My DIY Monogrammed Doormat

Good Monday Morning Blog Hogs!  I hope you had a GREAT Memorial Day weekend.  We went home for the weekend for another stressful family-hopping filled weekend!  It was gorgeous out!  A little warm, but still at least it wasn't raining!  Thank goodness for that!

We wanted to be home by like 3pm yesterday, but thanks to a flat tire, we got home around 7pm.  Saaaahhhhweeet.  I love getting home late on "Sunday" nights (in this case Monday) before going to work the next day.  

But I'm so excited to share with you my little project for the front porch.   It was super easy... and I think it's super cute.  It's my DIY Monogrammed Doormat. 

Remember when I told you about how Martha made a DIY doormat?  Well, if you don't, hers was way better, but in my defense, I could not find all the right things anywhere!  So I used what I could find and tried to stay under $15 and got on my merry little DIY way. 

I grabbed this doormat at Wal-Mart.  It was the only one that I could find that was semi-bristl-y and blank in the middle or without a pre-printed pattern/design on it.  I thought it would be so easy to run out and grab a plain bristle doormat... ultimate fail.  After checking probably 10 different stores, I settled for this one. 

Then I made my own stencil just from some card stock.  I probably should have made this from cardboard or something less flimsy, but it worked nonetheless.  I choose K for Kellermeyer.  I thought if I chose H for Hake, Mr. K might have been offended. 

Then I proceeded to tape everything off.  I taped all areas outside of the stencil. 

It looked like this.

I went into the garage and painted it with black. 

I used what I had which was black gloss spray paint.  Looking back, I think I should have used something with a matte finish, but again, I worked with what I already had on hand to make it as cheapola as possible. 

And here's how it ended up. 

I think if I'd had something a bit less flimsy, the edges would have been more clean. 

AND the K would have been more distinct. 

But either way, it looks better than the old one I had previously from Pier 1.  It had seen better days. 

And all in total it was $7 for me... the cost of the Doormat itself. I already had everything else.

Another upgrade to my porch was my new pots.

It actually looked really good all together. 

Check it out.

Until the darn Semi-Tornadoes whipped through... and knocked my pot off the porch and to it's ultimate doom.  I've had that pot for almost 4 years now... not anymore. :(

This was another FAIL, but at least my garden stool it was sitting on didn't break and at least we are alive after those nasty storms went through.  Others weren't so lucky. 

Remember today's the last day to get your order in for the proceeds to go to the Red Cross Storm Relief fund.  Shop here and select RED CROSS As your hostess. 

Happy Monday Tuesday Everyone!

Eighties Show Recap

I was born in 1984. Yes, I'm giving up my age...something a lady should never do, but it doesn't bother me. With that being said, I don't remember that much FROM the eighties... I remember the eighties through the nineties.
I remember things like Alf, Gumby, and Thundercats...
Am I the only one? Probably...

So last weekend, or maybe two now, the Fishers Figure Skating Club put on A Big Eighties Ice Show.
Song selections were varied... Kids in America, I Want Candy, Hit Me With Your Best Shot, Melt With You, Every Little Thing She Does is Magic, Material Girl and the list goes on and on.  There were just under 30 numbers in total and probably about 45 girls who participated. 
This is a great example of the outfits...  a sister duo from the rink who skated to Opposites Attract. 

And here's a group of the girls...  Not everyone, but all that I could get together at one time. 

And here's my outfit.  I didn't get a picture of it at the rink so I attempted to set the self-timer on the camera and get a decent shot of myself.  Please don't judge. 

And yes, the cheesy smile was just for the camera... I figured I'd better work it! 

And lastly, I made these Rubik's Cubes to set outside of the curtain as a prop.

Super cheap and super easy! 

Here's how I did it.  I cut squares of all the colors on the Rubik's Cubes. 

I set them on a cardboard moving box.  I just found one that was as close as you could get to a square. 

I set them out making sure that they were never next to the same color and making sure I used them all.  It was not a cube that could be solved. 

Then I put black duct tape as the lines and spaces in between. 

And it ended up like this. 

What was your favorite part of the eighties?

Muddy Bins No More

Ok... so as I know you were all anticipating the Wrap Up of the Eighties Skating Show, we are still down to one computer and did not have time to upload the pictures last night.  I think I need a better system. 

However, I do have a TON of DIY's to catch you all up on so I figured why not share one today. 

The way our house is set up is almost like a row of townhouses.  Or maybe more like Row Houses.  We have mini side yards and our garages are attached to the back of the house.  We drive down an alley to get to our garages.  Here's what our house looks like from the front. 

So... we don't really have a place to put our trash and recycle bins besides outside of the garage.  With the moving back and forth of these bins the yard gets to gettin' a bit mucky over there.  You can see how it looks in the picture below.

So we made a quick trip to Lowe's and decided to put down a mini patio to attempt to "prettify" the area. 

We purchased 12 3x4 pavers (I think), some sand, some gravel, and hopped to it. 

We dug out a little area that was big enough to fit both bins and equalled the size of the pavers and dropped the gravel into the newly dug out space.   Then we tampered it... I think that's what it's called.  You know, where you take the really heavy tool and drop it down on the gravel really hard. 

*Note* We did not dig it out first because someone got a little excited and dumped the gravel as soon as the bag came out of the car... so we had to backtrack and start over with the digging...

Needless to say, this project that should have taken 1 hour took about 2-3.  Oops... And oh the tests of marriage!

Don't do it without digging the pavers in.

It'll look much better this way!

Then we placed the pavers where I wanted them.  This was my task specifically because Mr. K was sure that I would complain about how he put them in. He was probably right because when I showed him how I wanted the edge to have the pavers with the border like stones he couldn't even tell the difference. 

Then we dropped sand over the pavers to fill in the cracks. 

I still think we need a little more sand.

Anyways, you just pour it on and brush it around to fill in the cracks and edges to help with settling. 

And Voila!  A cute mini patio to make our home look a little more appealing from the outside.

Now... If I could only get a little fence and a real patio on the other side!

This picture is just waiting on the rain to wash the excess sand from the top off! 

Don't forget to link up to the "Anything Goes" link party! 

It closes May 31st so there's still plenty of time!

Anything Goes Link Party

So now it's time for the Anything Goes Link Party!  I do hope you'll jump on in and participate as I love finding new blogs to read!    Click below to add your link!!!  Ends May 31st!

Share with your friends too... the more the merrier!

Minor Bedroom Changes

Do any of you remember my bedroom?  It's painful. 

I think it gets more and more painful every time I look at it. 

Painful, I know right?!?!  Like...woah!

Most painful part?  The major pieces of furniture that do not go together!
A five drawer dresser from Goodwill and a six drawer dresser from IKEA are enough to make me cringe each and every time I walk in there.  I don't so much mind my side tables and/or bed, but definitely have upgrades in mind when the time is right. 

In the meantime, I've made a few changes to my bedroom.  Actually after looking at that top collage of my bedroom, it looks like a totally different room.  It's still an ever evolving set of items but there have been a few noticeable updates. 

A few weeks ago I posted about the change in the comforter...
It's a Thomas O'Brien from Target.  I think I love it.  I got it in the King Size for the Queen Size bed and it drapes to the floor very nicely. 

The curtains...

Remember these goldy-ish colored set.  They started in my living room and when my mom gave me the old comforter set by Nicole Miller, they made their way up the stairs and onto my bedroom windows.  Well, with the change of the comforter, the goldy-ish drapes were too sheeny. 

So I took them from the above...

To these...

Drop cloths...

I've even hung them higher since these were taken.

Love them.

And hoping to paint a loopy detail or a chevron pattern along the bottom.

Cheap Art.

I saw three sayings on canvas on another blog, made by an artist.  I decided to type them out, and print them up... I made a couple of little frames to put around my house... Here's the one in the bedroom.
It sits next to Mike's side. 

I've also moved my DIY Star burst mirror from the front hallway to over the bed.  I did have to trim it down a little, but I think it works better with the colors in the bedroom....although it might be a crazy good pop downstairs on my new chocolate brown wall.  Things that make me go hmmm...

And you may notice those loopy canvas' on either side of the bed.  I made those a while back.  Actually a long while back.  They used to hang on the wall to the left in this picture below, but I actually quite love the set up at the moment where they hang in relation to the mirror.    They were inspired by a print I used to love at Ballard Designs and I thought for sure I could do myself... WRONG, but I kind of love the outcome.  What do you think?

So, there she is...

In the daylight...

And in the moodlight...



My New Hallway

Happy Monday Blog Hogs! 

Did you love those specials from last week?!?  I hope I win something!  :)
I know I left an itinerary of my blog posts this week at the end of Friday's post... and I'm going to do them... just a little out of the order they were listed...

Here's what I proposed and the changes -
Monday - My DIY Doormat  My New Hallway
Tuesday - Bedroom Update and Link Party
Wednesday - Eighties Skating Show Recap
Thursday - Hallway/Entryway Update   My DIY Doormat and Front Porch Updates
Friday - The Hangover Review <-- Still a possibility, but if not, Creating a Mini Patio

So onto the hallway progression....

In February I purchased a groupon for the painting of a 10x12 room.  I figured I could paint my own rooms, but my staircase not so much.  So before I purchased it, I called the company offering it and asked them if I could use it towards a stairway instead of a room and they said sure thing.  I just had to buy the paint. 

I was so excited to get this painted!  I've been waiting for forever and the groupon expired in June... I knew that I had to get it done.  You may remember my hall from our Home Tour (part 1).  Here it is with my DIY Sunburst Mirror being used as a Christmas Card holder. 

I set up the appointment and Hector showed up at my door Friday morning.  He put his earphones in and just painted away... and away.... and away.... 3 gallons later {even though he told me to go and buy a 4th because he needed it and never used it} and 7 hours later, my hallway went from looking like this...

To this...

To this...

PS...

It was 5:30 in the morning when I took this picture before I headed off to work.

It was all I had to clean off the top of the buffet, so please don't judge the shoe mess underneath.

I haven't figured out a good shoe method yet...besides always taking them upstairs to the closet. 

I am in love with it!  What do you think?

Specials & A Winner

Good Friday Morning Blog Hogs! 

All I can say is TGIF!  I could barely get up this morning... getting ready for a show this weekend for Stella & Dot and working on stuff for my mom and trying to get my life in order... again...I think that's a constant battle, but I digress...

Anyways I have a couple of things to announce today...
Some Specials 
Discounts - Giveaways - Etc.

Today over at Hey Gorgeous, she's having a giveaway of a pair of Glint Flower Earrings

from Stella & Dot (via me) as a part of her week of giveaways in honor of her birthday.  Look for it a bit later today! 

Other giveaways this week include -
Friday - Monogrammed Notecard Set  from Lemon and Lavendar 

Thursday - Papertalk Press ($125 Gift Card)

Wednesday -  Fine & Fluerie Flower Hair Piece

Wednesday - Anastasisia Marie Cards ($100 Gift Card)

Tuesday - Wedding Paper Divas ($50 Gift Card)

Monday -Vatne Cluster Pearl Bracelet

Sunday - Wedding Chicks (10 Custom Totes)

*most are open for a week long so make sure to check when the contests end*

I saw this BBQ Giveaway on Fresh Home Blog today. Looks like 1 entry per day! Love it!

Honey I'm Home offered a 40% off Printable Michael's coupon yesterday! Valid through May 21st!

$50 Vintage Pearl Giveaway over at Three P's in a Pod - Ends May 30th.

She also has a $100 giveaway going on too....check it out!

Don't forget that the Vintage Link Necklace is 20% off through June 30th due to it's feature in the June Issue of Essence Magazine

Promo Code ESSENCE20

And announcing the winner of last weeks giveaway...

The only entrant (before the deadline)...

Melanie! 

Check out her Blog - Message From The Muellers!  

And look for this blog line up next week:

Monday - My DIY Doormat

Tuesday - Bedroom Update and Link Party

Wednesday - Eighties Skating Show Recap

Thursday - Hallway/Entryway Update

Friday - The Hangover Review?!?  We'll see..

And of course a weekly roundup! 

*And Make sure you guys hold me to it*

Happy Weekend!