Dollar Store Jewelry Holder

Sherry of Young House Love and  Katie of Bower Power set their spring Pinterest Challenge last week.  The idea is to stop pinning and start doing.  Take your inspiration from something you've pinned on Pinterest and create your own version. 

I decided to try and make a jewelry holder.  There are a bazillion versions on Pinterest but (as usual) I was determined to create mine on the cheap.  My Pinspiration (see what I did there?!) was this sweet little shabby chic jewelry holder from Etsy seller The Humble Bee:

Of course the first stop for any cheapo craft project is always going to be the dollar store.  I picked up a piece of foam board and a pack of thumb tacks.  The purple fabric was from Joanns and was leftover from another project I'm working on.

I cut the board in half and layered one piece on top of the other (making the size 10x15).  I covered the whole thing in fleece to give it a padded look (root around in your wardrobe and see if you have an old fleece you don't wear anymore and get cutting!).  Next I layered the lattice fabric on top of that and stapled everything together on the back of the board.

I marked out my border and stuck the tacks in at 1/4 inch intervals to give it a nail head trim look.

The whole thing was incredibly quick and easy to make.

I used some regular straight pins to hang the earrings on.

In the inimitable words of Gordon Ramsay: Dollar Store Jewelry Holder...........done!

Kate

xxx

 

Flea Market Jackpot

This weekend I ventured out to Bama Flea mall (follow me on Instagram to keep up with all the thrifty goodness).  I couldn't remember the last time I was there, which is a definite sign a trip was long overdue. 

3 hours of rummaging, and these are all of my goodies in one neat shot. 

I couldn't resist the wooden shoe forms, they were only $8 for the pair.  No clue what I'm going to do with them, maybe I'll just pop them on a shelf.  I've seen a lot of vintage suitcases, but I thought finding one in white was unusual.  Great for extra storage and looks cute, in the cart it went.

The little mid century shelf was one of my favorite finds.  The glass needs a bit of a clean but everything else was in excellent condition.  The two orange and white pieces are retro salt and pepper shakers ($3).  The 4 milk glasses were $10 for the set.  I only noticed that one has a smaller base than the other 3 when I was setting them out to take this pic (clearly that one's the runt of the litter).

The white wavy light has to be my top flea market find.  Ever.  Yep, I said it.  EVER!  I couldn't believe it when I saw it.  There was no price on it, so I went straight to Google to see how much it would cost new (not going to lie, I totally checked Ikea just to be sure it wasn't one of theirs).  Turns out this was a Le Klint 172, a pretty iconic light designed by Poul Christiansen (thank you Wikipedia). 

They came back with a price of $69 and I managed to talk them down to $50.  I'm the worlds worst haggler, so was especially smug after getting the price down.  I'm keeping everything crossed that it works.

I couldn't resist a quick whiz round Pinterest to find some other rooms the Le Klint had been used in.  Standby for a Monday montage of pretty pictures.

Pinterest

Pinterest

Pinterest

Kelly Behun Studio

 

Did you pick up any bargains this weekend?

 

 Kate

xxx

Fabric-tastic!

This weekend turned into a bit of a fabric frenzy.  First up was this purple/lilac trellis fabric for a master bedroom project I'm currently working on.

Next up was a floral fabric for the master bathroom.  I haven't shown you any pics of this space because we have done literally nothing to it since we moved in.  The walls are still a shockingly awful baby poop brown (the old owner thoughtfully left a half empty can of this paint in the garage - thanks a lot!).  I'm hoping to use this fabric as a jumping off point for the whole room - a nice neutral on the wall and definitely some new flooring.

Lastly I had a quick stop in JCPenney and picked up 2 woolen throws for an unbelievable $6 each!  I think most JCP stores are currently undergoing a major makeover and so lots of the old stock is massively reduced.  I thought these would work well in the man cave.  Another room that hasn't really been touched, but we have argued about settled on a grey/red/black colour scheme.  The carpet was new when we moved in and is a biscuit colour, so I thought these throws would tie in the colours nicely.

I did have the chance to style the screened porch, but the weather was terrible so the "after shots" will hopefully take place this week.

How was your weekend, any fun fabric finds?

Kate

xxx

Back Porch Makeover - The Before

Despite the crazy weather (sunny, raining, cold, hot....make up your mind already!) I'm determined to add some spring brights to our little screened porch.

This is how the porch looked when we viewed the house:

And here it is as a nice blank canvas when we moved in.

Like nearly everything in the south, the porch currently has a nice layer of yucky yellow pollen.  All.Over.It.  Bleugh!  So first up is to attack it with a power washer, then it's the fun part of adding furniture and accessories.

Below are some of my favorite finds from a little online window shopping.  We already have a nice seating set and some of the bright decorations ready to go, I just need to get out there and play around with the layout and maybe steal some additional pieces from other rooms in the house.

1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9

My favorite has to be number 2.  It's only $38 from Old Time Pottery.  CB2 has the same style chair for a whopping $199!

Anyone else working on their outdoor spaces?  Check back to see how it all came together.

Kate

xxx

Birmingham Parade of Homes

We took a break from working on the house this weekend to take a peek round the Birmingham Parade of Homes.  It was my first time at the parade, and in all honestly, most of the homes were unbelievably old fashioned, with generic staging furniture.  Nothing noteworthy or inspirational, just lots and lots of over sized matchy bedroom sets.

When we came across the Signature Homes latest model, it was like a breath of fresh air.  Modern fixtures and bathrooms and kitchens that I would have loved to pick up and plop straight into our house.

There was some serious moulding in the living room.

I loved the back splash in the kitchen, a beautiful grey elongated subway tile.

Neutral tones in the bedroom, and I liked the different hanging heights of the 3 pictures above the bed.

A pretty headboard and unusual pendent bedside lights.

I loved the pop or orange in this bedroom.

And the old locker.

If you don't love a graphic bolster pillow well, you're wrong.

This was a genius use of an awkward nook - a little playhouse with teeny door, window and planter.  Inside you can see the play kitchen and through the window you can just about make out the chalk board wall.

This outside area was my favorite.  It had large barn style sliding doors and a built in kitchen.  Perfect for game day.

Has anyone else been to a Parade of Homes in their area?  What did you think; worth it or a bit disappointing?

Kate

xxx

 

Moody Blues

I mentioned in this post that I was keen to add a gallery wall to our teeny tiny half bath.  I wanted to break up the navy and also add something fun to look at.

I collected lots of different pieces to hang, but they were all really random sizes - not a standard 8x10 among them.  I have also amassed a pretty good collection of white frames in my "quick, buy it while its cheap" phase.  None of the prints fit exactly with the frames or mats I already had, so I decided to do away with the glass altogether and just attach the pics directly to the wall.

I picked up some washi tape from Michaels and got to sticking.

I've also added a few nick nacks to our little wall cabinet.

 

This was a card from Melanie Kimmett's Etsy shop

 

The Hatch Show print was a freebie from a music festival in Nashville.

 

I do eventually plan on adding custom mats to each of the prints, but the cost can quickly add up, so in the name of all things cheap and cheerful we'll be sticking (pun intended) with the tape for now.

Kate

xxx

 

Mini Makeover

This weekend I finally tackled a loooong overdue mini makeover.  By long, I mean I've had this sad little plant stand on the to do list for 2 years.  Yes, 2 YEARS!  I bought this on my very first trip out to Bama Flea Mall for a cheaper than cheap $5.

The minute I got home, I sanded it down ready to be painted.  And that's how it has stayed.  It even made the move from our last apartment to our first home - I refused to give up on my little project.

I'm trying hard to use up the paint and craft supplies I already have.  I hunted around in the garage and found a tester from when we were deciding on the living room wall colour.  It's just one shade lighter than the colour we finally settled on (Behr, Opal Silk).

I gave the plant stand a quick 2 coats.  I wanted to add a little detail, so used a gold paint pen to mark a single chevron.

I'm contemplating turning it into a little table - maybe with a frosted glass top?  Maybe!

Kate

xxx