Saturday, May 11, 2013

Last Minute Wrapping Paper DIY

I bought my mom a Mother’s Day gift that came in the mail. I was just going to give her the package without wrapping it because I ran out of my spring-ish wrapping paper that I used for Haley’s baby shower, and I really didn’t want to go out and buy more. Plus, I hate wrapping paper because you end up throwing it away anyways. I thought about just using wrapping paper, but then I decided I would spice it up a bit. I ran several ideas through my head, but realized that this project would be the most simple.

What you need:

  • Spray paint
  • Newspaper – I chose paper with more writing than pictures
  • Leaves, Flowers, any kind of silhouetted object

I chose the orange spray paint because I had it lying around. I used it for one project, but, let’s be real, when am I actually going to use bright orange spray paint again? It ended up looking more autumny , it’s all I had because we didn’t have too many flowers around our house and the daffodils died already. :(

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Instead of spray painting on my porch I actually took the time to put down cardboard and I sprayed on the grass because at least if it gets on the grass it will eventually be cut. Then I put the leaves face down (makes them heavier so they won’t fly up while spraying. Then I lightly covered the paper with a coat of spray paint. I took the leaves off right away so they wouldn’t dry to the paper and let the paper dry for about 20 minutes.

Hint: You don’t need to tape the leaves down, but I would spray them before putting them down so that  they are heavier and won’t fly up. Make sure you don’t do this outside on very windy days or you’ll have a heck of a time trying to spray paint.

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Then you’re done and you can wrap your gift! The best part? It was COMPLETELY FREE!

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Sunday, May 5, 2013

Milk Glass Vase DIY

This is a super simple DIY. I am obsessed with neutral colors and pops of color, so I love milk glass. Plus, finding milk glass vases when thrifting makes me so happy because they are very easy vintage pieces.

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What you need:
  • White GLOSSY spray paint
  • Various jars and vases
  • Newspaper or a drop cloth.
Make sure before you start that all labels are removed from the jars. I usually soak mine and scrub the labels. You can you rubbing alcohol to remove any left over glue. Make sure you wash your jars and let them dry completely!

Next, I laid down the newspaper and put the bottles on it to keep from spraying the porch (which happened anyways. Oops!). Between every coat I waited at least a half hour, but I would wait at least an hour. Make sure you coat the vases evenly. Follow your spray paint instructions for temperature and distance which spraying should be done.

Once your jars are completely dry they are ready to be used! I can’t wait to put flowers in them to add pops of color to my cocktail cart!

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When You Meet an Online Blogger in the Real World

Things are getting better since last week. I miss Macy a ton, but my crying has shortened. This past weekend I made it up to several stores to buy more succulents and cacti to pot. I put it off until the weather was nice because I didn’t want to deal with the dirt and stuff in the cold weather. On a whim I also picked up a cilantro plant since I love cilantro, but I never really eat it fast enough when I buy it at the grocery store (Any tips on how to trim and use the cilantro would be appreciated!).007
New additions and old plants!
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I went to Lowes on my third stop of the day. I was looking for the succulents and they had some, but nothing I really wanted. Then I looked over at the area I had seen them in months before and realized they had more of what I wanted. I walked over and looked at them but there were two people already standing there. I looked at them and realized that the girl was Kaylah from The Dainty Squid. She is one of my favorite bloggers, and I was kind of in shock when I saw her.

Now, being me, I was too nervous to say anything. I kept dueling it out in my head on whether or not I should say anything. But alas, I didn’t. They left and I was stuck kicking myself. I’m one of those people who believe “celebrities” should be left alone, but it was still cool to see a real life blogger. As I waited in line to check out I hoped she would get in line behind me, but they didn’t.

I headed over to Target afterwards and as I was walking into the store I saw them pull in. It was like a sign that I should have said something, but again, I was too scared. Eventually, I did e-mail her telling her I saw her at Lowes. She responded telling me she thinks she saw me walking into Target! This world is so small. Part of me feels like I came in contact with a celebrity.
Blogging friends, have you ever met or seen a popular blogger out and about in the real world? Who was it? How did you react?
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