This past weekend I got busy putting together a baby shower for my sister-in-law. She’s always been crazy about elephants, so that and the French venue ( Le Petit Chou in Indianapolis) helped to shape up a theme: Babar, The Elephant.

She’s expecting a baby boy but wanted to make sure the shower also reflected her personality, picking yellow and grey as the color scheme, which I love.

One of my favorite moments, the baby photo guessing game. Guests were asked for their baby pictures ahead of time and invited to match the baby photo with the other guests at the party.

The mom-to-be is not a fan of traditional baby shower games (no chocolate pooped diapers) so we opted instead for a celebrity baby name match-up game and the screening of a silent film (that I’ll be showing here fairly soon) personally edited by me for her and the dad.

And since photo booths are in, we couldn’t avoid but to play Babar, The king!

The elephant cookie favors were just as tasty as they look and the invitations set the tone for the shower decor.

I can’t believe it’s already less than a week till Christmas! Thankfully I’ve been listening to a lot of Michael Buble Holiday playlist so Christmas won’t slip by.

There’s nothing more cozy than popping a bottle of wine open while listening to our favorite records. Elliott and I always contemplated the idea of owing an old record player and most recently we found this great refurbished number on Etsy.

How about you? Any fun Christmas traditions to help spread holiday cheer?

It’s been a few months  since the first diy brush holder post shown here. That’s why I’ve decided to repeat the dose and show again (this time in stop-motion) how to create a fabulous makeup brush solution that’s budget friendly. You can opt for something smaller or larger (always your call) depending on how intense your brush collection is. Mine is pretty average. Take a look!

You’ve seen the transformation both my regular closet and  accessories closet went through. Now I wanna know from you what I can’t seem to decide for myself. Who wins?

But first, for some insight. I bet you’re wondering if everything stays neatly organized like that on any given day and the answer is a straight “no.” Like a normal 25 year old who often doesn’t have time for lunch, I also don’t have time to color coordinate my shoes in a perfect line. That being said, I did my share of the work by picking individual favorites (cause you deserve a break). But you pick the final winner. Deal?

•  Best Space Savor :: Shoe shelves. No brainner, shoes take and make the most room. (accessories closet)

•  Best Make It Pretty, Useful  :: Round box set. It’s adorable but also hides so much junk for me. (regulat closet)

•  Best Bang For Your Buck :: Yellow walls. Never underestimate what two coats of paint can do to a boring room. (accessories closet)

•  Most Clever  :: Bracelet solution. A candle holder holds watches for a living.  True story. (regular closet)

•  Most popular :: Sunglass solution; spotted being clickable on the pages of Refinery29 (accessories closet)

•  Most Functional :: Ring solution. Getting rid of my rings as fast as I can and finding it later just as quickly is real a blessing. (regulat closet)

 So, who takes the Best Closet Overall award?

The reason why I love this diy silhouette so much is the level of customization involved. You can go countless directions, printing ready-to-go templates from the internet or creating your own with the help of Photoshop. Most of the ones I see are plain black and white but if you like to have a little more fun, wrapping paper or fabrics will give it that extra edge (my revamped closet gained personality when I added this to the wall).

You’ll need:

•  wrapping paper or fabric of your choice
•  cardboard (or anything cushy to protect your furniture from “oops, that’s a big scratch”)
•  a silhouette print on regular paper (easier to cut when it’s thin)
•  sewing scissors (great for turns and edges)
•  box cutter
•  picture frame (oval if you wish)

Begin a paper incision using the box cutter, outlining the silhouette. You could try the scissors but I failed by putting a big hole through the paper.

Once you have a half n’ inch cut, switch to small scissors.  Better if they come with a curved edge like mine. Don’t obsess. It’s okay if you’re left with a black edge from the printing job. Once you’re done cutting out your entire “person” , just turn the paper over (if you need to) and surprise!  Black edges gone. See?

Throw the black bust away (or keep it for another project, you know what to do). We’ll work with the left over. Time to cut both wrapping paper and silhouette  to fit your picture frame. Lay them out in this order: wrapping paper first, silhouette on top.

Close your picture frame and there you go!

Anyone know a different twist to this? Please share.

It took me a few months to get on it, but redesigning the accessories closet got me pumped up to organize the neighboring room. First stop? My beloved IKEA where we scored this shelf drawer (that I just placed over the already existing shelf) for storing shorts and underwear and a super cute box set for you know, classically hiding junk.

Out with the plastic, in with the wooden hangers.

I had every intention to diy embellished mirrors but grabbing these from Art Effect was far less challenging and more practical.

Candle holders at the store, watch + bracelet solution in my closet. This candle dish will make a great jewelry-mess container when the number of bangles outgrows the candle holders capacity. Like tomorrow.

Inherited vintage tea cups also turned charming ring holders. Repurposing: cheers!

It’s easier to spot and prioritize the must-wear shoes of the season if they have their own little space, featured next to the other equally seasonal pieces in my wardrobe.

On the wall, a personalized diy sillhouette (call me vain but yeah it’s my profile) and framed song lyrics written by me.

It’s the way I found to insert sentiment onto an otherwise plain white wall and come to closure with my closet clean mission. Anyone else refreshing their walk-ins?

You all know how I like to decorate ahead of time, and although I will not go all out like I did for Halloween and  Christmas, Easter deserves a little attention too.  This centerpiece is ridiculously easy and very quick to make, however  the mushrooms won’t last over a day so you’ll either have to replace it or just make it when you’ll need it (Easter Sunday?) You’ll need:

•  A vase (big, medium, small. It’s up to you)

•   Styrofoam ( I used a sphere)

•   Mushrooms (with stem)

•   Toothpicks

•   Paper (any kind that you can crumple)

•   Preserved sheet moss (or real, you’re the boss)

•   Optional: jelly belly eggs

Paper first

Foam second

Cover the top with the moss sheet.

Choose a good mushroom and stick the end with a toothpick

Stick the other point in the moss, through the foam underneath.

Now, you could be done! But if you wanna make your centerpiece scream Easter, you gotta take the prior step again, this time with jelly belly Easter eggs.

I think this took me five minutes from start to finish (not counting the last minute run to Walgreens to get jelly bellys).