I have a gorgeous blue frame my wonderful boyfriend bought me for my birthday last year after I hinted and nudged him like crazy about it while in one of my favorite stores, Patina.  It holds a 5×7 photo and the only photo I had that I liked enough to put in it was of San and I at our senior prom, but to be honest it was not my favorite.  Now that I’m back in my room at my parent’s house, I decided to do a little photo makeover.

One of my favorite photos of San and I is from his uncle’s wedding last year (before I chopped my hair off).  It’s funny, cute, and just like us (or at least like him – I like a little too normal in the photo).  You can see it below:

I only had it in 4×6, which looked okay even with the extra space around it, but the background of the picture was really throwing everything off.  I went a little scissors-crazy and made a pseudo-silhouette piece of art using the cut up picture, some diamond pattern scrapbook paper I picked up at a garage sale a couple weeks ago, and three red and pink hearts made from some colored paper.  I didn’t even tape or glue anything together.  I just laid everything where I wanted it, closed the frame, and I was good to go!

I am loving it!  I really wanted to add a fortune (like from fortune cookies), but I didn’t have one that would relate to the picture.  I’ll have to eat out more until I can find one! It’s sitting on a little table/desk in my room now.  It makes me so much happier to look at it now than it did when it was boring and normal.  I have a quirky streak in me that I like to show off every now and then.  I usually try to keep it contained, but after lugging boxes back and forth all weekend, my brain needed to unleash its inner quirkiness.  I am quite pleased with what I came up with!  It’s like a little scrapbook page in a frame, which I am obviously not the first person to do, but it was a first for me and I am proud!

Do you ever have fun with your frames and do things a little out of the ordinary?

Here is what I started with:

Makeup brushes, the blue pedestal bowl (isn’t it gorgeous?), colored glass vase gems, a small glass container, and white vase filler. I filled the glass container with some of the vase filler.  I normally stop here and put my brushes in this standing up, but I wanted to make it fancier (and shmancier)!

I then put the glass container in the center of the pedestal bowl and poured the remaining vase filler around it.

It looked a little bare, so I used some colored glass gems I had been using in something else and scattered them on top of the vase filler.  Voila!  A very fancy temporary fix that makes getting ready much more fun!

Here it is in action:

I keep it on my vanity.  It’s perfect!

I am so happy I get to use one of my favorite accessories on a daily basis!  I also love how glamorous and quirky it looks.  Have you ever recreated a piece and used it in a way it was not originally intended to be used for?

Oh boy, do I love me a challenge!  When I saw one of my favorite bloggers, Lindsay @ Living With Lindsay, was hosting a five dollar challenge, I couldn’t hold myself back!  I’m poor, but I have five dollars and love to make crafty things.  How could I resist?

I had a vision in my head of a springtime wreath, but I didn’t want my vision to be too decided when I went shopping since I was limited to only shopping in dollar stores, and we all know how random the selection can be at those types of stores.  I mainly knew I wanted to use my leftover burlap from my corkboard makeover and my leftover green polka dot fabric from my DIY custom flats and that I needed something to wrap them around.

Here is what I found and used:

I used the fabric previously mentioned and purchased a styrofoam wreath, a decorative bird, some twigs, and some fake flowers.  The only thing I used to attach everything was hot glue, which was another thing we were allowed to use if we had it on hand, which I did.  I only spent four out of the five dollars on my purchases, so I came in under budget!  Nice!

I started by cutting a long strip of burlap and wrapping it around the wreath.  I hot glued the ends of the burlap to the back of the wreath, making sure when I started a new strip that the ends were not visible from the front.

I ended up with this – nice!

Then I added the bird by hot gluing it to the burlap – trying to disguise the glue as best as possible.

Then I glued some of the  twigs to the front, just below the bird to make it look like it was standing on them on a tree.  I wanted to incorporate the green polka dot fabric somehow and thought of using it to make little flowers, but it didn’t look good, so instead I cut one piece about two inches thick and flipped it upside down and ran a much thinner piece on top of it.  I wrapped it around on top of the burlap, hot gluing the ends once again. The last thing I did was intertwine some of the faux flowers with the branches to add some more color and “life” since I wanted it to look spring-y.

Here is the finished product:

I am very happy with the way it turned out!  It was so cheap and it’s so happy.  It is a perfect addition to Easter decor and spring accessories as well.  Plus, it’s not too spring-themed, so I can keep it hanging all summer as well.  What do you think – is it worth the four dollars?

If you would like to join in on the fun of the five dollar challenge – it’s not too late!  Entries are not being taken until this Thursday (the 25th), so you still have time to brainstorm and head to your nearest dollar store for some spring time fun!  Just head over to Lindsay’s blog to view the rules and you will be ready to get started.

I hope to see some of your crafty projects then!

What really makes the room, in my opinion, are the little details that I made myself (which you will see further down).  The ultimate project I couldn’t wait to finish was a pair of frames turned into chalkboards.  I initially thought I was going to use this huge round mirror I posted about a while ago to paint and turn into a chalkboard while painting the wood it’s on a fun color.  I quickly realized that it was too large to fit anywhere, the mirror was glued on and a pain to remove, and I then decided I wanted a magnetic chalkboard while refusing to use magnetic paint, which meant I had to buy metal to paint with chalkboard paint.

Luckily, I only paid a small amount for that mirror and was given these great frames from my mom over Christmas break to use however I want.  They are 16”x20” and I can paint them down the road if I so choose.

I planned on buying sheet metal at a hardware store and having it cut to size on site, but buying two sheets the size I wanted would have cost me from $35-60, which I could not afford.  My dad told me that a person can usually find sheet metal much cheaper at plumbing stores, but that was after I already solved the problem.  If you’re looking into making a magnetic chalkboard, I’d recommend doing more research on sheet metal to get the best deal possible.

To solve my dilemma, I posted a wanted ad on Craigslist for a piece of sheet metal sturdy enough to stand on its own (so that it would be durable enough to stay flat in a frame) and to be cut into two rectangles the size I needed them.  I offered $10.  I answered a response and went with San to pick up the piece of metal.  When I got there, I saw that it had rust on it, but I was sick of this project and all the dilemmas it was producing, so I bought it and just went with it.

Cutting it was a nightmare because it was very thick, so when my dad was in the area, he brought his metal snips and we painstakingly contorted the metal (in the bitter cold, mind you) until we could get it cut to size.  Moral of that story is to let the person who sold you the metal cut it for you when they offer.  >.<

Anyway, this is what it looked like before priming it:

Pretty bad shape.  It’s a wonder with all the speed bumps this project ran in to that I kept going. I primed it with black Rust-oleum automobile primer that can cover rust and stop it from spreading.  One of the workers at a hardware store recommended this for painting on rusty metal, and let me say that it worked perfectly!  Being limited on space, I had to prime and paint the metal in my apartment.  I couldn’t do it outside because of the cold temperatures.  I opened lots of windows, had a fan blowing, opened the door to the hallway, and turned the stove fan on.  It definitely is not the safest or smartest way to do this, but I’m young and learning as I go.  I sprayed three coats of the primer on within a few minutes of each other and let them dry overnight.

The next day, I painted three coats of Rust-oleum Chalkboard Paint with a small roller.  I waited three days and they were perfect!  I popped them into the frames, decorated them, and then the room was finished (at least for now)!

Let’s take a look!

I keep my books, DVDs, and dumbbells stored on this inexpensive metal shelf.  I decorated it with a pretty pink apron.

The pear is one of my favorite pieces in this room – I dedicated a whole post to it a while back.

If you’d like, you can read more about the photo grouping here and the corkboard-turned-jewelry-display here. 

I can’t get enough of Starry Night.  The poster has been taken down and put back up countless times, but I still love it.

I can’t hide my love for ornately carved frames and dance art it seems.

I made the bed quilt with my grandma for my confirmation years ago.  I love it, even though it is a little youthful.  This room seems to blend the youthful colors with more sophisticated elements – perfect for someone my age!

Can you see them?  There are the chalkboards.  I don’t have them hung on the wall yet because they weigh about seven pounds each and I haven’t got any heavy duty hooks for them yet.

All of the orangey wood furniture came with the room (my bed, the dresser, the middle storage cabinet, and the desk).  It’s definitely not ideal, but I work with it.

A note about finding chalkboard chalk: head to an office supply store and not a store like Target because they usually only have sidewalk chalk which can stain your chalkboards and is very hard to remove.

I love them!  I now have a place to reflect how I am feeling, what’s going on in my mind during any given day, and to house all sorts of inspiration.

Last but not least, my smile banner I made last year that makes me so happy every time I look at it.

So what do you think?  Is it an upgrade to what I started with?

I have to say that my room makes me incredibly happy and calm.  It’s my one place that is just for me, which it reflects.  As much as I love all the designer rooms and rooms of the great bloggers I follow, I have come to terms with the fact that I am not living a life like most of these people right now.  I am a college student.  I barely have even just a few pennies to my name and have no place I actually purchased and can do what I want with.  Yet, I am proud because although my room is far from magazine-worthy, it has “Sarah” written all over it.  I worked very hard to save money and use what little resources I had to make it something inspirational for me.

Everyone should be proud of their home no matter what state it is in because they’ve worked to make it the way it is.  I take delight in the little things, so as long as I have some place of my own, even if I do not own it, I will do my best to create something out of it while continuing to dream of the day when I can go all out with a house I own.

Let’s all spend today loving our current situations and homes just the way they are.  I know there many things we all would love to fix or upgrade in our lives and our homes, but until we can do those things it can help to see the best in what we have now.  Here’s to living in the present but keeping hope for the future!

I liked the symmetry of this arrangement and the inclusion of the paper flower art I made a while back but didn’t have a good spot for at the time.  The four quotes (“Shoot for the moon,” “If you stumble, make it part of your dance,” “Once in a while, right in the middle of an ordinary life love comes along and brings you a fairytale,” and “Whatever you are, be a good one”)  I made in Microsoft Word (using the rulers on the top and left side as guides to ensure they would fit in 5×7 frames) and printed on regular office paper.  They turned out great in person!

The middle frame holds the dictionary dancer art I posted about last week.  The rest of the photos were either my personal photos or stock photos I downloaded for free and printed like I would any other photo.  The mirror at the top I bought at a thrift store for a dollar.

Figuring out the arrangement was only half the battle – getting everything on the walls the way I wanted was just as hard.  As a renter, I am not allowed to put holes in the walls, so I have to use the sticky hooks that can be easily removed without damaging the paint.  Usually, I would suggest tracing the frames on to a large sheet of paper and marking where the nail should go, but using the hooks is not so simple.  I found the easiest way was to hold each picture up, starting with the center, and placing everything off of that.  Each frame had a different hanger on the back, so I had to be very deliberate in the placement of the hooks.  It took a while, but when I was done it looked great!

What makes me even happier than the arrangement itself is what it is centered over.

Next to my closet I now have this little jewelry area atop two side by side stacks of clear lidded boxes (which I use to move my belongings back and forth from school and my parent’s house).  I love reusing items in unique ways!  I used a bed sheet to cover the boxes and used the scrap piece of burlap left over from my bulletin board revamp as a runner (which needs to be ironed).  It is the perfect area that can be viewed when first entering the room and from the hallway.  I love putting on my jewelry here and looking at all the pretty pictures.

Here are some close-ups:

I must say, I am very happy with how it all turned out and feel like my room is finally looking the way I would like it to.  I have one more project to finish before I reveal the new furniture arrangement and the finally finished room with everyone, but to keep you a little more in the know I will tell you that the next project involves something that can constantly change and reflect however I am feeling on a given day.  That’s the only hint you get!  I’m hoping it will be done (well done enough for now) by the end of the week so I can show it to you next week!

So, what is your experience with grouping photos?  Does it frustrate you, or do you love organizing so much that you could spend all day doing it?