Anthropologie "Diana Necklace" Knock-Off

Ok, time for another Anthro knock-off. I saw this necklace, and I thought, "Hmm...I could make that." And of course, that was just the beginning. A few hours later, I had finished my own lovely necklace.

Here is Anthropologie's version:


And here's mine:



After about forty out of focus pictures, this is the only one that was clear. Ha, I think it's because of my shaky hands. :P

Closeup:



I bet you can't guess what the rings are! I used a bunch of different key chain rings, then covered them with silver ribbon. The little rings are made out of wire. Nifty, huh?

Have a nice day!!

Decoupage Bracelet Holder

I love being able to post so many times this week, and I hope you all enjoy what I've come up with. I'm going to try hard to keep this up!

Over the weekend, I was working on more decorations for my room. Before, it had been such a weird mix of so many different styles of decorating, but now it's a bit more unified, which I think gives it a less cluttered look. Very cool.

I love my phone book paper art, but every time I make something, I like to switch it up a little. Have you noticed? I don't want everything TOO match-y. So it took me a little while to figure out what to do about my old surfboard bracelet holder. It was from the Claire's clearance rack quite a few years ago, and very cute. But it wasn't quite my style. So I covered the surfboard with phone book paper (surprised?) and then with blue watercolor paint to match my room. Then I took some gold nail polish and splattered that all over the surface. Finally, in keeping with the beach theme, I took a white shell, painted it gold, and glued it onto the front. Easy peasy. And fairly quick.

Here's how it turned out:



Closeup:



Pretty, huh? I'm really pleased with how it turned out.

Sweet Mini Shadowboxes

A few weeks ago, I came up with a fun use for old jewelry boxes. You know, the cardboard ones that you always save, but may or may not ever use? Well, I came up with the idea of turning them into mini shadowboxes that you can display anywhere. And it's so easy! I think it could be a good children's craft.(: But let me warn you, once you start making them, it's pretty hard to stop (unless you run out of boxes).

All you have to do is take either the bottom or top of the box and paste into it torn magazine pages, or fun findings, and you're done! See, so simple! I'd love to see any variations you come up with.

Here's one of mine:



I really love it...it's simple, but it has a very cool look to it. But those beads were NOT easy to glue in...

And here's one that I made with my sister:



Aren't they too cute? I love that little vintage sticker at the bottom...

Anyway, have a lovely day!

Purse Upcycle

A few years ago, my grandma gave me a sweet little handbag as a Christmas present. At first, I used it all the time, but after a while I got bored of it, and it went into my closet for storage. Recently, I saw it again, and I saw this plain purse as a blank canvas. I loved the color, the shape, and the size. It was a very nice purse, but so plain and boring. SO I decided to embellish it.

I rolled a couple large roses and glued on some pretty lace, and I was done.(:

Here is the final result:



And now I love it! What do you think?

A Pretty Pink Pig

Have you noticed my new decoupage trend? :P I love it because:
A. It's easy and fun.
B. It turns out looking so pretty! (usually, anyhoo)

Anyway, last week I decided one of my piggy banks needed some up-cycling. I got it in the Target dollar bin a couple years ago (those dollar bins are SO awesome), and took a sharpie to it, doodling my name on it. In the end, it turned out looking rather lopsided...So I decided it needed some work. First, I covered the surface with my favorite phone book paper (from the 'O' section), then I tore out some of the pretty fabric prints from my catalogs, and pasted those on top of the phone book paper. It ended up with a fun, eclectic look. Then, I took some fuschia paint and covered the entire surface with that so that everything would blend together better.

Here is the final result (please excuse my slightly out of focus pictures):



Cute, huh? It was really difficult to cover it completely in phone book paper because of all the curves. But it finally worked out.



These pictures also give you a hint of how many books I must have to have them all stacked sideways, hehe. It's like having my own personal library...

Box Number Two

Hello!
My week (so far, anyway) has been fairly laid-back, despite it being the last full week of school. My psychology final was canceled, which is disappointing in a way, because I had been studying so hard, and I finished my English final early, and next week is my history final. So, today, when I finished all my work (at noon! :D), I went to take lots of pictures of what I've been making lately.

Here's another anthro-inspired box of mine:



And there are many, many more posts to come in the next few days. So stay tuned!

Have a lovely day~!

Blog Party

Hi, everyone! I'm entering a blog party, and maybe you'd like to, too.(: They have some fun prizes!



& Here are my answers:

1. If you had to choose between living on a desert island or tropical rainforest for the rest of your life, which would you choose?
Desert Island.

2. What is your favorite music CD right now?
That's a really hard one...right now I really love Brandon Heath's Christmas album.

3. If you were given the choice between wildflowers or roses - which would you pick?
Roses.

4. How much do you like notebooks? Is it mild, or are you absolutely obsessed with them?
Hehe, I guess I'm pretty obsessed. I've got a whole collection of half-filled notebooks, most of them Sanrio cuteness.

5. What is your biggest goal this winter?
Hmm...right now, my only goal is to read Charles Dicken's "A Christmas Carol."

6. If you could change your hair however you wanted, what would you do?
I would want something effortless, hehe. I'm so lazy when it comes to hair!

7. Do you think Harry Potter is bad?
I used to love HP as a kid. I don't think it's bad, but I think that it's bad to make it an obsession, kinda the same with Twilight. Except HP is a classic battle of good vs. evil, and Twilight kinda blurs that line. As a Christian, I always like reading about magic, but in the point of view that it's fantasy, not real.

8. Why do you think pink is a girls' color?
I don't? Haha, I like blue better, and I think it's a bit more feminine. But pink to me has always been a 'girly-girl' color, and it's never been my favorite.

9. Would you be up to singing a solo in front of a thousand people?
I'm not good at singing in public, even with a group of people. I'm not really all that confident in my voice.

10. What colors look best on you?
Dark colors, like navy blue or black. Lighter colors make me look washed out!

11. If you had a different name, what would it be?
I really don't know, haha. I always used to want to change it to something more unusual, but now I'm more content with it. I did always like the name Rhiannon, though!

12. Do you like...
boots or sneakers?
Boots!
flats or heels?
I don't really own any heels, but I love how elegant they look!
books or movies?
Hmm...probably both.
purple or pink?
Purple
long hair or short hair?
Long Hair
a best friend or a group of friends?
A group of friends
ice cream or cake?
ice cream
plaid or polka dots?
plaid

Anthropologie Inspired Box

Do any of you get the Anthropologie catalogs? I can pore over their yummy clothes and beautiful photos all day. Anyway, their last one was very imaginative, with lots of pretty vintage pictures - so pretty! Useful, too. I love using vintage pictures in my collages. And I came up with the perfect use for them. My mother gave me some old metal boxes to use for storage, and they were nice, but I thought...there's got to be a way to make these not only functional, but decorative as well. So I used my favorite technique with the phone book pages to cover the entire box with torn up pages. Then I took some ripped up sheet music and cut out a bunch of pictures. Some I had had before, but most of them were from the Anthro catalog. Then I outlined the torn paper edges in sharpie to give it some interesting depth. I did three coats of glue on top so they could withstand the "elements" of my room, and I was done.

Time-consuming, but simple. Here's how it turned out:



Pretty, right? And totally free, which is the best part of all.



What do you think?(: I really love how it turned out, and it's prefect for storing all my ribbons and sewing things.

Have a lovely day!

Anthro-Inspired Plate

I've been attempting to redecorate my room lately, and so far, the process, if a bit slow, is going well, and my room is looking lovely. Anyway, a couple weeks ago, I took an old blue plate that I had found in a drawer, and remade it to look like an Anthropologie plate that I had seen in their catalog.

Theirs:



Mine:



It's simply freehand sharpie. Pretty cute, huh? It was tricky, though, since I couldn't erase anything! But I like how it turned out, and it looks perfect with the rest of my decor.
Very simple and easy, if you're good with freehand.



She isn't quite the same, but then I'm always super critical of my drawings. It's similar, anyway!

I have more posts coming soon, so bear with me!

Post #50! & Blog Makeover

Hi, everyone! It's been awhile since I last posted, almost a month! But I promise that I have some cool stuff coming up. I just finished downloading all my photos, so be prepared for at least a couple posts in the next few days.

First things first, what do you think of the new blog? I really love how simple and clean it is. I had it made over by Paige of Simply Handmade by Paige, and I think she did a really great job. She has a great blog, with lots of sweet tutorials -

Like these:

An Anthro-Style Shirt

Ruffle Dress

Very cute, right? =)

Paige also has a very sweet etsy shop called Pink Lemonade, where she sells some of her creations. My favorites include:

This headband:


& this bib necklace


Definitely check out her blog and shop. You're guaranteed to find something you love.



(All photos from Simply Handmade by Paige and Pink Lemonade)

The Fungus Among Us

Don't ask me why (I don't know myself), but mushrooms are one of my loves. Those swollen masses of fungal mycelium really get to me. They're so tiny and sweet (some of them, anyway), and remind me of the fairy circles I read about as a little girl. I recently discovered several clumps on a hill, to my delight and my parents' dismay. And since it was such a lovely day, I went out (still in my velvet and tights from the capelet post) to photograph them.


This guy was a loner with an interesting shape.


It looks like an animal may have taken a bite out of this one...

And I took a couple flower pictures as well, since it was so sunny and they looked so cheery in the light.





And do you want to know something strange? Though I may love to study and look at mushrooms, I can't stand to eat them.(:

Have a lovely day~!

Capelet From Men's Sweatshirt

My poor, neglected blog...how long has it been since I posted?? I think the last time was October 9, almost a full month ago! Needless to say, school devours most of my time, though I have somehow managed to find time for crafting and relaxing (the two are almost synonymous), but not so much for blogging...I think it's mainly laziness, but I'm going to blame it on school. After December 16, I'm free! (for a month, anyway) And that should mean plenty of posts.

Well, where to start? I suppose I should probably explain how I came to have gigantic, ugly gray sweatshirts in the first place. Long story made short, my aunt (well-meaning) asked me awhile back if I'd like some old sweatshirts to cut up. Excuse me, but the first thing that came to my mind were colorful, zip-down hoodies, probably from her kids. Um, no. Three extra-large men's sweatshirts in that odious gray color that I hate so much. I saw them and thought, "What on earth am I going to do with these?!" But I always come up with something, and last month, I saw this lovely capelet on Ruche:



And I thought, "Hmm...now, doesn't that bottom part look exactly like sweatshirt material?" You know how in cartoons they have that little light bulb that goes off when someone gets an idea? That was me. =)

And so I dismantled an extra-large sweatshirt, took the bottom of a jersey skirt I had shortened, and sewed them together, embellishing the top with a vintage button from my mother's collection and some roses from a craft store. When I was making it, I was watching "Squanto: a Warrior's Tale" at the same time, and I was very much inspired by the monk's habits. Which may sound weird, but I loved how they draped. I'd love a habit of my own, though no tonsure, please!

Here's how it turned out:



You can't see it well, but I added ruching at the top to give it that drape-y look.
I wore it to church (a bit nervously, as I've never worn anything like it), and got loads of compliments. It's also very warm, which I hadn't counted on either.

And the back:


Simple, yet elegant.





All photos are courtesy of my lovely sister.(:

Have a lovely day~!

Anthropologie "Echoing Falls" Knock-Off

I'm just popping on to let you all know I'm still alive, and so is this blog. For now, anyways. :P I have been making quite a bit, too, only I've been to lazy to take pictures. Anyway, last night I made something I'd been wanting to make for awhile, and I actually took some photos! Yay!

My younger sister is going as an Indian (Native American) for Halloween, and I thought I'd make some jewelry to go with her outfit. She does so much for me, so I figured it might be nice to repay her in some way. =)



I saw this necklace on Anthropologie's website awhile ago and thought, "Ha, I could make that!" (Which is something I think about most of their necklaces) I just didn't know what to make it with. Until I found some old shell necklaces lying around..the kind they give out as favors at parties and such. Fun for a party, but just to wear? Not so much.


And this was SO easy. It took a bit of time to figure out how to do it, but I got it eventually. I'm sure there were better ways to go about it, but I'm rather please with how it turned out. & my sister likes it, so that's all that matters.

Zentangle Turtle

Have you ever seen a zentangle? How about done one? No?
Let me just say that it is one of my favorite things to do. So simple, relaxing, and fun. And seriously, even if you have no talent with a pen. All you need to be able to do is draw lines (the don't even have to be straight!) and simple shapes. =)

On their blog they have tons of tutorials to follow....why not check them out?

I've done a few simple things...like this picture on my dry-erase board. Just having fun doodling!


And then a pumpkin for Halloween last year, which sadly, I wasn't able to get good pictures of, but turned out really cool.

And now, a turtle.

My sister's birthday was on Tuesday, and I stayed up late Monday night making this for her. I already had the game, but wanted to decorate it into a work of art. Pretty cool, eh?


I do love these little mazes...=) And apparently my sister does, too.

Have a lovely day!