wainscoting in the bedroom

Ok, so I found this amazing tutorial on how to put wainscoting up. And I just knew I had to try it in my bedroom. You see, my husband doesn't like things hanging over his head and I just couldn't ever find a headboard that I liked, so instead of buying one, we decided to just put up wainscoting and use that as a headboard instead. Plus our room is super small (like 11'x10') and a headboard would just make it smaller.


(this is the before picture)

We've lived in this house for 2 years and we finally got around to painting our bedroom. I've hated it since we've moved in. The paint was this nasty peachy creamy color, but the worst part....the previous owners had painted it with flat paint and then touched it up with glossy paint every where. So whenever I looked at the walls I could see the different finished. Lame, super lame.

(another before picture)

(and this is the after)

We were originally going to paint it greenish-blue and brown, but the brown I got, looked a little different then I had hoped, so we went back to the store and got the color, Zinc from the Martha Stewart line at Home Depot. Doesn't it look like 20x's better than it did before? I still have some more things I'd like to do, like pictures on the walls, a tall painted bookshelf and pillows for the bed, but I just had to post it! We're not quite sure about the curtains either. Do tall curtains make a small bedroom look bigger or smaller? Anyone know that answer. Have any other thoughts on what you'd do to make this bedroom POP even more? I'd love to hear your ideas!

Oh, and if you're wondering.... Bed Spread and Curtains are both Dwell Studio for Target. The curtains are actually a table cloth...

Lamp shades are also from Target. Mirror, antique....it was Chris' grandma's mirror. I love it!

she's crafty

Do any of you watch she's crafty on HGTV? Well, she always has the most interesting projects and it got me thinking, why don't I use do more "crafty" projects? Sometimes I get so caught up in designing on the computer that I forget that I am crafty and actually love using my hands to make stuff. I used to say (when I was a kid) that I could make anything out of anything, even a pop can and a piece of tape. I used to make flour babies with my cousin and play house. That was fun.



I found this old piece of wood outside by our shed and knew exactly what I wanted to do with. I've been seeing a huge trend in the wedding scene for hand painted signs on old wood. So, I printed out my text using Chevalier. Then I simply cut out the letters, traced around them on the wood and hand painted them with a Sharpie Paint Marker. But, because the wood is unfinished the paint kept soaking through so I decided to hand paint it with white acrylic. I think it turned out pretty good. It looks much better further away, because I am in no means a calligrapher or painter. But decent any way.





What do you think? What words would you write? I thought about my last name, but decided on Welcome instead. So fun!




The next project I was inspired to make was inspired by something I saw at Target, but didn't want to pay $20 for it. I said, I can make that! So I set off to design a fun swirly pattern. Then I cut it our using a silhouette machine. Simple as that. Glued it to some paper and put it in a frame. I found these frames at a local thrift shop for a few dollars each. They were exactly what I was looking for and were exactly the right size. I made the swirlys and cut them out first before I had the frames, not the best idea. Do you know how hard it is to find a square frame! Ridiculously hard!





This next project was a super easy and fun one. It's a thread holder.



I found this pin board at a thrift shop for a $1. I think it sat in my office for a few months before I decided what I wanted to do with it. First I painted it white. Then I stuffed felt under the frame and over the pin board. Then measured and put in the nails with a hammer. I had to glue cardboard on the back because the nails pointed through, OUCH! So there you have it. A simple tutorial on how to make a thread holder hanger thingy. I'm not sure what you call it. But it works!

caroline gardner christmas card competition

Wow, that was a long title...but that's what it is. I spent half the day working on these. If they don't make the cut, I'll probably make them into printable greeting cards for my etsy store. This is a contest in behalf of the UK Charity Meningitis Trust, and 100% of the proceeds from the sale of these Caroline Gardner Christmas cards will go to the trust! Isn't that a great idea!

Which one do you like best?

I took my color inspiration from the picture of the girl holding the balloon. It's a recent Gap photo. Aren't those colors so fun? I'm not sure how many of you have noticed the NEON outburst of color in the market right now, but I try to keep up with color and design trends when I design. This is my inspiration board for these designs. Fun huh?

a few projects

So, I know I haven't written a post in like a month now, but I have my reasons....it's called SUMMER!!! Can I just say we've been to San Francisco and now Colorado and whew, I'm tired! In fact, we still have one more trip planned to Yellowstone this Summer too. It's been a fun one! I'm enjoying the warmer weather and swimming and picking fresh fruit and veggies from the garden. Isn't that great?

I designed this baby shower invite for a friend. This is her second, so we just wanted to do something to help her stock up for baby girl #2.

This is an invitation and wedding ceremony card that I designed for another friend of mine. She's getting married in less than a month. I got them printed online because they were less than half what a printer wanted us to spend on them. I'm hoping they turned out.

(names and places have been changed on both invites)

This is my brother-in-law, Nick. He recently graduated from High School and I was able to design his graduation announcement. I also took his pictures. I thought they turned out quite nice, don't ya think?

downtown provo

My dear friend, Darby Simon, took these amazing photos of me and my family. Aren't they adorable? I just love her style. We've known each other for a few years now and the only sad part is that they live so far away......but when they came to town, we knew we had to get together.

This is one of my favorites. Wow! My husband is cute!

Isn't Charlotte adorable? I love those precious blue eyes!

I also had her take a headshot of me, so that I could update my blog. These are just a few of the images, hope on over here to view the rest. (All photos copyright Darby Simon.)

I let you in on a little secret.....I'm working on a fun personal project, a place to feature all of my work....hopefully I'll have that done in less than a year....ha ha ha!!!