Vintage Revivals

What Nate Berkus Has Done For Bloggers

noreply@blogger.com (Mandi @ Vintage Revivals) — Thu, 23 Feb 2012 18:00:00 +0000

*Make sure to tune into Nate on MONDAY (Feb 27th) to see my latest episode!

When I look back on the year and 1/2 long journey that Vintage Revivals has taken me on I marvel at the things that have changed for me, all because I started a blog.

At the very top of the List Of Amazing Things That Have Happened Because of My Blog That Make Me Want To Cry I Love Them So Much (what? It’s a working title….) is having the opportunity to go on The Nate Show.

I mean in what world would something like this ever happen to a SAHM from a small town in UTAH?

But that is exactly what Nate and his amazing staff have done for SO many bloggers. They gave us a platform to share our homes with the country. And we had the chance to feel like what we were creating was important.

Nate is one of the most sincere, kind and postive people that I have ever met.

His staff is hands down 1000000% amazing. They work so hard and are SO great at what they do. (LOVE YOU GUYS! XOXO)

Nate has given me something that few others could. Being on his show gave me the confidence to really embrace who I am and create from my heart. Daily it shows EVERYONE that watches that you don’t have to live in a great place like NY or LA, or spend thousands on pillows, or be a “professional” interior designer to be able to create the home that you want.

Because of his show, I had the chance to go somewhere I never thought I would have the chance to go. Being in New York opened my eyes to something I had never experienced before and I will FOREVER be in gratitude or these things.

So thank you Nate and the wonderful staff that have become my friends.

And thank you for changing the way that the world sees bloggers.

UPDATE:

Just got an email from a reader (thanks Staci!) that a mini clip is up on Nates site! Watch the teaser here!

Love Your Guts, Mandi

That’s WAC Yo.

noreply@blogger.com (Mandi @ Vintage Revivals) — Thu, 23 Feb 2012 15:43:00 +0000

TOTALLY freaking out with excitement right now.

I have a fun event that I want to invite everyone to!!

If you are in Southern UT it would be amazing to have you at the Dixie State College Women’s Achievement Conference…seeing as how I am the Keynote Speaker and totally need to see some bloggy friend faces!

The cost is $10 at the door (if you are a Dixie Student admission is FREE!) It is this Saturday at 9:45 am. There are going to be 3 workshops on Developing A Better You about Home Decorating (taught by Miss All Things Thrifty herself!) Fitness, and Emotional Well-Being. Then there is going to be a yummy lunch and fashion show and then its my turn! EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!

Have you ever spoken at an event like this? Do you have any tips?!

Will you be able to come!?

Love Your Guts, Mandi

The Evolution of A Childs Room: Angela Lansbury’s Bed

noreply@blogger.com (Mandi @ Vintage Revivals) — Wed, 22 Feb 2012 16:27:00 +0000

Don’t lie. You know you love Angela Lansbury. And if you were a child with a bit of imagination you loved this movie and thought that all would be right with the world if you got a bed that had bedknobs.

We DVRed Bedknobs and Broomsticks a few months ago and my girls LOVE it. Which makes my garage sale bed even better!!

Can you believe that this bed was only $10.00?

I met some of my favorite readers for lunch like FOREVER ago. When we were leaving the mentioned a yard sale they saw just down the street, and you guys know me, I am ALWAYS up for a yard sale. And there is was. For only 10 bucks. I might have ran to it…in heels…on a gravel path…and almost fell…BUT I GOT THE BED YO!

Isnt it the perfect Bedknobs and Broomsticks Bed?! Off to the Island of Naboombu!

And if it looks like its been jumped on, its because it has.

So what do you think? Is it awesome, magical or both?

Love Your Guts, Mandi

Undoing A DIY: How To Repaint A Striped Wall

noreply@blogger.com (Mandi @ Vintage Revivals) — Tue, 21 Feb 2012 17:19:00 +0000

So we’ve all got them. Well most of us, some more than others. If you don’t have one guaranteed you have pinned a couple and just havent gotten the guts to do it.

What am I talking about? Striped Walls of course! I LOVE striped walls, they are such a great way to add interest to a room. But what happens when you don’t want stripes anymore?

Here is the problem. If you do stripes perfectly you have a clean crisp paint line. A paint line that doesn’t go away...

So.

I paid the genius guys over at Sherwin-Williams a visit and asked them what I needed to do to remedy this little situation.

Get ready to sand your heart out. I found that using a sanding block and doing it by hand was best. (I tried using an electric sander and it sort of melted and ate up the paint. (Yes, even with new sandpaper) I think it was because of the heat.

I used 150 grit paper and went to town.

Now here is where there is a fine line (pun completely intended). If your walls are SUPER textured like mine you have 2 options. You can sand until the line is 100% gone (leaving no texture) or you can leave your texture (and a little line). I went for the little line with wall texture intact. Either way they are not going to be perfect unless you retexture them. Which I was NOT going to do.

Once your walls are sanded (6 hours later) its time to paint.

This is where you are going to make up for your little bit of line that is left. If you use a lower sheen paint it diminishes the shadows. Remember my herringbone ceiling? I had a TON of comments asking if it was even textured. SOOOOOO just for a fun comparison check this out:

Same texture. The difference is that the gray ceiling is Semi Gloss and the Herringbone is Flat. Crazy right?!

So by lowering your sheen you lower the shadows, which makes it not as noticeable.

I used Sherwin-Williams Super Paint in Satin.

It’s a paint and primer in one and literally covered the stripes in 2 coats. Which is FANTASTIC considering I was painting bright white over a dark gray. This is one coat in

The last trick to hide the stripes I made up. Which means that it may seem a little strange but I thought it worked pretty great. After the first coat of paint is on and dry, load your roller and press it into the line. Not rolling, just pushing it onto it. It gives it a little more texture than you would get from rolling. Then once that is completely dry do your second coat.

This was the spot on my wall that I was most concerned with because of the window and door placement. If there was a line on it you would see.

This is what it looked like when I was all done:

Turned out pretty great huh?

So now I am left with this giant white box. Its like Design Star in my house right now! I cant wait to show you guys Dylan’s new bed, its been sitting in my garage for MONTHS.

Oh and just for fun I found this SUPER awesome tool from Sherwin-Williams where you put your room size into a calculator and it tells you how much paint you need! Check it out here (it was right on for me!)

love your guts, mandi

The Evolution Of A Child’s Room

noreply@blogger.com (Mandi @ Vintage Revivals) — Mon, 20 Feb 2012 13:01:00 +0000

I have a fun series that I am going to start today. As a blogger I go back and forth SO much about what the "best” way to present a room design or projects to you (my favorite reader). Do I do the big reveal first and then project tutorials after? Do I share the tutorials along the way? I go back and forth, back and forth about it.

So. Since I am in the beginning stages of Dylan Room Redo, I am going to share all of the fun different elements along the way so you can sort of see the process and we can see how it works out!

I think that when we work on a room for our kids we automatically in our mind go to a gender specific space and how we can incorporate their favorite things into it. My daughter Dylan LOVES dress ups, as I am sure most of your 3 year old daughters do.

But, just because they like something like that doesn’t mean that that is the only interest that we have to use as inspiration.

I don’t want my girls to grow up thinking that they have to do things like everyone else. I want to give them spaces that make them imagine and see things differently than other people do.

I remember laying on my bed as a kid and finding pictures in the ceiling texture. I want Dylan’s room to capture that intrigue that a child has. Where its ok to say that Rainbow is your favorite color. Where things are whimsical and magical and strange. You feel me?

This is how her room has looked for the past year or so:

You can see the tutorial for the bedding I made out of scraps from my sewing room here.

It is a huge improvement over what it looked like from our MLS listing.

But there is nothing MAGICAL about it.

So I hope that you guys will enjoy going on this little journey with me. The first project was repainting the walls. Which I ALWAYS underestimate and is extra complicated because of the stripes.

What are some of the things that were intriguing to you as a child that you want your kids to know about?

Love Your Guts, Mandi

What Would You Do?

noreply@blogger.com (Mandi @ Vintage Revivals) — Fri, 17 Feb 2012 17:22:00 +0000

Happy Friday!!

So I have a fun question for everyone today!!

See this cute green dresser?

I am working on redoing Dylan’s room at the moment (ok, for the last month or so) and I have this cute little dresser that I got for FREE! It was on the side of the road and my friend picked it up for me!

I LOVE the style of it and have some really great ring knobs that I am going to put on it. I want it to look way more modern than it does right now. That being said, I really REALLY want to paint it white.

I am loving white modern stuff right now. I am using these thrifted placemats and they are SUPER colorful…so I am wondering if I should use a color in them for the little dresser.

Which color would you choose?

The walls are going to be mostly white. All of the other elements are white, gold, and natural wood tones. I have about a million different things I want to do but I want to know what YOU would do!

Aaaaaaannnnnnnnnnndddddddddddddd go!

Love Your Guts, Mandi

What. The. Craft. Fail.

noreply@blogger.com (Mandi @ Vintage Revivals) — Wed, 15 Feb 2012 03:31:00 +0000

argh.

So are you ready for this awesomeness? My friends at Studio 5 emailed me a couple of weeks ago and asked if I would be up for a challenge. You know I couldn’t turn it down right?

What was the challenge?

Gumdrops.

I spent the next week and 1/2 brainstorming about what I could do with freakin gumdrops.

In my mind I pictured this super cool textured piece of ombre art.

After 6 hours of gluing, painting and repainting this is how it ended up.

Now. I am going to put up a disclaimer. IF I had started this project with more time I possibly could have made it work. And I spent $30 on gumdrops so…we’ll see what happens, maybe I will be able to salvage it. If I get inspired. Or not. My MIL suggested that I should use it as a doormat. Hahahaha!

So with about an hour before my project was due I came up with a simple solution. I refinished a thrifted gumball machine.

Pin It

Do you think I am lame? I know its not SUPER Mandilicious but I actually really love how cute it is. What do you think? (please be kind!)

And if you are in UT I am skyping the segment LIVE! (Channel 5 @ 11:00)

What would YOU have done?

Love Your Guts, Mandi

So Ugly It’s Amazing

noreply@blogger.com (Mandi @ Vintage Revivals) — Mon, 13 Feb 2012 15:57:00 +0000

One of the biggest reasons that I am such a huge thrifter is because you can find crap at the Thrift Store that you would never in your life see anywhere else.

Last Saturday I was at our local thrift shop with my BFF Miss @ All Things Thrifty herself. Finding ourselves without children, we had the chance to dig for awesome finds. You know as opposed to my normal routine of glancing over the shelves, holding my 3 year old down so she stays sitting, and try to tweet pictures out. Like this one I shared last week of a gorgeous carousel horse:

Needless to say its much funner without children….

So as we were digging we found some fun things.

They had a TON of lipstick holders like this:

Our convo went something like this:

Brooke: Wow, there are a ton of these!

Me: A Mary Kay lady must have decided that the cosmetics business wasn’t for her.

Brooke: I wonder what you could put in them besides lipstick?

Me: Uh………Tampons?

Then huge amounts of laughter that made everyone in the store want in on that convo.

So we kept digging.

And then on the top shelf, totally hiding I found these hand painted placemats:

I LOVE finding things that make you take a stand on what you believe. I mean, are they hideous enough to be AMAZING and add some serious character to a room, or are they just hideous?

At almost the exact same time I professed my love and Brooke said that they were totally Mandilicious. And HELLO they were $.50.

I have big plans for them!! Now I just need to finish painting. Anyone want to come over and help?

Love Your Guts, Mandi

An All New Vintage Revivals

noreply@blogger.com (Mandi @ Vintage Revivals) — Sun, 12 Feb 2012 08:49:00 +0000

Hey Dudes!

So…..SURPRISE! I have a new site design. Do you love it? My AMAZINGLY talented friend Lara @Announced Design (you also might know her as Ellie G @ Less Cake {More Frosting}) created my totally awesome logo! I can’t even tell you how much I love it! She is a genius when it comes to this kind of stuff, almost bordering on Evil Scientist genius…except without the evil part.

So sometimes with new junk comes issues. If you have any problems at all with links, or things not looking right PLEASE let me know! I still have a few more things to add BUT I have been working on this for 48 hours straight and I need a break…

And if you are in reader right now and want to check out the new makeover click the link! Vintage Revivals

LOve Your Guts, Mandi

Today is my 9 year Anniversary!

noreply@blogger.com (Mandi @ Vintage Revivals) — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 16:41:00 +0000

I just need to share with you guys what a miracle this is! So many times in the last 9 years I didn’t think that this day was ever going to come.

But MAN I am glad that it has! I have the most supportive husband in the world. Especially when it comes to Vintage Revivals.

He is many times the muscle of the operation (and the brains but don’t tell him I told you!)

Also you should know that the GIANT pile of furniture is only in that back corner of the garage!! Are you proud of me?!

When he comes home from the restaurant and I am going on day 2 in my pj’s he still loves me.

He is hands down my favorite person in the world.

He has given hope to thousands of people with his strength and recovery story.

And lets face it, he’s pretty hot.

Happy Anniversary Lover!!

Choosing Colors From An Inspiration Piece

noreply@blogger.com (Mandi @ Vintage Revivals) — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 06:12:00 +0000

What do you do when you find something that inspires the crap out of you? An inspiration piece is the foundation to a great room design. I love inspiration pieces that are unique and funky and a little out there (just like me!!)

My Colortopia has one of the most helpful features ever. Do you guys remember the post that I did in December their super fun color personality test? Well today I am going to show you something even more amazing!!

Check out this killer image that I found on Pinterest. Its SOUTHWEST! And I love it.

via Mandi Gubler via Sydney Sawyer

One of the things that people have a really hard time with is choosing a color palette that works with an inspiration piece without being to matchy matchy. You know what I am saying right? My Colortopia has the COOLEST solution to your color situation. With their My Image Inspiration Tool all you have to do is upload an image of your inspiration piece and like magic it shows you 3 color choices. When you click on one of them it goes into a deeper palette that you can print out so you know the exact names of the colors you need!

I LOVE the first 2 palettes to go with my rug. Isnt this fun?!

It is so helpful because it gives you a different point of view from an expert. When I go in for a gray color sample I leave with every single shade of gray…twice. (Do you ever pick up duplicates? Cause I TOTALLY do.) But look how perfect the gray in the second palette is!

Make sure you check out the My Colortopia site and all of the amazing inspiration from your fave bloggers, if you are like me you will spend WAY more time than you should testing out all of your fun pieces.

I am off to finish painting Dylan’s bedroom eeeeeeeeeeeeee!! I cant wait to have it done!

I have partnered with Glidden/Akzo Nobel Paints to share this website with my readers. All opinions are authentic and my own.

Help On Your DIY Quest

noreply@blogger.com (Mandi @ Vintage Revivals) — Mon, 06 Feb 2012 15:47:00 +0000

So one thing that I love about blogging is that it has such a big family community type feel. Don’t you guys think? Todays post is something that I havent ever tried before so lets see if it will work and if it does than we can do it more often!

You know when you are on the hunt for something super specific and the Thrift Stores and Craigslist just keep failing you again and again?

That has been the case for me with one particular project that I have been obsessing over since last summer. So I decided to ask you guys!

Does anyone in Southern UT have access to any old doors?

via

If you do, I would love it if you would email me! vintagerevivals AT hotmail DOT com. I NEEEEEEEEEEEED them!!

Ok now comes the fun part!

Is there anything that YOU are on the hunt for!? If so leave a comment in the following format:

YOUR AREA

WHAT YOU ARE LOOKING FOR (as specific as you can be)

YOUR CONTACT INFO

There are a bunch of things in my hoard that I am ready to unload so if anyone lists stuff I have expect an email!!

If this works we will do it more and if it doesn’t then at least we tried!

Get Paid For Your Pinterest Addiction From Homes.com

noreply@blogger.com (Mandi @ Vintage Revivals) — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 17:46:00 +0000

What happens when you take 3 of my FAVORITE things in the world, (Houses, Money, and Pinterest) and mash them together? You get the Homes.com Pin It if you Love It Contest!

2 1/2 years ago when Court and were house hunting I was on the MLS constantly. I even had a notebook that I wrote notes about houses that I liked. Now with the life changing invention of Pinterest it will be SO much easier to remember what you liked and didn’t about a space.

Homes.com is famous for their FAB contests and today is no exception.

5 people will win $250 for Pinning their fave houses from Homes.com! It can be ANYTHING that you love. If you love the kitchen of one house and the yard of another pin them!

I jumped at the chance to announce it to you guys because I have been itching to get back on the MLS and see where home prices are since we bought our house.

So here is my pinboard of some of my very favorite Southern Utah houses…now to come up with a few $100,000. No biggie.

So here are the rules to enter:

Step 1: Create a Homes.com Pin It if You Love It Board on Pinterest. Be sure to follow Homes.com on Pinterest too!

Step 2: Pin Your Favorite Homes For Sale or Rent on Homes.com – Go to the Homes.com website (http://www.homes.com) and pin at least ten of your favorite homes for sale or rent. Please include a link to the homes inside the description. Your pins can be based on location, interior or exterior design or whatever else strike your fancy!

Step 3: Link Your Board to Enter the Contest on the Homes.com Blog –Provide a link to your Board below for a chance to win one of five $250 home improvement gift cards

If you have any questions or would like an invite to Pinterest, please feel free to contact contest@homes.com. And remember to check out the Pinterest article on our blog for resources. Please see the official contest rules before entering.

Good luck you guys! I cant wait to see what you pin!

Live Writer Will Change Your Bloggin’ Life. Part 1: Formatting Images

noreply@blogger.com (Mandi @ Vintage Revivals) — Wed, 01 Feb 2012 15:00:00 +0000

I love hearing peoples blogging secrets. Especially life changing ones. So today I am going to share something with you that literally changed the way I blogged and made it 10000000x easier.

Have you heard of Windows Live Writer? FREAK. If Live Writer was a man he would be the kind that cooks, cleans, goes to work, takes care of the kids, AND tells you that you are beautiful. Unlike blogging in Blogger, which FYI is like a guy who sits on the couch and smells like corn chips and does a lot of scratching…I will let you complete that thought.

So why is Live Writer SO amazing?!

It makes SO many things so much easier. Today I am going to show you how to format your images.

When you create your account and download the program it will ask the URL of your site. Then with your permission it will publish a post that says Temporary Post Used For Theme Detection. DO THIS!!!!!!!!!! It makes it so that everything that is customized for your blog shows in WLW. (Margins, link colors, etc.) That way you know that what you are seeing is what will show on your site.

One of my FAVORITE features is the way that you can upload your images. It will automatically resize AND watermark your photos. Freak ya, I know. Let me show you how.

Once you upload your image it will look like this:

If you want it centered make sure the picture is selected and center it on the Home Screen, there is not a way to center it in the Picture Tools.

Once it is centered (or whatever justification you prefer) its time to resize it!

The easiest thing for me was to drag it to the size you want.

*PLEASE make your image as large as you can! When I look back on some of my old posts I CRINGE at how terribly small the pictures are. Blogging is visual. So make it easy for people to see what you are talking about!

Now you can add different effects to it. Like I round the corners of my pictures, but there are a ton of other options!

Now to watermark.

Watermarking is SO important in this Pin happy world that we live in. I use WLW to watermark because its easy and its not saved on your image (which is SUPER important when you are using them other places like magazines and some websites)

Now the TOP SECRET BEST PART!

After you have done all that hard work, you can save it so that every single image that you upload is resized, watermarked, and beautified instantly. Sweet right?! Just click Set To Default and you are golden.

I know. I know. You love me.

Doing just these little tricks to my images have saved me so much time and frustration.

Also you can make it so that the image is not “clickable” which I have done because it makes it less likely to get jacked and saves space on your server because it is saving one smaller image instead of 2 larger ones. To do this all you have to do is click the No Link option.

There are also a million other things that you can do. But this is the one that has changed my life the most!

If you use Windows Live Writer and have some other tricks please leave them in the comments!

Who Is Your Blog Crush? Ultimate Linky

noreply@blogger.com (Mandi @ Vintage Revivals) — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 07:50:00 +0000

One thing that I have been painfully aware of recently is the fact that there are SO many amazing blogs out there that I have no clue about.

For example just yesterday I found an AMAZING blog that I am sure so many of you know about since Katie is sort of a DIY Rockstar…have you ever read Bower Power? Seriously so creative and fun and HILARIOUS. (If you have not yet felt the Power of the Bower head over and tell her that her BFF Mandilicious sent you.) and if you have WHY didn’t you tell me to go read it?!!

Oh and how about 71 toes? I want to be JUST. LIKE. SHAWNI when I grow awesome.

It seems the more time my blog takes the less time I have to blog hop (strange how that happens right?!) And I know that there are TONS of amazing blogs that I am missing out on.

So I want you link up your favorite blog. Not so much your blog, but the one(s) that you read that you would DIE if you missed a post. (feel free to link up as many as you want)

And make sure that you leave a comment on that site telling your blog crush that you love them as much as the Snap girls (minus me) love Neil Diamond. (Which is more than humanly possible FYI)
This is for you girls.

Where was I going with this?

Ummm…Oh yes, leave a comment telling them why you are their blog crush I promise on my first born that it will make their entire day.

All you need to do is link up the URL of your fave blog, and image from their site. In the description leave their blog name and a SHORT description of what we can expect to find.

For example if you were writing one about me (which is not necessary but I am flattered, thank you) it would look like this:

Vintage Revivals: Epic DIY Room Makeovers

Or if you REALLY wanted to be my friend you would write something like this:

Vintage Revivals: Gorgeous, Talented, Funny. The Miss America of Blogland.

You know, what ever you feel like the right description is…. that’s easy enough right?!

Ok, get to linking so we can all ignore our children today! Wahooo! (Just joking for all the crazies who thought I was serious.)

And I would love it if you are a Pinner and would pin this so it could reach outside our DIY land!

One Word Goal and House of Fifty

noreply@blogger.com (Mandi @ Vintage Revivals) — Wed, 25 Jan 2012 18:51:00 +0000

One of my FAVORITE things about blogging is getting to know other bloggers. I love that we “get” each others crazy lives. Its so fun to be able to work with them on cool projects that they are doing.

So today I am sending you a few places!

First the AMAZING Lara from Less Cake More Frosting has been hosting One Word Goal 2012 on her blog for the entire month of January.

And today I am sharing my word that is going to inspire me to be a better person! And no, its not get off your lazy #*$. There are so many inspiring posts from your fave bloggers over there, you will love it!! Lara is one of my most favorite people in the whole world. Her writing brings me to tears almost weekly. She has such an amazing gift. Oh and we even rode on the alpine coaster together in July! It was magical. We didn’t use the brakes ONCE. Cause we are brave like that.

Next I am SO beyond thrilled that I have the chance to share this with you guys!! Janell from Isabella and Max Rooms started an online mag last year called House Of Fifty. She is such a strong voice in the home blogging community and I am so lucky that she is one of my friends.

House of Fifty is a beautiful collaboration from some seriously talented designers. And they just launched a House Of Fifty App so you can read on your ipad! Please take the time to click the mag and read through it, I promise you wont be disappointed.

There are some amazing articles about Kitchens, and making your child’s room a magical place. I have loved every single issue of House of Fifty and I am so excited to be featured in this quarters! (click the image to go to the issue!)

I am picking up my paint tomorrow for Dylan’s room so I should have an awesome project to show you next week!!

A Bizarre Decorating Quirk and How I Found My True Style.

noreply@blogger.com (Mandi @ Vintage Revivals) — Tue, 24 Jan 2012 13:44:00 +0000

I remember when I started reading blogs. All Things Thrifty was my first and favorite, I totally used to wonder what it would be like if I ever met Brooke, and if she would let me walk through her house (now she is my best friend and her house is WAY more awesome in real life FYI).

I KNOW you know what I am talking about. Even if you wont admit it for fear of sounding like a stalker who might need to be committed or arrested depending on the level of stalkerdom…(its ok, I wont judge you!)

So I want to share something with you guys. For me decorating is not about the finished product. I mean, its AWESOME when a room is the way that you want. But what happens when you get a NEW idea? My house will NEVER be finished. I enjoy the process so much more than the final result. So although you may see beautiful pictures on my blog you can rest assured that if you came into my house today it does not look like that.

Why?

When I create a room I picture the feeling that I want from it and decide on a few key elements and then everything else just falls into place. Its very strange and really cool. I can see the room through a feeling, and I might be psychic. Just saying.

So when I have an awesome new room design and that is how I see the room in my mind everything that is in there at that point is unimportant to me.

Right now you would walk into my living room and see a very empty space. Very few things that were in the original room are moving on to the Southwest Modern design that I have pictured. SOOOO, I want them out! That way when I find new things I can put them in. Its sort of like starting with a blank slate all over again. The stenciled walls that I spent days and days on are being painted over. The super cool faux fireplace that sort of put my blog on the map is being taken out (if anyone in St. George wants the cabinet doors from it email me!) Vicki is being stripped and stained.

Some might find this wasteful and time consuming, to decorate and then change everything a year later. But for me decorating is my creative outlet, it calms me down when I am stressed, it makes me excited when I need some motivation, its something that I am so passionate about I could do it all the time. (What? I don’t do it ALL the time….just some of the time!)

When I started my blog I didn’t know what I was doing. AT ALL. A lot of the inspiration in blogland and trends that I saw influenced me. And that is GOOD! It gave me a starting point.

Now after a year and a half of projects I FINALLY feel like I have found my own voice and my own style. Its colorful, modern, thrifted, a little gilded, with natural elements in a clean way. Its lots of funky tchotchkes and random junk that makes me smile. Its all about bold patterns and using elements that scare me a little with their awesomeness. Its happy and random, somewhere that makes you comfortable and at the same time feel compelled to know more. Hopefully just like me.

And now I am really ready to decorate my house.

And now for a bit of Mandilicious motivation for you guys. When I am famous and people quote me all the time you can totally say that you saw the post that gave birth of this quote.

So I want to know, do you decorate for the final room, or do you decorate for the process? Do you feel like you have found your true style?

Top 5 Thrift Store Must Haves

noreply@blogger.com (Mandi @ Vintage Revivals) — Mon, 23 Jan 2012 14:04:00 +0000

*For some reason the links back to old posts is not working in (as far as I know) Internet Explorer. I don’t know if this is just happening on my blog or if it is issues that Blogger is having! I am so sorry, I have emailed them a few times and am waiting for a solution!

Do you know how to shop at a Thrift Store?! For those that are not yet thrifting ninjas it can be super intimidating to walk into a slightly stinky store. Right? Piles of used crap that no one wants everywhere…well, it sounds like heaven to me!

Everyone has their go-to staples in life. When I am out Thrifting I have my go to items that I buy hands down every time I find them. Everyone's are going to be different. By discovering what you gravitate toward you can determine what inspires your personal style.

These are the things that I will buy even if I have 10 in my garage already (which I probably do…)

1. Ornate Frames.

Really I know that you were SHOCKED that this is my #1…NOT. So why? Why do I feel the need to buy every cool frame that I find? Because they make me happy. I can talk about how they bring back memories of my grandmothers (cause they do) but mostly I love how they can hold their own. How you can group them and even when they are super different they all go together so well. I love how they bring a bit of class to a space that has old wood and bright colors in it. So what are some things that you can do with frames?

Well, like I did in my Master Bedroom you can do a grouping, you don’t even need to put anything inside them!

Its quite inexpensive to have mirror cut to fit inside. I spray painted all of these ones Krylon Gloss White and have them hanging floor to ceiling in my entryway.

And then you can take it a step further and make your own Anthro knock off acid mirror if you are feeling brave (its not that scary!)

2. Random Statues and Such. I love when you see a room design and at first glance you love it but then you see something that throws it off a little and makes it quirky. And then you love it more. Look for things that are strange-ish but still have good lines. Animals are good. And anything that is green glass comes home immediately.

Check out all the random goodness on the Custom Shelves that I built at Hailee’s for less than $30!

These copper circles in my newly updated entryway are spools of some sort. And I totally love the shoe form.

3. Lamps and lighting. Yet again another shocker, unless you have never read my Look What I Found Friday Lamp Hoarder Edition. If I see a great lamp I seriously consider buying it, and if there is a pair I ALWAYS buy them. So what makes a great lamp? Usually brass are the first thing that catches my eye, but when you are out thrifting usually the ones that have the HUGE shades on them are the ones that you want. And any chandelier that has potential and a great price tag is so going home with me. My best score ever was the ginorm chandelier that I painted purple for my entry way that was only $15.00. That was once in a lifetime I think. Bummer.

This one was a Re Store score that we used in Hailee’s. You can see the full tutorial here.

I LOVE this brass beauty that I used in the Epic Room Makeover Giveaway.

4. Chairs, chairs, chairs. Its safe to say a chair or 2 is probably what I will be buried with one day. (Mostly because my hubs will want to get rid of them so bad.) A chair has the ability to bring SO much to a room design. You may not want to upholster your couch with funky fabric but using it on a chair has the same type of impact without all of the commitment. I look for chairs that are in good shape, or can easily be repaired. I look for something that can be made to work in whatever room I want. (Since I don’t usually NEED them at the moment, they have to be flexible in their style.)

You can see more info on the store that I am at here.

Ok now don’t judge me. BUT this is a pic of the chairs that I sold at my Hoard Sale. I saved the very best ones for my garage…since that’s where they still are. But I am going to tell you just like I tell my husband daily, I will be using them…..sometime. Also, can you believe that every single one of these chairs sold in less than 2 hours?! When it gets closer to garage sale season I will have a killer post for you!

5. Anything that speaks to you. Depending on the project that I am working on I am on the look out for different things. Right now I am looking for lots of old doors and door knobs. You want to have an idea of what you are looking for, but don’t be so set in your design idea that there isn't room to let it evolve. Also if you live in Southern Utah and have any doors let me know!

This anorexic lion coat of arms is probably the most random thing that I HAD to buy.

It took me a few months but I found the perfect spot for it in my Master Bedroom.

So now that you know WHAT to look for make sure you read 10 Secrets From A Thrifting Goddess where I tell you HOW to find them!

My Life Is BUSY!

noreply@blogger.com (Mandi @ Vintage Revivals) — Wed, 18 Jan 2012 15:57:00 +0000

Good Morning!! I just wanted to pop in and let you guys know that I am still alive (HOORAY!) I am trying to get my feet back underneath me after a whirlwind weekend trip to SLC to attend the most amazing photography workshop by Emilie.

It was so fun to see some of my very favorite bloggers. (L to R Kari, Emilie, Amy, Me, Lara)

I have the COOLEST project ever finished and I am so anxious to show you!! But first I have to hurry and repaint Dylan’s bedroom…I know you are shocked.

Until then here is a sneak peek…its not what you think it is.

I have also been working on a ton of backend stuff for the Epic Room Makeover Giveaway Contest (read with a booming voice) so keep your fingers crossed that it will all work out and I will possibly be coming to your house!!

Ok, I think that’s it as far as crap that I am doing that makes it so I cant write a real post. Have a good day!!

The Birth of My Southwest Inspiration: Jewelmint

noreply@blogger.com (Mandi @ Vintage Revivals) — Wed, 11 Jan 2012 19:00:00 +0000

This is a Sponsored post written by me on behalf of Jewelmint for SocialSpark. All opinions are 100% mine.

So remember my obsession with all things Southwest? Well, it started when my friend Lara blogged about a new jewelry website a few months ago. The pieces that she highlighted were so amazing that I immediately signed up to be a member. The recommendations that I was given completely reminded me of my Native roots. Sometimes that is all you need, a little reminder. You never know where inspiration will strike so let me introduce you to JewelMint!

Fashion Icon and Actress Kate Bosworth (p.s. I have loved her ever since Blue Crush!) teamed up with Hollywood's Stylist of the year Char Coulter and started this super luxurious and totally affordable jewelry line!

Jewelry is such a fun way to bring some quirk and personality to your outfit. ( I love bracelets and earrings the very most and Jewelmint has some seriously awesome ones!!)

You know I love me a good personality profile test right? That is exactly what you do when you become a member of JewelMint. Top recommendations are made by stylists based on your fashion style and personality. Who doesn't want their own stylist and jewelry that totally "gets" them?!

And here is the best part. Each piece is only $29.99!

So want to see my FAVORITE?!

So perfect for me right!? I love the natural rattan weave and the GOLD!!

Here are some other must haves:

So now that you are itching for some beautiful new jewelry, here is the best part....You can use the code JLSS50 for 50% off one item! (Valid through 1/31/12). That is less than $15.00 and that is a KILLER price.

So get your cuteness over there and sign up!

And I want to know what kind of jewelry lover you are!

Amazing New Wall Treatment!

noreply@blogger.com (Mandi @ Vintage Revivals) — Wed, 11 Jan 2012 15:45:00 +0000

I love creative people.

I love when I get project emails from creative people.

I love when I say outloud “OH MY GOSH!” when I get project emails from creative people.

This is one of those stories.

I just had to share with you guys this amazing wall project from Dana @ Make Them Wonder.

Aren’t you DYING? So make sure you jump over to Dana’s and tell her that she is amazing!!

Obsessed: Strange Design Ideas I Am Crushing On.

noreply@blogger.com (Mandi @ Vintage Revivals) — Mon, 09 Jan 2012 15:00:00 +0000

Usually I am pretty secretive about the designs that I have up the sleeves in my brain. But I am DYING over my new living room design and I thought that I would see who was on the band wagon and who thinks I might be going a little too far…(FYI its not going to change my mind either way, I am just curious.) If you want to see what my living room looks like right now you can Tour My Home.

Also this is not a joke. I am FOR REAL obsessed with this stuff right now. Please don’t unsubscribe to Vintage Revivals for fear that I suck. You really need to stick around to see how this all turns out!

Southwest.

I’m bringin’ Southwest back. (Sung to the tune by Mr. Timberlake)

Yes you heard that right. SOUTHWEST. I love it!! Backstory. My whole entire childhood was spend idolizing my Grandpa. He loved everything Native American and so of course I did too. I am so excited to have found a way to bring it into my house! Check out this picture of our family cabin I took this summer:

I cannot wait to show you how I am using it in my living room!!

Patchwork Denim.

About 6 months ago my Mother in Law introduced me to the Serena and Lily catalog. Holy amazing bedding. But the thing that stood out so strongly to me was this patchwork denim wall hanging. I think I have finally figured out a way to bring old denim into my space.

Wood Grain and Plywood.

Dudes. You know I love me a good wood grain. Remember my awesome Faux Bois glitter lampshade?

And the amazing bicycle art in my entryway?

Well I just finished a cool project for my now 3 yr old that is going to knock your socks off! Hopefully I will be able to reveal it in the next week or so…cause you know I have to repaint all of the walls in her bedroom first right?!

So what do you think?

And more importantly are there any strange design trends that you are crushing on?!

Master Bedroom Before and After

noreply@blogger.com (Mandi @ Vintage Revivals) — Fri, 06 Jan 2012 18:57:00 +0000

My master bedroom has been “in the works” for a while. I started stenciling it in June, and installing board and batten in September. One mistake that I think so many people do that make things more complicated and frustrating is that they become so SET in a color palette or design scheme that they don’t let the room design flow organically. This room makeover is the PERFECT example of that.

Are you ready for the ultimate before and after?!! Here is the Before Before…Like from the MLS listing when we bought our house…:

Sick Nasty, right?!

If you want to see more of the NASTY MLS listing that I fell in love with you can click here.

This is what it looked like after we moved in and how things are in my real life and fixed it up a little…and by fixed up I mean got rid of that diseased carpet.

Originally the room was going to be Coral and Navy and Gold. That is it. Nothing else. I was struggling a little trying find fabric that matched the Coral Mirrored Dresser (Krylon Coral Isle). I had an impossible time trying to find something that was Navy AND Coral. Like IMPOSSIBLE. There was none.

So what is a girl to do? I went to the DI (Utah’s version of the Goodwill) and looked in the women's clothing section. Did you know that you can find some really great fabric at the Thrift Store? Most long skirts or dresses have at least a yard or 2.

When I saw this skirt I KNEW it was perfect for the space. No it was not Coral and Navy. BUT it had Coral and Navy in it as well as a ton of other true bright colors. It was exactly what I needed to bring more life to the room.

So I made it into pillows!

(All of the other fabric for the pillows is from Joann’s and the pillow forms are basically stolen they were so cheap. The white duvet and fuchsia sheet are from Target. The green throw is from Homegoods.

Using this fabric TOTALLY opened up my entire color scheme which I LOVE!! The stencil is amazing right?! You can see a full tutorial on how to stencil your walls here. If you have a large space to fill lining large pictures up is a great way to fill the space. And the coat of arms throws it off balance a little and makes it way more interesting.

Here is the before of that wall:

Did you notice that I spray painted my bed frame brass? I used Krylon Metallic in Brass.

On the opposite wall I used the mirror that used to hang in my entryway.

You guys know that I am OBSESSED with awesome frames and buy them any time I see one. I have accumulated quite the collection so I hung the board and batten so that I could show them off. Its like a mixture of a gallery wall and specimen art of awesomeness.

Here is a before of that wall..

I used basic white curtains from Ikea and hung them really high on the wall. This makes the windows seem much bigger. Just make sure if you do this that your curtains are long enough to touch or puddle on the floor. Personally, I love a good puddle.

I found the nightstands at Homegoods on clearance, and you can see the full tutorial on how to make the hanging pendant lights here.

And don’t you LOVE that giant horse head?! I found that at Homegoods also.

The before of this chair deserves an award. Don’t you think?

Now for some fun shots.

Pretty fab. Very colorful and COMPLETELY Mandilicious.

If you have any questions leave them in the comments, hope you have a great weekend!

Moen Twist Giveaway Winner

noreply@blogger.com (Mandi @ Vintage Revivals) — Thu, 05 Jan 2012 16:28:00 +0000

Hooray hooray!! I love announcing giveaway winners!

But first. I need to once again tell you guys how much I LOVE my Moen Twist showerhead. When I did the first post I had used it a couple of times, but now that I have had it up for a few weeks I LOVE IT! Like it makes me want to shower more…which is not usually on the top of the priority list for a DIYer, you know what I mean right!?

Ok without further adieu the winner of the Twist Showerhead is entry #172:

Kelly said

RAOK: Paid for the person's order in the drive-thru behind me.

Congrats Kelly! You have 48 hours to email me with your address!

How To Make A Custom Pendant Light

noreply@blogger.com (Mandi @ Vintage Revivals) — Tue, 03 Jan 2012 18:21:00 +0000

UPDATE: You can see the entire room reveal here!

I love custom lighting, don’t you? Like love love love it. When I was finishing up my Master Bedroom (that will be unveiled later this week) I needed lights for my nightstands. I knew that I wanted them to be symmetrical but the dilemma that I ran into is that I already had 2 symmetrical lamps on my dresser. It was just too matchy. Blech.

So I did what I always do. I thought about what the PERFECT light would look like if I could have exactly what I wanted. You do this don’t you? When you decorate you need to dream and feel the space. Then let your DIYing get to work.

I decided that I wanted to jump outside the lamp box after all I wanted LIGHTING, not a lamp.

I knew that if I was going to hang something in front of the window it needed to still let natural light in. So I went to my favorite store in the world Homegoods and bought 2 identical glass urns. Its sort of hard to understand how big they are. My head could easily fit inside on. And I have a big head…

If you wanted to do this with ones that didn’t match that would be totally awesome too, just make sure you have more than 2. So, it would be great above the counter in your kitchen where you have pendant lights….just saying.

I found 2 matching lights at Home Depot that were on MAD clearance (less than $10.00 each) that I used the hanging hardware from. I could have used the entire thing (Hardware, electrical etc.) but I wanted to use an Edison bulb and these lights had a FUNKY socket that only takes special bulbs with prongs…. So that was added cost and labor that most of you probably wont have to deal with.

If you need to rewire it, here is how you do it. If you don’t, hang tight through these next few steps!

You will need a hanging light kit and a socket.

I had 2” holes drilled in the bottom of the glass because I am an idiot. YOU DO NOT NEED HOLES THIS BIG!!!!!!! You only need a 1/2” hole to fit the small rod. This is how to drill through glass.

Take your socket and screw it onto the threaded rod then attach the hanging bar. (Normally this bar is used when you are attaching it to the ceiling but I needed something to keep the socket on since my hole was so dang big). BUT even if you have a small hole I would recommend doing this or something like it. The glass jars are really heavy and it helps distribute the weight a little better.

Then you are going to wire your socket. The instructions are very simple and included in the packaging. If you are concerned you can always hire an electrician. But you should be totally fine!

Once your socket is wired you have this:

With the cord coming out of the bottom, sorry I missed that in the shot!

Next you are simply going to put all of the components together. Super easy!

And make sure that it works before you hang it!

Don’t I have the best husband in the world?

I sort of wanted the vintage bulb to be the star of the show. You can buy bulbs like this at Home Depot or Lowes for around $10. Pretty pricy but SO worth it!!

And make sure to check out all of my other unique tutorials if you need more lighting ideas in the Project Graveyard!