Winner!

As promised, I have chosen a winner! I used Random.org to pick the winner! See the results below!

Congratulations to Amanda Cude!!! You have won a personalized dish cloth! I will contact you soon!

Trellis Coat Rack

I have been wanting a coat rack for a while now. When my dear friend, Emily, was over this week, she said "where should I hang my coat? If you don't have a cute place to hang my coat, that should be your next project!" Thanks to Emily's extra push in the right direction, I started to shop online for a coat rack....I was actually looking for a standing coat and hat tree but I stumbled upon this little beauty on JC Penney's site and loved the idea, I just didn't love the price, so I decided to make it myself! Read more to see how!

 I started out with the supplies below. The trellis was really easy to find, Home Depot has many different options but I went with the 4 foot one, it seemed to be the best fit for the spot I had in mind. I decided to only put 3 hooks on mine ( I liked the idea of adding more but I wanted to keep my costs down, those puppies are $3/ea and it adds up fast! If I find some cheap knobs later, I may add them to the bottom for purses!) and I found those at Home Depot as well. I used white spray paint as my base coat but used a wood stain pen that I already had to add a worn look to the edges.

After painting the trellis, Gabe helped me screw the hooks onto the trellis. We put the screws through the sections of the trellis that had two layers of wood, otherwise, the screw is too long and goes past the back of the wood. We then used 2 screws to hang it on the wall near our front door!  I am sooo happy with the outcome! I really love this trellis look, I think it would look great without the hooks, just hanging on the wall....maybe vertically down the hall or above your bed in place of a head board....the options are limitless!

(Click on the picture to make it larger!)

I did a little price comparison to show how cheap this was to make. If you use 6 hooks it adds another $10, so it would be closer to $40 to make, but that is still a great deal!  It is always exciting to make something yourself and  save money in the process!

 

GIVEAWAY is ending!

Happy Saturday! Just a reminder that my Giveaway for a personalized dish towel is ending tomorrow! So today is your last day to sign-up! Just Comment on either this post or the previous Giveaway post to enter! Please leave your first and last name or email address there as well so I can track you down if you win!

The grand prize will look similar to this one but with your initial!

Birdhouses, Chairs, and Roosters, oh my!

I may be alone in this habit but I have noticed recently that there are many things throughout my house that are repetitive designs.What I mean is, there are some things that I can't help but to use in my decor over and over again!

 

 I really love birdhouses. I especially like using them inside to decorate. This is a corner shelf made from shutters, remember it from here? I decided to use it to display my birdhouses. I also have a few tiny birdhouses throughout the house. I don't know what it is about them but I love them!
Top: Flea Market, Middle: K&B Marketplace in downtown Fuquay, Bottom: Rose's (yes, they still exist!)

 I am in love with these little metal chairs. I found a set of three on Pottery Barn's site in the clearance section. They were $20 for all three. They look really small in this picture but they are actually about 6 inches tall and 3 inches wide. The first one, as you can see, is "framed" on our living room wall. In our move we accidentally busted the glass in a frame, so I used it to hang up around this little chair. The second one shown is on table in the living room holding a cute little sign. And the third is on the kitchen counter holding a tiny lamp I got from Ikea. Just like with my birdhouses, there are a few more little chairs around as well!

These are no longer on Pottery Barn's Clearance site but they have come great finds on there still! I love the "found" items!

 This one is my guilty pleasure :) It is such a cliche southern household decoration but I love these Roosters! As a disclaimer, I am a picky rooster lover and will only accept certain ones into my home :) The plates and pepper shaker are on the kitchen island and the coat hook is in our entryway!


I am sure my friends and family could point out some other things that I decorate with frequently but these are my favorites! Do you have anything that you decorate with "repetitively"? Are my obsessions over the top?!
Would love your input! Thanks for reading!

Awesome Idea from the "Do It Yourself" Magazine

For a while now, I have been buying the "Do It Yourself" magazine, it is one of Better Homes and Garden's "Special Interest Publications." They come out with one every season, so sadly, there are only 4 published per year. It is a great purchase though, lots of great ideas with detailed instructions! This weekend I bought the Spring issue and found such an awesome idea!!! It is perfect for Parents or for Teachers! I think it is a great way to make something special for your kids that lets you stay organized.

Sadly, I couldn't find any info on this project online so I am going to do my best in telling you about it. If you are interested in it, you may want to check out the magazine for yourself! This project is on page 34 (shown below.)

Now, to get to the point! They used TV Trays- you know the ones that hang on a stand but fold out to be used to eat off of from the couch. We have all used one at some point, I am sure! The idea is to re-purpose these as game stations for your kids while still being collapsible at the end of the day and go right back on the stand! They made each tray a different game or activity.
1) painted with Chalkboard paint to play tic tac toe or to just write and draw on!
2) By gluing down a lego base board, they created a Lego Table to fold out and build on, they even used a saw to drill holes for cups to go in to hold the Lego pieces.
3) Painted a checker board on the top of one for an easy access checker board game!

There are some other more involved designs for them as well that are featured in the magazine. I just love this idea!! You can even gets the kids involved in painting and designing the game boards, what a fun family project!

If you have older children, you could let them design and paint their own as a homework station to be used anywhere in the house, putting hooks on the side to hold pencil bags and other needs.

If you don't already have TV Trays that you don't mind changing up, they are really easy to find! I saw a set at the flea market this weekend. I am sure thrift stores and Goodwill sell them at times as well! The links below take you to some that are for sale on Craigslist.

RDU Area: http://raleigh.craigslist.org/fuo/2171917548.html
http://raleigh.craigslist.org/fuo/2166412677.html
http://raleigh.craigslist.org/fuo/2162072906.html

Charlotte Area: http://charlotte.craigslist.org/hsh/2166180057.html

Target also has a few sets on their website.


I think I may go ahead and purchase a set to save for the future, I don't want to forget this idea!!!

And another reminder, my giveaway ends this coming Sunday so if you haven't entered, it isn't too late! Enter here!

Sixpence Accents and a New Island!

This past weekend Gabe and I went to a great shop in downtown Apex, Sixpence Accents. I immediately fell in love with most of the items in the store!

The owner has done a great job of finding beautiful home decor and furnishings that she sells at reasonable prices! She also has a few used pieces of furniture for sale that she bought at the start-up of the shop. One of those beautiful pieces came home with us! We already had a great kitchen Island but I loved this one, so I couldn't turn it down! It has lots of storage space and is so cute!

I would definitely recommend checking out Sixpence Accents if you are in the Apex area! The owner is so nice and the store is just great!

Don't forget: It isn't too late to sign up for my give-away! I will be announcing the winner on the 30th!

My Latest Project/ GIVEAWAY!

This weekend I tried out a new project. You can see the finished product below, hanging from my oven. It is so convenient having a dish cloth hanging in arms reach at all times in the kitchen. I started by embroidering the dish cloth, then sewed using my sewing machine, and the last step is done by hand. I am going to walk you through the steps of making it, without the embroidery, it still makes a for a cute project!

All you need for this project is a dish cloth, a button, and an oven hot pad. It needs to be the kind with a little loop on it, this is what you hook around your button to hang it from the oven.

First, you fold both the dish cloth and oven mitt in half to find the center of them both. You then pin them together as shown below. Notice that the finished side of the dish cloth is facing up (the side we want seen) and then the unfinished side of the oven mitt is also facing up. When finished the oven mitt will "close" while the dish cloth hangs below, at this point the finished side of the oven mitt will be seen.

You then sew them together. This takes some effort because obviously the oven mitt is smaller than the dish cloth....so you want to "scrunch" the dish cloth until it is the same width as the oven mitt. Take your time sewing over the bunched fabric so you don't break your needle and to ensure a neat and even pleated look.

After that is finished, you need to find the placement for the button. It needs to be on the side opposite the loop on the oven mitt. Once you find the best place for the button so that the loop can fit around it, sew the button on to the oven mitt.

At this point, your dish cloth is ready to be hung! You could always add embroidery to the dish cloth at this point. For my first one, I embroidered the cloth first but on my next one I will probably make it my last step.

Also, as a way to say thanks to those of you who read my blog I want to giveaway one of these personalized dish cloths! To enter the drawing, simply let me know you want to be entered in the comment section and on the 30th, I will announce the winner!

Ottoman Coffee Tables

While out shopping this past weekend I noticed that many stores are selling bench like ottomans. I think they are a great option to use in the place of a coffee table. With a tray on it, it gives stability for drinks but the fabric top gives a comfy place for your feet. My friends, Allie and John, and My parents have recently purchased bench ottomans for their living rooms. They both found great deals on them for under a hundred dollars. The ones I saw while I was out this weekend were all over $150 and none that I saw came with a tray.

My parents bought theirs at Costco for $80 and it came with a tray to put on top.

Allie and John found theirs at Kohls for around $85 and it came with two trays (though only one is shown in the pic below)!

Walmart has one for sale on their website and it has great reviews. It is $79 with free shipping to the store. You can see it here.

I think these are all really great deals, really functional, and such a cute style! They all have tops that lift up with storage space underneath. If our coffee table wasn't so new, I would definitely be buying one!

Personalized Dog Scarves

My parents gave me an embroidery machine for Christmas and I have loved making things already! I am excited to learn more and make more things as time passes. One of my first projects is dog scarves.

 Here is Callie wearing hers. I made them so that you simply slide the collar through them. I copied the pattern from one I bought for Callie from the flea market.

These are all some of the scarves I have made for other dogs in my life :)