Design Your Own Rug - Cafe Press

Have you ever been perusing Pinterest and looking through the various pins and thought you would like to design your own rug?  I know I have and there are so many great ideas out there.  I was beyond ecstatic when someone from CafePress contacted me about doing a review for one of their personalized products.  When I discovered you could design your own rug I was hooked but alas I 'm getting a little ahead of myself.

For those of you who aren't familiar with CafePress they offer customized products in conjunction with letting you sell your own customized products on their site.  It really is pretty sweet.

The range of products you can customize is pretty wide.  You can start out with your basics.  Design your own t-shirt.  The have v-necks, tank tops, raglan style, and even maternity shirts.  One of my all time favorite items of clothing are hoodies.  A person can never have too many hoodies, at least in my opinion.  My husband might think otherwise as he starts to loose space in our closet.

As Mother's and Father's Day approaches you may want to check out their other personalized products.  Their prices are pretty decent and so far I have been impressed with the contact I'm working with.

It doesn't just stop at clothing and dishware.  You can personalize your own shower curtains, blankets, i-phone cases and of course rugs.  

I gathered a bunch of photos for some inspiration and started designing away.  Rugs are a great way to bring pattern into your home and I love pattern.  Right now I'm really into fresh and clean neutral rooms with pops of color and pattern.  If you can't tell, herringbone patterns have always been a favorite of mine.

When I first started the design process I thought I would go with a neutral gray, it would go with everything.  Of course I would add my color through my accessories.

Then I was looking through photos and decided I liked the stark contrast of black and white rugs and came up with this ombre herringbone rug.  I love both concepts.  You have to imagine this pattern at a large scale as it would be a 3 x 5 rug.

I think I will play around a little bit more with a larger print and if I can decide for sure which room I want it in, perhaps I will even add some fun colors.

What do you think?  How would you design your own rug?  I'm so excited to submit my design and see how the final product turns out.  Stay tuned!

DIY Mugs - Meet the Moustache World

I should have shown you these DIY Mugs a long time ago!  Seriously.  I joined the moustache world a couple of years ago when coming up with gift ideas for the husband.  Like a lot of other men he has hopped onto that bandwagon only I don't really like REAL moustaches so he mostly just dreams of the moustaches he could grow.  Since I am a total dream killer I thought these diy mugs would make the perfect gift as he also loves hot chocolate.  Best of both worlds.  He thought they were awesome, at least that is what he told me.

DIY Envelope Pillows for Halloween

Are you ready for Halloween?  This year I can say that I am... almost.  A couple of weeks ago I shared this tutorial over at eighteen25 and now get to share it here with all of you.  I must start with a confession though.  Before this year I have never really decorated for Halloween.  I've been figuring out my style and how to incorporate that into my holiday decor.  

4th of July Printable

I was hoping to have this 4th of July Printable up a couple of weeks ago but better late then never.  One of my favorite things about the 4th of July is getting to sing all of the patriotic songs.  They still give me chills every time I hear them.  I am so grateful for those who have fought for our freedoms and still do.

This 4th of July Printable is FREE and found on my website for downloading in my Download of the Month section..  It was intended to be printed on an 8 1/2 x 11 size paper and trimmed to fit into an 8 x 10 frame.

What are some of your favorite things about the 4th of July?  If you aren't from America, how do you show your patriotism to your country?

Summer Yarn Wreath

I did it, I made my first yarn wreath!  I think this is my first wreath period and I love how it turned out.  Honestly the hardest part was trying to decide on colors.  Do I make it match my interior?  Do I use the same style?  Do I go completely different?  Do I make it seasonal?  So many questions.  Ultimately though the lack of color choice for the felt flowers helped me make a final decision.  While the colors in my house are a little more subdued I think that I was able to mix my overall design style with fun summer colors to make the perfect outdoor yarn wreath.

Supplies:
1 skein of yarn
1 foam wreath
3 pieces of dark purple felt
3 pieces of yellow felt
1 piece of lt grey felt
1 piece of dk grey felt
1 piece of medium purple felt
1 piece of lt purple felt
1 piece of linen for a tie
Glue gun

I wanted a yarn that had some texture so that it didn't have the "yarn" look as I wrapped it around the wreath (I know it's kind of ironic since I was making a yarn wreath).  What can I say... sometimes I don't understand my own thought process.  I found this neutral color as JoAnns.  It's Lion Brand and the color is Pearls.  It  kind of reminded me of wool and it was on sale!

I found various felt flower tutorials for my yarn wreath on Pinterest.  All were fairly easy.  The yellow flower was the most time consuming but it was my statement piece.  Again I wanted varying textures.  Some of the flowers had more dimension then others.

After I had finished all of my felt flowers I played around with the placement and hot glued them on.  The final touch was my linen tie at the top.  Do you recognize my the linen strip from another one of my projects?  

This yarn wreath was rather inexpensive.  I think I made it for right around $10.  It was a project I worked on with my mother-in-law and we had a blast creating it.  Do you have a yarn wreath or any wreath you made for the matter?  I would love to stop by and see your latest creations.  Happy Monday!      

DIY Cupcake Stand

This DIY Cupcake Stand is seriously so easy but it's one of my favorite projects.  I had another design friend who made something similar out of all white dishes to replicate a cupcake stand she had seen in a Pottery Barn magazine.  I love the simplicity of all white, I really do.  I also have my kitchen decor themed around dishes and wanted to make a stand I could leave out year round.  My kitchen/dining/living room has some shabby chicish elements and I wanted my diy cupcake stand to be one of those elements.

Materials:
2 Large Plates
1 Medium Plate
1 Small Saucer Plate
2 Mugs
1 Sm Bowl
Ceramic Glue (or something strong like the E-6000 glue)

I went to Pier 1 and found all of the pieces in their clearance section.  Score!  I will admit that I sat on the ground and stacked the dishes until I had the exact look I was going for.  I can't remember exactly how much I spent but I know it was under $20.  Then I came home, washed the dishes and glued them all together.

TA DA.

Obviously I have to wash it by hand but I use it for more than just cupcakes.  Fresh Fruit.  Assorted Candy.  Nuts.  Anything that looks pretty and needs to be on the counter for one reason or another.  It's true that I probably couldn't put blue cupcakes on there and make it look masculine for a boy themed party but that is why I have a set of white cake stands.  It really was meant to not only be functional but be a pretty piece of art.    

To be honest I'm so tempted to do another diy cupcake stand just for the fun of it.  Maybe someone will want one for their birthday.  Any takers?

Easy DIY Apothecary Jars

Have you seen those apothecary looking jar ideas floating around on Pinterest? Ya me too. There were so many cute ideas however some of them were a little pricey to make, as in it would be cheaper to go buy a set already made. Sometimes there is more of a thrill when you can make something beautiful for almost nothing.

My sister in-law found an idea to use old pickle jars and candlesticks to make apothecaryesque looking stands. Too bad the husband and I don't eat pickles ever. However, I did have a few various jars I had saved.

My grandma has always lived by the principle of "Use it up, wear it out, make do, or do without." I've always admired her frugal ways and started saving my glass jars. Above the largest jar was once filled filled with artichoke hearts. The one on the right was probably filled with salsa or tomato sauce and the smallest is a canning jar that once was the home to well something I had canned.

This DIY is seriously so easy and since I already had the jars cost me a total of $3 to make.

Supplies Needed:

3 Jars of Various Sizes

3 Candlesticks ( I got mine from the Dollar Store)

E-6000 Glue

Directions:

Put a little bit of glue on top of the candlesticks. Center your jars above the candlesticks and then place on top of glue. Let it dry overnight and Presto! All Done!

You could make so many great variations of this project. Say you wanted a black base... all you would have to do is spray paint the candlesticks before gluing. I have lids for all three jars that I may or may not spray paint silver. For now I really love the simplicity of it all.

It has added so much to my Christmas Decor and would be another great gift idea.

I'm in love.