Pages

Wednesday, January 30, 2013

Happy 3 weeks Drew!


Time has flown by and Drew is almost a month old. A little depressing that this sweet newborn stage is coming to an end. But I always enjoy every stage my babies go through.
 Thankfully I have a lovely new camera to document my kids better.  :0)


This picture's caption:
"Your telling me I just what in my pants!!?




Here are some pictures I took of him with my new camera 












I hope to be taking pictures of the other kids within the next few days :0)

xo Melissa

 
 

Monday, January 28, 2013

A New Chapter



Today is my 1st official day as a stay at home mama... 

Bring on the chaos! :0)







Thursday, January 24, 2013

DIY JCrew Necklace

I am going to attempt the impossible.... DIY J Crew Flower Lattice Necklace
Retails for $228.00...... gulp! (and it's sold out btw)

Flower lattice necklace

Let's look at it up close shall we??


I found this set of brooches on Etsy the other day for $18.75 12% off = $16.50
10 pcs Assorted Acrylic Metal Rhinestone Buttons with Shank on the back Round Diamante Crystal for Hair Flower Wedding Pillow Napkin garment
But I needed 1 large brooch to make my set complete.... So I also bought this one also
RD109 Crystal Rhinestone Metal LARGE Embellishment Sewing Shank Button or Brooch Broach Pin Wedding Bridal Brooch Bouquet

and this one...


RD74 BIG 2 inch CLEAR Rhinestone embellishment button Perfect for wedding accessories invitations pillow crystal bouquet flowers hair

There are several tutorials online on how to paint rhinestone jewelry (just Google it)
Here are some different ways



Sharpies
 create the translucent look


via



Spray Paint
Creates a matte finish and an excellent choice if you wanted it all one color.
(however it isn't ideal for my project),



via



Nail Polish
Could be ideal but it can get pricey quick


via






Acrylic Paint
Millions of colors for cheap!



She also used a layer of Mod Podge as a sealant and to give it a glossy finish


via


Ok so let me show you what I did

Basics needed
Necklace and Bracelet chain set
(I wanted Gold but I wasn't sure how it would look)
Brooches/Buttons
Wire
Pliers


1. The necklace was too short in my opinion , so I took the chain from the bracelet and extended it. 
2. I laid out my pieces 
* looks just like the silver version of the JCrew necklace, doesn't it!?!*


3. Next I started attaching the brooches to the chain with some silver jewelry wire


These 3 little buttons on the right were the most difficult to attach


All of them are attached at this point. 
*The far left button lost a stone, but I glued it back later*


4. Apply colors!


I slowly "colored" the stones as close as I could to the JCrew version 
The 3 buttons on the right were my test subjects




On the JCrew version I noticed there were some gray looking stones on the front middle one. 
After some thought I used a black sharpie on those stones and then immediately buffed it off, which achieved the gray coloring. 


Here she is !


Let's see how close I got, shall we?

Flower lattice necklace

Pretty dang close if I do say so myself!

Here she is on me :0)


Well I hope this has inspired you to start painting your rhinestones!!


xo Melissa


Tuesday, January 22, 2013

My Fabric and Wallpaper



You already know I sell fabric from Spoonflower but did you know you can also get any of these designs as wallpaper too?!? Isn't that awesome!?

I have added some new colorways to my collection and I have also increased the scale in some of the colors.


Trellis -Small scale

Top:
Navy, Taupe, Mustard, Orange
Bottom:
Kelly Green, Pink, Light Gray, Dark Gray
Trellis Fabric

Trellis - Large Scale

Top:
Navy, Taupe, Dark Gray
Middle:
Orange, Mustard, Kelly Green
Bottom:
Pink, Black, Black Reverse

Trellis-Large


Trellis Reverse - Small Scale

Top:
Dark Gray, Kelly Green
Bottom:
Navy, Taupe

Trellis Reverse Fabric



Fretwork 

Top (small scale):
Orange, Taupe, Kelly Green
Bottom (Large scale):
Fern Green, Black, Navy, Kelly Green
Fretwork Fabric

Quatrefoil & Greek Key

Top (small scale):
Black, Taupe, Charcoal, Charcoal/White
Middle (Large scale):
Black/White Reverse, Black/White, Charcoal/White, Kelly Green
Bottom:
Black- Greek Key

Quatrefoil



Custom Color Request
Trellis
Sometimes I get requests for certain colors and I am happy to oblige :0)

Fuchsia, Turquoise 
Custom Trellis

Well that's it for now! 

If you would like to purchase any of these designs in fabric or wallpaper 


P.S.
Happy 2 weeks old to my newest little man!!


Monday, January 21, 2013

New Goodies



So as you know, ebay can be addictive.... well sometimes it pays to be observant ;0)

I scored this JCrew necklace for $22.50 .... *It retailed for like $140*



I also scored this JCrew necklace for $15.99... *It retailed for $180*




I was thinking about adding some satin ribbon bows to it like the picture below 
(It is also a JCrew necklace but it's way out of my price range even on ebay - $250)
If I do I would make them detachable



I also bought my camera bag! whoo hoo! 

Missy Mint


Reasons for buying it :

Doubles as a purse = less bags to carry = 2 for 1 :0)
and it's gorgeous





Oh and here is a sneak peek of my secret project....






xo Melissa



Thursday, January 17, 2013

Pause and Snow


Thank you for letting me take a pause from blogging so I can love on this little guy :0)



On a side note... we got snow today!!! like 4 inches! 
and like 5 hours after this picture was taken it was all gone :0(


and here is my snow-lady



I have been working on a secret DIY project while I've been home.... stay tuned!

Your regularly scheduled blog programming will return on Monday 

xo Melissa