - my ombré art: it's simple, it's not flashy.... and I love it. I'm happy! :)

Gallery Wall

I'm not gonna lie, I've been feeling pretty glum about the state of my living room recently. Well more like I think it's glum. It's boring. It's decorated in a broad color spectrum of beige, brown, white and more beige. *yawn*. 

Here's a picture of my living room about a month after we moved in. 

Not much has changed since this picture was taken. The couch has been pushed back and now my husband's desk is in the back corner. And we have a new tv? Other than that, samesville. 

I decided quickly that I don't necessarily want to repaint....the beige walls aren't my biggest irritation with the room. A beige wall isn't the enemy. It's the insane lack of color. Brown blinds, white trim, brown table, brown couch, brown clock... I could go on. 

What I decided to do was inject color slowly. I bought bright blue and green pillows on clearance at target, to go with the existing burnt orange pillows I've had since we got married. That wasn't enough though. I began looking around my house for things I could swap out and place in my living room. I remembered that my sister in law had bought me durable paper coasters in Katie Daisy prints. I saw a project on Pinterest that involved an old picture frame, string, mini clothespins and Instagram prints. I immediately decided that this was the perfect idea for the coasters, since I knew right off the bat that I wasn't going to put drinks on them. 

I just love how it turned out. Everyone told me how cute and creative it was when I shared it on Facebook and I was so happy that it brought in pops of color to my beige walls. 

I had a big empty space on the other side of the window that was still calling my name. It was so empty and boring. 

 

I would eventually like to get a taller bookshelf to house all of our books, but in the meantime we have condensed it to just as many books that fit in the 3 shelves. 

My friend Carrie and I had started talking about gallery walls, and I knew I wanted to do one eventually. I just wasn't sold on how much I would probably end up spending on frames and Etsy prints. 

One night, I just caved. I have a large box of random picture frames that I've collected over the years and never used. I started picking out frames that looked good together and matching them with prints I made myself and scrapbook papers that I love.

 

I think it turned out awesome.

I took some close up pictures of the pieces I love the most:

Coaster Art

Oh. Hey. Is anyone there?

Probably not. It's been like 18 years since I've logged into this blog.

Whoops.

Excuses such as "life got busy" or "I had to focus on me" don't apply here. I wasn't busy. I focus on me quite a lot. I just stopped caring. For a while, I was living in a basement and all of my crafts were boxed away in storage. Then we bought a house and sure, things did get crazy. But we didn't do any major updates to the house that I thought would have been blog-worthy. We mostly painted and moved in.

I've done crafty things since... but nothing I felt warranted a blog post. I don't even really think this does, based on how little time and resources it took me to complete it. Buuuuut, I think it turned out perfectly and exactly how I imagined it. And cost me literally $2.99 to make. The best!!!

I took apart an old print so that I could use the frame. It actually took a screwdriver to pop out staples and some serious patience, but it worked out. Part of me wanted to take out the glass, but I think it helps preserve the coasters a little better since they aren't exposed to the elements.

(This is a bad picture of the frame before I destroyed it.)

I then measured out string that I already had on hand and stapled it into the back of the frame, making sure they were taut. 

The only money came from the mini clothespins - I think I spent $2.99 on a bag of 50 from Hobby Lobby.

The coasters were a gift from my sister in law for my birthday last year. The artist is Katie Daisy, and if you aren't familiar with her work, I strongly suggest checking out her Etsy shop and buying everything. These coasters are actually manufactured by Drinkblots and are called 'Life is Beautiful'.

After about 5 minutes of work, I now have a completely one-of-a-kind statement piece that features my favorite artist AND breaks up the monotony of my beige walls.

I'm officially in love!

Let your coasters do all the talking! (warning: curse words)

Don't you just get SO CHEESED OFF when you're hosting a slammin' party and then BAM! you find yourself in a tough situation where you didn't want to come across as rude, but damn it if you haven't told your soon-to-be-ex-friend A MILLION TIMES not to put her drink on your coffee table?!?! I mean, come on!

She isn't the one that is going to have to get those pesky rings from hell off (though I'm sure there's some crafty solution on Pinterest) or be told by her husband that me and my friends are the reason we can't have nice things. No way. That's all me.

Well, I've come up with a solution. A super awesome and passive aggressive solution. 

Let your coasters do all the talking!!

Actually, I can't take all the credit for these. My friend Cayse has coasters with these sayings that she originally bought from Urban Outfitters about a million years ago. The only link I could find is this one. They are paper doily coasters and to make them more durable, she reinforced them onto pieces of cork and sprayed them with sealer.

I thought they were perfect, and my husband thought they were funny, albeit tacky. Even better.

I vowed that night (as she handed me "no one likes a hot mess" and I pondered the significance) that these would soon grace my coffee table.

Fast-forward like 3 months, because that's just how I do things. Ridiculously slow.

I opened up Publisher, found some fonts I love and got to work. I left out "be considerate, bitches" only because I only had 4 tiles to work with. I'll probably add that one eventually. (read: most likely in 3 more months)

I then decided they needed some pretty scrapbook paper, because what made the original coasters so amazing was that they were doilies. Like, how more prim and proper can you get than doilies?? So I chose this bright floral paper that just screamed girly. I attached some washi tape to two of the coasters, but didn't like how it looked with the other two, so I nixed it. That's the best part of these, they are rough. The ink on one smeared when I put on the first coat of mod podge. I didn't want them to be perfect. I'm literally calling you an asshole and a douchebag and implying you have worse manners than a skank. LITERALLY.

So yeah, then I just mod podged the hell out of them. I think I used 3 coats, but they definitely should be sealed as well. Maybe when I make the other coaster. In like, 3 months. ;)

 

In keeping with my inappropriate, child-unfriendly craft day, I also made this canvas that has found a home in my craft room. It's just wrapping paper hot glued to canvas with black glitter stickers. I was going to paint the whole canvas and take the stickers off, but decided I loved it too much to mess it up. 

And it's a great message. Don't be mediocre. 

DO EPIC SHIT!

Clean & Dirty

Taking a cue from my good friend Cayse (not to mention smart), I decided to make cute little 'clean' and 'dirty' signs for our dishwasher!

 

Joey and I are constantly saying, "hey is this clean or dirty?" before getting a cup or looking for that specific knife (that somehow always is dirty). 

All I did was buy 2 little frames with magnets already attached. I actually found these in the Dollar Spot at Target tonight, so for $1 a piece, I am not complaining. For my signs, I just used scrapbook supplies that I had on hand. Just cute letter stickers and fun borders, cut to fit the frame. I just mounted it all on white printer paper and slid them in the frames. So easy!

Now we have an organizational system that is cute, but also super functional. I just unloaded the dishwasher, so I slapped on the 'dirty' sign and all is good in the world!

Crafting

Here are some crafty things I've made recently!

Missouri Love / via Pinterest / original source

Embroidery Hoop Pockets / via Pinterest / original source

 

I'm sure I found this on Pinterest originally, but this is mostly just a jar covered in scrapbook paper, vellum & baker's twine.

  

Yarn Wreath with felt flowers / my original post / flower tutorial

And then, because I am obsessed... and my room is no longer this clean, I just wanted to share pictures of the rest of my craft room. I am a firm believer that everyone needs one of these.

 

Moving Day!

Today was moving day for the hubs and me. We moved out of our tiny 1 bed, 1 bath apartment in the city into my in-laws basement in the suburbs. Not bad really, we have the same amount of space as we had in the apartment, and most of our stuff is actually in storage, so it's not too terribly cramped down here.

We are still waiting to hear back from the bank on if our offer on this amazing house we found got accepted. The sellers accepted our offer, but since it's a short sale we have to get the bank's approval as well. Our realtor is calling on the 8th for an update, but we probably won't hear back until late June or early July. I have never been a patient person, so this is EXCRUCIATING. My sister said it best when she asked, "Why is it called a short sale if it takes so long?!" Amen, sister. Amen.

Luckily today went well. We had beeeeautiful weather for the move this morning and plenty of friends and family willing to help. Then we had a fun, relaxing afternoon with Lisa and Chris, Joey's cousin (and my friend) and her fiance. We got snocones (cool things in huts!) and the boys played xbox on Chris' enormous TV.

We've spent tonight unpacking our clothes and getting our computers in order (priorities!). The TV is already turned on ESPN as well, but Joey is quick to point out that it's only in standard definition.

This is going to be a long 2 months. ;)

 

  

 

 

 

teehee ^^

Recently...

I have been a little AWOL recently.. it's been quite an eventful week and a half.

Joey and I put an offer down on a condo, and it was accepted! Only..... the condo association wasn't FHA approved. So even though we were pre approved and the seller accepted our offer, we couldn't get the condo without getting a conventional loan. It was a big let down, but now we are looking at bigger and better things! We have a list of houses that we are super interested in, and our realtor is taking us to see them on Saturday! I am excited... so here's hoping things work out!

In other news, my father is in the hospital. We found he had a heart attack last week and since then, he has been under doctor's care while his body is reacting to the heart attack. I am not going to get into details, but your thoughts are appreciated.

I have taken a few pictures during the week, so I thought I would share them with you below. Enjoy!




Left: Starbucks on our anniversary :) // Right: Chinese food for dinner

Left: The first warm day of the year // Right: Ethyl's for a friend's birthday.. I love this picture!

Left: Girl scout cookie time. YES! // Right: Adorable spring time wreath my sister in law made!

Left: Awesome nail color.. so bright! // Right: Apparently I'm confused about the weather. ha!

[photoaday] Days 24 & 25

For days 24 and 25, I was to show you the inside of my bathroom cabinet and then find something that's the color green.

Instead, I took a tour of my bathroom because the decor is green! I hope you enjoy.. it's not that exciting, and bathrooms are kind of strange to be showing off.

But I promise you that it was clean when I took these pictures!

The inside of our linen closet. These are not the only towels we own, I just hadn't finished laundry yet.

One of my better organizational days. I went to Dollar Tree and bought plastic baskets to put our crap in. Now I have a basket for all of my girly things, Joey has one for his manly things, one is full of soaps and lotions, and one has unmentionables and my fingernail polish.

Our pretty shower curtain. I actually had just bought it the night before on a whim. I love the bold print and the gray/green combination. And that rug! SO luxurious feeling on your toesies.

This is our other catch-all for junk. The top has all my perfumes, and the black cubbies have our go-to cold medicines, allergy pills, Icy Hot, etc. Don't worry, they aren't full.

Just relax ;)

The vanity. I wish this was bigger, but I guess I can't complain. It serves it's purpose! One of the things that I love about my apartment is just how white everything is. It just looks so fresh!

Do you see me being awkward and not wanting to be in the picture? Yeah, that's me!

The linen closet. And my mortal enemy, the scale.

So as you can tell, my bathroom looks like this always and if you just randomly come over one day it will be spotless for you. KIDDING, NO IT WON'T. Please don't do that!

Keep coming back every day this month to see my #photoaday grow!

(you can also follow me on Instagram (@kerrywoah), or on Webstagram here!)

[photoaday] Days 18 & 19

Day 18. Drink

This is a pretty boring picture. But on Saturday, Joey and I were running errands and stopped by Subway for lunch. Yum!

Right now, any regular footlong is $5, so I got a sweet onion chicken teriyaki on wheat bread with tons of veggies. Joey of course got his Italian BMT on monterey cheddar bread with little to no veggies. ;)

Next month, their special $5 footlong is Jalapeno Tuna. Really? Yuck.

Day 19. Something I Hate to Do

I hhhhhaaaaaaaate most household chores. Cleaning the bathroom. Dishes. Laundry. Well, no actually I like laundry. I just hate my personal habit of doing a million loads and then waiting to hang them all up at once. It's daunting and I kind of just don't and then wear slightly wrinkled clothes. True fact.

But I hate making my bed. This comforter is HEAVY. It's a king size for our queen sized bed, but it's just made of industrial material or something. Annoying. But it's so pretty! I snagged it on clearance awhile back from Target; it was from their Missoni collection. The colors are pretty muted instead of vibrant (which I normally go for), but the underside is a gorgeous purple color that I couldn't pass up!

I adore it.

But I hate making it!

Keep coming back every day this month to see my #photoaday grow!
(you can also follow me on Instagram (@kerrywoah), or on Webstagram here!)

[photoaday] Day 12: Inside My Closet

Day 12. Inside My Closet

Inside my closet would be unorganized chaos. And a ton of missing clothes... I haven't done laundry in almost 5 days. Ack!

The right side of the picture is actually the back of my bedroom door reflecting in the mirrored closet doors. I have a 3-tiered hanger that I clip my scarves to for easy access. I love how simple it is, and that it's hidden behind my bedroom door so no one ever sees it!

You can also tell I have a thing right now for mustard yellow. I wish I wasn't so pale, so I could make it a focal point in my wardrobe, because I love wearing it. For now, I just have it in accent pieces like the cardigan and scarf seen above.

Keep coming back every day this month to see my #photoaday grow!

(you can also follow me on Instagram (@kerrywoah), or on Webstagram here!)