365

March 16th: Tender loving care between Anais and Junior. I guess neither of them wanted to give up the striped pillow.

March 17th: The forest is not yet blooming with new life. Instead, it is rusting away, in a sea of auburn with glimpses of white snow, deep down in the darkness.

March 18th: I've been hitting a new thrift shop. New to me, that is - how could I miss a thrift shop in my own town?

 o

March 19th: Sunset pic, as I came back from work. Yup, I live on the last floor and I've extended my plant collection on the staircase, as well :D

March 20th: Love doves waiting for spring in the beautiful birch tree outside my office.

March 21st: Poor little forgotten door, bathing in the warm spring sunshine.

March 22nd: So here they are, my second pair of glasses which looks like the first one.

Click here to see all my 365 posts :)

                                                                               

Tulips and iris

                                                                                                                                    

My Brightest Secret

As I was saying in my latest 365 post, things have been hectic at work (including on Saturday) and I finished last week with a 16 hr sleep. All this time, the thing that kept me going was the fact that... I had been given the Versatile Blogger award  J

                                                     

Oh, YES! Happy happy joy joy!

Lovely Jutta from Organized LivingSolutions loved my posts and she awarded me The Versatile Blogger, even if I am quite a newbie when it comes to blogging. Thank you, Jutta, it comes as a wonderful surprise that you chose to pass the award to me! I take it as a great compliment, coming from the creative author of the delicate Shell Spoons, the mind-blowing Easter Plates (now this one really blew me off) or the Little Angels and so many other amazing projects. Hugs!

In consequence, I have to share seven things about myself and to nominate 15 blogs I’m passing the Versatile Blogger award to.

Let’s talk about myself:

1.    I’m a LEO. 

2. First, I took Science in college, 12 hrs of Math and Physics every week. Than I shifted and graduated from Law School with honors (and now you can see that I am a Leo, always bragging). And for the last 8 years I’ve been working as a full-time copy writer in an advertising agency.

3.       I bought my first camera ever on the 20^th of January 2012, in order to take pics for this blog.

4.       I love words, shoes and optical illusions (in that order, although I’m not sure if I shoud dedicate a separate chapter to shoes…)

5.       I hate milk skin. Arrgh! Even the thought of it upsets my stomach (@#%!?)

6.       I am a manic-depressive, hence the constant changes in my home décor.

7.       I am still in denial about receiving this award (it’s unbelievable, right?!) and I am facing a real challenge in passing it on to 15 other blogs. So without any further delay, I would like to give the award to those of you that I admire:

Another Damn Poetry Blog

Artsy Ants 

Bliss Bee 

Cafe noHut 

CrayonFreckles 

Design Dreams by Anne 

Eine Andere Perspektive

Hating Martha

Ideas From The Forest 

I LOVE TO CREATE 

Kelsey Inspired 

MÓJ KAWAŁEK PRZYRODY

Pink Texas Chick 

Sandy's Space 

52 Mantels 

Big hugs to everybody, you are the best!

DIY Easter Hat

Easter is very important in my country, so I wanted to decorate properly for the occasion. Browsing through a sea of (cuter than cute) adorable eggs and bunnies in pastel colors, I thought I should go the opposite way.

I chose the Easter Hat project because it's a reminder of a world-wide tradition. I ALWAYS wear something brand new for Easter (preferably shoes!!!). And looking in my closet, I went with the bowler hat. Too much pink never harmed any body, but it put me in the mood for a unisex look. I LOVE bower hats - British, quirky, stylish, timeless :)

You will need: a hat, a piece of fabric, glue, Easter felt silhouettes, flowers, paper and white gel pen.

Step 1: Cut a wide piece of fabric and secure it around the hat's original ribbon. Cover it completely.

   

Step 2: Attach the felt bunnies on the fabric piece.

Step 3: Prepare the flowers. Cut a thin piece of floral foam and immerse it in water. Pin the flowers on the narrow side. Wrap it up in waterproof foil.

             


Step 4: Secure the flowers to the fabric. Cover with another piece of fabric and finish with a felt bunny.

Step 5: Take a step back and evaluate your work. In my case, I felt the Easter Hat could use a little extra bling. Enter the awesome mustaches, in order to complete the British look!

Step 6: Take a sheet of black colored paper. Draw the mustache outline on the backside of the paper. Cut it, reverse and trace the outline with a white marker. I did it because you need to see the mustaches against the black hat. Attach some wire and pimp-up the Easter Hat :))

  

SO HERE IT IS :

 

Step 7: Frame it on the wall. Add a few drops of water every morning!

 

I've been featured at Homework and At The Picket Fence! Thank you, dear ladies, I feel honored!

                                                     

365

Another week has passed and I feel like I've completely lost track of time. I've had a hectic week at work (including Saturday) and today I've slept for 14 hrs and wondered around the house like a zombie. I hope next week will be a little more gentle on my nerves :D

March 9th: Have you seen the ninja cat on YouTube? Of course you did :) Well, I'm playing Ninja Cats with  Anais and Junior in perfect synchronization.

March 10th: Lovely geometric pattern, textured with snow for my personal delight! 

   

March 11th: Wonderful groovy ad on the gas station sliding doors. I went to wash my car and the minute I left the station - heavy rain started! But I didn't even frown - it's Murphy's law all over again...

March 12th: Spring is almost here. Stalking at the fence, I spy a colorful assortment of blankets and rugs.

March 13th: The most beautiful pendant lamp and its retro fun shadows on the wall. 

March 14: Bathroom indulgence. I just discovered "Crystallize" in my editing options and went nuts with it. 

March 15th: Not coming come from work, as I should have been, but running from a client to the printing shop (told you, busy busy week). In the park, rock solid snow on one side and last year's rusty leaves on the other side.

Click here to see all my 365 project posts :)

How to make a faux wallpaper

Let me add some Before and After images (gosh, I love this part!):

 

Difficulty: easy peasy;

Time to complete: 3 hours;

Budget: 6,5 euros;

What I love the most: that it looks like a single wallpaper roll (which is exactly what I wanted to do).

I cannot commit to wallpaper, although I love the look so much!

I tend to get bored with my home decor, so nothing stays the same for more than one or two years. Imagine if I had to install a wallpaper and then take it down in a couple of years! I've seen it done on other blogs and there is only one conclusion: ripping down a wallpaper is hard work, is messy and requires refinishing the wall :((

So I decided to make a temporary wallpaper, using wall stickers. I know it sounds cheap, but if you do it right it looks just like the real thing. And I can take it down quickly, without destroying the wall.

I saw these dirty cheap bicycle stickers (made in China) in a warehouse. They had me at "Hello".

Here's what you need: 4 sheets of wall stickers, a builder's square, measuring tape, pencil, paper.

Tutorial:

1. Peel off the sticker sheet. 

PAY ATTENTION! Don't try to peel off the printed sections, they can get cut in the process. Instead, peel off the adhesive that is NOT printed - I mean the white parts between the actual stickers. In the end, only the printed sections will remain on your sheet and you can take them off without ripping them in the middle.

2. Prepare the surface.

Take a smooth sponge and immerse it into a mild soap solution. Carefully wash up the wall surface, without rubbing too much.

 

3. Make a grid for your fake wallpaper roll.

This is by far the trickiest part. I wanted to make a fake wallpaper roll, not an impressionistic painting. So it had to look seamless and perfectly aligned.

Measure the width you want to have on the wall and trace a grid with the pencil on the wall. Since I had 4 sticker sheets, I drew 4 boxes on the wall, one on top of the other. Use the builders square. You want the grid to be perpendicular to the floor and aligned with the corners of the wall.

As you can see, I drew the grid three or four times, then I erased the wrong grid lines with a simple eraser.

4. Stick the first sheet on the wall grid.

Start with the biggest item, it will anchor the composition. Don't put your fingers on the glue side, it will damage the adhesive properties of your stickers. Press gently from the middle towards the edges, in order to  eliminate any air bubbles.

5. Repeat step 4 for the next sticker sheets.

Do exactly the same as before. Start with your biggest item and align it perfectly with the previous one.

6. Add the final details.

The wallpaper looks complete. Well, it's not. I left out the little grass stickers, on purpose.

Take an overall look at your pattern and look for the gaps. Fill the blank spaces with the smallest items (the grass, in my case) to make it balanced.

7. Erase the grid.

8. Step back and take a picture.

So there it is. It looks like the real thing, doesn't it?

Happy happy joy joy! I've been featured at Homework, Chatty Chics, Passionately Artistic, Yesterday On Tuesday, House School Scraps, The Shabby Nest, Five Days 5 Ways, It's Overflowing, The CSI Project, A Rosie Sweet Home, Petite Hermine, Randee's Organized Chaos, Polish The Stars and Don't Mess With My Tutus. Thank you for the support!