DIY // Ring Ring Print

This is another one of my DIY's that is a "do it yourself" but doesn't come with a tutorial. I think my problem (well, it's up to you if it's a problem or not) is that I just go for it, without really planning. Which means that I don't really have many DIY posts for you that you can follow point by point.

It's all part of the fun though. Yes, it's great to get inspiration and sometimes ideas don't really come together until you've done a bit of research.. But sitting down with a pen and paper can be where the magic happens too.

We aren't really allowed to put stuff on our walls (unless we use 3M hooks) so I've been a bit hesitant about dreaming up cute decor. We did have a hook above our little "phone space" though and I had been thinking about creating a print for it. I didn't have much lying around, except for this lovely frame and some paper. I was tossing up between "Call Me Maybe" and "Ring Ring, Why Don't You Give Me A Call." I was too scared to attempt something as long as the "ring ring" quote, but I did like the idea of having something simple so "Ring Ring" it was.

All I did was draw the oval to fit the frame, write my quote "Ring Ring" and then colour the oval in using a circular scribble pattern. I just liked the idea of it having a bit more texture - definitely looked better than if I had tried to colour it in normally.

Then I drew the little scallop design around the outside and coloured in the shape the same as the oval.

Voila. Easiest project ever.

I've also included a little snap of our cute as succulents/cactis on our brickwall. They might just be my favourite part of our house. It's so nice seeing it all come together. I have to admit that it hasn't happening as fast I'd like, but it's okay. At least thought is going into each aspect instead of filling it up with rubbish. 

I'm thinking about working on a photo type project this weekend, so I'll try and make it a little more DIYish for ya.

DIY // Glitter Letter Banner

Lately, I've been really drawn to all things glittery. White, black, glitter and a pop of colour is always a combination that I love and so naturally, I had to add some to our house warming decorations. My original idea was to layer the letters with my DIY Fabric Garland but it was bit hard trying to secure it to our brick wall without using nails or screws. It ended up being hung over our little bookcase, which I was still happy with.

W H A T   Y O U    N E E D :

Printed out letters - you can just do this on any computer. Use any font you want (make sure you will be able to cut it out easily) and any size you want

Glitter paper/card

Scissors

Glue

String/Yarn

Cellotape

Start off by cutting out your letters. I decided to leave the inner letter holes (on the R, O, B etc) but you can cut yours out if you want. Then, glue them so the ink side is down (otherwise your letters will turn out backwards) onto the back of your glitter card.

After that, all you need to do is cut the letters out. Lay them out along the string, making sure they are all evenly spaced and then attach them to the string using the cellotape.

I just taped mine to the wall - we don't have a lot of freedom at our home with putting things on the walls, but anything works! It's quite a cute little DIY that looks good by itself or would be an awesome party of a food/dessert table. You don't even have to do names, you could do song lyrics or a quote that you love. Go wild! I definitely think I'll be making more of these in the future. They are so quick to make and cheap too! My kind of project.

DIY // Fabric Garland

As I mentioned in my last post, we had a little house warming gathering in the weekend so my friends could take a look at our new place. I wanted to make a couple of decorations to add a little "sparkle" (there were literally sparkles) to the house.

I thought that I might as well make the most of our wonderful brick wall, so I had a look through Pinterest at some banner/garland ideas that might work. I settled on a tassel type garland. The ones I had seen used tissue paper but I wanted to make do with what I had at home. I still had some fabric left over from the cushion covers that I made, so I decided to use those - as well as some sequin string that I bought from a craft store. 

W H A T   Y O U   N E E D :

Fabric scraps - whatever patterns/fabrics you like. 

Sequin string

Scissors

String/Yarn

First off, cut your fabric into strips. The length doesn't matter too much, just remember you will be folding the strips in half. Also cut your sequin string the same length. It doesn't have to be perfect as the garland will look nice with some odd lengths. 

Next, measure out the length of your garland and cut your string/yarn accordingly. Lay out the strips so you can get a good idea of how it's looking and the order you want your fabric to be in. I alternated between spots and plain, with the sequins alternating from gold to black. The best thing about this DIY is that it's not meant to look perfect so go crazy! You can't go wrong.

Then, tie your strips to the string. This part is totally up to you. You can either have long strips with a small knot at the top (just tie the strips to the string) or you can fold over your strips as I have done. Simply fold the strip in half, fold it over the string and bring the loose ends of the strips through the looped half. If that didn't make sense - here's how it works. 

Continue tying the rest of your strips and play around with the spacing until you're happy with the final look. And then you're done! You've got a cute little fabric garland that you can hang anywhere in your house.

I love this project because it's super easy and super cheap! It's also totally personal because you can use the colours, fabrics and patterns that you want. Plus, it looks good everywhere so in my eyes, this is the perfect DIY. Let me know if you try it out yourself. I would love to see what you guys come up with. 

Triangle Art

Last week, I shared a wee photo of our wonderful brick mantelpiece and some inspiration for the kind of art I want displayed there. Well, I finished it! I used whatever I had nearby which unfortunately didn't include any white paper. While I really like what I've done, it wasn't quite right on the old mantel so it's migrated to our bedroom. I actually love it there so that's fine but now I'm still stuck with an empty mantelpiece.

I used : a typo bag (clever eh?) / pink paper / black and white print / scissors / gluestick / pen

To be honest, I seriously had no idea what I was doing. I just started with triangles (naturally, triangles are my jam guys!) and it just went from there. I kept referring back to my inspiration, drawing on the patterns in those works to help me figure out how I wanted my triangles to look. You could totally do this at home as well! Just cut out a bunch of triangles, lay them out, and then add your own triangles with whatever pattern you want.It's a nice, simple, textural piece and can help if you are wanting to tie your home decor colours together without going crazy. I loved being off my computer and doing some good old fashioned penwork. I think you'll be seeing quite a bit more of that on the blog.

Our Little Home : Mantelpiece I

As you all know, about a month ago, my lovely man and I moved into a little place of our own. I've slowly been adding bits and pieces to the flat to make it feel a little more like a home. Being creative is definitely hard. I've seen so many things that I like and it's hard to try and focus on one sort of style. I know that it will end up being quite eclectic, but I want it to be cohesive. Ha! Good luck, I hear you say. You're probably right. I seem to have embarked on a pretty impossible mission, but I reckon I can do it.

We have this wonderful brick wall, with an open fireplace. It's also the only space where we can really decorate. All of our walls are concrete, and while I know that there are ways around nailing things to the wall, I'm a bit hesitant about putting too much stuff up. Obviously, the brick is too good to leave it as is, so I've been having a look on Pinterest for some ideas on how to make it look awesome. 

Because I have no money (a girl's gotta eat!) but a lot of creativity, I figured DIY is probably the best way to go. Layering is definitely going to be my best option, with loads of mismatched frames and little trinkets. Finding a way to make it look good and styled is going to be the hardest part.

We have a neutral theme going on at the moment - I'm too scared to choose a colour that I won't get sick of, so I thought I would try my hand at a large black and white print. We've already got quite a lot of patterns going on (do you see those polka dots) but I love pattern on pattern. 

bouffants and broken hearts / helium tea / inaluxe / hannah waldron / marimekko ruutukaava

These are some works that are inspiring me at the moment. I'm definitely loving the intricate patterns and the geometric shapes. This kind of thing would work so well with the brick wall. Texture over texture. My favourite. I also think it would be pretty easy to do by hand. I love taking a step back from the computer, picking up a pencil and just going crazy.

I think this might be my project for this weekend. 

Sleeplessness

If you don't know me well, I'm a bit of a morning person. I like to go to sleep early because I rarely sleep in. Not because I don't want to, but because my silly body won't let me. There have even been nights when I haven't come home until around 3am, but I still wake up at 7am. 

Last night, I decided to go bed early because I had been planning on waking up to run this morning. That didn't happen, hence this morning blog post. The reason it didn't happen was because I couldn't get to sleep. And the reason why I couldn't get to sleep is because yesterday, my lovely man and I were offered a place! If it feels sudden, that's because it was. 

Last year, I was flatting with my wonderful friend Ellie. A family thing came up at the end of the year and I decided, once the lease was up, I would move home with my family for a little bit. It's been lovely being around my Mum and my Grandma, but I definitely feel like I have lost a little of my independence. Rob and I had been discussing living together for a while and we thought that 2014 should be the year. I had been browsing online and I saw this sweet two bedroom place! On Wednesday we went to the viewing, and Wednesday night we applied for the tenancy. In our minds, it was all very casual, we weren't committing ourselves to anything and we could always say no. The next thing I know, the agent is calling me, offering me the place and Rob and I were saying yes! So really, it all happened within the last couple of days.

This is the reason I couldn't sleep. My brain would not shut off. It was calculating finances, shopping for furniture, thinking up cute DIYS... I'm so excited about this huge change for us, but I'm also very nervous. We don't have a lot of stuff to take with us so I know it's going to be an expensive couple of months, but I am just so happy to be able to make a home for the two of us. 

So there we go. There is my exciting news. I knew this year was going to be a big one, let's just hope that it's a good one as well.

The Dizain Collective : Spruce Up Your Home

For the last few weeks I have been over on The Dizain Collective's lovely blog contributing with a sweet little feature called "Spruce Up Your Home." Basically, I visited every room in the home and suggested ways to make your home a little bit fancy.

I loved doing this feature. It was nice for me to do something a little different (from design) and I really enjoyed trying to find neat ways to spruce up the home. It definitely gave me a mad case of home envy as well. I can't wait to have my own place so I can put all of these things into practise (and of course go on a little shopping spree).

Make sure you take a look at the posts. I guarantee there will be something that you will like!

Dining Room / Living Room / Kitchen / Hallway / Study / Bathroom / Bedroom / Garden