Oh, Pottery Barn

I'm always amazed at how Pottery Barn jacks up prices on everything.

Take, for example, these stools.

I love, love, love saddle stools, but at $99 a piece?!

No way!

 You can actually get the same stools at Bed Bath & Beyond for $29.99 a piece...

....even though I got mine for only $17 for BOTH.

;)

Anyways, my great/awesome/amazing/genius friend fixed my computer for me, so I'm virus-free!!

Though we didn't wait very long, all that free-time drove me into high gear!

I have four projects that I will be showing you soon, I'm just waiting for my thumb to stop throbbing (stupid hammer...) before I pound out the rest of these projects.

Thanks, everyone, for being so patient and understanding with my lack of projects lately.

You guys rule!

A Lemon?

I love browsing the "As Is" section of stores. Most flaws are either not noticeable or easily fixable.

For instance:

At Bed Bath & Beyond, I found these two matching stools:

Both were in the "As Is" section.

One was marked $12.98 because the pieces didn't align up properly, as in "Manufacturer's Defect," but in fact it was just the store personnel's fault. They put it together wrong. I fixed it.

The matching stool was marked $2.98 (Not a typo!) because it was missing the wooden plugs to go over the screws.

That's a 98 cent fix from Menards.

These stools are going for $29.99 a piece on BB&B's website right now.

They were originally $39.99

So...instead of paying $60 for the pair, I paid $17.

Moral of the Story:

Someone else's opinion of "broken" (whether it be objects or people) may be "perfect" in your opinion.

Happy Father's Day?

I know it's not really Father's Day.

We celebrated Father's Day a little early at my house (a few days ago).

This is what my hubby got for being the coolest/nicest/most lovable dad.

This is the picture from KMart. It's been raining almost every day since I've brought home the grill, so it's been hard to take an actual picture.

I've had my eye on it for a couple months now.

$299.

It went down to $199 and I almost had a heart attack.

After begging the manager to let me walk out with the floor model (they were sold out because apparently everyone else thought it was too good of a deal to pass up as well!), I set it all up for my hubby.

We've never had a brand new grill before. This one is amazing!

It received a couple bad reviews on Kmart's website, but only for the extremely long time it took to put together.

Luckily mine was the floor model.

;)

Thank You, Pottery Barn...

...for once again letting me know that my decorative taste is ahead of the curve.

Did you see this just come out at Pottery Barn?

And do you remember seeing my (better) replica that's been in my house before the Pottery Barn staff ever dreamed this up?

I got mine at a garage sale years ago for only a few bucks...

Pottery Barn can keep their $299...

($299?!?! Sheesh...do people really pay those prices?!)

Featured: The DIY Showoff; Bookcase Decorating

Good evening everyone!

I got an exciting email from Roeshel over at The DIY Showoff today. She featured me again (4th time?), and I couldn't be more ecstatic!

Not only is she awesome, but her friends leave the nicest comments!

I'm so glad that so many of these nice people stopped by my little corner of the blog universe!

I'm hoping everyone sticks around for the grand reveal of the bookcases!

It's all finished, but I'm just waiting on these baskets to come in from Target.

It's a set of 4 for only $43.99 plus free shipping!

That's only $11 per basket! That's not bad at all!

They are made specifically for DVD storage!

But since I don't want my entire bookcases lined with baskets (I have a lot of DVDs....) I'm going to be also ordering these from Target.

It's the same thing but a different color and $1 more.

These will go on my entertainment center from Walmart...

...because the easiest way to decorate is to copy the store picture!

;)

 

Thanks again, to Roeshel, for everything!

Check out the special feature here!

Cooknook

I live in a house that's only a little over 1,600 square feet.  Luckily, the last owners were storage-savvy. They made built-in beds, closets from attic knee-walls, and took advantage of every nook and cranny in this house. We could have 5 kids, and each could still have their own room. Amazing, right?

But it's still small.

I love clever storage, so when I saw this cookbook (the Cooknook) from the Container Store, I almost died!

As soon as it was delivered, I had to try it out.

<3

Anyways, I know everyone wants to get a peek at my living room. It's almost done!

Expect a look at it in the next 2 days!

Your jaw is going to drop!

Parts Box Planters - JUNKMARKET Style

Check these out from Sue Whitney from my favorite book "Junk Beautiful!"
I want to go junking now...


Parts Box Planters - JUNKMARKET Style

Posted using ShareThis

Thank You, Pottery Barn...

....for letting me know that my real vintage cowbells are in style.

You can keep your $19-$89.

Now where do I put them?

Pottery Barn

I finally stepped foot in a Pottery Barn.

So did my husband. He loves me.

That place is breath-taking! I could have walked out with every single item there. I restrained myself.

I did walk out with a cute wine bottle charm on Clearance.

At least that's what they advertised it as. I think they are just getting rid of their Christmas ornament stock, haha!

And of course, I found my beloved napkin holders.

When my husband saw the price, he thought I was crazy. After explaining to him that these beauties were the only thing in the store that I couldn't make/find at a thrift store, he let me have them.

Again, he loves me =D

Anyways, tomorrow is my last day of my insanely hard accelerated class, so I'm almost back to normal.

 Here's a glimpse on what to expect from me:

- more healthy, happy ideas for the "31 Days..." series

-an island transformation (DON'T miss that!)

-St. Patty's Day wreath

-Flour sack cloth stamping project to do with kids

Vinyl Clock Deal

I recently got this vinyl clock at Younkers on Yellow Dot:

There's 5 different styles, mostly for your kitchen or living room.

I chose this one, because the princess is spoiled.

Just letting you in on a deal ;)

Anyways, sorry I know it's been a little slow around here. I'm in an accelerated class at school, and it's kicking my butt. So after March 9th, I'll be my usual productive self.
School comes first!

What would you do for a Klondike Bar?

What wouldn't I do for something free?!

At work last night, we were promoting our Karen Neuberger line of intimates. Buy a pair of pajamas or socks, you get a free gift.

The deal was that if I wear the pajamas to promote them, I got to keep them.

5 hours of humiliation for expensive ($72 to be exact) pajamas? Where do I sign up?!

This is me working. Sorry for the quality. Can't complain when I only had a camera phone with me.

The best part was that I originally came to work in high heeled boots (of course not knowing about the promotion).

Yep, I got strange looks, some giggles, and a whole lot of stares, but as I type this, still wearing my Karen Neuberger pajamas, I can honestly say: TOTALLY WORTH IT! lol

So what would you do for some free loot?

Things and stuff

Today we're going to keep it simple and easy.

First, I'm going to show you a simple way to add details to a candle.

With upholstery nails! I'm planning on putting more on there, but I had very little left over from a previous project. But you get the idea, right?

Secondly, I finished the letters on my son's door.

I'm glad I went with white. It looks like it could possibly be part of the door. Subtle, yet bold =) I love it. And thank you Babara for the advice!

And lastly, I'm going to show you some awesome things that I found at Goodwill a while back. They've been sitting in my vehicle for quite some time now.

Shutters.... One's a bit broken, but with some TLC and a bit of creativity, it'll be awesome! And for $1.99, I wasn't going to pass it up!

And a mirror window. I don't know what I'm doing with this bugger yet, but I liked it, so I bought it. Remember: I'm a SQUIRREL! NOT A PACK RAT!
And no, I'm not going to do the obvious thing and put the shutters with the window.

Anyways, I've finally kick started my new reveal. I know it will take me a long time to finish, but I'm just letting you know that it's underway!

Bird Cage

Remember this ugly yellow cage that I scored?

With a new coat of white paint and an adorable bird, it's now fit for my princess's room.

I already have my next reveal planned out, but I'm afraid that you won't be able to see it for quite some time. It's going to cost me a little extra money and effort, so it's going to be more of a "little bit at a time" sort of project. Sure, I'll still give you sneak peeks of my progress, but don't expect it on every post like I've been doing!

Remember: patience is a virtue!

I have a few neat things coming up, so stick around!

Awesome Auction Find!

It's no secret that auctions are my weak spot.

Garage sales are okay, but I LOVE the rush, the competition, the racing of your heart as the bidding starts on the object you MUST have, when you go to an auction.

Back story? You betcha!

My parent's dragged me to tons of auctions when I was a kid. I never understood the point of them. Why not just put a price on it and sell it at a garage sale?

I'll tell you why: NO ONE would have put a $5 price tag on a boudoir bench:

Sure, it's pink. But with a little reupholstering, I'm going to have the classiest bedroom around, lol. I fell in love, what can I say?

It's the end of the auction season around here, so this auction, everything was going incredibly cheap. I also picked up an electric hedge trimmer for $2. It's one of the nice ones with the guard and everything.

If you're not in the auction circle, you need to be.

I also got this little bird cage at a thrift store for 79 cents:

With some white paint and a cute decorative stone bird in there, it'll be perfect for my daugher's room. She's spoiled =D



And of course, I'm not forgetting your sneak peek for today:

I hit a road block on the BIG REVEAL. I can't figure out how I'm going to do this awesome project that I have in mind. I'll do a bit of research, and hopefully I'll be able to show you this soon!

Oh, and did I tell you that I already have the next BIG REVEAL planned? I've never been so excited to start something, stick around for that one!

For All Things Chalkboard

I love chalkboard paint. I bought a small can 3 years ago, and it's still going strong in my house.

Here's some things I used it on so far:

1. The back of my son's door. His room used to be a playroom, and I've gotten so many uses off of it. I taught my step-son to count by two's on that door.

2. The backside of my kitchen cabinets. It holds my shopping list, grocery list, appointment dates, love notes from my husband, house to-do lists, and a "yuck" face where the cleaning supplies are.

3. A cute little area on a planter. My husband laughed that I'm giving the plant directions. I should have put "Please Stop Growing!" This bugger has been re potted 3 times already.

4. A cute glass jar that I've had forever. Here's the process of it being made:

Love this jar with it's cork top!

Tape off an area, paint with chalkboard paint.

I put a twine ribbon on it again (I love twine!), then labeled it.

5. This is a find from Goodwill. I already started putting chalkboard paint on it. It's part of my next BIG PROJECT. Stick around for that!






I also have this staircase that I'm going to redo very soon. But I haven't decided on exactly how I want it. I was kind of thinking putting chalkboard paint on the vertical parts of the stairs. We could put cute little messages, or I can just draw on any design I like at the moment. It's part of that "Don't take life so seriously" thing I was talking about. Then put white on the horizontal parts.

Or I would do white vertically.

I don't know.....

Any advice???




Switching gears, I want to show you what my mom gave me:
She didn't want it, and I loved it. I still don't have a place for it. I'm thinking it will be part of my next BIG PROJECT.