Starbuck's 1/2 off happy hour!

via Starbuck's

It’s back, and a great kick off to summer weather!! Get half off any Frappuccino with Starbucks Happy Hour this May 1-10, 2014 between 3-5 pm!

Also,  Starbucks Rewards members will get an extra hour of Frappuccino Happy Hour from May 6 – 10! It’s free (and quick) to register so make sure you do.

Enjoy!

A vintage tour- our Master Bedroom

Thank you for joining me on this tour of our home. Here we are going to take a look into the room that most people never see. It's the room that is the most mysterious, the one that even your young children feel is sacred. Your guests may want to see it, they may even peek in the doorway, but they would never walk in! Silly, right? It is, after all, just a room. 

Our master started as a country blue disaster. It was wallpapered in a tiny heart pattern and covered in country blue shag carpet. No kidding, in the real estate listing, one of their selling points was "sink to your knees" carpet. Ick.

We took out the carpet and put in beautiful hardwood floors. In one afternoon I took down the popcorn ceilings and we replaced that with this gorgeous bead board ceiling. Add to that a chair rail and a coat of lovely chocolate paint (Clinton Brown HC-67 by Benjamin Moore) and you have the makings to a great master.

So, let's begin:

Overview:

 

Sitting area:

Our room isn't that large, and I am ashamed to say that this chair replaced an ironing board that was a permanent fixture in our room for the past 12 years.

I found this chair at Goodwill years ago for $5. I am pretty sure that it was also a 50% off day, but I don't want to brag:). I passed on the additional chair and the couch, and am still beating myself up over it!

 

 

Here is our 1800's dresser that we inherited from my in-laws.  

Please notice that I did not take time to declutter this dresser, this is how it looks everyday. It's functional. 

Look closer though:

Here I use an old edition of Gone With The Wind to give our mirror some height.

I also display some treasured family heirlooms. I was given a oversize set of worry beads from my Greek great-aunt, that I drape over the mirror. 

Adorned on the beads is another treasure. My great-grandma's cameo. I never met my great-grandmother Charlotte, but I am so happy to have something this lovely of hers. My daughter, Charlotte Jane, will one day inherit this beauty.

 

Here is a great example of old and new. Our bed is Pottery Barn, and I love it, although it is no longer available. Our wall lights are Ikea Arstid, $14.99. Bedding is all Target, Threshold pinch pleat duvet (pillow shown), the quilt is also Target (no longer available, found in the clearance section).

           

   

The wall scroll is a lovely estate sale find that I painted white, distressed, and stenciled with the letter M.

Of course, I have to point out the dress form, a Craigslist find. I love it, although it would be better if it was less buxom and more hippy like me! 

 

I also inherited some lovely artwork from my stepdad's side of the family. I tried finding out about the artist, they are signed, but haven't had much luck. It doesn't matter. I love them (even if they do have freakishly long and misshaped legs)! 

My stepdad also had this lamp on his desk and although most people might think it is unappealing, I had to have it! With a little fix it was good to go. 

Lastly, I have a vintage music stand, that I use as a picture holder. I must not take proper credit for this. I saw this in a Martha Stewart Living about 10+ years ago. She attached 2 frames together with hinges, and I just went for 1 (keeping it simple). 

If you'd like to see more ways to give your home a vintage feel, please head over to One King's Lane and check them out!

A small vintage tour of my home- Dining/ Playroom

As many of you know, I have a thing for vintage. Many moons ago I was a strictly Goodwill and eBay kind of gal. This opened the doors to garage sales and my favorite...estate sales. I prefer estate sales above all else because being in a persons home, seeing their personal items in their element, getting an idea of who the owner was...this is what I love. 

Estate sales also taught me a lot about what matters in decorating and gave me a lot of inspiration along the way. Through the years, because of this, my home has changed drastically. I recall when we first moved into our home, pre-children and pre-everything (marriage and dogs to name a couple), I painted our kitchen yellow. Like McDonald's "golden arch" yellow, and I bought all of the Italian vintage poster dishes and posters that was big in Pottery Barn at the time. Ugh, I HATED it. It wasn't me, it was a picture in a catalog, and surprisingly the yellow gave me stress beyond belief. 

I then came into my own as far as decorating my home, and I am at a place now where I love nearly everything in my home. I say nearly because we have acoustic popcorn ceilings and an unintentional vintage late 1970's kitchen, but those changes will come.

So, if I still have your attention, I'd like to give you a little tour of my home and how I use found vintage and antique items in everyday decorating. I am thinking this can be a series, pictures of my outdated kitchen excluded, ha!

 So, let's get started with the first room in the tour:

I am starting with this room because I just finished it. It has been a playroom for the last 8 years, and I am VERY slowly making it into a dining room. So for now it is a hybrid and that suits us as a family just fine. 

The dining room is average in size, and truthfully I have too much furniture in it. Furniture I just can't part with. I recently purchased the blue painted furniture from Craigslist, a buffet and hutch. It's 1940's and just lovely. The table is an old farm harvest table, that is soon to become a proper table with tall legs, but works now as the girl's play table. 

Oh, and that chair in the back? A Pottery Barn estate sale find. $20! 

One of my favorite things in this room, my Nana's earrings that I display in a shadowbox. I LOVE this so much, and it's easy to do with ribbon and a frame.

  

Here it is again with a thrift shop lamp, old records, and a Mary Poppins song book. 

  

Another view: the pictures sit on an Ikea shelf. 

 

 

Here is a look into the room:

Notice that I hung curtains, also Ikea, up to the ceiling in the playroom to close off any chaos that may ensue!

Opposing corner: 

Here is the hutch that matches the buffet. I adore it, but it may not be the perfect fit for this ever evolving space. Don't be surprised if you see it for sale in the future!

Atop of the hutch is our collection of Small World Dolls. These were a big hit around Christmas! 

Under the hutch is our collection of vintage Fisher-Price toys that my girls (8 and 5) still play with daily. 

Also pictured is our old school desk that my daughters complete their homework at. It's been calling at me for a coat of paint for years! 

  

This "Rock-a-bye Baby" pressed board wall art is going to be one of those things that will always have a spot in my home. I will have a hard time parting with it, I love it so! The nursery rhyme prints I bought with my late sister Mona when I was pregnant with my first (Charlotte), so I am keeping these forever as well! 

 

And the final touch is this lovely 1950's dress. I bought it at a vintage store closing because it was so beautiful. I figured maybe one day one of my daughters could wear it to a dance? But until then, it's wall art. 

 

I hope you enjoyed the first of many rooms to come in my home tour! Please leave a comment and let me know what you think. 

If you'd like to see more ways to give your home a vintage feel, please head over to One King's Lane and check them out!

Ugly outlet cover solution

I came up with this idea awhile ago, and I made mental note to put this in my "invention notebook", the one that does not exist. I keep on meaning to write down all of my genius ideas, but they are so fleeting, and I always forget:)! Anyway, this was one of those ideas.

That outlet is ugly, cream, and right in my face.

See, it may seem like nothing to most, but my counter height electrical outlets drive me nuts. I often find myself plugging in those small wall wax warmers just to stick something in them.

Then I thought, "why not a picture frame?".  I thought of using a frame with an outlet plug cover to jazz things up.

A quick trip to the Dollar Tree was in order to gather my supplies. I needed a lightweight 4x6 picture frame, lightweight and cheap!

This is what I decided on. Pretty basic.

Back view

 Next I removed the cheapo stand, a quick pull and it was gone, leaving a nice flat back.

Photo stand removed

 I then held my frame up to the wall outlet to see where I should position the outlet cover (that we all have leftover from when our babies were sticking their fingers where they shouldn't).

Position and THEN glue

 I then simply hot glued the outlet plug onto the back of the frame, and there you have it!

Add a photo!

Add a printable (I have a chalkboard "You Are My Sunshine" print in this picture)

Easily use it as a dry erase board. Just insert plain or patterned paper into the frame and use a dry erase marker in the glass!

Hope you enjoyed this easy project!