COLLECTION #3.

Collection #3 is LIVE people.

If you're new to the party, check out past collections here and here.

Do yourselves a favor and buy the items you like right away. The collection is only in its 4th day and the item I wanted is already sold out. You'd think with A MANO being my sister's I would have some pull here, but I don't. RUDE. 

Here are my absolute favorites this time around:

That Pendleton clutch is AMAZING, and those gold striped ring/change dishes are darling. I mean, I know I don't NEED anything but...is it wrong to kind of want it all?

Which items are you loving this time around?

Go to A MANO and show my sista some love!

xo, lp

** all images are from A MANO used with permission

GALLERY WALL HOW-TO

So here's what's up:

If you follow this blog closely, you know I'm the most impatient crafter EVER. 

I don't like waiting for paint to dry. I don't like measuring perfect lines. 

I have had a random collection of frames for 7 months. Yes. SEVEN MONTHS. I've been meaning to make a gallery wall grouping, but am so damn impatient that I didn't want to take the time to measure/hang/etc the proper way. Thus, we've had a blank wall and a big ol' box full of frames kicking around. 

I want to run around fistpumping because I FINALLY got the grouping done. I might still add to it, but at least we don't have a naked wall anymore!

Here's how I (finally) did it, after checking out countless magazines/blogs:

Step 1: Lay out your frames on the floor and move 'em around until you like the look.

Step 2: Using old newspapers, measure pieces the size of your frames:

(do one for each!)

Step 3: Mark where your nail will need to be on the newspaper. Don't act like you haven't eyeballed hanging something before and it ends up being 2 inches lower or high than you anticipated...

Step 4: Hang those up with some painter's tape...

Step 5:...and put your nails in where the dots you marked!

 Step 6: Rip those papers away and hang your pretty art up! 

(And for the love of god, use a level. I promise I did after I took these pictures. Must. Fix. Crooked. Frames.)

Look how lovely it all is! 

 Please note: YES, there are a ton of different color frames. I kind of like it. I kind of don't. I have white, black, and gold spray paint ready juuuuust in case. 

I love gallery walls because every time I walk by a different print/picture catches my eye. Lately it's been my favorite custom "Choose Joy" print from Pen  & Paint.

This grouping includes prints from favorite shops, paintings by my sister & myself, cards from friends & family, gifts from loved ones. Thanks to any of you who see your stuff up there :) 

What art do you have in your home that you love?

I'm always looking to add & change art- so share shop links in the comments section!

xo, lp

CITY LOVE

I know you all will like this post, because you all seem to dig Etsy about as much as I do.

Whenever I find a great shop I have to share it, and this one is completely awesome. To be fair, I didn't find it on my own...Young House Love led me to it...but still! 

No more babbling- here it is: Albie Designs!

Kim is one talented artist, and her shop is full of lovely prints- my favorites of which are her takes on awesome cities around the world. Kim's prints round up the best monuments and moments of each town with bright color and the perfect amount of detail.

Here are a few USA cities I've been to that she's captured so well:

Adorable, right?

And no, I'm not gettin' paid or perked or anything fancy like that - as always this is just me sharing an awesome shop! Wouldn't these prints be a great gift for a friend who recently moved to a new city? Or a wedding gift for a city the couple met/live in? 

So stop reading this before I start babbling again and go show Albie Designs some love! Tell Kim I say hi while you're at it :)

Which city would you add to your art collection?

I can't pick just one. I think I need Minneapolis, St. Paul, AND Richmond!

xo, lp

THANKS FOR BEING TALENTED, LOU

Oh hi.

I've been hiding from you all again, because somehow I am still sick. Lame.

So, to make up for my lack of cool blog posts, I will bring you and extra special pretty one today. That's how much I like you all! 

You all know about Society 6, right? Well if not, fear not. Society 6 is a kick butt site in which artists/photographers can upload their work, and Society 6 will transform it into framed art, pillows, stationary, iPhone covers, and more. So you can browse to your heart's content to find affordable art for yourself or others that supports local & awesome artists.

Now, I have my favorite on Society 6... Louisa Podlich's photography...and I am completely biased because she's my sister. But you know what, all famous artists and photographers had people who were biased about their art, but that didn't make them any less great. 

Here is some of her work on Society 6- and you can get all of it now with free shipping until the 13th!

How gorgeous is this shot? Gah. 

Now if you want to support my sister, or other awesome photographers/artists- check out Society 6 for free shipping on gorgeous pieces until the 13th. 

Which of these pictures would you choose and what item would you turn it into?

I think I'll take that gorgeous plant picture on a pillow, please and thank you Louisa!

xo, lp

psssssssssssssst: don't need any art but need a real life photographer? yes, my sister is an actual, real life photographer. find her website here, fools. 

CHANGEABLE PANTONE ART

I promise this is the last post in which I'll talk about Pantone for a while. 

Last week I shared a bunch of colorful Pantone gifts for the holidays, and I figured it was time to show you all what I did with one of mine! My sister Louisa gave me an early Hanukkah present, and since that dear sister of mine knows me so well, she gifted me this set of 100 Pantone postcards. They were just so pretty that I couldn't bring myself to send them out...at least not yet.

Rather than keep them cooped up in a box, I decided to get them up on the walls. 

I bought a few 24" x 36" frames at Target a few weeks ago, figuring they'd be perfect for changing out art above our couch throughout the year- and sure enough they are!

Here are the awesome Pantone cards- even the box is cool! 

 Since there clearly isn't a method to this, I just started laying out like colors near each other, and secured them with the tiniest square of double sided tape- so when I wanted them to send out, I wouldn't damage them!

Since this isn't anything difficult, I'll cut right to the chase and show you how they look now:

 Pretty right? I kind of love them a little bit too much. Our couch is a grey-brown, so it brings a much needed pop of color to the living room! 

Have any fun, changeable art in your home?

Pass ideas my way please...just in case I actually decide to send out these pretty cards!

xo, lp

Pssst: In case you think you'd like some Pantone postcards/art in your home, or want to gift them for the holidays, you can find them HERE (usually $20, on sale for $15)!

TECHNICOLOR

I'm a little too tired for to talk much today- but then again, these pictures don't really need much explaining...

-----------------------------------------------

source

Source

No Source. Whoever originally pinned it uploaded it ...

Source 

Source

Totally doing a wood DIY.
How cool would the small ones be turned into handles for dresser drawers??

xo,lp

Pen and Paints GIVEAWAY!!

Okay folks, it's giveaway time. 

Remember a while back when I told you all about some of my favorite Etsy shops? Well, the lady behind one of those shops graciously offered to do a giveaway for you lovelies. At first I was stoked...but then bummed when I realized that meant I couldn't win... Dang. 

The ever creative Lindsay behind Pen and Paints is offering up an 8 x 10 print of your choice fo' free. Yeah. anything in her shop is fair game. Now can you see why I'm cranky about not being able to win? 

If you haven't seen Lindsay's shop, you must check it out. I've purchased 4 of her prints for our new apartment and cannot wait to put them on display! Here are some of my favorites:

Love the messy, love the beautiful:

Stunning, right?

State & Country Art: 

(totally need MN, WI, & VA...)

"Do small things with great love"

(yep. i've got that awesome blue one)

The Kitchen Series (all colors can be customized- 13 options!)

(i totally own 1, 2, & 3. how awesome is the KitchenAid mixer!!?)

Like I said, her stuff is awesome, and that's just the tip of the iceberg.
Enter using the Rafflecopter box below.
Good luck to all of you, winner will be announced next week!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

xo, lp

(yup, all photos from Pen and Paint's Etsy Shop. you guessed it.)

MONOGRAM RECIPE BOX

Here's the deal. In case you live under a rock, I love to cook & bake. Evidenced here.  

Growing up, my mom had old wood recipe boxes overflowing with carefully written out recipes categorized with little index tabs. Controlled chaos, if you will. I know it's easier nowadays to just keep recipes digitally, but there's something sacred about written out cards. 

I decided to make a simple monogrammed wood recipe box and have begun to write out all my favorite recipes, edged with colorful paper.

For a long time I was going to print the monogram out from offline, but thought it would be more personal (&imperfect) to write it out myself. So here you have it:

I started with a plain wood recipe box from Michael's (about $4 after a coupon):

I sanded that baby down, and started sketching out my monogram. I went with an almost-black navy acrylic paint for the letters & circle. A quick seal of polyurethane later the paint finished fully matte!

I kind of love how it's not a perfect circle, which is currently shocking the perfectionist inside of me...

 Not to sound like a cranky,senile old lady- but I think too much is getting "computerized" these days. Some things hold such good memories, and you need to be able to touch them sometimes- not just stare at them on a screen.Overall, I love it and cannot wait until it's like my mom's recipe boxes; bursting with inspiration and tasty food ideas!

You an old-school recipe box fan like I am?

Do tell what your's looks ( or will look) like. 

xo, lp

DIY Collage Coasters

I have an unnecessary amount of coasters.

No, really. 

Between the DIY scrabble drink coasters I made a while back and the Minnesota themed ones, I have enough coasters to have a small army over for a very condensation-free dinner party.

So what did I do while at the dollar store a while back? Well, pick up some tile coaster bases, naturally.

 Why not add to the coaster hoarding problem?

 I stashed them away and completely forgot about them, because my craft boxes are black holes...but found them a while back and decided to do something with them. Since we're moving, I decided it was finally time to cut up some old clothing catalogues we didn't need to bring with us (sorry J.Crew and Lands' End!). After longingly gazing at all the pretty clothes I'd missed out on, I cut out my favorite colors and patterns:

I cut them up into a ridiculous amount of squares and started separating them out by color, with the intention of making a gradating color pattern: 

After a quick dry-run to make sure I had cut the squares to evenly line up, I simply started using my trusty gluestick to adhere the squares. Difficult, right?

I decided to make one a more green-blue-purple, and one a yellow-orange-red-pink-purple, sealing both with a two layers of Mod Podge:

So here they are folks:

I happen to be madly in love with them. Yeah. Coasters. Madly in love. Deal with it. For some reason it makes me happy to recognize some of my favorite patterns (like the blue lobster seen above from a pair of preppy men's chinos). 

What do you think?

Anyone else a coaster hoarder? No? ::crickets:: Fine.

xo, lp

p.s it's my last day of work today (ah!).

Kate Spade Inspired DIY Jewelry Tray

I love Kate Spade. The flawless jewelry, the classic handbags, the stunning shoes- I love it all. 

Unfortunately... my budget doesn't love Kate Spade. Wop-wop. 

Thus, I made this:

I love the Ticker Tape Tidbit china, and thought a single plate would be fun as a jewelry dish. Although I have no doubt it's worth every penny- each plate comes up to $50. Again: Wop-wop. 

Someday when I make my millions or win the lottery I'll buy one of everything online-mark my words!

Until then, I'll have to DIY what I can.

Kate Spade Ticker Tape Tidbit China

I stopped by a local thrift store and picked up this glass tray for a whopping $3:

 After a good sanding and a couple layers of white acrylic paint I got everything I needed ready:

- Foam Brush -    -Painter's Tape-    -Scissors-     -Martha Stewart Glitter (yellow barite & copper)-  

-Index Card-     -Metallic Acrylic Paint ( Deco Art Splendid Gold)-      -Mod Podge-

Next I cut a small hole in the index card, reinforcing the card with some painters tape:

Slowly but surely I added gold dot after gold dot, stopping every 10 or so to allow time for them to dry without smearing. The best part about the Kate Spade design is that there are overlapping dots- so anytime I messed up I simply let it dry & painted another dot covering up my mistake! 

 Continual dot adding....

 A little bit of glitter just for good measure & some Mod Podge to seal it all off!

 The finished product!

 Of course, the best part was adding a little bit of my jewelry- just a few of my favorite gold pieces:

 Jewelry:

Cobalt Studs: Fornash

Red Studs: Marc by Marc Jacobs

Gold Leaf earrings: Thrifted (for $1!)

Watches & Bracelet: Charming Charlie

Tiny Gold Locket: c/o Hibiscusdays Jewelry

Gold Circle Diamond Necklace: Gorjana (c/o Shopbop)

I am THRILLED with how it turned out. It's shiny and glittery and completely wonderful. 

It may not be real Kate Spade, but I sure do love it. 

Would you keep your jewelry favorites on this DIY tray?

If not, what's your go-to jewelry storage?

xo, lp

Pssst: I know was all people could talk about a little while ago..but how perfect are Kate Spade watches?  Le Sigh.