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!

Landing Reveal

Woohoo! I'm finally posting my BIG REVEAL!

I warned you that I was probably going to be late!

It would be a laundry list if I gave you reasons for my absence. BUT I found a bit of time between catching the football game and doing my schoolwork. So here it is!!

I have this landing at the top of my staircase. As you can see from the picture below, it was in desperate need of some TLC. (Don't make fun of me for the flowers in the vases. I stole most of the flowers for another project, so that's why they look so.....awkward.)

The inspiration for this makeover came from a trip to Goodwill. I saw a bench for only $2.99. The only problem was that it didn't come with a top. That's okay! For that price, I'll make one! Bonus: it's a storage bench.

So I gathered my supplies: plywood cut to size, two sheets of 1 inch foam (cut to the size of the plywood), scissors, a staple gun, and my trusty companion.

I placed the batting on the floor, put the foam on top of that, then put the plywood on top of it all. Wrap the batting around the plywood, pull taut, and staple in place, going all the way around the plywood.
Then I ironed my fabric, placed that on the floor (print side down), wrapped that around the plywood and stapled it in place.
And this is what I got:

I wasn't completely satisfied, so I glued on a wooden accent, painted it black, then lightly sanded it (plus some edges of the bench)

I needed some mirrors, and fortunately I found some mirrors left over from my wedding that I didn't use. They were primed with a tinted red, but that's okay. It just needed a bit of paint!

I wanted a stand to put a plant on. I found this guy in my basement:

And I turned it into this:

Such a difference!! Let's see, I added twine to my planter, accessorized with some candlesticks and yarn, then added some pictures that I took off the wall from my staircase redo.

And remember that I hit a roadblock while doing this? I was trying to figure out how I was going to do my kids' profiles. This what I came up with:

Here's a closeup of my son, John's, profile. I made tags from Photoshop and construction paper. I made the profiles by selecting pictures of my kids that had a side shot of them. I blew it up to 8x10 and printed it out. I cut around their profiles then laid the cut image on top of black construction paper. I traced around the image, then cut my tracings out of the black construction paper. Glue that on white paper, glue the tag below, add some ribbon to the top, and hang!

Since I tiered the photos on the wall, I felt that the space on the wall below my eldest looked blank, so I bought a vase from Walmart, added some branches I had in the yard (bonus: cleaning the yard)...

...and put it by the wall.

And an overall shot of that wall....

We can see a little peek of the rest of the landing in that photo. So let's take a look what's there.

I kept the original side tables, just turning them outwards instead of diagonal. Then I added some twine to the handles as a temporary fix until I decide what kind of hardware I want.

Then I added some accessories. I placed a mirror above each side table.

On one table I have a monkey and a sentimental photo in the cubby....

...and two candlesticks on top (one is the one my mom gave me)

I added twine bows to the tapers to give it a little more personal touch.

On the other table I accessorized with a fun votive holder, a lamp that I made, and a twine ball on a scroll stand.

The lamp was about $1 at Goodwill. It was brown and didn't have a lampshade. I spray-painted it black, bought a lampshade, and added a fun black bow.

You can just start to see the accessories on the bench in that last picture, so let's start on them.

I had a blue round box that held votives in it. I pretty much emptied that box from that 6-candle votive thing, I didn't need it anymore. But it was too cute to toss away. It sort of reminded me of old hat boxes. So I spray-painted the box white, then added some black decals that I found in the craft section of Walmart. Then I punched a hole on each side and threaded some ribbon through to make a handle. And my hat box was done!

Then I grabbed a white throw pillow and a brown bear to add to the other side.

Here's how that wall turned out:

Here's a wider shot of the whole landing:

And here's the landing at night with the lamp on. It gives me a warm fuzzy feeling =)

Younkers just got done with their Community Day sale, and I came out with some goodies. Stick around to see what I've done with them!

Peek-a-boo!

I busted through that "roadblock" on my BIG REVEAL!

So now I'm just doing a few minor touch-ups, and it will be done!

Unfortunately, I don't have much time to do it today.

I'm going to try REALLY hard to get this posted by the weekend. But don't hate me if it's later!

I'm not even going to explain how busy this coming week is. It's brutal.

BUT I will give you a peek!

Mountains? I don't know....

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!

Etiquette For Gift Giving

With hectic Black Friday (the biggest shopping day of the year) coming up, I see it fitting to give a little etiquette lesson to anyone buying gifts for people, especially on that day. I've acquired little bits of information from my job, mistakes as a gift giver, and from receiving gifts. This is what I know:

1. Always give a gift receipt. Always!
Even if the person specifically asked for the item you are purchasing, so you know they want it, get a gift receipt. They may have already purchased it for themselves, or someone else may have. No one wants duplicates.

2. If they made a registry, use it!
Nothing is more frustrating than knowing that all the time you've spent making a registry was useless. The recipient will get double of things they didn't want in the first place. I've seen many an angry bride from this one! I registered for some power tools for my wedding. Yep! A lot of people were critical of me for it, but I HAD most of the servingware I needed! Thank you to my two cousins for sticking to my registry! You guys are awesome!

3. Just because you like something, doesn't mean someone else will!
Though it's cute, I hate watching elderly ladies bring up ugly Christmas sweaters for their teenage daughters. Yes, it would look cute on you, but your granddaughter's friends will make fun of her for wearing it. Don't embarrass her!

4. If you re-gift, make sure the original gift giver doesn't find out!
Re-gift in a different friend or family circle. Of course, if you have the original gift receipt, all the better!

5. If someone gives you specific details for a gift list, don't take artistic freedom with it.
Oh man, I've got tons of funny stories on this one, but I won't go into details. Basically, listen for brands, models, colors, etc. If someone takes the time to list specifics, then it must be important. Pay attention to them!

6. Don't make fun of what someone wants for a gift (or call it stupid).
Not only is it rude and tacky, but there's a decent chance that the person wanting the gift will find out and broadcast your tackiness all over the internet. Haha, this one's for me =)

7. Always get a card.
We all know that kids don't really care about the cards, but some parents keep them. I've kept all my kids cards from their 1st birthdays, baptisms, baby showers, etc. It may help them remember loved ones that have passed.

8. Try, try, try to be punctual!
Nothing says "I don't care" more than a late gift. Did you forget?

9. Gift cards are ONLY for extended family or distant friends.
My uncle gave me a gift card for Menards once. Can you imagine how giddy I was? It was like letting a kid loose in a candy store. I loved it!
Now if my mom would have done the same....not so much.
Your mom doesn't want a gift card to Younkers on her birthday, she wants you to have a mother/daughter or mother/son shopping day at Younkers. Be classy, people!

10. And lastly, if someone returns a gift, don't get upset.
Maybe you didn't follow these rules, maybe they just didn't need it. Yes, there could be a chance that the outfit you picked out is hideous to them. So what? Get over it, because it's the thought and love that count, right?


I hope this aids everyone with such a wonderful holiday (and shopping event!) coming up. And remember: Be kind to the store associates!!