diy: custom dry erase board

I was originally inspired by this jewelry display idea from Real Simple magazine:

So I bought an inexpensive picture frame from Garden Ridge, a sheet of styrofoam, fabric to cover the styrofoam, and gold pins to hang earrings and bracelets on the board. I even bought a giraffe statue to hang necklaces, instead of a bust, because it seemed eccentrically cute at the time. I ended up hating the whole project because my jewelry is too ugly to display and the giraffe looked tacky (surprise).

Instead, I decided to put the glass back in and frame a slightly patterned yellow dishtowel to create a dry erase board for my kitchen:

Works for grocery lists, to-do lists, "Happy Birthday Mom" messages, questionably funny drawings, and other pretending-to-be-practical-but-really-just-kinda-cute-decor things.


Why a dishtowel? It matched my kitchen decor already and was one of those waste-of-money towels that can't actually absorb any liquid. Upcyclin'.


Here are others that used regular fabric or decorative paper, some of which have tutorials:

Source: Real Simple

Source: Make and Takes

Source: Metal and Mud

Source: O. Alouette

Source: Papernstitch

tutorial: how to make a round pintuck pillow

Want this pillow?:

 

If you stalk the apartment decor section of Urban Outfitters like I do, you may already recognize these round velvet pintuck pillows that come in an array of colors (currently 11 colors). They have a rating of 4.5 out of 5 stars over 73 reviews, probably because they are pretty fabulous. They're also $32-$34 each, which isn't outrageous but of course I like to think I can always do better.

So I made one.

Certainly it's not exact, especially the pintucking, but it still emulates the retro-throwback style. And it was half the price to make. So, wanna make your own? Get ready to smock!

Click below to see the full tutorial:

turn my swag on

i knew i needed a pendant lamp over my fireplace mantel to cure my dark living room woes. and to shine a light on my rad horse print.


i found this one at goodwill. i liked that it had a chain i could "swag" (like this) and that i wouldn't have to buy a lamp kit. it was brown originally, but in my genius mind i thought that a good old coat of spray paint would be all the makeover it needed.



ick. couldn't stop there. i was hoping that i could just rip the red stuff off and have the basic gold plate, chain and wire to use with a different shade. but of course the frame was made of metal, not wood, and i couldn't remove just the top part without, well, something that cuts metal.




i think i tried forty different things to make a new frame shade that fit my style. a $9 lamp at goodwill is pretty steep, after all, so i couldn't just waste it, right? i tried using the basket from this unused hanging planter:



but it was too shallow and looked pretty goofy:


since i hadn't removed the glue and staples from the base yet, i thought i'd hide it with the twine from the hanging basket:


wait, TWINE? i hate decorating with basket weave. this isn't my style at all, are you kidding me?
so i went a whole new route. the placements i bought for my dining table when i first moved in are not functional at all, but i still like the look of them.

 crumbs would easily fall through, and they attracted dust since they're made of felt or something. so i cut up two of them into six triangles. painted the metal frame of that lamp with leftover white paint. attached the triangles to the frame with needle and thread. and now i have this:










i don't own a ladder, so hanging this from my 10-foot-ceiling with a chair, a suitcase filled with books, tiptoes and a lot of cursing was a dangerous ordeal in itself. also explains why i got lazy and only swagged the chain up to where it was easier to reach on the wall.


a similar look can also be achieved with doilies, as i found on apartment therapy:

source: calinas (in swedish) via apartment therapy 


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Project linked to:

Today's Creative Blog
and

apartment tour

Yesterday I was a Tumblr who Tumbld, but today I am officially a Blogger who Bloggers. Mostly because I can't stand the omission of vowels in words. Srsly.

Blogger, meet my 450-square-foot apartment. It has a few more than four walls, and some of them are not square. What's in a name?

In case you're stat-happy, here are some slightly irrelevant stats: the Department of Housing and Urban Development says that fair market rent in FY2011 for a one-bedroom place in Louisville, Kentucky (where I live) is $585 per month--about what I pay. The highest I saw in the country is San Francisco at $1,465 and the lowest is in my dear state: Lawrence, KY at $383. I would never call $1,465 FAIR, especially because that's 150% of Louisville's rent but my current salary converted to SF dollars would only be 82% more.

Back to my apartment, which was featured as a house call on Apartment Therapy. I write that sentence with seventeen hidden exclamation marks. Srsly.

These photos are are old enough that they don't capture some of the changes I've made (moved photos, killed plants) and projects I've completed since summer (wrapped tin cans in fabric).

But taking all new 360-degree photos would mean I'd have to make the bed and do dishes or something equally awful, so I will slowly Blogger my way through some of the DIY stuff that's worth sharing. Some of it will be recycled from my Tumblr.