Master Bedroom Redesign on a Budget - DIY Ombre Art

I've been loving the whole ombre trend, so when I saw this bright pink ombre canvas done by Danielle Oakey, I added it to my Pinterest DIY to-do list right away.  Isn't that thing gorgeous? Especially paired with that exquisite blue desk.

I did mine in yellow and practiced beforehand on a piece of paper. Pretty straightforward - start with straight yellow, then add more and more white as you get to the middle. It's not an exact science,  just an eyeball-it kind of thing. I used some acrylic paints I already had in my stash.

Since I knew I was getting rid of this black and white leaves canvas from Ikea, I decided to see if I could re-purpose it instead of handing it over to Goodwill. 

Turns out I could! I painted over it using leftover white Valspar from this dresser project. It took several coats, but now you can't see the black at all.

Then I just jumped in and started applying the yellow.

The pictures aren't great, so I didn't take too many, but you get the idea. Dark yellow turns into lighter yellow equals ombre. 

And here's the finished painting. Every time my daughter walks into my room and sees it she says, "Nice picture, mom!" I have to agree. I love how it turned out! It totally brightens our room and I can see it fitting in perfectly with everything else I've got in mind for the room.

Oh, and the best part is, the only thing I bought for this project was a 39 cent wide foam brush. Woot! 

*Martha

Glitter Art

I'm dying that Home By Novogratz is not on Hulu but I was able to catch a few episodes at my sister's house recently. Another thing I was dying over (in a good way)? The glitter art in one of their episodes. I kept hitting my sister in the arm and gasping, "Heather! Glitter art! Heather! Glitter art!" I don't know why I thought it was so genius ... I think it is the scale of the art. Each piece is quite H-U-G-E. It's done by Camomile Hixon and was featured in a home staging done by the Novogratz's, as seen below.

 {3 above images from here}

{2 images above from her gallery}

Are you as stunned by this large glitter art as me? Or are you like, "Puhlease. Glitter is so 2nd grade!"

*Martha

Large Photo Booth Prints

{Pinterest}

I keep thinking about this wall of enlarged photo booth prints. I do love photo grouping/gallery walls that extend diagonally up a stair case wall, but they can often seem busy and messy if not done right. I love the idea of these huge vertical pictures on what would otherwise be a huge, overwhelming wall. It's from the movie The Joneses (you noticed David Duchovny, right?), which I must have missed because it's already out and I never even heard of it. Did you see it?


*Martha

Variation on Apple + Pear

When I saw the cover of this month's Martha Stewart Living magazine, I knew what I needed to do.

You see, when I made this green canvas with the grey apple on it awhile back, I knew it was not exactly what I wanted. Also, it was too small a print for the wall it was on. So, enter the pear. And my variation on the apple and pear pair from the magazine cover.

I switched the apple colors to pink, since the pink stem was what I liked best from the original apple. Then I chose a 20x30 canvas, painted it with Krylon spray paint in the color Blue Ocean Breeze and added a yellow pear.

I love the combination of colors. They are unexpected, playful and fun.

My apple is so much happier with a pear for a friend.

*Martha

Framing Love Notes

I picked up the book Crafting a Meaningful Home at the library recently and really liked a lot of the ideas inside.

One project that caught my eye was this wall of framed love notes. I was rifling through some of our old love notes and, sadly, there aren't many artsy looking ones. Just a lot of gushing words. But I guess it's never too late to try my hand at stick-figure-style love notes, hmm?

*Martha

Jewelry as Decor

Jewelry looks good on your body, why not make it look just as good when it's off your body? Treat it as something to enhance the look of your vanity, bedside table, or bathroom. Here are a couple things I've done as well as other ideas from the web.

I use a turquoise Anthropologie cupcake stand as a catch-all for stud earrings and rings. Here's a similar one on Amazon in pink! It's a bit tricky because without any curvature, you can't pile it too high or bump it because things will fall off. But because of that, you can see everything and access it easily.

When it comes to dangly earrings and necklaces, I've used a frame-turned-clothesline-for-earrings-thingy that I made several years ago from a Martha Stewart idea. 

I would love to turn another frame into something like this (from Sweet Pea & Co). It's shiny and classy. Both qualities I like in my jewelry, too!

Here's a thrift store slab of wood with scrapbook paper and three Anthropologie knobs (from the discount section) that I normally use for an apron hanger but since there's no room in my new kitchen, I moved it to the bathroom to hold my necklaces.

Or just secure buttons or knobs right to the wall like this idea from Decor8. This can be an addition to a wall that already contains art.

I dig this option in the closet (from Arianna Belle). Makes me think I'd keep my closet a prettier place if I had my jewels there to inspire me.

 This photo also seen on Arianna Belle, I like the combination of things happening here. If you had a table to devote to jewelry, I'd go for this set up. Pretty bowls, various stands plus art and flowers. Yeah. Lovely.

This hanging wonder is from my friend Mad Mim. This is a great idea if you don't have wall space or surface space. Or if you just want a funky and functional chandelier but don't need more lighting.

What are your favorite ways to display your jewelry?

*Martha

LOC Gift Shop

If you love historical or old fashion art that has a story behind it, a fun place to browse is the Library of Congress online gift shop. Many of the prints or posters have a side bar that contains some background information on the piece and its historical significance.

I went to Arches National Park in Utah about a thousand times growing up. I think this old travel poster would be cute in a little boy's room or an office.

This is an obvious choice for a laundry room. We can dream about the day when men do laundry while we sit idly by, can't we?

My interest in zoos is renewed after getting a zoo pass this week! I saw some amazing birds there. This poster reminds me of them.

Here's a Depression era poster. But what really caught my eye is that vibrant yellow and the old fashioned signage. I love old buildings and love them even more when they are captured nicely in photography.

Did you love the Little Miss Muffet story growing up? It was definitely a weird one. Curds and whey? What? Anyway, still a cute story and I like how it is portrayed here (now we can see what that tuffet looked like!). This would make a cute little addition to a girl's room. Especially if you were blatantly pushing reading and terror of spiders on her.

Love and loopholes (do you like election season rhetoric? me neither),

Martha

Poster Cabaret

I like to bookmark places online that have cool, affordable art. I just found Poster Cabaret that has a good variety of posters from a variety of different artists. I love these sweet animal prints by Marisa Haedike. They would be adorable in either a girl or boy nursery.

Love and Laramie, Wyoming,

Martha

Apple Canvas

Speaking of wallpaper scraps, I wish I had had some for this canvas project. As you will see, there was much trial, error and mishap with mod podge. So, here's the scene: my dining room wall. It was bare. It needed something. I've had Sarah Jessica Parker's red apple picture (above) in my head for years and decided it was time to make an apple picture of my own. While that apple would be a perfect fit in my kitchen, which has a lot of red in it, I wanted texture and pattern and a different color altogether. My dining room walls are pale yellow (all wall coloring pre-determined by my landlady) and I wasn't feeling like having an only red and yellow kitchen.

Here's my excellently priced 22x28 canvas:

 

I have another canvas project I'd been working on (which I'll post later) and was having the worst time covering it completely with acrylic paint. I know nothing about painting and being an artist, so maybe I was doing it all wrong, but I decided to ditch acrylics and the art store and head to Home Depot for some $4 spray paint. The colors were limited and this wasn't my first choice of green (I wanted a sour green apple color), but I didn't want to go home empty handed, so this kelly green is what I ended up using.

This is my kind of paint project! Quick spray, quick dry, lots of rich color.

I sketched this apple for reference.

And I started with what I had: mod podge and Ikea wrapping paper from last Christmas. Nice idea. Didn't work. The paper was too thin and turned out warped and crinkled.

Off it came before the glue dried. 

Let's see, what else do I have to work with? I was kind of liking the grey, so I mixed black and white acrylic paint and painted a grey/black apple. I can't believe I forgot to take a picture but that thing was FUGLY so maybe it's best I didn't. A black apple! Who wants a black apple on their kitchen wall? It was so depressing and rotten looking. Just bad, bad, bad all around.

I went to a paper store the next day and nabbed this big piece of thick, grey damask paper. 

I cut out an apple pattern in the wrapping paper.

I used the back of an old Sarah Pinto notebook (love her stuff) to cut out a pink stem.

And tah-dah!

(Gotta love that  electrical outlet right in the middle of the wall! I've always wanted to live in an old house and now that I am, I'm appreciating all the normal things about updated places.) 

Love and logic (not the book),

Martha