Styling a Bookcase

This is one of my favorite pieces of furniture in our home. I purchased it from Arhaus furniture after they floor sampled it ;) The hardware on it is so interesting and amazing, and I love the stain and finish of the wood. I actually picked a dark tone out of the wood to match and stain our hardwood. It's the perfect display cabinet for picture frames, and all the little chotskies that I collect. This weekend I finally got around to covering the back of the book shelves with vintage book pages. I found the book "A Tale of Two Cities" recently at a half price book store. I thought it would be a perfect book to use because I hope to visit both Paris and London someday(the "two cities"), and it was a book I remember reading in high school.  So I grabbed my double sided tape and started taping away. It actually went pretty quickly, and I ended up using the entire book to cover the bookcase.
Here are some close up photos of the results and my styling of the bookcase.

I love collecting vintage tins.

This project was inexpensive, and an easy task to complete. I ended up spending less then $2 on the vintage book, and my only other supplies were double sided tape and scissors. It took me about an hour to complete, and I am really happy with the results. The best part is, when I get tired of this look, it will be easy to remove. What will we ever do when the world stops printing books? I pretty sure this project would not have not turned out so great if I lined it will a kindle fire ;) Long live the printed book!

Hope you feel inspired, and have a great week! XO~Gretchen

Baby Girl Nursery

Since I am the mom of three handsome boys, I always love when I get the opportunity to help decorate a little girl's space. This mom happens to be one of my favorite clients, she is nice as can be, and crafty. This nursery design was a combined effort, and I wanted to share with you the results...

Pink never gets old, especially when it's your first little girl. We chose a soft pink, it really complemented all our fabric choices. I always love the combination of pinks and aqua, I think they work really well together. The ceilings are only 8 feet tall, so we opted for a ceiling mount chandelier. My client made the artwork above her daughters bed, I just picked out the fabric. She just covered the canvas with fabric and glued on the wooden painted letters. A ribbon was attached to the back. This is a great way to personalize your child's space, and you are only limited by your imagination.

I love the birdcage fabric. 

I adore this Amy Butler fabric that we used for the drapes. I found it at 

Fabric.com It's a little more aqua then it appears on the website.

This is an adorable craft project made by one of her friends. It works out perfect to hang her collection of headbands, and post some family photos. :)

This is a little corner of her room. Her talented mother-in-law painted this artwork for her, and I made the little birdie mobile. The mobile was pretty easy to make. I just used felt for the birds and the flowers, and then yarn for the legs of the birds. I accented it will little scrapbook flowers. I found a wooden loom, painted it aqua, and glue ric rac around it.

I love the way this little nook of her room turned out. Lots of baby rocking and snuggling will be taking place here. The side table was an inexpensive piece I found, and she painted it aqua.

                                     Collection of vintage books and a sweet little bird.

Close up of the Amy Butler fabric. I made this sweet little pom pom pillow for her chair.

This piece works well not only as a dresser but also as a changing table. And this amazing rug is from RugsUSA.com

                                                 Cute pom pom garland that I made.

Reading shelf filled with lots of wonderful books.

I really had so much fun helping with this space. I've been so busy with Lulubelles.com stuff lately that it was fun to work with my other passion, interior design. Hope you feel inspired and thanks for stopping by. 

XO~ Gretchen

Back to School Mantel

BACK TO SCHOOL

It's back to school time at our house. All my boys start back next week. I can't believe summer break is nearing an end. :( I really enjoy having my boys home for the summer. We have enjoyed lots of family time together. Since it's the start of a new school year I decided to create a mantel to celebrate my boys and encourage them to have a wonderful school year. I created this design using some things I had, and a few things that I purchased.

First I created the banner using my cutting machine. I then found this adorable ruler ribbon for $.99 at Hobby Lobby. You get six feet on the roll, which is a great deal. I picked up the tiny clips a while back, and think they worked out perfect to hold the cards. 

Close up of the details. I love the polka dot paper. I found this paper at Michaels Craft Store.

I found the writing tab slips from Michaels, they were 50% off and ended up being $.50 They came in a pack. I wrote each of my boys names on them for a personal touch.

I made this large "B" out of a cardboard B that I found at Joann Crafts. I covered it with some material that I had, and then outlined the letter with twine.

The large globe is a vintage find, I love it! I found this other metal globe at Target. I stacked the smaller globe on vintage books that I've had for a while.

This is an old frame that I painted aqua, shocking I know ;). I made these little banners to hang on it. I used some apple print scrapbook paper for the triangle banner. The other one is made out of alphabet stickers I found for cheap at Michaels Craft Store. I also found the grade stickers there. Those are the grades that my boys will be in this year. Just another way to add a personal touch. 

I found these addition cards in the dollar section at Target. I had these letter stickers and used them to spell out A,B,C. I also used this vintage frame that I painted aqua.

I am not a chalkboard artist by any means, but this is the special message I wanted to share with my boys. I hope you feel inspired to create a back to school mantel. Best wishes for a wonderful school year, and if you are a teacher then thank you in advance for all your hard work and dedication! 

XO~Gretchen

Ombre' Birthday cake with bunting

So today is my birthday and I decided to make my own bday cake. That way you are guaranteed to get what you want ;). I have seen a photo of an ombre cake floating around on Pinterest, so I decided to give it a whirl and make my own version. It's a three layer cake, and between each layer is cream cheese frosting and coconut flakes. I made the outside frosting using a recipe that my Granny taught me. It's very easy. You mix together a package of powdered sugar, one crisco stick, a pinch of salt, and about 1/4 cup of water. You may need to add more water if you find it's too thick. I used a box yellow cake. I added the dye to the frosting, making 3 different colors.
I made the mini bunting using tiny ball fringe, and cut out triangles for the banners. Easy breezy! I think it's a cute way to personalize a cake, and make it extra special. And the "Let them eat cake" is from the new Rhonna Designs app! I love it, and use it all the time on Instagram!
XO~Gretchen