rainy days

this weekend was veryyy relaxing- borderline boring. but i think it's what i needed. i don't feel like such a slug anymore today :) it was cool and rainy both days which is a great excuse to sit inside and do nothing! so after my hair appt on saturday, we didnt do much except eat and watch movies.

sunday we emerged early to hang out with colin's dad. we watched some soccer and got some lunch (yum!) then returned to the apartment to watch the football game- go skins! 2-0! ;) and once colin left, i needed to get out of the house so i went to my go to place of entertainment- target! i got some wine and snacks and ran into some xmas lights during my adventure ( i LOVE christmas and lights and all that jazz) so i was feeling inspired. i grabbed a couple boxes of regular old white string lights and began to scheme...

they were under $3 a box which is amazing so i knew i had to do something fun. i decided to spruce up my bed since i don't have a headboard or any art above the bed. i simply attached the two strings and did a vertical zig zag pattern above my bed from mattress to ceiling (these lights don't get hot, so i dont have to worry about them lighting my pillows on fire.) and there you have it- the easiest, most inexpensive ($5 and change) and festive headboard you've ever seen!

add a few homemade pillows and it feels very cozy, yet glamourous ;) that was my crafty sunday... i think i will make this a new tradition! yay :)

<3 alison

diy: lace table

so the boyfriend was not in town this weekend like he usually is ... (sad face)

what a cutie ;)

BUT that usually just means i get creative and find projects to entertain myself. sadly i usually get too busy/tired during the week to do much heavy crafting, but the weekends give me plenty of time to get motivated, gather supplies, etc.

so i read a really fun diy project on a beautiful mess' blog recently (her stuff is really neat, btw) and since i have a fairly inexpensive and boring living room coffee table, i decided this project would be perfect! and it was...

i ran around town collecting supplies after lunch with my momma (who knew it would be such a pain to find a pretty colored spray paint!?). i grabbed a yard and a half of lace (the least expensive with the prettiest pattern- since it's getting trashed anyways) and a can of spray paint. i already had the table and sand paper at home. i got in my yucky painter's clothes and cleaned both levels of my coffee table really well. then i taped the lace to the top of the table as straight as i could get it. i took the bottom level off and took both pieces outside. i sprayed down the top with the lace; then with the bottom piece, i just sprayed the whole thing as evenly as possible (it's ok if it doesn't look perfect, it's going to get roughed up anyways). then i let it sit outside for about 2 hours to be safe. 

slowly peel the lace off and viola- beautiful!! now with the bottom half, i took sand paper and roughed it up around the edges and center making it look old and antiqued. each step looked something like this:

after some wiping and vacuuming of paint dust (i distressed the bottom inside like a dork), i now have the prettiest coffee table i've ever seen! and it cost me less than $15 (minus the table- mine's from ikea, so it's pretty inexpensive anyways) check it out:

now i'm feeling accomplished! yay :)