LillyGeneLetters on Etsy

For those of you love handcrafted things but just don't seem to have the patience or ability to create them I have a super easy fix! As back to school is rapidly approaching many of us college bound students are searching for a little pop of color to brighten our drab concrete dorm walls. I decided to brighten my walls by creating some decorative frames {post coming soon}, but if that isn't for you I have another great idea. 

My friend Ms. Hannah Gene Martin has recently started up an Etsy account {under the name LillyGeneLetters} and she hand paints letters in Lilly Pulitzer inspired patterns!

With these super cute customizable letters you can mix and match these fun Lilly patterns for a fraction of the price! LillyGeneLetters sells each letter for $10.99 {plus shipping} and you can select your letter and the pattern you want {First Impression, Chiquita Bonita, Sunkissed}. 

These letters are perfect for dorm rooms, nurseries or just wall decorations! Mix and match three of the letters to create a cute and colorful monogram display. The possibilities are endless on what you could do with these super fun and bright Lilly Pulitzer inspired letters.

DIY Sharpie Mug

After seeing several projects on Pinterest, I decided to try the sharpie method of customizing coffee mugs! I am using my mugs in my dorm room this fall {more posts about my dorm decor to come!} but you can make a simple dollar store mug into a great gift or party favor or just a cute present for yourself! Here is the super easy way to make your own DIY Sharpie Mug!

Things you'll need... a coffee mug, sharpies {any color works but they must be OIL BASED} and an oven set to 425F.

** Note: I have done quite a bit of research on these Sharpie Mugs and a lot of people suggest using DecoArt glass paint markers which are specific for this type of DIY, but if you don't mind hand washing sharpies work just as well and are a lot cheaper!**

If you are really good at free handing just simply, draw on the surface of your mug and bake it for 30 minutes at 425 degrees. Once the 30 minutes is up turn off your oven BUT leave the mugs inside to cool down {this will reduce the risk of cracking!}. Allow them to cool completely before washing or using.

If free handing is not your thing then here are some simple ways to make printable transfers without all the extra cost. Print out a pattern, letter, shape whatever you want and take a pencil and shade the back of it.

{I used eyeliner because some posts I've seen say to use it but eyeliner or a pencil both work}

Tape your pattern, letter shape etc. to the mug and trace around the edges.

This is what your mug will look like with stencil transfer

Then take your Sharpies and go to town with the coloring in!

Pop them into the oven for 30 mins and let your creation finalize!

 

As you can see the colors changed quite a lot! The blue color changed to an olive green tone but the others stayed pretty similar. I did not know the colors would change as I was doing this DIY so I guess its a kind of guess and see what you get!

After completing my super cute mugs I decided to toss them into the dishwasher for a thorough cleaning... and thankfully the design held up! But just to be 100% on the safe side I would recommend hand washing your mugs!

Christmas Candle Craft

So here we go…. with another mason jar craft! This Christmas craft is perfect for a table centerpiece, a gift, or as a holiday decoration. All the supplies you need for this project you may have laying around the house {if you are crafty} or you can buy them and reuse them for a TON of seasonal projects. Once Christmas is over remove the candle, ribbon, and cranberries and create something new for the next season.

This adorable craft came to only $8.00 and took only about 5 minutes to create!

Materials you will need:

• Mason Jar
• To fill: Cranberries, glass beads, small christmas ornaments, pine cones, nuts {the options are endless}
• A candle
• To decorate with: ribbon, garland, twine {anything!}

To create the jar you need to place a few of your filler decorations {we used cranberries} to slightly raise your candle. 

Then, place the candle and add a few more filler pieces around the candle! 

Next, add your ribbon or garland to the top of the jar and add the spin top to finish it off! 

This is another cute way to do the Christmas candle mason jar! Show us your mason jars:)

Not your typical fall layering

Fall layering isn't just for sweaters... stacking and layering bracelets is also just as important. Finding the perfect series of watches, bangles, and bracelets is essential for the perfect arm candy! Here are some images to inspire you:

Everyone stacks a little differently but we enjoy arm candy with a variety of texture, color, and size but we like simplicity at the same time. To create this effortless but unmatching series of bracelets it is a good idea to stay with the same color metals throughout {gold or silver?}. It is also smart to only have 4 or 5 pieces {in our opinion} because it gets overwhelming and tacky looking when you see a girl with her entire forearm covered in bangles and bracelets.

It is also essential to find one {Yes, only ONE... well, okay maybe two} statement piece in your series. Have a stunning watch or a gorgeous bangle and then mix and match with some less expensive pieces throughout. 

Here are some of our faves on the more expensive side:

An awesome place to find inexpensive arm candy elements is groopdealz.com. We were recently sent a super cute bracelet with some serious bling. The bracelet {while on the deal} was only $2.99. The deals usually last only one week so you have to get the items while they are on deal. They change them up pretty regularly so keep checking!

This bangle is on groop dealz for only 6 more days!

Francesca's also has some fun bracelets that are SUPER affordable. They are very hip with the trends and when you are paying about $9.00 a bracelet it is very reasonable to buy some new ones with the seasons. They also usually are doing a buy one get one 50% off deal as well!

Alex & Ani is also a company which makes bangles with initials, horoscopes, greek letters, and much much more. These bangles are the perfect addition to your set of bracelets and they are very personal as well. 

And... if you like monograms {like us} here are some adorable monogram bracelets

Etsy link here

Only $12.50!

Hope this helps you with your stacking this fall. Comment below with feedback, we love to hear from you. 

xo

Sneak Peek of princess Ks new big girl bedroom!

bookshelves, organization, and jewelry... oh my!

I knew coming up to college that I would need a bookshelf for organizational purposes. Once we got up here, hwoever, I didn't think there would be room for it. I was super disapointed when we were putting my room together that it wouldn't fit. I was happy to find that this little space between my window and my closet really needed something. After moving my room around 100 times we realized that this would fit perfectly here and it looks so clean and organized {two of my favorite things!} 

Here it is! All finished! My super functional book shelf, with organization, and hanging and resting jewelry space. Check out the inspiration for this project here!

I absolutely love these hooks {from Target} they are super perfect for both belts and large necklaces! Not only are the hooks super functional for large necklaces, I think they look adorable too. I needed a little something to even out the height on the other side of the window {pictures coming soon} so I added the two girls talking. It represents all the people I have in my life who I love. 

Below the hanging jewelry I have two desk organizers {$2.99 marshalls find} for watches, bangles, rings, and all kinds of other things. 

Monogram Wall Art

While decorating my apartment I knew I wanted a majority of the artwork to either be made by myself or to be personal. I'm not someone who really understands abstract oil paintings much, but I am the kind of person who loves pictures of all my friends and family {who doesn't?}!

A few weeks ago I printed 30 Instagram posts from a company online and created framed wall art that is going to look great on my walls {blog post coming soon} and remind me of all my friends and family while away at school.

Above my upholstered headboard I needed another piece of art that was about 20 inches by 30 inches, wasn't more photos {but still had a personal element}, and made a statement in the room. This is what I came up with: 

I found a shop on etsy that stamps out monograms of all sizes. I decided to order one from League of Letters for only $16.75. After lots of thinking I decided to order it and mount it on a canvas 20 x 30 inches. 

I am always nervous to order from somewhere like etsy but I was happy to find that they created a great product in only about 10 days. 

First we sanded the monogram to make sure there were no raw edges. Next we coated it with spray paint primer and sanded it again. I then painted the wooden monogram the color my walls will be in my apartment and mounted it onto a white canvas to create contrast. 

Here are some of the final pics! Stay tuned to see this personalize statement piece on my walls. 

Re-Purposing an Old Dresser

Hello everyone! So sorry for the lack in posts the past few weeks, its been a hectic time for us Smith girls! Paige has been busy working as a daycare teacher and doing her online summer classes. Taylor just got her first job working at American Eagle and doing the massive amount of summer homework she has. We promise to keep posting something every week from now on! So to get on with this post....

Do you have old furniture laying around the house that just doesn't "work" anymore? Maybe an old chair or dresser that just doesn't fit in anymore? Instead of ditching the piece and buying something new, try re-purposing it!

Here is a quick and easy way to re-purpose an old piece of furniture...

What You'll Need

• Old Furniture
• Painters Tape
• Newspaper
• Sandpaper/Sanding Blocks 
  
• Primer
• Paint
• New exciting drawer pulls 

Steps to Success

Our old furniture piece was a brown wooden dresser that had been around our house since we were little. Since Paige is moving into her first apartment in August {yeee! lots of excitement} we needed to find inexpensive furniture. And re-purposing an old piece was the perfect thing to do!

Prepare

1. Take all the drawers out of the dresser. Ours was kind of old and there were some rough edges and nails sticking out, so make sure to clean up any edges and remove excess nails

2. Take your sanding blocks and begin to sand the front of the drawers. It doesn't have to be a super hard task, its just to smooth and break the surface so the primer stays. Once sanded the front of the drawers should be a lighter color than the rest of the drawer.

 

 

3. Do the same for the rest of the drawers and the dresser. Since our Dad has lots of power tools we were able to use a sanding machine for the rest of the dresser so it was pretty quick. *Helpful tip: If your drawers or dresser have edges to them make sure you remember to sand that part as well! The small edges are just as important as the entire piece.

  

4. Don't forget the feet! Flip your dresser over and lightly sand the feet

Once your dresser is completely sanded... 

1. Cover  with newspaper and tape the edges of your dresser so that paint wont get all over your dresser drawers and dresser. {our dad is SUPER SUPER OCD so our drawers had to be just right before he would let us paint, you don't have to cover to the extent that we did}

2. Cover all the drawers and the inside of the dresser...

Once covered....

1. Use the primer and paint the drawers and the dresser. Make sure you are in a highly ventilated area if you are using spray paint primer. If not, make sure to use a ventilated mask like our dad did... {what a cutie}

2. Make sure the primer layer isn't too thick because if it runs you will need to lightly sand the drawers and dresser again

Once primed...

1. Paint your dresser the desired color. Again, make sure you are in a ventilated area and that the paint doesn't run.

2. Let the paint dry and add additional coats if needed.

And there it is, you just re-purposed an old dresser. It was quick and easy to do! Now that old brown wooded dresser that took up space is a fresh looking, apartment ready dresser!

To add some additional spunk to the dresser, Paige added contact paper to the inside of the drawers. This will protect the drawers and your clothes. The contact paper she found had a vanilla scent which will {hopefully} keep things smelling fresh too! Once the contact paper was added, she put some shabby chic glass drawer pulls on the drawers. Voila!