The Master Boudoir {Home Décor}

I know that there are lots of people/bloggers that move into a home, and a year later it’s done, it’s fabulous and it’s magazine ready.

I am not of those people/bloggers, so it takes me FOREVER to get a room done because of time and money. Let’s face it, both are hard to come by sometimes. Hence why after I tackled the living room last November, I waited until February to start the dining room and it’s still not done. Now, I’d say it’s 85% of the way there. I need artwork, touch up paint and accessories. Those little final touches that will make my dining/office/craft space really chic and have a wow factor. So until it’s 100% of the way done, I’m not showing you all anymore pictures. None. Ok, maybe a few on Facebook (hint, hint…)

But what will I work on after this dining room is done with? Well, the title of my post says it all. The boudoir. I know it’s not a room anyone will see much besides my husband, Pee Wee and I (plus you lovely people), but it is a room I despise. It’s got a king bed in it (just a mattress + bed frame), a random desk and bookshelf and my old, black printer stand. UGLY. It is UGLY up in there. I want to be able to plop into bed in a restful, hotel like, glamorous bedroom, so it is my next DIY makeover that I have planned.

There’s a few things we have definitely decided on:

Flooring: Will be the same as the one we have in the dining room.

Bedding: The set we got on clearance for $15 at Target.

Wall Color: Sharkey gray by Martha Stewart (color matched PERFECTLY by Sherwin Williams. Thank God.) Here’s a sample photo I found online of the color…

Image Credit: A Simple Kind of Life

Headboard: Uber expensive one we (we being Daniel more than me) love from Pottery Barn (shown in Sage, we’re buying Buckwheat)

I know some people may get judgy about the price or tell me I can DIY, to which I say, sorry. Not going to DIY because I am a PERFECTIONIST and will hate anything I make. And the price, well. Oh well. Sometimes you have to splurge. I do have a coupon that is knocking about $100+ off.

Curtains: I snagged these for $14 a panel on clearance at Target

Nightstands: This will be a Goodwill revamp. I’ve had a pair of nightstands I bought at Goodwill for $7 each that will be getting a drastic makeover. Everything I’ve shown you all thus far has been very neutral, so trust me, these nightstands will bring in a pop of color to the room. Especially when paired with this hardware I love from Lowe’s:

I still need lamps (also might be a makeover/DIY project with some Krylon), a rug, a TV stand, wall art, vanity area, etc. but overall the main pieces of the room have been chosen. Now, I still look to Pinterest often to get ideas and inspiration for the vibe I want set forth when you look at my space, so here’s the top 5 that reflect my design vision (click on photo to be taken to Pinterest/source).

All of them are different, yet cohesive in some way…should be interesting to see how it all turns out.

What does your master bedroom look like? Any ideas or suggestions for our bedroom that I haven’t thought about yet? I would love a recommendation for a perfect all-season duvet that is affordable/reasonable in price.

Halloween Mantle 2011 {Frugal Décor}

I love décor, but I am a cheap ass.

I said it. I have no shame. I love all things beautiful, sparkly and fabulous, but only if I can afford them. Hence, why $1 stores are my BFF for every holiday season. You can find so much stuff there, if you shop early. For instance, most of the stuff I used on my Halloween mantle is from Dollar Tree and I bought it in August. No joke. People were still buying school supplies, and I was like, “Um, excuse me, are these all the ceramic pumpkins you have?”

Yeah. I’m THAT girl.

There I was…ahead of the game in August. And here I am, today, the girl who JUST finished her Halloween mantle. But hey, it’s done, I love it, and I seem to decorate well under pressure. The only thing I DIY’d for my mantle are my spider web votives. Everything else I pretty much bought as is from Dollar Tree or Hobby Lobby. I focused on using the stuff I had, and making a lot of impact with minimal money, time and effort.

Here is how my mantle has looked for about 6 months. It makes no sense. I’m almost embarrassed to show you all because it’s so not fabulous.

A mess. A hot mess.

So I cleared it all off, and got to work brainstorming…

I remembered I had the IKEA Ung Drill frame that I never did anything with + some damask wrapping paper left over from my DIY wedding cardbox, plus the stuff from my trip to Dollar Tree, plus some spider webs I got on clearance last year and I came up with this:

But, as is that’s not good enough, I then decided to light the candles + I incorporated 6 LED tealight candles to give it a spooky glow.

Now let’s take a look at all the components that make up my chic, spooky Halloween mantle.

A photo of 2 lovely girls…errr, maybe not.

 

This owl is actually an oil warmer from Bath & Body Works.

 

The total time it took me was about an hour. The total cost, well, I will say it wasn’t much, but basically each item cost me about $1. So, let’s say about $14-$20 for the individual components + everything else I had on hand. Even better? I can totally reuse everything next year, so I won’t have to buy it again.

But don’t be surprised if I am the crazy lady asking where the pumpkins are in early August.

If you’re into DIY-ing lots of stuff, Amazon has great prices on craft stuff and most of it has free shipping with a $25+ order.

New here? Here are some other Halloween tutorials I’ve posted this year (click on photo to be taken to the tutorial in a new window):

  

  

  

What’s your favorite part of your home to decorate for Halloween?

Spider Web Votive Covers {DIY Tutorial}

I remember when I posted my first Halloween tutorial on August 31st, I thought I was nuts.

Now today it’s October 16th, and I only have a foyer vignette, candy corn centerpiece, Illuminated wreath and porch done. No Halloween mantle anywhere to be found.

Oops.

So, now it’s time to get to creating an awesome Halloween mantle using stuff I have already. As you all know by now, I love to decorate with candles, so today I have another tutorial on how to create some spider web votive covers using the Silhouette SD + black cardstock + Glue Dots®.

Open your Silhouette SD studio, and go to My Library and open up your free spider web. The spider web I used comes free with the 50 images/files that come loaded with the software. Layer a bunch together so that you roughly have a 2x7 inch area covered. I resized my webs a bit, as you can see below, so that it would look a bit more natural. Also, I created a 2x7 rectangle so I could have a visual, plus you’ll need it in a bit.

Next use your mouse to form a rectangle around all your webs.

Right click and click “Weld”. This makes all your webs connected as one giant web.

Next we want to move our welded web onto the 2x7 rectangle. Once you have it situated, go to Object > Modify > Intersect.

This will get rid of all the web outside the 2x7 inch box leaving you with a perfect votive wrap. I then copied & pasted the web so that I had 3 on my page. Time to send it to the Silhouette to cut.

Now, here’s the point where you want to find something to do for about 10 minutes while your Silhouette cuts. And cuts some more. Then when you think it’s done IT WILL CUT SOME MORE.

What I did during this time is gather my votive holders + adhesive.

 

You can find the Glue Dots® I used here (removable) and here (micro).

Once your Silhouette finishes cutting, you will notice you have a lot of little pieces to fish out of the design. This will be a little tedious, and you will want to quit. Don’t. I used the back of an earring to quickly punch out all the random pieces of cardstock that didn’t end up on the mat. Which honestly, would have been worse since peeling a billion little pieces of cardstock off a sticky mat is not my idea of a good time. Call me crazy.

After all that work and effort, you are rewarded with 3 fabulous spider webs.

Grab your removable Glue Dots® & 1 votive holder. I placed one Glue Dot in the center of the glass and I used one more to adhere the ends, as seen below:

And then you have your votive covers. You’ll notice some random ends/web pieces sticking out…not to worry, that’s what the Micro Glue Dots® are for. One of these itty bitty dots, and you’ll be squared away.

I then decided to see how they’d look once the candles are lit, and I fell in love.

Ta-dah!

There you have it- a small part of my Halloween mantle. I hope to work on some more this evening, and hopefully have a full post up for you on Tuesday or Wednesday of this week. I am still a little stumped as to what to do. Do you have a link to an awesome Halloween mantle you’ve seen lately? Are you the type of person that creates mantle-scapes for every holiday/season?

I wrote this blog post while participating on the Glue Dots design team; hope you enjoyed my project as a Glue Dots Dottess.