DESIGN TREND: BRASS ACCENTS
Metallics have been on trend for awhile. When given options, I was leaning toward silvers and golds. But it seems like I've been overlooking an equally as rich tone: BRASS! It has such depth and rustic…
PAINT SWATCH ART
Before all the paint companies come after me for hoarding their swatches, let me just say this is an accumulation of supplies over at least 5 years. Why do I have so many? Well, I looooove color and playing with multiple variations in paintings and other projects. Anything that has to do with pantone is super swanky in my book. I think using magazine cut-outs with alternative patterns could be equally as cool too!
PERLER BEAD BOWLS
I love art glass. My favorite artists are Lino Tagliapietra and Steven Main… and Mya, of course. But since she’s not getting near a 2000 degree kiln anytime soon, we went a safer, way less expensive direction. I call this little activity “Chihuly on the Cheap” because this is the closest craft to resemble art glass that you can do with a toddler.
CREATE ART FROM PHONE PHOTOS
After living in our home for almost four years, I’m finally getting our master bedroom put together. It’s not complete (not that I ever will think it will be!), but one of the items on the to-do list was printing and framing some pictures. After browsing through old phone pics, printing at Costco, and some at-home framing tactics, it turned out pretty shnazy. Here’s how we did it!
BODACIOUS BASKETS
You know you’re old when you google “storage bins” and get excited by the results. I love me some sexy storage baskets, but I have some pretty specific requirements: they have to be soft, sturdy, cost efficient, and not smell bad. Have you ever smelled some wicker baskets? No thank you. Since we mainly use these in our living room to hide little play things, I also look for bins that have some adult sophistication. Just because they’re filled with whoopie cushions, nerf darts, dollies, and harmonicas… the baskets can create the facade that we still possess some savvy style.
CRAYON HEART VALENTINES
Recently, Mya hasn’t wanted to leave the house. “Stay home” is her most common demand. The cold weather makes it pretty easy to stay in and play, but we’ve been “forced” to do more small projects to prevent cabin fever. One of those projects was making crayon hearts. It might be a bit too early to think about Heart Day, but we made some Valentines’ anyway. Plus, they don’t have to be for any special occasion– just for everyday play.
THE CHRISTMAS STAR
When I hung our Christmas lights a few weeks ago it was missing the finishing touch to complete the festive feel we were looking for, so we decided to go for a decorative Christmas star to finish the job. After a quick trip to Home Depot to see if there was anything that caught our eye, we quickly decided this was going to be a DIY project. We found a couple of 7-foot lengths of 3/4″ oak squares to build our own star. At just $0.67 per foot, the total cost for this project (since we already owned the rest of the supplies) was less than $10.
HOLIDAY DECOR TIPS + TRICKS
As Derek’s mentioned, I thoroughly enjoy decorating for the holidays. But what I don’t enjoy is having a bunch of stuff in storage that is only used for one month out of the year. So, our look for the holidays leans towards the minimalist side of style. Here are two tricks we used this year… and some gingerbread house eating building fun.
PAPER BAG FLOWER WALL
Mya’s party was yesterday and it was a blast. I just have to filter through the 502 photos (no, I’m surprisingly not exaggerating) and we’ll share the highlights soon! But until then, we have one of our favorite crafty things from her birthday bash: a flower wall!
COLORFUL THINGS KIT
I’ll just admit it… Mya’s not too good with her colors. Everything was “boo” and now it’s “yeh-woh.” So in the effort to not feel like I’m failing as a parent, we made a color kit. (We also made one for her friend Paiy, which you’ll see in some of the pictures below.) It was super easy and inexpensive (under $10) to make.
THE BLACK MAGIC TOUCH
We just painted a blue accent wall and it’s result inspired us to be even more bold. Yup. I painted a wall black– “Black Magic” by Sherwin Williams, to be exact.
