anchors away!

I'm obsessed with nautical everything. It all started with stripes on my clothes, accesories, bed linens, you name it. My fixation with nautical themed things has grown past stripes and blue to something more literal: anchors. This weekend, finding myself with a little bit too much spare time on my hands, I decided to DIY a little something nautical inspired: an anchor pillow!  This can take anywhere from 15 minutes up to an hour, depends on how lazy crafty you are.

Materials:

- An anchor template (google this)

- Felt

- A pillow (or you can make your own)

- Needle and thread or if you can't be bothered with sewing, a glue gun

- Pins

Instructions:

1. Google around a little until you find an anchor template that you like. My printer has decided to stop working, so I drew mine based on an anchor I found online. Cut your template.

2. Pin your template to your felt piece and cut it.

3. Take your anchor and place it any way you like on your pillow. You can then hot glue it to your pillow (the fast way), or sew it on your pillow using thread that matches your anchor exactly. I chose the sewing way, it takes a lot longer but your pillow will last longer that way. It took me about an hour to do everything while watching tv. 

Shopping List:

If you live in El Salvador, here's where I got everything:

- Pillow: 3 Puntos

- Felt, thread, pins: Almacenes Pacífico

- If you're in the market for a glue gun, Freund sells cheap ones.

be happy!

My bedroom is currently undergoing a budget renovation. It's actually been that way for most of 2012, and it's taking so long because I only buy materials for a project every time I get paid. Bonus, it's also been an exercise in will power. The three biggest problems I've found are: 

1. Finding storage space that won't break the bank

2. Sorting through my things and deciding what to keep, what to sell and what to give away

3. Finding budget friendly ways to decorate and make my room my own

One of the biggest and by far most dramatic projects I've tackled was painting the room a different color. I did it all myself, because I splurged on paint so I had no money left to hire someone to do the painting for me. Plus, if I had an extra $100 lying around, I'd probably save it or buy shoes. My motto: Always DIY it if it can be done for cheaper. Except washing my car, I hate doing that. The whole paint job took me about a week, and not even cross-fit has made my arms hurt so bad. But it was so worth it. 

I love that my room now had bright glossy walls, but I still felt that there was something missing. I set my sights on a wall gallery, so I asked at my local hardware store how expensive it would be to frame stuff, and every frame ranged in price from $15 to $45. So, 10 photos * about $30 each = NEVER IN A MILLION YEARS. Remembering my motto, I turned to Pinterest for inspiration. I found a story  The Glitter Guide did on the home of blogger Katie Rogers from Paper Fashion, which featured photos hung on the walls using inexpensive japanese washi tape (fancy name for tirro). 

THE HOW TO:

One of my favorite Pinterest boards is my be happy! board, where I pin inspirational and funny quotes.

1. I chose my favorite ones,
2. arranged them in tabloids using photoshop,
3. printed them out in cardstock**,
4. cut them up and hung them using double stick tape, and accenting some with yellow washi tape I bought at a hardware store.

For under $15 (the cost of ONE frame), I now have a whole gallery :)


**If you don't have photoshop, all printers have graphic designers who will arrange the images for you.