FRAMES!

I loved doing these! A lot of them I have had forever, but a few I got more recently. I can't wait to redo my photo wall in the hall. It will be so fun!

Before: DI for $1

After: 'Eggplant'

Before. DI for $1.50

After: "Macaroni and Cheese" (says Collin!)

Before: DI for $1 with weird, old picture. No glass.

After: Bubblegum Pink. No glass.

I love the shape of this frame!

Before: EWWW!!! DI for $1.50. So ugly, but it has promise....

After: Very different. I went a little crazy with this one. Wanted a lot of color and for the flowers to stand out. I love it personally!

Not perfect, but that adds to the charm!

After. I don't have a before of this one, dangit! I spaced it. But it was dark brown wood with a horribly ugly and ghetto butterfly picture in it. Plus, I painted the 'rope' detail around glass Robin's Egg Blue. It's darling! DI for $1 like forever ago.

After: No glass and this was plain ol' black. Attached a ribbon for hanging. : ) I already had this frame.

TEDIOUS.... but AWESOME!

So I picked this FREE catalog up somewhere because I LOVED the butterflies on the front. They are pictures of real species of butterflies and I just thought it was so cool. Little did I know at the time what a cool project would come out of it!

BEFORE...

AFTER!!

I spent a good amount of time cutting these little bugs out! Instead of spending $50 or more on a mobile, I used things I had already. 100% FREEEEE! I love it. 
I am totally in love with it. I might need to go find out if those catalogs are still available!!! ;)

Other Projects of Mine

I love refinishing furniture and putting random things together to make them my own.

I got this at the DI for $1.50. I had NO clue what it was, but knew I could do something with it.  It was white (kinda) and had nails sticking out of it everywhere. Definitely a piece of scrap something! I revived it by painting it this awesome spring green color and putting a base on it so it could stand up. Now it's in my entry way and hold all sorts of fun things, plus keys and mail.

I WISH I had the before picture of this still. It was lost when my computer crashed. This was THEE ugliest chair ever. Got it for $6 at Thrift Store. It was light oak with a sick "70's green" pleather seat and back part. I painted it red and covered it with the ocean themed fabric from Ikea. The chair cost around $15 to do, but SO worth it. It's a great conversation piece!

Next project: Find something to do with my feather collection! Everything from Macaws, to Conures to Peacocks.
I want to hear YOUR ideas!!!

Evyn's Room

I have been so excited about how Evyn's 'room' is coming together. I say "'room'" because she bunks in with McClain and me. We have 2 bedrooms and they are HUGE, so instead of moving, we decided to have her room with us which has been fun..at times. :)
Just to give you an idea of the size of our rooms, Collin has a bunk bed, a playhouse, a big couch-like chair, an end table, a big dresser and TONS of big toys in his room with more area still to play! Our room is even bigger than his. Wow!
Anyway... I had the idea when I was first preggers that I wanted to do a Peacock theme for her (even though I we didn't know yet that she was a she), so I started keeping my eye open for peacock stuff. I had the hardest time finding any crib sets that were peacock feather pattern. I was frustrated, but I didn't let it get me down! I decided to piece stuff together instead.
What actually ended up happening was that I integrated butterflies and bird-type stuff into the room decor as well. It is even better than expected and I am in love with it. I can't wait until we do move and Evy has her own room because it will be spectacular.
The color scheme is the same: Peacock themed colors (blues, greens, purples, blacks). It has a Victorian feel to it without it being too formal.

Shelf above crib. Shelf was .50 at a garage sale. It was blue and broken. I fixed it up and painted it black.

This was a splurge..sorta. Target for $10. I had to have it!

Peacock feathers from craft store for super cheap. Twisted them together etc to make 'bouquets'. Vases were something I have had for years packed away. Peacock feather on candle is a hair clip I got for $.75

The big picture! Evyn's sticker was also a splurge. Vinyl sticker store in St. George mall ($30 OUCH!)

Cutest pillows. Buy one, get one free at World Market. Had coupon, so paid $10 for both! Regularly $20 EACH!

Crib flat sheet. All the colors I have used. Funny thing is that I just got this! It came way after the decor.

Her crib is white, yes. I got it off of KSL for $40. It is antique (but to US crib standards!) It was SO ugly when I got it. I white washed it. Was going to paint it, but I really like it white. It isn't 100% finished yet. Still have to wood glue on the little wood plug thingys. :)
Rug was purchased before too. Great use for it since I had nowhere for it prior.

Ikea dresser $99. We got one for Evy and Collin. Collin's old dresser was  picked up on side of road and I had planned on refinishing it, but it was a piece of crap. No salvaging it. 

Another great piece I already had. It was packed away. Why? I don't know  because it's a great piece of decor. I LOVE hanging lamps. It's just so pretty.

Another item I reused. My sister in law bought this tree for me to display my jewelry when I was making and selling it. I brought it out of storage and am using it for Evy's hair clips. (Yes, I made all the felt ones!) So fun!

Got these (two) hanging wall decorations from a yard sale for .50 for both! They were gold (ew!), so I spray painted them black. 

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First item I bought once I decided to bring butterflies into the scheme. It's a Peacock Butterfly, too. :)  Ebay for $9. Ebay is the best for finding pinned and framed butterflies and bugs.

Another closer pic of the whole shelf.

Hope you enjoyed Evyn's room! I am always adding things I find. Once we move and we can paint, I am going to go crazy. So many ideas!

My New Hobby

So I have taken up refinishing furniture. I love it! I guess it's really just chairs for now, but I want to do a dining room table when I find the right one.
I also can never find exactly what I want when it comes to furniture for my house and for photographs. So I decided to start designing and 'making' my own.
After I get my collection done, I plan on making some to sell. If you are interested, let me know! I would love to get new ideas and show what I can do!

I lost the before pics of this chair! It was DISGUSTING. It was a fast food restaurant chair or something. It was BAD!

Yeah.. I have no idea what happened to the before pics. This chair wasn't too bad, just boring. It's so cool now. Purple with a Pleather seat.

And there's this one... here are the before. Retro green upholstery... oak finish.. Nasty and a B**CH to sand! And here is the finished product... This is my personal favorite!

I love the little crabs! I thought it was to die for. So cool. I don't have the PERFECT place for it yet, but thats my personality... I just do what I like and eventually it all ends up going together!

Beanie Baby Tree

When Collin was born, I had this great idea for his jungle-themed room: A Beanie Baby Tree! I was an avid Beanie Baby collector back in the day and have quite a few. They were sitting on his dresser in a big clump. That is when I decided something had to be done with them.
My mom made us a pole for our stuffed animals when we were young so I with a different take on that idea, I came up with this one!
I would of course like to be the only person to have one of these since it's so unique, but I get so many compliments on it that I thought I would share it with everyone. It is really cheap to make. I think the most expensive part was the pipe itself. I made the whole thing for under $35!!
Here is a quick 'How To':
Things you will need: These things can all be found at Lowe's or Home Depot besides the plants

*Large diameter ribbed PVC piped (measure floor to ceiling, allowing 3 inches or so for palm fronds/foliage) The ribs make it look like a palm tree. You can use smooth as well.
*Hooks to hang animals from
*Brown spray paint
*Drill with small bit
*Artificial plant styrofoam cube to fit in pipe at top
*Artificial plant leaves, palm fronds, etc

1. Drill holes in PVC pipe however far apart you want them. I believe we did 6 rows of ten.

2. After you drill holes how you want them, it's time to spray paint!! Take it outside and paint it with 2 coats!

3. After the pain is dry, bring it in and insert your hooks. Make sure they are all facing upward as to hang animals from.

4. Insert styrofoam cube into top of tree. It should fit tightly so it doesn't slide down the pipe when you stick the plants in it. I would push it down 4 inches or so.

5. Insert plant stems into cube. Stand tree up where you are going to put it. If your tree does not stand on it's own or if you cut it a little too short for it to wedge between floor and ceiling, you can secure a hook and eye to the back of the tree and the wall to allow it to stand. My tree was a little too short for our new house so the tree stands on an old book we don't read and I bought brown fabric and messy put it around base so it looks like dirt. So cute!!
6. Arrange the leaves/palm fronds the way you like them AFTER you stand it up and get it in place. I even bought a piece of artificial ivy to wrap around top under palm fronds and put the Beanie Baby Parrot in it!
NOTE: The Christmas lights are part of his room, not a part of the tree. : )


The hooks for the animals

The Beanies

The top with the palm fronds. The first leaves I had were from the dollar store. Then I found the Palm Fronds at World Market just a month ago. I was so excited!

The finished product!! Fun stuff!