Two Years Later and DIY Kate Spade Inspired Salt and Pepper Shakers

Ummm...I'm back?!?! Well, was I ever really here?

I haven't posted in almost 2 years!! Don't worry, I have not STOPPED crafting, I just haven't been POSTING.  I guess life just got the better of me but I'm working on it now and looking forward to posting about all of the projects I have planned.

I have been wanting a set of cute salt and pepper shakers for FOREVER! I wanted a modern and glam yet cute and girly set. After doing a lot of searching, pinning and saving items to all of my various shopping carts, I landed on these beauts from Kate Spade.

Kate Spade NY Fairmount Park Striped & Dotted Porcelain Salt & Pepper Shaker Set

DIY Body Chain (Two Versions)

I have been lusting after body chains FOREVER! Well, not forever, but since they have made a comeback.  Last summer, I went on a mad dash to every affordable accessory store in the Eaton Centre on the hunt for a body chain. I had a really hard time finding one!

I ended up finding and buying one out of desperation. I've never worn it. It's kind of over embellished and doesn't fit properly. I can alter it but it's still not exactly what I was looking for. So....while packing for my last vacation, in my typical fashion, I decided I would make one! I'll be honest, I don't know much about jewelry making, but I love a challenge. It turns out that it wasn't even really challenging!

This ended up being one my easiest DIYs I have done to date and it had a HUGE payoff. I've worn it many times since, in many ways. I've worn it over a bathing suit, over a cropped tee and high waisted pants, with a simple dress to a brunch and I will continue to wear it with different outfits.

Thrift Store Dress Makeover

The other day, I finally got the chance to visit a thrift store downtown called Black Market. I had been wanting to go for a while so since I was in the area visiting a friend, I jumped on the opportunity to pop in. By the time I got there, I had only about 30 minutes before the store closed. I knew I would have to endure the eye rolls and piercing stares from the staff because I waltzed in so late. In my defense, they close at 7 which is earlier than I expected. Also, I was really quick and I actually bought 2 of the items that I tried on. And I was out right when it was closing time.

One of the things I picked up was this ridiculous plaid dress. It's kind of like a house dress you would expect your grandma to wear. I had the perfect makeover in mind so I bought it!

Before & After

My inspiration was a plaid dress that I saw a girl wearing at the CNE during the summer. It looked like a high-low hem but I am pretty sure that she was wearing this dress from Forever 21.  It was super cute in person. My made over dress is basically nothing like this one from Forever 21 but I guess you could say it was my jumping off point.

Ikea Leksvik Desk Hack: Marble Contact Paper + White Paint. Done!

I haven't posted anything in a while. I've been busy with a few small projects so I'm trying to catch up now. My desk is one of them. I finally finished DIY-ing it! I told you I would finish, I know you were a little skeptical.

Thrift Store Stool Makeover

A couple weeks ago, I discovered a fantastic vintage store called Ransack the Universe. It's not new, but it's new to me! I freakin' loved it. I basically fainted a little when I walked in. Then, I fainted some more when I went down the scary steps into heavenly bliss.

Strive for Progress..DIY Marble Top Desk - Ikea Hack

Have you fallen in love with all the DIY marble contact paper projects on Pinterest? I totally have. 

After dreaming about it forever, and seriously craving the Design Your Wall marble contact paper, I convinced myself that I needed it. Then right before I checked out of the website, I slapped myself of the wrist. $65 for contact paper, what was I thinking? I quickly looked up some other options, keeping in mind how real the pattern looked, the cost and reliability of the seller. I soon settled on one from DC Fix via Amazon. It clearly says that the roll is 78.7" long. Silly me. I must have thought it said 78.7 feet because I thought I would be marble contact papering everything I owned! I made a mental list of all the things I wanted to use it on. It was a looong list, and my desk was the first thing on it.

Let me tell you the story of my desk. We have a communal spot in my apartment building where people put stuff they don't want anymore. No, not the garbage. More like a giveaway pile. I'm very grateful for it. Right around the time that I decided I really needed to create a home office, this desk appeared one day on our way up the stairs! The timing was uncanny. We snatched that thing up right away. It's not a fancy desk, in fact it's almost uncomfortable, but at the lovely price of free, who cares? It's actually the Leksvik desk from Ikea. It was clean and already assembled. I guess I get to classify this as an Ikea hack. I picked up spray paint one day and painted it another day, well night, when I do most of my crafting, cooking, organizing, exercising and uhh everything? I guess I do everything except sleep at night.

Anyways, I went for it. I didn't sand it, but I should have. I went at it with my one can of spray paint. Guess what? I ran out of paint before I could even get to the little drawer! Actually, some of the legs needed another coat too. Ugh....my proximity to downtown is not forgiving when I need an extra can of spray paint at 2am. Well, I guess I can't really get spray paint anywhere at 2am. You get my point. I had to just let it be.  A few days passed and I then got busy with life, dealing with a number of things and just kind of left this to the wayside.  Decorating went on the backburner for months.  I'm now back on the decorating bandwagon. It's a part of my organization overhaul. 

When I got home from work yesterday, the other half was cooking dinner so I had free time. There were a LOT of rough spots on the top of the desk so I started by first cleaning the desk then sanding it. I sanded and sanded and sanded until I was happy with it. Surprisingly, I got the surface pretty darn smooth without removing a ton of paint.

I cleaned it again with rubbing alcohol then I unrolled the contact paper to guesstimate how much I would have to use. This roll was much shorter than I thought. Bummers. It's also not as wide as I thought but neither is the Design Your Walls version. I did a rough measure, then I used the guides at the back and my trusty piece of construction paper as a ruler. I'm doing a whole reorganization of everything in my home...I'll find my rulers eventually. I also drew a line across the desk where  planned to have the paper line up. I peeled off a little bit of the backing and started to lay the paper. I smoothed as I went along. If I got bubbles, I was able to gently lift and re-position the paper. It didn't lose its stickiness. I have a more in depth review at the end of this post if you are interested.

Here's the tricky part. The seams. Had I really owned a 78.7 foot roll, this would have been a breeze but since the roll was quite short I had to suck it up and accept the fact that there would be a visible seam because I couldn't get the pattern to repeat. Correction, visible seams. Plural. I freaked out for a bit but calmed myself down. It's contact paper, not real marble. I thought it was better to get this done, sort of, and make it look as best as it could, rather than leave it as another incomplete task on my to do list. What was I supposed to do, just leave the top marble paperless?? No thanks.

I did my best to make it work. From far away, it's not bad. You can definitely see the seams close up BUT once I have all my desk accessories on it and it's lit nicely, I think it will work out just fine. And when I spring for the expensive contact paper, I might just redo this desk.

It's painfully and embarrassingly obvious that I need to paint that drawer. I will do it. I'll actually repaint the whole lower portion of this desk. Soon. I swear. I am also going to slowly get my home office together. Oh, I am also going to move my sewing machine and extra rolls of paper in the corner out of my next set of photos. Oops. I'll get it right next time. For anyone else out there who gets stuck mid-projects and feel like failures. Don't. You're not. Trust me.

Strive for progress not perfection. Well, let's be serious, I will still strive for perfection most times. But sometimes, I will settle for progress. Like yesterday. 

Quote found on Pinterest

DC Fix 346-0306 Adhesive Film, Grey Marble Adhesive Vinyl Review:

Dimensions: 17.7" x 78.7" vs. 18" x 49.5' (DYW)

Shipping via Amazon: Fast and cheap. I ordered on Friday, received it on the following Wednesday. I was willing to spend the $5.29 on shipping because I never see this paper in stores.

Cost: $10.99 [$1.04/foot] vs. $65.00 [$1.31/foot] (DYW)

Pattern: It looks great. It looks fairly real unlike some other ones I've seen.

Use: It was easy to use. There were no instructions but I didn't need them. I like that I was able to re-position and also that it has a sheen. It's also really thick so if you need to hide a flaw in something, it should do the trick. It seems like it will be easy to clean as well.  Great product, I just wish the roll was longer.

Would I buy again? Yes, if I know it's for a small project. I plan to splurge for the DYW version so I  can use it for bigger projects.

Has anyone splurged on the DYW version? I would love a review or some tips on alternatives. Please visit again to see how this turned out!

--Sarah