Saturday, February 27, 2010

Huh? What? I won? Woo Hoo!

Just the other day I received a super sweet comment from M.O.T.B. the other day, and was invited to enter her give-a-way! So I did! This was such a fun game. She listed a whole bunch of quotes from movies, and asked us to comment and name how many we knew. I froze up...I started day dreaming...I knew one right off the bat, and it was from "The Notebook"....Ah I ♥ that movie! And after that, I won! A super pretty bracelet! See...


Isn't is pretty!

I never win anything! I'm super stoked right now! I honestly didn't expect to win. I just wanna meet new friends! So go ahead and check her out at Mom of Two Boys...by the way next to my boys :) She has the cutest ones out there :)

Have a wonderful weekend!

Thursday, February 25, 2010

Table Runner Turned Roman Shade




I have had this make-shift scrap of fabric hanging form a tension rod in my kitchen window since we bought our house last May. Frankly I have had a hard time decorating. I don't know if it is because we own this house...but the decorating is scaring me for some odd reason. Since the new year I made myself a list of things I want to accomplish...So things have been getting done. Yay me!

I recently took a trip over to "World Market" which is closing its doors, so they have lowered their prices alot! I found this awesome table runner for $10 and it had all of my colors, a nice rusty burnt orange and turquoise/aqua...I had to have it.


Here it is...



I decided to turn it into a roman shade for my kitchen window. So I made a trip to Joanns and got a Roman Shade Kit originally $19.99 but I had a 40% coupon...so $10 later , I was ready to try this for the first time...




I just followed the directions on the package, and it turned out great!


The Result!


And here is the Before.

Honestly, this wasn't a very fun project. I'm not sure I'll try it again.

Thanks for coming by....and come back later cuz there is more to come!

Tuesday, February 23, 2010

Monogram Art -Tweek



Today on my lunch break I wandered around Big Lots. Not looking for anything in particular, just browsing. And I saw this piece of art with a really pretty "L" monogrammed on it, and another separate plaque with a cute lil definition of love. for only $8. If you don't know, L is the first initial of my last name, Lueken. Mmmhmmm, that is it...nice huh? I acquired it in 2003 :) So I decided it had to come home with me...I had a plan for the little guy.


Before


After a little deconstruction...


I took out the little "love" saying.


Then after a little visit with my trusty friend "Picnik" I played around a bit and came up with this.By trial and error, and a few prints later, 4x6 index card seamed to work great!


I performed some minor surgery, and here we go! All done! It looks great, huh?
I am proud of this easy schmeasy and super cheap project, with a gorgeous look!




Here it is in its home...The enrty way.

I hope you enjoyed that...and remember to try to find potential in everything!


No Slip Dish Towel




A No Slip Dish Towel, good idea. I can't remember where i saw this, but the second I did, I knew I wanted to try it. So as I was browsing around "World Market" the other night, and spotted the perfect hand towel with matching pot holder, I might add...I got them both for $1, so I grabbed a few, and a few other things of coarse. This morning, I ran out of things to do. So I decided to whip these cute things up.


I started out with an average dish towel.

It was a little to big for what I was gonna do to it, so I folded it in 1/2 long ways, and cut down the middle.


I folded over about 1/4 inch seam. Ironed it flat of coarse.


Ran a quick straight stitch.


Nice...


Added some Velcro.


And Voila!

No more dish towel on the floor in front of the stove.

I know I disappeared for a couple days...I was workin on some major projects...They are coming up any day now...woo hoo! So check in later!

Wednesday, February 17, 2010

My Spaces-Baring It All

"HOME"


“Home is the place where it feels right to walk around without shoes” unknown

This is how I feel about my home. It is a place my family eats, sleeps, entertains, plays, and among all those, we LIVE in our home. Our home isn't a place you can't sit on the furniture. There is no room off limits (except to the baby who likes to flush things down the toilet.) Our home is full of toys, despite my organization baskets...they still seem to come out of the wood works, and overflow onto the floor. I {heart} my home. It is a wonderful place to come home to, even when after a hard day at work, I stumble over hot wheels...I love it, and with out the chaos, I wouldn't have what I have today!

Alright I think its about time, to share some of my spaces. And as you know, kids live here too. So brace your selves for the toys! lol (I know I do)


Livingroom from the front door



Livingroom looking out into courtyard...so sunny huh? its about time!



My Fireplace...one of my favorite things in the house!



Corner near front door. Recognize the lamp...I've got plans for that shade...just wait and see!



Inside the curio cabinet...posted here



Kitchen...shot of unfinished pantry...not for long!



Another shot of the kitchen....see up top, my collection of bottle and mason jars...I {heart} old glass!



Above kitchen cupboards...close-up...more bottles :)



Hopefully more to come soon! But first going to go see Brad Paisley tonight! Woo Hoo!


Tuesday, February 16, 2010

How to Install a "You Might Also Like" (Link Within Widget)

As you can see, I am pretty new to blogger and blogging. But I like it I really like it. So I wanted to make my blog a little more interesting for those of you who stop by. And of coarse I didn't want my past projects to wither away. I have noticed on others blogs, they have this cool little thing down at the bottom of each post that says "You might also like." And most of the time I click and I do like! So I wanted one of my very own.
Now let me tell you I Google everything...and I mean everything, so I go Googled, how to add"you might also like" to my blog. A lot of sites came up, and after a few, I found one that seemed super easy. LinkWithin. Just follow the steps and you'll have one too!
I hope this post could be of some help to you!

Wall Art Project



When I decide that the color of the walls in the living room should be this blueish-green I knew I didn't want to cover it up with a lot of artwork...So after brainstorming, and roaming around for inspirations...I came up with this little peek-a-boo piece. My hubby brought home a piece of plywood, and I determined the size I wanted it, he cut it, then I started to sketch out the branches and leaves, sorry no pictures of the middle, but I'm sure you can get the gist of it. With a lot of help from my hubby, all the pieces were cut out, and now it was left to me to sand the edges.


Here is a pic of the back to give you an idea of what it looked like before it was sanded and stained

After sanding it down, I chose a dark espresso stain to cover it, I love the natural look of the grain showing up darker, after a few coats I was done.


I flipped the piece over and attached some picture hanging thingys (like that)

Tada the finished product!


This was something I did awhile ago, I wanted to stay in touch while I'm working on some other things...so come back soon to see some more!

Oh and I linked up at:
DIY Day @ ASPTL





Photobucket






Monday, February 15, 2010

Upcycled Baby Food Jars, Prettyfied!




Tonight my mother in law and I just had our first craft session! How fun was that?! Best thing, is everything fell into place perfectly....awesome! So the thing is she is going to attend a ladys party, and wanted to bring a little favor along. And Just recently she stumbled upon this amazingly scrumptious(can't believe I spelled that right the first time...and it is a REAL word) recipe for homemade buttermilk dressing. food is normally not my thing, but this stuff is great and easy...especially when my hubby does it all :) So here is the recipe and following is the adorable outfits we put it in!

BUTTERMILK SALAD DRESSING
USE FOOD PROCESSOR & MIX THE
FOLLOWING ITEMS VERY FINE.

15 SALINE CRACKERS
1 Cup OF DRIED PARSLEY
1/2 Cup OF MINCED ONION (DRIED)
2 Tablespoon OF DRIED DILL WEED

NEXT GET MIXING BOWL
1/4 Cup ONION SALT
1/4 Cup GARLIC SALT
1/4 Cup ONION POWDER
1/4 Cup GARLIC POWDER

NOW POUR EVERYTHING INTO MIXING BOWL
& BLEND ALL TOGETHER. THIS IS YOUR BASE
FOR THE SALAD DRESSING.

WHEN READY TO MAKE YOUR DRESSING USE:
1 TABLESPOON OF MIX
1 CUP OF MAYO
1 CUP OF BUTTERMILK

Yummy and all natural!



so we put all the dry ingredients into 4 oz empty/washed/boiled baby food jars


made adorable little labels out of post-its and file folders, which worked perfect because of their sturdiness.


added a little frilly material cut from a $1 table runner...you'd never know it! we used a glue stick to tack the fabric in place on the lid


add a little ribbon, and they are ready to party! everything we found at the "Dollar Tree" For a total of under $10!

So the message here is? always keep some baby food jars around...they come in really handy!

Have a good night!