House of Chic and Penoche

Locker Cushions

2012-02-23T16:34:00.003-05:00

I am so excited to finally be done sewing my locker cushions!

I purchased 4" foam (with my 40% off coupon), which I cut into the T-Shape so it would fit snuggly in the seat and extend slightly longer than the corners (to assist with the head bumping that goes on when the kids get their shoes). I borrowed my neighbors electric knife to cut it easily and straight (Thanks Laura:-)).

The fabric is a Waverly print I got in the home dec section of JoAnns. I was surprised to find a fun modern print in such a great tangerine color. I watched a few of these Y-Tube Tutorials, and this one to make my own cording. She's got a few how-to-sew-a-cushion videos.

I've seen cute tubs for $15+ at the container store online, but then found these in the perfect color in the $2 section at Target! Score!! I labeled them and the categories are: Church, Returns, Baseball, Soccer, Grocery Bags, and one yet to be determined:)

I sewed up the pillow (Amy Butler fabric) real quick with an envelope enclosure on the back. I will be adding a few more pillows to the mix, but I will wait until summer to put them out when there will be less coats and winter stuff out.

See how my hubby built the lockers in this post with a link the the free plans.

This is the other wall (see how I painted it by making my own stencil), that I've made some additions to, that will be updated after it gets warm enough to spray paint my next project.

Thanks for stopping by!

Rosette Cakes

2012-01-26T13:28:00.000-05:00

I've been busy making cakes lately. I found this cute rosette cake tutorial and wanted to try it out. The pink rose cake I made for my 2 year old sons's b-day (yes, it's pink, and he's 2 and doesn't care what color it is:-- next year he'll get a boy cake).

The 2nd cake was one I made for our church's "Great to be 8" night, which was a special program for all the kids turning 8 and getting baptized this year. It uses up a bunch of frosting, but is super easy! It only requires a 1M tip (it's a very large star shape) and you make circles with it. You can find the cake tutorial and the crusting buttercream recipe here.

I made four 9" cakes and then carved a smaller circle out of 2 to make the top circle smaller (I realized later I should have just used my 6" pans for that, ah vell)

Now I have to make another birthday cake for my daughter who is turning 8 in less than 2 weeks... Not sure what we are doing for it yet, but it will be chocolate!

Accessories in the Boys Room

2012-01-18T14:41:00.002-05:00

I've decided to keep working on the boys room. It seems like it's easy to get distracted while decorating the house, and lots of things get partially done. But I've noticed this trend and am going to finish rooms this year.

Since my last painting post:

I added some race car pictures I put in inexpensive Wally frames, sewed the bolster pillow out of old blue curtains and white curtains. (I got the chevron pillows from this great Etsy shop)

Just cut the fabric into strips, and traced a circle from an embroidery hoop for the ends and sewed it together, then stuffed with batting. I had leftover red trim from an old project I found in my fabric stash.

Then on the west wall, I found this great framed cork board at TJ's, which fit this poster we already had of our favorite basketball player.

Jimmer!

I re-arranged the old art in the room, and finally hung up these hooks I've had under the bed since we moved in. I was up banging it into the wall at 9:30pm. The boys were thinking it was so great mom was in their room after bedtime, the husband- not so much:-) lol. Sometimes I have to get projects done while I have the motivation to do it!

Boys' Room Painted Headboards

2011-12-26T22:09:00.004-05:00

Though this room is far from finished, I got the painting done and wanted to show y'all!

(I'm not from TX but sometimes wish I was:)

My boys are 5 and 2, and so once the 2 year old outgrows the crib (hopefully that won't happen soon), his bed will mirror his brothers'.

Before:

When we first moved in.

AFTER:

(updated 1/23/12)

So here's my painted headboards! First I painted the wall red, that took 5 coats, then used my level and I cut my own diamond shape out of card stock and traced the pattern on to the wall. Then I hand painted about 100 white diamonds, using 2 coats of primer and 3 coats of white gloss paint. I taped around the edges to get a nice white border. I painted the matching headboard for when my toddler gets big enough for a "big boy bed."

Window Wall View:

I've had the lamp for awhile (from Marshalls), but got some blue ribbon on some christmas presents, and so I used sticky dots to wrap it around the lampshade and tied the ribbon ends together in the back to hold it on.
I ordered the chevron pillows on Etsy. I got the duvet cover from IKEA, (I don't think it's available anymore:( )

I love the pillow combination in this photo, so I'll be adding a bolster and standard sham soon. (Luckily my 5 year old likes his things "just so" and makes his bed just like I like it so I know he can handle 3 pillows)

Budget Friendly Projects to work on for this room:
*Buy blue standard shams for each bed, saw some at PB kids.
*Sew a blue and white stripe bolster pillow
*Toying with the idea of a roman shade with a white ribbon or greek key detail...(the window treatment now is a flat sheet bunched up with ponytail holders on the back and safety pinned around the curtain rod.)
*Artwork for over the dresser in simple white frames.
*A simple moulding to trim out the headboards.

Wishlist:
*Board and batten for the room.
*Get a new dresser- thinking of a red one from IKEA or one with a dark walnut finish. (to replace this cheapy we've had forever from Target.)

This project even got the hubby's approval:-)

Dinner in a Pumpkin

2011-10-31T13:20:00.005-04:00

Last min dinner ideas for Halloween!

Dinner in a pumpkin is what I grew up eating on Halloween Night.

Here's the recipe

INGREDIENTS

1 small-med pumpkin

1 can mushrooms, sliced and drained

1 onion chopped

1 can cream of chicken soup

2 Tbsp Veg. oil 1 1/2-2 cups cooked rice

1-2 lbs ground beef

8 oz. sliced water chestnuts

2 T. soy sauce

2 T brown sugar

Preheat oven to 350 F.

Saute onions in oil until tender. Add meat and brown. Drain the meat. Add soy sauce, brown sugar, mushrooms, and soup. Simmer 10 min, stirring occasionally. Add cooked rice and water chestnuts. Spoon mixture into pumpkin on baking sheet. Bake 1 hour or until pumpkin meat is tender.

Serve, scooping out pumpkin with the meat mixture.

Serves 6.

* You can do this with a pumpkin that has been painted with acrylics or permanent marker.

I'll be serving this tonight with these yummy hotdog mummies!

Mad Scientist Book Case

2011-10-20T21:14:00.007-04:00

This is what I imagine you'd find in a Mad Scientist's....lare? At least a Mad Scientist who had some sort of secret love a decorating. Like maybe Gay Mad Scientist.

Dr. Frankenstien, Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde and maybe even Evil Dr. PorkChop (toy story) are all pupils here.

My take on Bat Specimen. Loved making it and super easy!
Beaker bottles came from Target years ago, but I added the labels. Martha S. stickers I got at JoAnns.

Dollar Store Skull that needed a make over, and no Mad Scientist lab is complete without a lobotomy diagram either. So I went online and drew my own on the skull.
(and no Gay Mad Scientist lab is complete with out floral wall paper)
Eye Balls in a jar, more Dollar candy. They say "gourmet chocolate" on the package but who are we kidding? Last time I checked gourmet truffles don't have blood veins on the wrapper.
This adorable eye chart comes from Tatertots and Jello. It's a free printable! Check it out HERE
Mad Scientists! Classes start next fall!

Front Porch Pumpkins

2011-10-15T17:41:00.006-04:00

The start of my front porch! I have always loved the "topiary pumpkins" I saw them in a magazine many many years ago! I was so excited to FINALLY be able to do them!
They are just so cute and festive!

(and they go with my Ombre Fall Wreath)
I added a little ric rac to the pumpkins for Halloween. Ric Rac is the black zig zag ribbon on the bottom pumpkin. I love ric rac...I have images chevron pattern dancing in my head.

I put a dab a glue at the top and a dab at the bottom so I can hopefully pull it off for next time.

The yellow pumpkin is sooo cool! I found it in the big gourd bin at Walmart.
I also added some small green ric rac to the small white pumpkins!

I did the same method with this lace that I put on these pumpkins that are on my Witchy Matle.

Use What You Have- Fall Decor

2011-10-13T07:45:00.000-04:00

Fall decorating in the foyer using what you have around the house.

Plate from my dining room (Marshalls)

White Pitcher- Ikea (borrowed from my guest room)

Orange Bow made from leftover fabric.

Glitter leaves from my Christmas tree topper.

Little witch sign I already had.

Berry wreath- Giant Eagle- only $15!

Black Spiders-made easily from black puffy balls, pipe cleaner legs and googly eyes.

Added some Halloween to my entryway topiary.

Outdoor front porch mums are blooming.

Looks like my other dollar store tombstone blew off... :-)

These were $5 mums from Pettitis, I'll plant them in the yard later.

I tried to decorate more for fall, so that most of my vignettes will last until Thanksgiving. Happy Fall!

My Witchy Fireplace

2011-10-11T01:29:00.005-04:00

Need any spells brewed? My Halloween Mantle. I love how every year there's a new color that's introduced to the original Orange and Black. Years ago it was purple, then lime green, then last year, white and now Aqua. And can I say I'm LOVING the Aqua this year!
No Halloween house is complete unless it has a black tule tutu.

2 supplies: 2yards of Tule and a stitching hoop, Medium size was mine.

3 steps: cut tule into random 2"x6-2"x8" strips

tie to hoop

push close together

*hang by ribbon if desired!
Metal witch hat and my pumpkin on a candle stick. I glitzed up with some lace. I will show you more glitzed up pumpkins in a future post.
Yeah, my spells are cheap but you'll pay for it in the end!! hahahehahea (evil witch cackle)
Witching spell books.
I think I need to find a cauldron to make the transformation complete!

Spidery Gallery Wall

2011-10-07T15:24:00.006-04:00

My little spooky welcome for my guests. I did this last year too, but of course it's a little different this year....
The pictures of chairs and the chairs I keep up all year but come Halloween I like to make them a little more creepy. I love Halloween!

again, this is drop clothe that I wrote this on...

The "EEK and the "BOO" I cut on my Silhoutte and framed.
Agh! Who is that sicko in the reflection...oh it's me. haha.

This cute cross stitch I bought last year but I bet you could easily DIY it.

You're welcome any time! Just beware of spiders and this time of year I'm being serious. I think I smash about one a day.

2011-10-04T12:16:00.006-04:00

What did you do over the weekend? Besides waiting for my internet to be fixed, I spent a day making 25 freezer meals! Yes, it's that time again. Twice a year I take a day and make as many freezer meals as I possibly can! HERE is the last springs post, but I will give you some quick tips again . First and Formost, these are all made from scratch recipes and delicious! You can also make them low-cal and low-fat too, by substituting the low-fat equal , like for sour cream, cream cheese, soups, and turkey burger. Also, you can use whole grains pastas.

STEPS

Purchase Book Above! This book has all the recipes and ALL the how-tos!

But some general rules: Most everything will freeze except mashed potatoes AND when doing pasta, cook it 2 min less then it says on the box because it will continue to absorb moisture in the freeze and thaw process.

2- PICK RECIPES. The book is broken down into different cooking methods: Crock Pot, Oven, Stove Top and Assemble.

So pick 2-3 crock pot meals, 2-3 oven, 2-3 stove top and 7-10 Assemble ( assemble means any recipe that doesn't need cooking but just assembled in a pan and placed in the freezer, ie: manicotti)

Also, some of the recipes make double. So they count as 2 meals.

3- MAKE GROCERY LIST

4- PREPARATION IS THE KEY!

The more you can get done the day before the better. ie, Thaw meats, Chop Veggies, Make Labels, Sort canned goods according to recipe so if for some reason you forgot something you can make one last min. run to the store.

5- DAY OF- Have some one watch your kids! You must not be disturb (most of the time)

Your meals making goes as follows: Start with Crock pots, then oven, then stove top, then assembles.

6- I've said it before and I'll say it again, Diet Coke!

Here is my freezer after. Some meals can be stored in freezer bags and then placed in dishes or pots for warming. Most of the ones from the Assemble section you do in foil pans so you can just pop them from the freezer to the oven.

Here are a few of what I made

Crock Pot - Pulled Pork (sooo good!)

Beef Stroganoff (just the sauce, cook noodles later)

Cream Cheese Chicken

Stove top- Italian Chili

Chicken and Ham roll ups

Green Chili Chicken soup (a family favorite)

Oven- Cranberry Chicken (looked good, can't wait to eat it)

Teriyaki Chicken (sooo good too!)

Assemble- 5 Cheese Manacotti (a personal fav)

Bird Nest Pie (also one of my favs)

Taco Pie (my husbands fav)

Chicken Tortilla Casserole (the ultimate family fav!)

(pardon the spelling)

I love doing this. It's great for those days I don't have time to cook or don't want to make a big mess in my kitchen.

Fall Ombre Rosette Wreath

2011-09-30T17:03:00.006-04:00

My Fall Wreath! I needed a new one, it's been years! I saw this on flamingotoes.com and feel in love! I love the gradient colors, I did mine with the dark in the middle and bleeding out. You'll see that on the website she did hers starting from the top and "bleeding" down.

Supplies: Scrap fabric or quilting squares. I used different shades of yellow and then blends into different shades of red.

-Felt, cut into about 2" circles

- A grapevine wreath from any craft store

- And the website! To learn how to make the fabric Rosettes check out the Flamingotoes.com HERE
So I did three rosettes of each shade...

To make the banner. Oh my gosh, this is genius! These letters are printed on with the printer! Here is how.... cut a piece of fabric 8x10 and cut a piece of freezer paper 8x10. Iron the freezer paper, shiny side down, to the BACK of the fabric. This is so the fabric will feed through the printer! Then print! The pdf file for this is also from flamingotoes.com.
Then cut into triangles and then I rubbed the edges with black marker to "age" them a little bit.
I glued them to some twine and hung between extra rosettes.
I love it. I wish it was fall all year!

Fall Paper Sack Wreath Tutorial

2011-09-18T20:31:00.000-04:00

Here's a quick fall wreath I made out of lunch sacks.

I picked up this wreath form at the dollar store, and I used 16 lunch sized paper sacks.

I twisted it and then smashed it down from the top.

Then I wrapped the bottom of the sack around the wreath form and taped the meeting ends together with packaging tape.

Continue until the entire wreath is covered.

It needed some more color, so I used an orange ink pad I had laying around and rubbed it all over each sack "flower."

Then I cut out some ovals out of fabric, and scrunched them up into a flower shape and hot glued them on.

It needed al little color, so I carefully opened up some treats, but I kept accidently ripping the wrapper, so I had to keep eating them until I got it right.

(Here I am lookin' crafty!)

I hot glued on a few leftover "flags" from my laundry room. I kinda want to put a big yellow ribbon on around the candy part, but haven't made it to Micheals, and it might just be good enough for now.

(and I someday I will spray that green hook black.)

Welcome Fall!

DIY Topography Sign

2011-08-23T21:02:00.006-04:00

So here's the deal with this post. I started doing this project last week, only it had a word on it, not the Roman Numerals you see here. I was in the middle when my husband came in and was like "what are you doing? ....That is just...odd." ODD? Thanks for telling me, since in our old house I had this exact word on a board like this (that was ruined in our move) and he never said anything then! (insert emoticon of me sticking my tongue out)
Well, the wind went out of my sails. So I took a few days to dwell on it and maybe try again. And I did. And FORGOT TO TAKE PICS! DUMB! So here is kind of HALF A PROJECT. Sorry!

(but the ending of the saga is the best....)

To start: I had this piece of reclaimed wood from an old, old house that use to sit on my Grandpa's farm. I did a project HERE that came from that old home. They just tore it down and it was the first house built in the town of Enoch! Somewhere there is a Historical Society crying.

I took it home and sanded it and spray painted it this Blue Slate color (above) from Rust-o-lean. I'm in love with color so prepared to see more of it! Then a Walnut from Rust-o-lean (not pictured). The wood is untreated, so the paint just soaks right in and gives it a nice worn look.

After the dark colors were on, I took a page out of this blog HERE and used vinyl Roman Numerals and then sprayed over them with white spray paint. Which again, soaked into the wood and had a nice patine look.

This pic above is after I peeled off the vinyl. I love this look of the wood grain showing and not being vinyl.

So how did this go over with the husband? Well these Roman Numerals are the year we got married, 2002, SOOOOO..he hasn't said anything bad about this SIGN and I don't think he will! Looks like I got the last laugh!

ps. he actually likes it.

Re-Post, Back to School Treats

2011-08-23T20:59:00.002-04:00

This is a re-post from last year, and since it's back to school time I thought I would share again. It was easy peasy!

My friend got this idea from gourmetmomonthego.com. So late one night we decided to make them! And that's probably why mine aren't as pretty and probably why I didn't take enough pics. But I did have fun in my jammies!

Go to this link to download the labels that you wrap around the "crayons" then print it out on the same colors of paper that you're dipping your chocolate.

Instructions for dipping:

Pretzel rods, break in half.

Melt melting chocolates or baking white chocolate.

Add food coloring to white chocolate (after melted) if you don't use colored melting chocolates

There are 2 ways you can do it. Dip the ends like she did or I dipped the whole thing like I did. Probably over kill but it taste good!

Let the chocolate harden on wax paper

Wrap the rods in paper after chocolate has hardened. SO CUTE!!! The kids can totally help out with the dipping OR you could do it while they were at school and have a snack for when they get home OR make as a gift for a teachers!

Guest Room Cozy-- Visitors Welcome!

2011-08-12T09:35:00.003-04:00

Here was the beginning of my guest room.

Here it is this now.

The bed frame is from Ikea. Hydrangeas from my side yard. Euro Pillows from Target.
Bird Pillow from steinmart.

Frame is Laura Ashley, needs to be filled.
Lamp was from Marshall's.

The side table is an ikea table with some fabric thrown over the top.

It serves as the guest/craft/mom's time out room. I go in here and lock the door to take a break from the 3 kids when I need it.:-)

Wing Back Dining Chair, Re-upholstered

2011-08-06T00:00:00.013-04:00

Oh where do I even start?....How about I'm soooo glad this is finished! 90 days of late nights, diet cokes ( I wonder if Coke would be a sponsor) Harry Potters and a stabbing to the leg later, I have 2 new dining chairs!

Before. These lovely Wing Back Dining Chairs I bought 2 at DI for $15 dollars each.
AFTER! I found this beautiful woven upholstry fabric Home Spun fabrics for $3.99 a yard.
So here is the stripping of the old! Thank goodness for parents right?! My mom was here and is a master of stripping old seats. She could do it fast but still keep the old peices in tack! How? oh I don't know because she only totally re-upholstered a MOTOR HOME by herself. Yeah, she's that good.
Eww, I like yellow as much as the next person, but no.
This is mom working behind the chair, doin' her thang! I dilegently took notes like a good pupil.
Then I spray painted the legs High Gloss White, then did a clear Laquer. I didn't feel like I wanted to glaze these.
So when re-upholstering, try to keep the pieces as templates. Here is the seat. Now, like everything on these bloody chairs, it was complicated. It wasn't just a seat. It was was tufted pillow top on top of a seat. So after I re-upholstered I had to connect the two, but we'll get to that later.
Here is where I traced the darts with chalk. This was my first time doing darts! Have you ever done darts? Not as scary as I thought it was going to be...but connecting the 2 together with piping...now that was a beast!
Sewing the piping. Simple to do piping. You can buy the cords at any fabric store in the drapery/upholstry section. Then using your zipper foot sew a piece of fabric tightly around it.
So here is the finished seat, with the pillow top on top of the hard seat. The hard seat I just covered and stapled to the back, that was easy. The pillow top had 3 parts (like I said, a beast!) First the darts, then sewing the piping to one side and then sewing the sides together. I FAILED the first time because my darts didn't match up. So I had to unpick and shorten my darts and try again! But when I did the second chair I had the experience to take notice of my darts.

Next, using chalk, I marked where I wanted to put my tuffs. Oh gee's, even the thought of what comes next makes me shudder....
So here is my 12" upholstry needle with a 4blade tip sounds deadly right? Doing the tufts were different then normal, because like I said before, there was the pillow top that had to be connect to the seat and that was done by the tufts. So I had to go through 2 big masses. Oh the horror! Well on my first attempt I proceeded to go through both but then kept going until it stabbed my thigh. Yeah, it hurt. Like a mother.
Well, many nights and 7 Harry Potters later, I finished my tufts!
Of course I still had to put my buttons on. I did my own buttons by buying a button cover kit at Joanns. Really simple and kind of fun.

Ok, on to the wing back chair! I know, I always have to pick the most complicated learning project. I couldn't just find a normal backed chair? Oh well, I feel some what like a master now ;)

So I cut a piece of fabric and pulled it over the front and through the back and stapled. Not to hard....

But I still had to staple on the piping.

Stapled piping.

The front/middle I did the same way, pulled around taute and stapled.

Now, I had to put the backs of wings and the back on. This actually had to look good, no more staplin' staples willy nilly! I folded it under to hide the raw edge and stapled every few inches evenly.
This is the back, I added some batting to soften the frame.

So here is the finish back and sides with the staples showing and I proceeded to cover those with nickel nail heads. Oh nail heads how I hate thee. I tried 2 different ways because the frame was to hard to actually nail the nails into it., they would just bend.
Finally I just embraced the bending and I put the tacks in at an angle and then hammered them and purposely bent them. They're for decoration really, because the staples hold the fabric taute and the nails cover the staples.

Some I even cliped off the tack part and just "bedazzeled" them on with glue! ha! I win!

All I can say is thank goodness they're done! I think my husband is glad too.

Everything is Better in Chartreuse

2011-08-03T20:00:00.006-04:00

This is only zero dollars because I mixed a bunch of left over paint I had to get these colors.

It all started with this wall being SNNNOOOZZ! Boring! So when I was home alone for the weekend and bored (when the cat is away the mice with play!) my mind stated turning and this slowly developed.
The walls are a nice warm grey, but I kept feeling like it was little drab, and I love greens especially lime and chartreuse, so this really brought a nice life to the room!
I painted the lime green one night, then I still felt like it needed something so the next night I free handed the frame and then painted it a darker shade.

It's such a happy green! I also feel like it kind of defines this t.v. area, since it's just one big Great Room.

p.s. out of all the colors this wall appears to be on this post, this bottom one is the most accurate! :)

Styling a Book Shelf

2011-08-01T01:34:00.000-04:00

Nothing like having house guests to make you look at your house closer and get it together!
Here is the bookshelf in my master Bedroom, kind of a catch all for keeping things off the floor.

Before: ...Embarrassing!

(nice to see Nephi keeping a watch on things:-)

After: Orderly

(a little blurry, it's in a dark corner and hard to get a pic)

I sorted all the books by color, then searched the house for accessories I already had (some in my garage sale box--glad I didn't have a garage sale yet!) and I'm really liking the results.

This didn't take long at all, and the kids even liked sorting the colors with me. It's a great quick and easy project, so... go tackle that shelf!

Bust out the Bikini Bottoms!

2011-07-22T08:00:00.002-04:00

I showed the hubby my latest project, and he says "It looks like you hung bikini bottoms on the chalkboard, why don't you take it down and then the room will look good." HA!!!

(Especially since I don't even own a bikini!)

I grabbed some fabrics from JoAnn's.

Followed this tutorial, and cut out my triangles, they were 8"high and 6" across.

The two triangles on the right were sewn on the edges with a zig zag stitch, they are double sided.

After sewing all of them, I sewed them to a grosgrain ribbon I had and hung them up.

I ended up needing 11 triangles for about 60 inches of chalkboard.

I could iron them, but I kinda like them curvy.

This only took about 2 hours, super easy and cute, I might use it outside sometime for kids parties too.

Stencil it up (DIY Laundry Room)

2011-07-20T23:48:00.004-04:00

Countless hours and many nap times and bedtimes later, I finally finished painting my laundry room!

BEFORE: missing pizazz

AFTER:

All stenciled and framed the chalkboard.

I didn't want to spend $40 on a stencil, so I got some tag board from the dollar store, and used items around the house to create my own stencil.

To get a nice curve I traced a bowl (then decided on a cup since the bowl was too large).

I folded my tagboard in half first, so that when I cut it the sides would be identical.

I opened it up and then folded it in half width wise to get the bottom to mirror the top.

With the red stencil, you can see the level horizontal line I drew and overlapped the stencil by 1 1/2" inches to create the pattern.

I tried using the outer part, thinking I would tape it to the wall and paint inside it, but the paint totally got under the stencil, so I ended up tracing the stencil where I wanted it, and using my level and ruler, and traced it out on the whole wall. (then I had to erase a bit after painting)

Then came the painting..... each one took about 3 coats of paint, using a small brush.

On all the walls for the background I used Sherwin Williams' Watery. (I first tried out SW "Rainwashed," but it was too gray under the fluorescent lights).

I was going to use the next color up on the paint chip, Tidewater, and I wanted a little bit more of a contrast, so for the stencil shape I used a custom color (I hate it when bloggers do that:)

which was just a bit lighter than Tidewater, but not as light as the next shade up. So the SW clerk entered in a Manual Tidewater color.

I'm so glad the painting is finally done, now I get to decorate the walls and work on the other side of the laundry room.

Linking up to:
Strut Your Stuff Saturday at Six Sister's Stuff
Modern Country Style Paint Party

Garden Tour (Continued)

2011-07-19T23:49:00.002-04:00

Welcome to my garden!

I love how my pots turned out this year compared to last year. I love the combination of the purple petunias against the red bricks.

Today I wanted to share the north side of my house. I finally got it mulched, and am so happy that my hydrangea I put in last year is blooming like crazy. (I had to dig through all kinds of rocks to get it in!)

Bought it pink, but I must have the acidic or basic soil for the blue color (anyone know?) but I love them blue too.

The astilbes make me happy; adding much needed color in this shady area. I am planning on moving them over a bit and adding a 1 or 2 more hydrangeas at the end of the summer when they go on sale at my favorite nursery. (There are a couple of ferns here that are only half alive, thinking about transplanting them to pots...)

Like little pink trees crowning the bushel of foliage below.

I'm wondering if you'd please share your favorite plant? Plants are our friends!! With just a little care they will cheer you all the day long.:-)

I've been working like a DOG on my laundry room, and I'm this close to being ready for the big reveal-- stay tuned!

Fireplace "Tile"

2011-07-15T12:43:00.008-04:00

Say what?! I'm blogging? I know, unbelievable and about freaking time. My summer got away from me, I've been having a great time vacationing but I also have been working a ton as well so needless to say it's been hard to finish projects! I currently have 2 half re-upholstered chairs sitting in the dining area that have been sorely neglected! I'm hoping though to get those done by next weekend...
And I greatly appreciate Lauren picking up my slack!

Now onto the a project!

Isn't this tile so pretty?

Well, it's wasn't always that way. Here it is, and it's not that bad, but as I've said in the past I am a tile snob (because I work at a tile store helping people design their kitchens and baths and pools and whatever else fun stuff they need) and I was having a hard time decorating because the peachy color of this tile always threw everything off.

BUT I don't own this house so I can't just tear it out or tile over or even paint over. I had to do something non-permanent.....

Well I've seen people put sayings on tile with vinyl so why not graphics?

So using my Sihouette I cut out these damask decals, if you will, to a little less then the size of the tile.
And Applied!

Turned out great! People who have seen it before asked if we re-tiled, when I tell them "NO, it's vinyl" They're shocked! So, I guess you'd say that's a success!

Bubble-gum Table

2011-07-06T10:20:00.000-04:00

(Pots of lettuce, carrots, and mums)

Somehow I managed to find 15 minutes after spreading mulch and the kids were all occupied with naps or at the neighbors to quickly squeeze in a little spray painting.

Table BEFORE:

(See how I made this lampshade here)

I used the same Krylon Bubble-Gum paint that I used for my christmas ornaments (I got this table forever ago at Michael's for $10).

The table was weathered, but brought back to life with this fun pink.

Yay for quick projects.

Summer Garden Tour

2011-06-23T01:49:00.000-04:00

I love plants. They are my friends:-) I bought a few last year at the end of the season and it just tickles me to see them in bloom!

This gorgeous Hollyhock has just begun to bloom.

This is the first year we've grown lettuce.

Fast tomatoes!

Here's part of my patio last summer... I just picked up some coleus today.

I would have rows of hollyhocks if I could.

How's your garden growing?

Quick and Easy Ruffle Shirt

2011-06-20T07:09:00.000-04:00

I started with this pink shirt (Gap Outlet, $3- years ago) that was too big and I've never worn it.

(mess = trying to decide what other shirts to re-purpose)

I put a favorite shirt that fits (Target a few weeks ago) on top to use as a pattern and cut the sides leaving a bit for a seam allowance.

Then I cut the bottom edge off this cream shirt, to make a 2 1/2 inch wide strip. I gathered it into a ruffle and pinned and sewed it onto the pink shirt.

I also cut the collar off the white shirt to use as a new neckline to cover the fraying top edge of the ruffle piece.

Voila!

Quick and easy ruffle shirt (maybe I should clean my kids' slime off the mirror first? ha!)

Since the pink shirt was too big, afterward I also adjusted one of the arm straps so the neck would lay flatter. I'm likin' it.

Mashed Potato Recipe for Sunday Menu

2011-06-12T06:00:00.002-04:00

On the Meal Planning Menu's for Sunday I usually serve my roast with mashed potatoes. I wanted to share this yummy (and NOT healthy-- you have been warned) mashed potato recipe. I don't make this all the time, for that reason, but it's a treat for a special sunday dinner.

Cream Cheese Potatoes

2 & 1/2 lbs potatoes, such as russets or Idaho, peeled and cut into chunks

1/2 cup milk

4 ounces cream cheese

1 small onion, finely chopped

Salt, to taste

2 tablespoons shopped fresh chives (optional)

In a large pot, cover potatoes with water and season with salt. Cover pot to bring potatoes to a quick boil, and cook until tender, about 12 minutes. Drain potatoes and return them to the hot pot to dry. Set aside.

In a small saucepan, heat milk, cream cheese and onion over medium-low heat until cream cheese melts and mixture bubbles. Pour into potatoes and mash to desired consistency. Add a little extra milk for softer potatoes. Season with salt and transfer to a serving dish. Garnish with chopped chives. [from Rachel Ray's 30 Minute Meals 2 cookbook]

I've been busy with a 5 year old's birthday

and a Boy Scouts Fundraiser this week, but now that those are done I am going to try to squeeze in some painting next week. Chao!

Go-To Chocolate Chip Cookie Recipe

2011-06-03T07:09:00.005-04:00

I have an obsession...

My husband keeps trying to get me to kick the habit, but I CAN'T. I've had a love affair with baking chocolate chip cookies ever since I mixed my first batch.

Here's the easiest and EXTREMELY delightful recipe:

Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies

1 cup unsalted butter at room temp

2/3 cup sugar

2/3 cup brown sugar

(cream together)

2 eggs

1 tsp vanilla

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp salt

11/2 to 2 cups all purpose flour

2 cups oatmeal

semi-sweet chocolate chips-- as much or as little as you want!

Bake 350 for 8-9 minutes.

This time I used semi-sweet white chocolate chips for a twist.

Since they have oatmeal I believe they qualify as a breakfast food:-)

Enjoy!

{Frugal} Front Porch Fun

2011-06-01T23:28:00.016-04:00

I've never really done anything exciting with my front porch so I thought I'd give it a go this year.

Using inexpensive Terracotta Pots I knew I could spray paint them and add my own little touches without breaking the bank.
Here I spray painted the small ones Green Apple from Rust-oleum

p.s. This what your picture looks like when you take it late at night.

Mod Podged with paper and then sprayed with a Clear coat of lacquer. Hopefully, to at least make somewhat water proof.
I had these metal alphabets letters and I took paper clips and unfolded them to make hooks!

This one I put vinyl stickers on.
On the bigger pots I spray painted Lagoon, also from Rust-oleum ( I love teal) and also Mod Podged. This one I added that cute little seed packet to the front!

To make these "rulers" I took the little label cards that come in the flowers from the store and Mod Podged this cute ruler paper over it! Now maybe I will know how my Garden Grows!

FYI. Terracotta pots make excellent chalkboards and even if you spray paint them a color you can still write on them with chalk!

The big pot that I added the "Bloom" too with metal letters is also home to a vintage ruler I had laying around my office.
The number one way to frugal-ize (I'm sure that's a word ;) your space is to use things around the house. I took scrapbook paper and some frames, easy-pesy.

I added this cute frame to this pot by tying the ribbons to the handles.

A bird cages from the thrift store to hold a pot.

Another frame laying the house that finally has a home!

Well, I think I need a new picture but there you go.

Mod Beds

2011-05-31T01:24:00.000-04:00

Nothing makes me all warm and cozy than a beautifully made bed. If you haven't been converted to making your bed every day I highly encourage it!

[ Please excuse my daughter modeling by all the beds, gotta love 3 year olds.]

I love the fresh color!

And for our male readers...*wink* I loved the elegance of this room.

Photos taken at the Logan Parade of Homes 2008.

Happy Memorial Day!

2011-05-30T03:31:00.000-04:00

Hope you are having a fantastic Memorial Day! I am so thankful for all those who have sacrificed for our country. We'll be off BBQing in the backyard with friends and turning on the sprinkler for the kids-- it's supposed to be 90! We'll be back tomorrow:-)

Petal Lamp Shade Tutorial

2011-05-26T11:22:00.002-04:00

I realized I never shared my tutorial on how I made this Petal lampshade.

So here it goes!

I started with this lamp that has an accordion lampshade.

And would you know the accordion part pulls right off!

It was looking yellow underneath, but covered up fine with some white fabric.

I cut strips of white fabric about 2-3" inches wide. The longer you cut your strips the better.

Then I folded it up like paper dolls, and cut a petal shape.

It will look like this when you un-fold it.

I used hot glue and began glueing them on, I would pinch in the middle of the petals to give it some dimension.

Keep going...and going....

And going more the next day when it's daylight:-)

And finally, you're finished! It actually looks great on the original base too, but sometimes I like it on my thrifty spray painted lamp base.

This was so easy and a fun way to makeover an old lamp. I'd love to hear about any lamp redos you've taken on! Thanks for stopping by!!

Bathroom Makeover - In progress

2011-05-23T00:47:00.017-04:00

My DIY towels now have a place to hang out. I finally ventured into Urban Outfitters and found this great hook for $5 on clearance (that was an interesting place to shop, if you don't mind products cursing at you:-)) I really like using items other than the regular old towel ring for my hand towels, see my 1/2 bath makeover here.

Here's the boys' towels: Also embellished with napkins I found on clearance at Steinmart. They coordinate with my daughters yellow towel but aren't too girly. I plan on hanging them somewhere else, but for now they are on the shower door until I get/make a shower curtain I like.

Next is a small pic of the bead board we installed around the room...

(photo crooked, level on actual wall)

... I mean beadboard wallpaper! We used a baseboard to trim it out on top (installed upside-down so I could have a flat part on the top, if I decide I want to add a small shelf later). This was my first experience with wallpaper, luckily my awesome step-dad knows how to do everything and helped me hang it. It was only $20/roll at Lowes, and it took just a little more than 1 roll for this average size bath. The wallpaper is paintable, so I painted it and the "chair rail" to match the existing trim.

You can also see it in the first photo in the mirror reflection. I installed it at about 48 inches or so, I like it high, since I'm kinda short (5'3" on a good day).

Not sure of the wall color, it was here when we moved in.

This frame I made for the room hasn't been installed on the mirror yet.

We are thinking about replacing the vanity top and will have to do that first so we don't risk messing up the frame.

SOO much more to do in this room, baby steps!:-)

His and Hers Office

2011-05-20T13:27:00.022-04:00

This is our actual working office/sewingroom/craftroom/library/studyhall so it may not be perfect, but it's at least organized (don't open the closet door) and I love organization that can last more than a day! Oh and I'm sharing it with a man so it's really the best I can do. ;)

So speaking of sharing, for our "His and Her's" Office Space I wanted to represent us both. So after some thought I knew that I loved Neoclassical design, he also loves U.S. history (same time period) and we both like modern clean furnitures so I went something a little like this....

But first.

-The desk is a life savor! I love that each of us has a place to work.

-The chairs are also from IKEA and I added the "his" and "hers" to the back.

Above on the wall is a glass board (IKEA) that I use as a whipe board and calender. It's great!

-

There are also boards above each of our work space were we can tack things.
I've put up there places we've been and places we want to go, and projects I'm working on.

And no work space would be complete without baskets with cute chalk board labels.
We already had these 2 shelves so we put one on each side of the table to create our own "unit"

I just fell in love with this bunting when I saw it on Whipperberry.com and knew I wanted to make it (see below). I think it incorperates a hint of Neoclassical inspiration without going overboard

(dining room, Mt. Vernon)

Some of my inspiration the color of room and the bunting came from Mt. Vernon, MD. George Washington's home. We went there last fall and I fell in love with it because each room is painted an amazing shade of blue or green.

I have a feeling Martha W. and I would have been great friends.

So again, the use Neoclassical style and US History, combining 2 things we love!

I also love the raw fabics since I love to sew.

How-to: Take one Lloonngg piece of fabric the length of the what you want and then tie other scraps of fabric to it. I stuck with cream, whites, blues and greens.

Neoclassical wouldn't be complete without a couple of Busts!

The man and woman I found at the thrift store work great in my His and Her office.
Neoclassical also has a profound use of Symmetry

(notice the picture of the dining room above also). I also have a profound LOVE of Symmetry. I was inspired by that for our little reading/studying nook below.

And the desk area above is also rockin' the symmetry.

We love to sit here and read or study. To see how I did this wall, go HERE.

(I promise those lights are at the same height but for some reason it doesn't look that way in the picture)

This is also a little Ode to Neo C. a table with a little fluted column.

Notice when I talk about this room I say "inspired", not reproduced. I wouldn't say the room is Neoclassical, but was more or less influenced

My suggestion for doing a His/Hers space is to make a list for each of you with everything that you love- to do, colors, style, jobs, hobbies or whatever until you see common thread. Shouldn't be to hards since you're married right? You should have something in common! Once you find that thing run with it! But try to do it in a more subtle or fun way.

Oh and more Neoclassical, just because I can.

DIY Camera Bag

2011-05-19T23:00:00.000-04:00

I recently got a nikon slr camera and have been looking everywhere for a cute camera bag to keep it in. Most camera bags are generally boring black, not to mention "Nikon" or other camera brand embroidered on the bag. Nothing says "Steal Me, I have expensive equipment inside" like announcing it on the outside of the bag! If I wanted to get a cute one already made, like from Jo Totes, I'd have to fork out mucho dinero.

Enter a little DIY!

I started with this very Cute Lunch Sack Bag from Marshall's for a mere $24! (But Lauren, that's for lunches, you can't keep your camera in there!) It's got this great fold over flap, and a drawstring underneath. Not to mention great pockets on the outside front and back.

Now I needed to add some padding to protect my camera and 2 lenses.

I got some 1" foam at Joann's, a 2x3 prepackaged foam only cost $2. I cut foam for the bottom and the sides, and one for a divider. Then I took some fabric I had laying around and cut it and hand sewed it round the foam. I didn't bother covering the back side of the foam, since that will be up against the inside of the bag and not showing. Be sure and cover the sides and top. Easy Peasy!

To keep the foam in place I used matching turquoise thread and hand tacked the foam in a few places through the foam and outside of the purse, you can't even see the marks they are so small.

(You could also use sticky velcro.)

And Voila! Functional and cute camera bag for under $30!

Dinner this week!

2011-05-16T00:54:00.004-04:00

Anyone wondering what's for dinner? Start this menu any day of the week.

Here's my plan from Week #1, since I previously posted Week #2.

You can print the shopping list, check off the items you already have in your pantry, and write your other items in the blanks and you'll be ready for the store. Want to be stress free this week and have the family happy? Let's Make Dinner!:-)

Purple Petunias

2011-05-12T11:17:00.000-04:00

OOOHH!!! I am so excited about my plants this year! This week I got petunia plugs for uber-cheap! See these little trays? Each one had a petunia plant in it. The tray was 8x16=128 petunias!!

And I got them for $7. What?!! Last year at the big box store, I paid around $5 for one big wave petunia plant. Well, not this year suckers!

Since I got the plugs, they needed to be transplanted right away. Luckily I had a stash of peat pots and old containers that I had saved from previous years flower purchases.

(They already look more comfortable in their new apartments)

Container Gardening Tip:

I usually put AT LEAST 5 petunias in a 14" pot. (plus greenery to flow over the sides, etc.) Those guidelines of inches to put in between each plan on the plant labels don't apply to containers, cram them in for the best look.

The last frost date here isn't until the end of the month, so if I do have to bring them in at night it will be easier for me move small trays than large pots. It took me an hour or 2 just to transplant these. And there's still 1/2 tray to go! I love my plants, but now I have to remember to water them... thanks for the rainy days rain!

Made for Mothers (Another great Handmade Towel Tutorial)

2011-05-09T21:50:00.000-04:00

I was excited to send some handmade items off for Mother's Day gifts this year. This was a pretty basic sewing project. I bought some white hand towels at Wally-world, then made ruffles and sewed them on.

Here's a VERY brief tutorial on my process, if you have questions, please leave me a comment.

Supplies:

dish towels

Two or three 3-3 1/2 "x36" strips of fabric (or 3"x whatever the widtch of the fabric is that comes off the bolt) for each towel

coordinating thread and white thread on the bobbin (important so you don't have thread lines on your backside, well, the towels backside I mean)

iron & ironing board

1. Cut out strips.

2. Iron in half lengthwise, wrong side out.

3. Sew one end and then all the way down the long side, leaving other end open.

4. Turn fabric strip right side out (reminds me of turning out a scrunchie-- remember those?)

5. Iron strip now turned right side out flat.

6. Pinch and pin the strip on, ruffle to taste:-)

7. For the top ruffle I sewed it down the middle, for the bottom ruffle I sewed it on the top, so the ruffle would be hanging off the towel.

TIPster:I liked doing the strips inside out first and then turning them, so that after the towels are laundered you won't have any hems showing later. (I mean really, who is going to iron towels after they're washed?) Also, I usually had to cut off some of the fabric strip after I ruffled it since my strip was too long, so then I turned the edge inside itself, and then sewed it in place, that way their won't be a hem on the side either. (Sorry about the lack of pics describing this, I had to mail them off quickly, and am late mailing off my last set.

Hope you all had a wonderful Mother's Day! I sure did:-)

Dressing up the Entry Way

2011-05-05T10:01:00.010-04:00

This is a great weekend project. Mormon Molding (I call it that because everyone in Utah is doing it) is a faux Board and Baton look.
We did it in our old home about 4 years ago, and thought doing it in this is house would look nice too.

(2007-old WJ Home)

You start by painting the wall white. The standard rule for wainscoting is 3' up for 8' or less ceilings and 4' up for 9' or more ceilings.

*Well, actually you may have to start by taking off your base boards and replacing them with bigger boards that have a flat top. Luckily this house already had base boards like that. Relief! One less step we had to do!

Then put a board across the top. This is a base board with a nice ogee edge, we thought it would make a good chair rail.

Next, cut your boards to fit in between the 2 boards. We cut 5' 1/2"x12' into 32" pieces. You can find at Home Depot.

Nail, Putty, Paint!

Ta-da! Maybe it is the poor-man's molding, but it really does look great, to the naked eye you can't tell unless you go touch the wall!

(p.s.) I found these chairs at the DI! Can't wait to recover them, I have great plans! stay tune.

A Tale of Towels

2011-05-03T22:32:00.002-04:00

One of my on-going projects is the kids bathroom. I've been on the hunt for a vintage style yellow floral shower curtain for the tub/shower, instead I found these great floral napkins at Steinmart. They were on clearance and the perfect color and pattern.

AND...

Some cute monogrammed towels, for $15 for a set of 3! I dug around a bit and was able to grab a set for each of my kids with their initial.

And then I got busy! I cut strips, different widths for each size towel, so the fabric would be the right scale for the towels.

Then I hemmed the cut edges, and sewed them hanging off of the bottom of the towel. I would have sewn them higher, but I wanted to leave some space between the monogram and the fabric. (my kids aren't picky:-)

I thought this brown ribbon that I ruffled trimmed it off nicely, however, if added there would be more brown than what I had in mind for the room. (Veering from your original color scheme is a common mistake- so BeWaRe!:-))

So I opted not to use the ribbon, and instead am going to be looking for a different color, more of a blush or aqua to stick to my color palette.

These yellow towels are for my daughter, I got some coordinating but not too girly stuff for my boys. --That'll be up next!

Easy Flower Ball Accessory

2011-04-26T00:33:00.000-04:00

Here's my version of these cute flowers balls I've seen around lately, I put mine on top of this silver candlestick from PB.
First, I found some small pink roses at Michael's for 88 cents a bunch, I bought 6. Instead of buying a styrofoam ball I decided to use an old ball accessory I wasn't loving anymore.

Materials: Ball of some sort, flowers, wire cutters, glue sticks and hot glue gun.

Then I got my wire cutters and cut all the flowers off the stems and hot glued them onto the ball.

This was a little time consuming, but I think it was worth it since I was able to create just the color accessory I wanted.

Easter Left Over Ideas!

2011-04-24T20:48:00.009-04:00

Easter Candy overload at our house! What about your's? I found these ideas on different websites, tried some and they are great so I wanted to share.

Disclaimer: I didn't invent any of these but I'm just sharing because they're so yummy and I love!

Cute monster eggs decorated by my son, also a monster.

Took those little eggs and turned them into an Egg Salad BLT! Um, yeah you heard me right and boy was it "tasty" (as my 3 year old would say). The recipe comes from Our Best Bites.

If have not discovered ourbestbites.com you must! It's a great website with delicious and do-able recipes. Plus they give you great healthy options too. For example, she's created a delicious dressing to mix with the eggs instead of just mayo. Check it out HERE.

I am asking for their new Recipe Book for Mother's Day.

NEXT- Who? WHO?! I ask you, does not love these?! I think we all run to the store the day after Valentines to grab the first fresh bag off the line. And once again Our Best Bites has come up with a genius way to turn them into something even more delicious (yes, it's possible).

Chop some up and..

Make them into cookies. Oh, so good! It's like gooey and crunchy at the same time!

Get the recipe HERE

note: Get use to me posting a lot of recipes from their site. I love it!
This one goes out to my "Peeps"- I love Smors, they're just about my all time favorite treat. So of course I went gaga over these at RootsAndWingsCo.blogspot.com

It goes a little something like this.

*Crush up a package (a sleeve) of Graham Crackers with 1/3 c. of brown sugar and pat down in a 9x9 pan.

*Mix 1/2 cup of melted butter and 1 tsp. of vanilla and pour over the graham crackers and pat again.

*Pour 1 1/2 cups (or however many you want) m&m's on the graham crackers

*Then top with Peeps.

Bake at 350 degrees for 15 min. Cool and cut into bars.

Say What!?

Ok, can you believe somebody actually went there? A Cadbury Creme Egg INSIDE a cupcake? I have not tried this for fear of loving them and having to run 10 miles a day just to burn off the 1000 cal. I'm sure they're worth.

I haven't been able to find the recipe again, just these pics at Zoecakes.com. But from what I remember it's basically chocolate cake batter in a cupcake than place a Creme Egg on top. The cake will cook around the egg.

I imagine that the Chocolate Cake recipe would need to be a dense and fudge like for it to be truly remarkable!

It's been topped off here with a Butter Cream frosting, and look at the way the creme solidifies! Oh man, my thighs are getting bigger just thinking about it. Add this to my list of things to try

Re-Purpose Frames

2011-04-22T03:14:00.005-04:00

Ghetto Frame:

In the long process of deep-cleaning out the house, I came upon this old accordion frame buried in a box in the basement. No longer my style it almost made its way into the garage sale box.

I unscrewed the hinges, added wall hangers to the back, updated the photos inside, and used a bunch of my other mis-matching brown frames to create this collage.

(I turned 2 of the 3 5x7 frames horizontally)

I simply laid them on the floor below the wall until I found an arrangement that I liked, then hung one and eye-balled the next one as I hammered in the nails. (I still want to update some of the art in these, but that's another project.) So you may want to think twice before you throw away your outdated frames.

Part II. Suitcases

2011-04-15T21:13:00.013-04:00

This is part II of my suitcases, go HERE to see part one!

The labels on my suitcases are done! It didn't take me long, but like with most things I got distracted. Plus it's been so nice outside I haven't really wanted to blog. I got my first sunburn today!

So I guess working my way down from the top. On my lables I found these cute frames that already had pictures in them and were sticky on the back. So basically a sticker, but they're so much more than that! Look how cute. I don't scrap book but sometimes I wish I did because some of the stuff is so cute. Anyway, I digress! I used the "sticker" that had a picture of an old phonograph and the letters "C" and "V". This one holds CD's and VHS, stuff I don't want to quite give up yet!
Oh and I finally finished putting the vinyl on the black one. Here it is! Honestly, I would use it on my next trip. But then of course I would probably ruin it,so it's quite the conundrum.

The red one is also a favorite. I decopodged it with paper, if you haven't checked out the other post yet.

The "P" is for Photographs. Mostly duplicates, but don't worry, I have also burned them onto C.D's and in my firesafe. Tip of the day!

The "T" is for Toys.

This is a man's briefcase that I decopodge on this awesome paper, it kind of has a sketchbook/college fill to it.

It holds old magazines that have so much good stuff I can't bring myself to rip apart just yet!

The "Yellow" one that I painted has a "D" for dress-up.

The teal one holds our old Yearbooks....awh memories.
This footlocker my husband's Grandpa took to WWII, now holds Quilts. "Q"!

So there you go! Basically old stuff holding more old stuff.

Design, and Dinner, Follow Function

2011-04-15T00:57:00.001-04:00

Please Excuse the Interruption:

I was reading this great book (available at your local library), called House Works. It's all about organizing your household, and getting it to work for you. This January I knew something wasn't working for me, and frankly--
I've had ENOUGH!

It was my dinners. We've all heard the saying, "If you fail you plan, you plan to fail." I'm sure lots of you may identify with the feeling of peering into the pantry scrounging up dinner 1/2 hr before the hubby gets home. Sometimes I'd plan ahead, and I'd always make a shopping list, but not with a real plan.

So...I did it.

Did what you ask?

I spent a couple hours, planned, gathered recipes, and typed up

Dinner Menus for 5 WEEKS!

I couldn't stop there.

I typed up the coordinating

Grocery Shopping List for each week!

(Boo-yah!)

Easy stuff that tastes good, that kids like, not weird, hard to make things- I might add:)
[Some recipes I got from the Campbell's Cookbook, others from Weight Watchers 15 min meals, others are family recipes.]

And if anyone wants to make their life easier, I thought I would post them here on the blog so you can print them out. Let's get your house functioning for you. I want less stress and more time to work on other projects when I have my meals planned, and family fed on time. (and as my husband likes to remind me, "The way to a man's heart is through his stomach.")

I'm already loving how I feel having dinners on the table. I started Week:1 this past Monday. So I'll share with you Week#2 for next week, and put one up a week for the next week (for 5 or 6 weeks), if you'd like to plan a long.

Put the Menu on the fridge, and take the shopping list to your pantry and check off the items you already have, then add your breakfast/lunch/snack items and you're ready for the store.

Good Luck! May the Food Force be with you!:-P

Non-permanent Kitchen Backsplash

2011-04-07T23:03:00.017-04:00

BEFORE

This is the kitchen back splash in that house we're "renting" (I use the term "renting" loosely since it's actually my parents second home that we're living in while my husband finishes school)

So I'm not saying that I don't like this BUT one thing you may not know about is that I'm a BIG tile nerd! And since I have access to something more fun tile I just had to do it.

I found this board for only Uno dollar at The Home Depot and had them cut it to fit the size.

Painted brown.

My beautiful, amazing, adorable, totally in love with, tile from Walker Zanger. Are you familiar with Walker Zanger? They have the most amazing tile in the world. You can check out their website HERE. The tile I used if from their hand-made Contessa Line.

(I also saw this tile used in the movie Julie and Julia in Julia Child's kitchen in France that kind of sealed the deal)

I siliconed them to the board, with just 4 little simple dots of silicon so I can take them off, semi-easily if I want ( I hope! )

It was so easy and so fast! I love it!

And... then I needed to hang this Kitchen sign I thought over the hood would be perfect.

I was going to hang it with ribbon but the Industrial Chic'sta in me thought chain would be so much more cuter. I got this chain at Home Depot for .63 cents.

I attached the chain with binder rings.

Ta-da!
I accessorised with vintage potato smashers I collected over the years.
Links

30 Meals in One Day.

2011-04-04T23:22:00.009-04:00

Ever heard of Dinner is Ready?
OK, so this is one of my all time favorite things. 30 Meals in ONE Day! It's not necessarily my favorite thing TO- DO, but it's totally worth it. I get soooo sick of figuring out what to cook weekly or those days where I don't have time (feel like) cooking, I can still provide a good dinner for us all!

You can find this book on Amazon. Basically it tells you how to accomplish this unthinkable
(ha ha) task of cooking so many delicious meals in one day.

Short version: The cookbook is divided into sections

Crock Pot, Oven, Stove Top, Assemble

- You pick 2 meals from the Crock Pot section, 4 Oven, 4 Stove Top, and 7 Assemble. Most of those meals will double. So split it and freeze!

-Oh and the most important thing. Ditch the Kids! Call grandma or cousins and see if they'll take them for the day if your husband can't because there is no way you'll get it done with them around! Or maybe trade with a friend. You watch her kids while she does her meals one day and she watches your's while you do yours!

-Ok so one more really important thing, Snacks and Diet Coke are a must!

Next, Make your grocery store list, you can do this by meal or by quantities. ie: 48oz of sour cream.

Then the night before is the most important time to prep!

Thaw your meat.
Also, Chop you onions and other veggies and organize your supplies.

In the middle of all the craziness, pots of Chicken Tortellini Soup, Taco Soup and Green Chili Soup going on the stove.

Peachy Chicken and Teryaki Chicken in the oven. One of the things I love about this is is it's all made from scratch!

Mmmm... Taco Pie!

Label and Freeze! Getting my freezer full! Between cooking and these meals they usually last about 3 months.

It does help that I'm lucky enough to have such a big freezer!

Mmmmm Chicken Enchiladas! Maybe we'll have this for dinner tonight!

Strolling-- Before & After

2011-04-04T03:17:00.019-04:00

I recently came across the term "stroller envy," while reading a mommy magazine. I realized I have been suffering from it. Although I have 3 other nice strollers, sometimes you just need to use the small umbrella stroller. For my 1st child, I had a very cute umbrella stroller that had a giraffe print seat and black frame (Baby Trend).

(Now she's 7, where does the time go?)

Unfortunately, we took it on a trip and the airline busted one of the wheels off (and of course they aren't liable mind you), so we had to pick up one quick on the cheap. Enter this little eyesore:

BEFORE:

I have been pushing this around ever since, and then with my 2nd child, (and I'm not pushing this ugly around with my 3rd, L.J., 15 mo anymore.) Not that it's terrible, but the frame is a weird green tone that doesn't even coordinate with the blue/green striped fabric. Strollers are for the mom's just as much (if not more so) than babies, and this definitely looks babyish.

(no, I don't have man hands, my hubby touched up around the wheels for me)

So, rather than spend another 15 bucks on another stroller that is equally babyish, and also not fork out mucho$ for one that IS cute, I went the DIY route.

(Top Back of Fabric Seat)

Here is is after fabric from JoAnn's recovering the seat and a little brown leather spray paint on the frame.
I just took the seat off and cut a bigger piece of fabric and then sewed it right onto the old seat. I wasn't too concerned about new straps since the baby usually covers up those anyway.

AFTER:

Took a grand total of about 2 1/2 hours and less than $10. Wish I would have done this sooner.

More C.S.I. Pillows

2011-03-31T23:57:00.004-04:00

Another pillow I made using my Silhouette and freezer paper. I'm totally addicted now.

Made with burlap I painted it and then hand stitched the black lacey ribbon embellishment.

C.S.I. Pillow Parade

2011-03-31T22:40:00.009-04:00

Just a simple post on all the pillows I've made and sharing at the pillow parade at theC.S.I.project.com

My hand stitched pillow of numbers.

How I made the phone pillow using my Silhouette: (incase you're living under a rock and don't know how yet :)

This is freezer paper you can buy at the grocery store. My little friend (silhouette) cut it out for me.
I ironed the wax side down to the burlap and painted it with acrylic paint.

Love it!
The house pillows I did the same way with the freezer paper and then hand stitched the white lacey ribbon around the edges and stamped the words "cottage" and "dwell" on there.

PotteryBarn Knock off, go HERE to see.

Pillows I made out of tablecloth, for more go HERE.

Experiment. Using different Mediums on Suitcases.

2011-03-28T17:57:00.016-04:00

Hello there! This has been the project I've been up to lately that has made me neglect you. I'm not even finished with it yet, but I wanted to show you what I've done so far.
A fun and different way to store things, other than baskets. Not that baskets are bad, I have my fair share here too!

I did a little thrifting at the D.I and found these beauties. About $2 each (much cheaper than a basket might I add)

I decided to try different Mediums on each one because 1- They are different materials and 2- I thought it would be interesting to try.

For the black one I use Vinyl. Mostly because of the pattern. I knew I wouldn't be able paint this easily. Also, this suitcase's outer shell is some sort of a plastic-y fabric (technical I know) and I knew that painting it would be a mess.

I love how it's turning out. It's just a simple frame from the Silhouette website that I cut with my Silhouette. Yay Silhouette!

For the big teal suitcas I did the cheveron pattern in white paint. I could have done it in vinyl BUT it's plastic and the surface is really bumpy so I knew paint would look better. It does, but I should have use the FROG tape that doesn't bleed. Some of mine bled and being the perfectionist that I am I had to come back with a fine brush and fix some of the lines. Also, taping it! Agh! A total nightmare on one side, but the other side went smoothly once I had the hang of the cheveron pattern.

You can use Latex or Acrylic paint. Also,use a roller!

I like it. I do need to touch up the front a little still.
The next Medium I used is Paper and Mod Podge. This rusty suitcase has hard smooth surface so I knew that paper would work great on it!
I found these 12x12 paper doilies at Roberts (or any scrapbook store)
What I loved about this is that it went on easy and because the doilies were 12x12( but the suitcase is bigger )I had to use multiple papers and there were seams; BUT the seams are nearly invisible with the doilie paper.
Turned out soo cute! I love it!

Here is another one I Deco-podged with paper.

So what is my point of doing this? Well I have them stacked in the living room. One holds toys, one holds quilts, and one holds magazines. You can use them hold anything!
I'm loving it so far! I should also mention that the yellow one was once an ugly thing but I paint it with yellow acrylic paint. I just need to finish the black one and maybe add some tags with labels that tells what is in each one.... and maybe one more blue one.....

2011-03-23T21:27:00.002-04:00

No I haven't posted this week, I'm lame. I hope to be done with this project I'm doing by Friday night so I can post it Saturday and get y'alls opinion. So check back! Until then Happy Crafting!

2011-03-18T21:23:00.003-04:00

I earned an award!

And I'm so flattered because this blog HERE is the first design blog I ever followed, so it's kind of my first love.

Thrifty, DIY Lighting

2011-03-15T23:44:00.022-04:00

I'm kind of to the point with this post that I'm going to shot the computer since I wrote it up and then it got deleted so here it is in a very condensed version. I wanted to replace this "pretty" light with ever a more pretty one.

I found this beauty for $4 at D.I. Buying lights at thrift stores is a risk, but for $4 I figured even if it didn't work the money would go to a good cause.

So I spray painted it white. So much better. ...except I'm thinking I want to paint it yellow now.
Here is where I pulled out the big guns and I, yes I, did all the electrical work myself. It seemed scary at the time but now I know that it's easy and anyone can do it! First thing though, make sure you turn off the power to the lights! Next, when taking down the old light, try to remember where each wire goes. There's usually 2 wires to the light and then one for hanging up the light.

The chain needed some help so I decided to make a "slip cover" for it.

This is me up on the ladder, hooking up the wires! Whoa, carefull now.
So how did it turn out.....

SUCCESS!!

Later that week, I was at DI again and they had these chandelier shades for only .75 cents and they were in great condition.

Ta-Da!....but don't you think that it should be yellow and maybe I should take the fabric off the shades?

And this beauty became mine after I saved if from the side of the road. The cute old man throwing out said it belonged with me and had been there waiting for me.

Oh, and this thrifty light is also from an older post. check it out HERE.

Altering Curtains, To Fit My Needs! (and wants)

2011-03-08T18:16:00.009-05:00

In the mist of my mommy duties with play-doh on my hands (and in my nails! does anyone else hate that!?) I thought I'd try to get a post in. Don't spend the money on new curtians if you already have cute ones but they're to short.

The naked window in need of some dressing up!
So I hung on these curtains that I already had and love in my sons room but they were to short for the 9ft. ceiling and I wanted floor to ceiling curtains (rule of thumb, they always look the best) What to do, what to do?
So I bought this adorable fabric at Joanns. I didn't want to splurge on expensive fabric for this project, and using a 50% off coupon it was $5 a yard and I only needed a little more than a yard. Now this is where I kick myself because see this is one of those projects where I started it and then came back to it (I know none of you do that). So pictures I thought I had taken I hadn't! But basically I just hemmed the fabric to the bottom of the existing curtain.

Step 2- Next I wanted to hide the line where the polka dots meet the circles so I took a color from the fabric, being the yellow, and created a "band" about 3inch wide and sewed it to the curtian.

I wanted the band to be different instead of being just a plain piece of fabric. So I actually sewed 6 inch strips together with the seam side out for a little dimension.

Ta-Da! Sew easy! Anyone can do it. Like I said these were in my sons room, but you could make any curtain your own by doing this to a solid color curtain panel ( like one at Target) and then adding some fabric to the bottom.

His room is still a work in progress but I'm almost done!

Go HERE to see some art I've already done.

Happy National Craft Month!

2011-03-02T19:50:00.005-05:00

I meant to post this yesterday but honestly I started reading a book and couldn't put it down. So here is my crafty post today, and maybe, hopefully a lot more crafty posts this month to come! I'll just have to become illiterate.

DIY Door Knob Picture Hangers

I was wanting to add some more family pictures to my door that hangs on the wall, down the hall. Go HERE to see older Door on the Wall post.
I bought these at Home Depot in their molding department, by the fireplace mantel kits. I spray painted them white. I can't remember what they're called. Anyone?

I got a 5" sq and a 3"sq.
Then I glazed them black.
Next I added this picture claw to the back. These are found in any picture hanging kit. I mentioned before you can get them at Dollar Tree or Walmart.
Next I screwed in the knob. These knobs I got at Hobby Lobby. The trick is to take a screw driver and drill a hole in the middle of the square but try not to go all the way through. Then just screw in the knob. It obviously did not screw all the way in but I didn't want it to.....
Then I hung it on the wall! So easy (but use good screws into anchors on your wall because between the wood, the knob and picture it's quite heavy).
So where the exposed screw is is the fabric the hangs the picture sits.
I took picture frames I already had and I hot glued some drop cloth on the backs and then just tied at the top.

Ta-Da! This frame is also hung on the same way but farther down and on a different wall. So there would be some sort of unity to the madness!

Stacey

p.s. the window at the bottom is no longer there. Last min. changes you know how it is!

I LOVE Whipperberry

2011-03-01T00:52:00.002-05:00

I wanted to take a moment to say that out loud! www.whipperberry.com is an amazing website! They ladies there are sooo talented!
So check them out

Oh and they featured my chalkboard wall on there website yesterday, so thank you to them!
Stacey

2011-02-28T13:07:00.004-05:00

Thank for all the nice comments on my Chalk Board wall! If you leave/ left a comment I also visited your site and became a follower! I believe in sharing the love!!

Sincerely,

Stacey

Chalkboard Fabulous!

2011-02-24T16:15:00.022-05:00

Who said chalkboard walls are for kids?
{Actually the man at the paint store did and looked at me kind of weird when I told him the boy would NOT be drawing on this wall} I know chalkboard has been in for awhile but now it's "in" my house!

Have you seen the adorable movie 500 Days of Summer? The character studied architecture and he did this to the wall in his room and it inspired me to do.......

This to my wall!

Getting started! It went on super smooth and fast. I used Benjamin Moore chalkboard paint.

(once you go black....)
I loved how just the matte black look that I didn't want to draw on it but then once I started....

It started to all come together. I wanted to draw something I love and represents me. I love architecture and after a lot of thought I decided to draw the Greek Architectural Columns.

Then I decided to label the architectural elements. I wanted it to have a "blueprint" look.

Ta-Da! Some people have asked me lately how I got such straight lines. Lots and lots of practice in design school! My drafting projects were graded on how straight the line were and if they maintained the same thickness through out. Sounds fun right?

To check out how I made the buffet go HERE

Featured on Tatertots and Jello Blog!

2011-02-21T02:40:00.004-05:00

Oh I feel so special again!
First of all, We now have over 100 followers! Yay, yippee, aright, whoo-hoo, all of the above! Thank you!

Second, my post on the lamp shade HERE, was feature on
Tatertosandjello.blogspot.com over the weekend!
Thanks Jen!
Go HERE to see it!

Where do you blog from? and Dealing with a Kitchen Office

2011-02-18T04:46:00.001-05:00

At my house the office is in the kitchen. There are pros and cons to this floor plan. Since I am stuck with having my office here I might as well try to make it look nice. Currently I can't do anything about these 90's oak cabinets, but a few accessories and a burlap bulletin board I made brighten it up.

I'm still looking for a cute mug or something to replace my pencil holder next to my urn aka treat stash, and topiary

(never mind all those receipts back there that need a home... and chords that need to be concealed:-))

I often see these wooden office organizers at Marshalls. This was a bigger one but still only $14. (Office max types will run around $21 & up.)

Now, why get a pretty file organizer and put boring manila files int it? Micheals sometimes has files in the dollar bins, usually 4 or 5 for $1.

One of my most favorite things about getting organized is the folder I made that has a special tab for "Husbands Stuff."

Gone are the days of him asking me where I put his stuff, because I just point to the folder, and now he doesn't ask me anymore:-)
I love when simple things make your life easier.

...and just because I am missing my old house here's a little photo of my old office, a little more roomy than my pseudo office now:-) It still needed paint but it had room for a sofa and I just finished making the window treatment... and I lived down the street from our grandma... it was great and I miss it.

I've been on a huge organizing kick lately, I'd love to hear any tips you have to share!

Lamp Shade Re-do

2011-02-16T01:33:00.009-05:00

Sorry about no post on Monday, I took the holiday off to go to Vegas!

I wanted to keep using the great shades that came with these lamps. So I decided to recover them. The best way to do this super fast and super easy is what I call the "wedding dress" shade.
I started out with these drum lamp shades that came with the lamps. They were red to begin with but didn't match my room. So I recovered them in black (this was about 3 years ago) and now I wanted them white.

So I had some white muslin about 28" wide. I folded it over the top about an inch and hot glued to the inside. Then I gathered, gathered, gathered until I came to the end and folded that underneath the bottom and hot glued to the inside.
Then, where all the gathering and bunching was happening I pinned so that it would stay.

(see yellow circles above)
Then I came back with some needle and thread and replaced the pins by stitching just a little bit to the fabric underneath. Do whatever you think is necessary but it really didn't take me many stitches. The fabric is staying really well.

(see yellow circle above)
Ta-Da! So easy and so pretty!
(go HERE and HERE to see how I made the pillows on my bed)

Sweethearts Mantel

2011-02-12T09:49:00.004-05:00

Feeling like Valentines yet?

Between preschool and 1st grade valentine parties this week and next, pink and red finally made an appearance at our house.

Here's what I used to create this "love"-ly mantel:

My white pitcher I picked up at IKEA last summer, I got the florals at Michaels, 40% off this week I might add. Then I opened up my Christmas totes and got out the red candles.

The Valentine Subway was found here. It's printable up to 16x20.

I sent it to Costco for about $6.

I had a lot of dollar store flowers up in my bow-making supplies, so I stuffed them in the birdcage for added color.

These garlands are so easy to change out for the seasons, so I revamped my Halloween napkin garland. I simply changed it out for pink and red, I got the napkins at Target for $1.50. To see how I made this with paperclips etc, click here.

I've had my red lantern forever, complete with melted candle from being left outside in the summer, the silver candlestick was a wedding gift from pottery barn.

One thing I especially like is this bird I found at Michael's, he adds just enough interest and height to balance those tall florals on the right.

How's your valentines plans going? Do you decorate your home for Valentines, or is the holiday just too short for it?

Picture Stands, Style II

2011-02-10T00:08:00.008-05:00

Alright, lets get down to it.
Picture Stand

For these I used the bigger tables legs.

,
Then screwed it onto the wooden plaque like before.
(this one I painted and glazed for a different project but I'm using the picture here sorry)

I drilled a hole at the top of the leg and one in the bottom of the frame or board, basically whatever you're using.

I used a board for this one. You can find As-Is boards really cheap at Home Depot or Lowes and they will cut them for you for free!

I spray painted white and Mod Podged on some cute scrapbook paper.
Put together.

The top is a wooden final you can buy at Hobby Lobby or Joanns.

Complete! You can also add a little clip to the top if you want to use to hold pictures or recipe cards.

I loved the legs so I decided to top a couple of them with bird nests!

Picture Frame Stand Tutorial (I'm still trying to think of a cute name for these....)

2011-02-07T15:46:00.011-05:00

Hi! It's time to tell you how I made these great picture holders.
To see the story behind the mantle and each picture go HERE

For awhile I wasn't going to give a tutorial on how I made them because I thought I might try selling them on ETSY, but I have my hands full making and selling other stuff. So to the 91 (hopefully soon to be 100) followers, (A.K.A my favorite-est people in the world!) here it is! The first tutorial is on making these 3 stands.
The picture above has 3 arrows, the arrow at the top is pointing to a long skinny table leg. I used that one for these stands.

So I bought these table legs at Home Depot. They have all different sizes and they are pretty inexpensive. The plaques I got at Joanns and they have all sorts of sizes starting at .59 cents.

All the legs come with screws already in them. So drill a hole in the plaque where you want the screw and then screw in.

I screwed mine together and then spray painted white. I had to take it apart for a picture so obviously that's why it looks like that.

Ok, so you have your stand now. I wanted to hang my pictures from the tall stands so I took those little circle hooks with screws on the end that come in picture hanging kits. You can buy picture hanging kits anywhere. I got mine at the Dollar Store.
Then I took some linen or drop cloth and cut/ripped a piece about 1" wide. Strung it through the hook, then hot glued it onto my picture frame, then tied together in the back.
Ta-Da! The picture frames I got the thrift store. I also spray painted them white and then glazed them with black.

Ok I'll post the other one tomorrow!

Link Parties

A "The CSI Project" Winner!

2011-02-07T00:23:00.006-05:00

My "Take a Seat" post was a winner this weekend at The CSI Project!

Amanda chose me and I feel so loved. Thanks Amanda!

If you haven't been to The CSI Project, check it out here!

A "LOVEly" Mantel

2011-02-03T18:50:00.007-05:00

I'm not really a decorator for each holiday, but this just kind of fell into place. I already had the pictures and I made these picture stands for them which I will give the tutorial for next Monday.
Update: see tutorial HERE

I'm calling this "Love through the Generations"

So this "LOVE" is wood blocks painted black and then the letters are wood that were also painted black and then glued on. No, I can not claim that I made this, I won it at BUNCO but I think it would be easy to make!
This is my grandparents on my mom' s side. When my grandpa came home from WWII. I love this pictures sooo much I really wish I had access to some sort of original but it's just a copy of a print.
This pictures is of my great grandparents on their honeymoon. My great grandfather was a sheep hearder and being a farmer means you don't get time off. So after they married my great grandmother she joined him in the mountains at a little cottaged where they spent their honeymoon. I also love this pic. You can't see in this pic. but she is holding a little bouquet of flowers and wearing overalls!

The picture behind that one is more of my ancestors and their spouses. I don't know who made it in my family but my mom gave it to me a long time ago.
This is a picture of my parents on their wedding day. My dad wore a baby blue plaid suit!
And this is me and my husband on our wedding day!!

LOVE IS IN THE AIR!!

Note to my husbands family. I would love some pictures like this from his side!

Parties I'm linking too.

Pottery Barn knock off pillow

2011-01-31T22:46:00.010-05:00

I always loved this pillow and I knew I could easily make it myself and so I did! AND I'll show you how too!
My Version
P O T T E R Y B A R N
Start with one yard of khaki drop cloth or linen or canvas. Cut into a whatever size you want, I did 14x36.
Use a fabric pen or rendering marker to write what you want.

Then make a pillowcase, if you would like to learn how go here.

Then I thought it could use something else. So I made these "nests" (or rosettes) by simply twisting a piece of the fabric that is about 1/2"x16" then wrapping it around into a twist like above. Then hot glue on to a piece of fabric....it probably sounds more complicated then it really is. The "nests" sewn on like sew! (hee hee)

Cameras and Letters

2011-01-24T16:13:00.005-05:00

Well, it happened. Just like I said it would. I moved the "Framed Inheritance" into my living room. I'm glad I did! I love it there and now I can see it everyday! I was looking for something to put behind these cameras and this was perfect!
For those who don't know. These are old stencils that came from my husband's late Grandpa's library..(that's a mouth full!). There were about be junked and saved them from an untimely death and then framed them!

I bought these cameras off of EBAY (in 2005) I have always love old cameras. And these movie projectors were "junk" given to me! Say What?!
I love to mix modern furniture with vintage accessories. Makes for a great eclectic look!

I sure spend a lot of time making pillows

2011-01-21T22:30:00.012-05:00

Hi! So I'm a day late but I've been working my tail off this week, making a bunch of product for a home decor store that's going to be selling my pillows! Check out a couple pillows below!

(pay no attention the top that still is closed yet)

(These 2 are still a work in progress!)

This pillow I made for myself. I saw it at a home decor St.George and LOVED it! So I made one....it took forever but it was worth it!

I cut some numbers out of fabric and appliqued them on some linen.

I just don't know if I'll be able to let these go!

Drunk on Silhouette

2011-01-19T16:24:00.002-05:00

Seriously, I can't stop! It's addicting! So that's why I'm claiming this as a post! Ha! But really, stay turn, later this evening I will have a post up! Unless Lauren beats me to it!

Industrial Chic Skelton Lamps

2011-01-13T11:10:00.010-05:00

Do you like skeleton shades? I do! I've always had a thing for Industrial Chic.!

OK, so maybe I created the term, definition- Industrial Chic : Raw,junky design; not as frilly as Shabby Chic.

I've been wanting to add some light to this corner. I also wanted it to hang. I thought about lighting a birdcage but when I was at the thrift store and saw these lamps shades "Light bulb!"

Bought one large, one small

Cut through and rip off the old fabric from around the shade.

Then stick the small inside the large.

Next, install the lamp cord. You can buy them at Pier 1 for about $10. I had this one already from an old lamp that hasn't been hung up in a long, long long long time, but I alway kept it knowing I would do something with it! Glad I did! I love being able to shop in my basement!

The cord needed some help, so I debated between chain or fabric.

Went with the fabric! Much easier and a softer look. So I cut a piece about 5"x6'

Now, I was dumb and picked a fabric that was stiff and didn't bunch by itself like a linen or maybe even like a light cotton would. So I had to sew my own "bunching"

To make: I folded the 5" piece in half, right sides together. Then did pleats about every 4". Sewed the side closed, and flip right side out....which was probably the hardest part! I ripped 2 pleats in the process and had to sew those closed by hand. Blerg.

In the end, it worked out great and bunched beautifully on it's own!

Some junk turned into something fun!

Link Parties

Hall Bath Make-Over (Frugal Style)

2011-01-12T19:43:00.027-05:00

This bath needed some love! It was such a wonderful fleshy color when we moved in...infact the whole house was that color, got spend a month of my life covering up that little number.

Bathroom Before

Bathroom After
The paint is TurtleDove from Behr. It's a light blue with a little bit of a yellow-y/green undertone. It is my new fave. I want to paint everything this color!

Found these little shelves at the local thrift store for $1.

Spray painted them aqua from Krylon...

And glazed them black to add some aging and put one in my bathroom topped with this cute plaque from Home Goods.

(I've been learning to like pink, the Honeysuckle Pink that is 2011 color of the year is adorable, so I've added a little to the bathroom...babysteps!)

I love Vintage Carnival stuff and this pic was right up my ally! Love it! It's 18x36 and I got the frame, again at the thift store, for $4! That's a steal since it had glass!

I got this cute towel/coat rack at the DownEast tent sale $3, Their tents sales are the best for finding random things!
I added the "Family" "Friend" "Guest" "Acquaintance" "Intruder" lables. Now there's no confusion who hangs their towel where.

To learn how to make these cute Pillow Case Bags go Here!

I had this jar so I bought a pack of simple white soap blocks and filled it.

I had this basket so I hung it on the wall and clipped some vintages French ads to it.

For something different, I took this old frame and sprayed it the Krylon Aqua.

Then Mod Podged some different strips of paper to it.

Used it as a frame around the towel ring.

Now La Toilette is a more pleasant place to do your business!