Posted on

New Year, New Challenges!

Happy New Year!

Hi there. I know it’s been awhile. I can give you a long list of excuses why I’ve been absent, but I’ll save you the effort of pulling out your tiny violin. The important bit is that I am here now, and fueled with the energy of the New Year and all those lofty resolutions everyone is making. Mine comes in the form of a 30-day challenge on my Instagram. Thirty days of DIY.

This is in part because I have been away from the blog for so long and I feel like a bit of a challenge will help me pull focus as well as add fuel to my creative fire. Also, I am trying to tidy and consolidate my craft room. What better way to accomplish this than a “stash busting challenge!!!” This means not only am I going to craft or DIY everyday for thirty days… I am going to try to do it without spending any money!

#2018budget

I will post the highlights here, but tune into my Instagram account for the daily posts. And if you know me personally, feel free to heckle if I fall behind. I am really excited for this challenge and I am positive it will not be easy. I’ll take suggestions for projects as well, so leave a comment if you have any!

 

Although I haven’t been posting, I have still been busy crafting up Christmas gifts. I will leave you with a few examples… Mother… Aunts whom don’t like cursing… look away.

some classy cross-stitches for some new friends

close your eyes if you don’t like cursing!!

~Sarah

Posted on

October Pinterest Haul

I am a Pinterest addict. I spend entirely too much time perusing home decor and DIY boards, but it is a great source for inspiration. I compiled a few of my favorite pins from October to share with you!

Cozy pillow fort

    I love forts. I loved them as a kid and I still love them as an adult. Pictures like this put me in the spirit of fall. The fabric creates a warm and encapsulated feeling and the fairy light create an air of magic and fantasy. This particular picture feeds my creativity. The setting looks casual and potentially “thrown together” with what the owner had laying around. I don’t get the idea this was staged for a photo, but more as the result of an impromptu movie night. Plus, I love me some tassels, and they look like a DIY waiting to happen!

Black and White

This pin makes me want to head straight to the fabric store to raid their black and white flannels. These pillows are the stuff of dreams. I love how effortless the classic black and white Halloween décor looks here. Also, does anyone know where that mug is from? It is delightful. I think what I like the most about this photo is that I feel like it could be my house. I have a similar couch, ottoman, and rug… in slightly different colors. DIY paper bats and a well-placed pop of orange velvet has me sold on this look.

Eat, Drink, and be Scary

I love a witty quote, and this one has a home on my kitchen chalkboard. Pinterest is my go-to for lettering ideas as well. Sometimes I can produce a creative and cohesive lettering project, but often I need a little help to pull the look together. Pinterest inspiration comes in a few flavors… sometimes you like the idea and take it and make it your own… but sometimes its ok if you want to replicate something someone else made. They put it on Pinterest to share and inspire. Just make sure to give credit where it is due.

Henna Pumpkins

Halloween season isn’t all about the spooks and scares. This henna inspired pumpkin decoration is right up my alley. Pumpkin carving is therapeutic and can help release creativity as well as pent-up aggression, but something tells me that taking the time to paint these beautiful designs on a pumpkin would be peaceful and much more therapeutic. Bonus, it will take much longer for these pumpkins to turn to mush, or this design could be done on a foam craft pumpkin as well!

 

Happy Pinning!

~Sarah

Posted on

What type of halloween costume are you?

Tier 1: The Lazy Man’s Costume

I love Halloween. I love any excuse to get dressed up, eat candy and have a good time with friends. However, I must acknowledge that not everyone loves dressing up in costumes as much as I do. If you relate to this, then this category might be for you. The general formula for this costume is Jeans + graphic tee = costume. I have seen the “Jack and Coke” costume where one person wears the Coca-Cola t-shirt and the other a Jack Daniels tee, and boom! Couples costume complete. In this category, you may also find the bed sheet ghost and the “Error 404: Costume not found” shirts.

Tier 2: The “Found it in my closet” costume

This is where we start to get a little bit more creative. Dig around in your closet and see if you can drum up the basics for a costume. Perhaps a flannel shirt, jeans and boots become a cowboy/girl. Dress in all black and go as a witch or a shadow. Throw it back to middle school and put on your PJs and bunny slippers and go as a baby. These costumes are often enhanced by one or two store bought accessories. Pick up a hat for that cowboy costume or a binky for the baby.

 

Tier 3: The store-bought costume

This is a tricky tier for me to talk about. I love the creative process of thinking of a costume and working out the plan for making or buying each element to make a unique version of my favorite TV character. That being said, I KNOW most people don’t have the patience for that. For those of you, I suggest a trip to the Halloween store and find yourself a nice pre-made, all parts included costume. Forewarning, these will usually run you somewhere near $50. Often even more than that. 

Target has these incredibly creepy options for $30 each.

Tier 4: All about the makeup

This costume tier is not just for the ladies. I know several guys who have rocked the makeup based costumes over the years. Whether it be FX makeup or glitter and false lashes, these costumes revolve around the makeup. YouTube is littered with amazing tutorials for costume makeup of all varieties and if you are brave enough to try it, it can be a lot of fun. Just be careful not to smudge your masterpiece!

Tier 5: The DIY

This is where I usually operate for my Halloween costumes. Pick a character, item, pun, or animal. Now spend some time breaking down the elements that make up this character’s outfit or what makes the item identifiable, write these down. I usually start in my closet and see if I own any anything that can work as a costume base like a black dress, specific colored shirt or accessories. Then I usually visit the thrift store once or twice and see if I can find any key elements for cheap. This is a great place to find items like suitcases, jackets, hats or obscure clothing items. The last phase is usually the DIY. Sometimes I start here is I know I have the time and tools needed. Here are an example.

Mermaid: Top was thrifted and embellished using fabric and a sewing machine. Leggings were DIY’d by making a pattern of a pair of leggings I owned and some fabric I ordered online. Shoes were a labor of love and I lost them in a recent move. I was devastated. As you can imagine after gluing a million sequins to a pair of clearance white Keds.

 

Tier 6: Cosplay level unlocked!

These costumes are always impressive to me. I have achieved this status once. The hours put into this project were justified because I wore this to NYC Comic Con AND Halloween that year. I will tell you now, this costume tier is not for the faint of heart. This is Full Costume Commitment. You will see more of this costume than your significant other during the process. There are schematics and budgets and likely some metal work. Cosplay aims to be as close of an exact replica as possible, maybe with a twist like a gender swap or steampunk version of a classic character. Always impressive and always the recipient of “Best Costume” at any party they attend.

Comment below with which costume tier you are.

~A huge costume nerd

Posted on

Autumn Vibes – Fall style on a budget

Fall is my favorite season. Halloween is my favorite holiday. And saving money is my favorite pastime. I love the change of season when I can pull out new decorations and mix things up in my house.  Once October hits, I think Halloween decorations are fair game. I do however, like to include some subtle fall décor in my day to day home styling, and save some of the spookier stuff for closer to Halloween. All of this decor switching can get pretty costly if you shop new every year. Here are a few tips to keep your wallet from screaming in fright!

Try Making It

I used a pack of fall themed scrap-booking paper to trace and cut out a variety of paper leaves. This was super easy and very cost effective. If you have paper laying around, you can use that, or head to the craft store, armed with a 50% off coupon and snag yourself some shiny harvest paper like I did. Punch holes in the leaves and string them up! If you are feeling fancy, you can string battery pack fairy lights through there as well for added magic.

The fabric pumpkins in this pic were a gift from my mom. She made my sisters and I all a set, but if I recall they are very straightforward to make and can be done with a needle and thread, old flannel shirt and some old pillow stuffing.

Last year’s goodies

I love shopping end of season sales. You find so many adorable things, and for such a steal! I found two faux fabric pumpkins for dirt cheap at a CVS after Halloween last year (they are actually hard plastic that look like fabric). I love the lace detail on them, I think it makes them a bit spooky.

The gold frames are one of my favorite inexpensive décor ideas for Halloween/fall. I usually keep pictures in these frames, but by simply swapping out the pics for paper treat bags from last year’s Halloween candy haul, I created décor for free. Reduce, Reuse, Recycle!

Versatility

I won’t try to convince you that I didn’t spend any money on Halloween decorations this year. That would be a lie, but I did try to spend wisely and choose things that I could reuse. This gorgeous white sparkly wreath was on sale at Michaels Arts and Crafts because it was in the “way too early to have Christmas decorations out” sale. I love the aesthetic of the black and white Halloween stuff, so I immediately envisioned creepy black spiders crawling all over the crisp, white wreath.  Toss in some black silk flowers for good measure and we have a spook-tacular fall wreath for the front door. Best of all, when November hits, I can take it down, and swap the spiders out for some holly and I am ready for the “still way too early for Christmas, but everyone else is doing it so its ok” season.

Thrifted finds

I saved my favorite for last. Just look at this guy. I’ve named him Bob, and I was going to paint him gold so he could live on my bookshelf, but I wanted to give him a spooky makeover first. He looks simultaneously disgruntled and completely happy with his situation. I love to find second hand items and breathe new life into them. Whether that be clothing or household items, I love to take something old and discarded and find a way to make them enjoyable again. This is something I often apply to home décor items that are handed down or picked up at the local thrift shop, so why not apply the idea to your seasonal décor. All it took to have Bob looking dapper and slightly possessed was a coat of black gloss spray paint and two red rhinestones. Magic!

Go forth and be spooky my friends!

-Sarah

Photo Credit: C. Bentler

Posted on

Three ways to make your home feel like new construction.

 

About a year ago, I made settlement on my quaint one story condo. The floor plan was everything I wanted and the price was right. I had thought about looking for new construction but knew that my budget wouldn’t allow it. And knowing myself and my DIY tendencies, I knew with a little elbow grease, and some hired help I could get this place looking ship shape in no time. These are the first three projects I did and MAN did they make a difference!!

Project 1: Replace grimy old outlets.

OK, here is where the Best Father of All Time award comes in. As a housewarming gift, my dad replaced Every. Single. Outlet in my house with brand spanking new ones. And let me tell you, this alone made me feel like I had purchased new build. Call me crazy but there is something so satisfying about fresh, white outlets. He swapped out most of the light switches too!

Project 2: Replace cheapy, flat apartment doors

Six panel interior doors. These stylish hinged beauties are the stuff of dreams, at least my home décor obsessed dreams. When I moved in, before me stood two doors. Behind door number one, I had the plain jane, distinctly “un” paneled doors that led to each bedroom, and behind door number two I had the terrifying, squeaky metal bi-fold doors that led into most closets. I hated all of them. Only one got to stay, her name is Lou, she’s the louvered door on the utility closet. She was kept for her function, and not her beauty.  Back to the point, I had my uncle come and replace all the doors with six panel wooden doors, and the closets all got “six panel” bi-fold doors (except for one, but that’s another story… hint: it’s a barn door!!).

Project 3: Paint all of the things

Here is where my patience as a new homeowner was tested. A few weeks in, my uncle (different uncle… I have a lot of handy people in my family) came and helped me paint the ceilings in my family room, dining room, kitchen, hallway and master bedroom as a housewarming gift. This alone made a HUGE impact because the previous tenants, or original owner decided a dingy shade of cream was a good choice for a dimly lit first story condo’s ceilings.

Now that I had a taste of what it’s like to have fresh paint, I wanted more! But quite frankly didn’t have the time or energy to paint the walls myself. To paint a picture, it took me 5 hours to paint the living room trim and one wall. This is when I threw in the paint covered towel and called my uncle to talk schedules. After patiently waiting a few months he was able to come paint some walls! I focused on the master bedroom and the living spaces (kitchen, hallway, living and dining rooms). This helped immensely! Having fresh clean walls and ceilings really helped make this place feel new and entirely my own. I know this one is the oldest trick in the book, but it really does work wonders! Its relatively inexpensive, can be done yourself (if you have better patience and a steadier hand than me), and is completely customizable.

So that’s it. Might seem silly and straight forward, but I would not have believed the transformation this place went through with just these three steps. I have since done many more fun projects, but that’s a story for another time.

-Sarah