I'm a Winner!!

Well, we're all winners, at least that's what our parents tell us. But, a few weeks ago, I actually won a real-life giveaway. Not only did I win one; I won TWO! I'm not bragging (maybe just a teeny bit), I just want y'all to know that you can win too!

While I was standing in line at a consignment sale getting ready to push and shove quickly walk to the 2T girls section, I received an email from Ashley Mills at The Handmade Home telling me I had won the WUSLU giveaway she hosted on her blog! I was so excited I may have started cheering at my phone! I LOVE the WUSLU daily deals (LOVE Ashley's blog too, check it out if you haven't already), so I couldn't  wait to see what they would have to offer in the coming days.

When I saw this wire caddy with six glass bottles offered, I scooped it up! I knew it would add the perfect touch to our den.


I clipped some pretty, purple flowers (I don't know flower names unless they are roses, daisies, or mums!) from our yard, and I think they are perfect for these bottles! They were also the only flower growing in our yard at the time...





Thank you Ashley!


To add even more to the excitement that week, I received an email from Beth Hunter from Home Stories A to Z telling me that I was one of the winners of the UglySofa.com giveaway! I had won any slipcover that they sold on their website! Wooo Whoooo!! I've been wanting a slipcover for our den sofa so badly but didn't want to pay $150 for one. The slipcovers offered on UglySofa.com are mostly from a place that rhymes with Lottery Yarn (the tag on the slipcover proves it!). They can't advertise where they get their slipcovers since they are overstock or damaged in some unseen way. I can't find a thing wrong with mine!


It took quite a bit of ironing and finagling, but I finally got the thing to look decent. Slipcovers are not for the faint of heart. When I do a post on our den rearrangement, you'll be able to see how bad the couch was before. It's quite an improvement and really lightens the room! Thanks Beth!


It really does pay to enter all the blog contests out there! I'm proof! Now, go and enter something!

Fall Vignette

I love fall. I love fall decor. I love decorating with pumpkins. 

Here's a little fall vignette that I made with clearance lanterns from Lowes. They were a shiny silver, and I gave them a quick update with some oil rubbed bronze spray paint. I think they look similar to the much more expensive Pottery Barn version! Both of the lanterns together were about $6! The pumpkins and flower pot were on sale at Michael's.

If we had a fireplace and mantel, I would love to display these there. But, we don't, so I can't. 

These are placed on the buffet turned media center in our den. We've done a total overhaul of the den recently, and I will post pics soon of the transformation! It was as simple as moving furniture in from the kitchen and out to other rooms. It looks so much bigger now!

Linking to:

A New Lamp Shade + A Craft Fail

I had the bright idea to recover a lampshade one day last week. I thought it would be a quick and easy update to a boring, cream lampshade in our den. I already had fabric on hand that I wanted to use to bring a little more color into the room. I gathered my supplies,


measured my fabric and ironed the fabric under on the ends,


began to hot glue the fabric to the lamp shade,


I was so careful...


And then I realized that gluing fabric to a tapered shade was not going to work out. No matter how much I tried to make it work. I knew the shade was tapered when I began, but I really thought I could cut and stretch the fabric to make it work. Nope.

Enter new lamp shade from Wal-Mart. It is a 14 inch drum shade that was $14.99.


Let's start this process again, shall we? I started by hot gluing one end of the fabric to the inside seam on the lamp shade. I applied a little spray adhesive to the wrong side of the fabric to help it stick to the shade while I rolled and glued the fabric to the inside of the shade.


What is this???? Why is is puckering? Oh, upon careful inspection, this shade is not a perfect drum shade. The top part of the shade is just slightly smaller than the bottom. Thanks Wal-Mart. I decided to make it work. I was ok with a few puckers.


The inside looks messy...


But the outside seam looks pretty good! This side will be turned so it faces the wall. I love all these colors together.


And here it is! A nice, little update to a boring lampshade.


One of my fall vignettes. I spray painted two shiny, silver lanterns I found at Lowe's on clearance in an oil rubbed bronze color and added some fake pumpkins and gourds from Michael's. The second lantern is larger, and I think I got them both for $6! Take that Pottery Barn!


You can really see the puckers in this shot, but they do not show up like that in person, I promise.


Have you had a craft fail recently? Please tell me you have!

I Love Spray Paint (and Naptime Too)!

One afternoon last week while E was napping, I decided it was time to paint the old, rickety side table in the den. To say I dislike the table would be giving it a compliment! A lot of things need changing in our den (some took place this weekend!), and this one was a quick and easy fix that involved my favorite tool...spray paint!

A look at the table before. That ugly recliner has got to go!

A bigger view. Yep, I made that sunburst mirror this summer out of wood shims. A $40 project that I love!

Sidenote: That tapestry was made from a photo my amazing Granddaddy took on one of his many travels.

I sanded the table down a bit since it had such a glossy coating on it.

These were my partners in crime. The color for the table is "strawflower".

Every girl needs this little accessory!

Primed and ready to paint! The leaves of the table come down if you twist the top.

All ready to go back upstairs! I did a little distressing after I took this picture. The perfect yellow paint job was bugging me a bit. It needed to be messed up!

A little distressing did the trick!

I think it looks so much better! Now, what to do about that lamp and chair!
Update: The lamp has been made over! Pics to come soon!






Linking to:
Metamorphosis Monday

Thrifty Decor Chick
Home Stories A to Z
Tatertots and Jello

A Day at the Zoo

E and I went to the Nashville Zoo one pretty day last week. We needed to get out of the house, and she needed to literally run off some energy.
Here's my monkey looking for the monkeys.


Where are they?


You can see it was NOT crowded. She ran/walked the entire zoo. No, she does not sit still.


There's a monkey!


Meerkats!


I can't take my eyes off this child...


Zebra spotting


E: "Fish! Big!" There's a gator in there too.


Mommy needs a Diet Coke


Love the flamingo exhibit


They are so pretty!


Off to run some more in the foam playground area!


Had to go see the "Nake"!


Anything in there?


And she still had enough energy to swing for a bit!


This mommy was worn out, but E did take a 3.5 hour nap that afternoon! Thank you zoo!