DIY Awesomeness Series

You’re in luck!

I have some pretty amazing friends who have some creative Do-It-Yourself projects.  Inspired by those around me, I begged them to share their awesomeness with you. This week I will be posting all the dirt on these fun projects. Get ready! It’s going to be fun!

(Special thank you to Mark for the perfect Christmas gift!)

Until Monday, I thought I would share something with you that makes me happy every day. This weekend I bought two more of my favorite anthropologie mugs. (Thank you to some lovely friends who gave me an anthropologie gift card for my January birthday.) They have already been in use for our daily morning lattes. They are just perfect! And now we have a set of four! Come on over and have a taste of heaven!

What does your purse say?

Our homes tell about ourselves: what’s important to us, where we spend most of our time, how “plugged in” we are, and the feelings and moods we enjoy. We're going to turn the tables a bit.

What does your purse say about you? Take a few minutes to dump it out and observe. 

What is it saying to you? (Ok, I’m not going weird now, hang with me it might be enlightening.)

Here are my personal thoughts when I did this….

First of all, the style of my purse-relaxed. I like my hands free!

(I got quite the stash in this little bag.)

Gigantic wallet- Gotta have a place to stash all those gift cards. I am proud to say I do NOT have a single credit card in my purse, debit card only!

Recycleable bag- I must be environmentally friendly, well at least when I remember to use it!

I don't always follow through. Oops! Old snail mail still in my purse 2 months later.

My must-have tape measure- I try to be secretive when measuring in Salvation Army, weird looks are easy to come by.

 Coupons galore- we LOVE saving money! They always clutter my purse. 

(Somedays, I wish The Mr. had a purse for this reason alone.)

 Little hand held mirror- the mom-a-sit-a gave this to me as a gift. 

 I don’t know if I like the practical use or design of it more.

 Numbing cream- Ok, I’ll admit it, I was way over due (maybe by a few years) for a dentist appointment. (Oh shucks, I AM a procrastinator!) This cream came in handy when my incoming wisdom teeth were hurting but I think it’s time to say good bye....to both, yes the cream and yes the wisdom teeth. I'm dreading it already.

 Hair tie- Can’t go without, duh!

Caught me! 

This is my blog ideas book. Anytime I’m thinking about an idea I jot it down so I don’t forget. Yes, that means while I’m at a red light, pulling into bible study, or while I’m wide awake in the middle of the night.

Not pictured:

Moleskin calendar- I’m picky when it comes to calendars. I’m going on year three of moleskin calendars from Barnes and Noble.  First apple green, then turquoise, and now bright purple. That might have to be my next "Gotta Get" post.

Now it’s your turn! What do you have in there? Please share! What screams “You”?

Have a happy weekend!

Revamping My Bedroom

Yesterday I shared with you that I am in the process of revamping my bedroom. I had been putting it off because I didn’t want to spend money on transitional pieces while we wait for our home that awaits us. Well, news at the Ahern household is… we’ll be waiting a little longer. I decided it was time to enjoy the limited space we have. Here’s a timeline of the process which is still in progress. Let me warn you, once I get an idea I have to run with it. (It’s in the deepest part of my blood, thank you dad.)

Sunday, April 3 at 2:00 p.m.- Browsed HomeGood and came across the perfect item, a must have. Duvet cover!

Sunday, April 3 at 6:00 p.m.-Decided on my DIY project for the bedroom. Spent 2 hours running around town looking for a certain type of hanging basket. No success. Boo.

Monday, April 4  at 6:00- Jo’Ann Fabrics for $14 Plan B materials.

Tue.-Fri.- Worked on the DIY project randomly. You know, in between loads of laundry, Modern Family and Parenthood shows, and reading.

Sat.- Assembled project and adorned the room with it. (Thank you, Mark!)

Are you curious yet?

Here were my supplies:

• wax paper
• iron
• parchment paper
• circle cutter
• cutting board
• wire
• white spray paint
• embroidery hoops
• tacky glue
• 1/4" grosgrain ribbon

Any ideas?

Ok, guess it’s time to spill the beans!

I made my own capiz shell chandelier. Yesss! Saved my self a couple hundo! It’s awesome and wasn’t too hard to handle. I’ve really been into chandeliers in the bedroom lately. These are some of my favorites:

via Rambling Renovators

a favorite blogger house of mine, House Tweaking

and then I laughed when I re-looked at Young House Love

When I saw this DIY project on desing*sponge, it screamed out at me. I HAD to do it. Quickly I began. 

 This is the part I would have done different. Just pay a few more bucks and get a hanging planter basket.

I used embroidery hoops and wire.

A crafty colleague of mine (thank you Sally Ball) let me borrow her old cutter. All I did was buy $3 replacement blades. Score! I also used an old cutting mat; by the end it was toast.

 After ironing 3 sheets of wax paper between parchment paper and cutting a lot of circles, it was time to glue them to the ribbon.

 Assembly line.

 Started with the bottom layer first. Glued with sticky tack glue.Clipped for security.

 Used a hanger to hold it while working. It was a champ!

 2nd layer.

 and the third! 

I ended up cutting one circle off of the bottom layer and also did two layers on the top layer. One on the outside and one on the inside.

 Me looking up.

Ta-dah! 

(Sorry for the shadowy picture, night time does that.)

I am a little embarrassed to show my cover up for the fixture but it works for now...

Do you know what it is? Yes, paper plate spray painted white.

Here's the tutorial I used. So fun and easy! 

(If you're not into this, check out their DIY page, your mind will be blown, promise!)

Also, I loved seeing this...

via West Elm 

How much did I save? $269-$14= 255 bones. Awesome!

I'll continue to post on my bedroom as it progresses. Today I spent some time looking at wallpaper. Hmmm....another DIY project? Just maybe...

It Only Takes One

You know that I can’t wait for our future home that awaits us! I try not to have a pity party too often (ok, I just lied). We do have good reasons for waiting to put some serious dough on the table. If you forgot you can check them out here. (I seem to recheck everyday.) Patience is a virtue, right?!

I needed this!

Well, let's just say there was a little chit chat with The Mr. where he told me we will have to push our time frame back. (Yes, a tear almost fell down my face). His suggestion….rent a house. Awesome....…not! At first I wanted to push him off his bike (thank you 83 degree weather!) but with all the love I had I just reminded myself of my husband’s great wisdom. He’s usually right. Some of the apartment things that are about ready to make me jump out of my skin are…. NO GRILLING (I’m convinced it’s a sin), lack of space for more people/parties, less out of town guests and their babes staying over, storage (I’m getting really good at stacking and cramming). 


If we were to rent a house in a different location would it actually free us up to do those things? Maybe if we find the right house. We’re stuck in these walls until at least August, probably longer. I will tell you I'm pretty stoked we currently live across from the cabana pool!

Realizing that I have lots of time to dream about our home that awaits us, I decided to change up our bedroom to something a little more “me”. It only took one stunning, jaw dropping purchase at HomeGoods and one DIY d*s project to inspire me to revamp our bedroom in our tiny little space (well and a lot of, oh I hate the way this looks self talk the past I don’t know how many months). 

Here is a sneak peek of the lovely item that I just stared speechlessly at for 5 minutes while in HomeGoods. It was a must have!

 I can’t wait to share my DIY project I just finished for my bedroom. Little clue…it involved a paper plate, wax paper, and ribbon….that’s all I’m going to say. Check back tomorrow for all the dirt on how I’m warming up our bedroom.

Out with the old!

TV, TV Mom Says Don’t Watch It

via

For some reason this is a common phrase that The Mr. seems to get a kick out of every time he says it. Honestly, I have no idea where he got it from but for some reason it sticks. After doing some light googleing I came up empty handed.  (I'm probably ignorant to this well know movie quote or something.) Oh well, I thought it was somewhat of a capturing intro...

While doing my 16.4 lbs of reading while I was on vacation, I came across some oh-I-should-know this fact about tv placement in a room. Have you ever gone to someone’s house and couldn’t see the tv screen because you were too far or too close to the screen? (Now don’t get me wrong, we all make exceptions due to our lovely room sizes or lack thereof.) I know in our last place I probably broke the “rules”.

In case you're wondering, check out these “rules” (I’m treading lightly when I say that) for tv placement from The Nest: Home Design. I bet you’ll be curious after reading. I know I was.

•  32" tv should be 7 ft. from the sofa
• 36" tv should be 8 ft. from the sofa
• 42" tv should be 10 ft. from the sofa
• 50" tv should be 12 ft. from the sofa

Remember when I said I was treading lightly? I am one of the exceptions my old school tv is 36" and 7 ft from the sofa! I'm pretty darn close. (It's not like I can knock out a wall of this little place anyways...oh to wishful thinking!)

Almost all of the home décor books I read touched on how to decorate with/around a tv. How often is a tv a focal point on a room? Ummm in this day and age….pretty often. It’s not like you cannot have a tv, so what do you do to make it work with the layout of your home? How do you make it blend into the decor? Is that even possible? 


Here are some pics of possible solutions:

 via

via

via

the lovely, Young House Love

love this Utah designer, check her out here

Also, so many of the books emphasized decluttering around a tv which includes cords and remotes and of course, more cords. My advice- cover the cords! (I'm just now noticing the cords in the above picture. HA!)


If you're like me, you might be a little curious. Go find your tape measure and measure away! (P.S. I would not be surprised if you already did before finishing this read.)

What's in Your City?

Where do you call home? Is it your current place? Your childhood house? Do you even feel like you have a home?!  Nothing beats home no matter where it is. For some of you, you live in really cool places that we all want to travel to. For others of you us, we live in places that are what I like to say, just the right fit for us. No matter where you home resides, it’s a special place to you.

As I was digging further into an amazing blog called design*sponge (any d*s fans out there?), I came across an amazing conglomerate of AWESOMENESS! And I mean AWESOMENESS! One of the many great things d*s offers are city guides. I have never seen something so intriguing for travelers and homebodies alike!

Designated people come up with the "hot spots" in the city that include not just the typical food and beverage places but we’re talking… antiques, thrift stores, vintage spots, furniture store favorites. Oh my goodness! I could hardly take it! And best of all, for me, Indianapolis, Indiana somehow made it on the map! Hollar! (Sorry, I realize its 2011 but seriously!) As I read through the Indianapolis city guide, a few new places stood out. I can’t wait to call some of my girls and takes some afternoon trips!

via

To those of you who live in Portland- be inspired!

To those of you who live in Oklahoma City-be inspired!

To those of you who live in Milwaukee- be inspired!

To those of you who live in Columbus- be inspired!

To those of you who live in Chicago-be inspired!

To those of you who live near Ann Arbor- be inspired!

To those of you who live in Nashville-be inspired!

To those of you who live in Denver- be inspired!

To those of you who live in Durham-be inspired!

To those of you who live in The Twin Cities- be inspired!

(Wow! I’m realizing my friends are everywhere! Cool!)

Are you traveling somewhere soon? What a great use for planning your next trip. Uhh… can I get a road trip anyone?!

Show some love and check out the city guides over at design*sponge.

(Warning: You could and will spend hours over there!) 


Image: (2)

Amateur

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Remember when I shared about our trip to Destin? The 16.4 lbs. of paper that I took on our journey actually came in handy. I was excited to read a bunch of house décor books and nothing could be better than doing it on the beach.

I conquered all but one of my books. Cha-ching! (Luckily, there were a bunch of pictures!) Each one stood out in a good way. More was learned from some than others, go figure. There were certain ones that I thought I would really enjoy that turned out to be my least favorite. Hopefully what I learned will be infiltrated throughout my upcoming posts.

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One thing that caught my attention was from Downtown Chic: Designing Your Home From Wreck to Ravishing. It was written by a couple who have over the years created, I think, 6 homes for themselves. They've got quite the flair. Even though I felt like their house reconstruction overwhelmed me more than inspired me, it was full of inspiring quotes relating to home. The quotes were my favorite part of the book. I seemed to resonate with one quote especially well. It must have been so fitting because The Mr. said to me, “That’s like you”, while we were at the beach. A few days later I asked what he meant and he had the same thinking as me.

“Every artist was first an amateur.”

-RALPH WALDO EMERSON

I am an amateur.Blogging about home and all of its entities is a blast. I know before I started the blog I doubted myself in almost every way possible. I don’t have anything to offer. No one wants to read my thoughts. I don’t think I’m a good writer. How do I communicate what I think? Is it a waste of time? What will people think of me? Where do I begin? After months of this self talk I just got the drive to start it. I had convinced myself that these questions weren’t important and that I wanted to write for myself (at least my mom would read it :)). It was difficult at first to find myself as a writer and articulating what has always been on my mind. Once I got in the routine of putting my thinking into writing it became even more enjoyable.  I have a lot to gain but I look forward to the journey.

Thanks for stopping by and reading my thoughts. I love reading the comments you post and enjoy hearing about your own experiences and projects. It excites me in helping you find solutions for your space or lead you to answers for your questions. Feel free to shoot me an email anytime at homeawaitsus@gmail.com.

Boy... do I appreciate you!!!