how to make grocery store flowers look like a million bucks.

Let me begin by saying I greatly admire the work of florists. I do. And I love my mom a lot. But when I'm buying her flowers for Mother's Day (and living on a budget), I can't fork over $50 for a pretty bouquet of something that will die in a week. Just. Can't. Do it.

I have always been a fan of buying grocery store flowers, but of course you don't get the same beautiful presentation in a Trader Joe's bouquet as you would with a professional florist's bouquet. Something about that price tag on plastic secured with a rubber band... just not doin' it for me. Fortunately, if you're resourceful, you can make grocery store flowers look like a million bucks in five minutes.

What you'll need:

1. grocery store flowers — I bought two bunches of sunflowers from Trader Joe's ($4.99 per bunch of 5)
2. brown postal wrap — I'm still working with the 75 square feet ($2.50) I got last Christmas!
3. scissors — I used pinking shears to add some character with the zigzag effect
4. ribbon or baker's twine — I used green and white baker's twine

Step one:
Remove the store packaging from your flowers and trim the stems (if necessary). Arrange flowers however you'd like and secure your arrangement in place with a piece of twine tied in a bow around the stems.

Step two:
Cut a piece of postal wrap — I cut a piece about the length of the flower stems (from the bottom of the flower buds). Any longer and you won't be able to see your flowers peeking out when they're all wrapped up! And, in case you're like me and can't cut a straight line, I fold over my paper and crease it where I want to cut it, then follow along that crease with my scissors. Works like a charm.

Step three:
Line your flowers up along one side of your postal wrap (with the cut edge at the top of your bouquet if you used pinking shears). Gently roll your postal wrap with the flowers to the opposite side to create a cone-like shape with the wrap. Make sure the bottom of the wrap is more tapered as you roll it to achieve the desired effect.

Step four:
Wrap a long piece of twine around the middle of your postal wrap a few times and tie a bow.

There you go! Now that looks way better than flowers wrapped in plastic, doesn't it?

because.

Because every girl needs a pair of cute purple patent-leather flats, doesn't she?

Steve Madden flats

On clearance at DSW for $27. Purchased with a $10 off rewards coupon. Grand total: $17. Holler.

home office mini-makeover, part two

(read part one here)

Once we (and by "we" I mean Nick) got the new curtains up, I was anxious to get my home office fully functional and pretty, to boot. The Ikea in Conshohocken, PA, that is closest to us (where we got all of the pieces for the curtain project) did not have the Skruvsta swivel chair that I wanted, but the Ikea in Philadelphia did. Since I am impatient, my wonderful Nick headed out there the next day to pick it up for me. Isn't he nice?

Once I had my chair, I got to work really setting up an organized, inspiring and productivity-inducing workspace. Remember what we started with?

Well here's what we ended up with.

I absolutely love it, and I love sitting down here to work each morning. The natural sunlight flows in all day long (even when I took these pictures it was raining cats and dogs but the room is still bright and cheery without any lights on) and it's my very own little space.

Here's a little bit more of my home office.

The view from the kitchen doorway. If Nick is watching tv in the living room while I'm working into the night, I can just close the French doors you see on the right to have a bit more privacy.

Behind my desk sits this beautiful breakfront; it used to live in our old house on Claremont Road (the namesake for this blog), but when my mom sold that house and moved in with my stepdad, he already had a full dining room set. She saved her old dining room set for me (currently it's in her basement), and the breakfront lives with me now. The top portion holds wine glasses, my grandmother's China, books and design samples; the drawers on the bottom hold electronic cords, manuals, and discs of archived work. Over the years I've tucked tons of photos (mostly of friends' kids) into the panes on the glass so it doesn't look like such a formal piece. I look forward to having this in my future dining room someday. (To the right of the breakfront is the doorway to our kitchen.)

I think I bought this bookshelf for $12 in college when I was moving into a house to share with 3 other girls. It currently houses a mix of books that both Nick and I own, as well as a few photos of his grandfather and great uncle.

On top of the bookshelf sits this framed poster, one of the few things I bought when I went to Paris for a long weekend in 2001 during my study abroad trip to London. Les Années Pop was an amazing exhibit at the Musée D'orsay about pop culture.

My MacBook Pro now lives on the desk; I try not to get back in the habit of sitting on the couch with Mac on my lap.

Above my desk sits this cork board with some little things that I like... Operation NICE stickers from my friend Melissa, a letterpress Valentine from the lovely ladies at Orange Beautiful, a handout I got at a Johnny Cupcakes lecture, some sweet letterpress items from designer friends, our 2010 Valentine, a program from our wedding ceremony, a photo of my grandmother as a young woman, fun fortunes from fortune cookies, and old driver's licenses. (Yes, I'm weird and I like to keep my old driver's licenses. Am I the only one who does this??)

Next to the cork board is a Yellena print that my brother and sister-in-law gave to me for Christmas (left) and a screen print that I made in college... it's one of my favorite pieces.

I picked up some fun file folders from Target that sit to the left; in front of that, my Night Owl Paper Goods woodgrain desk calendar and inMotion speaker for listening to ma' tunes all day long. A few photos and other fun trinkets spruce up the windowsill.

Since the desk is juuuuust short of being wide enough to sit on top of our radiator, the desk actually sits about a foot out from the wall. I rigged up some risers that sit on top of the radiator so my printer and little shelf that holds copy paper don't take up valuable real estate on my actual desk, but they're also not melting away on top of the radiator (which doesn't ever actually get warm enough that it would melt anything, but I'm paranoid like that). My printer is a little HP printer/copier combo that was free with my MacBook Pro 2.5 years ago; I don't use it for printing jobs since I outsource most of my printing, but it's a great little printer and copier for day-to-day needs.

Overall, the space makes me super happy, and it didn't cost much money at all to spruce up; so far, working from home has been a great experience and I have never felt happier. Plus, on days that I don't have to go anywhere, it's pretty nice to work in PJs and slippers :)

What does your home office look like? Do you actually use it?

PS, that cool flip-clock screen saver can be downloaded here — just click the floppy disc image on the left and it will guide you to downloading!

home office mini-makeover, part one (and an update)

Last month I mentioned that I bought myself a purrrty new desk chair and I promised a peek into my home office mini-makeover.

What I haven't mentioned is that I was intent on creating a cozy home workspace because starting February 1, I became self-employed! Those of you who follow me on Twitter may have caught wind of this, and I haven't made a big announcement yet here on Claremont Road because I'm still sort of getting settled into my new role. I have some cool projects up my sleeve that I'll be sure to fill you in on in due time, but for now, I thought I'd let you in on the office mini-makeover.

Our apartment is set up with this weird little half-room in between our living room and kitchen. It houses our washer-dryer unit (which I have hidden behind a curtain), and it could serve as a small dining room if we wanted, but that idea never really appealed to us. We have a bistro table in a corner of our living room where we eat dinner together, and that's plenty for us. At one point, I had a small sofa in the half-room, making it a little reading nook, but I think I sat there maybe once. For the last several years the half-room has housed this great desk that my sister-in-law gave me when she no longer needed it, but it has always turned into the place where we piled all of the junk that had no home. I never sat down at the desk to work on my laptop — I always ended up working on the couch, and the desk remained the catchall for crap.

Obligatory before shots:

Ugly flowery pattern curtain and desk (I cleaned it off for this photo, mwaa haa haaaa), as seen through the French doors separating this room and the living room

Curtain opened to reveal washer/dryer on the right and a baker's rack piled high with stuff on the left... this space is a godsend since we only have two tiny bedroom closets, a small kitchen and very little storage space elsewhere

With my new role as self-employed designer extraordinaire, I knew that I needed a cozy workspace that was just mine — something that would help me to stay organized and productive. Part one of this was removing the so-not-my-taste-anymore (and not wide enough) curtains that my mom quickly fashioned for me out of cheapo clearance fabric when I first moved in here 5.5 years ago. I was 24 and cheap, and thought it would do the trick. The sagging curtain rod was so pathetic, but I just never wanted to put money into changing it.

I finally had enough last month and Nick and I headed to Ikea, where we purchased the following:

two pairs of Lenda curtains, light beige, 98" long - $14.99 per pair

Dignitet curtain wire - $14.99
three packs of Dignitet curtain rings with clips - $4.99 per pack
a box of Fixa screws/plugs - $3.99
Grand total: $63.93

Nick got to work as soon as we got home (he's a saint) so I could breathe a little easier. The final result with the new curtain:

Ahhhh... much better, no?

Stay tuned for part two to see the full makeover, complete with my new chair and an organized workspace!

happiness...

... is cheerful, bright tights on clearance for $1.98 per pair. Well, thank you, JCPenney — I guess I can handle winter for a few more weeks, after all.

I always hate when the stores start stocking spring clothes so early — it's always just about the time when I'm desperate for a few new sweaters to get me through the last dreary month or so of winter. But it is nice when premature spring clothes equals fabulous winter clearance bargains for moi! Have you found any good ones recently?

Number 10: Blurb wedding albums

Ever since we got our wedding photos back from our photographers last February, I have had a very big to-do hanging over my head. It made it to number ten on my 101 in 1001 list:

10. Create wedding albums for parents

Finally I was able to cross this biggie off of my list this Christmas (with glee, might I add). In early December, I hunkered down and designed 12" x 12", 50-page hardcover albums, which I had printed by Blurb. I had never used Blurb before so I was quite nervous for the outcome, but after reading so many rave reviews from the ladies at Weddingbee, I took the chance... and I am pleased to say that I am extremely satisfied with the final result.

I designed my layouts in Adobe InDesign, using one of the helpful templates that can be downloaded from the Blurb website. (If you don't already have a layout program you'd like to use, you can download the Blurb BookSmart® software to lay out your book.) The templates clearly show the "safe zone" for all images and text, and illustrate how much bleed to include in your layout for photos or other images that should bleed off the edges. This is especially helpful if you don't want to chop off the heads of any of your wedding guests :-)

I was also impressed by the cover templates, from which there are several to choose based on the number of pages in your book and the paper used for printing (which affects the width of the spine). I had created smaller, soft-cover books a few months back with Shutterfly, and my cover layout was not what I was expecting in terms of placement of the text on the spine (it ended up on the back). With my Blurb books, everything was lined up exactly as I had set it up on the cover, spine, and back cover.

I think the back cover is actually my favorite... I included our silhouettes and monogram that I had also used on the menus and drink signs at our wedding. I'm a sucker for silhouettes!

Overall, I was very pleased with the image quality and the vibrant colors. While I wasn't expecting absolute perfection, I didn't see any problems with skin tones, and I thought the ink coverage was impressive (and consistent) throughout each book.

(I look a bit pale, but, um... I am pale :-)

I ordered three books total — each 12" x 12", 50-pages, with image wrap covers and Premium paper. The final cost for each book: $85.95 plus shipping (which I actually got for free with a holiday coupon code). Compared to how much professional albums would have cost, we saved hundreds and hundreds of dollars and still had really beautiful Christmas gifts for our parents.

Does a Blurb book match the quality of a professionally designed and printed album from your photographer? Of course not. Even with the Premium paper selection and the image wrap cover, you aren't going to get the same attention to detail and the high quality printing that you would otherwise get from a professional album company. But for the money spent, I am elated with the final result, and I'm pretty sure our parents are, too.

In terms of timing, I ordered all three books together on December 8; I received free FedEx Ground shipping with a holiday coupon code. My books were shipped on December 15 and received on December 17. Considering the size and number of pages in my books, I think this is an exceptionally fast turnaround time.

If you're considering ordering from Blurb, a few pointers:

• Pay a little extra for the Premium paper; the final result is worth the additional cost.
• Use the templates provided on the Blurb website (or download their BookSmart® software to lay out your book) to avoid unexpected cropping of photos off of edges or in the spine.
• If you have questions, be safe and contact Blurb customer support before placing your order; I had a few questions and they responded very promptly.
  
• Selecting the option to remove the logo page from the back of your book (like I did with my first upload) will add quite a bit of cost — for me, it would have cost another $20 per book! And once your book is uploaded, you cannot reverse this selection. Unfortunately, I had to go back and re-upload my entire file, which, because of its size, took a few hours, but was worth the $20 saved. And the small logo on the last blank page of each book isn't so bad :-)
  

What's your company of choice for self-made photo books?

All photos included in our album by The Wiebners

bedroom overhaul: I'm so vain

I know I promised a peek into our bedroom overhaul a few months ago, to no avail. Fear not, faithful followers — our bedroom is still a bit of a work in progress, due to a teensy shortage of funds to do everything I wanted to do, and the fact that the holidays ate up most of my creative inspiration (and aforementioned fundage) for the last month.

While I still have a bit more work to do before I show you all of the before and afters (I was going to call it "the big reveal" but let's face it, my home decorating skills are nowhere near being awesome enough to call it that), I thought I'd at least show you one bedroom project that is complete: my vanity!

Before:

After:

I have never had a little place all to myself to keep my jewelry and makeup — a place to sit each morning and primp as I begin each day. With the help of my best friend, Kelli, who gave me a great desk and chair for free (in exchange for me buying her dinner on our monthly dinner date — deal!), I now have my own little beauty depot. And let me tell you, I absolutely love it.

As you can see in the before photos above, the desk and chair were originally painted white and had white wooden knobs. It was in great condition — I just made it over a bit to fit with the rest of our new bedroom decor.

Nick sanded everything down for me using a power sander, and I then got to work painting the desk in Glidden's Totally Teal color (with a semi-gloss finish). The paint went on so easily, it was almost too easy. One coat probably would have sufficed, but I went over everything with a second coat for good measure.

I switched out the wooden knobs with some glass ones found at Anthropologie; I also picked up a new mirror at HomeGoods and a small accent lamp from Target to add a little light. I topped it off with my jewelry stand and mirrored toiletry tray, put four 1" brads in the wall from which to hang my necklaces, and I had a lovely new vanity!

Here's the rundown of how much everything cost:

desk and chair: $25.00 (dinner for my friend as a thank you for giving this to me)
one quart of Glidden Totally Teal semi-gloss paint: $8.96
five glass knobs from Anthropologie: $40.00
new mirror from HomeGoods: $29.99
accent lamp from Target: $9.99
mirrored tray: free (it was my Nana's)
jewelry stand: free (anniversary gift from Nick)
1" brads to hang necklaces: free (already had these)

Total for project: $113.94

Is it totally chic and representative of amazing interior design? Absolutely not. But is it functional and cute? I think so. I would have loved some better lighting and maybe a prettier mirror that stands alone, but the items I found were inexpensive and still decent looking. Most importantly, I have a nice place to sit each morning to get ready for my day, all of my jewelry and makeup have their own place, and it makes me happy. It's also great to have the little bit of extra storage that it provides.

Whaddya think?

brown paper packages tied up with... handmade bows and leftover ribbon?

In past years, I have always gone overboard buying pretty gift wrap for Christmas. Of course, a $5 roll of gift wrap usually wraps 3 or 4 gifts before disappearing, so I have always ended up spending $30 or so just on gift wrap, bows and ribbon each year. This year, while carefully budgeting our money, I decided to get a bit creative and save some dough while still having some pretty little packages to sit under the tree.

I started out with these DIY instructions from How About Orange on making bows from magazine pages (or any other scrap paper you may have lying around). I grabbed an old Glamour magazine (say hi to SJP!) and got to work.

I tried to pick pages with bold colors or prints — mostly ads that had less words and more images. Working with the easy-to-follow instructions, I got down to business and had a handful of pretty bows in no time at all. (Okay... about an hour or so later.)

Voila!

I had also asked Nick to pick up some basic brown postal wrap from our local hardware store. One roll of 75 square feet (30" wide) was only $2.50! Several wrapped gifts later, we still have plenty of paper left to spare. Using the brown paper along with satin ribbon I already had on-hand from some invitation and stationery projects in the past, I wrapped each gift and topped it off with a handmade ribbon.

I also printed out some blank tags using ivory card stock I already had. I printed them so they'd have a little brown circle on which I could punch a hole to make it look like a vintage tag, but you could cut any paper down to 3.5" x 2" pieces and cut angled edges on one side. I hand-wrote each tag with colorful markers to coordinate with each bow.

Total cost for all of our gift wrapping this Christmas: $2.50. I'd say that's a big "win"!

Merry Christmas wrapping to you :-)