Mixer Remix

I can say this so many times!!! I absolutely LOVE Pinterest. If you haven't discovered it (aka, become obsessed with it) yet, you MUST. It's completely amazing and feeds my creativity like crazy. This particular project was something that I saw and immediately wanted to do. I followed the tutorial exactly and love the way it turned out. Check it out...
Before - blah



After - just a little jazzed up




Thank you Hello Hydrangea for the awesome idea!

3 Cheap and Easy Projects!

I'm almost finished with our downstairs redecorating. It feels like forever ago that we had our house painted and it's about time that I can finally say it's (almost) complete!
I'm usually such a bargain shopper (and very good at it) but sometimes I just get impatient when looking for something specific for a steal that I just give in and pay full price (gasp!) After we got our house painted, I knew that I was going to have to practice patience when it came to redecorating. (Which should be easy since it took over a year of saving and convincing Matt to agree to change the paint!) And I really wanted to make sure that I loved everything that I bought and/or made. I am so happy with everything so far and can't wait to place the finishing touches. Below are a few of the house projects that I've completed...

Fabric covered corkboard for our desk area in the kitchen...
I removed the glass and ugly picture from the frame, spray painted it white, cut and taped a couple corkboard tiles together, covered them with fabric and glued it into the frame.


Old ugly frame from Goodwill - $4
White spray paint - $1 clearance at Joanns
Fabric remnant from couch pillows - free
Corkboard tiles - $4 after coupon

Yellow side table...
I searched and searched for the perfect round table for next to our chaise and finally found one on clearance at Target. I sanded, primed and painted it yellow.


Table - $25 clearance at Target
Sandpaper and primer - already in my garage
Yellow paint - $2.49 tester from Home Depot in the perfect color I was looking for

Canvas artwork
Stencils are now my new best friend! I love how these turned out.

2 big canvases from Michaels - on sale for $7 each
Stencil from Michaels - $6 after coupon
Leftover yellow paint from my table re-do - free

I'm convinced that you can literally find any kind of decor that you want on any kind of budget...thanks to internet how-to's, coupons and clearance sections!

A New Bow Holder

I've totally been bitten by the crafting bug lately, I can't seem to stop scouring the blogs (of which are endless) and finding fun things to make (again of which are endless!) I have seen these bow holders a million times and felt like it was finally time to make one. During my first trip to Goodwill I found the perfect frame. Then I took out the glass and spray painted it. I added some chicken wire (that we actually had lying around in our garage) and attached it to the back. You are supposed to staple the wire to the back of the frame, but since my frame wasn't real wood, I just duct taped it, shhhh, don't tell :) And of course I couldn't leave the frame empty so I just HAD to make some flower clips. (I made each of them except for the 5 large ones) It's a perfect addition to a bare wall in Allie's room...

Bathroom Re-do

I am so excited that this project is finally complete! I've been wanting to re-do our bathroom for a while now, it was just so blah and boring and there were several things I didn't like. We bought our house 4 years ago, yes, do the math, almost at the top of the housing bubble so we absolutely did not want to put a lot of money into it. It is all builder-grade which is fine, but again, boring. The mirror especially. We actually tried to take it down so I could just put up two large store bought mirrors but that sucker was glued up there so well I was afraid it would really tear apart our drywall. I didn't want a project like that to do. So we just framed it. I can't believe what a difference it made. (And I have to say my mom and I are now pros with a miter saw!) Several months ago Matt was out of town on a very long business trip and I knew that I needed a project to do so that I wouldn't go crazy so I painted the cabinets. And over the past four months or so I have been picking up accessories either on sale or by using a coupon. Today I put the last thing up so it is finally done! Check it out...
Before...

After...
Painted dark chocolate brown cabinets and molding/frame around the mirror, new hardware, baskets and flowers.

New rug and towels. I made the his and hers signs a while ago.

New shelves and accessories

More shelves, candles and flowers

I am also re-doing our family room and kitchen - it is almost done! I am in the mood to change things up and I can't stop!!!

Pillow Re-do

I've had this pillow on our master bed for several months, and while I absolutely love the color and fabric, there was something about I just didn't like. Maybe it was just too plain so I decided to spice it up a little bit and add a white flower to it. There are so many tutorials out there on how to make flowers like these - they involve tupperware, scissors, fire and a needle. Are you intrigued??? They are actually really fun to make. Check it out...

My Thrifty Finds

I have been scouring the thrift stores lately looking for a nightstand for Allie's room. I have something very specific in mind so it's been very hard to find (but hopefully soon I'll find 'it'!) I have a shopping disease where even if I go into a store for one specific thing, I can't help but walk through some other aisles, looking for 'something'. Well, a couple weeks ago I was at Goodwill and found some great things! No, not a nightstand, but these four things cost me $9 TOTAL!...
Metal & bookend - this thing is HEAVY, pure metal - $3

Perfect for the office

White shelf - $3

Little compliment to Allie's new kitchen. I can't figure out if I should leave it white or paint it brown and I need to put some more things on it.

Apple snack cups - $2

I thought these things were absolutely adorable. They are plastic with pretty secure lids. Allie loves using her 'apple cups'

Vintage looking fabric - $1

This was my find of the day. It was a weird cut of fabric, I had NO idea what it was used for and no idea what I was going to do with it but I couldn't pass it up. When I got home, I kept looking at the scalloped bottom and thought it could make a really cute skirt for Allie. So this is what I came up with.

It's hard to tell in the picture but I dyed a thick piece of elastic light pink for the waistband. I think it turned out really cute adn girly. I will post a picture of Allie actually wearing it (because it's even cuter on) but since it's been about 2 degrees outside, we've been living in sweats these days :)

Gotta love Goodwill!

Allie's New (gourmet) Kitchen!!!

Months before Allie turned two I started thinking about what big gift to get her for her birthday. After asking several friends I thought 2 was the perfect age to get a play kitchen. Well, I searched and searched the internet and of course got my heart set on a kitchen from Pottery Barn Kids. I was so picky about what it looked like, especially because it was going to go in the front room of our house, and this PB one was just perfect. The problem?...it would cost over $600! Ya right. (Sorry Allie, we love you just not that much! haha) Well, then I got to thinking, hey my dad is pretty handy and he just got his 'workshop' all set up at their new house in Prescott, maybe he will want to build Allie one? His reply...heck ya! I'm not sure that at the moment he agreed to make her one he really knew what he was getting himself into. After hours and hours and days and weeks and months of planning, building, staining (then re-staining. sorry dad!), painting and putting on the finishing touches, Allie's kitchen is finally done! It is the coolest thing ever and of course she absolutely LOVES it! (I find myself just going to look at it several times a day too because I am just so impressed!) This gift means so much to me and although Allie doesn't appreciate it right now like I know she will in the future, it will be something she will never forget. My grandpa made me a doll house when I was a little girl and I still have it, I'm sure this will be another one of those kinds of pieces. Thank you so much mom and dad for all the hard work you put into this AMAZING kitchen for our little girl(s)!!!

Dodad showing Allie the freezer (yes, it's a Sub Zero:)

The drawer under the oven for her cookie sheets

Cooking on the stove

Washing hands in the (double) sink - lucky girl

Showing Sienna the kitchen - I can't wait for her to be able to play with it too!

Getting some 'ice cream'

I think she likes it :)

Thank you sooooo much Memaw and Dodad!!!

A Little Weekend Project

Remember the chair cushion and bulletain board that I made from a shower curtain for my new sewing area? Well, I had so much leftover fabric that I wanted to use so I bought my first tutorial online to make these fabric balls. They were super easy to make (a little time consuming but simple) and I think they turned out really cute. I definitely want to make more in the future. They added the perfect last touch to this area.

Allie's Big Girl Room!

We finally finished it! After several weeks of painting, shopping (for deals), decorating, putting together, etc, Allie's big girl room is finished. And I absolutely love it! Welcome to Allie's shabby chic cottage...
View from the door...there are four stripes on the walls so each stripe is pretty big, we used the same color but two stripes are in a flat paint and two are in semi gloss. It's hard to tell in the picture but the result is really cool. (if you click on the picture to make it bigger, you can see the stripes a little better) My wonderful husband (who is not handy at all!) painted the whole room by himself and did a great job. I'm so thankful to him for doing it all since the baby and I prefer to stay away from paint fumes right now :)

Close up of the bed

I made all of the decorative pillows in Allie's room, here's a close up of three of them

I found these really cool 3D like flowers that are up in each corner

Matt's parents wonderful friends gave Allie this vanity (they have an 'Ali' too who this belonged too, she is in college now)

Cute toy bins I found on clearance at Homegoods, LOVE that store!

Another pillow I made

Allie's dresser. Another set of wonderful friends gave us the dresser, headboard and footboard when we moved into this house. I sanded each piece, painted them white and then distressed them. Thank you so much Bri and John for this furniture, it is EXACTLY what I would have picked out if we had to get some ourselves!

Close up of the dresser with the cute glass knobs that Lindsay found for me super cheap

There are a few more things that I am looking for (like a nightstand and some more accessories) but for the most part the room is done. Allie spent her first night in there on Thursday and let me tell you, she has done AMAZING! I'm completely shocked. I know it's still a little early to tell, but two nights and two naps down and not a single tear, no climbing out at all and no waking up early or not going to sleep. It's literally like she's still in her crib. She's always been a wonderful sleeper so I was worried this would really mess her up but there hasn't been a change at all, it's just wonderful! It still makes me a little sad when I walk in that room because I feel like this is such a huge step from the baby stage to the little girl stage, but my little girl is just amazing and I am so thankful for her!

From Trash to Treasure

I'm a bit embarrassed to admit this but I have been known to dumpster dive from time to time. Now, I'm certainly not a 'regular' at this and I absolutely NEVER go rooting through trashcans or dumpsters in my spare time, but a couple of times I have seen something on the side of the road that someone is throwing out and picked it up. Back in college I was living in a townhouse and took the walk to the corner to throw our trash away and sitting there was a beautiful dresser. Well, I guess 'beautiful' is not the right word to describe it because one look at it and you could definitely tell why someone wanted to throw it away but I could see potential in it. I am obsessed with organization and love dressers and shelves and baskets, etc. So this new lovely dresser became a weekend project for my dad and I to fix up. We took out all the drawers, built some shelves inside, cut out some of the crazy detailing on the sides and bottom, then sanded it, primed it and painted it. For many years it was in my bedroom, our family room after Matt and I got married and most recently was in our guestroom. I loved the red color that I painted it, but as we are getting ready for our second little munchkin to arrive, we are doing a lot of cleaning out and organizing so my wonderful dresser needed to find a new home. I don't have a picture anymore of the way the original dresser looked, but here you can see it going from red to white, with pretty baskets and a new place in the landing at the top of our stairs. It houses all of my sewing and crafting stuff, it's perfect!