DIY Wall Art - Reuse, Recycle, Recreate!

Happy Memorial Day, everyone! I hope your weekend was as relaxing and positively gorgeous as mine was. With three straight days of sun, warm breezes, and nothing but time, it's these moments that remind me why I love New England.

Naturally I have been soaking up as much sun as I can, but of course, I can only take so much of it before the voice in my head tells me I should probably take a break--if not for sun damage, at least for an icy cup of fresh lemonade :)

During one of my breaks I decided I had collected enough paper towel rolls to take a crack at my DIY wall art project. I had seen a picture on pinterest, and it looked simple enough. After cutting up about 4 wrapping paper rolls, 3 paper towel rolls, 4 toilet paper rolls, and glueing the pieces together with mother's hot glue gun, this is what I produced in my artsy hour:

Cute, huh?! I am totally pleased with how it turned out! The best part is, there are so many ways to make it your own, from simply adding on to make it any size, any shape, or by adding hints of color, etc. So simple, so easy, and so worth those 60 minutes (especially when you can multitask by knocking out a few episodes on Hulu).

Never hurts to know you can get something out of being resourceful. How have you been spending your red, white and blue (and green!) weekend??

xoxo Mer

a day like today calls for crochet

sometimes just a little crochet is all you need

Colorblock nails

Today was yet another gorgeous almost-summer day, so I decided to take full advantage of the outdoors and start my morning with some tennis. Afterwards I couldn't think of anything else I'd rather do then sit outside with a good magazine and soak up the warm rays--until I noticed my nails. They needed some work. But who's to say I can't do my nails AND enjoy the sunshine?! no one, that's who.

I have seen and heard a lot about the different nail art you can create with some simple scotch tape, but I never had the time or patience to wait for the multiple layers of polish to dry. But actually, doing this outside was the perfect place to try it out! Not only did the sun dry my nails twice as fast, but I could simply kick back with my latest Vogue issue whilst waiting for the fresh coat to dry. 

The style I went for was the simple colorblock, and this whole tape technique turned out to indeed be just as easy as they say!

I first painted my nails a solid color (I chose Essie's Turquoise and Caicos). After they dried completely, I laid a piece of tape across each nail at a diagonal. Then just apply a second color!

my second color was Essie's Size Matters.

Finish with a top coat and voila!

If I can do this, anyone can. 

Happy Saturday :)

xoxo Mer

sweet and girly braid hairstyle

This style takes less than a minute and can be dressed up by curling the rest of your hair, or leave as is for a unique beachy boho look. Do with it what you will (and comment with pictures of your gorgeous new style!)

xoxo Mer

Day 1 - complete!

After a long and tough AP Biology exam, I was glad to be able to walk right out those heavy classroom building doors to head to the train rather than my next class. That's right, I am officially DONE with high school work. Well, other than writing the occasional blog post about my new internship at the Improper Bostonian-- something I can totally handle at this point.

Safe to say my first day on the job was a success. Besides only coming in for a half day due to my exam, I was welcomed by the smiling, friendly faces of two other interns (also my age) and the other staff members. To make things even better? Muffins and coffee were of abundance in the kitchen area, and all the latest magazine issues waiting at my desk. I knew I was in the right place. 

Anywho, more on that later. After work I got to attend the premier of Crooked Arrows, a new lacrosse movie about an underdog Native American team getting back in touch with the game's roots to come back and defeat the rich prep school champs. The real appeal though is that my brother Andy is in movie as a player for the prep school team Coventry (look for number 5)! Oh and, not that it's a big deal, but I am in the movie as well. That's right. For a whole 3 SECONDS I am smack dab in the middle of the right of the screen, a focused observer of the intense game that takes place. My Oscar nomination should come any day now.

After the movie everyone went on over to Gypsy Bar in Boston for the after party. Couldn't stay too late, though, I didn't want to look tired for my second day at my internship. But I didn't leave before snagging a picture or two with Brandon Routh, the star of the film, alias Superman. 

me, Brandon (we are on a first name basis), and my sister Katie

me and Katie

The blonde boy is my neighbor Jack Vandervelde, who stars as Toby. He already has fans!

xoxo Mer

Voluptuous Hair

This is a video a made a while ago for my friend Ellie, who would ask me nearly everyday to show her how I curled my hair. Finally I made this tutorial video! I thought you all might enjoy it, considering it is prom season after all!

Feel free to leave comments and SUBSCRIBE!

xoxo Mer