Thursday, September 29, 2011

DIY tile coasters.

I was planning on making these fancy schmancy tile coasters that I saw on Pinterest to protect my $1 coffee table. I headed to Home Depot, and when I was looking at the different tiles they had, I realized they had a light blue and light green one that matched our living room colors perfectly. I picked up two of each color for $0.30 each, and reveled in the fact that the colored coasters meant much less work.

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I stopped at the Dollar Tree to pick up this pack of 36 cork pads for {big surprise} $1.

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Here’s where the geniosity kicked in {not really, it’s super simple.} Stick a piece of cork on each corner of the tile & you’ve got a super cheap coaster.

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Our last coasters were these cheapy net coaster thingies that let all the sweat from the cold glass right through to my $1 coffee table. Not helpful.

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The tile ones are much better for my new table.

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P.S. you may have noticed I have lime in my water. I always ask for lime instead of lemon in my water. It’s sooo much better! :)

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You’ll have to try it and let me know what ya think!

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Tuesday, September 27, 2011

The $1 coffee table.

So I’m back from my break. I still don’t have much time to photograph, edit, write, and post a ton of blogs, so I’ve decided that I won’t hold myself to a post every day anymore. I’ll just update when there’s something worthy of sharing or remembering, maybe an every couple days kind of thing. Cool? Cool.
For instance, this is definitely worthy of a blog post. I scored a mega deal a couple weeks ago.
Check it out. Exhibit A: solid wood coffee table…

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Guess how much it cost? I picked it up at a Salvation Army down the road from my office one morning on the way to work. I saw a sign outside that said, “Furniture: $1” It wasn’t the safest part of town, but I figured my life was definitely worth risking for $1 furniture.

I walked out with this coffee table for – yep, you guessed it – one buck!

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It was solid wood, the drawer worked, but it just had a few scratches across the top.

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The scratches were no worries. I had plans to paint it white anywho.

Now here’s where the story gets slightly comical. Okay, maybe that’s an overstatement. I am so cheap and the fact that I just scored a $1 table, didn’t make me want to spend any money on paint. I have been holding onto a gallon and a half of “Problem Solving Primer” that we used on our blood-red living room walls {see here if ya wanna see more of the madness}

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I hate to waste the paint, and we don’t have any more “problem” walls to prime, so I figured I wasn’t out anything if I tried it on the wood coffee table as primer & top coat.

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It worked. :)

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After two or three {sorry, I can’t remember exactly} coats of the white primer, I had a smooth finish.
I wanted to try to whitewash the table with some light blue paint that I had left over from my painted welcome mat. So I took some paint, a bowl of water, and a damp rag and tested my skills. Basically, I just brushed on some diluted paint and then rubbed in/off the excess paint. This left light blue streaks and more blue in the grooves of the table.

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I also lightly sanded the edges to show a little wood under the paint. I figure this way, when we accidently scratch it, it’ll just look like it’s supposed to be distressed!

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And here’s the final product!

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I pretty much like it! Especially for a dollar!

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Linked to: http://www.remodelaholic.com/2011/09/remodelaholics-anonymous-91-blog-link.html
http://www.bedifferentactnormal.com/
http://www.beneathmyheart.net/
http://thriftydecorchick.blogspot.com/2011/10/before-after-party-ghosts-in-trees.html
http://www.domestically-speaking.com/2011/10/94th-power-of-paint-party-rattan-lamps.html

Monday, September 19, 2011

Taking a break.

I’ve decided that I’m going to take a little break from blogging. I’m running on E right now from working so many hours, so I haven’t had time to really enjoy blogging. I started blogging to keep a journal of my life, share my photos with my sister who is out of state, record house updates & store recipes. Blogging and journaling is something I definitely enjoy; however, lately with how busy and bogged down I’ve been, blogging has been just another thing hovering over my head.

I have a ton of house update and projects to share, but I want to have the time to write them and enjoy the process instead of rushing to finish the post when it’s late and night & I’m wishing I could go to bed. I also am contemplating and rather heavy, sensitive post that I might share, but I want to pray about it some more. It makes me sad to have to take a break from the one “hobby” that I’ve really enjoyed, but hopefully it’ll just be a week or so.

Hang in there with me please, if ya don’t mind. I’ll be back, maybe tomorrow, maybe next month. But when I do, I’ll have a $1 coffee table remodel, a new bedroom light, diy coasters, and more to share whenever I have the time to enjoy blogging.

See ya sooner than later, I hope.

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Friday, September 16, 2011

Flight is booked.

I cannot wait.

I just booked a flight so I can actually hug this beautiful one-year-old…

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I haven’t seen her {or my sister/best friend or my brother-in-law} since April. Way too long.

I am so looking forward to hugging them. :)

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Thursday, September 15, 2011

I love pumpkins.

I’m not a big holiday decorator. I really just don’t get into it too much. I’ll dress up the place for Christmas, but other than that there’s really only one holiday/season that I actually enjoy decorating for…Fall.

It made me smile to dig out my pumpkins {which I love} and place them around our home.

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That candle & the candle on the kitchen table are coffee bean candles. I think I’ll make some more of those to display around the house.

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I also made some of my favorite “different” type of banana bread: Banana Spice Bread. Delicious & tastes like Fall. I took it to our small group on Monday & an entire loaf was devoured, and then Eugene & I took it {and pizza} to my parents’ place last night to visit with my Aunt from Texas. I forgot to bring the extra bread home, so I’m super bummed I don’t get to enjoy it more. {My mom is secretly happy I left it there!}

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I wish we could have Fall with Summer temperatures. I don’t like the cold, but I do love the Fall! Pumpkins make me smile.

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Wednesday, September 14, 2011

Tigerball.

I have some pics from the volleyball match I enjoyed a couple weeks ago. I’m just now getting around to editing & sharing them. Once school starts & Fall is around the corner, I get a huge craving for volleyball. I miss playing on this team.

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The student section does a roller coaster cheer every match…

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I love Tiger Volleyball.

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Tuesday, September 13, 2011

Pillow pizzazz.

Remember when I made these free throw pillows for our bedroom?

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Well, I thought they looked a little plain. So, I used some more fabric from Grandma Dottie’s huge collection to make another pillow and add some pizzazz to the original two. And here’s what it looks like now!

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How’s that for a little added character to the room!?

I simply free-handed the letters/symbol backwards onto the fabric, used pinking shears to cut them out & carefully used my sewing machine to sew ‘em on.

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I went for the home-made, conveniently not-perfect look. ;)

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They’re quirky, but they make me smile.

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Linked to:

Remodelholics

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