New Shoes or Teva makes Mary Janes ?

(new Teva shoes -- LOVE them!)

Two years ago I blogged about some adorable OKAb shoes that I bought. I still love those shoes...but last week I looked down at my shoes and realized that the sole of one of them was ripping in half! Not a good look. I crossed my fingers and hoped that my shoes would last until I made it home (they did) and promptly went online and ordered myself some new shoes.

The verdict? I'm in love! I had no idea Teva made mary janes, but I love these! The style is the Teva Westwater 2. They are perfect for running around after my children and for my lifestyle. They run about a half a size or more big (I read lots of reviews that referenced this and my experience backs this up). However, I have BIG feet and these do not make my feet look big...and I love that!

Two thumbs up!

Ruffled Throw Pillows

Last week I bought two of these great ruffled throw pillows at Costco for only $13 each! They're super soft and the fronts are covered in ruffles. They also had them in a gorgeous plum color, olive green, and one or two other colors. They were available in the square shape that I purchased as well as an oversized lumbar (rectangular) shape. I wanted the lumbar pillow, but they only had one left in the cream and the ruffles weren't looking too great on that one.

The one downside to these pillows is that they are spot-clean only...but for only $13, I bought two of them anyhow.

Sorry for the picture quality, we've been having some overcast and gloomy days around here but I couldn't wait any longer to share these pillows. They are gorgeous!

Spring Cleaning and Selling!

No, I haven't disappeared--I've been busy cleaning STUFF out of my house! I've been selling things on craigslist, the local children's consignment store, and on eBay. Compiling items, listing items, and meeting people pass off items has been keeping me busy!

My children are really looking forward to summer swim lessons--which will cost me $200 a month--so my goal is to make enough money to cover the cost of their lessons. (My secret goal is to make enough extra that I can buy two barstools for my kitchen counter...but I'm keeping that goal to myself!)

I shared the "paying for swim lessons" goal with my children and they've been cheering me on and they're thrilled I'm already over halfway toward that goal. It has been a wonderful lesson for them in saving and working toward a financial goal. They don't receive allowances, so this is a bit of a new experience for them--especially in this age of debit cards and ATM machines.

My New Lisa Leonard Necklace!

I am now the proud owner of a Lisa Leonard Designs necklace. It is gorgeous beyond all belief and I'm thrilled to bits to have it! I was fortunate enough to win it in a giveaway sponsored by Beth at The Stories of A to Z. The absolute BEST part though, is that I chose my favorite Lisa Leonard design--one that I have wanted since it first appeared on her site. One that I asked my husband for...and didn't receive. (Ahem, husband, order NOW for Mother's Day--I really like THIS necklace and would like all of our names with yours first, mine last, and theirs in between. Let me know if I can be of more help. Mmmkay?)

Anyhow, now that I have that out of the way, look at how beautifully the necklace was packaged! All that crinkly paper cushioned the box in the envelope and the box came ready for gift giving!

Ahhh. G.O.R.G.E.O.U.S.
LOVE IT.

It is even more beautiful than it looks in the picture. I really really REALLY love it. You know, just in case you couldn't tell. Now there are roughly ten kazillion more Lisa Leonard pieces I would love to have.

I want to do family pictures this summer and I've already decided that this necklace MUST be included in the pictures. Nothing like selecting your jewelry before you figure out the clothing.

I was too shy to ask Lisa if she would sponsor a giveaway on my blog. Sorry about that. I can tell you, however, this necklace is gorgeous and you want one. You really really want one. And I want another one. (Ahem, husband...)

Entry Way Storage

image courtesy of Pottery Barn

Several years ago I fell in love with the Pottery Barn entryway storage systems. We have a teeny tiny coat closet (it has about 18 inches of hanging space) plus we are a "no shoes in the house" family which is pretty common in this area.

image courtesy of Pottery Barn

However I did not fall in love with the Pottery Barn pricetag! After eyeing the pieces some more, I realized that I could find VERY similar pieces at other stores--the other stores don't have pictures as nicely styled as PB, but the furniture pieces are similar in look. (The PB pieces above are not the exact same ones that I wanted, but they do happen to be the ones that exist as knockoffs now.) Rather than spending $500 plus shipping from Pottery Barn, I spent around $150 at JC Penney. I have been thrilled with the pieces...with one notable exception...
Here is the shelf portion of my entryway. See those cubbies? I could not find baskets ANYWHERE to fit them. Everything was either too big or way too small. Crazy! (By the way, JCP now sells their shelves with baskets.)
Finally, after looking for baskets for a few years, I had a brain flash. My husband and I had shoeboxes from our Merrells (ie the shoeboxes were larger than most shoeboxes) that would fit perfectly! I cut the tops off the boxes and then covered the boxes with wrapping paper from Target.
They're still a bit short for the openings, but they are a big improvement over what we had before...or rather, what we didn't have. The wrapping paper covered boxes aren't necessarily very sturdy, but I'm the only one who pulls stuff out of them, so it works.

This is the unedited view of our entryway this weekend--camcorder, swim goggles, outgrown ballet shoes, shipping box, and all! I love the bench and it is a nearly identical knockoff of the bench Pottery Barn used to sell. (Do you like all the backpacks? I promise I have just one child who goes to school...despite the four backpacks!)

It has turned out to be a very functional space for our family and it is one that I can "pretty up" very quickly when we have company. My JC Penney pieces have held up really well...although I am tempted to switch the bench out for one with storage underneath. I used to have a big basket for shoes under the bench, but didn't put it back after we refinished our hardwoods last spring.

200th Post Giveaway!

Happy 200th Post to Me, to Me! Happy 200th Post to Me!

THIS GIVEAWAY IS CLOSED

In celebration of this momentous occasion (ha, ha!), I'm giving away a $25 giftcard to Marshalls. Here are the ways you can enter this giveaway

1. Comment on this post
2. Subscribe to my blog (or let me know you subscribe already!)
   
3. Become a Google Follower (or let me know you're one already!)
4. Follow me on Twitter (or let me know you do this already!) AND tweet about this giveaway
5. Promote this giveaway on your blog (post your link in the comments!)
   

Please leave a separate comment for each entry--up to a maximum of five entries. That's it! Easy Peasy, Lemon Squeezy! The giveaway is open through Friday morning and I'll announce the winner on my blog over the weekend. Make sure you check back to see if you won!

THIS GIVEAWAY IS CLOSED

Hopping down the bunny trail...

While shopping at Goodwill (the horribly over-priced closest Goodwill...they charge more for used stuff than Target charges for it new!) I spotted this little bunny. He was a little too realistic looking for me...but he was 50% off, so I had to buy him. 50% off means I paid $1 for him instead of $2--probably the price he cost at the dollar store I'm sure he came from originally.
A quick blast of white spray paint and he's cleaned up and ready for my spring decorating! Some people might prefer the realistic original version, but I prefer this version. I suspect he'll end up with a little bow around his neck. He'll work well in my spring and Easter decorating...but first I need to get my Valentine decorations down!

Children's Artwork Display Solution

When we did our house addition (expanded family room and eating area) we turned our dining room into a playroom and have been very pleased with this decision. There wasn't a lot of available wallspace in the room as it is open to our "formal" living room but I did want to find a way to display some of my children's artwork. The only space available was a five foot wall above the piano.
It was the perfect length for a small curtain rod. I purchased this rod and the ring clips from Target. It is the same rod style that I used for my dropcloth drapes in another area of my house. My children are thrilled to have their artwork up and I love having it up. I know some people use art display systems from Ikea or Pottery Barn, but I don't live near those stores--plus this rod was very inexpensive and it matches (in color and general style) the curtain rods and chandelier that I already have in this space.
Yes, the rod is centered on the wall--it is hard to tell, but the wall turns a corner just a few inches beyond the piano. If you look at the trim along the floor, you can see that it is farther back than the piano. I'm still deciding whether or not the rod is too high. I like that the artwork is high enough that the children can't tug on it, but I'm not a huge fan of the empty space below it. I'm still pondering this one.

I linked this up to DIY Day at A Soft Place to Land.

Knock-Off Wood's Pottery Barn Bookshelves--MADE!

Behold, the Pottery Barn two shelf Cameron bookcase! Currently on sale for $159 (plus exorbitant shipping charges!) and usually $199. Beautiful and yet out of my budget.
Behold, the almost identical bookcases my husband built! Total cost, $75 (and no shipping charges!) for TWO!! He built them and I painted them--all in a weekend's work. We used plans from Knock Off Wood and they were great!! (FYI--the cost would have been lower, except we made a modification to the plans that ended up costing us an additional sheet of MDF.)
I requested my husband add a back to the bookshelves (the plans don't call for one) and that is the only change we made to the plans. Instead of putting trim pieces on the backs of the shelves, my husband fit in a piece of 3/4 inch MDF. The shelves are made out of MDF (good for painting) and pine trim. We did learn our lesson though and in the future will not be buying lumber for furniture pieces from the local big box store. My husband picked out the best of the bad pine--and it still is bad! Next time we'll go to the lumber yard--and there definitely will be a next time! Ana's plans are wonderful and we plan to build our little boy's bed and trundle from her plans!
I debated painting them white or painting them black. (They're not really going to stay under these pictures.) Ultimately white won out because I had some beautiful white paint (Benjamin Moore Decorator White) leftover from my kitchen cabinet painting project. Plus I figure it is easier to paint over white than it is to paint over black.
These shelves are sized perfectly for going behind the couch in our family room. We're trying to put an office area back there and needed a lot of storage--these fit the bill perfectly!

(I linked this post to Sanctuary Arts at Home's "First Big Project of the New Year Party" and Homebody Holly's Pottery Barn Knockoff Party if you're visiting from there, feel free to comment and take a look at the rest of my blog. I always welcome new readers! Also, welcome to my visitors from Knock-Off Wood! Ana's plans really are as great as they look on her website!)

Family Room...a partial reveal

Yes the addition has been done for awhile...done as in "fully constructed"...not done as in decorated and ready for company! Still, I do have one area that I'm ready to share--even though it still isn't totally done. We'll be moving our office/computer "stuff" into the area behind the couch and we also have a new breakfast area...but in the meantime, here is our family room area...
This is our expanded family room area--we LOVE it!! Really really REALLY love it! There is tons of natural light (all of these pictures were taken with no flash and no lights on...after dinner!)
I'm glad we decided to add the three square windows--they really add some great detail to this big wall.
Isn't that entertainment center/bookcase thing-a-ma-jig a fabulous fit?! I love it!
Ignore the frog tape that is on the wall around the doorway on the right--we're not done painting that particular doorway! The doorway goes to the playcloset, not to a real room.

We've had the armoire for eight years and love it. It is from the Broyhill Fontana collection--I think everyone who was married 7-12 years ago either owns something from this collection or has a friend who does! Anyhow, we never had room for the bookcases until now...and now they're discontinued!
I've been stalking Craigslist for quite awhile looking for these...with NO luck. However, I was out garage saleing and spotted these in the back of someone's garage! Woohoo!! They had a lot of the Fontana collection--I even purchased their square coffee table, so now I no longer have a train table as a coffee table! I also bought a table and chair set from them, but that is a story for a different day. I forget the exact amount I paid for these bookshelves, but I think it was $275 total for both of them. I love them and the amount of STUFF I can store in them. The one on the right has my children's games and the one on the right has their puzzles.
Clearly I'm not done decorating our new fireplace, but I'm loving its clean lines! The tile is travertine and the fireplace itself is gas.
And, for those who remember my post about carpet choices, I ended up buying two 8x10 area rugs (similar but not identical) from Pottery Barn. One is behind the couch in the soon-to-be-office-area and one is in the family room. As you can see in the picture above, I couldn't go bigger without either bumping into the wall or covering up part of the hearth in front of the fireplace. We decided the rugs would be our 8th wedding anniversary gift to each other--after all they fulfill the "pottery" requirement of the traditional gift list...or at least they do if you remember where I bought them from!

Craigslist

I haven't posted about them yet, but at a garage sale a few weeks ago, I found two bookcases to match my Broyhill Fontana media armoire. I love my armoire and now that we've done (well, mostly done!) this addition, I have room for the matching bookcases...except they aren't made any more! I've been stalking Craigslist looking for them, but haven't had any luck...so I was *thrilled* to find them at a garage sale! I think I spent $275 on the pair of them plus a matching square coffee table and it was money well spent in my book!

Well, when my husband went to pick them up for me I had him ask if they happened to have the Broyhill Fontana table that they wanted to get rid of. You see, I had noticed they had the chairs out at their garage sale...so I was hoping they had the table stashed away inside their house. And they DID!!

The downside? It wasn't for sale. I was sad, but called and gave them my number in case they changed their mind. And they DID!!

The downside? They wanted $700 for the table, six chairs, and tile top server (kind of a mini buffet.) Again I was sad--I called and left a voicemail saying that I loved the set but that I just didn't have $700 to spend but that I appreciated them giving me the opportunity to buy their furniture.

Know what happened next?? They called and said I could have the set for $550! (Or something like that...I forget the exact price.) I was thrilled! I wanted the table to use in the breakfast area in the addition--the space is one big area and it would look great with my armoire and new bookshelves.

I went back and they were kind enough to sell it all to me for $475! I'm so happy!

The downside? We just finished a addition project that went over budget and buying new furniture really should have been put off six months. Ooopsie!

Craigslist to the rescue! I've been selling stuff on there for the past 1 1/2 weeks and have made $650 so far! That just about covers my garage sale purchases!

I made over $200 selling some expensive baby gates that we no longer need and I sold this table and chair set for $275...
And I sold this set (our old set that was too small for us) for $100...
And I cleared more space in the garage by selling *two* of these rugs for $40 each--they've just been rolled up in the corner for five years now!
I'm happy to get this stuff out of here and thrilled to make some decent money off of it. Now our formal dining room is a playroom, I can *almost* get my car in the garage, and I've partially furnished our new addition without breaking the bank. Hooray for Craigslist!

New Shoes!

I bought myself the cutest pair of shoes and just have to share them with you. They are called OkaB shoes and they're cute and comfy...and they have a BOW on them!
Love them! They're kind of rubbery, but don't look like plastic and they don't look like Crocs...which is good because I'm not a fan of Crocs. And, the website I bought them from sends you extra colors of ribbons! I ordered from Little Bow Peep Fairy Tales because I've never seen these shoes locally. The seller was great to work with and now I want to order more OkaB shoes! Do you have any? What should I order next?

(by the way, we are spending this week at the coast!)

Goodwill Goodies!

The children and I were out running lots of errands on Tuesday and we ended our morning at Goodwill. I rarely find good stuff at Goodwill, but this trip was an exception!
$2.99 for this little chair and its pot of (bizarre!) green beads. The tag still is on it! I think it will look very sweet with a real little potted plant inn it...and I might not even repaint it. I'm still deciding. I found this in a bin of stuff that hadn't yet been put out on the floor and scooped it right up! The seat of the little chair is about five inches off my counter, so it is a good size.
One thing I do always find at this Goodwill are books for my children. All children's books are 79 cents and (unlike Value Village) they don't discriminate between little kid books and chapter books--they're all the same price! The Golden Book on the top of the pile on the left has never even been opened! The cover still is all stiff!
This is my very favorite find! A gorgeous heavy glass cake dome with NO CHIPS for only $6.99!! Score! The twenty-something male cashier even commented on my find when he rang me up!

Look What I Ordered Yesterday!

I was catching up on blogs last night and came across this cute chalkboard...from Uppercase Living! Doesn't it look fancy and expensive?! $19.99...plus shipping, tax, blah, blah, blah. Anyhow, Kim at Today's Creative Blog posted a quick note about it because the promo for it ended on Monday...so I snapped one up! Hopefully some of you saw her posting too and were able to get one. I'm excited about it even though I'm not 100% sure where I'll be putting it. I'm thinking about the laundry room/powder room/mud room...it serves lots of purposes and has an awkward wall that I've never decorated.

TJ Maxx Topiaries

A PR firm contacted me via my blog and asked if they could give me a $25 gift card to TJ Maxx for me to find some home decor items and blog about them. Being that I loooove shopping for home decor, I quickly agreed to this plan. Princess, Handsome, and I went shopping there a few days ago--I was hoping to find some cute Valentine's Day stuff since our teeny tiny attic space seems to have swallowed up our old Valentine decorations...or maybe my husband just got tired of looking for them... Anyhow, I didn't find any Valentine decor that would work for me (it was mostly dish towels and silicone heart cupcake pans) but I did find a way to spend the giftcard...although I'm not sure it was what the PR firm had in mind...
Look!! Super duper tacky glittery topiaries!!!

What? They don't look so bad to you? You don't see the sparkle? Just wait...I used the flash on a closeup, just for you!
Now do you believe me? They're so shiny and poky and, um, well, not exactly what I was looking for...but the price was right! They were in the Christmas clearance section. The ball topiaries were $5 each and the cone topiaries were $4 each. Perfection!

You see, I want to redo my fireplace wall and I've been looking for affordable topiaries and haven't had much (any?) luck. Topiaries are EXPENSIVE! So these, despite their tackiness, are great!
Like the glitter on my table? This is just SOME of the glitter that now is all.over.my.entire.kitchen after pulling the poky glittery things off ONE (just ONE!) of the ball topiaries. The topiary is looking better already even though it's still pretty glittery.
Are you starting to see my vision? I'm thinking of painting the gold urn black, painting the gold glittery stick brown, and then hotgluing moss on the styrofoam balls and on top of the glittery mess that is inside the urn. What do you think? Is there a better way to do this? Oh wait, will hot glue melt styrofoam? Hmmm...maybe I better test this out first! Give me your thoughts, please!

Oh and the cone shaped topiaries? I'm going to save those for Christmas and replace all the poky stuff with small colored balls. They'll be soooo pretty!

Isn't it fun to see what you can find in amongst all the stuff at a place like TJ Maxx? Once I started thinking outside the box, it was amazing what I found!

I love Etsy!

I hope everyone knows about Etsy because I *love* that site! I go in spurts with purchasing from Etsy, but overall have been so much happier with my Etsy purchases than my eBay purchases. Anyhow, everything on Etsy is handmade (not factory made) and is new--or something new that is made out of repurposed older stuff. There is some NEAT stuff on there!

Earlier this week I purchased some adorable personalized stickers from Autumn Leah Designs. I found her Etsy shop when I was blog hopping--I think I stumbled on her sister's site...and of course now I can't remember what the blog was called. Ooops! Anyhow, I ordered these stickers and we'll use them on Princess's Valentine favors at preschool. They're going to be sooo cute!

Today at preschool we encountered yet another classmate with a missing tooth. I will *cry* when Princess loses her first tooth. Actually, I'll sob. I already cried when the dentist showed me the x-ray that showed her permanent teeth starting to move up through her jaw. At any rate, this teeny tiny (smaller than my almost three year old!) five year old showed me the gap in her mouth and informed me that the "toof faiwy" brought her "four tworters" (so funny--I think she's lisping because of the gap). It made me realize I need to get on the ball!

So tonight I ordered two tooth fairy pillows from Lil Pink Chicken on Etsy. I ordered two because *of course* I need to have nearly identical ones for the two children, so I'm planning ahead. The pillows are so cute and the price is fantastic--just $9.99!! The cost of the materials plus the cost of gas to get the materials plus the cost of my frustration with my sewing machine...well, let's just say it would be a LOT more than that if I were to make these myself!
Isn't the sample pillow cute? Love it--and it is the colors of Princess's room. I ordered Handsome one that is blues and yellows. The pillows are perfect because they can hang them on the outside of their doorknob and the tooth fairy won't accidentally wake them up.

Cute stuff on Etsy!

Twinkling Tees

My friend Jill makes the CUTEST bling tees for girls of all ages...if you squint really hard (or just click on the picture!) of Princess, you'll see that she's wearing a "Preschool Rocks" bling tee. She LOVES it and always gets so many compliments on it. My friend Jill's store is called Twinkling Tees and she is having a fantastic sale right now that will get you 25% off your purchase if you enter the code NBD at checkout! Her shirts are so cute--I just ordered three more! One for Valentine's Day, one for Christmas next year (hey, I plan ahead!), and a cute "big sister" tee for my little niece who soon will be a new big sis!

Aaaaaannnndddd...I know of a website that is doing a giveaway of a gift certificate to Twinkling Tees! Woohoo, everyone loves a giveaway! Head on over to Mom's Most Wanted to try to win a freebie from Jill!

Boxtops for Education

Well we were swamped with snow before Christmas and our area does NOT do snow well! I think UPS still is delivering the backlog of packages--they had two weeks worth of packages at their distribution centers because their trucks couldn't get through the snow! It was *crazy* around here!
So, I was stuck in my house for the week before Christmas because of the weather...and then the week after Christmas I was stuck in my bed because of some horrible ailment that combines the aches of the flu with a long lasting migraine. It was NOT fun!
Luckily I did my shopping online and I did it EARLY--not as early as past years when I was done with shopping by Thanksgiving, but I did still do it early enough that I didn't have to worry about Santa's gifts being held hostage by UPS!

One of my favorite places to order books from is Barnes and Noble--and if you go through BoxTops4Education, not only do you still get the standard free shipping if your order is over $25, but your favorite school will earn back 6% of your purchase!

It is WAY easier to earn money for your school this way rather than clipping all those boxtops...although I must admit, I do still have piles of boxtops around too.

So, go shopping! Spend those Christmas gift cards!!

And, by the way, if you have a little girl, I have a book recommendation for you. We checked this book out from the library and my little girl cried her eyes out when she realized it was a library book and not one that we could keep--usually she's very good at returning books, but she really fell in love with this one. Lucky for us, it is in stock online at Barnes and Noble!
It is such a sweet book about a little girl and her daddy. It would be a perfect Father's Day gift or just a special daddy-daughter book. The illustrations are charming, too. Just a great book all around!

Kidnapped by Facebook!

I've been temporarily kidnapped by Facebook (and Christmas preparation, Princess's birthday celebrations, etc)...but I *must* share this find with you!

Check out Dogeared Jewelry--their stuff is so sweet and perfect for gift giving. They sell their stuff online as well as at places like Nordstrom.

I really really want the mother daughter necklace set...I might splurge on it next year and do a special day with Princess and give it to her then...or maybe I should save it for *next* Christmas.
Or look at this necklace...
This last necklace I'm thinking about buying as a gift for someone for this year.

Isn't their stuff CUTE?! I love it!