DIY: Desk Makeover

We live in a small apartment so instead of a room I will have a Craft Corner. With that being said, I finally started working on decorating and furnishing it. First thing on my ToDo list was go get myself a desk. 

I found one at our local flea market and snagged it for $35. That was quite an exciting find. It was an old used desk but with some TLC it had potential. Next I had to decide how I wanted to style it. After a whole lot of surfing the internet and collecting inspiration. 

Pin-speration:

DIY TIME

Little Baby Garvin 

Craft Habit

What I used as inspiration:
*Style*

Oliver Bonas Furniture 

*Color*

MY PROJECT

I purchased various knobs to use as handles (gosh, I love Hobby Lobby). I chose some that had the colors I was going to paint the drawers that way the style somewhat flowed. I also made sure to include different textures and some made with various materials (wood, ceramic, cement, metal, etc).

 I stained the original wood a much darker brown. I think next time I would rather paint the furniture because the stain took about 2 whole days to fully dry (I get excited to finish projects). On the bright side I really like the result, so if you have the patience then stain away! 

This is my final result!

I would love to see your projects comment here or on my page:  www.facebook.com/crownandcapeblog

#NoMakeup #MFD #BecauseImBeautifulAnyway

Me as I type this blog  

#NoMakeup #MFD #BecauseImBeutifulAnyway #nofilter 

             Why I Don't Wear Makeup                                                           "The Pimple That 

                                                                         Changed My Life: A Case For Going Makeup Free. 

                                                                                                Today it's just my face"                                                  

Pointing Fingers
I just finished reading these articles on the topic of beauty. It reminds me of how bothered I am of media's involvement in creating society's view of beauty. I have always felt very strongly about the subject; so much so that as early as 18 I noticed the pressures and decided to write my senior project on it (I got an A! Just sayin'). These articles have inspired me to voice my opinion about it once again but this time not pointing the finger at the advertising agencies (I guess they are just trying to sell products) but instead, looking at ourselves and changing the way we perceive beauty in ourselves and others. 

Beauty: A topic rarely confronted
It's amazing that with all of this liberal thinking going on in society (equality in all forms), we still have a hard time accepting our own natural beauty equally. We have let media tell us what is considered beautiful. Two of these articles talk about leaving the makeup off.

Leave home makeup free? No way! Not to mention if we do go makeup free, no doubt that there will be a critic just a few steps away. I am guilty of having a hard time parting my home without a lick of makeup on… but these articles are awesome. They make a great point about being happy and comfortable with ourselves, and even though the world has its idea of what beauty looks like, we shouldn't submit to it because we are afraid of what people might think of us.  

Although I may not be ready to walk out bare faced every day,  I am sure ready to stop caring about what everyone may think of me. Why should I care so much if strangers think I look pretty? (I'm talking on my free time. Some jobs require some up keep, but thats beside the point).We need to stop caring and start knowing that regardless of what other people think God made each one of us uniquely beautiful. I feel we forget that we can choose to embrace our individuality. I think it's time we choose to accept all beauty and tell the media SCREW WHAT YOU THINK! 

#NoMakeup every once in a while
No Makeup is not about making a statement to society as much as it is to make a statement to yourself. I must say the few times (<- I plan on changing that. My mom is going to freak!) I have done it, it has given me a sense of empowerment. By no means does it mean I'm kicking all makeup to the curb and never wearing it again.

All this means to me is that I wear makeup to help enhance me, and that the makeup isn't who I am. I wear makeup because it makes me feel good not because I need it, IT NEEDS ME. I will choose when I want to strut around in my enhanced beautiful self or my all natural beautiful self. 

Taking Notes
My favorite part of Annie Fox's article on Elle.com, "The pimple that changed my life:A case for going makeup free" explains:

Make-up Free Days became my way of giving the world the middle finger. It's my way of saying, “I don’t care if you think I’m pretty or not today.” As the years passed my weekly make-up free days (MFD) became important for an entirely different reason. As I write this at my desk I am not wearing makeup. Not a lick. Today, it’s just my face. People don’t always understand why I intentionally skip make-up. I remain heartbroken that people still criticize so harshly what a woman does—or doesn’t do—to her face. The judgement of her attractiveness is as relevant to her talent as a peanut allergy.

My favorite part of Leandra Medine's article on her Man Repeller page "Why I don't wear makeup" says:

 It is not whether you do your hair or curl your lashes, or even what you wear. It is how you approach doing those things. Why you do those things, and perhaps most importantly, it is a love letter to individuality, which is something that manifests itself in enumerably different ways. So the reason I don't wear makeup is because I am lazy.

 And if you need an excuse not to wear make up… in the age of selfies…#NoMakeup #MFD #BecauseImBeautifulAnyway.  You choose what day you want it to be and how frequently you want it to happen.

I am posting this on social media to spread the word.

All females should consider this letter one addressed directly to them

This Father Just DESTROYED Society’s Definition Of Beauty. 

*If you don't feel like reading all 3 of my suggested articles at the very least READ THIS ONE!  

It is amazing the perspective a male can give when he looks at a make-up isle and some magazines.

DIY: Card Display

It seems to me that for my close friends and family it is the season of love and marriage. My husband and I have recently been receiving lots of engagement announcements, cute save the date cards, and wedding invitations.  I had been placing them on my refrigerator, since we had so many we ran out of magnets and space. Thats when I thought it would be a good idea for me to find a way to display our cards. I noticed people make card holders for Christmas but really didn't come across any day to day displays. I decided to make my own.

Supplies:

• Wire Trellis (for growing plants)
• Burlap
• Hemp Twine 
• Adorned Paper Clips
• Gardening Gloves

*Got everything at the dollar tree except the burlap.

            The Bow

I started with making a bow for the bottom of the trellis. 

1. Cut a piece of burlap to twice the size of your bow. Then hot glue the two ends to make a circle. 
2. Lay the circle flat and be sure to have the glued area as close to centered at possible.
3. Pinch at the center
4. Make sure to pinch and make about 2/3 folds. Creating a bow pucker at the center of both sides of the bow. Then glue.
5. Cut a small piece of burlap for the center "knot" part of the bow.
6. Glue the two ends together, longways.
7. The other side should look smooth.
8. Then glue the piece around the center of the bow

I chose to fold the two legs of the trellis out in order to have something to attach the bow onto and to help the bow keep its shape.

Decorative Flowers

I had some left over gardening gloves that I didn't use from a previous project. I really liked the pattern of the fabric, and I figured out how to make decorative flowers out of the fingers of the gloves. 

1. Cut the fingers of the gloves off as close to the bottom of each finger.
2. Pinch each piece of fabric creating a "petal" shape and glue. (I suggest starting with the pinky piece of fabric because it is the smallest piece). The pinky petal should be used as a size guide for the succeeding petals. 
3. Glue petals with a joint center. Cut of excess fabric.
4. I then used the hemp twine to create a roll for the center of my flower.

I then decided where I was going to place the flowers and chose to use the burlap to hang the display.

These are the paper clips I purchased at the dollar tree. You can buy regular paper clips, or clothes pins. If you do that you can glue fun buttons to the end of the paperclips, or you can glue pieces of colorful fabrics to clothes pins. It all depends on what you can find. 

This is my final product. 

 I would love to see your finished product… post here or on www.facebook.com/crownandcapeblog where you can also see all my projects posted.

PIN-SPERATION:

Here are some other ideas on how to make a card display from unconventional things.

Junk Market Style

Shanty 2 Chic

Liz Marie Blog

Katy Sammons Flicker

The Savvy Photographer Blog

Start Acting My Age

DIY: Spring Wreath

Who says your door wreath has to be a wreath at all?  I figure whats more "spring" than a floppy sun hat and beautiful flowers. 

I was going to make an Easter themed one but I decided I wanted to make a more universal wreath so I can use on more than one season. Even if it is not spring this will still look great on the door.

Best part about this wreath is it only cost $7! With Spring and Easter here, the Dollar Tree and 99 cent store have all kinds if spring items. I just went in there and tried thinking "out of the box",without making it LOOK cheap. 

My supplies:

• Synthetic flowers and leaves
• Spring Floppy Hat
• Ribbon (Gold)
• Garden Gloves (chose not to use them)

• Hot Glue Gun
• Scissors
• Wire Cutters  

I first I hot glued the ribbon around the hat, since the hat is round glueing the ribbon in a cross where the ribbon meets worked best to keep it sleek with the hat top.

Then I moved on to figure out how I was going to arrange my flowers. I secured them together with the glue gun (warning: lots of finger burns with hot glue may occur). I used some of the leaves to wrap the stems and make it look a little nicer. 

 Then I had to decide how I wanted to arrange my items on the hat itself. After some rearranging and seeing some of my options…

This is was my final result. I may eventually go to a craft store and add our apartment number with painted wood numbers on the top. 

 I would love to see your finished product… post here or on www.facebook.com/crownandcapeblog where you can also see all my projects posted.

Pin-speration:

Here are a few more "out of the box" door wreath ideas!

By Singing With Birds

By Babble

By DoorWreathsByDesign

By Midwest Living - Showers and Flowers

Did you get inspired and make your own? 

I'd like to hear about it!

Care package Fit For a Hero

It has been a while since I have posted some care package ideas so here is one fit for a hero!

IN THE PACKAGE:

My husband loves Batman and likes Marvel, so I purchased some Marvel socks, a notebook and a coloring book, etc. Now, it may be even better to send him super hero movies, and food that have super heroes on the cover. I just didn't do it because my husband had a list of specific stuff he wanted me to send him. Here is a good example of an all hero themed package from The Toy Box Years. 

The Toy Box Years

Items included:

• Various super hero themed snacks & candies (Yes! A pez dispenser).
• Markers, coloring books, magnets.
• Super hero wet wipes & washcloths
• Hero DVDs
• Flash Drive with "Hero" theme songs on it
• If you can find a hero themed anything… go for it!

THE LOOK:

For my husbands package, I chose to create a city skyline and use the stickers to decorate the two flaps I was going to use to write my quote on. 

I always write him a note/quote on at least one of the flaps just because I feel like it helps bring the theme and personalization come together. Of course inside I include a letter or a few so he can open them on different days. 

One flap was a hero quote… 

"My hero doesn't wear a cape. He wears dog tags, combat boots and camo!"

Then the definition of a hero on the bottom flap.

  

This was my final result. 

1)Super Hero Box

My good friend Anna sent this super cute and creative HULK to he Marine. This is simple and creative, it just requires some construction paper, scissors and a marker.  

2) The HULK

The next four I found on pinterest and unfortunately they were just images no links. I really wish I could give the creators of these packages credit.

3) The Real Thing

4) Ninja Turtles 

This one has pizza flavored everything inside!

5) Holy Care Package Batman!!

Looks like a Sarah created this one.

6) Got nothing on my hero

 I would love to see your finished product… post here or on www.facebook.com/crownandcapeblog where you can also see all my projects posted.