WOVEN WALL HANGING

Hey everyone!! I am sorry to say "I am sorry" yet again for the lack of posting. I have taken a little time off from the blog the past few weeks because I wanted to give my time and energy to my family over the holiday's! It was so nice to be able to remove myself from cyber world for a bit and just enjoy being with my loved ones!

BUT it is a new year and I am back to doing what I love, DECORATING our 900sqft apartment!

I have been seeing a lot of awesome woven wall hangings lately and I must say I am drooling over them all! I love the natural element they bring into a room. They are so simply yet make such a profound statement!

My only issue with them however is that they cost A LOT of money! I have seen them go as low as $65 and as high as $250. Yeah, about that. I do not have $250 to spend on a woven wall hanging. #sorrynotsorry! 

So I studied a photo of one and I made my own and I must say it is so simple, but takes some time cutting all the yarn.

I started off with 4 different colors of yarn from Michaels (they were having a nice sale on yarn so I was able to get all of mine for $15) and a stick (I have no clue the name for it) from Wal-Mart for less  than $2.

the stick is hard to see :/ but it is right under the yarn! 

I then cut the yarn into about 4 ft pieces

I did 5 pieces of yarn for each looped section. (does that make sense?)

Once I had my pieces cut I started to add them to the stick! I wish I took a video doing this, meh! But I will explain it the best I can. 

Take your first color you want to do and have all five pieces of yarn together. Then fold them in half. Lay the stick on top of the yarn and then feed the ends of your yarn through the loop. Ugh, I REALLY wish I made a video for this BUT Michele1218 on YOUTUBE shows you how to do this technique but on fabric garland. It is the same technique to get the results for this woven wall hanging!

you can see here how the wood piece fits snug between the looping. I also braided some of my yarn for additional texture!

I worked on both sides evenly, bringing the design to the middle just to make sure that there was enough space for the amount of yarn on both sides to be even!

Once I finished adding all the pieces of yarn it was time to cut it. This part is super simple but for anyone who needs guidance: All I did was angle my scissors downward and cut from the outside in, to create a sloping effect that meets at a point in the middle.

SUPER EASY RIGHT?!

 I am soo happy with how it came out! It is the perfect piece to fill our naked wall in the hallway!

Give it a shot! And if you do tag me @rebelydecor on instagram so I can see your beautiful work!

THAT Post

SO for all of you who follow my blog, THANK YOU! I am so grateful for the outpouring of love and support I have received especially over the past month! I have noticed that as time goes on more and more of you are stumbling across my tiny corner of cyber world!

You might have notice that my blog looks different. Well, it is! I decided to give my page a new look because, well I am finally starting to understand what I want from this blog and my old page was not in line with my vision. How something looks is what draws people in, right? I know it sounds superficial but it is true. When I first saw my husband I was like "DANGGGGG, you are HOT!!!" his looks are what initially drew me in, and then his love for the Lord and killer personality was what kept me around. Well that same concept is applied to the blogging community. I can't tell you how many blogs I passed by because they just didn't look pretty :/ I feel guilty even admitting that but I am a visual learner and how something looks is vital for what I give my attention to. And I know there are many of you out there that are like me in that aspect.

I want to inspire others. I want to help others be daring when it comes decorating their homes and eclectifying (totally not a word) their lifestyle. I want to show people that they are capable of creating beautiful things and not everything needs to be bought at a high price. The original look of Rebely Decor was FUN. I mean come on, gold pineapples! Who doesn't love a chic gold pineapple? But I realized as fun as the image of my blog was, it was taking away from my work. The photos that I was displaying were competing with my loud background and I didn't want that.

I want people to be drawn into my art, I want their eyes to be fixated on my work and that just wasn't happening with my old page.

So I decided to switch things up. It's more black and white, it's a bit more edgy, but I like it. It's ME. I love the look of the hand drawn arrows. I love that they aren't perfect because well, neither is my work or my life. But that is what Rebely Decor is about. Using imperfect things and making them look beautiful. Taking my crazy and random ideas for decor and turning them into something that exemplifies my family's lifestyle.

This post is boring, I know. But I just wanted to let my readers know that this is still MY page. My vision for Rebely Decor has not changed, I am just now perfecting and understanding how to display what I love to do...DESIGN and DIY! 

I hope you guys like the new look...if not please let me know! I care what you think and want to please my readers! 

*I am working on a COOL and FUNKY accent wall in our bedroom which I am thrilled to share with you all this weekend, so be on the look out for that*

happy decorating

A Touch Of Quirky

I love adding quirky and eclectic touches throughout our home if you haven't noticed. One trend that I see often in baby nurseries is fabric garland. There is something so whimsical and perfectly imperfect about the mixing and matching of fabric into the formation of garland to hang....really anywhere in your home.

Our headboard was the perfect canvas for my little project. Everything in our bedroom is stuff that my husband and I had prior to getting married. Our dressers and bed was my husbands, and our nightstands and headboard were mine. We painted them and made them our own but now we are in the process of getting more grown up stuff. Don't get me wrong, we LOVE what we have but some of it is childish....seriously, the dressers were my husbands since he was little haha. So eventually when we find pieces we like we will get them (thrifted of course). But until the search for new dressers happens I wanted to start on our master bedroom re-do and make a fabric garland for our headboard.

My vision for our bedroom is soft neutrals. Lots of whites and greys. But I wanted to add a whimsical touch and there is something so dreamy about fabric garland. So what better place than a bedroom where the dreaming takes place?!

I started with 5, 18x21 fabric squares from Wal-Mart. They were 97 cents a piece....STEAL! If you want your fabric strands to be longer you can buy fabric by the yard. I didn't want the fabric completely hiding my headboard so I opted for these squares.

I then took the squares and did 8 little cuts in each at about 1.5in apart to look like this. 

After doing this to each of the squares. I ripped each piece quickly. Your fabric will fray but thats ok, it gives it character!

You will end up with a pile of fabric that looks like this! I had 45 pieces of fabric in total. I then took a piece of twine about 5ft long and looped the fabric around the twine.

*There are different methods for doing this. You can knot it, twist it, loop it like I did...do whatever you like, it's YOUR project*

Once I finished I pinned the garland up onto our headboard and... voila!

Have FUN with it! Bedroom, living room, bathroom, nursery, etc. These adorable fabric garlands are the perfect touch of whimsical that your home is asking for! I can't wait to make some for Christmas to hang up around the apartment!

happy decorating

COFFEE TABLE RE-DO & RUG REVEAL

If you have been to our apartment or have been following my blog and/or Facebook, you have come to realize I love quirky, loud, funky, eclectic items. Our apartment is as I like to call it, "eclectic chic". From bright colored velvet retro chairs, to gum ball machines ..we have a little bit of everything in our apartment.

However something that we did not have, but I have been searching for, for far too long was a Turkish style area rug for our living room. I have had an obsession with these styled rugs for a long time now. I mean just look at these gorgeous creations sent from heaven above ...

(they add the perfect Bohemian flare in this little ones nursery)

 (I swear I am drooling on my computer screen right now! That pattern. Those colors. Amaze balls!)

(In this neutral living room, it adds the perfect amount of color. It is strikingly beautiful but not obnoxiously loud)

You are obsessed now too, huh? It's ok, it is completely understandable. If you weren't slightly obsessed I would have to check your pulse to see if you were alive. 

So I searched, searched, searched. Mostly on sites such as craigslist or a page I follow on Facebook that is a community based page where people will sell things (mostly home goods) for a discounted price. But I had no luck. And I just wouldn't pay full priced for one because most of them have a starting price of $1,000 and "you see the way my bank account is set up" *side note* if you don't know what that quote is from you HAVE TO check out Kevin Hart's Stand Up Skit, it's HYSTERICAL!

Ok, so back to how darn expensive these sexy rugs are. Some can range up to$12,000! Disgusting, I know. So I do what I always do when I want things for cheaper, I go to Amazon. I typed in "Turkish Style Rug" and BOOM up pops a company that makes rugs for the CHEAP. And when I say cheap I mean cheap. Take a look at what I'm talking about HERE...and maybe in the process order one for yourself hehe.

I looked through a bunch of different options, and I found two that I liked and let my husband pick between those two. He did good, y'all!! Just look....

I love the way it looks with our new black wall!!

And our bright green and teal chairs. AHHH I am in love!

I am thrilled with it. And I must say, the price did not match the quality of this rug. I was shocked! It is extremely well made, it flattened out fast, and was true to color and size.....I'm still wondering why on earth I ever bought from any other company.

Because this rug is fabulous as can be but also very busy I had to re-do our coffee table. If you have been following my blog you know our coffee table use to look like this...

I painted it and then tufted the top with this retro printed fabric I found at Wal-Mart. It was great for the time being but with our new rug I didn't want the patterns to clash so I opted for something a lot more simple and rustic.

I originally wanted to take the entire top off the table but this thing was built like a fortress so I had to think of another plan. So I ended up taking the tufting off the table top, which took me FOREVERRRRR but whatevs, I got the job done. Then the next day I went to our local hardware store to pick up some 1x4 pieces of untreated wood and had the gentleman there cut it into 7 46" pieces. I also bought some PL Premium Polyurethane Adhesive. I put some of the adhesive on the tabletop and then placed the wood pieces on top of the adhesive. This adhesive is the BOMB DOT COM....however you want to use it on surfaces that aren't painted or treated and the table top of our coffee table had paint on it, so just for extra security I used 3" finishing nails cause they are thin and have a small head, and hammered a few into the wood. Those bad boy's aren't going anywhere AYEEE!

This is what it looked like once the wood was attached to the top. I ended up hitting the wood with a hammer in some places to give it a more distressed/worn look once the stain went on.

Next came the staining! I had a few different stain colors in my stash of paint and stains so I ended up using my favorite, Rust-Oleum's Antique Walnut.

I think that the best way to stain is to rub the stain into the wood and not brush it onto the top of the wood. I used this same stain on some shelves but I painted the stain on the shelves and it gave a painted look rather than a natural look which you will get when you rub the stain in. I took an old t-shirt of mine and cut a piece off, made sure to wear gloves cause getting stain off skin is a pain in the booty, and rubbed only one layer onto the wood. I could have done more but I liked the contrast of the light wood and the bright colored rug.

adorable, right?!

Voila' a new and beautiful coffee table!!

Do you have a coffee table that could use a little face-lift? Give it a try and tag me your re-do pictures on INSTAGRAM @rebelydecor, I would LOVE to see!

happy decorating

So Fresh & So Clean

I love chalkboards if you have not noticed hehe! Ever since I discovered how to make chalkboard paint 2 years ago and then discovered they made it in spray paint and then actual paint, my life pretty much became complete, jk, but seriously -_- HOWEVER one thing I cannot stand about chalkboards is when they become foggy from all the chalk build up. And I feel no matter how much I prime my chalkboard I still freak out when I see even the slightest amount of chalk build up. (*how to prime your chalkboard* lay your chalk flat on the board and apply a coat of chalk all over and then erase, leaving a light white coating on the board. This will make erasing future chalk easier*) I guess it doesn't help that I draw something new on my chalkboard every week *whoops*. 

I have tried everything when it comes to cleaning our chalkboards throughout the house. I have done baby wipes, warm soapy water, a vinegar solution, the list could go on. But nothing seemed to truly get my chalkboards clean. I would get so excited when they became wet with whatever I was cleaning them with and for a minute or two the chalkboard looked nice and clean. THEN the board would dry and there was that nasty chalky, cloudy, annoying look that I hate so much. (If you own a chalkboard or went to school with chalkboards, you know what I am talking about). 

See what I mean? It just looks so ewwww!!! Looking at this photo is making me freak out a little inside!

SOOOOO, I did some research an I found a solution to my problem. COKE! Yes Coca Cola, cleans your chalkboard and makes it look brand new. I mean it makes sense right? When I needed to take rust off my bike I would use coke and steel wool. I mean it eats the paint off a car for goodness sake, that is sooo creepy/disgusting! I tried a sip, and not even joking, I wanted to throw up. I really don't understand why people like this stuff!

All you need is some Coke, a sponge, and a bowl to pour a little bit of the Coke into

The cleaning process is SO simple! All you have to do is wipe off your chalkboard with a paper towel or chalkboard eraser. Then pour some of the Coke into a bowl and dip your sponge in it and wipe your chalkboard down. After I wiped it down with the Coke sponge, I wiped the chalkboard down again with a paper towel and warm water just because I didn't want my dog licking the chalkboard cause he smelled something sweet on it AND I just imagined flies coming into our home because they smelled this God awful drink. *DO NOT, I repeat DO NOT use warm soapy water  on your chalkboard, it can leave a not so great film on the surface of the board!*

 BTW how disgusting is this?! The coke left a brown stain in my bowl after only 5 min of sitting in it. Can you imagine what it does to your body when it just sits in your stomach for hours?!

Once the chalkboard dries this is what it looks like! Oh my beautiful, gorgeous, sexy chalkboard how I love when you get all cleaned up for me ;) This looks like I just put a fresh coat of chalk paint on the wall! Who knew Coke could be so wonderful in this way?!

Then it was time to dress our chalkboard up! Rango is so amused by the falling chalk dust whenever I write or draw on our chalkboard. Silly puppy :P

VOILA

This sight makes my heart so happy! I swear it does not take much to please me. And seriously, how easy was that?! So go to Publix, Walmart, Food Town, Shop Rite, wherever you do your food shopping and pick up some Coke and get those chalkboard squeaky clean!

*UPDATE: Since doing this post, I have used soda besides Coke. I had Dr. Pepper in our fridge left over from yummy Dr. Pepper ribs and I gave it a shot and it worked just as well as the Coke*

happy decorating

Operation: Being Content

My plan for this apartment was to keep it simple. Well that started to change rather quickly and our living area started to become quite eclectic which I L-O-V-E! Most of the stuff in our living area was given to us, and then received a face lift! Our couch, coffee table, and end table were given to us by my husbands parents. I painted our couch grey, yes PAINTED (I will do a future blog post on that because it is AWESOME SAUCE) made the oak coffee table into a tufted ottoman, and painted the dark cherry end table antique white and stenciled our initials and wedding date on it. Then of course I bought a vintage filing cabinet, a green retro velvet chair, a 10$ tv stand (which is temporary, I am on a mission to find an old dresser and refurbish that!) and a 15$ book shelf that I dry brushed white. Everything in our living space was either free or cheap. In my mind however, that gave me the ok to keep buying things and switching things out. I would buy some type of wall decor and then a month later buy something else. Then a month later I would buy wall sconces and then decide I did not like them. I finally realized the other day that I had an issue with being content with what God has blessed us with! My husband and I were sitting at the Ford dealership getting my car looked at and as I sat there I was looking at the other cars and said, "oooh I want that one" *mind you my husband just got me a new car less than 8 months ago -_- *yes I have an issue with being content. So I repented and asked the Lord to help me because not being content is not only unhealthy spiritually but unhealthy financially in my case! I then apologized to my husband for not being content with not only what God had given us, but what he has worked so hard for to provide for us (which is really God too).  SOOOO to make this post short, my objective for this home project was to create something that could be changed around when I felt like it, but would not require spending money to buy something completely different!

So without any further ado here is my project to help me practice being content!

I went to one of my favorite thrift stores and picked up some frames. The majority of them were 80 cents (STEAL) and the nice big gold one was only $2.12 (not to shabby aye?)

Then I broke out my handy chalkboard paint. Yes I LOVE chalkboard paint, get over it! You will also need some painters tape, OR I used masking tape because it was $3 cheaper, and go get yourself a nice flat brush. You want to make sure the bristles are smooth and silky to the touch so your chalk paint goes on smoothly!

I then taped around the border of my frames so when painting the glass, the chalk paint would not get on the frame itself. *If you get frames that the backs pop off of then I recommend doing that, so you can take the glass out and paint it without having to use the tape method. I, however got super old frames that did not give me that luxury :(*

This was the hard part for me. After doing one coat I had to sit around and wait for it to dry before I could do another uggggggh the agony! So I guess this project has helped me be patient as well right? Hahaha well not really because after 10 minutes I started on the second coat, WHICH I DO NOT RECOMMEND! Be patient, and let the first coat fully dry! 

Once they were dry I started to write some sayings on them with a chalk pen! USE a chalk pen, it is a more permanent option that will not fade or erase as easily as the traditional chalk.

Once they were all dried, I figured out how I wanted to place them on the wall and hung them up! I am so happy with how they came out and will start adding more to the wall over time! The touches of gold add a certain vintage feel that I really adore! 

This project has allowed me to make something that I can keep for a LONG time. And when I am not content with what is in the frames, all I have to do is use what I have by simply erasing the writing and write or draw something new without having to go out and spend money on more decor (that I would probably end of changing AGAIN anyway heheh).

happy decorating

Industrial Rustic Shelves

This project has been one of my favorites thus far! I love adding metal accents to rustic pieces. There is something beautiful about the mixture of wood and metal. 

This DIY was super easy and very budget friendly! You can get everything you need right at Lowe's. 

They sell 8ft. long 2x4 for less that 3$ CHA-CHING! You can have someone there cut the wood for you at no charge, which is FABULOUSNESS. 

Next step? STAINING! They now have some super fun colored stains out there (grey, blue, pink, orange....etc), but I guess I am boring and stuck with Antique Walnut. Yup, that pretty much sounds like something my Granny would pick out :/ actually she would probably pick something more fun haha! I threw on 2 coats of stain (I could have probably gotten away with one coat but I do 2 to be safe). 

Then I bought some steel shelf brackets from Lowe's for between 3-4$ a piece. 

they have different sizes depending on the size of your shelf and depending on the look your are going for!

I broke out my handy hand drill and attached the wood to the brackets; then the brackets to the wall and THERE YOU GO! I decorated mine with some mason jars of course, a vintage flour and coffee container, and recycled apple juice and milk glasses. Our apartment does not have a ton of counter space or cabinet space so these nifty shelves were the absolute best addition to our kitchen walls!

happy decorating

Chalkboard Accent Wall

So, we have moved yet again. That makes it 3 moves in less than 1 year. Oh my stars that is a lot! Long story short, an apartment became available in a perfect location and we could not pass it up. Not to mention it has a spare room which is perfect for when family comes to visit and eventually a nursery when it is time for baby Vinson! So here we are in our new apartment. Tan walls, gorgeous laminate floors (which I love because it does not scratch like hard wood and is WAY easier to clean, hallelujah!) crown molding throughout, massive 7 foot windows, and lots and lots of closet space. 

I could not wait to start decorating and turning this apartment into a home for us. My first project that I wanted to tackle was adding a POP of something. I was happy that we had tan walls because it beats white walls, but all the tan was quickly getting boring so I decided to break out my can of chalkboard paint (you can get it at any home store. I got mine from Walmart for 8$ for a quart).

 I chose a long,vertical wall that greets you when you walk in our entry hallway and is right near the kitchen so you can appreciate it at different angles. I cleaned the wall of any dust or whatever other nasty stuff can get on a wall and started with one coat of chalk board paint. After that coat dried I did another and let that fully dry. After about 3 days I then wiped the chalkboard wall down with a wet paper towel and once dried I covered the chalkboard in chalk and erased it (this primes the chalkboard and makes erasing easier in the future!) And BOOM, a accent wall that is not only adores but productive too. We designated the top portion for our bills (boo) and the rest for scripture! Easy right? And quick too! Go out there beautiful people, pick up some chalkboard paint and make your home something fun AND useful!

happy decorating