The Never Ending Projects.

Hello!

Here I am again.  Sam is down for a nap.  Well, he is suppose to be anyway.  He is in there talking and grunting to himself.  I can't believe my baby turns 5 months tomorrow.  That will have to be a whole different blog post.  :)

First of all I want to say THANK YOU to Sherry over atwww.thriftmyhouse.blogspot.com for giving me a warm welcome into blog land, and a shout out!  She really is the sweetest!  Thank you everyone for the sweet comments on my last post. You all made my day! And how exciting to have comments!!!   Love!  Sherry's blog is absolutely gorgeous.  Her pictures are beautiful, and so inviting!  I want to go live in her house!  So if you haven't already, make sure you go check her out!

Where to begin. I feel like there are so many projects going on over here.  And they are all taking FOREVER and a day to finish.  Mainly, due to a little Mr. that dictates our time. We always joke around we are on Sam O'clock.  The main project we hubs has been working on, is the bathroom counter top.  The girls' bathroom is in desperate need of a makeover and one of the last rooms we have pretty much not given any attention too.  When we first got the keys,  it was painted, and the cabinetry was painted, and knobs replaced.  That's about it.  I painted it a really pale yellow. I quickly grew tired of it. As with most things. And about 2 years ago painted it gray.  Which of course, I love. And we replaced the faucet.  Even with those things, it just wasn't enough.  I think we both just kept ignoring it because of the amount of work we know it's going to take.
About 2 months ago, I got a wild hair and couldn't take it anymore.  I showed the hubs a few pins I had found on Pinterest about cementing over existing countertops.  We weren't sure it would work, because our sink is attached to the countertop. It's all one big slab of cultured yellow marble.  Ick.  The more I researched the more I found out it would be fine.  We would just have to seal it really well.  I thought it would be done in a weekend.  HA HA HA! Not.  It has taken 2 months so far.  Mainly because of that little cutie pie I mentioned above.  And his bedroom is near the bathroom, which makes it hard to work when he is down for a nap... Nobody wants to wake up a sleeping baby!
So here is what it looked like when we started:

Yup. Ugly.  You can see the sink has cracks in it, and it's just an over all ugly countertop. Who wants yellow swirl?  I don't.  Hubs sanded it down, and prepped it for it's first coat of Henry Fine Feather cement, which can be found at Home Depot.  

Here it is after one coat. It looks like a hot mess!  

Scary huh?  I was totally freaking out at this point.  But I was trying to play it cool, and told the hubs.. It's suppose to look like that.  

After a few more coats and lots of sanding in between: 

It's finally coming together!  Right now we are just touching up some spots.  Every time we sand, it starts to show thru to the countertop, so then we put more cement on, and repeat.  So it's just a matter of getting it perfect right now.  But I can't wait to see it finished!  I contemplated stenciling before sealing, but I think I would get tired of it.  Plus, I want to paint the cement floor, and stencil on that. So I think that would be too much stenciling.  

The other project I took on this weekend, was painting our dark hallway cabinetry.  

Ick.  We have a long hallway, and all of it is filled with this.  I started tackling this project 3 years ago, ( yes you read that right.)  And I stopped because it was time consuming lol. I actually hate painting, but love the outcome. But I started to feel overwhelmed because there is is just so many of them.  I figured if I just tackle 4 doors at a time, it'll be ok, right?  I have the trim, and the top two doors done ( white).  I will start the bottom two tomorrow.  It's looking better already! Can't wait to share the finished look to these as well!  Still debating on what color the knobs should be.  Silver, Gold, or ORB.  Any opinions?  

Ignore the ugly blue carpet you see.  The whole house was covered in this when we moved in.  This is the part of the house that hasn't had much work done to it.  The rest of the flooring needs to be laid, baseboards are off, ect... It's a mess.  Hopefully we will get it taken care of soon!  

I hope by the next post you will get to see the finished photos!  Stay tuned! 

And on that note, I need to go make dinner.  The kids have voted chocolate chip pancakes and eggs.  I'm not one to argue over that. :)  I hope you all are having a great week!  

xoxo Lisa

MIA

So it's been awhile.  I apologize.  When I first started the blog I was all " oh i'll post like 2-3 times a week, i'll be really good about it, and not fall behind... " HA HA HA.  Life kinda got in the way.  Whenever I would think about possibly start writing something, I would either:
A) Opt for a nap
B) Opt for a nap OR
C) Opt for a nap

Sam makes me tired.  I'm too old to have anymore babies.  I don't remember feeling this tired all the time with the other 3 kids.  Hubs and I have come to the conclusion that he's gonna get the snip snip. We be DONE.  D-O-N-E.  That ship has sailed.  We were talking this morning and one of the main reasons we decided to be done, is when Sam is graduating high school, I'll be 53 and Hubs 55.  That is SO OLD.  I also remember thinking when I was 20, that 36 was SO OLD.  So that was a major ramble about basically nothing.  This is me warming up to writing a blog post.

So.... I started an IG account.  And for those peeps out there that don't know what IG is, it's Instagram.  I started it about a month ago. I wanted to connect with some fellow peeps who also love to decorate.  Oh. My. Word.  I found my people!  And then some.  Most everyone has been so very nice.  But it's so hard not to feel overwhelmed.  SO. MANY. PRETTY. THINGS.  and full of so many talented people.  I started to feel like a fly on a wall. And even had doubts that I wasn't good enough to post on there.  I started talking negatively to myself... " your pictures aren't good enough, your decor isn't right, your house is a mess, I need to buy more stuff...ect... " the list goes on and on.  I'll be the first to admit.  I'm on a budget.  We are a large family, and well, there isn't much to spend on home decor. If I could I would forgo grocery shopping monthly just to buy one of everything from Target.  But sadly, that's not possible.  A lot of my items come from thrift stores, clearance sections, and dollar spots.  It's really hard sometimes too see these BEAUTIFUL photos of peoples homes and not feel envious.  I had to step away for a bit and realize, I'm doing the best that I can do, with our budget, and it's something I enjoy doing. The minute it becomes a chore, or job, then it's not fun anymore. If i'm having fun with it, who cares if no one likes it.  I like it.  So there. So I shall post my to my little hearts content.  And if you would like to follow me on there,  I would love it!  Shameless plug: www.intstagram.com  Search: Thethriftedhouse. Mmmkay? thanks. :)

I recently posted a picture on IG about a Fall tablescape I had done.  I was pretty proud of it.  As it only costed me about $35.  Here is my budget friendly tables cape:

So here is a little bit of a break down of the cost... Those bowls and plates are from the Dollar Tree. The vase holding the Indian Corn, was .50 cents from a yard sale.  The pumpkins are from the grocery store.. I believe 3 for $6.  The cute little sign was on sale for $5 at Hob Lobs.  LOVE Hobby Lobby.  So was that cute little wicker tray.  They always have good sales.  Most of the time things are 50% off, or you can use their 40% off coupon on their app.  The candles were from the dollar store as well.  Oh and that runner was $5 at Hob Lobs too.  That tin bucket was from Cost Plus years ago, and I honestly don't remember how much it was, but I know it wasn't expensive. And the little plant that was in it was a couple bucks from Michaels. I have a towel rolled up on the bottom so it sits up higher and makes it look bigger than it is. :) The only thing that wasn't bought on sale, was the cake stand. Altho it was thrifted,  it was $15 at a flea market type store.  But I've seen them all over the place for cheaper.  I'm in the process of sewing some placemats for Thanksgiving.  I'll post those when i'm finished. :) 

Here's a little bit of my other favorite Fall decor around the house.  If you know me in real life, you know i'm obsessed   love vintage pyrex.  And I have quite the stash.  So I've been having fun decorating with that.  I really wish I had a place to display all my pieces.  Ive been keeping my eye open on Craigslist, looking for just the perfect piece.  So hopefully it will find me soon.

Hubs bought me this set for our Anniversary 3 years ago over on the Coast.  I love it today as much as I did then.. oh and hims too. :)  

I don't have the complete set of bowls in this pattern but I wish I did. I'm missing the smallest nest bowl.  But I love this print, and it's perfect for Fall.  I have to say I was pretty proud of this photo.  I have a hard time with making vignettes.  It's not my strong point.  But I feel like i'm getting better at it.  I was laying in bed wracking my brain, on where to photograph this photo.  I was wanting to do it on a chair, and I was so desperately wishing I had a ladder back chair.  Which silly me forgot I had one at my kitchen table. You know, the chair the kids fight over who DOESN'T sit in it.  I have to say it's not the most coziest chair, but I love how it looks. I was pretty excited to use the rung to hang my kitchen towel.  Loving the gray and yellow to gather, and of course the Pyrex.  And the white and the rust together.  So yup. I am tooting my own horn.  :)  

And on that note.  Sam is just waking up from a nap, and is needing my assistance.  lol.  And then there's dinner to be made, and baths to be taken, and home work to work on.  It's never ending.  So until next time... 

Pumpkin Bumpkins

I whipped up this cute little pumpkin garland the other week.  And I got to thinking maybe some of you out there would like to whip one up as well.   They are super easy, that even a beginner could do it.  I just love homemade touches like this, to decor.  So grab a hook, some coffee ( with the Girl Scouts, Thin Mints creamer, of course! ) and get to hookin!  :)

                                             

Mini Pumpkin Garland

Materials needed: 

Cotton Yarn in Orange, Brown and Cream ( if you want alternating colored pumpkins).  I used Lily Sugar N' Cream Yarn for the pumpkin part, and a brown acrylic yarn I had laying around.  But really any type of yarn will work for this.  Whatever you have laying around the house.

Size H hook

Yarn Needle

Scissors

Twine

Stitch Abbreviations: 

Sl St - Slip Stitch

Ch - Chain

Sc - Single Crochet

Dbl - Double Crochet

With Orange yarn, make a slip knot, and Ch. 4. 

Sl St in beginning Ch, creating a ring.

10 Dbl crochet in ring.

Sl st in first ch. 

Ch. 1, 1 Dbl crochet in same stitch. 

2 Dbl crochet in each of the next 3 stitches. 

Sl st in next st, 2 dbl crochet in each of the next four stitches. 

Sl st in next.  Fasten off. ( there will be an empty stitch, that's where the stem will go). 

Attach brown yarn by bringing up a loop in the next st. ( empty stitch ). 

Ch. 4

Sc back down the 4 stitches. 

Sl st. into the stitch into the beginning chain on pumpkin. Fasten off. 

Weave in ends. 

And now you have a cute little pumpkin!  Get some twine and weave thru the pumpkins and hang them up!  Super simple and easy for a beginner.  

I hope you enjoy making them as much as I did. 

xoxo- Lisa

This That and The Other

I'm baaa-ack.  It's only been like a day and I'm itching to write another post, but I have no idea what to write it on.  So you might be in for some more rambling.  I apologize in advance.

So first things first, are you a follower on Instagram?  If not, you should be.  Search up thethriftedhouse so you can see some of my peectures.  Still learning how to edit them how I want, but I've been having fun learning.  I'm gonna be a regular iPhoneographer before you know it.

I've been taking pictures of some of my favorite Fall items displayed in my house ( which are posted on Instagram, but you probably already know that, because your following me now, right? )  One of my favorites is my serving tray decor on my table.  The cute owl/ and pumpkin salt and pepper shakers.  Which were given to me by a friend for my birthday a couple years ago.  ( Hi Autumn! ) Aren't they darling?  I have a hard time decorating with color, because I'm boring and my favorite colors are white and gray. I could decorate all day long with those 2 colors.  Which is funny, because I love Fall and all the Fall colors. Go figure.  But lately I've been trying to expand my color horizons, and diving into the world of GOLD.  I use to dispise gold.  Hated it.  More so, the funky gold hardware on outdated fixtures.  But wouldn't you know, if you wait long enough, something comes back into style?  I'm currently working on decorating the family room in Gold, Gray, and White.  Told you I was expanding my color options.  Pictures to come soon. :) But i'm getting ahead of myself.  Here's the cute serving tray with the salt and pepper shakers.

The name of my blog is The Thrifted House, so I should probably show some thrifted treasures. :)  The next photo is of a cute little vignette that I have going on in my entry way.  The white pumpkin is from the Dollar Tree, and the glittery pumpkins in the jar are from Family Dollar.  That jar was a great find at Goodwill! It has a sibling and it is a bit larger, but with a green lid.  LOVE them.  And the books are from a local thrift shop here in town. I love buying old books. So many uses for them!  You can use them as decor, or cut the pages out ( GASP!) for a craft, ( more on that later).  I especially like the old hardback reader digests, because they come in pretty colors. :)  The scale is from an antique store over on the coast.  It was a little more pricey than what you would pay for thrifting, but I had to splurge.  I've always wanted one.  

And lastly, a little Fall display on my coffee table in my Living Room. This is the room that we really don't hang out in much.  So this is where most of the decorating happens.  It could be a game changer when S starts walking. But I'll cross that bridge when we get there.  The letter J and greenery are from Michaels. I believe I bought them on clearance.  Score!  And of course, I have to have my books.  The J and white pumpkin ( also Dollar Tree) are sitting on a stack of vintage hardback books, wrapped in twine.  Because twine makes everything better. Oh and that basket was from good ole Tarjay!  Also a clearance find.  

More of my Fall decor to come.  Mr. S. has decided to wake up from his beauty sleep, err.. manly sleep?  So I best go get him.  Until next time.  

Oh!  And feel free to leave a comment. I like comments.  Only if you behoove yourself though. :) 

Happy Friday!

My first ever blog post.  The pressure is on.  lol. I've wanted to start a blog for forever now, and just never have had the time.  But now I have some new found freedom and I'm loving it!

A little back story on me.  I married my high school sweetheart and we have been married coming up on 18 years.  We have 4 kids.. R-almost 14, A-10, E-6, and sweet little S-almost 4 months.  Three girls and one boy.  I finally got my boy!  And he is such a snuggle bug.  We thought we were done after 3 girls, but I just didn't feel like my family was complete for the longest time. Thus the large age gap.  I now have that feeling of completeness.  Although, ask me in about 3-4 years, and we shall see what that answer is.

When E was about 3 months I started an online prop shop business.  I did that for about 5.5 years and was very successful.  But sadly it left me with a lot of feelings of guilt.  Working from home is not all it's cracked up to be. Don't get me wrong, I was/am very VERY grateful and blessed to have been able to help provide for our family.  But I was constantly working 24/7.  Sun up to sun down.  I was tired and grouchy and had no patience.  I feel like my kids got the worst of me for about 5 years.   When we decided to have S, I knew I was going to have to quit and I was ok with that.  It was a little hard at first to come to terms with it.  As that business was my baby, but my heart just wasn't in it anymore.  I finally feel like my old self again.  And not weighed down by the gazillion orders that were just waiting for me to work on.  Ok, maybe not a gazillion, but that's what it felt like, and I was always ALWAYS running behind.  Which I hate.  So now that, that burden is off my shoulders it's great! I've been discovering new hobbies, and blogging is one of them!

So with all this new found time on my hands... ahem... which actually isn't that much considering I have 4 humans that call me mom.... I'm going to focus on blogging about my thrifted treasures, my DIY projects, and just every day normal life.

We bought our home about 5 years ago. Our first home.  It was built in 1974.  It was completely outdated.  But it had the space we were looking for.  ( but actually feels like we are busting out of the seams at the moment ).  It was a blue carpet, ugly brown cabinet, mess.  We are on a budget so it's been slow going.  I get antsy and want everything done at once. I tend to forget just how far we have come and looking at old photos reminds me, and it feels great!  It's been a lot of trial and error as well.  Lets not talk about how many times the inside of the whole house has been painted.  ( Hubs must truly love me! )  I lost count along the way, but I'm going to say 4.  So looks like I get the itch to paint once a year.  lol.  It took awhile to figure out what style I liked, and what I was going for.  Looking back at some old photos,  I was shocked to see what I thought looked good at the time!  WHAT was I thinking.  lol.  I'll post a few so you all can have a good laugh.

Currently we have a lot of projects going on.  Things are a bit slower at completing these days, due to a certain 4 month old, but they are getting done.  Our house has been sitting without baseboards for about 3 years. ( I'm a tad embarrassed to even say that ).  The hallway cabinetry has been sitting undone for about that long as well.  It seems like once I start something and see how it is possibly going to look, I move on. It's a really bad habit of mine.  We have a cabinet we removed in the kitchen and the ceiling still needs to be patched.  The kids bathroom is getting a makeover at the moment.  ( which I'll post photos of soon! ).   And there is one stretch of hallway that still has blue carpet.  Ick.  I'm pretty sure there are a few more projects but I'm pretending they don't exist.  It sometimes feels like a never ending chore.

Well, I guess that wasn't so bad.  My first post was a little longer than I intended. I'll try not to be so wordy next time. :)

And for your viewing pleasure.....  ( try not to cringe too much )

The first photo is from the first night we received our keys.  It was a horrid aqua/blue mess.  It doesn't get any better either.  The first pic in the set of four, is a horrible ugly peach color. I wasn't meaning it to be peach. I was going for a bone white color.  My first lesson learned. Don't buy 6 gallons of paint without a test swatch first. Since I had already spent the money on it, we went with it. I hated it. And lived with it for about a year.  The orange, I actually liked.  It was fun to experiment with color, but we quickly grew tired of it, and felt like Fall all year round. Which technically isn't a bad thing in my book.  The last two pics, there isn't much of a difference.  I liked the tan at first, which is called Twine by Martha Stewart I believe.  It wasn't quite what I was going for. I then discovered Benjamin Moore's Revere Pewter.  IN LOVE.  By far the best paint color there is out there. 

And there you have it.  Until next time. :)