DIY : Statement Necklace

Ok, so this DIY was so FUN!

The first picture you see is the final product, so cute huh?

 

 Below are all the supplies that you will need to purchase for the product. 

 

Supply list :

-12 tear-drop crystal beads [clear] and can be painted whatever color you want

-paint [the color you want your necklace] side note: make sure it says you can paint on GLASS

-clear cord for beading

-"metal" looking beads

-jump rings

-old tshirt

-paintbrush

-pliers

-scissors

 Step 1: Paint your beads to the color of your choice, I obviously picked white.  Just to match more things.  I did 3 coats of this.  Make sure that the one side dries before you paint the other ones.

 

 

Step 2: Use pliers to pull apart jump rings to make them big enough for the crystal bead holes.

 

Step 3: String your beads. I did 8 "metal" beads on the ends and 4 inbetween each white crystal bead.

Step 4: Tie large knots at the ends.

Step 5: Cut 2 long strips of old t-shirt, I preferred that part to be thin so I cut thin strips. Pull on the pieces to stretch and thin out the fabric.

 

Step 6: Tie the clear cord to the tshirt and knot the tshirt around that to hide the knot.

 

DONE.  SO CUTE. I'm absolutely in love with mine! 

Decorating on a budget: Renting: House Tour {Part 1 Living Room}

Ok. I'm doing a house tour, one room at a time.  To show you some tricks & tips on decorating while renting &/or on a budget! As you renters know, most places don't allow you to paint on the walls, etc. [or you can, you just have to paint it when you move out].  I find it extremely difficult to not want to paint them! It's so hard to find ways to add color to boring white walls. 

 

Below is the living room as a whole, I will move around the room step by step and give you all of the little knowledge that I have :)

 

 

 

Pillows.  That cute green little ruffle pillow in front was my "inspiration"piece.  If you're starting from scratch, always find your inspiration.  Whether it's curtains, pillows, a chair, table, you name it! That way, you can have some sort of color scheme going on.  Speaking of curtains, I don't have any up at the moment, but please ignore that :)

Inspiration piece & furniture. Once you have your "inspiration" piece, it's time to PLAY! My favorite looks happen to come from homemade crafty things.  Which are often the cheapest too! So if you're on a budget, do a craft at a time so that you can add to your collection.  Most of our furniture is "hand-me-downs" or gifts.  Which we were extremely lucky to have.  Furniture is not cheap.  So if you do need to purchase some items, try craigslist or ask among your family and friends.  

Mantle.  Another thing I was extremely lucky to get as a gift.  My handy grandpa made it for me! This is a great piece to have in a apartment so you can fill it with colorful things! If you don't have one of these, I used some cheap ikea shelves before I had this beaut.  Fill these mantles/shelves with things that you love and things that are memorable.  This is where most of my "handmade" things are.  If you're not crafty, find cheap fun decor at places like Ross, TJ Maxx, or Marshalls... these are a few of my favorites.  

Pictures.  It's all about what matters most. Fill your space with frames, canvases, any pictures you adore.  This is what really makes a home, and can add so much character to your apartment/home. 

 

Entertainment area.  I found an old dresser on craigslist and spruced it up with a fresh coat of paint.  I love using it as our entertainment center.  There's plenty of storage for remotes, dvds, and blankets.  It's so roomy! And also very baby-proof!

 

Clock.  I love big clocks.  You don't have to spend hundreds on them either! This takes up plenty of wall space, and adds some cute personality to the room.

 Homemade Touches.  As I mentioned before, I LOVE homemade things.  Make some pinwheels or paper flowers to add color and texture to your room. 

Most importantly. Have FUN while decorating! It's something that I definately love to do, so make sure you pick things that are fun and close to your heart. 

 

 

Where'd you get that?

a list of where things were purchased in my home.

Green Ruffle Pillows - Tuesday Morning

Other pillows - Handmade by yours truly

Rug - Urban Outfitters Online

"LOVE" Frame & Letters - Michaels [mod podged paper on them]

Clock - Home Goods

Dresser - "Gentle Rain"

Milk Glass Vase - Goodwill

Key on mantle - Hobby Lobby

Blue vase on mantle - Hobby Lobby

 

Questions about anything else? Please feel free to ask in the comment section :)

 

 

DIY: Burlap Ruffle Runner

Supplies:

-Burlap, long enough for the table you want the runner for

-Muslin [optional]

-Hot Glue Gun

-Scissors

Step 1: Cut burlap whatever thickness you would like.

Step 2: Cut six 3" burlap strips.

Step 3: Start with 1" of glue at a time.  Make sure that you have something underneath your ruffles so that it doesn't glue to the surface that you're working on since Burlap has holes.  [I just placed a magazine under mine and pulled after gluing]

After you glue, place and pinch your material to make the ruffle.

side note: You can do as many ruffles as you want, I made mine 3" thick.  You can make them however big or small you want them.  Also, I used Cream Muslin for one of my ruffles and that's optional.  You can also just use burlap.

Step 4: When you're onto your next Ruffle, place about 1" above the first ruffle.  Repeat until you are done placing all your ruffles.. VOILA! You're done :)

Enjoy!

xoxo, Haley

DIY: Refinishing Furniture (and the best product out there!)

Ok, I'm no professional "refinish-er" but I found an amazing product that saves time & looks great.  I never have and never will be a fan of sanding.  (Probably the reason I never even tried to refurnish anything).  But then, I found this.

 Seriously, so amazing.  It's an oil based primer that you DONT have to sand anything.  Just paint right onto the furniture.  Not only is it easier, but it dries incredibly fast! All my projects have dried completely within at least 24 hours of the last coat of paint.  Awesome.  Anyone interested in refinishing things, this is the product to use.

Before: I've been looking for a dresser to hold my TV so that I can hide cords, and dvds to make our apartment more "crawling baby proof".  I wasn't expecting to pull the trigger anytime soon but when I was cruising craigslist, I found the perfect one!!! It's an antique.  It's sooo old, that there are wheels on the bottom and there are locks on the drawers.  Crazy old.  This piece has a LOT of character.  I love it.  I painted it light gray [Gentle Rain by Behr].  I wanted something subtle because of another bold piece of furniture I already had in the living room.  I absolutely love how it turned out!

I replaced the top nobs becuase I wasn't crazy about the original circle ones.  Plus, I love the look that my new flower crystal knobs from Hobby Lobby look on it! So stylin.

Surprisingly, this project only took me a day.  Granted, it was the weekend and my hubs could watch the little one so no distractions!



Bedroom Re-do [Still in Progress]

There are a few reasons for my bedroom re-do... 1. I've never truly decorated our room, just our living areas and Max's nursery.  2. We have acquired more stuff since we moved in [a year ago] so it was time to organize and just get rid of things that we aren't using.  So the first thing that I did was move our bed up against the wall to provide more of an open space.  And we LOVE it.  Such a great idea when you're living in a small space like mine.  Because we moved our bed over, I decided to get rid of our 2 night stands and move to one. 

Nightstand:

I found this cute little nightstand at Goodwill.  I mostly liked  it because of the knob, it was just so cute! And, it was a bonus that it was only $12.  I used the "Better Homes" paint found in walmart in "Antique white".  I'm obsessed with the color.  I even re-did our kitchen chairs because i loved it so much.  This was such a simple, fun project and adds some great storage to our room.

 still in love with that knob..

 I found a place for my ruffle lamp! YES! I love it,  and our room wouldn't be complete with my handmade Chevron curtains! Adds some fun color and funky-ness to our room.  I'm obsessed with chevron.

 The start of my collage wall.  Let me repeat, the START! I'm not done yet, still gathering frames and decor to go above our bed but i'm loving it so far.

Brown "You & Me" Sign - TJ Maxx - $16.99

"Love" Mirror Sign - Hobby lobby - $7 (?) with it on sale.

& Sign - Hobby Lobby - Don't remember price i've had it for a while just didn't have a spot for it.

Giant Striped H - Handpainted by yours truly and cut out by www.paddingtonway.blogspot.com

Gray frame - Handpainted by yours truly, and found raw wood at Michaels

I'm LOVING the change and absolutly loving putting things together for my collage wall.  It's so fun to have a wall with just fun things, and pictures to bring happy memories. 

xoxo, Haley

DIY: Ruffled Lamp Shade

Everyone loves a good ruffle.

I am becoming more and more addicted to decorating my home.  So I find ways to do so, and this project turned out SO cute... but there is a sad side to it... This lamp shade was meant for my living room, but it didn't fit the lamp that I was intending it for :( So here's a bit of advice for you on this craft, make sure your shade fits where you want it!! I'm still not sure what i'll do but i'll find a home for it soon. 

Supplies:

-Roughly a half yard of cream & white muslin fabric.  (You don't have to add both but I thought it added some character to it)

-Lamp Shade.. one that FITS your lamp :)

-Scissors

-Hot glue gun

Cost Breakdown:

-Fabric $2

-Lamp Shade $13

-Glue Sticks $3

Total : $18.. under $20!

For the lamp shade, I tried Ross and other stores like it and their lamp shades weren't the cylinder like I wanted... and they were pretty much the same price as Target.  So that's where I found mine!

 Step 1: Cut stripes of muslin out.  I made my strips about 2" thick.  You can do yours however you please.. the smaller the strips the smaller the ruffle, etc. 

Step 2: Start about 1/2" above the rim of your shade so that the ruffle can hang from the bottom.  I worked with about 2"

Step 3:  Glue about 2"-3" and then place the start of your first strip on it.  Immediately after, start pinching your fabric with the hot glue to create a ruffle.  My strips wouldn't go all the way around the shade so I just had to keep starting over and fill in the empty spots.

Step 4:  Continue adding ruffles all the way to the top.  I rotated colors. It's completely up to you how you want to arrange the colors or if you want to use different colors at all. 

Also, you don't have to use neutral colors! This could work with any lightweight fabrics!

This project was fun.  I enjoy making "pretty things" for my home.

Enjoy.



New items on my Etsy Shop!

So many fun things that are up in my Etsy shop! Just received my *new sewing maching {which I love!} So the projects are lining up quickly... Enjoy!

Visit www.etsy.com/shop/bloombyhaleyanne

for all my products!

xoxo, Haley Anne

DIY : 52 things i love about you.

Ok first of all, total credit to this blog!

I just thought i'd do my own tutorial and give you some added tips for this project. 

It's super easy and hopefully my dear husband doesn't see this before father's day. hehe.

{Finished project above ^}

You will need:

-Deck of Cards: I was going to go the cheap route and get some from the Dollar Store, but for longer lasting better quality, I went with Bicycle.

-Hole puncher: Make sure you have a good one! Knowing me, I'm pretty sure I own the cheapest hole puncher so I had to press and twist to get my holes.  {It just took longer.}

-Glue: she used Mod Podge but I decided to use my trusty pink glue gun. :)

-Rings: I found my book rings at walmart.  I couldn't find a package with just one set

-Sharpie:whatever color you choose.

-About 2 sheets of cardstock.

-I didn't print mine out like she did. I just wrote them {mainly because we were out of ink}

-Scissors



Step 1: Punch holes in deck. Refer to the supplies list for additional assistance.

Step 2: Cut out enough paper strips that will fit on the cards. {if you're printing, go ahead and do that before cuttin the pieces.}

Step 3: Glue the papers onto the cards

Step 4: Insert rings and VOILA!

Cost Breakdown:

Deck of cards: $2.88

Rings: $1.87

Paper: $1.24

Glue: I used some I have at home.

Sharpie: Same thing, already had it!

Total: $6.29

Sucha  great, thoughtful, cheap gift!

Enjoy :)

DIY : Glitter Nails

I absolutely love glitter nails! I found a way to do it myself, without the costly "actual" glitter toes or fingers.  I must admit, I love getting them done better because they last MUCH longer.  But if you're in a quick need of glitter, this is for you!

Supplies you will need:

-Nail polish remover

-Cotton Balls

-Clear nail polish {top coat or base coat}

-Glitter glitter glitter: I found a "glitter caddy" at walmart for like $5

It's really as simple as it seems.

1. Coat your nails {or toes} with your clear nail polish.  I would suggest that you do one hand {or foot} at a time because you don't want the polish to dry. 

2.  Coat the nails with the color glitter that you want.  {Dont worry about being neat yet} Make sure to do this over a paper so you can save the excess glitter. 

3.  Shake your hand {or foot}

4.  Let dry

5.  Do a top coat for longer lasting glitter nails. 

TaDA!