DIY: THE LITTLE THINGS

I truly believe it's the little things that make all the difference. This is a perfect example...this flag hangs above our couch in the living room. It is the largest wall hanging in the room and being centered above the couch, it is somewhat a focal point in the room. Robert and I were never really content with the way it looked and decided it needed a change. That is when I recalled the bag of clothespins I had down in the basement and Robert said he had a spool of wire! Combining these two things to re hang the flag made it much more pleasing to the eye. Moral of the story: Sometimes it just takes a little tweaking. Don't go nuts if you don't have to. 

DIY GIFT: VEGAN LAYERED WHITE CAKE IN A JAR

I firmly believe in never showing up to any type of celebration, party or gathering without a gift. A girlfriend from high school moved to Nashville only a couple of months before we made the move and it was exciting to be able to reconnect with someone I loved so much back in the day. Her birthday was recently and with little time to prepare, I made these little gems for her and her husband. I followed these recipes for vegan white cake and vegan white cake icing. I had everything on hand sans the lemon juice which I subbed apple cider vinegar for. I began by making cupcakes out of the white cake recipe and while those were baking prepared the icing. Follow the jump to find out how I made them look so adorbs! 

DIY: INFINITY BOOKSHELF/NIGHTSTAND

We recently moved our bed and in doing so we had to get creative with the nightstand situation. Once the bed was moved, there was no longer any room for our bedside tables so I decided to try out something I had been wanting to try for some time now...infinity bookshelves. However, instead of just being a bookshelf, I wanted it to be sturdy enough to hold say a glass of water, iPhone etc. I thrifted these old reader's digest books and by thrifted I mean pulled them out of the trash behind a bookstore! They have beautiful brocade jackets and instantly knew how I would repurpose them. 

Supplies for one shelf: 

• Several Pretty Books
• 2 (4-6 inch) Corner Braces (L-shape) 
• 6 Screws

DIY: PALLET SHOE RACK

I have been introducing my bedroom redesign piece by piece and it is almost complete! The over the door shoe hanger that wouldn't even fit half of my shoes got the axe and I brought in several pallets in its stead. I found several different renditions of this idea and came up with the below on my own. It seemed the most efficient and more in line with what I was wanting. 
Supplies:

• Wood Pallet
• 2 Shelf Brackets (with a capacity 100+ lbs) 
• 6 Heavy Duty Screws
• Drill or Screwdriver
• Stud Finder*
• Measuring Tape 
• Spray Paint (color of your choice) 

DIY: TREE BRANCH CLOTHING RACK

This past week, in preparation of Robert coming home soon, I have been completely redesigning our bedroom. We both agree that it never really felt right...so I am making it right! For starters, we don't have a real defined closet space. I had been searching and searching for ideas and came across this little tutorial. It was brilliant! Not only did I already have white spray paint; I also had several sturdy branches around the yard! I chose to hang the branch above the open stairwell which leads to our bedroom. My coats and dresses were all hung in ascending length from the top of the stairs so they hang a few inches above your head as you descend the stairs. I feel it was a great start to my redesign! 

View From Bedroom

Looking Up From Stairwell

DIY: GIFTING GRANOLA

I had a few lady friends over last night and I thought I would try something new and send them home with a party favor. I save ALL of my glass jars (pickles, salsas, pastas) so I have a ton on hand. Soak them in warm water, peel the label off and you have a perfectly good gifting vessel for the following granola recipe! This is the first time I have ever made granola and I will have to say it is easier than you'd imagine! Oh, and delicious! I will probably never purchase grocery store granola again. Feel free to add a cup of your favorite dried fruit to the recipe to add some color! To dress them up a bit, I cut out some lace fabric squares, set them over the top of the jar and screwed the lids on! 

Ingredients For Honey Vanilla Granola: 

• 4 Cups Oats
• 1 Cup Chopped Almonds
• 1 TBSP Vanilla Extract
• 1 TBSP Cinnamon
• 1/2 TSP Salt 
• 1/3 Cup Packed Brown Sugar 
• 1 Cup Honey
• 1 TBSP Margarine or Butter, Melted

DIY: LACE SCREENS

As a long time supporter of all things lace I will search for anything lace and every once in awhile you come across something grand! Like this photo of lace window screens. I realized that these were just photos sans tutorial but window screens are easy enough so I tried it out on our broken door screen. I was so pleased with the results I decided to go ahead and do the kitchen windows too! This is all it took...

• Original Screen Frame
• Scrap Lace (enough to cover the screen in one piece)
• Scissors
• Spray Adhesive or Packing Tape (tape needs to be strong enough to hold fabric in place) 

1. Remove any mesh screening from frame. If you wish to leave the mesh intact, that is perfectly fine. 
2. If you have spray adhesive, wet the edges of the frame just enough so the lace will stick.
3. Stretch lace out over the frame using either the spray adhesive or tape to hold the other sides in place.
4. Pop the screen back in to the window and pull the lace taut. Make sure the screen is tight enough so the lace does not slide through. 
5. Use your scissors to cut off the excess fabric. 
6. Step back and admire your lace windows! Before and after photos following the jump...