Time for Laundry!

Anyone remember this post last summer?  I was finally starting to feel better and decided to MAKE my own laundry detergent! Well, it has proved to be a really great choice for our family.  I am so glad that I decided to do it.  That $31.68 has lasted us 10 months of laundry!  How wonderful, especially since we added to our family and laundry loads, and its even more important to pinch those pennies!

I have a front loading HE washer, and this detergent worked splendidly.  I never had any issues with spotting or the soap not dissolving (and I use cold water).

Lets look again at what most powdered laundry detergents have in their ingredient list:
1.  Borax
2.  Baking Soda
3.  Washing Soda
4.  Fels Naptha soap

Also, you can check out the original recipe that I created this with here.

The first year of doing this I really felt was trial and error, and I feel like I have the recipe down now!  I am very excited to share with you the differences in this batch!  One of the main problems I had last year was grating my soap.  What a pain in my you-know-what.  I was bound and determined to find a better solution this year.  And I did!  Let me introduce to you: Zote Laundry Soap Flakes!

Gone are the days of trying to grate 6 bars of soap!  Or if you were like me....trying to throw it all in the food processor!  That would have been fine, but I figured for easy clean up, why not throw the food processor parts in the dishwasher!!  Umm.....do you know what happens when you put regular [not dishwasher specific] soap in to the dishwasher?!  Because now I do....and though my kitchen tiles probably needed scrubbing anyway, the massive amounts of foam pouring from my dishwasher was less than ideal.  SO, long story short, I was very happy to find these at my local Walmart!

And, this year I didn't even need to purchase the 5 gallon bucket since I already had it!  Check out my grocery list for this batch:

1.  Two boxes of 2lb Baking Soda (or you can buy a 4lb box, which my store didn't have today)  $1.24 each
2.  One box of 4lb Borax $3.38
3.  One box of 3lb Super Washing Soda $3.24
4.  Two boxes of Zote Laundry Soap Flakes $2.64 each
5.  One box of 3lb Oxy-clean powder $7.52
6.  One jug of 55oz Purex Laundry Crystals $8.96

Total cost: $30.86


So, like last year, this number is pre-tax, and where you buy may be different than my local store.  But I'm pretty sure for ten months of laundry, $30.86 rocks!!!

Also, the most expensive thing is those dang Purex Laundry Crystals.  Come to find out, they aren't even fabric softener.  They are just smell good-yumminess to add to your laundry pleasure.  So, if I wasn't so in to smelly things, I would totally leave that out.  But I'm a sucker for Lavender, and definitely think it makes the laundry experience better.  So I will suck it up and spend the nine dollars!!  If you have allergies in your household, you can absolutely leave them out.  The Zote laundry flakes have a pretty pleasant smell themselves.


{The number seems very close to last years, and without the bucket, but obviously the economy changes and prices of items are always seeming to go up. So, I think this is pretty reasonable!}


Please, PLEASE go do this!  It is the easiest thing in the world and will save you so much!  Not to mention, you will save a little bit of the world by not having the waste of the big plastic detergent bottles!


The other tip I was going to mention was how I mixed it all together.  Don't try to throw all the ingredients in all at the same time.  You want to do it in layers.  I did about five all together that included all of the ingredients, properly stirred up before adding to the next layer.  This will ensure that your detergent is mixed up thoroughly and you aren't missing any ingredients when you scoop a tablespoon or two out!  Also, your spaghetti scoop kitchen spoon works VERY well for this task!!

Cheers to another 10 months of laundry soap!!

-Suzanne

Bon Appetit!!

I finally have finished up a project in my 'dining room' that I started so long ago!  I was browsing on pinterest and found this wonderful tutorial on how to make letters using nails and embroidery floss (check it out! jk jk).  I absolutely love the way that mine turned out, and have had many compliments from friends who have come over for dinner.

I used my cricut to cut out letters in a font that I liked and then taped them to the wall.  After that I nailed around the letters, and then wrapped about 6 times in the embroidery thread!  Super great project and it really turns out nice!

DIY Roman Shades

Ok.  Crafting with a newborn is sort of a bitter sweet experience.  It is really sweet because, as you know if you have had a newborn, they sleep ALL the time.  Apparently they sleep for about 20 hours out of the 24 hour period.  That is potentially a lot of time to get things done (though they don't tell you how tired you are going to be all the time, especially if you are breastfeeding and your body is in overdrive to be a milk machine).  The bitter part isn't really bitter, but the problem is if you get started on a big crafting project while baby is sleeping, baby will eventually wake up and you have to stop said project and go get elbow deep in dirty diapers and then feed them again!!

Well, that is what happened when I decided to make some roman shades for my kitchen window.  For almost a year now, my husband has complained bugged pestered (oh heck there isn't a nice word) me about my decorative curtains.  They are two panels that I got from Ikea, but I put them on 2 foot curtain rods so they would just frame the window.  Well, I haven't really noticed as much, but my darling husband doesn't like that the TV in the living room has a horrible glare from the window in the kitchen, and he can't fix it because of my *stupid* decorative curtains!  I wasn't going to get rid of my curtains because I love the way they look, so I started looking for a different way to fix the problem.

I started searching for some roman shades because that seemed like the most logical choice.  Do you know how expensive custom roman shades are?  I don't even want to talk about it.  Luckily we live in the land of technology so I went out in to the blog world to see if it was even possible to make it a DIY project.  Here are a few of the tutorials that I read through.  I didn't follow any one completely, but I learned a lot from reading different blogs and finding out which steps were going to work for my project.  Check out these blogs to see what the other ladies did, all of the projects turned out great!!

Beneath My Heart
Brown Paper Packages
Park House Love

A couple months back my mom and I were at target and I found some absolutely adorable place mats that I purchased to go on the kitchen table.  When I went to target to pick up my mini blinds for the project, I happened to walk past the clearance section and guess what I found?!  There were giant table cloths of the same fabric as my place mats on clearance for $8 each.  Okay, you can't find that much fabric in the fabric store for that price!!  I snatched up two of them and headed on home!!

The first roman shade took quite a while because I wasn't exactly sure what I was doing, and I had to allow for glue drying time and poopy diaper changing time.  However, it turned out awesome! I absolutely loved it.  But life happened and it was a couple of days (okay maybe more like a week) before I started on the second shade.  I measured and cut and got everything finished.  And then I hung my second shade up next to the first one.  Well.  You know that saying, "measure twice, cut once?"  That definitely applies to gluing mini blinds on fabric too.  Unfortunately the slats are about 1 inch off of each other.  That hardly matters when I have the blinds down.  Only a crafty person who is looking for it would notice.

 But when you pull the shades up.........

The shades on the right of the picture are the shades I finished first, and the ones on the left I finished last night.  I was very sad when I pulled them up and they have that cute little mess up.....see it?  Pretty awful, huh?  That is because of the inch difference in where I placed the mini blinds.  My sweet husband says they look fine, but I have a feeling I am going to be figuring out how to un-glue the blinds from my fabric and trying again.  I am seriously hoping that it doesn't ruin the fabric, because I can't get anymore!

Ever had a project turn out like this?


Frustrating!!!! Wish me luck!

Week 25

This week is my 25th week of pregnancy, and I can't even believe it!  The first 22-23 weeks were sooo slow and were just dragging by.  I really felt like my pregnancy would never end!  Now it seems to be picking up slightly, and it seems unreal that little man is already 25 weeks along.  I can't wait to finally meet him and see his little face!!  He sure does a lot of working out and jumping jacks in there, so I know hes getting big and strong.  Next week at my doctor appointment I have to do the dreaded glucose tolerance test.....ICK!!  Hopefully I pass.  And then I stop my monthly appointments and actually start going every two weeks!  Weird it is already time for that!

Want to see a few pictures of the nursery coming along??

We are far from finished, but I don't think I can keep you waiting any longer :)

This is my fancy new chair I showed you before.  Now it has a cute table next to it and that blanket with the minky on it that I made!  In this picture you can also see the curtains which at this point are unfinished.  The navy chevron from the blanket will be added to the bottom of the curtains to make them a little bit longer.  

Here is the fabulous dresser that we ended up getting from friends and neighbors of my parents.  They have moved to a different state and were trying to find a new home for this! We were happy to take it, and I think it looks great in the room!

And, looky there!  There is little man's name!!!  He is officially Cooper James!  I can't wait to get those letters hung up over the dresser :)

See the little lamb up there too?  Well, that is baby lamb.  That is the lamb that I have had since I was born, and it has always been my favorite stuffed animal.  Unfortunately she met up with Cruz one day and Cruz kind of destroyed her......well my amazing mother got some new fabric and completely remade her!!  She is so wonderful :)

Also, that basket on the ground there is a handmade woven basket made in Ghana.  The navy and yellow fibers in it look great with the colors in the room!

Next week maybe I will show off the bedding I have been working on!!  Bumpers aren't very hard to make, but are a little time consuming!  I also only made half of the ties that I needed.....so I need to go over to Hobby Lobby and grab some more bias tape :)

Have a great weekend everyone, and Go HOGS!! Woo Pig Sooie!

Week 24 and Counting!

65 seconds.  Doesn't seem like a very long time, huh?  Just a blink of an eye.

Except when your uterus is contracting during this cute little thing called Braxton Hicks.

And they can leave me alone!!

This week brings the joys of runs of Braxton Hicks contractions.  Sometimes at work, sometimes in the middle of the night.

But really, that is the only bad symptom (besides occasional vomiting and continual acid reflux) that I seem to be having now!

This is a super duper major improvement on all of my previous weeks of pregnancy! Go team.

Here is a picture of cute little baby boy!  He is growing, moving, and grooving!!

Excuse the face.  This is what it looks like when you only sleep for two hours.  I hate Sunday nights/Monday mornings and cant sleep knowing Tim is going to be leaving.  But he is in his 5th week.  Including this one, we only have 8 weeks left before he is home full time!  Can't wait to have my handsome firefighter home! We've got a baby to prepare for :)

Speaking of preparing, the nursery is making lots of progress!!

Last week my parents were awesome enough to come over and help me paint.  Even though I got low odor/low VOC paint, it was still really strong smelling in there and I had to take a LOT of breaks.  But it is all painted and looking great!!

I also got the crib all put together to surprise Tim when he got home this past weekend.  I wanted him to get an idea of what it will look like all finished!

Look who else thinks the crib is awesome...

Macy!  She loves being in the nursery!  Since we moved in to the house over a year ago, she has never been in the room (it has been used as a catch all for things we didn't unpack...).  Cruz also spent some time in the nursery and did great!  We are trying to get them used to all of the new baby items and teaching them they aren't toys.

Another thing that happened was on Sunday we got the new recliner for the nursery!!  I debated a long time about what kind of chair to get.  Do we get a rocker? glider? etc.  We decided to go with a brand new recliner.  Since we plan to have baby sleep in his own room from day one, I knew we were going to need a nice place to sit during late night feedings.  This one ended up being perfect!

This is called the Wyatt Glider/Recliner, and we got it from Haverty's in Little Rock.  It is so comfy, both Tim and I love it!!

See those little pillows?  Yupp, I stitched those up the other night!  I loved the fabric, and only having 1/2 yard of it ended up being the perfect amount to make these two.  A long time ago I picked up some pillows from Good Will that happened to be on sale for $1 each.  They had old retro ruffled pink covers on them, but I knew the forms inside had to be in great shape.  Totally worth it!

Today I had lunch with my In-laws, and after headed over to Hobby Lobby to get a little bit of Minky fabric.  Have you ever tried to cut/measure/sew with minky??  Man, let me tell you, I won't be doing it again.  But, I did take about an hour to make this cute cotton and minky blanket for baby!

So, remember the inspiration picture I shared last week?  See the colors starting to come together?  See the yellow and the navy blue?  It is such a fun color combination!!  The navy really helps make the yellow on the walls pop.

This afternoon I worked on making all of the ties to go in the corners of the bumpers.  So those are done and ready to be sewn on!  I've got to measure and cut all of the fabric for the bumpers and I will get sewing.  I'm trying to get those done, because the fabric for the curtains should be delivered to my house tomorrow.

I will keep posting pictures as things get checked off my to-do list!  Stay tuned!

Adventures in Pinterest

So, you know I must be feeling better for a few reasons.

1.  I am working on my nursery.

2.  I am posting on my blog.

3.  I am getting around to trying all of the awesome Pinterest ideas I've been pinning over the past 5.5 months.

Well, last night I wanted to get going on some laundry.  It seems never ending.  (Isn't that such a silly statement.  Obviously it is never ending. Even if you are doing laundry, you are [probably] wearing clothes that will need to be washed too!!)  I have a couple of blankets that have been sitting on the floor of my laundry room waiting to be washed and put away since....oh....the beginning of the summer.  Lets face it, who needs blankets in this crazy Arkansas summer heat!  So last night was the night.  Until I went to get started and had barely enough detergent for one wash.

Poop.

We have one of those awesome new HE front load washers, and I absolutely love it and wouldn't change it. But man, is that detergent expensive.  A while ago, a trend started of making your own detergent, both powdered and liquid.  Everyone was claiming that just a little bit of extra work and mixing, and you would have detergent for a year for a fraction of the price of buying pre-made detergent.

All of the recipes I have seen use pretty much the same ingredients:
1.  Borax
2.  Baking Soda
3.  Washing Soda
4.  Fels Naptha soap

Some people add a fabric softener, others add oxyclean or other products.

I had pinned a recipe that I thought would work best for me, and have just been waiting for the time to make it.  You can find the recipe I used  here. 

So, off I headed to Walmart to pick up everything I needed.  Here is the price breakdown for what I bought:
1.  5 gallon pail 2.58
2.  4 lb box of Borax 3.38
3.  4 lb box Baking Soda 2.12
4.  3 lb box Super Washing Soda 3.24
5.  [4] 5.5 oz bars Fels Naptha soap $0.97/each
6.  Oxyclean $7.52
7.  [2] 55 oz Purex Crystals Fabric Softener $8.96/each

That adds up to $31.68 (including the five gallon pail which will not need to be purchased next time I need to make a batch, and this number is pre-tax of course.  That will obviously vary depending on where you live).

Okay, the cool part? You only need 1-2 TABLESPOONS per load, depending on load size and amount of soil.  So, if you did approximately 6 loads of laundry every week, this recipe will last you for an entire year!  I mean, come on, does it get better than paying only $31.68 for a WHOLE YEAR of laundry?  If you have an HE washer like me, you were probably used to paying between $10-15 every few months depending on the type of detergent and size of the bottle you were buying.

So, does it work? Does it dissolve? Does it leave spots?

YES, YES, and NO!!

My front load washer has a tray that you pull out where you put the detergent in.  There is a cup in there that says it is for liquid detergent, and in that cup it says "remove for powdered detergent."  So if you are curious if you can put powder in your HE front loader, just look!  I've done two loads, and haven't had any issues with the soap not dissolving, and I don't use hot water.  No spots are leftover either!!  I added two bottles of the Purex crystals, and it seems to be enough scent for me.  I'm a sucker for lavender scent!  However you can add less or none if you prefer or have allergies to scents.

The awesome person who posted the recipe that I followed used the empty Purex Crystals bottle to store smaller amounts of the soap in her laundry room so she wouldn't have to work out of the big 5 gal pail.  I thought that was absolutely brilliant, so I tried it out!

Photo Credit

Pretty cute way to store it, huh?

Okay well I had a few issues with that.  When I grated my Fels Naptha soap, I used my food processor.  My soap was more the thickness of shredded cheddar cheese instead of the consistency of say..... parmigiana regiana (is that how you even spell it??).   The point is my soap cheese was thicker. It doesn't seem to affect the dissolving ability, but it doesn't want to come out of the top of that cute little bottle!!  Luckily I had saved the carton that the Oxyclean came in and am using that instead.

Next time I make the detergent I will do one of two things:
1.  Find already powdered Fels Naptha soap (or zote soap if I can find it)
2.  Microwave the bar of soap so that it will crumble and become much finer when put in the food processor

But, I won't have to make it until next year hopefully!!  Granted, with the baby coming soon I think laundry loads might go up for a bit.  Apparently they drool and puke and poop a lot.  Who would have thunk it.


Anyways, I highly suggest that you go and try this out!! I mean, who doesn't like saving money where you can!!  If you do, let me know how it goes for you!

Another Nursery Tease

Here are some pillows I made last night for the nursery.  Do you see that pretty paint on the wall in the background?  That is Yellow Coneflower by Olympic Paints.  It is so wonderful and cheery :)  The pillows are Navy and White.

The fabric for the bedding is washed, dried, ironed, and ready to be cut!  You'll be seeing it soon, I'm sure!

Nursery Inspiration

Today my parents came over and helped paint the nursery!  One step closer!  Now I can start on the bedding and accessories! Instead of showing you exactly what I am doing yet, I decided to share with you the picture that is my inspiration for the nursery.  Enjoy!!

Photo Credit

Planting

Well, I learned a valuable lesson the other day.  The dogs cannot be trusted around freshly planted anything.  They are too curious and have this horrible habit of digging.  No matter how many times I scold them or squirt them with the water hose, the inevitable will occur.  

I had great intentions for planting this year.  We are just getting established in our home that we bought last summer.  In an attempt to eat healthy, we wanted to try growing our own herbs!  

I planted cilantro, green onion, chives, and sweet basil from seeds.  I was so proud of myself!!  I also planted a cute little green pepper plant.

Adorable, right??

Okay, well like I said before I tried so hard to keep Macy and Cruz away from them.  The plants needed full sun and the back yard is the only place that happens around here, so I was desperate to keep them away!  Well, it seemed like every time they went outside the first thing they did was run to the green pepper plant and grab a leaf.  So we moved the plant to the front yard, thinking the other pot was okay.  The people at the nursery told me that dogs don't like herbs because they don't taste very good to them.  So I left it there.  

And then I found this.

Oh well!!  No herbs for us this year.  I will try again when they learn their manners.

Dining Room Update

Check out my new additions to the dining room!!  Found them on sale at Pier 1!  A great reminder of what do do in the dining room.....EAT!! We need that reminder because currently the table is covered in craft stuff, bills that need to be paid, and the laptop I'm writing this from!  Enjoy looking at them, I know I do!

Chandelier-Boring to Glam!

I have totally been neglecting my blog lately.  So sorry, mass amount of people who read my blog (teehee).  A few weeks back I finished my first chandelier re-vamp project.  It was so much fun!!  I had been wanting to try this for so long, and I finally found the perfect project.  While I was in Hot Springs for our State Respiratory Care Society Meeting, I stopped by the Habitat Re-Store that was right down the street from the convention center.  There were a few lights, but none that really stuck out.  That had been my luck at all of the Goodwill's and Re-Stores I had been to.  Well, as I was leaving, this baby caught my eye!  I ran away with this beaut for 20 whole dollars.  

The light bulbs were all really old and most didn't work, so I knew they would have to go.  Also, the cheap-o "candlestick" look wasn't doing anything for me.  Anyways, I took off all of the little crystals  and gave the chandelier a good rub down with some lysol wipes.  

After removing all of the light bulbs, it was time to get ready to paint.  You never want to paint where the light bulbs are going to screw in, so I took paper towels and smushed them down in to place.  I also papertoweled and taped the end of the wire, I didn't want to mess up the part of the lamp that would make it work!!

I bought a can of Rustoleum Oil-Rubbed Nickel spray paint.  I wanted a paint that would match the hardware that we already have all over our house (remember its a builders new house, so everything is the same in every room).  It worked perfectly, and was so shiny in the sun!!  It took just a few coats, and a lot of different angles to make sure that every surface was painted.  

My dad happened to be coming by the house, so he showed me how to hook up the chandelier without frying myself.  Very important step--turn on the lights in the bathroom, then go turn off the breaker, if the lights go off you know the power is off!!  He and I went to Lowes and found a pretty ceiling medallion that we liked with the lamp.  Here it is in its permanent home!!  After it was hanging I replaced all of the bulbs (ones that had the "soft glow" effect to them) and I put all of the little hanging crystals back on.  I think it looks great, and LOVE walking in to the bathroom now!!  

Since we are coming up on thanksgiving, I thought I would just add a little note saying how thankful I am for my Wonderful Husband.  He is truly my best friend (and he puts up with all of my projects around the house).  We are so blessed to have the wonderful life that we have including owning our own home, and having our two wonderful furry children, Macy and Cruz.  

Macy, 8, in back.  Cruz, 7 months, in front.

Guest bathroom makeover!

Sorry it has been so long since I posted last.  Work has been a little crazy, and I have gotten myself in the middle of about a billion projects.  I personally like to do projects that I can finish in one sitting.  But I have been ambitious lately and have been doing projects that take a bit more effort.  The makeover of our guest bathroom has been one of those projects.  For a while it was just.....naked.  No decorations.  Very sad since you know.....guests happen to use the guest bathroom frequently.  So, since I had the day off work today I decided to finish decorating this poor little room.  

First stop is my Anthropologie inspired shower curtain.  These babies sell for about $140 at the store.  Not sure about most people....but I just don't have that kind of money sitting around that I can blow on a SHOWER CURTAIN.  So I did some googling....and found a few tutorials that laid out the steps to make this on my own.  Since I didn't follow one specific blog, I don't have one to give credit to on here.  Well, turns out I am a very amateur seamstress.  Having to ruffle 140 inches worth of fabric times ten...lets just say it was a job.  In fact I started this project a long time ago, got frustrated, and threw it in a corner of my craft room to collect dust.  Today I picked it up determined to tackle and finish it.  And I did! I get a cookie.  My point is, if you don't sew much, do NOT try this as your first big project, it will make you never want to see another piece of fabric ever again!! But, alas, it is finish and this beauty is now hanging with all its' glory in its forever home.     

From the shower curtain project, I had leftover strips of fabric hanging around begging me to do something with them. Fabric strip rosettes are all over the blogging world right now, so I figured why not.  Take your fabric strips, some felt and hot glue, and get your twist on.  I decided they would look pretty cute hanging above the toilet so I added some hooks and started nailing.  They look pretty okay.  Not sure they are my favorite, but for now they will work.  

Not sure if you can tell, but the picture in the frame is something that I made, and it is a fleur de lis.  I made it by using a thumb tack and punching the design through paper. The basket is holding some extra guest towels, and a cute ball with a fleur de lis! The basket also has the cute little design all the way around.  Are you sensing a theme yet??

Well just in case you didn't get it, I added these cute little fleur de lis door knobs on the cabinets below the sink to finish it off.  

I absolutely love that the bathroom is finally finished!!! I feel proud to have our guests use it now.  The next blog will be dedicated to the chandelier that I made and that is now hanging in our master bathroom!  

Happy Tuesday, everyone!

Fall Football Wreath

Here in Arkansas, Fall has finally (in my opinion) arrived.  When I get up in the mornings to go to work, I finally feel that crispness in the air.  The feeling where a nice warm sweatshirt and a cup of hot tea sounds like just the right thing.  Halloween is almost here, and most are putting out their decorations and gearing up for the soon to come candy raid.  As I do not have any Halloween decorations, and we will not be home for aforementioned candy raid, I decided to do a fall wreath in honor of what matters most here in Arkansas: The Hogs.  Now, to outsiders, it may seem strange....crazy even, the amount of attention one football team generates.  I too thought it was pretty crazy when I first moved here.  But there is something about those razorbacks that just gets you in the mood for football team spirit.  I have thoroughly become a Hogs fan, and can't wait till we start producing our own little Godbold Quarterbacks (and maybe one ballerina).  

The wreath that I made was SUPER SIMPLE.  The best kind of craft if you are like me and like to sit down and finish a project in 1 hour or less.  That is all this wreath took including the trip down the road to the store to get some supplies.  I picked up a 14 inch foam wreath, three rolls of tulle ribbon, and a clear wreath holder for the door.  I already had the chip board to make the words, but if you don't have any stop by your local Hobby Lobby, Michaels, or craft section of your local Walmart (granted it isn't one of the stores that has done away with the craft section...boo walmart....boo).  Some scissors and a yard stick (or ruler) and I was ready to go!  

I started by measuring out strips of the tulle and cutting them all at 18 inches.  Feel free to make them any length that you want, get creative! I wanted a very uniform look for this wreath, so I made sure to measure.  I counted out certain amounts for each color section because again, I was going for that uniform look.  The more of one color you place together, the thicker the color block will be.  Or be crazy and only use one color.  Have fun with it! It is going to be on YOUR front door!!

Next step is pretty easy.  Fold the tulle strip that you cut in half.  Ta-da!

Bring the tulle under the foam ring with the loop coming to the center.

 Tuck the ends of the tulle through the loop that you made when you folded it in half, and pull tight.  Our front door is pretty hidden from any elements like wind, but if your door isn't I might suggest putting a dab of hot glue to secure, or even using a pin to keep everything in place.  

I used the remaining tulle that I had to make a bow that I would use to hang from the hook.  I geared up my handy dandy hot glue gun, got my chip board together, let it dry, and put it up!!  Had a minor mishap with two of the three dogs bolting while I was making my way out the front door, so if you have escape artists like we do, watch your back...they are just waiting for their moment to run.  Luckily Tim and I rounded up the pups, and the wreath was happily placed on our door.  

All I have left to say is.....

Woo Pig Sooie!!

Boring Bathroom made Bubbly!

Well, as I was talking about in my previous post, all of the walls in our house are pretty....blah.  Well, I take that back.  They serve as a great blank canvas to decorate!! My latest project? The boring bathroom.  We have such a great big tub that hangs out in between his and hers closets.  I love it, but like I said, it just looked so boring.  So I started thinking about what would make this part of the house unique.  And what do you think of when you are taking a bath?? BUBBLES!!  That thought somehow made me get in my car and I automatically drove to Michaels (funny how my hands just know the way...I could get there in my sleep).  

I was wondering what I could do to make some rocking bubbles around the tub.  I knew I would probably use a pen of some sort, and paint pens just seemed right.  I decided to get a gold color.  I wanted the design to be bold, but not overwhelming.  I thought that the gold would just stand out enough against the "golden wheat" colored walls.  I was thinking of either cutting out circles from cardstock, or tracing around bowls and cups to get what I wanted.  Then, while wandering through the painting/drawing section of Michaels, I came across this circle drawing template.  How perfect was this find??  It has 13 different sizes of circles, and it is made out of a heavier plastic so it wouldn't get ruined like cardstock would!  I was a little nervous that the paint would seep under, so I got ready armed with a toilet paper roll to wipe away excess as needed.  

I started off on one side of the window, and all I really did was trace random circles!!  I'm glad that I got two of the paint pens, because the first one that I used was very messed up and blotted the paint every where.  I decided to open the other pen and see how it worked.  It was much better, and in fact, the paint didn't even seep under the template!  Also, the paint dried very quickly, so I didn't have to wait at all before moving to the next circle, even if it was right next to the one I just painted.  

After I got the hang of it, the project went pretty quickly.  I wanted to give the illusion that the bubbles were coming up and spilling out of the tub.  I think I accomplished that pretty well!!  Sorry about the color of the picture...my iPhone seemed to turn it slightly green.  I may need to look in to that.....

Here it is finished!! Now I just need to figure out a cute way to arrange my candles.  I love orange and I got those tea lights as a wedding gift.  And they smell like mango.  Yumm.  I'm sure I will be able to find a way to use them! Here is the cost break down for this project:

Gold Paint Pens - $1.99 (x2, so around $4)

Circle Drawing Template - $5 (plus 40% off coupon, so around $3)

Total - around seven dollars!

Now go make a boring room in your house a little more bubbly!

Bedroom Makeover

In keeping with true craft-addiction form, I was looking at blogs last night while Tim got some Call of Duty time in.  Don't ask me how I came across this, but Lindsay over at Fine Things and Big Dreams is a genius.  She posts everything and anything you could ever want to do to makeover a space, inside or outside of your home.  I happened to come across one of her posts where she was redecorating one of her spare bedrooms.  I just thought it was absolutely brilliant, and thought to myself, "hey, I could actually do something like that!!"  So, without Tim's approval (I didn't really give him the chance to object...) I started my big master bedroom project.  At 11:30 pm.  Good choices.  Anyways, the only issue that happened was that I put a huge scratch in my brand new craft desk while cutting the piece of cardboard.  

I started with an 11x14 piece of cardboard, just like Lindsay said to do in her post.  Apparently I'm not the best at cutting perfect edges.  My cardboard pieces was more of a......trapezoid.  But you know what? At midnight I wasn't really caring too much about that! I also made marks three inches in on all sides so that I knew where I wanted my squares to overlap.  So off I went to the bedroom to start tracing.  I would suggest that anyone trying this would make sure your first trace was level....might save you some trouble later.  But I just went ahead and started tracing (like I said...kind of late to start a project like that).

After tracing the cardboard over and over......and over, I went to bed.  When I woke up and saw that wall I was actually pretty appalled at what I had done.  It came out looking like a complete mess.  The squares were running in all different directions, none were level, and it just looked awful.  But I knew there was hope.  I had seen someone using a laser level on a HGTV show, so I looked in to buying one.  There are different price points, and (hindsight being 20/20) I would suggest not going for the cheap, or even the medium priced one.  I had to run to Lowes anyways to get some painters tape, a drop cloth, and a paint roller, so i decided to pick a laser level up too.  

Let me tell you, that laser level was a pain in my.....well you know what.  First of all, the only way to mount it to your wall is by sticking the pin in the back of it into the drywall.  Um, no.  I was not going to go through all of that trouble doing this painting to have a whole bunch of holes in it!!!  Luckily I had some double sided adhesive squares that fit on the back, and were strong enough to hold it to the wall.  Second problem that I encountered is that it is NOT level!!!!  When I lined it up so that it was supposedly level, the laser line when at about a 15 degree angle up.  That just wasn't going to work for me.  With Tim's help I made the line what we thought was most level, and I just went with it.  The lines that I had drawn the night before did not match up with the level AT ALL.  So, I just tried to eyeball as best as I could, making sure the tape lined up with the laser line.  The horizontal tape lines were all 13 inches, two inches wider than the original cardboard.  I did this so that when I made the squares, I could match up the corners of the tape and make sharp corners.  I did the same with the vertical lines, which I cut at 16 inches.  

The cutting was probably the most tedious part of the project.  I wanted to make sure that the squares turned out to be as close to the same size as possible.  I know there are a few "fudges" here and there, but really, no one will notice like I did.  I did all of the horizontal lines first using the laser level.  After that, I went through and completed the squares with the longer pieces of tape.  I did that so that I could work from one end of the wall to the other.  

Taping the whole wall took a good 3 hours.  It is definitely worth taking time to line everything up though, makes things in the end much easier with less touch-ups to do.  Lindsay said she had to take a few wine breaks.....luckily I made it through with one bowl of cereal and one bottle of Mountain Dew.  And, luckily there was a Law and Order: SVU marathon on which kept my ears occupied!!

The next step I think is crucial.  Lindsay skipped it, and she said she regretted it, so I made sure that I did it!!  After I got everything taped up, I took the original wall color paint and painted over all of the blue painters tape.  If you have ever done a painting project you know no matter how hard you press down, the paint will still leak in!!  With a huge project like this, I thought it was imperative that I take time for this step.  And it didn't take too long because it doesn't have to be very precise as long as you get all of the tape covered.  What this does is "seal" the tape.  Wherever the paint will leak through to the wall, the original color seeps in.  That way, when you start painting with your second color, you will come out with nice clean lines.  

After two coats of the white and lots of drying time, I was ready to pull off the tape.  Depending on what color you had and what color you are painting, you may need more coats to cover evenly.  Okay...so 1...2....3....hold your breath....and start pulling!!  This turned out absolutely awesome.  Of course there are spots that need to be touched up, but let it dry overnight and go back and touch up.  I personally feel like I deserve a break for tonight, the project took me from 11-7 today!!  But it is totally worth it, it turned out amazing, and looks great in our bedroom.  

Because we had a newly built house, every wall in the house is the same color, and all of the trim is the same color.  The builder left us extra paint in the attic, so I didn't have to buy any at all.  And, because I used the same color as the trim for the wall color, I didn't have to worry about taping up the trim which just cuts out one step.  So, cost break down:

2 rolls of 1" painters tape - $10

Drop cloth - $4

New roller and paint holder - $10

Paint in attic - free

Laser Leveler - $35 (but I am promptly returning it tomorrow, so free)

Cost of project - $24

I think it was worth all of the time I put in to this project.  It turned out so great!!  I was so glad to be inspired, and hope that by writing of my experience, I can inspire someone else!  Geometric patterns are very in right now, so grab your paint and brush, and get going!

Mirror Makeover

When I was younger, my mom surprised me with a bedroom makeover.  Part of the makeover was painting the mirror in my room from white to orange.  I absolutely loved it, and it came with me to my condo through college.  It matched perfectly with all of the orange decorations in my condo, and of course the two walls I painted orange (much to my dads dismay).  It is a great mirror, and I decided it would be perfect to put over our mantle in the living room (since there wasn't anything there yet).  However, the orange just didn't fit in with the rest of the decor, and I'm pretty sure Tim doesn't like orange as much as I do!

Here is the pretty orange before I started painting.  I'm not going to lie, I was sad to see it go.  But I was excited about the new color.  Instead of buying a huge amount of paint, I opted to buy one of the sample sized paints and see how far it went.  I actually used only half of it, and it only cost me $2.50.  The color that I chose was closer to a red that is in the area rug in the living room.  

It now is hanging above our mantle with some of my favorite little items.  The crystal vase and the couple in an embrace were both wedding presents.  The little angel playing the flute was a Christmas present from my mom.  I used to play flute all the time so that really meant a lot to me.  The statues are both made by the same people and are called WillowTree.  

To the left of the mirror sit my little collection of owls.  I started liking owls when I joined my sorority, Chi Omega.  They really have a lot of meaning behind them, and even though I am not involved much in my sorority anymore, I still like the owl!  The big one is a find from Hobby Lobby, the multi-color one is a gift from my mom from her trip to New Orleans, and the stone owl is from my good friend M from when she went on a cruise.  The vases say laugh and hope, which are always good reminders.  

Here is the finished project!!  I think it came together very well, and there is finally something covering all of that blank wall!!