Hands Down! Family Hand Prints Peacock Painting

Hello all. This is my last "project" post for 2012 and I couldn't be more happy to end the year with such a fun project, bret not my fair readers, I have a back log of lovely projects from Summer 2012 that I haven't posted yet. :o) I'll be starting 2013 reminiscing about those lol.

Recently, I posted a few of my peacock inspirational art that I was collecting for this project. The original idea came from a Pinterest post that lead me to this fun page (picture at bottom of post). I thought it was so cute, but I wanted something bigger, that involved the entire family, whimsical, but not too juvenile. So I came up with this and it sits happily in my room for me to enjoy every day before I go to bed and when I wake up. yay!!

DIY Faux Behind-the-Couch Console Table

Hello all!! The new year is just around the corner and I hope that (for any of you who have had a tough year) the bad times are closed, but have made you stronger, the great moments are well preserved in your hearts and minds and new chapters are ready and on there way!

Here is a project that has been on my mind and I'm thrilled to have spent almost nothing compared to what I could have spent had I not figured out this solution.  I was having a couple problems with my living room that forced me to take some serious action. My living and family room is basically one very long rectangle. So my couch placement is limited, and as much as I HATE plastering furniture against the wall, that is really my only choice. So I try to keep the couch about six inches away from the wall so that one: the wall doesn't get dirty from the couch rubbing against it and two: I want the room to feel a bit more cozy with the furniture closer together. However, every time someone would sit, or in my kids' case pounce, on the couch it would slide until it eventually butted up against the wall again. I figured the best solution would be a console table. But where could I find one that was roughly 6 inches (15.24 cm) deep and 62 inches long (157.48)? Was I asking for too much? 

So, I thought lets build one, but in order to do that I had to buy a new saw since our American one (due to voltage) wouldn't work out here in good ol' Dubai. Then I thought about a carpenter which I realized could be hella expensive because we are in Dubai, remember we hemorrhage money out here. Arrg! I was getting frustrated, until two days ago when I went to Ikea and tada!! My answer was awaiting me with a beautiful aura surrounding it. And it worked!! I present to you my faux-behind-the-couch console table. 

Seriously, I wish I could call this an Ikea hack, but unfortunately I didn't "hack" anything about the shelves I got from Ikea. I just hung them in an abnormal position making them more like a "table" than a shelf. 

Colors that Work: Red and Purple Inspiration

Hello all! For those of you who celebrate, Merry Christmas. Speaking of celebrating, one of my friends just got married and her wedding colors were just lovely. I dedicate this post to her and congratulate her and the new Mister on a new chapter, a blessed journey and an abundant amount of happiness, with God's grace!

So what were the colors you ask? Well, red and purple of course ;o). I've rounded up some beautiful red and purple inspirational images from nature, clothes, to home decor. Thank you for the inspiration MR. <3 Mrs.

Ignore the random embossed dogs, now focus on the the colors.

Aren't they stunning together? 

Source

She obviously has great taste since nature even agrees!

Source

Scarf Storage Solutions

Hello my friends! Today I wanted to share with you how I store my scarves. In this day-in-age you don't have to be  a Muslim wearing hijab to own a ton of scarves. Scarves are one of the biggest trends these days amongst women AND men none-the-less. So here are my two main storage solutions. 

First method is my hubby's old pant hanger. It's great! The rubber coating stops the scarves from slipping off, but is gentle enough to pull a scarf out without tearing, snagging or ripping. It holds a TON of scarves while keeping them nicely separated  for easy access and searching.

5 bars, each row can hold up to 5 or 6 scarves. 

I try to keep them color coordinated as much as possible.

First row holds blacks, second row, greens. Third row blues...

DIY Giant Snowflake

Hello world! May your hearts be filled with ease and comfort and if not, I ask the Greatest to send you ease and comfort! Just remember that with every struggle comes ease. ;o)

Today's DIY is (sort of) brought to yo by my oldest, Z1 and his teacher, who actually you tubed this project. Ha! So in the end I guess no one can take credit for this, but I HAVE TO share it with you. It's soooooo cute. I love winter, especially since I can't have it out here in Dubai-land. I also love snowflakes and think they are great projects. Some times they can be overwhelming and messy especially for little ones, but this project, however, is the easiest and most fun snowflake project I've ever done!

What you'll need:

6 sheets of paper

scissors

tape

stapler

There are two ways you can approach this: 

First: if you don't want your child to cut at all then have 6 sheets of paper pre-cute into 8 1/2 x 8 1/2 squares. 

Second: if you don't mind your child cutting you can just have them start folding the the paper into triangles and then cut off the excess like my son did below. 

DIY Incense Holder

Hello blogsters and readers alike! I have a fairly easy DIY project here that I am in love with, more from the sentimental and practical aspect than the crafty-ness.  Although, I have to say when the three partner-up it's the best ever!

I kinda get the feeling that westerners are not into burning incense much, but for the rest of the world, I think it's pretty huge. Maybe because the rest of the world cooks very fragrant and potent food so burning incense helps rid the home of any overpowering smells. I mean, who's gonna buy a $10 glade when they can just burn incense for a few cents. lol That sounded funny. Any way, moving on.

So, if you know incense, you know it makes a bloody mess. So I'm always thinking of what I can set the stick in that can also catch the falling ash. And voila! It came to me. An old salt/pepper shaker + an old saucer dish. It's funny because this s/p shaker that I have my mom actually used for years, ( I want to say like at least15-20) after the other half broke, for her incense, but she would always have to place a plate or something underneath it. Kinda annoying for me, especially when you don't want burning and shifting to occur at the same time. You know, fire hazard! So I said: nail that sucker down, or glue, in this case ;o) 

I present to yo my incense burner....

And btw, the "incense stick" is a DIY too lol. I couldn't find my real incense 

and needed a model. 

And before...

I used my fruit skewer to test things out then colored it with sharpies to look

like real incense haha go fig. Hope you don't feel scammed ;o) 

DIY Blue Milk Glass Picture Frame

It's me again and it's your lucky day! I have two posts in one day. I wish I could be more consistent with my posting, but once my life is consistent then I'll work on straightening out the blog. Sound good? Great!

I posted earlier about my typography for this frame that I painted. Here is the rundown on how I painted my partially frosted glass picture frame.

After...

Before...

That cute couple would NOT be me and the hubster ;oP It's a really cute frame,

 but because it's clear I can't really appreciate its beauty.

Typography: Freehand Vs. Computer Generated.

Hello friends. Hope this post reaches you in the best of times. While we know the world is suffering greatly these days, I pray for those who are suffering to be blessed with ease, and if your comfort is backordered, may your patience be rewarded. :o)

Todays post is about typography. The amount of fonts that exist out there is unbelievable and how the amazingly talented people who can freehand perfection just leaves me in awe. I recently made a house warming gift for a friend and couldn't decide whether to include my freehand typography or the typed-up version I created on Word. In the end, I stuck in my freehand typography art and also included the computer print behind it. I have a really corky sense of humor, some get it and most don't lol. So, I thought (obviously) that it would be really funny to put a twist on the old saying: "Home is where the heart is" and tailor it for us expats who live abroad and those of us who love to travel frequently.

"Home is Where the Visa is Issued" I know, it's totally hilarious right? No? 

Well then you must be friends with my mother since she didn't get it either. And to be honest,

I don't think my friend found it as hilarious as I did. Ha! Go fig. :o) 

But come on!! It's so funny! Home is where the visa is issued. You know, cuz you can't reside

in a country unless you're issued a resident visa. Get it? Get it? Now roll on the floor laughing because I'm just that hilarious ;o)

This would be the computer generated print I made with Word. Sorry for the fuzzy pic.

(Almost) Free Art + Gallery Wall

Hello, Hello! I'm back from the dead again. Yes, I like to randomly disappear in the dark abyss of parenting and overwhelming housework, not to mention a quick surgery just to spice things up! I hope you all had a great feast with your families. I, went on to my second year without Turkey, but still enjoyed and appreciated all that I have. Now on to the beginning of the END! DECEMBER!! New Years is around the corner and what better time than now to take your super cool, and now old, calendar and turn it into awesome art!

So for the past, I don't know, really long time :o) the Los Angeles Umma Clinic has not only been providing health care for those in need, but they have also been making these beautiful award winning calendars that I am OBSESSED with, to say the least. A small donation will get you a years worth of gorgeous Islamic architecture from around the world. This project was actually made a while ago with my 2011 calendar, but I'm definitely planning on using my 2012 as well!!

I made a small donation got this beautiful calendar and really only paid for the matte and framing for this project. I cut the pages off with my paper slicer. Perfect lines every time! No need to worry about the previous holes since the matte will cover it anyway.  Here are three of the ten images I used. Unfortunately, the other two months got badly bent or ripped during the move, but ten images were more than enough for my project.

Ibn Batuta Mall, Dubai

I figured this one was less elegant. ;o)

Putrajaya Mosque, Malasia 

Honestly, I don't remember the name of this mosque, but it's definitely in Istanbul, Turkey. 

Maybe Laleili Mosque? 

 I present to you my Umma Clinic gallery wall of art!

I love this wall. I think it's a perfect mix of colors and the layout is NOT so crazy. Some times when I look at gallery walls I feel like the frame layout is so "artistic" it actually takes away from the actual art itself. Though, I really can't stand staring at too much symmetry either, so the typical rows of frames was out of the question. After I laid the frames out on the floor and contemplated patterns, my oldest son took to experimenting and made some of his own patterns...

...which somehow lead back to this...

So how did we hang it you ask? Really simple actually. My handyman hubster drew a light grid on the wall. (o: Maybe not the most conventional way of doing it, but the pencil markings were either hidden by the frame or what was exposed I just erased off the wall and it came off nicely without a smudge. Our walls are matte finish just so you know. 

 A close up of the grid. 

He measured well before drawing the grid. Frames were perfect squares 

so measuring was relatively easy.

Quick drilling tip: If you tape a plastic bag below the drilling point 

all the debris will fall nicely into the bag saving you from extra cleanup!! Learned that trick from the TV instillation guy out here. 

And the wall in all it's gory one more time...

I know that custom frames can be costly in some areas, luckily I had a decent deal on these considering each frame had two mattes ( the obvious cream and a subtle blue on half and a subtle orange on the other half.) Calendars are usually a perfect 12 x 12 size and if you check out Ikea, Michaels, Target, thrift stores, anywhere really you might be able to find these sizes. You can even buy completely different style frames, butvare the same size to add more character instead of the uniform look. 

The goal hear was up-cycle and I think I achieved an elegant look on the (relatively) cheap (o: Hope you all enjoyed! Thanks for stopping by.

-Debora

DIY Vase + Twine Birdhouse

Peace and greetings to you all.  While most of the northern hemisphere is experiencing some sort of winter and the departure of most birds, we here in the UAE have begun our normal summer. We have two seasons: hell and normal summer which some like to call winter. Ha! Mind you, I haven't seen real rain in the almost year and a half I've been living in Dubai. 

Since the birds are back now, I felt it was time to make a bird house. I am really excited about this bird house because I think it's the first project I thought of that I haven't seen anywhere online, however the inspiration for it did come from currently trending twine light fixtures. I'm sorry the tutorial isn't really clear as I don't know how to explain how to wrap twine around a vase, so I took a ton of pics to show you the steps I took. Hope it's not too confusing. 

I started with a plain glass vase and some twine from Walmart (USA) Together, under $5

As much as I hate Ace brand spray paint, I have to finish the cans I have before I buy something else. 

I used gray Krylon primer to spray the outside of the vase. This created a dark interior so the birds would feel safe and cozy. I wanted the house to be dark inside. Then I sprayed white on that to create a bright contrasting background for they twine.

I started by leaving six inches of twine loose and glued the bottom of it to the vase 

and wrapped once around the center of the vase.

Then I began to wrap diagonally partially covering the whole. The whole was too big and 

I wanted to make it smaller. I felt a smaller whole would keep out predators 

I continued in a pattern.

Here you can see my original horizontal wrap.

Pattern is starting to show.

Notice how pretty the white with the twine is?

Make sure you glue generously so the twine doesn't unravel later.

Make sure you wear your best black skirt so it can get nice and dirty. ;oP

I didn't want too much of an uniformed look so I wrapped in a more organic pattern.

In the end, I took the end of these string and tied it to the original 6 inch piece I left when I started. This insured a sturdy attachment to the bird house. 

And the final product. Notice the dark interior. 

It turned out almost exactly how I expected it. The time it took was longer than expected though, about 45 minutes to wrap. It's really pleasing to look at. It's like garden eye candy Don't you think? I would love to read your comments, so feel free to leave one below. Thanks for stopping by!

-Debora

P.S. I'm linked up to:

Coastal Charm

Not Just a Housewife

Hope Studios 

DIY Show Off