From Wrist Brace to Statement Cuff

Hello!  I still have tendinitis.  Which means I still have a brace.  Well, I have a brace to wear indefinitely and I'm sure I paid an unreasonable amount for this accessory.  Since I have to wear it though, why not have fun with it?  I can pretend it's a bracelet and since it's big, it can be a statement cuff, right?  It works.  I mean, people decorate their casts so why not their wrist braces?

The materials; oops this was an after though photo (my brace is already bedazzled).

 I chose to go with black and gold studs.  You'll need a brace, studs (mine weren't silver so I liquid leafed them), jewelry pliers, utility knife, marking pencil, and if you want a different finish, liquid leaf, and a paint brush.

I had metal studs that I purchased years ago (Ms. Merry is a punk rockeh).  All the studs were silver though and I wanted gold. I counted out the amount of studs I would need and painted them with 2 coats of liquid leaf.  After they dried, I placed them on the brace and marked where to cut to attach them.  These studs have prongs on the bottom that fold over and grip the fabric so you'll need to make a little hole to pop the prong through.  You can use a tape measure to get everything exact or you can just eyeball it.  I measured a little and then it just started doing it's own thing.  So I started to  lay the studs out and mark where the prongs hit so that I wasn't messing up and cutting extra holes.  Use the pliers to bend the prong over and hold the stud in place.  That's it.  If you want to get even more fabulous and fancy you can use some glitter tape (as seen in the photo above).  This tape came out of the Target dollar aisle and it actually sticks to the fabric really well.

Boom!  Statement Cuff.

Of course, why stop there?  Do your nails and put on some rings.

X's and O's,

Tendinitis B

Blinging the Cube

Hola!  80's movie reference, anyone?  Christian Slater fans?  

Well, I've finished up on some jewelry and gem items, but I got distracted by beautifying my faux office, so we'll start there.  Cubicles, bleh; forty hour a week cages, but why not pretty and who says what's acceptable (upper management?)?

  I couldn't take anymore grey or polar vortex, so I had to brighten up the place and Target has some sort of siren song that calls out to me from aisles of items I simply don't need...  So I caved and found a reason to buy some very lovely wrapping paper and various items from the (not always a) dollar aisle.  It isn't quite done yet because with me, a little almost always turns into a lot, but here's what I've got so far:

The view as you walk into the area.

Yeah?  Nice?  Better than grey!  Cream and gold striped gift wrap from Target, $4 a roll, the plants I already had, and an "over sized" (aka engineer print) print from Staples.  The black and white 3' by 4' pints are about $7.  This is a photo of my daughter taken while we were getting ready for my wedding (photos by Sleeping Robot Productions).

DIY circus elephant planter.

New chair cushion with gold leather tag to match the decor.

I brought my elephant from home and made it's green bits gold.  Then I looked online for a fabulous chair cushion since that seemed to be a common element among office spaces that "have it goin' on", but my taste is expensive and this is a VERY wide open space.  Who want to put a $75 throw pillow on a park bench and see if it's still there later?  Um, not me.  I found the fabric that I had at home that would work best in this space and so, my cushion was free.

Other side!

Another over sized print, more existing plants, same file as before, new photos, and the same frames painted green.  I order a few Nutcracker photos every year that my daughter dances in it.  The 2013 photos just came in a week ago, perfect.  I wanted the picture frames to be a similar to the green of the plants; thank you Martha Stewart acrylic paints.

The frames at home after drying.

The mug my friend made is broken, but now it holds flowers from Mr. Husband.

Yep, that's Target again.  Threshold ceramic container, dollar aisle pens, and some gold clearance pencils.

I discovered the wonders of metallic Sharpies during this process.  Plastic, orange handle scissors?  Not a problem!  Now they're gold!  Yellow top on that ceramic canister?  Not with Sharpie!  And so on, and so on...

Recognize my tiny cake?

And a detail of my new photos in freshly painted frames.

I still need to apply paper to the front portion of wall and re-hang my mirror.  I also think a rug would be a nice finish and make this space amazing.  I encourage you to grab the Sharpies, acrylic paints, gift warp, and stapler and make some bright and crisp fabulousness of your own.

Cake Flags

I finished my cake flags and I decided to use glitter tape for extra sparkle.

 xoxo,

b