How Did You Spend YOUR Weekend?

After a long 2.5 hour drive (each way) to attend a wedding in the Poconos on Saturday and a Christening Sunday morning, we spent the second half of our weekend cleaning every rug, curtain, throw pillow, sheet, towel, carpet, and couch in our house. We had fleas.

 

Anyone who has tackled fleas before knows it is not fun. It's a lot of work to do it and get it done properly. You pretty much need to clean anywhere your pet goes. For us that's every inch of our house.

 

Here is what we tackled:

 

-Vaccuum every rug, carpet and couch. Immediately take the dirt from the vaccuum out of the house and into the trash dumpster outside.

 

- Toss every blanket, throw pillow cover, small rugs, hand towels, sheets, etc into the wash.

 

- Air out any rugs that don't fit in the washing machine (apparently sunlight helps kill flea eggs).

 

- Shampoo the couch.

 

- Flea baths for all. Lyla was easy. The cat, not so much. He was tossed into the bathtub and doused with a bucket of soapy water.

 

- Follow flea baths with a flea treatment.

 

- Finally treat the clean rooms with a special flea spray to help kill any eggs. I bought a can for $16 at the vet. Just spray the entire room down and let it fully dry before going in.

 

Needless to say, I was asleep on the couch by 9PM and these were the only photos I took this weekend for the blog. Monday came too quick, this is going to be another crazy week and I'm already looking forward to Friday.

 

The good news? Our house is pretty darn clean. Happy Monday, all!

The Animals Find a Home

A few weeks ago I got around to hanging my animal menagerie and just today I'm getting around to sharing the phot0s with you all.

 

I took down my herb crates that I've had up for a few years now and have slowly grown tired of seeing on the wall. (Anyone interested?) Maybe I'll repurpose them somehow. I spackled the wall and stuck my animal frame in their place. I think the width of the frame works perfectly for the tiny piece of wall sticking out between out living room, kitchen and foyer. I wish I knew why this piece of wall sticks out. I think it may have something to do with the fact that our kitchen used to be it's own separate room. The previous owners knocked a wall or two down to open up the space into the living room. (If you want to see the layout of the rooms, check out the house tour on the link to the right. Be warned, the photos are severly outdated. I have been mentally planning to take all new photos to update the tour page.)

 

 

I put an old chair under the frame that I took from parents' house when I moved out a few years back. It was part of the kitchen set we had when I was growing up, so it does have a bit of sentimental value to it. I'd like to replace it with a slimmer, taller thrifted chair, but have yet to find one I like. This chair will relocate back upstairs to the guest room. (I will now pretend I don't hear any questions regarding when our guest room will be finished.)

 

This post is also about butts. Animal butts to be exact.

 

After I made my framed gold animal art, I wasn't sure what I wanted to do with the other halves of the animals, but kept them handy in a ziplock bag for when I decided. Last week I saw two similar ideas using halved, spray painted animals as magnets. One was on Pinterest, and the other being sold for $14.00 for a 6 pack on Urban Outfitters. Pretty perfect use for my leftover butts, and much cheaper than buying UO version.

 

 

 

I decided to replicate this idea for under $2 since I already had most of the supplies and just needed to buy small round magnets at my local craft store. I was even able to knock this mini project out at the same time I was spray painting the lids to Lucy's toy jars.

 

The animal hineys are now proudly stuck to our fridge.

 

Nothing like a bunch of gold animal butts to hold up your family photos.

Online Window Shopping: Anthropologie

 

Christmas is coming and it's time for me to make my list for Santa. Here are a few things I've found on Anthro's website that I wouldn't mind unwrapping this December.

 

What's on your Christmas list?

Bridal Shower DIY

My best friend's sister is getting married at the end of December. You might remember the BBQ themed baby shower that Ashley's sister threw for her this past summer. I helped Tina with a number of DIY and decor for the baby shower and we worked so well together that I offered her anything she might need for her upcoming wedding. I was thrilled when Tina contacted me a few weeks ago to do some print work for her bridal shower. The shower was this past weekend and I wanted to share with you all a few of the items I made.

All items DIYed by me. Gold frames thrifted.

Monogram silhouette courtesy of Wedding Chicks. 

Tina explained to me the tea party theme and black and white color scheme along with a few ideas she wanted for decor. I had such a fun time putting the menus together and making the 'Bride To Be' banner. She's a lover of all things Anthropologie like myself and even used their monogrammed mugs as a favor for the bridal shower. 

One of the things Tina mentioned was some sort of bride to be sign for her chair. She didn't request anything specific, so I took the idea and ran with it. I didn't tell her what I was doing until the finished product. 

She loved her 'Future Mrs. Walker' chair sign and I have to say I am pretty pleased with how it turned out myself. This was the first time doing something like this and I had so much fun that I hope it won't be the last. Seriously, anyone have an upcoming bridal shower?

The shower was yesterday and everything was absolutely gorgeous. Unfortunately I didn't bring my camera, but I did snap one quick photo on my phone. 

Adorable, right? 

I was also incredibly flattered and quite a bit awestruck that Wedding Chicks gave some love on their Instagram page for the DIY I did using their silhouette printable. 

Next up, planning a baby shower for my other best friend. :)

Pinned It, Did It: DIY Custom Mason Jar Tops

Another toddler related DIY project to share with you all. I guess that's what happens when a hurricane keeps you locked up in the house with a 15 month old for two straight days. Technically I didn't actually pin this one. This is a DIY project that I've seen a few times around Pinterest, but a friend of mine recently pinned it and brought it back onto my radar. I had seen a few of these mason jars used as toy storage with animals glued to the tops and spray painted. Such a creative and cute storage idea. I love using mason jars and already use them around the house to store Lucy's crayons, my makeup brushes or paint brushes, etc. You all may know my affinity for spray painting things gold (here and here just to name a few), and apparently my sudden interest in painting small plastic animals. This little project seemed right up my alley.

all images via Pinterest

I wasn't even planning on tackling this project anytime soon, but this past weekend while waiting for a prescription to refill, I found myself perusing the local Dollar Tree. I came across some mason jars. For $1.00 a piece I was tempted to stock up on several even if I didn't have an immediate plan for them. After walking the aisles a bit trying to find some easy toys to keep Lucy distracted during the storm, I found a few plastic Disney Princesses. Jackpot. My DIY was decided at that moment. You all know I already have a hefty supply of gold spray paint.

The steps for this DIY are pretty easy and self explanatory. 

1. Glue the toys to the top of the mason jars (I used super glue and a lot of it). 

2. Next spray paint your lids whichever color you desire.

3.  Fill the jars with toys or goodies and display.

What a great and easy addition to Lucy's 'big girl room'. I liked the idea of using the princesses over the dinosaurs and animals to give them more of a 'young girl' touch.

What are you pinning and doing?