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diy vintage rose jewelry box
i know what you might be thinking. whoa. that’s a girly jewelry box and totally not what you normally see on almost makes perfect. i think you’re right — it turned out QUITE feminine looking. but it’s almost valentines day, so i think that allows me to girl it up. this simple little jewelry box would make the perfect valentines gift for your mom or sister or niece or … a girl. that’s in your life. you get it.
materials
wooden craft box
gel medium
a paintbrush
a brayer tool
white craft paint
felt
liquid stitch
scissors
sponge
a print out of your choice
directions 01. sand and paint your craft box if you choose and let dry overnight. paint the inside edges but don’t worry about the inside of the box which will be covered by your felt.
02. find an image you like, measure your box, and print it to fit. many internet sources say inkjet prints don’t work with gel medium, but they actually do.
03. cut out your image as best as you can, and keep in mind that it will reverse once it’s adhered to your box, so if you’re using text, print backwards.
04. brush your image liberally with your gel medium, once saturated, lay down on top of your box.
05. make sure all the sides are covered and it’s sitting tightly on top with no loose corners.
06. using your brayer (if you don’t have one, you can just use a book or credit card), burnish your image for a couple minutes.
07. let dry for about three hours. then, using a bowl of water and a sponge, gently wet your sponge and dampen your entire image. you’ll begin to see the image coming through. keep patiently wetting and removing the paper backing.
08. wet your fingers and keep rubbing more paper off. it will become messy but the darker detail of your image will start showing through even more.
09. once you’re happy with your image, brush away the paper and let dry for an hour.
10. measure your box width and cut your felt to the same width. as tightly as you can, roll up pieces and wedge them into your box. add glue to the bottom of the box and secure them into place. my box fit eight rolled pieces (eight pieces of felt).
and there you have it. the girliest diy jewelry box i’ll ever make that i’m really not even sure i like that much. but if you like it – i’ll be happy.
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getting me some bridesmaids
i have three girlfriends that i knew i wanted to be my bridesmaids right away. so the other night when we went out for champagne to celebrate the engagement, i made each one of them a simple little card with my favorite photo of the two of us, a personalized “trait” that i need for the wedding — and gifted them each a simple little brass ring.
they loved the cards, the rings, me asking so officially — and saying YES. and now i have my three adorable bridesmaids.
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getting organized
like i said, being sick when the new year starts really makes you feel like you’re behind on all aspects of life. we were wanting to move pretty badly, but now that we’re engaged, we’re going to hold off on moving. and because i’ve been in the “i’m moving at some point” mindset, our apartment is just littered with trash, empty boxes, craft supplies… it’s time to try to get organized around here. also thinking of hiring a cleaning lady to bring me some sanity. that works for most people, right?
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what’s been up
sorry for the radio silence last week… last weekend i went to the walk in clinic for what i thought was maybe an ear infection. the doctor said i was fine, but the next day – came down with the flu. yes i am of the strong belief that going to the clinic got me sick (the waiting room was full of people coughing). so while i brought gideon to vegas for his christmas present of penn and teller – i got sick during dinner and coming down with the flu in a vegas casino is probably the least ideal place to be. btw i made those vintage style tickets for him, and i highly recommend designing the tickets if you get someone them for a gift. way more exciting a reveal than ticket master.
i spent the rest of the week in bed – and besides getting sick over and over, i’m in the midst of wedding venue scouting. which is much harder than it seems like it would be before you get engaged. by the end of my research, maybe i’ll do a post on all the pros and cons of the places we’ve found. we drove to joshua tree to check out 29 palms – and it would be a really cool wedding with everyone staying on the commune, but overall it just wasn’t totally right (and we didn’t like the food)
trying to stay sane while juggling being sick, going back to work, getting back into DIY mode and finding a place to get married. so far, not doing so well on the sane part.
all photos are from my instagram // follow along @almostmakesperfect
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freeloader // 6
ok now that christmas is over — i’m due for a new background! so are you! and as i’ve expressed my undying love for african mudcloth patterns, i thought i’d make my own. i tried it with a black background like you’re used to seeing, but can you believe it – it was hard to see! hope you like!
this wallpaper is for personal use only, and NOT for re-distribution.
if you’d like to post a link sharing them, you may not directly post the downloadable files.
please credit and link back to this post for downloading the wallpaper.
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diy marble tray
my first diy of 2014 and BOY IS IT AN EASY ONE! i seem like certain things a lot. triangles. gems. leather. wood. and marble. so even though i already made my brother get me a marble pastry slab for my birthday, i decided i could use more marble (until i get my marble kitchen countertops someday).
materials
the largest size marble tile you can find at the hardware store (mine were about 8×10)
drawer or cabinet pulls of your choice *
felt sticky pads
industrial strength glue (the strongest stuff you can find)
a ruler and pencil for measuring the distance* i had a hard time finding cheap brass hardware, so i bought some silver ones and rub n’ buffed them. to save yourself the trouble, just order some brass ones online if you want brass. WHY HAVEN’T THE HARDWARE STORES STARTING STOCKING ANY YET?!
directions
step one . stick four felt pads on each corner on the bottom of your marble
step two . using a ruler, figure out exactly where you want your handles and lightly trace around with a pencil.
step three . glue those babies on, if any glue leaks through like mine clearly did, scrape it off as much as you can with a thin tool (i used a kabob stick)
step four . LET DRY FOR A LOOOOOONG TIME. i waited two days.
you can use this thing of beauty anywhere. i first tried it in the bathroom!
then i tried it on the coffee table!
then i covered it in stuff i ate!
i never tried it because i got tired of walking, BUT it could also look really cute on your desk with your pens and paper clips.
now i do recommend you be careful, because this is not for HEAVY DUTY walking around everywhere with it use. just be gentle and i think the tray will hold up just fine!
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payday wishlist
well i’m having trouble trying to get back into the swing of things! but how can i get the blog back to normal without doing a payday wishlist today?! i must say – taking a couple weeks away was a very nice break! i normally spend most days worrying about the blog, worrying about what my next post will be, worrying about going to the craft store… i think my 2014 resolution should be to TRY to stop worrying so damn much. which is great timing if i’m planning a wedding this year. totally realistic!
hope you have fun weekend plans! i’m going to actually get some DIYs going and we are going to vegas for the night on monday for gideon’s xmas present – i got us front row seats for penn and teller!
and now — things i didn’t receive for christmas!
01. love this ticking stripe blanket, this plus some crisp white sheets? perfect bed i’d never want to leave.
02. i have no idea why i haven’t plugged the trigger and just bought this planter for myself yet – it’s perfect.
03. love anything julia kostreva designs, how about this marbled calendar in limited edition of 100?!
04. i love any dish that looks handmade, but a whole set?! all i can see is registry registry registry now.
05. someday my kitchen will consist of nothing but wood & marble. this cutting board is a good start.
06. i usually can’t wear any sort of heel, but i think i could walk like a total human in these tiny ones! -
we’re engaged!
hope you had a great holiday! well! life changed a lot over the past week and a half. gideon proposed five days before christmas so we had a lot to celebrate during the holidays. the hardest part though, we decided to wait to tell my family until my dad and sister arrived, so we kept it a secret for three days. if you’re a blabber mouth like i am – that. is. torture. but it was worth it in the end, getting to tell my parents at the same time and doing a toast and watching them cry.
and now, i might as well get personal. if you want to know our story. my
boyfriendfiance and i have been together for three years next month. three and a half years ago, i got laid off from my job. not knowing what to do with myself and basically having a quarter life crisis, i decided to go stay with my dad in boston. i stupidly packed up my entire apartment and moved it across the country to put all my stuff in a storage locker. why i didn’t do that in la, i have no idea. i soon found out that it snows a lot in boston, and was miserable. i then started corresponding with a really cute boy i knew from college who wrote me out of the blue to tell me i was cute and he liked my blog (my old blog.) we started writing and then talking on the phone and then spending all day every day talking until he came to visit me. we took the bus to new york for the weekend and had a 4 day date and fell madly in love. well, he told me he loved me that weekend. i played it cool and didn’t say it back. he’s still mad about it.i decided to go visit him after a trip to see family in indiana. my mom thought i was staying with them, but i stayed with gideon. and i never left. i never asked him if it was ok for me to move in, i just had my stuff sent back to la and we lived together. yep, right off the bat. so basically, we’ve never dated. most people find it weird.
over these past three years, we’ve moved three times, been through very rough times, traveled all over, adopted kittens, and i’ve been hoping he’d ask me pretty much since day one. he’s always been my person.
i always hear it doesn’t feel different — but so far, it feels VERY different. he now really feels like my family.
to wrap this up, i just want to say that i really hope you all are ok with the blog becoming a little more wedding themed this year. i definitely can’t resist a little wedding DIY!
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diy gold fringe drink toppers + french 75s
because i clearly love the festive look for gold fringe for new years — check out another DIY i did for sugar and cloth today! i shared a recipe for one of my favorite champagne cocktails, french 75s and the easy to make gold fringe drink toppers to finish them off!
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diy gold fringe party hats
hope everyone had a fantastic christmas! you may have seen it on instagram — but something kinda big happened to me this week, i’m now engaged!! i’ll write more on that after the new year.
speaking of new year … it’s NEW YEARS EVE in just a few short days! and who doesn’t like wearing festive hats all night?!
materials
gold metallic tissue paper (i got mine from the party store)
cardstock
fringing scissors
elastic
glue or tape (it’s up to you)
make your party hats using the printable i’ve provided. after download, print onto cardstock, cut out the shape and fold together!
cut two slits in either side of the hat and tie elastic through. knot on the insides.
using your fringe scissors, start cutting your tissue paper. this certain type of metallic paper is pretty finicky, so i found that very quick cuts worked best.
attach short strips so that they can fit comfortably around the circular shape of the hat. start at the bottom of the hat and go around the hat. i attached my fringe with tape because i figured it’d be less messy – but you can definitely use craft glue also. above that first layer, attach another a layer and work your way all the way up!
there’s a LOT of room for error, so don’t worry about bad fringe or overlapping!
i don’t usually show my face too much around the blog — but i figured i should show you what the hat looks like on. no i don’t know why i look so sad either!
HAPPY NEW YEAR!
see you back here in 2014!
