Thursday, January 27, 2011

15 custom pillows coming right up!

That's right...15! I am making 15 pillows for my window seat. I happened to be near a Joann Fabrics, which by the way, is having 50%off their home decorator fabrics RIGHT NOW (Sale ends today). I love the idea of mixing and matching so I found these solid stripes and thought they would pair up nicely with the floral type print.
I was so excited when I got home to put the materials next to the material I had previously purchased on my last trip to Joanns. I had just bought this floral print.

And oh look, had the same exact one at home...
Guess I really like that one, considering I found it, liked it, and bought it twice. Oops!

Wednesday, January 26, 2011

Big Old Windows=Impossible Finding Curtains

I have searched high and low to find curtains that fit my style and my windows! I have had absolutely NO luck. I need curtains that are 95 inches in length, so pretty long.

At one point I wanted to order custom curtains from JCP but to my surprise the quote was $1900. I only need four curtains! Whoa!

I looked at Bed, Bath and Beyond, Macy's, JCP, Lowes, and every other store that I thought sold curtains. I wanted something that looked like a million dollars without spending a million dollars (don't we all?).

On my quest for the longest curtains known to (wo)man, I started to think maybe I should make them. I am an amateur seamstress and that's being far too generous. However, I do like a challenge.

I bought a couple patterns at Joann Fabrics.

I took out the pattern and almost fell over in shock. Nope, ain't gonna happen.

I searched for a local seamstress/tailor and found one about ten minutes from my home. I brought my extra material
that I had from reupholstering my chairs and handed over the pattern.

Although I would have liked to DIY these curtains myself, I recognize my strengths and weaknesses in the DIY department and sewing these bad boys was going to weigh more heavily on the weakness side. Good news is, the pattern for the curtains I'd like in the kitchen
are easy enough to DIY so that is a challenge I'm willing to take on.

Long story short, I am currently waiting to see the end product. I won't lie, I am quite nervous about seeing what the tailor produces. Maybe I should have given him some test material first. At $40 a yard (without a sale or coupon) I'm hoping that his talents are weighing on the strength side in this DIY!

Monday, January 24, 2011

And if you thought Wal-mart was cheap then check out...

Walmart.com. Yup, Wally World online is actually cheaper than buying in the store. I was surfin' the ole net and found some pillows at Walmart.com that were on clearance for $5 each. Just to be sure that I wasn't getting ripped off was really getting a deal, I checked out the pillow aisle while doing some grocery shopping. To my surprise the pillows were priced at $10 each. Savings=$10.00

The great thing about ordering them online is that you can have them shipped directly to the store for no cost at all. If you choose the Site to store option you save on shipping and save on the price of the product. Not a bad idea, in my opinion.

I received an e-mail today informing me that my pillows had arrived and that I could pick them up right away. I hopped in my Honda quite excited to be getting a package.

I ripped open the box like it was Christmas morning and the pillows were even better than they looked online. Cozy, soft, squishy and just the right color. SCORE!

Oh, by the way, if you are looking to cover pillows with a material of your choice, it is cheaper to buy fre-fabricated pillows at this price ($5 each) and cover them with your own material than it is to buy pillow forms ($8-10 each). Save some dough my sistas!(and my brothas who buy and sew pillows).

One more "Oh, by the way...I am certainly no advocate for Walmart. I'm a business teacher, have been for six years, studied business for four years in my undergrad, two years doing my Master's and I recognize the effects of retail giant. That being said, I am a consumer on a budget and even though I'm saving there are definitely other costs to shopping there. Wow, let the passion flow Danielle.

Easy DIY projects made with scrapbook paper!

Ever wonder what else you could use your scrapbook paper for? I bought this beautiful book of scrapbooking paper and I thought how nice it would be to use some of the paper in the book around the house. The pages matched most of the palettes in my living room and I wanted to incorporate them somehow. I sought out the internet's world wide web of knowledge to find some great DIY projects that are SIMPLE!

Drum roll...

This first image is courtesy of dollarstorecrafts(dot)com. This website has great ideas that you can do yourself for merely a few dollars. I suggest you check out the site. They created this project using a frame from the dollar store, scrapbook paper in the frame, and then three door handles that they had left over from old cabinets. The door pulls can be purchased at Ocean State Job Lot for $1.00 or if you want to invest a little more, you can find them at Lowes or Home Depot.


The above framed wall art, is courtesy akadesigns(dot)com. The frames can be purchased at a local big box store or you can make the frames with molding found at your local Lowes or Home Depot. A 6-8 feet piece of molding will only run you around 5-10 dollars. They simply added the scrapbook paper to the frame and voila-WALL ART!


If you love monogramming as much as I do then you are going to love this next project. Again, a simple frame, which can be purchased at the dollar store or any store of your choice, scrapbook paper, and a letter (or letters). The letter can be purchased, made out of other scrapbook paper, or find something fun to make the letter out of, like buttons. This image is courtesy of extremepersonalmeasure(dot)com.


With Valentine's Day right around the corner, this is a nice touch for the house. You'll need a scrap piece of wood, mod-podge, scrapbook paper, ribbon, and any other embellishments you'd like to add. Simple mod-podge the scrapbook paper to the wood, then add letters to spell out anything you'd like. Again the letter can be cut from scrapbook paper or created using your imagination. Image is courtesy of lifeateventuallycottage(dot)blogspot(dot)com.


Decorative picture frames to match you motif. You'll need a frame, scrapbook paper, mod-podge, and other embellishments of your choice. This is a relatively east and cute project.


Old pickle jars, baby formula cans, green beans, you name it, you can turn that trash to treasure with scrapbook paper. Check out these DIY'ers made it happen at sweetiepumpkinnoodle(dot)com. Great way to upcycle!


Holiday decor is always a fun option. You can create and change the frames each season. This project displaying SNOW is simple, yet looks fantastic. Scrapbook paper, frames, a little bit of glue and you are on your way.

There are many projects out there that can be made quite inexpensively and with simple scrapbook paper. There are always deals at stores like Joann Fabrics that offer scrapbook paper from 40-70% off. Let your creative juices flow and if you come up with something worth sharing, please do! Good Luck!

Friday, January 21, 2011

Time well spent at Sal's Boutique...aka...Salvation Army

I've had a box of things I wanted to donate sitting by the door for a week and today I had a little spare time so I decided to drop it of at Sal's. I love to find things around the house that I no longer use and free myself of them. It makes me feel good, like I am helping others and at the same time helping myself to clean up shop around here.

Every single time I drop off goodies at Sal's, without fail, I end up treating myself to a few things (so much for cleaning up shop). I find things at Salvation Army that I think, with a little love, can find new life again. I had to have some self control though today because the pickin's were good!

I ended up purchasing two framed photos, a vase, and a small box. Three things need repurposing, so for me, that means I have new projects (on top of the old projects). That's okay though, it gives me some things to look forward to.
These pink frames have great detail and will look great when I freshen them up with a new coat of paint. The Alice in Wonderland pictures that came in the frame are pretty cool but I'm going to replace them with something more my taste-not sure yet, but I do have a few good ideas stewing (future blog post). By the way, the frames were 1.99 each.
The next item is another small project. I'm going to repurpose this box to be our new recipe box. I was going to buy one on Esty, but why buy when I can create one specific to our kitchen on the cheap. This box cost me a whopping 79 cents and by the looks of it, it was once someone else's project (notice the colors and the stars:)
The last purchase is NOT a project, it's a luxury buy. I paid 3.99 for this absolutely wonderful vase for the kitchen. I saw it and immediately threw it in the old Ames cart. It's already in the kitchen doing its thang, looking all good and whatnot.

Wasting away in Margaritaville...

After a long debate about whether or not we should have a THEMED porch, we finally decided...YES! We both absolutely love Jimmy Buffet's Margaritaville. I mean, we love everything about this place from the ambiance and decor to the food, raspberry 'ritas, music, and splashing, plunging humungo margarita that blasts off while you sit there and enjoy. So we've decided our enclosed back porch is going to be the Dziedzic/Cetnar version of Jimmy Buffet's Margaritaville! OH Baby!

Actually, just writing that last paragraph makes me long for a vacation or simply to snap my fingers and be sitting up at the bar right now as "...it's five o'clock somewhere..." plays in the background. Sighhhh...

Well, on the bright side, we will be adding a little Margaritaville that we can enjoy all the time, not just while on vacation.

Now onto the projects that I will be undertaking this winter and hopefully finish right in time for summer. I have started to purchase some wooden chairs on the cheap (only five bucks) and I am going to imitate what I've sat on many times at JBM! Take a look at the before (I've already sanded the white chipping paint), take a look at the chairs from JMB's (that I took while in New Orleans, and then wait patiently for pics as I hand paint the chairs for the Dziedzic/Cetnar porch a la Jimmy Buffet. I have no idea what that translates into. All of sudden I'm bilingual?


Picked this up in a small town while driving through...sanded it for approximately ten minutes. Still needs sanding. This chair is going to be bright RED!

Here are some examples of what's to be...I actually want to paint "Cheeseburger in Paradise" on one and "Simply Complicated" on another. I want a total of four chairs so I'll keep you posted on the other sayings.


I have very similar pictures (mine with different sayings) but I found these online to share with you. Pictures are courtesy of Flickr (stormy725).

Wednesday, January 19, 2011

Lions and tigers and bears, oh my!

Actually, there might be an antelope or moose or some other animal in there, not quite sure. Anyway, this is a funky, little wild, fun, maybe not me, but certainly worth sharing, rack (that was long and unnecessary). I found this rack while browsing some of my favorite sites.

I am pretty certain that if you like this you could make it for a fraction of the cost. After purchasing a relatively inexpensive piece of wood (your choice) and staining or painting it, head to a toy store, or your local big box store and purchase some plastic animals, using a saw, rid them of their backsides, screw in from behind the wood into the animal.

Maybe it would be cute in a little boy's bedroom or as a conversation piece in any room.

I found this rack at modcloth(dot)com. Let me know what you think!

Tuesday, January 18, 2011

Porch in progress (kind of)

Our porch is in the middle of reconstruction. Demo is over, which is great, but the porch is far from done. We were forced to stop because we live in the lovely state of NY and it's downright cold and snowy.

Here are some of the pics in progress...

We found the original columns to the house (built in 1895-that's the latest record we could find). The old columns were gorgeous and some crafty person could probably restore them, but they were too far gone for us DIYers. The columns were a fun find!
Demo of the deck that was somewhat rotten and very sloped.

This photo is the new construction of the deck. I used a post hole digger, big power tool, for the first time. Surprisingly, not as fun as it sounds. The deck is now nice and straight (and full of snow and ice due to the fact that we have no porch roof). Notice the vestibule is missing. Many friends and family members have participated in a back and forth of whether or not we should keep the vestibule or get rid of it.

Our plan for the roof was to keep it and try to freshen it up. I loved the look of the porch roof-it had beautiful scroll work. Unfortuneatly, the day we were supposed to replace the columns we discovered the roof was rotten. After tearing it off (a lot harder than I'm making it sound) and inspecting it, it was actually five roofs on top of one another (EWWW).

Friday, January 14, 2011

Random Occurrence

Whoa! All this time I've been blogging about my house and I never showed you a picture of my house. It actually looks nothing like this now, but I thought it would be a good idea to show you the before so you can anticipate the after. Keep in mind that the "after" is going to be much much after (later).

We ripped the entire porch off, which was a bummer because we had only planned on replacing the decking. We loved the roof because it had a lot of old scroll work that we will never be able to repeat (on our budget).

The house is now green as well. Green has been my favorite color since I was a child and remains to be. It's a sage color and the shutters, when we buy them, will be plum.

Oh welcome to Yuppyville.

Thursday, January 13, 2011

Meet my four legged roomies...



A lot of people I know have heard me talk frequently and even tell stories about RUBY and FANG.

There are a few things you should know...Number 1, I take my kitties very seriously. They are my children, well until I have real ones and I don't think that's weird whatsoever!

Fang is the older sister. She has an attitude or as more corny people call it, a cattitude (haha). She is my first pet and she was adopted (cough, cough, stolen, cough) from the neighbors two doors down. She is known in the house for her soft as silk hair and hissing at her youngest sister...lots and lots of hissing.

Ruby was an addition to our fam' because we thought that Fangy needed a friend. I am sad to say that we were terribly wrong. They aren't even frenemies. Ruby loves Fang but Fang just ain't having it. Ruby is like a real baby. She cries when she wants to be fed and cries when she wants to be picked up. She will even sit on her hiney and put her arms in the air when she wants to be picked up-so cute and at times annoying.

Brian and I have a weird obsession with cat nicknames. Sometimes we'll even text eachother at work when we come up with a new one.

Ruby also goes by: Ruby Tuesday's, Ruby Mini's, Minnie, Minnie Cakes, Cakes, Tuesday's, Ruby T. Minnie, Angel, Minnie McGee, Woobie, and more odd than others, Little Shrimp Boat Captain.

Fang goes by: Fangy, Fangdoodle, Witchy (which stemmed from Fangwitch), Pretty face, Snow Bunny, Fangy McDoodle, Pee pants (she has a problem-let's not go there), and Witchy Mobile then turned to Witchy Mobile Alabama.

So anyway, now you have a face to put with the name. Meow :)

The Bird's Word Update!



So as I previously mentioned in an earlier blog, I have an obsession with buying things and painting them white. Not only does the end product look cool, but it's actually a lot of fun. Well anyway, here it is! The before and after...

Monday, January 10, 2011

In love (with my new shelves)!



While browsing my favorite blog (younghouselove.com) I stumbled upon an idea that I fell in love with immediately, however I wanted to make it my own. It was a love at first sight situation that I HAD to pursue. I will admit that whenever I try anything outside of the box, I tend to question and over analyze. I figured that if the project was a complete fail that the most I had lost was $17 (screws and wood) and a little bit of time.

I contacted my dear friend (Mark) who built the window seat and radiator cover for my home. He is my go-to-guy for wood working projects (he is also the co-advisor with me for yearbook, a colleague, and like I previously mentioned my dear friend). We discussed the project and he told me that we should be able to complete the project with ease.

The very next day (filled with excitement)I ran out, purchased the materials, and headed to my Mark's. It took approximately 20 minutes to cut a groove into the shelves.

I brought the shelves home, slapped some white paint on them and then Brian (my roomie) drilled the holes and attached them to the wall.

Love at first sight, and second and third...every time I walk by I fall in love over and over again.

Here is the link to Jon and Sherry's blog )http://www.younghouselove.com/2010/07/office-progress-getting-our-art-groove-on/ where I found the idea. I liked the idea of the postcards but wanted to put my own spin on this project.


Need:
Table saw to cut grooves
(3) 1x3 pine
4 inch screws
paint or stain
Drill

For specific directions, check out Jon and Sherry's blog. I used a larger piece of wood, but you can tweak the project to suit your needs.

Monday, January 3, 2011

The Bird's the Word!


I have been buying odd things, mostly birds, to spray paint white. The new fashion, or so I've seen through my blogging research is to decorate with solid colored items. There is a website that sells birds, owls, and lots of other funky finds all in solid colors.

The first project is a bird that I found at the salvation army. Honestly, it was a little more expensive than what I wanted to spend (1.99) but I splurged! :)

You'll see a picture of the bird before...
Stop by and you can check it out after it's complete!