DIY Wreath for the Holidays

This year I was going for a white and metallic theme for the holidays so I wanted to make my own wreath. The total cost of this project was less than $10 and I absolutely loved the way it turned out! Happy Crafting!

MATERIALS NEEDED (all found at craft store like Michael’s)

• Styrofoam Wreath Form
• Glue Gun
• Yarn / Ribbon
• String
• Wood or Foam Mini Letters (I bought a bucket of the wood letters that’s found next to the foam letters)
• Accent Décor: I used a straw sunburst I found in the dollar section of Michael’s, but you can use anything

DIRECTIONS

1. Take the end of your yarn (or ribbon) and glue your starting piece to the back of the foam wreath. For extra security you can tie it to the wreath and then glue it down.
2. Start wrapping it around the wreath, while adding strips of glue to the back of the wreath to hold it down as you go.
   
3. At the end, you’ll have to add extra glue under and on top of that last piece in the back to make sure it stays in place
4. For the Sunburst, I found this piece in the dollar section of Michael’s. I cut down the stem and pushed it through the foam and glued it down. You can pretty much glue anything that isn’t too heavy, anywhere on your wreath. Mini ornaments, artificial flowers, etc would be super cute too!
5. For the “Merry & Bright” banner, I glued the back of the top of each letter to a piece of string, then I glued the string to the back of the wreath. Make sure you check where you want the top of the banner to be and how you want the banner to hang. You can get creative here and use any holiday phrase you like (or even your last name, “SMITH HOME”). You can also change up the colors of the banner by painting the letters or you can use other types of letters such as foam letters, stickers, etc. Just make sure to let the glue dry or else the banner may not stay in place.
   
6. To hang you can get a wreath hanger that attaches to your door. If you don’t like the look of a wreath hanger or don’t want to spend money on buying one, you can take a bendable piece of wire like a paper clip or ornament hook and push it through the top middle with a piece of the metal angled up of the wreath and glue it town (like the shape of an L or U, just don’t have the metal go straight out or your wreath will stick out if it’s against a wall/door). Then you can use your string to create a loop and tie and glue it down to the metal hook. Now you’ll have a little piece for hanging your wreath onto a nail, hook, or wherever you plan to hang.

Advice for First Time Home Buyers

I'm sorry I haven't posted in so long! I've been swamped because I moved into my new home and I started a new job all around the same time! So as you can imagine, I haven't had much time to do anything, plus I didn't have internet at the new home for a couple weeks! In any case, I've been doing a lot at the new house, so look out for those posts soon! But for now here's a preview of the front of the home =)

Recently two friends of mine got married and the Maid of Honor had this brilliant idea to create a scrapbook with different pieces of advice for newlyweds. The MOH had asked me to write a section on first time home owners since I had just moved into my new home. She seemed to think I had some good advice so I thought I'd share with you all too. I took out some of the personal parts, but this is the meat of it. Hope it sheds some light for you, but again this is just all from my own experience and my own opinion. The process will be different for everybody.

Dear Bride & Groom,

Owning your own home is a huge, adult step. I don't think I ever really felt like an actual adult until I bought my own home. Some advice I can give to you:

HOUSE HUNTING

• BE PATIENT! I probably put offers on almost 10 homes and lost to people with all cash offers or bigger deposits, I just kept thinking to myself “it wasn’t meant to be.” I ended up buying in a new community because there is no competition there. Just because it’s a new home, doesn’t always mean it’s more expensive. Since I bought in the first phase, my townhome was cheaper than a lot of older homes in the neighborhood, so just do your research.
• COMPROMISE. You probably won’t be able to get everything you want in your first home, so be prepared to sacrifice. Figure out what are your “wants” versus your “needs.” I wanted an older home with some charm and a yard, but it just wasn’t in the cards for me, so I compromised and am trying to decorate the house to have the charm I want.
• SAVE. Buying a home can take a long time, so in the meantime, save, save, save! I tried to “pretend” I had a mortgage already during the house hunt, so I cut down on spending to prepare for the purchase.
• SEE THE POTENTIAL. Look at the bones of the house. Just because it may not look beautiful, doesn’t mean you can’t make it that way. A little paint, and tearing down some walls goes a long way!
• START COLLECTING. I started getting and refinishing furniture for the new home during my hunt so I wouldn’t have to buy everything at once. I would get one major piece a month so it wouldn’t affect my budget too much. It really helped out because when I moved in I had all the main things I needed already.
  
  

BUYING YOUR HOME

• NO BIG PURCHASES. Make sure that you do not make any big purchases during the process because loan companies are very strict nowadays.
• CREDIT CARDS. Don’t open any new credit cards and pay all your bills on time.
• DOCUMENTS. Keep records of everything and be prepared to provide documentation. They’re going to ask for tax returns, pay stubs, bank statements, etc.

MOVING IN

• DECORATING. If you're anything like me, you'll want to decorate everything right away, but remember moderation. All that stuff quickly adds up and with a mortgage now, you’ll want to do it gradually. You can also register for some of the smaller things if you throw a house warming.
• EXPECT THINGS TO GO WRONG. On my first day moving in, my fridge wouldn’t fit in the built-in, the curtains were too short, the ceiling fan I had installed was defective, along with a few other issues that took place. It’s easy to get frustrated and find a quick solution, but take your time and find the best solution to issues you run into because this is your home now, not a rental, and you want to take care of it.
• REMODELING. Budget and plan. I wanted to change the floors of the bathrooms right away and I thought it would be cheap to do since they were small spaces, but turns out the estimates I guessed were way off, so now I am putting this off for the future.
• CLEANING. Get all the right cleaning materials to take care of the surfaces on your home. Granite needs a seal once a year I believe and has special cleaner. Things like stainless steel also have special cleaners, so take notice of those.
• MANUALS AND WARRANTIES. Make sure to file away any appliance manuals, register for any warranties, so you’ll be equipped if anything goes wrong.

Most importantly, love your home and make memories (and babies) in it! This is all I could think of for now. Hope it helps and I can’t wait to see you in your new home. I'm always here for you so let me know if you need help with anything.

Love,

Audrey

Wedding Coordinator Noob

My day job consists of Marketing, Event Coordinating, PR and Project Management, so I decided to put my organizational skills to use to start an event planning business.

Late last year, I was giving one of my good friends some ideas for wedding invitations and décor. I also ended up giving her a copy of a spreadsheet I created to help her budget and keep track of her expenses for the wedding. She ended up making me her Day of Wedding Coordinator, and that’s how this business became a reality. Here's my beautiful bride and groom:

Since this was a good friend of mine, I tried to also help her along the way, not just on the day of. I created the templates below for her to fill out to help the day go smoothly:

·         Timeline – Based on a traditional wedding I gave her time suggestions of events (makeup, ceremony, pictures, speeches, cake cutting, etc). I created a separate timeline for her wedding party and a vendor one so I knew when she wanted me to meet with vendors, provide payment, etc.

·         Checklist – list of things to bring and where they would be

·         List of Vendors & Contact Info

·         List of Bridal Party

·         I also asked her for : Any special requests/notes, diagram/picture of how she wanted décor set up

Here's a glimpse into her wedding and the decor I set up. It was a puzzle theme because they "found their missing piece"

On the day of the wedding, below were my main responsibilities:

·         Line-Up Wedding Party and give Flowers/Boutonnieres for Ceremony

·         Set up Décor: Welcome Table, Seating Chart, Guest Dinner Tables, Kids Activity Table, Dessert Table

·         Set up Food for Wedding Party

·         Meet with each vendor and call them to make sure they are on time.

·         Give meals and final payments and gratuities to each vendor

·         Work with Venue Coordinator to make sure everything in place, lighting is good, and be point of contact if any issues arise

·         Line-Up Wedding Party for Grand Entrance

·         Give cues to DJ for events and make sure everything running on time

·         Put Away Welcome Table Décor towards end of night

·         And most importantly… Make sure Bride & Groom are relaxed and have a great time!

For the most part I felt everything went smoothly. My bride was very happy with my work and so were the vendors that I worked with. Being on the other side of the wedding, I knew it was important to build a rapport with each vendor, so I tried to make sure that I took a few minutes to talk to each one and make sure they had everything they needed throughout the night and to use me as a resource if they had any questions or needed anything. When I had down time I brought drinks to my bride and groom and the wedding party too because I wanted to make sure they had a good time. It was also important to me to make sure the parents of the couple had everything they needed throughout the night, because this day is for them too. Many of the vendors asked me for my card, so I guess I need to create one now. I’m officially for hire for your big day!  

Here's are a few pics from the day of the wedding. Since I was also a guest at the wedding in addition to being the wedding coordinator, I got to get dressed up as well. If I wasn't a guest, I would most likely be wearing all black. I was going for a "Great Gatsby" look. You know I'm savvy, and my dress was a steal and treasure find from Lohemann's for about $50. The beading makes it look so expensive, I loved it! I  also included a shot with my cousin who is a good friend of the bride, but also the Hotel Venue Coordinator who helped me throughout the day as well.

Get Lifted - Upcycling Furniture Heights

First off, I apologize for not having blogged in awhile. I was super busy with work and coordinating my first wedding, which you'll hear about in my next post =)

Anyway, my last 2 pieces of furniture turned out to be too low to the ground so I needed to find a way to raise them up, but still keep it cohesive with the rest of my pieces, and stylish of course.

First off, I got this fabulous TV stand from www.vivedecor.com

I've seen this same Braxton Studio brand TV stand on sites like Amazon and Wayfair, but I found it for the best price on www.vivedecor.com for $250, shipped! Such a great deal, not even Ikea could give me something for this price at a comparable style. Anyway, I was stoked on the price, but of course with something that cheap, there's something bound to be wrong. When I got it, it was in a million pieces! With all cheap furniture, that's not really made of solid wood (mostly wood particle), you usually have to assemble it yourself and it doesn't come in one sturdy, ready-made piece, like the good old wood furniture pieces from back in the day. At first the assembly was going ok,, but when I went to drill in the very bottom piece, the holes weren't lining up and the directions didn't label some of the parts correctly. It took about 4 hours to put it together, and I ended up having to drill some of my own holes to make it fit. Thank goodness I'm a bit handy and knew that I could drill my own holes, because if you rely on directions, this would've been impossible! Anyway, I finally got it assembled and realized it was a bit too low for my  taste, especially since my sofa has 6" tapered legs which lifts it off the ground.

The solution? I found these mid-century style hairpin legs off of Furious Endeavors from Etsy . I worked with the shop owner Lou who was fabulous to work with! He made me a custom listing for 6" hairpin legs so they were lifted the same height as my sofa. I forgot I needed a leg for the very center of the TV stand to support the weight of the TV so it won't sag, so he is even making me a custom leg for that as well. His legs are the best price around and are already coated, while most other sellers sell these metal legs un-coated, which means they'll rust if you don't coat them yourselves.

The old legs were these cheap plastic silver squares that were about 1.5" high which I hated and were too low. I replaced them with the Furious Endeavors from Etsy metal hairpin legs. All you have to do is drill them with your own screws. I used 1.5" drywall screws and a basic drill. See the finished project below! I love how the legs made a super modern and plain TV stand into a mid-century style which i loved, and gave it the height I needed!

 

Now for my 2nd piece of furniture that needed some added height. You may remember my vanity below from a previous post. I ended up painting the frame grey, because I didn't like the contrast of brown and mint. I also ended up purchasing an Eames style Eiffel Chair like this at a furniture store for $40 because it was a floor model. That was such a steal in itself as this chair retails for about $100. The chair looked almost brand new, except for a few scuffs, all of which I removed with a Mr. Clean Eraser , which by the way is awesome for removing scuffs off walls, shoes, furniture, etc. Anyway, the chair barely fit under my vanity would scratch up against the lowest point, so I needed a way to raise the vanity.

My first thought was to get some circle wood pieces cut at Lowe's or Hope Depot to glue or drill to the bottom of the legs. Then it dawned on me! I remembered Michael's has a bunch of pre-made wood pieces so I took a trip there to see if I could find anything. I found these little wood pieces in the wood section for about $2.50 (with the Michael's 40% off coupons they always have). I knew the width and round, traditional style would go perfectly with the curved legs of my vintage vanity. I also got some E6000 glue, but you can use wood glue or drill them straight to the legs since these little wood pieces had a whole at the bottom and was hollow. I just worried since the legs were thin, that it might crack the wood, especially since it's a vintage piece, so I decided on the glue method for now.

I painted the wood pieces grey first to match the vanity, and then glued them on. Read the glue directions as this one requires 24 hours to dry. This type of glue is also a bit toxic, so make sure to have the windows open or apply in an open area.

I love how it turned out, and not my chair fits perfectly under, without touching the vanity. I feel like the addition goes perfectly with the existing style, and doesn't look like I added it. What do you think?

Even, Rambo approves!

Project Vanity

I've been on the hunt for the perfect vanity for a couple months now. I wanted something vintage and classic that wouldn't go out of style, but still had some whimsy. Another important feature was that it needed to have storage for all my makeup and hair necessities. Lastly, and the hardest part, was that it needed to be 42 inches wide or less because it would be going into a niche 42" wide. Well low and behold, Craigslist brought me this beauty. It's actually a desk that I'll be repurposing as a vanity. I love the shape of the legs and all the drawers!

You probably can't tell from the picture, but the person who had this before put a cream wallpaper on each drawer. They were a bit beat up, so I decided I was going to paint it and change out the rusty knobs. Below are my supplies: Valspar mint green paint, foam brush and sandpaper. 

I haven't moved into my new place yet, but I was planning to have some mint green accents, so I thought I'd paint just the drawers green. I peeled off the wallpaper off of one drawer and I found that there was a keyhole that was covered. I painted it to see what it would look like, and the wood wasn't taking the paint well, plus I didn't like the extra hole. I wasn't sure how I was going to fix this. I thought about putting a sticker over the hole, but then i knew the shape of the sticker would show through the paint. Finally, I found some electrical tape and covered the entire drawer with it. If you have to do something like this, you have to line up the tape perfectly so that they don't overlap, otherwise you'll see the lines after you paint over it.

After my first drawer, I decided to just paint over the wallpaper, and it came out better than painting directly on the wood. I changed out the tarnished knobs for these cute crystal diamond shaped ones I found at Lowes.

Here's the finished product! I'm still not sure about the color. I'm going to have to see how it looks like with the rest of the room once I move into my new place. If it doesn't fit in with the rest of my decor, it's an easy fix with a new  color of paint. For now, I love the pop of color and how it turned out! Now I just need to find a chair or stool and a mirror to complete my perfect vanity.

Savvy or Steep Summer Sandals & Handbags

Now that summer is fast approaching, I thought I'd share some savvy versus steep sandals and handbags. FYI, I tried on all the Target Sandals and Flats and they are super comfy, especially the Sam & Libby ones. And in case you didn't know, the "Sam" in "Sam & Libby" is Sam Edelman, so you're getting the same great designer we love for a fraction of the price! Happy wallets and happy shopping!

Target Mossimo Falk Sandal $18.39 vs. Dolce Vita Archer Sandal for $69.00

 

 

Target Mossimo Nina Sandal $18.39 vs. Dolce Vita Ayden Sandal $69.00

 

Target Sam & Libby Kamila $25.00 vs. Sam Edelman Gigi $65.00

 

Target Sam & Libby Adley $27.99 vs. Steve Madden Croquetl $79.95

 

Forever 21 Messenger Bag $30 vs. Marc Jacobs Neon Shoulder Bag $300

 

Tory Burch Robinson Clutch $345 vs. Tobi Pouch Clutch $36.00

 

Pour La Victoire Nina Saddle Bag $345 vs. Forever 21 Canvas Saddle Bag $24.80

 

Savory Discovery - Bear Flag Fish Company

I've been missing Hawaii lately. I used to go almost once a year because I have family there, but that stopped as I got older. The last time I went was in 2008. Anyway, missing Hawaii made me crave some fresh seafood. My go to spot for fresh poke is North Shore Poke Company in Huntington Beach and a friend recommended I try Bear Flag Fish Company in Newport Beach since I love poke. The restaurant is near the Newport Balboa Peninsula, in the same parking lot as Rudy's Pub & Grill. It's a small restaurant with some seating inside and a small patio. There was a small line when I went there, and I heard that's pretty normal, so be prepared for a little wait. Here's a shot of the outside and inside in case you're interested.

APPETIZERS:

1. Clam Chowder - Don't want to overhype it, but this is the best Clam Chowder I've had in Southern California! Big pieces of clams and fish and not too salty, perfect!!
2. Ahi & Salmon Poke - Huge chunks of fish. You can't see it well in the picture, but the bottom half is salmon and the top half is ahi. I've never had salmon poke, and so glad I finally have. Super fresh and flavorful
3. Shrimp Cocktail - This was probably the only thing that wasn't impressive. Shrimps were big, but nothing special. I wanted to try the Crab Cocktail, but they ran out, so I'm guessing it's good.

MAIN COURSE

• Seared Garlic Butter Ahi Tuna Plate - The ahi was seared perfectly and had a hint of garlic. I could have used a little more garlic and butter though. The brown rice and veggies were a perfect pairing to the fish and made me feel like I was eating healthy.
• Albacore Burrito - Never had such a fresh tasting burrito! There was rice, avocado, black beans and fresh salsa as well and all complimented each other perfectly. The only thing I felt it lacked was a sauce, but they have tons of sauces there to add yourself. I went for this sweet chili sauce which gave it a little kick but had some sweetness to balance it out.
• Halibut Burrito - Exactly like the Albacore but with Halibut. The halibut was a little mushy and I think would've tasted better if it was grilled with a stronger fire, to give it a little char and crunch, other than that detail, I still enjoyed it!

Everything was so delicious. It's hard to find fresh seafood that's cooked right, and the place definitely delivers! The location is great too because you can cruise around on your bike, or spend the day at the beach or Balboa Peninsula to work up an appetite. I highly recommend trying this place if you love seafood like I do. Oh and in case you're wondering, I shared all this food with two other people. There's no way I could have finished it all. I always try to go to new restaurants with at least 3-4 people so I can sample a variety of items on the menu.

Foodie & Art Day in LA

I've been meaning to check out the Stanley Kubrich exhibit at LACMA, so I decided to make a whole LA day out of it.

The day started off with brunch at Doughboy Cafe, just down the street from LACMA. I've had it bookmarked on Yelp for awhile, so was excited to try it out. I had the Almond Crusted French Roast with strawberries, and my date had the Breakfast Burrito. The french toast was delicious! It wasn't too sweet, and the almonds gave it a nice crunch and extra flavor. I was pleasantly surprised with the breakfast burrito as well. I kind of gave my date crap because I didn't think a burrito at a non-Mexican joint would be good, but it actually was! It had thick slabs of bacon, avocado, crunchy hashbrowns, fluffy eggs and salsa. We always share food and it definitely satisfied my sweet and savory cravings! Next time I want to try the red velvet pancakes or red velvet cake which they're famous for.

After filling our bellies, we headed to LACMA. We try to come every time there's a new exhibit. The last time we came was for the Tim Burton exhibit, which was amazing. The special exhibits are a little more pricey and this one, like the Tim Burton was $20. A little tip, if you want to see the regular exhibits you can actually check them out for free if you come after 3pm on a weekday. In case you don't know who Stanley Kubrick is here are a few of his movies you might recognize:

• Clockwork Orange
• Full Metal Jacket
• Eyes Wide Shut
• The Shining
• Lolita

When you first enter the exhibit, there's a gallery wall of all Kubrick's movies. I recognized the ones listed above, but there were so many that I had never heard of as well. As I went through the exhibit I learned that Kubrick started his career as a photographer for Look Magazine. His photos were very unique in that they captured moments and emotions that most people wouldn't catch. He definitely had an eye for unique images and liked to push the envelope with his noir films. If you watch his movies today, you probably wouldn't think twice about the topics, but back when the movies were originally released, they were definitely controversial. The exhibit had props from his different movies and previews of his films, but it also included interesting pieces such as complaint letters from organizations such as churches who were offended by his movies.


I really enjoyed the exhibit because I learned so much more about Stanley Kubrick and got a glimpse into his thought process for his photographs and movies.Although I've seen the permanent collections already, I still like to do a quick walk through of the other galleries. Above are a few pictures from the Stanley Kubrick exhibit as well as some of the other installations. When you come to LACMA, you also have to take advantage of the awesome photo spots: the Urban Light, the neon yellow string installment, the LACMA Rock, and on top of the Broad Contemporary Art building overlooking LA.

To end our day, we had dinner at Mendocino Farms, down the street from the museum and across The Grove. It was another place I wanted to cross off my Yelp bookmarks. Right when we walked in we were greeted by the friendly staff. I loved the mix of industrial and reclaimed wood decor. Since the hubby and I indulged at Doughboy Cafe, we decided to split a Korobuta Pork Belly Banh Mi Sandwich. They also let you try all of the sides and we settled on half Almond Romesco Shells (has pasta, red pepper, parmesan and spinach) and the Curried Cous Cous (with carrots, artichoke and cauliflower). The sides itself were bomb.com! My favorite was the curried cous cous; who would've thought to mix the two? It was nothing like I've tasted before. It tasted a little bit like Indian Curry, but not spicy, great combo. The almond romesco shells was very light and fresh. Now to the main course. The pickled daikon, carrots, cilantro, cucumbers and jalapenos are all normal banh mi ingredients but the caramelized kurobuta pork and the chili aiolo on the panini grilled ciabatta was a pleasant twist that made my tastebuds sing in joy. Hubby and I agreed we are definitely coming back here. Next time we want to try the Steak BLT and Prosciutto and Free Range Chicken sandwiches.