Playroom turned Sewing/Schoolroom!

finally finished my recent project. It took over a month, which drove me nuts in my head, but that's ok, all that matters is that it's D.O.N.E!

My writing isn't fabulous, so I'm going to skip right to the pictures, which is all you care about anyway......!

This is what the mini loft room looked like when we bought our house.                                     
                                                Before:

The wallpaper was hideous. Total 90's boy/sport print with words such as "Slam Dunk!", "Way to Go!", "Score!"...etc.

In Process:

The wallpaper came off in sheets, but left behind the backing. I was hesitant at first, but I went ahead and painted right over the top of it; seriously, no biggy!

Had to do an extra coat of paint over the red. I love Valspar brand from Lowe's, it is a formula of Paint & Primer.

And now(*drum roll).....AFTER!

Paint color: Valspar Minty

Vintage table $8, vintage red chair FREE, lamp $1, S floral sign $5, metal vintage child's school desks $10 each, family pictures displayed with yarn, clothespins and staples.

I love these metal organizers from HomeGoods for $20 each

I'm looking forward to some sewing!

Pan clock from Pier 1

Found this vintage rainbow picture at Salvation Army $3

She loves her new desk :)

I'm so proud of them, they anticipate doing their school work each morning!

Our three kiddos enjoying the finished product.

I really like it now!

Let me just encourage you that you don't have to spend a ton of money to decorate the way you love.... just be patient, persistant, and shop at thrift stores, garage sales, craigslist, and then fill in at discount stores such as HomeGoods, Hobby Lobby, etc...

Now onto my next project...... coming soon. 

It's been too long...

Ok, 
So I haven't blogged in forever. Been busy to say the least. 
I'm presently working on a home project of every room in our house.... probably bit off more than I can chew? But as I've learned over the years as of late, that's just how I roll... so I'm going to roll with it! 
Today I'm making the finishing touches on my new "Sewing/School room". Between taking care of my 3 lil cuties, it's taking me a tad bit longer than I thought, but that's ok.

My next post will be the before and after pics, so stay tuned! :)

3rd Birthday

Our son, Tremain James, turned 3 on May 10th

We had a relaxing party for him, including some swimming at the pool, playing in the yard, enjoying the near perfect weather, delicious Papa Murphy's pizza, and of course, singing "Happy Birthday" and eating cake!

Woke up at 5am to make his cake. He requested "chocolate with rainbows"  :) 

He woke up and was pleasantly surprised to see this in the kitchen

He and Jubalee had frosting for breakfast... I know, bad mom  :)

Enjoyin' some pizza

Had to include a pic of our baby Capri, lovin' the balloons!

I got him the book, "A Color of His Own" by Leo Lionni, about a Chameleon, such a sweet story 

Unwrappin' some goodies

Happy birthday to you!

mmm, cake.....

The recipe is a classic BHG chocolate cake, with my own frosting creation with butter and cream cheese!

my husband gave it a 4 out of 5 - I will take that as a compliment :)

We thank God for blessing us with our son these 3 years - what a privilege to raise the next generation for the glory and honor of the one who gave us life, thank you Jesus!

Have a marvelous day all!

Garage Saling Goodies = found!

I had an utter blast on my latest garage sale outing.
For those of you who haven't ever gone, or have, and just don't see the point.... well, you're missing out! It's one of the best ways to find treasures for your home at a super cheap price.  My love of the hunt started when I lived in Toledo, OH, and it hasn't subsided yet.
This recent "Treasure Hunt" was a success! I wanted to post pictures of everything I bought, but the list would have been too much, so I am posting some of my favorites:


Saw these scalloped edged bowls, and absolutely loved 'em!


                                   $3 for all 6!

Vintage apron, says "Count my blessings mom",  just in time for Mother's Day ;)

$1

Mint condition, Norman Vincent Peale Bible Stories. I remember having this book as a child, and am so excited to pass on these true stories to my little ones

$.50

Vintage glass and metal salt shaker - reminds me of a Chess piece.  I only wish it was a pair...

$1

Loved these lil mini pinata ornaments!

 $.25 for all 3

Vintage hair brush and mirror set - they are more pleasing to the eye in person!

$5

                                                 

Vintage Asian umbrella - works wonderfully, can't wait to find a home for it on display

$3

                                                 

Saw them, loved them! vintage hand-stitched mini pictures of cute, wee bugs

$2 for all

                                        

The detailing is in 3D, haha  ;)  Really though, way cuter in person, of course!

Driving through the neighborhood, I spotted this framed art from the road, parked, and ran over to snag it - totally my style! I love vintage art such as these

$10

I have had my garage saling days where I just don't find anything that I absolutely love, but it's worth it to keep trying, because a day like this one happens where I hit the jack pot!

So if you're skeptical to try it, just do it - you'll love it!  My source for leads to good sales would be:

Your local Craigslist

Estatesales.com

and, watch for the signs while you're out  

Happy Saling!  :)

Finally, my Mug Display!

I am a garage saling lover, but since we moved to TX in June, I have stopped at only a handful. After the big move, then the birth of our 3rd child, and everything there is to adjust to in the life of my husband's medical residency... I haven't had the energy or time to do my routine saling around town.  With that said, this past Friday morning, I finally made a route of some sales that sounded good, made the 30 minute drive, and hit the jack-pot! I only planned on going to two, but on the way to those, I passed a gorgeous entrance to an unbelievable neighborhood, which had a huge banner for an "Anual Neighborhood Sale TODAY! 50+ homes!"  Well, there was no way, no how I was passing that up, so my morning turned into a half day event. It was a blast, and I found an abundance of treasures, from furniture, to yard work material, to framed art, to vintage decor - I filled our Toyota Highlander to the brim  :) The best part? I only spent $87 on an amount of goodies that would be at least $300 or more in a consignment shop... I love me a stealin' deal!

One of the many items I found was a ladder that originally paired with a child's bunk-bed. The owner said to name a price, so I offered $2... sold!  What I had in mind for it was a DIY project that I've been wanting to do for a long time, a few years actually.

I have thought that it would be cool to display my mugs in an artsy way, instead of being in a cupboard like usual. So now that I got this handy dandy ladder, it's been put to good use!

Between the ladder, this recycled rope that I bought off FAB.com,

these S hooks and ceiling hooks from Lowe's,

my husband and I managed to whip up this cool "Pot rack" style display for our mugs!

I love how it turned out!

All in all, it cost about $20 to make

So, if you eventually start seeing mugs displayed like this, it was my idea,  haha  ;)

Thanks for checkin' it out, have a happy day! 

The Cake Stand Facelift

Hello there. It's been too long since my last post. It was a busy last 10 days or so... our garage sale last weekend went marvy, made $150, then boxed up the left-overs and dropped off at Salvation Army. Felt SO good to get rid of all our unused and unloved items!  Dove-tailing with my last post, this past garage sale was our third in one year, and our profit from all three combined has been $1000 - yay! Best part about that is that most of what I sold I had originally bought for really cheap, so really, maybe not even a loss in finances? I could, but I'm not going to do the math to figure it out... too lazy...  ;)

Anyway, well all that to say that I'm getting around to more home decor projects, and here is one of the latest:

I've had this cake stand since Christmas of '05, and I really love it, but the color just hasn't been my thing. But no worries, I've really come to love spray paint... and I mean LOVE!  haha  It can make such a transformation in a piece.

                                                                              before:

I'm not sure if you can tell? One of my top fave's of color is yellow... 

here's the after:

I'm lovin' it's new look  :)

We've kept the vintage blocks on the kitchen table for the past 2 weeks now, and it's blown my mind how much of an improvement our children have made in reciting the alphabet, knowing each letter by name, and our 4 year old writes all 26 - I'm so proud of them! All this headway came after we put the bowl of blocks on the table, and during every meal the kid's will play with and say the letters back and forth to each other... such a blessing to watch them interact and learn as a team!