DIY Wild Herringbone Print

Today I’m joining Katie from Bower Power, Sherry from Young House Love, Erin from The Great Indoors, and Cassie from Hi Sugarplum for the Pinterest Challenge – Winter Edition.

Out of the hundred+ DIY projects I’ve pinned, I picked this one as my challenge project:

Source via Pinterest

Nothing like a Pinterest Challenge to get a girl motivated to cut, layout, and glue a thousand paper chunks! OK, a thousand is a bit of an exaggeration…but it felt like that many! Oh, but it was worth it!

I love the original print, but I wanted mine to be more teal, less pink. I think it turned out pretty amazing!

OK, let’s talk specifics - I started by cutting my paper into ½ inch strips. I used 6 sheets of 12” x 12” coordinating paper from a DCWV Gone Wild Scrapbook Paper Stack (I searched through Michael’s loose scrapbooking paper, but didn’t really find any that fit my color scheme, so I had to buy a whole pad).

Next I cut the strips into 3 inch pieces. I ended up with a huge pile of ½ inch x 3 inch pieces - then I mixed all of the pieces up, so my print would be random.

Now the tricky part –

I used the original print to help figure out the layout.

Source

I definitely over thought the layout and made it way harder than it needed to be. I had to lay everything out a couple times before I finally got it right. But I eventually did and that’s all that matters!

I used a glue stick to apply all of the pieces. It’s not the most permanent solution, but it’s the easiest/cleanest way.

Lots of paper and glue later, the poster board was covered! Oh, and I forgot to mention that I cut my poster board to fit my frame before I started laying out the pattern.

 

I used an ugly gold frame that I bought last Goodwill half-priced Saturday to frame my picture. I trashed the puzzle that was previously framed, spray painted the frame white, and then popped in my new artwork. 

Before

After

Cost

DCWV Gone Wild Paper Pad – Michael’s $19.99 $11.99

Poster board – Michael’s $0.59

Glue sticks – On hand

Frame – Goodwill $4.99 $2.49

Spray Paint – On hand

Total $15.07

Also partying at:

Pinterest Recipe Week 2

You can check out Pinterest Recipe Week 1 here

I’ve mentioned before that every Sunday I plan out dinners for the upcoming week. I do my grocery shopping after work on Monday and then I’m done for the week...except the cooking part…

I was putting together my meal plan yesterday and just wasn’t feeling any of my usual recipes, so I decided it’d be fun to have another Pinterest Recipe Week. I planned out 5 dinners (we usually eat out Friday and Saturday) and 1 dessert from the recipes I’ve been pinning on Pinterest.  I think it’s about time to make some of this stuff I’ve been pinning!

Dinner

Honey Lime Chicken Enchiladas – Served with Refried Beans

Source via Pinterest

Spinach and Artichoke Baked Pasta  - Served with French Bread

Source via Pinterest

BBQ Chicken Nachos

Source via Pinterest

Spicy Parmesan Shrimp Skillet

Source via Pinterest

Easy Garlic Chicken and Bacon Cheese Potatoes

Source via Pinterest

Source via Pinterest

Dessert

Chewy No-Bake Cookies & Cream Treats

Source via Pinterest

Next Monday will be Pinterest Recipe Week Review. I’ll show off and review all the food I made. Hopefully there are some keepers in this batch!

Etsy Wish List

I don’t usually do Pinterest or Etsy related posts (unless I made something I pinned or bought something off Etsy), but today I wanted to spread a little Etsy love. I've picked 5 items that I love AND have a place/use for. I haven't bought any of these items...yet!

I’m not a huge fan of burlap, but this pillow would look so good on our bed. And it’s fitting for us because I always make my boyfriend kiss me goodnight.

Plus I can use it as a guest pillow if Lakota ever comes to visit. (Totally kidding…you can read all about Lakota’s “love” for burlap here).  

Source: Sweet B

Sticking with pillows, I think this pillow wants to come live on my couch. It would bring the teal from my roman shades into the living room...and I like birds (only decorative birds - I’m terrified of real birds).

Source: Modern Touch Designs

Remind me not to buy black furniture again! I love my new dining room table, but it shows EVERYTHING! I think placemats would help, so I’ve been on the lookout for some awesome ones. I really like these, but I’d probably cry if someone spilled something on them.

Source: Willow Ship

Moving away from fabric, let’s talk flowers. I would love to always have fresh flowers around the house, but I’m too cheap to buy them. I think these metal flowers are the perfect solution. They’ll last forever and they look cool. A tattooed arm holding barbed wire flowers = cool..duh!

Source: Merritt Hyde

I’m still working on my office makeover and I’ve been looking for some artwork for the walls. I’ve always love Paris (even though I’ve never been) and I love this architectural print of the Eiffel Tower. I think it’d look perfect framed and hung next to the window.

Source: Rebecca Plotnick

Hopefully someday I’ll visit Paris and be able to frame my own Eiffel Tower photos!

Do any of you have your own Etsy shop? If so, feel free to share the link in the comments section. If not, do you have a favorite shop or what have you purchased recently?

I Painted It White – Desk Edition

You can read why painting furniture white is “stickin’ it to the man” here

You can find other ‘I Painted It White’ projects here and here

Last week when I shared my office makeover progress I promised a separate post about the desk. And I always make good on a promise  =)

Any of you remember this desk?

I found it on Craigslist last April. I had planned to paint the body white and stain the top dark walnut. I was also planning to keep the existing hardware…

9 1/2 months later…

I decided I was sick of not having a desk and decided to get it done! (Possibly because I moved it to the middle of the garage and couldn’t park in there until it was finished – talk about motivation!) I sanded, patched, primed, painted (Creamy by Sherwin Williams), and polycrylic’ed the entire desk. I may have squealed with delight when it was all done– LOVE me some white furniture!

I replaced the existing hardware with glass pulls from Hobby Lobby and acrylic knobs from Pottery Barn Teen (I wanted the matching-ish glass knobs from Hobby Lobby, but they are out of stock in nearby stores and online).

15 newly drilled holes later:

And so you don’t have to scroll up again:

Before

After

Cost

Desk – Craigstlist $75.00

Primer and Paint – On hand

Glass Pulls – Hobby Lobby $9.99 $4.99 x 6 = $29.94

Acrylic Knobs – Pottery Barn Teen $1.99 x 3 = $5.97 (found on clearance and free shipping!)

Total $110.91

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