Amazing Sale

I just happened to be at Walmart the other day. They always have a great clearance section and that is usually where I begin my shopping. Today, in addition to the three aisles of clearance items in the store there were also a few aisles of clearance items located in the garden center.

As I was about the leave the garden center a very nice employee directed to the far corner of the garden center and told me he had just marked down all of the flower bulbs to $0.02! What? Did I hear that right? Just two cents? AMAZING! Since he had just marked them down the selection was great.

I was able to get 32 packages of tulips, hyacinths, biris', and daffodils (there was a lot more variety too) for a total of $0.32. Yes, I said it thirty-two cents! Here is my receipt to prove it! These packages retail for around $5 each and contain between 3 to 14 bulbs in each depending on the type of flower. My yard is going to look great!

Closet Curtains

Well, this room started out with nice white painted bi-fold closet doors. For some reason my children find the need to hang on said doors and rip them from their hinges.

The day one of the doors fell over and made this huge gauge in the wall, I decided they needed to go.





Since doors were no longer an option I knew I needed to find a low cost alternative. When we first moved into our home one of the "decorations" that actually hung in this room was a bed canopy that we purchased at Ikea. Something like this without the extras.

Big surprise, this was also ripped out of the ceiling by earlier mentioned monkeys. I just couldn't bear to throw it out. I am so glad I didn't. With a little cutting and sewing I was able to make it into sheer curtains for the closet. They do not close all the way and are obviously see through but, the closet door were never closed anyway. I am also hoping it will encourage her to keep her closet neat and tidy ;)



Because it was a little too long for the opening, I draped the top and sewed into place. This also gave it a more interesting look at the top. I was able to get a tension curtain rod at my local store for about $5.00. Now, if it is pulled on the rod will come down and hopefully not ruin anything else!

Butterfly Monogram

What girls room is complete without a piece of artwork portraying her name or initial? Not mine! Because the bedspread and curtains have flowers and butterflies I knew I wanted to do something with butterflies. I saw this piece on Pinterest and found it on sale through Etsy. http://www.etsy.com/listing/79256897/free-shipping-butterfly-monogram-framed?ref=sc_2

My room redo budget would not allow me to spend over $60 on this amazing monogram. It did, however, allow me to purchase a thrift store frame for about $2.00 and borrow a butterfly punch from a great friend!



First, I drew the letter on the paper that would go into the frame and then just started hot gluing the butterflies onto it. I used the pink paint I already had and purple card stock to make the butterflies.

The Etsy one is a framed canvas and mine is just paper, so there are some quality and definite price differences. But, for my budget and tastes, this works just fine and looks great in her room!

Clip Holder

As pretty much anyone with a daughter knows, when you have a girl you accumulate a lot of certain items. Recently my daughter and I sorted through her collection of hair clips. Surprisingly, she is not as much a girly girl when in comes to hair accessories. She will wear a clip in her hair to keep it out of her eyes. Usually, by the end of the day it is barely hanging on at the ends. She has a few frilly ones and some very special ones. I was actually quite surprised at how many she actually had.

We decided that she needed a "special place" for her collection. I had seen many different types of organizers at craft shows, mom sales, Etsy, and (of course) Pinterest. I showed her a few different styles and let her choose what she wanted.

http://www.etsy.com/listing/85524808/tutu-hair-bow-holder?ref=sr_gallery_22&sref=&ga_search_submit=&ga_search_query=bow+holder&ga_view_type=gallery&ga_ship_to=US&ga_search_type=handmade&ga_facet=handmade

http://www.etsy.com/listing/81846140/boutique-style-headband-organizer-and?ref=sr_gallery_27&sref=&ga_search_submit=&ga_search_query=bow+holder&ga_view_type=gallery&ga_ship_to=US&ga_search_type=handmade&ga_facet=handmade

This is what we ended up with. A thrift store frame painted in pink. A fun fabric and ribbon. It all came together rather quickly and easily. I used this tutorial that I found online. http://www.pluckymomo.com/2011/01/guest-tutorial-hairbow-holder.html

I love it because it's pretty and functional. Also, since it is been up on the wall I have not found any stray clips laying around the house like before. Here's to hoping the novelty doesn't wear off any time soon:)

Lamp Redo

My daughter decided that she needed a lamp next to her bed so that she could read each night before she goes to sleep. She made a good point and who can argue with a girl who wants to read?

Keeping my budget in mind (little to none). I had the perfect solution. I had been holding onto the lamp that used to be in her nursery when we lived in our old house. The base was ivory with crackle paint and the shade was yellow and green.

Knowing my daughter I knew that the lamp as it was would never fly! I already had the pink paint from the desk so I decided to paint the base with that. For the shade I new she would want something frilly and girly. Because I knew the base was going to be pink I decided that the shade would look good white. I remembered a white sheet that I had recently picked up at a thrift store and got to work.

I started with rolled flowers. After a few hours, several sticks of hot glue and only about 1/8 of the shade done, I decided I needed a different approach. My next idea was ruffles. After several attempts at sewing and pulling and breaking string, I tried a third idea. Hey, third times the charm right? I'm not sure what this type of ruffle is called. I had seen it a few times in various blog posts and have done it myself before as well.

I hot glued the "ruffles" onto the shade and that was it. I love that the paint matches the rest of the room and the ruffles give it that girly feel that we were going for. She loves the lamp and so do I!

A Project

We moved into our home almost 2 1/2 years ago. There currently are only two pictures hanging on our walls. Yes, in our ENTIRE house there are only TWO pictures. Dear old hubby has a thing against holes in the wall. Since we have NO plans of moving any time in the near or distant future, I have taken a stand and have decided to DECORATE :)

I decided to start with my daughters room. She will be turning 7 this year and has the attitude of a 13 year old. I love her to pieces, but where does she get that from. Not me;) For the last 2 years she has been living in a room with a bed, a book basket, and a few stuffed animals. (we have all the kids toys in the play room and living room) Not one picture or piece of artwork adorned her walls :(

After scouring Pinterest for longer than I would like to admit, I have some ideas of what I would like to do with the room. The first thing I thought she needed was a desk. With two younger brothers she needs a quiet space to work on homework. I had the perfect desk in the basement that used to be mine and was collecting dust. I went to work sanding and painting and sanding and painting. I found some super cute knobs for a great price on ebay.

We had the primer and white paint from recently completing the play room. The pink paint that I used on the drawers was a freebie that I received in the mail. I used scrapbook paper to jazz up the inside of the drawers. I love the way it turned out. She loves the way that it turned out. I do plan on making a desk blotter for the top. It is very soft wood and after all the work that I put into it I couldn't bear to see it destroyed (again) like I did when I was a kid.

Welcome!

Welcome to my place in this world where I can restore a little reason to my life. While your here you can look forward to seeing some of the things that I do in my life to help me stay balanced. As a stay at home mom to three children ages 6 (going on 13), 4 and almost 2 year old, I crave a way to remind myself who I am. I adore being able to stay at home and raise my children! I wouldn't change that for a million dollars! Sometimes, though, it seems that a person can be swallowed up by all that being a mom entails. I enjoy creating things, trying new recipes, reading, organizing (activities and "things"). You will find a little bit of everything here. I would love to hear your comments, suggestions, or opinions. Thanks for stopping by and I hope to see you back!