holiday recap and a little furniture move

Whew!  What an insane and BUSY past couple of weeks!  I hope you all had a fantastic holiday, I know I did!


So what have I been up to?  Lots of Holiday shopping, some much needed time off, a few holiday projects, Christmas at my moms and the in-laws, WAY too much eating, and a slumber party with my most favorite 5 year old in the world :-)  I spent today recovering from the slumber party and removing all "festive cheer" from my house.  I LOVE to decorate for Christmas but man alive does taking it all down stink!  After fighting with two tree boxes both trees are somehow mangled into the oddly too small boxes and put away for next year- phew!


Once everything was put away I had to move a few pieces of furniture around since I was such a good girl this year that I got my much wanted desk for Christmas from my in-laws!!  Remember this...

So excited!  I actually got it the week before Christmas so it was uber helpful in the gift wrapping department.  Anyways... since I moved this guy to the office I no longer had any space for my white storage table.  So... I made a few changes and went from this:


Original Brown Side Table



To this:

New White Table!

Not sure about you but I like it much better!  I still have the brown side table on the other side and love that it is no longer matchy-matchy.  I still have to find some drawer pulls for the table before it is done. 

Hope everyone had a fantastic holiday and enjoyed (or are still enjoying) time with family and friends:-)

Carolyn

what a girl wants- holiday edition!

tis the season to be jolly... and apparently very lazy in the world of blogging.  I know what you all are thinking... she fell off.  I DIDN'T!  I swear it, cross my heart, I am still in-it-to-win-it.  promise.  I just took a little hiatus to focus on some much needed thrifty shopping. 

You are probably assuming that I haven't done a single project in my house- wrong again:)  I haven't been a decorating fool but I have gotten some fun stuff accomplished... a little room painting, a homemade wreath, some painted vases- you know, the norm. 

Anyways- since Christmas is almost here (!!!!) I thought I would share some of the gifts I want the most (Dan are you paying attention?!?!).  Some of you may get REALLY excited for the whole gift giving part of the holiday but I'm not gonna lie- - I am all about opening some gifts! I know this makes me sounds shallow, I'm not- promise, but I am like a 7 year old itching to rip apart some wrapping paper.  SO... here are a few of the many items that I would love to unwrap this year...

1.  IKEA Expedit workstation (I want to use this bad boy as a craft table)

2.  COACH Miranda Ring (white and silver)


3.  Printer (for printing all my coupons!!!)  Not really sure about what brand... not too picky here:)

4.  Barefoot Contessa- How Easy Is That Cookbook

5.  2 Gallon, 1 Gallon, 1/2 Gallon Glass containers (see in the bottom right corner)



6.  Wall craft station to hold ribbon and wrapping paper!!  Found these at Michael's!

7.  Kindle OR Books...either way I'm happy!



So what about you all?  Any must-have Christmas items this year?!?!  Let me know-- I may want to add it to my ever growing list!

Carolyn 

snug as a bug in a RUG! a striped RUG!!!

I'm beyond excited... like super duper so happy I am bursting kind of excited!!!!!  Why so much joy?  Well  that's cause this girl FINALLY found a reasonable priced striped rug last night and made the big purchase!

Remember when I was looking at the navy blue and white striped rug that was a steep 890 smackeroos?  (http://tszujjingitup.blogspot.com/2010/09/i-want.html) Well I think we all knew that wasnt going to happen-- this girl is too cheap (um... yeah and poor) for that kind of purchase.  SO.. last night while searching ALL my favorite blogs I stumbled across a posting on dwell studio rugs that just so happened to be on sale for $200 (PLUS free shipping)-- eek!!! sheer happiness! After jumping up and down for like 10 minutes and talking a mile-a-minute to the husband about why I HAD to have this rug- I made the big purchase.  Now don't get me wrong- $200.00 is a load of money BUT compared to other look alike it was a steal AND lets be real- tis the season to be jolly and this rug makes me jolly!

Here is a picture of the lovely..

To be honest I don't really know what color it is.. the info said ink and cream but what color is "ink" really?  Are we talking black ink or blue ink people?  I'm sure you thinking, "isn't that kind of important information to know before you buy" well yes, normally it is- but, I couldn't really decide what color I would want so I look at this like the best possible situation- I don't have to make the decision- the store does it for me.  Double win!

Lets hope this rug looks as good as I think it is going to look- fingers crossed!

Muah!

Carolyn

oops I did it again-- holiday edition

Clearly you checked this post out because you are a HUGE Britney fan like myself.... right?  right????


Oh--Kay.... my love of Brit aside-- here are some photos of my Living room which holds my second Christmas tree (do you get the blog title now??!!?!). 

Still in need of a tree skirt and a few more decorations but at least she is up

nothin' like some silver balls and a silver pine cone to spread some cheer...
P.S. The top looks crooked... its not... just my OLD camera!

AND.. Cause I like you all SO much you get to see how I tszujjed up my dining room! 

Hmm... cookies or treats in this cake stand would make it look MUCH better!

Love me some apothecary jars!  I put some fake snow in them that I got after Christmas last year tied a bow around one and added some greenery and berries to the others and they look uber cheery!

P.S. The lamp was a thrift store find from two weeks ago-- $6.00!!!  It came with a super nasty shade but luckily my mom had one that I could borrow (steal forever).  I'm in love. 

Let the decorating continue :) 


Carolyn 

deck the halls

Did you all celebrate Thanksgiving by putting up your Christmas decorations like this girl?!?  Well, as a girl that LOVES some twinkling lights I like to have my tree up for as long as possible... like obnoxiously long. I put the trees up three days before Thanksgiving and do not intend on taking them down until I am forced to :-)


This year we went all out and put TWO tree's up!!  I LOVE it, sparkle EVERYWHERE you look! Wanna see round one of Holiday decorations?  Here you go... 


Christmas Tree in the MAIN Family Room-- This one has REALLY fat lights-- I heart them:) 

a little festivity for the console table

a closer look

Nothin' better then a tree in a bowl... 

Clearly this is just the beginning but I am feeling well on my way to some festive Holiday cheer!  Did you start decorating for the Holidays?

Carolyn

gloating?

So.. I am typically not one to gloat but so sorry... I just have to on this one.

Below is a picture of the items I picked up at Target tonight.  Guess what my total was for all of this?  Did you guess $84.00?  Well... my friends... $84.00 is what all of this should have cost (6 games at $13.00 per game)  but I paid just $7.84.  Yup- just over $1.00 for each game!!!!!

How did I do it?  Well-- Target is currently having a sale on CUPONK games... they are marked down from 13.99 to $7.00 (I believe the sale ends tomorrow).  Then, I printed $5.00 off CUPONK coupons that are currently on the Target website.  THEN, I also printed off a coupon for $5.00 off any three Halsboro games.  So this is the run down...

BUY 3 CUPONK Games on sale for $7.00/piece ($21.00 total for all three)

Use three coupons for $5.00 off CUPONK Games ($15.00 OFF total)

Remaining Balance is $6.00

Then I used the $5.00 off three Halsboro game coupon 

TOTAL Paid out of pocket: $1.00 (for all three.. for real!)

THEN I did the same thing again but decided to throw in the Operation game (which says it is made by MB but according to all the signs at Target it is a Halsboro game).  Here is that deal:

BUY 2 CUPONK Games on sale for $7.00/piece ($14.00 total for both)

Use two coupons for $5.00 off CUPONK games ($10.00 OFF total)

Purchased Operation (ON SALE for $7.00-- regularly $13.99)

Then I used the $5.00 off three Halsboro game coupon

TOTAL Paid out of pocket: $6.00 (for all three!!)

LOVE getting some holiday shopping done on the CHEAP!!

Have you found any GREAT deals out there?

Carolyn 

spreading the joy

I gotta tell ya... I am pretty psyched for some black Friday shopping.  Its not necessarily about accomplishing my Christmas list but more about being part of the craze.  I know- I'm weird like that.  There is NOTHING like shopping with my favorite sisters (my only sisters really... but they are my fave) and my mom (if she will brave it with us) and spending the day being a part of some good ol' American tradition.  PLUS the holidays are all about spending time with those you love and I have learned in life that you cant take the health and happiness of yourself or your family for granted.  SO.. I will celebrate how lucky I am and SHOP till I DROP! 

Anyways for those of you who are not all about standing in lines, listening to kids screaming, and fighting people you don't know for the last "must have" item then you are going to love what is coming...

My sister opened my eyes to a world of fellow coupon and coupon code nuts.  The below Web sites should seriously be checked everyday since some deals are only good for that day.  For those of you who have never seen these sites- consider this my gift to you:)

Here you go!

http://hip2save.com/
http://www.passionforsavings.com/
http://www.savingcentswithsense.net/
http://savingslifestyle.com/
http://couponcravings.com/

Be careful these are addictive!  I have spent hours upon hours checking them out and have already gotten some freebies and ridiculous deals.

Hope you all are having a GREAT weekend!

Carolyn

pictures a plenty

After spending weeks searching all my fav blogs for inspiration I finally decided to just take the plunge and dive right into my photo wall collection.  


With no real plan in sight I hammered about 50 nails into the wall to get 16 frames up--- don't judge... its not easy to get right on the first go..or the second... even the third is hard.


Here is the plain as day beginning wall... this wall is in my main family room (staring straight at the fire place)

Before:  It's OK you can say it....B.O.R.I.N.G!

I attempted to make a pattern on the floor but that didn't work out so well

So, then I just started hanging :) Here is the finished product!

What do you all think?  I think MAJOR improvement.. my husband...not so much.  I still need to figure out what to put on the table... it looks a little bare at the moment... improvements are still coming!


Carolyn

Craig WHO?

Could it be that I am the LAST one to know about CraigsEasy?  If you are completely lost and have no clue what I am talking about the answer is, probably not. 

So for those of you in the dark like me- CraigsEasy is a "button" you can add to your bookmark bar and when you are searching on Craigslist it allows you to see ALL of the pictures for the item you are searching.  Here is how it works once the button is added to your bookmark page:

1. Enter an item name, such as "desk"
2. Click the "EASY" button
3. View all of the listings in pictures... so you see EVERY picture of a desk in all of the posts and can click on the one you want for more information. 

No more clicking on each post-- ridiculous time saver!

Check it out-- if you are addicted to Craigslist like me, you will LOVE it!

http://craigseasy.com/


Carolyn

I Got Benched

Last Sunday was my lucky day!  I guess is wasn't THAT lucky-- I didn't win a million dollars or anything, BUT I did get an AMAZING find at the thrift store that just so happened to be EXACTLY what I wanted!   You all remember when I posted about the lady that made a kitchen table bench out of IKEA cabinet tops right?  Well if not... you are slacking on reading my posts just as much as I am slacking on writing them :)  

Anywho-- I LOVE the idea of a bench as seats for a kitchen table but I didn't exactly want to spend tons of money on a bench.  Enter: Goodwill.  I haven't been there in FOREVER because the one near my house tends to be kind of junky-- on a whim I stopped in and am SO glad I did!  Sitting right near the back of the store was the dirtiest storage bench you have seen.  I got over my initial thoughts of "ewww gross" and started to look it over.  So what that it had a broken clasp on the bench top which makes the top look a little off-- I am not a perfectionist so no worries!  Besides the broken clasp and the really dirty fabric cover it was perfect!  I took a look at the price-- $20.00-- and I was SOLD!  

Here she is all natural-- pre bath...

LOVE some storage!  

This is after the fabric was taken off.  I was kind of worried that it would be gross underneath and I would have to re-foam- but it was in perfect condition!  When I was lifting the piece to move it I found a good ol' IKEA tag on the bottom!

Here she is after a LOT of spray and wash and some MAJOR bleach action.  So pretty:)  You can see where the hinge is a little off--

What do you all think?  Are you fans of the "random bench instead of chair look" or do you prefer everything to be even-Steven?   

The great thing is that I can fit at least three people on this bench instead of one person in the chair that it replaced.  What do you guys think of adding pillows?  Its not a very wide bench so I am unsure of how they would fit BUT there is definitely the ability to lean some pillows against the wall. 

Off to hit up the thrift store AGAIN today-- its really an addiction people.. wish me luck :-)

Carolyn

Weak

Whats "weak" mean you ask?  Well I will tell you--- "weak" is the word I would use for not posting in an ENTIRE WEEK!  Gasp!  I know.  

So what has been keeping me busy?  I'll tell you... I got a temporary grill on Friday (not a Foreman or Weber..we are talking about teeth people), spent the weekend complaining about my mouth hurting, visited with a bunch of high school friends Saturday night, coupon shopped and ran by the thrift store on Sunday and I have been insanely busy at work this week which means no time to blog at night (luckily I LOVE my job:)).  

I'll post about my most amazingly fantastic thrift store find from this weekend soon-- this one is E-X-C-I-T-I-N-G- for real!

Chat soon!

Carolyn 

Pillows a-la IKEA!

So... judge all you want but this girl is a big fan of IKEA!  I ran over there this past Sunday and was pretty excited about my uber cheap purchases.  Wanna see?  Bet you do.... 

So before hitting up the "Last Chance" corner which is full of their sale and clearance stuff I ran through the store real quick and found these great black and white "frankenstein-ish" pillows.  So the pillows have nothing to do with Frankenstein but the design on it reminds me of the big knob things that come out of his neck.  Anyways... back to the point.  I decided that even though I am quite the sewer and can make my own pillows that I liked these enough to pick up two.  At $12.95/piece they were fairly inexpensive.  THEN... I made my way to the sale corner- MY FAVE!  Low and behold what did I find there?  Two black and white pillow shells (i.e. the outside of the pillow with no stuffing in them) they were- get this- only $2.99 a piece.  I couldn't find anything wrong with them so in my cart they went!  I also found  a really thick piece of white fabric for $1.00 so I picked that up to and stitched up a new pillow when I got home.  Here are my newbies...

Pillow cover stuffed with some batting

Pillow cover, Frankenstein pillow, green pillows I made a while back, new white
pillow, and another Frankenstein pillow :) 

Love me some good cheap finds!

Carolyn 

how'd they get so smart?

So I am OBSESSED (seriously) with searching for and reading blogs.  I truly cant help it-- its a addiction.  Luckily this is one of those addictions that isn't really frowned upon.

Anywho-- I was doing my normal nightly blog search and found the most clever idea... kitchen cabinet's fancied into a kitchen bench..who'd a thunk it?  Well, I'll tell you who... Aubrey and Lindsay did.  Check out there project...

Credit: Aubrey and Lindsay at Blogspot.  There project in the works. 



Credit: Aubrey and Lindsay at Blogspot.  Final Product.

You can check out all the details on their blog at http://aubreyandlindsay.blogspot.com/2009/11/making-seating-bench-in-kitchen.html.  So  I have been walking around my house all night trying to figure out where I could put some make-shift-kitchen-cabinet-turned-benches.... there doesn't seem to be an obvious spot in my house... hmmm....

Carolyn

Cornice headboard

I am not sure if I am committing a major style crime but I have to confess that I do not have 1 set of window treatments up in this house... I know, crazy, right?  It's not that I am against them...cause I'm not, it's just that I think it is equally as pretty with out them.  There is a point here, I promise....

I went thrifting this weekend with my mom, sister, and niece and found a cornice for dirt cheap...$5.00!  I wasn't 100% sold because like I said, I don't have any window treatments up in my house and there was only 1-single window cornice.  Realistically there was only 1 room it could go in- the room my sweet little niece sleeps in when she stays over since that is the only room in the house with 1 single window.  I decided to take the plunge and see how it turned out... I'm crazy like that...

Here she is.. nice but a little too ornate for my taste.

I got out my staple gun and some fabric that I purchased a few months back on a MAJOR clearance.  They were selling a yard for $2.99 so I purchased all of the fabric they had.... 5 yards.  I wasn't sure what I was going to do with it but I knew a project would come along:) 

Ripped all the fabric off... there were a TON of staples!

Here she is naked as a jaybird!

I laid the fabric out on my island and cut around the cornice..enough fabric to make sure the entire thing was covered.  The rest was pretty easy!  Just pulled the fabric tight and started stapling on the inside.  Here is one of the corners.  Neatness clearly does not count:) 

        

           

Here she is ALL finished!

So this is the not so fantastic part of the story... I was super proud of my work...showed my husband and explained to him about 15 times what a cornice is  (he still doesn't get it) and then ran it upstairs to put her on the wall above the window.  When I got up there I realized that it is about two inches too narrow and it doesn't fit around the window frame. UGH!!!!! Way to go smarty pants... would have been MUCH smarter to check that before spending an hour on this project.  It's OK though.. this girl has got a plan B.  I think we are getting a twin bed for our second guest room and if we do- this pretty little thing will be the headboard:) Until then she will sit all by herself in an empty bedroom.  

I have about 4 more yards of this fabric...what else should I do with it???

Carolyn 

November GOALS!

Since I JUST posted about my late September and October goals I figured I should set some goals for November.   Here are some things I hope to accomplish...


1.  Paint the kitchen!  This is a HUGE job that will take some mullah for paint and supplies... SO, if I cant finagle it this month then I will scale down my goal and paint the downstairs bath instead!


2.  Continue collecting plates for my plate wall.  I have 7 now... need about 7 or 8 more  before they can go up.


3.  Make a picture wall in my family room... I'm thinking something like these...  just not sure if I should go with all 1 color frame like black or white OR if I should mix it up and use black, white, silver, gold... what do you all think? 

Source: Nuestra Vida Dulce

Source: Young House Love

That's it!  I think November is going to be a uber busy month with family and shopping and cooking so I am keeping my goals to a minimum. 

What are your goals for November? 

Carolyn