inspired by: a royal wedding

not that royal wedding. the downton abbey royal wedding, of course. you're gonna hate me in about 2.5 second, but I watched the first episode of season 3 last night. yes! a friend sent me a link in an email that looked totally sketchy with instructions on how to view the first episode that just aired in Britain. I got some gross pop-ups of naked lady spam & I probably some kind of virus on my computer during the process, but it was worth it. I don't want to post the link because I am still a little unsure of how safe it is, so I thought I'd do an "inspired by" post instead of some things you can look forward to seeing at royal wedding. you will swoon, for sure. 

royal wedding details here

inspired by: target's dorm room collection

it looks like it's already that time of year where the stores start bringing out their "back to school" supplies. what a bummer for kids on their summer vacation. but I have to say, there will always be a special place in my heart for dorm room goodies.

I remember so vividly the day when my mom took me shopping for my first dorm room. we went to target & their color scheme that year was bright coral & lime green. we got the cutest stuff - plastic plates & melamine bowls, a polka dotted twin comforter, even bright colored plastic ball-lights for "decoration." when we got home with all the "essentials," my dad was floored with the amount of cutesy purchases & reminded us of how he & his roommates proudly made their coffee table out cinder blocks & a piece of plywood ("that was all you needed back then"). men!

to this day I still get a bit overly excited when I see the dorm room stuff make its first appearance at target. and the dorm room line happens to be adorable this year. I picked up this little camera tray for loose change as well as the geo bowl for fruit, but had a hard time resisting the rest (because as always, I really only went in for milk!).

pillow, $14.99. camera appetizer plate- set of 8, $11.99. geometric melamine bowl, $9.99. spatula, $2.99. triangle mug -set of 4, $2.99. geometric tumblers- set of 8, $14.99. chevron melamine tray, $9.99.

inspired by pinterest week: oilcloth baby bib

with a baby shower about every month, I've been trying to be somewhat thrifty with the gift-giving. I like to buy something off the registry & then thrown in something handmade (which I think people usually appreciate more than anything). I had all this extra vinyl fabric left from the vintage folding chair makeover that I did last summer. I was looking on pinterest for something to make & I came across this tutorial for making a baby bib on the you frill me blog. the directions were simple enough that I gave it a shot (minus the pocket on the front). it turned out super cute & also happened to match the bicycle shower theme as well! 

inspired by pinterest week: donut fruit skewers

have you ever heard the following?

"there is a sign-up sheet on my desk for anyone who would like to contribute food for the surprise baby shower."
"please bring an item for the (required) breakfast meeting potluck. we will have (required) fun!"
"would you like to volunteer to bring something for the birthday celebration?"
"you bring the food, we'll provide the drinks"

if any of these comments sound familiar to you, then you're in luck. thanks to pinterest, I discovered this easy, cute, make-ahead food that is perfect for any event that you don't want to put a whole ton of effort into. I got the idea for these donut fruit skewers from the val so cal blog. instinctively you may be duped into thinking these are only a breakfast item, but trust me- I've made them for other-time-of-day occasions & they are always appropriate. and you get the fruit in there, so they are really healthy, right? right? strawberries, blueberries & raspberries were in season, so that's what I used for the fruit. and the donuts are just store-bought entenmann's ("the display case at the end of the aisle" for you seinfeld fans out there). happy breakfast (or lunch. or snack. or dessert). and happy 4th of july today! 

inspired by pinterest week: pom pom bunting

my second "inspired by pinterest" craft is this pom pom name pennant, found on kojo designs blog. I was asked to make some shower decorations for my sweet friend's baby shower last month, so I thought I'd put a little extra time & effort into something that could then be used in the nursery as a more permanent decoration. this project was much more time intensive than the rest of the pinterest projects I'll be featuring, but it was definitely worth it. 

I bought some yarn, one of these pom pom makers, put on some downton abbey & went to town. making these cute little poms got kind of addictive. the only thing I did differently from the tutorial (found here) was that I used duck tape over the wire in order to help hold the shape of the letter (the wire itself wasn't staying in place for me). after that, just glue-gun all 80 poms down & you've got yourself some pretty adorable bunting (thanks heather for choosing a name with just 4 letters. I don't think I had the strength for "magnolia"). 

inspired by pinterest week: felt flower baby hair clips

pinning things on pinterest makes you feel like you're really doing something, am I right? you feel a little rush of accomplishment for finding an awesome idea & adding it to your board. but in reality, the motivation usually ends there. you rarely ever really do anything with these brilliant ideas ("not that there's anything wrong with that").

I have probably completed a mere 1% of the bajillion projects & recipes that I have pinned. I thought I would share those few projects this week, in case you missed them on pinterest.

the first project are these simple little hair clips for baby, from make it and love it. they are easy to make a require only a few things: some felt, hair clips, a needle + thread & a glue gun. download the template here & make your own. they're so adorable that I seriously considered making a set for myself. 

inspired by: the first day of spring!

happy first day of spring! I don't know about you guys, but I am loving all the neons I've been seeing lately. I put together a board with some of my favorite items. just goes to show you, you can pull off neons without looking like you fell out of the 80s. 

Straw Fedora, $12.99. Colorblock Clutch, $16.99. Blazer, $78. Earrings, $17.99. Platform Shoes, $178. Skirt, $44.99. Watch, $39.

inspired by: white + gold

we pulled down all of our christmas decorations this weekend! I love all of the holiday decor we've collected over the years; everything is bright, colorful & shiny. but there's something about white + gold holiday decorations that I just love. so simple, classic & mature. here's a collection I put together of what I would add to my grown-up christmas wish-list.

champagne tree, $60. bone china pinecone ornaments, $6. gold faceted garland, $10. utopia man/woman menorah, $295. white beaded trees, $40, $60. snowflake stands, $18. floral bronze wreath, $175. ticker tape plate, $50. ticker tape mug, $50. 

inspired by: "cool as ice"

grace at designsponge always does these really great "living in" movie montages (see them all here). they are always based around such sweet & classic movies, like "sixteen candles" & "a league of their own". so when vanilla ice's 1991 movie, "cool as ice", came on tv tonight, I thought it would be the perfect "living in" movie to parody.

I can't quite pinpoint what makes this the worst movie ever. is it the film's catchy tag line: "when a girl has a heart of stone, there's only one way to melt it. just add ice."? or perhaps the oscar-worthy acting (my favorite line: "drop that zero and get wit' a hero."). maybe it's the styling, like ice's puffy jacket with "sex me up" on one sleeve & "down by law" on the other? or the fact the the poor director couldn't book single job for 8 years after this film came out? whatever the case, it will definitely make you laugh... a lot.

the inspiration:

the collection:

soulja sunglasses, $15. nationbuild cap , $28. drakkar noir cologne, $40. workout pants, $35. motorcycle, $9,600. single hoop earring, $18. high top sneakers, $22.

inspired by: april showers

hoping that these april showers will bring may flowers.

wild at hear printed raincoat, $298. under my umbrella necklace, $50. zetta tall rain boot, navy $25. rainy day friends earrings, $15.  clear spot frill umbrella, £15. cloud cult business card pouch, $8. rain rain go away print, $40. lacquer umbrella stand, $295.

inspired by: alice's wonderland

I finally watched tim burton's film, alice in wonderland, in 3d (definitely the way you should see it!). and while the film itself isn't burton's best, it is certainly beautiful to watch, full of bold colors and whimsy. the movie inspired me to put together my interpretation of the film.

calligraphy bed, $2,498. ace of spade cufflinks, $29. jaxson victorian top hat, $69. peter golden tail ring, $15. heart hair clips, $3. skeleton key bottle opener, $12. show me the bunny vase, $55. silk-cotton blue day dress, $350. tea party candelabra, $398. spot of tea teapot, $90. goldplated quartz pocket watch, $107.