This project might be my proudest DIY moment ever! I made this custom frame measuring nearly four feet tall and it cost me $0 in supplies. Clean, minimal, and with an industrial vibe, it's absolutely perfect for my black and white engineer print of an incredibly special travel photo.

A simple, black ikat design is pretty ubiquitous these days. From Nate Berkus for Target, to Elle Decor, to Etsy, you’re bound to see some interpretation of the design. Does that make this trend any less covetable? Heck no! But a girl has only so many sofas and windows to embellish. 

I'm a budget traveler by necessity, not by choice. However much I'd love to send home containers full of textiles and antiques, we seem to return with a single pocket of treasures: matchbooks, coins, bus tickets, bar coasters and hand-written receipts.

It's certainly sweet....but our home is quickly resembling a den of thieves.



One tchotchke that could use some editing is my overflowing coin collection. Inspired by this tutorial by whatiwore, I've been scheming up a charm bracelet DIY. But since I don't have access to a drill press, I decided to get creative with my more affordable (and apartment-friendly) rotary tool.

#1 - Clean and Buff Your Coins
First, clean those coins! I researched a slew of different ways to clean coins. In the end, I followed this awesome little tutorial. You’ll notice that my coins lack the mirror-like finish found in this tute’s video-- I simply subbed Brasso for Mother's Mag & Aluminum Polish.


#2 - Get Drilling


 You'll need:

• Safety Goggles
• Rotary Tool (like a Dremel, or in my case, a look-a-like from Harbor Freight)
• Spring Clamp
• Scrap Wood
• Drill Bits (I used the skinny bits which were packaged with my rotary tool)
• Glass of Water (to cool off the coins)

So to begin, I pretty much just clamped the coin to a piece of scrap wood, popped on my goggles and dove in.

The key for me was to apply gentle, but firm pressure to the coin while drilling. Since the drill bit was so thin, I had to be patient or else jeopardize breaking the bit. Each coin took me about 10 minutes of on-off again drilling.

Caution!! Your rotary tool will make the coin very hot-- be careful! Stop drilling every 20-30 seconds to cool off the metal with water and ensure you’re not melting the plastic spring clamp. Trust me on this one.


#3 - Assemble Your Bracelet


You'll need:

• Jump Rings (I used 10mm )
• Needle Nose Pliers
• Chain bracelet (I bought mine from Forever21-keeping this DIY under $5 total!)

For anyone who isn't used to opening jump rings, let me warn you, you need two pliers: one to stabilize/hold the ring, the other to open the ring. And remember-- since I used a tiny drill bit, I selected my jump rings based on the final size of my hole.

And voila!


I think I'll add three or four more coins to the bracelet-- it's still a little sparse for my tastes. But overall I'm pretty happy with the results! And the best part? These travel tchotchkes move off the cluttered shelf and become a daily reminder of our favorite treks.

Believe it or not, he bought the lamps sans shades and discovered the fringed, red velvet ones on a separate shopping trip. Yep, I married a shopper. Pros: Just drop him off at the combo TJ Maxx/Home Goods and he’s entertained for hours. Cons: Actually....no cons whatsoever.

For years, lamp and shade worked perfectly together--- but lately everything in my apartment seems so red/orange/brown. 

Yuck! Looks awful.
Honestly, this console hasn't changed since we moved in.
It's a catchall for random objects and iced tea glasses.

So I went shopping...
And had the darndest time finding new shades to do this pair justice.
A modern, Target drum shade wasn’t doing the trick.
So when I ran across a pair of cream, plain vintage shades for only $.99 at the thrift store, I figured it’s now or never.

Ta da!!



The lampshades were originally a horrible cream color. And since I wanted to drastically brighten up the room, I decided to paint black and white circus stripes.

Here's how I did it.




The shade's interior gave off quite a yellow hue-- which felt dark and dirty. 
Priority #1 was getting a bright glow. 
So I lightly watered down some Behr primer before brushing about 6 coats on the interior and exterior.

After all was dry, I measured and taped off the stripes.
Ok, let's be honest, I didn't spend that much time measuring.

I suppose if you wanted to get the job done right, you would measure the circumference and divide it by pi or something. But I'm an impatient crafter, so it seems.



Then I added some fringe. Originally I was going to do black ball fringe, but it really made my guys look straight out of crazy town. So I used a simple black braided trim (and some chip clips!) which worked fine.
I’m really happy how these turned out!
The colors tie our random furniture together and keep the room from looking so heavy.



Will I keep these shades forever? Nah.
But they’ll tie me over until I get lucky at HomeGoods.

I'm a little late to the game here, but I just ran across this fabulous ikat fabric tutorial by Elizabeth at The Mustard Ceiling. This is such a brilliant (and easy!) way to bypass those big-dollar signs often located alongside designer ikat fabric. I've been trying to figure out a way to create this same look with my husband's screen printing kit, but Elizabeth's technique is much simpler. With just a few tools picked up from her local craft shop, she saved beaucoup bucks! 

We're slowly making our way out of Bolivia and back into the land of the high-speed internet. Well, Northern Argentina is not that high-speed, but I´ll take what I can get. I can´t wait to share photos of all the fantastic places I´ve had the privelage to visit...not to mention the fantastic goodies I´ve managed to haul across South America.

 In the meantime, I had to share this lovely DIY project for Glass Jar Moroccan Lanterns from Katie Steuernagle, a contributer at Ohdeedoh. I´m beyond impressed. I don´t think I´ve ever seen a DIY project involving gold puffy paint turning out well. (Remember those killer puffy paint sweatshirt parties we had back in the early ´90s? I´m just saying.) But Katie´s project turned out so great that I´ll be saving pickle jars for the next few months to tackle it myself.



P.S. The project was recently featured on fab design site, Design*Sponge. Check it out!

The cowhide rug I ordered from an Argentine vendor at the New York Gift Show has finally arrived. My plans are to recover my newly thrifted chrome chair-- courtesy of Housing Works-- a la R&B's Pierre chair. Of course pictures will come soon!

In the event that I can't find an upholster who can work with thick, hairy leather, I'm thinking I need a more traditional backup plan....












I pulled these images while home with a nasty cold...and wasn't very good about keep track of the sites. I'm so sorry! But the sites I remember are: Living, Etc., Visual Vamp and Matters of Style. Please check out those incredible blogs for the original photos.

These DIY map projects are a bit more capricious than Monday's respectable wall ideas. I'm postively *in love* with the recycled map art pieces by Image Surgery. So whimsical! Notice how the different colorways match the infinite hue combinations of butterflies. Hmmmm...I think we need more wall space for my growing wish list.

My husband and his equally well-traveled buddy recently came across a stash of vintage National Geographic maps. You would think they discovered some serious pirate booty by the way they carried on. Somehow the old glue residue mixed with the sweet anticipation of unfolding a dusty map reverted them to hyper-excited, tween-like behavior. They even started swapping maps toward the end of the evening: “I’ll trade you my 1952 Southeast Asia for your 1969 India!”

Too cute. And now I’ve acquired a hefty collection of old maps. What’s an organized wife to do??

































P.S.... Map craft ideas tomorrow! I got a little carried away!