Color My World Challenge Week 3: Paint

Welcome back to the Color My World Challenge.  This week we were challenged to add our new color using paint. 

My big paint project was painting a nook navy blue, but I haven't tried to "style" this area yet.  So, no good photos of this area until Thursday.  Here's a little sneak peak.

I wanted to add more navy, so I used some Rustoleum Painter's Touch spray paint in glossy navy on some accessories.

First up, was this pair of candlesticks.

I changed things up on the mantle, to incorporate the navy.

The ginger jar on the left was black, but it got a coat of navy spray paint and then I added some gold stripes.

I also had a bunch of white vases.  You can always find these at the thrift store.

I tried dipping one in the leftover paint from the niche.  I think I might experiment with this a bit more.  Stay tuned.

Stop by the other Color My World Challengers to see what they've been painting this week!

Remember to join our link party in TWO weeks to show off how you've added a new color to your home too.

Ange - The Blooming Hydrangea
Anna - A Newfound Treasure
Carmel - Our 5th House
Cassie - Primitive and Proper
Jadyn - Dutch.British.Love
Jessamie - Bird and Branch Redesign
Julia - Black Tag Diaries
Julia - Pawley's Island Posh
Kristy - Hyphen Interiors
Lisa - Shine Your Light
Lisa - Trapped in North Jersey
Maury - Life on Mars
Shaunna - Perfectly Imperfect
Shelley - Crazy Wonderful
Suzy - Saved by Suzy
Tiffany - Living Savvy
Tiffany - Worthwhile Domicile
Vashti & Jamie - Like me Some...

Spring Into Action: Week 2

I made it to the second week of the Spring Into Action Challenge!  Last week we all revealed our projects.  I chose to finally finish building shelves in this niche and to do something with the stencil.  Click here to see Week 1 if you missed it.

This week I painted over the stencil.  I used Benjamin Moore's Stunning, which is a deep navy blue.  I love it!

Once the paint was up, I worked on building the shelves.  First I measured the space and how big the pieces of wood needed to be.  I ran over to Home Depot, where my favorite employee, Dennis, cut a sheet of plywood into all of the little pieces I needed.  He also cut pieces of trim for the edges of the shelves too.   I LOVE how they will cut the wood for you.  After my little incident with the hedge trimmers and stitches, I don't want to touch a saw ever again!

I brought my pieces of wood home and painted everything glossy white.  Then I fit the pieces together in the niche.  Everything fit together so snugly, no supports were needed to hold up the shelf.

The hardest part was trying to get everything square.  It took mutiple trips up the ladder, banging the pieces into place with a mallet, climbing down to eyeball it, and then climbing back up to hammer some more.

Yes, I am a total dork.
Once I got the pieces in place, I used wood glue to glue on the trim.

I used caulk around all of the edges, painted the trim, and touched up the navy.

I still have to paint the upper wall.  I'm going to need to join another challenge to get that done!
Now, I have the most difficult part left...styling those bad boys!  Come back next week for the big reveal.

I won't be getting any work done for the next few days because we're celebrating Big K's birthday in Vegas.  Today is his actual birthday.   Happy Birthday to the best husband and father EVER! 

This was last weekend when he took us on a hike to see wild ponies.  We ended up seeing 8 wild mustangs.  It was so cool!!!

See you next week!

Check out what my fellow Spring Into Action challengers have been up to this week.
Tiffany – Living Savvy

Kerry – Design du Monde

Laurie – Traditional & Modern

Cathy – Room Rx

Carrie – Hazardous Design

Lisa – A Room with A View

Sam – The Junk House

Becca – from Gardners 2 Bergers

Jean – Flower Hill Design

Nancy – Powell & Brower Home

Linda – My Crafty Home Life

Color My World Challenge: Week 2

As you might remember, I'm participating in a challenge where a group of bloggers has been challenged to add a new color to our homes.  This week we're adding decor in our new colors.  I chose navy.

If you missed the kick-off to this challenge, you can click here to read all about it.  Remember that we're having a big link party/blog hop on the last day of the challenge where you can link up a post showing how you incorporated a new color into YOUR home.

I had picked up a brass lamp at the local Goodwill recently for $2.99.  The lamp came with this ratty old shade.

I had originally planned on just replacing the shade with a new drum-style shade and maybe embellishing it with some sort of trim.  But, then I remembered that I had some Waverly Cross Section fabric in navy left over from when I recovered an old corkboard.

Why not attempt to cover the lampshade in the fabric?  A quick trip to Pinterest and I found lots of tutorials on how to cover a lampshade.  Unfortunately, most of them only worked on a drum shade.

I ended up improvising this project and it really wasn't that hard.

1.   First I cut a piece of fabric that was a few inches larger than the shade. 

2.  Next, I sprayed spray adhesive on the shade in small sections.  I attached the fabric and smoothed out any bubbles or creases before moving on to the next section.

3.  I wanted to make a straight seam, but since the shade is angled, it worked better to make a diagonal seam.  I just folded the end of the fabric over several times and used hot glue to firmly tack it down.

4.  Finally, I folded the fabric down tightly around the top and bottom of the shade.  Again, I folded the fabric over twice so there aren't any unfinished edges and then glued it down.  This was the most difficult part.  Mainly because I kept burning myself with the glue gun.  Ugh!

In the background you can see a little sneak peak of my new wall color.

I originally planned to spray paint the lamp, maybe coral or white?  But, I like the way the brass looks against the navy blue in this inspiration photo:

Source: jillianharris.com via SaraJane on Pinterest

Do you remember Jillian Harris from The Bachelor?  I didn't know she had her own blog, did you?  She bugged me on The Bachelor, but her blog is pretty cute.
Here's my new brass lamp against my navy wall.

What do you think of the brass?  Does it bring back bad flashbacks of the 80's?

I'm happy with it considering the entire project only cost me the $2.99 I spent on the lamp.  I had all of the other materials on hand from other projects.

Stop by the other Color My World challengers to see what they've been up to this week.
Ange - The Blooming Hydrangea
Anna - A Newfound Treasure
Carmel - Our 5th House
Cassie - Primitive and Proper
Jadyn - Dutch.British.Love
Jessamie - Bird and Branch Redesign
Julia - Black Tag Diaries
Julia - Pawley's Island Posh
Kristy - Hyphen Interiors
Lisa - Shine Your Light
Lisa - Trapped in North Jersey
Maury - Life on Mars
Shaunna - Perfectly Imperfect
Shelley - Crazy Wonderful
Suzy - Saved by Suzy
Tiffany - Living Savvy
Tiffany - Worthwhile Domicile
Vashti & Jamie - Like me Some...

Come back on Thursday where I'll reveal some more navy goodness as part of the Spring Into Action Challenge.  Is it cheating that I've rolled both challenges into one?  Wait, you really don't have to answer that one!

Book Recommendations....and Las Vegas?!?!?!?

I've read a string of good books recently and the latest was no exception. 

The blurb on the cover says that this book will "delight fans of Downton Abbey."  Since I've been in Downton Abbey doldrums waiting for the next series to start sometime next year, I picked up this book.

It featured the same sort of upstairs/downstairs drama in an English manor house that's in Downton.  The main difference is that The House at Tyneford takes place during WWII, while Downton's most recent season was during WWI.

Elise Landau is an Austrian Jew whose parents send her to work in England on a domestic servant visa in the days prior to WWII.  Elise is a from a high-brow Viennese family so she doesn't fit in with the servants with whom she works at Tyneford, nor does she mingle with the upper-class family and their guests.  The story follows Elise through the war.

I'm in need of another good book.  Big K and I are heading to Las Vegas sans kids later this week. 

This is only our second trip without the kids.  I'm really excited, but I've also been a nervous wreck.  Mary's preschool teacher and her college-age daughter are staying with the kids, so everything should be fine, but I'm such a worrier that I even considered cancelling the trip last week.

Source: Uploaded by user via maidy on Pinterest

We're staying at the Wynn and we've stayed there once before.  The decor can only be described as totally over-the-top luxury.  I'll be sure to take more photos while I'm there, but this gives you an idea of what it's like.

Source: frommers.com via Tessa on Pinterest

The flowers and floor mosaics are gorgeous.

Source: pages.wynnlasvegas.com via Diana on Pinterest

It's just a teeny-tiny bit different than my cluttered, dog-fur covered bedroom at home.

Source: google.com via Caroline on Pinterest

I don't know how I'm going to put on my bathing suit after spending time at this buffet.

Source: thedailymeal.com via Gift on Pinterest

Speaking of bathing suits, I intend to spend most of my time lounging by the pool with a good book.  So if you have a "must read," let me know!

We're also going to see this show, called La Reve.  It reminds me of "O" by Cirque du Soleil, which was amazing.

Source: boxoffice.wynnlasvegas.com via Alyson Paige on Pinterest

If I'm feeling lucky, I might even play a game of black jack!

Let me know if you have any other Vegas things that we should see, do, or eat!

Challenge: Spring Into Action!

I might be crazy, but I'm participating in another challenge.  I love these challenges because they give me motivation to finish projects that I have lingering around the house.

As you might remember, I have a project from March that didn't go quite as planned.

I tried to stencil this area and build a shelf.  This is as far as I got.

For my Spring Into Action project, I intend to repaint this niche, finish building the shelves, and maybe even do a few DIY projects to style the shelves.

Back in March, I contacted a friend who is a handyman to see how much he would charge to build the shelving.  He quoted us $400, but as soon as he said "You can totally do this yourself," I politely ushered him out the door and pulled out my measuring tape. 

I found this tutorial from Vintage Revivals that doesn't look too tricky and that I actually started on in the photo above.

courtesy of Vintage Revivals

Best of all, the shelving pictured only cost $30 to build!

I like the look of bookshelves with a colored back, similar to these:

Source: emilyaclark.blogspot.com via Suzanne on Pinterest

Hmmm, that navy might fit in nicely with the Color My World Challenge (the other challenge I'm participating in right now)!

Source: simpledwellings.blogspot.com via Suzanne on Pinterest

This series will run for the next two Thursdays.  Next week we will be sharing progress on our projects.  The week after that will be the big reveal of the (hopefully) completed project.

This little challenge was dreamed up by the creative Linda of My Crafty Home Life.  There are lots of other great bloggers participating in the challenge.  I'm looking forward to checking out their blogs to see what projects they are tackling over the next few weeks. 

Here are the participants:

Tiffany – Living Savvy

Kerry – Design du Monde

Laurie – Traditional & Modern

Cathy – Room Rx

Carrie – Hazardous Design

Lisa – A Room with A View

Sam – The Junk House

Becca – from Gardners 2 Bergers

Jean – Flower Hill Design

Nancy – Powell & Brower Home

Linda – My Crafty Home Life

Color My World Challenge!

I'm so excited that today marks the kick-off of the Color My World Challenge!  This challenge was dreamed up by Jessamie of Bird and Branch Redesign.

A group of bloggers has taken the challenge to introduce a new color into our homes.  This series will be running for the next four Tuesdays.  We'll be using our new color in decor, paint, and fabric.  The final week will be a wrap up and a HUGE blog hop where you can link up a post showing how YOU added a new color to your home too.  I really hope some of you will take the challenge and link up on May 1st...mark your calendar now.

Source: threepinkdots.com via Suzanne on Pinterest

Source: centsationalgirl.com via Suzanne on Pinterest

It was a little hard for me to choose a color.  I already have tooo so many colors in my home and was wanting to go a bit more neutral.  But, I kept coming back to NAVY.

Source: veranda.com via Suzanne on Pinterest

Source: Uploaded by user via Suzanne on Pinterest

My favorite living rooms feature not just navy, but navy paired with pink.

Source: bit.ly via Suzanne on Pinterest

Source: mypinksketchbook.blogspot.com via Suzanne on Pinterest

Or navy and coral:

Source: melissahare.blogspot.com via Suzanne on Pinterest

Source: decorpad.com via Suzanne on Pinterest

Even my favorite princess is drawn to navy and coral!

Source: applesandonions.com via Suzanne on Pinterest

What looks better with navy than some warm gold and crisp white?

Source: emilyaclark.blogspot.com via Suzanne on Pinterest

I hope you'll follow along over the next few weeks as I incorporate navy (and maybe even some pink, coral, and/or gold!) into my living room.

Some of my absolute favorite bloggers are also participating in the challenge.  Stop by and see what colors they are adding to their homes.  This challenge should be fun!
Ange - The Blooming Hydrangea
Anna - A Newfound Treasure
Carmel - Our 5th House
Cassie - Primitive and Proper
Jadyn - Dutch.British.Love
Jessamie - Bird and Branch Redesign
Julia - Black Tag Diaries
Julia - Pawley's Island Posh
Kristy - Hyphen Interiors
Lisa - Shine Your Light
Lisa - Trapped in North Jersey
Maury - Life on Mars
Shaunna - Perfectly Imperfect
Shelley - Crazy Wonderful
Suzy - Saved by Suzy
Tiffany - Living Savvy
Tiffany - Worthwhile Domicile
Vashti & Jamie - Like me Some...

Couponing 101

I have been "couponing" for almost three years.  By no means am I an extreme couponer...someone who gets carts-full of groceries for pennies.  But I do average saving about 30% on my grocery bills.  Over the past three years I have drifted in and out of couponing.  When I'm diligent about couponing, I'm amazed at how much I can save.

Don't be scared to start couponing.  I'm not super organized and I don't have much extra time on my hands.  I only spend about one hour per week couponing.  On Sundays, I clip coupons from the paper.  I have two subscriptions to the paper so I can get double the coupons.  For awhile, I was crazy about printing all kinds of printable coupons and finding e-coupons, but I don't do that as much anymore.

I also used to cut almost every coupon, even if I didn't really like the product.  For example, I would clip a Tabasco coupon, knowing that we rarely use Tabasco.  I didn't want to miss a "deal." What's a deal?   If Tabasco went on sale and I could use my coupon in addition to the sale to get it for pennies, that would be a deal.  Now, I only clip coupons for products we actually like and use.  Why would I want 10 bottles of Tabasco, even if they were only 5 cents each?

Once my coupons are cut, I organize them in my coupon binder.  This is the most time-consuming part of couponing.

My coupon binder is an old three-ring binder filled with translucent sleeves that I stuff the coupons into.  It's nothing fancy.

The sections of my binder are:

Cleaning supplies/household items
Personal care items
Dairy
Deli
Food
Snacks
Drinks
Cereal
Baking supplies
Frozen foods

Each week when I organize my binder, I also throw away any coupons that are expired.  American military members living abroad are able to use expired coupons at the stores on their bases.  So, I would send my expired coupons to my friend whose husband was stationed in Germany.  But, they have since moved back to the US.  I think this is a great use for all of those expired coupons!

Did you know there are TONS of couponing websites that match up coupons with sales that are happening at your local grocery store, Target, CVS or Walgreen's? 

Becentsable is a great website that can help you locate the deals at your local stores.

Each week before I go shopping, I check my local couponing website to find the deals at my store.  I try to plan meals around what's on sale.  I usually leave my couponing binder in the car, so I have it whenever I make impromptu stops at the store.  If I'm pressed for time, I don't look at the couponing website, but I always have my binder with me in the store.  So, if I see yogurt on sale, I'll be able to quickly check if I have a coupon to make the sale even sweeter.  I use coupons on items that aren't on sale too.  If I know we need salsa or pasta, I almost always have a coupon to use.

Some of the best stores for couponing are Target and Walgreen's because they let you "stack" coupons.  This means that you can use a "store" coupon plus a "manufacturer" coupon.  If an item is on sale and then you "stack" coupons, you can usually get it for a great price.

This weekend I made two trips to Target.  Here are my receipts.

As you can see, I spent $93.64 and saved $60.44.  I also have a Target Red Card.  The card lets you save 5% on every transaction plus gives you free shipping on online purchases.

I forgot a few things, so I ran back.  Here's my second receipt.

On this trip, I spent about $7 out-of-pocket and saved $24.90!!!  Seeing receipts like these make me want to stay diligent about couponing.

While couponing is not glamourous or exciting, I LOVE to see how much I've saved and to have that money available to buy fun things.  Please feel free to ask me any questions about couponing.  I love a deal and I love to help my friends get a great deal too!

Speaking of fun purchases, I just received a 9x12 jute rug from West Elm in the mail this week.  It had been on backorder for almost a month, so I was pretty excited to unroll it in my living room.  Look what I found:

It has at least 5 places where the jute is unraveling.  I sent West Elm an email today, but I'm not sure if they will take the rug back.  It's also kind of a hassle to ship back a 9x12 rug!

I'll keep you updated.