there's no place like space!

So recently we took the plunge and started hanging up stuff in our house.  We're currently renting, and since we didn't anticipate being in this house for more than a year, we didn't do much decorating at first.  But since it was hard to feel settled without some homey touches, we decided to hang a few things here and there.  So glad we did!

Micah's room has gotten the most attention so far, only because it's the smallest of the bedrooms and I already had some of the decor on hand.

I made these back in September, just a month or so before Micah was born.  I had attempted to hang them with Command picture hooks, but they didn't really work.  Nails work much better!

Also found an amazing set of wall decals from Target on clearance!  I put a bunch of them above his crib, as well as over his changing table where some vintage space flashcards were already on display:

 

I think they do a good job in filling blank space on the wall without doing any damage since they're removable.

During a recent trip to Goodwill, I found an adorable vintage book for 77 cents:

Really, it's such a fun little book.  It has an occupation for each letter, along with a poem:

 

There's even a milkman in it.  A MILKMAN.  Do those guys even exist anymore?

What made it even more interesting is that a little girl had written on a few pages.  Not to be messy, but to record her hopes and dreams:

 

Who is this Kelly Baldwin?  When did she read this book?  Where is she now?  And did she ever realize her dream of being a nurse or a teacher?  Makes me wonder.  That's the magic of used books, I guess!

Anyway, the rest of the book was in excellent condition, so I just removed the two staples holding it together (two VERY rusty staples, might I add...glad my tetanus shot is up to date!) and then cut down the middle to get the "R" page:

I used a 12" X 12" frame I already had (hint:  get LP display frames at Michael's....they have them on sale for $4.99 a LOT and they're the perfect size for scrapbook paper!), and for the backing I used some super cute wrapping paper I found at TJ Maxx:

I am deliriously happy with how well it turned out.  And how cheaply it all came together.  77 cents for the book (with lots of usable pages leftover), $2.99 for the wrapping paper (again, lots leftover), and the frame was free.  This is hanging above his dresser, and the chevron pattern of the paper ties in well with his dresser topper:

There's still a blank wall opposite the big window in his room, so I still need to figure out something to put there.  It'll most likely be another Scripture, and I would love to use more of that chevron paper in it somehow!

ironing board cover {plus laundry room reveal}

My parents helped us paint the laundry room earlier in the summer, so this "reveal" is way overdue.  It just took longer than I thought to get everything the way I wanted.  The final touch was a new ironing board cover to pull everything together.

I found several tutorials on Pinterest, but they were all basically the same.  The most tedious part was threading the string through the final product.  And since I used the string and toggle clasp that came with my previous, worn-out cover, all I had to pay for was the fabric (which I got for 50% off...a long time ago).

Isn't it the cutest?  Definitely brightens the place up.


So here's the other DIY stuff I did (and let me just give you a warning...there are no windows in my laundry room and the only source of light is fluorescent, so these pictures aren't the greatest).

Here's the corner where the ironing and cleaning supplies hang.  The rack for my ironing board has a basket on top that holds the iron and spray starch.  Above the other rack is the upcycled laundry room sign I made awhile back.

And I still love it, crooked letters and all.  :o)

Next, the area we affectionately call "the stockpile."  Just some extra groceries and small appliances that we don't have room for in either the pantry or the cabinets.  The small yellow basket on top is where I throw cleaning rags, cloth napkins, and other dirty items.  And the white dishpan below is where I either soak stained clothes or (in this case) stash clothes waiting to be ironed.  You'd think with the new ironing board cover I'd be more motivated to take care of it.  Oops.  And to the left of all this is a big bucket of homemade laundry detergent.  I've been making my own for about nine months now and it's been working out great!

Next, my husband's grilling tools station.  Why?  Because the tools were too bulky to fit in our kitchen drawers and we didn't want to keep them out on the porch.  I found the rack at Goodwill several months ago and it works great for this.  I just can't figure out what to put in that little pocket on top.  :o)

Next, the other side.  Here's some embroidery hoop art I came up with.

I found the hoops and "check your pockets" hanging on Etsy, and I had the fabric on hand already.

Next, the area above the cabinets.  This used to be a dumping ground for a bunch of random stuff, but after we straightened out the storage room in our garage, we were able to transfer some of it out there.  I got the cute vintage fan on Etsy, the "love is patient" plaque at Target, and the watering can from Goodwill.  The storage bin is an old diaper box I recovered with part of a canvas dropcloth.  It looks like it's fully lined, but it's not; I cheated and just hot-glued hemmed fabric strips all around it.  It currently holds our 12-cup coffeemaker; I love my Keurig, but I bust out this older model for when we have people over.

Just have to show the cute rug I found at Ross last fall...really does wonders to take your attention off the ugly vinyl floor.

And finally, a cute grocery bag holder my mom made for me.  It's made out of the same turquoise fabric I used to fake-line the canvas bin in the picture above. 

Okay, so in case you were curious, that's what my "new" laundry room looks like.  :o)

goodwill finds

Today I went to Goodwill and came across a major score.

How awesome is this vintage globe???  I've seen older globes used as home decor on Pinterest and magazines, and I really like the look.  Now I have one of my own for the low price of five bucks.  I can't find a date on it anywhere, but at least a couple of places on it give me a clue.

Yep, that's the USSR.

And yep, that's Burma.  So of course this globe isn't really educational (other than for history!), but I still think it's a cool find.  Not to mention it's in fantastic shape; no scratches or dents anywhere.  Right now it's sitting on top of my china cabinet in the dining room.

If we ever have a special room just for homeschooling, the globe might be cute to put in there too.  Again, pretty much just for decorative purposes.  :o)

I also finally knocked out a spray paint project I've been meaning to do.  One thing you can almost always find at thrift stores are brass candlesticks.  I found this pair for a few bucks awhile back.

And no, brass is not my thing.  But I liked the shape of these.  So I got a bottle of spray paint in "Ivy Leaf" and gave them a couple of coats.  I wanted a nice distressed look (not a glossy, plastic-y look), so I didn't bother using primer first.  Well, that, and I didn't even have primer at the house!  I gave them awhile to dry and here they are.

I looooooove them.  You can see little imperfections on them, where maybe the paint didn't get in a groove or maybe a slight stain on the brass showed through, but that's the way I like things.  I want to find more of these candlesticks in different heights and do different colors for every season!  For now these lovely green ones will do fine.  :o)

thrifty finds: goodwill trip

I ventured out this rainy morning and found a few cute things at Goodwill.

First, this metal case.  It's actually in really good shape, and very sturdy, so I'm thinking I'll paint it a fun color and maybe keep all my music books in there (in case I ever have the urge to play my flute...believe me, those urges do still come sometimes!).

Then this rustic tray/decoration.  I just have to remember I have it when next Christmas rolls around!

And finally, a cool set of vintage-looking glasses.  I really like the color, and they'll look great in my china cabinet when we're not using them.

Not bad for a Friday morning.  :o)

magazine holder facelift

I decided my living room needed a designated spot to put some of my magazines.  A few well-placed polka dots couldn't hurt either.  So this is what I came up with.  Want to see how I did it?  :o)

About a month ago, I found a very sturdy wooden box at Goodwill that I assumed would be good for holding magazines.

 

I liked the rustic look of it, but not so much the fruit on the front.  So I decided to spray-paint the whole outside of it a pretty dark turquoise color called "Lagoon" that I had on hand.  It ended up being kind of bright, so I painted over it with some sage green acrylic paint, and then wiped a little off with an old rag as I went.  That way it wouldn't just be one flat boring color. 

As for the inside, I found a couple of sheets of cute polka dotted scrapbook paper in my stash.  I cut them to size and mod-podged them to most of the inside surfaces, and followed it up with another coat of mod podge to really seal it in.  There are a few wrinkles but luckily they're pretty hard to notice unless you're looking for them.  I left the bottom of the inside as it was since a) you can't see the bottom unless you really peek inside, and even then it's still a nice wooden surface, and b) because I didn't have any of the cute paper left and didn't want to use anything different in case it clashed.  I like it just the way it is.

I debated about putting something on the front, but I think for now the polka dots and the colorful covers of the magazines are enough visual appeal.

 

At this angle it looks like it's lopsided.  But it's not.  :o) 
Not bad for under $5.  The magazine holder was around $3, and everything else I had on hand. 

Linking up to Creations by Kara and A Little Tipsy!

goodwill trip

This morning I went to Goodwill just to look around, and scored some really neat old books.  I'm really excited about this one.

A Duncan Hines cookbook!  I like how it includes "the art of carving."  It's fun to see how different cookbooks used to be, with hardly any pictures and recipes like "Champs Elysees Potatoes, " "Aunt Delia's Piccallili," and "Old Fashioned Indian Pudding."  It even has a recipe for those jellied meat molds like in that movie Julie and Julia.  It has several copyrights listed in the front, and they range from 1939 to 1947, so either way this book is at least sixty years old.  Love it.  I think at some point I want to put some kind of shelf up in the kitchen to maybe display vintage stuff like this.

I also found some cute books for my son once he's older.

The "Straight Up" reader says that its copyright is 1944, and its illustrations are from 1967.  It has a bunch of stories about airplanes and helicopters, so it might be fun for Caleb to read when he's older.  The Curious George book is from 1963, and it's all about the alphabet.  These books don't look like they were read all that much by the previous owner since the pages are still in great condition and the covers aren't marked up.  Or else it was one careful kid taking care of them!  I know they belonged to someone because their name is stamped on the front page of both.  Either way I'm hoping I can teach my son to be as careful with his books as this person was!  :o)

my 100th post!!!

It's been almost a year since I started this blog, and I'm writing my 100th post.  Kind of surreal.

This might be anti-climatic for such a momentous occasion, but I've been wanting to show this baby off for awhile now.

She (I don't know why furniture gets a feminine pronoun, but it works!) was a little rough when I first found her on Craigslist last month; covered in scratches and dog hair, and so wobbly that even dropping a set of keys on top made her shake.  I almost backed out of the sale, but the seller lived pretty much as far away as you can get from my house and still be in the same county, so I figured I'd go for it if only to justify the gas money I felt I had just wasted.

She cost just $15, and since my son's naptime was drawing near I didn't attempt to haggle but just threw this crazy thing in the back of my car.  Then she sat in my mudroom for a few weeks until my parents visited after Christmas.  It was then my dad said, "Hey, if you have any wood glue I bet I can fix that wobble."  Music to my ears.

So after some well-placed wood glue and some patience (all on my Dad's part) and a nice coat of Pledge (okay that part was me!!) she looks SO much better.  Almost to the point where those little scratches and imperfections are just great character (and really they're not as noticeable anymore now that they've been given a good polish).

One day I might touch up the paint on the legs a little, but for now she's just fine for our foyer.  We've had a mirror on the wall in there for awhile and it was just crying out for a table to put underneath.

Not sure what I'll put on that bottom shelf.  Maybe a small stack of books?  With a toddler in the house I'm not sure what would be a good idea.  :o)

Anyway, if you're reading this, thank you.  Looking forward to the next 100 posts!

another goodwill trip

I went to Goodwill again this week, and here's a couple things I found:

A cute, rustic-looking mason jar holder (I'm assuming).  Didn't find any rustic-looking jars today to put in it, but I'm sure it'll be no problem.  I'm trying to figure out if it's going to be strictly for decoration to match the other retro stuff in my kitchen, or functional as well.  I could actually store stuff in the jars, like baking soda, cornmeal, etc.  Either way, I'm thinking it'll look good in my kitchen!

I also found this.  I like how it has a little pocket as well as the little hooks in the bottom.  My first thought was to put it in my laundry room and use it to hang up my broom and mop, and maybe use the pocket to put sponges or cleaning rags.  We already have a rack that the previous owners left behind, but I'm tempted to switch it up for this one because I like it better.  Of course the previous owners left huge holes in the wall drilling the other rack in, so if we do a switch there will definitely be some spackling involved.

I haven't felt very creative lately.  It's been a hard couple of weeks, so I've kind of alternated between laying on the couch and engaging in crazy cleaning or reorganizing projects.  Hopefully I'll get back into it soon...I know once I do it will probably be therapeutic, it's just a matter of starting!

goodwill trip

Today I ventured out to Goodwill and found some decent stuff.

That wooden box to the left is just begging for a few coats of spray paint.  Not sure what I'm going to use it for, but it was in such good shape I couldn't pass it up.  Same story with the rectangular basket to the right...I'm sure I'll find a job for it soon.

I love the antique look of the teapot.  It looks so nice up there with my canisters.

We just got an old set of Sesame Street books from my sister that her kids didn't want anymore, so I was excited to find a storybook that went right along with all those.  Since my kid can't be trusted with books with paper pages right now, this one's going in his closet with the rest of them. 

And by now I've realized I have a weakness for old children's readers, as seen with that book called "Along Friendly Roads."  It's from the 60's and it seems to have a lot of cowboy stories in it, so that might be good for my son when he's older.

I mean, this story has a cowboy named Texas Gus in it, and apparently it sheds light on what kind of music cows prefer.  How could I pass it up??

I also saw some really old-school 70's travel books for kids.  The pictures were really neat and they were all in good shape, but I know they were hopelessly outdated.  Case in point:  one of the books was called, "Let's Travel to the Soviet Union."  Nice.

Guess anything's better than "The Day My Butt Went Psycho."  I spotted this winner in the children's book section as well.  Seriously???  No wonder it ended up at Goodwill.

the "is it fall yet?" table runner

So who else is ready for fall?  I sure am.  I want to make soup and wear scarves and eat things that taste like pumpkin.  And even though fall in the south is usually very brief, I always make the most of it.  What's wrong with bringing out fall decorations in September?  I don't see any problem with it.  And I'm going to be even crazier and show you a fall table runner I made this week...in August.  Crazy, right?

Recently I found a set of four placemats at Ross for $3.49.

They caught my eye because of their fall colors, but my table seats six.  Plus we're taking a temporary hiatus from placemats since my kid likes to take them off the table and mess with them, though most of the time he ends up handing them right back to me.  Still, not worth the hassle right now.

So I decided to try to piece them together to make a table runner instead.  Given the dimensions of my table and the placemats themselves, I realized that the runner only needed to be two placemats long, so I used hot glue to stick them together.

And because they were cheap placemats, they didn't line up perfectly.  But I figured that would happen.  I thought about hot-gluing a piece of ribbon or a strip of fabric down the middle to cover up that messy seam, but I didn't have any on hand that coordinated with the brown and orange of the placemats.  So I took the easy (and hopefully just as aesthetically pleasing) route and centered a third placemat in the middle.  Once I had it where I wanted it, I hot-glued it down.

And there you go.  A table runner in under five minutes.

So what do you think?  I have one placemat leftover, and I'm thinking of making a cute door hanging out of it as opposed to the traditional fall wreath with leaves on it.  If I do, I'll probably have to wait till everyone else in the neighborhood brings out their jack o'lanterns and stuff so I don't look silly.  For now we'll keep the early fall insanity behind closed doors.  :o)

Linking up with Creations by Kara and A Little Tipsy!