Do you know what today is?

It's our anniversary! Three years ago I got married to my bestest friend ever. I love you Chuckles<3 width="425" height="344">

Sorry I still haven't posted anything yet. I've been uber busy and all over the place. Heading out to Memphis today. I'll actually have some alone time w/ Chuckles. Woohoo. And plus my mom's a new year's baby so we are having a party at her house on the 31st. I hope everyone had a great Christmas and wil have a Happy New Year's. I can't wait to show some things I've gotten done, as well as some things I've done at my mom's. Take care of yourselves during this time of the year :o)

Please Accept My Sincerest

Apologies. I have been so busy lately. Working hard on projects. And we finally put up the Christmas tree last night at 11pm. Still no ornaments though :o( We'll do that Monday. Why Monday? Because it's my time to get away from it all..woohoo. It's currently 18 degrees out here. I'm heading south to Florida, where it is 80 degrees. Not Key West, though it is my hometown, I wish. But Tampa, Fl.
I'll have before and afters posting for a few days straight when I get back! I promise. I almost have 3 projects fully completely finished and 2 projects just started. Woot woot! See you soon, and with a new do to show off too. Homegirl's hair is looking more than worse for wear.

Jadeite or Jadite..Does it Really Matter?

Not when you're searching eBay. I found it's better to do both.
I've been wanting to do a plate display in my living room for a good minute. Well now that I have my projects under some control I think it's a good time to start looking for plates to pull it off with. This is the picture that sparked the controversial debate in my mind.


done by her

I also plan on doing 2 pictures with plates over them by my armoire

to tie into whatever plate display I do.

I'm either doing them over this entry doorway or over my fireplace.

Oh How I wish I could do it over my den entry. I would do something grand and huge.
(Ignore the wretched fan plz.)

I want plates like these. I actually have 2 in cream bought at TJMaxx for $2 ea.

I would love these too! I plan on mixing in turquoise, light green, and cream.

While searching here & here I found these. They would be so perfect for my bedroom, which btw has come a little ways since this. Well back to painting. I'll try to have a reveal tomorrow...*fingers crossed*

Cheap Matting

While shopping for more frames for my son's room I noticed they didn't come with matting like they used to. I buy the 11x13 frames from walmart for $5. So instead of going out to buy 6 sets of matting (which adds up fast inclusing the cost of the frames) I decided to make my own. I also needed matting for the girl's room too. So here is what I used & did.

Frames bought on eBay for uber cheap, more $3.50/yd fabric, poster board from the dollar tree, & items not pictured. **Not pictured is the exacto knife and adhesive spray I used**

I took the board backing out (which just happened to be the ugly picture that came in the frame) and traced it onto the poster board. This way I knew it would fit snug and no measuring would be needed.

One poster board produced 2 mattings.

I then took my photo, flipped it over and traced it onto the self maden matting.

I layered the matting on top of each other and taped the ends together. I did this to save time by cutting both mattings together. I took the exacto and cut out within the traced square. You want to make sure it has enough space added to cover the edge of the photo you are matting.

This was what it looks like after. I didn't measure the photo before tracing, I just placed it in the middle. If you are more of a perfectionist you may want to measure first. Then I sprayed adhesive on my matting and added the fabric as I did here in this project. Be sure to spray your adhesive away from the fabric if you are using silky or thin fabric. You don't want wet spots showing on your fabric (which I learned today from experience).

Here is the finished product. I may go back and add ribbon, rhinestones, their names, or anything else later.

So in total the project only cost me $1 for the poster board. I already had everything else on hand.

Can It Be..

I stayed away to long? Did I leave your mind while I was gone? Yes, I love that song. It was one of my go to's while the Man was gone last year.

So back on subject. I haven't been on lately because I have been working on multiple projects at one time. I tend to do that. I have lazy spells then just start working on everything at once. So remember this? Well her she is. Slowly looking better right? I still have to paint the murals on it but hey, she's getting there! And to think it only took some 1.5yd @ $3.50/yd fabric & half a gallon of $6 oops paint.

The cup in the bottom is for chalk. And the boxes (from target) hold her hair bows. I'll do a quick post on that next. So this weekend I plan on painting the dresser (which you see the drawers in the background) and the vanity in the next 2 days.

**Excuse the dirty rug. I've been dragging furniture from the garage and basement through today.**

Good Deal Gone Bad

Don't you just LUV LUV LUV a good deal?!? Well I know I sure do. And I will search to the end of the earth for one. Don't believe me ask the man that drives the truck (hubby) & picks all the goodies up.
So let me get to my sob story of the week. As you know I went to my mom's for Thanksgiving. A year earlier (yes a whole year...maybe a little more) I bought a ton of items off of eBay made by The Find. This company sold gorgeous items at shopnbc.com at out of my range prices. After searching eBay I was able to buy mirrored tables, sconces, candle holders, boxes, stands, chandeliers, chandelier lamps, and so forth for dirt cheap. One day I will do a post on the stuff I have gotten made by this company. So with my Find purchases I bought some items that were turquoise (my favoritist color).

This mirror was bought for $60 after shipping. It's a good size tho the pic makes it look smaller. But upon it's arrival my mom didn't check it thoroughly. Yep, it was broken.

Shattered piece on top.

And cracked/chipped side. I did open the box so many months ago and closed it immediately. Now that we brought it home so I can figure out what to do with it I have to look at it again. It hurts my feelings just looking at it.

To add insult to injury I lifted this box up and it fell apart in my hands! I'm sure I can reglue it, but what the hey?! How does this happen? Underneath is the original pic of it.

And let me add I bought the chandelier to match it all. Got it for $88 total. Beautiful in the picture. Not so much in person. The green was a grass green or crayola green with cobalt blue crystals. I like cobalt blue with grass green (awesome combination mixed with black and cherry wood against white or cream) but NOT done like this! I ended up selling it on ebay.

Though I absolutely adore The Find's items because they are so ornate and beautiful this haul was an epic fail.

I do have some good news to share though. We got a new member to our household. My pomeranian Cameo needed a friend badly. I never wanted dogs until we got her (she was a gift from my mom to my son). She is very well trained and sweet as can be. Buuuut she always wanted to play fetch and stuff. So now we got her a friend. He is a shitzu & terrier mix. He is scruffy looking and just as sweet as Cami. He gives Cami a run for her $$. Not sure what to name him yet. We are working with Bailey at the moment.

Here he is waiting her out for her toy. They've been fighting over it constantly. Fun to watch :o)

My Little Projects Part 1

Sorry I have been M.I.A. lately. I was uber busy with my husband's return from his one month stay in the desert. Then a trip to my mom's for Thanksgiving, which I completely forgot to take my camera with me to take pics of projects I did while I was there :o( Next time. So now that I am back home with hubby in tow I can finally get so many projects done! I am sooooo excited, yippeeee. I can finally finish the armoire, desk, chest, dresser, dining table, chairs, and sons room. Oh and for Christmas I told the hubby I wanted 3 rooms painted. They will be the kitchen, master bedroom, and son's room. Oh and I have a ton of small projects too. Plus a knock off project of Ballard Design's. Set of 9 prints for $169 (on sale) done for around $20!! So much to show. Here is one of the first "little" projects I have to show. I didn't take any pics while I was doing it, I know shame on me, but I'll explain what I did.

The pic above is the before. I bought two of these heavy resin frames for $16 at the local flea market warehouse place called This Old Place. I find good deals there all the time.

This is the first re-do. I had spray painted (.99c spray paint of course) one frame a flat white and spray painted the matting silver with spray paints I already had. I love Chanel No. 5 perfume bottles so I printed this image off of Flickr. I have four images saved but they're too girly for my husband.

So I took them down out of my room and found a place in the den for them. I spray painted them a flat black ( .99c paint once again) and used white craft paint ( .47c @ walmart) to dry brush all the creases and detail.

I tried to take a closer pic of the detail so you could see where I had dry brushed it. To dry brush I had read about using water to thin the paint, but this didn't work for me. It made the black paint look dirty mixed with the white. So I dipped my brush in the craft paint and wiped it all off. Then I just starting pouncing the brush into the crevices and rubbed it over the "moulding". (Not sure what you call the carved details in the frame, moulding works for me though)

After replacing the matting (bought at Hobby Lobby for $3 ea. I think) I went ahead and hung them. Excuse the dirty glass. I still need to clean them. And I also need to find another picture to put in the bottom frame too. But I think they look just perfect for my den. If I would've used them in my living room I would've done cream with light turquoise craft paint.

Stay tuned for more little projects as well as big ones. Hope you all had a Happy Thanksgiving.

T.G.I.F.-Parties & Giveaways

Okay so by now if you have read my blog you have to know I absolutely adore theLENNOXX, no surprise there right? I'm actually redoing some of my home to the tune of the photos they've posted. Anywho what I didn't know is that they did giveaways! Sweet. I encourage anyone who loves great design inspiration to check out their website. Here are a couple of pics of the pillows they are giving away.

They not only give you one chance to enter, but two! I'm sure you can't tell me there isn't at least 2 pillows you would love out the group.

And also thanx so much to my BFF (Blogging Friend Forever) in the making Dayka over at Life + Style for the heads up about The DIY Showoff party. Who doesn't love a good party after a long stressful week.

What's On Your Plate?

And this time I don't mean food ;o) I have an obsession with plates that developed recently. I have been looking for plates to hang over my fireplace that will just jump out at you. That has led me to wandering "What do you guys out there eat off of?" I know at one point a looooong time ago I would eat off of paper plates set on a wicker plate. That was the laziness in me. I hated washing dishes and still do. But since then I have collected dish, with help of course. So here at our house this is what we have been eating off of and drinking out of. (Overlook the ugly cabinets, we are renting so we have no choice. But they will at least be lined soon)

This first picture: 1.Margarita glasses from Aafes (4/$10) 2. Red high ball glasses from eBay (4/$5) 3. Large martini glasses from Pier 1 (6/$12) 4. Reg. drinking glasses from aafes (4/$10) 5. Reg. drinking glasses from Marshalls ($2.99 ea.) 6. Reg. drinking glasses from Old Time Pottery (.50c ea. after Christmas sale) 7. Coffee Mug from Target (from my mom) 8. White milk glasses (from my husbands grandmother) 9.Coffee Mugs from TJMaxx ($2.99 ea.)

I used to buy a lot of red dishes because I just love the brightness in my kitchen. It feels warm and cozy to me. I also used to buy a lot of dishes from Old Time Pottery but we don't have one near us where I live now. They have fabrics, vases, pillows, and so forth and so forth for great prices!

In the above picture: 1.Red Glass Serving bowls from Old Time Pottery (.50c ea. after Christmas sale too) 2.Salsa dishes from Target dollar spot 3.Red serving bowl form Pier 1 ($5) 4. Bowls from TJMaxx ($2.99 ea.)...well all my bowls were 2.99ea. and the plates range from $2.99 for the smaller ones to $4.99 for the bigger ones. All plates and bowls were bought at TjMaxx and Marshalls. Here is a close up of my plates. I just had to have the set with the #9. I loved the colors. Maybe in the future I will change to blues, yellows, oranges, and creams. That would make me happy.

So whats on your plates? What colors do you use? Why? How do you acquire your dishes? Do tell!

Dollar General Haul

Sorry I seem to post tons at one time and then take long breaks from my blog. It's just that when I start to get into DIY stuff I dive head first and work on tons at one time. Yet how is it infamous armoire is still not done?

Well anywho...I bought some frames from dollar general (I am a closet hoarder of frames) for 70% off. So in total I paid about $8 after tax for them. A deal I thought was great because I knew exactly where I wanted to put them. (two little gold frames I already had and will show a DIY later once I finish them)
About a week later I finally got around to taking them apart.

The little molding pieces just pop right off the matting. But be warned it was hell to get them back on. I took the molding pieces and the frame to the garage for a coat of flat black .99c rustoleum spray paint I had on hand.

Then I got out some fabric I had stashed away from a reupholstery project I did earlier this year. Which dummy me forgot to use until I finished the first chair. Anywho it was bought for $5/yd at fabric world. Some spray adhesive from the same chair project, and an exacto knife ($3 @ Lowes).

I sprayed the back of the fabric and laid the matting on it. I cut a square out of the middle and cut from the corners of the matting out so I could fold the fabric over (which was sticky enough from the spray to stick to the back with no help.

Here is the after result.

After the spray paint dried and I finished the matting I put all of the pieces together and stapled the backing into place. This was a bad idea. It pushed the staples with so much pressure it broke the glass. I replaced the glass later with another frame I had stashed away. But to be honest I broke 2 pieces of glass by the time I was done. I'm hard headed as heck so I didn't learn my lesson the first time. I ended up taping the back of the frame on which worked just fine.

Here is the finished result. Before and after. I got this idea from High-Heeled Foot in the Door.

I'll be hanging these in my den which I'll share with you once it is painted!
I do have a couple of more projects to finish in there too though. I'll share with you this secret. Always check Fred's, Walgreens, and Dollar General for household items. You'll be surprised what will turn up at such great prices. (BTW I found some 14x14 ornate shadow boxes (which I need badly) for $6 at Fred's yesterday!)

Let There Be Light

As you saw my bedroom lamps (bought off of ebay for $10 after shipping) in a previous post I'm sure you noticed they were pretty small. I do love them because they seem so boudoirish but loathe them because they are smallish. To my girls room they'll go. So to replace them I pulled out some lamps I recieved from Granma P. I had already gotten some buffet lamps from her I had painted to go in my room, but obviously buffet lamps would've been way to tall. So here are the lamps in all their glory :o)

Here is one of the lamps after I painted it 3 coats of glossy white spray paint and trimmed the bottom in gold liquid leaf (against my mother's advice). Since the chest & desk that will go in my room are going to be white I needed the lamp to have a stopping point so it doesn't just "flow" into the furniture. Plus I like the gold at the bottom paired with the grayish silver shade (purchase at target for the buffet lamps) And also one lamp is shorter then the other so I will fix this problem by stacking a couple of books under one to even out the height difference. I'm thinking some books covered with gold wrapping paper...I know it would be pushing it though. I love a can of .99c spray paint! But then again who doesn't? If any has any advice on whethr I should add any more detail to the lamps let me know! Thanx :o)

Ornamental Frames

I love going to Hobby Lobby & Target every year and looking at their ornaments. They always have them grouped by color and textures. Oh the eye candy. I love handblown ornaments with feathers, mirrored ones with etching, and so forth and so forth. But can we use them for anything else beside Christmas decor? Well of course! So far I have used decorations for at least 2 things.

I love the tassels they sell in Hobby Lobby. They have all sorts of different ones. Long ones, beaded, fabric, and so on and so on. These two I bought to go in my sons room for maybe a few bucks. They have seen better days since they've been in there since he was 4 (He is now 9, well 9 1/2 let him tell it) I have bought some long silver beaded ones too that I haven't used yet.

These sets of frames I spent a total of about $8 +tax on. The red ones came from target (50% off after Christmas) and they sit in my kitchen window sill. The brown wooden ones I got from Hobby Lobby 3 years ago (50% off also) and I do believe they still sell them. Hobby Lobby even has mirrored, silver , or gold frames to suit your fancy! I like to pair little frames with big ones.

This year I am going to invest in some little birdies to put in my jars and cheese trays around the house. I am going through a bird + nest phase right now. If you have any other ideas of how you can decorate with Christams decor please do share!

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A NOTE FROM THE BLOGGER

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Every year over the past few years I have come to love Christmas more and more each year. I used to dread this specific day due to it's exploitation of gift giving. Though now I do like to relish in the joys of my kid's childhood beliefs in Santa Claus, I'm keen to make sure Christ's birth, life , and death is the most significant point of the holiday. So let it be known it's CHRISTmas and not X-mas. Who is X anyways? Sorry just had to get that off my chest :o)

While the Hubby's Away...

His wife will redecorate! Well since my husband has been in the Mojave Desert for war training I decided to re-do our room to my liking. I'm not sure if I had let you know before, but I am not in love with my tropical looking bed. It's not romantic to me. It looks like something I would find in a Florida hotel. Though I must admit it is a Pulaski piece that I bought brand new ($102 total) from a local warehouse online auction site. Sadly that site doesn't have top notch pieces like they used to.
Well while I was desperate to get it out of my room, I knew we couldn't afford another one. So to the garage I went and stumbled upon this....

Our bed from our first place together! Here is what it looks like with all of it's attachments. I can't fit it in our room with all the pieces on. But I do love it again (hubby never did) and am happy it's back in my life. After a couple of white gloss coats here ya go...

It does need some touch up since I banged it around trying to get it up the steps by myself, but all in all I think it's a little improvement. It will look better once I paint the room the right shade of gray (when I find it). Over the bed I hung a heart shaped mirror that reflects my chandelier. I love a mirror over the bed.

And some mirrored frames. The frames and mirror were both purchased on eBay. The frames were about $10 ea. after shipping. I had them hanging on another wall in the room.

I have a chaise at the foot of the bed I bought from an aunt for $80, which she bought at spiegel. It was less than a year old! My daughter keeps pulling the beads off of the bottom for some reason or other.

This is a corner that I dedicated to my little girls. They like to watch when I am getting glammed up. I thought it would be fun for them to have a space to get glammed up also. So this is what it looks like now...(notice there used to be shades on the chandelier. Yeah they're in the kitchen now.)

I found this in our garage when looking for things to repurpose for our house. I forgot all about it.Soon (hopefully this week) I will be painting it as a scaled down version of this..(minus the flowers)

My littlest girl loves sitting here. She even has free range of my perfume as well as her own.

Inside her drawer she has another little mirror her auntie Sarah gave her. There is also play jewelry. Maybe Santa will bring her some pieces that have seen better days, and if she is extra good a little nail polish. Well maybe not nail polish. She's not ready for that yet.

I do have some lamps I am replacing the smaller lamps with. They are currently in the drying process. And I've been wearing down my mom for her fireplace that hangs on the wall (also purchased at that local warehouse for uber cheap). Mom if you are reading this I am making a public plea!! Obviously I have so much more to do in my room. I have so many DIY projects unfolding that I will show as I do them. So stay tuned. I am hoping to get it all done in the next couple of weeks. You heard that one word that defines that sentance...HOPING :o)