Hello there! I am really excited to share this diy with you guys today! I have been wanting to make this little lamp for some time now. Now that it is finished, I am happy to say that it was really fun and surprisingly easy. You can find everything you need except the deer at your local craft store. The deer is vintage, and you can usually find sweet ceramic tchotskies at your local flea market, or browsing through etsy and ebay. The best part about this lamp is it is soooo much fun to make!

Here’s What You Need:

*Lighted Branch (Small)

*Paper Mache Clay like fast mache ( found with the clay at your local craft store)

*Wooden Plaque

*Dried Moss

*Hot Glue and hot glue gun

*Paper Flowers, spun mushrooms, etc…

*Vintage woodland ceramic animal like a deer or bunny…

*Paint

Instructions:

First, paint your wooden plaque. Once the plaque is dry you are ready to make the hill. So mix up your fast mache clay according to the directions. I ended up using the whole box for mine. adding a little at a time, mold the clay into a hill shape on top of your wooden plaque. Smooth it over the best you can and flatten the area a little where you are going to glue your ceramic animal. Take your finger and poke a hole where you want to glue the tree branch. I made sure that I could set a couple of inches of the branch into the hole when it would be dry. Let your fast mache dry completely. Once your hill is dry, heat up your glue gun. I glued down some moss around the hole where the tree was going to go first. Put a generous amount of hot glue into the hole you made in the hill for the branch. Insert your lighted branch into the glue and hold straight until the glue sets up. This takes maybe a minute. Now tear off pieces of moss and glue down to your hill. Cover the hill completely will moss pieces. Glue down your ceramic animal where you like best. Glue down a few flowers at the base of the tree and by your animal. Once you are done embellishing with the flowers, fan out the wire branches of the tree, and then you are finished. Plug the lamp in and enjoy.

I LOVE my little deer lamp! It was really easy to make and it is going to be sooo darned cute in my bedroom! You could make this totally unique by adding your favorite paper flowers, and a sweet vintage ceramic of your choice. Even a plastic deer would be sweet! The best thing about this lamp is the twinkling of the lights when the lamp is lit. It is dreamy! I hope I have inspired some of you to give this one a try! You’ll have a blast!

Happy Crafting!

Check out this amazing Vintage 1950′s Pink Floral Jantzen Swimsuit from When Decades Collide Here

Check out this fantastic Vintage 1950′s Cherry Blossom Tablecloth from Independence Vintage Here

Check out this Sweet Vintage Ransburg Enamelware Cannister from NanNa’s Things Here

Check out this Fabulous Vintage 1950′s Floral Butterfly Print Dress from D&J Vintage Here

Check out this adorable Vintage Lilies Print Kitchen Towel from La Petite Vintage Shop Here

Check out this fantastic Vintage Ransburg Red Retro Wax Paper Dispenser From Fabulous Textiles Here

Check out this lovely Vintage 1950′s Floral Glass Silver City Vase from Ripening Here

Check out this Beautiful 1950′s mid-century Floral Tablecloth from Mungo and Midge Here

Check out these Amazing Vintage Petite Bisque Vintage Floral Vases from Dotti Rose Studio Here

Check out this Lovely Vintage 1950′s Floral Applique Slip from Milieu Vintage Here

Check out these fabulous Vintage 1950′s Satin Stiletto Floral Heels from Crush Vintage Here

Check out this adorable Vintage 1960′s Blue Floral Blouse with Ruffles from My Vintage Valentine Here

Aren’t they all just so pretty! I love florals, especially vintage florals! I hope you all enjoy browsing through these wonderful etsy vintage shops as much as I did! I’ll be back next week with more fun vintage finds. Until then…

Happy Shopping!

If you follow my blog, or even if you have just glanced in the sidebar, you’ll know I adore my dog! And I adore my sister’s dog Sadie too. I am a total animal lover, and I have to say until recently, I have always been a crazy cat lady. But now thanks to our little iggies I am a crazy dog lady too! For those of you who don’t believe in love at first sight, you just haven’t met the right dog yet. This dog is my heart, and no matter what type of day I am having, just having him here with me makes me happy! The other day I was taking pictures of my jewelry magnets in my bedroom at my parent’s house. The dogs love this room because the bed is right up against the window and it is warm and sunny all day. It is their favorite spot! As I was snapping my product pics, totally caught up in the rush of everything that needed to be done that day, I happened to glance over and see Beaureguard and Sadie happily snoozing in the sun. It completely melted me! I thought for sure they would move the second they spotted me taking pics, but they were totally chill and did not even notice the intrusion. Lucky me! It’s these little moments that I love so much! They captivate you and remind you to slow down a bit, relish the sunshine, know you are blessed by those you love, and remember that life truly is above all else, absolutely beautiful!

Aren’t they all just so cool! Of course I love them all! Everything is so well photographed, the whole store is like eye candy. To see more of Sushipot Vintage check out the Etsy store Here. Also be sure to check out Suzanna’s original art at Sushipot Studio Here. You can also find her on her blog Here, as well as Twitter, Instagram, and Flickr. Hope you all have a fantastic weekend!

Happy Shopping!

Hi guys! I do hope you all are having a lovely week! Today I am going to share with you one of my favorite of my recent projects, a diy vintage wallpaper magnetic board. Vintage wallpaper is one of my absolute favorite things in the entire world! I just adore the prints and textures! It’s so wonderful! I love finding new ways to use it too. I recently came across this pattern from one of my favorite vintage wallpaper shops, Hannah’s Treasures, and immediately thought it would make a great magnetic board for the bedroom at my mom’s house where I stay on visits. Making this little board was really easy, and it whipped up pretty quick too!

Here’s What You Need:

*16×20 Frame (the local flea market or thrift store is a great place to look)

*Paint (optional)

*1 Yard of Vintage Wallpaper

*1 Sheet of HVAC Thin Guage Sheet Metal (I bought mine at home depot, look in the hvac department)

*Acid Free Double Stick Tape

*Framing hardware if needed…

*Heavy Duty Tin Snips

*Foam core ( optional for backing if your frame does not come with backing)

Instructions:

The first thing you need to do is paint your frame if you are planning on painting it. While it dries you can cut and assemble your board. To start measure the opening of your frame. Mine was 16×20. So I marked on the metal 16″ wide and 20″ long. Then cut the metal down to size with the tin snips. You can cut down the foam core to fit your frame as well if you plan on using it. Now, trace your sheet metal dimensions onto the wrong side of your wallpaper, leave an inch on the top and an inch on the bottom for folding over. So if I have a 16×20 piece of metal, then I cut my paper to be 16×22″. Mark 1″ up on both the top and bottom of the wrapping paper. Lay out your metal on top of the paper in between the 1″ marks. Run a strip of double stick tape along the edge at the bottom and top edges of your wall paper on the wrong side. Now, fold over the edges of the paper in towards the middle of the metal and tape down snugly so that the paper is nice and taught across the metal. Next, lay your board into the opening in your frame face down and close up the back. Add a hanger to the middle of the back of the frame and you are ready to hang.

I love this fun magnetic board! It looks great in the room! It is a pretty way to organize and keep little notes and things while I am at my parent’s home. It is a great size too. I just adore the wallpaper and I have quite a bit left that I can use for future crafting, yay! I love how easy this project is to customize just by changing the style of the frame and the wallpaper. The sheet metal in the hvac department at the hardware store is really inexpensive too, so you can always change out the boards if the style of your room changes too. This really is such a fast and easy diy! It would make a great gift for college bound gals who need a memo board for their dorms. I hope some of you will give this one a try! It is so fun and easy, you’ll have a blast!

Happy Crafting!

From my board Party Ideas:

I just love this picnic idea! It’s so dreamy!

Love these colors!!!

I love the packaging here, it’s so fun!

Just beautiful!

From my board For the Home:

Love the shelving!

I love this kitchen! I based the open shelving on the top of my cabinets off of this picture.

I love the cabinet and the fridge! So cute!

From my board Tattoos:

This is so sweet! It means “smile” in Swedish.

So cute!

From my board Pets and Animals:

I just LOVE this picture!

So sweet!

This cracks me up! So true…

and from my board DIY Ideas I Love:

This is great for summer!

So stinkin’ cute!

I absolutely love this!

Aren’t they all just fantastic! I love Pinterest, don’t you! To see more inspiring pins you can check out all my Pinterest boards Here. I’ll be back next month with more pinspiration! Until then…

Happy Pinning!

Hello everyone! Sorry I have been mia the last couple of days. I have been under the weather. But I am back and excited to share this project with you all today! I am going to show you how to make these fun little magnets out of vintage earrings and brooches. These could not be easier to make, and they whip up so fast!

Here’s What You Need:

*Jewelry pieces like earrings, pendants, and brooches

*Heavy duty wire cutters

*E6000

*Round craft magnets (you can find these at any craft store)

Instructions:

These are so easy! The first thing you do is cut off the finding part of your piece. For example if you have an earring, you will need to cut off the ear wire or clip for clip ons. Get as close to the base where it is glued or soldered on and carefully cut away with your pliers. For brooches that have been soldered it can take a few cuts but they will come off. Once you get the finding off you can grind down any sharp spots with a dremmel if you have any that bother you. You can also pick at them with your pliers and that can get most of the metal off that is in the way. So to finish these off, you need to glue the magnet on. So, lay your jewelry piece face down on a flat surface. Now take your magnet and place a large dab of glue onto the back side of the magnet. Carefully squish the glue and magnet onto the back of your jewelry piece. Let dry. Once the glue is cured you are ready to use your magnets.

I absolutely love these magnets! They just couldn’t be any easier to make! You can whip up a batch in under fifteen minutes. The best thing is that they look so nice and special, like something you would find at a boutique. You can find vintage jewelry parts by the bag full at your local flea market or at antique stores and thrift stores. Of course brooches can be really pricey, but you can often pick up broken pieces or mismatched pieces for next to nothing. This would be a fabulous project to use for gifts for birthdays or Christmas as well. So go ahead and dress up your space with some of these fun little magnets! You’ll love them!

Happy Crafting!

Hello everyone! I hope you are all having a lovely day! I am so excited to announce that I have a little guest post over at Free Pretty Things for You today! For any of you who are unfamiliar with this fantastic blog, FPTFY is a free image and printables site chocked full of fun clip art, digital scrapbooking elements, craft projects, and tons of vintage charm! Keren, the fantastic gal behind the blog, has collaborated with me to create this fun printable sheet to use to make these fun charm bracelets! You can find my tutorial on the FPTFY website today Here.

You can find the printables Here and a lightened version made specifically for the shrinky paper Here

So definitely go check out the full tutorial and make some of these fun charm bracelets for your favorite gals! These are so fun to make! You’ll love them! And definitely go check out Keren’s blog, Free Pretty Things for You, Here! It is the absolute cutest!

Happy Crafting!

As I am getting ready to share my post today with new friend Kendra, I realize that I have never actually been to a spa. Although I do think it would be lovely, I believe that with a rifle through your kitchen, you can create a spa like experience without even leaving the house. Today Kendra is going to share her recipe for this fabulous avocado and banana face mask. I decided to try it out myself and it is wonderful! It smells so good and I used it on areas of my hands that were really dry and it seems to have really helped. So Kendra, thank you darlin’ for sharing this awesome diy with all of us! Now, without further adieu, I shall turn it over to the expert….

Bio: Kendra Thornton: Travel advocate, TV spokesperson, PR businesswoman, proud wife and mama of 3. I am a long time travel expert who has been packing my bags and traveling the world since I was 3 months old! I’ve found my utmost desire in life is right here in my own home. I have mixed my excitement for travel by bringing the taste of authentic cuisine and rejuvenating beauty remedies to my own home with some of my unique recipes and tips. Enjoy!

Do-It-Yourself Pampering this Mother’s Day

 When I worked full-time in the travel industry I was fortunate enough to witness many of the wonders this world has to offer.  The island oasis of Hawaii is most certainly one of those awe-inspiring destinations that I would recommend to anyone, young or old.

During one of my trips to Honolulu, I was able to spoil myself by indulging in a lavish spa treatment.  Part of being on vacation is being able to relax and treat yourself – something that often gets neglected once we begin caring for our children.  During my stay at the Royal Hawaiian Hotel, which ranks amongst the best hotels in Honolulu, I was able to truly relax and give my skin and my mind the refresher it needed!

The Royal Hawaiian offers their signature Abhasa Tropical Facial with all natural ingredients right from the island.  This moisturizing face mask left my skin feeling fresh, rejuvenated, and new. Since my visit to Hawaii, I have used the treatment as inspiration for a DIY homemade facial that you too can easily recreate from your own home. As a remedy for stress and an excellent outlet for relaxation, what better way to spend Mother’s Day!

 As a busy mom, it’s nice to be able to treat myself every now and then.  So here is the recipe inspired by the Abhasa Tropical Facial from the beautiful island state.

 Avocado & Banana Face Mask

• 1 avocado

• 1 banana

• 2 teaspoons olive oil

• 1 teaspoon honey

I think you will find that you may have most of these all-natural ingredients in your home already.  To create the face mask, I combine the avocado with the banana, a teaspoon of honey, and a teaspoon of olive oil.  Stir these in a bowl with a whisk, utilizing a fork to break up the fruit if necessary. It is so simple and easy to make!  It takes me less than 10 minutes to put together the mixture and apply it to my face. But of course, if more time permits, leave the mask on as you daydream of your favorite vacation destination.

Your skin will thank you for this rejuvenating treatment when it looks and feels it’s very best.  The best part?  These ingredients are easy to find in any season, which means beautiful skin all year round! So treat yourself this Mother’s Day with a top rated spa treatment – from your own home!

Hello there! Today I am going to share one of my favorite new spring dessert recipes with you all. This is my version of strawberry shortcake. I had lunch a few weeks ago at Whole Foods and had a slice of their strawberry cake. It was so delicious! I went back a few days later for another slice, but they were all out. Not wanting to spend over twenty dollars on a cake, I decided to try and make one similar myself.

Ingredients:

*Butter Yellow Recipe Cake Mix

*Butter

*Eggs

*Water

*Cooking Spray

*Strawberries 2 pints

*Sugar

*Heavy Whipping Cream

Directions:

Cook your yellow cake according to the directions on the box. You will add the water, sugar, butter, and eggs to the cake mix and beat with a blender for a few minutes. Spray two round cake pans 8″ or 9″ with cooking spray and pour in batter. Bake according to the time on the box. Once your cake is done you will cool it in the pan for a minute and then turn it out of the pan and cool completely. While your cake is cooling cut up 2/3 of your strawberries into thin slices. Slice the remaining third of the strawberries into halves. Put them into separate bowls and sprinkle with sugar and a little water. Cover and refrigerate. You can cut your strawberries ahead of time and let them chill overnight. They are extra good that way. I was impatient and wanted my cake to be ready that particular day, so my strawberries only chilled for an hour or two. In a large mixing bowl pour in some heavy whipping cream. Whip the cream with beaters on medium to medium high. I added my sugar to taste once the cream set up a little. Sometimes whipped cream recipes can be too sweet. I like to be able to control the sweetness. You can add a touch of vanilla to your whip cream as well. Once your cream is whipped to a stiff super light frosting consistency you are ready to assemble your cake. Place your bottom layer of the butter cake on a large plate. “Frost” your layer with a generous amount of whip cream. Add a little extra on the top of the cake for the middle to be nice and full. Now take your sliced strawberries and evenly distribute them over the top of the layer. Place the other layer of cake on top of the first layering the strawberries and whip cream in the middle. Now, spread a thick layer of whip cream frosting over the top and around the sides of the cake. Once you have your cake frosted with your whip cream, you are ready to add your remaining strawberries. Finish off the cake by gently placing the remaining strawberry halves to the side of the cake all the way around at the bottom. Garnish with a few mint sprigs and a strawberry on top if you like, or add a cute cake bunting.

I love how my cake turned out! It is the perfect spring desert. This is not the healthiest cake in the world, but it could be a lot more calorie laden. I think the whip cream and strawberries make it light and airy, and the buttery cake is smooth and moist. This is definitely going to be my go to spring and summer party desert. Everyone here loved it! I hope some of you will try this little recipe out too!