Voting is open!

Hey Friends!


So, can I ask a quick favor? Depends, right? Well, one of my favorite bloggers is doing a little giveaway contest. Well, maybe EPIC might be a better way to describe it.


She (with the help of her sponsors) will come to the winner's house and makeover one room. I have a 1 in 127 chance of winning, pretty good odds, right? All you have to do is go to: http://vintagerevivals.blogspot.com/2011/04/epic-giveaway-linky-now-open.html, scroll down to the entries, and click on the yellow star underneath #123 (that's me) it says "Puh-leaze vote for the Palmers." It would mean the world to me! If I get enough vote's, I get to move up to the top 15 round. And if you need more convincing that I'm deserving of this, check out my post about it: http://craftykricket.blogspot.com/2011/05/please-vote-for-palmers.html. Oh, and you can vote once each day (Voting ends May 3rd).
Thanks so much!!!!
-Marissa :)

Please Pick the Palmers!!!

Seriously?!

Okay, If you don’t know Mandi and the awesomeness that is Vintage Revivals, go see her now.
Seriously, go ahead. I’ll wait…

Now, do you understand why this is EPIC?!
I mean how awesome would it be to have anyone come makeover a room in your house? And then for that anyone to be Mandi? Love it!!!

So, I was kind of procrastinating my entry because my room is far from being clean. BUT…here I am in the 11th hour and I haven’t finished cleaning so you get lovely as-is pictures. Let's take a look...

Sorry, piles of laundry, papers, and craft supplies will not keep me from entering this EPIC room makeover giveaway! The room I need desperately to be done would be our master bedroom or should I say the "store everything and sleep somewhere in the midst of it room." Yes, my husband's nightstand is a filing cabinet with a printer on top and, yes, my nightstand is my sewing machine cabinet. Lovely, right? Let's take a closer look at the wall to the left, shall we?

This is the wall-o-random. Anything that doesn't have a home elsewhere in the house usually ends up here. Oh and don't forget to look at what my kid's have done to my bed...

So, I know this bed is old, like this-is-the-same-bed-my-husband-slept-on-as-a-teenager-old, but it bit the dust when our kids started jumping on it. The leg broke through the riser, popped a wheel, and is now being propped by wood scraps. Yes, fine living in my home. Let's continue on to the right side of the room...

To the black hole that is my craft supplies. Really, there is no other room for this, so maybe a little organization and my husband might quit complaining about my "crap area." On to the last wall...

Our dresser...About the only good thing in our bedroom, hence, why it is the view seen from our bed. Now do you think that this room truly reflects...

This couple? No. Nor would you ever know from my bedroom that I have an awesome pink walk-in closet with a chandelier. Yes, it's true.

Now, I’ve had all these EPIC, AMAZING, JAW-DROPPING ideas and inspirations for this room, BUT I have had neither time, help, money, or motivation to complete them. Just think of the potential! I even have some unfinished projects/supplies we could use. Like...

The two free doors I got from Craigslist.

Or the two free pallets hidden under our camping gear.

The rocking chair that needs to be refinished (again free).

Or this vintage desk I bought for only $10! Look I even have pink spray paint to paint the handles, except for these beauties...

Porcelain rose drawer pulls, the whole reason I spent $10 on the desk. Oh, and don't forget "the wood pile"!

Which includes a headboard my husband and I made (but never finished) 2 years ago as our Valentine's date, random wood planks from various projects, and canvas stretcher frames I found on the side of the road. Totally awesome, right?!  In case you need any more persuading,  how about a picture of my nearly 2-year-old daughter saying "Pleeeeeeeze!"

How can you resist that curly-headed cuteness?

P.S. Mandi-We have awesome thrift stores, the best Craigslist, Lowes/Home Depot/Wal-Mart down the street and IKEA with in driving distance! You know you want to come... ;)

Wallpapered Genius

I occasionally get a decorating ideas newsletter from Better Homes and Gardens. After looking at their featured slideshow, I continued to look around on their site and found an awesome slideshow about using wallpaper remanants. They had the traditional ideas that we see in the crafting world--you know decoupaged inside a tray, covering a cubby box, inside the back of shelves, and so on. But some of those ideas were just genius! I kept saying, "Oh my gosh" or "Awesome, I have to do that!" To see the whole slideshow start here. Here are a few of my favorites:

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This old display cabinet gets a fresh coat of paint, some funky wallpaper, and a few hooks to become a jewelry cabinet. (I'm seriously going to do this one once I find a cabinet!)

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Okay, so this isn't a particularly new idea but I love the print and color combo on this dresser. I have a desk I'm planning on redoing and this gives me some inspiration. Can you spot the other wallpapered accesories in the picture?

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A little twist on an old trick. The shelves on the wall are cubes covered in wallpaper and then mounted on the wall as display shelves. But wouldn't this be cool if they were open on the top (like a box) and then screwed into the wall for storage. You could store markers and paintbrushes and stuff as art in a craft area.

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I love this idea but I know the hubbie would never approve of wallpaper, let alone patchwork wallpaper. Although, this is great if you're worried about not being able to match and line up patterns because it's random. That's my kind of decorating (where no one can tell if you messed up)! Maybe I could get away with this on a smaller scale, like a couple of canvases above my bed.

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I love this idea. I like the look of a white plate collection on the wall, but I always thought it looked like...well, plates hanging on a wall. This is a cool way to freshen that up. Slap some wallpaper (or scrapbook paper) on some white plates and white painted wooden plaques and you have some art. Presto!

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This is my absolute favorite! They wrapped and stapled wallpaper to a canvas. Then added the pink vinyl (I think) saying. The shelf is just wood screwed into the bottom wood stretcher of the canvas. Add some fresh flowers in a vase and voila! Form and function. :)

The whole slideshow has some cool ideas, check it out here. Now, I want to know where they found all of their cool wallpapers...



Spring Mantel

My fireplace mantel desperately needed an uplift. While I had planned on doing a fun switch of decor at St. Patrick's Day, my mantel has been untouched since February. I had a few things that I wanted to work in for sure and everything else I had to just wing it. What do you think?

I know it's not perfect, but I really like it. I love how bright and colorful it is without being cartoonish or sillly like some Easter decorations can be. Plus, I love how it brightens up the room. Just looking at it makes me smile. So here's the breakdown...

On the right side of the mantel, I have a green frame with fabric framed, white planter with artificial flowers, an iron horse, a yellow watering can with a package of flower seeds inside, and 2 gerber daisy hairclips. The hairclips are homemade from flowers I bought at Hobby Lobby. The iron horse was bought at an antique store during an anniversary bed and breakfast vacation. The pink flowers are from Wal-mart and the white ones are from Hobby Lobby. The white planter is from IKEA (more on that in a minute). The yellow watering can, seed packet, and green frame are all from Target's dollar spot or on clearance. The fabric in the green frame is part of a bandana that I found at Wal-mart, cut, and backed with white paper, placed in the frame.

On the left side of the mantel, I have a blue bunny, white and pink birdhouses, yellow flower hairclip, white planter with artificial flowers, and an iron bird votive holder. The iron bird was from the Dollar Tree. The hairclip was made from Hobby Lobby flower. The white planter came from IKEA. The flowers are from Wal-mart and Hobby Lobby. The white bird house was unfinished wood that I painted and the pink birdhouse was a paper mache ornament that I painted and decoupaged pink scrapbook paper on. Both were from Hobby Lobby. The blue bunny came from Target. He has a broken foot, so I was able to get it at a discount. My original plan was to fix his foot and recover him in my favorite vintage print fabric (which I might still do) but I love the pop of blue, so for now he stays as-is.

I think the banner might be my favorite part. I took some hemp twine and cut it to the length I wanted (just a little short because it sags with the clothespins). Then I cut out some triangles from various springy scrapbook papers that I had on hand: you know ginghams, polka dots, florals, all that fun stuff. :) Then I took some Dollar Tree clothespins and clipped them on. I alternated between unfinished clothespins and ones that I had previously painted pink. In order to keep the clothespins from flipping over (top-heavy), I had to shove the clothespins on the twine all the way up to the springs on them. I don't think this would have been a problem if my twine was heavier (I used twine made for making necklaces). All and all I love it! I've been thinking about possibly painting my iron animals white, but right now, I like the contrast. Also, I'm thinking about maybe laminating my banner pieces so that I can reuse them but also write messages on them like, "Happy Easter" or even "Happy Birthday" and then be able to erase them to change it when I want. What do you think, good idea or no?  Most of these things I already had on hand. The bunny, watering can, and white pots were the only things bought specifically for this mantel. If I went back and totaled the cost of everything collected and used, I would say it cost somewhere between $20 and $25 dollars. Again, most of it I already had on hand, so I really only spent $12. Pretty cool, right?

Now, a word on the lacy IKEA pots...

Image via IKEA

I must say I LOVE these pots! I was at IKEA yesterday looking for a few other things and came across these. I was actually looking at a different pot when 20-month-old Bee reached over and pulled these out of a stack of boxes that hadn't been unpacked and shelved yet. At first, I sternly reacted, grabbed it from her and put it back. Then, I walked away, but I wasn't more than 5 steps away when I realized the beauty she had uncovered. I quickly went back and looked again. All that lacy cut-out goodness on the top of this white metal pot, I was literally drooling.  No price tag was anywhere to be found. So we carried it around the store looking for one of those price checker things. Only 2.99! Bee held on to it for dear life. She seriously wanted me to put back the stuffed animal I was going to buy her so that she could hold this, two of them in fact. I was happy to oblige. I actually wanted more but was already at my limit for that trip's budget. I may have to go back and buy more to use in my bedroom and elsewhere. Like I said, I am totally LOVING these pots. I must say that Bee's got good taste. I may have to take her shopping with me more. ;)

Somewhere Over the Rainbow

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Don't get me wrong, I love all the cute St. Patrick's Day decor out in blogland, such lovely cuteness. Call me lazy, but I like decor that I can keep up longer than just a week or two before a holiday. I like to think of it as multifunctional decorating. In fact, alot of my decor gets reused for different seasons by changing out or adding something. So when I found this from Funky Polkadot Giraffe, I knew I needed it for my March decor. Plus, I'm really loving the picture frame on my mantle that I just switch out the printable when needed. Lazy decorating at it's best! Click here to get your own copy.