Books as decor Archives - Page 3 of 3

book, Books as decor, decor, Decorating, Holiday decorating, Home Decor, Home Tour, mantles

A Lazy Girl’s Patriotic Summer Mantel

My name is Pretty Handy Girl and I am addicted to my Christmas mantel. Yes, I have used it since December 2012. I needed to enroll myself in a program that would help me get unhooked from holiday mantel décor. Truth be told, I needed a little help from my friends to change my habitual ways. So let’s turn this Christmas mantel into A Lazy Girl’s Patriotic Summer Mantel.

Thanks to my good friends on Facebook and Instagram, they intervened and guided me in the right direction. With some suggestions they helped me turn around and get my life back in the correct season.

Using my kitchen upheaval as an excuse is really only acceptable for one or two months. I used that lame explanation as a crutch for seven months! But, the issue became glaringly apparent when our good friend and house sitter remarked that she thought that was our Christmas mantel still up in June. {busted} Before she settled into our home (while we left for an extended vacation), I knew I had to change it up.

Everyone had some great ideas, but the easiest and quickest were to add buntings and some blue. Within 45 minutes (because I always have to play around with things for at least half an hour.) I had a fresh seasonally-appropriate Patriotic mantel.

Inexpensive buntings from Michael’s were the undeniable champion in this makeover.

A few American flags in a cobalt blue bottle brought some more patriotism onto the scene. Red, white and blue books were an easy way to add the right colors.

The stars remained unchanged, except I ripped off the crispy dead sprigs of rosemary.

Antique tins and a cigar box bring out the Americana feel.

Yup, give me 45 minutes and I can change a Christmas mantel…

…into a Fourth of July mantel!

Thank you to my social media friends for your help and for not turning me in to the decorating police. xxxooo

July 3, 2013/15 Comments/by Brittany Bailey

arts and craft, book, Books as decor, Build It, Crafts, Gift Ideas, gifts, painting

Kids Bookend Kit: Build your own bookend

Do your kids want to build and paint just like you? This project a great beginner build for young ones who want to get in there and make something to call their own. And once they’re done building they can paint it too!

Or give the build as a unique personalized gift for that artsy friend who loves to paint:

Attach a cute gift tag (download my tag free from here) and include some fun acrylic paint colors and brushes:

This project is super kid friendly, I tested it at my 6 year old daughter’s birthday party and all the girls absolutely loved building their own project . We used kid sized drills (like these kid sized drills) and they truly enjoyed painting their bookends: Read more

April 17, 2013/10 Comments/by Jaime Costiglio

Y’all are gonna love today’s guest post! Hammer Like a Girl is in the HOWZZ! Check out that industrial book page topped table that they created.

Today’s guest post is brought to you by THREE handy gals! I’m seriously thinking about moving to Seattle just so I can be one of their friends and share in the DIY project co-ops. Heidi, Monica and Mary Jean make up the power trio at Hammer Like a Girl.

These ladies get together once a week to tackle a DIY project together. They rotate which house they will work in next. Check out some of their transformations like this oval to rectangle table transformation, rustic wood bathtub surround, or tile backsplash.

I Love Decorating with Books – Guest Post from Honey We’re Home

On the heels of my de-cluttering post, I have a special guest who is going to show you how you can keep all your books and make them look attractive instead of cluttered! Hooray for book lovers!!! And once you see how she used her books as décor, you are going to run to your bookshelves and create another reason to fall in love with your home!

Without any further waiting, I’d like to introduce Megan from Honey We’re Home
(and her fabulous helper and right hand man, James.)

Okay, but wait, before I let her talk, I have to tell you that Megan’s home is absolutely gorgeous. If you haven’t visited her blog, do so NOW!

What, you are still here? Seriously! Look, here are just a few pictures from her home:

Mudroom

Her Office

And, her closet. AKA Mom Cave (Seriously, I could eat, sleep & blog in there!)

Okay, so you are back, and NOW without any further delay, Please welcome Megan!

Although I had admired Brittany’s handiwork and especially her boy’s reading nook for a long time from afar, I was thrilled to get to meet her in person at Blissdom. Needless to say, she is so down-to-earth and personable and really listens to you when you are talking. Eye contact and all. And she really is purely intent on showing her readers how they can accomplish the kinds of projects she does in her home in theirs!

What I’m sharing with you today is how I’ve used books as decor in our home. I love reading and have amassed quite a collection of books over the years. It’s funny how you can tell a lot about a person by the books they read. In my house, you would guess I’m into God/religion/spirituality, decor/interior design, parenting/babies, fashion, and cooking. My husband’s books are all about business, law, and history.

I’ve received a lot of inspiration for decorating with books from blogland and I especially love those “rainbow” bookshelves and wanted to try my hand at it. I’m pretty familiar with my books, so I’m sure I won’t have any trouble locating them even though they aren’t categorized by subject.

Here’s my rainbow bookshelf in the upstairs hallway. All I did was group the books into rainbow order by their spines and then arrange them on the shelf. I reworked it a couple of times, and ended up with this: