If life hands you hazel branches...

When I nose around blogs and magazines, I often feel that one detail keeps jumping out at me. It seems to be everywhere. And either I hate it from the very depth of my heart (mustard yellow walls and fabrics!) or I end up loving it.

Modern cuckoo clock

Today we got wonderful weather in northern Germany - we got the barbecue started and  the garden up to par. It was really too hot for march, but I am not complaining! From a crafting point of view good weather means I can finally use lacquer again, because I don´t like to do that indoors

Concerning crafts and lacquer, I have a favorite project of mine to share with you today. I love it because a) it is quite easy and b) I am totally delighted with my result!

I have spent the last five years in Freiburg, a city right on the edge of the black forest. So when I moved away, I wanted to create a keepsake to honor that time. The choice of a cuckoo clock was quite easy, as there is little as connected to the black forest as that ticking bird´s home.

 I actually owned a traditional cuckoo clock when I was small, but my taste has changed some and I did not want all that dark wood and tons of curlicues to clutter my room.

They sell a modern version that is just a silhouette painted in all imaginable colors (pink seems to be a customers favorite). But as I did not want to drop 40 € on that, I decided to do it myself, which is more fun anyway.

Art Deco Portrait As Jewellry Pin Board

The project I share with you today is a personal favourite of mine. I hope you will like it as much!

There are many jewellry holders on the market, but most are boring or stand around and take up a lot of space. Jewellry is so pretty, it should be used to decorate your home, not be a enervating piece of clutter.
So I decided to create a piece of wall art that served as a jewellry holder. I love art noveau womens portraits and this was the moment to hang one up!

You need:

- cork pin board
- acrylic paint
- couple of small nails

If you are worried your artistic skills won´t match this project, don´t worry, I have a couple of ideas how to do this even if you can´t draw and paint all that well, so just read on.

21st Window: DIY Snow Globe

This tutorial was first posted as a guest post at sugarbeecrafts. But I thought it too cute not to share here, too.

For this snow globe, you need:

DIY coat rack N° 1

My tiny windowless hall looked quite dark and dreary when I moved in, so I decided to funk it up with a little color. I also needed a coat hanger so... two birds, one stone.

(Kind of magic) candle holders

Once upon a time, a princess bought an old lampshade.

Yes, this is gonna be a fairytale, in which the heroine discovers a treasure where it was not expected and learns a important life lesson: Even though stuff might not go according to your plan, doesn´t mean it will not work out perfectly in the end.

OK, the princess is really me, but otherwise the story ist true.

Besides, owing to a filandering baron who lived 100 years ago I actually got a drop of blue blood in me, even if it is not legitime.

But back to the tale.

DIY wooden script

Hi everyone,
sorry for the absence. A couple of weeks ago, I managed to not only have my ole grandma of a laptop die on me, but to also give myself a concussion. On the same day. Wonderful.

Well, the computer´s end was long expected. The concussion I owe to stupidity. To my fame, I managed to throw myself onto my sofa, forgetting that I had put the cushions away, so where normally there was snuggly cushiness, now my head met only the wall. What can I say? Occasionally, I am a genius that way ; ).

But the nausea and headache are gone by now, and yesterday, my new, shiney, non-stickey laptop arrived, so I can share with you the stuff I have done while on my enforced online abstinence. Here is the first project.

When I stumble onto some cool, funny or meaningful (to me) phrases I often wish to integrate them in my home. Unfortunatly, wall tatooes have been so incredibly overdone. Also, the premade ones never say stuff I want to put up. Don´t spent your life dreaming, but live your dreams? No, sorry, I have read that about 1000 times to often.

So I decided to make some wooden wall art, which has the added advantage of being three dimensional and thus more interesting.

Pop art portrait

A happy Hello to you! Here comes a not so easy but totally worth it project.

 I have always loved these black and white pop art paintings of Audrey Hepburn and Marilyn Monroe you can see pretty much everywhere (or at least at your local Ikea). The reduction to the essentials that really shows the characteristic features. The monochromatic palette that does not distract from the faces. Wow.

But I did not want someone I do not know personally looking at me from a one by one meter canvas. Then, when I visited a friend of mine, I saw that her flatmate had a selfmade pop art painting of her sister. It was gorgeous. So I decided to give it a try, too.

Small Uglies gone posh: DVD wallet:

When it comes to decorating, I tend to go for the big stuff first. (Probably most folks do, so I should not feel special ; ) ) Spruce up your sofa, pimp the countertops, buy a new rug. I mean, quick, visible results are great!  

But somehow, with my eye always on the next big project, I tend to neglect the stuff I use everyday. Because it is always there, I kind of ignore it, even if it is a real eyesore. But in the back of my mind, my puke green dishmop, the chaotic array of shampoo bottles and the cheap plastic ladle are always jumping up and down and singing “Ugly..... I am so Uggglyyy”. 

 

But now there will be no more of that! 

I am prepared to attack that practical everyday stuff I got because it cost 99 cent and is practical, and not because of it´s handsomeness. 

So check out how I change those small Uglies into real beauties.

Here is my first, quick posh-it-up for a DVD wallet.



Would you have thought that this vintage darling looked like this about 20 minutes earlier? 

Painting inspired by Grimm´s Fairytale

Hello everybody!

 

One of my favorite ways to personalize a room is by surrounding myself with artwork done by myself or people I care about. The results may not be perfect, but they feel infused by love.

Today, I want to share the making of this painting with you. It is pretty easy to do and I adore the fact that it incorporates books (I just plain love to read!).

The silhouette shows two characters from my favorite Grimm´s fairytale, “Brüderchen und Schwesterchen” 

meaning “ brother and sister ".

Before and After: Baroque-style dresser:

Moving into my first dorm room, I was stuck with a furniture dilemma most students will know: My decor was more or less a “best of Ikea”. (I guess that´s what happens when you move from the cozy nest of your parental home to a town 800 km away and buy all the stuff you need in three hours because your master-plan for saving money was getting the rental for only one day).

My generic surroundings made me truly crave an unique piece, something not to be found in about 54.9% of households worldwide. (Please, my dear Billy, don`t be offended! I still love you!). 

So imagine how happy I was when I encountered this beauty at the local thrift shop!

I actually kind of liked the original gold and green checkerboard. And though it can´t be seen all that well in this picture, there were some really cute embossings and red details. But the colour scheme seemed a little opulent and dark for me. 

Beside, the paint was really strange, waxlike, staining everything it touched and showing holes in places. 

So, every time I needed a break from memorizing definitions, I would attack the centimeter thick paint with a trowel for a couple of minutes. 

Once the mutant paint was all scraped off I decided on a blue color, going for a little shabby chic to bring out the details. 

Hello world! Look at my bird feeder!

Great that you have found your way to my blog! 
As an university student, I am an ardent DIYselver because a) it is a great balance to studying all day and b) it allows me to turn my shared flat more cozy and personal without breaking the bank. 

I love looking for inspirations online and am always overwhelmed by the fact that so many people share great ideas in their free time. Now, after profiting for years, I decided to contribute something as well. 

So here is my first project: 

I love my surfer-style bird feeder!

I will admit that the attraction is more in the artwork than the architecture. But that makes it quite easy to build. So this is actually a nice project to do with your kids, too.

Cost *

Difficulty: **