What to do with one hundred cigar boxes?

I have to admit I have a craft supply shopping addiction.  I got to the craft store for one thing and come home with twenty.  I find inspiration in pretty much everything I see and can't wait to get it home and create something new.  Now why is it that when craft supplies come free I can't find the same creative motivation?

My dad is an avid cigar smoker and collector which is great news for me because the boxes cigars come in are absolutely beautiful and my fabulous daddy saves them all for me.  The problem is I have NO idea what to do with them.

I've been searching the web for ideas and picking my friends brains and I just can't seem to settle on an idea.  I've made one into a jewelry box:

But that really doesn't seem like the direction I want to go.  My newest inspiration is this fab altoid tin:

I love the idea of creating a whole little world inside my boxes and making something completely unexpected.  What do you think?

Branding

I've been working all day on a mood board for Modern Day Dauphine.  What do you think??

And on a Side Note

My little blog has reached just over 1000 views!

Baby steps of progress!

Small Spaces

As a college student and young adult I've been granted the somewhat difficult task of decorating small spaces since I moved out of my parents house and into the dorms a little over six years ago.  Moving into the dorms was such an exciting time, but while most college freshman are looking forward to making friends and having more freedom I was looking forward to having my own space to decorate.  I was lucky enough to have a roommate who didn't care too much about our room design as long as it was cute and her David Beckham poster got to be up on the wall.  Shopping for our dorm room was so much fun and it was my first real experience with decorating. Of course I'd always decorated my bedroom but this time I had a budget and set furniture and in the words of Tim Gunn I had to "make it work."  After designing That room I was hooked on design for good and I actually learned to love designing small spaces.  I posted some photos of my personal small space at my old apartment here but here are some small spaces designed by others.

Don't these rooms just inspire you?

Wow

OH. EM. GEE. Taylor Swift does it again. Her new cd "red" has been playing in my apartment, car and head on repeat since the second it came out on itunes.

My favorite song is 'I Knew you Were Trouble'

Have you heard the cd yet? Whats your favorite song??

I Don't Want to Jynx it but...

I have a job interview tomorrow. And im pretty positive about it. Theres a very good chance I'll be waiting tables again very very soon.
However, I have very mixed feelings about it right now. I am so lucky to have parents who are supporting me while I try to get my etsy store to take off (and I actually think I figured out part of the problem but more on that later) but the support theyre giving me leaves me very little money for fun and craft supplies. So the money Id make serving would definitely be much needed and welcomed. But the time I'll spend making that money will significantly eat in to my homework time, which in turn will eat into my craft time and then the etsy is even further set back.
I realize I'm getting a little ahead of myself because I don't even have the job yet but these are all considerable concerns.

If you were in my position what would you put first? The money or the craft bussiness of your dreams?

Ten Commandments for Crafters

1.  Thou shall clean paintbrushes immediately after use
2.  Thou shall wait for paint to dry completely before moving on to the next step of a project
3.  Thou shall not paint on an uncovered surface
4.  Thou shall not use an xacto knife with out proper surface protection underneath
5.  Thou shall not take someone elses idea without significantly altering it to make it your own
6.  Thou shall never buy when they can DIY
7.  Thou shall never use spray adhesive or spray paint indoors
8.  Thou shall give handmade gifts instead of store bought whenever possible
9.  Thou shall never let a fear of failing hold you back from trying a new project
10.Thou shall be proud of your own work, even when it doesn't turn out perfectly




What crafting Commandments do you follow?

What's my Motivation?

I can't lie...I'm stuck in a bit of a rut.

So today, I'm going to make a list of all the things that inspire me, and hopefully some of them can inspire you too.

• www.craftster.org - This site is an amazing community of artists and crafters who post their craft projects and often tutorials for everyone to see.

•  Champagne Lifestyles on a Beer Budget is a great blog by a girl around my age living the fabulous life but on a budget.  Lots of DIY and decor.
• Dance...all kinds.  Taking a class, seeing a ballet, watching the little girls on dance moms, it totally and completely inspires my creative side

• The show Flea Market Flip on HGTV.  It takes two teams of two to a flea market and gives them a budget and three tasks.  They buy items at the flea market and then crafts them to fit the tasks they were given and then sell them at the flea market.  They are seriously creative and come out with awesome items to sell.
• My bedroom

 

As I said, I'm struggling to find inspiration right now...what inspires you?

Dissapointed

So today was a pretty disappointing day as far as my etsy shop is concerned.  For those of you familiar with selling on etsy your items expire after four months and today was that four month mark for me.  I guess I just thought I'd be doing better by now and I didn't think I'd have so many unsold items when this day came.  So now the big question is:

What do I do to boost my sales?

currently I've been looking at blogs like handmadesuccess and handmadeology which have a lot of great marketing ideas.  I guess I just need to put them in to practice.

I Hate to Admit it but...

I've fallen off the wagon.

The organizational wagon that is.

For those of you who've been following along you may remember This post where I told you all about how perfectly organized every aspect of my life was, thanks in large part to my ipad.

Well unfortunately for me, it takes a little more than technology to stay on top of your game.  Planning and scheduling can only take you so far but it's up to you to follow through.  

Now I'm not a lost cause yet and I will say that all of my organizational tools helped me notice how off track I was getting.  So my new plan is to make small adjustments in my day to day in order to get back to the happily organized modern day dauphine I was a month ago.

How do you stay organized?

Just a Little Update

So school has been crazy busy and I've had very little time to work on my long list of craft and DIY to-dos. Despite that I have ads running on both facebook and etsy and have mad three sales in the last thirty days! YAY ME!!
What do you do to advertize your blog?

xoxo

The Modern Day Dauphine

In honor of breast cancer awareness month

Halloween Mantle

Here's my Halloween mantle in my apartment:

And some close ups of the bulletin board I made:

What do you think?? 

How are you decorating for Halloween?

I Have a Secret

Ok.

So it's not so much a secret as it is a new project.

meet my new craft desk:

yes, it is slanted.  yes, there is a big gap between the cabinet and the desk top. yes, it's missing a wheel.  yes, it is a hot mess.

But none of this concerns me.  I can't wait to work my DIY crafty magic and turn this train wreck into a beauty fit for a princess.  But for now, all plans for this project are top secret. 

And as soon as I finish this episode of Grey's Anatomy, project closet purge will begin!! More on that later!!

I'm back and Menu Plan Monday

Hello there my faithful readers

Sorry to have left you for the last few days but I was in Las Vegas celebrating my dad's 70th birthday.

The trip was exactly the break I needed to relax, breathe, and come home ready to stay on track with school, organizing and life in general.

Tonight's task: Menu Plan Monday

So you're probably wondering "what's the deal with all those shakes?"

Well, a few months ago I tried the new diet fad Body By Vi.  It seemed to work pretty well so I've decided to give it another chance (and happen to have over a months worth of shake powder left over) to lose a few pounds for Halloween.

So that's the deal on my menu for this week...let's hope I can stick to it.

Next task: cleaning out my closet!