It's the Little Things that Make a Big Difference- Matching DISHES! [Thrifty Finds]

I've been with my boyfriend for 13 years come January 17th. When I met him, he had purchased his own set of hunter green WalMart dishes about 2 to 3 years prior to us dating. Half a year into our relationship, we got some hand-me-down dishes from an ex friend, a few years into that we purchased some dishes from Mardens, some plastic bowls from a yard sale, and maybe a dish or two from a thrift store.

It was purely chaos in my kitchen cabinet with the colors. I wanted a set of dishes that not only matched, but matched my decor.
Here is my BEFORE- yes that's all of them, I've managed to break a few over the years: (don't forget to click the pictures to get a better close up!)

Here is my big find! YELLOW and WHITE Couture Styled by Mikasa
Accent Casuals in Jasmine #JH104 6 (SIX) piece setting which included:
1 serving plate, 6 dinner plates, 6 bowls, 6 smaller plates,  and 1 serving dish.....
all for the price of........ $7.99!!!
Yes my friends, SEVEN DOLLARS AND NINETY NINE CENTS from Goodwill! Could you imagine if they would have sat around til the day they went on half off-- it would have been even crazier to get these at $3.99-- which I didn't, and that is totally fine!!!

Not a single chip, break, crack, etc!!! They are in PERFECT condition!!
Ready to see them in the cabinet?!?!

So much better!! I'd like to thank the previous owners of the dishes for keeping them all together and treating them kindly! And a big thanks to Goodwill for the incredible price!

The dishes aren't listed on the site, the stamp looks pretty old, so it's hard to tell if they are "antique" or if they just have an old time stamp. Again, all that mattered was that I have dishes that all match and are all there!

I packed up our dishes and ran them to Salvation Army the next day. It was sad seeing them go, but we'll find tranquility in these matching, unchipped dishes!

Inexpensive No Sew Kitchen Curtains:

My kitchen is black, white, gray and yellow. I personally would love yellow curtains, and will get them later on, but for now I purchased 3 3/4 yards of this gray and black scroll material for $6.00 at Mardens.

This was EXACTLY enough to do my kitchen sink window and my large kitchen window.

I love that I can see out of the windows without having to move my curtain over (which is surprisingly what I HAD to do with my WHITE and blue curtains from WalMart). I also love that they allow for the light to come into the kitchen without having a glare.

(Here is a sneak peak of some of the BIG changes we are doing. This is the BEFORE with the OLD hardware on the cabinets.......

this is the AFTER with the NEW hardware on the cabinets! This is the OLD curtain...... )

the AFTER of the curtain that I made (daylight shot) [it's not that crooked- LOL) ....

the after shot (evening). Please excuse the mess.

the close up of the fabric.

MINI SPOTLIGHT!!

It's the little things that make a big difference!

BEFORE: The actual dish soap bottle is sitting on the countertop.

AFTER: Black, white and silver scroll pump bottle now houses the liquid. It's not only more functional, but a lot more appealing. I got it on clearance at Kohl's for $4.00!

~ I also changed out the papertowel holder from a white one to a more sleek brushed stainless steel one (that matches the new hardware). UPDATE: 2/7/10 I not only removed the new papertowel holder- but I've changed it's location entirely. Photos to follow soon.

~~ I also pulled the metal light cover around and faced it out to hide the bulb, where as before the bulb was exposed and not cute looking. By doing this, the papertowel holder matches even more and the light is more inviting and not in your eyes.

My kitchen is going through a major transformation with blogs and pictures to come. A lot has to do with updating it and making it a lot less dated and more cleanly. Other redecorating includes: much cuter outlet covers (I'm just waiting to finish scrubbing up the walls then I am putting them up), decorative shelf and artwork in the kitchen, a new faucet with sprayer to be purchased soon, and we have changed from buying decorative papertowels to purchasing plain white papertowels to match the kitchen better.

Material and Costs:

Mardens fabric- $6.00

Ikea DIGNITET curtain clips- $4.00 ( 24 quantity)

hem tape- had on hand

iron

Instructions for no sew curtains:

cut the fabric to desired length leaving about an inch around the entire side (I left them longer on the left and right sides to that I didn't have to cut them and risk cutting off more than I wanted). Place viewing side down (backside facing up) Crease about 1/2 inch to 3/4 inch over and iron it. Rip hem tape to length of hem. Place the hem tape rough side down against the crease line and fold hem over to cover the tape. Press the iron for 3 seconds working all the way down. It is very important to make sure that you make sure your iron is free of hem tape glue as you are about to turn the curtain over to the good side. If there is any glue residue, be careful, grab a wet rag and wipe it down. Press the good side for about a second or two, working your way down.

These curtains (big window not shown due to placement of rod being moved soon)... were different than my first one, as I used the Ikea curtain clips this time.

When all of your sides are hemmed, Grab your curtain in the top middle and fold it evenly, and attach your first hook directly in the middle and work your way out placing hooks where you so much desire. I used 5 clips on the little window and 11 on the big window.

The total cost was about $8.69 for two windows!

It's the Little Things That Make a Big Difference- Mouse Pad:

My "office" is in my kitchen, so I've incorporated the black, white, gray and yellow theme for the computer area.

It looks so much more sleek, clean, organized and mature. I will have a full blog about the office soon (sadly I don't have a before picture of the file cabinet or the desk).

Here's the old mousepad: (it's a deep red, NOT pink like the camera flash makes it appear like)!

Here's the new mouse pad. This was at Dollar Tree for $1.00! It is a picture frame/ 2010 calendar/ mouse pad!! When I saw it was black and white, I just HAD to have it!

AHHHH, so much better!
Truth be told: My boyfriend HATES it, he removes it and uses the red one because of the squishy wrist rester and he says the red one doesn't slide all over the place like the black and white one [boo hoo]. So, I will be COVERING the mousepad or spray painting it for him, LOL!

My New LOVE: Owls! [Thrifty Finds]

I've been seeing a lot of owls lately, especially in the etsy blogs. I don't know what it is about them... but I really LOVE owls! So out with the old (my moose, black bears, frogs and turtles) and in with the owls!

I found this one at Goodwill for .99!!! I am sure he's an old earring holder, but now he's the perfect little guy for my stand in the hallway! I don't even mind that his color is coming off, it gives him character! He is a '70s Revere Mfg product!

(AS ALWAYS: Don't forget to click on the pictures to enlarge them!)

Then at another Goodwill I saw a black bowl on a picture hanger, flipped over faced down with a price tag of $1.99.
When I flipped it over, I couldn't believe my eyes!!!! An OWL bowl that was black and "yellow" (it's more gold- but it's PERFECT!)!!!! I mean it was a win in itself when it was just a black bowl on a wall hanger, but then to be my new found love--- EXTRA SCORE and to be in the color I need TRIPLE SCORE!!
I quickly put it in my cart!! <3
(haha, when I enlarged the one below, I noticed that he was cross eyed, oh well, LOL, I still love him!)

UPDATE: I found more info about the owl bowl: Someone is selling this same exact bowl- but the eyes aren't messed up like my owl's, LOL! 

"Couroc is Unique"

(1970's label)

Phrenolic Bowl

Couroc of Monterey, California was founded in 1948 by the husband and wife team of Guthrie Sayle Courvoisier and Moira Wallace. Wallace was a gifted artist, whose early work included mosaic designs built from inlaid metal and plastic materials. Guthrie developed the technology further, and began Couroc company, which produced heavy, durable plastic trays with inlaid designs. Couroc set the trend of elegance in the 1940's and 1950's with their high price products for home entertainment in style. Alas the company stopped producing these products for the fashionable home in the lated 1970's and ceased operations altogether in the mid 1990's. 

For the past week I've made it a mission to go to all of the Goodwills and other thrift stores in Maine (and some in New Hampshire and Mass). I guess I can officially use the term "thrifting".

It's the Little Things that Make a Big Difference- Livingroom Rug:

I'm semi- spotlighting the new rug in the livingroom, that I purchased for $119.00 at Mardens.
I was in the market for a KITCHEN rug and saw this rug and fell in love with it for my livingroom! It has all of my colors in the livingroom and it beautiful (though my pictures don't do it justice- I'm sorry, I am an awful photographer when it comes to taking pictures of my interior).
There was NO rug there before, just the red carpet. The rug just ties everything together now.
Remember, I am ONLY spotlighting the rug, as there have been new changes to this room, including a SECOND overhaul on the bookshelf (wait til you see THAT before and after blog!!), a new curtain behind the hutch (blog and pictures coming soon), some new decorations for the season (though I am late- LOL), a plant (a.k.a. "element of life"), mirrors, a lamp on the hutch has been repositioned ontop of the tin to add balance, a new tablecloth for the beadboard stand, and the window frame behind the hutch has yet to be stained.
Don't forget to click on the pictures to enlarge them!

BEFORE: The rug isn't as BRIGHT as this is showing, it's more of a deep red or maroon.

AFTER: "Sammy" happy because there's a new rug so he's running around!

My Inexpensive Monogrammed Refridgerator Magnet Craft!

I purchased a magnetic "C" from Target in the $1.00 isle. It was NOT the colors I was doing my kitchen in. My kitchen is black, white, gray and yellow. I wanted a simple pattern since my refridgerator used to be so chaotic with random magnets. I then found some scrapbook paper at Targe... 8 sheets for .99! I actually didn't think that many sheets were in there, as I fell in love with the first pattern I saw and grabbed it specifically for that one piece, so that was a BONUS! I then went to buy Mod Podge, as I had seen everyone use it around Blogspot. I priced it, wasn't too sold on the price, then decided to get the little bottle of Puzzle Mod Podge. I am glad I did! That stuff worked beautifully!

MAGNET SIZE IS: 6" TALL BY 5 1/2" WIDE- It's fairly large.

BEFORE: Preschool-ish ABCs:

AFTER: More Mature Decor:
(PS Usually I recommend clicking on the picture to blow them up and look at the details, I'd rather you not with this one, LOL, as this was my first attempt and I am incredibly rusty! LOL But from far back it looks GREAT! I mean, if you want to, there's no stopping you, LOL)

Supplies and Costs:

Monogram Magnet from Target's Dollar Isle- $1.00
Scrapbook Paper from Target- .99 for 8 pieces!
Mod Podge- $4 ?? from WalMart
Black Perminant Marker- had on hand for mess ups
Exacto Knife- had on hand

Instructions:
Trace around magnet onto the paper and cut with a knife (or scizzors)- it's alright to leave ends hanging off, as you can touch them up later... as a hairstylists rule of thumb: It's better to leave more than to take too much off and not be able to fix it. I FORGOT to go around the ends of the visible side with the black marker (incase I cut to close and exposed the blue--- and boy oh boy do I know myself, as I did just that)!
Rub your Mod Podge onto the colored side of the letter and position the cut out paper. Press on it, and cut around any edges that are hanging off.
I know people use Mod Podge and/ or a glossy sealant to the tops, but I didn't- and it's totally fine without it.

Total price was about $1. 14!
I am very happy with my results!!

One of Several Inexpensive Holiday Decorations! [Thrifty Find]

Balls and bells in a vase.
I know we've all seen them, but this is my first time in many, many years that I've been able to decorate for the holidays. And this was my first time making something so easy, yet truly beautiful.

I bought a vase from Goodwill for .99!
I purchased 1 (15 count) pack of fairly small Christmas balls in velvet red and shiny gold from Dollar Tree.
I put them in the vase.... it filled less than half way up.
So I headed to about 3 other Dollar Trees, rather than the extremely clean and organized Newington, NH Dollar Tree, and the trips in Maine were all a bust.
I mean they didn't even carry the selection like Newington did.
I decided to add bells. I had 2 packages of matte and shiny silver bells. I picked through many packages to find undented, rust free, without many paint chips coming off from a Maine location.
After all that, I put them back. I actually put them back because I was looking and saw they had little stars on them. Well, I'm not really a star person (ever since those large stars have been displayed on everyone's house).
The next day I remembered that the Santa on display on our hutch [right next to the vase] has stars on him.
I went and picked out 2 packages of bells for $2.00

The total cost was $4.00! And it doesn't look "cheap"!!

I couldn't be happier with my results! (TIP: You can click on the pictures to enlarge them).

The hutch has changed in terms of 'decorating', but I wanted to show you what it looked like. I've since purchased a set of olive green scroll curtains which makes the whole area stand out [in a good way]. And took a tip or 2 (for now til I can find a certain element) from Angela Ingo over at Imagine Cozy. She is awfully clever and full of design tips! Her blogs are beautifully written and illustrated!

remember this is my BEFORE picture of Holiday Decorating, a new picture will follow in a few days!

PS Nevermind the unstained window frame in the background. We're working on that!

(The round red & gold scroll tin and the black & white square basket are from Dollar Tree)

NEW Hobby... Plate Collecting! [Thrifty Find]

It all started with these gray mushroom plates. I can't even describe them, and have tried Googling with no such luck. I thought to myself that they were so ugly, no one's going to want to buy them (I spotted them at Goodwill). Then when I was thinking of my new color pallet for the kitchen: black, white, gray and yellow. I was thinking how great those plates would be as an interesting coversational piece of art. I was out of state and wasn't getting back til 2 days later. Mind you, there were only 2 plates, and 2 mugs. These weren't old timey, I'd actually be willing to put money on them being Urban Outfitters; Anthropologie, Crate & Barrel or some of the other trendy places.
Obviously, by the time I had gotten back, someone else must have had the same idea. They were gone. I was pretty bummed out because I had grown to love them in my mind.
I looked down, and saw the most beautiful plate ever. It had flowers and a rose, and it incorporated black and gray. I thought, "Hmmmmm, could I make that fit into my new decor? I MUST have them!" There were 3, all at .99 a piece and one similar but different. I snatched up all 4 plates, and the plate that doesn't match the rest had 2 bowls, so I grabbed them too.
I got home and typed in the China plate numbers on the back. The one that stands alone came up with Edwin Knowles. I searched for more information about him, and couldn't really find much. I don't see his stamp on the back, which makes me believe that it's a replica... which is TOTALLY FINE with me. I was just hoping I could be pointed in the correct direction of a retailer as to where I could purchase more.
So here they are. As stated, my photography skills aren't very good at all. And they really don't do these plates justice, but they are stunning!
I have seen people selling the Edwin Knowles plate on eBay, but I'm not willing to pay what they are asking.

This is the plate that has Edwin Knowles associated with it:

(don't forget to click on the pictures that are blown up, so you can see the detail and the colors!)

I originally wanted to hang them on the wall, but then I got this crazy idea to use my china cabinet for CHINA rather than a catch-all for DVDs, car parts, and miscellaneous stuff!
That's a whole 'nother blog (pictures included!)
The dishes are displayed in my china cabinet on $1.49 wooden plate stands from Christmas Tree Shops. Since then, I've found a handful of plate stands at Goodwill (I've decided that the WalMart and craft store plates stands seemed too cheap looking, and were more expensive).

I also want to point out that when I had the idea to hang them on the wall, I started reading around and A LOT of people my age have plate collections. My boyfriend jokes and says it's an "old lady" thing, but these plates aren't meant to be diplayed by old women! LOL

Custom Inexpensive Earring Holder!

I was searching for inexpensive ways to organize, and one thing that desperately needed organizing was my earrings. They could have been found all over the house, shoved in the bathroom drawers, in various bags, even glove departments of the cars. Now of course this won't prevent the earrings from being stashed somewhere other than where they should be, but one never knows!
I saw a tip where someone suggested cross stitch fabric and a frame. Well I am trying to save my frames for other things, but was completely planning on going to the craft store the night of the find. I was surprised with a trip to my local Goodwill, where low and behold was a roll of cross stitch cloth for .99! It was half off of that, so I purchased it for .49!
I had been super busy organizing my bathroom drawers, so by the time it was 2am, I just wanted to head to bed. BUT, I wanted to finish what I started.
So I got my earrings together, donated what I couldn't see using anymore, trashed others, and got out the cloth. Now honestly, I thought I had A LOT more earrings than what ended up being displayed on the cloth.

Materials and Cost:
* Cross stitch cloth- .49
* Fishing line as sewing thread- on hand
* Plastic hanger- on hand
(later added--->) * no skid rug mat for backing- on hand

Basically this project was like 52 cents!

Here's what I did:
I unrolled the entire cloth, wrapped an end around the hanger, and sewed the end to the hanger for extra support. I displayed my earrings spaced out, in pairs. I later added no skid rug mat (which is pretty much the foamy drawer liner stuff). I added the backing because I have the earring holder on my bedroom door, and everytime I opened and closed it- the earrings would make scuffing noises til they settled down from moving back and forth.

Please excuse my sewing. It was my first time in like 6 years, and it was 3:30am, I was sooo tired. Plus I had half the earrings on right close together, all on one side opposite of where I was sewing- so it took all of my tension and messed up my hem line. LOL Had there not been any earrings on the cloth, it would have ran smoothly!

This makes my earrings so much more accessible and I can actually SEE what I have for earrings!
To attach the no skid quieter to the back, I cut it to the size of the cloth and attached it with safety pins.
I'm really not too concerned with the look of it, I was looking for the function it provided.

INEXPENSIVE, NO SEW, iPod Docking Station Dust Cover:

This was so simple, a Caveman could do it!
I have a black iPod Docking station/ alarm clock for my iPod Touch and it collects dust like you wouldn't believe! I got tired of dusting it practically everyday, and put this together in a matter of moments.
I used my .75 fat fabric quarter from Mardens. Mardens is a discount store, with many locations throughout Maine. They carry closeout store items at a discounted rate.
I planned on using these as curtains in my kitchen, but my boyfriend didn't like that the backside was white while the front was black.
I loved the fabric too much to just let it sit there. Believe me, I have many projects in mind for it!

Basically I cut the fabric to the size I wanted to cover it. With the back of the fabric facing up, I folded the edges, ironed the crease, got out my trusty hem tape, put the hem tape rough side down up against the crease, and ironed down the crease for 3 seconds sealing the tape. I flipped the fabric over (and did NOT clean off the glue on the iron so I did get some glue on the nice side of the fabric--- ALWAYS make sure your iron is free of glue residue before ironing the nice side of the fabric). Then I ironed the sides to lay flat to each side of the docking station, and viola! A custom cover with beautiful fabric for not even 22 cents!

It's the Little Things that Make a Big Difference- Pet Dish Area:

I have an almost 4 year old Chihuahua/ Manchester Terrier. He's had the same water and food dishes for about a year now. They're great, but they didn't really match what I am transforming our kitchen decor into.
So, we went to Ikea in Stoughton, Mass. Not particularly looking for pet dishes, infact, I was looking for everything- but!
Let me just say that this Ikea makes the one in Baltimore look like a little market. This Ikea is ENORMOUS and has this unbelievably insane parking garage underneath and around it.

As mentioned before, my kitchen is going to be: black, white, gray and yellow.

Here's "Sammy's" before:

I purchased the bamboo placemat from Dollar Tree, which I loved!...
Here are the Ikea Pet Bowls, I think they were $3.99 (I'll have to check my list):

I loved the bamboo placemat because it made his area appear more mature. BUT.... Every day when I'd pick up his bowl to rinse it out and change the water, I was noticing water marks underneath. I didn't rinse out his waterbowl for 2 days, and on the 3rd day, I picked it up, and there was mold on the mat. I was saddened, but thought, "Hey it was only a dollar!"

So then we went to Christmas Tree Shops and I saw the most perfect placemats for him!! Not too girly or kitchen-y, and they were the correct color scheme (minus the yellow)!

These placemats were marked at like .69 a piece, but when they rang up, they were 3 for $1.00! Had I known that, I would have gotten more than 4!
I LOVE THEM!

My 1st NO SEW Curtain Ever!

I had been looking for inexpensive ways to decorate, and found results on "no sew curtains".
Sounds easy enough... in fact, there's even easier ways than I have done it! (which I'll blog about later)

I purchased some beautiful black and white heart fat quarters for .75 a piece, with my heart set on them being kitchen window curtains. My boyfriend didn't like that the back of them was white while the front was black. WHATEVER, LOL.
So, I went out and found some fabric that would match my Jacobean. Again, another fat quarter for .75 cents.

I was targeting just the front door window.
Here is the before- hunter green, too long, too short curtain with a questionable stain on it from it's previous life as a tablecloth. NOTHING in our home is hunter green anymore.

And here's the after- cream and black trial curtain.

Here I've made the slot that the curtain rod goes through, so that it has that decorative lip at the top like a curtain.
As you can clearly see, I really didn't do much measuring, but have learned to measure better since.

Materials and Cost:
* 1 fat quarter- .75
* roll of hem tape- $2.20 (I barely used any of the roll)
* iron [had on hand]
* scizzors [had on hand but totally need fabric cutting ones]

So I basically made that panel for 83 cents!

Instructions:
Select the fabric of your choice and measure your window. My window is a unique shape and size. Make sure the fabric selected has atleast 1 inch extra on each side.
I put the fabric front side down and folded the right side in first. I folded it about 1/2 an inch, pretty much the width of the hem tape. I ironed a crease all the way down. This provides for an easy line up and crisp edge.
I placed the hem tape rough side down and placed the iron over it for 3 seconds- moving my way down.
You want to be careful here because you may get hem glue on the iron and if it accidentally gets on the visible side of the fabric, you may as well call your project history (as I am CURRENTLY trying to fix that exact situation with a new curtain).
At this point if you have glue on your iron, wipe it off with a moist rag, then turn the curtain over (when there is NO glue present on your iron) and press for 1 or 2 seconds all the way down the curtain.
Repeat this with the other side.
Next I did the bottom, where I did a double hem. I am sure there is a more technical term for it than that, but I am a "newbee" and that's what I am calling it.
I did the hem at the bottom as I did with the sides, but then I folded it once more, and repeated the process.
I double hemmed it to give it more stability and to make it more pleasing to the eye, should someone lift up the curtain.
The result was a nice and not too thick bottom part of the curtain.
For the top part of the curtain, I folded it down in the length of THREE hems. I ironed it to give it a good line to follow, and placed my hem tape at the very part of the crease, all along the top. I adhered the tape as I did before. * The top of the fabric was the factory cut, so I didn't do any extra hemming.
I then left a gap the size of the hem tape width (or curtain rod) and adhered the hem tape along the bottom of the folded hem to the spot of which it matched up. This gave it the pocket for the rod to slide through, and sealed the bottom.

Then Comes the "NEW" Stove!!!

We've been here for 7 years, and have had 2 stoves prior to the new one. The 2 previous stoves were old, refurbished stoves. My ladylady had all the best intentions by keeping with the almond type color, and providing us with a working stove. Well, the 2nd one stopped working almost immediately, but she's such an incredible landlady- that I didn't want to burden her.

When I'd use the stovetop, the burners would stay very hot when turned all the way down, which would burn my food, it would take forever for water to boil, and I once tried baking a 38 minute cake, only to continue baking it for over 4 hours with cold batter throughout the cake.

My boyfriend, Gabe, started looking on Craigslist for a stove, and we hit the jackpot!

Here's Ol' Unreliable:

And here is the new stove (below):

Nevermind the walls, that's a work-in-progress that definately has some before and after pictures to share! I'll be getting to that soon! Actually the stove is the only focus, nevermind anything in the picture, as I will be blogging about what you may or may not see, LOL!

I have never had a glasstop stove before, but let me just say: LOVIN' IT! I have NOT burnt any food (which was by way of the old stove- certainly not an error on my part LOL), water boils in a matter of seconds, and food actually COOKS in the oven! The first time I made chicken tenders and they came out sizzling, I was in awe! The food seriously tastes better too! Our first weekend with it, I whipped up a batch of brownies, and they were just the right consistency, baked all the way through, and over all delicious!

At this point we weren't so much concerned at getting an almond color stove or the like, considering the fact that last year she purchased a white fridge for our kitchen. Our only concern was that it WORKED! Of course it didn't hurt that it looked good too *wink*!

This inspired my kitchen color pallet: black, white, gray and yellow. Rather than making the yellow sink and range hood stick out like a sore thumb, I've decided to incorporate them into the color scheme (there really was no style or anything before, things were just slapped together).

The Jazzy Jacobean wall graphic that got the decorating started!

I've been renting a trailer (constructed around the 1950s) for 7 years. The trailer has original real oak paneling, laminated sparkly gold and white kitchen walls, and some weird textured bathroom walls. We aren't able to make many changes to this place, so I started brainstorming on what I could do to make this house our home.
I ran across RoomMates Peel and Stick wall decals when looking for peel and stick wall border.

I saw the Jazzy Jacobean and fell in love with it!
The peel and stick wall decals do not have a sticky residue, are removable, you can wipe them down, and more.
I called customer service and asked if they truthfully had complaints about them NOT sticking to wood panel walls, and she gave it a glowing review. I also read online reviews, and the reviews were great as well.
I was SOLD!
I called my local Lowes because the RoomMates site said they were a local dealer. It wasn't something they had in stock, but could order it and send it to my house UPS Red with NO SHIPPING CHARGE what-so-ever! It showed up within in a couple days... and I let it sit.

I finally got the ambition to put it together, because each flower, stem and leaf are individually cut to where you can place them how you please. I loved how RoomMates had their display set up, so I went for it!
I was very happy to see that there was more brown and gold in it than pictured, it blended with the wall very nicely, even though the Jacobean looks pretty white in my picture, it really isn't.

I was afraid this wouldn't stick to my wood paneling with the grooves and all, but it stuck better than expected!

Several hours later, LOL, and here's the final result! I think it says it'll take 40 minutes to put up... WRONG!! LOL

The total cost was $20.00 even, they don't even charge tax! I am very happy with this purchase!

(you may click the picture to enlarge it and see the detail, but I must warn you, that light switch is being changed out or covered very soon).

I plan on getting different graphics for other rooms!

Introducing the NEW ME!

Well, these past few weeks have been phenomenal!
We have been reorganizing (or shall I say ORGANIZING) our house; redecorating; incorporating style; resurrecting my crafty side [that has been hidden for YEARS]; and truly turning our house into a home.

It all started when one of my boyfriend's new friends came over, Mike from his car club, and I felt so uneasy with how cluttered my house was. Honestly, he was the first guy that I respected, to set foot through our doorway. I was mortified at what he may have thought- with the first impression of our home. He was super nice and kept reassuring me that it was fine, and that his house looked the same, but with as nice as he was, I just couldn't believe him. He was truly heaven sent. His presence was exactly what we needed to get our lives in check. I hope to tell him how much he's changed our lives for the better.

Then I realized we have lived here for 7 years!! For a few years now I've been telling everyone, "Oh we've been living here for 4 years".
Just like my obsession with shopping for clothes: having too much of everything, but couldn't find a thing to wear.... I quickly learned: I HAD TOO MUCH OF E V E R Y T H I N G, and what's worse... I was NOT using it!
So, out with the old, in with the new.... in moderation.

I have been complaining for YEARS that we didn't have enough cabinet space, to the point where I'd be in tears sometimes, only to JUST NOW LEARN that I've had the cabinet space all along, I've just been storing useless stuff in it!
I even found receipts from 2003 in little boxes, and No Bake Cheesecake mix that expired in 2006... yummmm- NOT!

We have tackled the living room, the kitchen, the hallway, the "office", and the bathroom.
The bathroom was so rewarding. The bathroom was so dated, and cluttered.
I had a girl over and was foiling her hair, and she walked out of my bathroom and said, "It looks like a CVS in there!" She was referring to the 35 or so hygiene products: soap, shampoos, conditioners, hair sprays, toothpastes, etc. that were OPENLY displayed and taking up space in there.
My cabinets just had things shoved in there, and I rarely used anything that I kept stored in the drawers.
It was a HUGE eye opener as well.

Last, I owe a big thanks to my friend Amanda, she runs Scribbled Sentences. She introduced me to a few posts on here, which got my gears turning, mostly about redecorating on a budget and incorporating style into your life. I have known her since she was like 4 years old. Even with our age difference, she was still one of my best friends. Her mom and dad had a gorgeous house, and she takes after them with an even cooler style. If it wasn't for her dabbling in her crafts, and posting her blogs, I don't think I would have advanced this much these past few weeks.

Our home is no longer drab. It actually has a STYLE, where before things were pretty much thrown together.

I will be posting the stuff I've done soon.

Here's some things listed (pictures will accompany the blogs!!!):

* Made my own NO SEW curtains! (A few pairs actually!);
* Rearranged my book shelf, only to rearrange it again by REMOVING the paper book covers from the hard cover books. By doing this, there aren't many books that clash with my interior now (before there were tons of pink/ hot pink/ purple covers!) this way they don't stick out like a sore thumb;
* Made affordable holiday decorations;
* Started a plate collection... was going to hang them on the wall, but decided to UTILIZE the CHINA CABINET for CHINA rather than to house DVDs and awful eye sore items that greeted visitors when they first entered our home--- yuck;
* Actually decorated for the holiday season!;
* Made a very inexpensive earring holder;
* Inexpensive organizing tips;
* Customized a monogram project;
* My EXCELLENT finds at Goodwill, Salvation Army, Marden's, Target, WalMart, TJ Maxx, Marshalls, HomeGoods, Dollar Tree, Ikea, Christmas Tree Shops, Edgewood Thrift, Ollies, Savers and the likes;
* Made an iPod docking station dust cover;
* Learned how to decorate shelves;
* Developed a love for OWLS!;
* and made simple changes that made a world of difference!
Something I haven't done, but can't wait to do, thanks to all of the blogs, is SPRAY PAINT! Yup, that's right, I want to jump on the makeover bandwagon with spray paint! Spring can't get here soon enough! I already have a huge list of items to paint!!

Stay tuned!
Thank you for reading!

(PS This blog is now for crafts, decorating, cooking, baking, tips, cleaning, organizing, style, discount shopping, thrift store finds, etc. This will no longer be dedicated to my personal relationship).