The Wreath Gets a Fall Makeover

The frugal wreath I made this summer to jazz up our beautiful front door just received a makeover for fall. For $2.50 I purchased a spool of burlap ribbon at our local craft store and switched the bow. Ah, fall is my favorite season!

Nothing is better than a small change that makes a big difference. What have you done to recognize the change in season?

Speaking of fall, we apologize for being absent from blog land over the past two months. We are in the midst of planning our wedding! And the big day is in 18 days...October 22, 2011. More details about the wedding and all of the fun crafts be coming in November. Thanks for bearing with us, we have lots of updates and projects lined up.




        

My Best Friend Craig And His List

It's no secret that Craigslist is a great place to find deals on anything and everything. The site has gained popularity over the years and is now even businesses are trying to get in on the action. I discovered this little gem when we were in escrow and realized that the furniture in our 800 square foot apartment would not fill up all of the new space we would have in our new 2,000 square foot house! 

I have featured some of my deals in previous posts like the Pottery Barn fixture here and the Pier 1 seagrass chairs here.

One of the biggest show stoppers we have purchased from Craigslist that always gets a compliment or two is the sectional sofa in our living room. We purchased it from a nice military couple who was retiring and relocating to Texas. They had purchased it while stationed in Germany and when they came back to the states, the sofa came with them. The greatest feature about this sectional is that part of it pulls out and when the ottoman is pulled up it becomes a full-sized bed. Genius Germans. The best part? It was only $300! Destiny was on my side for this one because after I called (20 minutes after it was posted) and set up an appointment with the owner, 10 other people called about it. After seeing the sofa and agreeing to purchase it, I headed over to rent a small enclosed U-Haul for $20 to transport the monstrosity.

This sofa easily seats 6 people and is great for TV lounging.

The sofa being extended to make a bed.

The couch as a movie watching haven/full size bed. 

Notice the incredibly large (9x12 to be exact) sisal rug in these photos? It's also a Craigslist find. It was a brand new Pottery Barn rug that I purchased for $140 from a young couple who bought it in anticipation of using it in their new home and later realized that it would not work. Our 2-year plan is to put in dark hardwood floors which will really make it pop!

My latest Craigslist find is a Pottery Barn desk that I snagged for $150 from a SCAD student who is moving to Atlanta. It usually sells for around $700!

The desk is a little sparse -- looks like I need to go office supply shopping!

I encourage all of you to check out your local Craigslist. My advice is to check the website frequently and jump at an opportunity when you see one -- the good stuff sells quickly!



    

Feeling Crafty -- Door Wreath

After searching the internet looking for wreaths to purchase and finding nothing I liked for under $30, I decided to get crafty. I printed a Michael's coupon and headed there after work. My initial plan was to make a boxwood wreath with white berries. Here is the loot I collected for about $12. 

Wreath Making Loot - wreath, faux boxwood garland, wire,
ribbon, and berries.

I took the faux boxwood garland and tied it with green floral wire to the wreath form. Attaching it with wire every 2-3 inches to make sure everything is secure.

Loop your wire in the front and tie both ends in the back.

Keep all of the wire twists on the back side.

After attaching all of the boxwood, I placed the berry branches on top to see what they would look like. After staring and rearranging, I decided I liked the boxwood au natural. The plus? My project went from $12 to $9! I added an ivory bow so it would hang a bit lower on the door and have some visual interest.

The finished product!

This incredibly simple and cheap project added so much to our door, giving our curb appeal an extra boost!

Look at that pretty door.

Have you had a crafty inspiration lately? Was it because you are a penny-pincher like me?

    

Magic Carpet Ride

Oh how I underestimated the statement making power of a rug. Our dining room has been coming together nicely, but it was lacking a little pizazz and color. Enter Big Blue, the trellis rug.

I had been all gooey eyed over this beautiful rug ever since seeing it over on A Well Dressed Home. Not having a Garden Ridge anywhere near by, we took the opportunity to track one down the other weekend while in McDonough, GA for a our friend's wedding. I was on a mission. After scouring through their massive rug selection, I saw a little hint of trellis rolled up and shrink wrapped poking out from a giant pile. Score.

They had a 5x8 and an 8x10 version. Being the bad judge of distance and size that I am, David and I unrolled the smaller one to see how big it really was. After determining that the smaller one would be taken over by our large table, we decided to go with the 8x10. At only $99 (!!) it was a steal for a rug that large. After a 3.5 hour car ride with a rolled up rug stretching from the trunk of the Jeep all the way to the shifter, we were home. The suspense was killing me.

We immediately unrolled Big Blue and it was love at first sight. He turned out to be the perfect size for our dining room.

Big Blue in all his glory!

Don't mind all of the wrinkles, after 2 weeks they have finally fallen out -- this thing was rolled tight and heavy duty shrink wrapped!

Now, we are on a mission for a solid wood sideboard (I have my eye on a beauty at Nadeau) and some curtains. Oh, and we will get around to staining those chair legs...one day.



    

I Pin You

I am addicted to Pinterest. There, I said it.

For those of you wondering what the heck I am talking about, let me enlighten you. Pinterest is perhaps the niftinest social networking tool. Ever. It is like having a bulletin board collide with your computer's bookmark bar. And the best part is not only do you get to get to stare at georgeous pictures galore, but each photo is linked to it's source -- It's like, "Love the pillow? No problem, here is where you can buy it." Amazing.

A look at our Home Inspiration board.

Just check it out for yourself -- here is our page of pin boards, enjoy!



                      

Beauty and the Beast

We had eyeballed this chandelier on Overstock long before purchasing our house. We both loved the rustic look and David deemed it his favorite chandelier "of all time." We kept the fixture book marked and when we were finally ready to purchase it, it was sold out. No good. So, we kept an eye out for its return while searching for a comparable one in case it never returned. Well, low and behold nearly 3 months later (and after searching all of Internet land for a replacement), it was back! Needless to say we jumped on and ordered it right then and there. About 5 days later it arrived in all of its oh-so-large chandelier glory and after about 2 more days we were ready to open the box and tackle the task of hanging a heavy chandelier from a vaulted ceiling. Not something to take lightly, my friends.

The original chandelier.

The new chandelier.

This chandelier may be a beauty, but it was a beast to put together. The rods that run from top to bottom are not secured, they merely loop into each other making it impossible to hold while wiring everything. Needless to say, my biceps got one heck of a workout while I held the monstrosity above my head as David did all of the electrical work. An hour later it was hung...but not straight. It kept spinning around and would not stay still. So after another 30 minutes of fidgeting with chains and screws, we finally had a perfectly hung, gorgeous and beefy chandelier. Hooray us.

Isn't she a beauty. Although the hanging process was harder than any other light fixture we have ever installed, the end result was so worth it. The rustic vibe goes nicely with our fabulous new dining table, featured here.

Have you hung any jaw-dropping or impact-making chandeliers lately?

Cheap Seats

We had been searching for some outdoor furniture for our screened porch, but figured we would have to wait until the end of summer to find an affordable set. While poking around on Pinterest, my latest obsession, I discovered our outdoor seating destiny! The Belize outdoor furniture set. This cute little set was on special over the Memorial Day weekend for only $199! At this price, a 4-piece set was too good to be true, but with a $50 off $200 coupon I had received earlier in the week via email, the deal was even sweeter! It was about 7pm on Friday night so I jumped in the car and ran over there to buy a set before all of Savannah discovered this amazing deal. I also purchased the Goddess Mat in the only-available-in-store 4x6 size (the larger size would have looked awkward in the space). By 9pm our patio was complete! ...and just in time for our Memorial Day party on Sunday evening.

The little set is perfect for our small screened porch! It is now the perfect spot to enjoy a bowl of cereal in the morning or a glass of wine in the evening. 

And if you were wondering, the pillows are from target and the lanterns were a TJ Maxx find from several months ago (and are part of our wedding decor collection...less than 5 months!).