house projects

 It seems my life lately is full of little home projects. This piece of furniture is from Bradley's family. It's been our catch all for keys and whatnots when coming home. I've always loved it, but definitely wanted to give it a new paint job. It had some bad areas and I think Solly tried to get some sort of food off of it, because there were a bunch of scratches on the front. Safe to say, it was time for a new coat of paint!

 After a light sanding, I started with 2 coats of primer. And then came the glorious turquoise! It definitely needed 2 coats of paint, and it was still too bright. I'm going to mix up some stain and poly to tone it down a bit. I'll post back when it's all finished.

Up next, was changing this yucky boob light. These are all over the house, and we're Bradley is slowly replacing them. 

I had been eyeing this beauty at pottery barn for a while, but never bit the bullet. Then after months of stalking the website, it went on sale, and there was an additional coupon. So basically I had to get it, right? I figured it was now or never! I was nervous to spend so much on a light, but I am so happy I did. It's so pretty!

bella's bed

Last quarter I was in a class called "Studio Production." I gave you a little info on the class and told you that I would do a post on the dog bed that I made. Well, I lied. Sorry about that. Here is the post, oh only 5 months later! :)

With the project, I was assigned a word. There were 3 words: eating, sleeping, and relaxing. I got "sleeping." I had brainstormed many ideas, such as, a sleeping bag or some curtains that would block out the light. But, I know when my idea is not quite right. It doesn't click. A few days and some heavy thinking later, I decided to make a dog bed. And not just any dog bed. This would be a dog bed for poor Bella, my mom's almost completely blind dog. She was having a lot of trouble finding her bed because the colors closely resembled the color of the floor. She needed her bed to have contrast so that what little vision she had left could find it easily. I chose to do a chevron pattern because it also helped give contrast.

This is how I laid out my stripes. I first grouped colors and then sewed the squares into half square triangles.

All of the half square triangles leaves you with a lot of dogears, but I think it's a beautiful mess. 

     

At this point, I realized that half of the stripes were going to be on the front and half on the back, and this is not what I wanted. So I split the colors and put some on the front and some on the back. Problem solved. Next both the top and bottom were quilted and then sewn together with a side panel and an invisible zipper. I wanted to make this washable, so the zipper was a must.

And here it is! All finished! The best part is that it actually works. Bella can find her bed so easily now. No more wandering aimlessly around the room hoping to stumble upon the bed for this girl.

easy holiday manicure

Alright, I know with the holidays right around the corner, we are all trying to make that budget stretch. And of course, those holiday party invitations are stacking up. So I've come up with a really easy manicure to dress up your look.

Here's what you'll need:

• Gray Nail Polish, solid, no shimmer. I used Revlon's Mischievious.
• Gold/Bronze Nail Polish, metallic. I used Orly's Buried Treasure.
• Top Coat. I use Seche Vite, my all time favorite.
• mechanical pencil
• paper to protect table

Begin by painting 2 coats of the gray nail polish. Let dry. Then make a small puddle of the gold/bronze nail polish on the paper. Use the mechanical pencil to make dots. I made 3 dots in a column in the middle of my nail, but feel free to do your own design. Let dry. Finish with a generous coat of Seche Vite and you're good to go! Now, how easy was that?
 

it is well with my soul: tutorial

This past January, I blogged over here about my Christmas present for my mom. This is one of her favorite songs. I pinned it on pinterest and got a lot of hits! When I blogged about it before, I didn't give a tutorial on how I made it, so that's what I'm doing now.

I want to go ahead and say that this is such an easy project that has a lot of empact! I completed this Christmas eve, in a couple of hours. Also, remember that you can use this tutorial on your favorite song or quote.

Start with 2 canvases. I got mine from Michaels, and went with 22x28 inches.  This is a good size, because when used together, you get quite a large piece.

I printed out the words from text edit. At this time, I just got a new computer, so I didn't have Microsoft Word. Since the song is old, I wanted to go with a modern font. In Text Edit, I chose Bebas New. This is a clean, bold font, so I'm sure there is a similar one in other programs. After printing out the letters, carefully cut them out individually. You are going to be tracing them, so it's important to cut them out as perfectly as possible. Next, I used tape to hold the letters to the canvas while I traced lightly traced them with a pencil. Remove the letters when finished.

Now, it's time to paint! I painted the background first, with one coat, and then the letters, with 2 coats. Looking back, I definitely should have painted the entire background first, then traced the letters and then painted them. I just made more work for myself, so dont do that! :) I used really cheap acrylic paint for the background. I mixed together Americana's "Sand" and Americana's "Terra Coral" until I got a nice warm neutral. The letters were painted with Liquitex Basics Acrylic Color in "Copper". I love this color! It has a great metallic sheen to it that changes with the lighting. I chose these colors, because I wanted to piece to be warm. I wanted my mom to feel alive whenever she saw it.

Alright, that's it! So easy. I hope this tutorial helps you create that piece you've been dying to make. Remember you can change the text, font, and colors, but still follow these simple steps, and you'll get your perfect piece. Let me know if you have any questions!

xo,
Lark

hoop it up!

So, what is it about this guys, huh? So simple, but they can really bring a look together. They have a wild array of uses, from decor to actually using them to embroider. I am loving them in decor. Anywhere and everywhere. And here are some of my favorites!

etsy

Chalkboard

etsy

Christmas Card Display

martha stewart

Monogrammed Door Hanger

life as a thrifter

Bulletin Board

etsy- little pretty studio 

Door Wreath

Door Wreath

Budget Wise Home 

Covered Fabric

purl bee

hana lynch

polli blog

Ribbon Wind Chime

cake events

Embroidery Hoop Weaving

living crafts

Photo Mobile

the nester

Actual Embroidery

take the cannoli

etsy

and the best for last..

Anthropologie always gets it perfect

Hope you enjoyed all of this eye candy :)

xo, 

Lark

so much fun

My family is made up of very competitive bananagrams players. Probably too competitive. But we love it. We love the challenge. We love the brain test. We love the adrenaline when someone yells PEEL fourteen times in a row.

So last christmas, my brother Rob had the best gift idea for my mom. He made BIG BANANAGRAMS. Each tile is now 12"x12".

Of course my brother bit off more than he could chew, so he didn't finish painting all of the letters for Christmas. What better time to finish this amazing gift? Mother's day. Almost 6 months later.

But we are all so glad he finished. This has been one of the best ways to spend an afternoon. Here we are in my mom's backyard.

Now, you still get the mental challenge from the original game, with the added bonus of some exercise! And the best part? You don't even realize you are exercising. Well, until the game is over and you are covered in sweat. 

'ivy' by the ivy

Next, we are taking them to the beach!

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Update: This post has gone completely viral on pinterest and I'm so happy that you have clicked through. I hope you'll stick around! When I originally wrote this post, I didn't include a tutorial. So many people have asked in the comments about how we did this, and I have been answering them, but I thought it might also be helpful to put that info here, too! 

My brother cut 144 'tiles' from a big sheet of masonite. This material is very durable, doesn't bend and it can hold up to different elements. For those who want to make their own, we recommend luan because it's lighterweight. We love what we have, but if we knew then what we know now, we would have made them with luan. It really makes a difference when you are carrying those tiles to and from. We have ours in a wooden crate and don't move them all that much- probably because they are heavy!

Rob cut the masonite into 12 inch squares with a table saw. Then he hand painted the letters. We are a family of artists so it was easiest for my brother to just paint them himself, but if you don't have a steady hand or good handwriting, there are other options. Several people have left me comments saying that they used vinyl stickers or cut letters out with their cricut.

Here's the breakdown of how many tiles you will need for each letter.

2: J, K, Q, X, Z
3: B, C, F, H, M, P, V, W, Y
4: G
5: L
6: D, S, U
8: N
9: T, R
11: O
12: I
13: A
18: E

Also, we use our tiles for bananagrams because it's fast and exciting, but you could definitely use these for scrabble or even boggle! 

Again, thank you to everyone who has visited my blog and those who have left comments! They really do make my day. I hope y'all will continue to follow along!

nailed it

I love spending probably too much time on my nails. It is definitely a creative outlet, that also serves as a time to relax and have fun. I enjoy experimenting with different colors and patterns and this is where  Konad nail stamping kit comes in! I am in love with this product!

So you go online and pick out a stamping plate, or 5. You also need a stamper to transfer the design to your nail, a scraper that scrapes off the excess polish and Konad's "Special" polish. You do need to buy this. It is thicker than normal nail polish so you get an opaque design. I have tried to use regular nail polish and you would need more than one coat. I don't think I could line them up perfectly, so I splurge for the special polish.

For the image plates, I chose M57, M60 and S06. Each has a few designs that I love, as well as a few I don't. I especially love S06 because of the geometric designs.

These are 2 manicures that were achieved with the Konad stamping kit. The left used plate S06 and the right used M57. This process does take some time, but I think it's worth it in the end! :)

This little guy is a definite "must-have". Essie's Nail Corrector will quickly become your best friend, cleaning up all those inevitable mistakes.

I have also played around with the China Glaze Crackle Glaze. I LOVE IT!!

 It does take some practicing to figure out just how much crackle polish to apply. Too much and it doesn't crack, while too little and it's too thin.

So take a day off and pamper yourself- we both know you deserve it! Give some of these nail designs a try!

xo, Lark