Crafty McCrafterson's - DIY project

Soooo we think it's time for a non-fashion related post/ DIY post...since we haven't been doing very many crafty/ home projects lately due to our increasingly busy schedules of making custom clothes for people (we are VERY THANKFUL for each and every one of you!) - and while we "technically" don't really have the time to do home projects, but we decided to make it a point to get this ONE project finished....so we did.

we had been eying these amazing BRIGHT and CHEERFUL credenza's lately that seem to be popping up everywhere either on Apartment Therapy.com, Room Service, Jonathan Adler, or awesome vintage remastered pieces...

We picked up a credenza/cubby shelving unit at a garage sale for a whopping $10....it was totally boring and simple, but we envisioned how easily it could be transformed into something spectacular!

this is what the credenza looked like before:

boring garage sale find - $10

You could say that our taste in interior design is a funky/eclectic/bright/modern - ish....we LOVE LOVE LOVE color for our house (each room in our apartment is a different color, and we prefer our furniture to be brightly colored as well, and everything is mismatched.
We've noticed TONS of Chevron printed interiors recently as well as Chevron printed clothing too...and naturally we are big fans of the colorful zig zag print, so we decided to use it on the credenza.

chevron printed dresser

{Design & painted by Mark Chamberlin via Benjamin Moore's site, via JGB Interiors

The always inspirational Jonathan Adler

The always inspirational Jonathan Adler

there's even accessories!

We decided to do the credenza turquoise (to match our already existing TV cabinet) with the added 'Chevron' flare of course..

To construct the chevron pattern, we cut even strips of cardboard and taped them together in a zig zag pattern.

• First, we removed the partical board backing on the credenza because it was just ugly and not useful...

• We sanded the credenza lightly, and then painted two coats of turquoise paint - and let dry.

• Next, we taped down our chevron pattern along the top of the cabinet.(verrrry carefully, and perfectly measured) god forbid your perfect chevron pattern ends up crooked!!!
• With a small paint brush and black acrylic paint, we CAREFULLY painted in the chevron pattern...it took FOREVER (but we are total perfectionists...so it took us extra long...)
• we then continued the chevron patten down the sides of the credenza as well, 
• lastly, we finished some of the trim with black paint to tie the whole piece together.

and, VOILA!!! our DIY chevron credenza a la Rainbows Noir!

freshly painted

waiting for the paint to dry...

ready for decorating!

this credenza wants to host a cocktail party...

home sweet home.

Hope you guys liked our DIY project! we cant wait to do our next one, Heidi's bedroom nightstands...stay tuned!

xx
Heidi & Nissa

we've gone DIY crazy!! - bedroom dresser edition

Nissa has re-done her room FINALLY after a year of procrastination...better late than never right?

Anywho...part of the "re-do" meant she needed a new dresser - and when we spotted this at Room Service - we died. Nissa HAD TO HAVE IT...

PC: Room Service

....but the $2,295 price tag....not so practical for a broke ass 27 year old chick living in an apartment.
so, what do we do? DIY project duh!!!

Nissa found a vintage french provincial dresser on Craigslist for 50 bucks...
of course we forgot to take a "before" picture of the dresser, but it looked a lot like this one - but wayyyy crappier - the "off-white" paint was peeling and scratched, and lets face it - it was "off-white" - which in my world, is borrrrringggg.

"look-a-like" dresser from Craigslist - before

Next, we picked up a couple cans of black furniture spray paint (semi-gloss) from Lowes, as well as white spray paint for the accents.

Nissa then sanded the dresser lightly, and also removed the accent pieces - which she spray painted white separately.

Then Nissa and our lovely mother and step-father spray painted the sh*t out of that dresser (don't worry, they went outside to do this...caution: major fume-age!!!)

Once it was all dry, Nissa glued the white accent pieces back on, and VOILA!!!! 

Allow me to introduce you to The $50 version of the Room Service inspiration dresser!!!

Moral of the story: 

$50 vs. $2,295

I choose 50 dollars....thanks!

DIY - custom dog silhouettes a la Heidi and Nissa

We've been wanting custom silhouettes of our pups for quite sometime now...and after scouring etsy.com for super cute custom dog silhouettes, we were just disappointed with the selection and decided "Hey! we can totally just make our own! So, that's what we did!...

Inspiration silhouette - cute, but kinda plain!

What we did - and/or what you will need to make them:

First we went to Michaels (best store ever!!) and picked up the following:

• 10x10 black picture frames
• plain black 12x12 cardstock (or scrapbooking paper)
• a large assortment of 12x12 printed scrapbooking paper to match our home decor
• a quality x-acto knife
• and a glue stick!

We then took profile photos of our dogs, printed the picture, and then traced their exact silhouette's in sharpie.
Next, we cut the photo silhouette out using the x-acto knife, and then traced the outline only on the black cardstock with pencil.
Then we VERY CAREFULLY cut out the silhouette - ensuring that no mistakes we made!
We then just glued the black silhouette to the fun and colorful paper, and we added silver embossed letter stickers of each dogs initials right below the silhouettes.
Lastly, we cut down each one to fit the 10x10 frame

...and voila! Custom framed silhouettes of my amazing pups!!!!!

All done and hung in Heidi's bedroom!

Harlot Marie

Sasha Sparkles

Axl Rose

and... just in case you aren't familiar with my dogs (and how incredibly cute they are!!!)
left - Harlot, middle - Sasha, and on the right - Axl