Ohh Baby!

A Little Friday Humor

2012-02-24T06:40:00.000-08:00

Saw this on facebook and it is so true! Especially living in almost walking distance from a Target. I am sure it will be even worse once the SuperTarget transformation is finished and I try to grocery shop there! Figured probably 99% of you can relate!

Happy Friday, friends!

DIY Thursday: In This House

2012-02-23T12:13:00.000-08:00

Its DIY Thursday!

Today's project shows how I used EAD Designs Vinyl to spruce up our closet makeover that I did last weekend! It was the perfect touch. Head on over to EAD Designs to see how I did it!

Coat Closet Reveal!

2012-02-20T13:47:00.000-08:00

Hey guys!

So I know I had said I hoped to post the coat closet reveal yesterday, but we got 8 inches of snow and I was too busy ~~acting like a little kid~~ enjoying it to blog. But the closet was finished on Saturday evening! I am in love with the way it turned out! Here are the final steps and the reveal!

So Saturday morning I repainted all of the trim and shelves in the closet so that it would look fresh and clean.

Here is our little home made shelf painted white. I love the way that the trim on the front looks!

Next came the process or arranging things so that the closet is still functional and holds things that need to be in there. Fortunately I had that cute lime green tin bucket to help hold/hide a few items. This was really important to me. Storage space is at a premium on our main floor and I did not want to make this useless space.

Next came the coats and the cat. But she did not stay in there. :)

Now you will notice the white support board for the top shelves goes to the front on both sides.

I wanted to make this space functional as well. Usually when we come in my purse gets tossed in the floor or on a kitchen chair. So I got two Oil Rubbed Bronze coat/purse/hat hooks and mounted one on each side of the closet.

Next, our closet tends to be very dark, especially if you are trying to get something out of it at night. There is no light in there nor is there a good way to run electrical to it. The next most logical thing....tap lights! I got two of these in a pack from walmart.

I mounted them to the wall using two-sided adhesive strips. These are the off-brand walmart ones. Update: I will rectify my mistake and go purchase command strips shortly. These suckers don't hold at all! The lights have fallen off of the wall multiple times.

I simply stuck the lights about waist high on the inside of the closet.

You may not be able to tel here, but they cast a lot more light into the closet.

Look how happy and warm :)

Now came the time for the shoes. I put all of my little flats and flip flops in that banana leaf basket on the shelf. I also placed my boots here. My husbands larger shoes go under the shelf and are neatly lined up here :)

I placed a purse on each hook. The plan once it becomes hat weather is to free up one of these hooks for my husband's hats.

I love the contrast of the ORB hooks with the lime green wall. And they are perfect for my purse! Just sturdy enough. No more purse in the floor!

I had this cute wall quote sitting around waiting for the perfect place. I figured ideally we should look in here every day so it would be a fun little reminder. I will share this step in more detail at DIY Thursday!

It is so cute!

This shot gives you an idea of how much light the tap lights give off at night in the dark. They were the perfect solution!

So there you have it, our amazing re-done coat closet. I think I am in love. Fallen over boot and all.

Hatbox Makeover

2012-02-19T08:14:00.000-08:00

You may remember that red and pink Victoria's Secret Hatbok that was peeking out of our messy closet?

I decided to give it a little makeover to make it more fitting to the new closet look! I had this roll of green and white striped vinyl contact paper that I got on clearance at Michael's last year for 50 cents.

To wrap the lid, I covered the top first and then used little trips like this and wrapped the edges. Sorry for the lack of photos of this part. I realized halfway in that I wanted to take pictures!

This is what the wrapped lid looked like.

Next I cut pieces and began to wrap the sides of the box itself folding some over the top and under the bottom.

This is what the bottom looked like when I was finished with the sides. I could have left it this way but I really didn't want to worry about it peeling off.

So I layed another piece of the contact paper over the bottom.

And then I very carefully cut around just inside of the edge.

It ended up a little bit wrinkly but it did the trick!

And now I have this super cute hat box that matches the made over closet perfectly!

This was such an easy project! I can't wait to share the rest of the closet makeover with you guys! It is coming along so well!

Spontaneous Renovation

2012-02-18T08:04:00.000-08:00

Hey guys!

I have been a little out of my DIY mode lately. Mostly just feeling very passive. But as I mentioned before, I have gotten SO sick of having to shut our coat closet really quickly so that nothing falls out. Or feeling embarrassed when someone opens it. Meet our mess. (Just keepin it real people.)

It had become a catchall for seasonal decor items. As well as an old VS hat box and a million other items. It also has had to hold some of the less-used kitchen items because we have a Galley kitchen with limited storage.

There were two coat bars, which initially I thought was a neat feature because it is such a deep closet but now I see that is not really necessary. And don't you love our menagerie of mismatched hangers and things in there? I mean it is a normal coat closet I suppose, but there is nothing special about it.

The only thing holding me back has been that I have wanted really cute storage to organize it but have not wanted to shell out the moolah to buy said storage. Yesterday I was in Ross and found Banana Leaf baskets (the ones I had been dreaming of!) for $5 a piece for the small ones and $8 for the big one! I may have to go back and get one more big one because that is a DEAL! But I am going to wait to see if I need one. So once I got home from Ross I began to work on a mood board for the closet. And then I decided just to make a photoshop illustration.

Pretend those ovals at the bottom are shoes. and our coats are all so nice and coordinated ;) Anyway, I decided to get right down to bidness. So I emptied out the bottom first. Initially I was only going to paint the wall under the shelf.

So I taped off that wall.

And I painted it in Glidden Lime Sorbet. I had gotten a free quart of this paint a while back and had some sitting around in the workshop. Nothing better than free!

While waiting for this to dry I took down the front bar. It was redundant but also hindering my short self from reaching the top wall, which I had decided to paint.

I also lifted the not nailed down shelves off so that I could reach easier.

Once I finished painting the top part of the wall, I was glad I did. I really like the way that it turned out. So I peeled off the tape and voila.

Now that I had removed the front bar, the back bar felt too far back. Fortunately there were holes where the bar used to be about 2 inches farther forward.

So I simply unscrewed the screws and moved it forward. Easy peasy! Now the coats won't scrape against the painted wall! I plan to go back and paint the trim wood white so I was not worried about how that looked.

With the shelves back in, it looked last night like I did a different color above the shelf. I can assure you I didn't! It was just the shadow created by the lamp I was using.

Now for that little shoe shelf at the bottom of the closet. This was super easy and we already had everything that I needed! I simply got a piece of thinner wood and cut two pieces a foot long. Yes I used the miter saw all by myself. I was so proud!

And then I took a leftover piece of plywood type board that we had and cut it to 13.1 inches, the width of the closet. It was already a foot wide (which is why I cut my boards to one foot).

I knew I wanted the shef approximately one foot off of the ground, so I stood my board up and drew a line at the end of it.

Next I leveled my board so the top edge of it was lined with my line and was flush to the wall.

I drilled four holes and screwed four longer screws to hold it in place. This is not intended to be a bench or anything that can bear extremely heavy loads so I did not see the need for any sort of anchors.

I reapeated this on the other side and this is what it looked like:

(Sorry for the suddenly terrible photo quality. It was late!) I simply layed my piece of wood across the two supports and tacked it there with a thinner nail on either side. The top ones are not nailed down at all and it really is not necessary, but i didn't want it sliding around. next I found a piece of scrap trim that we had in the workshop and cut it the same width as the shelf.

Because I didn't have any finishing nails, I decided to use liquid nails, which I like better anyway. More instand gratification. Unfortunately, the bottle was jammed so I had to wait for my husband to get home and use his brute strength to squeeze some out for me.

I pressed the trim against the raw front edge of the plywood and held it tightly for about 5 minutes until the liquid nails set. This stuff is like super glue on crack!

Overall I am so happy with the way it has turned out so far!

So that is where I stopped last night. Today I will finish painting all of the white and then put the closet together and add finishing touches. I hope to have a reveal for you this evening or tomorrow!

DIY Thursday: Days Until Countdown

2012-02-16T12:10:00.001-08:00

Its DIY Thursday!

Today's project is a little motivator to get through the winter blues. It is super easy and super cheap! Head on over to EAD Designs to see how I did it!

Thrifty Organizing!

2012-02-15T07:42:00.000-08:00

So while browsing Pinterest one day, I saw something that I thought was BRILLIANT so I decided to try it and share with you guys!

I am working on organizing (I use the term "working" loosely!) the closets in our home. I recently did the one in my husbands office. We have a variety of spare cords that were all heaped into a shoebox and I transferred them to this clear plexiglass bin and put a label on it. Much better than the shoebox, but the cords were still a tangled mess.

So I russled up some old wrapping paper tubes.

And Toilet paper rolls. These are the preferable size, but I did not have enough to I cut my tubes down to size. I will gradually replace the jagged tube pieces with the TP rolls.

Next I just took my cords and folded them neatly. Like this: (Please excuse that my camera did something weird and made my hand look like a 90 year old)

And then I carefully inserted them into the rolls and lined them up in the bin.

I filled the gaps with empty tubes for now so everything would stay neatly.

I am really happy with the way it turned out! It is a great system for organizing using something that you already have!

Does anyone else have any great ideas for organizing without spending money? Next up I plan to tackle the Laundry Room "closet" (It is really more of a large storage shelf niche with a curtain over it) and the coat closet. They are bad people! I need ideas!

Happy Valentine's Day!

2012-02-14T10:17:00.000-08:00

I hope you all are having a fabulous Valentine's Day! My sweet hubby sent me some flowers to work (home). I am so blessed!

Do you have any fun plans? Has your significant other done anything super sweet for you? I know we should show love 365 days of the year, but it is so fun to have one day that we devote to showing people that we care.

Happy Valentine's Day my blog friends!

Fabulous Friday #20!

2012-02-10T13:55:00.000-08:00

Its Fabulous Friday!

And I am so glad! I hope to spend some of my weekend getting some much needed organizing done around this place! I would do the whole V-day decorations thing, but its a little too late for the effort now. I would love to see what you guys have done! Link away!

Please don't forget the button!

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DIY Thursday: Mixer Love

2012-02-09T12:12:00.000-08:00

Its DIY Thursday!

Today's project is a fun way to spice up the kitchen! I love our KitchenAid mixer. Head on over to EAD Designs to see how I used vinyl to add some pizzaz!

I may have reached a new money-saving low!

2012-02-09T10:44:00.000-08:00

Okay I know that many of you may think I am weird after reading this post. But I can't not share it because it was such as awesome deal! As many of you know, I am working on a Master's degree at Liberty University right now. I use Amazon to purchase my textbooks so I have an Amazon student prime account (FREE two day shipping on anything Prime eligible!) They also have this fun little program where when you are done with your books you can trade them in for Amazon credit. They give you a little more than if you were to just try to sell your books. But it is only Amazon credit.

So I typically just sell back books and use that money to order books for the next class. But last time I traded in a few extra older books so I got way more than I really needed. I decided to try to use some of my credit for something practical that we spend money on but I hate spending money on. I decided to look up toilet paper. On Amazon. I know...total weirdo right? Or Hermit? But I am so glad I did! See...we are particularly fond of Cottonelle. Problem is that it is not the cheapest brand. But! Toilet paper is just one of those things that you should not cheap out on. Things can get ugly fast.

So I was browsing and found that on Amazon, you can get 4 12-roll packs for $30. With free shipping! Usually a 12 pack is about $10-12 depending on the store and if it is on sale. So I figured what the heck, why not! And this bad boy came today:

I am sure the UPS man thought we were nuts. Or hermits. But Indy didn't!

Holy toilet paper! We won't be buying it for a while. But when we do, you better believe I will be Amazon-ing it again! Now if only we had a big pantry....

DIY Thursday will be up in just a bit! Its supah cute and supah easy! Just wanted to share my weirdness with you friends. And possibly inspire you to save $10-15 bucks on the best toilet paper ever!

Weird topic of the week...What is your preference? GO!

Coffee Table Makeover Part 1

2012-02-07T13:56:00.000-08:00

So I finally got around to starting that coffee table makeover! In case you missed it, about 7 months ago, we found this little baby on the side of the road. For fa-ree! Just a few houses down! So we lugged it into our basement and I have always had the intentions of redoing it. At first glance it does not look so bad.

However, there were a ton of scratches and dents in the top as you can see in the photos below. It also just happened to be stained the same color as our floors. Like camo!

Great shape though! The TV tables that we have in our den are a black satin finish, so that is the tables soon-to-be new hue!

Now on to the dirty part that I put off for a long while. I got a can of paint stripper. ~~Dirty minds.~~

This stuff is highly toxic, so if you use it be sure to wear safety goggles and chemical safe gloves. I also wrapped a scarf around my face so I wouldn't breathe any in.

You spray a heavy coat on the table and let it sit for 15 minutes. When you return it should look all bubbly.

Then all you have to do it use a scraper and it just sort of comes off in a sludge. I ended up having to go back and spot do this because some areas ~~the inch of poly~~ were thicker.

At the end of the day, this is what the table was looking like. Still little bits of the old finish but FAR less than if I had to sand all of that poly and stain off!

Next step is to use my brand new mouse! to sand off the remaining finish and get out any imperfections. I have actually started this process, but it is slow moving and I don't have significant pieces of time to devote to it. I am hoping to have the table done by the end of the week.

Stay tuned for part two!

Sorry!

2012-02-06T06:00:00.000-08:00

So sorry for the absence, friends! I have still not been feeling well at all, so I have been taking it a little easier on the activities. I am so sorry I never even got around to posting Fabulous Friday! I have just felt so drained over the last week or so. I do have a couple of projects to share when I can glue my butt to my chair long enough to do them! I also FINALLY started the coffee table! I have some progress pictures to post as well. I have missed you guys, really!

I have a follow up appointment with my doctor today to run more tests and see if we can figure out what is going on. Thank you for all of the sweet words and prayers!

DIY Thursday: Wrought Iron Artwork

2012-02-02T15:27:00.000-08:00

Its DIY Thursday!

Today's project shows another easy way to use vinyl to spruce up an akward space. Head on over to EAD Designs to see how!

Even the Best Laid Plans...

2012-01-30T19:52:00.000-08:00

So, I know the past like...million weekends I have talked about getting that coffee table re-do done. And this weekend truly was going to do it. Friday night at dinner I was plotting to my parents how I was dragging that puppy into the back yard to TCB (Take Care of Business) in the morning. It would be a new table by Saturday night.

After dinner, I wanted to run in TJ Maxx. I hadn't been in forever, and I was in need of a cheap canister for a little project that I want to do. But mostly I just wanted to oodle over the stuff! My dad also loves TJ Maxx, and my hubby had to work, so I invited Daddy to go with me.

On the way over, I started to feel a little funny. Like a pain in my pelvis. Once I got there and we walked around a little, I decided to use the restroom to see if I felt any better. By the time I made it back to my dad at the back of the store (we were only two aisles in!) I was having a sharp pain in my neck and chest and feeling really dizzy. So I told Dad I really needed to sit down for a second. He helped me over to a lovely chaise lounge that I am sure someone will love and then WHAM!

I don't know what happened. All I know is I was shaking, sweating, my chest was on fire and I felt like I could not breathe. I have never been so scared in my life. He helped me over to another lounge that was more laid back to see if I could pull myself together, but all I could think of was "This is it. I am dying." I know in retrospect that may have been dramatic but at the time, I felt like I was having a heart attack and that was it. I have never had an experience where I truly thought my life was over. It really is eye-opening. But we will get to that in uno momento.

So as I got more scared, my dad was talking to my mom (who is a nurse) on the phone about what was going on. I feel so bad because I am sure he felt so hopeless. I finally told him to call 911. So many sweet people came over and offered help. One lady laid her hand on me and prayed for me. (Lady, if you read this, please comment. I have no idea who you are but you brought me so much peace!) Ambulance came and took my vitals. They said I seemed stable, but wanted me to take a ride to the ER just to be safe. Talk about embarrassing, being carried out of your fav store on a stretcher on a Friday night!

So my dad followed the ambulance and my husband, mom and baby sis met us at the ER. Things kind of settled down once I was there, but I was still having headaches, chest pain and vertigo. They ran a million tests and kept us there from 7pm until about 3am. We still have no idea what happened. All I know is that I have been SO tired and that I still have mild chest pain, bad headaches and a little vertigo. I thought maybe it was anxiety so I had taken anxiety meds that my doctor gave me just in case, but they don't seem to make it go away. I am supposed to have a follow-up visit with my normal doc so I will keep you guys posted!

This whole experience has made me want to change so many things. I want to stop living for tomorrow. For the next project. For the next job or big raise. I want to live life now. If I feel like I want to do something, I need to just do it! I need to make smarter choices with my health. I need to get more rest. I need to worry more about God's agenda than my own. I need to draw close to him, because ultimately some day I will have to leave this world and with God is where I want to be! I want to enjoy my husband and where we are at right now. Not looking forward to the next big stage. Things will happen when the time is right. I want to leave dirty dishes in the sink so that I can enjoy an hour of TV or game time. If money is tight, that is life. I don't want to stress or argue over it.

I want to make time for friends and game nights. I want long talks over good meals or coffee. I want to make time for family. I am truly blessed with the greatest parents, siblings, sibling-in-laws, and in-laws in the world. I would not trade one single person. I love you all. I want to make a conscious effort to see each other more. Our family has been through a lot the last few months. I want to enjoy every second that I have with every one. I especially want to make time for my grandfather. He is sick and he needs his family now more than ever. I want to cherish these moments and memories that we get to make with him.

I want to love my job. Life is too short to hate what you do. If you hate it, find something you love. Fortunately, I do love my job. And if you don't love your job, and can't leave it, make the most out of it! I want to always look for the positive. I want my coworkers to feel valued and respected by me.

In general, I just want to devote time to things that matter. Things that I love. No more wasting time stressing. If I want to craft, I will craft. If I want to blog, I will blog. If I want to pull a piece of furniture off the side of the road, I will do it. If I want to cuddle my husband on the couch for a while instead of homework, I will do it.

But I also gotta get my health back to normal. Please pray that I can kick these pesky symptoms and get back to normal! That being said, I am sorry if I am a little slow on the project-sharin this week! Thanks for understanding! And thanks for reading this WHOLE post! (If you are still here!)

Fabulous Friday # 19!

2012-01-27T07:29:00.000-08:00

Its Fabulous Friday!

I don't know about you guys, but this week was a tiring one for me. Not really sure why but it felt like it drug! I can't remember being so happy for a weekend! Can't wait to see what you guys have for me this week! I hope to actually get around to that table this weekend! We will see!

Please don't forget the button!

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DIY Thursday: Custom Wall Quote

2012-01-26T09:33:00.000-08:00

Its DIY Thursday!

Today's project is so simple and only takes about 10-15 minutes! This is the final piece to our living room makeover! (Other than possible trim) I also introduced the Design Center for custom vinyl Head on over to EAD Designs to see how!

Green with Envy: Master Bedroom Curtains

2012-01-25T15:12:00.000-08:00

Alright...we have storage! So if you read last week's Fabulous Friday, you know that I was hoping for nice weather so that I could refinish our free roadside find coffee table? Well this is what I got:

A rainy, "icy," dreary weekend with a headache and a sore throat. So no outside and no painting. But the weekend was not a total wash. I was able to get a few other things that I have been putting off taken care of. And I had this little cutey to help me:

I may just frame that one. She looks so cute on my damask chair! I had a big helper too, but he does not love being photographed so alas, there are no photos of him. :) But he was a big help!

When we bought our house, the previous owners also took all of the curtain rods, and left us with bare windows and holes. I did not so much mind the bare windows but the holes in the wall drive me batty.

And the crack in the wall? Yeah someday we will patch that and repaint the room. It really could use a new coat of paint, but I am painted out!

I have been wanting to put curtains in our bedroom for a long time but have never actually gotten around to doing it. Until a few weeks ago my sister gave me two deep green curtain panels that she did not need any more. They are the EXACT same shade of green that is around the edge of our bedspread. Score! So I hopped my little self down to WalMart and got some $3 Oil Rubbed Bronze cafe rods. They are just the right size. I was not really too concerned with a fancy rod, I like the simplicity of them actually.

My sweet hubby did the hanging. Here is what we got! The photos do not do them justice, our room photographs weird anyway but the dreary rainy outside did not really help with the natural light. Maybe one nice sunny day I will try to get better photos :)

I did not bother to make sure the curtain hung perfectly. Sorry! Again, sore throat and head.

I plan to get curtain ties or hooks to pull them back like this:

I just haven't done it yet. But I will! And when I do, you will be the first to know! Well...maybe after Michael...

By the way, I cannot wait to show you guys this week's DIY Thursday! I finally was able to finish up the livingroom! :) (Well aside from the trim work I would love to do in there, but that is not in the near future).

Error!

2012-01-25T10:00:00.000-08:00

Well, friends. I have several projects that I want to share with you but I have been having errors uploading photos this week. I just did some homework and realized that I have run out of photo storage space. I am working on it, but I may not get to post any of my lovely projects today! :(

I just wanted to let you know I was not dead! ;)

Fabulous Friday #18!

2012-01-20T06:24:00.000-08:00

Its Friday and its fabulous! I don't know about you guys, but this has been a really long week for me. My classes just started up for the semester, I have been super busy and then my husband and I have been trading sickness. Friday never looked so sweet!

I am hoping if the weather permits to refinish our free coffee table (The one we found on the side of the road this summer!) this weekend. With the semester back in swing, my husband will be working some this weekend and it just seems like now is the time! Unless it is freezing or rainy....in which case I will table this project yet again. Har har! I really need to organize...so we will see.

Annnnywho....can't wait to see what you guys have been up to this week! Any Valentine's projects? I have not been able to motivate myself to do them yet. It could be because I feel like we just reclaimed the house from Christmas! If it is anything like last year, I will whip something up Feb 10th!

Please don't forget the button!

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DIY Thursday: Established Sign Wall Art!

2012-01-19T14:27:00.000-08:00

Its DIY Thursday!

Today's project is so simple and only takes about 5 minutes! It is an easy pick-me-up to a plain wall or entryway! Head on over to EAD Designs to see how!

Living Room Reveal!

2012-01-18T19:41:00.000-08:00

Okay so I know it has been a week or two since we finished putting the living room back together, but I wanted to do an official reveal on here since things are finally just about all back in place. I really am so happy with the way it has turned out!

Here is our new gallery wall. Similar elements to the old one, just laid out better, more centered on the wall and the cute little plate is new.

Here is the view from the hallway. Love the mantle and mirrors!

New pillows, and a cute little kitty :)

Don't you just want to squeeeeeeze her?

But this is what she has done to our poor plant. We are working on it. Just hang in there plant!

You have to love that face. and she is part of the living room :)

Okay anyways. Sorry! Just love the squishy little baby. :) Please don't mind the Christmas Tree still on the mirror. I am working on it.

I also got that blanket basket on clearance at Wal Mart and using a duplicate gift return, so free! I love having a place to neatly store blankets that is accessible but still stylish.

So there you have it, our new living room. Everything feels so much more put together, bright and airy!

No More Closed Doors!

2012-01-17T08:32:00.000-08:00

I know it is a little late for "resolutions" and I will not call this that because most resolutions are not kept. Not that I am 100% positive I will keep this one, but it can't hurt to start out strong right? Good.

So we have this nasty little habit of allowing rooms to get messy. I am sure we are not alone in this. The tendency is to shut the door, which is fine if you have last minute company coming over or something like that. But what I find myself doing is shutting the door to hide the mess from myself. To trick myself into believing that our house is clean and tidy all of the time. The problem is that I keep shutting the door, and never really get at the problem. I mean I do okay with our main living areas, but some rooms just go untouched. The biggest one is the office upstairs. If you walk down our hall on any given day, this is what you will see:

Right there to the right. Here:

Cutting out natural light. I know this picture below doesn't really show it but the hallway is brighter with that door open.

I want to stop shutting doors. I want to stop wasting space in our home. That should be a functional usable room and I need to stop ignoring the clutter. Eventually I would like to get our closets to a point too where if the doors one day just disappeared, I would still be happy with them. That may take a little longer, especially the coat closet! Starting with decluttering the office will be first. And then my office downstairs. And then the workshop. Oh my word that one will be huge. I think I just need to take it one room at a time!

Do any of you find yourself closing doors to hide messes? Do you catch yourself thinking that you do an imperfect but okay job with your house only to come face to face with a mess when you go in to get the checkbook to pay bills or to grab a pen? I HATE it! It is something I need to change :)

Winter Mantle

2012-01-16T10:20:00.000-08:00

I figured I should post this on here before winter is over! I have had our winter mantle up for weeks and just have not gotten around to editing the photos. So without further adieu, here is our winter mantle. I LOVE LOVE LOVE it next to the new paint color and with the mirror windows!

Okay well this is not really the mantle, but the centerpiece on the coffee table. It sort of embodies everything that we are going for with the room for the winter. White and silvers with a slight rustic edge (hence, the pinecones, which I think are so cute).

For the mantle, I wanted to keep it simple and balanced.

I took the cute little glittery bird that I got at Michael's on Black Friday and set him on a silver and tan book. I also placed the quatrefoil vase (that I showed you here) behind that, filled my fav apothecary jar with faux diamonds and glittery silver ornaments and then put some cute little glittered pine cones (from Walmart on post-Christmas clearance!). The silver thing to the right is a shiny mug that I got on clearance and using Kohl's Cash so it was fa-reee!

On this end, we have more pine cones, the little evergreen that I used for our Christmas mantle (I love the contrast of the burlap and rustic with the silver), my little tree forest that I showed you here, some silver ornaments and that awesome silver wood grain frame. I also got that on clearance at Kohl's using Kohl's cash so also free! It was originally a $40 frame but somehow it was dubbed "Christmas" so I got it for $6 (using Kohl's cash). Not complaining! I love it so much. I just need to get a photo for it. But I figured if we waited until I had a 5x7 photo printed you may never see it! ;)

The crystal candlestick holders I have had on our mantle off and on since we moved in. The are Oleg Cassini and I L-o-v-e them. I fell in love with them at TJ Maxx years ago and my sister in law got them for us as a wedding present.

So there it is, window mirrors and all. Such a bright, cheerful mantle! I am really so pleased with it! I want to leave it up year round. Who knows, I just may. Until I get tired of it. Which we all know will happen! :)

Fabulous Friday #17: Napkin Pillows

2012-01-13T08:47:00.000-08:00

Hey guys! Its Fab Friday!

I know that I do not always share a project of my own for Fabulous Friday, but I had this super easy and super cute one that I really wanted to share!

As part of our living room makeover, I wanted to add some fun pillows to brighten the room a bit, but I did not want to spend a fortune. While returning a duplicate Christmas Gift at Belk, I came across these really cute double lined napkins for $4 each on sale. They were PERFECT For the room! And the cream added the brightness that I wanted while the brown matched the curtains perfectly.

Here is the back. I LOVE LOVE LOVE the pattern!

So what you do with these is take a seam ripper:

And you tear out the stitches for a section large enough to fit your hand into.

Then You simply fill it with fluff. I gutted an old pillow that someone gave me for crafting purposes (Ew to sleeping on an old pillow of someone else's)

Hand stitch that hole shut and you have a cute pillow! Easy Peasy!

Here is the back. I made two of them, one for each end of the couch.

Once I am ready, I will do a whole living room post and show you how cute they look in the room! For now, I would love to see what you have been up to!

Please don't forget the button!

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