hey, you succulents!

Terribly sorry I'm a day late on this! My ma came to town, I took a half day at work, and we went thrift store diving and house stuff shoppin! WOO! I'll have to show you my spoils in a future post! 

Onto the succulents! I have seen these little plants all over the blogosphere. They are supposedly easy to take care of, but let us not forget that I killed a bamboo stalk (and all those suckers need is water). I picked these up from Home Depot. I got a couple of actual cactuses too.

I knew the space in the bathroom in the corner needed some color. Instead of trying to find different planters to compliment each other, I decided to get glass containers and fill them with colored aquarium gravel. I knew I wanted red, but I grabbed some blue and white as well. I wish they would've had black too so I could've done some sweet stripe action, but oh well. This was from Wal-Mart, by the way. I couldn't believe they had a good selection of gravel, I was sure I was going to have to go to a pet store! Fish supplies, ftw, Wally World! 

In order to prevent them from looking too patriotic, I only used a little bit of blue to compliment the dark blue vase in the bathroom. I added just a couple of inches to the bottom of the longest vaOH MY WORD THE VASE CRACKED!

Word to the wise: If you purchase a vase, do not leave it in your car overnight then all day the next day when the temperature is 97 degrees and rises to probably 127 inside your car then proceed to bring it inside and immediately pour rocks into it. 

(how's that for a wordy sentence?!)

This was the first vase I filled, so I put the others in the freezer for a few minutes to cool them off. HA! It looks like this only cracked on the inside, but it actually went through the whole thing and split in two. I carefully slid it off the table and carried it like a sweet baby upstairs for pictures. 

So that's why there is not a plant in there.. I was afraid if I messed with it anymore, it might completely shatter, and I'd have glass and gravel to clean up. 

So here they are! The short one on the left just has white gravel at the bottom (you can't really see it from this angle). I don't think it looks patriotic at all! Especially with the pop of yellow. 

Close ups! 

I thought I was going to be able to get three into this one along with 2 in the tall vase, so I have about 4 succulents left over. Oops! 

I think they turned out lovely! 

I can't wait to show you my shopping goodies! 

bathroom before and after!

IT'S THE BIG BATHROOM REVEAL! 

WHOOP WHOOP WHOOP WHOOP!

A little recap for those who may not know the story.. This bathroom was made for kids. There was no storage space AND the shower head was at boob level. I only showered up here once during that time, and I got quite the workout squatting under the shower head. It was begging for a remodel, and last September I was able to make it happen. I wish I could say I did it myself, but this was definitely a job for professionals. I did get to do somethings, like design the layout and pick out the finishes. I also painted the vanity before they installed the sink. If you'd like to see more of the construction process, click on the links below:

Part One: Intro

Part Two: Construction

Part Three: the Home Stretch 

Part Four: Glass Installation

Painting the Vanity

I have just recently put the majority of the final touches in this little space (yes, 9 months after the construction was finished). Are you ready for the dramatic goodness to hit your eyeballs?! Let's do it in true before and after fashion. I tried to match the angle of the After pictures with the Before ones I took a long, long time ago (you can determine what you're seeing by looking at where the slant ceiling meets the wall). Please forgive the old iPhone Before pictures that are crazy, unedited colors. No windows in this room make good lighting impossible. 

Before:

After:

 Before:

After:

And another after.

Before:

After:

Dramatic, eh?

Before:

After:

Before:

After (through the shower glass):

Old detail shots with painted-over fish tiles:

New detail shots! 

I put succulents in clear vases with colored rocks to fill the big white space in the corner. More on that tomorrow! 

Here's a close up of the pulls I painted.

I have no problem mixing metallic finishes, so long as you do it tastefully. Chrome and brushed brass? Very nice! Chrome and oil rubbed bronze? Not as nice (in my opinion).

This space is so small that it's hard to get a shot with everything in one frame.. so here's practically the same as above with the light fixture.

The more and more I look at the mirrors, the more they irritate me. Even after everything I've been through with the dang things! I think I still want the layered look, but use skinny gold frames instead of chunky white ones. Thoughts? 

The new print I made that I mentioned a couple days ago.

I'm not sure I'm completely sold on this tray.. I like the gold-ish color it brings in, but once I got it in here, it looked a bit too hawaiian-y print for the space. I do however LOVE the little bowl. It's from Anthropologie, and they had tons of different colors and patterns. I actually bought two (the other is on my bedside table). The little swan is from the thrift store for $0.50, and it's a perfect ring holder. 

A little further out. The soap dispenser is from Target. I really liked the pump. It's a little fancier than most I saw in my search.

The succulents! There is a story on why there isn't one in the back.. I'll go into detail tomorrow. 

Area above the toilet! I plan to fill the blue vase with cotton balls, and put q-tips in the gold tumbler. Both of these are from Garden Ridge for half off! Five dolla for the blue vase, and $2 for the tumbler. WHAT A DEAL! The framed print was from the thrift store for a dollar (I may end up changing out the picture), and the lips dish was from Old Navy for $0.50 that I picked up YEARS ago (it's just been hanging out in a drawer until now). The diffuser sticks are from Target from a while ago, but I think they still have that shape holder. 

This is the closest true to color photo for the tiles, btw. I used flash, which I don't usually like to do. I didn't include the rest of them because it kept throwing weird shadows.

Sink view! 

The new mat!

And again. It actually looks pretty good with the thrift store picture!

 Sorry for all the the toilet pictures..

A MILLION TIMES BETTER, EH?! 

There are still a few little tweaks to be made, but what a difference from the kiddie bathroom! I wish everyone could come see it in real life.. the color of these pictures really dulls down the pops of color. 

I'm so glad it's practically finished! EEEE! 

linked to: Addicted to Decorating | Thrifty Decor Chick

bathroom prequel

I know you're probably expecting a big awesome side porch reveal. I told everyone I was laying the pavers this weekend, and there was a huge snafu at the store when I went to go pick them up.

UUGGGHHH.

Here's the story if you'd like to read it (warning, it's kind of long): I bought the pavers on Wednesday, and I only bought 6 layers. Each layer equalled more than 11 square feet, and it was only $9.99 a layer. What a deal right?! They told me I'd have to come back with a truck because they wouldn't be able to use a forklift to get it into my tahoe. 

Well I had told them the wrong amount, so when I went back Friday with a truck, I added more layers to my order. Of course it was close to closing time, but I thought they'd just be able to forklift it into the back of the truck with no problem. I'm out in the brickyard with the guy loading it by hand, and he said: 11 layers of brick, with 3 bricks per layer, you'll be getting 33 bricks. UHHH, no. I explained that the sign said a layer equalled more than 11 sq. ft., and he said "that's not what they told me". I asked if I could speak to a manager, because I didn't pay $9.99 for just three bricks. So I giddyup back inside to talk to the manager. He comes out and I explain to him what the guy outside says, so he walks back outside with me. I show him the sign that says layer equals more than 11 sq ft which turns out to be 48 bricks a layer. 

By then, it's 7pm which is closing time. I asked if we could just forklift it into the bed of truck, and he tells me that it was too heavy for the truck to carry. GRRR. So I tell him I'll be back in the AM. Richard goes with me so we can load some by hand into the tahoe, and then load the rest by forklift into the back of the truck. 

Well when we got there on Saturday, there were A MILLION PEOPLE there. I get in line at the checkout to let them know I'm here to pick up my order. Well they call my name over the loudspeaker to have someone meet me in the brickyard. Right then, the manager swoops in and tells me they OVERSOLD the pavers, and they didn't have my whole order. WTF! I asked if they would get anymore in. "Ummm noooo, probably not. Do you want part of the order?" NO, I can't have a patio with 2 different kinds of brick! I GUESS I'LL JUST RETURN EVERYTHING. By this time, there are about 12 people behind me in line, and of course I can't find my receipt for the second half of the order.. I could feel the lady behind me shoot lasers from her eyes into my head. It ended up being in the truck, and we finally got everything settled. And by settled, I mean they were finished messing up my weekend of patio building. 

I seriously came home and pouted. That was my entire weekend project. I didn't know what to do with myself. It was le mis. I ended up taking a long nap on accident, which put me in an even worse pouty mood. I'm still irritated just thinking about it. 

Today, I got off my heinie and finished up my bathroom! I'll do the full reveal tomorrow, but here's some project stuff that's in there!

After not being able to find pulls at the right width, I decided to paint the existing ones. It seems like a simple solution, but I didn't want it to be a flat color without some sheen (and metallic acrylic paint wasn't going to cut it). Once I painted the pony bookends with Liquid Leaf, I knew I would love the finish on the pulls as well. 

Here they are before. The brass was a bit tarnished, and the weird tortoise shell squares weren't going to go with the design.

After the Liquid Leaf. How shiny! 

Then I painted a chevron pattern on them with some white paint. 

I DIG EM! I did a tiny reveal on Instagram of them on the vanity, but tomorrow I'll do a big giant before and after of the bathroom.

I told y'all last weekend I bought a bunch of stuff to style the bathroom, and then decided to go in another direction. Here is my inspiration photo:

via

Sorry it's so tiny.. I really liked the mostly white, with some red, gold, black, and little bits of green and blue. I found another picture I liked as well:

via

Mmmhhhmmmm. Love it. And I usually don't like to decorate with black. In fact, the only black decor I have are the picture frames holding the Hatch Show Prints up the staircase, and the frames holding the records in the dining room.

To bring some red into the space, I made this: 

And today I printed it out and hung it on the wall. Do you recognize the quote?

It's what Lil' Wayne says on the Mountain Dew commercials. HA! It always gets me pumped up, so I will gladly look at it everyday!

Get ready for the big reveal tomorrow! EEE! 

reunited and it feels so good

So my biggest seller on Etsy is the Class Reunion Invitation that I designed a while ago, so I decided it was high time to make some more so people could have options! Roomie Kate suggested I make one with "Reunited and it feels so good". Genius!

I put a lot of information on one card so people wouldn't have to have an RSVP card. 

I made another one as well. This one is not as detailed (typography wise), so there's room for additions, and it won't matter as much how long or short words are.

I made an RSVP card to go along with it as well! 

Do you see what I did there? I made Ryan Reynolds my hubs. JEALOUS?! 

I planned on showing everyone my bathroom reveal, but after I found some doodads to style it, I changed my mind on the color scheme. SO I have to make some returns, as well as find some other thing-a-ma-bobs.

This weekend, I'm picking up pavers to lay the side porch! EEEEE! I'll keep everyone posted! 

my milkshake brings all the boys to the yard

Too bad I didn't have a damn milkshake last week.

There were no boys in my yard, only myself. The shrubbery in my front yard had gotten a bit out of control. Here's some before shots:

I took to 'em with some hedge clippers. I do not like using them when the bushes are so tall. It hurts my little wrists. 

I did them in shifts. The second day I did these between the yards.

Before:

 After:

On the third day, I conquered the mailbox. I'm sure my mailman was getting shishkabobbed with the branches as he tried to deliver mail..

It looks a bit naked now.. oops.

I also tackled this thing crawling up the tree in the front yard. Is it kudzu? Is it ivy? Who knows?! I just had to take it off.

Of course my squatty 5'3" self couldn't reach to the top, so some are still hanging out on the tree. I also couldn't get the root ripped out of the ground, so it's sticking out until I can do something about it.

The final chapter of this dramatic segment is this overgrown monstrosity in the corner of the walkway and carport..

Just ridiculous! There is also ivy/kudzu/whatever in here as well, although it wasn't the same as whatever was on the tree.

Wowzers, what a difference! 

I know you're dying for some action shots! 

When I cut the ginormous corner shrubbery, I found this little nest! 

Nests are so awesome, amiright? What a good DIY project, little bird.

I actually remember when they were inhabiting it.. the mama bird was not pleased while I worked on the barnwood bamas outside. She dive bombed me a couple times as I walked to the carport. 

It was on a big branch I cut down, but I couldn't bring myself to throw it away. I carefully pulled it off the branch, and put it on the brick ledge.. is that weird? 

Is it also weird to have so many nests pictures on this post?

In other news, my gallant steed, Green Bean, turned 100,000 miles last week! In honor of this big milestone, I took her out to get a bath and vacuumed her. Doesn't she look pretty?! 

So a mostly full yard shot of the progress:

Before:

After:

Next yard project is to wrangle the flower beds. They are quite embarrassing because they are so overgrown with weeds. Also removing that broken bucket/flower pot thing in the middle of the yard.

And next time, I'll bring milkshakes.

You hear that, boys?!?