November 28, 2012

DIY Elephant Key Hooks

They say an elephant never forgets, and I don't know if that's true, but I do know that with these DIY elephant key hooks you'll never forget where you put your keys! I spotted these miniature elephants at my favorite craft store, Michaels, and knew I needed to make something with them. I thought that their little trunks would be perfect for hanging a set of keys, so I set to work turning them into key hooks. This project is inexpensive and very easy to do.

WHAT YOU'LL NEED:

Plastic Elephants / Piece of Wood / Hammer and Nails OR Drill and Screw / Spray Paint / Frame Hangers / Box Cutter or Small Saw


To start, find a piece of wood to use as your base. I used a piece of driftwood that I found at the beach. If you use driftwood make sure you clean it first and then let it dry. Once it's dry, spray paint it whatever color you'd like. I made mine white.


Next, you'll need to cut your elephant in half. Be forewarned that this step is very sad to look at, but the elephants are just plastic so it's ok! I used a box cutter to cut through the plastic, but I would imagine that a small saw would also do the trick.


Once your elephants are all cut, bring them outside and spray paint them gold. Though we're just going to be using the front halves of the elephants for this project, I'd go ahead and spray paint their butts too! You could make a second set of key hooks with them and use the tails to hang the keys. Or, if you want to wait a little while, you could keep your eyes peeled for the future tutorial on Creative Soul Spectrum to see what I did with mine!


Now, use a ruler to evenly mark the placement of your elephants. I set mine to be 3.5 inches apart.


Drill a small hole in the backside of your elephant to make it easier to nail it onto the wood. Hammer the nails into the driftwood until they're flush with the wood. (I think that drilling screws through the driftwood and into the elephants would be a good option to try for this step too.)Then add frame hangers to both ends of the wood. Flip over your piece of driftwood and line up the holes you drilled into the elephant with the nails sticking out of the board. Push the elephant into the nails until they are touching the driftwood.


And now you're done and ready to hang your piece right by your door!




         

January 2, 2013

A Year in Review: 2012


Happy New Year everyone!! I'm so happy to be back, and I'm feeling refreshed and rejuvenated from my break. I am very much looking forward to all the things to come in the year 2013, but first I want to take a look back on the past year and reflect on all the great things that I saw, heard, made, and experienced. 

I had so many fun adventures in 2012, and the year got off to a great start with (1.) a trip to Las Vegas with my sister to see Celine Dion in concert. It's no secret that I'm a Celine fan, so this was a huge highlight of the year. (2.) I took another little trip a few months later to New York City with my brother to see The Newsies on Broadway. The show was so amazing and I'd absolutely love to see it again! (3.) One of the biggest highlights of the year was my older sister's engagement to her boyfriend Joe. She's the first of our siblings to be getting married, and we're all so excited! (4.) 2012 was the year I finally bought myself a nice new digital camera. It has made all the difference in the world on my blog, and makes it so much fun to capture my adventures. (5.) This summer I attended my very first Boston Bloggers event, and I have since been opened to so many opportunities as well as new friendships. I love being a part of such a wonderful, engaging community! Through Boston Bloggers, I met Smita of Hogger&Co, and was lucky to be a part of her Style Profile series. That awesome experience led to Smita offering me the opportunity to (6.) photograph from the Press Pit at The Tent at Boston Fashion Week. As someone who loves both fashion and photography, this was certainly a memorable part of 2012!

2012 was a pretty big year for Instagram, and I jumped right on board when I got my iphone over the summer. These are a few of my favorite snapshots from the year. (1.) Princess the pig at Nihtila Farm...OinkOink! (2.) A beautiful chandelier at The Boston Opera House where I saw The Nutcracker for the first time. (3.) The sun setting behind willow trees at the Boston Public Garden. (4.) A view of Wollaston Beach in Quincy near my old apartment. (5.) Coffee is served during brunch at Papa Razzi on Newbury Street in Boston. (6.) View from the ski lift at Gunstock Mountain in New Hampshire.

In 2012 I celebrated my 1 year blog anniversary and from that point I decided to step up my game a bit. I increased my blogging frequency and had a lot of posts to show for it! These are some of my favorites from the year. 

I feel like 2012 was a really good year for music. I loved the folk sound that came from so many bands, but I'd be lying if I said I didn't love me a little 'Call Me Maybe' too. I've compiled a playlist of 12 of my favorite songs from 2012, so take a listen and enjoy. And, now that we've taken a look back, let's look to the future, and hope for many more great things to come! Cheers!