SD Project: Bijou Dressing Table

I am SO EXCITED to share my latest project with you.  It’s been in the works for ages and it’s finally, finally done!

As you may have seen from previous “home tour” posts, I have an old home that is fairly streamlined and not very girly.  I love our decor but I’ve always wanted a pretty dressing room.  I’ve been sort of adding elements, such as my shoe cabinets, to our guest room but I am loathe to take over the whole space completely.  I also, didn’t really have a place that would be safe for a delicate dressing table or all the perfumes, puffs and crystal that I would want to be there.

But that doesn’t mean that I haven’t dreamed of a pretty space all my own…

Then I realized I did have one small space that I could repurpose into a bijou dressing table. I started making plans and lists…

In my funky old home I have a funny closet-in-a-closet space in the guest room.

You open the outer door and you see this rectangular space that has a clothes rod on the left, a window on the right and another deep cabinet straight ahead.

The inner cabinet holds the guest room blankets and pillows, hat boxes and craft supplies. I keep some shoes in here as well as my off season clothes.

I drew up plans for a shelf that would be hinged under the window which would be supported by a shelf bracket for a brace and two decorative chains on each side.  The bracket would be hinged to lie flat against the wall and then the table part, also hinged would be able to be lowered down so I could open the inner cabinet doors.

Once I decided on a plan, I started to plan my furnishings – vintage dressing table linens…

A Ghost chair to sit on…  I thought and searched for ages on what chair to have in the space.  It need to be high enough but small in width.  I looked at all kinds of chairs and stools from new Pottery Barn to vintage vanity stools.  In the end, I’ve always loved the Ghost chairs and the clear will keep the small space airy. 

With a color scheme of crystal, pinks soft and bright, gold and small touches of black, a sari was the perfect fabric to act as a cover for the clothing section and a window shade.

A gilded shelf for accessories…

Antique tassels…

The project has been on hold for a while but know that I’m back in town, the pub is done and I’m done being sick this week, it has all come together.

The outer door now has a small sign warning of the girly space inside.

Yes, I have a Keep Calm poster, but now it’s hidden inside the “fourth wall” of the room.  The sari was long enough to cover the clothes still on the left, drape across the ceiling and down, suspended from chain, to cover and decorate the window.

Isn’t it ADORABLE????

I’ve decorated it with some of my existing pieces as well.  A Waterford crystal sugar sifter for powder, a Caron puff, my Chanel and Chloe perfumes and Waterford clock (the first piece I ever bought from when I was 17) on a Waterford tray.  A glove hand and small boxes for jewelry.

The most crucial piece I invested in and that I was very specific about was the mirror.  I knew from the start that I wanted a vintage Murano dressing mirror and this one with it’s gilding and pale pink glass flowers was everything I dreamed of.

The Ghost chair and my tuffet fit perfectly too.  I’m going to get a faux flokati to cushion and protect the chair.  That’s the last detail.

The last details are these amazing antique hand-cut paper cuts I had framed.  With their fairy tale themes they are perfect for my new space.

And my gilded shelf holds a delicate glass carousel horse. 
I so thrilled to have my little space.  I can’t wait to linger over perfumes and polish and powder.
We all need a special place to find a bit of peace… mine just happens to be pink!
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Project Time: Grosgrain and Chain Necklace

In the spirit of P.S. I Made This, I saw this cute little neckace from Ann Taylor and thought it would be fun to make my own version.  I don’t do a lot of jewelry making but I loved the pink ribbon combined with the gold and the crystal drops.

So off I went to Michaels for supplies.  I decided to do two versions, one in silver and one in a gold.  I would say I felt a bit limited in terms of chain and crystal options, not having exactly what I hoped for, but I found some pretty good options.   I didn’t take a lot of supplies – 1 package of chain each, the crystals, 1 spool of pink grosgrain ribbon and jump rings and clasps (enough for more projects too)

I ended up using 24 inches of chain each because they get compressed when you thread through the ribbon, losing about 4 – 6 inches.  I wanted the crystals to hang down so this length worked out perfectly.

I used little briolets for the gold version.  I may go back to get more so I can continue them up, more like the inspiraiton piece.

For the silver, there were two sizes of the crystals in the packet so I took advantage of that to creat a more dangly piece.

All in all I spent about $50, including for the clippers, to make two necklaces with material to spare.  As P.S. I Made This says – I saw it, I liked it, I made it!

Why are you keeping secrets from me?

I would like the reponsible parties to please fess up.

How is it possible that no one has let me know about these over the top ridiculously silly yet cute customized candy pink bunny mary janes by Em and Sprout?

No. I had to find out about it by seeing Miss TWiNKiE CHAN‘s flickr update.

WHAT IF I HADN’T LOOKED!!!! Then where would I be? Huh? Huh? Answer me THAT!!!

Not only does she do bunnies and kitties but ladybugs and turtles….

Oh, and shirts too. I love the Winking Kitty…

But I think I’m going to have to get the Sailor shirt.

I’m very disappointed in all of you for keeping this cuteness from me.

Picture Perfect… and Pink!

As I’ve done more with the sites here I’ve been wanting to upgrade my technology. I swear, it’s not just that I like new gadgets… it’s for valuable work reasons! And since I don’t work on a MAC and have been wanting to do more video, I decided I needed a recorder of some kind. I’ve had my eye on a Flip for a while now and thought, with the upcoming trip to NYC, that now would be a good time to get it.

There are 4 levels of camera you can get but I ended up getting the Flip Mino. It has great quality, plenty of storage, and just as important… you can customize it!

Not only do they have cute colors and a huge amount of designs, a pattern generator or you can use any image and have it added to create a true one-of-a-kind look.

Guess which route I took?

First I was looking at the pink and Hello Kitty designs but then I saw you could upload a unique picture for no additional cost! I decided on adorably delicious, pink macarons for mine.

How adorable is this? Well, in person it’s even more adorable because it is teeny tiny! I need to take picture of it for scale. But it’s smaller than my iPhone or iPod and lighter too. Which is great because I now will be carrying around 5 or 6 different electronic devices in my bag!

It’s also amazingly simple to use – just turn it on and record. Using the simple touch screen, you can zoom in and out, delete videos right on the spot. And then when you plug it into the usb, you can edit, create stills and save to YouTube, AOL, for emailing, etc.

It took less than a week to arrive and I also added on the extended warranty (since I’m going to carry this around in my purse everyday) and bought the pack of usb cables so I can have one in my cord case, one at work and one at home. If you want to get really fancy, you can get a flexible tripod or even an action mount.

So, it’s simple, pretty inexpensive and adorable. But does it take good video? I say yes! I res’d this down to the emailable level and it still looks great. When you look at it at the standard level it is even better.

By the way, this is my pup and he was with me at the office together having, obviously, too much fun!

Now, I can’t wait to get to NYC so I can shoot a ton more footage.

Beware!