Love is in the air

I love Valentines Day!  I love pink and hearts, so all the decor is right up my ally.  On a recent trip to Target, I had to stop by all their adorable Valentine's Day stuff and check it out.

Remember when I blogged about adding privacy film to our bathroom window?  

Well, now I've added these three cute little vases with bamboo plants!  The vases were in the dollar section (that's what I call the area right up front with toys, books, teacher supplies, and other random junk) and they were only $2.50 for the set!  Yay for cheap cuteness!

Here's a close up.  I & <3 & U.  So cute!

 Here's the bathroom with the new vases.  My hubby is going to have a hard time putting them away after February 14th.  I'm going to want to keep them there all year!

Do you decorate for Valentine's Day?  Should I add some heart printed hand towels?  Let me know!

Coffee Table

Last summer I decided I wanted to build a new padded coffee table for Audrey as she started to learn to walk.  I was inspired by a post from Kara Paslay Designs over at Young House Love.  The table was stylish, inexpensive, and didn't look too hard to make.

Instead of building the base, like Kara did, I decided to search Craigslist for an inexpensive table. And I paid $25 dollars for it!  Score!  I promptly cleaned it, took it apart with an alan wrench, and started sanding the pieces.  My wonderful hubby took over for  me, finished sanding, and painted all the pieces white, using paint we already had to re-paint closet doors and trim throughout our house.

Here is the table, taken apart

I went to Ikea to get fabric (black with white leaves), then ventured over to the as-is section and found a HUGE piece of foam for $10.  What a steal!  I then swung by Michael's on my way home and grabbed a bag of quilt batting and a can of Scotch brand spray glue with some 40% off coupons.

To make the table, I borrowed an electric turkey knife from my mother in law to cut the foam, Design on a Dime style.  (If you watch HGTV, you'll know they always use those things to cut foam!  And it works!) I sprayed the top of the table with the glue and placed the cut foam on top.  I then stretched the batting over the foam and using a staple gun, stapled it to the bottom.  I trimmed any excess batting from the bottom.  I then stretched the fabric over the top and stapled that as well.  I stapled them separate in case something were to spill on the table, I could replace the fabric without having to replace the batting, too. 

I thought about adding the tufted buttons, like Kara's table, but in the end, it was too much work.  I wanted to be done!  I added a wooden tray to the top that I had gotten years ago from Target, and a blanket to the bottom shelf for cozying up with on the couch, and called it good!

Here's the breakdown of price:
Coffee table from craigslist: $25
Foam from Ikea As-is: $10
Batting from Michales (on sale): $5.99
Scotch spray glue from Michaels (40% off): $8.40
Staple gun & staples: already owned
Sand paper and white paint: already owned
Mid-weight fabric from Ikea: $16 for 2 yards

Grand total: $65.39
Pretty good, since similar upholstered ottomans cost hundreds of dollars!  If I would have just used a coffee table we already had for the base, it would have been even less!

What do you think?  Have you tried to upholster anything?  What about modifying or updating some furniture? Do tell!

Hanging Christmas Cards

I know this post is a little too late for this year, but I saw this card holder at Pottery Barn awhile ago and have been craving it.  It was $35, and of course it's no longer available.

 

You see, I have been wondering what to do with my Christmas cards since the one I used to have burned up in flames last year.  I had made it when I was pregnant with Nathan because I never knew what to do with Christmas cards.  It was a tree that I cut out of cardboard, covered with green fleece, and glued ribbon on to make it like a photo display.  

At our annual Roomie Christmas Dinner last year, I had the card holder hanging above the buffet table in our living room with some cute, but cheap candles below it.  I had lit the candles to create a warm and inviting atmosphere for my guests.  During dinner I got up from the table and walked around to the living room to grab something (I don't even remember) and saw that the wall of cards were on fire!  It had happened so suddenly, and I started screaming "FIRE!"  All the boys jumped up from the table, threw the cards and candles out into the snow in the front yard, as all the girls were freaking out that the house could have burned down while we were enjoying Monterrey Chicken in the other room!  Sadly to say, the tree burned down, the wall turned black, and we had some fallen soldier Christmas cards.  One of my girlfriends got a little teary eyed after the whole ordeal, she was just shaken up by it all.  Of course one of the boys called her out on it, "Really, you're going to cry over some burned up Christmas cards??"  It was kinda funny!

So imagine my surprise when I checked Copy Cat Chic this morning, only to find the same card holder for sale at Pier 1 for only $10!!!!  So excited!  I may just have to snatch this one up so it will be ready for next year's slew of cards.  

 

And you might be thinking, what do I do with all these cards I save after the holidays?  Well, the photo cards go into a scrapbook that I keep of family and friends (it's fun to see how families change and evolve over the years!) and the regular cards get cut up into tags that I attach to all my gifts the next year.  Recycling! Yay!

What do you do with all of your old Christmas cards? How do you display them?

Scribd

I just joined a website where you can upload documents for free and share them with your friends!  Many other blogs I follow have been giving away calendars and posters with fun quotes on them.  I decided to join the band wagon as well and have uploaded my own!  There is a poem called "Babies Don't Keep" that I've been wanting to do something with.  Every time I look at Audrey so peacefully sleeping, I think of it.

Photo taken by Carrie O'Callaghan

Inspired by Scribd, I finally typed it up with fun colors and font and uploaded to share with you all!  Let me know if you'd rather have a word document so you can change the colors and fonts to your liking.  Maybe you have a poem you've always liked.  What is it?  Are you inspired to type it up and share it on Scribd as well?

Babies Don't Keep