Like I promised, I’m back with an Easter egg DIY that involves some old-school egg dying!  Grab some eggs, a Paas egg dying kit, a rubber stamp & stamp pad, and let’s do this.

First off, I discovered that a muffin pan makes an awesome egg-dying apparatus.  Drop a color tablet into each cup.  Fill those cups just under halfway with white vinegar and let the tablets fully dissolve.  Put an egg in each color.  I wanted super-bright, saturated eggs, so I left mine in for about 5 minutes, turning them every so often for even color.  I also mixed colors a bit to get my desired hues.

When your eggs are the color that you’d like, remove them from the dye and let them dry thoroughly.

Next is the tricky part.  Once your eggs are completely dry, ink your stamp and stamp the eggs.  I used my very favorite stamp set to stamp out a little message.  Any smallish stamp will work, but keep in mind that you’ll have to roll the stamp to get a complete imprint because the surface of the egg is curved.  It might take some trial and error (you can see that some of mine are imperfect).  So give it a test run on an egg before you do the real deal.

After you stamp ‘em, enjoy ‘em!  Set them out or go on an Easter egg hunt.  Give them to a friend or make egg salad.  But whatever you do, have a happy Easter!  xoxo

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Hi all!  Just wanted to update you with a couple of guest posts I’ve been busy with lately!  First up, be sure to check out my Easter egg DIY over on The Sweetest Occasion.  It’s quick and simple and there are about a million ways you could modify it.  Here’s a sneak peek:

Next up, Mr. Lovely and I had the honor of being interviewed for Green Couch Design’s “Creatives Near You” series!  It’s a great column that features creative couples and the way that they work, play, and live their lives together.  Our interview covers lots of stuff about our lives in NYC, the way that we work together, and even fun tidbits like what a typical date night looks like for us.  Head over and read all about it!  xoxo

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I recently saw this amazing tray from Up in the Air Somewhere on Etsy, and fell immediately in love.  So when Mr. Lovely came home with two wooden wine boxes and told me he wanted to do something fun with them, I knew just the thing.

Mr. Lovely did the manly stuff first, and took the trays to a buddy’s workshop to use his jigsaw.  He took them apart and cut the sides down, then finessed the ends into handles.  Like magic.  Somehow.  I dunno, you’d have to ask him.

Anyway!  Fast forward to Mr. Lovely handing the project off to moi.  I lined the bottom of each tray with plain white contact paper, and then ordered a roll of this awesome metallic gold tape to stripe it with.  I placed the stripes at random angles, only being sure to leave each strip of tape equidistant from the next.  Finally, I used an X-Acto knife to trim and clean the edges of the contact paper and tape.

Here you go!  Servin’ it up hot and fresh on my killer new trays.  xoxo

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You guys, Easter’s a couple of weeks away, and I went on an Easter egg decorating binge last weekend.  I realized that I hadn’t dyed eggs in years, and I think I may have been trying to make up for lost time.  These don’t require any dye though — just get some eggs, washi tape, and scissors, and go to town.

The directions are kind of self-explanatory; just cut tape in different shapes and apply to room-temperature eggs (hard-boiled, if you wish).  The only one that was a bit tricky was the gold dot egg — I layered two types of washi tape and punched out dots with an oversized hole punch.

Whaddaya think?  Is it something that you’d try, or do you prefer the tried-and-true dyed Easter eggs?  I think these are so lovely, but I couldn’t resist a little dye action too — I’ll share those a little closer to Easter!  xoxo

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Remember the DIY glitter garland I made forever ago?  Well, it kind of took off (see more incarnations here and here), and I recently had a request from someone special for some that might serve as inspiration.  So I chose some words & phrases and went to town!  Here are the results.

If you’re finding yourself in need of a wordy little sparkle garland, don’t be shy — contact me and we can talk about a custom garland, just for you.  xoxo

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For those of you who’ve been following along with my step-by-step dinner party decor, check out the final installment!  I’m over on The Sweetest Occasion today with the finishing touch: a super-simple DIY centerpiece.  Click here to see the full post.  xoxo

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I love this project!  I almost called it “DIY Pebbles & BamBam Necklace,” because it kind of looks like it’s straight out of The Flintstones.  In any case, it’s awesome and you should make one.  Here’s what you’ll need.

• modeling clay & oven
• butter knife
• paint & paintbrush
• clear nail polish
• fabric
• Stitch Witchery
• iron
• fabric/craft glue
• hole punch
• chunky chain
• needle nose or jewelry pliers
• scissors
• jewelry clasp

First, make some gem-shaped “rocks” with your modeling clay.  They can be all different shapes and sizes; use the butter knife if you need help shaping.  8-10 pieces should be enough.  Bake the clay according to the instructions on the package.  Let the pieces cool and then paint any color you desire (I used three coats).

After the paint has dried, coat each piece with clear nail polish for a shiny finish.

Next, sandwich a few layers of Stitch Witchery between two layers of fabric and iron until the layers are fused together evenly.

Arrange the clay rocks in an upside-down arch on the fabric and glue each piece down.  Cut around the rocks, leaving a little extra on each end of the arch.  Punch a small hole on each end.

Take a length of chain 18″ long and fold it in half.  Use the pliers to unfasten one link of extra chain.  Insert the extra link into one of the holes and through the middle link in the 18″ chain.  Close the open link.  Repeat on the other side of the necklace.

On the other ends of the chain, use the pliers to fasten the open ends to the jewelry clasp.

Wear it, live it, love it!  I can’t wait to find an excuse to take this one out for a spin.  xoxo

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For some reason, I love a pompom for a little kick of green on St. Patrick’s Day!  I think these little clip-on shoe poms are just the ticket.

Round up your materials:

• green yarn
• glue gun
• scissors
• felt scrap
• two small clips (Test that they’re comfy on a shoe; I found these at an office supply store.)

Begin by gluing a scrap of felt to the underside of each small clip.  Once the hot glue has cooled, trim the excess felt around the edges of each clip.

Make two pompoms.  Start by wrapping yarn around your hand until you’re satisfied with the amount (the more yarn, the fuller and stiffer the pompom).  Slip the loops off of your hand and knot them in the center with a short length of yarn.  Snip through all of the loops on either side of the knots to make the loops into fringe.  Shape the pompom with your scissors (kind of like pruning a hedge!) until it’s your desired shape and size.

Choose the side of your pompom that will be the bottom.  On that side, use a large dollop of hot glue to affix a clip.  Be sure to glue the clip so that the felt-covered side is away from the pompom.

Now clips these babies on your shoes and dare someone to pinch you on March 17th!  Happy St. Patrick’s Day!  xoxo

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The scavengers strike again!  Mr. Lovely spotted this vintage settee in a friend’s basement, waiting to be discarded, and he sort of became a little obsessed.  He had a vision (one that I admittedly was having a hard time getting into) of what it could be, so he went to work.

He stripped all of the old upholstery off, removed all the nails and other riffraff, and cleaned the piece thoroughly.

He ordered foam, burlap, decorative nails, and lining for the underside from Online Fabric Store.  We decided together on inky blue velvet for the upholstery, and we found that on Amazon.  He lined the skeleton of the settee with burlap, affixing it with a staple gun.  Then he fit the foam to the piece, trimming it down as needed (we actually found that a sharp kitchen knife worked the best, since we didn’t have foam cutting tools).

I think for the next part Mr. Lovely just sort of threw caution to the wind, laid down some fabric, and started hammering in the finishing nails.  I might suggest doing a little more planning than he did, but hey — who am I to say?

Because ta-daaaa!  It looks kind of awesome.  It’s not perfect, but it’s perfect for us (especially because it was a project that we got to share).  We originally didn’t know what we were going to do with it because our place is so tiny, but we liked it so much we ended up rearranging our whole living room for it.  And now it’s kind of a fixture.  xoxo

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Remember the colorblock napkin rings I made over on The Sweetest Occasion recently?  Well, I’ve got the matching place card DIY for you today!  Click here to see the full post, and follow along with this super-simple, super-cool DIY.  Thanks, lovelies!  xoxo

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