DoItYourself..Easy-Peasy!

    Now that you've been inspired by my last post...            

    

           I don't know about you, but used to (before I got into it) I would cringe whenever I saw or heard the term 'DIY'. Instantly images of nails and hammers and drill and saws and smashed thumbs and crooked boards would flash through my mind! And I would say ummm I don't think so! And run to the store. Then, I discovered that DIY doesn't necessarily mean a hard hat and heavy gloves,  maybe just some paint and hot glue! I love the sense of accomplishment and the rush of creativity making its way into my projects. Here are some of my favorite easy, but totally fabulous DIYs :) And no construction equipment necessary!

            This is one of the cutest DIY material I have seen in a while! Also pretty simple :) and you can put it on everything!!

Washi tape and candle holders! Oh the possibilities

Doing this on all my light covers!! Directions

        

 Who doesn't love fancy dinnerware? :)

Just like the Starbucks cups!! But inexpensive :)

Gold Mugs

Just using a paint pen and glasses!! - Just don't paint along the rim!

Make everyday containers into cute organizers!! Yay organizing!!!

Be real, just an excuse to buy the cookies haha

Instructions

Old glass bottles, with paint! 

(make sure you get paint for glass! - learned the hard way)

Folgers cans :) How To

Hot glue and material goes a long way as well! 

Material or scrapbook paper, Hot glue, and earrings or push pins on cork

(spoiler alert!) These are just shoe box lids!!

Directions

Or just use some paint to make some crafty decorations (throw some glitter on there too!)

Childrens toys turned decorations! (I have some horses I am going to try this on!)

Instructions

I love these letters - directions here!

Wooden letter, Mod Podge, LOTS of glitter, and sealer!

Make your own quotes and signs here

You can even turn old furniture into new pieces without tearing things apart :)

So expensive looking, right? Nope! Just an old door and $5 mirror from Walmart!

Such a unique look! directions

I love knobs anyway haha double useful!

potterybarn.com

Such a cute surprise! How To

Decoupage - here!

See? I told you not all DIY requires a toolbox! (a craft box maybe). All of these can be completed on a day off, and without too much effort - just a little creativity!

           

Get Inspired!

               Hey everyone! Decorating is one of my favorite things to do, and I love looking at other peoples designs to get inspired. Here are some of my favorite rooms to look at whenever I need a creative spark. 

Gypsy Style

http://www.amandakeenan.com/blog/2010/8/1/lovely-bedroom-sketches.html 

Black and white: Keeping it simple, but still so glamorous

http://www.digsdigs.com/21-black-and-white-traditional-living-rooms/

Another black and white, but with pops of color (and I love the chandelier)

Bohemian Chic, and I love the pink

 http://www.realsimple.com

Fabulously Neutral

Another neutral, I think the brick wall stands out

I'm not usually a fan of pastels, but I guess it's all in how you put them together

http://www.flickr.com/photos/gipsybazar/441046244/in/set-72157600124693607

 The dark grey, makes the purple pop!

 http://www.desiretoinspire.net

Red and Aqua: one of my favorite color combos, and homey feeling

 

The color combo is awesome, but I think it's all the little knick-knacks that make this design work

http://www.brightbazaarblog.com

Sweet and Simple workspace (I don't think I could keep it this clean though)

www.dwellingsbydevore.com

So Elegant! (and the inspiration for my bedroom in previous post)

A sweater wall!! How cozy is that?!

Such a pretty idea! If you can't light a real fire, use candles!

http://www.digsdigs.com/25-really-romantic-room-design-ideas/

 The high ceilings, exposed beams, long island, and aqua cabinets, make this my dream kitchen

Such a glamorous bathroom! 

Purple and Champagne 

Imagine with project or inspirational ideas on those clipboards..

http://homes.ninemsn.com.au/realliving/roombyroom/236516/wake-up-your-home-office-cool-new-ways-to-decorate.slideshow

Another pink Moroccan feel 

Very modern, and I love that couch

jossandmain.com

Red and Aqua combo being homey again!

Grey palette feeling very comfy cosy

http://interiors-designed.com/2013/05/31/grey-glam/

 Glamorous pinks with a vintage tub

                  I hope you are as inspired as I am! These rooms are all so different - different colors, styles, and arrangements (although I am drawn to the glamorous haha); and they each have their own little glimmer to spark your creative light. So shine bright, and share the creative love :)

Thrifty Decor (But Still Fabulous)

    Starting over has kind of been my thing for the past...well..forever haha. New cities, new apartments, new friends; and of course with all of these I have had many opportunities to redecorate! (as cheaply as possible of course). Using Craigslist, yard sales, Goodwill, random thrift stores, and DIY from Hobby Lobby and Michaels, I have managed to re-fabulize my little spaces into my own little retreats. Here are a few of my projects that have helped. And don't worry, none of them are too much actual work :).

                  My favorite room that I have decorated, would be a room and bathroom that I had full decorational reign over in Lexington, KY. When I first moved in, the room was big with light blue spongey paint everywhere! (light blue of course one of my least favorite colors) The carpet was nice, and the ceilings were high, with a tall thin window in the bedroom and one in the bathroom. There was also nice crown moulding as trim, which I loved and the bathroom was large as well!! Extra bonus, woot! I suffered through the light paint for about a month, before I could get enough money to buy the paint.

The day I moved in!

                My first decorating tip for a thrifty budget: paint can change the feel of a room, and is relatively inexpensive. If you are feeling restless or need a change, dye your hair or paint a room!  I had been wanting to do an accent wall and I love the dramatic, but still wanted homey and comfy. So I decided on dark grey paint on 3 walls and in the bathroom, which made the white trim look awesome, and then my accent wall would be a dark magenta/pink color. I had a bit of trouble deciding which wall would be the accent- I thought it should be on an open wall, without any interruptions like furniture or windows..but I still wanted to see it! So I made the wall directly across from my bed the accent. Loved it! I then added zebra sheets, a dark magenta cover for my bed, a black light blocking curtain for my window on my pink wall, and a magenta curtain for my window in the bathroom.

              Accessories are definitely my favorite thing to spend my time (not much money though) on. Since I am not good with nails, I happily discovered Command Strips. They have them for everything!! I used them with my long pink mirror, my shoe rack on my closet door, and my diy 'art' projects. Let me tell you, theses little projects were my favorites! Me and one of my friends decided to try crayon art. You buy a canvas, arrange crayons with hot glue, turn the whole thing upside down and blow dry the crayons! We did discover that you have to be careful with where you point the heat, and of how close you blow dry (hot crayon splattering everywhere is very messy!). After the colors are all drippy how you like it, you can then stencil art underneath, or make a saying: I decided on the phrase "Magic is something you make". I then hung that in my bathroom, the colors I chose being greys and pinks of course.

                          For the room, I decided to make something to help organize my time. So I made a dry erase calendar using: pink and grey paint chips, a poster frame from Walmart, dry erase and permanent markers - be careful, with which you use :). I love organization, so I was very excited about using it.

 Like this but different colors

                      The last accessory I made was with 4 cork squares that I bought unopened at a garage sale and scrapbook paper. I just hot glued the paper pretty side up to the cork board and command stripped them up! I used old earrings and tacks to hang pictures of my family and friends that I missed. Last touch!

            Over all, that room was definitely one of my most favorite fabulously thrifty redo's.

Adopting a fur child

             A couple of months ago, my new husband and I- or rather just me...good thing he loves me ;) - decided to adopt this fuzzy little thing. So cute!!!

The Honey Pot

                 She is a Pomeranian - Poodle mix, I found her online, as you can see. The poor thing was an accident! But exactly what I was looking for. She immediately became a part of our lives that there was no escaping (although I did have dreams there for a while of selling her when she would just scream all night from her cage!). With all of the potty training, no-bite training, and crying and screaming at night we are considering this practice for the day we have real children to take care of! We do love her though :). Here is a picture of her first bath: 

Such an old man!

She loved the water! Such a silly thing. 

               When I was working on the Hubby to let me get a puppy, I was spending all of my time searching online for animal shelters, puppy farms, and I even encountered an online website where they would mail you a puppy (after you paid $500 of course..definitely a scam). I made him go with me into the animal shelters not only in town, but in all of the surrounding towns as well! And some of them were pretty scary. I can honestly say that I tried to take at least one dog home at each one, thank goodness-or sadly- he is my voice of reason. I also looked at the puppy farms, there are quite a few in Minnesota, all about 5 hours away from me of course. He was very against those, not trusting the breeding and care of the dogs. They were also much more expensive. But then again he was against getting a pup from a random seller online, but look at the gem i found up there!   ^ haha

         
     
         In all of my hours of searching, I did find a gem of a website AdoptaPet.com . You can search for literally any breed, mix breed, size, or even silly name like "taco bell dog" or "lovable giant". The site searches its database of shelters and rescue groups in your area, and you can even save the search and the site will email pets to you every day!! And yes, I do still have these coming to me ;) Hubby watch out, there may be a Honey 2 coming soon! haha. But seriously, I use this site for friends as well! As soon as anyone mentions looking for a pet, I am all over it giving them dogs they could pick up right now! Such an awesome site. 

     

            Well, good luck searching to anyone out there doing there own search for their new pooch :) And please comment any other shelter searching sites out there! I would love to add them to my email list :).