Porcelain Produce Crates

How adorable are these white china farmers market baskets from Jayson Home and Garden? I would love to store lemons, garlic, berries and other fresh produce in these little guys...

Doodles and Such

This marks the first week of life after grad school! Without a pile of homework or research to do, I have had a bunch of spare time to do as I please. The break has been a really welcome change, and I have been trying to capitalize on it before professional work demands take over my days once again.

I'm especially excited to dust off my sketch pad. I have a few ideas that I really want to complete this summer. So, last night I pulled out the paper and ink and played around a bit...

I'm a bit rusty, of course, but it was a lot of fun to sit down and doodle a bit!

Today I watched Mamma Mia! and painted my toes because it's summer, after all, and it felt like the right thing to do. Nothing says summer like the breathtaking Grecian scenery in that movie!

my toes are ready for a new pair of gladiators!

Family Profile

A few weeks ago a posted about incorporating some homemade silhouette art into my space. I had been brainstorming some ideas for artwork in the bedroom, and I thought a cluster of family silhouettes would be just the right thing - both personal and charming.

So, this weekend I got cutting! I took a profile picture of A. and myself, and used the images to freehand our silhouettes. I pondered tracing the photos, but I thought that drawing them by hand would add a more personal touch and a bit of extra fun to the project.

I drew our profiles onto white paper, cut out the images, and used them as templates to trace our silhouettes onto good quality dark paper. I cut out the traced shapes, then glued each silhouette onto a white background - done!

It was a quick little project, and I'm really happy with the result. I plan to do one for each of our kitties (they are our children, after all) as well. I hope to find a few mismatched vintage frames to house each silhouette. I just love the eclectic feel of this collection featured by Country Living.

I would recommend this project to anyone wanting to add a few personal touches to their home decor. If you don't like to draw, you can trace!

Yellow Pom Inspired Earrings

I am currently loving yellow pom flowers. These little lovelies have been featured a lot in the design blogs I enjoy, and I have definitely been bitten by the pom bug too!

This particular feature from Ruffled inspired me to get crafty this weekend. I thought, "how great would it be to wear these cheerful little flowers everyday?", and the idea to make a pair of "pom" earrings was born!

To make these, I used clay as the base, and strung a web of seed beads around the form to imitate the look of real yellow poms. I backed the studs with a matching yellow fabric, and voila!

Now I get to wear these happy little buds whenever I want! I think they came out quite well, considering I made up the design as I went along.

Has someone or something ever inspired you to get creative? I would love to hear!

{top images: Ruffled}

Sometimes, Life Gets Busy

Whew! What a hectic few weeks it has been.

Today I can happily say that I have officially completed my Master's degree! It's such a relief to finish. I truly enjoy my studies, but I am really looking forward to taking a year off to reflect and to think about what it is I want to do next. Do I want to do a PhD, or start my own business? I don't really know at this point, which is exciting and scary all at the same time.

What I am looking forward to is devoting more time to other things I enjoy. It's pretty obvious that I neglect my hobbies when things get busy at school (hello, I haven't posted since April 20!), so not having research to do or exams to prepare for is really going to free up some of my evenings.

My goal is to start taking this blog a bit more seriously. So, you may start to see some changes here in the near future. Stay tuned!

{image}

Silhouette Art

I recently mentioned that I have begun the process of Spring cleaning. I not only want to give my place a good scrub from top to bottom and donate a substantial amount of my possessions to charity, but I also would like to do a bit of redecorating in the process.

One of my goals is to incorporate more original artwork from the many talented artists out there into the space. In addition, I have been hanging up a few pieces of my own here and there.

I think that I am going to tackle a silhouette project next. I want to hang a cluster of family silhouettes in the bedroom. Don't you just love the two displays here? I can't wait to pick up some good quality black paper and get cutting - I feel inspired!

Do you incorporate your own art/craft projects into your home decor?

{images from here, and here}

Just for Fun..

I have a fireplace in my apartment that needs some serious updating. Right now it's just full of a few pedestal candles - how unoriginal is that? I love how simple and fun this idea is! It's a great example of design that doesn't take itself to seriously, which I think is fabulous.

{image found via poppytalk}