Happy Decorating!

This weekend my husband and I traveled to my hometown to spend some time with my parents.  It was a multi-celebration weekend.  We celebrated our anniversary (which was in June- ha),  my Mom's birthday two weeks ago, my Dad's/Lula's birthdays on Saturday.

My Mom turned 30 (again...lol), my Dad turned 55, and Lula turned 3.  Mom's gift was decorations for the room she is redecorating.  Lula's gift consisted of icing from our anniversary cake.  Dad's gift was to be a nice 'dressy' Michael Kors coat in 2XL, which proved to be TOO SMALL!  His arms were too long for it!  So much for trying to get Dad a coat that isn't camouflage or a Carhart jacket!  Oh well, I tried!  I guess I'll have to take it back and attempt to figure out another gift for him (men are so difficult to buy for!)

Orchid Photo - Bedroom

Due to the redecorating process (Mom's room, and our new home), we decided to drive an hour to the local Ikea.  My husband has been to the one in Chicago before, but it was a new experience for my mom and I.  We picked up a fake orchid for our bedroom in a raspberry accent color, a white vase for the orchid to go in, and a photo of orchids.  I think I'll have my husband make a black shelf for the orchid/vase to sit on next to the orchid photo on the wall.

Orchid Accent

Vase for Orchid

Butterfly Art - Bedroom

 My husband liked the white butterflies with purple peeking out behind them, so it will go in the bedroom too.
Plus, we purchased a bunch of matching black frames to use for photos throughout the house for a more cohesive look.  Our frames were in pretty rough shape and none of them matched in the least.

Wall Color Appears more Grey

I thought it all would go nicely with the purple/raspberry lamp my mother-in-law bought me for an early birthday present.  Additionally, it would go well with the white bedding, and grey wall color we decided on for the bedroom.  We haven't decided on the curtain fabric yet.  The curtain fabric will also be behind our bed, as we have an off center window that we are trying to hide with the heavy fabric.  Please feel free to give your opinion on which one you like.

"Ah, Parie!"

Suitcase like Grandma's

As for other purchases, we bought a Paris print that I have always loved.  I would like to eventually use it in our guest bedroom.  I also would like to place my Grandma's hard suitcase in there on a table top (as a nightstand).  She used it to travel to 48 states before she married my Grandpa.  The only states she didn't go to were Alaska and Hawaii, which she was always sure to remind us "weren't even states yet anyway!"

Prim, Proper, & Scandalous

Kate & William - 2012 London Olympics

Somehow I feel offended and saddened for Kate Middleton.  She and Prince (Duke) William must feel so helpless and furious their privacy was invaded.

Granted, I understand that by sunbathing topless you are taking a risk of someone seeing.  However, it strikes me as extremely lewd, tasteless, and intrusive to take photos of someone when they are.

Obviously they were not on a public topless beach (where photos are also not supposed to be allowed), but they were on a private yacht far out in the water.  They were not trying to be flashy or expose themselves.  They were, like any other couple, trying to spend some private time alone on their vacation.

The sad fact of the matter is that while they may be able to file a lawsuit and win against the individual(s) who invaded their privacy...it will not erase the fact that these photos are now strewn all across the internet, downloaded, saved, and printed by anyone worldwide who feels like it.

How Tasteless!

I still and will continue to think of Kate as a dignified and elegant lady, as I don't feel her private actions with her husband (which were obviously meant to stay private) should reflect upon her grace or character.    

How many of us would be in far worse "scandals" if we had paparazzi stalking our every move?  I know that I would have been photographed in far more compromising photos than Kate.  

A Few Days Prior to the Photos Being Released

I feel offended for her, and I hope a good deal of people don't and won't help the people who invaded their privacy earn money from such inappropriate conduct as taking a photo of a private moment on someone's vacation. 

Budget Friendly Wall-Art (tutorial)

Budget Friendly Wall-Art Tutorial:

Since we are purchasing a new house funds are a bit limited in the area of decorating, so we are picking and choosing what to spend the big $ on and what things we can upcycle, thrift, reimagine, repurpose, skimp, scrounge, and save on.  Wall Art goes into the category of "Let's find something or create something on the cheap!", at least for now.

Materials:

Canvas (any size)
Craft Glue 
Paint Chip Samples
Single Shape Puncher
Acrylic Paint (optional)

The canvas I'm working with is 8x10, but any size will suffice.  Canvas's can be purchased at Hobby Lobby, Michael's, or any craft store.  The price on a set of 8x10 were under $5.00, but my Mother-in-Law gave me the set for free (SCORE!).

My Glue of Choice

The craft glue I used was Aleene's Tacky Glue ($2-$3) because we had it laying around.  However, I would suggest using Mod-Podge ($5).  I think it would be easier and less messy to use.

I gathered paint chip samples from Lowes & Menards based on the color scheme I'm going for in my house.  These are FREE.  I had a random assortment in the same general color family, but you could pick whatever colors your heart desires!

The Single Shape Puncher I used is a flower or * shape.  I also borrowed it from my Mother-in-Law, however these generally run around ($5-$10) depending on the shape, size, and brand.

I didn't use any paint because I wanted the background of my wall art to be white, however, if you want a different colored background you could easily paint it with acrylic paint.  A small bottle usually only costs a few bucks at a craft store.

Once you have gathered all of your supplies, you will want to begin punching shapes out of the paint chip samples.  I took a few breaks because my hand started to hurt from the repetition.  My * shape was fairly small, so I knew I would need a lot of them to cover my canvas.

Next I began gluing my shapes onto my canvas one-by-one.  This process was tedious because I wanted to make sure my shapes were close together without much negative space behind them.  Also, the glue I used was a little messy, so I kept having to use tissues to wipe off excess glue.  My fingers also became quite tacky, so I had to wash my hands throughout the process to keep the 'art' clean.

Dabbing Excess Glue

I chose to make my shapes press around the edges, but you don't have to if you don't want to.  It's all a matter of personal preference.  I'm still deciding if I want to keep the edges of the frame bare or wrap them with a ribbon.

My Work in Progress

Once you've finished filling up the whole canvas you have a custom piece of wall art.  You can use it as-is, or use it as a background for a photo.

As you can see, I'm not finished yet.  I'll be sure to upload a picture once I'm finished.  I'll also upload a photo once I decide a spot for it in the new house, so you can see how I decided to tie it in with other decor.

The best part is the Grand Total of this Wall-Art will be a total of $0.00 + my time = AWESOME!  Art on the cheap... I think so!

Happy Crafting!

FOUR! or FORE?!

Our counteroffer was accepted on the house!  :-)  We close on it in mid-October, so I'll count it as a belated birthday gift since my birthday is towards the beginning of the month.  My mind is free to start mentally decorating it!  It will be OUR first house.  Now that we have a home with more room we'll start trying to get pregnant next spring/summer.  Yikes...that isn't that many months away, is it?

Tour de Finance by Essie

I'm typing pretty precariously right now...my nails are wet.  I'm painting them with Essie nail polish in the shade 'Tour de Finance' (Spring 2012 collection).  I figured it would go well with my cute green polo I'm wearing tomorrow.

My husband's company invited him and I to a major golf tournament this weekend (Tiger Woods and all that jazz).  Now, keep in mind that I find golf to be as boring as watching paint dry, so I'm just there for the house they rented, food they are catering all day, all day bar, and the experience.  My husband on the other hand is an avid (and quite good) golfer, so he's like a little kid on Christmas morning.

Nike Dri-Fit Polo

I took golf lessons for one summer in junior high, and I hated it.  I don't have the patience for that sort of thing, combined with the fact that I have little to no hand-eye coordination.  I've never attended something golf related as an event before so figuring out golf appropriate attire was interesting.  I don't own polos, so I had to buy one today.  I'm going to pair the green polo, pink nails, black fitted straight leg pants with black flats.  My husband was estatic seeing me in a golf polo.  You'd have thought I was wearing racy lingerie!  Ha!  Thankfully I only had to buy the polo shirt, and I own the rest of the items already.

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Stella Black Jean Legging from Express

Tomorrow should be interesting.  Hopefully its more fun than watching golf on TV because I always take a nap when my husband turns it on!

Mister Sandman Bring me a Dream

I wish I had a Smart Phone for this App

I am utterly exhausted.  I tossed and turned all last night because I had a lot on my mind.

The sellers countered our offer (we asked for closing costs to be covered, dropped the price 10k, a decorative wine glass holder that hangs above the kitchen island, all the stainless steel kitchen appliances, a new washing machine and the dryer, and a one year home warranty).  They gave us the inspection report/property line report ($700 savings), everything we asked for, but held firm on the price.  We countered them back by going up 2k on the price, accepted a 6-8k future fix needed on the chimney instead of making them fix it prior to selling (codes have changed causing it to need a longer chimney for back draft reasons).

They have until Friday to get back with us.

My mind was on overload because of that, and my mind was also doing a circus sideshow of taking all my belongings and mentally trying to place them in the house.  On top of that my mind was scrambling around thinking of all the DIY fixes and updates I'd like to do in the future combined with color schemes for rooms.

My husband went to bed at 10pm, while I finally forced myself to TRY to sleep at 11:30pm.  It didn't work.  I finally gave up at 1:00am and carefully tip-toed downstairs (as to not wake my in-laws).  I decided food would probably help me sleep (it always does), although its terrible for my waistline to eat then snooze.  I ate some cereal and finally dragged myself to bed at 1:30am, but my rest was short-lived.  My husband was bright eyed and bushy tailed as soon as the alarm went off this morning at 6:30am, so I didn't have a chance at trying to sleep longer.  He is the type that likes to cuddle and kiss and get RIGHT UP IN your face as soon as he wakes up.  I choose to tolerate it most of the time. . .

Its 9:00am, and I feel like my eyes are going to snap shut on me.  I'm probably going to drag myself back into bed here in a moment because I feel like these yawns are going to tear me in two.

Operation Un-Homeless

Operation Becoming Un-Homeless is in full effect.

We've been viewing a few houses we have been interested in with our real estate agent, who also is a close friend of my husband's family.  After some debating and headbutting on our options and final picks, we narrowed it down to one home.

Potential Home?

We had our sights set pretty high for our price range and standards, so here is what we ended up giving and taking on.

Our "Preferred" House Features:
*3-4 bedroom (This home has 4 bedrooms - all on the large and spacious side, however they don't have  walk-in closets due to the age of the house.  However, the master bedroom still has two closets, so I'm satisfied)
*2 Car Garage (It's a tight two car garage, but it's a two car garage nonetheless.)
*Wood Working Shop for the hubby (Additional Garage (3 car), Storage Shed, or basement area)  (This home doesn't have an additional garage, storage shed, or basement.  The basement option in this area was an extra $30-40k.  We've decided to build storage shed for his wood-working needs.)
*Lot with Mature Trees, preferably over .50 acres  (The whole neighborhood has mature trees, and it creates a very private personal space for each home.  It has ALMOST .50 acres, which is large for this area.)
*Basement - I have grown up seeing WAY too much tornado damage, so having one would make me feel more comfortable. I AT LEAST need a crawl space under the house for safety purposes.  (The basement was a no-go due to the steep price increase of houses with them in this area, but the house does have a crawl space.)
*2,500 sq.ft. (give or take)  (This house has a little over 2,200 sq.ft.)

My Grumpy Face

The house has a completely updated kitchen, 3 year old roof, newer windows, open floor plan for the age of home (1968), and is clean and livable with the possibility for updates later (bathrooms mainly).  The only two major downfalls are the small master bath and the laundry room in the garage.  However, we figured with moving some walls and plumbing we could solve those issues in the future if we want to.

The house had only been listed for 7 days, so we tried to set up a 2nd showing.  They wouldn't let us because they had already accepted an offer.  *  MAJORLY BUMMED *

My Elated Face :-)

Our real estate agent contacted us later that day to let us know the deal fell through!  *ELATED!*  We scheduled a second showing the next day and both of our parents came to look at it with us.  We gave them an offer yesterday, and we are currently waiting on a counteroffer.  *FINGERS CROSSED*  I'm trying to be realistic that things like this can fall apart easily (like trying to sell my husband's old house), but its hard to not start imagining yourself there.  I'm trying to mentally sedate my decorating bug, so I don't get attached before it is a sure thing!