Flower Arranging: diy style

Check out this beautiful and very creative DIY flower arrangement over at The Art of Doing Stuff...

diy: Sunburst Mirrors

I have always wanted a sunburst mirror and have yet to find one at a price I like. But after finding these amazing DIY's I think I may just make one for myself!

Have a look at these easy do-it-yourself sunburst mirrors from around the blog world...

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What do you all think, should I try making one?

diy: dining room light

After sharing an awesome DIY ikea hack the other day, I came across another great one that I thought was uber chic and worth sharing!

my DIY sense is tickling! I can't wait for the weather to get better so I can have some DIY fun :)

diy: ikea hack style

Check out this amazing DIY ikea hack from Me, you and a wiener, trust me this is jaw dropping!!

the before

and the after!

diy: Fur Ottoman & Ruffled Lamp Shade

I had to share this absolutely fabulous fur ottoman DIY I spied over at Nesting Place

and why not share this ruffled anthropologie inspired DIY lampshade via Just a Girl

Don't you just love DIY'S!!!

Chocolate Almond Biscotti

I wanted to share with all my lovely readers a recipe I just tried. This entire idea to make my own biscotti stemmed from the fact that I always buy one with my chai latte or chai tea at work and it was getting expensive... so I decided to try and make some myself.

I got the recipe from here and just changed it up a bit by using almonds instead of hazelnuts.

Here are the ingredients you'll need:

1 cup (150 grams) hazelnuts or almond slithers

4 ounces (120 grams) semisweet or bittersweet chocolate, coarsely chopped

1 cup (210 grams) firmly packed light brown sugar

1 3/4 cups (230 grams) all-purpose flour

1/3 cup (30 grams) unsweetened cocoa powder

1 tablespoon (4 grams) instant espresso powder

1 teaspoon (5 grams)baking soda

1/4 teaspoon salt

3 large eggs

1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

You can get the detailed recipe here

And just cause I love recipes with pictures, here are some pictures of my biscotti making process...

Fur shawl = fur throw

As some of you guys know I was recently in my best friend's winter wedding where the bridesmaids wore faux fur shawls. After the wedding was over and I was home getting into my pj's I draped the fur shawl over my desk chair in my bedroom and had an epiphany... what if I turned my fur shawl into a fur throw? I knew I probably wouldn't be wearing it again so why not re-purpose it for my home. I just removed the round pearl closure and the Velcro from the inside closure and voila! Have a look and let me know what you think?

the before...

and the after

 

Zebra print coasters...diy

Okay so I've been on a DIY kick lately. I had bought some fabric from Tonic Living a while ago and it's literally been sitting in my closet waiting to be used so I came up with two DIY's.

First are these coasters, they are super easy to make...

I bought the cork in a round shape from the dollar store, the fabric is from Tonic Living and the laminating sheets are from Walmart. You will also need a glue gun and glue sticks.

 (I forgot to take pictures of the process) you basically trace your round cork onto the fabric, then cut out the shape you just traced. Then take your laminating sheets and laminate your fabric! Yes you need to do this to protect the fabric from the condensation from the drinks. You can also use heavy duty specialty printed paper and skip the laminating step, either way just make sure if your coaster gets wet that it doesn't get ruined! Final step is to cut out the round piece of fabric that you just laminated this will detach it from the laminating sheet, hot glue it onto the circular pieces of cork and voila instant chic!

The second DIY is some table runners in the same fabric. All I really did was decide on a length I liked then I cut and used a no sew tape ( also found at the dollar store) to make my clean edges, although you could also fray the edges for a less polished look.

And that's all, now I have some great new accessories for the holiday season and year round!

Faux croc tray... diy

I have been wanting to do this type of DIY for a while now. The problem was I could never find any croc fabric... until now! I was at my neighbourhood dollar store and came across these great faux croc print placemats that came in tons of colours and the DIY was born. I had an old tray and the rest is pretty easy. All you need is to cut your placemat to fit into your tray and then hot glue the placemat into place. The best part about the placemats as opposed to croc printed paper is that you can wipe them down if they get dirty.

the before

the material

the process

the after!

I just recently saw Nate Berkus try his own version here

What do you think, is this not the easiest DIY ever? Looks fab right!