Speaking of stripes

Cotten tote bags from IKEA. $6.

Summer Kate Spade giveaway

As a little blogger appreciation, I'm giving away these vintage Kate Spade sunnies. The style is calle Brice, and they come with this pink case.

To enter, just be a follower and leave a comment. If you tweet or post about it or tell your mom, give yourself extra comments.

Happy Summer!

Better Homes and Gardens does the pouf

The July issue of Better Homes and Gardens features this pouf, and BHG.com includes a step-by-step tutorial on how to make your own for less than $50.

The BHG pouf looks very similar to my own Moroccan ottoman project from '09 - the difference being that my pouf was made from an old party dress and cost no where near $50. It cost $0.

That being said, BHG did offer some good tips I didn't think of. One, after stuffing your pouf with towels, fabric scraps, blankets and so forth (which I did), top it off with fiberfill to give it a nice puffed shape, thus avoiding pouf cellulite.

The other was a how-to for adding decorative stitching along the seams of the pouf.

DIY art inspiration - Lipstick dots

Save your stubs.

See more Jen Ramos art at Cocoa and Hearts.

DIY copper pipe table

A little DIY inspiration from Brooklyn designer Paul Loebach. The Ultra-Conductive Table is made from copper pipe and nylon zip ties. See more here.

Peonies day by day

I photographed the same patch of peonies day after day until I aroused suspicion and concern.

They are now all gone. Sniff.

My DIY: Faux brass starbursts

Here's an easy poor girl's Kelly Wearstler project I did for Dollar Store Crafts.

My bloggie friend Danika at Gorgeous Shiny Things beat me to this particular DIY. I have built on her creative foundation with a large glob of off-brand playdough.

Start with barbeque skewers and a package of mini craft dough tubs from The Dollar Tree.

Open two tubs and squish the combined dough into one ball. Stick it into one tub. If you want a hole in the back to hang your starburst on the wall, do this before you squish in your dough ball.

Stick the skewers in pointed side down, starting from the center of the dough ball and working out. I did about 50 skewers per starburst.

Allow the playdough to harden. It will crack. Don't worry.

Paint with gold spray paint. (I understand how people get addicted to this stuff. The gold paint, that is.)

Let the paint dry and display your starburst somewhere where no on will ever accidentally sit on it.