Dresser Makeover

Posted in diy, home by peppermintsandhoneybees

Happy Halloween everyone! So this post has nothing to do with Halloween but I plan on posting my Halloween costume on my next post. But for today I have some photos of the dresser I just changed up. This dresser is older than me and also looks it. I could just get a new one but I like how sturdy this one is and hey it’s practically a family heirloom. It was my mom’s when she was growing up. I could have painted it but I like the look of the wood even if it is a little banged up so I decided some new drawer knobs would jazz it up. The only problem is that knobs are expensive if you buy them all at once and I couldn’t decide what I wanted. What to do? Get all different ones and mix and match. My style is usually all over the place so why shouldn’t my dresser be too!

Have a happy and safe Halloween tomorrow!

27Oct2014

Homeade Leave In Conditioner

Posted in Beauty, diy by peppermintsandhoneybees

If you have curly fine hair like I do or if you just want a little shine and added protection to your hair you probably use some spray in conditioner after you wash your hair. I used to buy it until I figured out an easy homemade recipe that is super cheap to make!

All you need is:

An empty spray bottle
any kind of conditioner (I like to use the hotel samples I pick up)
Aloe Vera juice
Water

I don’t really measure it out since it depends on the size of the bottle but I fill the bottle up about an inch with conditioner and then fill the bottle half way up with the aloe vera juice. I fill the rest up with water and then shake it up. It’s that easy! Use after you get out of the bath or shower and before you style your hair. I like to use a generous amount on my hair, and I can with this cheap easy recipe!

20Oct2014

Halloween part 2

Posted in diy, Holiday, home by peppermintsandhoneybees

Here is a little bit of my Halloween decorations for this year. This month has been crazy busy and I didn’t get to make all of the things that I had planned to decorate for the holiday but here’s what I did put up.

The Bats are just made from cardstock. I traced a plastic bat and taped them to the wall. The cat is a few years old from Michaels, and the crows and pumpkin LED lights are from Dollar Tree. The glass owl is an antique bank that was given to me as a gift and the skull candy dish was given to me by my mom last year from Hallmark. Happy October!

6Oct2014

Who’s Ready for Halloween?!

Posted in craft, diy, home by peppermintsandhoneybees

Halloween is my favorite holiday (when else can you dress up as whatever you want!) and I thought I’d share my outdoor set up thus far. More to come!

19Sep2014

Painted Wooden Bangles

Posted in craft, diy, Jewelry by peppermintsandhoneybees

Wow, has it really been a month since I posted anything? Bad Jenna, bad! I have been working on things but not to completion I guess. I’ve been busy working and doing other fun things such as the Renegade Craft fair in Chicago, here’s their link. They do shows around the county and in London. It’s like etsy only not online! I had said that this was the year I’d finally have a booth but once again I chickened out. Boo me! But I did go to shop and like always it was amazing with amazing people making amazing art, jewelry, pottery, clothing and other goods. I also went to the Chicago riotfest this past weekend and rocked out! This was the third year in a row that Ben and I went and like always it was packed with awesome bands! Here’s the lineup if you were curious. Riotfest is in Denver this weekend.

I got a pretty good spot for Metric, one of my favorite bands and here’s one of Ben and I waiting for Social Distortion to start.

Any who like I mentioned one of the things I’ve actually finished recently was these two wooden bracelets I painted and then sprayed with a clear coat for protection. I’ve been really into all the constellation accessories I’ve been seeing lately and wanted to make my own take on the trend. And the triangles are just one of my favorite color pallets. It’s very summery because I guess I’m sad I see summer leave so soon. I love fall, don’t get me wrong but summer and I have a special relationship and goodbyes are always hard!

Well forgive me for the time gap and I’ll try to post more. Let me know what projects if any I should try out!

16Aug2014

DIY Running Belt

Posted in clothing, diy by peppermintsandhoneybees

Happy Saturday! I finally got my sewing machine working so I’ve been trying to finish a bunch of projects I attempted to start and haven’t been able to do. The first one I finished was this running belt to hold phone, keys, music, etc.

They sell these handy little accessories at stores but they’re pretty pricy and for what it is, I figured I could make one for quite a bit less. They just have an opening or two where you stick your stuff and them flip them over to hold everything in place. Now I originally wanted to add a zipper and fold over elastic to the edges but after the issues with my sewing machine I decided to keep it simple and it still works great. Feel free to make yours more jazzy though!

First I bought 1/4 a yard of a nylon spandex mixed fabric from Joanne Fabric. I folded it over and sewed it together leaving an opening for the pocket. I then cut slits were the opening for the pocket were and folded them down and sewed. I them flipped the belt right side out and with the pocket facing out I sewed the ends together. When doing this step be sure to get it nice and tight. The fabric stretches so I had to make mine quite a bit smaller than I thought I would need to. Remember it’ll be bouncing around when you run so you don’t want it sliding or falling down. The fabric was a little hard to sew because it is slippery so definitely pin it. Then cut the extra, fill it up and flip it over so the opening is facing in. Then you’re ready to run. 😉 I’ve been trying to get up to 5 miles and I’m half way there so this should help me get there. Let me know how you use yours!

10Aug2014

Stapless to Halter Dress DIY

Posted in clothing, diy by peppermintsandhoneybees

Hello,

I’ve been starting to get a little sad now that summer is heading towards an end but I’m also starting to get into the fall mindset and have started wearing more olive greens and burn oranges now.

I recently found this dress I really really wanted two summers ago from Pacsun. I didn’t buy it at the time because it was a little more than I was wanting to spent so I let it go. On my most recent trip to Plato’s Closet though I found it on the sale rack for 50% off! the only problem was that it was an XL and I am usually a small or medium. it also had a hole by the zipper and a few of the seams were starting to come apart.

I figured since it was so cheap I could try to fix it, so I made it into a small by sewing the side seams smaller and hand stitched the holes back. I sewed out the zipper which really wasn’t a problem on this dress because the back was stretchy so I’m still able to get it on without a zipper. After I was done I decided that I kinda wanted it to have straps so I wasn’t pulling it up all day. (I’m sure you small chested girls know what I’m talking about!) I also didn’t want to have to wear a strapless bra with it, again the whole pulling it up thing!

Since it’s the end of summer I was able to find this black bikini top at Old Navy on sale for $4.95 and I hand sewed it into the front of the dress for a built in bra plus halter straps, pretty clever I think. 😉 I machine sewed the straps to the top so they would be secure and hand stitched the cups in so that the stitching wouldn’t show through the front. Also I’ve been having sewing machine issues, which are very frustrating and angering sooo yeah….I’ve been hand-stitching what I can. But I’m pretty happy with the result. 🙂

I also got this green shirt at Plato’s Closet for $2.50! I thought they looked nice together

4Aug2014

Clip-on Earring Refashion

Posted in clothing, diy, Jewelry by peppermintsandhoneybees

I have a whole box of vintage jewelry that my uncle got me at an auction and some of the prettiest pieces are the clip-on earrings. I like most women these days have pierced ears and am too afraid that clip-I earrings will fall off.

I have one way to wear them though! I use either a hair clip or bobby pin, depending on how heavy they are and wear them in my hair. It’s a pretty way to fancy up an outfit and I get to wear my clip on earrings!

Lots of them on your hair would look cool too!

24Jul2014

Table and Chairs Refresh

Posted in diy, home, Uncategorized by peppermintsandhoneybees

I’ve never really liked this table and chairs since they look like and probably are from the 90’s. Ben had gotten them used before we lived together and were definitely outdated and showing their age. We were going to buy a new dining room set but couldn’t find one (or a price) that we like. I decided that since they are still in pretty good shape we could keep them a little longer and I’d be happier with them if they looked a little more modern and a little pop of color can go a long way! I painted everything that was painted white and left the wood showing. I used satin latex paint with a semi-gloss polycyclic over it to seal it. It did take about four coats of the blue though since I was painting such a dark color over the white. It was a nice summer project and I’m pretty pleased with the way it turned out!

Before

After, plus my Birthday Flowers! 🙂 Plus find the cat for bonus points…

13Jul2014

Homemade Cards

Posted in craft, diy by peppermintsandhoneybees

Hey all! I have a fun diy for anyone who just can’t find cards in the store that they like. It’s a fun alternative to stamping or just paper cards. I made this one for my uncle’s birthday. He loves flamingos and I can never find good uncle cards that suit him. I used canvas that I washed with paint and then embroidered the flamingo. You can pretty much do whatever you want. If you’ve never embroidered before try it out on some scrap fabric before you start and draw out your image with a pencil to help. I spray mounted the canvas onto a folded piece of cardstock and wrote my own message inside. He loved it!