Tag Archives: home

Optical Illusion — Flor Carpet Tiles

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When I began my house search last summer, I had only a few requirements on my list — 2 bedrooms, a basement and/or garage, a fenced-in yard, and wood floors. As you know, I managed to find the cutest house that successfully answered every single requirement. Japhy and Butters adore our massive fenced-in yard, I love our second bedroom as my office, our huge basement is perfect for storage and winter projects, and the wood floors are beautiful and, most importantly, easy to clean. However, those hard wood floors that I love oh so much are not great on our feet. So, when a family friend recently gave my remnant Flor tiles from her home, I couldn’t wait to use them!

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DIY Bird Feeder

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In all my life I don’t think it has taken this long for Spring to spring. Snow, sleet, and frost has tucked itself in between beautiful sunny days for weeks. It’s really not that bad but it’s definitely confused the bulbs all over my yard and the birds that spend their days flitting around my backyard.

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With warm weather in sight, I decided it is finally time to embrace Spring! What does that mean exactly? It means that my attention is turning again to my Outdoor Room. If you follow me on my Pinterest, you’ll notice that my Outdoor Wonderland board has been my main focus to plan for summer. On my constant quest to save money, I decided my first outdoor project would be a cheap one. Cheap meaning that I only spent $2.50 on the project! And that $2.50 project is DIY Bird Feeders!

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Decorating on a Budget

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The first thing on my mind when considering a potential project is the budget. How much money should reasonably be spent on this project? How much am I willing to spend? Is this project really necessary? Is there a cheaper way? Admittedly, I have been obsessed with saving money my entire life. When I was a kid, my dad and step-mom gave all the kids $100 to spend at the mall for Christmas. Their only rule was that we had to spend all the money that day. Such an easy gift that every kid loves right? Nope, I agonized over my purchases and fought with them in an effort to get away with saving the money. I was worried that I would purchase one thing only to find something better. (I always spent it all on candy in the end anyways. Being a kid is awesome.) Now, a decade later, I still have the same problem — spend or save?. As I decorate my first home on a shoestring budget, I prefer to stick with simplicity for my decor. Using books and special trinkets that I’ve collected throughout my entire life, I’ve styled my bookshelves with pieces that make me feel comfortable. I would categorize my style as eclectic.

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DIY Mosaic Resin Lamp

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My mom recently gave me this rusty, dirty lamp that had been sitting in her garage for years. During its hay day, it was displayed prominently in my mother’s living room. But, 10 years ago, it was displaced to the garage after a move into a bigger house. Rust, spiders, and other pests have had their way with it and now it’s my turn to breathe new life into this antique metal lamp.

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Luckily, it still works and all the pieces are still in tact. So, with an idea in the back of my head, I purchased spray paint, mosaic tiles, and resin. Then I got to work.

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DIY Roman Shade

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I know I talk about it a lot but I was practically signing the lease already when I saw the bay window at the front of this house. I guess you could say it was love at first sight.

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Screen shot 2012-07-21 at 11.44.30 PMThe charm, the character, the archway… I adore it. But I don’t adore the window coverings. Mini blinds and roller blinds? Fairly effective at blocking light when desired but not enough and definitely not attractive. However, it wasn’t at the top of my projects list because I thought it would be too expensive and I had no good ideas because my list of requirements was tall. Working with the obstacles (as I did a couple of weeks ago) was going to be a delicate dance. Here’s what I wanted…

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Home

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IMG_8528It’s a simple phrase that’s very important to me. Since graduating from college and moving in with David 2.5 years ago, I realized that home can be defined in many way. In most ways my home is this tiny white house that I share with David and our pets. It’s also my hometown of Springfield, MO, which also happens to be my current city, it’s my parent’s house where most of my precious memories still reside, it’s my childhood where I made my first steps. But to me, the true feeling of home exists within the company of friends and family.

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Winter Weather

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For the past six years, I have wintered in a perpetual state of snow.

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The Many Reasons Why My Grandpa Is Amazing

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When I was growing up, I was lucky enough to live only 0.5 miles down the road from my grandparents. They live on 70 acres of land that is best described as a kid’s wonderland. My mechanics-obsessed grandpa has a massive workshop filled with enough tools to make anything you could imagine. This is where I learned how to build things, how to shoot guns safely, how to make a cat dance, how to use power tools, how to nail a nail, how to saw a board, how to put a worm on a fishing hook, how to change oil, how to drive a tractor, and much more. My kid imagination was vastly endless and my grandpa was always up to any challenge. And he still is. So last week when I asked him to help me build a bench, I could barely give him the dimensions before he finished the project for me.

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Anyone Can Be a Superhero: DIY Superhero Capes

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Last week, I made and mended children’s superhero capes for a family friend. Her sons wore them everywhere as kids, one of them even suffered through a bike accident, and she requested that I make her several new capes to give as gifts. These make fantastic gifts for a two or three year old. Their imagination’s are just beginning to develop making for some excellent playtime. When I was a kid, I used anything, sheets, pillowcases, or blankets, tied around my neck to become a superhero. My inspiration came from these two well-loved capes.

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Want to learn how to make a superhero cape?

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Working with the Obstacles

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IMG_8330Sometimes I feel like I live in a jungle gym. My pets constantly race and chase each other all over the house, the yard, and the basement. No matter what the obstacle, Butters is sure to find her way under, over, and around furniture, behind doors, around corners, under shelves, and inside closets. And Japhy is not far behind. She hates losing to him but unfortunately her size typically fails her. Plus he shoots over the couch and around the corners like a greyhound. Over the weekend I decided that this HAD to stop so I rearranged my living room to completely avoid animal acrobatics.

Want to see how the room turned out?

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