|| L o c a l . I s . T h e . N e w . B l a c k || October Meet + Make

 

October Meet + Make with Sarah Hearts

 

A wonderful experience of crafting with fabulous ladies, chatting with an amazing host, and leaving with a drool worthy door mat has left me excited for what is to come next for Sarah Hearts and her wonderful Meet + Make events at West Elm Orlando.

 

Sarah hosted one of her best Meet + Make events to date.   With over 50 attendees equally excited, there was chatter in all corners, paint was being applied in beautiful patterns on door mats, spiked cider and lovely desserts were being passed around, and the beautiful products of West Elm that surrounded us made it a fabulous evening.   

 

I love attending Sarah's events not just for the crafting aspect, but meeting amazing people in the Orlando area.  If you are new to Orlando this is a wonderful way to meet others, make connections, and have fun while crafting.  All you simply have to do is purchase your ticket, show up, all the supplies are there for you ready to go, and all you have to do is be a little creative and have a blast! 

As Meet + Make is coming to an end, you are then handed an amazing swag bag that you see pictured at the beginning of this blog post.  Inside this swag bag you have sponsors (some that are even local) that have sprinkled and donated some of their handmade products.  Talk about being exposed to supporting locals, small businesses, and items made in the US!  Sarah gave me the wonderful opportunity to be a sponsor myself at this Meet + Make.  Here is a detailed view into my swag bag:

1. Pen and Paper Flowers: PNP Flowers provided an adorable polka dotted key chain that stated "Her dreams give her goosebumps".  A constant reminder to dream big!  I had the opportunity to meet Jessica (the gal behind PNP Flowers) at a previous Meet + Make and she was a wonderful individual to get to know and craft with!

2. Modernly Mae:  These flowers made out of felt and placed on wire stems are adorable! I currently have them on my fireplace mantle for fall.  I plan to order more to add to my vase because they are simply too fun not to have more!

3. Bright Light Paper: I can't get over these adorable fall cards!  Not only are they perfect to spread fall cheer, but they are hand drawn and painted by watercolor.  Time to send someone some snail mail!  Added bonus? Elizabeth (another one) was in attendance.  I got to meet this local with a wonderful business that also sponsored the Meet + Make.  How can you go wrong with two Elizabeth's at one event?

4. Thatch and Thistle: I. Can't. Get. Over. This. Company!!  Thatch and Thistle provided these geo triangle kraft stickers.  Their online shop offers supplies for beautiful packaging, wrapping, gift giving, and for your unique party supply needs.  I have a slight addiction to their products.

5. The Bannerie:  Oh my, oh my, oh my! How I LOVE this gold, glittery 'Fall Y'all' banner!  It is the perfect addition for my fall décor.  I already have an ongoing list of additional gold and glittery banners I need in my life for upcoming events.  Check this shop out!

6.  Sarah Hearts: Sarah provided these adorable stickers in the swag bag, but more importantly allowed this amazing event to happen!  Her blog is full of inspiration for many facets of your life, many DIY projects, and even designs a monthly wallpaper for your computer and phone!

7. Lima Green Designs: I was thrilled to sponsor another Meet + Make event.  These are my fall themed mini clothespins that are perfect for attaching tags to gifts, hanging pictures on twine, or even keeping your napkins closed at your holiday feast. 

Sarah, thank you for another great event at West Elm.  I am looking forward to another great event in December!

 

 

Now is your opportunity to join in on the fun!  There is probably already a waiting list, but get on it!  Sarah opened the sale of her tickets for her next

Meet + Make in December today.   Jump on this opportunity!

 

|| L o v e l y. H a n d m a d e. A b o d e || Front Door Makeover

 

 

 Every person that runs, walks, or drives by our home gets a front seat view of our front door.  Each visitor that we enjoy the company of walks through our front door.  I walk through my front door on a daily basis. Hmm, maybe the front door is the heart of the home rather than the kitchen.  It is what welcomes every gal and gent into our lovely handmade abode.

 

I was itching to change something to the front of our home within just a few hours and that is when I decided to paint the front door.  Buying a new door is not an option at this time due to the original stain glass window that gives our home so much character (and the price of the door I am in love with stops me in my tracks)!  A lot of people kept telling me that they love the red on the door.  Is it a bad choice of color for a door?  No, not at all!  Is it the color/style my husband and I are looking for with our front door? No, not at all!

 

My new project began. See how we transformed the look of our front door in just a few hours!

 

 

 

 

This is what we started with.  Yup, told you it was red, bold red. I looked on Houzz and Pinterest for inspiration,  attached 15 different color samples on the door, and finally picked our color: a shade of teal.

  

 As you can see in this picture from the sander on the ground, I briefly sanded our door.  I was focusing on the areas that showed a little bit of cracking or peeling paint.  I was also prepping the door for the primer. 

 

Out of all of my excitement, I forgot to snap a picture of the sanded door before applying the primer!

 

 

 



 

 

For those who were walking, driving, and running by {what is running? ;) }, I am sure they were hesitant of my color choice at this point.  Although the sanding helped the new color adhere better, the primer was also a wonderful step within this project.  With the door being the original bold red, I needed all the help I could get with painting over it.

 

I also purchased a product to mix in with the primer and the paint color: Floetrol.  I mixed a small amount of the Floetrol into my primer (and eventually my paint color).  This eliminates the brush and roller strokes in the paint.  This means a flawless door!

 

 

 

 

After the primer dried, I was finally onto my next and final step.  Little did I know that it would be 3 coats later until I was done!  After spending 30 minutes of walking back and forth between my front yard and my front door earlier that morning, I finally decided on Classic Teal by Valspar.
 

 

Image Courtesy of Valspar

 

I also mixed the Floetrol into the Valspar Classic Teal paint according to the directions on the bottle.  I am in love with the final result!  Please come visit me!  The color of the door in the images does not show the true and vibrant hue of teal that it truly is.

 

 

We also found this bench on sale of Lowes! Perfect to start our front door/porch area and to throw a couple of my Lima Green Designs pillows on. 

 

 

This one day project was a success and a drastic difference to our front door.  I would love to see some of your front door creations and to take joy in what inspires you. 

Until next time!

Elizabeth 

 



Lovely Handmade Abode

The boredom of looking at white walls, the temptation to paint the walls, the lack of smell of your own freshly cut lawn, and ordering a custom address stamp that lasts less than a year due to moving again finally came to an end June 30th, 2014!

Since then I am finding joy in painting walls according to our taste, my husband loves cutting the grass (still in the grass cutting honeymoon period), and I have ordered a custom address stamp that will last years to come! We are finally homeowners in a city and state that we have fallen in love with.  It only took 3 states, 5 cities, and 7 apartments later in 5 years to finally settle us down. . . at least for now!

We bought our home right outside of gorgeous Orlando, Florida. Orlando is a city we have fallen head over heels for with the people, sights, and culture. 

This brings me to this blog post.  Being a lover of crafting and DIY projects (especially within our home now), I am going to have a weekly post on the many projects we are constructing and creating within our home.  I would love to share my passion with you and welcome you into our home!  These posts will fall under the category: Lovely Handmade Abode.  The watercolor picture with #lovelyhandmadeabode at the beginning of this blog post is a sneak peek of the outside of our home.

Beyond all of the hundreds of paint chips and samples brought home, rooms re-painted a week later due to the not so pleasant shades appearing in natural light vs lamp light, and countless amounts of paint stuck in my hair for days, we are finally getting down to the nitty gritty projects I can't wait to share!  Get ready LGD friends!

 xoxo!

Elizabeth

DIY: Painted Cement Coasters

Summer means sunshine, time with family and friends while socializing at cookouts, beach/pool time, and endless memories.  I wanted to do a DIY that can be incorporated into all of these things this summer.  That is when I saw painted cement coasters for that fabulous drink of yours that you are enjoying in the sunshine.  I thought it would be the perfect addition for your summer festivities! If you like a DIY project that you can work on a bit at a time (due to only having time here and there), this is the project for you!  Get ready to get your hands a little dirty.

Materials and Tools

* Baking sheet (You can use a shallow muffin pan also but I could never find one!)
* Wax paper
* Quick drying cement
* Bucket
* Stirring stick
* Acrylic paint
* Paintbrush
* Paper cups or mason jar lids
* Mod Podge

Instructions:

This is where you decide to use paper cups or mason jar lids.  If you have mason jar lids, they are easier because you simply place them on the baking sheet.  The cups you will have to cut first!  I will show both.

1. Take your paper cups (I used ice cream cups for a bigger circle) and cut off the rim of the cup leaving 3/4 of an inch in height.  You need enough cup left to pour the cement into!

2.  Prep your baking sheet by lining it with wax paper.
3.  Place your cups or your mason jar lids on top of the wax paper.

4.  Cover your cups or mason jar lids with another sheet of wax paper.
**You will notice later in the tutorial that I cut 4 sheets of wax paper for each circle.  I found that it was easier with four individual sheets but either way works. **

 

5.  Mix your cement in the bucket according to instructions.  Remember to put the water in the bucket first and then mix the cement in! 

**My instructions stated to put 5 parts cement to 1 part water.  I ended up adding more water until I got a smooth consistency that also made it easier to pour into the circles.  

 

 



6.  SLOWLY pour the cement into the circles.  Be careful as to not over pour or it will not take on the desired circular shape.
7.  Gently pull and shake the sides of the wax paper to remove air bubbles.  Allow cement to dry for 24 hours.
**This is when you go pamper yourself with gal time, a manicure, or sitting pool side while your coasters dry! **

8.  After your cement coasters have dried, time to peel!  The wax paper peels off with hardly any effort.  If a few pieces of wax paper get stuck in the creases of the cement, use tweezers to pluck it out!

 9.  Now for the fun and creative part: painting!  If you don't have the patience for painting (although you did wait 24 hours for this project to dry), you can always use spray paint and stencils.   I personally loved to used acrylic paint. 

 

As you're painting, think of a common theme and use complimentary colors among your set of coasters.  This will make for a great gift and/or a conversation starter by doing so.  I used a tribal theme using white, gold, burnt orange, and a mint teal for my coasters.

 

 

Additional option:  To make sure the paint on your fabulous coasters last, paint a coat or two of Mod Podge over the coasters to protect them.  Mod Podge does dries clear!

 

 

Now get busy making your own adorable coasters!  If you have more then one pan, make multiple sets at a time. 

I would love to see the coasters you create.  Post them to Instagram using the #lgdlove.  You can also post them on the LGD Facebook page!  Links below:

Instagram: @ElizabethRishel
Facebook: Lima Green Designs

Enjoy! 

Elizabeth