this isn't a project but....

I just wanted to pop in and recommend you to my sister's etsy!! She makes really beautiful, unique jewelry. Most of her pieces can go with casual AND dressy clothing, so it's perfect~ Here are a few of my favorites!

 

 

I seriously love those earrings, if I had pierced ears I would snatch them out for myself!!!

Check it out, she is at blueheritage.etsy.com

If you have left over candy boxes like me...

then this is the perfect blog post for you!!

I know, another week cutting it close to the deadline, but it's here!! This project went through a lot of changes. First, I was going to make little display boxes, but it changed into simple wall art.

Here's what I started out with. Something that most everyone has left over after Valentine's Day, and if you don't, just ask around! Someone is bound to have some that you can use. That's right...left over heart-shaped candy boxes~!

 

 First of all, I clipped the bow off of the big box. Then I painted them a flat color. Since they are red, which is a hard color to cover up, I started with a left-over bottle of primer. After that, I painted them with some left over paint that was used to paint the door and some shelving in my room, so I knew it would match! It was pretty messy...

 

Then I just did little paintings on each one! I have a slight bird theme in my room, so I choose to paint a different bird on each one - a sparrow, an owl, and a robin red breast. If you need some reference, just use google image search, that's what I did!

These are SUPER easy to hang. Since they were boxes, you can put two pushpins in the wall (one for each hump of the heart). Simple as that! These next photo's aren't very good because they were taken at night and the light in my room doesn't get very bright...I might take some more tomorrow and replace these ones. But here's how I have mine hanging!

 

Another idea is to paint cute houses on each one, with the saying 'home is where the heart is!' That's what I was going to do first, but I decided that the birds fit my style a bit more. 

xo, caro~

Adorable Valentine's Lamp~

This post is reaaaaaaaaaally cutting it close, but it's here! The week has been crazy busy, second week of the second semester and I've already had a ton of homework. BUT I am really happy with the project this week~

Anyone who knows me knows that I looooove Anthropologie! However, they are generally waaaaay too expensive for me, unless something is on super sale. The last time I went, I fell in love with this lamp. Unfortunately, it costs $388!!

 (via anthropologie)

So, of course, I set out on a quest to make my own~ I got a lamp and lamp shade from Goodwill for a total of $10. The lamp stand ($6.99) originally came with this weird knitted shade that smelled really bad, so I bought a plain shade that fit it ($3). And then I got to work! Here's the before:

 

For my paper, I used a book of English Romantic Poetry that I had to buy for my English class senior year, and a book of hands that I bought a few years back. The Anthropologie lamp uses dictionary definitions and they are cut out in rectangles, but in honor of Valentine's Day I cut my paper out in hearts~ I did big and small hearts, but mostly big (because they take up more space, ahaha!)

 

I used matte medium to paste the hearts overlapping on shade. Before it was all the way covered, it looked sort of gross because it made the shade darker. And I was really messy!

 

I also had to paint the base. Besides the fact that it was a boring color, some dummy wrote the price on the top of the base in Sharpie! Why would you ever do that??? It had already been painted once, so I didn't prime it, but it did take two coats of acrylic paint. After it was painted the color looked really pretty~

 

The edges of the shade were a little bit rough, so I used a trim my mom had on the top and the bottom, just using hot glue. Little bows cover up where the edges meet. 

 

(that's also my favorite part of the lamp! I loooove the holding hands, although looking at it I think it might just be one person's hands. whatever!) Now that it's all done, I think I love it even more than the Anthropologie one! This project may have come late in the week but it is definitely my favorite so far~ 

There are so many variations you can do to make this project all your own!!

xo, caro

Make a cute floral brooch~

Hey-o! I've really got to start doing more than one post a week, it feel too weird! My best friend, Brenda, got back from Mexico this week though, and I roped her into being my photographer, so I'm going to start doing a once-a-week 'What I Wore' feature! If you guys don't like it, I'll stop, though, haha.

Alright! I actually made this really early this week, but I have been so busy (school started this week!) that I hadn't had time to upload the photos, let alone write this. The project, itself, it really simple and won't take you more than 5 minutes!

I started out with some felt, a really cheesy pin, and a really pretty button.

 

Choose what felt you use, keeping with a common color scheme. I used reds because a) the button is a dull red and b) Valentine's Day is coming up! Next, cut your felt into circles, making sure the biggest one is bigger than the button you're using. I only did three layers but you can do as many or little as you want!

 

It doesn't matter if the circles are ~perfectly~ even. I used three different size cups to measure them. Next, just cut a cute pattern on the edge! You can do a different design for each circle or a more uniform one.

 

please ignore my ugly unpainted nails!

Just fold up the felt into fourths (or more for the biggest one) and cut the edge like you would a paper snowflake! I did a little different pattern on each one, and on the smallest one I did a heart-like shape in honor of Valentine's. To finish it up, I sewed the button on through all the layers, which also keeps them together. Then, just hot-glue the flower on top of your ugly pin, and there you have it! An adorable flower brooch! You can use it as just a pendant, to spruce up a plain bag, or, as I did, to give a loose sweater a more fitted look. Here's how I wore mine:

 

 

Can't wait to see how you make this your own! xo, caro

Hang your photos without holes!

A post at the beginning of the week?! I know, crazy! I had this idea on Saturday and happened to have most of the supplies, and the rest I got today, so with out further ado~


I have been looking for cute ways to show off photos and art I've gotten, because there is no room for picture frames. However, just using thumb tacks to hang pictures isn't so cute, besides the fact that it leaves little holes in your lovely art or photos. You can use alligator clips, but I wanted something a little more fun. So, I came up with this easy idea.

 

All you need are some clothespins, ribbon, and some cute decorations. First, I painted some nice, bright colors. Er, you can't really tell in the photo, but the two that look sort of light blue are actually white, and the ones that look a little yellow are actually bright yellow! Next, I covered them with fake flowers. I just hot glued them on, but I felt they looked a liiiiitle bit plain, so I did a little decoration on the bottom with Sharpies

The colors ended up making them look a little Easter-eggish...oh well, still cute! Then you take a long piece of ribbon and tie little bows on the end. Spread the ribbon flat on a table and lay the clothes pin evenly across, then hot glue them in place.

The bows will cover the pins you'll use to hang them in the wall. Then, just hang it where you want it and clip your photos/art in!

 

The great thing about this is that you can use whatever you want to decorate it so it can fit your room!

ps: the lovely artwork is by amy and amber

A Litte Bonus Project

Hey guys! I feel so bad about taking forever to get my next project up, and its actually still not done! :( But I have another project that I did before I had my resolution, and I thought I would share that with you today. Unfortunately, I only have the after photos, but really, its obvious to tell what it would have looked like before.

Awhile ago I was given a gift certificate to Michaels, and I really didnt know what to do with it. I was looking up and down the isles and found these cool cut pieces of wood that still had the bark on the sides. They were for engraving with fire or something, I don't really remember. However, for the past few weeks I'd been looking for something to hold my necklaces, and this would be the perfect backboard! I bought one and went home.

Next I bought some knobs from the hardware store. Later my sister informed me that a local store sells vintage ones for $2 a pop! I was a little bummed that I didn't know that beforehand, but you can keep that in mind if you want to do this project! These are my two favorite knobs I got:

I asked my dad to screw 7 holes in the wood for where the knobs would go, then I screwed them in and voila! a new, adorable necklace hanger. Here it is in action!

Cute, right!?!?

From sweatshirt to mittens~

Hey everyone! Coming up in February I'm going to go up to the snow, and I was thinking I need a good pair of mittens to weather that cold. But man, it's hard to find cute, warm ones. So of course, I decided to make a pair myself! It started out as this sweatshirt that, while warm and nice, was too small for me.

 I decided this was the perfect material to make my mittens out of. So I cut it up! My first idea was to make them out of the sleeves, but I messed that up. Instead, I made it out of the body, which worked quite well. Its really simple all you have to do is make an outline of your hand, about a half inch away all the way around. Do it at the bottom, so the bottom hem will end up where your wrist goes. It should look like this:

  

Then you just sew on the line! I had my mom do that part for me, because I don't know how to use a sewing machine! (I want to learn soon though.) Then you just them out and turn them inside out. Make sure the cut pretty close where the thumb meets the hand or else it will fold weird. Now you can decorate however you like! I decided to go pretty simple, just three (really cute) buttons on each cuff.

 

By the way, I'm sorry about all the weird colors! The above photo is the closest to the color of the fabric. And that's it!! Cute, right?!?

Its really great that these are made of sweatshirt material, because its sooooo warm. Most mittens are knitted, and all those are super cute, but those little holes let lots of cold air through. Not gonna happen with these! :)

I'd love to see how you customize yours.
xo, caro