New Bathroom on a Budget

For today's "Do it yourself" post, I decided to revisit the bathroom project. I posted about it a year ago, so some of you will probably remember it.

This bathroom was the. ugliest. room. Like, it-made-me-shiver-every-time-I-looked-at-it ugly. I had visions of ripping out the blue tile, the blue tub, the vanity, the blue sink...pretty much everything. But, alas, the budget (and the hubby) said NO, and in no uncertain terms. So, we had to get creative.

I came to the bitter conclusion that I would have to come up with a color scheme using the blue in the tile. Because hubby was NOT about to tear out that tile. But now that it's all finished....I'll be a big girl and admit it...I LIKE the blue tile. Somehow it works.

The best part is that not many pennies were put out for the whole project. I bought a new light fixture from eBay: 30.00. A gallon of chocolate milk colored paint: 20.00. One quart of fudge colored paint for the cabinets and mirror frame: 10.00 The biggest splurge was the shower curtain (from Croscill) at 50.00. But it was worth it - it tied the whole room together.

Here was the tub area before. More ugly.

And after. It's a wonder what a little paint and a pretty shower curtain can do.

And just to show you how warped my sense of humor is....

this is the decor over the potty.

I know, I know, I'm not right. But every good decorator will tell you - you're supposed to have an element of the unexpected in each room, something surprising. Well, there's my element of the unexpected.

ANYWAY... when we moved into this house, this was the ugliest room. And now, it's one my favorites. It's the chocolate. There is power in chocolate. I just knew it. Chocolate can fix anything. Even an old hopelessly ugly bathroom.

There are TONS of other DIY projects over at A Soft Place To Land...so go forth and be inspired!

Happiness Is...

a fragrant bunch of fresh picked hydrangeas in my favorite transferware pitcher...

A fun camera to play with...

A big gooey Cinnabon with extra frosting, brought to me by a very thoughtful hubs who loves me even though I've got my share of quirkiness...

A sweet boy asleep on the porch, with his shoes on the wrong feet, pants on backwards, showing his little Thomas the Tank undies...

I'm enjoying the simple pleasures of life today.

Take the time to look around you and find some things that make you happy. It's funny how we can find so much joy in the simple things.

Vintage Headboard goes Shabby Chic!

I told ya I've been holding out for a cheap headboard...

Well, my waiting paid off! I found this Thomasville headboard on craigslist for 75.00! It is HEAVY. AS. LEAD. It wasn't bad to start with, but I knew it would be better in white...

Before I attacked it with spray paint, it was kind of a maple color:

Remember the bedroom? It was seriously lacking in the headboard department - it definitely NEEDED something...

And this one is exactly what I had in mind. WooHoo!! Perfect.

I'm SOOO happy with it, I could squeal!!

Please excuse the really bad pictures...there was an insane amount of light coming in those windows and it kinda washed out the shots. Once again, my impatience got the best of me...

I decided to participate in Kimba's Do It Yourself Day over at A Soft Place to Land. If you're needing a little inspiration, there's a goldmine of ideas over there!

Family Fun

Whew! A whole week's gone by and I haven't posted. Shame, shame. So let me tell ya what I've been up to. I've been lovin on this little guy...

We were so happy that our little nephew came all the way from Louisiana to see us! And we were also glad that he brought along the rest of his family :) We enjoyed the weekend with my brother Jeremy's family, and my Mom and Dad. Now, I wander why my Mom and Dad wanted to come...

Granna had to get her grandbaby fix. Ethan is such a sweet cuddly baby, we all 'bout smothered him.

While they were all here, we had a birthday party for Brian, who turned 6 years old. (I still can't believe how fast our kids are growin' up!)

I made Brian a space shuttle cake, since we were taking them to the Space and Rocket Center.

The cake was a lot of fun, especially when we lit up the "burners".

Here's me with the birthday boy and his little sister, Breanna. She's just precious. She's got her uncle David wrapped around her tiny little finger.

We saw lots of things at the Space Center, I kinda like this picture of the rocket.

Jeremy and Brenda rode the Space Shot...

I would have ridden it, but somebody had to stay with the kids... OK, so maybe I was a little bit chicken. :)

Jackson and Brian are practically inseparable buddies.

I love this picture of Carson stylin at the 3D theater.

And then Sunday was very special , because we had Ethan's Dedication.

And he was a perfect little angel, he just smiled up at David the whole time he was up there.

The kids all looked so cute all dressed up for Sunday, so, I thought it would be the perfect time to take some pictures of them all together.

WRONG!

They turned out pretty hilarious. Maybe in about 10 years they'll all be old enough to pose together for good picture. Carson was being a first rate grump, and the rest of them were high on something.

So that's what's been going on around here lately. We did lots of laughing, eating, swimming, eating, playing games, eating, site seeing, eating, grilling, and some more eating...

Piano Bench Redo - On the Cheap.

I finally got some smarts and decided to do something about my dilapidated piano bench. Now I'm kicking myself - why, oh why did I not do this 10 years ago?! It took all of 15 minutes, not counting the part where I ran out of staples...

The pathetic "Before" picture:

All those lovely dents and knicks in the top of the bench were made just for me, compliments of a certain 2 year old with a toy hammer... (who makes those toddler toys anyway??)

The much improved and more comfy-on-the-tooshie piano bench:

This was one super easy project. I just stapled on some padding, then stapled on the fabric (which used to be an old forsaken valance), then I hot glued some trim ( from the same afore mentioned old valance) around the edges to finish her off. Easy Peasy! I've only had this old piano for about 10 years, I declare don't know what I was thinking all those years...

Real Cowboys Water Flowers

Jackson LOVES to help with watering the plants. Hat, gun, handcuffs and all.

Not your ordinary cowboy...

Finished Object Friday - Dressed Up Dishtowels

I'm kind of a picky sort of person. You know, the kind that stands in the grocery store aisle for 10 minutes....trying to find pretty paper towels. And it doesn't stop there. It frustrates me when I can't find pretty things that will match my decor. Take dish towels, for instance. I like to hang pretty ones on my stove, just to dress it up. But obviously, dish towel manufacturers of today don't give a hoot about pretty. At least I've not been able to find any. That I could afford. I always seem to end up taking matters into my own hands.

I got me a black towel for a DOLLAR, made me a fancy ruffle out of some leftover damask fabric, and stuck a ribbon on it for good measure. Recognize the fabric? Yep. It's been around. You saw it as a rice bag, a bulletin board, and now it's dressing up a dish towel. It was just a remnant to start with. And I still have some left. I'm pretty sure I've gotten my dollar's worth out of it!

Visit the Chari Tree to see the clever things she (and others) shared this week for Finished Object Friday!

Have a Happy 4th!!

Junky Mirror Gets a Facelift...

I found this old blue mirror at a Thrift shop. I can't remember exactly, but I think I paid a dollar for it. Remember when country blue was all the rage? Well, that was a LONG time ago. It's not so cool anymore. But that doesn't mean that this little mirror is done for. Not yet. I liked the shape, and the little rose accents. Yep. I think there's hope for it.

A little white spray paint, and a little bit of chalkboard spray paint makes all the difference! And seriously, it took all of 10 minutes. I may go back and add a touch of antiquing to the frame, to bring out those cute little roses.

The tea cup holds some pieces of chalk. Gotta remember not to use that cup for coffee....

It looks right at home, huh? It will be rather interesting to see what kind of messages start showing up. You know, this could really be a cute way to post a honey do list...