Home Deco; Interesting Desgins

I really like the design of this bedroom in general. I just love blue.

This is a really cute bedroom as well. Modern and stylish.

I really like this window sill.

This looks really tidy and nice.

AMAZINGLY BEAUTIFUL PLACE IN AUSTRALIA

Few days ago via “Desire to Inspire” I came across this gorgeous place in Australia - "Vintage House Daylesford". Kali Cavanagh is responsible for the interiors, styling, custom furniture and layout design here. She combined here wood, metal and all shades of white where the antique vintage and industrial furniture just pops out in all their beauty. 

All this makes me feel so sorry that Australia is so far away.

photography: Vintage House Daylesford

DIY: Photo Wall Clock

I don't know why, but I always had the impression that making a DIY clock would be really tedious and stressful. Boy was I wrong! This cute, customized photo clock is simple to make in about an hour. Really! It's that easy. You're going to love it. The idea was a perfect fit for our collaboration with Canon USA, so we used our MG6320 to print that adorable pug picture.

Supply list: Canon Semi-Gloss Photo Paper Plus, glue, clock kit, nail polish, X-Acto knifeStep 1. Print your favorite front facing photo! Be sure to choose a photo that will look nice when cut into a silhouette and will end up 6-8 inches wide.Step 2. Once printed, glue your photo onto some foam board that is at least an 1/8-inch thick and use an X-Acto knife to cut out the face.Step 3. Customize the clock arms with nail polish! 

Step 4: Assemble the clock. Cut a small hole in the middle of your pet’s face and follow the instructions to mount your clock kit (you are just inserting your pet’s face where the clock face would usually go). Cut out four small paper dots and glue the dots onto the clock to indicate the noon, three, six, and nine o’clock positions. 

All done! Isn't it the cutest? You can use any photo to create this fun and easy clock. These make great gifts! Do you think you'd enjoy making your own? 

xoxo. Elsie + Emma

DIY: His & Hers Mug

After seeing several projects floating around on Pinterest I decided to try the sharpie method for customizing a pair of his + her mugs (this set is super cute + this one is particularly beautiful). The directions listed on Pinterest kinda seemed too easy to be true... so I did a little testing. I even tried running them through the dishwasher and here's what I found out... 

Here's the method: All you need is a sharpie (any color) and a porcelain dish that you want to permanently alter. You can even use super cheap mugs from the dollar store to create gifts or party favors. Just draw on the surface of your mug and bake it for 30 minutes at 350 degrees. Allow them to cool completely before washing or using. 

After I made my dishes I tried scrubbing them with a kitchen sponge and soap. They held up super well to hand washing. The design did not fade or scratch off at all. Next, I tried running them through the dishwasher. This didn't turn out so well, half of the design was gone when I took them out (don't worry, it's fixable!). So if you use this method to make dishes, remember that these dishes will need to be hand wash only! 

Anyway... that was my fun little weekend project. Hope your weekend is lovely! Elsie 

EDITED TO ADD: Although many people (including me) have had success with this DIY project we have received many comments from readers who said the marker washed off. I thought I would updated you with this info! The technique is easy and inexpensive, but it doesn't work for everyone (and I am not sure why). If you want a FOR SURE method, try Pebeo Markers instead! They are a little bit more pricey, but I have used mine quite a lot. Happy Crafting! 

Tutorial: Photo Banner

hello hello. i recently posted a few photos of a couple of photo banners i made for my store. i got tons of questions about the project, so i decided to write you a short & sweet little tutorial about how it's done. 

here are my original two. i made them with two boxes of bad polaroid film (no worries, it happens, i was refunded... but i still couldn't bear to waste the photos even though they were unexposed). 

i spent my weekend doing fun home projects and i decided to try making a welcome banner for my entry (at the top of my stairs) with fuji instax photos. you can try this with any instant photos (polaroids or fujis) or use of of the many free photo editing options like picnik or rollip to make your faux instant photos and then print them out at home.

for my welcome banner i used my fuji instax to take photos of random textures and pretty patterns around my home. 

next, i wrote the word on the photos letter by letter. one little helpful tip i've learned is that curvy letters (S,O,G ect..) are a lot more difficult to cut out, so use a block style font if you want to avoid that. 

last step: you just use a craft knife and a cutting surface to cut out the letters by hand & ta-da! you're done! 

i used a piece of jute string and mini clothes pins to hang the banner. here's a full shot of the entry space...

and since wasting things isn't my sin of choice, i used scraps from the welcome banner to decorate this cute little handmade card... hope you enjoy creating some photo banners yourself! 

XO. elsie 

DIY: Best Friend Wall Art

I love to decorate my home for each season. This time of year it's a celebration of L-O-V-E! I used some Queen song lyrics (a song from our wedding) to make a simple, graphic piece of art for our bedroom. Would you like to play along?  

1. You will need: Vinyl letters (I used 3 inch), a large canvas (mine was appx. 4 feet tall) and craft paint. 2. Choose the lyrics you want to spell out and cut out those letters. Experiment with the way you want to group your words. 3. Draw a heart outline with a pencil or marker. Next, adhere your letters to the center of the heart. 4. Paint the outside of the heart first to get a clean edge and cover any pencil lines. (oops... I put my S upside down... oh well!) 5-7. Paint 2-3 coats of paint over your heart. Allow it to dry between each coat. 8. When paint is completely dry peel off the letters to reveal your pretty song lyrics!  

Have fun painting something pretty! XO. elsie

DIY: Floral Antlers Necklace Display

Today we whipped up a cute and super easy project for Emma's bohemian styled bedroom. This project only takes about 30 minutes and it's so fresh and pretty... perfect for spring. Enjoy! 

1. Supplies: Antlers (ours are faux from Hobby Lobby), silk floral stems, green felt, hot glue gun, scissors. 2. Begin by taking the flowers off the stem and applying a thin layer of glue between the petals and the plastic base of the flower (this holds it together after the stem has been removed) 3. Once it's dry, cut off the tip of the stem, making the base flat. 4. Then, cut out and glue on a small felt circle to the back of the flower. 5. Lastly, apply a thick coat of glue to the felt and attach it to the antlers. Continue these steps until you have a pretty floral collage covering your antlers. ♥ 

Enjoy your new antler display! Use it to hand pretty necklaces and scarves! xo. elsie 

Source: http://www.abeautifulmess.com/2012/03/floral-antlers-necklace-display.html

DIY: Song Lyric Wall Art

A couple weeks ago, I found a paint-by-number at an unbeatable price. I can't pass these things up even though I already owned this particular design. I thought that I could maybe use it to make a fun D.I.Y., but my new rule is that all thrifts that I purchase with the intent of restyling need to get done right away. I have way too many half finished projects in my life. With that little bit of motivation I came up with a fun D.I.Y. to display some of my favorite song lyrcis in our newlywed home. Enjoy....

Here's how I did it... Step 1. Find a paint by number or vintage painting that you like, but not one you adore (since you'll be painting over most of the design). A damaged piece works great, or a print you aren't too crazy about or ever a duplicate piece, like mine. Steps 2-3. Supplies needed: Artwork, Letter stickers (see 3 for the exact stickers I used. I purchased them at the art section of Michaels. You can also get them at hardware stores everywhere) White paint (in hindsight I would use spray paint, just a hint!), a paint brush and scissors. Step 4. Cut out and plot out your design. I know it's an extra step to cut out each letter, but it's much easier to create nice spacing this way! Step 5. Stick stickers. Place them as perfectly or imperfectly as you fancy! Steps 6-8. Cover the entire art piece with a coat (or two) of white paint. I wish I would have used spray paint because my letters bled a tiny bit. Spray paint is preferable. Step 9. Allow your paint to dry. I layed my piece on the front porch for an hour. Next, peel the letters off carefully. Step 10. Yay! You did it. Enjoy your new piece of art! ♥

I displayed our piece in our bedroom, on Jeremy's side of the bed. These song lyrics are by Camera Obscura, one of my favorite bands. You can hear the song in our wedding video here. The little bearded man art is by Ashely G and the coffee container is where we collect spare change. Happy Monday! XO. Elsie 

Source: http://www.abeautifulmess.com/2011/08/song-lyric-wall-art-diy-project.html

DIY: Lace Flower Pots

Hi there! Here's a quick little project we whipped up in our studio today. We've been doing a little decorating and these lace covered pots look so pretty in a group. Do you want to make your own set? 

This DIY is so simple it doesn't even really need these photos, but just in case... 1. Supplies Needed: Lace, Glue, Scissors, Terra Cotta Pots, Plants. 2. Brush glue all over your pot. 2. Adhere lace and then brush an extra layer of glue over the top to seal. 4. Allow your new pots to dry completely before you use them. 

We will share more photos of our studio soon! xo. elsie

Source: http://www.abeautifulmess.com/2012/06/pretty-lace-flower-pots.html

DIY: Ladder Display Makeover

We are a little ladder obsessed. I'm not sure what it is but we use ladders for everything from reaching high places (duh, that's what ladders are for!) to using them as a stand to photograph recipe creations on. Elsie found this inexpensive ladder at a flea market and wanted to add some simple shelves for holding books or potted plants.The paint color she choose is Golden Avocado (from Valspar). Adding shelves to the ladder was a similar process as this golden side table. Trying to retrofit a ladder for shelves proved to be a little bit more complicated than I anticipated. Here's why.I thought simply adding a few planks of wood the appropriate length would be enough but then I found that the rungs on one side of the ladder were slightly shorter than the other. This caused our shelves to slope downward, so much so that I worried display items might slide if we didn't try to fix the issue.Our quick fix solution was to add a short piece of wood to the edge of the shelf planks to try and give the shelf more height. We used wood glue to secure the pieces together. In the above photo I have the shelf laying upside down while the glue dried. After the shelves were completed we finished painting and put everything together.From this angle you can see how many planks we ended up using for each shelf. The shelves are not perfect but they look great in this display and I love how you can easily remove them to either repaint or use the ladder for it's original purpose. xo. Emma + Elsie

Source: http://www.abeautifulmess.com/2013/02/nesting-ladder-display-makeover.html