My bathroom just underwent a dalmatian transformation!

I talked about wanting a dalmatian rug for my living room in a previous post  after being inspired by this office. Well, I switched gears and decided my bathroom walls would be the perfect place for the print. The next step was  the hunt for the tutorial.  It turns out this is wallpaper, but two bloggers had  a DIYed version.

First, I came across this tutorial from Lauren at Make it a Double blog. I love it so much!

Lauren’s post led me to Chrisann at Ducklings in a Row blog, who talks through how she stenciled her way through the project for less than $30 here. Check out how gorgeous it turned out!

I decided to go with Lauren’s strategy. I was eager to jump right into it AND I don’t have an exacto knife/Martha Stewart stencil paper.  I already had black paint that I purchased when I originally wanted to paint vertical stripes like this. (I didn’t end up going through with it because I was too nervous about the precision it required.) I also had some brushes so I didn’t even need to go out and buy anything for this project.

I practiced the dots first on a sheet of paper. I was looking at a bunch of dalmatian prints in Google  images and trying to mimic my favorites.

Then, I started out with the safest wall. This little section of wall is behind the door and hardly visible so there was less a stake if I messed up.

Once I got the hang of it and liked how the spots were turning out, I went for it.  I used a small-ish brush and made straight on strokes and also pressed the brush against the wall on it’s side so I could get uneven looking spots. Here’s a quick video so you can see. Look at these spots!  I’m so happy with how they turned out.

Here’s a progress pic from when I was just about done. This has been a night time project  so the photo is a little dark.

And I finished all the spots! I’d say the whole thing took about 6 hours.  This project has been so spontaneous and fun. It’s still in progress – I’m going to add shelves and possibly change out the light fixtures/mirror but I’m excited about it so far! Stay tuned for the “after” shots!

According to this article, leopard print is the new black, and I’m OK with it.  As you can see, I’ve had an appreciation for leopard print from a young age.

Thankfully I’ve learned to tone it down a bit. I now incorporate leopard into my style with a little more subtlety. I choose these leopard flats (from Banana Republic outlet) or this J. Crew phone case, so I look a little less like Fran Drescher in The Nanny.

I don’t know if you can tell from the picture but the phone case actually has a faux fur texture!

I love this look from Pinterest. I’ve wanted one of these calf hair clutches ever since I saw this one on cupcakes and cashmere.  I found this one from etsy and this one from J. Crew. Do any of you have a recommendation either way?

I love how this trench coat just has the tiniest leopard detail.

For a bolder look, how fun are these leopard pants? I actually picked up a pair of leopard leggings at Marshall’s but I haven’t had the courage to wear them out yet.

I think this leopard scarf (Thanks for teaching me the difference between a snood, stole and scarf, Sydney!) with all black looks super chic.

Finally, I love the plaid paired with leopard here, but I’ve never tried to wear these patterns together. Plaid seems to also be super in right now, but the only plaid I have is this, which I don’t think would go with leopard very well.   Also, I once ordered leopard booties because they looked adorable online but they were terrible in person. Some things are fun to look at but not for me, I guess. What are your favorite ways to wear leopard?

I thought I’d share a little tip with you all. I couldn’t decide for a long time if I wanted to buy Coco Mademoiselle. I always noticed it on other people and loved it and tried it on in the store, but I have Miss Dior Cherie and I think they smell really similar. (Does anyone else think so?)

Then, my friend Dana turned me onto the purse spray. It’s perfect! I didn’t want to get a giant bottle, so this would be the perfect thing. Then, I looked into the price. It’s actually a better deal and more product than the traditional bottles. When buy the Twist and Spray ($95 at Nordstrom) you get two 0.7 oz. refill bottles in addition to the one already in the case. That’s $45.24 an oz., compared to the regular bottle which is $90 for 1.7 oz. ($52.94 an oz.) AND it’s less convenient. Now, I haven’t had to refill mine yet, so I don’t know how much of a pain that’s going to be; I’ll keep you updated.

Note: If you already know you love the perfume and you’re going to wear it for a long time, the 6.8 oz. bottle is still your best bet at $200 or $29.41 an ounce.

I love the idea of having a frame wall. It was so fun to create and it’s been even more fun building onto it over time. While I’m by no means a minimalist, I like to keep things pretty simple without a lot of decorations scattered around. This frame wall lets me add a ton of personality condensed in one spot so my small place doesn’t look cluttered.

I  was originally inspired by Young House Love,

…and then explored even more ideas on Pinterest.

A lot of the frames I already owned were black, so even though I loved the all white frame collages I saw on Pinterest,  I had to work them in. I didn’t want my wall to look too busy (my biggest fear with this project was having it turn out like the inside of an Applebee’s), I stuck to only black and white frames. I started out with only a few frame and laid them into the design I wanted on the floor. Then, I measured and put up the end frames first, filling in after with the frames in the middle.

After it was up, I thought it looked a little sparse, so I stocked up on cheap frames at thrift and dollar stores. I was always on the lookout for a good frame. The best thing about this project is that whenever I find something cool, I can add it right on. I’ve added a few silver and gold frames into the mix, and some sweet trinkets like this little elephant hook and antique key.

Here’s what the wall looked like when I first started:

I want to continue switching out what’s in the frames and I’m thinking about incorporating even more of a Richmond/Virginia theme. What do you think about this “Carry Mr Back to Old Virginia” print from Etsy?

Update 9/11/16: Here’s what my wall looks like these days:

I always tease my dad about how much he loves Kohl’s. (He thinks it’s great because everything is ALWAYS on sale.) But, I think he’s onto something! After this coat from Zara didn’t work out, I was searching collarless coats online and came across this one.  It looks so much better in person, but for some reason the arms are so tight! I had to take it back and order a size up. when I ordered this coat the first time it was $72, then I went to reorder and it was up to $120 (not happening.) Then, I checked again and it was down to $48?! The free shipping minimum is $50. One thing led to another, and this dress ended up in my basket. Make sure you keep checking back on prices when you’re shopping at Kohl’s and look for discount codes. I always check retailmenot.com before I buy anything online. When I went to the store to exchange the jacket, I saw this bow pillow and basically died. Then, Kohl’s posted these pink sneakers to instagram. Why are they doing this to me?! It’s actually funny because I never would’ve thought twice about these from the photo of them on the site, but those instagram filters are magical and make them look so bright and fun.

All of this stuff is in the mail and I’m excited for when it gets here. Hopefully it’s as great in person as it looks online.

Update: The things came in. Yay! Everything is great except the pillow. When I ordered it online, I though it was all white but it turned out to be grey and cream, which won’t work out. I’m taking it back to my local Kohl’s and I’m thinking about getting this one from etsy. 

Here’s how everything turned out! 

Most of the beauty products I have are just for fun or just for looks. Lip balm, however, has a job to do. There was a certain point this winter, probably around the time the Polar Vortex hit, that my lips got super chapped. Up until then, I’d been using Dior’s Crème de Rose Smoothing Plumping Lip Balm. I kept hearing about it on YouTube and reading about it on blogs. Both MakeUpByTiffanyD and AllthatGlitters21 had raving reviews.  I LOVE rose scented things so I picked it up (from Sephora – gotta earn that VIB status, y’all). It smells phenomenal and looks pretty, AND my initials are on the packaging. It’s perfect for everyday, but it wasn’t moisturizing enough.

So, I had to go back to my old favorite, Strawberry Carmex. It smells SO much better than cherry, and it gets the job done. I don’t think they carry this flavor at Target and I haven’t seen it at CVS. The only place I’ve seen it is at Walmart. Here’s my confession: I paid $2 in shipping on Amazon for something that costs $1, just so I didn’t have to go to Walmart. It’s not nearly as chic as the Crème de Rose , but it’s cheap and I love it. Bottom line, I’ll probably repurchase the Dior balm and use it when I’m feeling fancy, but always keep my Strawberry Carmex around.

Should I do a “What’s in my makeup bag” post?

Check out my recap of the Virginia Bloggers Richmond Barre event here.

I started  my delicate jewelry collection with this sweet friendship necklace by Dogeared (gifted to me by my friend, Kerry).  I’ve since up a few more pieces like this Nadri bracelet from Nordstrom and this tiny pearl ring from Etsy. I also love Nadri’s pavé bracelets (I recommend  waiting for the anniversary sale in August because they ‘re usually discounted.)

I came across this bar necklace on Pinterest today. I think it may be my next purchase ;).

I got these adorable rings from my friend Danielle as a congratulatory gift for a promotion at work. She got them from C Wonder.