Pennies A Day Decorating

Touches of Spring

2012-03-21T16:08:00.000-05:00

I don't know about you, but I am in love with Kevin and Layla's home over at the lettered cottage. So much so, that I will go to great lengths to copy their lovely coastal cottage look! I really admire Layla's Spring mantel looks and this is what I came up with:

The word art was made using a poster stencil and the same paper butterflies I made for my friend's salon wall treatment. The bird art was inspired by Layla's own homemade art with a paper bird on a piece of canvas fabric that I found in the scrap booking department at Hobby Lobby.

Would you believe that mirror cost me less than $10 to make? I found a great tutorial on dollarstorecrafts.com that shows you how to combine 9 individually framed mirrors, at a $1 each, to make a pottery barn knock-off.

:0)

Reupholstered Thrift Store Chair

2012-03-21T14:42:00.000-05:00

Finally getting around to posting this:

Last fall, I scored these two chairs at my local Goodwill for $22 each! Their shape reminded me so much of the Crate and Barrel Chloe chairs I really loved. But not the $1000 price tag!

So, of course I saved a bundle making my own version. I bought the Dwell Studio Gate fabric in charcoal and used Molly's helpful reupholstering tutorial on her blog, formerly Creative Maven, now eenymeenyandmoe.

Let me just say that this was NOT, I repeat, NOT an easy project! I did not complete this in one day, more like a week and half!! I now have an extreme appreciation and respect for upholsterers. It took me hours just to take off the old fabric and remove most of the staples. My arms got a good workout. I spray painted the legs using oil rubbed bronze. It took me another week working a few hours a day cutting and sewing. If you are an experienced sewer, then it might not take as long. But, this was my second sewing project ever using a sewing machine! LOL

Was it worth the time and effort to save a few hundred dollars (that it would have cost) to have professionally done? Yes and no. My chair is not perfect. But, the mistakes aren't noticeable and it will never be heavily used in my bedroom. If I had planned on using them in my living room, then I would definitely invest in a professional job. Overall, I'm very proud of myself and I think it turned out pretty nice. The other chair still needs to be done. Not sure when I'll ever get around to that one. :0)

Valentine Wreath

2012-01-30T14:34:00.000-06:00

Heeeey,

I've been missing in action again. Working on an upholstery project and helping my parents paint their kitchen cabinets. I'll blog about that. Eventually. LOL

In other news, I recently made a Valentine's Day Yarn and Felt Wreath:

Complete with felt flowers and a love bird set free from it's cage. :0)

I love the bright red and soft pink colors against my black front door.

Poinsettia Yarn and Felt Wreath

2011-12-09T16:52:00.001-06:00

I don't know about you, but I've been admiring all the pretty yarn wreaths on Etsy for a LONG time now. I've been wanting to make one and I finally did. It wasn't that hard either! Just time consuming. :0)

Poinsettia Felt and Yarn Wreath

My inspiration for this one came from an etsy seller named ItzFitz, who made a beautiful poinsettia wreath. I followed the advice of another yarn wreath maker, who I think is an amazingly creative person, Agnes from Knock Knocking. See the cute tag? That's a holiday freebie typographic gift tag template (try saying this really fast) from Eat.Drink.Chic. I love it! I'm using them on presents too.

Suzy :0)

Holiday Decorating

2011-12-05T14:49:00.001-06:00

I'm almost done decorating for the Holidays, one craft project at a time. I've been busy since the day after Thanksgiving. LOL Just as soon as I finish a crafty project, I quickly load up my plate with more. It never seems to be enough!
I found some great tutorials on how to make your own glitter houses and white bottle brush trees here and here. I love miniature things. I don't know why, but they are just so enchanting to me.

Everything in my little village was bought at Michael's Crafts. The dollhouses are kits you assemble. I painted one of them ivory white and the other, soft white. Then, I brushed on Elmer's glue and sprinkled them with silver glitter. I couldn't resist adding little details, like the "lights", tiny wreaths, candy canes, and gems decorating the trees. I reused the peace sign and dove ornaments from last year. Which I blogged about how to make here.

My sweet Grandma, who has since passed away, painted this lovely scene when she was in her eighties. She was also a quilter, raised 11 children and loved to put together jigsaw puzzles(just like me). We also share the same Birthday. I have fond memories of her and I'm glad I have something to proudly display that she created. :0) I thought the snowflakes were a nice way of making the scene look a little more festive and wintery.

My husband made these plates when he was 4 and 5 years old. My kids love seeing them and I'm thinking about having them make some too. :0)

I decided to keep things bright but simple on the mantel.

I convinced my hubs to let me buy a white tree this year. It's so bright and cheerful!

Happy decorating!

Suzy :0)

The New Stools!

2011-12-05T14:18:00.001-06:00

Here they are:

I Love them!

New Kitchen Table

2011-11-19T16:58:00.001-06:00

I bought a new farmhouse style table and two chairs for the kitchen.

Both from Ikea, the table is the Stornas and the arm chairs are majby. The x-back chairs I already owned.

I love it!

Notice the paint samples on the walls? I wasn't happy with the grey looking so blue and cold. I wanted it warmer and more greige. LOL Gray + Beige = Greige.

I settled on Hazy Skies, (which has a green tint to it too) a Benjamin Moore color. But, I saved myself some money by having it mixed with Behr paint.

Here's the simple table-scape I came up with for Thanksgiving.

See that sample of fabric? I'm thinking of making curtains for the window. I think it coordinates nicely with the colors of the kitchen and with the existing fabric I used on the other windows and stools. Speaking of stools, I bought 4 of these to replace the old ones. I love how they look in Edie's amazing kitchen:

They will arrive in about a week, probably right after Thanksgiving. Can't wait to see how they look!

Suzy :0)

Ikea Ottava Hack

2011-11-03T17:30:00.000-05:00

Hi there! I hope you had a great Halloween. I love it, but I'm glad to have the house look "normal" again and not like an abandoned haunted house of horrors!

I've been busy on the kitchen again. This time I changed out the can light over my sink and installed the Ikea Ottava. It looks great with the modern cottage feel. Once again, I turned to a few of my favorite bloggers for guidance, The Lettered Cottage, Isabella and Max Rooms and The House Of Smiths.

Since I had a can light above the sink, I used the Hampton Bay Recessed Light Adapter just like Janell and Shelley. It was somewhat hard trying to figure out how to attach the screws with the spring clip things to the inside of the can. After that, it was a snap. I didn't have to cut the cord to shorten it like Layla and Shelley did. I simply tucked it into the ceiling cap along with the capped wires. I used a 10 inch ceiling medallion to hide the adapter and give it a finished look.

It looked great. But, there was a problem. When the light was on, the bulb was too bright. I kept seeing spots every time I went into the kitchen. LOL So, I remembered reading what Layla did to soften the light. She sprayed the glass cover with a frosting effect. Brilliant! It was so easy and effective. Just a couple of coats and it dried fast too.

Ahh, much better! I was also playing around with the idea of spray painting it a dark bronze color for a little more contrast. What do you think?

Surprise!! I finished the Beadboard Backsplash!

2011-10-26T14:55:00.000-05:00

It's amazing what writing a quick post can do to get you motivated to finish projects! I was sure I wouldn't get around to finishing the back splash until Spring, but I did it! ALL. BY. MYSELF!!! With the exception of my Dad helping with a minor electrical problem. (When I cut the power off to the outlets, the one that the coffee maker uses, went dead. My dad did the investigative work on that one and helped me replace the outlet all together. Thanks Dad!)

I can't thank The Lettered Cottage, The Empty Nest, and The Handmade Home enough for all the inspiration and how to's!

I made all of my cuts with a jigsaw borrowed from my Dad. (Thanks again Dad!) Just like Ashley at The Handmade Home, I hot glued the bead board onto my existing tile back splash and the corbels too!

Here's a look at the before:

And After!!:

Some Halloween Decorating

2011-10-18T10:23:00.000-05:00

Long time, no post! I don't really have an excuse either. I guess, I just haven't been very motivated lately to write and upload photos. Still haven't completed the kitchen...:0/ Hopefully I'll get around to it in the next few months.

But, I have been decorating for Halloween! Every year, my Mom and I host a Halloween party at my house. I think it's our favorite holiday besides Christmas. Shocker, huh? I think that's probably true for most people. LOL

With some spooky special effects via Instagram, here's what I've done so far:

I made these candles look bloody by simply dripping red wax down them.

The white treat bag was made using Martha Stewart's skull potato stamp tutorial.

Kitchen: Phase 2-ish

2011-06-29T16:12:00.000-05:00

Hey there! Thought I would share some progress photos of the kitchen during Phase 2....ish. I say "ish" because the bead board back-splash isn't attached and properly trimmed. But, I've been painting the corbels that will go under the cabinets once that is in place.

I've also been working on a cute decorative wall accent for above the cabinets. I loved the wooden letter words that Ashley from TheHandMadeHome cut out and covered with some lovely yellow patterned fabric. I found some wood letters at Hobby Lobby and painted them in a chevron pattern and another pattern. I love how it turned out!

I recovered my bar stools and made some curtains using a table cloth on clearance at Target. I paid $7!

I also found these kitchen towels at Target on clearance for $10 or $11. A nice compliment to the grey and yellow scheme.

Almost forgot to mention installing kitchen knobs and pulls on the cabinets! I got mine at Ikea. I went with Svep in black for the white cabinets and Lindsdal for the island.

Can't wait to get the bead board and corbels in place!

Thrifty Purchases

2011-06-21T19:00:00.000-05:00

Hey there. I've been scoring some good bargains lately at my local Goodwill and wanted to share.

First up is this cute white frame with navy carved pattern. A whopping $2.

This shadow box was $4.55.

This planter was $2.

I LOVE this metal bowl! It looks great with my orchid. Best part, it was 99 cents!!

I found this vibrant blue lamp shade for $2 and the silver plate/platter was $3.

The metal fruit holder was $4 and the blue jar and green vase were free thanks to my Mom!

All this for less than $20!

Suzy :0)

Birthday Cakes

2011-06-14T22:15:00.000-05:00

May is a busy birthday fest in our family. My youngest daughter's birthday is at the beginning of May and my son and dad's birthdays are at the end of May! Then a week into June comes my sister-in-law, niece and husband's birthday! Phew...

Sooo, I thought I would share my youngest daughter and son's cakes that I made myself.

As if a rainbow of skittles wasn't colorful enough!

It was a hit with the kids and the adults. I made the butter cream icing from a box mix by Wilton. YUMMY. It wasn't too sweet, just right.

The cake almost slopped off the plate. I needed help and fast! Good thing the Lego Dudes came to the rescue! LOL

I found these cool Lego candies and used real Lego dudes. The inside layers were colored in primary colors. I also used the same Wilton icing mix. MMM...MMM!

Suzy :0)

Painted Kitchen Cabinets

2011-05-12T12:31:00.000-05:00

I'm on a serious painting binge! My latest inspiration came from three different cottage-style kitchens: The Lettered Cottage, The Empty Nest and The Handmade Home. I'm in love with the modern cottage look in kitchens. The whiter the better with pops of bright colors. I consider this "phase 1" of my kitchen. It's not quite there yet but getting closer one project at a time and pennies permitting. :0)

Here's what I've done so far:

Leaving the doors off certain cabinets allows me to display items and add to the cottage kitchen feel. I will be painting the backs Martha Stewart's "enamelware" and adding bead board over the tile back splash.

Here's some befores with rusty red walls and tacky oak cabinets:

Even with windows, it's so dark isn't it?

Can you believe I painted all those cabinets by myself?

It's amazing what paint can do:

So much brighter!

I glued corbels, with liquid nails, to the island and plan on doing the same under the cabinets after installing the bead board over the back splash. The chairs helped keep everything in place while the glue hardened.

Paint colors used:

1 Gal. of Glidden Latex Primer

1 Gal. of Behr "Ivory Mist" paint and primer used on cabinets

1 Gal. of Behr "Dolphin Fin" paint and primer used on the walls

2 Quarts of Behr "French Roast" oil based paint and primer used on the island and corbels

In case you're also interested, I bought the corbels at Home Depot. The baskets in the cabinets and the light fixture above the table are from Ikea.

That's it for now. The next phase will be attempting to install the bead board over the tile and capping the ends with trim and gluing corbels to the upper cabinets. Oh, and paint a final third coat on the white cabinets and the bead board, and touching up the paint on the island. Am I in over my head or what? LOL It might take me months, but I'll get there.

Suzy :0)

Been doing some painting...

2011-04-26T12:28:00.000-05:00

I got around to painting the dresser and rusty red walls in my kitchen area. The walls were painted dolphin gray in eggshell by behr and the dresser was painted ivory mist in semi-gloss by behr. Both are paint and primer-in-one.

Here's the only before shot I have because one of our computers had to be restored and I lost the good before shots, sorry!:

Notice how tarnished the drawer pulls are. I bought the dresser on craigslist. Whoever owned this dresser before put a lifetime of cigarette resin on it. It was bad.

And here it is after two coats of paint! I ran out of paint so I'll eventually get around to that third coat. I soaked the drawer pulls in bowl of white vinegar and then scrubbed them with a toothbrush. It was amazingly easy.

The gray walls create a nice contrast and you can really see the detail in the clock now.

A view into the study/office. Not sure if I should keep those yellow walls or not.

Master Bedroom....again.

2011-04-19T15:27:00.000-05:00

Hey there! I added a tv armoire to my bedroom plus accessories:

I painted the armoire a beigey white, which was originally a dark stain wood look, and painted the tv tray turned-accent-table a creamy white.

These boxes also got a fresh new look. They had wine bottles and wine glasses on them and I painted them white and used a homemade stencil in a chevron pattern. I think it really brings out the brass details. By the way, I'm loving this pattern right now (along with most of blog land)! Every time I see this pattern being used, whether it's on a pillow or a rug, I WANT it. LOL

Here's how everything looks on this side of the bedroom now:

It's coming along, one project at a time, and very little money spent. Next I'll be adding a sitting chair and accessories by the window.

Suzy :0)

Ikea Malm dresser hack

2011-03-24T12:37:00.000-05:00

Long time, no post! I finally ordered the pull rings I found at www.bellacor.com. I'm very proud of myself. I have NEVER used a power drill before and it was pretty intimidating. I was sure that I would, somehow, mess it up. After careful measuring TWICE, I marked a dot where the holes would be and drilled right in. It was so effortless! This may seem lame to experienced handy people, but when you don't know how a tool is going to feel or react when you push the button, it's kind of intimidating.

I changed out the knobs on the hemnes dresser to compliment the pull rings on the nightstands. Thanks again to Emily A. Clark for this great Ikea hack!

Speaking of Ikea hacks, I found some other great examples of what can be done to Ikea furniture.

Here's a great one from Jason @ retrograde:

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Look at how Morgan @ ikeahackers.net transformed this Edland dresser.

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Wow, this is gorgeous! Nancy @ MarcusDesign did a fabulous job of making these Rast dresssers look like Dorothy Draper Chests. I could see this working with the Malm too.

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I really want to try my hand at all of these. Just one of many, many things I have planned. *Sigh*

:0) Suzy

Update on My Master Bedroom

2011-03-03T14:24:00.000-06:00

I've been busy re-tweaking my master bedroom and adding new furniture. Plus a new mattress set that we desperately needed. Our new bed is sooo comfortable!

I got some incredible inspiration from Emily A, Clark. She used two ikea malm dressers, in her latest client project, and added pull rings to the drawers to dress them up. Absolutely beautiful and affordable! I headed to ikea and bought two malm dressers and the eight drawer hemnes dresser for under $500. I still need to buy pull rings and this is what I'm thinking of getting:

They are very similar, and may be the exact same ones she used. You can find these at www.bellacor.com for $4.03/each. I love the poster bed she used and it looks very similar to the one I've been admiring from Zocalo Furniture's Madison Collection.

It retails around $900-1,000 for a King. NOT in my price range. But, I found a similar poster bed at half the cost!

I could easily paint it black-brown to match my other furniture. This is definitely on my list of future purchases!

The beautiful, sleek beveled mirror used above the dresser looks just like this Z Gallerie mirror.

But, at $270, I just can't stomach paying that much for a mirror. So I'll be on the look out for something similar at half the cost. For now, I like the current mirror I'm using. It used to have a rubbed silver/black finish and I spray painted it "heirloom white" by Rustoleum. More to come...

:0) Suzy

DIY Sunburst Mirror From The Nester

2011-02-16T16:40:00.000-06:00

I found the most awesome DIY Sunburst Mirror tutorial from The Nester! Hers is, of course, perfect in every way (and taken with a better camera than mine! Hopefully soon I will have a nicer one. I've been using my iphone4 for all of my photos). Can you believe this was made with poster board glued onto a small mirror?! Genius! Here's my version:

Also, ignore the faux finish walls. I plan to paint those too. Along with almost every room in my house! *Sigh*

My Boys Room

2011-02-15T09:59:00.000-06:00

I thought I would share some pics of my son's room. It's not completely done. (Are any of my rooms ever done?!) I started by asking my son what his favorite color is right now. He's really into green so I started by creating a color scheme around that. I found a great green pillow by DwellStudio at Target and that became my inspiration for the direction I took the room.

While browsing around, I found the "quilt" at the end of the bed in the clearance section for $10. I loved the pattern on it and thought it would be a great way to add some texture. Guess what? It's not a quilt at all! It's a rug!!! When I picked it up I realized this, but it was as soft and thick as a blanket. And, when it's spread out, it fits the bed nicely and keeps him extra warm on cold nights. :0)

I handmade the airplane art. It was a VERY simple project. I bought a piece of canvas, some black craft paint in a flat finish, a white paint pen, and some red scrap booking paper. I gave the canvas a couple of coats of black paint with a cheap sponge brush. Then, while that was drying, I looked online and found instructions on how to fold paper airplanes. Then I arranged them on the canvas and drew my contrails with the white paint pen. Finally, I hot-glued the airplanes in place. It took me 20-30 min. The star, above the bed, was moved from the living area and spray painted in a nickel finish.

My son loves natural science. He's a bug lover and dinosaur enthusiast. I decided to showcase his hobbies and create a frame collage. I cut out images from some of his books and made sure to choose the ones that did not have wording so he could still enjoy reading them. These were all "extra" images in the books anyways. Forgive me for not having perfectly level frames! I think to correct this problem, I'm going to use masking tape to fix them to the wall. I have a feeling all the jumping and banging that goes on in here is the cause of them always looking crooked. Here's a few close ups:

Now, at this point, you might be thinking, "There's not really much green going on here. It's more blue than anything!" ;0) I plan on painting the room a tan/khaki color with one wall in green. Oh, and I'm still debating on painting the bed rails white, black or grey. Not sure yet.

As for the other side of the room:

I found this dresser on craigslist and painted it navy and bought new pulls for the drawers. The two pin boards are nothing more than pieces of canvas with fabric stapled to them.

The aquarium houses a Pink Toe tarantula. (I told you he loves creepy crawlies) Santa gave him that for Christmas. Surprisingly, it has done wonders to ease my phobia of spiders. I know, right?!

I found this cute lamp for $20 and this frame on clearance for $1.24! at Target. I still haven't put a picture in it yet. This little metal basket I found buried in my teen daughter's closet. I thought it might look cool to hold my son's rock and fossil collection. Later on, I'd like to display some them in a shadow box.

That's it for now, another to-be-continued. I hope to have several rooms painted by summer. So, stay tuned! :0P

Progress On Butterfly Bedroom

2011-02-08T15:13:00.000-06:00

I've made a little progress on my youngest daughter's bedroom. I bought an all-white shabby chic comforter and a polka dot pillow from Target and got a green picture frame on clearance for $5. I love the design! I framed a vintage picture of Little Bo Peep from an old nursery rhyme book.

I haven't quite made up my mind on a paint color. I was thinking a soft lavender. Got any ideas?

My Thrifted Office Chair

2011-01-26T10:41:00.000-06:00

I found a great office chair at Goodwill for $15! I love it's shape and especially love it's chrome legs. It's also pretty comfortable. All it needs is new fabric.

Here's what I'm thinking will look great on it:

It's Dwell Studio's Gate Charcoal and below, Gate Brindle. I can't decide on which one. So, I'll probably get samples first before committing.

I'll be referencing Centsational Girl's great tutorial on recovering an office chair.

Another to be continued...

:0)

REALLY Pink Butterfly Bedroom

2011-01-25T10:35:00.000-06:00

My youngest daughter, who is 5, REALLY loves the color pink. Big surprise, I know. So when I was picking out paint colors for her room, I THOUGHT I found the best shade of pink. A warm peachy pink. I was even doing what you're supposed to do when picking a paint color, I chose a coordinating shade from her bedding. But, I went a shade darker to create a little more impact. Well, it definitely created some impact. But more like a slap in the face with a bright flashlight right in the eyes.

Here's what I mean:

Yooouuuch! That's bright!

But, even with the flamingo pink walls, I am happy with the look of everything. I was inspired by Pottery Barn Kid's Lindsey Collection. I LOVE it. But, what I loved more was saving some serious dough by getting a little creative.

Since my daughter is Disney Princess OBSESSED. Another shocker, huh? I whipped up some art using my own two hands and some cheap map pencils. I found these beautiful Disney scrap booking stickers and incorporated them into the drawing for a neat dimensional look.

These two photos are pre-tent canopy. I found an affordable alternative at Ikea for $20! If you compare that to the cost of Pottery Barn Kids, that's an $80 savings!

I made these butterflies out of scrap booking paper and taped them right on the wall. You can check out my other post on paper butterflies here.

My other drawings turned out so well, I decided to make an Alice In Wonderland themed picture too. I drew the background and this time I used Disney and daisy stickers along with a little sheet moss for the tree's foliage. One of my favorite scenes in the original movie is when Alice is singing and laying in the daisies.

I found the dresser on Craigslist and gave it a coat of white. You'll notice that the paint has chipped away from the 2 bottom drawers. But I kind of like the worn away look of it. Plus, the drawers do not open smoothly so I don't really have a choice!

I made my own version of the Rose Lamp from PB kids and saved even more. I found the lamp at Big Lots for a mere $15. I bought all the roses at Hobby Lobby for 50 cents a piece and hot glued them onto the lampshade. I figure I saved about $60 doing it myself.

Some things I'd like to change:

New paint color. I'm thinking Benjamin Moore Lavender Ice

New bedding in crisp white with some new patterned decorative pillows.

New curtains: crisp white

Hopefully sometime, by the end of Spring, I will have updated pictures to show you. Until then, to be continued...

:0)

Magazine and Catalog Storage

2011-01-19T09:53:00.000-06:00

I have a growing collection of catalogs and decorating magazines. I haven't bought ONE thing out of them. I use them strictly for inspiration. Because I know I can either make it myself or find a similar/copy cat item or style cheaper some where else. I found a great basket at Good 'Ole Will for a couple bucks, maybe even less, can't remember. So I came up with a cute way to display my catalogs:

Now, I know you're probably thinking, "If you ever want to look at them, they will be curly and the pages will be hard to turn".

Well, these have been rolled up in this basket for a few days now, and they really don't curl as much as you think. Besides, it doesn't bother me and it looks cute. :0)

Wall Clock Before and After...

2011-01-14T12:18:00.001-06:00

I thought I would share a quick before and after of a wall clock I had. A little ivory spray paint and some brushed on silver craft paint, turned it into something more modern cottagey chic. :0)

Here's the before: