Bridal Shower Gift: Rhinestone Robe

The Allison-is-getting-married extravaganza continued past the bachelorette party on to bridal showers and the infamous Panty Party shower.

Being the bling lover crafty maven that I am, I had to come up with a unique and sexy gift idea for her Panty Party. Now I love the cute satin robes that say bride in rhinestones, but let's be real: No one is wearing that after the wedding day. It's like wearing a pin that says "It's my birthday" four months after your birthday.

I wanted her gift to be custom-fit for her so I went on the hunt. I found an iron-on rhinestone transfer on etsy, picked up a sexy black satin robe at Victoria's Secret and went for it!  

Making sure it was straight was definitely stressful but in a few minutes it was ready to go! 

I'm in love with the results. Hope this sparks an idea for you!

Bachelorette Party Favor: Hangover Kits

My college roommate Allison is getting married and it's freaking me out! Yes, we're 25 and everyone around us is getting married or having babies... but still. It's a weird thought. Either way, we were going to celebrate with her in a way only worthy of Pinterest. Her maid of honor Tatiana and I scoured our favorite pinning site to find the coolest ideas for party favors. 

The final result. Hangover kits. 

The ones we found though were only inspiration. We planned to go above and beyond with these hilarious beauties. After raiding the Target travel aisle, a quick trip to Michael's for the boxes, a little origami bow action and making name stickers, assemblage was ready to happen!

Contents:

Gatorade

Tums Refreshers (breath mints AND Tums - Two birds. One stone.)

 Advil

Notepad & Pen to write advice to the bride

Hair ties

Goldfish packet

Makeup Remover Towelettes

Blistex

Hello Kitty Bandaid

If you're going to recreate these I recommend printing out the Hangover baby which I Photoshopped to included the word "Kit". 

For the outside of the box, I wanted something 3-dimensional so I started looking up origami bows. It took practicing three times before I finally got it right. I used a gold and cream chevron paper to give it some dimension and interest. Use this YouTube tutorial and spare yourself the awkwardness of trying to Google translate Chinese step-by-step images. Trust.

Finish off the box with a cute custom label. I used my best amateur photoshop skills and made a few tweaks after I printed them.

The final result was incredible. Happy Bacheloretting!

DIY Beach House Headboard

I've been lusting after this Coastal Living headboard ever since we met on Pinterest/Elements of Style Blog. I had to have it. However my stereotypical Dutch family who commissioned me to redecorate our family beach house was not going to splurge on a big expensive headboard. Knowing this I had to create it all from scratch, which meant under $100! 

Copying the same lines as the photo, I used a ruler, pencil, and string to recreate the shape.

After a lot of research I found that the best way to upholster was to use an egg crate foam mattress topper (two twins on sale at Target for $7.97 each!) and put them egg side to egg side so the flat side faces out. We then stapled along the edges to keep it in place (some stayed, some didn't) and then wrapped a layer of batting around it to keep the foam in. This created a thick and cushy headboard.

I ventured off to a fabric store other than Joann's that specialized in upholstery fabric to ensure that it would last a long time. I needed to match this beachy blue and keep the fabric a soft linen. For around three yards it was $37.

Now it was time for the lovely details. The trim came from Joann's for $7 and the oversized 13/16" Brass finish nails came from Beaconfabric.com at a splurge of $42. The corners were a fun test of my folding capabilities, but I prevailed! I gently tucked a bit of the trim underneath itself and covered the overlap with a nail. Be careful as you're hammering the nails in. If you hit them too hard or too many times, you'll scratch off the finish. 

Voila! All UNDER $100!

It's Installed!!

 Now it's on to the rest of the room. Next project... painting!

How To: Christmas Shop for a 20-Something Girl

My top trendy picks for 2012 Christmas! 

If you're confused at what to buy for Christmas and she's a 20-something fabulous girl, 

take a gander at the list below... All under $100!

A little sparkle, a little sport and all GLAM!

1. 31 Bits Necklace // Petunia // $38

2. Mobilexpressions iPad case // Target // $29.99

3. Fragrance Travel Set // Nordstrom // $35

4. Gold Cocktail Shaker // Pottery Barn // $35.50

5. Crystal Snowflake Bottle Stopper // Pottery Barn // $19.50

6. Printed Backup Battery for iPhone // J.Crew // $39.50

7. Truffle White Cocoa // Voluspa // $19

8. MLB/NFL Tee & Boyfriend Pant Giftset // Victoria's Secret // $69.50

9. Metal Gleam Crossbody // Francesca's Collection // $38

10. Fun Flats VEGASSS LEOPARD & TEMPPER BLACK TAN // Steve Madden // $56-69

Pinterest: Not Your Mother's Thumbtack

Does a Pinterest Anonymous exist? I need to sign up. 

If you’re not on it, stop reading this post right now and join. Although they are new in the social media realm (started in 2009), Pinterest has quickly become one of the fastest growing social bookmarking sites and according to USA Today, it is now among the Top 10 Social Networking sites! 

For the slightly OCD organizer, it is the ultimate way to contain all your findings on the internet.

I started “pinning” as a way to keep all of my inspiration photos together for redecorating my grandpa’s beach house in Surfside, CA. Pre-Pinterest, I would drag the images to my desktop and flip through them whenever I wanted to show others my ideas. The problem was that I could never remember where they were from, but then if I would bookmark them in my browser I could never remember which image was which!

Although Pinterest solved this problem, it quickly grew to become more than just an organization tool. It is an inspiration for any crafty décor dream (my jewelry hanging shadow box), inspirational quotes that move you from the deepest funk, try cooking something new, try dieting because of an insanely tan model in workout clothes, style your Christmas dinner table (see my pin below), style an unexpected outfit…. The list goes on and on!

Quick Tips:

• Start following your friends and more importantly make sure that you are following those who share the same pinning interests!
• I’m not planning a wedding or into all things Harry Potter, so I don’t follow those specific boards of my friends. Be selective.

• Make sure to label your pins... well. Although it’s tempting to label something “love” or “OMG”, that’s not a very descriptive pin (and not saying I haven’t done it a lot). “Love” could be for a dress, a color, a funny quote, a breathtaking view ... aka not descriptive! This helps the search pick it up and allows others to find your pins and get you more “repins”

• A label can use hashtags similar to Twitter for #anythingdescriptive or @ tags to alert a friend of a pin they should see. @Chelsea Van Arnam will tag me and alert me of the pin for something I should try or reminds my friend of me. $ signs will also add a stripe across the corner flagging it with how much it costs and thereby placing it in the gift search area by price. 

• Have any other questions? Let me know! I'm working on getting our company, RipeOrange on Pinterest so I'll be back with more updates and tips for company/brand pinning very soon!

Follow me here!