Friday, February 11, 2011

Happy Valentine's Day!

I love decorating my house for holidays. It is so much fun and gets everyone more excited about the festivities when there is pretty decor all around you! Christmas, Thanksgiving (fall), and Halloween are the big 3 that are the easiest to decorate for because I feel like you can decorate your whole house for those holidays-(I will dedicate another post to my DIY Christmas decor bc I went a little nuts this past Christmas). As for Valentine's Day, and February being a shorter month (that really has nothing to do with it) I decided that I can't decorate my whole house for this day. However, I did give it a whole shelf all to it's lovey dovey self.

---Sorry for the lame pics. I really should consider a photography class before I try and continue this blog. I'm a newbie.















I bought the Valentine blocks at Target from the dollar bin section. They were $2.50 and change to make these 4 words. So much fun and super cheap!


I bought the I heart U milk jugs from Target for $2, I already had the red candle holder, the heart sticks are from dollar tree for $1 and the glass LOVE holder for $1 at dollar tree.

This was one of my favs! I actually got the idea from another blog that was posted on Thrifty Decor Chic.
If you have an old scrabble game just hanging out in the closet, use the old scrabble pieces for fun art projects! You can also buy scrabble tiles on Etsy and Amazon for really cheap. I just picked out the tiles I wanted to use and spray painted one of the wooden tile holders red. Easy Cheesy.


I bought the frame from dollar tree for $1, I already had the fabric squares (same ones I used to make the patch work lamp in my previous post), and I bought the sparkly, red LOVE letters from Target dollar bin for $1! All I did was arrange the fabric in the frame how I liked it and I super glued the LOVE to the glass. Cute!

Glass LOVE holder again. Dollar Tree is where it's at.

Such a fun, thrifty, festive way to decorate for Valentine's Day. It only cost me $11 to decorate this shelf! Boo Yaa! Love it with all my Valentine's Day heart. Hit up dollar tree and get your creative energy flowing for CHEAPOLA.

XOXO-

Vintage Teal Armoire

I don't know about you but anytime I hear the word "vintage" I am intrigued! Especially with furniture. Give me a shabby, chic, vintage, colorful piece of furniture and I am a happy girl. My next project is sitting tall and proud in my living room. I have had this armoire for YEARS. It was in my house when I was younger and I always thought it was ugly. Who would have thought that it would now be one of my favorite pieces of furniture?! After painting it "vintage teal" I am absolutely in love.

Isn't "vintage teal" so pretty?! AH, I love. Please ignore the bottom drawer that is slightly open. Guess I was too lazy to close it for the pic.


I was going to hit Hobby Lobby to get some new knobs but after cleaning/polishing the old ones I decided I loved the look. I love how the wood shows through the paint. Might have been an accident but I went with it!




Pretty. I want to paint my whole house this color-but I won't, promise.


1. First I sanded the entire armoire, not too heavily though, just enough to give it some "grab" so I could paint.


2. After removing drawers and shelves I got to painting!


3. After I applied 2 coats of this pretty pretty princess paint and it had fully dried, I LIGHTLY sanded over the paint to give it a rustic look and so some of the dark brown original wood could show through.


SO easy and cheap and I love it. Since the dresser was free from my parent's house, I spent less than $20 on paint and supplies. Go shop your parent's house for old furniture and get busy!

Monday, February 7, 2011

1st post/Patchwork Lamp

Hey! So I decided to make a DIY (do it yourself) decor blog and I am really excited about it! My absolute favorite thing to do is decorate my house, re-do old furniture, and make fun little craft projects WHILE staying on a budget. I think the best part is seeing the end project and knowing that it was done for really cheap! Such a great and "wheww" feeling! I hope you enjoy my journey as I continue to decorate/re-do our house, craft, and re-funk some junk.


My first project I thought I would post is a patchwork lamp.

Every project I do is on a budget so when I find a great deal I get so excited!!! Like this lamp base...this cutesy little thing was only $6 at Target.

I bought the fabric squares off of Etsy close to a year ago and spent around $5 for those.



I bought the lampshade a while back at Wal-Mart on clearance for $3! SO this pretty little lamp only cost $14 all together. It def. could be done cheaper but I just used what I had already bought and I love it!
*It is a VERY simple project. All you need is
1. a lamp and lamp shade
2. Fabric squares
3. Fabric glue
*I arranged the fabric squares on the lampshade just the way I wanted and then glued on! Easy huh?
It is such a random, artsy lamp and I absolutely love it!
For now, this lamp will go in my bedroom. Our master bedroom is very "unique" like this lamp, and when finished (cross your fingers for that), will be a very fun, unique, New Yorkish feel type of room! Pics to come of the bedroom and the rest of the house.