Thrifted Vintage Master Bedroom Makeover

For those who have followed my blog over the years, many of you have seen my sporadically different bedroom changes, in three different homes. The first was the diy painting of the garage sale headboard here. Then the vintage linen room, then the plate wall  and total bedroom makeover (my favorite), and now in this yucky rental (with the nausea inducing mustard orange accent wall.) Well, it's the end of an era, because I just sold my pretty white headboard and my adorable vintage french provincial dresser last weekend. A bit is due to earning some cashola to get new baby girl gear, but I'm also going through a mega purging phase right now. I have boxes and boxes of clothes/decor/craft supplies/linens and stuff just waiting to get out of here. My room feels naked now without a headboard, so any free/cheap/diy ideas for that would be awesome.

But, I did find these two amazing vintage lamps the other day for only $12. I have been looking for lamps because all of ours have broken. I never find quirky/cool lamps in a pair that actually work at a thrift store.... and these lamps are definitely pretty quirky. A woman at Goodwill commented that she liked the lamps... if the shades were different, but I happened to love the silky drum shade and the pretty pale robins egg blue color, even though it does clash a bit with the interesting pink and green glass/acrylic (?).

The wall sconces were another find for $2 and the vintage crewel embroidery art was $3. I am not usually a big symmetry decorator, like my blessed grandmother, but I love the simplicity it brings to the space.

 I have a beautiful vintage crewel embroidery on a down stuffed wool pillow that accented this art beautifully, (as seen on a chair that I also sold, *sniff*)... but I RUINED it! I wasn't thinking and washed the thing... now it is all moldy and the embroidery colors ran. I am so upset with myself. I may just cut the front part off and try to frame it?

My little boys love picking me little flowers they find. I put one in my hair the other day and they thought I had magically transformed into a princess.

Of course, the end tables usually have medicine bottles, glasses of ice water, cell phone chargers and a way huge ugly alarm clock. But you know, gotta look a little gussied up for pics right? Since the thrifted tables are pretty banged up, and I still haven't sanded and painted them, I cut this vintage thrifted lace panel in half and now we don't get splinters on our end tables at night.

 

 My hubs' Far Side looking elephant piggy bank. And his studly glasses. He looks so cute in those glasses.

 A few slip covered pillowcases my aunt, the professional seamstress made for me. I stuff them with cheap (and washed) thrifted pillows. I love how she made me so many covers, I can change them throughout the seasons and always have a fresh update. That is the beauty of slip covered pillows people. I really need to get over my fear of sewing machines and just do it. Rae Gun has a great envelope pillow case tutorial here.

So, I got me a little mini makeover for now. I have a challenge on my hands on how to make this space a little more comfortable while spending zero money on a headboard alternative. I have found a few cute ideas out there, that I will likely be posting soon, do you have any free/diy headboard ideas?

Linked to:
Thrifters Anonymous 
Her Library Adventures Flea Market Finds 
Nester's It's Not Perfect But It's Beautiful 
Between Naps on the Porch 
Chic on a Shoestring Budget 
Remodelaholic

DIY Birthday Cupake Toppers

It was my oldest child's 6th b-day and we are only allowed to bring store bought cupcakes to school. Since we weren't having a party for him, I really wanted to do something relatively fun for his kindergarten class. I checked out our local store's bakeries and all they had were these neon colored frosted cupcakes, so I bought these cute eye candies thinking I could decorate them as monsters. When I asked my sweet hubs to pick up cupcakes, he brought these home, (he went to a different place). They look kind-of meh for a kid, and all of my colorful ideas/supplies were not working. So I found ton's of super cute free online printable cupcake toppers, like LEGO Star Wars, Angry Birds, robots and such... but alas, our printer wasn't working! So, I raided my scrapbook paper stash (haven't updated it in years by the way) and found a square of camouflage. Pretty much the only thing that would work, since the baby blocks, pastel flower paper or shabby chic damask prints clearly was not going to work for a 6 year old little guy!

 (They tasted better than expected too!)

 
I cut bamboo sticks in half, making sure to get rid of any sharp ends, stamped out some circles and tied on some twine, and viola, decorated cupcakes. A lot easier than expected. I only had one size circle punch, so I stamped all of them with it, then handcut the camo ones a wee smaller to there would be brown space showing around the edges. Of course, I used hot glue for everything. So, you can make your own simple cupcake toppers, in a hurry even, much easier than I thought and you really don't need that many supplies.

My happy 6 year old birthday boy! Unfortunately, my camera is on it's last legs and doesn't take very good 'action shots', one reason why there is a serious lack of original photos right now!

This is my story.

 

via matchbook mag

I don't typically go here, but I felt the need to share. A person that I know in *real life* has blogged a few negative posts about me lately, one post even included a photo. I defended myself only one time in a firm, yet professional way, and it did not have a good outcome.

She told me that being a blogger gives her the right to post whatever she wants about whomever she wants, and she has no idea why I would be remotely hurt since she has never actually 'said my name' in a blog post. She said I am only looking to be offended and draw attention to myself, and that I 'should have known' that the photo of me would end up on her blog. I have only said one thing to her via facebook when I asked her to remove my photo from her hurtful post about me, which I then quickly deleted, and yet she claims I keep attacking her. I have only briefly and respectfully responded to her blog post in her comments. She told me I am no longer 'welcome' to read her blog, while she freely blogs about me. I find it interesting that she is so hurt and upset over my few sentence response to her that I promptly deleted, yet she can't understand why I would be hurt by 3 whole negative blog posts about me... in which several of our mutual friends see what she writes. Logically, it just does not make any sense. Here is my ultimate point in even speaking up here:

I think bloggers have the responsibility to act ethically, and to be respectful. Just because you can, doesn't mean you should. It is one thing to post opinions and to disagree. It is one thing to express yourself. But it is entirely different to continually harp on a person, and their family... that is just plain harassment. It shows a lack of self-restraint, maturity and, friendship. This is me asking you as bloggers to please be respectful, to please treat your readers, strangers and especially your friends and family with dignity. You can still voice concerns and tell stories and opinions without hurting one another, and by using anonymous and hypothetical situations. Think about the words and actions you do and how they effect more than just yourself. Give yourself boundaries. Be nice! And really, just stop finding fault with everyone and everything around you. People would be a whole lot happier if they were less judgmental, if they didn't find fault in everything they experience. Happiness is a choice. I am choosing to move on and to ignore people or things that bring toxicity into my life, and instead fill it with those who are uplifting. Heaven knows, life is hard enough as it is. Like I told her, I'm done. I'm in a happy place. I hope she finds hers.

U Rock: DIY Pet Rock Valentine Cards

I have been seeing a ton of adorable diy Valentine's this year in the blogosphere, that I will likely show you soon. But my kindergartner's party is Friday, so I had to go ahead and make something for his class now.
 

So we headed to Micheal's to check out their V-Day offerings. They have tons of cute stamps on sale for 49 cents. We originally got a cute robot holding hearts, and a hedgehog that said "I'm stuck on you".. but the "U Rock" stamp caught my eye. So after going down aisle by aisle, I wasn't really seeing anything that was a) affordable and b) not too girly or c) had enough for each child... and I *almost* resorted to forgetting the diy thing and getting a store bought boxed set, (no offense to those who do, I still love the Strawberry Shortcake and My Little Pony ones I got as a kid), I was just determined to do something crafty. When I saw these bags of rocks, the "U Rock" stamp entered my mind and I thought, Pet Rock Valentines! Don't kids love rocks? My son was sold on the idea.

So, you need a few pieces of scrapbook paper, ink pad and a stamp (or just write the message out), hot glue and glue gun, rocks, paintbrushes and paint. I had most all of these supplies, so it was pretty easy and inexpensive to do. I tested my permanent markers on a rock, and they didn't show up well enough, so I settled for paint.

Stamp on the two outer/parallel edges of paper, then cut the paper in half. You can get about 12 cards from one large square piece of scrapbook paper. Once they are all cut out, fold in half and hot glue your rock above the stamp, and write your message inside. Perfect, original and cute for non-candy Valentines.

But...  on the rest of the Valentines, I accidentally folded the paper wrong and had already written on the backs, so I had to get creative with that extra flap.. I hot glued the Starburst on both sides and stuffed it in there for a little pocket. Just enough glue to keep it in place, so the kids will be able to still get to the candy quite easily. The rocks can be peeled off pretty easily too.

Not as cute in my opinion, but hey, they are for little kids who are going to be on the hunt for candy anyways, right?

My girl rocks have little hearts on the cheek, and my boy rocks have eyebrows. If you know the kids well though, it would be cute to make them more original with eye and hair color, glasses, freckles, or even go silly with mustaches, pirate patches, eyelashes and that sort of craziness... The two below are the ones I made for my kiddos.

If you make a Pet Rock Valentine, I'd love to see it! Happy crafting :)

 

Layla's DIY Nursery

Whitney of Miss Bella's Room is an amazing artist. We used to do craft fairs together when we had the time and lived closer, and her displays and art quality were always amazing. Her specialty is nursery art. She takes a piece of fabric, and can custom paint any kind of mural, wall letters or wall art to totally make an amazing space that matches. So, when she had her little sweet baby Layla, we knew the nursery would be beautiful!

 

I love how she made the accent mural walls flow through the room with the painted scallop trim border. I'm pretty sure the adorable turquoise chair shown above is now in this corner by the ruffled pink curtain.

She picked out the bedding fabrics and designed the set, then had the bedding custom made. The fabric looks amazing with her hand painted wall letters.

The adorable mermaid is the ultimate finishing touch.

And, while Whitney can't travel to take on mural requests, you can still contact her for custom pieces made for you, or you can get little pieces of her art through her etsy shop, Miss Bella's Room. Lots of adorable little pocket mirrors and bulk mirror packages, perfect for shop owners too!

 

Change

This isn't me, (it is the amazingly adorable Sydney from The Daybook), but this is a good representation of my belly... that has a little girl in it. Imagine, me in my home surrounded by my hubs and two boy chittlens, and now I get my little girl.

In any case, this post isn't about that. Can I say I love her outfit? Grey v-neck and jeans are all me, baby. And the fur vest. Last year, at Goodwill, I found a lovely faux fur vest. It fit me perfect, it was adorable and cute, not over the top, only $6. But I put it back thinking, "Would I ever wear this?", this was about a week before the fur vest explosion in all the fashion blogs. I got some lame-o, 'safe' skirt that I never ever, ever wear instead. Learn from my mistake. It's usually good to be safe, but some times, take a chance. Buy that $6 fur vest. Times are a changing. I'm having a girl people. Now I need that vest. I've thrown safety to the wind.

wendy's lookbook

And, if you wanna... I'm clearing out my closet, some of those 'safe' clothes, and some really cool vintage dresses and maternity clothes that I will probably never be able to wear ever again, and kid stuff and some other vintage odds and ends. I'll be listing them over the next few days, but here is my ebay page with a few vintage dresses already listed.

red and a fur vest