Do da dip...

I don't know how this happened, but this post was published awhile ago, but I never shared it with everyone, so I apologize if you've already seen it...Also, you'll notice some changes around here, (the About Me page, the DIY page, and Our Home page all have some new stuff) so be sure to check it out.
I saw these on Pinterest:

Source

 and was immediately in love. So I made my own.

It was as simple as pulling out the tons of "$5 for a set, wooden spoons we all have in our house," and the "green frog tape we all SHOULD have in our house," and some paint:

I taped them off:

dipped them in paint and let them dry:

This is the only way I could figure out to dry them...hmmm...I should plan better :)
and the end result:

Brightly colored spoons....Red and gold. Kansas City Chiefs for those of you who didn't know. I think they will be perfect for the next time they go to the Superbowl...(for all of you non-kansanites, that was a joke), but they could be fun for any Sunday football game or any other party. I think they could be way more fun in a bunch of bright colors, or as a wedding gift in the couple's wedding colors. I am not sure about washing them yet...let me rephrase that I'm not sure about putting them in the dishwasher...I will, of course, wash them. I'm okay with it though, I only use our dishwasher for huge amounts of dishes anyways (waste not want not) and these spoons will most likely be used for parties, and not so much everyday use (especially since I have probably 5 exact sets of these in my house)...How about you guys? any "dipping" projects at your place lately? Keep it clean people...

Glass of wine, paint brush, and some frog tape...

So here's a post about what happens when you wait too long to do something you've been discussing for a long time, and then have a few glasses of wine, one night around 10.....and unfortunately have excess     paint-brushes, frog tape, and a plethora of paints in your garage:

I've written many a time about painting my front door....I definitely wanted to add some "not so factory build grade" character to our plain white door:

THIS IS WHERE THE BEFORE PICTURE WOULD GO...IF I HAD ONE...IT WAS LATE...

We went over a long list of colors. including: a deep peacock blue, green, and even yellow. The problem: resale...Not a big problem if you're moving in three or four years, by then you will probably repaint the entire door or might just replace the door altogether. But, we happened to know for a fact that this little gray house that we love will be put on the market in about a year and a half...sad face..Therefore resale value is a factor. Our doors are white builder grade and apparently magic doors that are impossible to paint back white. We know this because a year after we moved in, the door to my office got scuffed up (I don't remember how) and I tried to just use some touch up white paint that was left in the garage, it didn't match and you could definitely tell that it didn't match the rest of the door if you look closely, so I tried sanding and trying a different white, still no dice...It's not terribly noticeable and not a big deal on a small part of the bottom of the office door...big deal however, on the entirety of our front door. So we went with another/much more subtle route:

I apologize for the last picture, but it's really hard to get a good picture of the front door during the day.

We went with a neutral chocolate brown. Instead of painting the whole door, we added a little bit of character by just painting the insets. Now I'm deciding if I should paint around the glass too, it needs symmetry but I kind of think it could be overkill. What do you think?
 In the end, I'm very happy with it. It adds character without taking away from the rest of the great room that it opens to, or from my striped entry way wall that is directly next to it, and there shouldn't be any need to paint it again before putting it on the market, and if I do it will probably take 5 minutes. I think this project could be really fun though, with some bright colors, especially on all of your interior doors.
So, there you have it, a simple, quick and albeit probably a little boring project...although I promise it makes more impact in real life.
How about you guys? Any good painting projects out there? Any other magic front doors? Do tell...

Watch out or I might spray paint the dog...

So after this post and then this post, you may have already been in spray paint overload (especially metallic spray paint). Because of this I planned on waiting a week or so to share today's little projects (ya know give you a break from the gold spray paint around here) but I wanted to share it in the 151st Power of Paint Party over at Domestically-Speaking...which ends today, so that's my reason...oh well, get over it...And then go check out all the other great Power of Paint projects that are linked up here...

I saw this picture on the ZGallerie website and immediately fell in love...

hmmm....such a sophisticated space...I especially loved this:

But not so much the $169.00 price tag...Reallly, Z Gallerie?..Really?...Anyways I found this one at Hobby Lobby for $4 with a 40% off coupon:

and now it looks like this:

It's amazing what a can of spray paint can do, isn't it?

More photo love:

Yes, it makes me happy, and I like that it's faux...no need for real dead animal heads on my bookcase/wall...I'm not 100% sure if this will be it's final place (I literally just took down the picture that was hanging there originally, and hung the skull on that same nail). I would love to hear your opinions though...

During that same Hobby Lobby spree I found this for $3.00 because of a 50% off sale:

It reminded me of this one that I have been lusting over for awhile at Anthropologie for $20.00:

Source

Yeah, apparently I have a thing for elephants (evident here).

Of course it needed some help....Hmmm...what to do?...Oh, right what I always do. Spray paint to the rescue:

Yes, he will make a perfect perch for our keys and a light jacket, and he is a better scale for this space (he is a couple inches smaller than the Anthropologie one)...and quite possibly (when I buy some more) will be perfect for paint swatches in my office....

Now, I must go see what else I can spray paint...No worries, I was just joking about the dog...Maybe...

I'm sharing this over at the Homemade Ginger Jamboree Link Party! Check all of the other great projects out here!

and

Mission accomplished...

I'll keep it short. My husband is watching Frasier, and for whatever reason whenever I listen to this show, I read everything with an English accent..and say everything out loud with an English accent...it's annoying for everyone...Tell me I'm not alone..Really, just me? hmmm...anyways...
We've all heard the design mantra "have nothing in your home that you don't find to be useful or beautiful." Because, I can't go out and buy all new things, I've been on a self-proclaimed mission to find things I already own that I'm not completely sold on and make them into things I love. Enter these old Moroccan lanterns.

I had been hunting for some fun accessories to brighten up my living room bookcase, when I came across these, that honestly, I had forgotten about:

 They used to hang on our front porch...but they have since been retired/replaced. I don't love them. I don't hate them. They were in terrible condition. 

Ladies and gentleman, my favorite tool ever: metallic gold spray paint. Now I have these:

and because one picture just doesn't do it for theses brass beauties...here's more:

So now I have two brass lanterns, that look brand new, that I love, and didn't spend a dollar. What about you all? Any $0 projects around the house lately?

And yes, that was all with an English accent. You're welcome.

An upgrade so easy it's probably not worth a post...

I love my Expedit bookcase in my living room, it's the right size/style/scale but it looks like every other Expedit bookcase out there (image that)...I felt like it needed a little something, something...Enter a $2 trip to True Value, a little super glue, and some pretty brass hardware:

and you get this:

I love the campaign style furniture, and while this is far from it, I think it adds a lot to the box store piece. I love that it really makes all of the gold accessories (including my newly painted bee vase and my newly moved elephant planter) on the bookcase stand out...

And for the stylist in me, a complete before and after:

Before:

After:

Yes, I realize, it's not a huge difference, in fact in this picture you can barely see the difference, but between the new hardware and new styling I definitely think its an improvement. And there you go, an upgrade so easy it's probably not worth a post.

So I went to starbucks...

I realized late last night that I have a large group of readers from the East Coast (who knew), that are possibly being affected by Hurricane Sandy. Please know, I am praying and sending lots of love your way. Please be safe and stay warm!

The other morning I ran into Target only to stop at Starbucks..yeah, right. You see, Target is my kryptonite when it comes to home decor. Literally I will go in for dog food and pita bread, and somehow leave having spent $150 on pillows...and sometimes I don't even remember going in. Because of this, since we started our new budget I've been avoiding it, with the exception of our monthly shopping trip (this is where we buy dog food, toilet paper, and some of our groceries). Anyways, I went in only to get a coffee but then remembered that I hadn't even gotten to see the new Nate Berkus line yet...oh the horror...I found his line, yet there was maybe 4 things left on an end-cap, and nothing that I was absolutely head over heels for (except for maybe these, but I've seen them EVERYWHERE in the blog world)...sad face. So from there I wondered to the clearance aisle...uh oh...In the end, I'm quite proud, I left only with a gilded vase and one other item (it's a gift for a reader so I can't share it yet) and only spent $12. Anyways back to my pretty gilded vase, it's this one:

On a sidenote, doesn't it remind you of a bee?

The best part: it was $5.00 on sale....the worst part, the top of the vase was an off white/cream color that had no place in my home. I considered putting it back, but come on folks it was $5 and look at the beautiful gold bottom...yum..Enter my favorite tool...spray paint and you get this:

And to answer a question I get a lot, yes sometimes I feel bad about painting something I just bought brand new. In this case, however, I don't. It was only $5.00, there was about 20 of them on the shelf so it is not  unique in any way, and I didn't take away from the part of the vase I loved (the gilded bottom). And now I have a vase I love, that will fit in my home for only $5 (I already had the spray paint).

So there you have it, a not super exciting upgrade, but what are you going to do...How about you guys? Any great clearance finds lately? Have you guys seen the new Nate Berkus collection yet? Swoon. I loved what I saw, I just wish there was way more of it.
Stay tuned tomorrow for another bookcase update! That's right people, 4 posts this week...booyah...

Pinterest Challengin' it up.....

If you read Young House Love , (which in my world should read: "If you breathe") you've heard of the Pinterest Challenge....or ....

A challenge created by Sherri and Katie, to help all of us get out of our pinning ruts. Basically everyone will create one Pinterest inspired project and post it today! While I recently posted a list of stuff I wanted to try from Pinterest, and still plan to try these at some point, I had some serious time constraints this weekend so I had to resort to a smaller, but still fun project. Also, the smart bloggers posted about this challenge last Tuesday to let you guys know it was coming (AKA to help any other bloggers get involved) but as I've mentioned before I'm a failure as a blogger (in fact here's a list of why I suck) so I did not....also I was behind on my google reader and was not aware of it until later in the week...#WINNING

For more fun "Pinterest Challenge" projects check out these blogs:
Our Fifth House
The Ugly Duckling House
Bower Power Blog
and of course Young House Love...
and I'm sure there is a ton more out there!
Onto the fun stuff...or at least fun for me stuff:

Here's a not so big secret...I have a black thumb. I tend to kill plants, like all of them. I recently heard about "air plants," a plant that requires no soil or water...aka a plant that could actually survive in my house. So I bought one from the local nursery. Now the task was to find a planter for it, and then I saw these (they are for sale on Etsy, but originally found on Pinterest so it's solid):

Source

Source

Source

Source

I was immediately in love. They weren't terribly expensive, starting at only $25 with shipping, but I knew I could do better (besides the challenge is to make something not buy something)...in fact how does $4 sound? Here's what went down...

Sorry about the terrible phone picture...it was late...and my toe was broken...and I was super tired...and possibly a little buzzed...

A hobby lobby store plastic toy animal (actually got a few more the next day!), dollar store spray paint I already owned (never use dollar store spray paint BTW), frog tape, and some gold craft paint...oh, and the hubby's drill (I'm sure you could use a knife for this too, it's plastic people). That's right. I just spray painted the toy, and then dipped her little feet (she's white and gold so of course she's a female...or Liberace) into some metallic craft paint I also already owned for a little glitz. Drilled a small hole in the back...and now a small elephant fashion show...ya know, like you do...
Warning: bad phone pics ahead...Must. Get. New. Camera. Now..

I love her little gold feet, tail, and tusks...

A little hint: if you're as weird as I am and find the need for an elephant shaped planter in your life and decide to try this yourself, try to use good spray paint, I just used what was in my large spray paint collection and this was the only one white I had left, but the plastic didn't absorb the spray paint well and it took like 5 coats...which is annoying when it's 11 at night and 30 degrees outside...and like I said before, you're a little buzzed. Shouldn't have been a problem with non dollar store spray paint though.

And now Ellie (yes I'm nothing if I'm not creative) resides on my office shelf which needed some glitz...oh yes, that hits the spot:

How about you guys? Any super cheap/simple/weird projects around the casa lately? Anyone else have a hard time explaining to your mom and sister on a shopping trip, that you MUST find a plastic elephant? Anyone else participating in the Pinterest Challenge? Leave me a comment so I can check it out!

I'm also Linkin' this up over at homemade ginger for her Ginger jamboree party! Check out all the other fabulous projects here!
And finally, linking up at 52 mantels for her Thursdays are your days link up party! Check out the other fun projects/recipes here!