Decorating Tips and Ideas + HM #228

It’s National Decorating Month! Find awesome decorating tips and ideas. Plus, link up at Home Matters. #DecoratingTips #DecoratingIdeas #HomeMattersParty

Decorating Tips and Ideas + HM #228

It’s National Decorating Month! And, no matter your style, here are some helpful tips and ideas to creating a beautiful atmosphere in your home. The gals of Home Matters have a fabulous roundup all about decorating this week, so be sure to check it out!

12 Common Decorating Mistakes and How To Avoid Them from Lauren @ Bless’er House

5 Tips for Mixing Fabric Patterns from Ann @ On Sutton Place

Decorating 101: How To Style Vignettes from Lauren @ Bless’er House

12 Tips on Choosing the Right Paint Colors from Lorelai @ Life With Lorelai

Decorating Tips and Ideas Blog Hop

Click through all the Hosts and Co-hosts blogs to see the complete Themed Roundup!

A Home Matters Themed Roundup

Last Week’s Theme: Easter Dinner, Decor, and Games

Next Week’s Theme: National Pecan Month

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Check out this week’s features below.

Brown Sugar Glazed Carrots from Jen @ Cincy Shopper

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Mango Pineapple Smoothie Bowl from Nicole @ Mama of Many Blessings

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DIY Tiered Raised Garden Bed from Anika @ Anika’s DIY Life

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Classic Ambrosia Salad from Tracey @ The Kitchen is My Playground

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Tiered Tray Decorated for Easter from Lori @ Dining Delight

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Bewitched Halloween and DIY Trick-or-Treat Lantern

Have a Bewitched Halloween with this amazing costume and a DIY Trick-or-Treat Lantern perfect for taking little ones out or going to a party in style!

And, it is all a snap with Oriental Trading, who was kind enough to provide some of these items.

Bewitched Halloween and Trick-or-Treat Lantern

Trick-or-Treat and Party in Style

What are your plans for Halloween? Are you taking the kids out trick-or-treating? Maybe you are throwing a vamptastic party or attending one. Whatever it is you have planned Oriental Trading can help you look spooktacular for a bewitched Halloween!

Rory has plans to party with friends, so she chose this Brilliantly Bewitched Costume. It is super cute and super comfy. It is made with a soft stretchy material and sheer sleeves. And just look at the beautiful jewel-tone purple sparkling down the front. This costume is fun and flirty with the v-neckline and an asymmetrical jagged-edged hemline. It comes with a matching hat.

Find all sorts of costume ideas for Kids, Women, and Men — costumes for the whole family and in any style you can imagine. Pick a group theme like superheroes, pirates, and food or be creatively unique. Get a costume that fits — sizes from babies to plus sizes. The hardest part about shopping for a costume at Oriental Trading is deciding which one to choose.

Before she heads out to the party, Rory’s taking some little ones around the neighborhood trick-or-treating. Check out this Trick-or-Treat Lantern!

DIY Trick-or-Treat Lantern

What You Need:

12-inch Black Metal Lantern
LED String Lights (8 ft. 6 in.)
Batteries
Candy Corn

Putting it Together:

Open the Black Metal Lantern.
Turn the Lights On.
Place the battery pack base of the LED String Lights inside the lantern.
Weight it down with Candy Corn.
Replace the Lantern Lid.

Isn’t this lantern adorable? What a great way to light your path while trick-or-treating.

Halloween Costume Idea and DIY Trick-or-Treat Lantern! #HalloweenCostume #TrickOrTreat #DIY

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I hope you’ve enjoyed these Halloween costume ideas. You can also check out my Halloween Mantel Decor and Pumpkin Carving Page.

Have a Bewitched Halloween!

Be sure to check out Oriental Trading for all your Halloween shopping.

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Rustic Woodwork Decor – How To Make Your Own

Bring a little texture and nature to you decorating style and learn how to make your own Rustic Woodwork Decor. A welcoming and cozy way to decorate and DIY.

How To Make Your Rustic Woodwork Decor

Bring natural textures to your decor style

Home decor is already a huge feature of our homes. Both regarding expense and the amount of time spent thinking about how o decorate the space. You design and redesign the layout in your head a dozen times over. Couple that with the countless hours spent wandering through stores to find the perfect item pictured in your mind and it truly is a process to create your perfect home.

However, what if there was a means to add further customization to your home and lower your budget? And get the further benefit of learning a new skill? Well, such a path does exist. Luckily, woodwork is an easy way to transfer your style, needs, and wants into a creation that perfectly fits your home.

A little bit of rustic decor

For those who have missed out on the design trends, rustic decor can be described as a decorating style with an emphasis on nature and other natural elements. These elements are all inspired by textures that can be found outdoors in nature. Think beach wood benches and luxurious faux-fur throws. The style further relies on natural colors that are typically earthy in tone.

If you are worried about how to achieve such a look in the middle of suburbia, one of the easiest ways is to incorporate ‘raw’ elements. These can be unfinished pieces of wood, a river-washed pebble mat, coral you collected on your last trip to the beach. The more unfinished and closer to its natural state the better the finished product will look.

DIY ideas

An emphasis on natural elements is required to achieve the rustic decor look. Wood especially is a great place to start. As always, when embarking on any project involving dangerous tools or supplies, it is important to be completely aware of the directions. Get the job done and practice good safety habits, such as wearing protective gear.

A good place to start with your interior is to fashion a rustic headboard out of pallets and other wood. The great thing is you can choose to use recycled pieces such as old wood from barns or leftover pieces from previous projects to add to the rustic charm of the piece.

A further idea is pallet shelves, or possibly a pallet bench and to ensure your best friend (your dog) doesn’t feel left out. Maybe even check out how to make a dog bed with old pallets. Everything is possible when it comes to DIY. For the pallet shelves, once you have finished pulling all the nails out and then cutting off the end pieces – these are shelf one and two, along with the center pieces for shelf three.

You then have the option to go even further. You can proceed to stain the shelves, to achieve a more rustic look. A darker color is advised for a more authentic image, while for a look more suited to a coastal interior theme, you could use a lighter, sandy color to stain the wood. Finally, screw them into the wall, and then they are ready to go.

More Rustic Woodwork Decor

Should you be seeking more inspiration for where exactly to start with your rustic decor mission, perhaps a wooden pallet wine rack is the avenue to which you should check out. You will similarly make the wooden pallet shelf as to the way you make shelf 1 and 2 (or the end pallet shelves) in the example above. Then, you only drill holes into the shelf so that the wine glasses have a space to hang.

If you only want to beautify an already wooden piece of your home, such as a backyard fence, then feel free to go to town with fresh flowers stacked in a tin-can garden, or if you are really into entertaining, why not consider putting a back-yard barbeque station attached to your garden fence?

Bring texture to your style – and DIY Rustic Woodwork Decor. #decor #style #DIY #wood #texture

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With so many ways to achieve a rustic decor look and DIY woodworking activities being one of the easier, more affordable ways to do it, the only question left to ask is which project are you going to undertake first? I know, the wooden pallet wine rack is extremely tempting.

Have you done any Rustic Woodwork Decor projects? I’d love to hear about them in the comments.

I want to thank Sarah for sharing these rustic woodwork decor DIY projects with us today. I cannot wait to give some of these ideas a try!

Be sure to check out Sarah’s blog, The DIY Hammer.

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Bedroom Furniture – 10 Things To Keep In Mind

Find out what 10 things to consider when choosing your bedroom furniture. Your private space should be peaceful, comfortable, and cozy.

10 Things to Keep in Mind While Choosing Bedroom Furniture

When you step into your bedroom you should be enveloped by a feeling of absolute peace. Your bedroom is one of the most private areas of your home, and decorating it is purely for your benefit and not for visitors. How, though, do you choose the right styles of bedroom furniture when there is no end to what you can pick from? This guide will help you choose what complements your bedroom and makes it cozy and comfortable, as it ought to be.

Bedroom Size:

Keeping your bedroom size in mind will help you choose furniture wisely. You need to measure your bedroom exactly and plan where you wish to keep each piece of furniture. Lack of planning may lead to impulse buying, and you may end up with furniture that will be useless. Instead of crowding your room because of bad planning or not taking your room’s size into consideration while buying bedroom furniture, plan wisely so that you’ll be pleased with the result.

Bedroom Style:

When you’re buying furniture, they should be considered and match with the overall theme of your bedroom. For example, if your bedroom’s overall décor is contemporary or transitional, your furniture should blend in.

Room Color Scheme:

Choose bedroom furniture colors that blend in with the color scheme so that your furniture fits in with the rest of the room. Bad color coordination can ruin your sleep and make your bedroom anything but a comfortable haven of peace.

Design:

Take into consideration the likes and dislikes of whoever is going to use the bedroom that you’re furnishing. If you’re furnishing a kid’s bedroom, choose cool furniture that they will love. On the other hand, adults may prefer a more sophisticated look.

Space Saving Options:

Consider whether your bedroom has sufficient space to accommodate all that you plan to buy. Instead of buying a bed and a separate chest of drawers, opt for a bed with storage drawers fitted with them. Instead of regular bookcases, choose hanging bookshelves that save space.

Budget:

Bedroom furniture is not cheap and therefore set a budget and plan what you can get within that based on what takes the highest priority. Never buy more than you can afford or you won’t enjoy your purchase.

Material and Quality:

Choose bedroom furniture that is tough and durable. No one wants to lie on a bed that collapses after a while or that isn’t comfortable. Most good furniture comes with warranty and proper details on the material used.

Accessories:

Some of your bedroom furniture may come with necessary accessories, so check on these. For example, your bed may come with an optional headboard or your storage cabinets may have wall-mount kits. Check on accessories before purchasing so that you get all that you’re paying for.

Price:

Before finalizing on your bedroom furniture, compare the price with multiple stores and suppliers with the quality in mind of course. Rather than choosing your furniture out of a store that puts on the price to pay for their showy outlet, choose it out of a store that gives you good quality at a reasonable price.

Reviews:

If you’ve opted to buy your bedroom furniture from an online seller or a well-known local outlet, check on reviews from those who’ve purchased from them. Also, check with friends for references so that you can be sure to get your furniture from a reputed dealer who will give you good value for your money.

10 Things to keep in mind when choosing bedroom furniture. #Bedroom #Furniture #Style

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~Melissa

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Bedding Styles That Are Cozy Winter Modern

Make your bed comfy and cozy with these modern bedding styles and ideas for winter. Relax and enjoy staying indoors cuddled up in your bedroom — nobody said you had to be alone…

Amazing Winter Modern Bedding Styles

Check Out These Cozy and Comfy Ideas

The winter season is here and it just makes us want to hide further inside the bedding layers and not deal with the cold world outside. A perfect bed is a must to make the whole room come to life and to unwind after work and lazy in on the weekends. However layering your bedding doesn’t in any way means that it can’t be cozy yet modern and stylish!

Get comfy and cozy with these modern winter bedding styles! #Bedding #Style #Bedroom

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The Layered Trend

Add an extra layer of comforter and duvet to stay extra warm and on top of the layering trend. This season is all about fluffy bedding styles.

Stock up your pillow collection for this season. Adding a few extra pillows gives that added fluff and warmth to the bed which is just what we all need in this harsh winter. Having a large pillow collection also comes in handy when you want to change up your room a bit. Just throw in a few fun, quirky pillows and the whole vibe changes instantly!

Add Throws

Throw in a faux fur, nubby blanket in no particular order for that added texture and warmth. Let one end of it touch the floor and it just yells ‘come lets snuggle’
Keep a couple of these in your winter collection too to give the room a changed look with different colored throws

The Tassel-Pompom Trend

Adding to the throw trend, this season is all about incorporating latest clothing trends into bed sheets and comforters in one way or the other. Tassels and pompoms have been on a roll this year and the style is here to stay. Just add another layer or warm fuzzy sheet with tassels or pompoms hanging on the ends. Find a sheet that has a nice contrast with your comforter and voila! A chic new look to your bedroom.

Stock up on blankets

Just like pillows and throws, go get your blanket collection sorted! Blankets are what make the whole bed pop! Add Egyptian cotton blankets (this can be used both in summers and winters) and wool blankets to your bedding list.

Colors and Patterns

A good color scheme is important to maintain a certain vibe of any room. Why must the bedding be left behind?! This season, change things up a bit by contrasting the colors. Keep the bedding in warm tones according to the overall theme of the room. This gives a very autumnal and warm feeling which makes any cold harsh day better. If you want to step aside from the norm, go all out and bring the color in. Throw in colored blankets and pillows to spice up any room. If you’re like me and you are into the white bedding trend but still want some color, throw in pillows of deep browns or burgundies. A white-lined bed with a colored blanket or pillows will look trendy yet classic.
If you’re someone who likes to be edgier than the rest, throw in some cushions with quirky patterns or sayings on them.

~Elena Juliet

Find Elena where she regularly blogs at mymattresspads.com

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Origami Business Card / Gift Card Holder DIY

Learn how to make you very own Origami Business Card Holder! It’s a fun and easy project that actually has many uses, one of which is for gift cards. Enjoy. #Origami #BusinessCard #GiftCard #Holder #DIY

Origami Business Card / Gift Card Holder DIY

I am so excited to be going to the SoFab On The Road blog conference in LA this coming weekend. And, I have been in a frenzy trying to get everything polished up and looking good. Making sure I am well prepared for the conference is high priority, so that I can make the most of the opportunity.

One of the things I did to prepare was to create business cards for the blog. This was a fun project. I love designing graphics and stuff. But then, I thought, how will I carry these lovely new cards to the conference? I haven’t had a business card holder in years. Not wanting to have the cards get destroyed in my purse, I decided to make a simple Origami Business Card Holder. And now, I’m going to share that with you.

This Origami Business Card Holder will also make a perfect Gift Card holder … the holiday season is around the corner!

Make an Origami Business Card Holder great for gift cards too! #DIY #Origami #BusinessCard #Holder

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DIY Origami Business Card / Gift Card Holder

How-To

Trim the paper to the printed edge LEAVING the White corners. It should be roughly 8.5 inches x 10 inches.

Fold the white corners back towards the un-printed side of the paper.

Do this for all for corners.

Lightly fold the paper in half the long way. DO NOT crease the fold. You are strictly providing yourself a folding guide.

Open the paper, and place it print side down. Fold one edge to the center to meet your folding guide. Crease the fold.

Do the same for the other side, so they both meet in the middle. Crease the fold.

I didn’t want to mess up any of my new business cars, so I grabbed a plastic gift card to help me with these next steps.

Now, you have a long narrow folded piece of paper. One side is solid, while the other side is where the flaps meet in the middle. The flapped side, also has a “V” on each end.

Use your plastic gift card and insert it into one of the ends. Ideally, you want the card to fit down inside the paper and leave just a tiny edge of paper sticking out above the card.

With the gift card in place, you will fold that end of the paper over almost to the center. The “V” will be facing up. Crease the fold. You have created your first card pocket. Repeat steps 7, 8, and 9 for the other end of the paper.

You can see the small gap left in the center between the two folded over “V’s.”

Take the plastic card out, and use it to help you fold the paper in half with the “V’s” on the inside. The card will help to make the bending edge crisp.

Crease the fold.

Tips and Tricks

Because I will be using this as a business card holder, I want to be sure it has some strength to it, and will hold its shape well. You do not need to do these steps if you are using this as a gift card holder. The choice is yours.

I used small double-sided photo mounting tape squares that I use for scrapbooking. They work perfectly.

Open up the paper, and place 2 stickers on the un-printed side. Position these about 1/3 of the way up the card pocket from the card pocket fold. You want the open end of the card pocket (that nearest the center) to be left unstuck. This will hold the flaps in place. Stick them down.

Turn the paper over to the solid printed side. You will add 4 stickers (2 for each “V” flap). Make sure to put the stickers on the non-V side of the card pocket, so it will hold the card pocket securely.

Carefully stick the card pockets down, making sure to line up the edges.

You can place cards in just one pocket…

Or, you can place cards in both pockets. The tiny bit of space we left on the edge of the card pockets and in the center, as well as the loose top 2/3 of the card pockets will allow room to carry multiple cards. I can easily fit 10 cards in each pocket.

Fold it over to close your business card holder.

So, there you have it. A very simple and stylish origami card holder. Now all you need its some great paper to fold, right? I’ve got you covered! I have the lovely spring floral design pictured above, as well as a warm and wonderful autumn paper, and a Christmas paper too.

Download and enjoy!

Download: Spring Floral Origami Card Holder Paper

Download: Autumn Origami Card Holder Paper

Download: Christmas Origami Card Holder Paper

What other ways can you think of to use this fun DIY project?

Download FREE Printable Origami paper for DIY Card Holder. #printable #origami #paper #download

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Farmhouse Style Wood & Metal Vase Decor

Your are going to love the transformation our regular contributor, Michelle James, has made with this thrift store find to create an amazing Autumn vase!

Farmhouse Style – A Wood & Metal Vase

Hi there! I am calling this a wood and metal vase because I used it for a fall floral arrangement, but it really could be an organizer, a container or just a box to set somewhere. Whatever its purpose…I love the way it turned out.

I love thrift shopping with my friend, Peggy. She picked this up and could see beyond the ugly. She said look at the wood and the corrugated metal. I was hooked and bought it for $1.50.

Turn an ugly thrift store find into something amazing! #DIY #Fall #Decor #Stencil

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It started out with this pear and this weird springy wire handle.