School Shirt Makeover

 Every Friday my daughter is supposed to wear her school t-shirt for Spirit Fridays!! Well... she doesn't like t-shirts so I turned it into a dress!! I had a terrible time trying to find cute greeen and blue fabric so I had to use black and white but I think it turned out pretty cute. Maybe it's just the model :)

Bow Holder

Ah, the last minute project. My specialty. My daughter's school is having a silent auction and needed princess themed items for a princess themed basket. Well, that's right up my ally because my 5 year old is queen of the princesses!! So, at 9:00 last night I decided to make a bow holder and it turned out so cute I almost kept it :)

Front Porch Pillows

I love my shabby chic chairs. I bought them from Kirklands, on sale of course, for our last house which had a huge front porch. Thankfully, they fit the new porch too! I found the material at Joann's on sale half price and since I got the last piece of material on the bolt, I got the left overs at even more of a discount! I love it when that happens :) 

Due to the fact that I can be a bit of a hoarder, I have old pillows that I couldn't bring myself to throw away, even though they were ugly. So, I ripped them apart and used their stuffing in the new pillows!! Two new front porch pillows that only cost me $7! I also got the cute little planter and pot at Home Goods for next to nothing. It was a happy shopping day indeed!

Ottoman Recover

One of the furniture pieces we bought when we purchased our first home was this funky red ottoman.

Naturally, in this picture, it's already ripped apart because, like I said, I'm awful at taking pictures (or thinking things out for that matter) before just jumping into it. We've had this thing for 6 years. It was my one luxury piece that I allowed myself when picking out all the necessities for our home. Doesn't look very luxurious six years in! It didn't really match anymore and hell will freeze over before I throw something out so it was time for a recover. 

The recovering really happened as an accident but this is how project ideas spark for me! I went to Lowes to buy paint, wound up in the curtain isle, found a fabric that I loved and thought that it would look good in the breakfast area. Bought it, came home and excitedly jumped into hanging a curtain rod so I could admire my pretty new curtains. Only, upon taking it out of the package, I realized it was only one panel. Something I should have known! You NEVER get two panels in one package but I was temporarily dumbed down and blinded by my love for the pattern.

A normal person would just go buy another panel and be done with it but I take the mole hill and make a mountain out of it. It's kinda my thing.

I tried to hang it hoping it would look good anyway and it looked ridiculous. So, broken hearted, I decided my curtain hanging will have to be postponed. Then... I spotted my ottoman, looking all red, awkward and out of place. I felt bad for it. Who hasn't felt out of place before?!? So, I decided to give it a face lift and busted out my sewing machine. Many mistakes, needle pricks, and very, very bad words later and I had new ottoman. And I LOVE IT!!! AND I WILL NEVER DO IT AGAIN. 

Family Name Plaque

My husband and I have been feverishly working in our backyard trying to fix a mess that the contractor we hired never finished. Oh don't worry, I'll be posting many pictures soon. Long story short, we have a lot of scrap wood laying around so I found this perfect sized little piece of plywood and made a name plaque for our house! That's what I like to do, take the chaos around me and turn it into something beautiful! 

I love the idea of having the "established" date the year of your marriage! So cute. I tried to make it look like an old, weathered piece of wood and I think it turned out pretty good! 

I'M A DIY DORK!

Admitting it is the first step right? I can and do spend hours at a time browsing DIY blogs for inspiration and amusement. I finally thought, why not start my own? Maybe someone could derive some inspiration from one of my half-thought out projects that wind up looking sorta cool in the end or at least walk away with a chuckle at some of the uncanny things that happen to me on a daily basis!

It's perfect timing too because we just bought a new house and I have been in turbo-motion trying to make our "house" a home. I hate white walls, clutter, and furniture that doesn't have a story. Which, lets face it, we have two small children. Clutter is our life. We have toys coming out of our ears! Every piece of our furniture has a story because at one point, it's all been spilled on, written on or posed a very compelling case for recovering... and steam cleaning :) And the white walls, I already feel like I'm in an insane asylum half the time so color is necessary. White to me is very a la padded room.

I will try my best to chronicle my DIY adventures with pictures and maybe some tutorials but I always forget to take pictures before I start my projects! I get really excited about an idea and jump right in before I realize I never took my "before" picture! Eesh. Anyway, you'll still get the idea! I hope you enjoy!