Good morning, or afternoon for  most of you! So I have a little news to share, I have been slacking quite a bit on my blog, but I have a really good reason… Let’s just say this is what moving to Hawaii looks like…

Yes, you heard me right. We have officially moved to paradise, and I have started working again. It has been quite an adjustment for us, but a fabulous one! We have a new place to call home, and are so excited to take on the challenge of making it feel like ours. We plan to spend our weekends fixing up and renovating the house. It’s going to be quite the journey, and I hope you’ll follow along with us! We are starting to get settled, and I will be sharing our new home with you very soon. Stay tuned for some dust, paint, and lots of DIY!

May is nearly here, and so it’s time to get some new plants and flowers in our life! Sydney and I did a little indoor gardening this weekend, and we used a couple containers I spotted at Target. LOVE them and just couldn’t resist sharing!

I let Syd pick out the flowers and the candle (also from Target) and she did well.

Both the gold vase….

and the white porcelain urchin are from Target. This urchin one is actually a votive candle holder, but I prefer it holding pretty flowers  : )

What touches of Spring have you added to your home?

Happy Earth Day! In honor of today’s theme, I have created a roundup of my favorite succulent posts. Enjoy!

Planting Succulents In Tea Cups

Waterstone Succulents via Etsy

Checkout the newest tutorial I did for Shutterstock! I created a custom wall collage in my house by simply using printed illustrations. I even did a gel medium transfer to get some of the images onto canvas. Click here for the full instructions!

These suncatchers are easy to create, and Sydney had lots of fun making them! All we used was wax paper, a marker, white paper, school glue, and a few shades of blue tissue paper. Sketch your cloud and raindrops onto white paper and cut them out. Then cut up your blue tissue paper into small squares.

Now, trace your raindrops onto wax paper and cover with glue. Allow your little ones to go crazy gluing the tissue into each raindrop shape. Then, coat with a thin layer of glue to make sure all tissue is glued down and secure. Allow to dry.

Cut out your blue raindrops, and they’re ready to hang and admire on your windows!

Now, if only these april showers would bring some pretty May flowers…

Good morning! I hope everyone is set and ready for a great weekend!  I am really excited to share a DIY feature I did for Delighted Magazine! Sydney and I had so much fun with it.

You can check out the full tutorial in the online publication by clicking here.

We finally painted our eggs! Instead of messing with natural dye again, or picking up the boxed kind, I opted to find something around the house to reuse instead. I can never seem to use my nail polish fast enough, and it always ends up goopy. So using some of my bright colors from last year worked perfect! I started by blowing out the eggs, and of course making some omelets.

Use whatever technique works best, I went with the ol’ pin and aspirator method. A straw can also be very helpful if you don’t have the aspirator.

Then, once the eggs were washed and dry, a little white spackling paste makes the holes vanish. I also created some little egg stands by cutting up all the sections in the egg carton, flipping them upside down, and adding pins to carefully cradle and hold the eggs in place.

Then I put some q-tips into the polish jars, and let Syd go to town painting. She opted for a drippy paint look.

I went for my go-to black, white and gold palette, using sharpies & metallic nail polish.

We cut strips of paper bags to create little nests for our pretty eggs. Here are Syd’s colorful creations:

For the last couple weeks Sydney has been learning about plants and growth, and sprouting some beans. And now we’ve added the plants to our easter egg centerpiece.

We used egg shells as planters.

Added with a little soil….

And now Syd’s sprouts have their new homes.

These yarn wrapped candles are the perfect way to add a bright & cheery touch of spring to your table!

And they couldn’t be any easier to make. You just need candles (I picked up mine at Target for under two bucks a piece), colorful yarn, and some glue.

Start by glueing one end of your yarn to the candle, then get to wrapping. Make sure you wrap tightly, and add a dot of glue every so often. If you’re using hot glue like I did, be sure  to just use a little dot. If the glue builds up it creates bumps under your yarn.

Switch up the colors to make different designs.

Then they’re ready to display! As always use caution when working with hot glue, and make sure you keep the yarn far enough away from the tops of your candles!

I am so excited to share another fun craft project I made for Shutterstock! Head over to their blog to check out the full tutorial. I used Photoshop for this one, but if you don’t have the program you can simply print out your patterns & use stencils to cutout your letters.
(if you’re liking the neon animal mobile, you can find that tutorial here)

Good Morning! I have been so busy working with a few different clients, helping them to refresh and update their homes. But, yesterday I finally found some time to break out my glue gun again! I made this cute little shamrock plant to add a festive touch to our window sill. All I used was green & white felt, wire, scissors, and glue.

Cut out some hearts. Use glue to give them a little dimension. Then, glue the heart shaped clover leaves to your wire. I also made larger clovers by turning my hearts upside-down. Get creative with it.

Then stick them all into  a cute little cup or pot with some foam in the bottom. And done! A super quick afternoon craft!

I posted awhile back that we finally got around to taking down the crib in Sydney’s room. Well, we salvaged as many pieces as possible, and that included the drawers. With just a few bucks, and five min, I adapted those drawers to store toys under Syd’s big girl bed!

All I needed was a hammer, and 8 furniture glides (found at the hardware store). You can also use casters, but her bed was too low for those.

Turn the drawers over, and hammer a glide into each corner. Flip over, and…..

…that’s it! You can do this with almost any drawers. I’m thinking of using some cool vintage ones on casters under our bed!

I finally got around to using the great pieces of driftwood we collected during our little Kauai getaway. I made candle holders!

If you already have a drill, then these are super easy to make. You just need your driftwood, and a drill bit that can make 1 1/2″ holes. I picked one up for about $8.

First, I used my tea candles to  figure out exactly where I wanted them to sit on the driftwood. Then I drilled away. Make sure to used extreme caution when handling a drill, work on a safe surface, and wear protective eyewear. I also recommend holding your wood in place with some sort of clamp.

Now clean them up with a vacuum, drop in your candles, and…

… light!

Not only do my driftwood candle holders make the perfect addition to our coastal navy bedroom, they’re also a great keepsake from our trip!

Happy Friday! I have Spring on the brain, and so I can’t get images of pretty florals out of my head. Spring florals were hot on the runway, and now they’re hot for the home as well. Check out some of the new spring home decor I’m loving this week:

1.OBSESSED with this beautiful floral rug from Anthropologie! Must have.
2. Featured in Pier1′s spring sneak peek, this adorable hanging chair. Love. Love. Love.
3. Romantic Floral Scarf Duvet from Urban Outfitters.
4. Imm Living Adorable Shed Hunting Deer Wall Hook from Pure Home.
5. Anthropologie has lots of bright floral pillows to liven up your sofa.
6. Even more from my fav store, I must add some pretty flower plates to my china cabinet!

Even though it still feels like winter outside, it doesn’t mean it has to feel like it inside! My mantel, or buffet rather, has been feeling lonely ever since taking down our Christmas decor. With a few new elements, some knickknacks from around the house, and a springy decorative oregano plant, the buffet has a new life!

I quickly updated my snowy scene apothecary jars with stacks of polaroid photos. Simple and free transformation. You can use old photographs, or really any collection of items. Matchbooks, shells, vintage toys, etc.

Here’s a closer look at two new pieces I absolutely adore. I love a little quirkiness, and these photographs add just that.

I also added a couple succulents, my animal photo holders, and gold striped candles.

Last week I made a fun mobile to add to Sydney’s new reading corner!

I’m so excited to share it with you. It’s a very easy and inexpensive DIY. The first thing I did was pick up some toy animals at the dollar store.

I drilled a small hole in each animal, all the way through, (closer to the head to help balance out weight).

Then I painted them different neon colors. I used acrylic paints, spray paint, and nail polish.

I then added a glossy clear coat for extra protection.

Next, using a needle and thread, I strung each animal onto a string, and secured them tightly with hot glue.

I created the base of the mobile by simply using two wooden dowels, glue, and lots of string. Then I tied all of my threaded animals onto the mobile.

And that’s it! Sydney loves the fun, bright colors. The mobile is the perfect addition to her brand new reading nook!

Check out how to make these fun Valentine’s I made for Shutterstock! My tutorial is featured on their blog today. With this DIY tutorial you can make personalized homemade cards, and there are no special talents required! It’s a super easy way to create custom Valentines with printed artwork or photographs.

Click Here for the full tutorial.

We finally trust that Sydney won’t use her paints, crayons, and markers to decorate the walls, floors, or furniture. So, we moved her workstation into her bedroom. In doing so, it was totally necessary to hang some masterpieces on her wall. I made a few quick frames using cardboard, markers, and twine. It’s super easy. Check it out!

Cut a frame shape out of cardboard.

Decorate it with markers.

Attach some twine to the back.

And hang!

Hey there peeps! I’m so excited to have been nominated for this years Homies over at Apartment Therapy! If you would be so kind as to head over and vote for The Gold Jellybean, I will forever be thankful! (of course, only vote if you feel I should be in the running) Click HERE to vote for me for Family & Kids Blog, or HERE for Home Project & DIY.

There are so many great blogs on the lists, so maybe you’ll find another one you love. If you’re signed in, its one click to vote, and if not it takes just a min to sign in to vote.

We’re crossing our fingers we make it past the first round! Thank you so so very much!

xo,
Shaleah & Syd

Valentine’s Day is fast approaching, and this year is Sydney’s first Vday at school. So, we have been hard at work on some DIY Valentines!

All we used was an ink pad, card stock, pen, and her cute little fingers.

Syd tackled the first step, using two thumbprints to make a heart.

Then, I added some black ink to create a heart balloon and sweet greeting.

I wrote Sydney’s name in pencil, then let her trace over it in pen.

Now these cute little cards just need some candy and they’re ready to give!