Just Another Manic Monday!

Wow! Today was insane. By far my hardest day at work. Today I had to place orders for my department. It was CRAZY! I’m so happy to be chillin’ at home. I think I’ll adjust well with all the extra duties, it just takes some getting used to.

We have lived in our new/old home for all of 8 months. I have trimmed our bushes out front at least 3 times. Do you know that all this time I’ve had a hydrangea bush! I’ve been dying to plant one and I’ve had one all along! I’m soooo happy. For some reason it just started blooming. I’m sure I trimmed it too close back in the spring! Whoops!

Take a gander at these beauts!

Don’t you just adore that blue glass? It’s an old milk of magnesia bottle. Don’t ask me how old. Wonder why our meds today aren’t packaged in pretty things we can reuse? A great friend gave me four of these and I think they look stunning with my white hydrangeas.

My Maw-Maw has always had blue and purple hydrangeas in her yard and I knew that I would want a bush planted at our home someday. Well, I don’t have to wish any longer!

Cheers!

Photo Collage

Hi ya’ll! Long time no see! I’m a working woman now. I have a full-time job in an art store, so I haven’t been doing much decorating or remodeling. I miss blogging and painting, but really enjoy the benefits of a steady job.

So, there hasn’t been much to write about. Jeff recently hung up my photo collage. I have been going through all of my art and arranging it in the most pleasing fashion. It’s taken me a while to get it just right, but now it’s on the wall and I lurv it! So, here it is!

The & sign is from Hobby Lobby. The frame under it says “The Earth Without Art is Just Eh”. I found it on Pinterest and felt that it fit us! The photographs and the art are mine. The old tennis racket I picked up at a thrift store for $1. The poster is from the Jessica Lea Mayfield concert.

If you decide to make a wall collage make sure you incorporate meaningful things to you and your family. You won’t be able to stop looking at it….I can’t.

This is on the wall in our living room, but it’s in the back part that we call the “studio”. Jeff drums in there, I paint and plan to make it into a reading nook.

Here is another view from the living/entertainment area.

It takes up the whole wall, but that was the plan. We need more wall space for all the art. I’ve had to take a break from painting, because I’ve ran out of room.

That’s all for tonight. I’m working on some more pillows for the couch, so hopefully I’ll be able to share them with you all soon.

Cheers!

Thrifty Saturday??? What?

I don’t know if this should have gone on Thrifty Thursday or not. It’s not a before or after and it wasn’t really bought at a thrift store. But there is something you can learn from this post…hopefully, NEVER buy full-price! Well, I guess if you have to or if you have the money and are impatient. Whatever floats your boat. I don’t think that I’ve paid full-price on more than 10 things my whole life. Besides groceries and basic stuff. When it comes to clothes, household décor, furniture, I always wait until I find a good deal. My latest find has me all giddy.

I have always wanted high quality bedding. Do you know how it feels to wake up surrounded by lush linens? Like your on a soft, fluffy cloud. I don’t know about ya’ll, but I feel like a princess when I’m surrounded by all that fluffy-goodness.

But, have you noticed how expensive bedding is? Nice sheet sets, comforters, duvets, shams. If you get anything super nice, you have to pay an arm and a leg for it. The other day I got so lucky. Have you ever heard of Hudson’s Dirt Cheap? You really have to dig around to find anything decent, so guess what I did…dug!

I’m obsessed with white bedding. I love clean white sheets, and I LOVE my down comforter.

I have been needing a new white duvet cover for a while, but I wanted good quality without the BIG price.

Hudson’s just happened to have exactly what I needed. I wish so badly I had taken a picture of the price tag. I know the duvet set (it included 2 shams) came from Target. I believe the brand was:

Fieldcrest® Luxury.

The price tag said: $89.99. Would you believe I got the cover and two shams for $10.00, yup, that’s right, only $10.00!

Here she is, with all her 400 thread count glory:

Please ignore the wrinkles, (I wasn’t home to take it out of the dryer on time) and the wood paneling (hopefully this will be our next room to remodel). I also love this cover because if I’m in the mood for an all white bed I can just flip it over.

That’s it for today.

Cheers!

Before & After

My latest project has been a small white shelf. Here it is before I got a hold of it.

Actually I had gotten a hold of it. I filled in two holes with wood filler. Anyways here it is After:

I wanted this shelf to look like it had been weathered by the salt water of the Gulf. I wanted chippy paint, blues and grays, and nautical knobs. What do you think? Here’s the top:

And here is a close up of the knobs:

Don’t you just love them!?! Thanks Hobby Lobby for your amazing collection of knobs. Who would have ever known? I think this is going to look right at home in our master bedroom, which of course will be nautical themed, but I might sell it for the right price… :)

Cheers!

Thrifty Thursday

Today I have a quite unusual item. I bought it because I really liked the design, but I didn’t really know what this “thing” was. I went home and googled my little heart out, until I found out that I had bought a cheese server. Now, I love me some cheese, but I have never in my life seen a reason for a cheese server! Anyways I re-purposed it into a jewelry holder. If you would like to purchase it I am selling it for $15. You can message me on here or through facebook.

Before

Where all that tan stuff is there used to be a spot to hold your cheese knife!

After

I painted it white, lightly distressed it, and added a black and white ribbon.

I also added some super cute knobs from Hobby Lobby. Notice the signature by “Wendy” in the corner.

The tile is actually cracked, but I think it adds to the charm. I like imperfections. Maybe I’m a little weird.

What do ya’ll think?

So, there is your thrifty Thursday for this week. Have you ever bought something old and turned it into something totally different?

Cheers!

Creative thinking, “In Your Dreams”!

So, I came up with this idea in my sleep, which is when I do most of my creative thinking. Do any of you come up with cool things when you are asleep or barely awake? Usually I have “creative block” (same idea as writer’s block), but I have found the more I think creatively and out of the box, the more ideas keep flowing. It has been quite strange and busy in my brain lately. I honestly believe it is because of this blog. This blog keeps me on my toes. I feel like I’m being pushed (in a good way) to think more! I love it.

This is what I have for you today. It is mostly for all you homeschooling mommies out there, or traveling buffs. Honestly This idea was triggered by Etsy and Pinterest. I’m not sure if someone else has ever thought of it before, probably, but I haven’t seen this exact thing, so I’m claiming it, lol.

Here are the two things that inspired me.

(For your info I just checked through Etsy and this is the only type of chalkboard globe they had).

(Here is the link to make your own chalkboard paint: chalkboard paint.)

Have you figured out what I want to do yet? My idea is to make two colors of chalkboard paint, one green, one blue. Then brush the chalkboard paint onto to globe (earth=green, water=blue, duh)! You have to be good at coloring in the lines for that part.

So, now you have a globe that is covered in chalkboard, but you can still see the water and the shape of the land.

What do you do next? Hmmm…how about teach your children the 7 continents or all the bodies of water on the earth? They can write the correct names in the correct places with chalk!

I’m not trying to toot my own horn, but I think it’s brilliant! I’ve been wanting to collect globes for our living room for such a long time. The only place I have seen them is on Etsy and they are WAY over priced. I guess I’ll just keep searching.

Anyways, I would love your input, especially those of you who homeschool.

Cheers!

To Shampoo or Not to Shampoo?

Ya’ll are probably thinking I have fell off my rocker, right? How nasty is that, not to shampoo your hair? I am a shampoo, conditioner, body wash, scrub, freak. Anytime I see some kind of girly, smell good, stuff on sale I buy it. Lately my hair has been really dry and frizzy. This could be attributed to the hot and humid summer we are having here in North AL or to my genes. Even my stylist noticed a difference in my texture. I knew that shampoo strips your hair of essential oils, but I had been buying sulfate free, paraben free, and every kind of free I could find. I also know that after a while you get build-up on your hair from all the spray, mousse, cream, conditioner, etc. Some shampoos and conditioners actually have wax that coats your hair. How yucky is that!

On pinterest (my new favorite addiction), I saw a pin about cleansing your hair without shampoo. Can you guess what amazing, everyday household ingredient they used?

Did you guess baking soda? The thing that threw me was that you are supposed to condition with Apple Cider Vinegar! Which is another item that has millions of purposes. Of course you water these items considerably and if you have naturally oily, thin hair you only want to use the ACV on your ends. According to the internet you will have amazing, shiny hair like you’ve never had before!

So, I’m going to break from the shampoo and conditioner for a while and try these natural alternatives. Since I have a ton of shampoo and conditioner in my stash I will probably use them every other week, so as not to waste all that dough!

I found an amazing post about it all that I want ya’ll to read. I will keep you all posted on how the process goes. I’m mostly scared of smelling like ACV, so I have decided to make an concoction of tea (you can use lavender, chamomile, or rosemary) and probably coconut oil (which makes curly hair glorious)! This I will spray in my hair after I shower and rub into my scalp, as a leave-in conditioner.

I’m actually super stoked, and I know this will save money in the long run, after we run out of my stash.

Jeff and I both have curly, thick, dry hair, so I can only report on how it reacts to this type of hair. I probably don’t need to wash my hair but every two days, but I kinda feel gross if I don’t, even though it’s not oily. I want my hair to be shiny and healthy, so I’m gonna do what I can.

Anyways check out this link.

Cheers!

Thrifty Thursday!

Alrighty, I’m going to try this out. Hopefully I will be able to post a Thrifty Thursday every Thursday.

What Thrifty Thursday is all about: I will post a before and after (if I remember to take them) of thrift store finds that I give a new life to. Some of the finds might be amazing without any revamping, if that is the case I’ll post them too. Most everything you will see on here will be less than $20. I’m cheap, I know. I’m going to start you out today with my favorite thing.

I’ll admit to you, I forgot to take a “before”, so I found this image on Etsy. This coaster and coaster holder is currently for sale for $18 on Etsy. I got mine at a thrift store for $1.50! We needed some cork coasters to absorb water from our cups, so our coffee table doesn’t get destroyed. Anyways, here is what I did to this outdated thingy.

So, I primed and then spray painted it Heirloom White. Then I paint each cork a different color to match our living room. I decided it’d be super cool to stamp an S for our last name on each one, so I just used a rubber stamp dipped in white paint. I really loved the medallion on the top, it looked like a tarnish brass, so I sanded some of the white paint off to let the natural beauty shine through (that sounded super corny). Lastly I lightly distressed it with a sanding block. I am sooooo happy. This is probably one of my favorite things I’ve made. When I saw it in the thrift store I bought it because we needed coasters, but I also could really see the potential. I know, I’m silly for raving over an old wooden box that your mother probably had in the 70’s. Oh well. I can’t believe someone has one for $18 on Etsy. I wonder how much I could charge for mine, not that I would ever sell it…

Here is another exciting item. I didn’t take a before, but imagine a plain ole’ Jane light wooden box. It is now a satin black on the inside and a hammered silver on the outside (I wanted a metal look). This boy is heavy. I guess he would be a plain ole’ Joe since I called him a boy. Oh well, back to the story.

I am all about organization in my new house. I want to keep everything clutter free. This item will be for sale on my facebook page, and maybe ebay if I so choose. Since I am lazy I did not pose him in multiple ways. What I mean by that is, I have a lot of ideas for him. (Why I keep referring to items with personal pronouns I do not know). Anyways, this boy (hehe) can be used to sit on your dining room table to store your cloth napkins and other linens, silverware, salt and pepper, and other miscellaneous items of your choosing. Another great idea I had for it (there we go) was to use it for craft supplies. It would look great storing all my or your paint brushes, paints, colored pencils, etc. I think this next picture is probably the original intended use.

I really like this shot. I don’t know why. You may notice some things I like to do while sitting in front of the telly. Read, (those are the Narnia books, for those of you interested), I also might read some magazines (I believe there are five of them rolled up in there). We also have our one million remote controls stored in it. You gotta have your Wii-motes, knitting needles, scissors, ruler, calculator, ya know whatever might suit your fancy and help you be lazy and not have to get up while your favorite show is on.

Also pictured is one of my glass jars from this post. I decided to just spray paint them a flat white. This one is obviously holding a rose from this rose bush. Which is well and thriving despite my black thumb.

Okay, I’m just going to share these two with you today. Stay tuned next week for some more thrifty finds!

Cheers!

Photography

I’ll admit that this blog has mostly been in the direction of design. Decorating is my hobby. Turning trash to treasure is my hobby (I’ve been pretty consumed with this one lately). BUT photography is ONE of my greatest passions. I wish I had subjects to model for me everyday. I wish I had the gas money to travel the world and photograph everything that touches my heart. Photography is such a wonderful gift. Do you value it? Think about it, which of your memories are the clearest? When I think back over the 26 years I’ve been alive, certain memories stick out; then I find a photograph of that memory or event. If I didn’t have a picture I probably would have forgotten all about it.

I love photojournalism. I love photos that tell a story. Do you really treasure all the mundane, scheduled, random activities of every day? That’s you. That’s your family. That’s your life. I believe it should be captured on film. Why forget about those sleepy moments in bed cuddled up to the one you love? Why forget about little feet jumping on the bed? What about amazing picnics or camping in the backyard? I encourage you to document everything by film.

Speaking of film, it’s not actually film anymore. I’m sure most of you have a digital camera. One of the greatest benefits of digital is that you have all your pictures organized and sorted on your computer. Long gone are the days when you took that 24 exposure to wal-mart to get developed. We don’t have to print out all of our shots anymore, you can actually see them before hand. This saves so much money in developing.

All right I’m done ranting. This post was supposed to be about my lately published shots on a music website. I wanted to share the link with you and some other photographs that I got to take at the Jessica Lea Mayfield concert. Ferraby Lionheart opened for her and he is a wonderful musician from Tennessee, but currently lives in Hollywood. I love that he is true to his roots, one of my favorite songs by him speaks of tea and cornbread. It’s lovely. Look ‘em up people! I wouldn’t steer you wrong.

Click here to see article.

Here are some of my favorite shots of the night.

Bottletree décor.

Whoops, who’s that? Must be the backup singers.

Stunning. Jessica Lea Mayfield.

Did you catch the drummer singing his heart out in the background? That’s why I love this shot. Unexpected.

This is when she first walked out. I love that she’s smiling to the crowd. Hey, whose head is that in the corner. lol.

Hanging out after the show.

So, that’s my two cents for today.

Cheers!

Gotta Love the Barter System.

 

Have you bartered lately?  I have.  I love to barter.  Someone’s trash is always someone else’s treasure.  I am lovin’ my latest barter, but first I want to show you one of the things I sent my friend’s way.  Her living room is mostly red, black, and tan so don’t you think this little beaut fit in perfectly?

 

Yup that is my latest and greatest thrift store find, but did you see what it looked like before?

And yes, I did actually manage to snag a “before” shot.  Surprised, speechless, I know.  Here are some other shots of how it turned out.

I love how it can now be used as a shelf, thanks to the removal of the outdated lattice.  My second favorite thing, is this hidden, little, blue door.  Ahhhh….What do you think she will store in it?  Hmmmm…

Lucky for me she had an amazing chair that was given to her that didn’t fit into her color scheme at all, but guess what…it sure fit into mine! 

As soon as I laid eyes upon her I fell in love.  You know how I like my curves, my tuftedness, and don’t forget my favorite color is green.  Have you guessed what I swapped for yet… dun, dun, DAAAA!

If you said a retro, lime green, super comfy, crushed velvet, swivel chair, you were right on the money!  Ladies and Gentlemen, here she is:

She looks a tad bit yellow in this pic, she is actually a TRUE lime green.

Check out those tufts, people!  Good thing I love the fabric, because it costs extra to reupholster when there are tufts!

Have you bartered lately?

 

Cheers!

Plate Collage

I would like to hang a plate collage in my dining room one day, but I’m so not good at arranging things. The dining room is a big project, that will happen in the far future, but I have been collecting old plates for the past few months.

I have arranged them various ways and need some input. The pictures I took aren’t that great, but maybe you will get the idea. I’d like the arrangement to be abstract and different. Here are some ideas.

This one kinda looks like it is a paisley shape.

This one has the big plates in the middle and the little ones on the sides.

This one is kinda funky, like a wave.

Maybe I just had too many? I’m not sure. I don’t really like any of these. I think I might need more interesting plates or some more color? What do ya’ll think? I’d like it to look good like these:

Isn’t it lovely? Where did all these cool plates come from?

Nice curves. Amazing plates.

Maybe I have too many plates. idk. Help!

Cheers!