DIY Pom Pom Sign

20 May FUN-354

How awesome is this party banner from Napkin on Etsy?

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I’ll answer my own question with this one:

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It wasn’t long after spotting these that my gears started turning. I’m obsessed with the Etsy ones but I knew I could DIY something similar for the playroom (with more kid-friendly language) and once I saw these neon pop poms at AC Moore, this project was ON! (I also picked up F, U, and N fiberboard letters and fabric glue there, too. Total project cost: about $20 and I had a lot of pom poms and fabric glue left over.)

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First I got out my trusty dropcloth and laid out the letters and pom poms. I really liked the randomness of the pom poms on the Napkin ones so I tried to be meticulously haphazard! I started with the biggest ones and let them fill some of the space.

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Then I filled in around the big ones with medium, small and teeny tiny ones.

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I started by applying the glue to the pom pom directly but that was a sticky mess so I switched to this method. The glue I used was no joke so it wasn’t long before they were really sticking. FUn pom pom collage

It took a LOT longer than I imagined (and I started to understand why Cortny charges $60+ for her banners).
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But eventually they started to get full. I love that they have an uneven landscape. Plus, they’re so fluffy and soft– they’re like Muppets!

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And here’s the “after”…ta da!

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I hung them in the playroom on tiny nails over the girls’ art table. That gold business behind them is the mylar curtain that we used for the photo booth at Sophia’s Glamtastic Birthday Party. My kids are kind of obsessed with those things so I decided to repurpose it in our playroom. (Bonus: It disguises the fact that the room has ugly wood paneling!)

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They love the letters and I’m already thinking of how I can incorporate more pom poms into the space.

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Stay tuned for more playroom updates. It’s getting there…a little bit. (Check out the way it used to look here.)

XO

Sue at Home

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Spray Painted Thrift Shop Chairs

14 May chairs-505

Let’s take a little trip down memory lane, shall we? Back in January I took place in the Young House Love Macklemore Thrift Shop Challenge – with great success if I might say so myself.

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I spent my $20 on four busted looking chairs and I had some pretty grand plans for them. Ya know – something like this where mismatched chairs become a cohesive set thanks to some spray paint and some love.

But as I said back then, I was going to have to wait because freezing cold temperatures don’t work with spray painting.  So at the first signs of spring, I took to the driveway with my chairs, some sandpaper and lots and lots of spray paint.

Dressed for some early Sunday spray painting. #willthisprojecteverend?

You may have noticed that one of the chairs was replaced from the original post. I just found one to be too wimpy. (Keep your eyes peeled – it happens again! Still, the total spent on chairs was under $30.)

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Step one was to give each chair a light sanding with fine grade (220) sandpaper. I was using a spray primer first so I didn’t make myself crazy with this step. Just a little roughing up.

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Next, I built myself a little area to paint with cardboard boxes and some duct tape. Obviously, I completely underestimated how much the fine mist of paint would travel and my driveway ended getting a little redish but it actually washed right off. (Note that I started with them upside-down first so I had less chance of getting any sticky marks on the parts that show by doing it the other way around.)

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As for my spray paint, I went with a three product method: Krylon Primer in Gray, Krylon Gloss in Banner Red, and Krylon Crystal Clear protective coat. I’m a Krylon addict ever since it performed so well in my gold spray paint test.

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It took a lot more coats than I anticipated but finally, it started to look red. I think during the process, I wiped out all the Banner Red in the tri-state area. I’m kidding of course but I did have to try 5 or 6  local stores to track down all the paint I needed. After I was done, I think I used a total of 3 cans of primer, 9 cans of color and 3 cans of top coat for the four chairs. I used every Michael’s coupon I could get my hands on and I bought a bunch at my local hardware store so I saved when I could but it definitely ended up costing more for the paint then I ever imagined. Lucky for me, the chairs were cheap!

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Here’s a look at three chairs: 1 primed, 1 with a couple coats of color, and 1 all done. Yay for the all done!

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Now, before I show you how cute the finished chairs look in our den, let’s take a peek at the sad spot that so badly needed them.  Poor little Docksta!

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And now…

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Now it’s a happy place!

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The chairs fit perfectly around the table and add some much needed color to the room. Check out how much better my view is from the kitchen “window”.

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I didn’t sand them like crazy so they’re not perfect but I do like the slight glossyness of the finish.

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Now that the weather is nicer and this room is no longer freezing, I’m thrilled to get to sit here for lots of lunches and dinners.

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Photo bomb!

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And I think the red works so well with lots of other things in the room.  (I know this picture doesn’t show much. I promise to take more pictures of this room soon. Really! I promise!)

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One thing I will point out is the little vintage Piano Teacher sign I got on Ebay. It was a birthday gift for Pablo. This room is the closest thing he has to a “man cave” so I wanted to add something personal. And since playing the piano is one of his loves, I figured it was fitting. It’s small but we both love it.

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So, what do you think? I’m really happy with how they came out. They’ve got a lot more personality than something store bought and they’re a LOT cheaper!

XO

Sue at Home

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Happy Mother’s Day!

12 May

When you become a mom yourself, you kind of start getting a little selfish on Mother’s Day and forgetting about the awesome woman who raised you. Ok. Well, maybe not everyone does this. But I’ve certainly been guilty of this inexcusable crime.

So, I’m here today to say Happy Mother’s Day to my awesome mom. She’s still the one (and only!) person who makes me feel better when I’m sick or feeling sad. She just always knows what to say to make my boo boos go away.

And I’ve recently learned that her mothering was just practice for the greatest job of her life–being a grandma.

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Sophia and Lily love their Mimi and I feel so comfortable leaving them with her and my dad when we go on vacation or out for a rare date. The kids don’t even miss us! They’re always just so excited to get some time with their “Meems”. Perhaps it’s because she lets them put sprinkles on their pancakes but I think that it’s because they feel so loved by Mimi.

Happy Mother’s Day, Mom!

 I also need to give a shout-out to my mother-in-law, Haydee. She raised three beautiful kids and she did a lot of it on her own. She’s a great mom and loving grandma. Happy Mother’s Day, Bobe!

Here she is meeting her new grandson, my brother-in-law’s son Carter, last month at our house.

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My girls are so lucky to have two grandmas that love them so much.

And Happy Mother’s Day to all the other mommies reading. I hope you enjoy your day and that you’re totally getting pampered like I am!

XO

Sue at Home

P.S. Thanks for listening to me talk about all my personal business. I promise next week I’ll have some great home updates to share!

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I’m in Peony Heaven

11 May

I wish you could smell my house right now.

peony-220My sweet husband has started a precedent that I hope continues for a long time. On the Friday night of Mother’s Day weekend, he shows up at home with a HUGE bundle of peonies.

You see, I don’t ask much for Mother’s Day – I just want to spend time with my family, get some very personal handmade cards, and fill my house with lots and lots of peonies. I don’t expect flowers for Valentine’s Day or my birthday but when it’s peony season–for just a few fleeting weeks–I want peonies. Specifically, Festiva Maxima. Those are the bright white ones (shown above) with a touch of magenta in the center. They have a scent that is like nothing else.

So, after Pablo comes in the bundle, I get to work snipping and arranging. (Don’t get mad that he doesn’t arrange them for me. You should know about my controlling nature by now.) And lucky me, I had enough to spread them out all over the house.

I get to wake up with them by my bedside.  (Dontcha love my new initial tray from C Wonder?)

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There are a few in the front window. (Who needs to edit her magazines and catalogs. This girl. That’s who.)

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A tall vase of pink ones in the living room.

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And a single bud in the den. And yes I know this shot is seriously over exposed but I kinda liked the way it made the vase look so let’s pretend it’s intentional, okay? (And there’s a sneek peek of my red chair in the background. Full post on those coming soon!)

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And let’s not forget the huge explosion of peonies in the dining room. Boom!

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Arranging tip: To get them to stay spread out in such a wide vase, I made a grid on the top of the vase with Scotch tape.

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It was the first time I ever tried it and it worked like a charm!

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And as I write this, the girls and Pablo are in the newly redecorated playroom art station (blog post coming soon!) working on a top secret project. I can’t imagine what it could be!

I’ll be back tomorrow with a special Mother’s Day wish to all the other mommies out there!

XO

Sue at Home

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One Year Blogiversary

10 May

I can’t believe it’s here already! Check it out: that was my first post. And now – 153 posts later – here we are!

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I want to thank all my readers — and most of all, my subscribers — for clicking on Sue at Home and reading what’s new in my world. Without you, I would be nothing! (Well, I would still be doing lots of projects but it sure is a whole lot more fun with someone to share them all with!)

And boy, have you grown. In my first month of blogging last year, I had a measly 311 page views (thanks mom and dad!) but now I’m averaging about 6000 a month! (As Sophia would say, ” Ba-BAM!”)  So, thanks to every one of you for reading, sharing, and coming back again and again. (Look at those Feb stats! I can pretty much thank Emily A. Clark for making that happen all by herself.)

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You may have noticed some changes around here lately. For one thing, a few of those little tabs up top are new.

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The “About” tab now has a drop down menu that gives you options to read my “About Sue” page and a page that lists all my social media sites. The “Press” tab shows you all the places I’ve been featured in the past year. (I’m feeling the need to say thanks again. Thanks!)

The sidebar got a whole lot prettier, too. Be sure to click on the images under “Come On In” for up-to-date tours of each room in my house. (Expect some new ones soon for the kitchen, bathroom and den. I promise.)

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And you might have noticed that little Ladies’ Home Journal link over there, too.

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Well, people, that link is just sitting there waiting to offer you one of the best deals money can buy. A whole year of Ladies’ Home Journal for $5.99! I mean, I don’t know about you but I can’t get lunch for $5.99. So, go ahead and fork it over because that way you’ll get to see all the pretty fashion work I do at my day job. Stuff like this and this. (Images via LHJ)

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(Full disclosure: I get a little percentage of the sale if you order your subscription by clicking that link. But that’s not a bad thing, right?)

Ok – enough of that. Back to the blog. In other ch-ch-ch-ch-changes news…I finally got around to making a Sue at Home Facebook page. Please stop by and give me a like!

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Before I go…just for fun, here are my most read posts of the past year.

I Have a Hot Pink Chair! 

DIY: Lengthening our Master Bedroom Curtains

Thrift Store Challenge

Working with What You Have: Kitchen Renovations

Making a Wigwam for a School Project

Pin of the Week: Dressing Up Your Stairs

House Tour: Sophia’s Room (part 2)

I Will Love This Poster For Like Ever

House Tour: Lily’s Room (part 1)

House Tour: Master Bedroom

So, that’s about it. I’d love to get some feedback from all of you. What posts are your favorites? What type of posts do you like the least? Let me know.

Oh, and one more thing…

THANKS!

XO

Sue at Home

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40 Envelopes with 40 Memories for a 40th Birthday

7 May

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Yup. It’s that time again…the Pinterest Challenge. For those not in the know, here are the deets. Sherry from Young House Love, Katie from Bower Power, Emily from Sparkle Meets Pop, and Renee from Red Bird Blue are the hosts for this 4-way link party. The challenge is to simply pick something creative that you’ve pinned on Pinterest and finally get around to doing it.

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Last time around, I opted for two quick updates: a free printable in Lily’s room…

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…and some new gilded frames in Sophia’s room.

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And this time, I created a project for Pablo’s 40th celebration. (Maybe next time, I’ll do something for myself!) When I had seen this birthday envelope surprise on Oh Happy Day I knew it was the perfect way to present Pablo with the sweet notes that I was planning for his birthday.

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The first step was to get the memories. Lucky for me, Pablo is very loved so even though I started this the day before his birthday (!), all I had to do was send one group message on Facebook and one group email for the non-Facebookers and the memories came flooding in. There were a few people I couldn’t find but I managed to get over 35 messages. (I simply asked everyone to send me a memory of a time they spent with Pablo. I filled in the last few from me and the girls.) Once I got them all, I cut and pasted them into a word document, formatted them, and printed them on bright colored paper. Some were long and some were short but that worked perfectly for my purposes.

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Next I found some random envelopes in my stationary stash and laid them out to spell 40. First on the floor (to get a layout I liked) and then up on the wall of the dining room.

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The girls helped me stuff the envelopes…
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…until each envelope – all 40 of them! – had a personal note from a friend or relative.

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When he came home and we surprised him with it, he was a little perplexed at first. (I think he may have been wondering if this was a permanent installation!)

birthday-417But once he started reading through all the memories with the girls (with a little bit of editing to take out any mature subjects!), he loved it.

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I think it was a perfect gift for him (because he loves reminiscing) and for this year (because with me working part time now, there are no extra funds for a grand gift so I needed to make a grand gesture instead.)

We did get him a few little goodies, though, because everyone needs to open some gifts on their birthday.

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As you can see, he had a great time. Thanks to everyone who contributed memories to this project. I couldn’t have done it without you.

On Wednesday, don’t forget to check back in with Sherry from Young House Love, Katie from Bower Power, Emily from Sparkle Meets Pop, and Renee from Red Bird Blue to see all the amazing projects that everyone made – plus all the linked ones!

XO

Sue at Home

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Sunset Tower

2 May

A few weeks ago I traveled to LA for a photo shoot for my day job and I had the pleasure of staying at the Sunset Tower Hotel in West Hollywood. The hotel has loads of Hollywood history dating back to 1929. It used to be a residence for the elite stars of the time including Howard Hughes, John Wayne, Elizabeth Taylor, Frank Sinatra and Marilyn Monroe. Now, it’s a beautiful hotel that serves as host for the Vanity Fair Oscar party — and guests like me.

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Let’s take a look at my tiny — but totally beautiful — room.

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And a closer look at that killer view. LA-044

I loved all the brass fixtures in the bathroom.

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I mean, look at those sconces.

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And the table lamps in the room were stunning, too. This tall drink of water is so simple and gorgeous.

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And this spindly beauty is thin and gorgeous but no, it wouldn’t fit in my suitcase. Kidding.

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 My accommodations on my second night in LA were even more interesting. A good friend of mine from NYC moved to the west coast last year and she invited me to spend a night at the beautiful house she and her family are renting in Calabasas. The guest room in her house (complete with my own bathroom) was bigger than my room at The Sunset Tower. And — get this — it had a massive balcony with a view of the home across the street that just happens to belong to someone famous. In the spirit of privacy, I won’t tell you who it was but I’ll just say that her initials are KK and she has two kids and two sisters with the same initials. I think you can guess who I mean. Wink wink…

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More travel posts coming soon!

XO

Sue at Home

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S’mores Parfait

30 Apr

Today I’m here with a quick and easy dessert treat. Recently, I went to a showroom preview at Victoria’s Secret and they had a tray of cake-cups from Bee’s Knees Baking Co in NYC. Looks delish, right?

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Photo via Bee’s Knees Baking Co.

I was struck by how great they all looked – and tasted! – so I wanted to come up with my own version. Bee’s Knees specializes in cake-cups, a layered dessert that’s like a portable cupcake but looks similar to a parfait or trifle. I’m going the parfait (sans cake) option for mine.

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This recipe couldn’t have been more simple. I started out with a box mix for chocolate mousse, a tub of Marshmallow Fluff, and a pre-made graham cracker crust.

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After I made the mousse by the box’s directions, I crushed the crust to make it into a crumble. (I know I could have put graham crackers in the food processor but I figured the crust would have more of a buttery flavor. Lucky me — I was right!)

smores-128Then I was ready to start my layers.

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First graham cracker crumble…

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…then chocolate mousse…

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…then Fluff.

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I didn’t like how blobby it was going to into the cup so on the next layers, I piped the mouse in with a DIY piping bag.

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Much better!

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After a few layers, I added a little more graham cracker on top and they were ready to serve. (I actually covered them with plastic wrap and put them in the fridge.)

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They were delish but when I make them again, I will definitely lower the amount of Fluff. (I used a whole jar in only 6 parfaits!) It was a little overly sweet but with a little less Fluff, they would be perfect.

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Check out these other sweet treats from Sue at Home:

Pumpkin Whoopie Pies With Cream Cheese Filling

Edible Glitter Birthday Cake

I’m a Published Writer: My Mom’s Fruitcake Recipe

Rainbow Cake: If I Can Make It, You Can Too

Oh, and I’m linking up to 33 Shades Of Green‘s Tasty Tuesday Link Party. Click over to check out the other links!

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XO 

Sue at Home

smores parfait Collage

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Dining Room Update

26 Apr

It’s been quite awhile since I’ve done anything to update our dining room. You see, it’s pretty tiny and there’s not too much you can do creatively with the space. It’s just big enough to fit a table and chairs and…nope. That’s it. Just a table and chairs.

finished dining roomAs I told you when I updated that DIY art, I knew I needed to replace the curtains with something longer. What I didn’t realize then was how dark the curtains felt. This room has very little light and even though they were kinda sheer and we kept them hung nice and wide, they still didn’t do much to help the lack of light issue.

So, the last time I was at Ikea, I picked up a pair of simple sheer white curtains. Because where else can you get two 98″ curtain panels for $19.99? (Let me be clear. They’re $19.99 for two, not one! I mean! How do they do that?)

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They were about 3 or 4 inches long and I knew I would need to hem them but — lucky me! — Ikea curtain panels come with hemming tape so I was gearing myself up for some serious ironing action.  But I figured I should wash them first so I followed the directions: machine wash in hot, tumble dry regular. I was even hoping that they might shrink a little bit so I could avoid hemming them and — surprise surprise — they shrunk…A LOT.  Oops!

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But I’m looking on the bright side: I don’t have to get my iron out! And I’m sure they’ll stretch out a little bit and hopefully sit a little closer to the floor. In the meantime, I think they look pretty great. Not too shabby for 20 bucks.

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Doesn’t it look so much better with the rod closer to the ceiling?

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And did you notice I flipped the painting vertically? Not sure why, really. Just thought it would be  a nice change.

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That’s all for now but I’m planning a big project for the blank wall. Here’s a hint. Via Apartment Therapy

Stay tuned!!

XO

Sue at Home

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Playroom remodel – Phase Two

16 Apr

When you saw our playroom last, it had gone from a messy unorganized space to a more organized — yet still lacking in any style — kind of room. (Read all about phase one here.)

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There are so many big problems with this space – fluorescent lighting, wood paneling — but for phase two of the makeover, I’m taking a little baby step towards improvement. Notice in the pic above that there was a big mess on the wall above the original spot that the loveseat was in?  I had attached two bulletin boards to the wall and they were filled with art on top of art on top of art. This was a functioning nightmare. Not too pretty.

Now with the two bookshelves down, I had more wall space to play around with so I picked up a couple Dignitet cable systems from Ikea and got to work hanging them up.

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Once I had the cables installed, I picked some of the girls classic works of art to hang (using Riktig clips).  I chose some school projects, like Lily’s snowman, and some that they’ve created on their own time, like Sophia’s “Fashion Queen”. Please note the stars for eyes.

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And of course I had to include one of my favorites: a portrait of Lily, made by Sophia out of Fruit Loops. Don’t you recognize her there on the left? Pink smile, blue eyes, blonde curls?

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Maybe this will help…

lily CollageSee?

This room is funny. I can spend time on improving it but it always comes back to the horrible walls. I’m putting off painting them because…well, I’ve had bigger fish to fry in this house. But no matter what I do to fix this space, it’s still got the horrible walls, the horrible lighting, and the horrible ceiling. So, we’ll see. Maybe I’ll finally get my paint can out and cover them up. What do you think?

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But somehow, I just can’t hate a room with this in it.

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XO

Sue at Home

P.S. By the way, if you come for a visit get ready to play Barbie Ball. It’s a game that Sophia invented where we all stand back and throw a small suction cup covered ball into the Barbie house for points. Upstairs is 50 points, downstairs is 100, and the rooftop terrace or the shower in the upstairs bathroom are 200 each. Don’t under estimate the girls either. They’re pretty good. Now, if only they could get a college scholarship because of their Barbie Ball skills…

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