I found this vase at Hancock Fabrics on sale for $11.  I hated the color but saw the potential.

Here she is in all her 70% off glory.

 A coat of white paint

Followed by silver

Love it! I love how the silver made the details pop.

I so wish that I could show you where this vase will live but I'm adding it to my "bedroom collection" in the closet which sadly will have to wait to debut until I get the walls painted.

                                          That's all I have. Carry on!

A Christmas Tree, I mean, Geometric Shape is Born

While doing Mammoth Basement Drudgery for a serious 6 hours yesterday and accomplishing only 1/3 of one of the 5 disaster rooms, I found this amongst the mountains of crafting crap.

                                                                   and this

Which reminded me that on a recent Ross trip I found this for $2.99

It's a candle holder. I whipped out the hot glue gun and nearly burned my fingerprints off but it was all worth it when it turned out like this...

It's a geometric shape on display for now but in December, I'll call it a Christmas tree. ( ;

I like how it breaks up all the deep reds which I think I've gone overboard with in this room. But I'll figure that out later. For now, it's back to the grind. )) :

I Have Been Piddling...

.... Piddlin as my Mom says which sounds more like what my dog does when we're not looking than it does domestics. Phillip calls it "loafering". I think I'll call it the serious creative blahs. Maybe it was the little boog we had for a guest and then maybe it was the little boog leaving-- but that's another blog--. Or maybe it's the disaster in the basement that after a full days work looks absolutely no different. I refuse to let myself tackle any of my burning projects until I've completed basement drudgery.
Anyway.. I did put this here...

 By the front door.

And I found this table at Ross and put it behind the couch.

I need a little plant poof to put there too. In time....

I got these lovely vase thingys which get totally lost amongst all the TV....

A "C" for the entrance from the garage which is very confusing and dark. Do you think the "C" stands for Colvard or Connie? (( o ;

Found this picture on canvas and hung it here, above the bath.

Made this square "wreath" out of coffee filters.

Phillip joked that it looked like emergency toilet paper so I hung it here.

...By the toilet until I decide that it was indeed a total failure and

nothing like what I had in mind.

And that's it. No WOW factor. I've lost my mojo and I'm putting that blame on the basement.

 So there's only one thing left to do.

Yep.

I'm going in. 

Curtain Call

Some time ago I eluded to a shop online failure aside from the bamboo place mats.  It was these curtains.

I bought them off of eBay for a cool $20 each. They are a discontinued Waverly from JcPenny. They were probably purchased from the clearance table by an eBay-selling guru for $5 a panel so that Guru could resale to some schmuck at 4 times what they paid.
And I would be that schmuck.
Admittedly, a willing one with psychedelic eyeballs for this fabric.

So these curtains were intended as plan B for the kitchen, back when I was convinced that plan A (Pier 1 Hard Pleated Bamboo Curtain Panels) wasn't going to work. (( ;

So they arrive and may I just give a shout out to my mailman? Every time I get a package too big for the mailbox, my ultra patient, amiable mailman, walks them to my front door, rings the doorbell and waits for me to answer; which doesn't seem like a big deal unless you've seen my dogs when the doorbell rings......
I should have named them Mayhem, Pandemonium and Havoc.

My darling mailman whom between the dogs and the package in his arm, I wouldn't recognize if I stood next to  in the grocery line, politely smiles even though he has admitted he is afraid of ankle biters dogs. He sweetly extends the package that he could have merely left by the garage, with a twinkle in his eye like Santa Claus in one of those Christmas Pepsi commercials. I, by this point am holding and scolding the most vicious looking dog of the 3, kicking at the other 2, wondering why I insist on doing so much online shopping and wrangling to get my hands on said package. 
Just setting the scene as to why the following would be so depressing.

So I get these 4 dazzling panels only to discover that 3 of them are 63" and one of them is 84". I needed all four of them to be 84".

Snivel.Whimper. Cry.

Fortunately, I contacted eBay Guru and she was very apologetic, gracious and honest. She credited me back the money and told me to keep the curtains for fabric. --"Thanks, but there's only one problem with that, Guru.-- This here is a NO SEW zone."
So I got to thinking... This was a few months ago so I've had ample pondering time.
And I ended up taking the panels to a jewel of a  little lady at the fabric store who offers sewing lessons and had her split the 84" and one of the 63" down the middle so that I could treat all three windows in my wanna-be master bath.

There's clapping, two fingered whistles and "Bravo" tracks playing in my head this very moment.

Bliss.

I bought the rods on Rollback at Walmart. The short rods were $8 each and $12 for the longer one. Sew Lady charged $20 for alterations. So for $40 my spa wanna-be is getting just a little more bearable.

There's this window...a big one right by the shower...and it has this vinyl blind...well, just look...

HATE these things!

Check out the tie wraps and packing tape at the top.

It's even hanging wrong side out, which is in and of itself debatable.

There just is no right side.

Desperate.

So this is the after shot.

I put on these pinch clips so that the curtains can easily slide open and closed. (Hopefully we will remember to close when it's shower time!)

I really wasn't sure what to do about toilet's window but I like how it turned out.

The males in this house had better aim right.

And look! I  even found the perfect place for the vinyl, tie wrapped, packing taped shade....

Ross' Stores Rock!

The kids and I took a little trip today to the mall and to Ross'. Kirkland's had a sale on their storage boxes, $19.99 each, so I took two!

I promised myself that I was not going to take a picture of my new "mini living room" inside the bedroom until I was ready to address the  horrifying wallpaper but with these cute storage boxes turned coffee table, I just can't resist...so here goes...just look at the storage boxes okay? Promise???

I know. That wasn't fair. It's impossible not to see it. I don't think I've ever used the word "garish" before in my life but this wallpaper is G-A-R-I-S-H! It reminds me of beet salad....

Just dreadful...on a plate OR on a wall.

Back to the "coffee table"...this pic should be easier on the eyes...

Aren't they cute. I gave up my pantie drawer for this little living room when we moved out the dresser and moved in the couch-  I'd do it again and again. I love having the remote all to myself and I LOVE  that my schedule recordings on the DVR never get trumped by iCarly. 

Anyway for 40 bucks  I have a great place to set my coffee, The Word and a hiding place for all my crap!

Okay, this blog is proof I have A.D.D. On to the Ross finds..Check out these great candle holders...

I love the way they kind of mimic the backsplash and if you look at them closely, they kind of remind you of the hard candy that you used to find stuck together in grandma's candy dish. You know the kind--you work and pry to get it out only to realize it wasn't worth the effort.

Ahhh...the nostalgia....

 I found this groovy boat thing and while the kids played some dare game which involved spontaneous dance in the aisle and lounging on the outdoor

furniture, I found these gorgeous glass balls to snug inside.

It turns out that the kitchen table really needed a centerpiece and I won't bore you with all new pics just because I put a few balls on the table but trust me, it's really pretty and simple. I'm realizing that I really love pretty and simple which is such irony since I'm the Queen of Crap.

I've instructed the kids to point and scream at the top of their lungs like in that old movie, "Invasion of the Body Snatchers" if they see any little curious hands anywhere near these beauties. Of course they've never heard of the movie but are looking forward to the 'scream and point' bit all the same.

Aren't they so pretty - albeit totally useless?

The boat was $4.99 and the balls $5 each.

 I love Ross'!!!

Isn't It Just Romantic?

Remember this yard sale find?

Well, it finally found it's place in the world.

I can't think of any other light fixture that I would rather have here. It was meant to be.

The dining area is officially complete!
Or is it?

Bling Bling for da Mirror

I found this mirror at the Salvation Army for $8. It is very heavy. It's oak. I hate oak. I am in oak overload.
This house has
oak floors
oak cabinets
oak doors
oak windows
and oak crown moulding.
OAK.....

********BLECH!!!***********

And of course the mirror was oak.

Not why I bought it, trust me.

Also added some of those flat marbles from the floral section with liquid nails.

Oak no more... well at least for this $8 mirror. Husband does not understand why on earth I would change this mirror when it matched so perfectly. My eyes really almost got stuck like that.

My plans for my bedroom start here, with this inspiration. I plan to use silvers, grays, creams and pale light blues. I've decided to totally ignore all the obnoxious oak.
Oh, yes, remember that chair in the reflection of the mirror???    ( ;