Upcycled Shutter

I found this shutter "on the side of the road." Okay, it wasn't totally on the side of the road, but someone was clearly done with it, and I clearly wanted it. That's all I'm going to say about that. 

 It had some amateur-looking carvings in it.

There was a random wire hook on the back, that did the job.

I had great plans for this shutter, I did. You're on Pinterest, right? You've seen what people do with these things. I envisioned modge-podge-ing fabric on each individual louver. I envisioned antique-ing it or sanding it. Well, in the middle of painting the Antique Child's Rocking Chair (see post here) in Benjamin Moore's Hollingsworth Green, I slapped some leftover paint on the louver. I figured it would be a great 1st coat. 

Well, it was the only coat. 

A few days later I went back out to put a little thicker coat and get creative, and I realized it looked great just as it was! It's not a great paint job. It's not evenly done or anything, but I think it looks fine. 

It sits just above the little table I got a few weeks back (see post here). 

Yes, that's a whip on the wall. 

And yes, Kit painted that canvas on the little table. 

So get out there, pick up someone else's junk, and turn it into your treasure.

Aloha, 

Rebecca

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These Are A Few Of My Favorite Things... the birthday edition

I turned 29 last week. Ivy is now 2 years old. When she was in my tummy, I felt her kick for the first time on my birthday. How awesome is that?! I'll admit it, the first two birthdays after having her were a little hard to swallow. I didn't get much of a break on either of them. Last year we went to The Melting Pot. Warning: do not take an 18 month old to The Melting Pot. Boiling oil... melted chocolates. Wasn't super. But this year, things were a lot better. Especially because Ivy is at an age where she can jump into the celebration and know what's going on. 

A few people gave me gifts for my birthday, and let me tell you. 

They were awesome gifts! Some of my new favorite things! 

#1--

The first gift was from my husband-- a trip to Molokini on my birthday and an underwater digital camera. Unfortunately I can't share any photos from my birthday trip to Molokini because the camera broke on the trip!! :( Can you believe it? I know so many people with the exact same camera and no one has had problems... so I returned it and am on the lookout for another one... It's still one of my favorite things, though. I just don't have it in my possession at the moment. 

#2--

An Urban Outfitters gift card from my brother and his wife. 

If you read this blog, then I needn't say more. Golden.

#3--

These awesome bracelets from my friend, Katie. They're from Collections in Makawao. I was so busy on my birthday and the day after and the day after that, that these bracelets sat in my purse, still in the packages for 2 days!! Special shout-out to my captain at work, Kaitlen, for putting them on my while I was driving us to the Studios. 

Aren't they gorgeous?!

#4--

I bought this top for myself from Mahina. It was 50% off. I am not allowed to wear strapless (trust me, I've had waaaayyyy too many malfunctions!!!!! while dancing, on planes... the list goes on...) so I sewed on these black straps. They criss-cross in the back. The butterflies are so cute. Mahina is a super-cute boutique. Check it out. 

  

#5--

A few months ago I realized Jack Johnson was having a concert on my birthday! I bought Kit and I tickets. Jack hasn't been to Maui in a few years, but used to always come for Kokua Fest right around my birthday back in 2005-2006. So I'm convinced he puts these concerts on just for my birthday. 

Take note of the plant on the fence in the background: it's lilikoi. Couple that with the fact that this concert also featured Paual Fuga!!! Destiny.

#6--

At the concert, Kit bought me a shirt, to replace my old one from 6 years ago. I love it. Isn't it sooooo awesome?! What a great design.

Here's my old one... eek. And what I did to my old one... :).

 (You can see my tutorial of it in this post). 

#7--

My cousin and her husband met up with us at the concert. She brought me a way cool present from Haiku Style in the Haiku Marketplace. They're two long strands of beads, with shells on the ends... to be worn around the neck, scarf-style (see photo above), or around the waist like this:

#8--

I got to work on Saturday, and one of my students, (shout out to Larissa and Elizabeth), bought me the CD from the concert for my birthday!!!

#9--

Another self-gift: I bought myself a new Volcom swimsuit. These things aren't cheap. I usually by myself a new suit every birthday or so. 

#10--

A few days before my birthday, I got flowers from Kit. :) He said it was the start of "birthday week." Ivy got me a balloon that said "Love You Mom," and I was just about to take a photo of it, but she literally popped it while I was writing #9 of this post!!

#11--

I came home from work the other day, and our friends from Australia brought me a birthday bottle of wine! 

#12--

I may be blogging from a new computer soon! I've been saving up, and my parents gave me some spare change to contribute to the purchase. But I can't seem to make the commitment... Of course, it will be a Mac (i never use anything but). Just trying to get the guts up to make the big purchase. 

And those are a few of my favorite things... the birthday edition.

Aloha, 

Becca

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What I made for Kit for Valentine's Day...

I know. I know. Valentine's Day is over. But I couldn't post it before/on V-Day because I didn't want Kit to see it. So, here it is now. I can't remember exactly which blog(s) I saw it on, but this is an idea floating around blog-world. Plus, my husband doesn't read blogs, so it's new to him!

To start, I went out and bought a $6 canvas. Was trying to find some other hard surface that I could upcycle and potentially hang on a wall, but gave in and spent the $6.

Then I chose my current "it" fabric, (which I've used on the no-sew tin and the pillow cover), and cut it so I could fold it over the back. Don't worry, there's not much more of this brown/cream foliage fabric, so you'll probably only have to endure a few more posts that include it...

I've recently (as of last Monday, yes, the day before V-Day) begun to use Modge Podge for the first time ever. So, I covered the canvas with the Podge, then placed it front-side down, and then folded the edges over and "modged" those.

A few days earlier I had downloaded a ton of new fonts, figured out our "important dates" and printed it out onto a sage-colored scrapbook paper cut to size.

After another layer of Modge Podge dried on the outside of the fabric, I placed the paper on the fabric and put another layer of the Podge on it.

Now this is where Kit decided his gift should live:

It's on a shiloh-colored shelf (which matches the desk and mirror in this post), next to Kit's side of the bed. That's his grandfather's watch in front of it. He passed away in August 2010. Our friend from Slovenia took those pics of Ivy last April and he and his girlfriend had them framed for us. (The one on the right ended up in a Slovenian catalog!!) They just had a daughter and I sent them the baby bunting in this post a few weeks back. The ceramic dog is one of Kit's high school art projects.

I like the shine of the Modge Podge. And you can see the brush strokes.

Aloha,
--Becca

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Master Bedroom - cover those TV cords!

Our home was previously one of my parent's Vacation Rentals here on Maui. So we moved into it totally furnished. I know many of you would love to live in a Maui Vacation home, and my parent's places are really cute, but my style is slightly different. So slowly, we've been making it our own space, as we sift out (some of) the bamboo, tropical flowers and palm tree decor. Shameless plug: if you're looking to vacation in Maui, go 'like' my parents' business page on FB or I can get you their contact info!

But this post is not about style, it's about covering up those awful flat screen TV cords in our Master Bedroom! Previously at the foot of our bed, it looked like this, complete with a 13" TV/VCR combo, 

(and the VCR portion didn't work, haha). And yes, that desk is painted in SHILOH...

For Christmas I really wanted a flat screen mounted at the foot of the bed, centered on the wall, not in a corner (for the sake of my back/neck alignment, haha). So I got a 19" off-brand at Wal-Mart the day after Thanksgiving, for $89! When we mounted it, the TV cords looked horrendous. I don't have a "before" pic, because we wanted them covered up so quick. Since I'm a bunting queen, my husband suggested I do some time of "bunting" to cover it up. He's all, "Make bunting, but not regular bunting... some kind of vertical bunting." Sometimes I'm amazed at our creative collaborations... Here's what came out of it:

I used a single fold bias tape in grey, on top of a satin ribbon. 

Then I chose some favorite fabrics and went to work.

Wasn't totally prepared for the ribbon to curl, like it did, but it's not terrible.

I guess "I mean to do it." :)

This is just decor on the opposite side:

The photo on the top left is one my husband took when we went to Slovenia for my brother's wedding. The collage on the top right are childhood photos of my husband and his older brother.

My brother's wife made the frame/jewelry holder on the left.

In the center is an awesome "photo box" from Pier 1. It opens up with hinges and you place things in and it came with magnets which secure the items in place. I love it. It contains keepsakes also from our Europe trip. 

And, if you've been reading my blog, you know that tin is now covered in fabric which matches the fabric in the top left frame! 

--Becca

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No-Sew Fabric Covered Tins

I bought these tins for Ivy's first birthday in October 2010 (It was a ladybug theme). We put flowers in them and tied helium balloons to them. Totally fun. 

Well, I re-used them for her 2nd birthday in October 2011 (Elmo theme), and I put these little sesame street 3-D stickers on them, and after the party the stickers wouldn't come off! These adorable tins were starting to get ugly...

 

See the little Abby/Zoe (whoever it is) on the one on the right? She's still there...

I really wanted to give the tins a second chance. Remember my go-to color "Shiloh"? Well, since it's everywhere in my house anyway, I painted the insides of these tins, and the handles in that color. 

I usually stray away from the term "no-sew." I sew. So why would I want a project where I was trying to fake sewing? Well, for this one, I just felt like sewing was unnecessary for this project. 

I cut out strips of fabric that fit the circumference of the top of the tin.

The second fabric is awesome... It's from Sew Special, my go-to fabric store on Maui. My high school science teacher owns the store and her daughter picks out the BEST fabric. The first fabric (brown foliage) is from Fabric-Mart or something and was dirt cheap. I just thought it was a subtle, non-cheesy neutral. 

 Then I put little cuts on the bottom edge of it, so those cut be wrapped easily on the bottoms.

 Glue gun: on.

Need to find some modge-podge or whatever it's called, but can't seem to find it on this island yet...

After gluing the top of the fabric around the top of the tins, I wrapped the "slitted" edge around the bottom. But it still had an unfinished look. 

So I had fabric from some old sweat pants that were too long for my short legs, and I cut out circles for the bottom of the tin, so it would be nice and soft and easy to slide around.

 Glued on top.

 I'm not gonna lie: the area around the circle/handle part was tricky and not awesome. 

So I took twine and glued it a few times around it to cover up the awkward cuts. I really wanted to use vintage white rick-rack to wrap around it, but it's on loan right now to my friend Ajja. She's an awesome photographer and I made her Photo Booth Backdrop for her website launch party last Saturday, and all of my awesome colored ribbon/rick-rack/lace/etc. is still on the back-drop... 

Two tins complete...

...back in their old homes... 

...catching all the junk next to the couch...

 ...and the pens, hand-sanitizer and body spray on my Shiloh Desk.

One more to make, but I'm not sure which fabric I want to commit to. 

--Becca

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