Faux deer on the move
Posted on March 17, 2014 Leave a Comment
My faux deer is on the move again! I told you, give me a good rainy day and I’m rearranging gallery walls, changing things around, and creating new home decor. The thing I LOVE about rearranging is that I feel like I have a totally new room, but I didn’t have to buy a thing. I had each of these items somewhere in my apartment. Paired together and I LOVE the turnout. The deer added a great touch to a traditional gallery wall! See my finished product below. For my faux deer DIY, click here.
Geometric shapes painting…How to!
Posted on March 17, 2014 1 Comment
What do you do on rainy weekends? For me, it’s an excuse to paint, blog, online shop, etc. This weekend was one of the first weekends that we spent almost the entire weekend inside, due to the rain. I loved every minute. I painted, rearranged furniture, found the perfect bathing suit online, and did a little house keeping. Below is the painting I did. It was quick and easy and filled an empty space I’ve been trying to fill. See how to below:
Materials used:
(1) Canvas (found at Michaels craft store)
(?) Acrylic paint (I had some already, but can be found at Michaels)
(1) Painters tape
(1) Paint brush
Step 1:
Tape off the pattern you want. I love geometric shapes, plus it was SUPER easy. I randomly taped off areas.
Step 2:
The paint color I wanted to feature was a gold, so I painted the gold in the center. After that, I painted a different color in each space, repeating a few of my favorite colors.
Step 3:
Remove the tape and then touch up with white paint if the paint seeped through (mine did a little). And you are finished! See my finished product below. All in all, it took me about an hour!
This little light of mine…
Posted on February 27, 2014 1 Comment
I’m gonna let it shine…let it shine, let it shine, let it shine! BECAUSE I AM IN LOVE WITH THIS MARQUEE LIGHT! I am bursting with excitement while I’m writing this post. I just received my marquee light in the mail and am dying! I have spent the last 2 hours running around finding a place to hang it and have about 15 options so far. I found the most perfect light from Etsy shop JunkArtGypsyz. Let me tell you what! This shop has TONS of options, and lets be honest they are WAY cheaper than other sites. Each light is made to order and there are 18 colors to choose from. I have the 16″ light because I thought the 24″ would be too large….but now I think the 24″ would be awesome too. Below are just a few pictures of the light’s current location….for now! I’m already planning my next purchase from their shop. Check em out!
First location
Second location and current “home”
I even love the light unlit too!
16″ barnwood finish color
Gallery wall with some treasures… How-to!
Posted on February 13, 2014 Leave a Comment
I’ve been wanting to create my own gallery wall for a while, but I’m a bit picky. I wanted the wall to have messages that incorporated friends, family, art and sayings that were meaningful to me. So this wall actually means a lot to me. After our move, I’ve been super homesick and want my home to be filled with memories, things from “home” and messages that keep our spirits up.
Can we please talk about this awesome saying? Here it is if you can’t read it fully “Remember when you go into the world to keep your ears wide ope and be kind to one another. Take care of each other, tell the truth. Always do your best. Listen to the big people and the little people. Explore new paths and have fun. Know that you are loved like crazy. Give thanks for all your blessings. Above all else, love and you will do wonderful things in the world.” I bought this from the Etsy shop Thehouseofbelonging. She just opened up her shop with more amazing signs. Check our her store, and follow her on instagram {houseofbelonging}.
The other pictures and art mean so much to me too. On the left is a picture of our wedding party, some of our favorite people. Here is the picture:
I also made the state string art for Texas and South Carolina, which can be found in my post here. We had the below awesome shot taken for engagement pictures taken in Charleston, SC by Courtney Dox.
AND Courtney also took our wedding pictures, another shot below:
All pictures that we love to look back on and hold so many memories. AND I have more plans to expand the wall…so stay tuned!
Talk to you soon!
Gretel
Hand stamped necklace..too good!
Posted on February 11, 2014 Leave a Comment
This Too good Tuesday features one of my FAVORITE new hand stamped necklaces made by All the Wire. If any of you are Bravo TV watchers, you might notice one of the founders of All The Wire is Tori Gonzales, who is the best friend of Courtney Kerr on Courtney loves Dallas. Since I’m new to Dallas, I of course have to watch this show every Thursday to “get out.” I know it sounds funny, but I work from home, and I’m in a new city. This girl needs to get out and it’s fun to watch girls shopping and eating in local restaurants and shops.
These girls have got something so unique and rustic with this shop. They hand stamp personalized messages and monograms on to these bars on necklaces and bracelets, among other items in their store. I. AM. OBSESSED! Big props to them for taking this store to the level it is at now. Check our their shop here….and have them create something personal to you, I did! I can’t wait for my necklace to make it to me in the mail.
Love,
Gretel
Large prints for CHEAP…How-to!
Posted on February 9, 2014 Leave a Comment
Hi Everyone! This is my first winter in Dallas and I can definitely say that it hasn’t quite been what I had prepared myself for. Yes, this close-minded Southern girl thought Dallas would be warm year round, and the winters wouldn’t be winters like I knew in South Carolina (which still is only a one snow kind of winter). Last week, Dallas had its second winter storm and it has been FRIGID! Therefore, I’ve been inside, which is fine by me. Crafting 24×7 is my kind of activity anyways!
This week I’m sharing a secret that I know you’re going to love. My good friend from home told me about printing large black and white prints from Office Max online for cheap, but it wasn’t until I actually did it myself that I feel like I HAVE THE BIGGEST SECRET EVER! Okay so I’ll share.
Materials used:
(1) Frame or old window
Step 1:
Go to OfficeMax Online and click Business and Service print at the top. Under Print Center, click Print Online. I selected Oversize printing and uploaded this picture I took while exploring the country in Texas.
Step 2:
I printed this in a black and white 26×35″. Choose your local store and pick it up there. Here’s the secret. PAY ONLINE! For some reason, online is $3.97 for the HUGE black and white oversized print, but in the store it is $27. IT’S A STEAL! My project was $3.97 and I placed behind an old window. Here is my final product. Giving us a little country in our Master Bedroom.
And since this little lady follows me around as I take pictures, here’s my spoiled furr baby, Dixie wondering what her mom is doing!
Can’t wait to hear how you are using this print center! Talk soon!
Gretel
Favorite Friday– My favorite new home line
Posted on February 7, 2014 Leave a Comment
January FLEW BY! Goodness, I can’t believe it’s already February. Over the holidays, I bought these awesome faux furr pillow cases from H&M. Did y’all know they now have a home line? It’s just as amazing as the clothes, fashionable and extremely affordable. These pillow cases were $12 each.
I’ve also got my eyes on a few other items too. These pillow cases (here) and (here) are too good to pass up, and how about that Aztec throw?
Linen Cushion Cover $17.95
Jacquard-weave Cushion Cover $14.95
Jacquard-weave Throw $34.95
Now go and shop your hearts out! Talk to you soon!
-Gretel
Faux deer mount…How-to!
Posted on January 12, 2014 1 Comment
Hello everyone!
In this post, I’m sharing a cheaper way to make a faux deer mount that is very popular right now. If you look on Etsy, you can find one this size for $100 at the cheapest and I just wasn’t going to pay that for something that seemed so easy to make. So, here is my version for $45. It took me about 2 hours with drying time.
Materials used:
(1) Annie sloan chalk paint- Old white color (any paint will work..this is just what I had already)
(1) Martha Stewart Gold paint
(1) medium paint brush
(1) large brush
(1) Faux deer mount from Amazon found here.
Step 1:
Remove the antlers from the mount and paint them with 2 layers of gold paint. Paint 2 layers of white paint on the deer head.
Step 2:
Find the perfect spot for the mount and hang it….yes it’s that simple!
Until next time,
xoxo Gretel
Home office DIY…in progress!
Posted on January 4, 2014 2 Comments
Happy New Year! I’m sure you feel this way too, but WOW 2013 WENT BY WAY TOO QUICK! We had a huge 2013…bought our first home, went through hell and back with our pup and her pregnancy, raised 5 healthy puppies and watched them go to homes, packed up and moved 1000 miles away from home to Dallas. And here we are! Ready to roll in 2014 drama free (fingers crossed!) One of my resolutions is to blog more and keep myself consistent here. So starting off 2013, I want to give you a preview of my “home office.”
With our move, I had the amazing opportunity to stay working with my company from South Carolina so I’ve been on a mission to get my “home office” looking fancy. I mean, I have to look at these walls all day, everyday. While I’m still under progress and you know I’ll be continually changing things, here are pictures of the current status. Definitely a shabby-chic country vibe….makes me feel at home, here is my new city life.
I found this FABULOUS wire deer antler on the Etsy shop A Head of the Game. How awesome right? My antler mount is the smaller of the two deer mount options on the shop, but there are sculptures from lion heads (shout out to my ADPi Sisters), to fish mounts and duck mounts. Just awesome and so country-chic! Head on over to their shop to check them out!
Since you know I tried to decorate and set up the office on a budget, here is where I got all of the items.
Chair- Target, Faux Furr throw- Target, Curtain- IKEA, White desk- IKEA, Pillow- handmade..Fabric from Tony’s Fabric is Greenville SC, Wood sign-handmade
I am a happy camper talking to my customers all day from this spot! Be on the lookout for more coming from my apartment revamping this 2014. Talk to y’all soon!
Happy new year!
Gretel
Christmas card 2013
Posted on December 24, 2013 Leave a Comment
Over Thanksgiving, we captured the winning photo that made the christmas card. First of all, I’m not taking full credit for this….I saw a picture on pinterest that I thought was precious. And how hard could it be right?
I’m laughing at the memories of this one. Let me just paint the picture. It was a beautiful day in Dallas so everyone and their mother was out. Sure, I can handle that. We walked to a park close-by in Highland Park to take the picture, sure I can handle that. The park was gorgeous, lined with christmas garland (ALREADY!!) and tons of ducks (literally every species you can think of!)…sure I can handle that. Well Dixie, was about to freak out. She LOVES new people, and on top of that she LOVES ducks. Bad combination. I about gave up a dozen times on my dream of the above picture with our pup. But we did it! Here are some bloopers.
looking at the ducks
After an hour and 100 pictures later, we found a keeper and it’s now in the hands of our closest family and friends. I hope this inspires your christmas card for next year. Trust me, we have the HAPPIEST dog on the planet. If we could get a good shot…you can too!
I also DIY’ed our return address labels here. Check it out!
Merry Christmas from my family to yours!
Gretel
Life in high cotton 
Recent Comments