Whimsical Wednesday, Tutorial Tuesday and a Giveaway

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I have had such a great weekend and beginning of the week spent with my family. I'm back in California now and missing the sunny (warm) weather of the Midwest.

But, I'm back to business now. Today's post will be "Whimsical Wednesday" along with "Tutorial Tuesday" (sorry, it's late) and a fun giveaway on another site I wanted to highlight.

I hope you all are having a fantastic week so far!!

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Whimsical Wednesday:

I'm loving doilies. They are not associated with old, stuffy, Victorian homes anymore but they are sweet, whimsical and you can find them on most anything these days. I LOVE to package my shipments with little paper doilies. They are so feminine and make packages look great and unique!

I found some awesome doily inspired items on ETSY, and wanted to share these sweet sellers with you. Take a look and enjoy.....

I absolutely love these "lace doily" coasters from uncommon. I love how they made something so feminine out of wood. A side note here, uncommon is located in Valparaiso, IN, a hop, skip and jump from where I grew up in Porter. How cool is that? Check it out here:

http://www.etsy.com/listing/52472805/doily-coasters

A laptop bag is a must, especially when flying. This sweet pink one from TrackandFieldDesigns is so pretty with the doily accent and the fawn. Find this one and others like it, here:
http://www.etsy.com/listing/52207668/laptop-bag-pink-fawn-and-lace-15-inch-or

AndFurtherMore took such a great approach to a doily by designing this beautiful clock. You can find this clock here
http://www.etsy.com/listing/52016477/doily-clock

but they also have it in other lovely colors!

Such a pretty pillow. This pillow is a vintage find from Antracitproduction.

You can check out the pillow here:

http://www.etsy.com/listing/52424168/vintage-doily-pillow
along with other vintage lovelies.

How lovely! This necklace is made of glass and handpainted with this sweet doily design. Check out FoxandClover's other work here:

http://www.etsy.com/shop/FoxAndClover

Who doesn't love to receive beautifully wrapped packages? And sending them is JUST as fun! You can do that with this Silhouette Packaging kit from sweetfindings. Here is the listing, but be sure to check out their other adorable items as well.
http://www.etsy.com/listing/51635968/silhouette-packaging-kit

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Tutorial Tuesday:

Once again, SO SORRY for being late with this. I've had a touch of jet lag, but I think I'm right back on schedule. :)

I found this super cute tutorial on Creature Comforts, an absolutely lovely blog, and wanted to share it with you. I find so many great tutorials out there and can't wait to try this one myself.

How cute are these? I love how simple and charming these boxes are. What a great gift!

Here is the full tutorial:

http://www.creaturecomfortsblog.com/home/2008/12/17/diy-paper-covered-matchboxes-the-perfect-hostess-gift.html

Enjoy!

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Giveaway!

And last, but certainly not least, is a giveaway hosted by ohhellofriend.blogspot.com. This year is their 2 year anniversary and the giveaway is fabulous.

Who doesn't want to win a new Polaroid camera and an Anthro gift card? I know I do (although I NEVER win anything, maybe this time I'll get lucky) *wink*

Check it out and good luck: http://ohhellofriend.blogspot.com/2010/07/2-year-blog-anniversary-giveaway.html

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Whew *wipes forehead* that was a lot! I hope you enjoyed the time you spent here today. I will be back on Friday for some fun Fashion.

Have a lovely afternoon!

♥D

Tutorial Tuesday

Thrift stores make my life a lot happier.

There are so many treasures (and trash, lets face it) at thrift stores, and re purposing those items is so much fun (the treasure ones, not the trash, of course). :)

I decided to grab a few items at my local shop and make them into a sweet cake/dessert plate. Of course, you can put whatever you like on this plate, but I dream of putting sweet cupcakes with LOADS of frosting on mine.

This is super easy, so take a look and do some re purposing for yourself.

Step 1: Find an unused plate. Either from your own collection, or check out your local thrift store for some great vintage finds. Mine cost $1 and the colors made me smile. It's hand painted porcelain and who knows HOW old. You can use any size you want, but mine is the typical dessert plate size (about 8 inches). Don't forget to wash it and dry it before starting this project.

Step 2: Find a glass candlestick holder to use as your base. This one is small in size (about 4 inches high) but you can use all different heights, especially if you are doing a table display). This one cost me .50 cents at the same thrift store. Again, remember to wash it and dry it before starting.

Step 3: My favorite glue so far. E-6000. This glue is super strong and starts working almost immediately. It doesn't take long to dry and you can get a large tube for $3.99. I bought this at Hobby Lobby, but any hobby store will carry it.

Put the glue either on your fingertips (no worries, it washes off OR rolls off once dry) or a Q-tip and smear glue around the top of the candlestick holder. You can see in the picture below, the edges look a little glommy. That's good! That's how it's supposed to look, since the glue is a little thick.

Step 4: Gently place the candlestick onto the center of the flipped over plate. Do your best to get right in the middle, but if you mess up, no worries. Just pick up the glass and reposition it. Be sure to wipe up any of the glue from a mistake, but luckily the glue dries clear, in case you miss any.

Once you get it positioned where you want it, press down a little firmer (glue might squeeze out from the edge) to make sure it really adheres to the plate. You can clean any excess glue with a Q-tip, or once again, peel it away with your fingers once dry. Let the plate dry for about an hour, and you are all set! I had my plate flipped over within about 15 minutes.

Enjoy your beautiful new cake plate!!

I hope you have some re purposing you can do!!

xoxo, D