My 100th post and master bedroom update.

I can't believe I've written 100 blog post.  It goes by pretty quickly, and how I have managed to find 100 things to talk about is beyond me.  I'm just going to sit here and give my self a little pat on the back :)

Just when I think I'm done updating a room, I find something else I'd like to add to it. In this case, I have found a few things I've changed in my master bedroom.  

I bought a new duvet cover from Pottery Barn, I still intend on using my other one as well but it's nice to be able to change things up a bit. You may have noticed the chair I reupholstered is gone.  I listed it on Craig's list so away it went and I have a new chair on it's way, this coming week.  Can't wait to reveal.  

I'm thinking about putting up planks where the stripes are.  I loved the look of the stripes on a Pinterest picture, but have never fallen in love with it in my own bedroom.  Also you will note the dog bed in the corner that dog doesn't use.  She loves my new duvet as well.

My $4 dollar white pillow covers from Ikea got monogrammed.  I love how they turned out.  

My 16 year old bedroom set got a bit of a face lift with the help of a company named myoverlays.  I simply spray painted and glued the fancy designs on the drawer fronts.

I finally found a foo dog that didn't break the bank, and I got the recent milk glass bowl from an estate sale. For now, I'm satisfied with the look of the room, but you never know.

Estate Sale finds

     I love yard sales, flea markets, and now estate sales.  I've been to a total of two, and I must admit I do feel a little weird digging through someones home.  After all, this was someones things that they collected throughout their lives.  With that said though, I did wake up at 6:30 on a Saturday morning, instead of sleeping in, to check out an estate sale that was 20 minutes away.  The really good companies that run estate sales will post pictures of the contents beforehand, so it makes it easier to decide if it's worth the travel time. This one was worth the early rising.  

     I am slowly beginning to collect, blue willoware as well as chinoiserie, on top of the fact that I already collect ironstone and milk glass. I'm going to need a bigger house (hint, hint to the hubs).  I could tell from the pictures posted from this particular estate sale, that the former owner loved ironstone, milk glass, and chinoiserie.  No way, I could pass up this sale.  I even used the pictures posted to map out where I should go first.  The basement having the majority of the haul I was searching for.  Believe it or not, but basements and attics can yield the best treasures.  You need to be willing to dig  through what can be endless boxes of stuff, but it can be worth it.  

     Estate sale prices are generally pretty good, and I have witnessed people negotiate for a lower price or a percentage off.  What's not usually advertised by the company running it is, that the next day items tend to drop to half off.  You risk losing the item you have your eye on if you wait until the next day, but for furniture pieces that seem priced a little out of budget, it's worth going back the next day.  I scored an incredible antique bookcase/desk by going back the next day, to my very first estate sale.  

Love this serving bowl, down below.

My Lucky furniture score from my first estate sale.

Indoor herb garden

     I've wanted an indoor herb garden for sometime now, but I am not the best at remembering to water my indoor plants or my out ones for that matter. I do enjoy cooking and I do enjoy using the freshest of ingredients. Kind of seems like a no brainer for me to start with indoor herbs before raising chickens. 

     Turning to Pinterest, I've found many pictures that have motivated me to not give up on my not very green thumb and incorporate my love for milk glass. It mostly gives me a good excuse to hit the thrift more often to add to my collection. 

     Here are pictures that I found via Pinterest that I fell for. 

How great does this all look? I especially love the topiary in the middle. I think this is a great place to tuck in a table. 

I love the use of ironstone here and especially placed on a mantle. It's done so elegantly. I'm filing this idea away for when I re-do my dining room. 

Milk glass and transfer ware, just doesn't get any better than this. At least for me ;-) Once I saw this picture, I just knew I was going to attempt this in my kitchen. 

     I grabbed 2 of my milk glass vases from my last thrift store visit. I picked up 2 herb plants from the grocery store, mint for its amazing scent and cilantro because most of my recipes require it. You can probably find them in your local grocery store, in the produce section.  I placed a few small stones at the bottom, removed the plastic bottom and placed them in. Easy right? 

     At first I placed them by the window and I still might but I kept thinking about that one picture of the indoor garden on the table. I have an antique east lake table I bought years ago at Brimfield. It needs some mending and a new paint job but I'm going to live with it for a little while until inspiration strikes me. 

Here's a close up of the legs on this table.

Decorating is a sloooow process

     Decorating is something that is cultivated over time.  Sometimes a loooooong time.  It's also something that tends to change over time as our personal tastes evolve.  I can remember when my husband and I rented our townhouse over 16 years ago.  It was small, and I was into collecting bunnies.  I loved the blue and mauve color scheme from that time period, and everything had a "country primitive" vibe to it.  

     Then we bought our first house.  It was a 1920 Dutch Colonial, with a lot of charm and character but with much needed updates already in place.  My style of decor changed, and my first floor was very formal in appearance.  The second floor where the bedrooms and full bath were located was very "shabby chic". 

    That's also when I discovered my love of old furniture versus the newer stuff. There's just something about sitting at a table or on a chair that was loved and cherished previously.  I also love the endurance of time, I need kid tested furniture.  My second house is a 1929 cottage style bungalow.  When it was first built, it was set up as 2 apartments, somewhere along the way it was converted to a single family.  This house was far from my already previously done home.  In fact 7 years later, we are still remodeling, repairing, undoing and re-doing what was done before.  It fit the definition of fixer-upper, but a lot of progress has been made in that time.  

     Now, I am going from room to room and redecorating.  My focus is on one room at a time.  Taking time to look at what the needs of my family and myself are.  Paying attention to every detail, and I find myself falling in love with my home all over again. I've found Pinterest to be an invaluable tool, as well as magazines and blogs.  There are just so many creative and unique ideas out there.  

     My process is simple.  I pin everything that strikes a cord with me.  I try and keep my boards organized and in groupings.  For example, different picture arrangements, color schemes, styles of furniture, etc.  I also pin lots of finished rooms.  You never know what that "thing" will be to inspire you.  

     I showed you in one of my earlier post the inspiration behind my girl's room.   It took months for me to put the room together on Pinterest and I know it will take a long time for it to be finished, but progress is being made.  I am beginning to see all of my pins come to life, and I am so excited for the finished product.  

     In the meantime, I hit a thrift store I had never been to before.  It was just okay, but I did manage to find some goodies.  Here they are, as well as my future plans for them.

I have a great not to far off in the future project for the glass hurricane, which was a real bargain at $2.50. It's kind of a toss up between this project, which you can find out more here.

And another great glass etching project here.

 I also purchased a glass frog for flower arranging and the bag of pine cone ornaments.  I will be cutting off the gold ornament part.

     I'm not sure if I will be keeping the milk glass glasses.  Sounds kind of like a tongue tie.  I found this set of 8 in perfect condition, and found the same exact set minus 1 glass on Etsy selling for $33. My set cost a whopping $8.  That's right a buck a cup.  

Are you rolling your eyes yet at the milk glass?  I have a plan for these.  I glimpsed just a peek at this milk glass vase containing an herb.

You can follow the link here.

Okay time for me to stop blogging and get to actually doing some of these projects!  Leave a comment below and let me know what you love to pin most on Pinterest?

A little bit of gold is all I need....

Here's to a little "Midas" touch

     The next tray project I am about to show you took me all of 30 minutes to put together, and less than $20 bucks.  If you don't already own some of the items I used below expect to pay around $25.  I really think I got a lot of glam factor from this project.  As I have admitted in my last post, I LOVE TRAYS...and once I figure out how to install my little Pinterest button on my blog, you will see an entire board dedicated to just them.  

     Okay, onto the details. I purchased an unfinished wood tray from Michael's craft store for $5.99.  Actually I purchased two, but that's going to have to wait for another post.  I spray painted it white, but really you can do any color that fits your home decor. It's what I had on hand, and since it will be going in my bedroom, the white really worked best.  It takes about 10 minutes in between each coat to dry, and I gave it 2 coats.  This is definitely something you want to do outside or in a very well ventilated room. 

     Next, I decided I wanted some sort of design in the middle of the tray but I have ZERO artistic abilities, unless stick figures are considered "artistic"?  Enter one of my favorite companies (I am not sponsored by any companies, these are my opinions and preferences), called Craft Cuts.  You can find the link here.  They offer a wide range of both vinyl and wood lettering, not to mention various shapes.  I decided on a yellow oval in the middle and then a wall art/decorative end #223 in white to go on top of that.  I measured out the dimensions of the inside of the tray and then kind of guessed as to what size I wanted the vinyl cut-outs to be.  It took about a week to arrive and was around $10 dollars.  

All you need to do is peel off the backing and place it on the desired location.  The majority of the time, I just use my finger to rub it on, but at times I have used a credit card.

As you can see here, I simple placed the second design on top and gently rubbed it on and then peeled the paper away.  I did decide my tray needed a little more glamour, so I grabbed my Krylon gold leaf marker and colored the insides of the handles and the top. I  purchased this marker at Michael's a while back.  Again not terribly expensive at around $5. 

I use this tray to showcase some of my milk glass pieces that I have found of course at the thrift store. 

If I am feeling a little ambitious later on. then you should check my next post later today titled "What's for dinner"?  I have a really hot dinner recipe to share with you all.

For the love of milk..

   Collections can be big or small

      Oh how I love milk glass, really I love anything that is cherished and collected over time.  Other than having a small collection of milk glass, ironstone and a few pressboard paintings, I can't say that I really "collect".  I try and be mindful of the space that I have, which in this old house is limited.  Now if I should ever win the lottery and have a huge house, well look out, here I come!  I would most likely be featured on hoarders, but I'd like to think tastefully decorated.  In the meantime, I will just live vicariously through these beautifully arranged collections.  Leave a comment below and let me know what you would collect, if you won the lottery?

I am completely smitten with this DIY project and now I am justified in buying more of these, just for this same project.  You can find more here: http://ruffledblog.com/diy-moss-and-milkglass-centerpieces/

I'm jealous of this plate collection.  I often look in the thrift store for plates just like these but sadly I've only managed to come across 1.  It is the star of my dining room.  You can find more here: http://twosugarbabies.blogspot.com/2012/03/inspiration-milk-glass.html

I love the different shapes and sizes of this small collection.  Milk glass really lends itself in so many ways, from vintage looks to contemporary.  It's all in how you display them.  You can find more here: http://rachaelherbert.blogspot.com/2008/06/milk-glass-vases.html

     These are a few of my press board oil paintings that I have collected.  They are reasonably inexpensive (goes along with my cheap tendencies), but what I really love about them is that someone, somewhere was inspired to paint these.  I love to make up my own stories about each of them.  

You can find them on etsy, for less than $20, which I believe all of mine were.  They really give a home a unique and handcrafted look.  You won't walk into another person's house with the same artwork hanging up or in my case leaning on my bookshelves.  

This one by far is my favorite.  It makes me smile every time I look at it.  I bought it when I decorated my middle daughter's bedroom in a shabby chic style.  My little girls are brunettes, but there is something that just reminds me of when my girls were this little.  She was so excited to become a big sister, but more so because she was getting a little sister of her own.  My son on the other hand really wanted, and still wants a brother.  He hasn't accepted the fact that this "Mama" is done.  

Creating a home takes time.  Sometimes you will love the results and other times your vision will be hard to re-create.  Don't give up.  Make it an extension of you and your family, and you will always love it.  The one thing I both love and hate is that I will never really be "done".  The needs of my family changes as well as falling in and out of love with furniture and home decor.  Don't take any of it to seriously and just have fun, live comfortably is what I always say.  Nothing in my home is too precious, trust me. I once took several pictures of furniture and walls in my home that were "crayon and in one case sharpie enhanced" by my creative 2 year old.  But it's our home to be creative, make mistakes in, and just enjoy being together as a family.

Did you really just buy that?

     It's been a week already, what?  Time flies when you are having fun shopping, transforming, decorating and blogging.  This is something I've wanted to do for some time now, but kept putting it off because of well, fear.  Yep, that's right! Things like, "Will I be any good at this?" or "What will people think?", kept popping into my head.  The biggest message that I have taken away from almost every blogger out there is "just be yourself" and "you can do this". So here I am, and I'm glad that you have found yourself here as well. Do you have any dreams of your own?  Tell me about them.

     And off to Goodwill I went......

     I managed to sneak away for a few hours this afternoon and shop to my heart's delight.  Of course I didn't walk away empty handed.  Now before I show you the pictures, I have to give you some fair warning.  Some of the things you will see are best described as "ugly" or even "really ugly".  Still want to have a peek?  I always try and look past finishes and surface dirt and think of new ways I can transform something.  Sometimes it works, and other times, not so much, but I'm always glad I've tried something different.  Without further ado.......

I'll give you a break down here.  These lamps will go in my son's room on top of his dresser.  I just need to find a couple of lampshades and maybe some ribbon to spruce up the shades.  His room is on a very long list of "to do".  I should mention they were a whopping $6 each.

I really love this painting.  The frame not so much in it's current state.  There are some minor dings on the painting,  but it adds to that shabby chicness that I love.  I already have in mind what the color of the frame is going to be.  I think it will help highlight the colors in the painting. I snagged this for $12.  You will just have to keep coming back to see the transformation. 

  
Now onto the "ugly" or "really ugly".  

She's a beauty isn't she?  I don't know why I've decided this tray is a she, but it works for me at the moment.  Bright red with lots of gold polka dots.  Clearly she was a craft that went wrong.  This is a really solid tray and I loved the square cutouts all along the sides.  A little bit of paint and she should be as good as new.  My investment in this was just $4 and I'm kind of embarrassed to show you all exactly how many cans of spray paint I own.  And as if her bling wasn't enough, you should see the next picture down below. 

Are you wishing you didn't look?  I know it's all a little "gold", but I have some ideas floating around in my head.  The wall shelves came as a pair for only $4 and the frame was $3.  I'm such a big spender, I know.

I had a little fun with instagram on the next few pictures.  I love silver, I just don't love to polish it.  Again I have some ideas floating around.

I have one more photo but I'm saving that for another day, another post.  It involves my love of milk glass.  Let me know all about some of your "ugly" or "really ugly" finds that you managed to transform.