DIY - Bathroom shelf

A little back story for you. My mother is crafty...or at least she was while I was growing up. And she was one of those crafty types that would've made money off of it if things like Etsy had existed. She is also someone who has control issues with how things need to be done.

For example: We were stenciling flowers onto my bedroom wall and this basically devolved into Mom not liking the practice flowers I did so she stenciled all the flowers herself. That way she knew it was done right, you see! I developed a bit of a complex about things like this. That may sound a little bitter but it's quite funny to me now and I find myself doing those sort of things too. Especially when it comes to making the bed! Pants tries to help out but he doesn't even bother with the bed since he knows I'll just take it all apart and do it myself anyway. I offer up this story to showcase the fact that I am NOT a crafty person. As a kid it was hard for me to care when everything Mom did was so much better. I can't sew or paint very well and don't usually attempt crafty projects.

Well all that changed this weekend! I bought myself a can of glossy white spray paint and got down to business! As previously mentioned, I had a little shelf in my bathroom that was dated and I thought would be an easy update.

Here is where our journey begins:

According to my Mom it's from Home Interiors and was purchased somewhere in the 90's. The bronzed metal finish wasn't the most awful thing I'd ever seen but it most certainly subscribed to a certain design aesthetic that I don't follow.

I started out by ripping some pages out of an old magazine laying around the house. Why yes, yes that IS the issue of US Weekly featuring Sandra Bullock's marital woes. I'm sure she wouldnt've minded me ripping out the pages and spraypainting them ;)

I pretty much just followed the directions on the can. It said to wait a minute between coats but I don't think I was that patient. It supposedly came with some nozzle that could be turned this way and that depending on what you were spraying but I just left it the way it came. From what I could tell, there was pretty good coverage with just a once over but I wanted it to be very white and very glossy so I sprayed it a few times.

Only issue was that everytime I thought I was done and attempted to pick it up to move inside, I would see a new spot that hadn't been hit! With all the scroll-y bits I figured this would happen once but not 3 times! Eventually I just held it by a section that was dry to the touch and went to town on all the parts I couldn't hit before.

Here is the finished product:

Overall I don't know that it made a HUUUUGE difference but it certainly didn't hurt anything. I've already got a couple more projects lined up too! Stay tuned!

Etsy seller - StudioCherie

I love Etsy.

I know that I'm not alone in this love because every girl I know and blog I read sings the praises of the crafty site. (At least it feels that way!) Even if they are singing the praises of the ridiculous stuff too....Regretsy.com. For as much as I love it, I often forget about checking it which is why I receive their daily newsletter. Etsy staffers showcase the cream of the crop of what's available using a theme such as Nautical or Wedding. Each piece showcased falls under that category in some way. One day the theme must've been travel because this duffle* bag was featured:

I was instantly smitten. I LOVE it. I think it's the fabric or the mixture of fabrics. I am a huge fan of mixing prints and patterns. Throwing two things together that might not ordinarily look all that hot and you end up with something quirky and totally unique. I keep trying to justify buying it. Using the old bargaining chip of, "I'll clean out my current bags and then replace them with this!" I've almost convinced myself. I've been trying to live by the rule: if you can't stop thinking about it 2 weeks later, then you should get it. Well it's almost been 2 weeks! Also, everything I want on Etsy seems to immediately sell out and this is still for sale....maybe the universe is trying to tell me something!

For all you crafty people out there, you can also purchase the pattern to make a bag of your own! I think that's pretty exciting...now if only I knew how to sew!

*What exactly is the correct spelling of duffle? When I spellchecked it said 'duffel', so I fired up the handy Dictionary.com and typed in 'duffle' which brought me to the entry for 'duffel'. The definition matched what I thought I was spelling. BUT all the links that show up to match what you searched had duffle. For instance, "Buy your L.L. Bean duffle bag here" and such. So which is it? Duffle or Duffel?!

Making It Lovely contest

I recently started following the design/life blog Making It Lovely. I have SUCH a girl crush on this woman and her house. She has a LIBRARY people...I lust for it. She has been doing a bedroom spruce up courtesy of American Express (lucky duck) and it's coming to and end BUT there is a contest! If you leave a comment on her blog you could win a $100 Crate and Barrel gift card.

How excite!

I hope I win :)

Photo is of her library

Projects

To keep the motivation from my closet going, I decided to set forth some projects for myself this week!

1) Clear out the bags of books cluttering up our living space.

2) Try out some DIY. I've got a little shelf in our bathroom that has literally been in the house as long as I can remember (and I've lived in this house off and on since 2nd grade!). It needs a little love and I bought a can of glossy, white spray paint this weekend that's calling out to it! I'll take before and afters :) I might just start spray painting everything! Mwhahaha!

3) Take a load to the thrift store. I've already got a pile of stuff I want to donate, it just needs to make it out of the house and into the car.

I'm gonna stop my list there. Much more could be added but I'm hoping to actually accomplish everything by the end of the week!

Closet

I've moved 3 times in 2 years. Moving 3 times in 2 years changes your perspective a little bit. That stand fan you found at the YMCA thrift store for $5 was really great until faced with a stuffed to gills U-Haul. It makes the process and idea of letting go a little easier to swallow.

My last moved occured in October of last year. Pants and I moved all our earthly belongings into my Mom's basement and it was a tight fit there for awhile. Little by little I've adjusted.

And shifted.

And tossed.

And donated.

Still I find myself surrounded! It's like a nightmare where you never know where the next shoe might come from! Sometimes literally in my case! Remind to tell you about THAT dream sometime.

All this moving and changing and shifting has finally come to fruition though. In closet form no less! In an effort to downsize and streamline I've been changing out my old, mismatched, plastic hangers for the Joy Mangano Huggable Hangers. I laughed at them when I would see her on HSN. Yeah RIGHT! Yeah right indeed! That lady ain't joking! I still need 60 more hangers to finish the job but the difference is already substantial. (The weeding out of old, ill fitting clothes doesn't hurt either ;). )

Today's message is brought to by the letters L, H, and the number 60.

Let go

Huggable Hangers

Only 60 more til glory