Day Off

Today was my day off so naturally I was up at 6:30 a.m. and ready to work. I am really inspired by House of Grace and her recent garage clean out. My garage is on the side of my house so I rarely use the front door and many guests go in through the garage, which is atrocious. I have so many unfinished projects, tools, wood pieces, etc. scattered around that neither of our cars will fit! This morning I walked out to the garage and decided that the door and the walls near it were so bad they needed to be painted.

{Please don't judge me}

After an hour and some $5.00 oops paint from Home Depot here is the result, What do you think? 

Am I the only person who struggles with this new blogger?
This picture keeps going wherever it wants to! 

I love how its so bright and fresh and new looking. You will notice that I didn't take a picture of the ceiling, which is very much still paint-less. No fear, we are planning to paint the whole garage and put down an epoxy flooring next Spring!

The stairs did not get painted today but perhaps next week? I have some black paint I might use. 

Saturday Yard Sale Finds

Here is what I found driving around Springville and Mapleton early Saturday morning :) 

Wreath $1

Cradle $2

2 leaf plates $2.50

Set of 3 jars $1

2 picture frames $1

2 bird cages $2

Book $1

Wooden box $1

I am so excited for this little bird cage.
He is going in my craft room- I will show you pictures later!

Hardware Update

I am still undecided on what ado about the hardware for my sewing cabinet. I would like something pretty like this:

{All from Anthropologie}

I am very impatient so I have come up with a solution until I purchase the "perfect" knobs and pulls. I purchased some flat black spray paint from WalMart and gave the hardware a good spraying. 

This picture shows some before and afters:

Halloween Treat Box

I purchased this cute little wooden box for $3 some time ago

It spent a considerable amount of time sitting on a shelf until I decided that it would become a Halloween treat box

I painted the top and inside with black paint

Using my favorite My Mind's Eye paper I traced each side of the box

Using these supplies, I decoupaged the paper to the box

The little blue thing is great for making sure the paper has adhered {credit card works good too}

Finished Product:

As the risk of eating all the candy, I will not be purchasing any until October 30th. 

Partial Reveal {sewing cabinet}

I have one coat left to put on the doors and I will be ready to 

apply hardware {still undecided on what exactly}

Before pics are HERE

Fall Cleaning

Who is ready for some Fall Cleaning? Last week I got a bee in my bonnet that I wanted to organize every room, drawer, closet and space in my house.  I have started to clean out some drawers and do a little organizing but I need to do more...along with some deep cleaning. With the help of House of Grace I have a nice fall cleaning list as well as some tutorials/pictures on how to organize some spaces.

Perhaps you should join in?
{get her list HERE. I am also using her Spring List}

Halloween Candy Display

I have always wanted to buy a bunch of cute apothecary jars and fill them with candy. I love Juicy Couture and they just happen to have candy jars all over their stores! (not to mention I LOVE candy in general!) I saw a cute idea at the House of Smiths and wanted to give it a try. You will notice that I pretty much copy-catted her. What can I say? 

We have some tasty treats here: worms, eyes. deadly morsels, hollowed frog eyes and witch's sticks!

The large apothecary jar was purchased for $12 from the Wandering Wardrobe (consignment shop) and filled with 3.5 pounds of gum balls from Gygi for about $9. The small apothecary jar was purchased some time ago for $1.50 at DI. I purchased the other 3 jars just recently from DI for $4 total. Don't even ask me how much money I spend on the other candy because I don't want to know. 

I used some grass from a previous project and a tray I found in my basement.

BTW, I am loving Dessert Buffets, especially anything by Amy Atlas. She has a really cute Halloween one too! Go HERE and look at picture 21.  

Halloween Decorating

I am definitely a summer kinda girl but the one
bright thing to Fall is my favorite holiday- Halloween!
I love to decorate so I took a few pictures of my current decor:

I have this ridiculous fireplace and have no idea what to do with the space, hence all the decor surrounding the TV 
{my dream would be to remove the fireplace.
waste. of. space.} 

I filled this jar with water and added green food coloring
I got the cute Poison label from Love Manor
Cost: Free!

I filled this apothecary jar with some extra grass {from WalMart floral dept.}
and some skulls from the dollar store
Cost:  $3.50

This project took me all but 10 minutes to do.
I had the vinyl left over from last year.
I found some extra wood in the garage and cut it to size.
I painted it with craft paint, sanded, added the vinyl and glittered her up!
Cost: Free! {vinyl probably cost $2 last year}

Here is an up-close of the banner I made last year.
I used cardboard boxes and scrapbook paper, embellishments and ribbon I had on hand.
It was my first banner and I adore it!


I have a few more pictures of the candy display I made today, but will save that post for later!  It's de.li.ci.ous.

Tulle Wreath

Nothing makes me happier then when I find something at a thrift store that I can use over and over again.

Enter: big bag of orange tulle for $2. I have used this on 10 or more project and decided to use it to make a tulle wreath. 

No before pictures but this is pretty simple
that you don't need any. 

I purchased a small wooden embroidery hoop from
 the DI for .25 cents for my shape.

I took 12" {ish} strips of tulle and tied
a double knot onto the hoop. 

I did this until all of the hoop was covered in tulle. I am not sure how much tulle I used because
I was just grabbing strips from my bag. 

Lastly, I tied black ribbon around it and hung on my door! 

Instant Halloween decor for $2.25

Next on my to do: clean my front door! 

DIY Pegboard Wall Hanging

Obviously I am a horrible blogger because I don't have any before or during pictures. You are lucky to get an after picture! *smile*

This project was pretty easy for me because I didn't have to do much. I bought a large piece of pegboard for $3 from a friend at her yard sale. She actually gave me the idea for this project

This is my friend Kari Clements' craft room and inspiration
BTW, her house is re-listed so check the details out here

Here is my final product. I asked my husband to build me a frame; he obliged and spent $13 on the already-painted-white MDF trim. I painted it black using the black paint we already had and sanded the edges. 

Total cost: $16

A little more than I would have liked to spend but this thing is big! 

Now I just have to fill it with stuff! 

DIY Bench

I recently came across Ana White who builds furniture and provides step-by-step tutorials on how you can do it too. With the help of my husband, I decided to make this bench. We had some *free* wood from a friend's torn down out-building that I was dying to use. 

We did not have a piece wide enough to follow Ana's exact dimensions, so we (meaning Brad) came up with some new ones and made it into a child's bench!

We glued and nailed as recommended by Ana.

Here is the final product before and after paint. 

Took us less than 1 hour to cut and assemble. 

So far this project didn't cost us anything. I already had the black paint on hand. 

I will probably spend $5 on some vinyl lettering so I can personalize this for a special small person ;)

Who Says You Can't Wear White After Labor Day?

I am in love with white watches. I think it all started with the watch worn by Sandra Bullock in "The Blind Side".  I thought it was a Chanel watch but have learned that it was a ToyWatch White Plasteramic {Source: Watch-ID}

$295

Chanel J12
$3759

Michael Kors Watch
$225

Juicy Couture Lively Crystal Watch

$495

Toy Watch Plasteramic Watch
$195

These are more in my league-

Fossil Stella Glitz
$76.50

Fossil Stella Topring
$60

Fossil Stella
$89