guest post::beauty and the beard

I am so happy to be hosting my very first guest post today from none other than Laura at Beauty and the Beard.

I had the pleasure of spending a wonderful semester with Laura during our Spanish class at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.  She is now a midwest implant in the beautiful state of Virginia, and blogging has brought us back in touch, which I could not be more thrilled about.  I am in awe of her DIY projects and as you will see in this post, she continues to out-do herself with each project.  Not to mention she whips up a mean meal in the kitchen.  I hope you'll enjoy her blog as much as I have.

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Hello fellow lovers of A Simple Affair!

As Carly mentioned, I'm Laura from Beauty and the Beard- a blog I started when my boyfriend and I moved 1000+ miles away from home on a whim to start anew in the South. My blog is dedicated to the things I love most: simple delicious recipes, easy DIY crafts, and projects to improve our amazing apartment.

I'm thrilled to be able to do a guest post today, and I know if you loved Carly's post on statement necklaces that you'll love my most recent project! I definitely share her love of big necklaces -and I felt I needed to display the sparkling gems somewhere to show off their beauty. Since I live with my boyfriend I wanted to find somewhere to showcase them without making him have to stare at them all day every day- and the wall that serves as a headboard for our bed was the perfect nook to start out:

After checking out Pinterest I decided rakes, towel racks, and shower bars were not right fit for me - but when I saw some tree murals painted I knew that a necklace tree coming out of the corner of the wall was the way to go. First I penciled out the tree: 

(Go ahead, make fun of it. I know it looks like a 4 year old drew it- but have faith!)

Next I mixed up a charcoal grey color- which  I figured would be neutral enough to highlight all the necklace colors and bold enough to stand out on the wall:

(Yes, I had to wear my highest heels to paint the top of the tree- being 5'2" + no step stool = fashionable painting)

See? Much better than the pencil sketch:

After the paint dried I began hammering paneling nails along the branches for the necklaces to hang from:

(Make sure you leave at least 6 inches between your main branches so all your necklaces can show!)

The final step was to hang the necklaces ... 

the ones I could find at least - 2 months living here 

and I still haven't unpacked all the boxes! 

Leaves are lovely and all, but wouldn't you rather have a tree dripping with jewels? 

                           

After I hung all the necklaces,
I added some dangling earrings to the little, lower branches.  
Doesn't it perfectly fill in the wall and the tree?

So there you have it- a great way to take a bare wall and turn it into a showcase for all your favorite statement pieces. I hope each of you can find some inspiration here to make your own perfect display!

Thanks to Carly for letting me crash A Simple Affair- and all of you for taking the time to check out  Beauty and the Beard !

http://beautyandbeard.blogspot.com/