DIY raffia pendant light REVISITED

THIS POST IS OVER TWO YEARS OLD NOW BUT KEEPS GETTING HIT'S SO I THOUGHT I WOULD SHARE IT AGAIN WITH YOU ALL. THIS IS A GREAT DIY PROJECT FOR DECORATING EVENTS AND YOU CAN USE ALL KINDS OF DIFFERENT MEDIA TO MAKE THIS PENDANT! 

What a bright idea! 

While brainstorming for additions for our Fall window display for Road Less Traveled I kept thinking about the moon and the sun. The certain way the Autumn sky seems to glow through the leaves and cast soft shadows. I wanted to interpret this somehow into the window display that Delilah had already started. I searched for ideas and came across this idea and thought I would try it myself. It never hurts to try you know. 

BTW: Many customers love this light and ask about it. 

Raffia-Michaels Craft Store

Punch Balloons-Party City

Mod Podge-Michaels

Paint Brush-already had

Sharpie-already had

Pendant Light Base-Cost Plus Market

What You Gotta Do:

This craft needs at least 2 hrs of invested time so gather a friend or sister and a beer to help keep you company :)

 1. Inflate the balloon to desired size.

2. Draw circle with sharpie that is large enough for light bulb to go through.

3.Adhere mod podge to raffia while tying the raffia around the balloon.

4. Continue covering your balloon as desired and tie all ends of knots together. 

5. Make sure entire surface has glue to ensure that it is stable when hardened.

6. Hang your balloon over night and leave newspaper underneath in case of glue drips.

7. Wait for at least 8 hrs for glue to dry and for there to be a hard sturdy surface.

8. When ready insert light base and either hang (using s brackets) or use as a table lamp. 

Lofts & Art Walks

The DJ Station. 

    A random night spent with friends in Downtown Santa Ana Art Walk can lead to the most interesting of venues. After bar hopping got old we ventured out into the streets for a more acquired taste of night life. What did we find? Well, a loft party of all things. Nothing special really as far as parties go. But the loft it self was impressive. So I took a few shots to show you the place. The best part was the rooftop view. I got the butterflies in my stomach climbing the ladder up. Don't even get me started with all of the drunks who looked like they were 2 seconds away from falling over the edge of the rooftop...

Miss Turkey? Is that you?

One of the many staircases at the loft party.

The steepest step ladder lead to the rooftop. 

The view of Downtown Santa Ana.

Confessions Of A Procrastinating Emotional Painter

     Somewhere between last week and today I began painting again. I had a proposal placed upon me at work a few weeks ago to paint a Rib-cage onto two mannequins for a window display. This seemed an easy task when I was first told. But it wasn't till last week that the pressure began to cave in on me. I had to start working on those mannequins! And soon. So I did what I do best, work under pressure(little sleep). 

   I rose to the task. I felt like a student again. Anxiously awaiting the finishing line of my most recent project at hand. Unlike so many times I had felt a different kind of pressure. It was not a pressure of anxiety or stress. More like a release of pressure that had been building up inside of me. The procrastinator in me was releasing the stress that had been waiting to just come out. With each stroke of the brush I felt like a layer was peeling off. 

Follow me on Instagram @Decoaurora

     After 4 hours of painting in the heat I was left with two stunning mannequins. I would name them the Mannequin Graveyard on my Instagram. Proudly showing them off to anyone who would look, let alone LIKE them. Isn't it thrilling to have complete strangers liking your life in pictures! Social networking boggles my mind sometimes, amazing. 

Follow me on Instagram @Decoaurora

          Over the next few days I was still rolling off that high whether it was from the paint or the likes on Instagram... I was inspired and I needed to do something about it fast. 

     On a whim I entered Michael's A.K.A. the craft Haven to look for some essentials for my newly re-discovered CRAFT! To my delight I was lingering up and down the aisles looking at an array of canvas styles and sizes along with paint and brushes galore. What to do, what to do.

     My younger broke college student self would say ah F#$@! it and just leave empty handed. I chose to go with my instinct. Being the weirdo that I'am, I left my new paint friends in the car for a few days, this is a strange habit I have. I needed to sit on it, what it was I wanted to paint exactly. So after a day of letting my mind wander, (and my paint melt in the car). I decided It was time! 

     As you can see from the photo from above, I was able to paint something...with my own two hands plus a paint brush or two and my imagination. I originally had something else that I wanted to paint, but somehow ended up with this masterpiece! Isn't it funny how things happen? Its like the saying "Life is what happens when you're planning it"...or however it goes. Same thing goes for my paintings I guess. 

Do you paint or craft?

What inspires your arts and crafts? 

Sawdust or Bust

Me and my Tully's are on top of the world.

   
     One fine afternoon I headed out to the Sawdust festival with my mom. I was on vacation that week from one job and prepping for a workshop at another so I needed something fun to get my mind de-stressed. I joined my mom and we had a blast, why have I never gone to Sawdust before? It's really hard to explain how the whole event works or even looks...I know this because I have been told about it and it never made sense to me until I went.

Below are photos I took of my day at Sawdust, there are a few artists whose name I didn't get so sorry in advance. Enjoy, and don't forget the Holiday show is coming up soon and it sounds magical :)

This is a dream ring for me, too bad it was too big on all of my fingers :(

The outdoor cafe was packed with people eating this really great looking sandwiches. 

Don't even know what to say, I love it though.

Brynne of Backward prints! She is so sweet and so are her designs! 

The butt got my attention, not gonna lie.

Beautiful Turquoise rings in an array of colors. 

Chola and her dog painted onto a cigar box. Wish I knew who the artist was. 

My fav artist of the day Sue Winner, I bought 3 of her prints! Her booth was so magical I didn't wanna leave! 

This super cool top was at Sue Winners booth as well! 

Lunch at Lumberyard...quite tasty. 

Have you been to Sawdust festival before? 

Let me know if you have, or any other great art festivals you recommend. 

Long Beach In the Summertime

     One summer day my sister and I were getting along quite nicely which happens once in a month, So I decided it would be best to take advantage of the situation and  dragged her with me for some quality "sister time" in Long Beach. Did we have a blast? Read on to find out. 

     My sister is not one for an itinerary, she likes to live in the moment and leave when she pleases. I tried to accommodate her special needs for our outing by limiting myself to only a select few venues, otherwise she might have left me there! 1st on our list was the uber cool hipsterama book store OPEN BOOKS! Wanna know something funny? OPEN BOOKS was CLOSED when we got there! Ok not that funny, but to me it was kinda ironic as you can see in the pic above. But luckily they were open when we walked back and we loved it there!

 So now that I have your attention lets venture into our little adventure with a walking tour of our day. 

Don't we look so happy to be together ;)

I believe some of you would die if this happened! 

Really awesome bars over the window. Wonder if its for style and less for the stealing?

Is it just a coincidence that they match the foliage? I'd like to think not. 

You need a key to follow that yellow brick road.

Enjoying our Mimosas & duct tape wallets at Open Sesame! Ask for Alex when you go btw. 

Visiting my friend Jorge at LB Exotics! They recently got broken into, soo sad :( They have the cutest animals and reptiles, so go visit them soon! 

Enter the world of CRAFTED! 

We managed to make a pit stop at Crafted before we left the world of Long beach/L.A. counties to make our way back towards the orange curtain. Here are some of our fav vendors/crafters! 

Our friends Its me Mary and Kelso Doesn't Dance. 

Peace out Long Beach, its been real! 

Hope you enjoyed the day trip to Long Beach! 

Have you ever been here before?

 Do you recommend any cool shops or restaurants/cafes to vist?

 I wanna know!

My fav blogs of the moment #3

J's Everyday Fashion

J's Everyday Fashion-Fashion

Lil Blue Boo-Arts & Humanities

I Do Windows-Visual Merchandising 

Effortless Style-Interior Decorating
Gold Diggers-Vintage Women
Closet Cooking-Food Porn

Previous Fav Blogs Of The Moment
here

"Gettin myself cultured"

Seems lately that the only culture I have had around me was in the yogurt parfait I ate on my lunch break. I can't remember the last time I went to an art show...well that's not true. I went like 2 years ago. But you see, that is my point. I want to get back into that scene. So when my boss lady Delilah said she was going to be working her Jam Van at an opening for a show at CSUF I figured it must be something cool. I saw the flier and was intrigued... AQUIRED TASTE: Food and the art of consumption. Perfect. I'm already becoming a so-called foodie. So meshing foodie with arty you got my attention. 

So off I went. I brought along my mother and my food enthusiast boyfriend who begs me to branch out a bit more food wise. Hey look look I have had Tripe before, does that count as eating outside the box? Anyway let's look at what fun stuff was going on at the show. 

Delilah Snell was in full force with her "Backyard in a Jar Line" along side her moving pop up shop aka the Jam Van. She had two hot sellers that night "ginger peach" and "passion fruit". My mom will be serving the passion fruit @ thanksgiving with our cheese plate btw. 

Throughout the outside of the art buildings there were projections of faces on the walls, tree's and floating boxes to promote unity. 

Here we go with Acquired Taste! My absolute favorite part of the show was the Curry Powder Wallpaper! Walking in you immediately could smell it and wondered where it came from. And then you see it on the walls. Very cool and something I appreciate as an aspiring interior designer. I wont say much more about the exhibit because I think you should experience it for yourself!

 The next building over was also having an opening exhibit HAZE. The man seen in the photo below documented the Los Angeles Air quality through photos taken every day on top of Signal Hill in Long Beach, CA. He then matched the skys color to different paint swatches and the outcome was pretty spot on. Go check it out!

EXHIBIT LOCATION :

Begovich Gallery, California State University, Fullerton

800 North State College Blvd., Fullerton, CA (just north of Nutwood Avenue)