Creative Designs by Jen

It's Moving Day!

2011-03-02T20:44:00.000-08:00

Yep, that's right it's moving day! I have moved to:
Ramblings of a Suburban Mom, which you can find here. Hopefully you will follow me to the other side (Wordpress - which is very fancy. And confusing.) and update your Readers!
It's more than fair to say that the blog is still a work in process, but it's a start!

Blogs I Love

2011-02-28T19:47:00.000-08:00

I read lots of blogs everyday, but I am guilty (like most other people) of not commenting often enough. I thought I'd share a few of my favorite's here:

Kelly's Korner: Who doesn't like Kelly?? She is the sweetest thing and when I read her blog, I can pretty much hear her Southern accent. To me, she is everything I imagined a southern girl to be. I'd love to live next door to Kelly!!
Skinny Runner: I think Sarah is hysterical. I love the self-portaits she takes and her ability to always laugh at herself. And although I am neither skinny, nor a runner, I can totally relate to her. Her fishing job fascinates me and for some reason I am not jealous she has like 10 months a year to do whatever she wants, which is alot of traveling to fun places.
The Undomesticated Mama: Taylor is always so positive and so happy that sometimes it's easy to forget what she is going thru. She's stylish and I'd like to think we'd be friends if I knew her in real life.
My Charming Kids: I wouldn't exactly call "MckMama" one of my favorite blogs, but I do read it. I cannot stand her use of italics and how she likes to leave people hanging on by posting teasers and then making people wait days for the answers or posting misleading titles. Yet I still read because well, we all like to have something to complain about now don't we?
It's Hip 2 Save: That's right, it is Hip 2 Save! I love the deals Colin finds / shares and this has pretty much become my go to deal blog. Although, it's getting so popular that you know as soon as an amazing deal / freebie is posted, it will be gone quickly!

I have lots more that I want to share, but I'll stop here for today. Next time I will share my links to my friends (both online and IRL)!

Freebie Fridays!

2011-02-25T08:29:00.000-08:00

I thought I'd start doing a weekly post about the freebies I have scored during the week and the prizes I have received. I can't recall receiving any wins in the mail, but I did get some good freebies.

I finally went and picked up my free monthly gift from Bath & Body Works with my BBW LUV card. This month it was three free travel sized products of any scent you wanted. I was super excited and can't wait to see what next month is! Luckily I do not have long to wait!

I also received my Weeble for "liking" the Playskool facebook page and filing out a form. And a coupon for free Coffee-Mate cream from their Free Flavor Friday promotion.

Of course, all of these freebies are expired now, BUT there are always freebies out there to be had! What did you get in your mailbox this week???

Sad it's Over!

2011-02-24T08:45:00.000-08:00

I am sad to report that 90% off Valentine's Day items at Target is over. Anything left lingering around at the store now is ringing up the dreaded INF (i.e. prices are no longer in the system) and its YMMV on whether or not they will sell it to you. On Tuesday, I made sure to check out some of the stores in my area I hadn't been to in a few days or looked thru good enough. I knew it would be the last day for 90% off and didn't want to miss out.

My grand total for all items pictured below was $16.93. Had I purchased everything at regular prices, it would have been $181.93 (it's more than 90% off because I was charged $1 for something instead of $1.99). Amazing savings isn't it? While it is true that I am not 100% sure what I am going to do with all this stuff, I know I will find a use for everything. I am planning on using the Crayola items and stickers for birthday party / Valentine's Day / Christmas gifts for my sons friends. And I can never pass up a book at 90% off. It's too good of a deal to let go and shelters, schools, etc. always need books! And I am thinking that the candles in the bottom picture would make perfect teachers gifts or hostess gifts. And I suppose the cake pans mean I need to make a cool cake. Maybe a rainbow cake like this???

I'm already looking forward to Target's 90% off Easter clearance and putting together my plan. Can't wait to see what I can find and I hope everyone shares their finds too!!

So What Wednesday!

2011-02-23T20:16:00.000-08:00

I thought it'd be fun to play along with Shannon and her So What Wednesdays!. This week I am saying "SO WHAT" to:

-So what if I went to the casino alone tonight?? I love it and I won $110!!
-So what if I have gone to every Target in the Metro Detroit area in the last few days? I needed all that stuff for 90% off. Although, I also need to buy more bins to store it in.
-So what if I booked a Disney cruise for my toddler's 3rd birthday. Sure, he will never remember it, but I will remember it and I know he will love it.
-So what if I once made coffee without a filter at the country club I worked at in college. I was under the impression that the filter just kept the machine clean and I didn't feel like going to the basement to grab more filters. It appears I was wrong. And so what if another time, I made coffee (with a filter), but forget to put the pot underneath? Turns out that makes a mess too. And so what if they never let me make coffee again? I didn't care.
-So what if I got Jersey Shore Seasons 1 and 2 on DVD for Valentine's Day. I wanted it and my husband remembered and I think that is romantic!

So what are you saying so what to??

Target 90% off Valentine's Day Goodies!!

2011-02-21T19:12:00.000-08:00

Not even a snowstorm could keep me away from Target and their 90% off Valentine's Day clearance today! I went to three stores in total and am guessing I didn't spend more than $25! How often can you fill a cart at Target for $25?? I think the general rule is that you have to spend $100 during every visit?

I had heard about some Barbie stuff was that 90% off, so I checked out the "regular" toy aisles and sure enough, I found gift bags, a coffee mug, a travel mug and some cards in a cute tin. Of course, none of it was marked 90% off, but that just makes the hunt more fun! I was also very pleased to find the jar candles! It wasn't until I was at the second store that I remembered that Target even had candles for Valentine's Day. I checked out the candle aisle, and sure enough, there they were. Regular price was $6.99, which made them $0.69! Can't beat that.

I thought the Matchbox cars would be long gone, but I was lucky enough to find some hanging with the regular Matchbox sets. The set of five cars was $0.59! I believe the most expensive item was the Elmo recordable book, which cost $1.99 ($19.99 regular price). The Crayola Color Explosion sets were $0.39, the Sponge Bob stickers were $0.29, the baskets were $0.99, the loaf pans were $0.99, the Doodle Pro was $0.59. I couldn't have had any better luck! I have been blessed to live in an area with loads of Targets, so I am going to hit a few more tomorrow and see what I can find. I'll be back to share my finds!

Target 75% off Valentine's Day Finds!

2011-02-20T18:19:00.000-08:00

I don't think I have shared any of my Target deals here yet, but I am pretty much obsessed with Target's after holiday clearance sales. I before / on the holiday, I believe they mark down to 30%, then it's generally 50% for the 3 days after the holiday, then 75% for 3 more days and finally 90% the next two days. Sometimes this varies, but Target holiday markdowns generally follow the 3-3-2 schedule.

My secret is to go check out what is in the holiday aisles in advance. That way I know what I am looking for after the holidays are over. Things get moved all over the place in the store and you can generally find lots of holiday things in the regular aisles. Lots of the items that are "holiday" have nothing to do with Valentine's Day at all, which makes them great additions to kids party gift bags, etc.

My favorite finds are holiday books. You cannot beat discounted books! I like to give them as gifts or save them for the following year.

Some Targets went 90% off yesterday, however, none in my area (Metro Detroit) did. I cannot wait to check in the morning for more hidden deals!!!

St. Patrick's Day Apothecary Jars

2011-02-20T18:15:00.000-08:00

These are my St. Patrick's Day apothecary jars from last ear, but I wanted to share early in case anyone was looking for ideas. I want to do something different this year, but I feel like my options are fairly limited. There are not too many great St. Patrick's Day decorations out there! If anyone has any ideas or favorite places to get St. Patty's stuff, I would love to hear them!

Valentine's Day Apothecary Jars

2011-02-07T19:24:00.000-08:00

Just in case you haven't done your Valentine's Day apothecary jars yet, here is what I put in mine! I thought about doing all pink ones, but could only think of things for two of the three jars. I came up with heart marshmallows (sprayed with something so they wouldn't stick) and pink rose petals. But the third one has me stumped. I could do pink M&M's, but I just did M&M's and am still trying to eat all those (actually I separated them into red for Valentine's Day and green for St. Patrick's Day). Any ideas on pink jars???

Valentine's Day Mantle

2011-01-25T05:03:00.000-08:00

I have to admit, I am not the best about keeping my mantle decorated. Christmas time is easy to keep it looking good, but for other seasons, I am often at a loss! I toyed around with a few ideas for Valentine's Day and ended up with this. The flowers and candle holders are from Pier 1. The banner is from Etsy.

I thought the flowers in the vases were SO cute, however, I am not sure they were worth the $20 price tag (yes, each one was $20). However, that didn't stop me from buying six of them. I don't even want to do the math. The pillars were $22/each, so I thought that was more than reasonable. And the banner, which is even more beautiful in person, was $21 from this store on Etsy. I had the pillar candles already, so I saved money there.

I also toyed with the idea of using tall clear glass vases on either end and filling them with stemmed red roses, however, I couldn't find any silk ones I liked. Where can I fund something like this?

Did anyone else do a Valentine's mantle?? I would love to see!

Christmas Apothecary Jars

2010-11-28T09:21:00.000-08:00

The past few years I have been going with a red and white theme for my Christmas apothecary jars. But this year I wanted to do something different, so I went with a red and green theme. I had some trouble coming up with three different ideas (I like them all to be totally different with different shapes, etc.), but I finally settled on red & green bows, red & green ornaments and red & green M&M's. It took about 13 bags of M&M's to get the jar filled, but I am pleased with the results. What do you think? Any other ideas for red and green fillers?

Closet Organization

2010-01-15T04:01:00.000-08:00

I hesitated even posted these pictures, because I do not any of you to think I am some crazy hoarder. In reality, I am more of a stockpiler of things I will use and can find super cheap. I hate having to pay full price for things I could have gotten on sale, so I stock up when there is a deal, even though I may not "need " them right away. Also, I use this closet as a place to rotate toys in and out of my sons playroom. And I store birthday / holiday gifts in here.

I should have taken before pictures of the closet, because things were spilling over on to the floor and it was a MESS. I grabbed some plastic bins I had on hand, got out my label maker and went to work. I grouped things by category (art supplies, play-doh, games, etc.) so I would have a better idea of what I have on hand. Had I done this sooner, I wouldn't have ended up with two CandyLand board games! Toys R Us had an amazing deal on board games a while back and I stocked up! It may look a little crazy, but I have seen pictures of other people's stockpilers and this is nothing!

Organizing the Basement

2010-01-13T06:31:00.000-08:00

Here in Midwest, basements are common. I know in many parts of the country, they are not typical. But we are lucky enough to have them here. However, basements seem to be a catch all for junk and clutter. Although we moved just over a year ago, we are part of the junk of the basement crowd. Rather than throwing it away, we just moved it along with us. We have collected lots of seasonal decor over the last year (I blame Target and their 75% off sales), and I realized as I was putting it all away that it would never fit.

So I decided that I would make it one of my 2010 goals to get the basement in shape. With the help of clear plastic bins from Target and a few trash bags, the project was a breeze. I used the motto "When it doubt, throw it out". I actually donated things to out local Goodwill, but you get the idea. It was just time for things to go. I'd say 90% of the items in the basement are holiday related. The other 10% are old pictures, cards, my husband's military things, etc. I am super pleased with how this turned out and I tried to group my Christmas decorations by bin as I was putting things away this year (i.e. tissue paper, bows, ribbons in one, boxed ornaments in one, etc.) so that it will be easier to find things next year. I also put all of my apothecary jar fillers in one bin and just generally tried to make life easier when I need to find something. When I get a minute (or an hour), I plan to get my label maker out so I can make things even easier on myself.

This entire project cost about $30 (or 5 bins at $6 each). I already had a ton of bins and just had to purchase a few more in the same size. I always buy the 70 qt. clear plastic bins. Always. I think they are the perfect size and I love that I can see what is in each one without opening them. Also, I feel like the bigger containers can get SO heavy. If you can't lift them, they aren't going to work. I really wanted to get wreath holders for the wreaths I made here and here, but Target was all out at their after after Christmas sale. Hopefully I can get some next year.

Do you have a messy basement? Or a super organized one? Let's see pictures!

Before

After

Winter Apothecary Jar Ideas

2010-01-11T07:43:00.000-08:00

After taking down all my Christmas decorations, things were looking very plain around here. I didn't want to leave my apothecary jars empty until Valentine's Day, so I decided to do a winter display. I used fake snow (from Target), a candle decorated with ribbon (I used a hot glue gun to attach the ribbon) and tissue paper pom-poms (a Martha Stewart craft project). As usual, things did not go exactly as planned (working with tissue paper is so hard), but I am pleased with the results. It is not so easy to find all white fillers. I wanted white glittery snow flake ornaments, but could not find any that were the size I wanted. I am going to keep my eyes open so I can be ready for next year. "Snow" covered pinecones might be a thought for next year too.

2010-01-07T06:40:00.000-08:00

The fabulous J from The Look 4 Less nominated me for the Beautiful Blogger award. I am supposed to tell you 7 random things about myself and then nominate 7 other bloggers. Here goes:

1. I wish I could bake. Like bake fabulous cakes and cookies and be known for my amazing treats! I may attempt to make this sometime this year. I will let you know how that works out.

2. My husband is six years younger than I am. I met him at the bar and this is an actual picture from the night we met.

3. I love Diet Pepsi. I mean I LOVE it. So yummy.

4. I love to gamble. If I had unlimited funds, I could (and would) spend hours on end in the casino.

5. I watch a lot of television. I love reality shows and am still sad Newlyweds and The Osbournes are not on the air anymore. Luckily, I have Teen Mom and Jersey Shore. I don't think I will ever outgrow MTV.

6. I love Target. Disney World may be the happiest place on earth, but Target is a close second. Can anyone go there without spending $100? I know I can't. I used to try and fight it and wouldn't take a cart around the store with me, but I would always end up with stuff spilling out of my arms, so I don't fight it anymore.

7. I am an apple girl. Apples are the best.

Now I am supposed to nominate 7 other people. However, I am not sure who to pick, so if you are reading this, consider yourself nominated!

The Reveal of the Refinishing Project.

2010-01-05T05:20:00.000-08:00

As promised, here is the final reveal of the bed refinished project! You can check out the before here. I dug around the basement quickly and threw on the first queen sized duvet / sheet set I could find. Since then, I have found a few different duvet sets down there, so I am still deciding on what I want to do. I do not want to buy anything new right now, since I have no real "theme" planned for the room. If I find something I love, it will be easy to plan use that as a base to build the room around!

I am super pleased with the way it turned out and can't wait to tackle something else. I have a few cheap IKEA side tables in the basement I would like to do something with. I am not sure that they are real wood, but I don't think it will be a problem. I am not even sure that these nightstands were real wood come to think of it? I bought them super cheap from Target probably 12 years ago and I am amazed they have survived thru all these moves. It's shocking how long some things last.

Update on Refinishing a a Bedroom Set

2010-01-04T04:57:00.000-08:00

Well, I did not meet my Thanksgiving deadline, but I(*) did get it finished by the new year! Here are some "in progress" pictures. Please ignore our messy garage. That is one area I have not gotten to yet. But I will! The first step was to lightly sand the bed and nightstand. Then prime. Then paint. We used spray paint rather than a paint brush to make it easier and hopefully allow the paint to go on smoother. I believe the entire project took less than a week (working a few hours here and there) and cost less than $50. Stay tuned for the final reveal!

*When I say "I", I really mean my husband. He took over this project after I came up with the idea and did a fabulous job on it!*

Project Goals for 2010

2010-01-01T06:10:00.000-08:00

I hate to make new years resolutions, so I am going to call these my design "goals" for the upcoming year.

-I have a few boring bathroom mirrors that I want to frame. Sort of like this blogger did here. I have been thinking about this ever since we moved in, and I cannot wait to get started.

-Get some art on my empty walls. I have had my eye on this Etsy seller for ages. Hopefully I can make a decision on what to get this year.

-Find/buy "big boy" furniture and design plan a super cute design room for my son that he will love for years.

-Continue the search for a new kitchen table. Mine is ready to fall apart.

-Pick up more "finishing touches" for the house. With the holiday decorations down, it seems so "blah" in here.

-Clean / organize in the basement and garage. I need to do a major donation to charity with all the things I have not used in the past few years. If I haven't touched it in over two years, do I really need it? Nope. And since the garage is my husband's man space, I need to get my crap out of there and give him the space he deserves!

I have more, but I am going to leave it at that for now. What are your plans for 2010?

Toy Storage Organization

2009-12-30T04:14:00.000-08:00

Oh, the toys. I am sure I am not the only one out there overwhelmed with toys taking over the living room. When the toys are not in use, I like to keep them organized and not spread all over the room. After Christmas, I decided to pick up a simple two shelf bookcase at Target to try and organize. I didn't want to get a toy box because I wanted to be able to see what was in there and I didn't want it to become stuffed with toys that never got used. I am pretty pleased with the results and this will easily allow us to switch up toys and I will know exactly what is being played with and what is not. I plan to get even more organized in 2010, so stay tuned!

Merry Christmas to Me!

2009-12-26T11:32:00.000-08:00

Santa brought me the cake stand I have been lusting after! Now, I just have to figure out how I want to use it this winter. Any ideas?

Oh, and one of Santa's elves is busy refinishing the nightstands I told you about here. Hopefully the bed is next. It looks great so far. I can't wait to share the final product!

Our "Family Tree"

2009-12-23T04:13:00.000-08:00

As I mentioned the other day, I decided to do two trees this year. For my traditional "family" tree, I decorated it with a mixture of ornaments I have collected over the years and my Grandma's antique ornaments. Also, my husband and I buy a Christmas ornament each time we go on vacation. Instead of bringing home a t-shirt or something that will never get used, we buy ornaments that we get to display every year. Plus, it is always fun to pull out the ornaments each year and remember the vacation memories we had from that trip. And, it is fairly inexpensive. Sometimes it is difficult to find Christmas ornaments. We had trouble finding them in Cabo and St. Lucia. But in both places, we ended up finding very cool ornaments at little shops at the airport. So don't worry about searching every shop on your trip. The stores at the airport always come through!

I have always wondered what people did with their special ornaments if they only had a theme tree. So tell me, what do you do? And where do you get your favorite ornaments from?

The stockings were hung.....

2009-12-22T09:03:00.000-08:00

I don't know about you, but we are ready for Santa. We have our stockings hung on the mantle and are just waiting for the big man to make his arrival!

This was my first year to decorate a mantle, so I wasn't too sure what I wanted to do. I knew I wanted garland, but after I hung the stockings up, it just looked blah. I added pine cones in a tall vase that I already had on hand and then went to Target (the best store in the world) and picked up two small pre-lit trees. I was planning on doing bows or something to dress up the planter for the tree, but, as you can see in the picture, I just couldn't seem to get it right. Maybe next year.

How do you decorate your fireplace / mantle? Send me a picture, I would love to check it out and maybe borrow some ideas for next year. It's never too early to start thinking about it, especially with with all the great after Christmas sales coming up!

White Christmas Trees

2009-12-21T20:48:00.000-08:00

I have been wanting a white Christmas tree for years. For whatever reason, I never actually went out and got one. I guess I was afraid it would look dated and out of place in my house. But this year, I decided I wanted to do a "matchy-matchy" tree and a "family" tree. I was at Target one day and saw a cool fake white tree and just went for it! I debated about decorating it with brightly colored ornaments or green and red ornaments. In the end I went with the brightly colored ones. I am hoping to snag some more ornaments in different shapes during the after Christmas sales for a little more variety. Maybe next year I will do something with garland or ribbons or something. We'll see!

What do you think? Do you have a "theme" tree? And if so, how do you decorate it?

Ornaments in a Jar

2009-11-27T08:02:00.000-08:00

I love to find different ways to display some of the beautiful ornaments they have for sale these days. There are so many great color themes out there (red & silver, red & gold, bright colors, silver & gold, etc.), but you can't exactly do every theme on your tree at once. So, I try to do little mini displays using the themes around the house. I saw these ornaments at Home Depot last week and I knew I had to have them. I already had a large jar from the Pottery Barn Outlet and I knew they were look great in it. What do you think? How do you display ornaments at your house?

Christmas Apothecary Jars

2009-11-22T18:43:00.000-08:00

I am not sure if this is my final product, but I wanted to share my Christmas Apothecary Jars with you. Let me know what you think. I usually do garland in one of the jars, but I wanted to try something new this year, so I did the bows.

Outdoor Christmas Decorations

2009-11-20T05:38:00.000-08:00

I know it's still a little early for outdoor Christmas displays (typically I stick to the after Thanksgiving rule), but I just couldn't wait this year. I showed you earlier this week how I made my wreath and garland and I used to pre-lit trees from Target to finish off the display. The trees came two in a package, so it worked out perfect. I added the bulbs to them so that they would match the other items. I would still like to somehow "dress up" the planters the trees are in, but I am not sure what I want to do yet. Maybe just add ribbons / bows to them? And the doormat is more functional than part of the display.

The garland was too heavy to hang using hooks with just stickies on the back, so my husband drilled holes and attached permanent hooks to the wood surrounding the door. I hate to have to do things like this, but it will make things a lot easier in the future and I will not have to deal with coming home to sections of the garland hanging down.

If you are going to make "ornament garland", like this, I would recommend that you hang the garland first and then attach the ornaments. I am not sure why I did it the other way around, but it resulted in many ornaments falling off when it was being hung and a few shattering on the porch. Don't learn this lesson the hard way like I did!

After I did my project, I was browsing on the Pottery Barn website and saw this! Without even knowing it, I pretty much replicated their design. And for a small fraction of their insane price!

Christmas Garland

2009-11-18T06:26:00.000-08:00

In addition to making the bulb ornament wreath, I also made a garland to hang around the doorway. The fall garland I used was pre-made and just needed to be attached. However, I was unable to find any Christmas garland that I liked, so I ended up making my own. I used the five 9ft. strands of pine (fake) garland from Michaels. The strands are very thin, so I elected to double them up. Just like with the leaf wreath, I just attached the bulbs using ornament hangers and made sure to secure them very tightly.

Price breakdown (all items purchased from Michaels):
-Garland: $2.99/strand
-Ornaments: $4.99/box (I used probably six boxes of different sizes ornaments - I am sure I could have found these cheaper somewhere).

Making a Bulb Ornament Wreath

2009-11-16T05:56:00.000-08:00

Sorry for the lack of posts, but I was on vacation and not doing anything creative! But I am back and got started on some Christmas projects this weekend.

My first project was a Christmas wreath. I want to do a Christmas display in my entry way similar to what I did for the fall, so I figured a wreath would be the best way to get started.

I picked up a Christmas pine wreath from Michaels, some cheap bulb ornaments (two different sizes) and wire ornament hangers. I attached the bulbs using the ornament hangers and made sure to twist them very tightly so they would stay nicely. I attached most of the bulbs to the "base" of the wreath instead of to the actual branches to try and get them to attach more securely. This was a very easy project and took maybe 20-30 minutes. But I have to admit, it was a pain to secure the ornament hooks because they dig into your skin when you bend them.

Here is a price breakdown (everything was purchased at Michaels):
-Wreath: $4.99
-Ornaments: $10 (estimated - not exactly sure what they cost. I probably should have just used ones I had at home).
-Ornament Hangers: $2 (you will have a ton left over)

Scrapbooking

2009-10-29T06:48:00.000-07:00

Let me start by saying that scrapbooking is one crafting hobby that I do not typically participate in. I find it all very overwhelming and I am not sure where I would even begin. That being said, I have gotten two "assignments" from my son's school to create scrapbook pages. Not wanting to embarrass myself, I stepped up my game and put my creative hat on. After a few trips to Michaels and Joann's and a few hours of work and planning, they were finished. And I actually think they turned out fabulous. Picking the paper and color theme is the hardest part of scrapbooking in my opinion. It's so hard to decide between all the beautiful choices out there.

I will share a few tips I have learned thru trial and error. I am sure that all of the seasoned scrapbookers know these, but maybe they will help someone.
1). Double sided tape is not strong enough to attach a lot of things. Use a glue stick.
2). Do not try and cut pictures to make them smaller. It doesn't turn out like you had planned it would in your head. Instead, get Walgreens "wallet size" pictures. There are 4 pictures on a 4 x 6 sized print. You will end up with some extras, but I am sure you can find a use for them.

Do you scrapbook? I would love to see what you have made!

Pumpkin Carving - Stencil Style

2009-10-28T05:49:00.000-07:00

When I was younger, we have to carve pumpkins using only our imaginations. If we were smart, we used a pencil to draw the face we wanted to carve on the pumpkin. Those days are over.

For less than $5 I picked up a Sesame Street carving kit at Target. I am sure you could find free stencils on the internet, but I like to have the special tools. Here are the steps we followed:
1) Pick your stencil and tape it to the pumpkin. I always cut the paper to help round it to the pumpkin.
2) Transfer the outline of the stencil onto the pumpkin. I like to use a "poker" tool to do this. I actually think this is the hardest part because it is so tedious.
3) Remove paper and start carving.
4) Touch up any areas you may have made errors.

I think each pumpkin took 45 minutes to an hour total. Not bad at all in my opinion. And I think these look so cool all lit up. I used two tea lights in each one. I used a different camera than before to take the last picture and I think it turned out great.

And you may wonder why my husband is in every picture and not me. Well, it is because he is a good sport and does not mind posing for my pictures at all. I actually think he likes it.

In search of...the perfect cake stand.

2009-10-27T04:32:00.000-07:00

For awhile now, I have been in search of a fabulous cake stand. I haven't found any I totally love (I don't think so anyways), but I did find some I like here, here, and here. I don't want to necessarily display cakes on it, but rather, display, things. Like Christmas ornaments, mini pumpkins, etc. I think I know what I am looking for, but I just can't find it. It has to have a tallish base, be all glass and be somewhat plain. I know everyone has the best luck at Home Goods, but I never seem too. I went there in search of a cake stand and other fabulous things, but I left with nothing but a headache. I swear, my local store has not been organized or cleaned in the last year.

So, where should I look? Do you have a cake stand? Where did you get it and what do you display on it? I would love to hear all about it!

Pictures taken from www.potterybarn.com, www.amazon.com and www.target.com. Thanks!

White Pumpkin Project #2

2009-10-26T05:12:00.000-07:00

This was my first time ever carving a white pumpkin. I expected it to have an orange filling (like I had been told it would), but it actually had a yellowish center. And, oddly enough, it smelled like cucumbers. Very interesting. I gutted the pumpkin out and then turned the project over to my husband. I am not good with power tools and I had heard that it drilling holes in pumpkins wasn't the easiest thing to do. My husband did a great job and just drilled a bunch of holes free hand. I probably would have tried to make sure they were equal distance apart and measured everything, which would have taken hours. The pumpkin turned out very cool, although, I did a horrible job of capturing it with my camera. But trust me, it looked way cool. I will for sure be doing this again next year!

There is nothing better than being organized.

2009-10-21T06:16:00.000-07:00

In my opinion, being organized makes life a million times easier. That's why I fell in love the minute I spotted the Daily System at Pottery Barn. I debated for ages about it since it was so pricey. After putting it in my cart online and taking it out numerous times, I finally went for it. And I couldn't love it more. My husband and I can track each other's schedules and figure out what needs to be done so much easier now. Plus, we finally have a place to store our "stuff". You know what "stuff" I am talking about. Bills, coupons, school papers, important phone numbers, spare keys, etc. Instead of having to dig thru drawers, it's all right there at our fingertips! And so neatly organized. Amazing. If you are trying to decide on this piece, I say go for it. You won't regret it.

Refinishing a wood bed.

2009-10-19T04:15:00.000-07:00

Instead of spending a ton of money on a new bed for our guest room, I am hoping to refinish a bed I already own. I have had this bed for awhile and have long outgrown the light wood shade of it it. After reading various blogs (mainly Holly's), I decided I should try to give it a whirl myself. The first picture is of the spare bedroom. As you can see, it's a little, well, plain. It's just an empty bedroom right now. The picture of the bed itself is very old and was taken ages ago. The bed is currently "in storage", so I don't have anything more recent. But it is in great shape and looks brand new. I am planning on sanding the wood, then painting it a nice cream color. If all goes well, I would like to have this done by Thanksgiving (I like to make realistic deadlines). I can't wait to see the finished product!

Tell me, what have you refinished? What do you want to refinish?

Photo Wall

2009-10-15T06:21:00.000-07:00

I wanted to do a photo wall in my house and searched all over the internet for pictures of a style I liked. I didn't find anything that was totally what I wanted, so I adapted a few ideas and just went with it. I bought a monogram wall decal from Etsy (who doesn't love Etsy) and grabbed the pictures frames I had around the house and staggered them on the wall. I will add more picture frames eventually and I can always change out the pictures to get a new look.

As a side note, I hate when people say that they used only things they had laying around the house to design / create something. But in this case, I really did have all those frames. I had a mini photo wall in my old house and I am very matchy matchy, so I always bought the same type of frames whenever I needed a new one.

Overall, this cost me only the price of the decal ($24), but you could easily do something similar for under $100 total. IKEA has some great frames and if they don't have the color you are looking for, don't be afraid to spray paint them to get what you are looking for. It's cheap and super easy. To me, those are key. Do you have a photo wall? If so, I would love to see a picture.

Lamps for Less

2009-10-14T07:42:00.000-07:00

For years now, I have always loved stacked glass ball lamps (I am not sure how else to describe them). I never bought one and stuck with my (cheap) IKEA lamps instead. The ones I found were always so expensive and I just could not justify spending $200+ on a lamp. Plus, I needed two. While strolling through Target one day, I stumbled upon the exact same style lamp I have always loved, but it was made out of plastic instead of glass. Making the lamp way more budget friendly and toddler friendly as well! The Target version was around $29.99, plus the cost of the shade (like $15).

While the Target version is a bargin compared to most lamps of this style, it is an absolute steal when compared to the Ralph Lauren version, shown in the first picture below and available here. It's on "sale" for $1,360. Ouch. The second picture is my Target lamp. The only real difference I see if the shade, which is an easy fix if you must have the same look as the RL one.

And, if you like the look of designer clothes, but don't want to pay the designer price tags, check out J's blog. She is fabulous!!!!

Uppercase Living

2009-10-13T07:23:00.000-07:00

When I first got invited to an Uppercase Living party, I'll admit, I wasn't very excited. I could not understand the concept of wall decals. After talking to a few friends, it finally clicked and I was intrigued. I ended up ordering two pieces. A custom one for above my bed which I was able to select the font, size, etc. I also ordered a stocked piece for my kitchen. The minute I got them up, I love them. My husband actually put them up for me (I tend to not do so well with that kind of stuff) and it took him maybe five minutes to get them applied on the wall. I will admit that I have not taken any off the wall yet, so I am not sure what will happen after I do. I imagine it's nothing a little paint can't fix.

Have you ever ordered from Uppercase Living or a similar site? What did you get? Or what do you want to get?

White Pumpkin Project #1

2009-10-12T08:23:00.000-07:00

For my first white pumpkin project I decided to paint one of the pumpkins. This way, I can get two uses out of the pumpkin. I can paint it and display it for a bit and then wash it and the carve it. I think it's a pretty awesome way to get a little more bang for your buck.

Because I am not the worlds best artist, I picked an easy design (a bat) and drew the outline on the pumpkin with a pencil. If you look close, you can sort of see it in the picture. I outlined the design in black paint and then filled in the rest with a thin coat of paint. I wasn't too sure what to do next because my paint was super thin. I guess that is what you get for using washable children's finger paint? My husband, however, actually did have an idea and pretty much pushed me out of the way and took over. He put a ton of paint on the brush and sort of globbed it on, for the lack of a better term. It worked great and he totally saved the day! Does the bat look perfect? Nope, but I love it and it was a super easy project.

As always, I like to provide a cost breakdown:
Pumpkin: $6
Paint: $3 or so? I already had this, so it's hard to say. If I were to do this again though, I would get a different type of paint.
Brush: $1 or so? I already had this too.
Bat Stencil: Free from the internet.
Total Cost: $10 (at most)

The Pottery Barn Outlet

2009-10-11T07:26:00.000-07:00

Like I said before, Pottery Barn is one of my favorite places to "borrow" design ideas from. Because I am lucky enough to live near (well, within driving distance) a Pottery Barn Outlet Store, I can actually buy some furniture pieces without breaking the budget. A few years back, I got a mailer which advertised a beautiful buffet for a steal (if I recall correctly, it was around $300-$400). It was an special deal and was good for one weekend only. So I dragged my husband there and loaded it in the back of our SUV. I should mention that we lived in a tiny condo at the time and had no space for this huge thing. But I knew I loved it and I knew it would work perfect someday in a new house. So I stored it in the basement (in the box) for over two years!

I was finally able to break out this beauty when we moved last winter. And I loved it just as much as the day I bought it when I finally got it out of the box. If I hadn't gotten this piece, I always would have been looking back and wishing I had. I hope you keep that in mind next time you are at the store and see a piece that you just have to have that won't be around for long, but know it won't work for you right now. If you love it enough, you can make it work!

Outside Fall Decorations

2009-10-09T05:11:00.000-07:00

When I saw this picture on Pottery Barn's website, I instantly fell in love and I knew that I wanted to do something similar. However, I thought that $24 for a strand of garland was a bit crazy. I also loved the lighted pumpkins they used, but again, the price was not budget friendly.

So I set out to Michaels in search of something a bit for affordable. I actually found garland I liked better than the PB stuff and it was only $6 a strand (on sale from $9.99 - it's now $5 a strand). I bought 5 strands and had 1.5 left over (which was perfect for my wreath). I attached them using these fabulous clips and used a hanger I already had for the wreath. I stumbled upon some rattan pumpkins in Target near the vase filler aisle and knew they would look great! I finished the porch design off with two potted mums from the local greenhouse. The cornstalks and the pumpkins topped off the look and brought it all together. I love this look even more than I loved my inspiration.

A cost breakdown:
-Garland (4 strands @ $6/each): $24
-Wreath: $10
-Rattan / Grapevine Pumpkins: Ranged from $9.99 to $19.99. I would guess my total was just under $100
-Mums (2 @ $8/each): $16
-Cornstalks: $3.50/each
-Pumpkins: $42 (we will be carving these too!)
Total Cost: $199.
This seems like a lot when I list it all out, but it's a fraction of the cost the PB original would have been. In addition, I will have the wreath, garland and rattan pumpkins for next year

White is the New Orange

2009-10-07T08:03:00.000-07:00

I am obsessed with pumpkins this year and cannot seem to get enough of them. I saw these beautiful white pumpkins at the local pumpkin patch last week and I knew they had to be mine. I was worried they would cost a lot more than orange pumpkins, but I was totally wrong. Two were $8 each and the other one was $6. Not bad at all!

I have a few projects planned for them, but I am most excited about drilling holes in one. Sort of like these Martha Stewart ones here. White pumpkins are orange on the inside and give off an amazing glow. I cannot wait to get started on these!

Making a Leaf Wreath

2009-10-06T08:19:00.000-07:00

I had some ideas in my mind for a fall wreath for my front door, so I went to Michaels in search of something fabulous. Sadly, I could not find anything I liked. I mean, they had some hand crafted wreaths, but they were well, not really very hip. Plus, they cost $40 and I thought that was crazy. I already had fall garland picked out, so I wanted something that would at least match somewhat well. But things were not looking good!

In what I now realize was in effort to get me to hurry up and leave Michaels, my husband said to me "Why don't you just make your own"? So that is exactly what I did. I grabbed two more strands of the same garland I had already used for my door, plus a "grapevine" wreath. The project was way easier than I had ever anticipated. The leaves on the garland were easy to remove (no scissors required) and I simply used a hot glue gun to attach them to the grapevine wreath. Of course, I covered my work area with a plastic trash bag and newspaper to avoid ruining anything. The whole project took maybe a half an hour. I will admit I burned my fingers a few times, but that is because I have a super cheap hot glue gun. I made a wreath for my mom too (see last two pictures) and didn't burn my fingers once on her fancy one.

Here is a breakdown of costs and materials used (everything was purchased from Michaels):
-Garland: $10 (buy 2 strands of garland - you only need one and a half, so you will have extra. It's always on sale)
-Grapevine Wreath: $3.99 (could be $2 if you used a 50% off coupon from the Sunday ad).
-Hot Glue Gun: ? (I already had one, but I know you can get them for around $5).
Total Cost: $13.99 (or $12 with coupons) plus you will have some left over leaves that you could use for another project.

Seasonal Apothecary Jar Displays

2009-10-04T07:59:00.000-07:00

I have always loved the look of apothecary jars, but I never really knew what to do with them. I like the idea of using them to hold cotton balls, q-tips, etc. in the bathroom, but it just wouldn't work for me personally. What I found works best for me, is to change out the "fillings" of the jars seasonally. This is a great way to easily change up the entire room with won't break the bank.

I got my jars at Costco during the holiday season. I think they were around $29.99 for the set of three. I do like the ones Pottery Barn offers here as well, but they are way more expensive and I can't see what the difference really is. I am hoping that Costco has these jars again this year. I would love another set for my son's room. I am thinking matchbox cars and legos would be a couple of great looks in there.

I get most of my "fillers" from Target, Kohls, Michaels, Jo-Ann Fabrics, etc. We just got a Hobby Lobby near us and I know they have some great items too. I have found that Target has a lot of items similar to Pottery Barn things, for a fraction of the price.

What do you / would you put in your apothecary jars? Any ideas for Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas, etc. that you want to share? I am already thinking about mine but haven't made any final decisions yet. I would love to hear from you!

Welcome!

2009-10-04T05:33:00.000-07:00

I started a blog soon after my son was born last year so that friends and family could watch him grow up. But I found that I sometimes strayed from my posts about him to other things I was interested in. Mainly crafting and interior design ideas. In an effort to separate the two, I started a new blog and here it is!

I have never considered myself to be "crafty", but I am not afraid to try new projects / ideas. I am no Martha Stewart that is for sure, but I aspire to become more creative with every new project I try. I will only post projects / ideas that I would actually do myself or that I have done. There is nothing worse than trying to make something by reading only written directions. I like pictures, so I will post step by step pictures of things I do.

As for my design style, I am obsessed with Pottery Barn and West Elm. I don't care much for their prices, however, so I try to do a mixture of expensive and inexpensive pieces in my house. I use coupons / discounts whenever I can and will search nab a good deal when I see it.

I would love to hear from you about ideas for crafts and other design projects. Feel free to comment or e-mail me anytime.