My Latest Obsession

I would love to just bore you to death with my sob story of why Ive been M.I.A., but who really wants to hear about that. Just to sum it up my hubby deployed, my depression and anxiety were slightly off, there was a complete lack of interest in anything crafty or thrifty, but Ive been all better for awhile now so I figured Id catch you up on my latest obsession CROCHETING! I love handmade/homemade everything and of course that included anything crocheted. I definitely wanted to learn how to crochet but new it was time consuming and there was nothing quick about it. I finally gave in, and I'm so glad I did just take a look at some of my creations.

It all started with this granny square! 

Thank you to my dear friend Maria who was patient enough to teach me how to crochet a granny square.

 

 Then came this...

 and this..

My first heart garland.

and then I went garland crazy!

My friend Jessica from Party Love hosted a crochet night, and her lovely mom from The Crochet Cottage over at instagram helped us with some new patterns.

 So after that night came these...

Garlands have become my quick fix for when I'm in the mood for something crocheted.

Anywho next I'll finally get started on making cushions, that was  initially why I wanted to learn how to crochet so I'll make sure to keep you posted on those. Please keep checking back hopefully I will be blogging more often, and as always feel free to leave a comment and let me know what you think.

© Denise Arrieta and Rustic Vintage Love, 2013. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this blog’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Denise Arrieta and Rustic Vintage Love with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.

DIY GINORMOUS CHALKBOARD

 Hey y'all so over the weekend I decided I needed a new chalkboard in my home because the other 10 I have were just not enough, ha! The reality is I had no plans for a new chalkboard, I usually have this long list of crafts or projects I want to tackle and this was just not on the list. Whatever the case I made it happen! Oh forgive me for not taking as many pictures, but sometimes I'm half way through a project when I realize that I want to blog about it, anywho here we go....

So I knew I wanted the chalkboard to be big! I initially intended on hanging it and wanted to take up most of the wall. So for the frame we purchased some crown molding, we spent about $22.00 for 2 8ft long pieces.

After conditioning the wood I used a stain I had previously used on another project and its one of my favorite stains KONA.

 After staining the crown molding

I used Valspar chalkboard paint and touch up paint kit, both items were about $13

After the first coat of chalkboard paint, I did 2 coats! I purchased a large piece of pine wood and lightly sanded it down before applying the first coat.

We went back and forth on how to attach the frame to the chalkboard, ultimately we decided on using gorilla glue. Both the hubbs and I were a bit concern on how well the glue will hold, but so far so good! Ive used gorilla glue for other projects and haven't had a problem so ultimately I think it will be fine. The reality is I was too lazy to make another trip to Lowe's to buy the correct nails, so you might want to consider doing that!

The finishing touch was a drawer handle I purchased for around $3, it holds my chalk!

So I ended up putting the chalkboard on my mantel, my mantel has been a work in progress for far too long. Believe it or not I'm not crazy about decorating my mantel for holidays, I think I'm still concentrating on my everyday decor that focusing on holidays gets pricey and just don't have time for it. 

Total cost of the chalkboard was around $60! 

Anywho I hope you guys liked the new chalkboard, I'm pretty crazy about it! Love to hear about your DIY chalkboard ideas. As always thanks for stopping by!

Linking up 

Sumos Sweet Stuff

DIY Show Off

Not just a Housewife

Hope Studios

Domestically Speaking

Trendy Treehouse

The Thrifty Home

The Style Sisters

Sew Much Ado

The Shabby Creek Cottage

The Brambleberry Cottage

Sweet Haute

© Denise Arrieta and Rustic Vintage Love, 2013. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this blog’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Denise Arrieta and Rustic Vintage Love with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.

My First Feature!

Dyeing Doilies had been featured!   AAAhhhhh! Come check it out at Summo's Sweet Stuff!

Dyeing Doilies!

I would like to say that dyeing doilies was totally my idea but it wasn't! Of course other than the fact that you can find several pins on Pinterest, my friend Jessica from Party Love mentioned if I ever thought about dyeing doilies, and I really hadn't. I guess its something I probably would have eventually done since I love me some doilies but it was definitely not on my craft to do list. Anywho after she mentioned it I couldn't stop thinking about it and thought of how cute they would look, so I gave it a go....

So my first stop was the craft store to pick up dye! A colorful doily garland was in the works!

I followed the instructions inside the dye box for the most part, except i didn't use all the dye in the box and didn't wait the 30 min. The colors were a little darker than I expected although I'm not sure why since they're pretty close to the color on the box, ha! other than the pink.

While at the craft store I also picked up some trim to use for the garland. At this point I cut my doilies in half and started to glue gun away.

How cute is that garland, huh! I also did a hoop with one of the dyed doilies!

So lately Ive made an effort to not be so wasteful and use most of the material I have so I decided to do another garland!

I glued the other halves to some flag burlap that I cut out.

Oh I just love the way it came out! Can you spy the other Pinterest project in this picture?

and alright I just had to make one more little garland! I love scrabble pieces! and since I still had 2 doilies left I made this little garland to go on a hoop.

Ta-da! 

Alrighty guys I'm pretty sure Ive doilied you out, ha! I had lots of fun making these garlands, and I hope y'all give it a go too!

Thanks for stopping by! comments are always welcome and please keep checking back!

© Denise Arrieta and Rustic Vintage Love, 2013. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this blog’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Denise Arrieta and Rustic Vintage Love with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.

DIY Marquee LIght on a Pallet

Hey y'all sorry Ive been slightly MIA, but with an impromptu trip to Vegas and getting ready for back to school Id say Ive been kinda busy, ha!  Anywho this weekend I decided to tackle a few projects Ive been wanting to do and oh boy did I go to work.  I find that once I really get into the mode of crafting and creating I just cant stop! I managed to finish 3 projects this weekend so needless to say I feel pretty accomplished. Anywho I'm super excited to share with y'all my DIY Marquee Light on a Pallet, this is a project that has been in the works since early July, but I finally got around to finishing it up.

So first the Marquee light, the reason it took me so long to complete this project was because initially I wanted the marquee light to be made out of wood, I wanted something sturdy and more permanent.  Well needless to say that became more of a hassle than I thought it would be.  Its totally doable, but it was so time consuming! I figured I would eventually get to it but weeks went by, and I figured I was over it.  Well this past week as I was lounging around with my littlest, I thought I would give it a go with a cardboard letter from Joann's. Ive been totally against doing it with a cardboard letter because I thought it would look cheap and be kinda flimsy, well to my surprise I thought it looked pretty amazing! So here we go this what I did....

I purchase a 23.5 card board letter(paper mache) for $4.50, I used a 50% off coupon and purchased a small can of spray paint for around $2.50, I also used a 40% off coupon.

I drilled the wholes but you can easily make the wholes with a kitchen knife.

After I made the wholes, I sprayed painted the letter!

The lights I purchased at Target, but I will admit I had a hard time finding them.  With the holidays coming you might have some better luck, I paid about 12 bucks for them. So the back doesn't look very glamorous, but I knew I would be hanging the letter or placing it against a wall so I didn't bother with a back for it.

Lightbulb

Ta-Da! I was super impress since I wasn't sure how well it would look with a cardboard letter, but to my surprise it wasn't as flimsy as I thought it would be.

Well I didn't stop there I took it a step further! Ive had a handful of pallets just hanging around and this particular one I was going to use as a shelf since the size was perfect, not too small not too big. I decided to scratch the whole shelf idea and use it to display my letter. I sanded down the pallet!

Used some wood conditioner to softened the wood and it helps take in the stain better

After staining it I placed the letter against the pallet, at this point I will still debating if I wanted to go through with it, ha! I hammered a nail towards the top of the pallet so the letter would hang.

Umm yeah, I'm in love!

Aaaaahhhhhh! What a beauty, huh!

This by far is the biggest project Ive done, I tend to shy away from big projects because I'm so flaky and quickly lose interest in the things Ive created, but I'm pretty obsessed with this one! The best part is the hubbs LOVED it! He normally isn't very crazy about my eclectic style, but he thought I did a great job. Oh yeah and it cost me around 20 bucks to complete this project, winning!!! 

Alrighty guys I would love to hear your feed back! What are you thinking? Yay or Nay?

Have you tried making a Marquee light? Anywho, as always thank you for stopping by and keeping checking back Ive got more to show you.

© Denise Arrieta and Rustic Vintage Love, 2013. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this blog’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Denise Arrieta and Rustic Vintage Love with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.

Doilies and Pallet Wall Decor

Hey y'all so I guess my newest obsession is doilies, ha! Well really Ive always been into them and knew eventually I would want to do some kinda wall decor with them.  On Pinterest you can find some really neat ideas such as doilies on canvas or framed doilies, but I strive to be a little different an opted to use a pallet for this project.

Awhile back I asked the hubbs to go out and find me some pallets and what do you know he came back with a handful and they were free! 

I requested the hubbs help on this one, initially I wanted to hammer out the wood pieces but that seemed a little more difficult than expected. 

I sanded the boards down a bit and used wood glue to attach the pieces together, no nailing or screwing  needed for this project!

I painted the boards a teal, which I love!

I used jute and a staple gun for the back

I used the glue gun to glue down the doilies although I think mod podge would have been a great option but I didn't have enough for the project.  I was also working on a couple of frames that I purchased  at the Salvation Army. I purchased the frame for under $2 and shabby-fied it with some acrylic paint and sand paper.

and this one I painted and added some scrabble letters

Keep in mind this wall/mantel is a work progress but this how the doilies and frames turned out

As always thanks for stopping by and don't forget to keep checking back! Comments are always welcomed love to here what you got going one.

My lovely friend and photographer took the girls pictures you should check her out she's amazing.

Itsy Bitsy Photography

© Denise Arrieta and Rustic Vintage Love, 2013. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this blog’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Denise Arrieta and Rustic Vintage Love with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.

Summer Favorite Things Party

This pass weekend I attended a summer favorite things party, these parties are always so much fun and the best part is you get to go home with a goodie bag!  The way a favorite things party works, each guest brings 5 of their favorite thing which can be bought or made that is $6 or less. The girls try to have one each season so this party was summer themed.

My favorite thing this summer has been homemade margaritas! I purchased these cocktail mixers at World Market where I had gotten mine from just 2 wks ago for my Fun Free Bday!

Let me show you around....

All the decorations you see were made/purchased by one of our lovely host Jessica, she has an amazing blog named Party Love. Ive had the pleasure of attending several of her parties and they're always breathtaking.  Her creativity is endless!

Chalkboard Love

Margaritas, oh so fun!

Mason jars with fresh flowers!

Summer Favorites!

Our hosts

All of the ladies at the end of the night

Do you want to see what I got?

First we received this reusable bag so we could put our favorites in, there were a few options but I choose this one.

Coconut butter, smells so yummy.

Picnic bag with lost of fun goodies.

Lip balm and Starbucks refreshers(2)

Lipstick!

Starbucks gift card and inspirational music.

I absolutely loved everything I got and had an amazing time at the summer favorite things party! A special thanks to the Jessica's for hosting such a fun party.

Thanks for stopping by, please feel free to comment! I would love to hear about your summer parties.

© Denise Arrieta and Rustic Vintage Love, 2013. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this blog’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Denise Arrieta and Rustic Vintage Love with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.