eBay rocks!

I want everyone to know the importance of always checking eBay before you commit to buying anything.

Ya know how I haven't been posting any pictures? Well, not only is my SD card at my ma's, but my camera battery went dead, and I'm almost positive that I left the charger in a hotel 3 hours away. So I went to Walmart to look at a universal charger. $50. Ouch. So I told the associate that I was going to check my manufacturer's website first before committing to buy theirs. The manufacturer's price? $67. Double ouch. I really can't afford that right now.

So I check eBay. Almost instantly I find the one I need. $7.75. Nice! But what's the catch? I read everything thoroughly, and I couldn't find one. It came from a reputable seller, there was a 30 day money back guarantee, AND a 1 year warranty. And it's a two-way charger: a regular plug and a car charger! And here's the kicker: free shipping!! I ended up paying $8.75 because I wanted the shipping insurance, but still!

Did I score a deal or what?

So, the whole reason for this post is to mainly tell you that you're still going to wait for all my projects. It'll give me time to perfect everything, plus maybe start another one. But I promise, as soon as the charger comes in, I'll be posting some awesome things for you!

Up and Coming!

Sorry for my lack of new posts.
I have a good excuse: I left my SD card at my ma's, and my camera won't let me take pictures without it.
So, in the meantime, I'll let you know what's in store for you in the next few days.

1-Music Lover's project (yes, it's almost redone!)
2- Reupholstered Ottoman
3- Vinyl Wall Decal
4- Magic Bullet Recipes (made some last night, but since they are 10 second recipes, I will just do them all over again and take pictures!)
5- A fun find to display a family treasure
6- Sneak peaks at my major winter project.


This is in no special order. I may do #6 before #3. Who knows.
As I said before, sorry about the lack of posts. I've been keeping my nose in my studies a bit more on top of forgetting my SD card. But I promise you, these posts are worth the wait!

PEACE

I hate how my new project turned out. I'll hopefully be redoing it tonight (and working on a speech that I need to give Monday), so hopefully I will have something for you soon!

So today, I'm going to show you an awesome deal I scored.

Remember the letter P that I got at Bed Bath & Beyond? Well, I went back there today because I was mad that I passed up this awesome "PEACE" sign for only $9.99 on Clearance. I got to the register, and when the sweet girl rang it through, only $4.99! I also picked up another letter. "J" for my son's name.

Don't mind the dust on the bookshelf. I have a tendency to not dust anything that I can't see. I should probably do that...

I'm still not sold on the sconce above the PEACE. Until I find something better, there it will stay. Maybe I'll give it away one of these days. One woman's trash is another woman's treasure!

Faux Roman Shades

I have my faux roman shades done!

I don't have a picture of the shades pulled up. I tried, but the sun was killing every shot that I got. You'll just have to use your imagination!

Here's a closeup of the fabric that I chose.

I chose that fabric because it went well with my wall accents.

I'm not going to post a how-to on this. I couldn't do a better job than Britt from A Penny Saved

Click on the link to learn how to do this in your own home!

Coming up: a fun little project for all the music lovers out there!

I've been featured!

I've been featured at the DIY Show Off! And not just one of my projects, but THREE!
I think I wet myself....
Thank you Roeshel!
Click the Button to check out her lovely site!

Magazine Rack

Here's a simple project to do if you have a spare 10 minutes.

I had gotten sick of my old magazine rack. I hate having to bend over for an hour just to be able to find the right magazine. If I hate it now, it's only going to get worse with age.

So then the thought pops in my head, "At doctors' offices, the racks are on the wall."


Genius.

So this is what I started with. I'm not in love with the color, but I don't hate it. And actually, I love how worn it is. I had originally painted this when I first moved into my old apartment, at 18!

So I set my table saw to the highest setting and carefully zipped it through, cutting it in half (but obviously a bit to the side to leave the middle separator intact).

I drilled two holes into the top, screwed it into the wall, made a bow to cover up the screws.

Much better.

That's a plant I had outside that I brought in for the winter, and to cover up the outlet. I love the bucket =)




So, I need some advice. Do I leave the legs of the rack on, or should I saw them off and try getting a paint match?

Anyways, I want to show you what I found in my basement.

You're not going to see this again for a while. It's part of a HUGE project that I will probably be doing a little at a time over the winter. You'll probably even forget about this silly little window. But you'll love it when it's done. Trust me.

The Letter of the Day is.....

I've been shopping like a pro lately, so I'm going to show you two awesome deals that I just scored.

I've been wanting something to flank the sides of my patio doors for some time now. I found these at Younkers for only $4.50 a piece! They were originally $50 a piece, so I think I got a good deal ;)

Also at Younkers, dress shirt+tie for $7! And a new kitchen valance for only 75 cents! I love that place =D

I found this puppy at Bed Bath & Beyond for only $1.70! Original price=$19.99. I almost peed in the store! It's very heavy (so it's not one of those cheap Walmart wooden ones). The "P" is for my last name.

Tomorrow: magazine rack redo, then onto a look of my roman shades!

Fern Plaques

I'm participating in the Knock Off Knock Out Party at It's So Very Cheri! Click the button below to check it out!


I'm also particpating in Make Your Monday at Twice Remembered.
Here's my Knock Off:

I saw this picture in a Country Living magazine.

I instantly fell in love! When I saw the prices ($60 for a large one, $40 for a small) I knew there was no way I was going to be able to buy one. I wanted at least two of them, a small and large, so that would run me up $100+shipping and handling. No way!

So I made my own. And get this: It was free!



Supplies:
----------
-Paint
-Wood plaque (I already had two from an old woodburning kit)

I knew I didn't want the back to be green. My mudroom's walls are green, and well, that's just too much green! So I went with a white and black combo.

I just painted the face white, then very VERY carefully hand painted the ferns black.

I stuck on some hanging hardware, and done!


Theirs:




Mine:




If you want these, you can contact Two's Company at 1-800-896-7266. Large-$60 Small-$40
Or you can drop me a comment and we can make arrangements!

I WILL be posting on my faux roman shades, a magazine rack redo, and an awesome find at an awesome store soon! Be patient with me!

Creating Storage Space

Want to see what I did with that darn space under my corner bench?

This is what I started with. The basket underneath was too small for the space, and I hate seeing cords.

So after a good tip to try decorating with some books, this is what I had. I liked it, but not in my bedroom. My room is very modern chic, and the basket and books looked too eclectic. I don't even have dressers in my room because I don't want the space to look busy. Gah....so now what should I do?

So I get this awesome idea! I'm going to build a door under the bench to create some much needed storage space while still keeping with the clean lines of the room. All I needed was to buy some hinges. The rest of this project came from scrap materials, even the leather!

So I measured the space and cut a piece of plywood to size with my trusty table saw.

Then I stapled my brown leather onto it. Convenient that I own leather in the chocolate accent color of my room, right? I added some upholstery nails to it to give it a little punch.

Then I screwed some hinges on it, mounted it to my floor, made a little leather pull tab so that it can easily be opened (but not easily seen), and this is what I had.

This is what it looks like when it's opened. I'm going to be putting a piece of leather over the unfinished wood, but for now it's okay.

But it still looked unfinished to me. So I brought back the basket with my garter from my wedding, my fountain, and the bamboo my husband picked out for me a while back.



Here's what the end product is.

Coming up: a look at some faux roman shades, making an old magazine rack feel like new, and an awesome find at an awesome store!

Bow Holder

Here's my daughter's bow holder that I had promised.

I got the idea to do this from The Fabric Floozie. I'm so jealous of her little girl's room! Click on her link to get a tutorial on how to do this.

This is what I ended up with...

Wow, is it nice to be able to organize all those bows and clips!

If anyone has any ideas on something cute like this to hold pony tails or headbands, let me know!

Anyways, remember I said that my Corner Garden was being invaded by sunflowers? Here's what I clipped out of it yesterday!

Mirror Re-do

I had this mirror in my hallway. It's paint was peeling, and it wasn't even artistically that great. I basically hated it...

But the reason I painted it was because I needed to cover up a "mirror scratching" project that lie underneath. I started it in high school, and it was turning out horribly, so I abandoned ship. Look at this thing...

Well, I knew that I had to make a similar design on it, to once again cover the horrible mirror scratching project. So I made a circle template, traced around the old design on the mirror with highlighter (crayola markers would work too!), and pressed my template on it...

Then, using the highlights as a guide, I drew my new design and cut it out using an Exacto knife. I taped the template onto my mirror...

Then I protected the surrounding area with a lot of magazine pages...

Then I started spray painting. I chose white. I think it's a classic for anything you do. Anyways, spray several thin layers. Glass obviously isn't porous, and you'll get crazy drips everywhere if you don't let it fully dry between thin coats. This is what I ended up with...

But it still didn't look right to me. So I made a bow using white wired ribbon, secured the sides with an upholstery nail to give a finished edge (since this mirror is permanently fixed to my wall), and stepped back to admire my handy-work. Ya like?

Posts coming up: Faux Roman shades, Bow Holder, and my solution for that crazy space under the Corner Bench. Stay tuned!

John's First Day of School

It was my son's first day ever of school today!

I was going to give you an awesome redo post today, but I'm too sad/excited about my "big boy" that today's going to just be a brag post.

Here's my bugger all dressed in his favorite color: purple!

Here's him showing me that he's all ready to go!

This is him waiting patiently for the bus "Mumma, can you call the teacher? The bus isn't coming..."

Here's him hopping off the porch to get in the bus.

And here's my baby face in front of the bus. Notice that there was not one tear shed? Okay, maybe on my part, but not his! Such a brave guy =)