Welcome to Teach Me Tuesday! I spend a lot of time each week reading all of the great DIY tips out there in Blogland. Because there are so many fabulous projects that I can’t wait to try, I figured that it would be fun to feature some of my very favorites here each Tuesday.
If you would like to be featured in an upcoming edition of Teach Me Tuesday, please email me at LivingWithLindsay@gmail.com and we’ll chat!
Okay, first things first. My Teach Me Tuesday graphic doesn’t match my new blog design. It hurts my eyes to look at it on the screen. I really meant to make a new one this weekend. I honestly did.
Instead, this weekend I was too busy letting Joey McIntyre {swoon} touch me while he was singing about being my boyfriend. Okay, so maybe he just touched my hands that I kept thrusting in his face and he was singing to a few thousand other girls, too, but my 20-year old dream of touching my very first crush love actually came true. AAAHHHH!!!!!!
I guess I could have re-designed the Teach Me Tuesday graphic on Monday, but that day was mostly spent searching for pictures online that other people may have taken of “our moment” at the concert. The best I’ve found so far is this video, where my hands, wedding ring, and watch totally make an appearance around the 3-minute mark.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GkNZHR98Sss]
Anyway, just overlook the graphic until next week, okay?
Luckily, I have something else eye-pleasing for you to see today! I have recently discovered a new blog – The Red Chair Blog. Amy, who authors this fantastic read, is a living, breathing, real-life interior designer. Even better, she is hilarious. Couple her wit with her mad design skillz (I think I have to use a ‘z’ when I’m talking about mad skillz, don’t I?), and you have one fantastic blog.
Amy offers mini-deocrating lessons, such as how to distingush between a tasteful and tacky valence, and shares some really fantastic DIY projects, such as this Butterfly Collage made from a butterfly craft punch and scrapbook paper. She even shows you where you can purchase items similar to what you see in pricey home decor catalogs for cheaper prices in other stores. Who doesn’t love that?
One of Amy’s most recent tutorials details how to create faux preserved botanicals. Amy explains:
This project involves fake plants, so if you happen to be either A) Martha Stewart or B) A botanist with a collection of cherished pressed fern specimens adorning every wall of your home, you may want to look away now. Martha, surely you have something else to do–sculpting a dragonfly out of butter, perhaps, or cataloging your collection of Medieval leather doilies?If you’re an ordinary human who’s “pressed” for time, here’s a fast, easy, and affordable way to make some DIY faux pressed botanicals for your home.Step 1:Pick up some realistic-looking silk greenery from a craft store. Fern fronds work well for this. Not sure whether your greenery looks real? To help you decide, I’ve provided the sophisticated Faux Plant Self-Test below.Faux Plant Self-TestAre the leaves blue?Does the plant resemble a fright wig?If you answered “Yes” to either of the questions above, the silk plant in question does not look real. Do not buy it.Step 2:Once you have found a few realistic “specimens”, arrange them in a mat and frame. You can use spray adhesive if you’d like, but you may not even need to–for the example above, the pressure of the glass was enough to keep the ferns in place.Step 3:Hang your frames on the wall with confidence. They look great in groups of three. If anyone asks whether they’re real, just answer, “Yes”. After all, they are real; if they were imaginary, no one would be able to see them, now would they?
Ha! That last line is pretty much my favorite. I remember asking my aunt one time if her nails where her’s. She said, “Yep. I paid for them, so that makes them mine.”
I love the faux preserved botanicals! They look so classy in the black frames and white matting. Great job, Amy!
If you are in the Wake County, North Carolina area and are in need of some decorating assistance, please look up Amy. She owns Red Chair Home Interiors and offers real “decorating and organizing help for real people.” I just wish I lived closer!
What a great idea for wall art! Cheap wall art, my favorite kind!
Lindsay, dear, you know I LOVE you, but I've got a bit of a complaint.
Every time I come here on Tuesday, I leave with another blog obsession! This just can't keep happening, and, of course, it CAN'T be my fault.
Had to come back and "let you have it" after visiting Amy's blog. It's fantastic!
I love this tutorial! Can't wait to check out her blog.
Neat idea!!
I love having new links to read. 
Hi Lindsay,
Thanks for your nice writeup about my blog! Loved the story about your aunt's nails.
Amy
I'm afraid they may need a restraining order on you… : )
That is a cool idea!
I heart, heart Botanical prints as well! Doesn't matter to me…real ones, fake ones, cheap ones from Garden Ridge, expensive ones from…well, I don't buy the expensive ones but you get the point! I just posted about Nature Inspired Artwork as well…come check it out when you get the chance!
I've been reading your blog for a while now, and love, love, LOVE it! Then today, I read THIS post (I was gone for the last 10 days) and find out that you have a thing for Joey McIntyre too! The New Kids on the Block were my very first tape ever at the tender age of 5, and from that day forward, I've had a slight obsession, and crush on NKOTB, as well as Joey and Danny… =P I was pleasantly surprised by your post… Just one more thing in common! =)
Such a great find. I filed this one away, and I'm posting about it on 9/24 from Dollar Store Crafts!