Latest Project: Jewelry Box Upcycle

What's up dear readers?  I've just been busy working on various projects and I wanted to share this one with you.  I had this gorgeous mirrored jewelry box that got broken when something fell on it.  It cracked across the top and a piece broke off.  I glued the piece back on and then proceeded to deco-it-up!

I used a combination of vintage rhinestone pins, necklaces, and earrings.  

I only used broken necklaces because I just couldn't bear to cut up and glue down the good ones.

I'm really pleased with the way it turned out.  I'm keeping it for myself.

Thank you for reading! <3
Love,
Myria

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Latest Project: Decoupaged Dresser

Hello My Pretties,

As you may have read in my last post,  we moved into a new house.   The moving resulted in us changing out some of our furniture.  I sold the Thomasville dresser that was in my daughter's room and bought her a cheaper one.  She's still little and doesn't need a fancy furniture that she could potentially mess up. 

I sold the old one on Craigslist for $200, and then paid $40 for the new one at an indoor flea market.  It was cheaply made with chipped paint but it had potential. ..unfortunately I didn't think to take a before photo of it.  Blah!

Here are the after photos.

When I originally found the dresser it was an eggshell color with pastel turquoise drawer pulls.  My original plan was to spray paint the dresser white, spray paint the drawer fronts pastel pink,  and re-paint the pulls pastel turquoise.

Well, the weather wasn't cooperating so it was too cold to spray paint.  I had to think of something else to do to it.

Adam suggested that I mod podge it.  I was hesitant but I decided to select some papers, lay them out and see how it looked.  I chose some vintage Shakespeare book pages, cupcake and donut papers, and some bird paper.  I did the top first and decided that I liked it and that I was going to move forward with the whole thing.

Instead of using mod podge, however, I used a sheer pearlescent acrylic paint that I had purchased from Lowe's awhile back.  I used this because it is more durable and water resistant than the mod podge that I had on hand.

I used the same process with the acrylic paint that you would use with mod podge; which is: paint a coat on the dresser surface, place the paper on and smooth it out, then paint a coat on top to seal it...repeat.

You can start by choosing some main focal papers, place those down and then fill the space around them.  In my case, the bird papers were my focal pieces. I put them where I wanted them, then worked everything else in around them.

Also, don't be afraid to layer!  It will be necessary to achieve the desired effect.

After a few days of some sunny and warm weather, we were able to spray the drawer fronts pink after all.  Sweet!

The last part of the project was the drawer pulls.  I decided NOT to repaint the originals. They had been painted so many times, and were chipped in several places, which would have been too difficult to cover up.  We would have had to strip them, which is totally not worth it when you can buy gorgeous ones from Hobby Lobby for as low as  $1.99 each.  The most I paid was $3.99 each.

I chose graduated sizes and varying pastel colors.  They are all ceramic.  I love them!

Azalea loves her dresser!   It suits her pastel room perfectly ♡

Thank you for reading!
Love,
Myria

My New Craft Studio #wherewomencreate

Hello Gorgeousnesses,

I've been a little quiet lately because some crazy exciting things have been happening in my life.  I made a leap of faith and put my house on the market right before Christmas.  Lo and behold...it sold!  That meant that even though the sale doesn't close until mid-February 2015, we wanted to find a place to call home.  And we did - in Los Ranchos de Albuquerque.  A pretty rural, yet conveniently located, area in New Mexico; between Albuquerque, Corrales, and Rio Rancho, in the North Rio Grande valley.

We found a house that is a little bit smaller square foot-wise, but has an additional bedroom and an additional bathroom, plus a sun room loft.  My old house was a very good size at just over 2,000 sft, but it only had 2 bedrooms and 1 bathroom.  All of the rooms were pretty large which was nice.  In our new place the rooms are smaller, but not by much, so it doesn't feel cramped at all. 

Adam was super motivated to get us all moved in before the New Year, and so was I.  We accomplished our goal and were even able to have a small get-together in our new place on New Year's Eve.

We are just renting for now but I'm starting to think that I would really like to buy something in this area when our lease is up.

Anyway, I want to show you my new craft studio.  It is an upstairs sun room/loft and it is quite a bit larger than my last craft room.  I just love it!  It has great light and it is inside the house so it is heated and cooled!  Bonus! <3  I need a good sized room to hold all of the supplies for jewelry making, card making, sewing, needle felting, kids crafts, and various upcycling projects.

Well, here it is so far.  Still unpacking and deciding how to arrange furniture, etc.

I'll be adding another table in here, which will hide those two sets of 3 plastic drawers on the left there.  You can't tell from the photo but there is a lot of space in this room.

I LOVE the exposed adobe bricks on this wall of the house.  So pretty!

The view from my window - a cool adobe wall and some nice adobe houses (if you look past our gray brick wall...)

I love to use vintage furniture in my craft room.  It is pretty, practical, and usually not very expensive if you know where to look.  This desk/hutch piece was gifted to me from my BFF Mia.

I use it to display my knick-nacks, etc.  I like to keep my stickers stored in scrapbook binders, using the plastic sheets with pockets.  Very handy!

 

All of my arts and crafts books.

I upcycled a spice rack to use to display my glitter

More of my vintage goodies waiting for their new homes.  

I've actually found a place for them since I took this photo.

I just love little deer figurines <3.  This one is also a vase that I use to display some vintage flowers

These vintage children's planters are GREAT for storing tools and other craft items.

This cute little bunny is holding  pliers and wire cutters for me.

 

Rocks!  Specifically quartz crystals.  Adam found the one in front for me when he was out target practicing with some friends.  My mom found the one in back at a thrift shop in Arkansas.  

I love having lots of pretty crystals in my craft room.

Here is another cute vintage lamb planter that is holding all of my scissors for me.

 

I like to use this vintage dresser to store my all of my fabrics. 

I can organize them by type and it keeps them from getting dusty.  

This drawer holds my flannels.

This drawer is holding my tulle, vintage handkies and doilies.

I painted and decorated this mini-curio cabinet so I could use it to store some of my tinies.

Vintage cookie tins are cool but I have mixed feelings about using them in my craft room.  They are not modular so they are kind of a waste of space...but they're so pretty!  Another downside is that you can't see what's in them...blah.

I am using a candle jar to store some vintage baking molds that I bought at work.

Here is another cool vintage vase/figurine.  

I'm using this one to hold my knitting needles and crochet hooks.

Hat boxes can also be a good and inexpensive container for storing craft supplies.  They are easy to travel with but again..not modular and you can't see inside them.  I may decide to use these in my daughter's room.

Meanwhile, I label what is in them using price tags.

My sweet sweet friend Cara gave me this cute vintage desk so that Azalea can sit and color while I work.

I bought this hutch on Craigslist.  It was an excellent find!  

Lots of drawers and it wasn't very expensive.

My adorable former co-worker Faith gave me this sa-weet vintage Merck crate.  

I use it to store little jewelry boxes that I've decorated to sell.

The white thing on top of it is a drawer that I bought at Tuesday Morning and it stores my Big Shot and dies. 

 

My bulletin board...just waiting for me to pin my inspirations.  As well as more cool vintage vases.  The one on the right is used to store some of my paint brushes.

 

I use a kitchen utensil organizer to store my washi tape.  These can be super cheap and the tape fits in each slot perfectly.

I put my paints and packing tape in the large area of the hutch.  I've also got some sticky notes in there for good measure.

I have a drawer dedicated to embellishments and ephemera

  Have you seen these things?  I bought it from my favorite craft store that is no longer in business - the Henhouse Paperie.  It is a cool storage container by Tim Holtz.

Look what it does!

I use vintage jewelry boxes and train cases to store supplies as well.  

They look nice when you take supplies with you to craft on the go!

I used to have the need for these mobile craft cases because even though I had a craft room, I could only use it a couple of months out of the year because it wasn't heated or cooled.  As a result I used to haul my stuff various places (craft shops, the dining room, friends houses, etc.) to get stuff done.

This is no longer the case!  I'm just so excited to have this space...all of my peeps are probably sick of hearing me say it so I'll say it to you!

Stay tuned for the final photos of my craft studio - once I get everything set up.

Thank you for reading!
Love,
Myria