Hi beauties! Here is another décor idea that I am absolutely loving right now: the chalkboard door. I think this is such a great idea and could be done LOTS of different ways depending upon where you could use it the most and where it would look the best. I think it would be perfect for the bathroom, the kitchen, or on the inside of your pretty pantry for a shopping list! 

If I had a chalkboard door, I would probably most like to have it in the kitchen. I love the idea of this becoming the new refrigerator door, and using it as a place to jot down notes, ideas, accomplishments etc. You could even add photos or magnetize part of it to pin stuff to it like a fridge, too! And how cute would it be to write the dinner menu on this if you’re preparing a meal for family or guests?

Best of all, making a chalkboard door seems like a fairly easy DIY. All you have to do is paint the side of it that you want to use with some chalkboard paint. You wouldn’t even have to paint the whole thing, if you didn’t want to. Just tape around the area that you want to paint to ensure clean lines.

What do you think of this idea? Tell me below!

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Hi beauties! Meet the prettiest little pantry in the world…

Isn’t it so nice and neat? I love how clean and organized this space is. A super organized space can sometimes come off as harsh or boring, but this pantry is still so pretty to look at. The owner kept things fun and feminine through the color choices and mixing & matching of jars and containers. It’s also label-free, which is a great way to open up a space. And that chalkboard door is just amazing…I love it all!

It’s easy for cupboards and pantries to become dark, scary, and cluttered, but this photo is full of examples of how you can turn even a small pantry into a pretty one. 

What are some other ways to pretty your pantry?

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Photo is from here.
 

You know those beautiful teacups and china that you see sometimes, but never buy because you wouldn't want all of your cups to be so extravagant, and you figure "what's the point of just getting one"? Or is that just me? If that is you, then you will adore this idea.

By keeping your jewelry displays in a tidy dresser drawer, you allow yourself the ability to tuck them away to create a completely clutter-free environment. 

This is a really easy décor idea to try on your own. Simply clear out the top level of a nightstand, dresser, vanity, or other piece of furniture with drawers. Line the empty space with a velvet or suede-like fabric that fits the surface area of the drawer. This is important because it will help to keep everything in place as you open and close the drawer. Then it’s time to start collecting! Any shallow dish, bowl, or cup will do. Check around your kitchen for any mismatched or unwanted pieces, or head to a garage sale or antique store for some really one-of-a-kind finds. Anthropologie also has a bunch of really cute glass dishes and bowls!

If you have a perfect place that you already keep your jewelry, then you can use this idea to store something else! You could use it for small knick knacks, makeup, buttons, bobbi pins and clips, loose change... anything small! 

I think this is a really beautiful way to both organize your drawers AND protect your precious baubles. Snap a pic and share it in the comments if you give this a try!

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Photo is from here. 
 

With Mother’s Day just around the corner, chances are you’re probably searching for the best Mother’s Day gift ideas on the Internet. It’ll be here before you know it!

We’re here to solve your dilemma. Diamond Candles is an exciting gift that everyone loves because each all-natural soy candle contains a ring inside worth $10 up to $5,000! You read that correctly - a ring in every candle! The company has existed for just over a year, so chances are you will be the first person in your circle who gives this as a gift (or even a treat for yourself!).

Elle actually loves these so much she featured Diamond Candles in a haul!


How about a chance to win two?

Diamond Candles is giving all Elle and Blair fans access to a special deal and giveaway that is available for the next 72 hours. Enter our sweepstakes below to win a Diamond Candle for you and your mom for Mother’s Day, and then head over to Diamond Candles to get $5 off your first purchase by using promo code iloveelleandblair at checkout.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Go to Diamond Candles now and use the code iloveelleandblair at checkout to save $5 if you are a first time customer. You only have until Thursday at midnight!
 

• You must be a registered ElleandBlair.com member to enter. Learn how to sign up by clicking here.
• This contest is open to U.S. residents only.
• Winners will be contacted via private message to their ElleandBlair.com inbox and by email. If our team does not hear back within 24 hours, a new winner will be selected in your place.
• Limit one comment per entry. Multiple comment entries will not be considered.
• This giveaway ends at 11:59PM PST on April 26, 2012.

Today’s post is brought to you by

Step 1. Start with a candle that you have burned down completely. You will probably have about half an inch of wax left in the bottom, which is normal because wicks don't usually burn down all the way before they stop lighting. Put your candle in the freezer  for about an hour.

Step 2. Remove your candle from the freezer, and stab the wax carefully with a sharp kitchen knife (isn't mine adorable?). This will loosen up the wax and enable you to pour the wax bits into the trash. The reason this works is because wax, unlike water, shrinks when frozen, and therefore will loosen up and pull away from the sides during it's vacation in the freezer. Chop up the wax until it falls out of the glass and into the trash. The only thing left in your candle jar will be the wicks which will probably be glued to the bottom of your jar. You can leave these for now.

Step 3. Give your jar a hot, soapy bubble bath. I did this in my bathroom sink, which I do not recommend because my sink got all waxy and sticky. I recommend doing this in your kitchen sink. Hand wash your jar to get rid of all of the remaining soot, wax, and glue. I filled my glass up with super hot water and let it sit for about 5 minutes to loosen up the glue holding the wicks. Then, after pouring out the scalding water I used my nails to peel off the wick holders. They came off really easily! Remove the labels as well; this was the easiest part because they just peeled right off.

Step 4. Give your glass a final, squeaky clean wash. I put my first glass in the dishwasher, but it cracked, so I don't recommend doing that. I just hand washed this one again to remove every last trace of residue. 

Voila! You are done! Now you can reuse your candle jar! I used mine to store my favorite nail polishes of the moment. This works as both polish storage and colorful decor! You could also use your jar to hold cotton balls, loose change, a potted plant... possibilities are endless!

If you recycle your candles this weekend tweet me a picture or share them below!

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Hey everyone! For this week’s TGIF I’m sharing a handful of cool décor ideas for your room. These are all great wall display ideas, and the best part is that you can make all of them on your own! Let me know if you try any of these out or have any other good ideas to add to the list.

1. Words to live by: for this clean and creative wall idea, just glue wooden letters to canvas to spell out the words you want, then paint over the whole thing when the glue has completely dried. Get thicker letters for a bolder shadow effect. If you want the letters to be a different color, paint the pieces separately and then glue together.
   
   
   
   
2. Chic shopper: This blogger’s idea to frame bags from her favorite stores is such a cute idea. I love how she decided on the colors. If you’re lucky enough to have a walk-in closet, his would be adorable to hang in there if you have the wall space!
   
   
   
   
3. Design Savvy: Cover shoebox lids in patterned fabrics that you love and hang on the wall for a clean but eclectic look like this one below. Floral patterns would be especially cute this time of year!
   
   
   
   
4. Spell it Out: And finally, I love the idea of sparkly letter displays. Elle blogged about something similar back in February for Valentine’s Day, but I would do mine a little differently and would probably use sequins to spell out my name (rather than a word). I’m in love with the idea of hanging this above a headboard! Click here for simple instructions I found if you plan to use sequins like in the photo below.
   
   
   

Which of these do you want to try?

Click here for a fun jewelry display DIY to make too!

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Hi lovelies! I hope you all are having a nice Monday.

Last Sunday, I challenged you all to make one area of your house, no matter how big or small, really bright and cheerful. I showed you my rainbow bookshelf as an example and asked you to share photos of your own colorful corners in the comments. And wow, let me just say, I LOVED seeing how many of you gave this a try.  Doesn’t it make such a difference?!

Today, as promised, I’m sharing some of the colorful corners that you submitted in a Member Spotlight post. I hope these are as inspirational to you as they are to me! Enjoy!

1. Anna made a beautiful shelf dedicated to all of the things that she loves. She says that the candle, perfume, and picture frame make her happy every time she looks at it! I definitely agree with her that this is a really beautiful space.
   
   
   

   

2. Emily Bean loves her perfume collection, so she chose to pretty it up by decorating a basket to hold them all and setting it out on display. Perfumes are one of the best things to decorate with since they are so beautiful, so I love that she chose this as her colorful corner of the week.
   
   
   
   
3. Eve S changed up how she organizes her books by arranging them by color and adding in some unexpected décor items. I love this! I do this with my own bookshelves as well.
   
   

What organizational projects have you been working on lately?

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Good morning beautiful readers! It's Friday! Earlier this week I tweeted about wanting to organize a small space in my apartment. I decided to tackle my top bathroom drawer, which had become a sort of "catch-all" for an assortment of stuff that shouldn't have been there. Once I started thinking of it as a "messy drawer that anything could be stuffed into" it started to get messier and messier, until I couldn't find anything when I needed it! Here is what it looked like before:

Not terrible, and you can see that I was already making use of some organizational containers, but everything was crammed and it was very hard to find what I needed. Plus, there were things that didn't need to be stored in this drawer. I use this drawer every single day, so I need it to hold the things that I use the most often, like clips, hair ties, and bobby pins, but not things that I would only need every few months (like the replacement Clarisonic brush heads).

After playing around with it a bit I found a storage combination that fits the drawer perfectly! Plus, all of the things that I use often are separated and super easy for me to find.  Here is an overview of the "after":


All of the storage containers are from the Container Store, which is my all time favorite place to shop for organizational products. In the back I have two of the Linus Shallow Drawer Organizers. I have one in 3" by 9" by 2" and the other in 6" by 9" by 2". In the front I have 4 of the 8.5 oz. Tellfresh containers, and 4 of the 4 oz. Food Keeper containers. The Food Keeper containers are smaller than the Tellfresh containers, so I was able to stack 2 on top of one another to save space. They are perfect for holding smaller items that would have otherwise gotten lost!

Here is a close up picture of what I keep in the back half of the drawer:


I have an unopened package of extra hair ties on the far left, which fits perfectly in the extra bit of space between the containers and the edge of the drawer. In the smaller container I have a few Chanel skincare samples and other samples that I am testing out. I also keep a few extra bobby pins in the back in case I ever need them. In the bigger container I keep my brush, my fine toothcomb, my back combing brush, and my PMD (which I talk about in my Skincare Routine here). 

And a close up picture of the front half...


In the Tellfresh containers I keep my hair clips, hair ties, extra razor blades, a nail clipper and file, and the extra pieces to my PMD. In the smaller containers I keep regular bobby pins in one, tiny clear elastics in the second, jeweled bobby pins in the third, and smaller hair ties in the forth. 

Even though I only organized a very small space in my apartment this week, I feel very accomplished every single time I have to use this drawer. This weekend you should try to do the same... pick one small place in your apartment that needs a makeover and do it! It won't take long but you will feel really good about yourself.

Which small space are you going to work on? Comment below and let me know!



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Hi beauties! You know those old-fashioned looking straw dispensers that a lot of families and restaurants have? Where you pull the top up and then it splays out the straws for you to grab? Here’s a picture of what I’m talking about:

Anyway, I came across this photo of someone’s smart idea to use one of those straw dispensers as a neat way to store pencils, and it got me thinking…wouldn’t this be a cute (and CLEAN!) way to store some of your makeup brushes, too?!

If your brushes are around the same length, I think this could look really nice and organized. It would also keep them protected from the environment and would be an easy way to make sure they stay in nice condition. This whole concept in general makes me think of the disinfectant jars that hair stylists keep their combs in in salons, but I don’t know that I’ve ever seen it for makeup brushes before. 

I don’t have a straw dispenser so I haven’t tried this firsthand yet, but I think it’s such an adorable idea and would love to give it a go. You could even make your container really cute and decorate it a little, or paint the top a different color to coordinate it with your beauty collection.  

What do you beauties think of this idea? If you try it please post a pic so I can see!

For another fun brush DIY, click here!

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Photos are from here.

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Hi beauties! I stumbled across this amazing idea for a DIY charging container made out of a lotion bottle (genius!) and thought it could also be super cute to use for beauty accessories and styling tool storage!

Makeit-loveit.com came up with a way to repurpose an old lotion bottle as a solution for obnoxious cell phone charging cords, but the idea is easily adaptable to a ton of other uses. You could keep everything from hair ties to spare toothbrushes to your old crimper in one of these depending on the bottle size that you decide to use. It’s also something that you leave out for display or keep tucked away for your eyes and organization only. You could keep it on your bathroom or vanity counter, hang it from a hook on the wall, or keep it out of sight and hang it from an over-the-door hook in a bathroom cupboard.

To make the container, you need:

• A plastic bottle (they used a lotion container, but a large shampoo or conditioner bottle would work just the same. The size in their photos is most likely too small if you’re planning to use it for styling tool storage; most tools will probably require the jumbo 33.8 oz. bottle size that you find at most super stores or wholesale stores.)
• Scissors
• A square of sandpaper
• Exacto knife
• Items to decorate with, such as fabric, sticker paper, Mod Podge or glue (if using fabric), paint, stencils, crystals, etc. (all optional)

What to do:

1. Clean out the bottle so that it is completely clear of any product
2. Trace the shape and size of the tool you plan to use the container for on the outside of the bottle. This will let you know how tall you need the container to be. You will probably need to at least cut off the neck of the bottle that tapers in in order to be able to easily remove your tools.
   
3. If you think you’ll want your container to hang, cut out an opening in the back where you could hang it from at this time, too.
4. Using your scissors cut off the excess material from the top of the bottle and around the cord opening (if applicable) that you traced in steps 2 & 3.
   
5.  Sand the outside of the bottle so that the surface is smooth enough for patterns or fabrics to adhere to. Sanding will also fade out any existing designs or writing on the bottle.
   
6. Once you have your desired shape and smoothed surface, it’s time to get creative with your decorating!

Here are just a few of the different ways you could cover your container:

• Fabric: The people over at makeit-loveit used fabric that they applied with Mod Podge for the holder in the picture. They advise coating the area of the container that is to be covered with Mod Podge first, then applying the fabric, and then painting another layer of Mod Podge on top of the fabric to get it to stay. Then hang to dry and make sure it doesn’t touch anything.
• Sticker Paper: Print a pattern or design onto adhesive sticker paper (you can find this at most office supply stores), cut out the shapes and sizes you need to cover the surface area of your container and apply like a sticker!
• Glitz It Up: You could cover your container in your favorite crystals (this would be quite time-consuming, but the final product might be worth it!)
• Good, old-fashioned paint: Spray paint the bottle for a light, clean finish.
• Stencils: Stencil a pattern and fill it in with paint or paint pens
• If you have a pretty bottle and you’re able to remove the label, just use that! There’s nothing wrong with keeping it a solid color.

Tips:

• Use the exacto knife to trim any edges (especially if you are using fabric to cover the bottle).
• Let your project dry completely and clean it off before putting any items inside.

For the full how-to, click here.

What do you guys think of this idea? If you give it a try, please upload a photo to your ElleandBlair.com profile & post the link below so that we can see!


IMPORTANT NOTE: I do not recommend using this for hot tool storage while the tools are in use. You do not want to mess around with flammable materials or plastic that may melt, so please use caution in deciding how you use your container. Be safe, beauties!!

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Hi loves! I came across this picture of a coin-covered LOVE sign and just think it is absolutely perfect for Valentine’s Day. This would make such a cute decoration that I would even leave up year-round. It looks like the artist just covered block letter cutouts with quarters, so here’s what I would suggest to recreate this cute sign on your own:

1. Head to your local crafts store and pick up some block lettering in the size and style of your choice.
2. If the letters are unpainted, paint them up. Stick with a color similar to that of the coins that you plan to apply. This will be the color that shows through between the coins on the face of the letters and what you will see from the sides of the letters when passing by. For that reason, I would suggest a white or silver paint to keep things looking neat. A spray paint would probably create the nicest, lightest finish. 
3. Grab all of your saved up change, sort and start applying! Don’t feel like you’re limited to using quarters on this one; for a version that’s friendlier on the wallet, I would suggest using oversized sequins (paillettes), which you should be able to find at the craft store when you’re picking out your letters. I also think it would be super cute to cover them in pennies for a bronzy-looking sign that would only cost about a dollar in change to decorate.
4. Note: I would map out your plan of attack ahead of time so that you know just how many coins you will need and to ensure that you don’t leave any awkward spaces uncovered. Make sure your adhesive is strong enough to account for the weight of the coins. 

Depending on the size of the letters you decide to use, you could hang this sign on the wall as an alternative to framed art, prop it on a table with other books and décor, or even just on the ground leaned up against the wall!

If you try making one of these, upload a picture to your profile and post the link in the comments below so we can see!

Have you ever tried a craft like this?

Photo is from here.

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