Since I am always on the hunt for affordable artwork, I thought I would share one of my other CIY artwork projects with you.  I mean, there is nothing better than displaying your own artwork in your home, right?  When you do, you have complete control of the artwork itself.  I like the look of expensive artwork, however, my beer budget can only get me so far.  That’s why I try to mimic (i.e take inspiration) from artwork that I would only be able to afford on a champagne budget.  

When I was decorating our back bedroom (aka my studio) I wanted to get some artwork but didn’t want anything expensive.  I was at Ikea collecting all of my decorations (yay for Ikea for having a HUGE selection of affordable options!) when I came across this black and white floral patterned fabric.  Instantly I thought it would go well with my black and yellow themed room.  When I saw this fabric I thought it looked like a page out of a coloring book.  So, I grabbed my markers and went to town coloring the flower balls yellow!  The possibilities are endless.   This is so easy even a kid could do it! That is, if they can stay in the lines! 

Hmmm…It appears as though I need to invest in a level when hanging my pictures… 

I also bought my frames from Ikea.  I painted the plain wooden frame black.  I took the plastic cover and laid it over my fabric, traced around it, and cut out my fabric so it was the same size as my frame.   I then colored in the flower balls with a yellow marker. 

I took my colored fabric and placed it in the frame. Hello, one-of-a-kind artwork! 

I used a similar method with the below artwork.  I googled flowers, picked the styles I liked, printed them off in black and white, and then colored in the white parts of the flower yellow. 

Mike and I were recently at Carriage House for brunch with my mom and her friend.  That’s what we do in Chicago, we brunch.  Mike and I can never get our act together to get out of the house during real breakfast hours, so brunch allows us to eat breakfast at 1:00pm and not feel bad about it. 

First off, Carriage House is adorable.  I kind of want to live in this restaurant because the decor is rustic and oh so cozy.  When we were seated at our table, each chair had a little blanket on the back of it.  Talk about attention to details!  As I looked around and took in the rest of the decor I saw a man drinking a pony beer.  I immediately became obsessed with it.  It was such a cute, stubby, beer.  Why have I never seen a pony beer before?  Mike, being the loving husband he is, ordered a Bloody Mary (which came with a pony beer) and gave the beer to me.  This is another reason I like brunch.  It is much more appropriate to drink at brunch, than at breakfast. :) I enjoyed my adult beverage and left with the cute bottle. 

After we left, I was thinking this would make a cute bud vase.  I wanted to add a little pizzazz to it, but wasn’t sure exactly where my vision would take me. 

From time-to-time I will check out Style Me Pretty to see what 2013 brides are doing for decor, etc. When I was last out there I saw these cute CIY vases.  Umm…perfect for my bottle! 

Supplies: 

– Glass bottle (if it has a label on it, soak it in warm water to remove it) 

– Gold  Paint (I used metallic, but SMP used gold leaf) 

– Paint Brush 

– Painter’s Tape (optional) 

 Step 1: Decide how high up you want your gold color to go.  Once you have decided, put your painter’s  tape around your bottle. 

 Step 2: Start painting your bottle all the way around.  Let it dry. 

 Step 3:  Put about 3 layers of gold paint on your bottle.  This will cover it nicely.  Let the paint dry. 

Step 4: Once your paint is dry, very slowly remove your tape.  You may notice some bubbling at the top of your bottle, just smooth this down with your finger. 

I went to Asrai Garden, the flower shop at the end of my street, and found these lovely flowers.  I know the one deep red one is a Ranunculus.  I love these flowers.  They are currently my favorite flower.  Not sure what the other two are, but I thought they would look pretty with my Ranunculus. 

I cut my flowers down and put then in my cute new gold vase.  Who would have thunk a beer bottle could be so pretty?  Enjoy!