It's the Life

Kitchen Goodness

Thanks Mom!!

(She also got me the butter dish in the same color)

Kitchen Wish List

My desire for all new things in my kitchen started when I saw the awesome egg tray on a blog I frequent. I went on a mad search to find it and in the process found a lot of things I would love to add to my kitchen as well.

To my surprise the egg tray was at Anthropologie.  I didn't even know they carried kitchen supplies,  I just thought they were clothes and bedding. Well, it turns out, though I've never purchased anything from them in the past, I would like to purchase their entire kitchen line. Hot pads included.

The first few photos are Martha Stewart. I hope I don't ever have to buy another KitchenAid but if mine does die on it's own...I hope they still have blue.

Look What I Saw in Person!

 
It's so perfect for me. Don't you think? Look how happy we are together. 

I was birthday shopping with my mom at the Gateway when I saw it.  She wanted me to find something she could give me for my birthday gift, but she wouldn't buy me the chair.  Can you believe her?  What's $1200 for your child's birthday happieness?  Luckily, we found a couple extra super cute things a bit under the $1000 mark. 

Plan B: Partially Executed

So, I am pretty sure I am going to go with Blue for the bench.  I purchased the paint.  Here is to hoping I don't regret it!  Once I get it painted and add a couple of pillows to the bench, my entryway will be done. 

I have added a few frames to my living room wall as well as a basket for blankets/quilts.  I had the frames already, I just added the mats and the scrapbook paper images.  I think they turned out really nice and since I had the frames it cost me less than $10.

The basket is from Pier1. 

The two doors on the entertainment center were glass, so you could see the Rock Band stuff in there...not attractive. So I covered them with fabric.  This picture is at a strange angle...my walls also look grey.  They are not grey.  I'll take a better photo of this room and post it later. It's hard to get a decent picture of a room...at least it is for me. 

Help me decide

This is my entryway as of today:

I really want to change the color of my bench.  I am debating between chocolate brown or a dark peacock blue.

I, of course, would like the blue but I already have so much blue in the house that I'm not sure if I'm over doing it.  So I need help deciding.  Leave a comment and tell me what color you think I should paint the bench. 

Holiday Hangover

Now that all the Christmas decorations are down, my house looks dull, dull, dull.  This dullness started me on a quest to find chairs for my family room.  However, I was not aware just how expensive chairs can be!  Often times a chair I like cost as much as my entire couch. 

I can not tell you how badly I want this chair from ZGallerie:

Sticker Shock: $1,199.00 per chair.  I would need two of them: $2,398.00 pre tax and shipping.  Maybe just one for my bedroom? Maybe in some other life.

I also love this chair from Crate & Barrell:

It's $899 per chair. (They also have it in a mustard yellow that I really love, but not sure it would go in my house...not that it matters, because like I said...$899 per chair.)

Any chair in my price range is doll furniture...so I'm moving on.  

Here is my plan B:

I think if I just add a little bit more color and texture to my family room I will be happy.  I don't need chairs.

 

Wall Art

After my mom and I finished our regular Day-After-Thanksgiving-Shopping (we started at 3:30am this year!), we went to a few fabric stores.  I found these two fabrics that I thought would go perfectly in my bedroom.  As a bonus they were 20% off.  

I bought these wooden frames a long time ago to use in the family room of my last house, but I never got around to doing anything with them.

After I sewed the edges of the fabric, to prevent fraying, I stretched the fabric around the frames and used a staple gun to secure them to the frames. 

I like that they are really light weight, so I didn't have to put giant holes in my wall to hang them.

Art...sort of.

When I look through the scrapbook section of the craft store I find myself thinking "I wish this was fabric!" I always see such cute/beautiful patterns that I would love to use in my house. When I saw these pre-cut boards I realized I could use some of those patterns in the house.

To start I numbered the board sections. I wanted the paper to line up as if there were no break in the pattern.

I measured the squares (they were not all the same size, the lines are not cut straight) and then cut the paper.

I then numbered the square pieces so I knew where they would go on the board

 

I wanted the images to match up exactly when I put them on the board like this

Next I painted the wood, making sure I could still see the numbers.

After that I painted the Modge Podge onto the squares and attached the paper like glue.

Once all my paper squares were on the board I sanded down the edges until they were smooth. This really helped to make the paper fit exactly to the shape of the squares.

 

Usually people put a top coat of the modge podge over the entire piece.  I didn't want any kind of shine so I skipped this step.  (I'll regret that if they ever get wet)

I bought some small felt circles to put on the backs, so they don't scratch my walls. 

 

Now I just need to hang them!

Giant Clip & Ruler #2

I went to a few craft stores this week looking for supplies to make the Clip Board for Jefferson's room.  Here is what I found:

Giant Clips for $1.99 each

Wooden Board on sale for $4.80! 

The Board is a bit wider than I wanted, but not only was it under five dollars, it also has the hanging holes cut out of the back already:

 

I also found these painted wood Superhero Accessories:

I just need to paint everything and attach the clips and accessories.  Total cost: $13.77!  I'll post some pictures when it's finished.

While I was buying supplies for the clip board, I also found these on sale:

I've got an idea for something to hang above my dresser.  I have all the supplies ready to assemble for only $22.  I'll post more on that later too.

Giant Clip & Ruler

Remember how I was going to put vinyl letters under these pictures?

 

Well, the best thing I could come up with was "Jefferson's Room". So, I've moved on. 

Now I want this:

So cute. 

You can order one from Pottery Barn Kids, but it's $50 (okay, it's only $49.00).  I'm not going to spend that much money.  I'm sure I can make one myself.

The ruler part will be easy.  A piece of wood, stain and a black marker (all of which are probably sitting in my garage)...It's those giant clips. I need those giant clips!  I did a quick search online and they actually sell six inch unfinished clothespins at Oriental Trading (dot) com.

 $4.99 for a pack of three.  Score! 

I bet I can make it for under $15.

Thank you Pottery Barn for constantly giving excessively cute, equally over priced ideas! I'll let you know how it goes.