Thursday, October 24, 2013

New Wreath

Last month I showed you my multipurpose wreath - well summer came and went and the red-white-blue needed to go. I had some extra garland from the bow we made for the welcome sign so I used that plus some pine cones left over from my centerpiece on the table.

It's not the greatest in the world but it makes it feel a little more home-like when someone knocks on the door.

 
Here is the welcome sign with the same ribbon used for a bow. My mom was so gracious to help with this artistic touch... 


Friday, October 18, 2013

Replacing the Lost

Several months ago our, now re-homed, puppy loved to ramp and rage around the house. One of the downfalls of this child-like amount of energy is things were often broken.

One of my favorite items that was broken was a Willow Tree figurine called "together." It was a wedding gift we received when married in the Adirondacks in 2011.

As you can see - it could not be saved


Today I was so excited to have my new one delivered!


Since I was a child I have loved these figurines. There are so many of them to spotlight so many special moments. The first I ever got was from my father "Beautiful Wishes" - a girl holding Calla Lilies. The second was our cake topper at our wedding "Promise." We also have the small nativity set called "The Holy Family." I love my collection and I hope to be able to add more to it over the years.


Thursday, October 10, 2013

My Spot

In an ever-changing world it is a single point of consistency; 

to sit and read and listen to God...



Tuesday, October 8, 2013

Motivation Tuesday - Potter Prep

In a few weeks my dearest friend is hosting a Harry Potter Party in their new home. When she told me about the party I got all sorts of fun ideas in my head! If you're gonna do a Harry Potter Party, you have to do it right.

I wanted to share the decorations I made yesterday for the Party. It will be a photo booth for all the guests to get their picture taken.

It's made out of a cardboard box that I edged with electrical tape and mimicked an online Font.


I also purchased this mold to make Chocolate frogs for the party - YUMMY!!


I'm super excited about the Party. I found us 3$ capes at the thrift shop and ordered Red and Gold ties online! I'll make sure to write a big post to show you all the great things my friend does to make the party a smash!

Saturday, October 5, 2013

Multipurpose Wreath

Here's a DIY project I've wanted to post for a while but... well... I've been lazy. Here is a great multipurpose wreath I made for our front door. What I love most is I can take it apart each season/holiday and make it into something new using the mostly the same materials.

Check out my super duper cool Clothes Pin Wreath!

1 wire wreath
A bag of Clothes Pins
Red, White, and Blue paint


Painted appropriate amount of clothes pins in the right colors



 Voila! 



Now that the summer is over and fall is upon us, I'm looking to try something new... Check out these cool ideas on how to reuse the wire wreath idea!

  
From Allthingskatiemarie.blogspot.com
From kiflieslevendula.blogspot.ca
Let me know which one you like more in the comments and I'll take a stab at it.




Friday, October 4, 2013

Dining Room Makeover

Earlier, in my Steal a Deal post, I showed you all the beautiful light fixture I got for a steal at Lowes. This is part of our home-makeover I mentioned in Home is Where the Heart Is. With a Please and a Kiss I convinced Eric to install the new fixture this evening for us and WHAT A DIFFERENCE!!

Here are some pictures of our dining room makeover for your enjoyment.

Before



During









After




Everything feels so much warmer. With the open concept into the living room, the warm light from the new fixture just makes everything so much more at-home! Thanks Eric for helping me and putting up with my oh-maybe-it-should-go-over-there-ness.

Total price of this makeover:
Mirror $25
Fixture $17
Centerpiece $3 (a thrift find!)
Tablecloth $8

Total: $53

More makeovers to come!

Steal A Deal

Friday is my thrifting day. You can read all about my thrifting tips in my Thrifty Housewife post. After dropping Eric at work, it's off to the thrift shop! The ladies there have started to know me by name... and snag me good deals. Today I went in searching for a few key items to add to our home decor. I really only came out with one "home" item but it was still a good deal!

Check it out!


The Throw Pillow came in at $1.45, the clothes at $5.00 and the iron board $2.02 (and it's the perfect size for our tiny place). I'm excited about the maxi dress as it is the first one I have ever worn and it's so cute!!

I'm not sure what the Akerman t-shirt is... I found a law firm in our area with the name. But the shirt was almost new and super cheap. Just one more to add to the closet makeover!

Next I headed to Lowes. I talked yesterday about the updating we are doing to our Condo to make it feel more at-home for us in my Home is Where the Heart is post. My mom and I did a little research and found a few light fixtures on sale online. I found the one I liked the most at Lowes today but it wasn't on sale in store :( but that didn't stop me...


I asked the electrician to check the price online and sure enough it was on sale!! Then trouble #2 arose as they didn't have any in stock...BUT there was one on Display! He ended up selling me the whole fixture for $17.00 even, a $54.96 difference (enter shocked face here).

So those are my Steal a Deals for today. Maybe I'll update later with pictures of Eric hanging the light... (best deal ever, I buy - he installs).

Thursday, October 3, 2013

Home is Where the Heart Is

Lately I have been getting antsy in our little condo. I feel like I keep hitting the same four walls over and over again. A few months ago a small home a block away went on the market. I walked Eric over to the home and showed him the cute blue shutters, the beautiful yard, and we found the floor plan on the relator website.

I fell in love.

After crunching the numbers and applying some Dave Ramsey principles to the imaginary scenario, we decided now was not a good time to buy. So then what? Stay in our Condo longer?

God has really blessed us with our location. We have the lowest rent in the entire area, including our amenities and the location is so central to everything we need. So we decided to put a little money into making it more at-home. Here are a few pictures I took to show what we've started to do this week <3

Curtains to dress the sliding doors to our deck


I found this super cute pillow for our bench outside at the thrift shop for 5$. I thought it was a nice addition! We hope to add a two seat table out here in the next few months for evening dinners in the cool winter weather. 



 Now that the dog's cage is gone from this corner I put out our shelf for our books, cooking magazines, and a few pictures. I'm happy for the extra storage space!


Mom got us this beautiful mirror for a steal while she was visiting. We moved the clock to the thermostat wall and hung the mirror to add more light to that side of the Condo.We added a table cloth and a centerpiece for holiday flare.


Added some Word Art to the entry wall. Eventually we'll add a second item to this wall to balance it out.


Lastly we added a bow for holiday flare on our welcome sign. I hope to make our burlap wreath soon for the front door. 


Hope you like the changes! Feel free to stop on by any time and have a visit by the pool!

Wednesday, October 2, 2013

Fall Cleaning

Yesterday I talked about cleaning out my closets in my Motivation Tuesday Post. I was able to remove over 4 bags of useless-to-me items. Somehow this whole event triggered my fall cleaning. I guess it was a good time; the dogs are all gone now, mom was here to help, and frankly it needed to be done!

What a crazy day! I mentioned to my mom that we wanted to clean the carpet once the dogs were gone so today we rented our own rug doctor from the Home Depot. Did you know you could RENT these? I was impressed. 

We tackled the bedroom first and cleared the entire area, with mom's help! 


It made for a great mess in the living room...


I made sure to wash the floorboards (you know, while I'm at it) and then commenced the water vacuum!


Once the room was done I had to take mom to the airport (sniff sniff) so Eric and I finished up this evening with the living room carpet and the car as well.  I'm always trying to make the most of our money $$$


Now to let everything dry and put it all away tomorrow. Have I mentioned I love clean carpets? 


I must admit, after 91 degree weather all day, the cold shower was very rewarding at the end of it all. More pictures to come tomorrow of the whole apartment completed. 


Tuesday, October 1, 2013

Motivation Tuesday - The Purge

Today was Motivation Tuesday! This is usually the day of the week that I get the most things done...

Today I decided it was time to tackle the closets. I love our condo here in Florida, but there simply is NO storage. We have two closets in the bedroom and one in the hall to store all our belongings!

Thank goodness it's Florida, I wouldn't know what to do with any Winter Clothing Storage.


Every time we open a closet it feels like something is falling out. Since I haven't opened the storage totes in over six months, I figured most of the clothes in there could go. I soon found myself in a mountain of belongings; stuck in my room until the damage was repaired.



Three piles started; Keep, Throw, and Donate. I walked out with almost two bags of trash, four bags of mics donation items, and vacuum sealed bags of clothes stored in my totes. My biggest accomplishment of the day was getting my roller duffel bag to reside in the top tote so now I have more room in my side of the closet!

I still need to take an "after" picture which I hope will not include the two bags of pillow fluff stored in the closet awaiting a pillow repair from a Stella disaster earlier this year. Fingers crossed the sewing machine part will be on it's way soon!

So that was my Motivation Tuesday - I must say I feel well accomplished.