stripes!

 

remember this tablecloth?

 

i don't know how old it is because i've had it pinned for forever, but it's still available at anthro. you can buy yours here if you feel like dropping $250 on a tablecloth.

 

 

i had this pinned in my 'someday i wanna make this' board.

i just didn't ever get around to it and i figured somebody would pave the way and i could just follow their lead.

 

 

i was right.

oh happy day did it!!

 

you can find her 'how-to' right here.

 

and it's more neon.

who's a fan?

ME.

 

i have to say, hers is a little neater than the original.

i like the painted on quality of the anthro one.

so be messy :)

 

she's just the craftiest over there, at oh happy day.

her stuff always comes out spot on.

 

she has the original tablecloth as well,

and threw the most awesome donut party centered around it.

you can check that out here.

donut. party.

 

 

happy wednesday.

 

 

JILL

diy marbled eggs

a few weeks ago i pinned this tutorial.

since then, i've had this nail polish marbling thing on my brain and wanted to marble something.

with easter coming up, i figured it was the best option.

i remembered hobby lobby always having those wooden eggs but when i was up there 2 weekends ago, i found these instead in the easter section. much better because they were already primed white and cheaper.

only $6.99 for this pack of 8, and all the easter junk was 40% off.

so a little over $4.

my only obstacle was how to get these eggs into the water with polish and then dry them, without getting my fingers in it and smudging the marbling.

so i drilled some teeny tiny holes with the smallest drill bit, 1/16", in the bottom of each egg.

just big enough for these pointed skewers i had to squeeze tightly into the small hole and hold my eggs. i think i also got those skewers from hob lob back in january when i made some birthday cake flags for my mom.

like the tutorial suggests, you need to have all your supplies ready to go because the nail polish dries fast on your water.

i just used an old glass vase i had.

and another tip, use warm water so your polish doesn't seize up on you.

the tutorial also mentions that it doesn't really matter about the quality of your polish, so while at cvs, i grabbed the cutest spring palette of the cheap stuff. from $.99 to $4.

i didn't take any photos of the during because it went really quickly.

plus there are tons and tons and tons of tutorials online of how to do it, and i'm sure they'd be better than mine.

i even youtubed some before i got started, just to make sure i had it down.

but the one i linked to at the top, was the best i found.

and here are my eggs drying.

i used the same drill to drill holes in the top of an old shoe box so they could dry without touching anything on the skewers.

worked like a charm, if i do say so myself.

i love how they're different.

now they're hanging in a gold bowl on my front coffee table.

i have this ceramic egg container that i was planning on using, in the pics above, but it covers up too much of my marbles :)

the mint and the neon are quite trendy, yes...

but i don't think i'll ever get over the neon thing... like for as long as i live...

so i think we're good.

i did see that camille styles posted this same project yesterday, but she used blown out eggs.

you certainly could do that as well, but with the wooden ones, you can save them for years to come without worrying about them smooshing into a million bits.

(and those holes i drilled are so tiny, i didn't even fill them like i had planned. they aren't noticeable.)

happy easter!

JILL

outline

whether in paint, or ribbon with nail heads, even washi tape!

i like it.

whatcha think?

JILL

{images via habitually chic, the blue house from along time ago, martha stewart, and carolina herrara baez's home in elle decor}  

best friends.

cafe au lait if you're fancy, or taupe.

french blue/robin's egg blue.

two great colors that go to the mountain of even greater together.

i had these thoughts of grandeur of re-doing my dark navy front room.

paint would be in these 2 colors. one for the ceiling, one for the walls. i hadn't yet decided which one was going to go where. but those grand plans involved painting a pretty large ceiling surface... and painting the ceiling in that large of a room can really put a damper in the way your neck feels, for days. so i'm kinda waiting for that spark of diy to hit again before i take on that large of a ceiling-paint-project :)

so i've stepped back.

and who knows, by the time that strikes, i may have changed my mind again.

this is one of my all time favorites. it was done by albert hadley. genius.

i'm in love. always have, always will be.

better homes and gardens. lighter colors than i'd go but still quite pretty.

domino. duh.

an actual french, french blue. so pretty with the natural stone.

from theonewholooks tumblr.

i just think it's the cat's meow.

thoughts?

and do you know what i mean about painting a ceiling? or am i a total wimp?

JILL

{bluebird}

i told you at the beginning of january that i was going to start posting more of my house projects. i was always a little hesitant to post them because 1- its my house and my project, and people on the internet can be mean little suckers. but 2- if i didn't have a huge whole kitchen gut-job reno to share, i wondered if my little one-afternoon-one-tube-of-acrylic-paint small project even mattered enough to share.

but i'm over all that :)

the blogs i like reading the most are the ones that share their projects, big or small.

so here's a very very small one i recently did.

but the little things add up, so one small project at a time is the way my house is becoming my home.

this is the walkway between my dining/living room and my den.

we spend 99% of our time in the den.

so we walk by this approx. 59 times a day.

this little parrot, my mom scored at home goods for $15.99.

it's resin but painted in a faux wood finish.

(don't mind the gatorade... i actually took this photo when i was stuck at home with the flu and i was re-hydrating. and don't mind my sewing machine, its permanently out on the dining room table because i've been making dolllllllllls!)

this bird wasn't as awesome as it could be, as is.

it was purchased to end up at our lake house.

so i was going to spray it high gloss white, sorta like the ones zgallerie was selling awhile back.

but it got placed on my bar cart, and i liked it there, and so i'm not going to let the lake house have it.

sorry, mom :)

for my house, the high gloss white... i wasn't sold.

so i lived with it for months with various different color ideas.

finally i was at joann fabric store and bought this:

martha stewart satin craft paint in "cloud".

i love this color so much, i'm contemplating having it color matched and re-painting my dark navy blue room. almost sold on the idea.

it's a great blue, but not baby-blue, with a little green and grey in it.

so i got to painting.

i painted the whole thing this shade of blue.

and when i was finished, it was cute but i liked it about as much as i did when it was 'wood'.

so i grabbed some black acrylic paint from my stash, i picked the flat finish, and painted the base.

now, i'm obsessed.

bluebird is better.

the bar cart is from a thrift store downtown, called good juju.

my mom also snagged that for me when i first moved in our house.

the polka dot paper was done on a whim 2 christmases ago.

its just wrapping paper under the glass.

and after christmas was over, i liked it so much i've kept it.

one project down.

one hundred million more to go.

JILL

spotted.

found this diy for polka dotted jeans

on a merry mishap

yesterday afternoon.

i have a pair of old worn skinnies....

am i bat shit crazy for wanting to try this out?

i think.

i'm going to try it.

they just look so cute.

and i think they'd pair really well with a fat chunky ivory sweater.

at least it does in my head.

JILL

painted pumpkins.

we carve pumpkins every year.

just husband and i.

and usually bake the seeds... which is the best part of carving pumpkins!!

this year i'm really liking painted pumpkins.

even minus the seeds.

found these on babble.

in not so fall colors.

i think it's adorbs.

and here are some other options a la photoshop:

bold and pretty with mint and cobalt.

or neutral shades of grey.

and sorry i've been so absent.

some things in life are happening right now

and it really puts your life into perspective.

i don't want to dive in too deep because honestly, it scared the whole you-know-whats out of me... but things are looking better and not as scary and i'm thankful.

very thankful.

love you.

be back soon.

JILL

this close.....

when we moved into our new office, i mentioned more about it here,

there was lots of mid-century mod furniture left behind.

and some random other pieces.

this is one of those random other pieces.

i declared her mine and i'm taking her home.

(do you know how much i love free furniture? it's a sickness.)

she's going to be my new bar in my dining area.

the walls in there are so dark navy blue, they are legitimately almost black.

and i'm thiiiiiis close to painting her a shade of pink:

with neutrals it provides the right amount of umph. ya know?

and despite the use of it in my kitchen, and other pink things i've blogged about and love, i'm not a die-hard fan of every shade every time. in fact, i'm more often not a fan.

but this shade, this time...

i think it's about to happen.

and i bought a new lamp for it yesterday, too.

its the same neutral sandy-nude as the woman's shoes in the bottom picture.

in my head it's going to look fierce.

just hope it comes out to be as cute in reality.

pictures soon.

prob tomorrow or early next week because i'm pumped.

JILL

{images via: elled decor, lucy luacht, embellished glamour tumblr}

spin art

remember these 2 from domino?

{and i have exhaustedly searched the dumb internet for the designer's house this is in, and nothing. i can see his face. i can picture his hallway full of vintage american flags. i can see his lady partner. i know they are a team. i know he lives in CA and she in NY. what are their names!?!?!? tell me if you know and we're best friends.}

{just kidding. i just found it. it's amy kehoe and todd nickey. it's todd's!! phew. that is so maddening.}

and this one from miles redd. 

he made it himself and took it to have enlarged.

and how he's moved his spin art into the pink room i am nuts for:

but i really like spin art.

i had one as a kid.

i spun art like the best of them.

them my spinner wore out.

i wore out the spinner.

not kidding you.

 i went to amazon the other day about to get another.

i didn't. thought maybe i should wait until i have kids :)

but damien hirst had a go with spin art.

so did this designer (again, unknown. i'm sorry.)

but this lovely lady uses a plain old salad spinner.

go here for the tutorial.

could be fun. with our without your own children!

the colors rock.

i could hang this on my walls!

did you guys have a spin art set, too?

i think it was a right of childhood in the late 80s and early 90s.

love!!

JILL

pink kitchen part 1

i picked my paint last night! hoorah.

i ended up going with glidden's red grapefruit that i had color matched in behr eggshell.

went home and splotched some on the walls.

and i love.

love.

but i decided white woodwork would make it look a little too sweet and saccharine. i needed a man color (said in a deep voice).

so i headed back to home depot and picked up this:

behr wheat bread.

it's a healthy mousy-gray-tan.

like coffee with alot of milk in it.

latte!

whatever you call it, i was geeked out. this is me sitting in the parking lot with a huge dorky smile on my face. i sent this picture to my husband and he sent this back:

"dork."

speaking of my husband, he's the man. a real man's man. the best man. the kind of guy who says 'sure' when his wife broaches the subject of a pink kitchen. i honestly thought there would be a little persuading to do, but there was none. not even an 'are you sure?'. just said ok.

he has to eat there too. and make his coffee there, everything there. just like me.

he's the best.

but here's the woodwork that was marked for paint.

i went around the window, the door frame to the garage and the door frame to the dining room.

we're leaving the cabinets au naturale.

and i really apologize for the sucky pictures. i think the lens on my phone was dirty.

and after a new latte life in high gloss:

this makes me so happy! it looks so much better than the before. why does it always take you so long to get at a project when you know the end is going to be light years better than the befores? that always kills me.

it got dark before i could start on the pink.

there was a break for dinner and then the bachelorette and then a walk with my dog.

husband's going to the royals game tonight, and i have a date with a gallon of pink paint.

more tomorrow.

JILL

neon shoes.

neon is everywhere right now...

but its better than when i was growing up in the late 80s and early 90s...

am i right?

much better now.

but we have noen dresses, neon jewels, neon furniture, neon lights...

we even have neon trees:

 but what's caught my eye are the

and all the neon paint calling my name at home depot.

i finally decided what i wanted to use it on because of those shoes above i pinned months ago...

after spending too much time in home depot decided on which color, i grabbed the yellow and ran for the check out before i changed my mind again.

it went back and forth between the yellow and hot pink...

i had these old camel colored shoes from college that were nothing sacred.

they were from target.

with a faux wood heel just ripe for a little sprayin.

taped em up.

very careful to get all the non-neon parts covered perfectly.

most tedious step for sure.

primed.

and painted.

this is after the first light misting of the neon....

i was gettin reeeeel excited.

(this neon paint is not opaque in the slightest so it's really important to prime it white, so the neon has something to show up against. if i would have just sprayed it straight on the 'wood' part of the shoe, it wouldn't have worked half as well. fyi.)

it was getting dark so that's the end of the in progress shots...

i just sprayed a few more coats of a light misting until it was well covered.

i was so excited about them, this is what i sent my mom last night--

and the pictures don't even do the color justice.

it's dayglow.

and perfect.

so i wore em to work today :)

husband told me last night mid-spray that one day i will look back on this as one of the sillier things i've done... perhaps. but 1-- i love them right now. 2-- i don't really care. and 3-- i can spray them again if i so feel the need.

now what else can i spray neon?!

loves.

JILL