decor – Just a Maryland Girl

Simple DIY Photo Frame Upgrade

Me and my spraypaint were at it again this week. This time I did a super easy, super cute upgrade to some basic silver frames that I got from the Dollar Tree.

As is, these frames were cute and inexpensive but I thought adding a gold dipped corner may add a little umph to them.

I started with these two basic silver frames. I really liked that they came with a matte border if you choose to use it…which I did.

Using blue painters tape, I taped around the frame, leaving one corner exposed to be painted. I did two really light coats of spray paint for each frame, letting the first layer dry about an hour before putting on the second coat.

Then using my canva app/website (if you don’t use this, and you do a lot of design work or social media graphics, I suggest trying it), I created some simple text for my frames.

I printed them, cut them to size and popped them into the frames super easy!

I love how they came out! They look super cute on my entry way shelf!

Let me know if you like this and try something similar. I love Dollar Tree (or budget) DIY’s! Especially when they are easy.

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August 27, 2020August 27, 2020

justamarylandgirl

DIY BUDGET SUNBURST MIRRORS

I am in love with the boho basket wall and sunburst mirror trend. It’s such a soothing and simple aesthetic, and even better, it’s quite budget friendly to create!

You can easily find cute baskets in your local thrift store. You can incorporate some fun touches like paint or tassels and effortlessly design a personal piece that suits your specific space.

Due to COVID-19, shopping and browsing and thrifting has been off the table for me for the most part. I have allowed myself an occasional dash through the dollar store. And I have definitely placed SEVERAL curbside or delivery orders from Michael’s, Target, and Walmart over the past few months.

So I decided to try my hand at creating sunburst mirrors to go with the existing rattan mirrors I had on my living room wall, and I love the way they turned out!

With a few clicks of the mouse, I had all of my materials acquired. And with a few squirts of the glue gun, my mirrors were all assembled. Here’s what I did!

I gathered my materials.

For the small sunburst, I used two packs of wooden dowels from dollar tree and a 5″ mirror from Michael’s.

For the large sunburst, I used 1.25 packs of bamboo skewers from Walmart and a 10″ mirror from Michael’s.

Using my glue gun, I glued the sticks around the back of the mirrors. Space the sticks however you’d like. There’s really no wrong or right…it will all look cute! Notice that the glue job is not super perfect. Trust me, that’s ok. The impefections kinda just add to the boho aesthetic.

Then I cut a circle out of cardboard. I just used the box from some of the packages I’ve had delivered…use whatever you have lying around, and if you don’t have cardboard, improvise. I’m sure there are many things laying around the house that would work just as well.

So…I adhered the cardboard to the back of the mirror with my glue gun. I layered additional smaller pieces of cardboard on top of each other to create a reinforced area to insert the hook that I’m going to use for hanging. Because these mirrors are so lightweight, even with the sticks, the backing doesn’t have to be super heavy duty.

Once the backing was glued on, I twisted my hook into the cardboard. No tools were required …I just twisted it by hand. Super simple!

And then my mirrors were all ready to hang! Joila!

Is this something you would try? Have you created any home decor pieces lately? I’d love to hear about them!

August 5, 2020August 5, 2020

justamarylandgirl

Ideas for Handbag Organization

handbag organization

If you’re like me, you have a lot of purses. A. LOT. Despite my best efforts to purge and consolidate and minimize, I still have quite a few handbags remaining. This wasn’t so much of an issue when I lived alone. But now that I live with my boyfriend, I have to reign this in a little bit. Apparently there’s no room for my handbag dresser, and having them strewn about the home is a no-go. Fine.

Before I moved in, I trimmed down my purse collection, and now I have them all isolated to a corner of my closet, piled high. Real high. It isn’t functional and definitely isn’t pretty. I find that I kinda just leave the last one I used on top, so it gets easy to forget about the poor ones on the bottom. Some may ask…”well, doesn’t that mean you should get rid of the ones on the bottom?” Of course not! That’s definitely not logic that I’m going to follow, primarily because…I don’t want to.

So…in my quest to come up with ideas for storing my handbags in the space I’ve been allotted, I rounded up a few ideas from around the web that I thought were cute, functional, affordable, and relatively easy to implement.

closet organizer — {Park-a-Purse Organizer}

hanging organizer amazon — {Vertical Hanging Storage}

Depending on your particular situation, one idea may work better than another. For now, I should probably get to measuring and assessing to see which one will work for me.

tata for now -m- (2)

January 15, 2019January 15, 2019

justamarylandgirl

DIY Cake Stands

diy cake stands

I served as my agency’s campaign manager for our annual charity drive. It was a big task, and one with high visibility at my job. As you can imagine, there were some obstacles to the position, but I was honored to step up to the challenge.

One of our awareness events was a sweets tasting. My fellow colleagues kindly stepped up to volunteer to bake and donate various sweets for the event, and I did the coordination and decor for the employee lounge. While expectations are low for meetings and such at my particular agency, the fun and creative side of me wanted to “juj” it up a little bit. I wanted banners and balloon clusters and tissue paper pom-poms. And I wanted cake stands and doilies for every item. This is where I had to think outside the box a little bit.

My role as campaign manager did not come with a budget. Everything was either donated or out of pocket. With 20 people donating baked goods, it was not reasonable for me to spend $10-$15 each on 20 cake stands. Think woman, think! To the Google!

After some research on google and pinterest, I laid out my plan. I saw DIY cake stands using affordable items, and decided to try using plates and candle holders from the dollar store. So this is what I did.

Materials:

candle holders
plates
gorilla glue

Here are the items I used, all purchased from my local Dollar Tree store (except the Gorilla Glue):

img_20181125_160333 — {glass candle holder}

img_20181125_160408 — {grey geometric candle holder}

img_20181125_160353 — {grey ceramic plate}

Instructions:

Dot the gorilla glue onto the top of the candle holders. This doesn’t need to be excessive.

Press the glued side of the candle holder onto the bottom of the plates and hold in place according to the instructions on the glue bottle

Let the stands cure overnight upside down

img_20181125_162237

Here are my finished stands. They totally looked awesome when I put doilies on top and delicious sweet treats on them for the event!

I was ecstatic that I was able to execute my vision without breaking my bank! And I got so many compliments on the presentation! I wish I took better pics (bad blogger!!!) In full disclosure, the glass stands made it exactly the length of the event before they toppled. I’m not sure if they became unstable during the travel to the event or what. The grey ones lasted and are still in tact months later. So you may want to consider the fragility of the items that you select for your stand. I could not have been happier with the outcome.

tata for now -m- (2)

January 14, 2019January 14, 2019

justamarylandgirl

I’m obsessed with blue vases

I have found myself drawn lately to blue vases. I’ve seen them called recycled vases, Parisian vases, bubble vases and farmhouse vases. I have no idea what the correct name is for them, maybe they are all correct…but there is something about blue clear-ish vases that I’m totally in love with!

These vases are sophisticated, whimsical, and comfortable. They are great for a minimalist decor style, farmhouse style, or modern. You can fill them with simple stems or something showy with flowers and petals. You can set them on a small side table, as a decor item on your book shelf, as a center piece for your dining table, or on the floor to stand out alone. The possibilities are endless but yet all options are classy and adorably perfect!

I’ve seen them in all of my favorite stores lately, and wouldn’t be surprised if you stumbled across one in a thrift store. But here are a few that I ran into online for your perusal.

vase amazon 2 — { Amazon – Recycled Spanish Glass }

blue vase trassieax — { Spanish Recycled Glass – Trousseaux }

blue vase joss and main — { Recycled Glass – Joss & Main }

blue vase ikea — { Mouth Blown Vase – Ikea }

blue vase 1 — { Recycled Glass – Better Homes & Garden }

I hope you enjoyed my silly obsession…lol.

tata for now -m- (2)

January 11, 2019January 12, 2019

justamarylandgirl