That's My Girl

You may remember when I showed you my daughter and son-in-law's apartment last spring. Their bedroom was pretty, but not everything they hoped it would be.

That was then. This is now.All it took was purchasing a new comforter set
and pretty curtains.

I advised them to hang the curtains all the way across
behind the bed. It looks luxurious and disguises the off-set window.

Her good friend found the headboard
at the thrift store for seven dollars. A few cans of silver spray paint changed the whole appearance. They also sprayed the lamps and hardware on the nightstands
to match.
All it took was a few simple changes for this roomto go from pretty to glamorous.

A Peek

Here's a sneak peek at some of the items I'm working on for
the room with the gorgeous lamps.

And yes, I'm working on them in my driveway!
No it's not pretty,
but this time of year it's warmer out in the sun
so that's where I work.
(I know what you're thinking...
you're happy I'm not YOUR neighbor)

I Tried

Recently I saw these gorgeous lamps

at the thrift store.
I tried to talk myself out of buying them.
I told myself that they cost too much.
I reminded myself that I already have an
inventory of lamps that could rival
any lamp isle of a department store.
I pointed out that I was only
searching for shades, not the entire lamp.
I warned myself that if I put those pretty things
in my shopping cart it may become
too difficult to take them out.
And then I realized that along with
all those admonishments,
I was also designing an entire room
around those beautiful lamps.
A room that I've struggled with,
a room that needed those lamps for inspiration,
a room that would no longer feel like a cast off
because now it would contain
these beautiful jewels.
And so I rolled my cart up to the cashier
and purchased them.

An Idea to Steal

Are you an idea gatherer like I am? Are you always tearing sheets of ideas from magazines and catalogs, and printing them off the internet? Do your ideas begin to resemble piles of clutter? Or do you have the time to put those piles into little manilla folders and file them away? And then is the saying true, "Out of sight, out of mind" and you forget all about your gathered ideas?
My daughter's friend Jana shared how she managed to keep her gathered ideas neat and handy.
She buys an inexpensive binder and clear protective sheets. She labels the binder and fills the sheets with all of the ideas and inspiration she's gathered.In her December folder she includes a gift list so she can remember about the gifts she's bought and stored throughout the year, (an idea I like because I'm always remembering those gifts when it's too late).She even takes photos of cute gifts she's seen or been given so that she can refer to them for inspiration.Along with the sheets of inspiration for decorating, she inserts easy and cute gift ideas. She includes Christmas stories to read to her children. And family games to play. And activities to do.And the best thing is, it's all contained in a pretty binder so she can easily pull it out each year to be inspired by all of her gathered ideas.

It's an idea worth stealing!

My Friend

Have you met my friend Jen from Sanctuary Art?

We've never met, but I consider her my friend because we have so much in common. We both like to take old furniture, paint it, and personalize it to our home. I'm always so inspired by her creativity, and her humor.

She interviewed me for her blog.
I was so honored that she picked me for her series on Women Who Create.

Please go visit her and while you're there you can read a few tids bits about me.

A Bit Shady

One of the easiest and cheapest ways to change the look of a room is to change the lamps. You've seen me take an ugly thrift store lamp and give it new life by spray painting it. I've been known to move lamps from room to room just to switch things up. Recently I found this lamp on clearance. It was love at first sight. Look at how the simple change of a lamp and accessories gave a fresh look to a tired spot.An even cheaper way to make a change is by switching out the shades on your existing lamps. I'm always on the look out for shades on clearance and at the thrift store. Recently I was lucky enough to find two shades while thrifting. My lamps that looked like this, now look like this.Am I always lucky enough to find two matching shades? No. Sometimes it takes months. About nine months ago I found a great shade at the thrift store and used it on a lamp in my kitchen. Then last week I found a second and was sure that it's mate was waiting at home. For two dollars it was worth the risk to see if they matched and fortunately they did!I love it when small changes can make a big impact.

A Little Christmas Craft

How about a little Christmas craft today?All you need is a dozen clothespins, an embroidery hoop, wide ribbon, scrapbook paper, mod podge and a hot glue gun.Simply cut the scrapbook paper into strips wide enough to cover the top of the clothespin. Apply the paper to the pin using mod podge. If you'd like, you can sand and distress the edges of the paper.Hot glue the clothes pins onto the hoop varying the direction.
Tie on the ribbon to hang the hoop.Now you have a pretty little display for those Christmas cards that will soon be arriving in your mailbox.