A Tray for Accessories

So, the Olympics? They’re amazing and everything but they took up all of my attention and time! I would come home, make dinner and sit on the couch every day after work. The weekends were worse. If I had to leave, I would immediately come home to watch more people doing athletic things I can’t even dream about doing. I had big plans for some big projects to get done during the past two weeks but…Yeah.

So now it is time to get those creative juices flowing again (isn’t this a great picture? Thanks, Pinterest) and work on some projects at home! I have several in the works and several more started in my head.

To get back in the groove of things, I started small with this tray for my small jewelry and accessory pieces. I wish I had a large dressing room that had room for something like this but I don’t. Luckily our bathroom counter is very large so there was plenty of room for a pretty tray that got even prettier with a few updates. The tray used to be black and was a very old Target purchase. I spray painted it white and cut a piece of navy chevron fabric (the same I used for the DIY lampshade in the kitchen) to bring some pattern and color to the bottom of the tray.

The two bottles I use to hold my bracelets are the same ones I used for our 4th of July tablescape last year. Yup, they are just beer bottles spray painted white. White and spray paint can make anything pretty! The ‘S’ plate was a Christmas gift and is a wonderful John Derian plate. It is perfect for my stud earrings and extra rings. (The rest of my earrings are hanging on my DIY window earring hanger in our closet) The yellow pillar candle holder was a clearance purchase at Pottery Barn several years ago and adds a nice splash of color to this arrangement.

This was the best kind of project to start with because it cost me $0 and took about 15 minutes of arranging, re-arranging and shopping the house. You can’t beat that! Have you done any fun ‘fluffing’ projects lately?

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DIY: Fabric Covered Lampshade

This weekend I spruced up our lampshade that sits on the bar in the breakfast nook. This was a quick and easy project that started after I repainted our kitchen walls (yes, the same walls I painted less than two years ago…more on that later).

I LOVE how it turned out. Chevron, of course, in navy this time and it pops off of the green curtains so perfectly! The grey walls make a world of difference to me as well. Here is how I did this project that took about 30 minutes…

When we moved the furniture back in and started hanging things on the wall again, I realized the lampshade was blending into the cork mirror way too much for my taste and it needed a quick little update.

These are the supplies you’ll need: lampshade, fabric (I cut off part of a large piece of fabric I already had, I think it was about 1/2 yard), scissors and hot glue gun. I used the Premier Prints ZigZag Twill Blue off of Fabric.com. It was only $7.48/yard but less than that for this project since I only needed half of that amount – score!

For me, the first step was to remove the old fabric that I had used. While I do love this fabric, it was a little too blah for a small corner that needed some pep and pizzazz. The navy chevron is much better!

To start, cut the fabric into four section for each of the four sides of the shade. If you try to just roll the shade on the fabric, it won’t be straight so it is better to use four sections and glue each individually.

You’ll end up with four sections just like this. Two for the large sides and two for the small sides.

I worked with the two large side pieces first. I placed the shade on the big piece and cut off any massive excess so there wouldn’t be an extra-large seam glued on the inside of the shade.

To make a nice edge without any sewing, I folded a small seam and glued it using a thin bead of hot glue. I folded it again so that the inside of the first fold was tucked under again and all you could see was the first, nice seam. This was then folded over the lip of the shade and glued on the inside with again, a thin bead of hot glue.

Once one side was glued, I moved to the other side and followed the same instructions: fold, glue, fold, glue, fold and glue. The only problem with this side of the lamp are the metal spokes where the lightbulb goes.

All you have to do is cut a little ‘v’ in the fabric to fold on either side of the metal piece and it will fit perfectly without flapping up and over the side of the shade.

The corners are a little trickier but by folding and tucking them into the corner, you should be able to get the look you want. For me, there is no right or wrong, it just has to look right to you. None of my corners are the same (oh, the horror!) but I think it looks just fine!

For the side pieces, I wanted a clean look so I glued the edges down and made a nice seam on all sides. This big piece attached to the side of the shade with hot glue. The bonus of this technique is that it covers up the edges from the large side pieces that had already been attached.

And when you’re finished, you’ll have a beautiful and ‘new’ lampshade! I love how this looks and finally stands out from the cork mirror behind it.

The angled chevron works for me against these traditional, big patterned drapes. I love the contrast between the two of them!

Here is a final look at the before and after of our kitchen lampshade. Let me know if you try something similar – I would love to see a picture!

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Blue and Orange, Orange and Blue

It is a very happy time in Oklahoma City! The Thunder is headed to its first-ever NBA Finals and the town is pumped. There is blue and orange everywhere you look and I love it. Blue and orange, orange and blue…it is a great combination that isn’t just in OKC. Check out these great pictures of blue and orange in home and fashion.

Gorgeous! The blue maxi dress and orange Marc Jacobs clutch are perfect.

Pattern overload! If you love to mix and match your patterns then this is the room for you. I like how they used different tones of the same color – colors in a room don’t have to be matchy-matchy!

Very cool display! The blue Ball glasses are so pretty.

This is a room I could definitely live in. Clean and crisp with perfect pops of orange!

Thunder Up, friends!

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