September 20, 2017
Image found on Pinterest
Welcome to the Craine’s Nest!
Lately, I’ve been loving… Blush and Copper. This duo combines beautifully, to create a sweet effect in any room or vignette. The sheen of the warm copper sitting beside the blush of the cool pink, is pretty, feminine, and relaxing. Place these lovely mates alongside warm, rich wood, and you strike a peaceful and harmonious visual balance.
August 11, 2017
Hello! Welcome to The Craine’s Nest!
I’m finally getting back in the saddle and feeling more myself, after our big move to Temecula. We’ve been here about 6 months now, settled in a bit, made a few friends, and I’ve regained some of my energy, happy to say!
What I’ve learned: it’s hard moving with a 2 1/2 year old! Hopefully, we’ll stay put for a little while… at least long enough to figure out if Temecula is the place for us.
The people in our family who have decided that Temecula is their beloved home and THE best place they’ve ever lived, are Gabe and Zoe. They love it here. In fact, Zoe asks me regularly, if we “can please stay in ‘Mecula forever?”! Gabe’s made lots of friends and has freedom here that he didn’t have in San Diego (our La mesa neighborhood was a little iffey). His friends come over a lot, so I thought it was time to get his room together and make it something he could be proud of. We worked hard and Gabe loves it.
July 15, 2017
Hello and welcome to The Craine’s Nest! Thanks for dropping by!
Today, I hope to inspire with a quick and easy DIY for your record collection… the one that’s been hanging around your house, looking for somewhere to go, and collecting dust… you know that one!
June 1, 2017
Welcome to the Craine’s Nest!
Lately, I’ve been dreaming about Summer. Mostly the cooler, younger summers of my teen years spent on the Central Coast of California. I filled many an afternoon hanging out with friends, getting beautifully bronzed via baby oil (it was the 80’s, what can I say?!!!), and swimming in the salty ocean water. Not a care in the world… it was REALLY fun and sort of heavenly. Free as a bird and completely oblivious- you really don’t realize that kind of freedom ’til it’s gone, do you?!!! Soft warm sand, gentle ocean waves, seagulls flying free… I have sweet and happy memories of those sun-kissed days!
March 12, 2017
Welcome to the Craine’s Nest!
Spring is here! It’s fresh, it’s clean, and even in Sunny San Diego, where it’s beautiful all year round, Spring feels different. There’s no sign yet, of Summer’s hazy gray smog or 95 degree days. Spring is blue skies and a relaxing breeze. It’s comfort and renewal.
So, to celebrate flowers, green grass, and a breath of fresh air, here are some unique and adorable DIY Nest Egg Planters… and just in time for Easter!
January 3, 2017
Hi there and Happy New Year!
It’s 2016 and I’m excited to start a new year! January means it’s time to put away the Holiday goods and refresh! Everyone is organizing, cleaning out, and throwing away… and there’s nothing quite like getting rid of ALL that junk, to clear your mind, and pave the way for new ideas. If you’re lucky, while scouring and purging, you may run across a few old things that seem new and interesting again. Finally, you have the perfect idea for that tacky goat’s head coat hanger you bought ages ago! I KNEW I could do something with this thing… and I’ve had lots of ideas for it along the way. First, I was simply going to paint it, and hang it on the wall. But that was too boring. Then I was going to decoupage strips of a white and gold Moroccan paper that I found at World Market, and hang it on a balsa wood backdrop. I think that would’ve been really pretty, but I never got around to it. Finally, after leaning it up against a terracotta planter, to move it out of the way while cleaning, I realized that was it! Serendipity!
So, here is my DIY Goat Planter. It was seriously easy to put together, and ended up being the perfect accessory for the empty space in my bookshelf. A little gold (or whatever color you choose), a little greenery, and voila! You’ve got an adorable Mid- Century-esque accent to brighten your home… and in this month of the goat, what could be a more perfect birthday gift for a Capricorn? Problem solved. You’re welcome.
This DIY is so simple, that once you have everything you need, it can be done in about an hour. Let’s get going!
November 15, 2016
Hello and Happy Autumn!
Here are some sweet little planter boxes that I found in the Dollar Bin at Target, for $3.00 each. I don’t think it’s actually called the “Dollar Bin” anymore, since some of the items are $1, some are $3 and some are 5… but who’s complaining when they offer such awesome trinkets, at these prices!
3 boxes. 3 levels of DIY. 3 adorable creations!
These boxes can be used for anything from plants and flowers to office supplies to gift baskets. Fill them with Autumn gifts if you’re going to someone’s house for Thanksgiving dinner or plant them with mini Amaryllis for a Pre- Christmas offering. Stuff them full of beautiful baubles for Christmas or give them as a New Year’s present filled with candles and mini bottles of wine or champagne!
September 28, 2016
Welcome to the Craine’s Nest! Hoping your Summer was full of travel, sandy beach days, and lazy afternoons in the sun (maybe perusing new DIY blogs!). Now that we’re moving towards Fall, I’m getting that nesty-cozy feeling in my soul. I want to make my house pretty and comfy and for me, that means cooking, DIY’s, and flowers!
This is the first in a series of posts I’ll be writing about things that I love and adore. These Chamomile Flowers are #1 on my list since I stumbled upon them yesterday, brought them home, and fell in love! I scattered these Late-Summer, daisy-like blooms all over our living room in different containers: a milk bottle, a jam jar, a hanging vase, a copper washi tape vase, and another little bottle. I bought a large bunch at Trader Joe’s for $3.99 that ended up filling all of the above, plus more to spare! They’re pretty and carefree little flowers, but they’re also very delicate, so… when you get ’em home, get them into water, right away. Without it, their tender flowers and leaves begin to wilt VERY quickly. The upside is that once re-hydrated they usually pop right back to life!
September 3, 2016
Hi again and welcome to my second post! I’m so happy you’re back!
This is a follow up, to walk you through the making of the Ombre Wood Backdrop, for the Mid Century Sunburst. The Sunburst looks beautiful on it’s own, but on our tall, white, rental walls, it just sort of gets lost! As renters, we’re not supposed to paint our walls, so I have to find innovative ways to make our space more exciting. Don’t get me wrong… for all of its flaws and many a year of renters’ grime, it’s a great house. It’s a 1959 A-frame with a wood beamed ceiling, and a giant white brick fireplace in the living room. The kitchen is semi-open to the living room which is AWEsome, because I can cook AND watch my crazy (and adorable) 2 year-old daughter run all over the place! I also have a very energetic and wonderful 9 year-old son, who just started 4th grade.
Our living space is small, but feels much bigger than it actually is. When they built this house in 1959, the idea of the “great room” or the “multipurpose room”, as it was once called, was just catching on. The theme is not fully integrated here, but it’s a well-thought-out, small-version-attempt at the Mid Century idea, made popular by Joseph Eichler in the 50’s and 60’s.
The main wall in our living room, rises up to meet the A-frame, which is where your eye goes, right when you enter the house. I needed a fairly large piece of art to go between my bookshelves and above the TV. It’s basically the media center of the room, so my goal was to take the focus off of the television and electronics. We live in about 1300 sq ft of space, in total, which includes 3 tiny bedrooms and 2 bathrooms. Our living room houses all that we do. We don’t have any extra playrooms or media rooms. I try to fit everything in, while still keeping the look uncluttered and pretty. My goal was to place the spotlight on one beautiful piece, that would pull your attention away from the chaos, while still providing a useful station.
And this is what I came up with!
September 1, 2016
Hi there! This is my first post ever at The Craine’s Nest and I’m so happy that you’re here. Welcome and thank you for stopping by. I’m excited to finally be starting my blog! I’ve been wanting to do this for years, but I kept putting it off. Yeah… I’m a perfectionist. Starting and finishing things is challenging for me. I always think they aren’t quite right or not exactly “perfect” enough. There are LOADS of problems that arise from this way of thinking, the most important being that you never accomplish anything! It’s all rooted in fear obviously, and I won’t go down that rabbit hole with you today, but suffice it to say, I’ve decided to get over it and get a move on with this thing. I have a lot to learn, but I also have have a lot to share. In fact, I have more projects, creations, and supplies than I know what to do with! I could start my own little retail and supplies shop. Yes. Being a perfectionist has slowed me down, but I’m here to get things going. There is NO time like the present, especially when mid-life is creeping up behind you real quick. So… I’m here now and I’m really excited to share all that I’ve loved and learned along the way! Let’s go!!!!
This is a Mid-Century inspired DIY/Reno that I made with a Target bought sunburst mirror. The artist/art house that inspired this piece, is called Curtis Jere. If you are a Mid Century buff, you may know this label. A couple of brothers-in-law started this company and made many a sunburst, seagull, and geometric sculpture in the 60’s and 70’s. I happened upon one of their gorgeous seagull sunburst mirrors while watching stumbling upon The Real Housewives of New York City. I, of course, don’t watch that nonsense, but I was nursing my baby, channel surfing, and there it was. Ok. Sometimes when I want to feel like a super awesome, down-to-earth person I tune in. Ok, alright… I do watch it. But only very sporadically and really only for Carole Radziwill, who was married to a Kennedy, and really and truly has a beautiful and awesome sense of style!
She renovated her apartment and hung a giant seagull sunburst mirror on the wall under her staircase. I fell in love with it and started researching what it was, who created it, where I might find it, etc. After a long and exhaustive search, I came to the conclusion that it was probably a Curtis Jere Sunburst sculpture.
The sculpture I found online that looks most like the one I saw on the show, goes for about $2,500. Curtis Jere made many variations on this sunburst, ranging in price from about $200 to $2,500 (and up, I’m sure… those are just the ones I found). The one that I happen to love and adore is $2,500. Of course. So… since paying that price for a piece of art was not in our budget, I started scouting around for mirrors and seagulls. I found this mirror at Target for 50 bucks and found the Seagulls on Etsy, You get 4 dozen for about 25 dollars, right here. Finding the seagulls was a challenge- I bought many a seagull and even tried to make my own out of clay, but nothing really worked until I found these little guys. I used a 24K Metallic Gold paint that I found at Michael’s, cut some of the seagulls down to give variation in size and shape, and sanded the bejeezus out of them… and voila! I love the result!
