I spray painted a mini grapevine wreath hot pink and glued a finger star fish onto it.  This is going to hang on a small side wall next to the hand towel.

I hand painted this sign to hang on the wall.  It points to the door that connects this bathroom with our pool patio.

This wreath will hang out on the window of the pool patio door.  These are all collected shells (except for the sand dollar) from last summer's trip to Sanibel Island.

And finally, I spray painted a cast iron mermaid hook I found at Hobby Lobby. I placed it on the tiny divider wall between the shower and toilet to hang an easy to reach towel for showering.

(post painting/pre-hanging)

Plan: Redecorate The Guest Bathroom

We bought our house eleven years ago this past May.  When we moved in, I had already bought all of the accessories for our new guest bath.  We went with a tropical, palm tree motif.  Three years later, we finally painted the walls a neutral beige color.  Since those days, we have added a child. I thought it was about time to change out the decor and make it more kid friendly.

We are fans of all things beachy, pink, and Pottery Barn Kids.  I was browsing in the store a couple of months ago and came across their Mermaid Shower Curtain:

I also purchased the matching hand and bath towels and bath rug:

I replaced two palm tree prints with this mermaid plaque I found on sale at PB Kids:

We have yet to pick out a new wall paint color.  I haven't decided whether to choose a very light pink or go with a white wall and paint the oak vanity a fun light aqua color.  I also found a big piece of faux coral from Kirland's that I would like to paint a different color.  Stay tuned for photos of what I DIY'd for this bathroom.

DIY Pet Pillow: Chihuahua

It is that time again!!!

Link up your Pinterest projects with Sherry, Katie, Megan, and Michelle!

I have been wanting to make a Chihuahua shaped pillow of my mom's dog, Buster, as a gift.  

Materials needed:

1) A good quality photo of the pet/animal you'd like to use

2) Iron on transfer paper

3) Ink Jet printer

4) Sewing machine (or you could sew by hand)

5) needle and thread

6) material

7) Iron and some type of heat resistant hard backing (wood cutting board/piece of wood)

8) Poly fill

Step 1:

Prepare your image.  I used Photo Shop to add Buster to a white background and clean up the edges of his outline.  Then, I sized the image to best fit my transfer paper.  You may have to create a mirror image of your image but in my case, it won't matter which way he prints onto the paper.

Step 2:

Make sure you have enough ink in your printer.  You may want to print out a test print in order to make sure your image will fit the page the way you want it to.  Once you are good to go, add your transfer paper to the printer so that your image will print onto the unmarked side of the transfer sheet.  The ink must dry for 30 minutes before you can transfer it.  Now you may trim the image to your desired shape.

Step 3:

Iron your fabric smooth if need be.  Preheat your iron for 5 minutes to the highest cotton setting.  Do not use steam!  You will need to put your fabric over the heat resistant hard backing such as a wood cutting board.  You can't use an ironing board for this step.  Place your image face down onto your fabric where you want it to be.  Iron over the entire image using a circular motion making sure entire transfer, especially the edges, receives 15 to 20 seconds of heat.  Now, you may remove the transfer paper's backing.

 

Step 4: 

Trim your fabric to your desired pillow size.  Put the fabric with right sides facing in and sew around the edges, leaving a section a few inches wide open.  Now turn your pillow right side out and stuff with poly fill.  Finish by hand sewing the remaining opening.  Now you are finished!

Original inspiration pin came from go make me:

Source: gomakeme.com via Monica @ Creative Gator on Pinterest

Decorating My Family Room with Ocean Styles

I have all the basic components of my family room: two leather couches, coffee and end tables, artwork, and a pineapple lamp and tropical fan.  What it really needs is an accessory boost.  I would love to add some new throw pillows, curtains over my sliding doors to the pool patio, a stencil to the nook behind my TV, and a new rug.  This rug needs to be near indestructible and being able to hose it off would be a bonus.  I do have a five year old, two dogs, and a cat after all.  So I am turning to Ocean Styles  to help me get this room finished off.  Oh, and tomorrow is the ten year anniversary that we closed on our house!  This will make a great home anniversary gift just in time for summer.

I really like this Cancun area rug:

5 x 7 $319

Barbados Sand Throw:

$54.99

White Feather Down Throw Pillows:

$29.74

I adore these glass floating string lights with the raffia twine.  They would be perfect on the patio and would be seen from our family room, dining nook and kitchen.

$22.95

I originally had an entirely different look planned out for this room that would have had me moving artwork around and then having to purchase all new artwork just to change the color scheme.  I have decided to keep it simple and stick with what we already have and just update it.  I will probably just chose simple, breezy white curtains for the sliders that will pop next to the wall color. 

 Please check out Ocean Styles for all of your beachy/tropical decor needs.  

Pinterest Challenge: Winter Edition

The Pinterest Challenge was thought up by the wonderful Katie from Bower Power to encourage us to actually make something inspired by something we have pinned on Pinterest.  It could be a craft, a recipe, artwork etc. Anything!  I really enjoy pinning and making wreaths for the different seasons or holidays.  While shopping with a friend recently, she mentioned that she would like a Spring wreath.  She told me she had admired a few with Easter eggs while at Target.  Her birthday is coming up in a couple of weeks so I decided I will make one as a gift.

I pinned this adorable Spring Grapevine Wreath from Martha Stewart last year:

Source: marthastewart.com via Monica @ Creative Gator on Pinterest

I like the look of the grapevine wreath with the moss but she wants Easter eggs, not woodland creatures. I wandered to the back of my local Michael's craft store and found a grapevine wreath with a little "basket."  So I just stuffed some Spanish moss down into the basket portion of the wreath form and hot glued a few colorful eggs inside.  I also love the look of a flag garland inspired by this wreath from Two Junk Chix:

Source: twojunkchix.blogspot.com via Monica @ Creative Gator on Pinterest

I cut out flag shapes from pink glitter card stock.  I used a ribbon threading craft punch to make slits to slide my thin pink ribbon through.  Next, I decided where and how I wanted the garland to look before tying it to the back of the wreath.  I added a few "feather" butterflies around the outside of the wreath and topped it off with a coordinating bow.

Please check out the great projects done by and link up your own Pinterest-inspired projects with Katie from Bower Power,  Sherry from Young House Love, Erin from The Great Indoors and Cassie from Hi Sugarplum!

Thanksgiving Inspiration via Pinterest

Since Thanksgiving is exactly one week from today, I thought I'd share some of my favorite Thanksgiving themed pins from my Pinterest board "Let's Talk Turkey."  At the end of this post I will be linking to a great giveaway over at Little Miss Momma's blog.  You won't want to miss out!

A beautiful wreath to welcome family and friends:

Source: littlebirdiesecrets.blogspot.com via Monica @ Creative Gator on Pinterest

I went to Michael's last week to pick up some ribbon, picks, and faux fruit to make these sweet chair back decorations inspired by this pin:

This Give Thanks banner would look festive hung from a mantel or china cabinet near the dinner table:

Source: thriftydecorchick.blogspot.com via Monica @ Creative Gator on Pinterest

A fun kid's table:

These adorable gobble pillows would make a great hostess gift:

Source: tatertotsandjello.com via Monica @ Creative Gator on Pinterest

Fun printable that would look great framed. This could also be a hostess gift:

Source: etsy.com via Monica @ Creative Gator on Pinterest

And finally, the perfect turkey to go along with all of your side dishes:

Source: realsimple.com via Monica @ Creative Gator on Pinterest

Ashley from Little Miss Momma is holding a BIG blog giveaway today!  A Silhouette Cameo!  These are great for crafters and have so many uses.  A Cameo could be used to make that Thanksgiving banner and the heat transfer design for the gobble gobble pillow I mentioned above.  They are wonderful for making holiday and party decor, appliqués for clothing, stencils, wall decals, etc.  Make sure to check out Ashley's blog and giveaway today.

Fall Pinterest Challenge: Thanksgiving Pumpkin Place cards

I am linking up with Young House Love and Bower Power today for Fall edition of the Pinterest Challenge.

My lovely in-law's are hosting our family's Thanksgiving dinner this year.  The food is sure to be delicious and we'll be in the company of family we love and enjoy spending time with.  I wanted to lend a hand in decorating our Thanksgiving table this year by making place cards.  I came across several options while browsing Pinterest and added them to my Let's Talk Turkey board.  For the Fall Pinterest Challenge, I decided on this pin:

Source: hollymathisinteriors.com via Monica @ Creative Gator on Pinterest

The original came from Holly Mathis Interiors.

I made a stop at my local craft store to look for faux mini pumpkins.  But I was out of luck and they were sold out for the season.  I didn't want to buy real pumpkins in fear that they would be rotten by the time Thanksgiving rolls around.  I did find some mini pumpkins made out of dried corn husks and decided to improvise.  After all this is about crafting and making it my own.  I wrote out our guests' names using a gold calligraphy ink pen onto tags and attached them using sisal twine I already had laying around the house.  For the two pumpkins that will sit at the head of the table, I used glittery pumpkins I found in the clearance bin.

This was a quick and simple project.  I hope to add several more projects to our Thanksgiving decor this year.  

Ready For Fall!!!

Tomorrow is the first official day of the Fall season.  This is my favorite time of the year.  Having grown up in south Florida, I only experienced fall once at Thanksgiving time when I was about 10 years old.  After college, my now husband had accepted a job in Michigan.  I took a leap of faith of moved with him...right smack in the middle of winter and a snowstorm.  But the move was well rewarded once the following fall rolled around.  I got to experience late afternoon walks on leaf strewn sidewalks, a visit to a cider mill for fresh hot cider and doughnuts, and my first hay ride.  It is truly my favorite season.  Although I am back in FL, I am sensitive to the way the light begins to change in the afternoons and it makes me want to light up candles that remind me of fall.

It is going to be awhile until we will need sweaters here and we can wear our flip flops all year long.  But that won't stop me from daydreaming for chillier evenings and carving pumpkins.  In the meantime, I have been pinning fall decor and treats on Pinterest.  Here are some of the things I am looking forward to making and eating for this brand new season:

Every house needs a colorful wreath for the front door to welcome visitors:

Source: bhg.com via Monica @ Creative Gator on Pinterest

Pretty decor for the front porch:

Source: farleykids.blogspot.com via Monica @ Creative Gator on Pinterest

Fall Bucket List:

Source: blueeyedbride.com via Monica @ Creative Gator on Pinterest

Delicious cake pops:

Source: stutteringshell.com via Monica @ Creative Gator on Pinterest

Baking pumpkin scones:

Source: sweetpeaskitchen.com via Monica @ Creative Gator on Pinterest

Pumpkin Spice Latte:

Source: google.com via Monica @ Creative Gator on Pinterest

Candy apples:

Source: foodnetwork.com via Molly on Pinterest

NCAA College football:

Source: espn.go.com via Emme on Pinterest

Dressing in Orange and Blue for my favorite team:

Source: None via Monica @ Creative Gator on Pinterest

What are your favorite Fall traditions? Are you planning craft fall decor for your home? What is your favorite way to decorate your house for fall?