The Great Fake Flower Debate

I was so bummed when I spent $9.00 for the most beautiful orchid (below), and after carefully following the directions for care, it croaked (can plants croak?) within a week.  And this isn't my first plant killing offense... on my record sits two other orchids, a fern, a variety of kitchen window herbs, and one sad little indoor cactus. Seriously? I killed a cactus. 

I seem to be very unlucky when it comes to indoor plants, thank goodness my black thumb doesn't apply to outdoor plants or my garden would be doomed. Interestingly my latest orchid flower died, but the leaves are apparently heartier than it's delicate counterpart because they thrived. One day, in frustrated desperation I bought a couple of the loathed silk flowers and stuck it in the ground where the doomed orchid once abode.

I found myself fairly impressed that these $2.00 impostors could almost look picturesque. Definitely not the real deal, however, it had me second guessing my previous prejudice against fake flowers, and I believe it's time to revisit "the great fake flower debate".

I set out on a hunt to find fantastic silk flowers, and I must say I've been impressed with my finds. Now, being that I consider it a trial run, I was a bit reluctant to spend, so I bought some "mid range" flowers rather than the high end flowers. Not so bad for near cheapies right?

Here are some very clearly fake flowers, but still unkillable. I really like the fake orchid, but I'm not too sure I fancy this particular set... we'll see.

Well? What do you think? What I do think? I'm still not sure, but my desire to have flowers and indoor plants is pushing me to reconsider my stance on fakes. My theory is that if I stick to the convincing fakes and intersperse a few real plants (even if they only live a few days), it will throw people off enough to fool them! Hee hee. Do you think it will work?

Anyway, I'd love to hear you chime on the old fake flower debate...do you think it will always be tacky, or has technology upgraded fake flowers to good standing for the modern home? Is fake making a comeback? 

A Little Bookcase Styl'in {& A Big Makeover}

How do you create a stylish bookcase that is equally functional? 
Then again, a better question is how much of a design dork would you think I was if I said my first attempted to "stylize" the bookcase was preeeety useless. *hangs head shamefully*
Is it just me that finds this task somewhat of a challenge? I had to sketch out a storage plan for my entire living room before I could properly build then style my two bookcases. 
Thankfully, plotting a plan did the job perfectly...I realized that two small bookcases just wouldn't do the job, and that's how this project went from a little bookcase styling to a big makeover project! 
Finally our twin bookcases can boast both fashion and function! I have to say, looking at these bookcases now it is hard to believe all that it took to get to this point (blood, sweat, tears from sawdust in my eye)...

The Life Cycle of a Bookcase And Some Scrap Wood
Ok, so this is more than just the story of styling a couple bookcases I found along the side of the road. What I initially thought was going to be one little paint project took quite a turn and became the mother lode of projects! These bookcases were in poor shape when I found them... there was water damage and torn faux wood paper covering (ew, who does that?).
No worries, after a lot of Kilz primer, many coats of paint, and two DIY custom built bases later...well, things were definitely looking up! 

Design Details
In case you were wondering what it took to style this bookcase, well a LOT of spray paint and many many small projects. No seriously, a lot of spray paint...I'm still feeling really fumed out in spite of my mask (hungry, weak, not as bright as I was last week). 

I have painted everything from needles for my pinboard (hey, it's all in the details right?), to lamps, bottles, frames, boxes, and art. Here are some snapshots of all the before & afters:

NEEDLES | Why spend extra money on cute pins? A coat of spray paint does the job!

JARS | put pretty jars to good use, and add a little sparkle with a metallic spray paint. See how here.

PINBOARD | replace the glass with cork and fabric to make your own DIY pinboard. 

 ART | we replace our art, but why not spruce up an outdated matte as well? Isn't it amazing what you can spray paint? 

LAMP & BINDERS | unwilling to spend $79+ on per art lamp, I bought a second-hand piano lamp for $15 that matched my existing piano lamp. I removed the base and wired it to act as a bookcase/art lamp, click here for the tutorial. While you're looking, notice the chevron binders? Inserting wrapping paper into clear binder fronts adds a little style to these plain white binders. 

DIY WIRE BASKET | this one roll of hardware cloth equals four baskets, and money still in my pocket. I made this basket and sewed a faux leather handle in less than 30 minutes! See my tutorial here.

BOXES | a thin layer of metallic paint brings out the best wood grain qualities, and pretty hardware ups the ante on this box. The bigger box houses puzzles in individual cases, and the smaller box catches stray puzzle pieces until we discover which puzzle they belong with. Directly underneath in the cabinet base is a large pull out puzzle tray...now puzzles in progress can be put out of sight and reach until they are ready for completion! See more here.

ART & OFFICE | office products may be necessary, but why not also attractive? A little metallic spray paint took this stapler from drab to decor. I pick up on the metallic tones throughout the decor with a little DIY art...a popular but easy abstract!

Storage & Fantastic Function
Function is everything in my living room, so these bookcases needed to be more than just storage, I needed a work space as well. Finally there is a place for everything in my living room... This bookcase+hutch now stores 7 important binders, stacks of magazines, books, craft & office materials, stationery, 6 puzzles, 40 games, and fabric & wrapping paper nearby! Much more than it did as simply a mildewy bookcase. 

PENCIL STORAGE

PAINT SWATCHES

CD STORAGE

Why yes, I did say 40 games...thank you for asking. What do you mean you didn't ask? *grin*
Well, even if you weren't wondering what's behind the closed doors beneath I'm going to tell you anyway. What can I say, we're huge ginormous board game geeks! These aren't just any games, they require strategy, they have lots of tiny pieces, and take hours to play. I shared a video tour of my game storage here, and how I organize a few of the games themselves here and here. Ok, that's the end of my sidetrack for today... the other hobby, the dark side. *snicker*

GAME STORAGE

Thanks for letting me share my DIY bookcases! I needed a space to store all my work space and living room knick knacks, and now they can be stored in style.
I'll be revisiting some of the bigger projects and sharing all the how-to's, so check back!

Linky Love:

East Coast Creative

DIY Hairclip Holding Art

I'm working on the art grouping in my kids Jack & Jill bathroom, when I realize that I've misplaced the glass to one of my frames. Aw bum. I am tearing the place up looking for this tall thin piece of glass, but to no avail! I am terrified one of the kids will "find it" by accidentally stepping on it or scraping their hand along whatever surface I left it on... my poor paranoid mom mind is having visions of a maimed child with a large shard of glass through a foot or hand. *grimace*   I "quarantine" the room I am working in and make all three kids sleep in one bedroom...you know, to keep them from being maimed. Two days later (yep two days) I give up in despair (telling the kids they will never be able to enter that room for the rest of their lives), swearing never to absentmindedly set anything down again (which lasted all of two seconds). Resigned, at least I know what I'm going to do with the glass-less frame...create a hair clip holder for all our fancy clips that can be displayed on the wall! 
Now, before you go call child services, I did find that missing piece of glass...after I completed my project! Get this, it was where I put it for safe-keeping, on the top of a high bookcase. *face palm* Sooooo how many years after having a child can you claim baby brain?? *wry grin*

The Perfect Frame
The perfect frame for this project might just be the ugliest frame you have around, or one that has mysteriously lost it's glass. I spray painted this frame gold, rubbed it with some dark gel stain, and gave a clear protective spray before it was ready for my little project.

Materials

• Glass-less frame
• Fabric of choice
• Ribbon
• Foam or batting
• Thin cork (optional)

Steps

1. Use the frame's matte (or the insert photo) to measure and cut your cork and foam (or batting) to size. Cork is only necessary if you plan to insert pins to hang items from. 

2. Lay foam/cork/batting on top of your fabric and cut giving an extra inch or so. You need to be able to easily wrap the foam/cork/batting in the fabric.

3. There are several styles you can go for with your ribbon: a simple straight down the middle approach (like mine), or you can create a criss-cross design with your ribbon. This is a little more tricky to hold in position while putting into the frame, but doable with an extra set of hands!

4. Set your frame face down, and position your fabric wrapped foam/cork/batting and ribbon in the empty frame. You are going to place the frame backing so that you can pull the fabric and ribbon taut around the outside of it. Once the frame back is secured it should hold the fabric and ribbon very snugly in place. If necessary, trim any excess fabric and ribbon leaving at least a half inch all the way around. Optionally duck tape the edges to the frame back...this will tidy it up a bit and help prevent fraying edges. 

Use this hanging storage to display your practical clips, your prettiest clips, or even your jewelry! I'll be storing my bobby pins...if I can ever find them! My little munchkins were playing princess yesterday, and somehow my pretty clips and all but these two bobby pins disappeared! Well, you'll just have to imagine how great pretty clips look displayed! *chuckle*

It fits well, nestled among the rest of the art grouping I finished a few days ago. In case you missed it, you have to go peak at how I created the art grouping on a total budget of $10! I even put some links to these prints for you... Perhaps there will be a few clever tips you hadn't thought of. *wink*

Bathroom Art On A $10 Budget

This bathroom makeover is on an extremely small budget, which means I'm going to need extremely small budget art. Sometimes you have to be a little clever and do a lot of mixing and matching to get your desired effect on a minimal budget.

Cheap Frames
I picked up some cheap frames from Walmart. Yep, let's call it what it is...cheap, not just inexpensive, cheap. The set of 3 identical gold frames aren't even painted wood, just some mdf wrapped in printed paper, and it didn't even come with glass or a backing. Of course, they came in the golden hue I was looking for, and I couldn't beat the price at a $1.97 each.
So how do you create an art arrangement without glass or backings? Well, I made a visit to my local Goodwill and picked up a few really ugly framed art for 50 cents each in the same general size as my Walmart frames! Sneaky huh? I now have glass, mattes, and backing for my new frames. It doesn't even need to fit exactly, see the tiny gap? It doesn't seem to make a difference once the tabs from the Walmart frames are pushed down.

I was pretty thrilled to find two other (much nicer) frames for 50 cents each (yay for half price day!)...I love Goodwill! 

Making It Pretty
Bring some quality to your art with the little things. Matte for one, a double matte always looks more professional than a single layer. I salvaged a few black and off white mattes to pair with the ones I got from the Goodwill pictures. 

Don't stop there! Thrifted frames can often use a little something-something, like spray paint, or super glued bling! *grin* I used a few braces to style the painted vanity in this bathroom, and I wanted to repeat it in another area of the room. I think it would have made an even greater impact with gold braces on a black frame...but since we are going for gold on gold in this bathroom...

With this frame, I sprayed it gold then rubbed it with some gel stain. A final coat of clear protective spray, it was ready for its debut! In the next post I'll share how I turned it into a hair clip holder!

Free Prints
Maybe it's just me, but I seem to have horrible luck when it comes to finding great art. I sift through Etsy, then get scared off by the idea of paying $20+ per print. Not that there aren't rooms I want high quality art in, but let's be realistic...when you crack open some pretty framed print you found for $50 at a home decor store, you might be surprised to find a flimsy piece of paper that has been printed on, and often a matte with a painted rim made to appear that it has been double matted! It gets me every time!
Sometimes you can find lovely prints that are public domain online. I decided for this project to only use prints from a great website called Vintage Printable. Here are links to all the prints I used (and a few I considered)!

• The Woodcut In England
• British Bridge
• Landscape - Irish 4
• Landscape -Irish 6
• Landscape - Irish 9
• Landscape - Irish 15
• London - Pancras Station
• Seascape - Couple Walking
• Insect - Butterfly

Home Printer vs. Professional Printers

You can easily print these pictures from home, but if you don't have a special photo quality printer, you might want to save your ink and take them to your local office store. Of course, it depends on the print... prints with a lot of black or dark colors seem to do better printed from a professional printer, as do prints of photos. However, if you like the muted colors and it is a print of a painting, you might prefer to save your pennies and print from home. I started by printing mine out at home, but took three prints to Staples to preserve the dark hues and get a smoother print.

Testing The Arrangement
I like to hang my frames before deciding which print will go where. Sometimes you get them up there and aren't thrilled with the compilation. Use a little painters tape (or regular tape at the very edge) to see the grouping and figure out what you like.

My first take... I really liked the butterfly, but it didn't make the cut after adding a matte. Two others were also cut, while others where simply moved around until they complimented each other properly.

Some people consider art the icing on the cake, the cherry on top, the finishing touch. Well, I may not be finished with my bathroom makeover, but sometimes the art helps set the style and tone of the space and needs to come just before extra decorative touches. 

Project Cost Breakdown

• Walmart frames: 3 @ 1.97 ea. = $5.91
• Goodwill pictures (frames, mattes, & glass): 5 @ 50 cents ea. = $2.50
• Staples prints: 3 @ 49 cents ea. = $1.47 (minus my Staples reward = $0)
• 3 extra mattes: Salvaged from old photos I already owned and hated = $0

Not too bad for an under $10 project right?

The Golden Touch...Storage Bowls

I've always been a brushed chrome girl...until now! 
Deciding not to replace the pretty gold fixtures in our upstairs bathroom was the best decision I ever made for that space! Now I'm falling head over heels in love with gold, an affair I may not soon get over.

A month ago I purchased Krylon metallic gold spray paint with the idea to paint these awesome bowls I found at Goodwill for $1 each. I love the orange, but since I'm going for gold accessories for my upstairs bathroom, the orange has to go.

Well, lo' and behold I see the most beautiful image on Pinterest of gold sprayed mugs by Garland of Grace blog *swoon*. I literally yelled out loud "hey I did that too!". I don't usually read tutorials (what with my aversion to directions), but I couldn't peel my eyes away from that tutorial because of the gorgeous photos! I wish I had run across it before I completed my bowls, apparently I made the same set of mistakes she did *giggle*... great minds, and all that...

I have three medium bowls and three small bowls. The three large I taped off to paint the inside (with just a hint of the rim exposed), and the three small I created designs using painters tape before spraying. 

When I peeled the tape back after it dried, I got a little bit of a rough edge...so definitely peel it before it has dried completely. I find that I kind of like a little bit of "rough edge", but only slightly...  Here's a great little tip I stumbled on 5 bowls later. To get slightly blurred edges, remove the tape before it dries completely, then spray the clear sealant right away. The force of the clear spray causes the edges to "bleed" slightly if the gold paint is heavy and still wet. It makes for a neat effect! 

I am looking for pretty ways to store practical things in the bathroom, and I'd say these bowls are it! Nail clippers, hair bands, soap, floss, you name it...

Remember, once you spray the inside of these bowls, they become purely decorative.
Whether you use these decorative bowls as storage in a bathroom space, or in any other space in your home, every home needs a little golden touch!