Monday, January 31, 2011

Swapping Party

As you can tell from my last few posts, I've been working on building up my blog a bit and getting myself out there.  While this all started as a hobby for me, I find that sharing my projects with more of you, is so much more fun.  I'm loving all the sweet comments and it's a constant motivation to do more.  My creative juices are flowing like never before. I spend my day thinking of what I could do next. This has been a huge motivator for me.  Homemaker on a Dime is hosting her second blog swapping party. 

I joined last week and found some new great friends. Loving Every Second has the most delicous recipes and cutest crafts. Her blog is just adorable.  You must check her out.


Military Spouse House is the sweetest girl. Her son is just adorable and her crafts leave me wanting to get creative. 

So come join the fun and maybe you can make some new friends!

I promise to get back to my regular posts soon.

My Blog in Review


I am so excited to be part of a very unique blog hop. Gail My Repurposed Life and Megan Beauty in the Attempt are hosting “The Bold and the Beautiful-your blog reviewed”.

Please take a look around my blog, check out the layout, pages, buttons,  sidebar and gadgets. I would love for you to gently critique my blog. I’m hoping you will leave me some positive feedback about my blog. It would be great if you could give me constructive criticism but be sure to tell me what you like about my blog too! Do you like my pictures? Does my blog load quickly for you? How about the font?  All tips and tidbits welcome!
You are welcome to join the party, it starts Thursday night and is open for a week.

I'm a little late to the party, but better later than never.  Have fun!

Week-End Finds

Since my visit to Las Tias last week, I've been on the lookout for some mid century pieces at a price I can afford.  My mom, sisters, and I took a drive to the North area of town and found a few great thrift stores. I found this super cool table lamp for $25 at a Salvation Army.  It was a little more than I wanted to pay for it, but I couldn't pass it up.
I'm not sure if I am going to leave it as a lamp, or convert it to a little side table.  I love the wood slats and I can try to figure out something to fill the whole at the top if I pull out the lamp hardware.

This little wire basket was $3.00 at Goodwill.  I'm thinking for ribbons and things.

Excuse the poor quality photos. I'm trying to work with my camera settings to have pictures with a lower resolution to help them upload quicker when you open my page, but I'm not loving the quality.  I will keep working on it.  Have a great week!

Edit to post:  I joined an awesome linky party at Finding Fabulous. 

Sunday, January 30, 2011

Blog Guidebook

I've been hearing about the Blog Guidebook all weekend. I decided to head on over and see what everyone was talking about.  What a GREAT idea! A way to categorize different blogs and find exactly what you are looking for. Go check it out and add your blog while your there. 

Friday, January 28, 2011

DIY Valentine's Heart Wreath

I decided to jump on the bandwagon and start decorating for Valentine's.  I've actually never decorated for Valentine's before, even though hearts are my favorite.  I used the same flower tutorial for my Fall Wreath and the yarn wrapping used for my Monogram Wreath.  Wrapping the heart was a little more difficult because of the angles, but I used a little extra hot glue to hold it down.  Please excuse the door, it's been on our 'to do' list for 6 years. Oh well!
Here's a close up of the flowers.   
 Loving it! Have a lovely weekend!

Linking up at House of Hepworths, Paisley Passions, Chic on a Shoestring, Fingerprints on the Fridge, Remodelaholic, The Saturday Morning, Tatertots and Jello, Funky Junk Interiors, Vintage Wanna Bee

I was featured on

Thursday, January 27, 2011

Curtain Pillow

I found a curtain panel by Waverly for $14.00 at Burlington Coat Factory.  I loved the pattern of the fabric, and the colors of course. I had my mom make a throw pillow for me using an old pillow we weren't using.  She did an amazing job, lining up the fabric perfectly. My grandmother was an incredible seamstress and it seems my mom has some pretty good skills.


I have a bunch of fabric leftover.  Any ideas?

Wednesday, January 26, 2011

Room Inspiration - Overstock.com

My Upholstered Headboard has inspired me to fix up my room a bit. I have been scouring the Internet for ideas and inspiration.  I checked out some of the products at Overstock and found some great pieces. 

One of the main things I want to do is a Bench for the foot of my bed. Our room is pretty small and we need a place to throw some clothes on when we don't feel like hanging them up.  One of my favorites is the Creme Andalucia Bench. I love the lines of it and the colors are beautiful.

This Slat Bench in Natural is so pretty. Growing up my grandmother used to have one of these holding her TV. I always loved it and this would be a great reminder of my Mamama.


I'm not sure if my room has space for an Area Rug, but I would love to add one for comfort.  This Hand-tufted World Classic Bluish-grey Wool Rug is beautiful. I love the colors and the graphic design.

This Hand-tufted Safari Grey Wool Rug is also great and would look awesome with all the grey in my room.

Overstock is offering a discount code to all my readers. The discount code is: 121745, good for 10% off Overstock products (excluding movies, books, and electronics).  This discount code never expires, however, it can only be used once per email address.  The code for electronics free shipping is 202234.

All the ideas and opinions expressed are my own. No monetary compensation was received for doing this post, however, I was provided with a discount code.

Tuesday, January 25, 2011

My Top 3!

Starting my blog five months ago was one of the funnest and craziest ideas I've ever had. I was waiting for my husband to get home and I came up with a few names and gave it a go. I've developed a love for all things thrifty, crafting, and all kinds of DIY projects.  Here are my 3 favorite projects:

My Book Page Wreath is one of my favorite craft projects so far. There are tons of these out there, but there is nothing like making your own to appreciate them even more.

My office makeover started with a $2.00 chandelier which resulted in an entire room redo on a major budget. I reused a bunch of my old stuff and even used a table from a trash pile.  I am so much more productive in my new space.

My Ikea hack upholstered headboard is my most recent project.  It was so much easier than I thought and the touch of glamour it added to my room has been huge. Of course, now I want to redecorate my master, but what's new.  
Thank you so much for being supportive, for your loving comments, and for being my 'friends'.  I look forward to a new year of projects, crafts, and so much more. A big thank you to Thrifty Decor Chick for the love!

Week-End Finds

This weeks week-end finds will actually be dedicated to my mom and I finding the coolest vintage store that our area has to offer. The prices were insanely high, but it was fun to look and dream. They had vintage Knoll chairs, a gorgeous shelf from a Cathedral in Europe, and some of the most beautiful Mid-Century pieces I've seen. I am leaning towards Mid-Century pieces these days and just wish that I had space in my house.  The store is Las Tias in the Midtown Miami area.  Here are some of our finds (unfortunately, none came home with us).

This bench was sold. I actually am on the hunt for a bench for the foot of my bed. 

This buffet table was just gorgeous.  The over $1,000 price tag not so much.  But I want this.

This acrylic table and bench were so cool. The flowers on the bench were beautiful. I could totally see this at the foot of my bed, and the width was perfect.

These bar stools were super nice and the end table next to them was great.

 I loved this end table (sorry so dark).

This little stool is gorgeous.  The matching love seat was perfect.  The stool was $300.00.

Here's the matching love seat. So pretty! If the stool was $300, imagine the love seat.

I would have to say this was my favorite piece in the store. I am looking for something like this to replace an Ikea coffee table in my living room.  Beautiful modern mid-century design. The wood color is perfect. Wow, but at $1,100 there was NO chance.  Maybe $100? no, probably not even for $100.

Now, don't these lamps above remind you of the lamp I got at Goodwill for $4.00 seen below.  The one on the right was listed for $110.00 (I didn't even look at the one on the left). Makes me so proud!

This is the only thing we came home with on Friday. After leaving Las Tias we headed over to good old trusty Goodwill and my mom found this huge tray thing for $5.00. It's pretty banged up, but she's thinking of stripping it and distressing it even more. My parents house is very modern so this rustic looking piece will be a great accent. I love it! I wish I had seen it first!
Have you had any good finds?

Monday, January 24, 2011

New Blog Look

It's perfect!  Thais at House09 figured me out.  In the application form she asked for a few words to describe what I would want my blog to look like and she got it...she got me! I am so excited about the new look.   I am truly amazed at her work and her ability to figure me out and what I wanted from a few key words.  Working with her was a pleasure and she was so professional to work with even with my million crazy emails. Thanks Thais! 

In other great news, I reached 50 followers this weekend.  I thank all of you for following along.  I love when I open my computer and find new friends! So thank you and have a great week!

Edit to post:  I joined a blog follower linky party at


How exciting!

Thursday, January 20, 2011

DIY Upholstered Headboard Using the Ikea Hopen Bed

A couple of years back, we decided to build an Ikea wardrobe in our room.  We actually covered a window, I know that is terrible, but we had no choice.  Our closets are tiny.  I will post a picture soon of our closets. We had been using my husbands furniture from before we got married. It was huge and with our new closet, they had to go.  We bought the Ikea Hopen Bed because of its low profile and small nightstands.  The set has turned out to be great.  Problem is, I don't want any more 'sets'.  After posting about my inspiration, I knew I could do this.  Here is a picture of our bed.
First step, after measuring the size of headboard that you want, lay out 3 layers of batting on the floor and cut the measurement leaving about 4 inches on each side to fold over.  
Staple all the way around pulling as tight as you can.
Next step, lay your fabric out and do the same.  Cut to size and leave about 4 inches all the way around.  Staple onto your plywood.  I started at the center and worked my way around.  Make sure you pull tight with every staple.  I used a leather like material {vinyl} that had a bunch of creases when I unfolded it.  Pulling it tight got rid of the creases. 
Next, you must take a little break to allow your niece to a take a nap on plywood. I'm a great aunt!
The final step in upholstering the board is the corners.  I found that working with the vinyl is a little bit tricky. This material is thick and harder than fabric.  I folded the corners in and stapled as cleanly as possible. It took a few tries it ended up coming out just right. The back side does not look great, but nobody is going to see that.

Once the entire board was covered, we sat it on our counter top and we were ready to apply the nailhead trim.  I ordered the Nickel Nailhead Trim kit online from DIY Upholstery Supply for about $17.00 plus $13.00 in shipping.  I figured this would be much easier than using individual nailheads.  Using the nailhead trim, you only have to hammer in every 5 nails.  It is also easier to keep a straight line.

My husband helped me with this part. He was awesome! He is a bit of a perfectionist and really knows his way around tools.  We had one small glitch and I think it had to do with our fabric choice.  You can see in the second nail in the picture below there a little bit of a tear.  When hammering in the nail with a mallet, it bent the nail causing it to dig into the vinyl.  It tore. I am planning on getting a vinyl repair kit at an auto parts store.
We decided to use a hammer instead of the mallet. The nailheads were just not going in. My husband put a few layers of tape on the head of the hammer and replaced every so often as he worked.  The idea of the mallet is to protect the head of the nail, but this worked just fine. Once, we got the hang of it, it went very smoothly.  We almost gave up after the tear above, but we prevailed.  As my husband hammered in, I applied pressure on both sides of the nail. This seemed to work best.

Done! It came out great.  As mentioned above we have the Ikea Hopen Bed. The headboard was super easy to take off. My husband just took off the screws that were attached to the bed.  Yes, that is dust you see there, gross, and great for the allergies.

Here is the bed without the headboard.
With the extra piece of plywood, my husband used the table saw to cut three boards just under the height of the headboard. We wanted them to reach the floor just for extra anchor.  He screwed these in, 4 screws total.  Two at the bottom, two at the top of the bed frame.
Next, my husband attached the headboard to the wood slats. He also used 4 screws here. I applied pressure from the front side, while he pushed in the back. We wanted this to be as sturdy as possible. 

The headboard rests on the bed frame perfectly. 
Here it is!  I love it! Our room looks so much better.  The color is perfect.  The leather like/vinyl was the perfect touch. It's just enough modern for my taste, but because of its soft texture and feel, it's not cold. I would be a little cautious in recommending this type of fabric because of the issue with the nailhead.  We should have practiced a bit before going full force into nailing them in. You learn as you go, right? Also, when choosing a vinyl, there are different qualities that also affect texture and sheen. I wanted something that looked and felt like leather, not plastic{y} or shiny.  Make sure you feel the different choices and look for sales so you can get a better quality one.  We wanted a rectangular headboard, it fits our style more. I would imagine doing anything curved with vinyl would be difficult.


Cost breakdown:
Vinyl Fabric in Whisper White-Joann's Fabric $20.00 on sale with extra 15% coupon (about 2 yards)
Batting 4oz weight 10 yard roll from Joann Fabrics $6.00 on sale with extra 15% coupon
Plywood scrap wood from Home Depot $4.00
Nailhead trim from DIY Upholstery $30.00 (due to shipping costs)

Total Cost $60.00 

This project was surprisingly simple. We could have finished it in an afternoon. We took a little longer just to get ourselves working.  My husband was awesome, no he is awesome.  I was so thankful and he didn't even complain about doing this little project.  Whew!  Only problem is, now I want to redo my room.  Why does this always happen.  What do you think?


Wednesday, January 19, 2011

Our Nightstands-Simple Fix

When I posted this picture of our room in my New Year post, I was a little shocked by the condition of our nightstands.  The reason we chose this bedroom set was because of the measurements and our tiny room. You see our Ikea wardrobe to the right of the bed.  It is a wall to wall closet that holds unbelievable amounts of storage. We love it, not necessarily that you can see our clothes through it, but the storage aspect.  We chose the Pax Wardrobe with sliding doors.  I will give you a tour of our wardrobe soon, when I get it organized, it's a hot mess.

This is our Ikea Hopen Nightstand that goes with our bed.  I love that it's on casters. It's easy to move around and with our limited space, that is sometimes necessary.

So back to the subject.  Our nightstands, you see everything...I mean everything. What a mess. 


 So I got white card stock and just taped it to the inside of the drawer.  Huge difference. 

What do you think?  Pretty simple fix.
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