Cheap but Chic Gift…DIY

I got the idea for this HERE, but I’m going to share how I did it because I did alter her design quite a bit to fit my own needs.  So, first of all, let’s start at the beginning.  I was invited to go to Girl’s Weekend last year.  Girl’s Weekend is a bunch of girls that get together and head to this wonderful woman’s house J in New Mexico at Lake Conchas.  There is quite a diverse group of people that go too.  I’m not sure how many years they’ve been doing this but I was invited for the first time last year along with my oldest daughter.  The woman who’s house it is has a daughter that is the same age as Brandi Bells and they went to school together.  So, yeah, they’ve known each other since Kindergarten which means I’ve known J all that time too.  So, the women that go are my age and my daughter’s age as well…just a great group of women actually.  We all head down there with 2 rules…No Men, No Makeup!  The rest of the weekend is just a lazy beer drinking, boating, floating, free for all.  We all sign up to bring food items so we eat great, have a great time and just hang out.  Well, this year I wanted to do something nice for everyone and decided to do this:

We always take a group photo and I thought it would be super cute to have this cute little picture hanger to display our photo for the year.  I decided against putting the year on it also so we could re-use it every year with the new year’s picture.  So, this is how I did it…

I bought the basic pieces at Hobby Lobby in the unpainted wood section. 

First I glued the candle stick piece down to the base just using the Gorilla Wood Glue.

Once that was done, my hubby took the 6’ 1”X6'” boards I bought at Lowes and cut them into 7” pieces.  Then he cut the dowel rod to fit the hole in the candle stick into 1”-2” pieces.

I marked holes on both sides of the boards and my hubby drilled holes in both sides.  They were different sized holes because the finial had a different size than the candle stick.  Once the holes were drilled, I sanded the boards fairly well so there were no rough edges.  Then I put glue in each of the candle holders and inserted one of the pieces of the dowel rods.

Then I put glue in the hole in the board and set it on top of the dowel rod.  I put glue in the top hole then and set the finial into place.  Then I just let them dry over night.

Next, I just spray painted them with Heirloom White spray paint and let them dry again.  Once that was done I set each one on it’s side and glued a spring clip to the center of each one using E6000 glue.

Now at this point they are basically done.  But, I wanted to bedazzle them a little so I got some stick on letters from Hobby Lobby and put “Girls Weekend” on them.  I chose all different colors of stickers and just let the ladies choose whichever one they wanted.  I think they all loved them!  Here is the final outcome one more time.  Overall, it was really inexpensive, really super easy, not time consuming but stinking cute at the same time!

WWW #24

Woo Hoo!  This is a short week!  Girls weekend is this weekend so I’m taking Friday off and heading to the lake to hang out with 14 other wonderful women!  I’ll have a post on my gift that I made for everyone right after this one too.  So, stay tuned for something besides my Weekend Wardrobe Wrap-ups…finally something interesting is coming!  ha ha ha

But, back to the WWW…here we go:

Monday:

I’m wearing a maxi dress that I bought in New York quite awhile ago.  I just love when stuff like this happens.  I was wanting to wear this dress and I was looking in my closet to see what I could wear over it since it has spaghetti straps and I found this sweater…and it matched it perfectly!  I know some people don’t do the matchy matchy thing but I love it!  I didn’t buy them from the same place either.  The dress came from New York and Company and the sweater came from Target.  LOVE IT!  I paired it with a white thin belt and my white Brighton sandals.

Tuesday:

I’m wearing my gray pants with a gray and yellow sheer top.  I put a gray cami under the top.  I also wore my gray tall sandals with it.

Wednesday:

OK, this was my favorite outfit for the week.  I wore my tan dress with turquoise sweater.  I have a turquoise and tan necklace but the best part is the shoes!  Aren’t they adorable?  I’ve had these shoes forever too!  I got them at Mervyn’s…back when Mervyn’s was still Mervyn’s and not a theatre in the making.  Is there still Mervyn’s in other places I wonder????

That’s it for the week.  I’m outta here for girls weekend!  I can’t wait!!!!!

WWW #23

OK, I’m going to be honest with you here…this is getting down right hard!  I really thought I could make it a full year without repeating any outfits but I don’t think I’m going to be able to do it.  Oh, don’t get me wrong, as of the writing of this post, I have not duplicated a single outfit yet this year…but the pickings are getting slim!  Very slim!  Twiggy SLIM!  If you don’t know who Twiggy is, you are just too damn young is all I have to say to that!  Google her…you’ll get the point of what I am saying.  Let’s just say she was Heroin Chic before there was such a thing as Heroin Chic! 

Oh well, on with the post.  Let’s see…where did I leave off last time?  Oh, I’m not that behind actually.  I think I’m just 2 posts behind this time.  Yeah, that’s right, that’s me…on top of her stuff…maybe sort of in a way if you count a week behind on time that is.  I digress though…

Monday:

I’m wearing this pinkish peasant dress with my white Payless sandals.  I got this dress from Avon almost 2 years ago and I’ve never worn it.  For some reason every time I put it on I just don’t like it…but at this point beggars can’t be choosers so wear it I did!

Tuesday:

I’m wearing my off-white capris with one of my favorite tops ever.  It is gray with white and yellow flowers on it.  I put a yellow shrug with it and wore it with my silver sandals.  I wore a white cami under the top too since it is incredibly low cut.  I normally wear it sans the cami but I just felt for work that maybe just a tad too much cleavage.

Wednesday:

I’m wearing my brown capris with this sheer purple, brown, and gold peasant top.  I paired it with my brown Coach wedges.

Thursday:

I’m wearing my red silk blouse with white capris and red wedges.  This blouse is really pretty but it just is a little too big and I end up fighting with it all day to keep my bra straps covered.  Don’t you hate that?

Friday:

Oh Yippy!  Something new to wear!!!!  I bought this top at this used clothes store the other day.  It was a whopping $4.00!  I really love it too.  You can’t see the straps but they are actually chains.  I had to pair it with my black shrug though so I could cover my tattoo.  I also wore this uber cool necklace that just happened to match t perfectly.  I wore black pants and my black tall sandals with it.

OK, one more week down!  How many more can I go before I repeat myself?

WWW #22

Another week…

Monday:

This is another purchase from my Outlet mall shopping.  I got this dress at the White House/Black Market outlet.  I love it!  I wore it with my black heels that unfortunately I paid full price for at the regular White House/Black Market store and they were there at the outlet when we were there for over half off.  Damn it!  I hate when that happens!

Tuesday:

I worked from home on Tuesday, so no outfit for today.

Wednesday:

I’m wearing a blue silky top I got at New York and Company a long time ago and actually forgot I had.  See what doing this wearing something different does for you?  You discover things in your closet you totally forgot about!  I am wearing it with my khaki capris and these blue sandals with flowers on them that I got from Avon. 

Thursday:

I’m wearing my khaki shirt with that white blouse I got at the New York and Company outlet.  I put a wide black belt on it and then wore those new shoes I got at the White House/Black Market outlet along with the jewelry that matches it and the matching purse.  This was my favorite outfit for the week for sure!  I love these shoes and they are so comfortable too!

Friday:

I’m wearing my navy capris with an ivory silk ruffled shirt.  I belted it with my gold chain belt and then wore gold sandals. 

Whew!  That catches me up through last week.  I promise to do a better job keeping up…I promise promise promise!

WWW #21

Still catching up…

Monday:

Monday was Memorial day so no outfit for that day.

Tuesday:

I’m wearing my black capris with my yellow blouse and matching shoes with the black shrug.  I really do love these shoes!

Wednesday:

This is my pink with white accent dress.  I wore it with my white and silver heels and a white sweater. 

Thursday:

I’m wearing my navy capris with a tan lace tank and my tan Brighton sandals.  Also, in case you haven’t noticed, there is a blur on the pictures lately.  I think there was something on my lense on my camera.  Oops!

Friday:

Oops..I forgot to take a picture on Friday and as usual I have no idea what I wore.  Oh well, that leaves another outfit that I can wear again!  bwa ha ha

WWW #20

Still catching up…bare with me please.

Monday:

I finally moved my clothes around and brought out my summer dresses!  This is my pink and black dress I got at H&M last year in New York.  I paired it with my black heels from White House and my black shrug.

Tuesday:

My khaki skirt with a white polka-dot blouse with my new khaki sandals from Brighton and the matching Brighton belt. 

Wednesday:

This is my black and white dress from Ann Taylor (old, not new) with the red belt that came with it and my Dolce and Gabana red heels.

Thursday:

I’m wearing my white capris with a coral silk blouse and a white sweater with my white Brighton sandals. 

Friday:

I took the day off so no picture for Friday.

WWW #19

I went back to work on Wednesday of the next week after my Dad died.  It was kind of a relief to go back to work and get back to a routine of sorts.  Things are still not good and my mom is having a very hard time with this.  I just wish I could help her more and I don’t know how.  53 years is a very long time to spend with someone to just have them be gone all of the sudden.  It sucks!

But, back to work I did go, so let’s move on to the clothes. 

Wednesday:

This is another purchase from the outlet mall.  This is a long maxi dress I got at Ann Taylor Loft.   It is navy with tan and white flowers.  I paired it with the new tan shoes from the Brighton Outlet, my white ruffled sweater and my tan Brighton belt.  Turns out my belt matches my shoes exactly!  I already had the belt.

Thursday:

These are another pair of new blue capris.  The blouse is also new.  I got it at the New York and Company outlet.  I paired them with my cheapo blue sandals I got at Wal-mart of all places a long time ago.

Friday:

These are my gray capris with a black tank and black shrug.  The shoes are super cute black and gray with gems on them.  I’ve had them awhile. 

That’s it for this week. 

WWW #18

The posts for this week are very few.  This week was the hardest week of my entire life.  My father passed away on Wednesday of this week so even though I have a few outfits to share the rest of the week was spent with my family.

Monday:

While we were in Austin I went to the Outlet mall in San Marcos and broke down and bought some new clothes and shoes.  I had a great time and and got some fantastic things!  This entire outfit is new.  The capris are navy and they are from Ann Taylor.  The shoes are Brighton (and I got 2 pair of new Brighton sandals for $90!!!).  The shirt is from Ann Taylor and the sweater is from the Ann Taylor Loft.  Man, I love Outlet shopping!

Tuesday:

A few more new things…you can’t seem that well but the shoes are super cute and new from the White House/Black Market outlet.  The sweater is not new, nor are the pants, but the shirt under the sweater is another tank from Ann Taylor.  The jewelry all matches the shoes and they are from the White House store as well.   There is also a matching purse to it all too.  Super cute!

Wednesday:

I’m wearing my black pants, a turquoise and black silk blouse with my black shrug.  I’m also wearing my black Sperry’s.

That’s it for this week.  I got the call on Wednesday about 10:00 telling me my Daddy had died. 

WWW #17

I was so good and got all caught up on my WWW posts and then just miserably failed to keep the momentum going so once again I’m terribly behind.  Let’s see how this goes.  This is the week of April 30th I believe. 

Monday:

I’m wearing black pants with my mint/black/white top and mint sweater.  I love this outfit, it’s really one of my faves.  I have no idea what shoes I’m wearing and I did a lousy job on taking the picture so it’s anyone’s guess.

Tuesday:

I’m wearing my navy sleeveless blouse with ruffles and my khaki capris with these super cute denim shoes that I got from Avon.

Wednesday:

My black capris with this cute printed top from Ann Taylor with my black shrug and my BCBG sandals.  I love these shoes and they are super comfortable!

That’s it for this week.  We left town on Thursday to head to Austin for the Pink Floyd concert.  We had such a great time!  We rented a house in Lakeway so I thought I would share a picture of the pool at the house we rented.  It was amazing!

 

This house was my dream house!  Ah…it was amazing!