LAST chance to switch over from Google Reader!

June 30, 2013

This is your LAST chance to switch over from Google Reader (if you use it) and keep receiving my blog posts!

I had a scrumptious summer recipe I was going to share with you today but I realized that I've been remiss in not mentioning the end of Google Reader as we know it! So, the chicken and peanut noodles recipe will have to wait.....

I personally don't use Google Reader to read the blogs I follow. I'm a Google Friends Connect follower on most of them, so I just read them where they appear right underneath my Blogger dashboard every day. But I know that many of you use Google Reader, and today, Sunday, June 30th, is the last day, folks.

I'd hate to lose any one of you as a reader due to this, so I'm asking you kindly (pretty please?) to follow me either with Google Friends Connect (in my sidebar) or through Bloglovin'. I've added a Bloglovin' follow button in my sidebar.  I know a bunch of you already use Bloglovin' so thank you!

You can certainly follow me by e-mail (easy sign-up in my sidebar) or any other way you see fit. Just please know that as of Monday, July 1st, 2013 Google Reader will no longer be bringing you my awesome DIY home decor posts!
It's so easy to make the Bloglovin' switch! You can follow ANY and ALL of your blogs through Bloglovin'.  I've found a great site that takes you through it step by step over at Not Your Momma's Cookie. Just follow the steps set forth over there and you'll be golden.

Thanks for following, however you follow, and I'll be back with that no-bake scrumptious summer recipe real soon!

Xoxo

Cheap and Easy Floral Centerpiece

June 27, 2013


garden flowers vintage milk bottles wooden tool box centerpiece

Buying store-bought flowers can become expensive. That's why I love being able to go out in the yard and cut myself some blooms right then and there.  Just round up a container you already have lying around the house and you'll have a lovely, cheap and easy floral centerpiece in no time.

Pinstamatic and Pinpuff: My New Favorite Pinterest Tools

June 24, 2013

My recent blogging internship has forced me to really try and stretch myself outside of my everyday blogging comfort zone. Part of that struggle has included finding ways to better engage myself in social media.  Enter Pinterest. 


Pinterest is one of the many social media outlets out there that I can actually say that I love, L-O-V-E love. And I recently discovered some really cool go-to sites to help me with my Pinteresting lifestyle.
 

Pinstamatic

My favorite, hands down, is Pinstamatic.  Pinstamatic is a free tool that allows you to share more than just someone else's photos.  You can share clickable maps, website snapshots, quotes, music, tweets, dates/events, stickys (with really cute saying on them, just saying) and yes, photos.  You can even create captions for the photos and use filter effects as well.  Pinstamatic makes it easy for you to pin your personal pics - no muss, no fuss, uploading them right from your computer.  

So far my favorite features are the quotes, the music and the tweets.  To that end I've created a "Songs I Love" board (your followers can click on the pin and if they have a Spotify account they can hear the song!), a "Yes, My Family Said That" board (check it out and see some of my family's really bizarre chatter) and a "Charm Bracelet Diva's Twitter" board.  I really do think that it makes your Pinterest page that much more interesting and three-dimensional.

I recommend visiting their site and just playing around with the features to determine which ones might work best for you and your own Pinterest goals and interests.

Pinpuff

Pinpuff  is a site that tells you how popular you/your blog/brand are based on, among other things, how many Pinterest followers you have. They call your Pinterest popularity (or lack thereof) your "Pinfluence."  I was happily surprised to find out that I am somewhat of an awesome pinner, at least by Pinpuff 's standards anyway.  According to them, my Pinfluence score puts me in the "sweet zone."  
 
Pinpuff decides the "monetary value of your pins & traffic your pins generate."  In other words, would certain brands want to have you as part of their Pinterest business strategy?  It's relatively new, as far as I can tell, and I haven't quite figured out how they hook you up with businesses.  Right now I just like it for it's ability to make quick calculations based on your own Pinterest stats.  If anyone has any experience with Pinpuff, please leave me a comment.  I'd like to look into it further and report back.
 
Anyone who knows me knows that I'm no techno-geek.  To the contrary, really.  But I think we all have to recognize the importance of social media when it comes to blogging and marketing (I do make jewelry, ya know) and realize that we have to keep up if we hope to succeed in our online pursuits, whatever they might be.   
 
Do you have any favorite Pinterest tools you can share?  Do tell!

I really hope you're already a Charm Bracelet Diva {at Home} Google Friends Connect follower. If not, just check out my sidebar where it says "join this site" to become one.  And don't forget to follow me on Facebook, Pinterest and Twitter, too!  You can also subscribe to my blog via e-mail in the upper right sidebar. Don't miss another thrifty DIY home decor post!

Hope you're all having a great week.

xoxo

 



My Interview with The Graphics Fairy

June 16, 2013




Hello, friends! 

Ever wonder what goes on behind the scenes over at The Graphics Fairy? Pop on over to CRAFT::BOOM! and find out.
 
Karen Watson, a/k/a The Graphics Fairy, was kind enough to share a few tidbits about her famous blog for my recent post about her and all of her free awesome vintage graphics. 

You don't want to miss it!
 
Also, I really hope you're a
Google Friends Connect follower.
Just check out my sidebar to become one.  
 
And don't forget to follow me on
 
You can also subscribe to my blog via e-mail in the upper right sidebar.  Don't miss another thrifty DIY home decor post!      

Hope you all had a great weekend.

xoxo

 
 
I'll be linking up here:
 

How to Hang White Painted Antlers and Office Decor Reveal!

June 11, 2013

I promised a white antler reveal, and here they are, sprucing up our office!


Pin It

I can't believe that I've never shown you the office before.  Oh wait, yes I can, since that big old space above the desk has been empty for 9 years!  Pitiful, I know.  But not anymore!  I'm ecstatic about the changes one small pair of deer antlers can spark in a room.  One day there's absolutely nothing on the wall, and the next there's a repurposed bulletin board, antlers and a whole host of other thrift store finds that helped turn the office into what feels like a whole new room.  Not bad for a small set of unmounted antlers.  

I showed you the naked (a/k/a not painted) unmounted antlers in my last post, along with the white wooden plaque I scored at Michael's for a song.  I then used a can of Krylon's Indoor/Outdoor Satin White spray paint on the antlers, attached them to the plaque and voila.


I mentioned earlier how I tried to hot glue the antlers onto the plaque to no avail.  So Mr. CBD stepped in and nailed that sucker right onto it.  Luckily, there was already a nail hole from the prior owner, although I will say that it took a mighty long nail to get through both the antlers and the plaque.  I then screwed two picture hanging "eyes" into the back of the plaque and ran picture wire through and between them, so I could hang the whole thing from the wire.  It was really easy to hang since I just had to place a conventional picture hanger into the bulletin board with a small picture hanging nail, and then hang the wire onto that.  No hammers required.

 
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I'm tickled pink with their spot for now.
 
Let me show you some more shots of the newly decorated office.
(They're not the best quality pictures since they're from my iPhone so please bear with me!)
 
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Chippy, shabby armillary sphere picked up at an awesome flea market a few weeks ago, along with my amazing French typography thrift store lampshade.

 
How awesome are these Goodwill horse head bookends?
 
 
Miniature boxwood tree in vintage champagne bucket.
  

French script lampshade and reverse glass painting with French typography.
 
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Mary and the infant of Prague painting on the wall above the desk.

 
French clock compliments of Mr. CBD for Christmas.  Thanks, hon!
 
Well, that about does it for now.  I'll have a separate post coming up soon that shares with you all the great thrift store ideas I used to transform the room!
 
Until then, have a great week!
 
I really hope you're a Google Friends Connect follower. Just check out my sidebar to join.  And don't forget to follow me on Facebook, Pinterest and Twitter, too!
 
You can also subscribe to my blog via e-mail in the upper right sidebar.  Don't miss another thrifty DIY home decor post!      
 
xoxo
 

Antler Decor

June 5, 2013


I know I've expressed my love of antler decor more than a few times here on Charm Bracelet Diva {at Home}, and I even have a Pinterest board dedicated to the stuff.  Months ago, and I mean MONTHS ago, I purchased a small, unadorned rack of antlers at an antique mall in Michigan. I chose them specifically because they weren't mounted on anything.  Many of the antlers there that day were mounted on plaques covered in dirty old red velvet.  Hhhhmm.  No thanks.  I went with the naked model, of sorts.


Knowing full well that I'd have to DO something with them myself.


Not a surprise, if you know me.  Turning something into a project is as natural as breathing for me.  I knew exactly what I wanted to do with them, and luckily I found just the right plaque already painted white at Michael's.  What are the odds?  I think it was like $1.99 or something crazy cheap like that. 


My only problem was how to attach them to the plaque.  I don't want to spoil it for you now, but I will say that there were a number of glue gun failures before I finally reached a positive end result. 


No, these are not yet attached.  I was just holding them for the picture.  I'd say the project is about 90% done at this point.  Problem is, the other 10% is a real bear.  You see, once I painted it and attached it to the plaque I had to find just the right place to hang it, right?
 
So, I'm working on the final tweaks to make it all right and pretty for you, and I'll be sharing that final product with you soon.
 
In the meantime, why not check out my antler decor Pinterest Board? Hope to see you there!
 
xoxo
 
  
 
I'll be linking up here:
 

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