polish please | nail stamping

I have posted before that I have a little bit of an obsession with nail polish, and that I change it a little too much all the time. Lately I have been so inspired by what I see on pinterest, and some nail art blogs that I follow, that I cannot be satisfied with JUST polish. I have started dabbling in nail art, and stamping is my new favorite thing to do. 

I had admired manicures that I have seen on The Nailasaurus, Nailed It, and Chloe's Nail, and wanted to create some of the awesome looks that they have made. The problem is that I don't have the experience or that talent {yet} to make anything as remotely good as the real nail bloggers make. This is when I decide that I needed a little help by the way of nail image stamping plates. So I took to the web and started searching for tools to add to my nail arsenal. After searching and researching I opted to order the MASH plates from amazon. Their over all rating was pretty high, and I wasn't willing to shell out the cash for the Konad plates {these are the real deal and real pricey}.

Here is my second attempt at stamping, and I was really happy with the outcome for a first-timer. I stamped the bow on my ring finger and used dotting tools {also an amazon find} to create polka dots. The first attempted wasn't horrible, but was added to a mani that was on it's way out that had seen better days.

The third try I used stamps on every nail. I went back to the trusty bow, and added a full design to my ring finger with pink hearts. It is recommended to use a fast drying polish for the stamping. The first time I used Sally Hansen's Extreme Wear in White Out, the next time I stamped with Sally's Insta-Dry, which worked much better. I did have some problems with centering the design the way that I truly wanted it, but with a bit more practice I should get the hang of it. 

Nail stamping is super easy, and takes much less time then some of the other techniques that I had been using. You are also left with such a clean finished product. Trust me, there will be many more stamping mani's in the future {and I will try really hard not to use the bow too much}.

happy first day of fall

Today is the autumnal equinox, the first day of fall! I love fall, even though I live in a place where the colors barely change {and the temperature drops, slowly, from oven-like heat to pleasant & perfect}.

With fall upon us this means some great things; sweater weather, boots, and scarves! Here are a few things that I am looking for this fall:

Brown boots

 

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Comfy Cardigans

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...and my favorite, SCARVES!

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Here are the trending colors that you will see in fashion this season courtesy of Pantone: 

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wall of frames

As you may seen in this past post, I have been inspired by empty frames as decor. I decided to take it into my own hands, and onto my walls. And this is how it all went.

I first picked up some frames at various places/times {target, ikea, hobby lobby}; all the frames were bought with a difference purpose in mind. These other projects never came to fruition, and left me with a box of unused frames. After a trip to Hobby Lobby, the purchase of the ampersand, and the veto of my original idea, I came up with a collage of frames for the living room wall. I started by removing the glass and backing, then laid out the frames on the floor in a couple of different arrangements.

Above is attempt one.

Here is attempt two, and similar to what I ended up with on the wall.

After measuring, and remeasuring, marking center of each frame, center of the whole collage, and tracing the frames onto paper I started putting these puppies up on the wall.

I marked the center of the whole collage on the top of the largest frame with a piece of masking tape, and marked the center of the couch up on the wall. I determined the height and mounted the largest frame to the wall. Next I used the paper templates that I made to arrange the rest of the frames on the wall. On the paper templates I marked the point of the hanger with an "X" as seen above. The paper templates made it super easy to hang this beautiful creation of mine {which I hung by myself in thirty minutes}. Once the templates were level and spaced, I hammered in the nails, removed the paper and replace the paper with the frames.

Here is the finished product. The prints are these from Ikea, which I fell in love with before the collage idea, and had to have them at five bucks. I may add to the collage, and expand it over more of the wall, or add to the empty frames {use them as shelves}. For now I am happy with the outcome.

pinspiration | pumpkin

This is the beginning of my favorite time of the year. I LOVE, LOVE, L-O-V-E fall. Even though I live in a place where "fall" means temperatures in the 80s, I still love fall. Not only do I love the colors, the sweaters, boots, scarves and decorations, but it is also PUMPKIN TIME! Pumpkin flavored everything is out right now {some of this may be overkill, but I love it none the less}. It's now time for daily pumpkin spice lattes, and maybe trying some of these tasty treats as well...

 

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And some savory options as well...

 

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Here is to fall, and here is to everything pumpkin! {Raise your pumpkin spice latte and cheers.}

guest room plans

Since moving we have an extra room/ office/ home for all the boxes we haven't unpacked. I really have been motivated to get this room looking better, and useable recently {probably the extra day off in my work week, which hopefully is coming to an end}.

For some reason I have this idea in my head for a day bed. The second room isn't too big, and Mike and I each have a work space in there. I thought that a day bed makes the most sense for the space that we have, but looking for a day bed is not looking good. I have been checking different websites {typical discount sites: ikea, target, walmart, overstock, etc.} but with no luck.

Then the new Ikea catalog came in the mail and I got instant inspiration. Purple is everywhere. Both Mike and I L-O-V-E purple {I mean we have a dog named Violet}. There was a purple chaise, purple curtains, purple glass bottles... I think that you get my point. There was also this gem:

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Done. Planned. Ideas circulating in my cranium. Love the colors, the pattern is light and airy, but not too feminine. There is so more from Ikea that I have my eye on:

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Cart for organization. I do think that it would be a really neat "bar cart." Picture glasses, select boozes, and ice bucket and other cocktail tools. 

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I know you can see those glasses on the "bar cart."

So I did end up finding a daybed that I really like {for the price} that looks very similar to a bed that Pottery Barn carried. I do think that I may paint it, and it would definitely need a bed skirt, but Mike doesn't care for it. He saw another one on the same site, but it was not what I had been envisioning for the space. Let me know what you think, keep in mind the bedding color and style pictured above.

my pick

Mike's pick

polish please | mint & stars

Mike says that I have a problem, and that may be the case. I pretty much change my polish every time I have a day off {some times this means two days in a row}. This summer has had even more polish changes with some weeks I have had three days off. This may seem like fun to some people, but I get very bored, and paint my nails.

Here is another Hobby Lobby find, mini glitter stars! I used Sally Hansen Extreme wear in White On, and Mint Sorbet.

happy birthday sissy!

I wanted to post something every Sunday and Wednesday to keep the blog fresh, and the new content a comin', but this Wednesday is for my big sis.

Happy Birthday Cody! You are an amazing big sister, and best friend. Hope you had a wonderful day, and have a fantastic year.

upcycled glass bottle

I was wondering around Cost Plus World Market {yes I like to say the entire name every time} aimlessly, without a care in the world when I stumbled into a display of soda. There were all kinds of flavors, brands, and bottles. I wanted the soda for the sake of soda, but after drinking the bubbly concoctions, I thought that I should hang onto the bottles and use them for something. This is where it took me.

I peeled off as much of the labels as I could, and then put olive oil on cotton makeup pads. I let the oil soak into the sticky, caked on adhesive and then easily rubbed it off. The bottles that I had had two different types of labels, paper and sticker. The olive oil worked great on both, and the best part is that it is actually good for your skin, unlike goo-gone or other chemical cleaners. After I removed all the adhesive I washed the bottles with dish soap, and let them dry.

 

The flowers were an Ikea find from my last haul down there. They were just over a buck each. I pick up six with the bottle vases in mind. They were all the same length, so I took wire snips and cut off a half an inch to an inch off the bottom of three of the flowers.

 

So here is the dining room with the new table, reupholstered chairs, and bottle centerpiece. I would like to add something to the floor to make it more colorful in this room. Maybe I will make a floor mat. What do you think?

pinspiration | polish

Since I was allowed to paint my nails I have been interested in nail polish. I remember going to the drug store with my mom when I was little {maybe three years old} and getting pink tinted clear polish. Since then I was hooked. I go in and out of stages. Sometimes I stay very classic, only wearing pinks, and reds. Other times I go a little crazy with bright colors, shapes, techniques, etc. Right now I have a glitter obsession; it seems like I add glitter to EVERY mani.

Here is what has inspired me lately:

 

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Each image is from a different blogger. They are all so talented, and inspiring. Follow the links below each image to see more of their work.