Easter Egg Decorating! March 9, 2010

Hi all!

Hope you enjoyed the last post and had a chance to design a few of your own Spring centerpieces!  I was over at my brother and sister-in-law’s house hanging out with my most creative nephews and all that was on their mind was Easter! I too am super excited and could not wait to share a few Easter egg decorating tips with you.

Easter egg decorating does not simply have to be a dye-job.  There are tons of fun decorating techniques that kids will love and you can love too!  Here are a few pictures with how-to directions from Martha Stewart (love her)!: veggie-animals, grass eggs, bunny eggs, and even chick-eggs!

I am going to show you how to re-make my favorite… Gold Leaf Eggs!

Step 1): At a crafts store (Michael’s has all of these supplies), buy gold leaf in various shades (you’ll need three or four gold sheets per egg). ** (Tip buy imitation gold leaf if you are new to this… it is less expensive)!

Step 2): Blow out eggs.

Step 3): Working in a draft-free room and using a small brush, paint blown-out eggs with size, an adhesive material, and let dry on drying rack according to manufacturer’s instructions.

Step 4): Wearing cotton gloves, rub a thin guilder’s tip brush on your hair to create static, and lift one gold sheet from the packet. Drape it over egg coated with size, and smooth with your fingers. Repeat until egg is covered.

Step 5): Go over egg with a soft, clean natural paintbrush to even out the texture and brush off any extra flakes.

This is an easy and classy take on the traditional dyed Easter egg.  Have fun trying it out and Happy Decorating!

Spring Centerpieces! March 2, 2010

 

After a week full of cloudy days and dark cold nights, I am happy to announce that this weekend will bring sunshine and the 40s!!!!  With spring break right around the corner, I am desperately trying to bring Spring into my apartment a little early! 

How better to create a “Spring-atmosphere” than with creative centerpieces!  I personally love fresh flower arrangements but there are also other unique ideas that are easy to create and fun to arrange!

Better Home and Garden has a great slide-show of different centerpieces for Spring/Easter.  There are easy how-to’s attached to the slide-show to make this even easier for everyone trying to re-create!

A few of my favorites are: The Floral Nests, The Flower Tips, and the Tulip Delight.

There are also some super fun floral arrangement on Countryliving.com.  And beautiful place-setting to spice of a dinner with friends!

So, anyone who is just as excited about Spring as I am, I encourage you to try out a new centerpiece!

Happy Decorating!

Mirror Magic! February 23, 2010

Hi everyone!

Hope you all were greatly inspired by my last post and made some beautiful artwork this past weekend!  I was watching another show on HGTV (I mean, is anyone surprised??) and found an easy and Amazing way to update an entry-way… with Mirrors!

For those of you who are unable to watch as much Home and Garden Television as I am ( I imagine that is most of you) and missed this easy how-to, here are the basics for reframing an old mirror:

1). First, find an old mirror (easiest to do with a frameless mirror).  These can be found in your attic or if you do not have one, they can be purchased fairly inexpensively at second-hand stores like Goodwill. 

2). Next we will need to make a frame.  You can buywood  molding to attach yourself, a pre-made frame to fit your mirror, or customize your mirror with MirrorMate.  MirrorMate will allow you to choose your frame and also gives you the adhesive and hanging tools. (Amazing)!

3). If you are not using MirrorMate, you can adhere the frame with glue and then hang appropriately for your space.

 Here are some beautiful examples of before and afters.  I have not tried this out yet, but I am already sold.  (Hopefully this weekend I can test it out and let you all know how it goes)!

A Twist on Typical Wall Decor… February 18, 2010

Let me start by telling you that this is NOT a joke. I was sitting in my living room today trying to pick which topic to rant about this week… when it hit me… literally.  The frame, I thought I had so securely hung, fell down from the wall.  Don’t get too worried… it only hit my arm, I am okay! Either way, I started to hang it back on the wall when I finally looked at it.  No picture.  None of our frames had any pictures!  How awful.  My roommate and I even named the people in the frames, so that when people asked we could say something catchy to assure them that we intended on filling them.

Alas, while watching “Color Splash with David Bromstad on HGTV, I decided that I should paint my own wall art. It is a great way to spice up any space and have fun while doing it.  (And it doesn’t feel so bad when friends compliment you for your creativity)!  He made it look so easy and it really is! 

Here is how:

1). First Step purchase stretched canvas.  (Amazon has a lot of inexpensive pre-stretched canvas as low as $10.  You can also purchase it at any craft store). 

2). The Next step in the process is to select paint colors that match your room.  (Stick to an acrylic base).

3). Now, let your creativity flow!  Create flair using different color combinations that match your room.  If you prefer to have a picture on your canvas you can free paint, or if you aren’t super creative you can use a stencil to create your art.

4). Let your art dry overnight.

5). FINALLY, hang up your masterpiece and wait for the compliments to fly (because they will)!

Maybe a little inspiration will help.  Here is a great college space, dressed up with some canvas art. 

Happy Decorating!

The new “it” color….Green! February 12, 2010

I have waited a long time to finally say this… the 2010 Interior Living “it” color is….Green!   It seems that home owners are leaning towards shades of green this spring and I am excited!  Green has always been one of my favorite colors o use in any room.  I’m not saying paint your living room lime green, but a shade of light mint and I am in heaven.  Green is such a refreshing color.  It is almost hard to walk into a room with green and not feel happy. 

Below are three different ways to use green in your living room.  From accenting with an ottoman and pillows to painting the walls and whitewashing your furniture, updating your living room with green is easy to do in many ways and many shades!

"Green Accents and Ottoman"

"Green Cabinets"

“Mint walls”

 Accents pieces are really easy to find this season.  You can find high-end pieces, or pillows and throws from places like Target and Crate and Barrel.  Hope this helps and happy decorating!

Hello world! February 4, 2010

Hello world is right! 

Welcome to Robin’s Design Rants.  I know how hard it is to have and apartment that looks good and a bank account that feels just as great!  Through this blog I hope to share ideas for updating your living space within reasonable means. 

Enjoy my blog and happy decorating!

Robin