Room Inspiration

Next semester I'm moving into a new house which means I get to decorate my new room! I'm generally not the most organized/clean person (seriously, you should see my room right now) but I've found that if I really love (and have put a lot of effort into) the space I'm in, I'm a lot more likely to keep it clean...plus I just love decorating my room.  So, I've been using pinterest as a way to keep track of inspiration for my new room.  I'm planning on doing lots of DIY projects this summer (such as this earring display from last week) that I can use in my room seeing as my budget is pretty limited.  Here is a little "inspiration board" I pulled together for my new room.  I've found that I gravitate towards simple black and white with lots of pops of color (especially pink and yellow).  I'm also hoping to get some prints for my birthday that I can frame and create a feature wall with (sort of like in picture #5).

picture sources: one//two//three//four//five//six//seven

Lace Short DIY

A while back I was flipping through the Free People catalog, looking at all of the pretty things I can't afford.  I came across these shorts, which are way out of my price range.  I realized that I could probably do the same thing with an old pair of jeans and some lace trim.  I tried it out and was so happy with the results.

For this project you will need lace trim (or any other kind of trim), thread (make sure it matches your trim), pins, scissors, and an old pair of jeans that you've turned into cut offs.

Some advice for cutting your shorts: 1) start out longer than you think you want the shorts to be 2) use a marker/chalk to mark your jeans where you want to cut them while you have them on.  It is also helpful to use another pair of shorts as a template.

STEP 1: Pin the lace to the edge of your shorts.  The edges of my cut offs were already folded up so I decided to leave a fold, but I think it would also look good without a fold (that was my original plan).  You should experiment a little as you start pinning--does it look better folded/not folded? does it look better with the trim sewed on top/under the edge of the shorts?  This all depends on the trim you're using.  My trim was really thin and I wanted to be able to see the whole design, so I decided to sew it on the top side of the edge (the top of the trim also hid my seam nicely).  Pin the trim down every couple of inches (make sure it's nice and straight!).  When you get to the end leave a bit of extra trim on either end so that it can be folded under at the end (you can always cut off excess trim, but you can't add it back on).  I think it looks best if you make it so that the ends meet at the inner thigh seam of the shorts.

STEP 2: Begin sewing at one end (I used a machine, but I'm sure this would be really easy to hand stitch).  Go slowly to make sure your trim stays straight and doesn't bunch. When I got to the end I just folded the end of the trim under (and tucked the other end under it) before I sewed over it to hide the ends.

STEP 3:  My ends looked a bit awkward at the end, so I decided to hand stitch the two ends together.

This project was so easy and I love the end results...I'm pretty sure I'm going to be doing a few more cut off makeovers this summer!

flower headband DIY and ramblings

I've been home for less than a week and last semester already seems so far away! I'm settling back into being at home (other than the fact that I still haven't really unpacked, therefore my room looks like a hurricane went through it...oops).  Today was my first day of work--for now I'm just doing office work but it's nice to have something to do and to earn a little money before the camp I usually work at starts.  It's so nice to finally have time to start the long list of projects I've been dreaming up over the last semester, and I'm hoping I can maintain this momentum once work/my thesis research get into full swing.  I'm also excited to focus a bit on photography this summer--I've been trying to learn what I can through the internet and have been experimenting with my mom's fancy-shmancy cameras...SO, hopefully you will see some gradual improvement in the photography around here! Anyways, enough of that...

This is another super super easy/inexpensive project that is also perfect for summer.  Your summer wardrobe is incomplete without flower accessories to wear in your hair!

Here's what you need for this project:

I decided to make my headbands with smaller flowers, but I've seen people with headbands with larger flowers that look awesome (I just don't think I could pull it off)...so, if you're all about the dramatics you should use big crazy flowers! (I would love to see pictures if any of you try this!)

Also, if you want to put a little more time and effort into this project you could make your own flowers.  A while back I posted a tutorial for large silk flowers, so you could try using those.  I'm also going to try to throw together a tutorial for making smaller fabric flowers, so that should be coming later this summer.

Just cut individual flowers off of the stems.  Make sure that they're cut pretty close to the base so that they don't stick up too far off of the headband (but also make sure you're not making it so that the whole flower falls apart).  Put hot glue all around the base of the flower and quickly press it onto the headband, holding it in place until the glue is mostly dry.  I attached my flowers so that they were slightly tilted in one direction so that you could see them better from the front while I was wearing it (and so that you couldn't see the headband or glue).  Attach flowers until they cover the whole headband, minus an inch or two at either end.

That's it! I think that these headbands look great with beachy waves or a messy high bun. Here is the final product!:

a playlist to start the summer

Here is a playlist of music I've been listening to lots so far this summer.  I hope you like it!

 

 

original photo//quote source

DIY Earring Display

Hello! I'm so excited it's finally summer, as it means I have so much more time to do fun projects.  It's only my second day home and I've already finished 3 new projects!--that means lots of posts will be coming soon...yay!

This is probably one of the easiest (and cheapest) DIYs I've ever done, but it's super useful and pretty.  My earrings are always getting lost/tangled, so I decided it was time for me to find a better way to store them.  This can also serve as decoration, so it will be useful in filling the walls of my new room next semester!

The only supplies you will need are an embroidery hoop (you can buy wood ones in various sizes for less than a dollar at Michaels), a small piece of lace fabric or other fabric that can be easily penetrated by earring posts (I used an old lace curtain), and scissors.  That's it!

Step 1: Lay your fabric over the embroidery hoop.  Make sure the section you're using doesn't have any imperfections.  If it has a pattern, make sure it is going the way you want it to when its hanging.

Step 2: Push the inner hoop into the outer hoop.  Pull the fabric nice and tight.

Step 3:  Tighten the hoop.  Really, really tight!




















Step 4:  Cut off any excess fabric...you're done! Wasn't that easy?










You can hang this on a hook (perhaps with a display of prints/pictures or mirrors like these), or you can just lean it up against the wall.