Thursday's Randoms

I'm in love with this Lauren Moffatt dress and I want the whole world to know!  Via Greedy Girl

Villarreal Ceramics is the featured artist on Etsy today, and it's really no surprise why.  Between her hand-painted ceramics featuring feathers and llamas to her hand-crafted wall boxes and sculptures, it makes total sense that Etsy would want the world to know about Vanessa Villarreal's talent.

I'm really loving the looks of this sepia throw from Jayson Home and Garden.  I'm also really missing that store today...

Caprese bites? Yes, please! Anything bite-sized is making me happy these days.  Can you tell?!

This easy minimalist oak desk from Design Sponge looks fantastic!  I would love to recreate this look in our home - and definitely copy the color going on here.

What's inspiring you today?

Thursday's Randoms

I love how these "dwarf guards" really cater to my love of gnomes.  I think every house should have one or all of these, don't you?

Can't stop laughing over this one...

It's reasons like this that make me wish there was an Urban Outfitters here in Louisville.  Most days I really don't care, but when I see a pretty red sweater with elbow patches on it that won't completely break the bank, I get a little sad.  Thank goodness for the internet, right?  PS - it comes in navy as well!

Hello, beautiful DIY project!  What a great way to arrange some frames.  I'll have to keep this in mind when we go to put ours all up.  

The Pioneer Woman made Indian fry bread and Indian tacos and I am feeling quite nostalgic.  You see, growing up, kids in Wichita, KS would always get to visit the Indian Center.  It was a given that you would eat their incredible tacos while you were there, and it made for the best of times.  So naturally I'm pretty pumped over her post on how to do this.  With fake ground beef, of course :)

Oh how I am in love with this terrarium and its eccentricity.  The billy buttons are the perfect touch!  Be sure to check out other arrangements from Etsy shop Sea and Asters.

Friendship Jewelry

I've seen a few posts here and there about friendship bracelets - something I had nearly forgotten about in all the years since I actually wore one.  My curiosity was piqued; nostalgia was calling my name.  So after ReadyMade suggested to me on Facebook to make a friendship bracelet, I said what they hay and went for it.  After a few fights with my cat, I was underway.  Seriously, if you have a cat, he will pounce on you over and over again while you've got that embroidery floss in your hands.  Trust me.

Anyway...it was as easy as I remembered and in no time at all, I had made myself a cute friendship necklace.  I'm still in the process of creating more at different lengths like they suggest.  I've also added some washers to the mix since we have a ton to spare.  I'm hoping for an end result of multiple necklaces at various lengths in an assortment of colors, like the last image.  We shall see...

Here are the word-for-word instructions taken from honestly...wtf, originally seen here.

To make a 2-tone necklace, cut a long piece of rope and wrap two different colors of embroidery thread around its own bobbin. Tie a starter knot along with the two colored threads you are using, leaving at least 3 inches of slack, Tape down the slack to a flat surface or safety pin it something that will help keep it in place (feeling nostalgic yet?). Lay the color that isn’t being used (shown here in purple) in your left hand, along with the rope, and hold them taut. Take the active color (shown here in red) in your right hand, pass it over the rope, loop it under and back through the opening. Pull up and to the right to tighten. Repeat the knots until you are ready to switch colors

To alternate colors, simply put the inactive color (red) in your left hand and the new active color (purple) in your right. Repeat the steps.

Once you’re done knotting, add a few nuts and/or washers to the necklace. Undo the large starter knot and tie both open ends together, creating your very own friendship necklace! Trim any extra rope and tread. Continue making necklaces at different lengths, using any color combination…in our opinion, the more the better! Easy enough, right??

* All images and text from Honestly...WTF.

DIY, baby!

As of Sunday, our friends Inna & Alex have begun their long but super amazing DIY project.  Inna bought a house, located sort of in the Ukranian Village here in Chicago, and together, they're going to totally "flip that house"!  I'm so impressed already.  We stopped by their place last night, and Inna had already set up and unpacked almost everything (she obviously hadn't done much sleeping).  Alex already painted some and is quickly going to begin working on ripping out cabinets and laying down new countertops in the kitchen (which, trust me, can use some cosmetic work). 

This project really fascinates me.  I'm so excited to see my friends' talents shine.  Inna is so amazing when it comes to interiors, DIY, well pretty much you name it and she's good at it.  Alex is such a wonderful artist and creative genius, and is really handy and experienced at re-doing houses.  It's going to be so incredible to watch the transformation.

Check back for various updates on the project.  Inna's taking off for Europe for a month but once she's back, there will be progress made!

Yay!  See look, he's excited...

(photo via cuteoverload)