Craft Corner: DIY Scrapbook Quilt

Another week, another post! I actually have lots of things to share, so expect tons of entries in the near future. I have just been too busy to blog recently: for the past two weeks I have visited relatives from out of town, started packing for the big move, tackled some major organizing projects (pictures to come!), plus celebrated two birthdays and a bachelorette party!

My fiance and I posing with my maternal grandparents!

Amanda, the bride, along with Maid of Honor Brittany and close high school friend Ashley!

A large group of friends celebrated Anna's 22nd birthday at the Power & Light District in Kansas City!

Amidst this month's hustle and bustle, I also found some time to be crafty, both on my own with a few close gal pals. Some super-cute, sophisticated, but not bank-breaking results were had by all! I didn't take any pictures during the actual crafting, but my friends made some a-maaaaa-zing canvas art by taping off their own designs and painting the sections with their chosen hues, a la this project I did a few weeks ago. It was very fun!

We also intended to make some wall art that I dreamed up (which I am terming a "scrapbook quilt"). We didn't quite have time, but here is my finished quilt to give you an idea:

I dreamed up this project after I read a Color Inspiration post on Real Simple's blog. The post featured images from Leslie Shewring's "A Creative Mint" blog. I loved the look of the print, and realized I could craft something similar using posterboard and scrapbook paper!

The process was straightforward and simple: pick out coordinating scrapbook paper, measure the poster board, and determine how many squares to cut and what size. I had a 22" by 28" poster board and ended up cutting 35 squares total, each 3.5" by 3.5". I measured out one square and used that as a template for the rest. This part is perfect for multitasking -- I watched TV as I traced and cut out all my squares!

As you can see, for my "quilt" I selected shades of pink, brown, and lime green, pulling my inspiration from the floral paper (top row, second from the left in my scrapbook quilt). Obviously you can choose whatever colors or patterns to suit your room.

I plan on hanging this unique DIY art in my office. What does everyone think? What colors would you use, and where would you hang yours?

Thrift Shopping Fever! 8 steals for only $39

As my blog should make clear, I am kind of (okay, totally) a shopaholic. Being a frequent shopper, I of course love to find deals that can save me money as I nab my goodies. After I shop for the deals, whether they're from craigslist or garage sales or retail clearances or thrift or consignment stores, I love to share my finds here. So without ado, here are my latest thrifty gems!

Stop one was a local consignment store, Sack's, with my sister and hometown bff Ashley. I got 7 great things for only $9! My finds included a pretty green decorative bowl for $1 (it looks like an ash tray, sorta, but is way too pretty to be one)

two Ball mason jars for $0.50 (I think I will use these in the kitchen somehow. I love the old glass)

a pair of metal candle holders for $4 (these are great quality, like new! The middle is a sort of bronze color that the picture doesn't really capture.)

a file holder for $1 (which I plan on repurposing to use as a cookie sheet/pan holder, much more affordable than this one from Amazon and practically the same!)

and a $2 wine rack! (I have been eying various wine racks for a while, most notably this steal from Target, but this very economical and like-new wire version ultimately won!)

All in all, the store had some great buys (as I'm sure my sister would attest to -- she got some awesome things herself.) Unfortunately the prices were so low because the shop was going out of business :( I wish I had discovered this place before it had to shut down!

So if all that was only $9, why does my post title say the total was $39? Well, I also found a great deal from my go-to furniture store, craigslist! I got an awesome behind-the-sofa (or futon, in my case) table for only $30. It's real wood with a beautiful chevron pattern on top, and is in wonderful shape. Here are some quick pics of it (excuse the piles of stuff on it...these are garage sale items that I'm hoping to get rid of next weekend!):


And here is a close-up of the chevron pattern:



All in all, I did pretty well for myself! I can already imagine these finds fitting in to my cozy apartment :) Can't wait to post before and after pics of the space!

Sale alert: AllPosters.com

Looking for some wall art that won't dent your pocketbook? I hit the jackpot earlier this week when I discovered the Clearance Sale going on at AllPosters.com! As I browsed the super-sale (9 x 13 prints as low as $1.98!) I found some cool vintage travel prints that struck my fancy. As you might recall from an early decor post, I bought this retro "Greetings from Missoula!" print from Art.com.


Since then, I decided that it might be fun to have a loose "travel" theme in the dining area, so that I could justify bringing along some favorites from my expansive snow globe collection [this is only half of it...]:

The vintage travel prints that I found fit perfectly with the theme and go well with the Missoula art! As I said, the All Posters sale is amaaaazing. I got four 9 x 13 prints for $19.08, including all taxes and shipping. At the original prices, I would have spent $67.92, putting my savings at $48.84! Here's what I got:

Check out the All Posters sale ASAP! Maybe you will find some great steals as well! Another money-saving tip: I always google for coupons before I buy online...you're likely to find a code that works, and some retailers (not All Posters, sadly) allow multiple coupons to be applied to your order!

Another Wednesday, another wish list!

This week's Wednesday wish-list will probably be followed up quickly with another post -- I've been doing some major organizing and thrifting this week, plus I am having a craft night tomorrow with some friends, and I want to share! But I am still excited to share my weekly wishes, which are all loosely connected in that they're items that would fit quite well in our office!

1. Organizing Essentials Craft Cart from Joann's. Ahhhhhh, I love this! I enjoy scrapbooking and I love keeping my supplies organized, so how could I not love it? The top drawers are slimmer, the middle ones are divided into compartments for stashing decorative doo-dads, and the bottom ones have lids so that you can tote your scrapbook paper to other rooms! Right now it is 50% off, but since my organization station for my scrapbooking supplies is alright for the moment, this is not a must-have!

2. Dry Erase Board Decal from Simple Shapes' Etsy Shop. As an organizing freak, I am also a big fan of calendars and to-do-lists and the like. I love that you can customize the colors of the weekdays and the year. It also comes with the numerals for 2011 and 2012, so you can use the calendar for more than just a year! It might be a little hard to write on the squares, though, especially if you have to add more events. I don't like writing on things mounted to the wall (it makes my wrists hurt!) and it would be annoying to take the squares off every time.

3. African Suns Printed Rug from Urban Outfitters. As you can tell from my living room and dining room decor, I'm definitely not afraid of splashes of color. This beautiful rug would look great in the office because it integrates colors from other rooms (I really love the spicy orange color, obviously!) which is important since the carpet and walls in our new place are all a boring white. I can't splurge on this yet, but I hope it goes on sale in the future!

4. Satin Finish A to Z bookends, Barnes and Noble. I've been eying these cuties for a while. I sort of have a thing for letters of the alphabet -- I collect various letters and am planning on tucking them throughout my home! These are a bit too much for my tastes ($50), but again, I'll look for them to go on sale (or find some knock-offs!)

5. Daily System in Black, Pottery Barn. I love the look of this ultra-organized wall system! Some of the pieces are very hi-tech, too: one contains an HDTV, and one has a digital picture frame integrated in it (neither of those ones are featured here; they come in white). Of course, those things are incredibly expensive. Since I won't be getting the dry-erase decals or this super-expensive system from PB, I am still in need of a good dry-erase board. I think I could imitate the Daily System by buying cheaper versions of certain components (like these dry-erase boards from Target), using existing pieces (like my black digital picture frame), and scouting for thrifty finds (if I hunted enough, I bet I could find a wooden or metal letter organizer on clearance or at Goodwill!)

Well, that's all for now! Check back soon for a post on this week's adventures in organizing, thrifting, and crafting!

Happy Fourth of July!

In honor of America's birthday, I thought I would post my four favorite 4th-related crafts and cooking projects...enjoy!

1. Firework Pens. What a cute idea for sprucing up pens around the office for the holiday!


2. Keep guests cool while they're out enjoying fireworks with these festive fans!

3. Who doesn't love a welcoming holiday wreath? This one from Family Corner is bursting with US pride!

4. I looooove cupcakes, so of course I love the blog Cupcakes Take the Cake! They've had a ton of adorable 4th of July cupcakes featured lately, and here are some of my faves:



Adorable and mouth watering, right?

I hope everyone is enjoying their holiday (I know I am - it's great to relax with the family and watch fireworks!) and check back soon!

Wednesday Wish List #2

Wow, I guess life has been so crazy (and fun!) today that I completely forgot to post my second Wednesday wish list! Whooops :) Luckily my great friend Sara reminded me of my own invention by posting her list! Even though it's technically Thursday, here is my wish list:

1. Chocolate Vineyard Vines Tote, Carnationcollection.com. I love this bag. And what's not to love? Quatrefoils, a dash of pink, and inner pockets for storage? Why not buy it now, you ask? It's a little steep for a bag ($99) and I already have tons of purses. But this is a definite shoo-in for my Christmas list!

2. A Bookcase. This is a really general wish, because the fiance and I have yet to find a bookcase that suits both of our styles and needs. I did find some potentials online at a furniture store in Missoula, but we will have to wait to buy anything until we move. We are both avid readers, and I love having pictures and knick-knacks around, so some sturdy, nice shelves are a must! Here are a few that have caught my eye so far, all from Conlin's Furniture:

3. A laptop skin for my Sony! The back of my poor computer has gotten scratched and uglified in the past 3 months of ownership. I have googled to search for a skin, but to no avail - I guess they don't make them for my model? Anyone have suggestions?

4. A decent Mexican restaurant in Missoula. We tried 2 different places on our first trip up. One didn't even have cheese dip on the menu (the horror! If you know me, you know I love cheese!) The other was okay, but could not compare to my faves (El Maguey and Tequila Harry's). I know that the northwest isn't exactly known for Mexican cuisine, but c'mon - not even having cheese dip? What?! I was outraged. We will probably be cooking our own Mexi-meals up there. Haha.

5. KitchenAid Stand Mixer in Persimmon. This is definitely going to be something on our registry. I love baking, and this beauty will help out with that! Plus I am drawn to the bright orange (and it's the fiance's favorite color! Score!) and it will go with the other orange accents in there! Then again, the cornflower blue is lookin' pretty nice, too...

Well, that's all for now! Check back later this week/weekend for an update on another crafty project I recently completed :)

Terrific Transformations Part Two: The Kitschy Kitchen

I have taken a little blogging hiatus lately, but I am back to report on the crafty details I've completed to go with my kitschy kitchen! As you might recall, when in Missoula I visited an awesome consignment furniture store, Echo Echo Home Furnishings, where I purchased my super cute and kitschy lime green dining room table and two teal chairs, along with a plain wooden chair.

Well, after thrift storing, I found another chair to round out the dining set (only $1.99! Great!) and I settled on a sunshine yellow and the bright coral/orange as paint colors for the chairs. My fabulous sister helped out with both projects. We also painted three shelves in aqua, yellow, and coral to hang in the dining area, so that I can add some photos and decorative elements to the space. I already owned 2 of the shelves and the other was an inexpensive buy from Echo Echo, so that was a major plus, too! You might also notice an aqua coat rack there. That's another thing I already owned - I thought it would be great for either the dining room or the kitchen, as I plan to hang aprons, oven mitts, and the like on it. Best of all, the blue color matches my kitchen cannisters from Target almost exactly!

Speaking of cannisters...the other project for the kitchen that my sister and I have completed is totally fun, inexpensive, and DIY! I took a tip from one of my favorite blogs, iHeart Organizing, and reused some old soup cans by covering them in pretty scrapbook paper! I did 2 regular soup cans, 2 family-sized, a jar, a small and clean paint can I found in the garage, and a pringles can! (I know that last one seems odd, as it can't fit regular kitchen utensils or gadgets as the others can...but I plan to store tea bags or sweetener packets in there.)

I really loved this project for tons of reasons: 1. I love injecting colors into rooms, and this was an easy way to do so! 2. I love scrapbook paper, and am always looking for creative ways to use it outside of a scrapbook itself. 3. It was sooo easy, just a matter of scrounging up cans, washing them, measuring paper, and gluing! Presto! I loved the project so much, in fact, that I made a few pencil cans for my desk...and then for my fiance's (in appropriate, male colors, of course)...but I think I'll share those pictures (along with another office crafty-art project I just completed) at a later time!

You might notice the little cannisters labled TBCG to the right of that photo. What are they? Ingenious spice holders that my crafty sister dreamed up! You can read all about the process here, at her blog, and learn how to transform old Eclipse gum cannisters into your own spice containers! (It involves more scrapbook paper and stickers - so of course I love it! - a magnet, and a little glue...) Here are the spice holders in action on a fridge.





Adorable, right? So a little paint and scrapbook paper truly goes a long way...I think our kitchen and dining areas will be bright and cheery :) I'll be sure to post pictures of the completed spaces once we're actually moved in!

Stay tuned for tomorrow's Wednesday wish list, and part three of the transformations!!