Here you can see the charger more up close:

And again at our Thanksgiving table last year (just ignore that baby gate in the background)...

Well, I was supposed to share these pretty napkins prior to Easter to use for an Easter table setting, but as is often the case with DIYs,  it was a total failure the first time around. I used fabric dye instead of fabric paint, thinking the results would be the same......but was I wrong. After ironing them and getting dye all over my ironing board cover and washing them and getting dye all over my washing machine....we had to throw them out because they looked so awful. It happens. Sometimes I think the lesson behind creating is to keep pressing on, past all the setbacks. Both times in creating these napkins, I let Reese help me. She loves creating as much as I do, and when possible I always try to include her in projects. It makes her so proud when she sees that item being used or on display in our home, and the process is always a special mom/daughter time with her. I will say, we had to do this while Charlie was asleep-otherwise it would have been a real disaster.

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We laid down a huge drop cloth and the napkins flat on top of it. I put a smock on Reese, and we both wore gloves. After filling a plastic cup with the fabric paint, I added water so that it was easier to "splatter".  

After letting them fully dry (24hrs), iron the backs of the napkins to set the paint. While maybe late for Easter, but I think these will be fun for summer dinner parties or outdoor entertaining.

As mentioned in last week's post, this year I'm hoping to do a monthly DIY series dedicated to the idea that good design doesn't have to come with a hefty price tag. First up? This cool modern lamp I made for $20 ($5 for the bulb, $12 for the light kit, and $20 for a 50lb bag of concrete mix that I plan on using for other projects.... if you count only the amount of cement I used for this project, the total would come to around $20). Inspiration struck when I saw a similar lamp while perusing a design site one day and thought "I could make that.".....not to mention, I've been wanting to work with concrete for a while now.

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Here are my supplies, I bought a 660 Lumens 60W bulb (basically the largest round bulb I could find at Home Depot), this light kit, a bag of concrete mix (I used Rapid Set Cement All), and a cardboard mold for the concrete. If I had to do it over again, I would choose a PLASTIC mold. We were able to cut off the cardboard with a knife, but plastic would have been much easier.

I let it dry, and in a couple of hours- I had a lamp! If you are intimidated by working with concrete (like I was), don't be. While dusty, it's super easy and very satisfying. I'm already scheming about what to make next with that huge bag sitting in my garage. 

I love it paired with my modern night stand, but I also love the idea of it being paired with an antique piece.

After buying the frame, we went to home depot and bought a sheet of wood for $50(a slight upgrade from plywood). I sanded it and rounded out the edges before painting it with the white primer. Then I followed this video that Erin shared on her site. Now I'm going to be honest with you- this was a totally nerve wrecking process! I was terrified of ruining the table. Thankfully Connor was there to keep me calm and remind me that we could always paint it white again. So, we followed the technique in the video- me with the brush and the sponge, and Connor with the softening brush. It really helps doing it with someone else, even if to have a second pair of eyes. The softening brush is KEY…..we used a big fluffy staining brush and that worked just fine, but  you definitely want something big and fluffy. 

The process goes like this:

1. Twist the brush (with grey paint) using the technique on the video

2. Go over it with the watered down white paint "glaze"

3. Then go over it with a softening brush so that there are no sponge marks or brush strokes

Now I consider myself a very average DIYer- I have a lot of great ideas, but when it comes to actually doing a project I get impatient and make a lot of mistakes along the way. Lucky for you! Here are some of the tips I learned the hard way:

1. DO NOT put too much grey paint on the brush, less is more here. The sponge will get messy, the surface cloudy, and you might even mess up your softening brush.

2. DO NOT use a grey that is too dark. Err on the side of too light. You can always add in darker bits.

3. DO NOT use a squeegee like the Super Glaze instructions suggests, we found a scraper to be a thousand times better.

We ended up painting the table top and putting on a coat of super glaze before I realized that I preferred a lighter looking marble. In my opinion it looks more real. So we made that first attempt the bottom of the table. Here is what it looks like:

We also used the squeegee with the super glaze on this side and it made the glaze too thin and it did not have the thick finnish I wanted. On the second round, we started with a lighter grey for the marbling and I was much happier with the results.

I know I didn't include a ton of pictures of the process, but that's mainly because I think the video by Danika of Gorgeous Shiny Things is the key to success here. After we finished marbling, I noticed from a couple angles there were different shades of white that looked very fake (for lack of a better word). In the wrong lighting it looked like bad highlights or something. I took a picture so you can see here:

Anyways, I decided to take my chances and pour the glaze hoping it would even out…..and IT DID! So don't be alarmed if you experience this. I also added the fine white glitter that Erin did to look like mineral deposits and it worked like a charm. Here we are pouring on the glaze and moving it around with the scraper:

With the super glaze its crucial that you follow directions to a T- with the mixing and the measurements. You really don't want to scrape the super glaze but rather "move" it (as we learned on the first round). Again, the squeegee didn't work for us here, it created ridges and made the coat too thin. We watched the edges for drips…this is key because as the epoxy settles it moves and drips. So don't leave it until you are sure it's done moving. We used a hair dryer to get out any air bubbles. We let it dry for three days, and after that we still found that some of the sides of the table were a little sticky. We used rubbing alcohol on those small areas. You can also use clear nail polish on any small imperfections from the super glaze. 

The after:

For those of us crooning over Anthropologie's leather safari chair but can't afford it, this DIY option is perfection:

Love this idea for artwork:

DIY veneer pendant light

This two-tier plant stand

And a couple of my own favorite DIY's to date:

Our dining room straw pendant light:

The wooden hanging clothing rack in Charlie's old nursery:

On the off chance that you are interested in the clouds from R's birthday celebration, I thought I would share this quick and easy DIY with you. It only requires string, white balloons of various sizes, double stick tape, and stuffing.

1. Group white balloons together of various sizes and tie together with string.

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3. That's it! So easy. Here they are again, a finished product.

Reese is turning three and we had her best friend over to celebrate. Knowing that in the future, there will be plenty of birthday parties with lots of kids, games, and goodie bags- I've embraced the idea of keeping things simple while I can. So while this weekend's festivities could hardly constitute a party (with just one friend), I did want to make Reese feel special. Since she is obsessed with Mary Poppins, I thought I would go with a kite theme and made kite decor/bought kites for the girls to fly at the park near our house. Connor and I stayed up until 1 am the night before getting things set up, and when Reese came downstairs that morning to see the kites on the wall and clouds hanging from the ceiling, she let out a breathy "Ooohh WOW". And just like that- it was so worth the extra effort.

(I had to laugh when I looked over and saw her chowing down on chips while she waited for her friend to arrive)

I realize this may not be the most innovative option out there ( look no further than pinterest for some of those), but I think watercoloring Easter eggs has some of the prettiest results without a lot of prep. I wanted to keep things simple this year, and since Reese has been really into watercolors lately, it seemed like the perfect option. 

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For a minute I was worried we would have only black and brown Easter eggs(see her reaching for the brown), but I tried to sit back and let her create. She eventually added in color. Once they dried, we turned them over to paint the bottom portion.