Guest Bedroom DIY Art Project

Happy Monday Everyone!

I have caught crafting fever here lately, and I have so many projects swirling around in my head! I blame it on Pinterst, the most addictive site ever with the most amazing pictures of projects I could ever imagine!!!

I am in the process of making our apartment a home, and I focused on our guest room this weekend. The wall behind the headboard needs some major TLC, so I made up my mind to create a DIY project using cross stitch hoops and fabric. I first spotted the idea on Apartment Therapy, and there are quite a few variations on Pinterest and other DIY sites. I really love how it turned out!



As you can see, the wall needs some love. I chose fabrics with white, turquoise, and red to brighten the room and to make it feel inviting and feminine.



I bought 11 hoops of various sizes and 9 single cuts of fabric. I actually found these at Wal-Mart by accident while I was in the craft section looking for something completely different. The pieces of fabric were just 99 cents each!!!



I laid out my pattern (which changed quite a few times).



Before placing the fabric in the hoops, I steamed the wrinkles out. Once everything was steamed, I placed the fabric in the hoops and cut the fabric once the hoops were tightened. The longest part of the project was cutting the excess fabric as closely to the back of the hoop as I could so you couldn't see it once the hoop was hung on the wall.

After 3 hours and $25, this is how the wall turned out!







I can't wait to decorate the rest of the room. I have a red side table I'm going to add, and I am going to complete another fun project with the cut fabric I have left. I am eager to see how the finished room turns out. I just know I like sitting in the room much more than I used to!

Frugal Friday!

Happy Friday Ya'll!

We are inching closer to fall, and I can't wait. As soon as the workday ends, I have an afternoon planned hustling around at Michael's and Hobby Lobby to gather up supplies for some fall inspired projects to get started this weekend. I know what you may be thinking... "This girl's crazy! It's 100 degrees outside, and she is already obsessing about fall!" I just can't help myself.

Friday Night football officially kicks off tonight, and a part of me wants to sit on the porch and listen to the screaming fans and marching bands at the Vestavia High School Football game tonight. The stadium is only a short walk away, so I'm sure I will be able to hear all the fun. The best part is that SEC football kicks off in 8 days!!! Go VOLS and HOGS!

The point of this post is not to go on and on about fall or football but to tell you that I had a great grocery shopping week! I think we are finally getting the hang of saving at the grocery store and making it work for us. I did use a few coupons, but in case you haven't noticed, it's hard to save on fresh fruits and veggies or meat. We don't eat much out of a box, so I've had to adjust a little from my first post about couponing. I found the best savings comes when shopping from the store holding the best sales for the week on the stuff we eat then head to Wal-Mart for the rest. I have tried my best to stay away from Wal-Mart for several personal reasons, but if we want to save money, it's nearly impossible not to go to that store!

So this was our game plan, and it payed off big time this week. We stuck with the Buy 1, Get 1 free items paired with a few coupons at Publix who had a great weekly ad with food we eat and amazing sales on produce. The best part of Publix is you don't have to buy both Buy 1, Get 1 items. You can buy just one at half price, which is great for two of us who have limited space. Then the rest of the groceries, which included canned goods and paper goods were bought at Wal-Mart. The real savings were a result of the menus I chose, which were all MEAT-FREE. This week we went vegetarian for dinner, but I did buy Boar's Head lunch meat because what's a sandwich with out some meat?

This week, we spent $63.00 by planning based on the best sales, by going meatless for dinner, and by sticking with a list.

For $63.00 we bought groceries to cover over 17 meals from Monday - Sunday, including

Breakfast
Oatmeal for me, Michael makes peanut butter tortillas

Lunch
Sandwiches and Chips for both of us

Snacks
Fruit

Dinner
Squash and Zucchini Gnocchi with Vodka Sauce, Salad
Black Beans and Rice Tacos with Skillet Corn, Peppers, and Tomatoes
Veggie Quesadillas
Eggplant Parmesan, Salad
Homemade Miso Soup and Vegetable Fried Rice
Breakfast for Dinner

I think we ate pretty well for $63! It takes time and planning, but it's worth it. This week we did really well because we figured out what works best for US. As a whole, we did not save as much as we wanted to this month because we were buying things we didn't really eat simply because we had a coupon. Because we didn't buy things we eat, we found ourselves going back to the store to buy items we really wanted. My advice is to scan the store ads to pick out who is offering the best sales then circle or list the foods you want to buy, find your favorite couponing site to complement the items you've circled for extra savings (if you score big time, that's great, but don't stress if you don't have coupons), then create recipes that you'll actually eat with items on sale. Make a strict list and stick with it. Don't buy stuff you won't eat or don't need!

Happy Frugal Friday. I can't wait to go grocery shopping again and challenge myself to save more money!

Never Say "Never"

My life lately has been one of firsts. What have I learned? Never to say "Never," or I will surely eat my words! I said I would never coupon and look what my recent post was about! I am still enjoying being frugal and matching coupons, but Michael and I are still trying to figure out the best way to incorporate couponing into our lifestyle.

After watching the first or second season of The Bachelor, I swore I would never watch it again. But for some reason, I have found myself consumed with The Bachelor Pad. I am so embarrassed! I don't even know who anyone is or what season they were on, but for some reason I can't stop watching! It's so sad isn't it?

This weekend, we took on a project that I thought we would never ever do. We painted a rental! I thought I would never paint a rental because it's not permanent and you have to change the color back or pay your landlord to transform it for you. More than that, we just painted a three story home this year. What am I thinking? But you only live once, and I couldn't live with the white walls forever. I love our apartment, and we will be here for at least two years, so why not! I can't believe I talked Michael into it. I know he wanted to kill me yesterday, but he loves me and suffered through the work. Thankfully, we had our friend Eric come over to help. He is a painting machine!

Our apartment was so white, so we painted the guest bedroom, hallway, kitchen, dining and living rooms. Here are some pictures of the before and after in progress.

I love warm and cozy spaces, but our guest bedroom made more of a sterile hospital statement. Our furniture is white, which looks pretty bad against white walls. This set truly makes me laugh. It is so small against our 9 foot walls, but it was my grandmother's furniture. I am not ready to part with it just yet!

I've shown pictures of our white on top of white on top of white kitchen. Just adding a little warmth spices it up a bit. I can't wait to finally hang up my DIY chalkboard.

I told you there was a lot of white! And a lot of brown...I plan to do something about our collection of brown furniture one day!

You can't even tell we have a fireplace because it's white!

Though Eric told us to buy 3 gallons of paint, Michael and I were being cheap and thought we could get away with two gallons. With walls in the kitchen left and the entire guest bedroom, I headed out to get a third gallon of paint :(. I couldn't believe it, but our guest bedroom took an entire gallon of paint. We were squeezing out the rollers to get the last drops of paint because we had a small space that was still white. Here is Eric's finger painting project after he squeezed out the rollers.

Luckily we had just enough paint, and after 5 hours of work, we finished!

So much better and cozier!

Doesn't the kitchen look better? Eric asked me to give him a shout out, so if you need an awesome painter or a contractor let me know, and he will hook you up! Eric has helped us out on too many home projects to count!

I think it's going to be a little easier for our guests to sleep now!

The only thing left to worry about now is how to afford new accessories that I want to buy to go along with the new paint! I never said I would never buy new items for our new walls!