Ideas and Inspiration: Things I Can Do Myself (maybe?)

I have always been borderline manic about my finances. I remember the day my father took me to the local Baybank branch with my oversized TWA change purse filled with coins to open my first bank account. I hoarded babysitting spoils, and started legally working as soon as I could. While I've always loved shopping, I've also always been very careful about my spending, feeling a sense of ownership over my money, and a strong conviction that if I was going to part with what I had earned, it had better mean it. So, purging our collective bank accounts to buy this place, you can bet, gave me heart palpitations and minor panic attacks. Much to my relief and surprise, it hasn't been as bad as I thought. We're not eating ramen noodles and ice burg lettuce every night. And we are, in fact, able to not just live in this place, but customize it. Still, I'm thoughtfully considering how we'll decorate, and collecting ideas for crafty, interesting ways I can infuse our spirit into this home with my own/our own handy work.

Here are a few recent discoveries that have switched on a light bulb for me:

This single piece, made up from individual mirrors, could inspire interesting wall art... mirror or frame or otherwise:

(found on Anthropologie)

These vases reminded me of a very simple, plain, inexpensive vase I bought a few years ago at IKEA. Even though I am specifically restricted on my purchase of vases, eventually I could maybe play around with this idea to create a little vignette on a side table or something. Granted, I'm not this artistic, but I like the idea of differently "sketched" images on similar and grouped items:

(Also from Anthropolgie)

I've also been really wanting to get back into embroidery... which I haven't done since I was MUCH younger. My first real attempt will be some tea towels (not as fancy as these from Anthropologie, but I like the idea of this owl-y tribute to my grandma:

At Anthro, I also discovered this embroidered notebook... I like the idea of embroidering a home calendar cover, or something similar:

(forgive the terrible photography... these were captured with my phone camera)

I'm also really liking the idea of gray wall color. Especially for the living room:

(above gray paint photos courtesy of extensive Google image searching)