Shenanigans

Um hi,
This is my Dad in his messy office...working.

This is my Dad after he forgot to shut his office door with all of my kids living @ his house this week. Don't let the look on his face fool you because there were some tense moments when he yelled for someone to come do something about all of the disruptions.

I wonder how long it will take before our reservation @ Bacca & Nana's will expire. I sure hope our floors will be done soon, mostly for their sakes..not mine because I kind of like it here.

Nana so kindly offered to help me get the kids out of the house after all of the shenanigans. I really appreciate how she loves my children..it warms my heart. Oh & Baca too (even though he was Mr. Grumpy for part of the day).

I love it when my kids have crazy hair. I sure wish I had gotten a picture of when one of my kids in particular crawled into the fireplace and was covered from head to toe in soot. The little guy kind of looked like Bert the chimney sweep from Mary Poppins. The thing about it was then he ran into the white carpet & couch room. I guess I could go take a picture of the evidence that was left behind...ooops.

Chic on a shoestring

I came across Caitlin's blog & when I saw one of her decorating projects she accomplished for $250.00 my jaw dropped. I love it when I see the creation of beautiful things that are done on a budget. I really believe it takes much more creativity to do budget decorating which in return creates an immense amount of satisfaction (at least for me). I thought it would be fun to break down the project to see how Caitlin accomplished this work of beauty. (refer below)

I love the below inspiration board that she put together while trying to meet the objective of the project. For more inspiration visit Caitlin's interior design blog here.

{All images via ccinteriors}

Here is what Caitlin so graciously shared about the project:

1. Headboard- DIY. There are great tutorials all over the internet about making headboards and I do it all the time. The wood was purchased at home depot for about $8. They can cut it to size for you and then I used a skill saw to cut the curves. You can do any design to get a custom look and once you have all the supplies the project only takes about 1-2 hours. All other supplies were bought at Joann's fabric. We used Yellow duck cloth for it's durability and added the nailhead to dress it up. The total for the wood, batting, fabric and nailhead was about $40. Once I had all that I just used my nail gun and hammer and voila!

2. Night stands. The old tv tables were already sitting around. At first I was really against using them but then I thought, hey we are on a budget and in my experience nightstands can be one of the hardest garage sale/thrift store finds. When you turn the tray table on their side you get the more architectural feeling with the x so we bought 2 cans of charcoal gray spray paint for $4 and got to work

3. Bedding. We loved the look of classic white hotel bedding but of course we also wanted pope of color. The Duvet was just from the hotel line at Bed Bath and Beyond for $60. The shams were purchased on clearance at T.J. maxx as a duvet set for $19 I used the duvet on a different project. The throw pillow was custom, sewn by me. I bought 2 yards of fabric for $16 at a quilting store and the insert was $5 at a local fabric store. The same fabric was used to reupholster the seat of the chair.

4. Chair-a thrift store find. $8 plus a can of green spray paint at $4. I love the shape of this chair.

5. Accessories-

art-since these were small we used clip art images off the internet. Vintage printables has some great ones. We spent $20 on frames at Michael's. We loved the look of the metal letters at Anthropologie but of course, way out of the budget so be bought a cardboard version at Joann's for $4 and went to work with the left over spray paint from the tray tables.

Lamps-thrift store find. They were ugly brown and brass but had a great shape. They cost $5 each from a local thrift store. After a $4 can of white spray paint and new lamp shades from target for $10 each they were as good as new. Lamps can easily be spray painted if they have a good shape so that is what I usually look for. I have about 8 lamps sitting in my garage. I think I have an addiction.

Suitcases-thrift store find for $7 for the set. The rain boots and cowboy boots were the clients own.

Green vase with daisies-thrift store $1

Green succulent pot- thrift store $1

In terms of budget I splurged on the rest of the accessories. The butterfly trays were from a store called Alice Lane Interiors. The tray cost $7 and there were actually a pair but we didn't photograph the other one.

The metal boxes were $10.95 at Z Gallerie.

The patterned boxes are actually note cards and matches. The notecards are from target for $7.95 and the matches I got on clearance for $1.50 at a gift shop in upstate New York.

We also purchased a small mirror from Home Goods for $20 that wasn't pictured and a few other accessories that brought the total to $250.

All I have to say is WOW...job well done. A big thank you to Caitlin for taking the time to share her project. I hope it will be as inspiring to everybody else as it was to me on creating a chic space on a shoe string budget. Does anybody else want to attempt creating a custom upholstered headboard now? Oh & does anybody else love those fun happy colors?

Laundry room makeover

BEFORE:

AFTER:

After six long months I am excited to finally say the laundry room is almost complete. I've had fun doing a laundry room makeover because the space is small & not too overwhelming. Since I happen to spend much of my day in that room I'm feeling better about the space. It's a little cutesy but isn't a laundry room allowed to be that way. The antique man & woman plates were one of my fun thrift purchases as was the wallpaper & served as the inspiration. I did a quick little magnet board project last week but ended ripping the ribbon off to make a new design so all of the boards look like one big board. Now I have a place to put all of my fabric swatches and lists. Anyway, except for the need of base boards & cabinet hardware we'll call this one good (except Santa if you are reading pls. bring me a new washer & dryer). Did you notice the fun burlap & chalkboard tags labeling the baskets....I love them...in fact if you like them too you may want to stay tuned.....

I'm excited because on deck is a chic makeover done by a new blogging friend on a budget of $250. You won't want to miss this one.

The power of a sunburst necklace and the shoeless boys.

A WEAKNESS of mine consists of not being able to find any shoes especially when we are trying to get out the door to make it to 8:30AM church.

Sunday mornings are when I actually have the most propensity to be a grump. For some reason I have not mastered keeping track of kids shoes. Today when we left for church I was on the verge of just calling church off completely. I finally gave in & said, "Who needs shoes anyway?" Seriously my boys all came to church with just their socks on. As we were almost out the door I asked husband to comb the last little guys hair & when he came out this is what I beheld...

All of a sudden my mood lightened up immensely. I was taking life too seriously it seemed. It's a miracle we could even make it to church, let alone on time & that is what we were about to do if I didn't turn back now to fix poor little Elvis's hair. Husband was trying so hard to not laugh & just told me to let it go & leave the hairdo alone because that's how our son wanted it (you know since he can talk so clearly & last I checked a 2 year old boy really could care less). So really we walked into church only 1 minute late, found a nice comfy padded bench and every time I was feeling a little huffy puffy I just looked @ that boys hair and it made me chuckle. I wonder if anybody else in the congregation took note.

P.S. - I sold out and did end up fixing it right before I took him to nursery.

A STRENGTH of mine consists of being able to find humor in a situation on a drop of a dime.

Just a side note, I have been thinking about my Grandma lately. After she passed I swore I would do everything in my power to make her proud. She is an amazing women & when I think I can't do anymore it I often think of her & then for some reason I can. 

On the way out the door my little girl informed me that my dress wasn't very pretty. She's very particular & not a fan of the color brown. Of course considering she is only four my feelings really weren't hurt. I'm actually glad she has an opinion. I on the other hand happen to love the dress I was wearing because it reminds my again of Grandma. No it isn't one of hers but every time I wear that dress I always have to wear one of my most prized possessions...the gold sunburst necklace (and yes that was hers). I felt a little stronger today and I couldn't help but think if it were because of the necklace. Oh & of course I was glad I made it to church because it too seemed to lift me up & give me strength.

{top 2 photos taken by big "M"}

Fridays are still my favorite.

Ye-ay it is Friday & swim lessons are over. What a feat to get through 8 weeks total between all of the kids. I am feeling so good today. What a fun memory to have of all five starting out in the very same class...make that all six of us after I was recruited to help & get in after the first class when the teachers could clearly see they were not equipped for 4.5 screamimg kids that didn't really know how to swim. I warned her but in the end I had fun being able to get in with all my little love muffins.

Sometimes when it is Friday I think about my days working @ Sundance because we the employees waited anxiously for the Friday special to be emailed out.  It was always an item that was deeply discounted as a benefit to working @ that establishment. Did you know that the big boss of that company (aka Bob or Robert Redford) got married?  I was very excited to see he married his long time girlfriend..I liked her. Anyway if I worked there today I would be pulling for the below swimsuit to be the Friday special. For now I will just dream. Although it is already 50% off on clearance.

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or maybe these should all be on the the Friday special for $1.00 a piece...see still dreamimg.

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A quicky project.

I've always loved the lines on the above pillows & window coverings so when I found white magnetic boards @ IKEA on sale for $6.99 I bought three.  At first I thought I would spray paint them with black chalkboard paint and hang them in my laundry room but then the above images came to mind and I this is what I came up with.

I took glue, scissors and some ribbon and did a quick project during the kids nap. I just have to say that I love the above glue because it is strong but without the harsh odor some of the glues out there have (like E-6000 or whatever it's called). Also, I have been wanting to learn to sew because my crafting is so limited to glue. I have friends & a Mom that know the ways of the sewing machine. Someday....someday but for now I sit back and admire their skills. Which leads me to say that I have a friend who has graciously donated some fine items to give away here on this very blog. It will be stuff that is all hand crafted & sewn by one talented girl....so stay tuned because it will be fun.