Garage sale find

To me, garage sales are much like shopping at Goodwill or TJMaxx.

My heart starts beating very fast, my head reels, and I loathe the idea of someone getting THE deal of the day before me.

If you ever wanted to accuse me of being competitive, now would be the time.

My OCD prevents me from having the patience to actually garage sale shop. What a waste of time if I don't find JUST what I am looking for.

We had our neighborhood garage sales this weekend.

In perfect form, I only hit the houses that are within approximately 10 steps from my own.

I scored some clothes for me and Audrey... some Banana Republic wedges only worn a couple of times... and this! 

A Polaroid from about 1974 for $1.00

Super tacky as you would expect from something in the 70's, yet very cool.

Now, what to do with it?

I could sell it on eBay for about $40-50, but that is not why I bought it. I wanted to make it pretty, if that is even possible, and display it somewhere.

What do you suggest? Sell or display?

DIY for dummies

It is clear that I am not a DIYer. This is so not a DIY for the home blog. But, I had to show you what I did.

I made a jewelry tree. I cut a branch from one of our trees, spray painted it white, trimmed it here and there (about three times), stuck it in a vase from IKEA ($3) and filled the vase with decorative stones ($2 also from IKEA). It isn't the perfect twig/branch, but I keep looking! Easy skeezy.

And theeeennn... I took five throw pillows that I have in the family room, scattered about. I decided to go all HGTV on them...

...and, voila!!  These were made by using stitch-witchery and cloth napkins that I bought at Target. $9.99 makes two pillow covers.

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All in a Saturday

Last week, I shared my wish list for some decorating re-dos I am working on. Since then, I had found some lamps and a starburst mirror. I ordered both online.

Yesterday, I recieved word that the starburst mirror order was cancelled. And then, the lamps came, and they were not exactly what I was hoping for.

My budding interior designer, Isaac, and I decided to head to a second hand furniture store in the area that I had never been to. My favorite one, Jade Grace, didn't have any of the items I was looking for.  I was at least hoping to find the dresser I need, and then maybe a vintage starburst/sunburst mirror.

At the second hand store, I did find an antique dresser but it had a stained finish, of course, which meant I would have to do some DIY magic on it... and that scared me, although the price was perfect. I also could have bought a chair (or four) for my bedroom that I have also been looking for, but they were all sold. Just my luck.

Isaac and I headed to TJMaxx, my second home these days, and I ended up buying a chair that I have had my eye on for a few weeks. It was marked down, so the time was right!

(Side note: I was thinking of painting this table, but I have decided not to. I am afraid of screwing it up.)

Pier One was right down the way from TJMaxx, so we figured we would pop in there to see if there was anything special that would catch my eye... um... like the whole store! Dangerous place. Isaac even said, in all of his wisdom, "I would love to work here, but I couldn't because I would want it all and I know I couldn't have it." As the words were flowing from his mouth, I was thinking, "DISCOUNTS, BABY! DISCOUNTS!"

No starburst or sunburst, but I did end up buying those paper lanterns to hang from the ceiling at Pier One. 

The original starburst that I had ordered was from Kohl's. At this point, my wise son said, "Can't we just GO TO Kohl's to get the one you ordered?"  Der. Well, of course we could try, but I said that with much doubt in my voice.

HOLLAR! FIFTY PERCENT OFF! At my Kohl's. Isaac is so stinkin' smart. Why did I not think of that 10 internet-searching-hours ago?

I loves it. Plus, I think the lamps we have are actually perfect.

So the green, blass retro ones have found a home in the basement store room. I paid shipping for them, and for that reason only, I will keep them for something later... like when we re-do Audrey's room for her thirteenth birthday this summer. I hope she likes green. 'Cause that, they are.

Rug and dresser are all I need for the bedroom. Oh, and I have decided I may need a little ladder/tilted bookshelf thing. Matt can thank Pier One for that.

My crazies, Part 328

I don't know how or why it happens, and thankfully, it only happens a couple times a year... okay, maybe a couple times more than that... but, when I get on a re-decorating kick, it drives me insane until it is complete - and perfect.  I will blame it on my A.D.D. or this sudden influx of 'free' time on my hands or... let's face it Mom, genetics.

I woke up this past Saturday determined to find new window coverings for our bedroom. The day ended in frustration... not because I actually purchased new curtains, but more so, because deep down, I knew they were, oh. so. wrong.

Yet, I let Matt hang them last night.

I tossed and turned all night with those curtains looming in the dark. Stupid curtains stop staring at me!

You know what happens next. I spent today looking for replacement curtains for the replacement curtains. I found them, of course, which would have been easy to do the first time had I not been haunted with the visions of DIY-ers on the internet who make all of their crap for less than what I paid for a sweet skirt at Goodwill this morning.

Matt, love of my life, close your eyes.

Today, I over-spent on my lovely white, airy curtains that will transform my sanctuary in to one only found in a magazine.

Matt, you can open your eyes now.

Buy cheap, buy twice.
-Ruthann Mayle Ruggiero

This quote of my mother also haunts me, thank you very much. Had I held true to this mantra, I would have spent much less time and money.

After being up all night long with those completely inappropriate curtains staring at me, other current decorating quandries bounced around in my brain. Literally... bounced in my brain... like a pinball game.

So I could focus on the kids coming in and out of the bedroom as we all woke up this fine President's Day morning, I had to purge my brain. I pulled out a piece of paper from my nightstand and made THE LIST.

Black bench - basement
Drum shade - kitchen

Zebra rug

Chest/trunk - den

White long/short dresser

Parsons chair for desk - bedroom

2 lamps, retro - bedroom

1 desk lamp - bedroom

Starburst mirror - bedroom

Rug  bedroom

Paint for touch ups - basement, master

When Matt found this list, he said, "Please tell me this is just a 'wish list'?"  Emphasis on WISH LIST.

You see, in the list, I have only actually found TWO of items. Neither of which I think I should spend money on.

Oh well, the new curtains are hung, but I still may not sleep because they need to be hung higher. It may be a two-pill kind of night.

Basement wall

This is the wall at the bottom of the stairs heading into our basement, which is finished and is used primarily as a place where the kids play, overnights are had, and poker is played. I used to have pictures hanging on that wall but, as usual, I got bored with it and took them down.

I, then, happened to visit one of my most favorite DIY/decorating blogs, called Nesting Place, and saw a DIY sunburst mirror. Hello!?! Incredible. I fell in love with that mirror project, although, I know I don't have the skill or patience to actually create one.  

The same day I was over at the Nesting Place swooning over that sunburst, I happened upon some wall decals for the home at one of my newest loves, Pillowtalkk.com.

At first, my thought was to purchase the flower decals and 'sunburst' them, but they would obviously would not be three dimensional like the Nester's. However, I loved the idea of putting the mirror in the center of the flowers. The basement wall would be a perfect space for them!

I ended up ordering the flowers (you purchase three in a set, but the sweet Kristin at Pillowtalkk threw in an additional flower for me! Thanks chica!) in white, black and grey.

When you get the decals, they have two layers of backing so you can put them on the wall already in their place, and then peel the backing off to reveal the 'front' side of the decal. On the second one I placed on the wall, I removed the wrong side of the backing so I had to hand place, which wasn't difficult at all. In this picture below, I am repositioning the grey one.

While I was waiting for my order to come in from Pillowtalkk, I went ahead and did the most cost effective mirror purchasing possible ... I went to the Dollar Store and bought $1 mirror that are meant to have candles sitting on them. I would be attaching them to the wall, in the center of the flowers, with some extra 3M tape that is typically used for their hooks.

I left the black flower center in place so you could see what it would look like if I hadn't added the mirror to the mix. OK, not really... I didn't have a fourth mirror because I didn't know I was getting the extra flower thrown in! Another trip to the Dollar Store was made, and the fourth and final flower is now mirrored.

And now, I need a bench - storage or with cubicles - to go under it. I shall add it to my list of "need to find" at garage sales this spring.

Feathers are fabulous!

We have a newer home with the typical mass-construction builder's master bathroom. 

The bathroom includes a very large single mirror that spans across the vanity and the his & her sinks. I HATE IT. One day, and that day may come sooner rather than later, it will come down.

We have lived in our house for about eight years. In an effort to finally soften up the room a tad, I took all of the bottles and bottles of crap toiletries off of the counter and organized every drawer and cupboard so everything has its place out of sight.

I found these candle holders at Target, on clearance, because they had some knicks in the wood. $10 for both of them. The plan was to spray paint them... either white or black... and then they would sit on the counter in the bath. The gold looking holder is one that I got at the Dollar Store prior to Christmas and that, too, should be black.

I then headed out to Joann's to look for a wreath. I really am not a fan of fake looking floral + greenery wreaths, but I picked one up anyways, and then gladly put it back because I found this FABULOUS wreath made of feathers! I love it so much I cannot stand it. I love it even more because it was only $9.97. (Make note, our bathroom is not that color of green... camera is playing tricks on me!)

I bought a 3M brushed metal hook to attach to the wall above the center of the mirror.  I then hung the wreath by ribbon (obviously...heehee). Candles and small glass pot all set, and voila! A much softer touch.

Next on the list is to replace the builder's towel bars, which I would love to replace with circular towel holders, but that would mean patching and painting... and we have used every drop of the paint color for that bathroom. I would also like to add small lamps at each end of the vanity,  but that would require the smaller towel holders...

I could always paint the bathroom a different color now that I have some time on my hands.

(Oh, and I am REALLY into monograms right now for some reason... the "W" on the candle? Got that from letter stickers I bought from a Creative Memories representative!)

Thanks for stopping by and don't forget to vote for my blog!

I { heart } subway art!

It is all the rage right now, after all... at least in the DIY blogging world, it is. I am definitely not a DIYer, but I was confident I could figure this out.

I went into my subway art frame of mind wanting to do a large piece for above the fireplace to complete my decorations for Christmas. But, that would mean a large frame, and a trip to FedEx/Kinko's to print something big, which translates into time and energy... neither of which I had today.

My online research found these two pieces that I figured I could replicate or just use. { No copyrights, thank you. } In fact, they both were offered by bloggers to be used by others. Nice. Google is a great thing.

I thought this (above) would be nifty for the kids to see, and be reminded of, the rules of a home. The all sound pretty familiar; however, I would have liked this to be an interactive art piece so I could add a few... like, "Keep your hand off the dog" and "Always be a good example". Maybe that will happen when I get some free time.

And this was EXACTLY what I wanted for my Christmas subway art. EXACTLY.

So, here is what I did. I told both jpg files and just printed them on 8.5 x 11 in. size paper. I grabbed some extra cardstock I had, 'framed' the prints, and then put them in frames I already had (hanging on the walls of course, which means I need to replace those). 

The end results. It took all of 10 minutes to do both of these. Very cool.  I am addicted. The options are endless.

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Christmas decorating-in-progress

Matt, Audrey and Isaac had soccer practice tonight, so after a weekend of absolutely nothing, I figured I should try to tackle putting the finishing touches on the Christmas decorations. I don't have any house guests or planned visitors until this weekend, so I still have some time...

I had read a DIY home decor blog post in the past couple of weeks where the blogger had purchased some glass hurricanes from a dollar store for her mantel. So, that is where Ian and I headed tonight. It was a successful trip, and we topped it off with a trip to Hobby Lobby.

I didn't even take a 'before' picture of our mantel because it was so naked, with only stockings hung. Not with care.

Here we have the two hurricanes, two candle stands (which will be hurricane stands), two glass candles, and in the back is some holly from Hobby Lobby.

Candles in hurricanes on candle stands. Are you feeling it?

I alsready had the topiaries on the fireplace, but added the hurricanes and the greenery. Something was missing, but I decided to head on to my table centerpiece for the kitchen.
Can you say A.D.D.?

I bought this sweet tray from Hobby Lobby, and then filled it will ornament balls and holly...
... plus salt/pepper shakers and the napkin bin.

And, then let's move on to picture frames. I grabbed a couple at Hobby Lobby, knowing what I would put IN them, but I just didn't know where I would put them.

JOY is what I was missing here... JOY in a picture frame... on my mantel.

I just printed the words on cardstock I have for my chatterbox greetings gig, and put it in the frame. Voila.

And then, 'noel' went on the coffee table, which I like to keep as simple as possible due to incoming Nerf darts, Bakugan and monster trucks.

 I think I would now like to replace to shield in the back of the corner fireplace mantel with Christmas subway art... but that, my friends, is for another day.

What if... ?

I despise the ledge in my two story foyer. While it would be charming to put things up there, like greenery, a chest, candles, etc., my current tastes don't support such decor.

But, what if... I was to take the stuff off of the ledge that is there right now...

...and put this deco tree wall decal from pillowtalkk up there in a ?

Thoughts? Anyone? Please share.

Oh, and if you have not stumbled across pillowtalkk yet, you must! Her designs and pillow covers are to die for! I actually am having a hard time narrowing down what is in my shopping cart at the moment! Awesome stuff, plus in October, FREE SHIPPING with the code: OctoberTreat.

Have fun!

Transformation

Remember when we traveled to Memphis to see my sister in June, and when we got back, I decided to do some rearranging of rooms? If not, check it out here.

Well, here you see the finished office product. This room used to be our dining room. Mr. White will now take your calls.

When we decided to make the dining room the office, we were going to close it off with french doors, however, the cost of that project thrwarted our efforts. But, I got a new paint job out of it.

The foyer went from a burnt red to grey. We love it. The kitchen is a few shades lighter than this. Also a great improvement over my bright blue!

We need to add some more color in both areas, but I knew some of you wanted to see the color!

birthdays are funny that way

Matt got "me" an iPad for my birthday this year. My birthday isn't until September. Very curious.

Matt's birthday is tomorrow. He got some nice, unassembled office furniture for his birthday. Arrived today. Just in time.

He has half of it almost put together. Don't worry, I checked and he was just "resting". Big day tomorrow, you know.

Pink

I do not think you understand how thrilled I am about having blooms on my hydrangea plant. Finally, after seven years, we have flowers. Funny, because after thirty-eight years, I am still waiting to bloom.

Garden on 'roids

I can't even take a picture of my full garden because the vegetable plants are too big! Our neighbor, Mr. Steve, came over to check it out last night, and at first sight he said, "Holy sh*t!"  He proceeded to just shake his head, and he then had to get his girlfriend to show her. Obviously the awesome Scotts vegetable soil is doing its job. And, I need either less plants or more space next year. Or I need to donate plants to the Boaz Garden Project.

If I could get it all in one picture, you would green vines developing LOTS of burpless (cracks me up!) cucumbers... very tall, plush tomato plants with its fruit hidden under itself... an overgrown zucchini plant with many flowers but no zucchini to boast about... and a couple of pepper plants, which I am in love with.

Check out these lovelies... mine... all mine...

And for the first time in about seven years, my hydrangea plant is blooming! Better late than never.

Size doesn't matter

Our new grill is mocking Matt's manhood... or what is left of it.I wanted more space on the deck & was talked into this pretty little number by the lady at Lowes.

here we go!

It is 80 sun ny degrees in Northeast Ohio today, and I have been waiting for a day like this for a very long time. I have decided that I definitely suffer from Seasonal Affective Disorder. Which is another story and I don't even know why I went there.

Okay, so not to waste any of the beautiful day, I bought all of my flowers and veggie plants last night on my way home from work. And today, as soon as the last kid was off to school, Ian and I headed outdoors. And we stayed there until... well, now.

Here are some pics on our journey from last night until today.

Naked garden

Some have asked what I am going to do about watering the raised bed. At any home improvement store, you can purchase varying lengths of the watering hoses. I purchased a couple of 6 ft. ones, connected them, and buried them under the top layer of the soil in a zig-zag fashion.

I know it is early still, but I went ahead and bought tomatoes, zucchini, onions and Bibb lettuce. I am still in need of green and red peppers.

I don't know how many of you have gardened, but I always second guess the spacing of everything. I think I bunched the onions too close, and I didn't leave enough space for two pepper plants. Live and learn.

Ian has been very anxious about getting the garden done, and I kid you not, the kid had to check the garden at least ten times today to see if the tomato plants had grown at all. He is dying to get the stakes in the garden to hold them up.

Did two pots like this. I have decided to do red, blue and white this year. Which so does not match with my hydrangea wreath, so I wonder how much longer that will be on my door. I have issues people, I am aware. 

 

Lowe's had these awesome ferns. I do ferns every year, and then I neglect them and they dry up and blow away. But this year, I commit to keeping them green, moist and as beautiful as they are today.

Here are my helpers who also had to replace all of the sand in the sandbox today (can you say "YUK!" to year old sand?) and mow the yard... oh AND Ian and I pulled out  daffodil bulbs that were too close to their neighbors. I have them set aside for drying out and replanting in the spring.

Now, I patiently wait for impatiens to be released to the general public, and those will be planted on the west side of the house. 

Also, in a quest last night to buy new patio cushions for the chairs, I decided that we need to retire the 6-person table and chairs that no one under age 12 will sit at because of the bees that like to loiter around our deck. Alright, I get it... I did have to remove two young nests today already... but come on... Anyways, we don't use our deck much because the table/chair/umbrella takes up so much of it.  So, instead I would like to get a "conversation set" as they like to call them. Essentially, you make an outdoor room with a loveseat and a couple comfty chairs... and possibly a coffee table.

This is the set I am after, but it is sold out online. I wait. Patiently. Checking every hour. Lake was extra, so maybe we will shoot for that next year. We can only afford so much, Matt says.