Spring and just warmer weather in general has the ability to REALLY motivate me. Normally warmer weather means I start eating better, exercising more and cleaning the house. Not normal, every weekend cleaning. Like, air out the house, scrub the walls, behind the stove/refrigerator/couch type of cleaning. And with that comes the inspiration to change up the decor a wee bit.
Last year in April, Andrew and I were just moving in. Since this is our first place together, a lot of our initial furniture and decor seemed to be a strange mix of things we both had in our rooms at home and things we've been given by family and friends. Since then we've frequented Big Lots, Bed Bath & Beyond, Target and Pier One. I've had (way too much) fun picking up items here and there that really make this place more cohesively decorated.
With spring coming, I know the mood will strike me again. Only... I'm not quite as financially well off as I was last year. SO. DIY it shall be!
Last year, my little sister and I had a wonderful day together picking up art supplies at Michael's and doing some of the projects I found on Pinterest. I fully intend to do the same this year. Nicknamed "DIY Day, we spent some much needed time together and managed to get done a few of my favorite decor items. I don't claim to be an artist or particularly artsy by any stretch of the imagination. But I'm not ashamed to say we did a pretty good job on some pretty simple projects. Haha.
Here's a few examples from last year's DIY Day:
The painted B... Very simple. I just bought a wooden letter from Michael's, representing our monogram, painted it red to match my kitchen (which is red and black) and hot-glued a black flower on. Then placed it on a black wooden easel I got for a dollar off the clearance rack. Voila! It looks nice above my kitchen cabinets where there's about a foot of space between the cabinet and the ceiling.
My sister and I did of these -- 2 for the living room (in brown and red) and 2 for my bedroom (in silver and black -- see next photo!) They're ridiculously simple and I seriously love them. It's very simply Styrofoam cut to size and scrapbook paper. I bought 2 kinds of scrap book paper for each, a solid base color and a laminated, decorative piece for the front. The ones above, for my living room have a lace design over red and brown solid colored scrapbook paper, which matches my living room. Here's a closeup:
The directions say to modge podge or glue. But, well, that wasn't working out so well for me. Glue + Styrofoam = A HUGE, sticky mess. So instead I put small nails in all corners. Then to hang, I just put a nail in the wall and pushed the Styrofoam onto the nail. Simple. But they look really nice and they fill an awkward place in my living room (on a small wall above the TV.) The ones in my bedroom really stand out next to a picture I have hanging over our bed. It was a steal at Big Lots for 9.99! My bedroom is gray with silver and black accents. Thus the color scheme! And the background paper on the diamonds is actually sparkly. Woo for glitter! Haha.
And while I'm talking about projects, I feel I should give a special "shout-out" to my hubby for the amazing job he did with our kitchen chairs! For the longest time we had JUST a table. No chairs. Then my step-mom found us a set of 4 chairs at a garage sale. They were in really, really rough shape but with some sanding and paint they look fantastic. The cushions are from Bed Bath & Beyond and match our place-mats (which alternate between red and black.) It was a TON of sanding but Andrew did a great job.
Okay. that's enough of that. Going back to this year... I've been on Pinterest A LOT. Not that this is unusual. But I guess MORE than usual. I've found a few projects that are definite contenders for this year's DIY Day.
1) DIY Photo Canvases:
I've seen these on Mpix which is the sight my wedding photographer suggested ordering our photo prints from. They're SUPER expensive though so I've simply lusted over them for months. I already know exactly where I'd like my canvases and which pictures I'd like to use... I'm just gun-shy thanks to the 100.00 price tag Leave it to Pinterest for a genius to find a way to DIY it. There's 2 blogs I've found instructions on and I'm debating which to try. I personally like the long, slender look of the canvases here -->
The directions are a little complicated and it seems like a lot of time and work involved. I found directions for a slightly different style/technique here -->
2) MONOGRAMS!
Okay. I'm obsessed with monograms. Whatever. Don't you judge me! They're preeeeeetty! And there's SO many fun things you can do with them! Ours happens to, clearly, be a B. I happen to think B is a pretty letter in general. (Just go with it.)
When I found this on Pinterest, I squealed. Yes, squealed... I'm completely mad about the monogram! It has the marriage license modgepodged on it! How freakin' adorable is this!?
I keep trying to follow the link, but it doesn't take me anywhere instructional. So, I'm just ASSUMING that is how it's done. Of course I'm sure it'll be much more complicated than anything I'm picturing, the product may just be worth the headache. I'd love this for our bedroom. So beautiful, classic and meaningful.
3) Some Kind of Art Based on the Lyrics of Our Wedding Song!
I've seen this done a couple different ways. My favorite is super simple to actually execute, but I have no idea where I'd put something this big. -->
I love the general concept. I'm wondering if something horizontal might fit in our hallway?
Along those lines, but on a much smaller scale is this beauty -->
http://www.brassyapple.com/2010/08/cut-it-out-canvas-tutorial.html
Super easy, super simple and really cool looking! I'm pretty hung up on the song lyrics though.
SO. I will consult with my sister, price out supplies and make the final decision! Of course I will post the finished projects with some details. I'm hoping this year I can get my other 2 sisters in on the day. DIY Day Party! How fun would that be? We could even have Pinterest-inspired snacks and drinks... I feel inspiration coming on!
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