Rooster Par-Tay!

I'm participating in the Rooster party at Bella Vista. Pop over to see everyone's cock-a-doodle-doo. http://barbsgoodlife.blogspot.com/2009/08/show-us-your-rooster-blog-party.html

This one is a really special one, Princess #1 made it.
I hope you enjoyed my roosters and a couple of hens thrown in there.

Amanda

Mad Hatter Tea Party Invitations

Princess #1 turned 9 in August. School doesn't start until a couple of weeks after her birthday so most families are still entrenched in Summer while preparing for the upcoming school year. In past years we've simply had family parties or done something special for her birthday. This year we really want to have a kid party for her. Since the party will take place after her actual birthday how about a very merry "unbirthday"? Tea anyone?

First order of business: Invitations. What do you make for a Mad Hatter Tea party for an invitation? How about a "mad" hat.

I found a package of brightly patterned cardstock. (50% off at Hobby Lobby!)

Raspberry colored paper, because you have to be able to read the invitation.

12 envelopes in a scrumptuous teal that coordinates with the cardstock.

Various supplies that I already had on hand.

I found a kooky top hat on the internet. It wasn't the size I needed for an invitation so I used the outline of the hat to help me sketch a larger hat.

I traced the outline of the hat onto the cardstock and cut it out. I made a hat band out of a sort of coordinating cardstock and tucked the raspberry paper with the invitation on it behind the hat band to look like the tag that the Mad Hatter has tucked into his hat band. And voila a mad hat invitation.

I'm linking this to Maman Tattoo's $15 project link.



So did I accomplish $15 or under for 12 hand made custom Mad Hat invitations? Here's the break down.

Cardstock (50% off of $19.99): $10

3 pieces of raspberry paper at 29 cents each: $0.87

Envelopes (package of 12): $2.99

Total materials: $13.86

8.25% tax: $1.14

Grand total: an even $15

I could have used plain invitations for less. Or maybe I could have used the plain invitations with the origional hat that I used to help me make my template pasted to the front, but once again I made it complicated.

Thanks for stopping by.

Amanda

PS. I added this to Kimba's ASPTL DIY Thursday link party.

Revisiting old haunts

Do you ever get out of the habit of visiting or shopping at places that at one point you frequented. A lot. I don't know why I stopped shopping at Big Lots. I guess it's because we moved to a different area, but I haven't shopped at one in probably over 2 years.

The other day I was driving to a store I don't usually shop at and drove past a Big Lots. I thought what the heck. I don't have the kids with me. I'll check it out and see what kind of deals they have going on right now. I remember that they had some good deals on things like picture frames, office supplies, and crafting supplies, but wow, Big Lots has started carrying some high end things.

I loved these building blocks. They'd be great in a more modern decor. Lucky little modern babies, but modern decorators/crafters could use these for some fabulous projects. I'm seeing table tops or maybe a lamp.

Barn stars! How great are these.

I loved this one. The colors and embossed details are so pretty, but at $25 it was a little steep for my budget that day.

I thought this outdoor chaise cover was a great buy at $9. No outdoor sofa covers so I was out of luck there.

Great price for Crocs.

Alright, I thought this was a great buy for a great stool.

These rugs were a great price. $150 for an 11'x13'. I was amazed it really felt like a good quality rug.

I got this black and white queen size quilt set in a bag. I think I'm gonna use the quilt to cover my window seat cushions and use the sham on the window seat as well. For $35 of black and white goodness I think it's great.

I'm adding this to Southern Hospitalities Thrifty Treasures Party.

Amanda

A beautiful accident

This picture was accidentally drug and dropped into my Picasa pictures and became this beautiful black and white picture with a negative effect. I don't know how it became this, but I thought it was beautiful accident. I thought ya'll would appreciate it because I know that you understand that so many beautiful things come from things we don't plan or at least not exactly as we planned.

I accidentally double clicked on a picture and drug it into a program, and now I have a fabulous, modern picture from ordinary objects. I accidentally broke a piece of my black transferware now maybe I'll create a new black and white mosaic top for a side table in our living room. The secret to handling the accidents is to always see the possibilities. For me it's easier to see the possibilities in decorating than it is in life. A door falls off of a "bird house" cd tower. Well now it can be painted antique white and used in a little girls nursery to hold baby shoes, and the door door can be used as a piece of architectual art work. Now that I can handle it just gets the creative juices flowing, but what if your transmission goes out on your car or a hurricane topples an ancient and huge oak in your back yard? I find it a little harder for me to find the possibilities in those things. That's where I have to trust that God is working, and He will take care of me.

I will say to the LORD, "My refuge and my fortress,My God, in whom I trust!"Psalm 91:1-3

Lots of projects are in the works around the house. I hope to have those up to show ya'll soon.

Amanda

Trash under glass

I love apothacary jars! I've eyed these lovely little sweeties for years, and just last year I finally lucked into finding some that I felt were reasonably priced enough for me to spend hard earned money on them. Since then I have found a few more, one here, one there, and my collection keeps growing.

I have several of these beauties scattered throughout my home, but my favorite grouping of them sits atop a pie safe in the dining room. These apothacary jars ended up on the pie safe, because it seemed to be a safer position than grouped in the middle of the dining room table. They would be beautiful on the dining room table, but I had vivid visions of my children pulling the tablecloth from the table along with all of these fragile ladies. So on top of the pie safe they went, and I am so happy they ended up there. It's a position of honor that sits above everything else in the room.

Now the question is what's in my jars? Well, the jars in my dining room change with the holiday or season. During the Christmas holidays they contained glass ball ornaments (of course I forgot to take a picture of that). For Easter I filled them with various colors of Easter basket grass and chocolate bunnies.


Before Valentine's day I needed to fill them quickly. It was late at night. We had guests coming the next day, and I didn't really want to spend any money. So, I went from room to room in my house and collected all things red. Ribbons, pipe cleaners, gift wrap, toys, marbles, and silk flowers if it was red it went in the jars.

So for Summer I was inspired by the dining room itself and my shell collection. Shells, sand, and sea glass set a beachy tone.

Thank you for stopping by to meet these curvy ladies. I'm so excited that Jen at Pear St. Studios hosted a linky party so that we can all see see how everyone fills their jars.

I'm also linking this to Reinvented for Trash to Treasure Tuesday , because I think I've proved that everything's a treasure under glass, even left over gift wrap and pipe cleaners.

Happy blogging.
Amanda

Recycled details

We all know that it's all about the details. So many of us make sure that even the details in our home lend themselves to the story of our rooms. I mean sometimes a detail is simple and easy so why not go ahead and do it. Right? One of my easy details in kitchens and baths is soap dispensers, but how many times has it happened that I go out and buy a cute soap dispenser, of course the plain plastic ones won't do, and the soap dispenser is broken during use? Or you decide to bite the bullet and spend $15 buck on the oil rubbed bronze, hammered metal number that would just look great in your sophisticated rustic bathroom only to have it corrode after a few weeks of use, I ask you? These little suckers are too expensive to have to replace them often. Then of course there's the fast that alot of them are cheesy and it hard to find one that goes in your room.


Well, here's my solution to spending a fortune on those little details, and it's a green solution too. I use glass bottles and pumps that I already have. The bottles may have previously been water bottles or lotion bottles. They could be from anything as long as they have threaded tops. Just pair the bottle with a pump top that you aren't using anymore. Again it could be from a lotion bottle or a body wash bottle. The trick is to find a pump that fits the bottle you have, and you need to make sure the tube that goes into the bottle is long enough to reach the bottom of the bottle you are using. It's that simple, if you can find the pieces that fit together. You're recycling and you have a unique, elegant soap dispenser that you can taylor to your own design scheme.


Glass lotion bottle and water bottle that dispense soap in my kitchen.

I have not yet updated the new liquid foaming soaps, but if I could find the right bottle I would.

Thanks for visiting. Now head over to Twice Remembered to see what everyone else did for the Make Your Monday party.

Amanda

Move over Elizabeth Arden

Last Fall we were sprucing up the front of the house for the holiday season, and it became glaringly evident that we needed to repaint the front door.

So off to the store I went to pick out the perfect shade to snazzy up our front door. Red! Definitely red. Here's where the wrinkle in my plan reared it's head. We live in a suburb. Which has a neighborhood association, and I didn't want to wait for color approval. It's just a front door anyway. I mean you could change the color of your front door like you change your nail color right? But our problem was that we wanted a red door and that means primer. Not just any primer, pink primer. So, if I thought I might have trouble with my neighbors when I painted my door red when they see a pink door first they're gonna freak. Hmm, how to get this done without everyone seeing the process. We could errect a tent in front of the front door. No I don't think that will work. Oh, I know I can just wiggle my nose and it'll be done in the blink of an eye. Is that too old school? How about "Reddus Front Doorus." Oh if only. So here's what we did. We painted under cover of darkness with spotlights on the front door in the middle of the night. Yeah, I know crazy, but it looks good doesn't it? I love the red!

That's my front door transformation. I'm adding this to DIY day at A Soft Place to Land and Transformation Thursday at The Shabby Chic Cottage.

Amanda

Birds of a feather

Why is it that we find birds such a great decorative touch? Is it because of they add a touch of whimsy? Is it because they remind us of freedom and flight? For what ever reason I have a lot of things bird related I'm sharing a few today to participate in the Feathered Friends Party over at The Shabby Chic Cottage.

Here is a little tweety friend that hangs from the chandelier in my dining room. I love the blue design on him. He's so sweet.

This little guy lives in the nest that was abandoned and needed to be removed from a carport. I got this guy in a package of 6 little white birds. They're peppered all over my house now.

I tucked one in with some shells in a candle scape.

Two more have made a nest here.

This little one landed in this raffia nest

These little guys live in a whole little birdie vingette. One made a nest in my candle holder. I guess her felt comfortable since it was sitting next to my red toile plate with the bird in the middle of the plate. I wish I had gotten a better image of the one sitting on the table he has this pretty cut out design on his back.

These guys are a little bit of a funny, at least to me. Their quail so I thought they were Texas' answer to white bird figurines since quail hunting is very popular in Texas. So here is my Texas version of decorating with our feathered friends.

A few found feathers sprinkled around the house.

A lovely little found peacock feather.

I even found a few birds in my girls rooms.

Princess #2 loves her duckies.

Hope you've enjoyed meeting some of my feathered friends.

Amanda