Kelli: "The Golden Girl"

Hello all you blog lovers!  Today, as many of you probably do not know, is our beloved Kelli's 29th birthday.  And what does that mean? Well if you look at the calendar, it means that today is Kelli's GOLDEN birthday! 

29 on the 29th!

You'll begin to notice as I post along, that I am slightly a gold lover.  Not the cash money kind (although a little bit of that will never hurt), or the blingity-bling kind (all silver baby) -- buuut the home decor, fashion kind of gold lover.  And since I am so keen on gold, I figured it best to make Kell's GOLDEN birthday one to remember!

A bit of a back story first, Kelli is an over-achiever perfectionist.  And although this is a quality that makes me absolutely adore her, it also makes me kind of loathe her too! (Honesty is the best policy).  So, a few weeks ago when Kelli and I were talking about exchanging Christmas gifts, Kelli mentioned that she was in the process of making my birthday present. 

Excuse me, what?

Um, my birthday is two months away.

Originally, I had planned on buying Kelli a cutesy Starbucks tumbler that she can decorate.  (If you clicked on the link you know that yes, it is for kids.  But it's so fun!)  But when Kelli informed that she would be creating a DIY birthday gift, a lot of swear words crossed my brain waves.  WTH was I going to do to meet the Kelli perfectionist standards?

First, I searched the local Goodwill for inspiration.  Then, I went to Savers.  Then, I went to another Goodwill.

Nothing. 

              Nada. 

                          Zilch.

Left with nothing but a little bit a hope, and about thirty seconds away from caving in and buying the cup, I searched my Pinterest boards.  And of course, under my "You Crafty, Huh?" board, I found it.

Purchase on Etsy HERE

So, to the craft store I went.

There, I found the perfect frame for Kelli's gift.  I have always adored the round frame, but never really knew what to put in it.  I figured a monogram would be perfect for Kelli's home! 

Regularly priced at $24.99, JoAnn's 3-day sale gave it to me for $9.99.  Heck yeah!

My original thought for the background of Kelli's monogram gift was to use Chevron fabric.  I was going to use either yellow and white (for GOLDEN) or grey and white (Kelli's go-to home decor color).  However, I was not the only DIY'er celebrating JoAnn's three day sale.  With kids and husband waiting patiently for me in the car, I had to skip on the FOREVER long fabric line and go for the remnants.

Luck was on my side, because I found GREY fabric. Priced at $5.82, the remnant was just what I needed and 50% off!

As you can see, however, the pattern was plain and NOT chevron. 

Thinking that painting fabric would be no biggie, I grabbed some white fabric paint and headed for the line, stopping first to grab my buttons. I picked the black, white, and a light grey button combo pack to go with the frame and the fabric color scheme. 

At home, my chevron painting attempts were SOUR!  I could not for the life of me get a straight line... and on top of that, my paint just wouldn't go on solid.  After many failed attempts, this was my final result:

UGH!

So, in an effort to not waste supplies and still go with my theme, I used my buttons to create a chevron scheme.  No monogram, but something different and right up Kelli's home decor alley.

She says she loves it, but what do you think?  Did I meet the expectations of the DIY queen?