Cheap Art

So the other day my Honey comes back from the Dollar Tree and hands me this "home improvement" book by Ty Pennington.

This was obviously put out pre-Extreme Makeover, way before his "move that bus!" days, when he was just some cocky hot-headed carpenter on Trading Spaces. (Man I loved that show!)
Anyway, I think Honey got it for me in hopes that I would learn to depend on him less when it comes to DIY home repairs, but what he really got me was some soft-core porn and design inspirations. You think I kid...


It's full of basic repair stuff that you can find more informative on the net, but I did enjoy seeing how he redid his own house. He really does believe in leaving things natural and recycling. Simple and nice. The style was really masculine and a modernized throw-back to the rusts, olives, and harvest golds of my early childhood. The clip art before each chapter really caught my attention and I realized that it was a great color pallet for the Scientists room.

Remember this quick collage on his wall?


It's been in need of a revamp. His awards from 1st grade are now put away and saved, and his new ones are going in frames above his desk area. That leaves his bug collection and his eye chart.

Here were a few of my favorite pages, torn (with delicate care obviously) from the book.

They aren't magazine pages, they are more durable like poster board. From left to right, "outlet" , "foot print", "peg board" , "maze", and "angry beaver" lol

I trimmed them up to fit in frames I had on hand.

As you can tell, I had to lose a lot of the image because my frames were small, and I meant to uniform them all with spray paint in matching frames, but instead I used a little metallic paint and a little black gloss. I needed to use up a few cans that were "almost empty". That is how you achieve the mix and match look of a collage though. You use what you have and you make it work. I tend to be super matchy-matchy and my OCD side had to be taped, bound, and thrown into the dark closet of my mind. lol

Then I tried a few layout options.


I wasn't feeling the green page with the foot print. It seems weird to put someone else's print on the wall, but I did love the green. I modified the "outlet" page and put it on the green background. The "cord and plug" was an image stolen from a different page in the book. I also added the shelf, dino, and expanding color ball (items laying around the scientists room) to break up all the orange.

And here it is on the wall with a few ideas thrown in by the Scientist himself. By the way, love the Hercules Hooks! (Dollar Tree)

I think it's fun! I like that he can touch all of it and interact. A lot more fun than this:



And I have to say, seeing all his robots there at the end of the bed vs how it looks now:


Really shows how much his interests have stayed in the same subjects (robots, bugs, electricity, etc..) but evolved in just a year.

Thanks for reading!

From Frame To Couch

Today I found a beautiful framed embroidery piece at Helping Hands. I've always been drawn to them (especially the floral) but they are usually FILTHY and how can you clean them? Honey has terrible allergies and the dust collectors never get to come home with me.

Then I saw a fantastic idea on a blog, (don't remember it drat!) where a woman had taken the embroidery out of it's frame and turned it into a decorative pillow. WHICH CAN BE WASHED!

So after this light bulb moment, I couldn't find any more pretty pieces (of course). Some are just so ugly. I hate using that word because so much hard work went into them, but it does make me wonder if most everyone in the 70s was colorblind. It's also the type of thing that really borders on the "This should be in an old ladies house and not MY house" direction, but also gives a feeling of elegance when you decorate with such a detailed piece and the work put into each leaf and petal is beautiful and full of love. There is a story and warmth behind this type of artwork that I just can't help but appreciate.

I found the perfect combination of all those things today, hiding behind a string-and-nail art piece (that was actually made with thin copper wire on black velvet) of a horses head. Another type of tedious/meticulous art that I haven't found a fondness for quite yet. :/

I brought it home ($1!) and hung it on the wall in my kitchen for this picture, which didn't turn out that well and makes the coral colors look a little rusty orange, but it's my only before shot. It's all done on a burlap-type material.


It kind of made me pause for a minute wondering if I really wanted to take a chance of ruining it in the washing machine or taking it out of the frame because the coral colors and greens really went well with my persimmon Fiesta ware, but it was just so filthy it had to be washed either way.

Here is a closer shot of it before it was washed. Filthy but beautiful. A diamond in the rough.


It was framed really well and it took a little work to get it off (sewn tightly around a piece of particle board) but once i had it off, it was as easy as 1 2 3.

1. Take it out of the frame.

2. Throw it in the washer. I skipped the dryer and just laid it out and it was dry in 10 minutes.

3. Find some scrap fabric for the back, sew it and stuff it!


Ta-da!

It was so exciting to see the colors when it came out of the washing machine. The corner has initials and the date '77. Thank you G. F., it's beautiful!

Ps This is my first pin on Pinterest!

Thrifting again!

I held off from all thrift shops and garage sales this summer in order to save enough to take a real vacation this year and I have no regrets, but now that school is back in session and I have Wednesdays to myself (thanks to a wonderful MIL), I was eager to get out and do some retail therapy. :)

I founds some good deals, and I'll show them to you, along with a few things I've had for awhile but never worked into a post.



1- Found this wooden shape-sorting toy at Goodwill. It's by Ryan's Room and it's really well made. All the pieces were there and in "like new" condition. It's not just your average peg-in-the-right-hole shape sorter. You have to unlock, unbutton, and open doors to find the right hole. I couldn't find it online, but did find a similar toy (less cool imo) on the Ryan's Room site. Cutecumber has some trouble with fine motor skills when it comes to puzzles and such. She knows where the pieces go, she just gives up on turning them until they fit properly. This should help to get her right on track.
Price- $1.99
Compare to Ryan's Room - $23.99


2- Brand new (still in plastic!) Scrabble game. I got this at the Salvation Army. It wasn't priced and I was a little worried it would be too much, especially since I am going to use it for cool crafting projects (how awesome is THIS?!) rather than play it. (Ok, maybe a few times until no one will play with me anymore cause I have tiger's blood and I'm always WINNING!). When I got to the register it was....
Price- $1
Compare to Walmart price- $24.99

3- Favorite find of the day! 4 scarlet red Fiestaware coffee cups. Flawless!
Price-$.59 each
Compare to Ebay- $4.88 each (can fluctuate, but ballpark)

4- Another fun Fiestaware find. A little turquoise salad plate. It has a big chip on the back but I'm using it for display only and it won't show.
Price-$.29
Compare to Ebay- $9.99

5. I didn't get this little owl napkin holder today, but he was a thriftshop find in March @ the Salvation Army in Odessa. I covered his not-so-attractive exterior with a white gloss spray paint and he looks so cute!
Price- Under a $1

6. Awhile back I found a butter bell at Goodwill and gave it to my MIL. I've had my eye out for my own ever since and it payed off! (I even like mine more, shhh) I love my Butter bell! And to think I bought my first one, not even knowing what it was.
Paid- $1
Price on the Butter Bell Crock site (mine exactly!)- $23.96

7. I found this ceramic cow's head @ Helping Hands a few months ago and thought it would be cute to hang my apron's on. I love it! They had a matching duck @ Goodwill today, but I didn't get it. I think one animal head in the kitchen is plenty don't you? lol He has some weird orangy/brown eyes but the cashier at HH gave me a great tip. She said I could put a little fingernail polish remover on them to remove the eyes (umm eww), and then get some pretty green/blue ones at Hobby Lobby.
Paid- Under a $1
Compare to one on Etsy listed for $30

8. My toolbox that is NOT supposed to be out and this picture totally got the Scientist in trouble!

I had a really fun day out, and enjoyed the rush when I found those Fiestaware cups. I totally called my mom as soon as I put them in my cart even though I knew she was at work. I had to relieve some of that adrenalin lol.

Window seat (preview)

Yesterday Honey had agreed to do a project that I have been wanting to do since we moved in, putting a window seat in the playroom/tv room (which we all call the den). It's the place we spend the most time in.

He used scrap wood we had out in the shop, including some paneling and moulding. He got most of it done yesterday, but I still need to put on the bottom trim (we didn't have enough on-hand) and paint the plywood top. The project was completely FREE! Well, aside from the trim we still need to purchase. It has tons of storage. I am so pleased with it. He framed it out really well and it's better than I had envisioned. LOVE IT!

I made the cushions out of some sturdy vintage linens that my mom gave me, and did the boarder with some scraps of curtain that I trimmed from the girls room, and obviously the rainbow striped curtains that are pictured. (I think I'm going to have to go shorter on those.) I still need to stuff the other cushion. I finally got to use up the hoards of pillow stuffing I've been saving.


The pictures don't do it justice. These are phone pics, and it was night time.I know it's a bit on the "loud" side, but I when you put it in perspective to the rest of the room it seems tame.


That large art piece was commissioned by me and done by Ms. Thang. I wanted something "family" and "colorful". I found a giant (hideous) canvas at Goodwill and told her to paint over it. She was nervous to do something so large, and went simplistic. She hates it, but I like it! We call it the Cave Painting. I love that I'm the yellow figure (looking rather skinny!) and I'm taller than Honey (red) because I really am. ;)

And just to see how much it's changed, here is a picture Honey took when touring the house before we purchased it. It's a built in garage.


We definitely gave the room some life!

Hopefully I'll have the finished project to show you soon. I'm just too proud/excited to wait. Thanks Honey!

Edited to add a couple of pics with curtain hemmed higher and the other cushion done:





I think it would be so cute to add a long shelf above the TV (where the small white shelves are now) and put the globe collection there. You can see a few of them in the picture with all the toy shelving. They look so nice with the blue walls. I want a fun rug too. Any ideas on how to pull the brown of the couch and TV stand into the rest of the room? I think eventually down the line I will upholster real foam cushions and add brown piping to the edges, but the budget tells me it will be awhile!

Few more pops of turquoise

Ok, I'll admit before I even start this that it's sort of a crappy picture/little content post. I'm trying to get back into the swing of it and even though I have better projects and only had early morning light to work with, I wanted to blog SOMETHING before my day really started. So I took these pictures this morning and then my day started. :S BUT I'm taking a few minutes to post after lunch. I really need to get used to this new summer schedule.

Anyhow, I've been adding more punches of turquoise into the living room and thought I'd show those here before it got to the point where I posted a picture of something in there and people would be all "Where the heck are you at in that photo?" lol

(I think everything I do in there makes a dramatic difference cause I see it everyday but really, no one probably even notices lol)


Ok, so here is the fireplace area, and you can see my new chair/reading area. I love how it's coming together. On the fireplace stoop(?) I glued a glass vase to a silver candle stick and LOVE it.


The color is off in the photo but you get the idea. The candle was at Ross and is a really pretty blue, almost and icy aqua, and it smells yummo!

I've been finding great deals on pillows here and there over the past couple of months and added those in..


I really need a better picture, but the one on the right is a chartreuse and brown silk type fabric with little embroidered flowers. The larger white has embroidered scrolling leaves in chartreuse and olive green. The blue is more on the aqua side than it appears in the photo and has a glass button in the middle. The one closest on the far left is the same blue but has a harlequin pattern lined in brown. There was also one with the popular chevron stripes you are seeing everywhere lately, but those havent grown on me yet. I think they are...well, lets just say they ain't got no aliby. :P


Again with the color being way off in this photo. I painted the two circle wall plaques and did some antiquing on them. They look really good. This picture does them zero justice. The Scientist decorated the table top for me in April and I've just left it. I really REALLY want a new table/dresser/credenza here so I'm sort of ignoring the decor and pouting until I get one. Since we are saving up for our vacation, this might take awhile, but I want the vacation more than the credenza. (We are going to the Grand Canyon in July!)

And I just had to point out that Cutecumber woke up this morning and threw on her rain boots. She was still tired and ended up falling back asleep shortly after this photo lol. Crazy kid...

Also have you ever heard that orbs in photos are ghosts or spirits? Well if that's true then Casper loves my newly painted plaques too! But I suspect some dust got in my shot. I'm a skeptical party pooper.

So that's how I've added a bit of color to keep things from being too (as my daughter says) Matchy-Matchy, but really, I'm just matching it uniformly throughout the room. I'm a matchy type of girl and I can't help it! lol

Lamp for the Scientist

When I saw the new trend of "naked-lamp-shades" taking over the blog craft world, I knew I wanted to do one up for the Scientist. He LOVES light bulbs. He's the first one to notice when one goes out (and will tell you daily until you replace it). He is fascinated by any bulbs that stray from "ordinary" and studies each one he can get his hands on, figuring out what went wrong and why it burned out. He's always questioning why various shapes are used and wants them (begging for them more than candy) so he can test them out and do hands-on research to find out what outcome the differences will produce. It's borderline obsession, but at this point I'm still calling it a healthy interest in science. He is aptly named on this blog. lol

So with a little spray paint (in red, currently his favorite color) and a lot (more than expected) of elbow grease to rip the stained cloth from an old lamp shade...



He absolutely loves it. Yay! I found the red party bulb at Walmart (they also have green, blue, and yellow) which works really well and isn't overpowering through the "naked" shade.

It was as easy as it looks, except taking a bit more muscle than you'd think to get the cloth off of the shade. Whatever glue was used was doing it's job extremely well lol. My only tip is to roll up a piece of paper (into a tube) and insert it into the socket (where the bulb goes) so as not to mess up any of the electrical working parts. I didn't prime it, and it's holding up really well. You know he's touching it more than necessary lol.

The shade, lamp, and red spray paint were all on hand. At just under $5 for the bulb I've got a really happy kiddo who thinks he has the coolest mom eva! :)

Let There Be Light (by my new reading chair!)

I have a bunch of projects finished, but I'm going to post them individually rather than trying to cram them all in one post. First on the list is my lamp revamp.

Remember the lamp I got for a $1 on THIS shopping trip to Helping Hands?


I had actually planned on fixing it up and placing it on the console table under the giant clock, but it just so happened that I finished it right when my new little seating/reading area came together and so that is where it ended up.



So cute right!? I can take credit for the idea of how it was finished, but the actual work was done by my kiddos! I'm so proud. *beam* We actually did it right after dinner on a school night.

We didn't use primer. I just handed over the can and let them go to town. (ignore my yard, we are in a severe drought and I'm going to play that excuse up.)



See all that "snow" in the photos? That's spray paint in the air! You can't see it, but it's there, making this an OUTSIDE only project.


*I think the shirt Ms. Thang is wearing is the nerdiest thing I've ever seen, but my comments won't sway her lol

I set my camera down for a minute and of course the kids used it in my absence. You know how that usually leads to multiple pictures of extreme close-up eye shots, and a bunch of ground shots? Well this is what I found on the camera...






I big fat LOVE it! He is inside of a giant road cone my mom brought over for him to play with.

So add photography and decorating to my kids long lists of talents. Lets take a look at their handy work again..

Before:




and After:


I still needs the perfect little pillow for this chair, but I think the area is coming together really nicely. The chair came from Target when they recently had all their furniture on sale. I sold both my recovered chairs on craigslist and it covered the cost of this new one down to the dollar with a few cents left over. I never was happy with the fabric choice on those anyway. It really opened up the room to take out the two chairs and replace the hall tree with this one chair. The hall tree is now in the corner of the kitchen. I accidentally broke one of the turquoise plaques above the chair and now only have three. Of course it was my favorite in the bunch, but 3 is the magic decorating number anyway. Still, I miss it!
The little aqua glass bowl was a thrift shop find. My husband actually pointed it out. Its details are so pretty and the piece is flawless. Honey said it was probably an antique. Antique or not, I loved it and bought it for a dollar. After a little searching online, I found out it's vintage KIG Indonesia, circa 1960s. Here is an online shot of my candy dish. Exactly!

The detail is so pretty and so is the color. I found it listed HERE on Etsy for $16.99, and listed for up to $20 on other sites. I think I got a pretty good deal!


I added the little framed picture (actually a piece of handkerchief my brother-in-law brought me from his trip to Japan, the rest is tucked inside the frame) to complete the decor for now. It was originally a part of the collage above the sofa. It was just tacked onto a brown corduroy covered cork board I picked up at the Salvation Army a few years ago. I replaced it with a plaster pear (you KNOW how I feel about pears) that a got at a consignment shop and although it hangs off a bit, I really like it there. This time I had to really secured it on to be safe.


You can click HERE for an older photo of the area with the handkerchief in place.

The side table is a really heavy spindled table I got in the Target clearance section for $22 marked down from $89! I left the tag on the underside of the table cause I'm just that proud of it lol. Such a pretty pedestal right?


If you look closely at at the "ball" portion of the spindle, a little to the left there is a natural crack in the wood and the reason this table was marked down. I'll be turning that back towards the wall and no one (except you) will be the wiser. ;)

Chair- major online sale (paid for by selling 2 recovered craigslist chairs)
Table- $22 marked down from $89
Lamp- $1 plus a shade I had in the closet (traded a friend 2 smaller shades for it)
Art- Souvenir from Japan, stolen from another area of the room
Vintage bowl- $1

One last look:


Now I plan on making a throw pillow with some vintage linens my mom gave me, but I'll save that for another post and if it goes well, I might just do a really fun give away :)

Bathroom and Dresser....DONE!

Well, I finished the bathroom and I have to admit I was sad to see the old paint go. I really like the grid on the back wall.


But apparently, the Scientist didn't.


So, my first priority in here was to paint. Honey wanted me to go with something green and I wanted yellow. I opted to go with something in-between, and to be honest, I was not happy with it on the walls at all. I'm still not in love with it. I went with the citrus-y feel it had and this is what I came up with...

It's not photoing in it's true "neon celery" state. It's a lot brighter than I wanted but I rolled with it. The kids are really loving the bright colors. I do, however, love the new storage shelf above the toilet, which was goal #2 in here. The old one went to the floor and this one leaves things a lot more open and roomy. I spent more on it than I should have (Better Homes and Gardens @ Walmart for $55 but I did use a $25 gift card) and even spent a little more to get cute knobs (just like these but smaller and green) from Hobby Lobby, which I had to hit with some silver paint because the aged look wasn't working in here.

Cute, and my Honey even commented, saying they added a lot.

For art, I sprayed 3 Dollar Tree frames in white, added 3 Dollar Tree mattes in white (2 for a $1) and printed out a few of my favorite pieces by Shirley Novak.

I thought of these as soon as I knew I wanted to go with a "citrus" color pallet. I really want a larger framed print. (hint hint..Mother's Day).

Another problem I needed to address was the towel bar, which was unable to conveniently hang 3 towels. So I used some scrap wood from the garage, 3 left over hooks from the Target dollar section (used one for this) and some white paint (on hand) to come up with this:

I LOVE this. I got the towels at Target and decided to assign each kid a color. They have their own towel and their own matching washrag. I also got the matching hand-towels and put them in a basket for a little functional pop of color. (I added the brown because I was too lazy to repaint the mirror above the sink).

When your bathroom is this small, most of it needs to be functional to avoid clutter. I got the brown bath mat @ Family Dollar and I also got the basket there for $4. (little basket for hairbows and candle on the shelf, I had already) I could have found a basket cheaper at a thrift shop, but not with a liner and my sewing skills are not that great. I did check the Salvation Army today though and did not find one, but I did score MAJORLY in the Target Room.

These 3 items (new) for $5 TOTAL!!! I had just looked at that same lamp while shopping for towels and about had a heart attack when I saw it in there for $5.99. (it was the only one with a lamp shade and they were all marked 9.99??) and I also got the stepping stool (1.99) and the soap pump(.99) and just when I thought I was having a good day, the lady said my total was $5.

"$5, I asked?"

"The lamp and the stool are half off today."

This happened to me before when we bought the Scientist a new TV. I will never figure out their sales, but I AM NOT COMPLAINING!

So, I used the soap dispenser and the stepping stool in the bathroom, and put the lamp in the girls room (more on that in a bit) but first, lets do some fun before and afters.

If you want to see how the bathroom looked when we first bought it, check out this post, but I'm going to show 3 stages.
1. Basically when we first moved in.
2. After the big remodel when I was pregnant with Cutecumber, (and the need for more space was eminent)
3. Today :)


Look at how much more room we have in #3 vs #1!



I totally miss the blue, but I'll live. And what was I thinking with that giraffe?! lol


Replacing the tub with a shower was such a great idea, and I LOVE my new towel rack!!!

Now, if you are still with me, I have one more thing to show you in the girls room. I had to push back the dresser re-do because of the bathroom, but while I was at Hobby Lobby, they had their vinyl decals half off (regularly 9.99 for mine) Plus I had a handy dandy 40% off coupon (thanks Katie) and so I thought..why not!
Before..

After..

It was a little tricky cutting them for the drawers and keeping it all lined up, but not too bad. The girls love it, I love it, and I didn't have to paint anything so I EXTRA love it.


Bathroom and dresser.. DONE!

**ps, Did you notice that one of the frames in the bathroom has a larger mat than the others? I didn't until I posted the pictures and now it's probably going to drive me NUTS**