Go to Your Room!

First, I must say, the comments yesterday, as well as the covert emails, 

were, in a word, AWESOME.

It's nice to know I'm not the only one who needs a do over!

So let's try this challenge again on Monday, shall we?

In the meantime...

Mom's move has a flurry of different things happening all at once!

You may remember my dream bedroom.

 I have a white iron bed, a basket hamper, and a white dresser.

I bought and hung new drapery rods a couple of days ago near the ceiling

 to elongate the look of my tiny windows.

 This artwork caught my eye, and it needs to be over my bed.

In other words, I need to create it a lot cheaper.

 Have you seen these?

 Frosted vessels with clear color on the inside and frosted finishes?

 The prices are daunting at $34 per hurricane,

but I have it figured out for $3.

 

I've wanted to try a hurricane with a concrete base for a while now...

And LOOK at these!

 Beautifully detailed sculptures at Target.

Sure, they're only $5.99.

I can do better.

 The first order of business was making a list of all the furniture in the room,

then measuring their footprints, sketching them it 6"=1square scale,

labeling them and cutting them out.

 I then sketched the room.

The wall at the top has a door to the right, so that's unusable space.

 To the right, the wall is all closets.

At this point, rearranging is a breeze.

Why go to all this trouble?

 It's easier to move this...

 

 ...and this...

 ...than THIS.

 Why does the room need rearranging at all?

Well, the highboy chest on chest in here is Mom's.

It's being replaced.

With what, you ask?

 Um.....this.

 300 plus pounds,

6 1/2 feet tall,

58 inches wide,

solid wood.

Salvation Army, $125!

I shall name it David Boreanaz.

What?

 There's seven drawers inside.

And a shelf.

And a cat.

And yes, a cat bed.

Hey, why not?

 Bahamian plantation details will work in my beachy room beautifully.

 I've cut a second shelf to mount so we can add bins for T-shirts.

 I'm replacing all of the hardware to something with a little sparkle.

 A charging station can be hidden on the inside for grooming supplies, which I LOVE.

I've done a few things, like the new knobs, but I'll be fully outfitting it today.

Once I figure out where to put it, the fun part begins...

hauling this behemoth up a steep, twisting

1927 staircase.

Oh, my children truly love me...

I {Heart} How Easy This Was

My family was equally pleased with the new tabletop,

and the fact that I'd found the Diablo Manual.

Geeks...

 But that's not where we're stopping.

After dinner, with the lights still glowing, I pulled out a few decorations.

 I nabbed these on clearance last year at Joanns,

but I saw something very similar at The Dollar Tree.

They're thin foam with sticker backs.

 These are foil cardstock hearts with ribbon hangers.

Duh.

 So this is a simple idea, and we'll just throw it together.

You aren't going to need complicated instructions.

 

 

 I added a couple of glittery birds from Christmas for some extra sparkle.

 Simple, and not permanent.

Me and my commitment issues.

It makes a nice, loving statement on our table, a nightly reminder

that in my house, you're loved for who you are,

no matter how weird you might be.

And speaking of trees...

 

 ...remember this little creation in the kitchen for Christmas?

I got copied!

My real life best friend, Michael Reilly of New York, a Mister Mom and aspiring chef,

fell hard for my tree and whipped up his own version!

He wasn't able to find my plastic playset cookware

 (and trust me, we were texting like maniacs trying to track it down up there),

 so he did the next best thing...he ordered his 1:12 scale dollhouse pots and pans

online, picked up a tabletop tree at Home Depot,

and raided his local dollar store for red and green beaded garland.

All in all, he spent only about $20!

The part he likes best?

The whole thing went in a plastic bag and up to the attic for next year.

Anytime you do one of our projects, send me a photo and the details!

You did the work...show off a little.

Branching Out

 I'm cleaning my room.

My mother has been storing a dresser in here, and by storing, I mean

Sam's clothes are in it.

It's moving with her though, and since it's heavy, dark, Early American

and not my style, I'm off scouring for something to take its place.

In the meantime, some stuff has got to go.

I planted these branches as an organizer for bracelets and sunglasses.

The it got moved so high, I have to jump to get a blue stretchy bangle.

You don't work here anymore. You're fired. Buh. Bye.

 My lovely icy tablescape had acquired some elements that

I know I didn't put there.

You also don't work here anymore. You're fired. Buh. Bye.

 Let's start over.

Enter my ceramic sweater vase gleaned on clearance at Target.

We'll just recycle those bare Wintery branches...

 ...and some lighted branches.

When you choose some, look for two things:

1. The fact that you can separate the branches, and

2. A flippin' clearance sticker. I'm not paying $10

 Insert the lighted branches in with the twigs.

As you bend and arrange, turn them on so you have a clear vision 

 of how it's turning out.

 Now tuck some scraps of paper in to anchor the arrangement.

 Tuck the wires out of sight, and add some black river rock to the top.

 Tweak it a little.

 

 Done!

 Add a nice crisp, simple runner...

...plus the sweater hurricanes we made a few weeks ago...

 ...and I think we're good here!

 I...um...did fold and buy these when they hit $6.

I'm weak, so weak. 

Now, let me get the rest of the dining room done.

You know that clutter in the background means I've been busy 

with fresh arrangements!

 

 Or it means I'm a crappy housekeeper.

 Let's go with genius blogger wallowing in creativity, shall we?

Please?