oh hey, color: a pretty spring dress

1, 2, 3, 4

nothing says spring more than this little xhiliration dress i picked up at target over the weekend. over-sized flowers √,  Aztec print √ + loads and loads of color! i'm especially loving navy w/ teal and tomato + salmon this spring. but i'm 100% smitten w/ that chevron camera bag from ketti handbags. perfect w/ red interior. yes, please! (now the fingers are crossed w/ hopes that they will restock!)

color = much more fun

i really need a new pair of brown ballet flats. i should totally insert a picture of my current pair. yowch!

... but let's face it, folks:

and what's even more fun? shoes that are for a good cause.

{top} lina woven ballet flats from toms - $79 // currently on backorder.
with every pair of toms you purchase, toms will give a new pair of shoes to a child in need.

{bottom} reef tropic ballet flats from reef (via piperlime) - $54
reef is partnering w/ artisans in developing countries throughout the world. they have designated a portion of it's spring 2012 line to the we heart collection. these lovelies support the small guatemalan community of san antonio palopo.

a little tip: sign up for piperlime's email list and get 15% off the reef tropic ballet flats. yup - i know from experience. yay for march fun money! can't wait to get these little lovelies.

feeling hot, hot, hot

i was feeling pretty wild this weekend and decided to shop outside the box. that's right ... i purchased a bit o' color. this adorable hot pink striped tshirt from mossimo (via target) now has a home inside my closet.

i'm loving neon this spring. baby steps, people! first i dared to paint my toe nails hot pink! then i stepped it up and painted my fingernails too. i'm not gonna lie to you - i constantly wish i was a bit more bold w/ color. in both my wardrobe and our decor. talk about a ginormous leap into color - have you seen the designs from the divine chair?

wow - talk about transforming old, forgotten furniture into the star of any room! talk about loads and loads of pinning inspiration. must learn to reupholster.

more color please, part 3

mondays are proving to be ridiculously busy at the office this august. gah - who am i kidding ... i've been working late and through lunch all summer ... but mondays seem to be the worst. and so today i'm delaying my {hello munday} post again to tuesday. boo hiss.

until then ... what do you get when you combine ivory sheers + dark gold pompoms?

{target + m&j trim}

(besides an incredibly tedious sewing job carefully pushing each little pompom out of the way of the presser foot ... very tedious indeed!)

you get new curtains for the living room - and a bit more color! :) hopefully i can find a free minute this evening to finish the curtains and photograph. in the meantime ... my inspiration:

{tutorial & source: martha stewart}

more color please, part 2

remember these guys ... my inspiration for the armoire in the living room:

{source: better homes and gardens, living etc magazine, the decorologist}

well ... we did it! talk about a week of living room mayhem (we live in a teensy 1 bedroom apt - so our living room dbled as workshop). 2 coats of tinted primer, 2 coats of valspar paint in homestead resort olive, 1 buff w/ martha stewart's metallic glaze in muscavado and 2 coats of satin polyurethane - and i'm pretty satisfied w/ the result:

{the before - the after}

of course, new knobs from anthropologie were the icing on the cake:

{click to shop}

speaking of martha stewart's glaze ... have you worked w/ this stuff!?! i used the glaze as a buff to basically antique the armoire - but that's apparently not ALL you can do with it:

{source: click for DIYs}

{whatever wednesday} pantone!

when work is THIS crazy ... i retreat every free moment i can get. today that little pinwheel is a turning more than usual while my mac considers whether it wants to open my file or not. so i've been day dreaming about color ... pantone® color:

1 // uncommon goods pantone® folding chairs {75.00}
2 // dick blick pantone® universe colored pencils {29.59}
3 // whitbread & wilkinson's pantone® espresso set {50.00}
4 // pantone® wallpaper for your ipad, iphone or desktop {FREE}
4 // sonia spencer designs pantone® cufflinks {67.00}

and just for kicks ... pantone has joined w/ michele bernhardt to provide you with your colorstrology:

{click above to get your own!}

too funny that my color would be sunflower. my best friend laura loves sunflowers - but they are definitely my least favorite flower ... hmm. i apologize colorstrology followers ... but i will not be "wearing or surrounding myself w/ sunflower" anytime in the near future.

okay back to it! :)

wednes-DIY: a few {blog}shares

i have several projects 1/2 started around the house right now (another reason i need a {craft}station!). a weekend away was WONDERFUL and completely needed but didn't help with my looooong "to do" list. there are just so many cute cute ideas out there, so i thought i'd share:

1 // this adorable easter egg bunting DIY from a new blog favorite - modern parents messy kids:

{source: modern parents messy kids}

after spotting this - i made a quick lunch hour trip to the hardware store and made my own. check out modern parents messy kids for directions + a template for the perfect eggs. i modified their DIY the tiniest bit: instead of using the paint chips w/ 4 different samples, i pulled the 3 color samples. then, i increased the size of their egg template. i also penciled in a line across my template to line up the center of the egg. such a cute, simple idea.

2 // this sewing notions display art DIY from haylie on design*sponge a perfect addition above our little office space (which is slowly coming together - pictures soon!).

{source: design*sponge}

3 // this bird mobile DIY from spool complete w/ pattern:

{source: spool}

can you tell i'm determined to add color to our apartment!?! :) just in time for spring!

what projects are you currently loving?