As Promised ...

I promised pics of all of the projects I plan to tackle at my new home && I have officially checked one thing off of my list! I keep seeing these great stenciled walls all over the internet and thought I would use the technique to spice up my hall bathroom. 

I created my own pattern using construction paper and then duplicated it onto thick cardboard to make tracing easier. I tested it out on a dry-erase board to make sure I had a good idea what the end result would look like. 

I taped a small level to the piece of cardboard to make sure I held the stencil even && traced it with a light pencil. It took me about an hour to trace the entire closet. 

The painting took the longest but was surprisingly easy. I used a 1/4 inch flat paint brush and didn't pay too much attention to detail. I used 2 shades of green and alternated them along the entire wall. It took me about 2 hours to paint the entire closet but it was entirely worth it. 

&& the final product ...

Now on to tackle the next project ... loving the new house!!!

Sincerly, 

Lu

We ♥ Halloween!

Halloween is such a crafters holiday. When else can you try your hand at making any costume you desire & then prance it around the neighborhood for every one to see. [and the sugar rush from all the candy is inspiration to the heart!!]. 

This year I made a darling Princess Leia costume for myself & a vest for my hunny to be Hans Solo. We looked pretty fantastic ... but silly me forgot to take pictures at our party on Saturday. My most exciting project for this years festivities was a beautiful crown for my sweet niece, Lily. She wanted to be Glinda the Good Witch and everyone knows the crown is the most important part!!! 

Pics for Proof of just how darling she is: 

Im sure there will be more pictures off all of my Halloween Festivities && definitely a lot more crafting coming up in the next few weeks gearing up for Christmas :) 

3rd Place Prize !!!

It was like Christmas Morning yesterday when I opened up my mailbox to find my 3rd place prize from The Toasted Coconut!!

Look at all of my goodies ...

This adorable headband is my favorite

&& Look - even something for my adorable nieces to fight over :)

Thanks so much to Emily from The Toasted Coconut!!!

Finally ... PICTURES

With all of the craziness this week I took a short break today to take some photos to share!! 

I am OBSESSED with funky wall art - seriously, its a problem. So I decided to take that to a new extreme in my new home. My first project was the laundry room! 

I have completed 3 out of the 4 pieces to adorn the walls above my washer/dryer :)

I can't wait to finish the rest && arrange them all together and give my boring laundry room some personality! 

Eventful September :)

We have been BUSY this month && we are JUST getting started!!

Yesterday Emily & I were filmed for a future episode of "Say Yes to the Dress, Bridesmaids". It was interesting  to say the least ... but I won't give out too many details.

In other news, Josh & I will be moving into a new home in a week! What does that mean for Emmie Lu Designs ... it means that there will be TONS of diy decor posts in the next few weeks! I have BIG plans for the new house :)

In the meantime - you will have do deal with pretty boring posts that are few & far between :)

SYTYC Interview

I just realized that my awesome interview never got posted on http://www.soyouthinkyourecrafty.com/ so I thought I would post it here. I always rock the interview :)


1.Tell us a little about you and your blog.
    My name is Laura & I am a craft-a-holic. I am in love with anything rusty, shiny, old, or new as long as it is free and I can re-make it into a piece of art. I am married to my best friend and post-high school sweetheart and live in a small town in Georgia with my stinky dog, Boss. I am poor college student with high hopes for the future. My Blog, Emmie Lu, was started a few short months ago when my best friend, Emily, and I decided that world should experience our unique bond & friendship. It has since turned into our place to vent, explore, and share excitement. Our dream is to have so many people flocking to our blog due to our greatness that TLC offers us our own reality television show and we become millionaires. As for me, I decided that my magical creations needed a showcase beyond my tiny craft room.

2.How and when did you start crafting?
    I have both been crafting since I was old enough to steal craft supplies from my older siblings. My mother is the “Martha” our my small community, so glue and glitter were always right at my fingertips. More recently, I have used crafting as our escape from reality. There is something quite magical about sitting around on the floor eating chocolate chip cookies and giggling over stencils and splattered paint.

3.How often do you craft?
    I craft entirely too much as it is an addiction. I also get others in on the craft action by forcing them to create magical things for my friend Emily’s wedding such as hand-stenciled table runners and other exciting things.
   

4.Where do you get your inspiration?
    My inspiration comes mostly from junk. I love to scour yard sales, thrift stores, trash bins, and junk piles in search of raw materials I can re-create into fantastic things. I am also insanely addicted to Pinterest [aka crack].

5.What is your favorite medium to work in?
    My favorite medium to work with varies based on my mood and my findings. Some days I am glued to my sewing machine while other days you will find me knee high in old furniture.

6.What is your guilty pleasure?
    For the few people that have ever read my blog, you know that my guilty pleasure is SUGAR! Nothing is more inspiring than a batch of freshly baked Chocolate Chip Cookies and the sugar high that follows devouring them.
   
7.What makes you smile?
    Puppies with wrinkles. Freshly painted toe-nails. Snuggling. SEC Fooball. Happy Babies. Vacation. Brownie batter. A clean house. Funny movies. My Honey. Sweet Tea. Thoughts of the future && memories from the past.

8.What is your favorite thing to do (other than crafting)?
    I love to play volleyball and swim with friends in the summer. I am a major math nerd, has seen every episode of The Office ever created, and cant spend enough time with her adorable nieces. Although it isn’t my favorite, I spend most of my time away from crafting working on school work!

A turn of events ...

Now that the So you think you're craft competition is over, I feel like I have nothing to blog about, haha! && then I remembered that Emmie is getting married in 8 VERY SHORT MONTHS [which I have to type that in all caps so emily can fully understand the magnitude of the situation]. so in a turn of events, we are switching to wedding DIY for a bit.

To complete all of the crafty projects for Emily's wedding, we are bring back 'Wedding Tuesdays'. Basically, on the first Tuesday of every month, we gather together friends and family for a girls night. After luring them in with pizza, soda, and sugar we put them to work on all things Wedding DIY. It is always a blast and we get so much accomplished. First on our list are decorations to hang from the tree's around her reception, table runners, and tea lights. We will post pics asap!

In other news: Happy First Anniversary to yours truly! I must say, everyone warned me that marriage was hard and although they were not lying, the failed to mention how fun it is. I can honestly say that my honey makes my day, every day & I love him to pieces.

Let's leave with a darling picture to reminisce ...

www.ParisMountainPhotography.com

 ... wasn't my photographer FANTASTIC!!!

Photo Display Light Fixture

Looks like I have posted my last craft on SYTYC :(
I was so busy with finals to even notice! But I am so proud of myself for making it into the top 3 && am so excited to receive my prize for 3rd place :) 


Although no1 else seemed to like my light fixture - I LOVED IT! I think what I love most is that it works as both a hanging light and another fun way to display photos. I was trying to be new & innovative - I thought the goal was to be original?!? I guess it was just a bit before its time :)


Here is my craft from last week:

I love shopping at thrift stores for craft inspiration & other goodies ... I am not ashamed to say that some of my favorite clothes once graced the racks of Goodwill :)  On a recent trek, I scored some funky shaped lampshades and decided they would make the perfect base for my project this week. I also found a cute fitted sheet & a few t-shirts that I shredded up to make some funky flowers. What I created was a funky, fun light fixture for my spare bedroom that I can also use to display pictures! 

I added in the ribbon to add a pop of color && used bobby-pins to attach pictures to the lampshade frame. 

 

This light fixture was SUPER easy to make & only cost me 

... FIVE DOLLARS!!! 

Fun Photo Board

I can't believe that I won last week! I was so busy with college finals [4 of them to be exact] that I didn't really even have time to check the results all week - so to find out I won was fantastic. Unfortunatly, I didn't make a tutorial as i made this project but I can certainly tell you exactly how I made it :) 

1. I found this large wooden board at a local thrift store for $1.50 but you could easily use a 1X4 painted in your color choice. 
2. To create a cute background on the board - cut scrapbook paper down to size & use cute scissors to create an interesting border. Using stick glue, attach the paper to the front of the board
3. Next, add the ribbon. Cut the ribbon into 6-8 inch strips and drape it across the front in a criss-cross pattern. Using a stable gun, staple the ends of the ribbon onto the back of the board to hold it in place. 

     4. To hold artwork and pictures, I glued clothes-pins onto the top and covered them with       

          scrap-book paper and a bow.

     5. Lastly, I cut out different shapes from scrapbook paper and glued them all over the board 

          to add a little something extra. 

 

My goal this week was truly to make something that "KIDS CAN DO". I am confident that most children could create this with the help of an adult and it turn out just as cute as my creation. Thanks for voting :) 

Antique Button Monogram

Last week was grueling but I made it && I am one week away from scoring some AWESOME prizes! 

Here is my craft from last week:

Upcycle is by far my favorite theme because upcycling is what I love to do!! I love the idea of using something old and ick in a new and innovative way. This week I used the following ingredients:
- and old beat up plaque [which you could make yourself uber-easily using remnants from the home depot]
- antique buttons I scored at a thrift store for $1
I added a bit of paint and some hot glue ... and here is what I came up with:

 

 This little beauty is not little at all, it is massive but lightweight and is adorned with a great little monogram for some newlyweds I know. They plan to hang it over their bed next to a cute little sign that says "always kiss me goodnight" .... how sweet??? 

 

I hope you all love love love it!

Knock-Off Director's Chair

I made it another week on so you think youre crafty!!! I am so excited but that excitement came to a screeching halt when I realized that I am towards the bottom in this weeks challenge :( I am feeling a little bummed about crafting because I think my talent is not showing through. My aesthetic is SO much different than the other girls in the competition. I am not a seamstress nor do I claim to be, and week after week - the winning craft has been something sewn! Hopefully I can pull through this week because with Summer Semester at a close I think I can really rock out the last 4 crafts and win this thing :)

Here is my craft from last week:

I love knock-off week - I fact, I knocked off 2 ideas into one project ... eek!!!! I guess the idea of making something that costs BIG BUCKS yourself & saving yourself tons of money is my favorite! I have been dying for some new furniture for my patio & keep eying these adorable director's chairs at Pier 1 for sometime ... Unfortunately, they are $50-$60 a piece plus the cost of the cover ... that is WAY out of my price range! So on a recent visit to my favorite thrift store I nabbed these beauties for $10 for the pair!!! I couldn't just make a boring cover so I found this SuperFancy vintage burlap fabric on Etsy [which cost $149 .... gasp] & decided to replicate it on some burlap I got at above mention thrift store for $1.

&& the finished project [drum roll please .....]

 

 I must brag that this project only cost me $11! && they look so stinkin' cute on my back patio ... yay!

SYTYC - Dollar Store Week

I was extremely nervous about this weeks theme. It seems like such a stretch to create something that looks expensive using only materials found at the dollar store! My goal was to find things that most people might have laying around the house and use them in a fun and exciting way. What I came up with was this adorable sun-catcher wind-chime!

 My supplies from the dollar store were spoons, forks, glass beads, ribbon, metal planter riser, and silver wire. Who would have thought I could make something so cool with stuff at the dollar store! I wish I could record the noise it makes when the wind blows - different from a traditional wind-chime, but a calming clinking noise that I LOVE but my favorite part is when the sun hits it and reflects funky colors off of the different glass beads attached. 

 

You could definitely use the same technique on the forks and serving pieces for a funky addition to any dinner party or place setting :) 

Believe it!

So I have a confession - I am EXTREMELY embarrassed to claim this project as my own :( Terrible thing to say I know ... but due to some emmie lu chaos I was forced to throw this project together pretty last minute! I would say it is a good job considering the amount of time I spent on it :)

So needless to say I am EXTREMELY relieved that I didn't go home last week! Fortunately, I worked my booty off on this weeks challenge && I think it really shows in the quality of my work! This is probably the first project in forever that doesn't have a quote on it so it will be a little harder to pick out of a crowd. I will admit there may be a few clues in the picture that will tell you its me, but they were accidental and really hard to spot :) ... happy hunting!

Week One - Complete

Well - Its official - I made it through week one of SYTYC!!!! My creation was the 'Piano Upcycle' && I loved it ... almost as much as I LOVE LOVE LOVE all the votes I scored! I am obsessed with using old stuff with a new purpose, so I think my craft was easy to pick out & I was stoked that people liked it as much as they did! Look out this week because my creation is hard to miss - my hubs think I went a little overboard but it was SO much fun creating with a purpose!

In other news - my bestie Emmie has been super busy with some creations of her own! Check out this adorable outfit she made - her first time sewing all by herself ...

She is SO incredible talented :)

Head on over to SoYouThinkYoureCrafty.com & vote for this weeks challenge && check back in soon for more wonderous creations!

Hi There

Hopefully this weeks readers are all 'newbies' to my tiny corner of the inter-web. The So You Think You're Crafty Competition starts this week & I am PUMPED about competing. Sadly, I can't tell you which craft is mine - && being that the blog is so new, you won't find many clues as to which craft is mine! But since you're here ... how about I tell you a little about myself:

I am Laura & I live in a tiny town in Georgia. I will forever be in my 'early-twenties' and am married to the most adorable, sarcastic man ever, Josh. No kids for us - but our sweet basset hound puppy Boss would argue that he is all the child we need. I am an average poor college student and hope to be a high school Math teacher VERY soon. I work part time at an trendy little gift store and spend what little spare time that I have crafting, swimming & playing volleyball with friends, snuggling up with a movie with my honey && spoiling my sweet nieces. I am forever addicted to chocolate and Diet Dr. Pepper!

Emmie Lu Designs is a collaboration between myself & my best friend Emily. Since Emily is knee deep in wedding plans, I am competing alone this season - but look out future crafters, once she's a married woman she hopes to dominate the competition on her own.


I have big ideas for this season of SYTYC ... so my fingers are crossed that everyone loves my stuff!

Check back soon :)

<3 Laura

Eeeeekkkkk ...

We are too excited for words! The So You Think You're Crafty - Season 8 audition begins THIS WEEK && Laura will be competing!!! She is beyond pumped to see her craft take on the competition.

In other news, We are completely terrible at keeping this blog updated but will try to do better. && Since we no longer have to hide our fabulous creations - we can actually start to post pictures of our greatness!


www.SoYouThinkYoureCrafty.com .... have you voted??

I need a little sunshine

... & what a coincidence that the SYTYC theme this week IS sunshine! My house is feeling a little gloomy so I have decided to take on a few DIY projects and spruce things up & with a little inspiration from this weeks crafters & some stumbling around Pinterest I think I know just what to do. .

Yesterday I took the yucky shower doors off my hall bathroom & after HOURS of scraping all of the access caulk off the tub, I am VERY happy with the results. I am going to paint it this afternoon & by the end of the day, I will have a very happy bathroom.

I have MUCH more planned around the house using some fantastic yard sale find furniture but if I tell the people who don't read my blog then I cant use it in the craft competition - so you will just have to wait!

I am taking before pictures now - so you can all see what fun I am creating!

Happy Sunshine week :)

- Laura

Our Weekly Rant

Hello Nobody,

I hope you are all having a fantastic Holy Week. I have spent my days working && cleaning out my house prepping for a yard sale!! It JUST so happens that my Spring cleaning coinsides with this weeks theme on SYTYC which is scraps - because I have ENTIRELY too many of them!

What brain cell within all crafters is fried so much so that we will not allow ourselves to THROW THINGS AWAY! I think underneath our neat & tidy exteriors, there are HOARDERS in us all! 

I have an entire rubber tub full of pieces of fabric LESS than a foot long & considering that I have no idea how to quilt, they will most likely never do me any good. [not unless Emily decides she needs to make 1 million fabric flowers, in which case - I have her covered]

So, OKAY, my name is laura && I am a craft hoarder. But its not a problem, because I have the ability to make AWESOME things with my scraps ... & I will show you my scrap using abilities right after I finish cleaning what will soon be my 3rd bedroom [which is currently nothing but an over-sized storage closet]. Maybe then I will post a picture of what I have accomplished for you to all drool over - something to decorate my new 3rd bedroom perhaps??

<3,
Laura

Busy Busy Busy

We have been WAY too busy lately! Emily is working too many hours at her real job to dedicate any time to her pretend job [crafting] && Laura is gearing up for a semester in college! We promise to push ourselves harder in the future so as to update our blog [which I dont think anyone reads anyway].

Thrift store crafting was so much fun but this weeks theme of  "Knock Off" just blew my socks off ... literally! Isn't making knock offs what we all want to learn? Dont you want to find that $900 Anthropologie comforter that you just cant live without & make a "knock off" for $30!!! Let the fun begin!

By now you have figured out that we arent going to show you what magical creations we have come up with until after the competition weeks for our season [season 8] of SYTYC is over - we will however, show you what we plan to 'knock off' ... as soon as we figure it out!

We are SUPER excited ...

We could barely contain our excitement when we finished our audition craft for SYTYC!!! nope - not gonna tell you what it is, it will be our little suprize until after audition voting ends! [its magnificient though].

We went thrift-store'ing yesterday and although we havent crafted with our supplies we were very excited at our finds. We thought we would have to go to every thrift store within 100miles to be inspired but after our first stop at goodwill - we had more than enough ideas! Emily scored some fantastic down-filled pillows she plans to recover in fun fabrics & adorn with fabric flowers & ruffles! Laura found an awesome mirror with a really wide, funky frame she plans on re-finishing & using in her own home!

Still no pictures of our crafts because we still dont want people to know how awesome we are - holding out all of our skills for the competition! I will entertain you with SOME pictures of OLD crafts Emily & I have done ... so you'll know we aren't lying when we say that we rock:

Lets start with laura: she is constantly decorating her home in podunk Georgia. These are some pillow cases that she hand painted a few years ago to spice up her black & white bed linens.

Now pictures just WONT do Emily's crafts justice ... she is AMAZING at drawing & she is SO detail oriented with her crafting. Here is a sillhouette plate she made last fall.

And just think - if we were making cool stuff like that BEFORE we made crafting our part time job - imagine how awesome our creations are now.

..... Im a little too confident I think heehee!

I have to talk a big game - it intimidates the competition!



Uh - Oh

... thats what we were saying last Tuesday when we discovered how difficult these SYTYC challenges are going to be! We are DEFINATELY glad we decided to practice!

Although we dont want to expose all of our crafts [we have to save them for the competition] we did come up with some awesome finds at the dollar store. Laura settled on creating a ruffled onsie with matching mini skirt while Emily made some fantastic interchangeable hair accessories! Funny thing is, most of our dollar store finds came out of the clearance bin!

Congrats to week 1's winner, the Anthro-Inspired curtain was AWESOME!

This weeks challenge is Thrift Store Finds. Anyone who knows Emily & I knows that we LOVE us some thrift stores!!! I have a few ideas on what I'm going to do this week && I cant WAIT to get started!

Maybe next week I'll finally post some pictures of our craftiness!

Crafters in Training ...

Season 8 of So You Think You're Crafty is just around the corner, so to prep ourselves for the intense competition - we are starting to train this week!

How do you train for a craft competition? YOU CRAFT ... duh!!!! Emily & I will be following along with Season 7 & making crafts for each of the themes.

Week One: Dollar Store Crafts

Could this be any more fun? I LOVE the dollar store and since I'm always on a tight budget, this weeks theme is just up my alley! We make our trek to the dollar tree tomorrow - wish us luck & check back soon to see what fun things we create!!

Cookie Dough Inspired Crafts

There are times in every crafters journey when ideas simply aren't flowing. During our weekly crafting fiesta, Emily & I ran into this problem and quickly found a marvelous solution in home made cookie dough. Two spoonfuls in we were completely inspired by giggle fits due to our sugar high and created some adorable hand painted buckets for Easter!

We are now all out of cookie dough but I'm busy cooking up some yummy brownies for our next craft day ... Bring on the inspiration {and the pounds that come along with it}.

Sincerely, 

Laura

Blogger For Dummies

Today I decided to dive head first into the world of Blogger.  Before my last post, I had never clicked on anything past the dashboard, in fear that I would send our blog into deep cyber space- never to return again.  However, I got up the courage with a little help from Jill at sneaky momma blog design and started playing around with some of the layout.  Jill's blog is SO amazing... you MUST go check it out. 




If you are like me (a bit tech challenged) you will find this site very VERY helpful.  She is super easy to understand and covers any category that you can think of.  She categorizes all of her tips into convenient little drop down menus labled "Beginner", "Intermediate" and "Advanced", you can just skip on over to your ability level.  She also has links to plenty of helpful blogs and websites that are full of blogger-gold. 

Go check her out!!

My goal for this weekend is to have our blog looking AMAZING with the help from Jill's blog.  So keep checking in to see the improvements!

Quick Lesson on Sewing Basics

Ever since my 8th grade home economics class, my knowledge of sewing has slowly declined, and that is a bit of an understatement.  I learned to make a pillow that ended up falling apart a few days afterwards, broke PLENTY of needles, almost ALWAYS got the thread into knots that even the boy scouts would be jealous of, and nearly cost the school a pretty penny by almost breaking the entire sewing machine due to my lack of sewing abilities.  After the nightmare of home economics ended, I decided that sewing was just not for me. 

Until now....

 

I just wanted to share with you guys how Laura gave me a quick (literally 5 minutes) lesson on the basics of the machine. We were about to leave for our Zumba class, so please excuse the pictures- they were taken on my phone.  She showed me how to thread the bobbin and then also how to thread the machine.  I sewed a straight line on a piece of scrap fabric, just to get the feel of the machine.  For some reason I am terrified of this machine!  Is it just me or does it seem like the needle is inevitably going to pop off and soar into someone's eye socket? 

This is my first needle and thread contact since middle school.  I am so proud! haha.

I will obviously need MANY more lessons on sewing, but hey! You have to start somewhere, right?

Laura (being the amazing cook/baker that she is) ALWAYS has something for us to munch on, so tonight it was chocolate chip cookies. Probably not the best thing to eat before an intense hour of working out, but they were fantastic!

So, now you have seen my mini lesson in sewing.  It isn't much but it's a start! With my busy work schedule, it's hard to find the time for a real in-depth lesson, but I am planning on practicing on my own very soon. My goal for March is to be able to make pillows and fabric flowers.  Next time I will make sure I have enough time to take better pictures and make something cool (hopefully).

By the way... this is also my first time posting anything onto Blogger, so I can also cross that off of my list of "Things to Learn".  Yay!!

we THINK we ARE crafty ...

The Emmie Lu Design team has been chosen to audition for So You Think You're Crafty Season 8 in May! 

To train ourselves to be fierce competitors we will follow along with Season 7 & post our creations every week for your critique! The competition won't have a chance.

 

We are THRILLED to have this opportunity and now truly motivated to get the ball rolling on this blog ... so check back soon because we have been busy making FANTASTIC creations for you!

Sincerely, 

Emmie Lu

In the beginning ...

... There was really nothing but a default background & a few words that say

Coming Soon