How to create a beautiful Springtime Vignette

This is what I found on the web for the definition of the word vignette:

vi·gnette  (vn-yt)

n.

1. A decorative design placed at the beginning or end of a book or chapter of a book or along the border of a page.

2. An unbordered picture, often a portrait, that shades off into the surrounding color at the edges.

3.

a. A short, usually descriptive literary sketch.

b. A short scene or incident, as from a movie.

tr.v. vi·gnet·ted, vi·gnet·ting, vi·gnettes

1. To soften the edges of (a picture) in vignette style.

2. To describe in a brief way.

---

[French, from Old French, diminutive of vigne, vine (from the use of vine tendrils in decorative borders); see vine.]

To me, a vignette is a decorative array or grouping of things that should provoke a certain feeling or start a conversation or simply showcase your possessions in a beautiful way.

Before I started blogging and reading about different interior design concepts I have never heard the actual word for what I have done all my life. I just love putting things together so that they look, well, beautiful.

I made this vignette for my friend Claudine. I wanted to make something that was neutral enough to be put anywhere in her house so i chose neutral tones.

By doing that I had to create visual interest by combining things of different textures and sizes.

                                                                               

Here we have a collection of crystal and edged glass bottles as well as an old pickling jar. I added some tags I stamped with green ink. The moss balls are also DIY. Some styrofoam balls and moss + glue gun = awesome!

I found this ceramic unicorn at Goodwill. I thought it added a whimsical touch to the vignette. The key is a bottle opener that was our wedding favor. The books are old books from Value Village. I removed the covers. When you do that make sure you are using old books. New ones are bound with glue and don't have the same effect.

 

 HERE IS THE FINISHED TRAY VIGNETTE!

HAPPY SPRING EVERYONE!

Just have fun with it! 

Display your treasures!

LOVE YA LOTS,

Karoline

Welcome to my spring time crafting project!

Spring has sprung except for the occasional freak snowstorm we get here in central Alberta. The Canadian Geese have returned and you can hear the birds chirping... so yes, it's Spring!

I am really busy at the moment and so my Easter decorating was a little sluggish but still I wanted to share this cute tutorial with some Dollar Store items that can be done in a day.

What you need is the following:

- Styrofoam eggs from the Dollar Store

- Mod Podge

- Ink pads. Color of your choice

- Self adhesive diamonds and pearls from the Dollar Store

- Book pages

- Paint brush for the Mod Podge application

Step 1

Ink up the book page: I just turn the stamp pad around and swirl it around the page.

Step 2

  Rip the page in several pieces: Bigger and smaller.

Step 3

Apply Mod Podge on the backside of the page (let it sit for one minute or so, so that the paper gets saturated and is easier to apply to the egg).

Step 4

Apply a longer strip onto the middle and arond  the egg to cover it as much as possible.

Apply more Mod Podge to the sides that stand up and press them down on the egg.

Step 5

Apply the smaller pieces to the top on bottom of the egg that has not been covered yet.

Step 6

Apply a thick coat of Mod Podge all over the egg and make sure that the surface is smooth (so that the book page pieces don't stand up).

Step 7

Let the egg dry

Step 8

Decorate eggs with sparkly diamonds and colored stones.

DONE!

I have applied the same technique to this plastic bunny from the Dollar Store

BEFORE

AFTER

 To finish off my Easter decor I have finally painted the birdcage I got from my friend Claudine a flat white color. 

I think it looks really nice on my Easter table...

I used PICASA for the photo editing. I really like the results! I am still working on my blogging style but I think it is getting better and better with each post. Be patient with me!

What do you have planned for Easter holidays?

Love ya lots,

Karoline

Gracie`s Room Makeover - Oh hail to thee KIJIJI - Part One

With the spring arriving in our wonderful province I am thinking more and more about the makeovers for our townhouse. With my daughter Gracie`s room I have it all planned out in my head but I want to do it on a budget. I want the room to go from baby to a little girl`s room and I also want her to spend time there. The townhouse bedrooms are small so I have to make the most of the space.

I picked some furniture I saw at IKEA and thought that it would be great because it has the vintage vibe I wanted for the room as well as the airy elements (which will make the room look less crowded)

I chose the RÖNNSKÄR shelving unit from IKEA. I thought it looks really cute and girly and Grace could keep it in her room until she is a teenager. Its lightweight, you can screw it to the wall (for safety) and it makes the room look bigger instantly.

At $50 a piece it isn`t too bad but I wanted to get it cheaper of course. So for the past MONTHS I was scouting Kijiji to find somebody who sold it. On Saturday I couldn't`t believe my eyes when somebody put an ad up for not one but two of these shelves. I was like - SCORE MAN! - The price was great too $40 for both. Distance to pick it up - about 15 minutes.

Ok, so here was my problem. I had absolutely NO budget for this. Yeah, I cried and thought oh well, I guess I`ll have to wait till next month... but then I thought I needed to make it work somehow. The price is just too good!

I figured if I got these shelves I would have the old shelf left in Gracie`s room and I could sell that! So I went on Kijij and searched the WANTED ads. And there was a lady looking for the exact shelf I had. The ad was from March 18th and so I hoped she still needed it. I wrote her an email and YES!!!!!! she would come by after 4 pm to pick it up. DOUBLE SCORE!!!

She wanted to pay $35 for it so all I had to do is call the other person with the shelves and ask if they would move the price down to $35. I was lucky and the guy said it would be ok. So me and my baby went and picked the shelves up. 

HERE IS THE RESULT:

So much cuter - don`t you agree.

Best of all it was really for free. Which proves the point that if you want to be thrifty you have to be patient and smart!

So next up is her dresser which is waaaay too big for her little room I saw one on Kijiji and if I sell my snowboard tonight I might get it tomorrow! LOL

See you next time TATA!

Love ya lots,

Karoline

PS: what is your coolest find on Kijiji???

Every first Thursday of the Month - It's Goodwill Time!

They are back with 50% off selected items at my local West End Goodwill.



My little vignette in the kitchen



Be still my heart!

Seriously, you can get awesome deals any day of the month but on this special day it gets even better. Normally my budget for a GW shopping spree is about 15-20 bucks but when it's "Super Thrifty Thursday" as I call it... I might even go as high as $25 or even $30 BUT you might not even need that much because it's HALF OFF. My February 2nd adventure cost me $13 and I got some awesome things.

Such as this....

Small apothecary jar

Most of the time I go to Goodwill and just look around and see what catches my eye but on these occasions I really look for the deals.

Like black picture frames... I am always adding to my wall gallery so I will always be needing black picture frames. So I look for them on half off days. I am too cheap to buy them full price!

Dishes are another thing you can look for. Especially holiday dishes that you won't use all year round. Christmas, Halloween, Easter... you know you don't want to spend a lot of money on stuff you use for about one or two days in a year.

And then there are these things that you wouldn't buy full price but because they are half off (and kinda cute) you just buy it anyways and hope you will reuse or repaint or do SOMETHING with it in the future...

This little beach scene isn't for everyone but I think it is lovely and once I have stained the wood darker I can hang it with my other pictures.

I can't wait for next Thursday!

Tell me about your bargains you found this week!

Happy Thrifting!

Love,

Karoline

Happy Birthday to the best Mommy in the World!

Today is my moms birthday. It is hard to be so far away from your family - especially on days like these when you know that there will be a family celebration with the people you love and you can't be there.

Birthdays are always celebrated with Kaffee Kuchen (coffee and cake) either at my parent's house or at Oma's (grandma's). Too bad I am sooooo far away.

My mom is great. She is beautiful, smart, kind and very crafty. She shares my love for crafts, she can do anything - really! She can sew, knit, paint anything you can think of she can do! She is a successful Stampin' Up! demonstrator in Germany. You can check out her crafts here.

My mom - always stylish

I wanted to send her something from the heart and of course hand-crafted! Since the Canadian postal rates are ridiculous I opted for something not too heavy to send AND of course something with chocolate!

I used one sheet of designer paper to make a diaper fold envelope. It is really easy to make and you can put whatever you like inside of it. I also made a matching card with a folded flower detail. I will  post a tutorial for the diaper fold as well as the flower soon.

Me and my mom

Happy Birthday to the best mom EVER! 

I love you so much.

I miss you!

Love, 

Karoline

Happy Valentine's Day - Cookie Monster Edition

this year we are not doing anything big. I wanted to do something special with Grace because this is her first Valentine's Day where you can "make" her give you lots of kisses and hugs.

I found this cookie kit at Safeway for $6.99. It contains 12 cookies, sprinkles, hard candy hearts and four baggies of frosting: red, pink and white.

I decorated the cookies with the frosting and grace put the finishing touches with sprinkles and candy hearts on them.

She had lots of fun with the decorating - one problem was of course that she wanted to eat the cookies!

At the end I gave her one cookie... LOL... what a mess.

They all turned out great! So much fun, little presents from the heart.

Look at my little cookie monster!

Valentine's Day cookies - yummy

And for Daddy I made a little something....

An altered Bart Simpson Lunch box I made into a cookie lunch box for my honey sweetheart. Also I made a little card to go with it.

Inside were some red velvet macaroons - I was told they were delicious....

I hope you had a wonderful Valentine's Day! What did you do?

Love,
Karoline