We’ve been married for 4 years, and lived in our first home for that same amount of time.  I have scoured garage sales, craigslist etc looking for a king size headboard.  Everything that I found was not listed at a “DIY price.”  So then I searched Pinterest and had plans to get a large piece of wood, cover it in batting and then top it with fabric.   But even that seemed to have a high price tag.  So my plans for a headboard got put on hold… until last month. Tony has been helping his parents get their home ready to sell.  They happened to have an old trundle…

This piece rocked my socks off from the first time I laid eyes on it. We were at an estate sale, and this bad boy had a $15 price tag on it. $15??? For a trunk that I could lay down in? I knew exactly how valuable this could be for us. Our master bedroom is upstairs and has no linen closet for sheets, towels etc. this sits at the foot our our king bed and has been SO useful! This was one of the first pieces that I painted, and it was obvious after I first finished it that I made a huge mistake. I didn’t know how to…

Here is a little peek at my past projects.  Some have been up-cycled more than once as my tastes have changed.  I take Phoebe Buffet’s stance on furniture: Pottery barn is evil.  Okay, maybe I don’t feel THAT strongly about it, but why pay so much when you could restore something from someone’s past?  I LOVE furniture restoration!  I find that I completely lose track of time while sanding, painting and detailing.  It makes me so happy.  When we first bought our house in 2013, I went NUTS.  We hit up garage sale after garage sale and I bought a quart of paint in EVERY color that I liked.  Our…

I made some DIY stockings a few years ago with some red and cream chevron duck cloth fabric when chevron was everywhere and loved by most.  Like many, I have found myself trading in my chevron appeal for greek, mosaic or plaid patterns.  When I opened up my Christmas decoration totes this year, I found myself very disappointed in my stockings when I saw them.  So, I decided to start fresh! Supplies: Fabric Drop cloth (4×5 feet) $5.98 at Lowe’s.  (enough to make 5 stockings) Cheap red fabric for lining approx 1.5 yards (I had some on hand already.) Desired fabric for cuff approx less than 1 yard (I chose…

So I went a little overboard when I bought 8 fall candles on sale at Michael’s.  I burned a candle nearly every night for a few months and still only managed to put a dent in 3 of these candles.  With our upcoming move next summer, I don’t think it is too reasonable to expect to travel with candles to the next city we call home, but I didn’t want them to go to waste either. Solution?  Make them over for the holiday season!     I took a combination of felt, plaid fabric, twine, ribbon, tree trimmings, jingle bells and mini ornaments to turn these orange jar candles into…

I made these last year in preparation for hosting the first Thanksgiving with both of our families.  My mom and sister found an amazing deal on flights at the last minute and decided to join the Cunningham clan for Turkey weekend.  I think I excitedly crafted these soon after hearing of their impending arrival.   Growing up, my mom hosted the main holiday dinners.  The food: delicious.  The ambiance: fantastic. The table settings: amaze-balls.  Her father was an interior designer, and my grandmother had an eye for painstaking perfection, so my mom learned from the best.    Thanksgiving was my favorite holiday growing up because it meant having the whole weekend…

A close friend and her very sweet husband are due soon. A + A are waiting to find out the gender, and have a neutral color palate safari themed nursery waiting for baby.    They not only traveled to Africa on a safari excursion within the last couple of years, but actually lived in South Africa right around the time they got married.  They are very adventurous people, and I have no doubt that they will make amazing parents!  I contacted the father to be and had him send me photos from their safari trip to use as inspiration, and loved them!   I really wanted a color to accent…

Fall is my favorite season.  I love wearing sundresses and wedges as much as the next girl, but by the end of summer, I’m ready to throw on that blanket scarf and cozy up with a hot chocolate.   Not much beats the scent of fall candles burning, the wisp of a crisp breeze across the room from the open windows, and the warmth of a Pippa curled up on my lap. (see below.)  Speaking of candles, I was lucky enough to go to Michael’s on a whim and hit the jackpot! 4 for $10 for Fall scented candles.  I bought 8. I get almost as excited to decorate for…

Our dear friends P + S are due anytime now.   Their baby is fiercely loved already, and was prayed for most intently.  When I got news of their baby shower, I asked S if the hostess was “crafty.”  She said, “sadly, no!”  So of course I offered to contribute some decorations.  S runs the ND Graduate Student Spouse and Partner Craft Club with me.  We meet once a month, on a semi-remote part of campus to unite crafters from all countries and crafting capabilities.  I have to admit that I was a bit intimidated at the thought of crafting decorations for S’s shower.  S loves crafting so much that…

Our laundry room, (I guess it’s more like a closet?) sits right within our main entertaining area.  Our kitchen is long, stretching from the prep area to the dining area.  Off of the dining area there are two “closets,” a pantry and a laundry “room.”  Each is contained by a cheap set of doors on a track, that every so often get stuck.  But more often than not, laundry gets done regularly around this house (Pippa goes through more clothes than I do) and the doors stay open during laundry because of the lack of space within the “room.”  Heat would be too contained within the “room” space when the…