The Real Slim Shadey

A few months back, the hubs and I decided that our living room needed an update. It was a bit too neutral and needed a new hue. Ever since the addition of H2Ahhh (dontcha just love that name?) to our living room, something has just been off. For a while, I couldn't quite put my finger on it, and then it hit me. The curtains that had once complimented our oh so neutral living room, were now detracting from the new color and the new windows that were installed back in November.

For the last two months, I lived with the curtains, but they were slowly wearing me down. They needed to go. I wasn't quite sure  exactly what I was looking for, but just like I found my sweet husband, I knew that when I stumbled upon "the one" I would just know. Can you tell I'm missing him these days?

Last weekend, in search of the perfect fabric, I headed to the local fabric shop to peruse the aisles and came up with zilch. I was feeling defeated until I headed to the rear of the store to the higher end fabric that I can't really afford. And this is where I got lucky. I nearly squealed with excitement when I found "the one" for $22.99/yard and found that it was 50% off. I was sold. Hook, line and sinker. Sure $11 a yard was still a little more than I wanted to spend, but I was too head over heals in love with this fabric, I just had to have it.

I'm such a sucker for florals...

At the register checking out, Lady Luck struck again. When the cashier rang up my five yards of floral gorgeousness, I thought the total seemed a little low. What should have been around a $65 purchase was $33. I figured everything was just on super sale. It wasn't until later that I realized the cashier had only charged me for two of my five yards of fabric. Score!

Sidenote, when this happens to you, do you speak up, or just get super excited inside and pray they don't notice? My rule of thumb is:

If it's a big chain store, I get super excited inside. If it's a mom and pop shop, I speak up. 

Don't judge.

Anywho, I got the fabric home and quickly began to iron my new shades...

Yes you heard me, iron. I'm a girl that owns a sewing machine but I don't know how to sew. At all. Here is the tutorial on how to make them, and the inspiration is from Thrifty Decor Chick.

It took about three episodes of Dexter hours to make and hang my new window treatments, but I now have three gorgeous shades in our living room that cost a mere $6.20 each. Amazing! What do you think?

And for those of you that like the side by side before and after, this is for you:

Now that these shades are up, I realize how heavy looking the old curtains were. I had no idea that they were pulling down the whole room! These new shades are just what I needed to brighten up and give the living room a face lift. I just love the open and airy feel. I can't wait to accessorize the room to match the new curtains! I'm on the hunt for a new throw, and throw pillows.

What do you think? Are you a fan of shades or did your prefer the old curtains? Have you ever gotten free merchandise due to cashier error? Did you speak up or take the money and run?.

House Tour Part Two: The Downstairs Bathroom

When we toured our home for the first time, the downstairs bathroom was what stood out to us the most. It made a huge first impression on us. Good thing we don't judge a house by it's bathroom a book by it's cover because this bathroom could have had us running for dodge. Here's why:

First off, let's take a look at the wooden toilet seat and ginormous blue throne. Not only were they horrendous and 50 years old (yep, original toilet) but with a tank that large, the commode was a water guzzler. Talk about flushing money down the toilet. Do you love the 50 year old sink? It reminded me of being in a 1950's prison, or school house. I almost didn't want to wash my hands after using the bathroom...but I did, promise.

What do you think of the blue flooring? Chic? Geometric? Hideous? How about the totally fabulous vanity mirror with blinking side lights? It's all the rage in Paris. I think.

Clearly this bathroom was from a different era, an era that existed well before me and the hubs. It had to go. The problem? Redoing a bathroom from head to toe is expensive. Really expensive. Since we had just done the kitchen from top to bottom, there wasn't room in the budget to gut the bathroom. So...we worked with what we had. And here they are:

The one thing our bathroom kinda had going for itself were these vintage hand-painted tiles. They're not our style by any means, but our house is 50 years old and sometimes it's nice to pay homage to it's age. So, instead of declaring war against our middle-aged porcelain, we formed an alliance. We were going to work together to create a nice bathroom. Here's what we achieved:

One coat of paint, water efficient toilet, new pedestal sink,  simple medicine cabinet, ceramic tile floor, clean roman shade, and light fixture later, here's our brand spankin' not so new bathroom. It's still not our style, but we're so happy that we were able to create a clean, new, and notsobad bathroom for less than $500. 

The best part? We did it all ourselves! No professionals needed. Except, I would now consider the hubs a professional toilet installer- that man can rock a wax ring.

This bathroom was a major lesson to us that if you work with what you have, sometimes it can actually pay off. It's not a new bathroom, but it looks completely different and we're pretty happy with the result.

So, how about all your DIYers out there? Ever had to work with something you didn't love because you couldn't change it? How'd it work out for you?

Stay tuned for part three of our house tour when I show you the living room!

PS- Don't forget to enter my first give away! It closes on Wednesday, so hurry!

A sad, sad first...

I wanted to take a moment to show you the world's longest mirror project. By world's longest, I mean, the most annoying and tedious project ever.

Shall we continue?

I had a vision of a set of sparkling, yet subtle mirrors to replace the seashell picture in our dining room:

Pardon the image, it's the only one I could scavenge up on this computer and the main focus was the light fixture, but you get the idea of the seashell pic.

Anywho, back to my vision. What I intended was to make a super trendy and sparkly, yet classic and subtle group of mirrors as the focus on our back wall in the dining room.

I started with eight of these $3 pine mirrors from Ikea:

Not terrible on its own, but I had a plan. I would add those glass bead things that fill vases. Sorry for no pics....

Over the course of two weeks, 10ish hours, 1 bottle of white spray paint, about 60 glue sticks later, and a crippled had from gluing each.individual.bead, here's what I ended up with (click on the pics for better detail):

I have to be honest with ya- I'm feeling "eh" about them, but they'll do. This is the first project that I've completed that I'm not head over heals in love with. I think even this post lacks the usual enthusiasm I have when I complete a project. But, it's better than the seashell pic, right?

You better say yes or I'll have to whip my glue gun out on ya :)

Inspiration at the commissary

Earlier this week, I took a quick trip to the commissary- one of my favorite places ever. For those of you who are not familiar with the commissary, it's a military grocery store. But it's not just a grocery store, no, no, no. It's a grocery store where nearly everything is about 20% cheaper than your average Harris Teeter or Food Lion. Cha-ching!

Most people hate going because it's usually crowded, but I LOVE me a commissary trip. Infact, food shopping with Paul is one of my most favorite things to do. Seriously. I'm crazy about food, what can I say?

While most commissary trips are uneventful, this week's trip inspired me. Check out what my hubs spotted:

A girl walking around with a four inch binder, itemized by aisle, full of coupons. I've never seen anything like it. A-mazing. Are you green with coupon envy? I am.

I stink at coupon clipping and, to be honest, wasn't sure where to even find coupons outside of the commissary aisles. So I had to inquire as this girl was obviously an expert. If you know me, you know I have no fear in going up to a stranger and striking a conversation. Clearly, I also have no problem asking someone if I can take a photo of their coupon binder. So, faster than you can say "buy one get one free," I made a beeline to pick this coupon phenom's brain.

Here are the minutes from our interrogation convo:

-Most people use a two inch binder for their coupons, my guru uses four.
- The best way to store the coupons is in baseball card sheets.
- If you have a numbered and itemized coversheet with the aisles of your grocery store, you can number your binder to find your coupons quickly.
 - The best place to get coupons is in a Sunday newspaper and if you hit up the dollar store early, you can get the newspaper for $1 instead of $2.
- Websites for coupons include www.coupon.com, www.redplum.com, and www.smartsource.com

I am absolutely in awe and am completely inspired to make a coupon binder of my very own. So, I have to know, are you as inspired as I am or do you already have your own way to organize coupons? Are you a coupon clipper, or just suck it up and pay full price? Any other tips to share? Help a girl out!

Feelin' Groupy

After a few coats of spray paint, lots of deliberation, and a few tricks with the hammer, our grouping is up and running, err....hanging.

As a girl with a terrible handicap in choosing wall art, I would say this grouping has saved me! It was a cinch to put together and hang. For the record, I am the picture hangerer (new word) in our casita. Ask the hubs, I work a hammer, nails, and a level like no other.

Here's a bit of a closer peek:

All of the photographs are of our wedding, puppies and scenery from our trip to California . The large green print is our ketubah, which is our Jewish wedding contract. The four keys on the top are keys from each home we have lived in. Got that idea from Young House Love. See that "R?" I bought it from Etsy. It was so neat- they just sent me the digital file for a mere $2 and it's mine to print in any size I want, forever. Fooorrrevvveeerrr (Sandlot, anyone?). I'm completely digging it.

This grouping was so simple and cheap to do. With the exception of the Ketubah frame (which I practically stole from Pottery Barn for $40!!!) I already owned all of necessary items. Gotta love that! Anyone else done any amazing groupings lately? Share, share, share!!!

Cream (cheese) of the crop

Tonight I attended my monthly Officer's Spouse Club (OSC) meeting. During these meetings, we discuss  upcoming deployments, balls, meetings and other events. But, like most social gatherings, the most important aspect of our meetings is the food. Social glue if you will.

When I know I have to bring a dish, I always put a lot of thought into what to make. I try to compensate for what I lack in social grace with my developing culinary skills. In other words, I cook to impress. Unfortunately, during the week, I don't have a lot of time to devote to cooking so I end up keeping it simple. Sometimes simple works, just like tonight! I want to share my super yummy, and simple appetizer that is sure to impress every time!

Trish's Super Simple Wraps

Here's what you need (note: I usually use shrimp but I was being a cheapo and used imitation crab)

 
Mix cream cheese and 1/3ish cup of ranch (more or less to your liking )

Dice up veggies and break up crab into small bits

Follow the 5 "S's"


Splat the cream cheese spread
Spread the cream cheese spread
Sprinkle the toppings and roll up wrap

(refridgerate until firm, then )

Slice

 Serve.

Yummy, colorful delishness in every bite! What's your go to quick and easy appetizer?