Outfit of the Day and Birdcage Project!

Hello, all!  I hope you are having a wonderful weekend.  I recently went shopping for a new springtime dress, because I have an awards assembly and my fiance's graduation coming up.  I cannot tell you how many dresses I tried on yesterday at Maurices.  They have so many gorgeous vintage looking dresses, but none of them—with the exception of one—fit quite well.  However, the dress  that did fit was $44.  I did not like the sound of that price. Here is what the dress looks like:

I really liked this dress, and I loved the color.  It has tiny gold dots all over the fabric.  But, I really wanted something floral with a more vintage feel.  So, I went over to Rue 21, and I found the absolute perfect dress.  Here I am wearing it just for you all: 

I love this dress, and it was only half the price of the other dress at $22.  I am so happy I found this, and I have the perfect accessories to match.  The tan cardigan is from Maurices, my brown shoes with bows are from Payless, and my pearl necklace and bracelet are both from American Eagle Outfitters.

Also, I have been searching for birdcages to decorate my wedding next spring.  I happened to find one for $5 at Earthbound Trading Company just yesterday.  Here is a picture:

I plan on painting it a lilac color and painting the hanger white.  Also, I am going to put a pretty gray bow on the hanger as well.  Additionally, I plan to put some wooden love birds or a mason jar with flowers inside.  As you could probably guess, my wedding colors are purple, white, and gray.  I just love purple!  I will post more pictures once I finish the project. 

Well, I hope you are all having a great weekend.  Let me know if you are working on anything in the comments below.

Don't forget to follow me on Pinterest:  Owl Enthusiast

Love,

2013 Owl Lover Calendar

Today, I went over to My Owl Barn, and I found a lovely PDF for a free 2013 Owl Lover Calendar.  You get to pick which owl illustrations you want for each month, and then you download the PDF file.  Super easy and a great find!  Needless to say, I was inspired to make my own.  I used scrapbook paper, stickers, and ribbon all purchased from Wal-Mart in the past.  I just love how the vintage looking paper looks up against these beautiful illustrations.

Here is a picture of the calendar cover:

The assembly of the calendar was quite simple.  First, I choose the paper I wanted. Then, I used a three hole punch to place holes at the top of each piece.  After this, I cut and applied the sheets from the owl calender  to the scrapbook paper with tape.  Then, I cut two medium sized pieces of ribbon and tied them to the two outside holes in bows.  Lastly, I took a thumb tack and some ribbon with a butterfly detail and glued the ribbon to the tack.

I love how it turned out, and it was super easy.  You may notice that November and December had to share a page, so the numbers are slightly off on this page.  Here are close ups of all of the months (with the exception of January and February):

March:

 

April:

 May:  

June:

July:

 August:

September:

 October:

November & December:

Thanks for reading, I hope you enjoyed this post.  Be sure to go over to My Owl Barn, so you can make your own owl calendar! Ask me any questions in the comments below.  Also, let me know if you guys are working on anything exciting.  

Don't forget to follow me on Pinterest:  Owl Enthusiast

Love, 

Here's to Beginings.

Hello!  My name is Stacy, and I am a craftaholic.  I decided to start posting my crafting adventures on this blog, because I would love to have an archive of the before and after processes of each of my projects.  Also, I want to start sharing my projects with others interested in crafts like you. 

I have been very inspired by the shabby chic trend after discovering Pinterest last year.  I just love the idea of taking something old or vintage and sprucing it up to give it a new life. When I was at a local flea market last weekend, I could not resist buying a vintage gold mirror.  It was only $15 which is pretty much a steal for a decent sized mirror. I have been hunting for a somewhat ornate and cheap mirror for a while, so I was thrilled to find this one:

This is not a great picture, because it was taken while the mirror was still in my trunk.  But can't you just see the potential?

Naturally, I wanted to give this mirror a shabby chic makeover.  I have been inspired by many of the ornate mirrors that I have seen on Pinterest such as this gorgeous one:

So, I went to Walmart, and I purchased a bottle of Apple Barrel gloss craft paint in Deep Purple for about $3.  The painting process was definitely a long one! It took about 30mins for each coat to dry, and I ended up having to apply at least 5 coats to cover up the gold.  At first, I thought I had ruined the mirror, because the paint was just going on in streaks—it was barley covering the gold.  But, the more coats I applied; the better it began to look.  The details took the longest to cover, but it was worth all of the effort.  I just love the finished product:

I recently got engaged, and I will be moving into an apartment with my fiancé very soon.  I cannot wait to make this mirror a centerpiece in our bedroom!  This project was definitely worth my $18.

Thanks for reading!  Here are some links to things I discussed throughout this blog:

1. Blue ornate mirror featured from Pinterest: Celebrating Everyday Life
2. Follow me on my Pinterest:  OwlEnthusiast

Love,