My Mantel before and after

I decided that my mantel decor needed a little shaking up.  I don't know what prompted it, but once I thought of it, I couldn't rest until it was done.  So after many google images searches, blog browsing and a few Goodwill trips, I am happy!

The before (sorry, I wasn't so good at taking pictures then).

I like the flowers in the center (from our wedding!), but the other decorations weren't colorful.  With white walls and white woodwork, I needed something that would stand out. 

I went shopping in my house and moved some candlesticks from the piano, but it needed more. 

I got a few vases at Goodwill and transformed them with jute (idea from Thrify Decor Chick) Cost : $3 for vases, $1 for jute, $1 for craft glue.

Then I read this post about transforming books and I had to do it! I don't have distress ink, so mine aren't as cute.  I'll probably do that one day, but I was all about keeping costs low.  I didn't have any books to use, so back to goodwill - $5 for 2 books, $2 for scrapbook paper.  I hated paying for books, but it allowed me to shop around for the sizes that I wanted. 

A little more shopping in my house and I found an awesome metal piggy that my sister gave me a few years ago as part of an inside joke.  It was perfect!

The results:

I'm still trying to decide how to arrange the books.

And of course, I'm practicing my photography skills.

The addition of the curtains my mom so graciously sewed for me helps a lot too.

Before:

After

Total cost of make over: $12 ($32 if you count the fabric for the curtains). 

I'm linking up!

Thrifty Decor Chick's Before and After Party!

Shadow box update!

Thanks to my sister's suggestion, I made an awesome change to the not-quite-done shadow box/silverware tray. I don't have a before picture of when I spray painted it black - too excited to get started on it! It was a plain old silverware tray with an ugly white back and birch colored edges.

Here it is after I painted it. 

I liked the paint, but felt like something was off when I put the trinkets on.  I wasn't in love.

When I posted about it before, my sister suggested I modge podge some paper on it.  I tried it, figuring if I didn't work, I was out the $3 I spent at Goodwill.

I dug out my scrapbook stash and found some paper that looked like it would work.  Unfortunately, I didn't have enough of either kind to do the whole thing with one pattern.  So being too impatient to go to the store creative, I decided to mix and match 2 different papers. And um, AWESOME! I am in love with how it turned out. 

I love looking at all the little trinkets that have special meaning for us - the box my wedding ring was hidden when the hubby proposed, a trombone commemerating my years in band, some things the hubby picked up during his 2 year church mission to Germany.  All things I like to display but get lost on a big shelf.

I am still looking for some ribbon to put on the edges like my mom suggested (yea, I know who reads my blog!) but haven't found anything I love yet. 

I'm linking up!

Thrifty Decor Chick's Before and After Party

Between Naps on the porch Metamorphois Monday

DH hates it, but I love it anyway

We recently made some changes to the kitchen.  One of the things that really bugged me was this corner.

 I need my calendar, but I had to get it off the wall to write on it, and I just felt the whole area was a little too cluttery.  I wanted something that would hold the calendar, papers, pencils, appointment reminder cards and all the other stuff that I needed in that corner. 

Enter this beauty, $2 from a garage sale.

My husband hated it, but I loved it.  It was just the right size. After 4 months of it sitting on my counter as is, I finally decided it was time to paint it.  It only took two naptimes and one bedtime to finish.  I love the way it turned out.

I didn't do as many coats, because I kind of like the way the dark wood comes through and makes it a little vintage-y!

When we did the kitchen, my hubby decided that the router needed to be moved from it's hidden spot in the closet to a prominent place in the kitchen. (?)  Thankfully, my magazine holder (that the hubby still hates!) is just tall enough to help cover the most artistic router.

The corner as is:

(notice my garbage disposal switch, 10 miles from my sink...)

And now

Full view - before

And After

Basically, I love it! The little ceramic box on the counter was given to me by my uber-talented sister.  It is still looking for a permanent home. And now that I look at this picture, I think the little iron circle (a goodwill $3 treasure) needs to be moved down a bit.  Still, I think it's a huge improvement!

I'm linking to
 Thrifty Decor Chick's Before and After party
Between Naps on the Porch's Met Monday
Funky Junk Interior's Saturday Nite Special

I'm no HGTV

When my daughter was a newborn and I was adjusting to being home all.day.long with nobody but a baby to talk to, I used to watch a LOT of HGTV. Like I had their schedule memorized. ANYwho, I always hoped to find great ideas that I could use to decorate my house. After a few months of watching, I came away with one great idea. They used a silverware tray to display a guy's collection of knick-nacks. We have some cute little trinkets that just get lost on a bookshelf.

After over a year of searching, I found this bad boy at Goodwill. I was so excited to get painting that I didn't take any before pictures. But it used to be maple colored wood with a white background.

When I painted it, I wondered if I had made a mistake.

- do I like the black?

-does it seem like something is missing?

-does the black make it hard to see the little figurines?

-does it need something else?

It's been sitting like this in my office for about 4 months because I have no idea what to do next. I would gladly appreciate any suggestions. I was hoping that posting about it would help me dig out of the rut, but it didn't. So for now I guess it'll go back to the project pile.