DIY Pom Pom Bib Necklace

If the title of my post threw you off a bit, I understand. Usually when I have a DIY project in the works, it has something to do with furniture or other home decor. But this weekend, I expanded my craftiness into the world of wearables for the first time.

I don’t sew, so I can’t make clothing. But with this project, I found out that accessories are thankfully not out of the realm of possibility for me! Just give me a glue gun and let me go to town.

This necklace has been on my mind ever since I saw it on Pinterest several weeks ago (and repinned it, naturally). It is just so dang cute and definitely more of a “statement” piece than the simple jewelry I normally wear. I was just itching to give this one a shot!

{ via Little Miss Momma }

The materials list was pretty simple: felt, 100% cotton fabric, a necklace chain, and hot glue. (This is the kind of project during which you will develop a deep and meaningful relationship with your glue gun and fabric scissors.) I ended up getting the felt and necklace chain at HobbyLobby, and the fabric (1/2 yard, which was more than enough) at Hancock Fabrics. Most of it was on sale, so the total cost was under $5.

Floating Shelf Installation: More Space for More Stuff!

Until we finish our basement, I'm kind of running out of room on our main floor to display pretty things, which makes me sad. That means there's less opportunity for me to make fun DIY crafts, because I have nowhere to put them when I'm done. This is a real problem, people.

But I recently realized a solution... floating shelves! Since we can't fit any more standing shelves or other furniture pieces in any of our rooms, it's time to start utilizing the walls. I've had the idea for awhile but never bit the bullet because these kinds of shelves are so dang expensive. And yes, I know that we (i.e. my handy husband) could just make some if we really wanted to, but there's plenty of other projects on our/his plate right now and frankly I didn't want to wait six months for them (no offense, honey).

Additionally, I had extra incentive thanks to $50 in Lowe's gift cards from Christmas (thanks, Mom & Dad!). So, after much deliberation and multiple trips to Lowe's, I finally decided on four allen + roth shelves (two 18" and two 24") for our living room wall. Even with the gift card, I still ended up spending about $60.

Don't mind the lamp sitting on the floor in the corner; 

this was taken before I finished my side table makeover.

Exploring My Dark Side: A Side Table Makeover

Just call me butter, 'cause I'm on a roll! 

Sorry, I couldn't resist. I'm just feeling pretty good about myself and the long overdue projects I've been tackling lately, after what seems like weeks (if not months) of getting nothing done. Well, nothing fun, anyway.

Last time, I showed you my Goodwill cabinet makeover. And now that I've crossed over to the dark side... I like it there! We actually have quite a bit of dark/black furniture, and I'm on a mission to make some of our random pieces of furniture fit in a little better. Case in point: this little side table. (Or is it an end table?)

You can hardly see the table in these pictures because it's practically blends in to our wall color. Blah. I believe it was a hand-me-down and it's really nothing special, but I've kept it around thinking that it would make for a good project someday. And that someday finally happened last week. 

Drab-to-Fab Goodwill Furniture Makeover

I can't believe it, but it was already over a year ago that I blogged about finding this little treasure at Goodwill for $30. I didn't expect it to be quite this long before I gave it a makeover, but time really does fly. 

In any case, I finally just decided not to do anything too crazy and instead just give the cabinet the best kind of makeover possible: a free one! Since the existing color was flat and drab, I wanted to go much darker and richer. We already had some stain left over from previous projects, so it was kind of a no-brainer.

Master Bedroom Makeover Part II: The Reveal

Awhile back, I showed off the new curtains I made for our bedroom. They're not perfect by any means, but if you had "temporary" paper shades on your windows for 4 years, you'd understand why it was such a big deal.

The other part of the bedroom makeover was a simple bedding change, but I think it made a big difference. I was tired of the comforter we had and wanted something that would lighten up the room. With all of our dark brown furniture and the dark brown comforter, it was just too much. Having resigned myself to the fact that we aren't going to get around to painting our bedroom any time soon, I wanted something that would still coordinate with the existing wall color. (And, as usual, I didn't want to spend much money on it.)

Before I go on, let's look at some before pictures of the bedroom...

DIY Holiday Decor: Tomato Cage Christmas Trees

Despite a hectic Thanksgiving holiday weekend that involved my husband having knee surgery and the care-taking that followed, I somehow managed to find time to decorate for Christmas. I put up the tree and brought out all the usual indoor decor (although some of it remained in the storage tubs because I'm running out of places to put things upstairs... yet another reason why I can't wait until the basement is finished). But I digress...

For the past four years of living in our house, we've never been much for decorating the outside for Christmas. No lights on the roof, no lighted Santa or reindeer in the yard. Just a wreath on the door (because that's easy and I'm lazy).

But a few months ago, I was totally inspired by this pin for a tomato cage Christmas tree... the seed had been planted (pun intended).

[ original source ]

Just turn a tomato cage upside down instead of staking it into the ground, and you have an instant Christmas tree structure. Genius! 

Master Bedroom Makeover Part I: Curtain Call

Ok, so it's a little backwards to have the "curtain call" as Part I, but before I do the final reveal, I have to share this project first.

If you've been a regular reader around here over the past few years (just let me flatter myself by thinking that), you might recall that most of our temporary paper shades outlasted their "temporary" status by about, oh, 3 or 4 years. Window treatments have evolved very slowly in this house.

Our master bedroom hasn't been the first priority among all the other home improvements, but I finally moved it up to the top of the list last month. Even though other people don't see our bedroom on a daily basis, I was sick of these tragic paper shades that had long since overstayed their welcome.

I know...cringe. Part of the reason it took so long to finally get rid of them is that I wasn't sure how to cover the windows. Blinds? Roman shades? Curtains? Sure, I could have just gone out and bought something pre-made (which would have been easiest) but my cheap budget-conscious side won out. Also, these windows weren't really a standard size (of course).