Another Painted Porch

Remember the painted porch I posted about last week? I just found another painted floor and this one is just as beautiful.

Pretty today and it will continue to look good as it wears in, too. What a great way to define the space and make the bench and planters feel more like an outdoor room.

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image by Sarah Greenman found via Houzz

Painted Porch Floor

Over the weekend, we had the most gorgeous weather. It still seems hard to believe but spring is finally here and now summer doesn't feel so far away. Imagine a backyard barbecue and spending summer nights on a porch like this.

Did you notice the amazing floor? It's painted concrete and it is sensational.

Before and during shots:

Love the whole thing – from the pattern on the floor to the cafe lights above. So well done.

Check out the full how-to here.

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The Apron Blog

Hacks…for West Elm and Anthropologie!

Some eye candy and food for thought as we head into the weekend.

Feel like tackling a DIY project this weekend? A West Elm Hack or an Anthropologie Hack could be for you!

Special thanks to Jamie for finding these and passing them along.

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found on Pinterest via buzzfeed.com

Bathroom Styling Obsession

Lately, anything that I see from Wisteria, I absolutely adore. But I have to say that this page from their Winter catalog has become an obsession. I am crazy for the way this bathroom is styled! From the extraordinary mirror, to the subway tile, to the pretty french blue side table—it all looks so, so good! The seagrass and rattan pieces really add a bit of warmth, too. 

I think my favorite little detail is the pair of lucite (!) shelves that display those shiny silver bottles. Wisteria sells the bottles (you can find them on sale here, here, and here) but they remind me so much of the silver-painted bottles Jillian spotted at J. Crew a few months back. They are definitely an easy DIY that add a lot of glamour. And who doesn't want a little extra glamour in the bathroom?

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image via the Wisteria catalog

Cheri's Baby Shower Delights

Last weekend we threw a baby shower for my sister-in-law, Cheri. We had an amazing day celebrating her and are excitedly awaiting my little nephew William's arrival.

Cheri's shower gave me the opportunity to create some handmade gifts and to get crafty. Here are some cute projects that I wanted to share with you.

Inspired by the chalk art class I took at Belovely, here is my first chalkboard!

(By the way, isn't the background in the above photo amazing? We held Cheri's shower at Valley Forge Flowers...it was perfect! I highly recommend this beautiful boutique and café as a lovely venue and a gem of a store.)

Here's the proud mom-to-be posing with my chalk art. Hi, baby bump!

The teddy bear, below, is part of my gift. This cutie is sitting on a little chair that I decoupaged with a gray and white chevron print. He is even wearing a matching bow tie.

I layered strips of zig zags on top of each other, in all different directions, for a funky look.

I also made bunting for the nursery! I think I am most proud of this project. I have never made bunting before but I loosely followed this tutorial from The Painted Hive and it turned out really well.

Little William's room is painted blue (Martha Stewart's Blue Suede) and I thought that this gray and white chevron print would make a great accent. I used this same fabric to decoupage the chair above.  

The letters were cut out of blue felt using a simple template that I made.

Here is a fun display item from my mom. She bought this Umbra frame that has little clips inside. She enlarged a gorgeous photo of my brother and Cheri to use as the background and then clipped baby pictures of each of them on top. The effect was so adorable! 

We were marveling at how similar their baby pictures are. I think our moms even sported the same hairstyle!

My nephew will be named William after our father who passed away five years ago. My dad really loved flowers and African Violets were a favorite. So to honor his memory, each guest received a little white violet as a favor. The pots were spray painted silver and we applied "thank you" stickers in a chalkboard design. I wish I could say that I made the stickers but they were just a really great find from Michael's. 

And last, here are a couple of details that I wanted to share. Remember those kraft stickers I found at Target before Christmas? Well, they worked out perfectly as little gift seals that I could personalize. 

This is on the bottom of the decoupaged chair. 

And this sealed the paper that I used to wrap the bunting. 

I think it perfectly describes Cheri's shower, too. Show how much you care for those you love with handmade design-goodness.

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images by The Pink Chalkboard

Heart Art

Love this very personal heart art. 

The Etsy site suggests doing this for couples, but wouldn't it be great with kids' fingerprints, too? Perfect for a sweet (and can never be replicated) Valentine's Day gift.

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Couples Valentine's Day Personalized Art by FlutterbyePrints

A Stylish Corkboard

While looking through some Houzz images, I came across this great corkboard. Totally DIY and totally pretty.

Click here to see the how to (it's just an Ikea frame, cork, painter's tape and spray paint). And if you want to follow Sarah Dorsey, the Houzz contributor who created this, find her here and her own blog here. She's super talented.

Organizing the Mudroom

A few months ago, I was feeling an extreme need to organize. My mudroom closet was a mess – filled to the brim with jackets, shoes, gloves, hats and all sorts of other things. Here are the embarrassing before photos.

Something had to be done. Enter Ikea's Expedit unit.

This storage unit has saved the day many times before. I actually have 3 of them in various configurations throughout my home!

In my mudroom closet, I wanted to have a basket for each member of the family. It's been working amazingly well. With the help of Anthropologie's mercury glass letter ornaments, everyone now knows where to find their shoes, hats and gloves…and where to put them when they come home.

Once the bottom of the closet was taken care of, I moved on to the top.

I sprayed the baskets white and then taped off the bottom section and sprayed them shiny silver. Once sprayed, I organized and filled the baskets and placed them up top. Now I have plenty of storage and an aesthetically pleasing closet, too. I'm so happy with the end result!

Leather Pulls

Check out the leather pulls that were featured in this month's House Beautiful magazine.

Aren't they just lovely? Simple, yet cool, I think they would look great on clean-lined cabinetry or on a dresser like Ikea's Malm.

I certainly have enough of those Malms in my house. I think I may give this one a try!

Free Printable Gift Tags

In my day job, I am an account director at Kelsh Wilson Design, a strategic communications firm. Each year, we like to design fun holiday cards that allow us to do something unique and explore our fun personalities. This year, we created these sweet gift tags and loved them so much that we made a downloadable version and I wanted to share them with you here. 

So, if you need some last minute embellishments, click here to download your own set of gift tags! Inspired by vintage wallpaper patterns and using whimsical fonts and colors, these tags are great for gifts all year round. Happy gift giving!

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photos by Lia Calhoun

gift tags by Kelsh Wilson Design

Chalkboard Classes at Belovely

A few months ago, my friend Danielle told me about Belovely, a floral and event design company with a pretty little boutique in Ambler, PA. I wanted to check out the shop and found out that Belovely offers chalk art classes! I have always wanted to learn how to do this, so I signed up and on Wednesday night I visited the store and spent the evening learning how to make chalkboard art.

Here are a few photos of my work in progress:

and my final creation :) You can see everyone's work here!

Belovely's store is absolutely lovely, too! I couldn't complete this post without including a few snapshots of the boutique and their beautiful items for sale. I was so tempted to buy everything for myself!

You can order custom chalkboard art from Belovely (photos featured here) or try it for yourself at one of their classes. Find more information (and see more chalk art) here.

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photos by The Pink Chalkboard