Case of The Mondays: Weekend Wrap Up

So, I went into my weekend knowing what was going on.  I had a birthday girl's night out for one of my "Besties" and I was pretty excited about it because it had a dress up theme, Jerseylicious.  Now even though I have never seen the show, I am a sucker for dressing up!  [My birthday party this year is a Nerdolution theme!]  But late on Friday night my husband dropped a little bomb on me that leaves us a little strapped for cash (I swear I have the worst luck with vehicles).  So I was unable to go out with the girls.  

To salvage my weekend I decide to work on items that I will be selling at my FIRST BOOTH!!!  I am super excited about this.  It's kind of a small venue, but I don't even care!  [I'll share the event with you soon ;)]  While planning out what I was going to be working on, I texted back and forth with another friend and found out the she needed to find a baby shower gift for someone.  So, since I absolutely LOVE to make diaper cakes, I offer my services.  So instead of being out at a club all dressed up with the girls, I spent Saturday night at my place teaching my friend how to make a diaper cake.  This made my night not such a bust, [I mean, my nights are never a bust as long as they're spent with my hubby!] but you get what I'm saying.  Plus I was able to get one cute bag made as well.

So, how did you spend your weekend?

E....X....P.R.E.S.S........Ladies NO REGRETS!

 

What I am wearing:  Cute, completely thrown together, "Business Chic"

*  Jones New York Signature blouse

*  Guess Jeans vest

*  High wasted ruffle skirt [Clearanced at Marshall's for $7...SCORE!]

*  Madden Girl sparkle heels

*  Dots assorted jewelry [Great place for cheap, cute stuff!]

* Lyrics:  "EXPRESS" by Christina Aguilera Burlesque Soundtrack

I have always known that you could dress fashionably at a low cost.  I must say that the adds for TJ Maxx where the girls claim that they are "Maxxinistas" completely inspire me!  I love them!  I love fashion and I honestly have expensive taste...but I think that even if I had the budget to buy the expensive stuff...I would still go to Marshall's and Ross.  It just means that I would buy a lot more. ;)

So my advice to you is this...DIG!  Dig through the racks and you never know what you will find.  If something looks kinda funky on the rack but you think it might have potential...try it on.  Trust me when I say that a lot of the things that I buy have been those things that look weird on the hanger.  Have fun shopping and remember, don't spend too much!  

Enjoy Your Weekend!

Timely Tuesdays: DIY Dry Erase Board

Okay, I know that I'm a little late and I'm SUPER sorry, especially since it's the first week that I'm trying to do my weekday themes.  (Not very "timely" of me)! Plus, my computer has been acting up and making things more difficult than they need to be.

Timely Tuesdays will be posts of different types of How To's that you can do in a "timely" fashion.  Pretty much, "anyone can do it" how to's.  

Today I'm going to show you how to make a Dry Erase Board using a poster frame and some fabric.  It's super easy and let's face it, much prettier than using one from your local office supply store.  And did I mention cheaper?  So let's get started!

Here is the FINAL PRODUCT!!  YAY!

So, what are your thoughts?  Does it make you wanna go make one right now?

Case of: The Mondays

So, I have decided to start making "Theme Days" for each day of the week.  I have been meaning to do this for a while and just haven't ever gotten around to it, but I'm am going to try my best to be a blogging machine!  :)

To start us out for the week, I truly do have a case of the Mondays.  I'm going back to work full time for the first time since June 24th....yes, that's right.  No, I haven't been without a job.  I am a nanny and the family that I work for was out of town for vacation for that long.  I still worked but I was pretty much on my own schedule, and while it was nice...I actually am happy to be getting back to a real schedule.  (Don't get me wrong...I'll miss all the extra sleep I was getting...I LOVE SLEEP!)  The youngest of the kids just graduated kindergarten and the oldest just graduated high school (Yes...there is a big gap there...ha ha).  I had these plans to make them each a cute little mini scrapbook as each of their graduation gifts by their graduation, but I became really busy and didn't.  So, I made them while they were out of town.  I am giving Faith's to her tomorrow and Alex's (I am ashamed to admit still needs a little work) will be given to her on Tuesday when I see her. 

So, what do you think?  Does this inspire you to give as a gift?

Best Friends' DIY Day Take Two

Today Shannon and I had our second DIY day in one week!  Can you say awesome?

Today we worked on recovering her dining room chairs (because the person who owned them before her did not take good care of them).  The current white covers were gross and stained and had obviously never been scotchguarded.  So, we picked up some burlap and went to work.

See how nasty they were?  Need a closer look?

Yay we got all the seats off!

And VOILA!

So, what do you think?  She plans to paint them a dark brown, which will look awesome with the rest of her furniture!  Did I mention that she has this amazing teal table that she painted on her own (ok, with a little help...)

Pretty awesome right?

Oh and she also has one odd man out chair that she keeps in her room because her new dining room is pretty small.  So we did something a little more fun with it.

She plans to paint this one a teal color to match the fabric!  LOVE IT!  

What cool patterns do you have in your house?

Happy decorating!

My Mailbox!

I absolutely LOVE adding new fun stuff to our decor!  Finding weird or odd things that most people wouldn't even think about adding to their living room, kitchen...etc gives me a total creative high!  

The Story of the Mailbox

So a few years ago when I was up in Iowa visiting for my youngest sister's high school graduation, I saw this mailbox and thought it was pretty cute.  Now, this was when I was in my "Shabby Chic" phase that I went through. {Don't get me wrong...I love shabby chic, but I just feel like colors are more for me.}  Anyways, it was cute to me because of how simple it was.  Lucky for me it was at my Grandparents house and they had plans to get a new one.  So, I asked if when they did if they would mind sending me their old one?  Well like I said, that was over two years ago and I was beginning to lose hope, when out of the blue I got a Facebook comment from my Mawmaw [Grandma is just what normal people call grandparents ;)  Oh and that's right, I said Facebook].  She had just sent me my mailbox!  I was super stoked and couldn't wait for it to get here!  Seriously, I couldn't wait...I kept checking the mail and even when it finally did arrive and I was able to check the mail [for my mailbox ;)] our frickin' apartment office was closed already and was even closed the next day...ugh!  

This is what it looked like when I got it

Sorry about the painter's tape.  I was already finished covering the plate when I realized that I hadn't taken a photo of it yet.... :(

This is the finished product up on the wall

I am SO happy with the outcome...I'm going to put some silk daisies in it I think.  I'll post a photo once I have it done.  

What random stuff do you have around your house?

Two best friends walk into a Hobby Lobby...

So, since this is my last week that I have some "off time", I decided to get as much stuff done as I possibly could...including spending time with my bestie, who I don't get to see too often.   We have been best friends since the 5th grade.

She, bless her heart, hasn't a creative bone in her body...or so she thinks.  So, this week we are having two DIY days!  YAY!!!!  This excites me so much, especially after the insane DIY mood that I've been in lately.  Shannon, just moved to a new place and wants help decorating it.  So, since I have been making new pillows for our living room (to be revealed later after everything is finished...)  she came out to see me to maybe do some pillows for herself.  Well, our time today was limited because she has her "Bachelorette Watching Party" on Monday nights and this week it was at her place.  

So in the 3 hours we spent together today we managed to come up with some great ideas for Wednesday's DIY day (of course I'll take photos!).  Today, since I have a sewing machine and she doesn't and I don't want to tote it around...we sewed her a cute throw pillow for her bed.  We just used burlap and cotton.  I sewed a layer of the cotton behind the burlap to keep any stuffing from escaping and then sewed on ruffles.  To me, it totally looks like something from Anthropologie, which would probably cost you an arm and a leg if you bought it from there.  Instead we spent:

 $12.57

Much cheaper than even most solid throw pillows.  

The final product of our time spent together.  (I know that the bottom photo is kinda fuzzy, sorry it was taken with a phone.)

So the next time that you're going to redecorate and want to add in some cute pillows, think about making them yourself or calling up a friend who knows how to even if you don't.

Happy DIY week!