Tuesday, November 23, 2010

Quick change!

Happy Tuesday! Isn't it great when you make one simple little change to a room and it makes you love it so much more? Well, take our basement guest room for example...



A tad bit drab, right? Well, check out what just a simple change of sheets can do....


I love how much they brighten up the room! And they are such a cute paisley print:


There are still lots more updates I would like to tackle in this room, but I think this is a great start! I'm really trying to open my mind to more prints and colors. 

When it comes to my decor aesthetic, I tend to lean more towards neutrals. Love me some greige {that's grey + beige for all of you newbies}. This rings true for my wardrobe as well. But my lovely friend Molly is getting married on New Year's Eve (how fun is that?!) so I'm thinking that is the perfect excuse to break out of my brown and tan rut and get something fun to wear. Take a peek at what I've been oogling over...


Te Amo dress from Mod Cloth - just posted today!


Green Mesh Dress from Victoria's Secret


"Nayla" by Charlie Jade at Nordstrom


and my favorite find so far, this glittery gold number from Top Shop

Where's your favorite spot to buy dresses?

Friday, November 19, 2010

Cheers...

it's Friday! What better way to celebrate with your lova than with these adorable highball glasses from Mrs. Lilien's shoppe?! This pair would make a perfect shower gift for your engaged pals, or a hostess gift for all of those upcoming holiday parties. I know a certain someone who might be finding half of this pair in their Christmas stocking ;)

photo courtesy of Mrs. Lilien



Thursday, November 18, 2010

Tis the season!

A couple weeks ago, my lovely friend Sarah introduced me to this adorable inspirational blog called Creature Comforts. First of all, how presh is that name? This sweet little spot offers lots of fun DIY projects and pretty photos that will get your mind reeling with design ideas. But it doesn't stop there.

Since this is the holiday season, Creature Comforts created an amazing on-line magazine dubbed Gifted. Here are just a few things that you will loooove about Gifted:



1. The styling - I have virtually flipped through this puppy about 5 times now just in awe of the pretty.

2. Gift ideas - ideas that you will actually love and shop for...possibly for yourself. Like this set of coasters from uncommon on Etsy...yes, those are doilies. It's like they know me.

photo courtesy of etsy.com


3. DIY up the ying-yang - seriously, so many crafty ideas to deck your halls and transform your home into a winter wonderland.

4. Party ensembles - fabulous outfit ideas for all holiday events from your boss's Christmas party to that New Year's Eve bash.

Tuesday, November 16, 2010

Pretty Table Tops via Apartment Therapy

One of the simplest ways to transform your reception venue from banquet hall to dream wedding is creating a pretty table top. Even if you only have the funds to go crazy with your head table, the extra effort really goes a long way in making your day feel more like you. 

Check out these fun, simple ideas from Apartment Therapy. I have put myself in charge of table top decor for Thanksgiving at my Mama's house (while leaving the cooking up to her, of course!) and this pretty picture is my inspiration:

photo courtesy of apartment therapy

I have some burlap left over from my wedding banner project for the runner and I've been collecting all of the used pasta sauce jars from dinners over the past few months - I love mason jars! Throw in a couple candle votives and some fresh flowers and I think we'll be set!


Monday, November 8, 2010

Lindsay Loves!

It has been a looong time since I've shared with the world what I'm lovin' these days, and since I'm sure you're dying to know, let's get to it!


I may have mentioned a time or two that the Mr. and I purchased our first home a few months back. That being said, again, much of my time has been spent stalking home decor blogs, scoping out dream pieces for each room. This would be one such piece - the Antoinette Fainting Couch from Urban Outfitters


UO strikes again with this "coiled side table". Loving the whimsey...


I've been obsessing over this print from Jen Ramos over at Made By Girl, one of my go-to blog stalkees. It would look perfect in my craft room/office!


Chandeliers take a close second to doilies on my current obsession list, and since we aren't made of Benjamin's, this wall decal version from walldecors on Etsy definitely does the trick


Normally when browsing Etsy, I stumble across something I didn't even know I was looking for. These light switch plates from loxlee are no exception. 


How cute are these patterns? And doesn't the one below resemble, ahem, a doily? This is getting out of control.


So, what are you all loving these days? Any fun holiday gift ideas? Less than 2 months to get that shopping done you know!

And the photo credits go to...



Friday, November 5, 2010

Love on a Photog Blog!

Sis-in-law Sarah's wedding photographer Jean Marie gave me a little shout out on her blog! Thanks for the love! Take a peek at Sarah & Adam's beautiful autumn wedding here! You can check out the burlap banner in all her glory.

DIY Doily Runner

Remember this post from about 20 years ago? The one where I obsess over Ashley Ann's doily table runner and promise that I will replicate it for sis-in-law Sarah's autumn wedding? Well, I did it! I actually made 3 of them to cover her 24 foot long head table. Here is one of them. As you can see, it has made itself right at home on our dining room table.


 
Now I'm trying to think of something crafty to do with the other two runners. One can never have too many doily decorations, just ask my Grandma. She's a smart lady.
 
Have a lovely weekend!

Wednesday, November 3, 2010

I heart banners

A couple weeks ago, I told you all that I was gonna get all Martha on you and create some cake table banners using her fun iron-letter-stamps-on-velvet-technique. Someone should tell her that finding letter stamps in small-town USA is nearly impossible. She would then probably tell me not to procrastinate, do my homework, and find them on-line. You win again, Martha, you always do.


Needless to say, I ended up going a different route for my banners, but I'm still pretty happy with how they turned out. Here's a scrappy little DIY lesson if you'd like to try this at home.

First, I headed over to JoAnn's Fabrics and chose this black and charcoal gray damask print for the main part of the flags. I borrowed my MIL's pinking shears to cut out the shapes, I think they ended up being about 7 inches long by 6 inches wide.



I left about an inch at the top of each flag to later be folded over the hemp rope I used to hang the flags on.


I haven't been near a sewing machine for a while, so I stuck with liquid stitches to do any adhering. I ran a bead of glue about halfway up the inch I left at the top, stuck the hemp on, added more glue to the very top, then folded it over and pressed down.




I repeated this process until I had enough flags to spell out "love is sweet"..."love is" on one string, "sweet" on another to be tied below.


Next, it was time to cut out the circles that the letters would be painted on. I cut out a larger circle from basic white fabric first, to be placed behind the fabric with painted letters. I did that since both of my main fabrics had patterns, just wanted to break it up.


Next I cut out smaller circles from my printed apple green fabric. Penny had other plans for it.


I used acrylic paint for the letters and drew them on free hand. I have pretty nice handwriting, if I do say so myself, but I would not suggest doing this because it was pretty hard to make the letters look uniform.


Next, I glued the white circles onto the flags, then the letter circles onto the white ones, and voila! Don't mind Penny.


I did a similar banner for my sister-in-law's wedding with burlap and one fabric layer for the letters using the simple white fabric again. I also used a stencil for the letters and I looooved the result.


A note about burlap: it has holes...lots of holes. Regular old stitching glue doesn't do the trick, so I had to use my trusty glue gun to create some more tackiness. This wasn't the easiest option either, considering the holes allowed the glue to leak through to my tender little fingers that were holding the fabric down. Ouch. But the rustic quality of the burlap combined with the industrial look of the stenciled letters makes my calloused finger tips totally worth it.


I will post pictures from the weddings soon!


*This probably goes without saying, but all photos were done by moi 






Tuesday, November 2, 2010

Bridesmaid Beauties: Kathlin Argiro


I was so honored when contacted by Kathlin Argiro's intern requesting that I do a little post on their bridesmaid line...ummm, yes please! I hopped on over to Ms. Argiro's site to ooh and aah at the many lovelies laid before me and immediately recognized this article from The Knot which features the Hilda dress:

photo courtesy of KathlinArgiroChic.com

I just love the mermaid silhouette combined with the feminine, floral print. Perfect for any spring or early summer fete. 

Kathlin Argiro’s dresses are classic, yet modern. These dresses are semi-custom made, which allows you to choose your silhouette, fabric, color, and trims that suit your individual taste, shape, and size! Here is the best part; each dress is made as a ready to wear dress that can ACTUALLY be worn again. Fear not showing up at a party wearing your Kathlin Argiro bridesmaid dress, it’ll be our little secret.


photos courtesy of Kathlin Argiro


Don’t forget to try the Brides n’ Bubbly in a Box package for a fun way for the bridal party to choose their dresses and sip on champagne without having to make the trip to New York!

See Kathlin Argiro’s complete collection at Kathlin Argiro. Wheat Blossom Blog readers will receive an extra 15% off!!