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Morgan ma Belle | A Model Blog

lotus napkin fold for fall table decor

Halloween and Thanksgiving have been dubbed the "fallidays" by my holiday-loving husband. He loves seeing our apartment decked out and decorated for every holiday-- yes, every holiday -- and I'm glad he leaves that decorating for me.

I had an early go of it this year when we had out-of-town guests come to sight-see in Austin for the day at the beginning of October, so I hastily put together a no-fuss fall table setting and whipped up some easy hors 'oeuvres that would delight any palate.

Today I'm sharing some of my favorite home decor pieces from my favorite few budget-friendly decor stores and an easy napkin fold you can use to impress your Thanksgiving dinner guests! Between the two, I get most of my decor and materials for a lot of my DIY projects, like this DIY Blanket Ladder and this Apartment-friendly Curtain Rod.

Disclaimer:  Links in this post may be affiliate links. This means I make a little something to keep doing what I'm doing at no cost to you (y'know, unless you purchase something)!

Feeling a little crafty (but don't want to make a mess)? 

This napkin fold is for you! Scroll down for the video or follow along with this handy how-to graphic I've made.

how to fold your napkin in a lotus fold






It Gets Even Easier

Meaning you don't have to make these yourself :) 

  1. Atmosphere starts outside, so get a wreath on that door! Of course, if you do want to make your own wreath, I'll be sharing a post with an easy how-to on that soon!
  2.  Dress up the table!
    The table is where all the goodies go to be eaten and enjoyed during the fallidays. But when the plates are empty, the table shouldn't look bare. Because we have an antique wooden table, I've invested in a variety of pretty and useful placemats, plate chargers, and coasters that keep the wood dining table safe and pretty to look at.
    Pick centerpieces that your guests won't have to crane their necks to see over or around and add a few candles here and there for some ambient lighting.
  3. Don't forget the couch!
    When the food is gone, it's time to cozy up for a Christmas movie and a nap! You can never have too many cushy throw pillows or snuggly throw blankets. If you want to stay away from "themed" decor so that you can use them more frequenty, choose from colors and patterns that complement each other and don't have to stick with a specific pumpkin motif.

Need a cute way to display your throw blankets when they aren't in-use? Check out this DIY Blanket Ladder!

Et voila! Easy peasy fall decorations to last you from Halloween to Thanksgiving. If you give this easy lotus napkin fold a try let me know in the comments 👇🏼or save it to Pinterest for later!

Fall napkin fold for Pinterest

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apartment friendly curtain rod on a budget

My go-to way to dress up and any living space is curtains! Unfortunately, sometimes there are rules imposed by landlords, RAs and property managers about how you can attach things to your wall. Let me tell you, Command Strips will be your best friend!

I found all the materials I needed to complete this 15-minute DIY project at Home Depot. Here's what you'll need:
materials for curtain rod that won't put holes in your wall
  • 5/8" Dowel Rods - I needed 2 to go across my 76" wide window
  • Copper coupling with stop - to connect the two dowel rods
  • Command Strips Large Utility Hooks
  • Tape Measure or Ruler
  • Rubber Mallet - to secure the copper fitting

DIY curtain rod with dowels materials

Round Dowel (Home Depot) | Round Dowel (Amazon) | Copper Coupling (Home Depot)

How high you hang your curtain rods depends on your curtain length (typically either 84" or 96") and if you like puddling curtains or not, but a good rule of thumb is to put your brackets - in this case, Command Strip - 4 to 6 inches above your window OR centering them between the window molding and the ceiling.

I chose to stick my Command Strips where the hook would be at 6 inches above the window, which was just a little shy of vertically centered in my small apartment. You can follow the instructions on the Command Strips box, but it's basically a peel-and-stick method.

how high should you hang your curtains
Tape Measure | Keychain Tape Measure

Because my windows are pretty wide and I didn't want a third Command Strip in the center of my window, I positioned each about 6 inches from the window edge to give more support toward the center of the rod.

You'll want to wait for the Strips to adhere strongly to the wall before hanging anything from them; the recommended length of time is 1 hour. 

using a command hook to hold your curtain rod

You can see by how the dowel rod sits on the Command Strip that pulling the curtains closed won't be a smooth task, so you don't want curtains with a rod pocket because you'll have a pucker where the hook sticks up. I recommend using curtains with the back tabs or hidden because they'll conceal the hook and you'll be able to arrange them on the rod smoothly. Curtains with grommets will be too wide because of how close to the wall the dowel rod will sit.

apartment friendly curtain with back tab curtains

I've linked a few back tab curtains that are similar to what I found at TJ Maxx that you can order online from JC Penny or Target:


To have a more polished product than the bare ends of the dowel rods, you can also purchase copper caps at Home Depot in the same aisle as the copper couplings. I used them to finish off my blanket ladder DIY because it would be leaning against the wall and floor. I may go back and add them after I've had the curtains up a few days if I decide this project needs that finishing touch.

pssst -- Did you miss the DIY Blanket Ladder? Go check it out!

diy copper blanket ladder


So not counting the price of the curtains ($19.99 at TJ Maxx), here's the final tally:
  • 5/8" dowels x 2 = $5.08
  • 1/2" copper coupling x 1 = $0.56
  • 3M Command Hooks value pack (qty 6) x 1 = $8.87
  • + tax
TOTAL = $15.71*
*you're closer to $10 if you purchase a pair of Command Hooks instead of the value pack



Want to know when I share any more budget-friendly DIYs? Don't forget to signup for my newsletter!



If you give this easy DIY curtain rod a try, let me know or tag me in your Instagram photos @morgan.ma.belle so I can share your results! And, as always, pin this project for later!

how to hang curtains without holes in your wall  Hang your curtains without holes! This budget-friendly apartment decorating hack is an easy DIY curtain rod for renters!



Late Night Shoping? Buy Online, Pick Up In Store

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Have y'all seen the new Opalhouse collection at Target? OH MY GOSH! It is everything I would put into my dream home and at Target prices! I am in love! If you follow me on Pinterest, you'll recognize some decor themes; it's like Target was reading my mind!

Thank you Addison's Wonderland for sharing your favorites because it has led me down a rabbit hole that even my thrift-shopping wallet can enjoy. I'm sharing some of my favorites room by room below, so feast your eyes! (These are affiliate links so everytime you click to shop I earn a small referral fee. This comes at no cost to you.) Of course, if you head over to Target.com you can see the entire collection unfiltered - which I recommend. If you just want to shop the top photo, click here.

Opalhouse Bedroom

Opalhouse Bath


Opalhouse Dining


Having visited Target since writing this blog, I do have to add a few things!

  1.  Yes, everything looks beautiful and trendy, but...
  2.  Some of it feels so cheap!
  3.  Which leads me to suggest that some of these items (particularly the kitchen goods) would be great for a dorm or first apartment, but maybe won't have long-term durability.
I suggest sticking with the accent pieces - picture frames, candleholders, wine stoppers, and soap dishes - and the textiles - shower curtains and towels, bath mats, and pillows and blankets. A few items have 100% remained on my shopping list after checking them all out in person: the Scallop Stitch Shower Curtain, the Perfectly Soft Embossed Bath Towels, the Tasseled Diamond Woven Bath Rug, and the Mango Wood Painted Peacock Tray (though I'll likely use this as wall art intead of an actual tray.

Happy shopping!
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DIY blanket ladder handmade by Morgan ma Belle you can build yourself


Because my last Pinterest comparison post is one of your favorites, I've undertaken another! I've wanted a blanket ladder almost since I knew they were a thing, but they've always been out of budget or just not the style I want in my living room. As our collection of blankets has grown (shoutout to all my always cold girls!), the need for one has not gone away. Finally, I found one that I liked the look of, and because it was a DIY the price was much more manageable!

How to Make Your Own Minimalist Blanket Ladder

Materials you need for your DIY blanket ladder with dowels:

I purchased all of the materials we didn't already have on-hand at our local The Home Depot.
  • 3 7/8" wooden dowels (the 3/4" dowels were too loose in the fittings!)
  • 6 3/4" copper pressure tees
  • 4 3/4" copper caps
  • Wood Glue
  • Tape Measure
  • Spray paint if you want to paint your ladder
  • Hand saw (or cut your dowels at the home improvement store where you purchased them)

Cuts:

Because I had a very specific home in mind for our ladder, I made up my own measurements. I only wanted it to be 53" tall, so that breakdown looks like this:
  • 2 20" dowel pieces - the bottom "legs" of the ladder
  • 4 12.5" dowel pieces - the middle sections of the ladder posts
  • 3 19" dowel pieces - the crossbars that will actually hold blankets
  • 2 8" dowel pieces - the top "posts" of the ladder
Morgan ma Belle DIY blanket ladder dowel sizes

What I didn't take into account is that each copper pressure tee adds another inch in height to the ladder, so my ladder at the end was about 56 inches tall. Not too big of a problem, I just lean it out a little farther from the wall. If I had considered that prior to making my cuts, I would have trimmed the bottom dowels from 20" to 18" and trimmed the middle dowels from 12.5" to 12." Voila!

Blanket Ladder Building & Assembly:

Make sure to layout out your dowels and your copper tees exactly how you want to assemble them. You don't want to miss-glue a leg in place instead of a crossbar!

Morgan ma Belle DIY copper blanket ladder with assembly

Most of the dowels fit snugly into the pressure tees, but to ensure that I would have a sturdy ladder, we first coated the inside of the pressure tees with wood glue. Have a paper towel handy to immediately wipe off any glue that squishes out the sides of the tees! A little glue inside the bottom of each copper cap kept them securely on the legs.

Once we'd finished gluing and assembling, I let the ladder dry for a full 24 hours before hanging any blankets from it.



Looking for a similar design with different measurements? I came across two on Pinterest that looked almost identical in style and end-result, but with some different measurements and steps. The first is Foxtail And Moss's gorgeous DIY Wood + Copper Blanket Ladder. The other is Darling Darleen's DIY Modern Blanket Ladder. If you're a picture person, I suggest Darleen Meiers; if you're good with end-result photos and written instructions, Foxtail And Moss' post will work for you.

DIY blanket ladder pin   DIY blanket ladder pin







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 We're officially moved into our new apartment! Yes, this is the one that we moved into over our second anniversary weekend with some help from some wonderful church family & friends. And no, we haven't been living out of boxes for a month. BUT we have just this three-day weekend added a coffee table to our collection of hodge-podge furniture and begun to hang artwork and photographs on the walls.

I'm pulling some of this post from a blog post I wrote two years ago for the Plaza Lecea Event Center titled Creating a Wedding Vignette. Many of the same rules I wrote about there, such as The Rule of 3 and Asymmetry vs Symmetry apply to bookshelves too.

It's important to have shelves that you like the look of even when they're empty. For instance, the shelf in these photos is one of two that I repainted two years ago that lived in our dining room in our first apartment. They used to be a plain orange-y wood color that just looked dated & boring. So I did a two-tone makeover with light grey on the inside and white on the shelves & outside.

The first thing B likes to do is sort all of the books into their genres: history, reference, and fiction are his most popular and he likes each to have their own shelf. My books are a little more colorful and more space is devoted to well-read childhood favorites like a Wrinkle in Time and my Anne of Green Gables collection. But I do also like to sort mine and make sure that series stay together. In this apartment, we decided to do his and hers shelves, so I got to arrange mine exactly how I wanted to.

Now, when you have an array of colorful books that are all different shapes and sizes, it can be difficult to keep them looking neat and organized. That's why my second step is to try to sort my books by size, either ascending or descending across the shelf. This makes it easy for the eye to "flow" over the shelf and find exactly what I'm looking for.

I also try to take a step back and look at the bookshelf as a whole.  I don't have all of my books upright, some I stack and stagger. And I don't only have books on the shelf but include framed photos and vases of flowers. It's important when styling things other than books that you keep it from looking too crowded with knick-knacks.  In a recent blog post on the Nester, she states that "Tidy People Don't Overdecorate." Since we're trying to keep this apartment as tidy and uncluttered as possible, it's necessary that even our storage areas - like the bookshelves - don't look get cluttered.

How do you style your shelves? Any tips that I missed? Let me know in the comments!

Share this post on Pinterest!

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If you follow me on Pinterest, you've probably noticed the overwhelming amount of velvet couches, industrial lighting, and brick walls that have been populating my feed.  If you aren't following me, you should be!  If you just want to follow my Kansas City Loft Apartment board, that's this one here.

Currently, my living room has a beautiful exposed brick feature wall that houses two very large windows.  To be honest, the brick wall and the location are the two reasons B & I chose this apartment over the 13 or 14 we toured.  But my gorgeous brick wall has its drawbacks:

  • It crumbles.  Seriously, you can hear the little pieces of brick falling off the wall and onto the books that are currently stacked in the corner because we don't have shelves.
  • Without the proper masonry tools it is very difficult to hang anything -- pictures, hooks, curtains; if you can think of something that would be absolutely perfect to decorate the space, it it isn't going on this wall.

That aside, here's what I'm working with:


Ignoring the weird angle, and the fact that an air mattress is serving as our couch at the moment, you can at least see my amazing wall and huge windows and crazy tall ceiling.  It's more than enough space to work with and I have so many ideas (and a tight money to ideas ratio) to work with.

Below are my favorite inspiration photos as I work on assembling my empty living room into a classy cozy comfy space!




So far, the challenge while shopping is staying away from what's "trendy" and making sure to select pieces that we know will go with us from apartment to apartment to starter home and maybe even to forever home.   If you have any favorite stores you'd like to recommend in the comments, I'd love to know about them!

We've only made two purchases that qualify as decor since we've moved. 
1. This beautiful poster from Hobby Lobby that we're pairing with this barnwood frame
24" x 36" Striking Pose Poster | Lipstick Stain Culture - Hobby Lobby


2. This full-length mirror from At Home that I showed off on my Instagram a few days ago
Ornate Silver Chevel Mirror - At Home


Shop My Dream Living Room

I've linked to actual products that I have purchased above in the post.  These below are similar or "goal" purchases.

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My husband and I were blessed to receive a ton of hand-me-down furniture when we were married last year, most of which needed a lot of love and some fresh paint or fabric.  Scroll through some of my inspiration for our dining room update! All ideas are apartment-friendly.


Bowls | Serving Platter

Photo 1: I loved the combination of a green teal with the indigo & white (especially since our master is indigo & white).  And – what a steal – the dishes are currently on sale at Wal-Mart!

Photo 2:  The open shelves and the subtle shades of grey on white.  The open shelves keep the kitchen area feeling very casual and visitor friendly, I think.  I also mimicked the open shelves in our tiny kitchen by papering the back cabinets and removing the doors.  Since we’re in an apartment, our dining room shelves function more as book shelves than for storing dishes.

Photo 3: The stained wood with the intricate blue and gold designs caught my eye.  My lovely dining room set was my parents’ (and is probably even older than they are) that they purchased at an estate sale when they were first married.  Seeing how the aged wood worked with modern Gatsby-esque patterns on these stairs kept us from wanting to purchase new furniture and instead update the pieces we had.  I recovered the chairs myself with fabric found at Jo-Ann’s and approved by my husband.


Photo 4: A fun and trendy small dining space that incorporated color to really make it a focal point of the room.  You’ll notice in the final photo we haven’t made the leap to pops of color like the bright coral.


The Final Product:  Instead of unfinished wood bookshelves they’ve been painted with white & grey satin paint from Home Depot.  We staged the shelves to show off our photos, books, board games, and even some of our serving dishes – all of which display really well against the neutral grey of the interior of the shelves.  The aqua curtains were a Marshall’s find back in January, and the chairs are antiques recovered with a fun fabric. We can’t do anything about the wall paint, which came with the apartment!
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Meet the model behind the photos you'll see here on Morgan ma Belle, a Lifestyle Model Blog! I'm an Austin, TX runway and fashion model sharing stories, choosing joy, and modeling Christ from the runway.

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