Never!

After venting my frustration in my last post I decided to give my dollhouse chair project one more try and I'm happy to say that I did it!

Here's the chair sitting in the room:

Next step: building a table. 

Wish me luck!

When to say "f@*k it" and give up on a project

As I keep mentioning, I have quite a few cigar boxes and I finally decided I want to turn them into dollhouse type rooms.  I've been in love with dollhouses for as long as I can remember and decorating my home is quite possibly my favorite thing to do so this seemed like the perfect fit, right? WRONG! I've been working on my first room for a few weeks now and at this point I'm so frustrated that the idea of finishing this project  (or starting another one when I'm finished) is starting to seem highly unlikely.

It started out going great.  I picked some fun patterned papers and set to work "wallpapering" the inside of my box.  Once that was done I searched through my stash and found the perfect buttons and embellishments to make a mini gallery wall.

So far, so good!

Obviously, the next logical step is to "furnish" the room.  This is where the trouble started.  Let me try and put this nicely:

Making dollhouse furniture is a mother f@*ker!

At this point, I've spent at least 15 hours trying to make a mini upholstered chair and unfortunately, all I have so far is a plain cardboard chair with cardboard cushions.

 

The problem is with the upholstery part.  I've spent countless hours trying to figure out the best way to cover it and I'm stuck. I know I could always buy pre-made dollhouse furniture, but that just feels like cheating.

So my question is, how long is too long to spend trying and failing at a project? I hate to give up on things, especially when I've already spent this much time on it, but I'm unbelievably frustrated. 

Help!

Small Key Box Shrine

Every time I go to the craft store I pick up some of those small, inexpensive, paper mache boxes and tonight I decided to finally use one.

This was kind of a practice for the cigar boxes  my dad gave me.  I've been collecting all of my ideas on Pinterest, but for now, they're still just sitting in my closet. 

 

It's a great little projects to use up all those buttons, rhinestones, bits and pieces you have and it came together pretty quickly. I can definitely see myself making a few more of these!

Do or Don't: Hanging Photos of Yourself in Your Home

As I'm decorating my new apartment I've been going through photographs and choosing which ones to put up and I've been having a hard time with the idea of hanging photos of myself.  Maybe I'm over thinking this, but it feels borderline narcissistic to hang my own face in my home. 

As I mentioned here I did a lot of traveling this summer.  I have some great pictures with all the friends I made along the way that I plan on putting up, but in a lot of the photos that show off the scenery the best (which makes them some of my favorites!) I'm the only person in the picture.  These are some amazing memories for me and part of me feels like I shouldn't be ashamed to display them just because I experienced them on my own.  I mean, if I were married and traveling with a husband he'd be in the pictures with me and I'd put them up without thinking twice, so is it really fair to me to hide my memories just because I experienced them on my own?

On the one hand, people always hang family photos in their home and for now, I'm a family of one. Why not embrace it?  

On the other hand, it feels extremely self-absorbed and egotistical to put myself, on my own, in a frame.

So far, I've kept the photos of myself off the wall but a final decision is yet to be made.

Any thoughts on the topic would be MUCH appreciated!

Chevron Frame Tutorial

The chevron trend is all over lately so I decided to give it a try on an old picture frame that you may recognize from this post here. 

For this project, you need some painters tape, scissors, a craft knife, acrylic paint in a color of your choice, a paint brush (I use the super cheap spongy kind) and a frame.

Start off with your frame.  I painted this frame years ago for my old bedroom, but it doesn't match my new apartment's aesthetic so I decided to revamp it.  You can also use this same technique on a canvas, tray, table top...whatever you want! Just make sure the surface you use is clean and dry.

Now start taping.  I decided to make an "x" straight through the center to keep things even without having to measure anything.

Now keep adding stripes of tape in a criss-cross pattern across your whole surface.

Here's where it gets a little tricky.  Use your craft knife to cut away the excess tape leaving behind your chevron pattern.  Be careful not to press too hard with your blade or it will damage your surface. Use your fingers or the edge of your craft knife to peel away the excess painters tape until it looks something like this....

Once you have all the extra tape removed, sometimes you have to move around the tape on the edges or add more in certain places to make it look right.  Just use your judgement.

 Now take your paintbrush and cover the whole thing in paint. Technically you only need to paint the parts without tape, but I think it comes out better if you paint it all.

Once the paint is COMPLETELY DRY pull off the tape and there you go!

I currently have mine on display in my living room while I look for the perfect picture to put in it!

Hope you found this helpful!

My New Apartment: A Sneak Peak

So I promised myself I'd start writing daily again, and since I'm currently unemployed, there is no reason I shouldn't make this a priority.  

Unfortunately my perfectionism has some other plans for me. 

I find it hard to do things if I can't do them "perfectly" which is a problem because as we all know, perfect doesn't exist.  I planned on getting my apartment completely finished by the beginning of this week so I could finally post some pictures.  However, strep throat got the best of me over the weekend and that just isn't going to happen for a few more days.

At first I was really disappointed about the fact that I'd have to push back my plans by another week since originally I'd wanted it all done by October 1st, but I realized that just because my apartment isn't 100% complete and perfect doesn't mean I can't share some of the pieces that are.

So for starters, a little sneak peak of my living room:

My fireplace is definitely one of my favorite things about my new home, so it's only natural that it's the first thing I chose to set up (and show off!!)

Now off to make some more throat coat and take another round of medicine.  Any tips and tricks to dealing with a sore throat and ears would be much appreciated!

Big Changes

Still can't believe I actually went to Versailles!

This summer was absolutely amazing and life changing in all the best ways.  I traveled all over, spending 15 days in Israel, 10 visiting family on the east coast, and 20 days all over Europe where I was lucky enough to visit Marie Antoinette's former palace and Gardens at Versailles!!! I experienced other cultures, saw amazing sights and met some of the most amazing people I ever could have imagined, all of which has changed me in ways that words could never do justice.  However, the biggest change in my life this summer was my (somewhat impulsive) decision to move across the country from Southern California where I was born and raised to Washington, D.C!

I've been here a little under a month and so far I have zero complaints (although taking public transportation everywhere has been a huge adjustment.)  I found a beautiful apartment in a great part of the city that I've been thoroughly enjoying decorating and turning into my home.  Although moving here without a job was risky and the majority of my time is being spent looking for work, I've had plenty of time to unpack and organize all my craft supplies, and with all the inspiration I picked up traveling this summer I'm excited that I have enough time to get back to designing and creating and hopefully I'll have my etsy shop back in business in time for the holidays!