12.29.2012

Bow Gloves : The Perfect Winter Accent...

by


Lately,
I have been making
a TON
of these 
adorable,
cute,
and super easy to make,
bow accent gloves.

I love a handmade gift
that people
are genuinely excited
to receive.
It warms my heart
and makes all 
the hot glue gun burns
worth it.

Now you too,
can own your own pair
of cute bow gloves,
just head over to 
and snatch up a pair.

If you do not see 
a color combo
that is just perfect for you,
message me.
We can make it happen...

Now go-
spend thy Christmas money on Etsy!

12.19.2012

Bruno & Betty: Nostalgic Apparel and Housewares...

Bruno & Betty
also have a chic
housewares department.

People
will come to you home
and say
"Oh, I love this octopus pillow- so unique!"
and you will feel all smug
on the inside
and think
"I'm so freakin' trendy!"
But
then you will smile
politely and say
"Bruno & Betty of course"
all smooth,
as you silently pat yourself
on the back
for a purchase
well done.

Blue Octopus Pillow

Do you know
what I love most 
next to owls?
Gnomes.
Cause

1
they have cute hats.
2
they are kitchy cool 
3
do I seriously have to give you another reason???

They just cute.
Put a gnome and owl
in the same room
and I
swoon.

Red Gnome Kitchen Towel


And last,
 but certainly 
not least 
Bruno & Betty
also have limited edition 
screen print art.


One day 
you will be leafing 
through some random 
magazine 
with a gift list,
 and you will say
I've heard of them."
Cause your cool like that...



BRUNO & BETTY: Nostalgic Apparel and Housewares on Etsy

I.
Love.
This.
Store
!!!!!!!!!

It has a great vintage vibe,
great prices,
and just wait 
till you see their
 dishtowels...

My personal favorite is the green dress below
but you should 
check them out 
on Etsy


Like your favorite items,
add them to your favorites,
buy a ton of their inventory
because if you don't
I going to
and I will not going to share.
Well maybe I will...


I mean,
that collar?!
I die.
If this doesn't 
make your
taste buds drool,
I dunno what will!

I wish,
you should make me a buyer
because I may not know numbers,
but I know your style when I see it...
And
has got it going on!

This afternoon 
 I am featuring the 
awesome clothing selection
but come back 
this evening for
some of their 
housewares-
cause
they are just as 
hip...






                                                        



12.18.2012

Bakers' Twine...


If I had to sum up
Anthropologie's
go-to material
this
Christmas season
it would be this-
bakers' twine.



You can find it 
in every color
imaginable.
You may have to pay
 a pretty penny
but it goes a long way.
Right now 
you can find it
at Anthro
for $12.60
normally it's $18.00
so that's a pretty good deal.


You can use it
to tie gift tags,
around brown paper packages,
to make garland,
&
so much more...



12.17.2012

How To Shoot The Perfect Holiday Picture...


As parents,
we all want it.
That magical,
quintessential,
Christmas time picture of our little.
Here are my tips {in no particular order} in shooting that sweet Christmas photo...

01: Have a few holiday props.  ie. lights, scarf, jingle bells, a santa hat, anything with a little "pop" to it - you want it to stand out in the picture. This also gives the child something to play with while you attempt to snap a picture of them sitting still! Good luck with that!  If you find a tutorial on how to get your child to sit still- let me know!

02:  Find a sunny, bright spot in your house.  Doesn't matt if it is your laundry room-, it just needs to have great natural light. {You can still have the light in the room on, but most of light should come from some outside source, like a window, skylight, or door.}

03: You will need a large piece of fabric for a background.  I use a queen size white sheet but you can use what you like. I have also used a large piece of plywood that I covered with vintage wallpaper. My advice is keep it fairly neutral and light.  You want whatever you child is wearing to pop against the background, not blend in with it or compete for attention. Your child should be the only thing people notice.

04: Don't try to have a photo shoot when you child is cranky, sleepy, or stressed.  The pictures will be hard to take and will most likely turn out terrible.  Take it from me, I learned this lesson the hard way. I now do photo shoots right after nap, when Charlie has just had her bottle and is content and ready to interact.

05: Don't worry too much about boogies and flaws, you can edit most of these out and you need to take pictures fast!  Just click now, think later- there will be plenty of time to edit.  When taking pictures of kids, especially small children and babies, you want to take LOTS of pictures.  The more the better.  You will delete a lot, don't worry that is normal.  For Charlie's 9 month photo shoot I took over 300 pictures.

06: Turn your flash off! Try to take your pictures during the morning or afternoon on sunny days.  It makes all your efforts to create great natural lighting useless if you use that flash.  It causes red eye and little ones hate it.  So just turn it off unless you have a SUPER expensive flash you aren't making your picture any better.  

Instead you want to learn how to fix the exposure on your camera.  When shooting inside with my Nikon D5000 I usually set my exposure anywhere from 1/20 - 1/125  depending on how sunny and what time of day it is. You will have to play around with exposure levels and see what looks best to you.  This is the first thing I do when preparing to take pictures.  Before I even pose Charlie, I fix my exposure.  Usually this requires snapping a few pictures, seeing how to light turns out in them and then either upping the exposure or lowering it.  

While this is a little tricky at first, it will make a world of difference in your images! 

07: Use a photo editing service.  I love Picasa.  It is free and fairly easy to learn to use.  Rotate your pictures, crop them,  edit out the red eye, sharpen your image.  All of these things take an average photo to a stellar photo.  Learn your editing software well!  The more you use it, the quicker it will become and the more tricks you will learn to make your pictures really stand out.

08: Take pictures of the details!  Sometimes these turn out to be my favorite pictures.  They are the little things that make your child your child, it is what makes them a part of you. Take pictures of those little shoes, fingers, or peaceful eyelids.  Those are little moments you will never get back.  You will be glad you captured them!

 So relax, have fun, and take a cute holiday picture some sunny day this week...










DIY ANTHROPOLOGIE RAINBOW TWINE TREE...


This was such a fun, cheery project.
It was pretty simple too.
Anthropologie is trying
to get you to buy theirs for
a whopping
$68.00
for a large tree
&
$48.00
for a small one.


Mine was free
cause I had all the supplies on hand
but if
you wanna make your own
I would put the cost right around
$5.00

                         My Rainbow Rope Tree                                                     Anthropologie's Rainbow Rope Tree

This Rainbow Rope Tree
would look cute all year round.
You could decorate it for
Easter,
or 4th July,
fall,
maybe even make some spooky black ones
for Halloween.
What I am saying 
I guess
is that the possibilities
are kind of endless
sooo-
wanna make your own?
I thought so...


Supplies

Embroidery floss in various bright colors
A tiny terra cotta pot- must have hole in the bottom
A sturdy but small tree twig that will fit into the hole in the bottom of the terra cotta pot
Hot glue gun
Assorted wood stars or hearts
Clear thread

01. Starting at the bottom wrap floss around tree, you will want to secure the end of your string with a few wraps and then begin your way up the twig. You do not need to cover ever inch of the the wood because as you layer in your colors that will happen on its own.

02. As you are wrapping the "branches" make sure to make a few areas more wrapped then others.  This will help your ornaments stay in place. When you are finished with a color simply tie a knot and cut floss as close as possible to the knot.


03. After your tree is finished you are ready to make the ornaments. Cut the clear thread into short strips.  You want the thread to be long enough to hang your stars- but short enough that your stars will hang in place and not fall down the branch.  You may have to play around with the length of the thread until you get it to hang on your particular twig correctly.  

04.  After finding the length that works best for you, you will glue a dot in the center of the star or heart place the the ends of your thread in the glue and then place another star or heart over it to cover your glue and thread ends.
In other words make a glue and tread sandwich-
does that make sense?

05.  Slide the bottom of your tree into the bottom of the terra cotta pot facing bottom up.



07. Glue into place.


08. Decorate with the ornaments {or cobwebs or whatever the season calls for : ) } and display!



Linking up with





12.11.2012

Thrifted Sweater Bow {A How To}...


Step One: Get old sweater

Step Two: Cut strip from said sweater.

Step 3: Tie in pretty bow.

Step Four: Hot glue pin to back.

Step Five: Wear with something classy.


Inspired By:

Anthropologie Ascot Bow Scarf $78.00

How To Make Your Own Anthropologie Inspired Wire Owl...


I don't think 
it comes as any surprise
that I love me an owl.
I have owl rugs,
and owl pillows.
I have made an owl 
or two.
I don't know what it is
but they are just so stinkin' cute
I cannot resist their 
wide eye charms.

So when the new Anthropologie magazine 
came in the mail
last week
and I saw this picture.


I thought to myself-
"self, you could do that."
and so friends,
I did.
And it only took one 45 minute nap time
to get this easy, peasy project done.
And the more you think 
you are messing it up
the better you
are actually doing.
Don't you love a craft like that?
Here is a side by side comparison in
case you are doubting 
your ability to accomplish this project-
IT IS SOOO EASY!



So
to make your own 
Hooters Girl
you will need:

Wire Cutters
or old scissorsfor cutting wire

Thin wire: I used floral wire because that is what I had on hand but if I had bought some I would have preferred something in a metallic tone and not green.  If floral wire is all you have then you can paint yours after you are done like I am going to.

A picture of the  Anthropologie owl: to give you a little guidance as you piece yours together.

2 Buttons with 4 Holes: for the eyes

I started with the eyes and worked my way out from there.
There is no right or wrong way to make your owl.
The more quirks it has, the better I think
Just start bending the wire
and let your inner creative goddess
come out.

Good luck and make sure if you make any Hooters to share pictures with me!
I am using mine as a tree topper right now
but I have a feeling
that she is going to stick around
long after the Christmas stuff comes down.
Cause like I said-
I love me an owl...







12.09.2012

Five Second Crafting...


Red Sharpie.
Green Sharpie.
Clothes Pins.
Done.

Can be used to hang Christmas cards,
hold gift tags,
and whatever other merriment you have
up your elfish sleeve these holidays...


Snapping Paper Towel Set

image source

Do you hate spending
your money 
on stupid stuff?
Stuff like-
trash bags
&
paper towels...
Blah.
Boring stuff that we
really just wish we didn't need-
ami right?
Well, 
chances are
as long as you are a mom,
you will need stuff like 
garbage bags
&
paper towels
and if you aren't a mom yet,
then believe me,
one day you when you do have kids
you will think to yourself
was there ever a time
in my life
when I wasn't buying
boring stuff like
garbage bags 
paper towels???

These won't solve 
all the worlds problems
but they will solve that one.
Well,
at least one of those...
Never buy paper towel again 
but still have the eaze of the roll.

it's too late to purchase a set
in time for Christmas
but you can order a gift card
for that special tree hugger in your life.
These are pretty popular 
so plan on 6-8 weeks before your order ships.



12.07.2012

A DIY Anthropologie {style} Christmas...

Right now
I cannot upload any photos
to blogger....

Grrrrrrrr

And I am afraid
that without photos-
tutorials
Anthropologie inspired stuff 
just ain't the same.

I am doing my best
to remedy this situation
 but it appears 
that I am going to need some time 
to manage this-
or blogger is gonna 
have to get in gear
and 
FIX THIS PLEASE!!!

I will not leave you 
with nothing to get through the weekend-
have no fear.
If you missed out
on last years
DIY Anthropologie {style} Christmas
then you can 
get all caught up this weekend.
Hopefully it will snow
and you can curl up
and pin away.

Anthropologie Inspire Scarf Tutorial
Felt Mushroom Ornaments on Etsy
Felt Mushroom Ornament DIY Tutorial
Anthropologie Style Dish Towels on Etsy
Felt Pom-Pom Embellishment Tutorial
Inspiration On How To Use Old Books To Make Things
How To Make A Twine Pear From A Light Bulb
Terrarium Ornaments Tutorial
Anthropologie Inspired Mason Jar Snow Globes
Twine & Vintage Button Tree DIY
906 House Tour 2011

More tutorials
and fresh content coming...

12.06.2012

A DIY Anthropologie Christmas...

I am experiencing some tech difficulties today.
I hope to be back tomorrow 
with posts & pictures again.
Thank you for understanding...

12.05.2012

Etsy Store CharlotteMei {A Toast Plate}...


I give you-
the worlds cutest toast plate.
Ok,
I will admit the price of this one
isn't better then Anthropologie prices
but you will be supporting small business,
supporting handmade things,
and Etsy!
So head over
to the quaint little shop

CharlotteMei

or hit up her website.
Go.
I understand if you just look around
because at this time it is all I can do too.
But someday,
Charlie will have a toast plate
that cute.




o ME and o MY on Etsy {Ombre Wooden Spoons}...

All images courtesy of o ME and o MY

All I want for Christmas
 is a set of these
too cool for school,
Wooden Ombre Spoons
made by the the
super adorable Etsy store
o ME and o MY

I mean,
are these not
the hippest thing
that might ever happen to your kitchen?!?
I fell instantly in love,
and I fell hard.
I am seriously wishing that Santa
will stop by Chicago on his
way down to Champaign
and load up his sleigh
full of ombre goodness
just for me...

Hey.
A girl can dream,
can't she?
Dream with me.
Which one would you
give a home to?
Head over to
o ME and o MY
right now
and add that shop to your faves.
Then maybe stick around
and do some Christmas shopping.

I wouldn't be surprised
if Anthropologie
is stalking this blog right now
and in a few months
sitting cutely
on an Anthro display
are-
you guessed it
wooden ombre spoons!

So Anthro buyers,
if you are listening,
give this girl a deal
and scoop up these babies up
before Target gets wise
and asks Heather first!

So to all 906 readers-
 be the trend setter!
Every hipster kitchen
needs a wooden ombre spoon
and every wooden ombre spoon 
needs a hipster...








Pictured in order of appearance:

8. Ombre Wooden Spaghetti Server in Purple

all images courtesy of o Me and o MY

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