DIY Painted Coasters

We are big fans of coasters around our house, especially DIY coasters, like these. We had some plain white tiles left over from coasters we made for Christmas presents, and decided to make some bright painted coasters to add to our collection.

These are very easy, and you can get creative with your shapes and patterns.

Supplies:

ceramic square tiles (from any hardware store)

paint brush(es)

masking/painters tape

acrylic paint

gold spray paint, or gold paint pen (optional)

clear acrylic gloss coating

foam, felt or cork

Using your tape, create your desired pattern(s) on your tiles, remembering that wherever the tape is, it will end up being the ceramic white.

Using acrylic paint, paint the while parts of your tiles. 

*Don't let your tiles dry completely. Peel off the tape as soon as you are done painting, to create a cleaner line. You can use your fingernail, or any sharp point to scrape off any paint that snuck under your tape.

We didn't like the plain edges of the coasters, so we wanted to paint them gold. We found some gold spray paint, and we were going to use that, but it seemed like a lot more work, to keep the newly painted tops from getting gold on them. We remembered we had a gold paint pen, that would work perfectly. We carefully painted all 4 edges of the coasters with the gold paint pen.

After the paint on your coasters has dried for a little, spray 2 coats (waiting 2 minutes in between coats) of clear acrylic gloss coating to sealing the coasters and making them water-resistant.

After the gloss coating has dried, usually for 24 hours, glue some felt or cork to the bottom of the coasters to keep them from scratching the surfaces that they set on.

Now you have yourself some fun and custom coasters!

Taking it to the Streets

The Olympics are in full swing, and taking over our evenings (and maybe your days, if you are streaming at work). Meanwhile, street artists are taking over the streets of London, showcasing their talent (and opinions) in the form of graffiti.

Authorities are cracking down on street art, and have even made several arrests. This hasn't stopped some street artists, like Criminal Chalkist, Mau Mau and Banksy from expressing their opinions. The locations of Banksy's two pieces (seen below) have been kept a secret for the fear of being painted over.

Criminal Chalkist- "100 Meter Dash"

Banksy- Javelin Missile Thrower

Banksy

unknown

Mau Mau- "Clown Town Olympics"

unknown

Mr. Moustache

Pretty impressive work, controversial or not.

-Whitney

DIY Headboard

One Sunday I decided to play handy man in stead of lay out at the pool. I went to the local hardware store and browsed their scrap wood section. I have a queen bed in the guest room up against a blank wall, so it needed some headboard love! I measured the width of the bed according to the frame, for the wood and the height that I wanted.

Below is a list of the materials I used:

• 4 pieces of scrap wood- 60 inches wide x 4 inches tall
• 2- 2x4 pieces of wood measured at 54 inches tall
• Drill
• Screws
• Your favorite stain or paint (I used Mini-Wax Jaco Mean Stain because I had it left over from my floors)

All I did was lay out the 2x4's and screw the planks into them using the drill. I used 4 screws per plank.

Once done, I did one round of sanding to smooth out the scrap wood. I only applied one coat of stain because I didn't want the headboard to match my floors. Let it dry for about 24 hours.

And about 30 minutes and $45 later, you have a new headboard!

-Brooke 

DIY Necklace Holder

I was getting sick of my T Bar necklace holder, and always having to take half of them off to get to the necklace I want. I wanted a more practical and visually appealing holder, and I wanted to clear up some space on my dresser, so a hanging holder was what I was going for. I've seen some DIY necklace holders that looked fairly easy. Well I found out it took a little more work than I thought, and I'm glad I had some help.

I found this interesting shaped piece of cedar wood at my mom's new house, and thought it would be perfect for a necklace holder with some fun knobs.

A while back, I bought some knobs at Anthropologie for my dresser, and knew I didn't want to spend that much money on this project. I checked out Hobby Lobby's knob selection and I was pleasantly surprised. Not only did they have a great selection and were cheaper than Anthro's,  but they were all 50% off! So I got each knob for about $3.

What you will need:

*A piece of wood- if you don't have one, you can have them cut you one at pretty much any hardware store.

*Stain or paint if you don't want the natural wood color

*Knobs 

*Measuring Tape and pen or pencil

*Drill

*Regular Drill bit

*Paddle bit

*Needle nose pliers

*Hack Saw

*Sawtooth picture hangers

See the full instructions after the break

Roasted Potatoes with Lemon and Arugula

We love everything that comes from our garden and this year we have the peppery-ist (if that's a word) arugula of all time! It is just like nothing you can find in the store.  It is growing like wild so we have been coming up with all kinds of ideas of how to get arugula into each meal.  Roasted Potatoes are my weakness and this dish is so fresh and clean tasting. 

fresh arugula from our garden

Ingredients :

1/2 lb. Fingerling Potatoes sliced in half

1 Tablespoon Extra Virgin Olive Oil

Salt & Pepper

1 1/2 Tablespoons Lemon Juice (fresh or from the lemon bottle)

1 cup Arugula 

Directions : 

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

2. Toss the Potatoes with Olive Oil and Salt & Pepper.

3. Spread onto cookie sheet and roast for 25-30 minutes.

4. Meanwhile wash arugula and julienne.

5. When potatoes come out of the hot oven toss with lemon juice and arugula, arugula will wilt from the steam. 

6. Enjoy! 

julienned arugula 

yum

-Megan 

Worldly Walls

I absolutely love maps as art and interior decoration. It can be used to remember a trip you've been on, a place you lived, or just a reminder of how big our world is. I think that maps make great conversation pieces too. I've seen some really amazing uses of maps on a large scale. Covering walls, creating headboards, and large framed pieces in every different room of the house. Here are some of my favorites:

Behind the bed

covering an entryway wall

a DIY map on a collage of canvases

a dining room backdrop

a bathroom escape

in a playroom

conversation piece in a dining room (buy it here)

I really would like to find a way to encorporate a large map into our house. I might have to pull the trigger and order the Schoolhouse Electric Map (above). 

-Whitney

Weekend Getaway

I think Nikki Minaj says it best "let's go to the beach, each, let's go get away"

I hope each one of you can find a little getaway for the weekend, and it should probably include water, it is the only way to beat this heat!

How amazing are these photos taken from a helicopter but not just any helicopter, a "doorless" helicopter?  Talk about a dream job.   From the Hampton's to St. Tropez.

Lisbon

Hampton's Beach Surfers

Secret Beach St. Tropez

Malibu Beach

St. Tropez

All photographs taken by Gray Malin

Maison Gray

-Enjoy your weekend! Megan