If I can see it, then I can do it. If I just believe it, there's nothing to it.

Thank you, R. Kelly, for those truly inspiring words. I take them to heart each time I think up a new project.

Today's post is truly a medley - a medley of DIY projects. I fancy myself a Jill of all trades, and therefore (sometimes quite pretentiously) believe that I can do anything I want to. No use in paying a professional. Surprisingly, most of my escapades have turned out quite well.

When Josh and I were living in our first apartment pretty paintings from decor stores were not in our budget. If fact, we've been married two and half years now, have our own house, and I still have not bought one piece of art for the walls. I just can't bring myself to drop a couple hundred bucks on something that hangs on the wall and has no use other than to be pretty. (Although, believe me, I would love to buy up ZGallerie's entire art section.) So, I thank you Pinterest for helping me conceive the idea of DIY art. I call this one:

Canvas + Stick + Pencil + Paint = Art

Please excuse the horrid orange wall as the guest bedroom is not high on our priority list.

This beauty was as easy as tracing a stick of wood with a pointy end found at Michaels on a canvas and then filling in the lines with paint. Not too shabby if I do say so myself.

Moving on, I've always wanted to be one of those people who redecorates for every season. The mantle and throw pillows are of course quick and easy, but they don't envolve enough creativity if you ask me. You simply buy completed pieces and put them where they best fit.  My favorite seasonal home decor project has to be wreaths. You start out with a plane twig wreath and bunches and bunches of flowers, and you end up with something beautiful that you made! And it is full of your personality!

My first go-round was for fall. I love it! Rich, warm toned flowers, a beautiful gold "K", and burlap to top it off! Nothing's more fall (or more DIY) than burlap!

Then came spring which I love even more! Tulips galore!! I believe I bought twelve bunches of tulips to be exact. 

And remember, Michaels pretty much puts everything half-off every other week. So if it's not on sale, just go back a week later and it most likely will be. And always, always, use the coupons! I didn't pay full price for one thing on either of these wreaths. 

Now for something a little different. The girls in my life group threw our sweet, sweet friend a baby shower back in April. I volunteered for cake duty. Why? Not because I'm an awesome baker (before this I had only made boxed cakes), but because I thought it would be fun. Truth be told I was more worried about the look of the cake than the flavor. Pictures are worth a thousand words, after all. 

My brother's birthday was in March, so I decided to do a trial run for him. But he's picky and will only eat red velvet cake. Red velvet cake is not baby shower cake material. But again, I was more worried about looks, so sure we'll do the trial run with red velvet. 

I made a four 9 inch rounds (from a box mix). I did, however, make the cream cheese frosting from scratch! It's super easy too - 1 stick cream cheese, 1 stick butter, 1lb powdered sugar, and 1tsp vanilla extract. Yum! I wanted to go for an ombre effect, so I separated it into four bowls and dyed it varying shades of purple. Then, I did something super high tech and scooped it into ziplock baggies, cut a corner off and piped it onto the cake. Here's what I got: 

Pretty good for a first try, but the frosting got too warm and the color was definitely not bold enough. Oh well… still delicious!

So for the real deal I used a white cake and buttercream frosting recipe (doubled). I also invested in a cute tip to stick in the ziplock bags, so the frosting would come out nicely. I believe it was the leaf style tip, or something like that. I also bought some of the expensive food coloring at Michaels. The cake needed to be perfectly blue for the perfect little boy who is to come.

But I didn't stop there. Oh, no, no, no. I had to, yes, had to go with the theme and put an elephant on top of the cake!  

I could not be more pleased with the results!

Shout out to Kaitlin Long Photography for the beautiful picture!

Who knew that melted marshmallows + powdered sugar could turn into an elephant?! Both the cake and the elephant were quite delicious!

I love taking on all of these projects. Even when they don't turn out so well I still enjoy the challenge. So next time you want to decorate or have a sweet treat, try DIY. It's easier than it looks. 

Lots of love,

Paige