Little Bits of Home Pt. 3

Like I mentioned in recent posts I have been wanting to change up my home decor. My tastes have been changing so I've been making little changes here and there so that our space can evolve as our tastes do. One of my favorite things is having flowers and indoor plants in our home. It really does help transform a space to bring some greenery in. I'm also trying to focus on a more natural color palette with lots of browns and blues like in my latest weaving. 

How do you update your home when your tastes change? Any tips would be welcome ;)

-Reagan

Weaving Project No. 2

It isn't unusual for me to want to change up our home decor, it's something that has become a hobby of mine. I am always moving things from room to room and rearranging furniture. I love home decor, it's something I got from my parents who are constantly working on their home and always have a project going on. Since I live in an apartment my projects are sort of limited but I love making my own home decorations whenever I can, and woven wall hangings are one of my favorite projects. For those of you keeping score, that's a win-win.

  I shared some of my weaving projects before, so I hope this doesn't seem too repetitive, but I love how each one is unique and I of course had to try something new this time so I used some twine as my weaving base and added beads to my finished weaving. I am really pleased with how this one came out. It matches my living room decor a lot better than the other woven wall hangings I have made so far, so I'm pleased.

 I used my handmade loom that was fashioned out of an old picture frame, and I'm itching to make a larger version so I can have even bigger woven art pieces, possibly even a handmade rug. Hopefully I can make that happen sometime soon. I would love to have a rug I made myself, how cool would that be?! (in case anyone is curious the chalkboard arrow hanging is from Walmart.)

-Reagan

Little bits of home pt. 2

 So truth be told I've been a bit reluctant to share pictures of my home here for a few different reasons. One of the main reasons is because it's always felt like it wasn't ready or good enough. It's really easy to look at other people's homes on pinterest or on their blogs and compare them to your own.

 My living room isn't really planned in anyway, a lot of the furniture is handed down, inexpensive things we've added over the years, and a whole lot of thrifted items. I've always felt that it was sort of a modge podge of items and nothing really went together. Over time we've learned to embrace the eclectic look and have added a few items to make things feel somewhat cohesive.

 I'm pretty happy with how we have things right now but this living room is the result of a lot of work. I've been on a spring cleaning fling right now and my goal with every room in our apartment has been to clean out, and simplify. I've been getting rid of a lot of things that we've been holding on to, and it's felt really good to get rid of all the excess junk.

 

 Right now I have been trying to embrace mismatched bohemian patterns, fun textures, and natural elements. I'm hoping to add some indoor plants soon, but overall I'm happy with the direction our home decor is taking. Simplifying things really made things feel more open and bright.

I love spring cleaning and organizing, can you tell? I've already reorganized my closet, a coat closet, and the kitchen cabinets and I'm not even sure it's really spring yet.

 

Anyway, thanks for letting me share a few bits of my living room and the decoration/simplifying progress I've been making. I really love home decor (it's something I got from my mom) and I'm constantly rearranging things and pinning inspiration so it's been fun to share a little bit of my own living room even if it's still a work in progress.

-Reagan

A Little Bit of Home

Well it's Monday again. I don't know where the weekend went, it was definitely a quick one!
Today I have decided to share a glimpse at my living room decor. I'm constantly showing you all items that I find while thrifting, but I don't always show you how I style them in my home.

I love putting thrifted decor in my home for SO many reasons. I obviously love thrifting because more often than not it is less expensive than purchasing a new piece of home decor or furniture. I also love the thrill of the hunt, when you have to search and search to find that perfect piece for your living room, it has that story attached to it, and that meaning behind it can make it much more special. Of course another great reason to thrift items to decorate your home with is the fact that you're home will be wholly unique. You won't have to worry that your home decor will be too cookie cutter. When you thrift items and use second hand items in your home you're able to add history, character, and charm.

The only issue that I've come across with decorating with thrifted decor is that it challenges you to have a good eye for colors or styles that are cohesive. There are no home decor collections at Goodwill. You simply have to purchase items that have a similar aesthetic. I have definitely learned this through a lot of trial and error. My tip to you if you're interested in incorporating thrifted decor into your home is to figure out your main color palette, and what textures you already have throughout your home and look for pieces that pick up on those colors and textures already present in your space. For example if you use a lot of natural elements like wood, you may want to pass up something made of metal. (most of this is common sense stuff, but when you're thrifting sometimes you see a good deal and you forget that the item on sale isn't really your style.) It can help to save pictures of the various rooms of your home on your phone to reference while you look around.

I hope this post inspired you to thrift more items for your home!
-Reagan

Heart Print Wall Art

With January quickly coming to an end I have my sights set on February, more specifically, on Valentine's Day. Valentine's Day is one of the most polarizing holidays. People either seem to LOVE it or HATE it. I'm obviously one of those who loves this particular holiday. When I was a little kid I loved exchanging valentine's day cards at school and being able to indulge my girly side by embracing all things red and pink for a whole month straight. As an adult this holiday is special because it was Valentine's day of 2011 that I became engaged to my Husband. As an ode to this romantic holiday, I came up with this easy little heart print wall art that is a subtle nod to Valentine's Day, but could also look cute on your wall year round.

You will need a canvas, black and white acrylic craft paint, a sheet of foam (can be found at any craft store, or walmart), scissors,  a piece of cardboard, glue, a paper plate and a paint brush.

You will need to begin by drawing a heart (whatever size you would like) onto your foam and then cut the shape out. Glue your foam heart cut out onto your piece of cardboard (cut into a small square that fits your heart), allow the glue to dry.

Once your stamp has dried pour a little bit of black paint onto a paper plate. you can either dip your stamp into the paint or you can use your paintbrush to paint the stamp for better control. 

Then stamp away!

Once the black paint is dry, use the white paint to touch up any smudges, and fix the hearts if needed.

I filled in a few but left a few imperfect, this part is just personal preference. Allow your wall art to dry before hanging it up. Then display it on a shelf or in a wall art grouping like this & you're one step closer to being ready for V-Day. woo!

-Reagan

DIY: Thrifted Tray Make Over

 One of my favorite things about thrifting is that you can find inexpensive home decor and customize it to match your style. Sometimes if you're lucky you'll come across something that already meshes well with the rest of your home decor, but other times you may have to get creative.

If you're anything like me the challenge of recreating a piece is part of the fun of decorating. 

I came across this wood grain tray with a floral print on it a while back. It came with a twin and they cost me maybe $1.99. I decided I wanted to transform it so I could get more use out of it and make it match my home decor better.

I was inspired by this interview with Elsie Larson to go with a Dalmatian print.

I went with a simple, and traditional, black and white dalmatian type pattern.

To achieve this look I began by painting the tray white, it took a few coats of white paint to achieve solid coverage, and then I used a pencil eraser dipped in black paint, much like you would a stamp, in a random pattern. I used acrylic matte craft paint for this project, but It would have looked great with a glossy finish too.

 I think I may have to find something to seal it with if I ever want to use it to serve drinks, but I love how it turned out. I love being able to transform thrifted items into something more useful and current. 

Until Next Time,

Reagan

Thrifted Wall Decor

One of my favorite things to look for while thrifting is wall decor. My favorite things to collect are embroideries, pressed flowers and insects, as well as vintage wall hangings. I've shared a few pictures of some wall decor I've thrifted from time to time and I wanted to share a little update here of some of my favorite thrifted wall hangings.

 Most of the wall art I've thrifted has a focus on nature. I love incorporating nature and natural elements into our home decor because I think it is calming. This picture of birds is one of the first wall decor items I ever thrifted, and it has found a place in our apartment ever since then.

 This butterfly postcard was another old thrifted find that I've shared a couple different finds. I love this one, it reminds me of my mom.

 This embroidery is the most recent addition to my wall decor. I think I may have to start collecting floral embroideries, they are just so pretty!

The pressed flowers are a little older, but still a favorite. Pressed flowers is a great way of incorporating nature inside your home :)

Have you thrifted anything cool lately?

-Reagan

Christmas Ribbon Garland DIY

One of my goals for December was to really get into celebrating Christmas and the holidays because I know that time is going to fly by. I really want to enjoy the holiday season and part of that for me is decorating for the holidays. The thing is I don't own a lot of Christmas decorations. I have a teeny tiny tree packed with ornaments, one string of lights, our stockings, and a wreath. I've done a few holiday crafting projects and I was looking to do more. I came across this felted Christmas Garland on Elise's blog. I didn't have any felt on hand but I did have a lot of Christmas ribbon that my sister had given to me.
The idea is really simple. Cut a ribbon the length you want your garland to be, add loops to the end using knots if you intend to hang it, I did this just in case,set it aside. Then take your remaining ribbon and cut it in smaller pieces (6-8inches) and tie it around the long piece of ribbon. Push pieces closer together and fill the length of your ribbon. 

I like how it turned out and it was a really easy and quick little project although I did run out of ribbon so I may add more in the future. Either way I'd definitely like to make similar garland themed for other holidays!

Reagan

Some Easy DIY Art

 So you all know I have fun painting from time to time and I wanted to try to try something a little different with my paintings. Lately I have been trying to simplify things and I was inspired to make some new artwork for my home.
I decided to do two different paintings to hang in my room. The first is the number 8 painting. The "8" is for September 8th, me and Anthony's anniversary. The concept is super simple. You paint the meaningful number and paint the background a contrasting color, done. I added the (crooked) black like to resemble some stencils I have and to add a little more character since the painting is so simple on it's own.

 The second painting is just simple lyric art. I chose, "Don't Worry, Be Happy", I think seeing this phrase on my wall everyday is a great reminder to have around.  I painted a large black circle in the middle of my canvas and then used a paint marker to write the words out once the black paint had dried. Give the paint marker a few minutes to dry off and then add thickness to the letters using a small paintbrush (or your paint marker if you prefer). Use any fun lyrics you like.

This would be a great project to do with kids as well. 

I hope this inspires you to try some easy art for you own home.

If you do please share :)

-Reagan

Crocheted Doilies

 I just wanted to share a little peek at my crochet projects lately. I've been inspired to make my own doilies to match one that I thrifted a few months ago.

I didn't use any patterns, just freely crocheted in a circular pattern. I really like how the first one turned out and I liked a few things about the larger one I made, but am excited to change a few things for the next one I make.

I'm planning to make a lot more and I'll be sure to share my favorites here with you. Have you ever crocheted your own doily?

Until Next Time,

-Reagan

home decor bits and pieces

 I don't think this is the first time I've shared a few snapshots of parts of my apartment. I like seeing people's places. Someone's home can tell a lot about a person. I'm not sure what my apartment says about me. It's full of items that were handed down, thrifted, or if possible made by hand. The things that were purchased from a store are usually modified in someway. I guess I like to think that everything can be repurposed or reused in a way that can make it work for someone, no matter their taste.

 Another thing I like to keep in mind when decorating is to decorate with purpose. I like to think about what is practical and also looks good. One of my favorite things right now is a wall with all of our hats hanging together. This is an easy way to save space with storage and also they add texture and interest to an otherwise boring wall.

 This place is by no means anywhere close to being ready to share a home tour or anything like that. In some ways our home will always be a work in process (which i suppose most homes are), but I am constantly rearranging and changing things here and there. I'm always trying to convince Anthony to help me paint something or move something from one room to the next. Lately I've been wishing I could build my own honeycomb shelves (gonna need your help with that one dad) and paint my coffee table white.

What inspires your home decor?

-Reagan

woven and crocheted basket

 In March I published this post about my first experience with weaving. I really enjoyed the results and ended up making a second woven wall hanging so I could have one in both my bedroom and living room. I recently had been looking through my diy board on pinterest and found this pin. I was inspired and decided to use this basket weaving tutorial. As with most of the diy projects i stumble upon, I did not have the materials so I improvised by using a nylon rope and some yarn to create my basket.

 The basket it actually pretty flimsy so I put it around a jar to stabilize it but still show off the texture of the yarn and rope. (this is a great way to use up scrap yarn as well)
 I just put a few crochet hooks and a paintbrush in my jar, but you could use it as a planter or vase as well!

Next time I do a project like this I think I might try using plarn (plastic yarn) instead so the basket has a little bit more structure. :)
-Reagan

My (mostly thrifted) globe collection

 I've mentioned my personal globe collection on HelloNovember a couple times before now, but I don't know that I've dedicated a post to them only so, here is a post to show my globes.

 I decided to begin my collection after admiring my grandmother's collection as well as several on pinterest and in the blog world. Globes are just cool, they add that little something to a room it's added to as decor, and they are practical to use a reference tool especially if you have little ones.

 I was lucky enough to find my first three globes while thrifting at goodwill. The first three were all full sized, blue globes. I don't think I spent more than $4.99 on any of them. Even luckier than that, one of them was actually vintage! ( it still says ussr on it!).

 

I received two medium sized globes and one small yellow bookend globe as wedding presents last year and was more than happy to add them to my collection.

After having little luck in finding a new globe while thirfting I finally caved and purchased my last globe from World Market. 

 

 I love collecting globes and finding cool new ones while thrifting is a pretty awesome feeling. What do you collect? Do you own your own globe?

-Reagan