Desk Makeover with the Cricut

Growing up we had this amazing monster of a desk--it was the most annoying yet most amazing thing ever! It's one of those old wooden desks. Annoying, because it was SO HUGE--it took up half of the wall, was super heavy, and somehow attracted shins, elbows, knees, you name it, to be bruised by its solid structure. On the other hand, it was amazing because it was so big--just the top alone provided so much space for work to be done! I have a love/hate relationship with this desk, so when it came time for deciding what to do with it in our new house, I was torn--it didn't fit or match, it just seemed to glare at me in our room! 

But one weekend I decided I wasn't quite ready to part with it--but it needed a serious makeover if it was going to fit a little more subtly into our lovely new home. So, I took a trip to Home Depot for some paint, pulled out my Cricut and vinyl, and went to work.

Before: 

 And after! I painted it a light gray/silver to tone it down a little more (we're going with the oriental look and calming fung shei in our bedroom), white just a hint of glimmery sheen to it (I might be married to a boy, but I still like to slip in my sparkle when I can), and then decked it out with flowers, birds, butterflies, and dragonflies I cut with my Cricut! (first time ever using vinyl--I was proud of myself) 

I was going for harmony--yin and yang--so I need silver AND gold, white AND black--however, I only had silver, black, and white, so I made do by painting the white with gold acrylic paints.

Humming birds for happiness:

Lotus-type blossoms for virtue and balance, dragonflies for passion and energy, and more humming birds for playfulness and joy! :)

I also took the remaining brocade fabric from my lampshade and pillow (mostly just scraps) and pieced together a matching runner to go across the desk, and a mat for my laptop.

The finished product--voila! :)

Canvas Art

I very much LOVE the look of canvas art--you've seen 'em, when people take their family pictures and whatnot and have them printed out on canvas? It just gives it a whole different feel, I love it--a more classy, artsy vibe to the room. So, as I've been making over my new home, I wanted said feeling--but do you know how much those canvas prints cost?! Much more than a newlywed can afford. I was bummed out, until one day while perusing Pinterest I discovered that you can make your own at home! Well of course I was right on board with that, so I picked out some pictures to match my room (photos I took of the gorgeous water lillies at Virginia Woolf's house (while everyone else was touring the house, I was out taking pictures of the pond of course)), and off to Costco to print!

It was SUPER easy--I just printed the sizes I wanted from Costco and glued them onto some canvas I had sitting around from a crazy sale at JoAnns. I painted the sides of the canvas black to match, then modge-podged over the top, and voila!

Sunday Sweets: Vulnerability