Paint it Black

I've been wanting to do a chalkboard paint DIY for quite some time now. Since moving into the new place, I have a huge wall in my kitchen that was just screaming for a chalkboard.

And so my love affair with chalkboard paint began...

I went to Home Depot (or as we refer to it Home DéPo) for the chalkboard paint (around $12 for a can that has plenty of projects in it!) and then $6 for a piece of particle board.

Mix the chalkboard paint up well.
Paint.
Wait 4 hours (or overnight b/c you're lazy...)
Paint again.
Wait 3 days to condition (or 1 day b/c you're impatient and don't believe the directions on the paint)
Condition the chalkboard. THIS IS SUPER IMPORTANT!!
You condition the chalkboard by rubbing a piece of chalk (along the length of the chalk) all over the board. Then you erase the chalk. If you don't do this then the 1st thing you write on that chalkboard will be there FOREVER. Chalkboard paint is porous and will absorb the chalk and never let you wipe it away.

Write away!

All materials can be purchased at Home DéPo!


Beer was absolutely necessary.

Conditioned Board. I HIGHLY recommend doing this outside as it is a very dusty process!

The finished product!
I secured it on the wall with the clips you would use to secure a mirror. (and a whopping $1.96)

I took this a step further and painted a small square on a swing top bottle (i love labeling things. hello OCD)



and then painted an empty frame's glass front for a presentable list for my bedroom.
Yes, I know I use exclamation points too much.

Have you ever done a chalkboard paint DIY?

Do any of you have facebook pages for your blog? If so, do tell!

Pursuit of LLT on Facebook

shower of love

Pictures from A & B's shower. It was a huge success!

My mason jar DIYs with beautiful sweet william flowers.

I didn't take pictures of the Bubble Bar. I'm so sad! But you can see the corner of it with the champagne...

The signature drink: Anne-gria white wine sangria. Delicious

The room!

View from above.

I'm sad it's over, but it was fun and I loved making the decorations!

Papyrus Paper

I really love paper.

Cards.

Stationary.

Wrapping Paper.

That's why places like Papyrus and Paper Source are stores I get lost in.

I wanted to add a bunch of little touches to b & a's shower
(are you sick of hearing about this yet?)

So I bought some pretty sparkly paper from Papyrus and cut out different sizes of letters b & a.





I plan on hanging them throughout the room of the shower.




The only downfall? I was covered in glitter!

and finally I made a ton of mini pom pom napkin rings. aren't they so cute?

pom pom delights

I have been MIA lately and I am so sorry! This summer has been incredibly busy. I moved in May, started a new job in June, have been dogsitting for 2 weeks and am moving again to a new place in a couple weeks. WHEW. I have felt like a gypsy lately and it's affecting all aspects of my life.



But during this time I have been trying to focus on b & a's shower prep! I am super happy to show you how to make a simple decoration with tissue paper and patience.

Pom poms!

All you need is:
-tissue paper
-white covered floral wire
-scissors
-time

Take 8 sheets of tissue paper.




Fold accordian style in small, even pleats.



Wrap the wire around the middle of the tissue.



Cut the ends in either a point or rounded (for different looking poms)



Slowly pull away each layer from the middle.



Fluff.

HANG!

See? Easy. Cute. Fun!

Easy Dessert Decor

I love festive decorations. I think balloons can make a party and I always look at what's on the table.
Now don't get me wrong, I don't care if there's nothing at the party but my friends, food, and wine!

I wanted to make my dessert for Easter a little bit more festive for the table. After working with stamps lately I thought it would be a fun touch to add a Happy Easter topper to the cake.

All you need for this is:
-Toothpicks
-Stamp Pad
-Stamp
-Paper
-Tape
-Pen

Just stamp the image on the paper.

Cut around the shape.

Write whatever your heart desires.

Tape a toothpick on the back.

Ta-Da! You're done!

And same goes for the eggs...I just cut out the shapes, taped, and jammed them into the cake haha

I plan on making something similar to this for my brother's wedding shower.

The GREAT Brick Wall

I currently live in a loft, I say currently because I'm moving soon and I'm so depressed I can't even bear to talk about it right now... The building is an old printing press in Chicago's Historic Printer's Row. I absolutely LOVE it. I have 12 ft (maybe 14...) ceilings, exposed brick, timber ceilings, 8ft windows, and my own vault! :)

My apartment used to be the office so I have a very large walk-in closet that is completely concrete (and a fabulous storage space...it's the length of the brick wall you're seeing) I only wish they would have left the old vault door on. Now that would have been ahhmazing.

I wanted to do something on the brick wall that juts out from the vault. It's such a large space and the brick is a beautiful color and it really grabs your attention when you walk in. Problem was, I didn't know what to do with all that space. So I looked for inspiration from Crate & Barrel, CB2, Ikea, West Elm, and numerous design magazines. Only problem is everything I wanted was $$$$. I just graduated law school so naturally the only $ I have is in student loans ;) I made the best of what I could with things I found and received from all over.

Here's a shot of the wall from the front entrance (a quick peek at my apt too)



The frames are all different shapes and sizes and have come from Ikea & Hobby Lobby. The console table (that I just adore) was a floor sale at Crate & Barrel. It's the Aldo Console table. I got it for $199 from $600, SCORE! Its sister side table is next to my chaise...$99 from $250!



The pictures are from all over. 3 prints I picked up of Firenze when I lived there. A shadow box filled with the business cards of my favorite Florentine restaurants. Another shadow box with wired flowers from Chait Gallery in Iowa City, IA


(artist is Justine T. Zimmer http://www.thegalleriesdowntown.com/dynamic/artwork_display.asp?ArtworkID=6786)

And of course the pictures are from favorite memories of mine. Blizzard in Denver with a dear friend, Antigua with my random roommate from college (still best friends!!), a kiss with my grandma from when I was 2...ah, memories. It's what I like to call a happy wall. I always stop, look and feel complete.

My bamboo plant is a recent gift from my attorney Uncle who gave it to me as good luck for the bar exam. It's in the shape of a triangle, so 3x the luck. I NEED IT!

The beaded bowl is where I toss a little bit of everything. Mostly my keys but you'll find hair ties, pens, stamps in there.

The glass box to the right of the middle is another fave of mine. A gift from the friend (in the blizzard pic) from the Denver Artisans Center. It's truly beautiful and the glass work is phenomenal. I put a picture from my trip to Prague in the holder on the top. It's a box for any and everything...and b/c it's mine it's full of RANDOM junk (of course I cleaned it out for you guys hehe)



Then I have my art books. I wish I could have 1,000 coffee table books. I love art. I love going through the pages and just staring. I got these books at the Printer's Row Book Fair which is a treat itself. Didn't pay more than $14 for any of the books!




So tell me, how do you like to decorate? What's your style? I feel mine is ever changing and as I stumble across many of the blogs on here I'm in awe and intimidated by the creativity that's out there. A lot of you have an eye for design that I would KILL for! Now I just need to keep a running tab of all your smart DIYs and goodies that you find and implement them into my space. Like I said, my apt is always changing and I never really know what I want.

'Til next time!