Little Prince Painting

Greetings,

I had a great weekend, with a lot of sun, a little party with my family for my birthday and a few drinks with my friends. :) I am going to post a few photos of my cake and presents during the week, but for now I wanted to share one of my paintings with you guys. One of my friends chose this design of The Little Prince and I am finally finishing this gift for her. I hope you like it, even though it is still in the process of making.

With love,


Maja

Simple Outfit for a Rainy Day

Greetings,

Although it is already spring, it can still be a bit chilly. I wear my UGG´s in autumn, winter and spring time :) I love coloured jeans, because they brighten up my whole look. Otherwise in have a lot of grey, brown and military green clothes. Here is my way of travelling in this rainy weather. 

I got this red pants from New Yorker, where I also found this military green spring coat from last season and I payed only 19,99 EUR. Yay, I love sales ;)
Black Shoulder bag and this cute, a little bit shiny pullover are from Ann Christine, in Graz.

Hope you like it.

With love,


Maja

Oil Painting Supplies

Greetings,

Since my blog is about art, I decided I am going to give basic information about different types of painting. Its my great hobby and I would like to share some of my knowledge with you. Today's "mini art class" is about oil painting supplies. 

#1 Canvas

They come in so many sizes, you can paint as big a painting as you like. But go small for your first one, take your time to learn.

#2 Easel 

You can also put a canvas on a table, but I don't suggest  that. Its much harder to paint in that way because this colours are slow drying. You are probably going to put paint all over your hands, elbows and also ruin your painting in the process. 

#3 Palette

I use old yogurt cups, they do the work just as well. And when I am done with them, I just throw them out. But I usually use only turpentine, so this works. If you use paint thinners or linseed oil, the cup can melt (it happened to me once). Well this is up to you.

#4 Oil Paints

They are thick and they come in tubes. If you are going to paint regularly, you have to buy extra white paint.

#5 Brushes

A lot of different brushes. Well, it depends on what you are going to paint.

#6 Rags 

Something to wipe your hands with, you are going to use that a lot. I do, and I threw a lot of them out already. I am kinda messy and I don't like to wash this rags, because oil paints are long lasting. I use turpentine to wash the paint off my hands.

Advantages

Because of the slow drying time you can remove the things you don't like and paint over it. You can paint in layers, when oil paint is dry.

Disadvantages

Colours can cross-contaminate if not applied accurately and they dry really slowly. You must be very careful with the wet paints, because it is very hard to remove.

That is it for now, hope you like it.

With love,


Maja

Happy Mother´s Day!

Greetings,

Mother´s day is here! I know this date is not the same in all countries around the world, but today we celebrate Mother´s day in Slovenia. It is a celebration of honouring mothers and motherhood and I think it is a very special little holiday. For all you loving mothers out there: Have a great day!

Here is a little something I made for my mother, my boyfriends mother and my grandmother. They are all very special in their own way. I did not have a lot of time or any crafting supplies, so I had to get creative. I had blank A4 papers, markers, scissors and a pen. I looked up some designs on the Internet and here is was I came up with.

I wrote a few nice words and thank you´s and sent them by mail. They should get them today.

I hope they like them.


With love,

Maja

Apartment look - Retro & Vintage

Greetings,

Next to my love for cozy cottage look lies retro & vintage style. This little accessories go together perfectly. If you are aiming for this old fashioned, cozy, vintage, homey feel, here are your best choices. Also, they are not expensive, which is a great plus.

Tin cans and tin boxes are a great way to make your open storage look cute. They come in a lot of different shapes and patterns and you can fill them with candy, cookies, sugar, coffee, flour, whatever you want :)

Those little "lanterns" have this old, vintage look and they look great at night, when you light a candle. I love them in all three colours, but the green one fits in my kitchen like a charm.

You can buy cute little knobs to match your furniture and they really do make a huge difference. I cannot decide which one I like the best :)

Great doormat gives your guests a lovely greeting even before they step in your home.

These little details give a great impression.

Hope you like them.

With love,


Maja

What a Lovely Day in Italy!

Greetings,

yesterday I spent a lovely day with my family in Italy. It was a one day road trip, but we had a blast. First, we drove to a huge shopping centre in Palmanova. I ate one of the best ice creams in my life. So many choices- in ice cream flavour, toppings and dressings. I had a hazelnut and yogurt ice cream with added strawberries, nuts, sprinkles and chocolate sauce. Yummy.

I had two cups of Coffee and one Latte Machiatto that day. They were all so good, especially this one. I don't add any sugar in my coffee and this one tasted like it was already sweet. Weirdly, I liked it a lot :)

Then we went to Trieste and we had to stop in one part of the town, just so we can take pictures. It was really lovely, especially because we didn't go to a huge, touristy place. We took a walk through narrow streets of and old part of town, filled with little shops and Cafes.

Hope you liked a few snapshots of my day.

With love,


Maja

Cottage Look Foor Your Apartment

Greetings,

for as long as I can remember I have been obsessing about what my apartment/house is going to look one day. I like a lot of different furniture, but my style has always been the same - I LOVE the feel of cottage design. It kinda feels like a giant hug, It is welcoming, layed back, comfy and It makes me feel calm, relaxed and happy. Like a lake side cottage on vacation, from where you never have to leave :)

I think it has this large family/a lot of love kind of feel to it. Also it is simple and close to nature. It works well for everyday living, it looks kind of messy, but always casual and personal. I would add a lot of family pictures, wooden signs and non matching plates/chairs/pillows. 

My apartment

TIPS on how to get a great cottage look.

#1
Colour Palette for your home should be in light, pale, pastel colours. Think of puffy cotton, whipped cream and clouds.

#2
Fabric in your home should be feminine, use floral print and match it with ticking stripes, eyelet. Cotton, linen and burlap are great choices for this look, curtains should be simple and breezy. Feel free to mix and match pillows, blankets, even curtains. But don't go to far, it could end up looking tacky.

#3
Slipcovers, slipcovers, slipcovers. Such a great choice, you can remove and wash them any time. Also, you can have a few of them and just change them up a little bit every once in a while. It will make you fell like you have a brand new home.

#4
Paint is your best friend. Paint over everything you want, really. If its wooden tables, window frames, chairs, doors, whatever. It looks awesome if you paint furniture in different colours or colour shades. Pick your favourite and have fun :)

#5
Flooring should have a vintage look; hardwood floors look the best in this design style.

#6
Open storage looks very cute, a little clutter in sight doesn't hurt anyone. Well, you will maybe have to commit to a little more dusting.

#7
Add your personal touch to it with your pictures, your kids drawings. Print a black and white map of the place where you met your spouse, draw a heart on it, frame it and hang it on a wall. Visit flee markets, pawn shops, garage sales and collect different plates, glasses, vases and together they will give a collective impact. 

I give this style a big plus for saving money and making a home look awesome on a low budget.

Hope you like it.

With love,


Maja

The Time Has Come - Spring Cleaning Tutorial

Greetings,

Spring is my absolute favourite season! The sun is shining, birds are singing, flowers are blooming, there is a fresh feeling in the air, full of life and love. Everything starts to awaken, so this is also a time to start fresh, get rid of the clutter and freshen up your living space.

For me this is a simple task, I live in a one bedroom apartment. :) So I have to clean my bedroom, desk space, kitchen, bathroom and a hallway. But it is a loot of work, still. So here is a tutorial on spring cleaning small apartments, in my way.

#1
First, you should organise and clean your closets and drawers. A lot of us hold on on our clothes, even though we don't even touch them anymore. Maybe it doesn't fit us anymore and we convince ourselves that we are going to loose weight and wear them again and then we don't. Well, you know the story ;) You really should donate the apparel you don't wear anymore and make room for new, fresh, exiting stuff.
Do the same with your drawers in every room. I'm sure you are going to find some old, expired food, expired cosmetics or medicine that belongs in the trash. 

  #2
Then you should wipe all walls and ceilings to get rid of the dust that is gathering all year round. This is important if you ask me, because you usually don't do that.
When you are done with that, you must dust all shelves. I always take everything down, clean the surfaces with a wet cloth and then put everything back. Do throw out or donate the clutter - you don't need 152 pencils, etc.. You get my point ;)

#3
Defrost the freezer and clean the refrigerator. Also, clean your oven, microwave, and every other appliance in your place.

#4
Rotate your mattress, wash your bedding to get rid of bacteria and odours.
This is a must, you sleep on it every night and rest at daytime,  so it should be clean.

#5
Clean your windows.
I love the sunlight to warm my room and I open my windows every day, so they really should look pretty.

#6
All you have left to do is vacuum your floors, wash and wax them. Also, shampoo your rugs, wash bathroom tiles and polish metal surfaces.

I bet your place looks great now! :D Open your windows, feel the fresh air, buy some flowers to decorate your room. Make yourself a nice bubble bath, put on some music and enjoy your pretty place.

With love,


Maja

Dress To Impress

Greetings,

Today´s pick from my closet:

Sleeveless Floral Lace Dress, colour Wine. I bougt it for just 12EUR online and it looks great. 

My sister had to do a photoshoot for a school project, so she asked me if she can raid my wardrobe and also if I can model. Off course I said yes, it was a great day. I mean, I changet outfits 12 times, It was a great sunny day, we had a lot of fun (she, our parents and my friend Sabina, who was the photographer). I even got paid - with a huge ice cream with whipped cream and sprinkles, yummy. :)

     Photo by Sabina Zag.

Hope you like it.

With love,

Maja

Paintings Set

Greetings,

so I am really into interior design, even more so since I moved to my first apartment. I am still looking for the awesome little artsy things to make our little "home sweet home" look gorgeous. I love to make most of these small details by my self. So I painted a few smaller paintings with oil colours. Well, I don't know if you can call them paintings, really. I used only two different colours on each of them.

They are inspired by Lord of the Rings trilogy, we have them up above our bed.

Hope you like them.

With love,


Maja

How to add a Pinterest Hover Button to your Blog Images

Greetings, 

I took my time to personalise my blog and I learnt a lot of new things about the process. As a first time blogger, there is still a lot to learn but I got a few things right. Now I know how to add a Pinterest hover button to my Blogger images. :) I am so happy about this, even more so because I added a pretty blue custom Pin image. You can see it on a picture bellow.

 So, here it goes.

#1
Open your Blogger Dashboard and click on Template and then on Edit HTML. If you don't know much about computer languages you are not going to understand any of it. Don't bother.

For informational purposes : HTML is short for Hyper Text Markup Language, its a  language used to create electronic documents, especially pages on the World Wide Web that contain connections called hyperlinks to other pages. Without it a browser would not know how to format a page and would only display plain text. OK, lets continue.

#2
Scroll down and find this line: </body>. 
The easiest way to do that is to use a shortcut by pressing Ctrl-F. Is opens a find box, where you type in "body" and then press enter. It will find all words that contain "body" and you can do this faster.

#3
Copy this code from Blogger Central and paste it above your </body> code. 

See? Something like this.

#4 
All you have to do is save and close the Template.

#5
+And if you want to add your own image:
Download a Pinterest icon you like or create your own. Then you upload it to an Internet site for free image hosting, copy the URL(link) of the image and paste it right there (as marked on the picture)
and save the Template.


Now you have your own custom Pinterest hover button on you images. Great work!

Hope you like it.

With love,


Maja

How To Find Your Dream House Within Your Budget?

Greetings,

There are a lot of great TV shows about interior design out there, some of them are just a little bit better then others, in my opinion. I like the ones about the fixer-uppers better and so I want to recommend some of them to my fellow interior design enthusiasts. And also write about the things I learnt from watching them. 

How to find the house of your dreams within your budget? 

#1 Location!

Location is the number one rule when searching for your perfect home. Why is that? Because almost everything can be restored/fixed in a way you can live with, but you cannot change the location. If you love to live near a City, you are never going to not want to live near a city. If you need peace and quiet, you are not going to get used to the noisy streets. Well, you can get used to it, but you are never going to like it. Do not compromise on location. 

#2 See through the clutter

When you go house hunting you must be able to picture the house with your stuff in it. Also, there are a lot of things you can change. You can change tiles, paint walls, update old things, even tear out walls. If you like the layout, you can probably make it work with the other stuff. 

#3 Be realistic 

You should make your research about the price range of houses in your selected area and keep that in mind. 

Be realistic about what you can get for your money or you will be disappointed.

#4 Update old furniture

New home owners usually do not have a lot of extra money for new furniture and  interior design but do not worry. You can make gorgeous unique furniture out of old tables, chairs, even pallets. Ask your friends and family if they have some stuff they do not use or go to a flee market. You can find really awesome things and with a touch of paint they can look brand new.

#5 Have your own style

Do not copy someone else, it is your home, your place, your little world. Have fun making it your own. 

Also, you can learn a lot of different designing styles, when watching different TV Shows. 

One of them is a Canadian reality TV series, Property Brothers(2011-present), where identical twin brothers Jonathan and Drew Scott help home buyers to purchase and renovate fixer-uppers. 

Second one is an American reality TV series, Flip Men, starring Mike Baird and Doug Clark where they purchase foreclosed houses at auction, remodel the homes and sell them for return profits.

I also love watching: 
-Property Virgins
-Property Wars
-House Hunters
-House Hunters International
-Flip That House

Hmm, I think I probably forgot a few of them, but that's it for now. Hope you like my recommendations.

With love,


Maja

Painted To New - Makeup Table

Greetings,

recently I restored an old peace of furniture for my younger sister. She has always wanted to have a real makeup table but she never bought it. So I wanted for her to have a real unique one so I got an old dresser/cabinet with a huge mirror and made this. I painted it with colours that match the interior design in her room. 

I found this beautiful dresser knobs/handles for just 0,99 EUR a piece. 

Before there were three shelves in this cabinet but I removed two of them and moved one really high up, so it serves as a drawer. Kind of :)

I even put in a small chair and two hanging fabric organisers (one on each side) for more storage. 

I used blue and beige colour combination because it goes great with her other furniture.

Hope you like it.

With love,

Maja

Old Paintings

Lovely day to you all,

I spent a great weekend at home with my family and I had a lot of fun. Catching up with family and friends along with some delicious cake and good coffee can be really awesome! 
I even took some time to look for my old paintings and take pictures of them. Here is what I found, in orange-yellow combination.

This one is kind of small but it looks great in combination with the second one, because they are both made in similar colours. I painted Kala flowers for my mom almost 6 years ago with oil colours. She loves it and uses it every year for her spring design in our living room. She changes accessories for interior design every time the season changes. Yellow-orange-red is reserved for spring.

Here is the other one, a painting of daisies (70 x 50cm). I was 17 years old when I painted this one and I would love to make some changes on it NOW :) I learned a lot of new things in painting since then but my mother loves it just the way it is :)

Have a nice day!

With love,


Maja

Happy Women´s Day!

My best to all you awesome women out there! :)

It´s international women's day and you should all feel special just for being you. You also might get yourself a little treat or do whatever makes you happy. 
I went home this weekend to give cheek kisses to all my favorite women. I even got them a little something, just for the fun of it. I love giving simple, cute, pretty little gifts that bring a big smile on someones´ face. 

So here is my gift list for this occasion. I went to Muller store and got this pretty little vases with a butterfly on them. They were 1,99EUR each.

Cute, aren't they?

I also got scented candles to go with them and then tried to wrap them in a nice way. I found an old magazine, that I got for free somewhere and decided to use it for gift wrapping. 

It really can turn out great, in a vintage kind of way. I may even put a little flower in the vases. Here are the results:

It´s not much but I like it. Hope you do to.

With love,

Maja

Palette Lounge

Greetings,

today I am going to show you my own palette lounge area. This isn´t a DIY, I know there is a lot of them for palette furniture already, but just to show you my version of it :)

Recently I moved in with my boyfriend and I had a lot of fun with decorating our small apartment. We did not have a lot of furniture, so we had to get creative. With my furniture design knowledge (learnt via Internet sites), ideas were floating. For our dining area we got an old dining desk from his parents and I decided to repaint it in a bright color, a nice vanilla shade. Because of the lack of chairs I asked my parents to get me a bunch of old palettes, which was not a problem. So we smoothed them with sandpaper for which I borrowed a machine so it was quickly done. Then we painted them with the same color than the desk, put them together and we were done. 

There is also a lot of storage space in between them, for magazines or books but we do not have a lot of stuff yet.

Also, my mother got this foam pillows from an old couch that we threw out and sewed gorgeous large cushions. They really make the whole thing look amazing.

You can even see our red gumball machine, which is a hit :)

Hope you like it.

With love,

Maja