DIY Stripe Candles
I made these for a company Christmas party client back in December (duh), because I needed a lot of them and did not want to pay upwards of $12 a pair. I ended up getting plain cream-colored candles from the Dollar Tree, but Trader Joe’s also has a 12 pack for a really good price. They are simple it’s true, but a couple of things to know that would make or break this project….
1. Clean the candles first with rubbing alcohol and a cotton ball
This step is pretty important because it helps the paint adhere to the candle
2. Next tape off the area you DO NOT want paint to be.
I had to re-do this when I realized I did not want paint on the wick part, which means I have to put tape on that part. So, start by taping off the wick end first, then work your way down.
3. Paint with NON-OIL BASE PAINT. WATER BASE PEOPLE!
Super important if you don’t want your candle to burn in some kind of toxic mess. I just used my kids black Tempera Paint.
I used two or three coats, and it dries pretty fast in between coats. I used a shallow dish filled with dried beans to stand up the candle sticks to dry.
Lastly, peel the tape off, but do it gently cause it is easy to scrape off the paint (the down side of water-base paint, but, I’m thinkin’ the easy scratch off is a no-brainer compared to the choice of toxic fire hazard)
Searching For The Perfect Desk
So this crazy lady walked into a bar…….a furniture bar. And by furniture bar I mean store. And by crazy lady I mean me.
I have been hunting, searching, obsessing, going mentally bonkers over trying to find the right desk for my boys. I don’t want to be doing this. I want to find one. I want to just pick one! And be done! But nothing is quite right.
It needs to be long (close to 70″), not too deep (maybe 24″??), and hopefully have some kind of storage or drawers. And, I would like to not pay more than $200. I sound like the dummies on Selling New York who tell their Real Estate Agent they want a fireplace, a view, a doorman, two bedrooms, two bathrooms, all in Manhattan, for under one million. What am I smoking???
I thought this might work-
Cost Plus World Market Campaign Desk
I like the look, but in person it was really rickety, and the drawer was like an inch deep. Basically zero storage. Mashugana. I’m trying to avoid Ikea, because I’m hoping to find something with a bit more character. I’m probably looking at a DIY. I googled “long skinny desk”, and this is by far the weirdest picture that came up-
That’ll keep ya up at night.
I have looked at Goodwill probably 16 times, and visited local vintage furniture stores. I indeed feel like a crazy person, who will end up rocking back and forth perched on the edge of my couch chewing my nails, muttering “must find desk” over and over again.
For awhile I looked for a couple of filing cabinets that I could paint or makeover, and put a nice piece of wood or old table top over the top of them, but that has kind of bombed out.
I like the look of this, but maybe with some amazing brass hardware instead of those brushed stainless ones-
I would like to keep my sanity and find a desk soon……any ideas???
Christmas Party DIY’s- Bucks, Stripes, and Glitz
I realized I never posted photos for the Christmas party I did last month-
My favorite is the giant eight foot tall Buck I did. It’s just painted with kids Tempera Paint on the brown paper they sell at home improvement stores. It’s a giant roll for like 12 bucks. It’s intended to use as floor covering when wallpapering or painting, but I cannot tell you how many things I have used it for (including wrapping paper). Some of the best 12 bucks ever spent.
I also loved the DIY striped candles. I’ll do a how-to next week on that.
Countdown To Christmas – DIY Gift Series – Put A Monogram On It!
WARNING – IF YOU ARE RELATED TO ME, OR ARE ONE OF MY FRIENDS/ACQUAINTANCES/LONG LOST THIRD COUSINS TWICE REMOVED, DO NOT READ THIS POST, AND ESPECIALLY DO NOT LOOK AT THE PICTURES. NOBODY LIKES A SPOILED SURPRISE.
One of my favorite ways to personalize gifts is to add a monogram. In fact, you may have noticed that we P&C ladies are having a love affair with monogramming. It’s simple, easy, and in my opinion, totally amaze-balls.
Here’s a tray, that quite frankly I liked already, that I monogrammed for some very special friends for Christmas (which is only 6 days away by-the-by – YIKES!).
Before:
Step 1: Tape off your area to be painted, and sand away! You don’t have to completely sand off the finish, just scuff it up enough that paint will stick.
Step 2: Add a monogram! I centered my “B” and affixed it to the tray by rolling blue tape. I then added the first layer of paint, focusing my strokes outward from the B.
Step 3: Layer, layer, layer! I removed my B, and added subsequent layers of paint until I was satisfied with the color, carefully tracing around the B each time. Be sure to let each layer dry before adding the next.
And there she lies in all her glory! Now you see it…
Need more inexpensive, quick and easy DIY gift ideas? Don’t forget to check out some of our other ideas here and here!
Countdown To Christmas – DIY Gift Series – Part 2!
WARNING – IF YOU ARE RELATED TO ME, OR ARE ONE OF MY FRIENDS/ACQUAINTANCES/LONG LOST THIRD COUSINS TWICE REMOVED, DO NOT READ THIS POST, AND ESPECIALLY DO NOT LOOK AT THE PICTURES. NOBODY LIKES A SPOILED SURPRISE.
If you haven’t checked out the first installment of this series, check it out here. It was easy peasy, and the results were FABULOUS! (I don’t know if you know, but the word “fabulous” was supposed to be read how Jim Carrey says it in the Grinch – and if you haven’t seen it, you should. It’s FABULOUS! See what I did there?).
This weeks DIY is just as easy, so stay tuned my fine feathered friends! Speaking of feathers, did you see this news story about a baby that had a feather inside of her neck? WEIRD.
I digress…
I picked up this set of wood coasters at Target for $6:
Pretty great already in my opinion. Simple, but great. So to add a little bit of interest (and fun – which is always good to add), I decided to color block these suckers with some neon coral. BAM!
Step 1: Tape off the desired area.
Step 2: Sand the entire area you want to paint.
Step 3: Paint! You want to do your strokes from the tape inward on each side for the first full layer, that way you minimize the chance of paint getting under the tape. Allow each layer to dry before adding another, and just keep adding layers until you are satisfied with the color!
Then remove your tape and voile! Check ‘em out!
And once you’re done checking ‘em out, don’t forget to like us on Facebook!
Countdown To Christmas – A DIY Gift Series!
WARNING – IF YOU ARE RELATED TO ME, OR ARE ONE OF MY FRIENDS/ACQUAINTANCES/LONG LOST THIRD COUSINS TWICE REMOVED, DO NOT READ THIS POST, AND ESPECIALLY DO NOT LOOK AT THE PICTURES. NOBODY LIKES A SPOILED SURPRISE.
Ho Ho Ho and Merry Christmas!
Christmas is my favorite holiday. And I mean FAVORITE. I Countdown every year until the day after Halloween, which is when I get to start listening to Christmas music, watching Christmas movies, and get serious about my gift shopping. As the hubs would tell you, my shopping list is probably overkill pretty extensive. It’s not that I feel pressure to get gifts for a ton of people, it’s more that I like to use the opportunity of Christmas to show people that they are thought of and cared for. That being said, it can get a little expensive, and a sisters gotta stick to her budget at Christmastime – otherwise a sister will be in deep doodoo when January’s credit card bill hits the mailbox.
So this year I decided to start a new series titled “Countdown to Christmas” where I can share with you some of the ways I’ve found to give thoughtful, stylish, not super expensive gifts. These DIY’s are super friendly and simple, and even the most amateurish DIY’er will have an easy peasy time with these guys. This first one is literally the easiest DIY you could ever do. Ever. I’m serious.
One thing I always keep in mind when shopping is that if I see something and think “wow, that would be so cool if just this little thing were different” – I buy it, and make that thing different. The most obvious and easy thing to change is the color. So when I saw these beauties on sale at Target for like $8, I jumped on it. I wish I would have jumped on it twice and bought two sets, because I was really happy with the final product, and wish I had a second set to keep for myself.
Well hello you handsome little devil, you look so playful and happy chic, and you know what? You’d be even more awesome if you were gold.
What you’ll need: An object, in this case doggie bookends (but lets face it, any awesome shaped thing will do), gold spray paint, drop cloth or paper to protect your work surface.
Then go to town! The secret with spray paint is to do a few thin layers, allowing for drying time in between. If you layer too thick the paint will start to drip – bummer town.
Once you’ve done a few coats on the top and have let it dry completely, flip it over and come at it from the other side, that way you know you didn’t miss any spots that may be hiding on the seedy underbelly of the object.
And voile! Check out how cute these little guys turned out!
Look at that gilded tushy!
Sneak Peek: Pantry Makeover
If you can call a hole in the wall with 3 shelves in it a pantry, I’m making mine over. I’ve been pretty obsessed with this, and this DIY Phillip Jeffries wallpaper. I’m so down with it. Zoom out of this shot and you’ll see the primer around the outside, the bottom part where the old paint is all chipped up and minus it’s doors, and the unorganized cereal boxes and school lunch boxes. But me showing you that would be like Lady Gaga stepping out for a cup of coffee in something other than an entire ensemble of theatrical pieces of clothing that have a deep meaning about the state of our society and a choice piece of wisdom about the presence that is humanity……it ain’t gonna happen.
P.S. I guess I bake things that are heavy on sugars versus flour. Entirely unsurprising.
Gift Wrap Inspiration
Holla all! I know we’re technically not even to Thanksgiving yet, but with all of the presents arriving on our front doorstep and then subsequently clogging up my closet space, I’ve realized that I have to get on wrapping those suckers stat.
Let’s get something straight here. I LOVE wrapping presents. For me, the presentation of a gift is part of the gift itself. I love having something that is not only pretty for me to look at for the few weeks that it sits under our Christmas tree, but also tells the person that gets the gift that thought and love and care were put into it.
I started with this inspiration from Grey Likes Weddings:
I LOVE this color palette, and for one gift I think it’s great. Since I will however be wrapping closer to 100 gifts (Exaggeration? Probably), I wanted a little more variety and kooky-ness, so I put together this little inspiration board:
Love it? Hate it? Think I’m crazy to already be thinking about gift wrap? Comments, people, comments!
And don’t forget to check out the daily goings on – check out my instagram! I’m Misspomp
The Easiest Pumpkin Decorating Ever
Halloween has long past (it’s been three weeks. That’s forever and a day ago. Sheesh), put pumpkins still can abound cause let’s not forget the much over looked Thanksgiving. This is a cheap and fast way to add some shine to your ‘kins-
I found both gold and silver thumbtacks at the dollar tree and went to town. This was for an event at our church that Miss P and I and several friends decorated. We got our diamond patterns on, our chevron patterns on, our star-fish-shape-at-the-top on…..you could spell something if you want to. This was the only one I took a picture of though. We liked mixing white and green pumpkins, and doing some pumpkins with mixed metals and some all in gold or silver. Gold and silver are friends. They can hang out.
Verve 5 Year Anniversary Party
This weekend we had the privilege of working with one of our very favorite clients, Verve Coffee Roasters. Verve makes the best coffee on the planet (seriously, if you live in Santa Cruz, go there, and if you’re ever passing through Santa Cruz, stop there to re-fuel, you’ll be like “Dang Gina! This is some good stuff!”). On top of being the best coffee roasters/cappuccino makers/smiley happy people, they also have an incredible aesthetic that feels so inviting and unique, and matches up really well with our style here at P&C.
So this weekend Verve hosted a 5 year anniversary party at their roastery in Seabright, CA complete with fresh wood-fired pizza, ice cream from the Penny Ice Creamery (YUM), delicious espresso drinks, a DJ spinning tunes, nothing-could-taste-better-than-this-ever Mary’s Cookies, and decor by P&C!
Get ready for a photobomb of this awesome event in 5 – 4 – 3 – 2 – 1!
Thank you Verve! Not only did we love working with you, but we had a great time at your event!
Were any of you there? What did you think?
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