Threw together some bathroom decor

So I'm having a group of ladies over tonight and my guest bathroom was empty except for a hand-me-down yellow hand towel from my mother and some bamboo bathroom accessories we got for the wedding - there was absolutely no element of decor.

Resources are limited right now as we are working the Dave Ramsey plan of paying down our debt - but I was able to throw together a little bit of an upgrade (last night) for tonight's party by only purchasing new towels and yard sale hunting the past few months for all of the decor.

Here is the best full shot I could get - small spaces are hard to photograph.

Close up of the vanity - the hurricane, small glass jar, shells in hurricane, shells in small jar and white shell came from five (5) different yard sales over the past few months - I did buy the hand napkins.

Close up of the art - my dear friend Stacey found a blue starfish graphic online which I blue up, turned brown, and added 3 different complimentary backgrounds to to create my new bathroom art - I printed each one on cardstock I had in my inventory and framed them in 3 white washed frames I had found at yet another yard sale. 

Thanks for looking - I know its nothing special - but it shows that you too can do a whole new look for your bathroom on the cheap - someday we want to redo the sink, vanity, mirrors, toilet and shower of this guest bathroom.  But that will be a few years from now, or when we hit the lotto! :)

Tutorial Tuesday - super simple pennant centerpiece

Well I am doing a tutorial today (I know I actually crafted something OMG!) - but I forgot to take photos of the steps - so it will be a written tutorial.  My bad!

Well the top of my hutch looked like this (see below) - I didn't love the flowers as I didn't think they went, so I wanted to create something to go in its place, but still utilize the vase - something other than a floral arrangement as fake flowers are not my fave.

BEFORE

I saw a photo online which led me to the idea of pennants on sticks, so here is the after photo below (I did this quickstyle last night).  What do you think, do you like the before or after better?

AFTER

SUPPLIES

- 5 complimentary patterned papers 6x6 or larger will work for this project - keep in mind that if you are using this as a centerpiece rather than against a wall, the papers will need to be double sided

- 5 twigs/sticks - i liked the natural look of the twigs - i purchased a bundle of twigs at michaels, cut off the wire holding the bundle together and trimmed them to the size i wanted them to be

- wire cutters or similar - basically something heavy duty to trim your twigs so they will be the height you desire

- vase

- something to fill the bottom of your face with - i used clear marbles, other ideas are stones, nuts, seeds, moss, etc. 

- cropodile or hole punch

- twine or ribbon

- paper cutter

STEP ONE: cut your paper too be 4.5" by 5.5".  Then mark with a pencil on the 4.5" side a dot at the 2.25" mark - angle your paper cutter to cut from one corner to the 2.25" mark you just made on both sides to create a pennant - I chose this size due to the size of my vase - you may make smaller or larger depending on your vase size - i recommend the width being 1" bigger than the height as I feel that made the proportions look correct.

STEP TWO: use your cropodile or hole punch to punch a hole in both corners of your straight edge

STEP THREE: use your twine to tie both corners to your twig/stick

STEP FOUR: have 3 of your flags point one direction and 2 point the other - trim your twigs to desired varying heights and display in your vase as desired.

VOILA! Easy cheesy :) Hope you enjoyed the super simple tutorial.
** I will attempt to get a close-up photo tonight and add to this post as requested.

Let me know what you think of my hutch - do you like the flowers or pennants best?

Dining Room Table

I am hosting a prospective members Bunco party at my house for my local Junior League on Wednesday.  I will be setting up card tables in my currently empty living room for the event - I guess there are pros to having a completely empty room - ha!

I wanted to showcase some of my china and dinnerware as I never get to, so I decided to set up my dining room table with my china and crystal just to show it off a little at my party. 

It's not in any way perfect, but I am pleased with how it turned out.  We still need to stain and update the hardware on the hutch in the background that we got from Craigslist, and I still am looking for some items to hang on my gate looking thing on the left wall.  I also still need the crystal iced beverage glasses to complete the place setting, but hey, it's a start!  This is our dining room table with all of our leaves in - our $30 garage sale find dining room table :) We also need to stain the table - but that is masked by the tablecloth.

Again, I apologize for the poor photo quality - perhaps I should take some photography classes? 

Happy Monday!

Past Projects - 4th Edition

I made these birthday cards with some spring designer series paper from Stampin' Up.  These cards might possibly be my favorite cards that I have ever made.  I think they are.  Anywho, thought I would share them as I am sharing some of my favorite past projects with you all.  Enjoy!

** I am sorry the photo is such poor quality!

Past Projects - 3rd Edition

More! haha. At least I have an archive of photos to choose from so I have SOMETHING to share. I am hoping to start crafting soon - I swear!

This is a project that I made in 2010 for a Valentine's Day gift exchange - the catch was the gift had to be home-made.  I made this accordion style mini album/display.  It was just a very simple mini album with not a lot of bling as I didn't want to over-embellish it without knowing the recipients style.  I still was pleased with how it turned out :)

Front Cover

Front side

Back side (the white squares were for the recipient to replace with 3x3 photos of her choosing)

Thanks for looking!

Past Projects - 2nd Edition

Yet another post highlighting some of my favorite past projects while I continue to be lazy and not have anything current to post. 

Here are some pinwheel cards I made a while back - they were the easiest things I've ever made - and I thought a great card for a male.  Men's cards are hard to make sometimes, so I was thrilled that I could whip these out quickstyle. 

As always, thanks for looking!

Past Projects

Since I have been a major slacker in the crafting department lately, I thought I would share photos of some of my past projects so that you could have some eye candy despite my slacker status.

This is a set of 10 cards I made all using the same distressed flower idea - all 10 are different and could be given or sold as a card set.  The idea is SUPER simple.  I had fun making them and think they turned out too cute.  I made these back in early 2010 and have since given all 10 of the cards out.  I do obviously need to work on my photo-taking skills still (oops). 

Thanks for looking. I promise I will be crafting soon - I'm almost done organizing my craft supplies that have been packed in boxes in my garage for over a year (when we bought the house).  After I organize I will finally be able to access my tools and junk so I can get started :)

Happy Monday all!

Thankful Thursday - FOOTBALL!!!!

So for those of you who do not know me, I am a HUGE football fan - particularly the Denver Broncos (stop laughing), but a football fan in general as well.  I have played fantasy football for the past 5 years and won 1st place in all years except last year (mumble).  This year, I plan to bring it back!

I am ever-so-thankful that the players and owners were able to work out their ridiculous disagreements so that us fans could enjoy another football season which starts TONIGHT!

Tonight I am rooting for Green Bay - not just because Aaron Rodgers is my starting QB in fantasy, but also because I've liked Rodgers since he took over that position - or maybe I just hated Farve so much that it seems like I like Rodgers.  Shrug.  Either way, GO GREEN BAY!!!!!

Here is my starting line-up for my fantasy team in Week One.  Wish me luck!

QB: Aaron Rodgers - GB
WR: Andre Johnson - HOU
WR: DeSean Jackson - PHI (I had him last year and was pleased)
RB: Peyton Hillis - CLE
RB: Matt Forte - CHI (I had him last year and was pleased)
TE: Rob Gronkowski - NE
TE: Dallas Clark - IND
W/R/T: Brandon Lloyd - DEN (WR)
K: Sebastian Janikowski - OAK (it pains me to have a Raider on my roster, but he's good, so I have to suck it up)
DEF (team): New England
D (individual): DeAngelo Hall (I had him last year and was pleased)
D (individual): Ray Lewis (it also pains me to have him on my team as I despise him, but again, he's good, so I have to suck it up)

Do you play Fantasy Football or watch Football? Who's on your fantasy team or who is your favorite NFL team?

Friday Five - TV Series

My husband and I enjoy watching various TV series on Netflix or the like - we have watched quite a few and have a lengthy list of more that we are looking forward to watching.  Generally we take turns selecting the show.  Here are five of my favorite shows we have watched so far from start to finish (or from start to the current status if the show is still on-air!). 

1) The Office - this show makes me literally LOL. It definitely reminds me of my office's dynamics and I think anyone who works in an office environment would appreciate the humor in this show - and even persons not working in such an environment will appreciate this awkward humor - my favorite kind!

2) The Wire - this is about a police task force in Baltimore focusing on a major drug ring. It's so great! I do suggest turning the sub titles on so you can catch everything.  After watching this show, sometimes just for fun my husband and I listen to the local police scanner - haha.

3) Six Feet Under - as with all HBO shows - this show was a little graphic, so be warned.  I enjoyed the complex relationships and characters created.  I always had trouble picking a favorite character as with real life each character is portrayed with both their good and bad qualities. 

4) Glee - In case you live under a rock, this show rocks! I didn't watch it for a long time as I thought it was going to be some cheesy teenager show but it's not. In fact I don't think I would want my teenagers watching it (if I had any).  I love the singing, and I REALLY love the dancing.  Both mine and Tim's favorite character is Brittney because she's so funny. 

5) Boardwalk Empire - This show is set in the 20's in Atlantic City (during prohibition) and features corrupt politicians and their schemes.  It's terrific.  I had to get past my image of Nucky from when he was in Billy Madison putting lipstick on and creating his hit list, but I've gotten past it and really am enjoying his character.  We love this show and can't wait for season 2 to start soon, EEK!

We are greatly looking forward to the upcoming seasons of The Office, Glee and Boardwalk Empire.  The Wire and Six Feet Under were fabulous.  Actually all 5 of these shows have been awesome and I highly recommend them!

What are some of your favorite TV series? Or have you watched any of the above - what do you think?

The problem with crafting.....

To craft or not to craft (this weekend), that is the question. The problem (for me) with crafting is that it takes like 3.4 hours for me to get all of my gear out of the storage room guest room.  Then, after I get it all out, I need a nap of course.  After my nap, its usually time to put it all away.  Sigh.  It would be so much easier if I just had a place (other than the dining room table) that I could craft and just leave off of my junk out. 

We have a dream of having an office/craft room someday.  In fact, my amazing husband has made great progress.  After having lived in our current home for just over one year, he finally tore out the nasty carpet in the would be craft/office room and we stripped the three (yes THREE) layers of wallpaper a few months ago.  Now we need to purchase primer and paint, do a little drywall repair, paint, and then purchase new flooring.  We are thinking the laminate that we have in our master bedroom which we have grown to love and it appears to hold up really well. 

The problem with all of this... it costs money. Currently hubby and I are working the Dave Ramsey plan and are on baby step 2 - snowballing our debt.  This means that ALL extra money is going towards paying off our debt and that we are not spending ANY money on things that we want - only necessities that we need like food, gas, and our other bills (mortgage, utilities, phone, etc.).  The goal is to have all debt including vehicles (excluding the house) paid off within two years.  Ramsey says that if you can't pay it off in two years you can't afford it.  So, two years from last month we must have paid off all of our debt.  THEN we will have the money to splurge a little before we commence baby step three, saving 3-6 months of expenses in an emergency fund. 

So... what I'm getting at is, I expect to have my craft room complete and be up and crafting approx. Jan. 2014.  Stay tuned! HA!