Papier Mache Brooches

I found these beautiful brooches on Mrs. O Blog. Mrs. Obama, as always, was wearing a unique piece that happen to be a vintage papier mache brooch. Luckily, there was a link to the DIY instructions, from Cathy of California in Craft magazine. I love doing crafts. If I had to name one main hobby, it is crafting. I read dozens on craft blogs looking for new projects. I am really hoping to open an Etsy shop to display and sale my crafts. But I am still working to find a craft that would fit in that category. These papier mache brooches are the closest to that.


I put a pin on the back of a few of them. I plan to make the flat, two-layer flowers into hair pins by attaching them to a black headband or ribbon. I wore the top green flower pinned on a dark green summer dress. They didn't match perfectly, but contrasted enough to compliment one another. I thought it looked great.

Lusting After: Mini Wall Gallery

I am definitely starting to become obsessed with interior design. I love the idea of having a great, modern house. I read dozens of design blogs everyday looking for new ideas. I am far from being able to decorate a beautiful house myself, but I can definitely tell you if I like something or not. I am totally loving a wall of picture frames.

Jenny from Little Green Notebook, has a great example of the simplest way to display a series of frames. I like symmetry so I prefer this style of same size, same frames, similar pictures.

Also from Little Green Notebook, Hugi Guiness has a great mismatch wall gallery. The other part of my loves the different frames, different prints version. But, I believe what really makes this work is the vintage look of the frames and the fact that it is not the center piece of the room, the fireplace and framed mirror are still the focal point and the gallery is on a side wall. Love it.

And...here is my attempt at creating a wall gallery. I got a ton of Josephine Baker prints when I went to Paris last year. I bought out Micheal's entire stock of 9x12 black frames, surprised they didn't have that many. Slowly but surely measured out the frames. It took hours, but finally got all six frames on the wall.

Design FormuLA has a great how-to for hanging picture wall collages.

Homemade Pesto

Last night, we made some great pesto. I have had pesto on many occasions, but have never made it myself. My boyfriend got a ton of fresh basil from a co-worker's garden, so we were dying to use it.

Rachel, from Black Eiffel, posted recipe in a cute picture, below.

Ours differed a bit, we loaded it with garlic, almost double the amount shown. And we used walnuts instead of pine nuts. We just used what we had in the house. But, it came out fabulously. We used the last bit of basil to make a fabulous margherita pizza, another first for us.