Yes, Master! (Bedroom, that is!)

 

Here's the very first before picture of our master bedroom before we moved in! :) 

 

 

 

You can see the crazy changes this room has gone through here. 

 

 

And here's the design board I put together for our new space!

 

 

We are slowly getting there, and I can't wait to share the 'before' and 'after, after, after' pics! ;)

 

What do you guys think?  Color overload or much improved? :)

 

 

 

 

 

Chalk Art

Have you all seen the chalkboard art that seems to be popping up everywhere?  I've been thinking about making a DIY chalkboard menu for our kitchen.  Something like this, maybe?
 

I've recently seen some awesome examples of just how cool chalk art can be.

I mean, how gorgeous is this custom chalkboard art by Dana Tanamachi?  Amazing!  I would love to hire her to do one for us, but I'm guessing she's a little out of our price range.  Oh well, I'll just drool over her work anyway! :)

I found this print on Etsy that I thought was adorable.  You can actually customize it with your own family name and recipe.  And it's only $35 for an 11x14 print.  Not too shabby! :)

And one of my favorite Etsy shops recently came out with this adorable chalkboard invitation.  $15?  I think so! :)

What do you guys think?  Gotta have or leave it in the dust? ;)

Budget Nursery Design

Decorating a nursery is challenging period, but decorating a nursery on a small budget is extremely difficult.  After doing Cole's nursery for less than $200, I can say I speak from experience. ;)

Here are a few tips for keeping your nursery budget in check:

1.  Reuse and repurpose as many items as you can.  "Shop" your house!

2.  Scour thrift stores, consignment shops, craigslist, etc.

3.  If you see something you love that is just too expensive, do a DIY version instead. :)

4.  Etsy.com can be your best friend.

5.  Create a budget and stick to it!

6.  Finally, don't be fooled into thinking that you need to spend $1,000 on a crib, $500 on bedding, $600 for a rocker, and so on.  If you're not careful, you could easily buy a car for what you spent on your nursery! :)

For example, this crib is quite lovely:

But not for that price!  No thanks! :)

One of my favorite tips for creating designer spaces on a dime is finding high-end rooms and pieces to use as inspiration.  Once I find something that I love, I make it my goal to achieve the same look within my budget. 

When looking at cribs for Blake, I fell in love with the crib on the right from Restoration Hardware.  But it was out of our price range at $1049 plus a hefty freight charge.  I eventually found this look-a-like by Carters at Babies 'R' Us for $399.  Much better! :)

And if you're really looking for a deal, Graco has this crib for $149:

Not too shabby! :)

Just remember, you don't have to spend thousands of dollars to create beautiful spaces!  Never thought I'd be saying that!  Boy, has five years of marriage to my wonderful hubby changed me! ;)

 

Love Me, Love Me

Today marks five years since I married my wonderful hubby!  I am so blessed!  Speaking of love and marriage, I found a few more prints that I'm considering for our master bedroom.  Etsy again! ;)

I absolutely love this print from the Song of Solomon! :)

http://www.etsy.com/listing/82406349/song-of-solomon-in-blue-8x10-print

And these silhouette prints are amazing! :)

http://www.etsy.com/shop/lepapierstudio?section_id=5392835 

 

There are just so many different prints that I love!  Thankfully I have lots of wall space to fill! ;)

 

Jane Austen Typography

If you know me, you know I'm in love with Jane Austen.  Emma, Pride and Prejudice, and Sense and Sensibility are some of my favorite movies.  Yeah, I'm pretty sure I've seen Emma approximately 100 times. ;)  Anyway, I've been looking for artwork for our bedroom, and thought it would be neat to include some Jane Austen quotes.  So, I hit Etsy!  Shocking, I know. ;)  I found these adorable ones from Uplifting Prints.  They actually have a section just for Jane Austen fans, and the prints range from $20-$30 a piece. 

You can check out all of them here: 

http://www.etsy.com/shop/UUPP?section_id=7795879.

I thought I'd play around with Publisher and see if I could come up with something similar.  This is the Pride and Prejudice print I made:

And here's my Mr. Knightley quote that I personalized with our wedding date. :)  I absolutely love that scene!

Feel free to print the Pride and Prejudice quote if you'd like, and I can always customize the Emma print with your colors and wedding date.  Just let me know if you're interested!  And if you haven't seen these movies, you're missing out! :) 

Do you guys have any other good ideas for master bedroom artwork?

J. Crew Bubble Necklace

Don't you just love this outfit?  And that necklace?!?!  I've been drooling over it for a while now! :)

http://www.jseverydayfashion.com/2012/06/todays-everyday-fashion-blank-slate.html

If you want the real thing, check out this one from J. Crew.  I just couldn't break down and spend $150 for it, although I'm sure it's great quality. :)

http://www.jcrew.com/womens_category/jewelry/necklaces/PRDOVR~92687/92687.jsp

I'm happy to share that I found an abundance of look-a-likes on Etsy.com that start at $17!  Hallelujah! :)  Because I already have around 10 turquoise necklaces, I decided to order a yellow one.  This one is actually $29, but the seller has thousands of reviews and they are all positive.  That's something I always like to look at when shopping on Etsy. :)  And she's a quick shipper too!  Mine is already on its way, so I'll be sure to share pics when it arrives! :)

http://www.etsy.com/shop/StudioLaTouche?section_id=5013532

What do you guys think?  Drool worthy or not? ;)

 

A Car-Themed Birthday Party

 I believe I've already shared with you all that my husband is very frugal, right?  Combine that with my love of decorating and you have a wonderful mix...or a huge battle! ;)  I love party planning as well, and I knew when I started planning Blake's 2nd birthday party that I was going to have to find some budget-friendly ideas.  So, I thought I'd share some practical tips on how to reduce the amont of money spent on decorating for a birthday party. :)

I knew I wanted to do a cars theme since Blake is obsessed with cars, so I started browsing for invitations and party packages.  I found the invitation on the left on Etsy.com.  It was a digital printable file for $15.  Then, on top of that, printable party collections range anywhere from $30-$50.  So, my tight-wad wheels start turning, and I search Etsy for transportation-themed digital scapbooking paper.  Lo and behold, I find a set of twelve papers and bonus clip art for $6 from Goodness and Fun: http://www.etsy.com/shop/goodnessandfun. 

I then designed Blake's birthday party invitation on Microsoft Publisher.  It's not exactly the same, but it's close enough for me! :)  The invitation became the inspiration for the rest of the party decor. 

Here's Blake in front of his dessert buffet (which he thoroughly enjoyed!)

The backdrop is a cheap presentation board from Walmart covered in colored computer paper with lines of black Gorilla tape.  I already had the board from a baby shower I decorated, my mom had the paper, so all I had to buy was the $3 tape. :)  Cheap and easy!

The plates ($1 for 20) and the napkins ($.50 for 20) were all from Walmart.

I designed the racetrack initial on Publisher, printed it, and hot glued little cars to it.  I then framed it in a white frame I already had.

The candy, cookies, and cupcakes were from Walmart and Dollar Tree.  The only thing I actually baked were the traffic light sugar cookies, which cost all of $6 total.  I just used frozen Pillsbury sugar cookie dough and Betty Crocker cookie icing.  The orange cones were also form Dollar Tree.  The sucker stands are upside down buckets from the dollar section at Target.  The suckers came from Oriental Trading ($6 for 12).  The tablecloth was $1 from Walmart and I added sticky yellow post-it notes down the center.  The cake came from Rachel's Cakes, http://www.facebook.com/#!/rachels.cakes1.  Her cakes are always delicious! :)  One way I saved money on the cake was by going with buttercream icing instead of fondant for the layers.  This actually cut the cost of the cake in half.  The topper came from Blake's toy box (I cleaned it off, of course.) ;)

I used the same digital scrapbooking paper to design the cupcake toppers, jar labels, and favor labels on Publisher.  This truck also came from the toy box, and the bubbles are from Dollar Tree.

 

We also had some inexpensive activities for the kids and adults outside such as a little pool, sprinkler, slip and slide, bubbles, and corn hole.  Most importantly, Blake and all of our guests had a great time, and that's what really matters! :)