rainy sunday study break

I have gotten way more than my money's worth out of this cheapie pine dresser from Walmart. I originally dressed it up with washi tape but since I'm going to be moving into a bachelor apartment in about 8 weeks, meaning this is going to be a part of my living space as well, it's a good time for makeover round 2. Stay tuned for finished product...
Soundtrack to the afternoon: Hey Rosetta's album from the fall, Second Sight. Soooooo good! I highly recommend.

spray painted geometric flower pot d.i.y.

Supplies:

terracotta flower pot

masking tape

spray paint

Directions:

1. Tape off the flower pot with masking tape, make sure the tape is firmly placed on so paint does not bleed underneath the tape

2. Spray paint the flower pot, depending on how many colors you want, spray paint first layer, and then tape again to spray paint second layer

d.i.y. potato stamp tote bag

word art d.i.y.

Although no longer available, I love this ikat-inspired print by Etsy shop ChrislovesJulia:

This print is where I took the inspiration for the background of my piece, which I painted on a canvas board using acrylic paints, in a few layers, blending the colours. After the paint was dry, I took some time hunting down a quote that I guessed would fit the size of my canvas, and then laid out the letters (1 inch permanent adhesive vinyl letters from Michael's). I had to improvise 3 or 4 H's out of pieces of other letters. You may want to count your letters beforehand to make sure that your package has enough of what you need, unless your estimation skills are better than mine.

As you can see in the photo below, I used washi tape to lay out lines to keep my letters straight, and in the top right corner you can see two vertical strips that I reused between words to keep the spacing relatively even. The obsessive compulsivist in me had a lot of fun with the project. For reals.

If you're looking for some quote ideas, I would suggest Ernest Hemingway, E.E. Cummings, Roald Dahl, or Dr. Seuss. My quote is by Albert Einstein who, not surprisingly, had many witty things to say.

apartment before + after

I was getting bored with my apartment and it felt cluttered so I got some crates and a desk which I stained and painted. I also painted accent walls and put up some new art work. 

chevron tissue box d.i.y.

Have you ever pondered why tissue boxes are SO UGLY? Search d.i.y. tissue box covers on Google Images... I dare ya. They are even worse than the originals, if that is even possible. Here's my version:

I used spray paint that I had leftover from this mason jar d.i.y. that I tried out in the fall, and that you can see in the top picture.
See what I did after the jump.

ombré crate d.i.y.

Over the ombré trend yet? Me neither.

Supplies: wooden crate (mine is from Michael’s, about $15 with the weekly coupon that you can download here), acrylic paints, paint brush, painter’s tape or masking tape.

Tape off the edges, and paint each slat on the bottom a different shade. I only had 4 colours, so I mixed 2 to make a new one. Wait a little while (maybe 15 minutes) and add a second coat.

I use mine to maximize the height of my table so I can put my treasures on display.