What I Bought With My Etsy Gift Card

The day I discovered Etsy was magical.  It was back in 2010 when I started planning our wedding.  I had read about it somewhere and decided to check it out.  And I was hooked.  I could spend hours looking at all of the different listings.  Over the years, I have made several purchases from ornaments to wreaths to personalized signs.  We even purchased the monogram we used on all of our wedding stationary as well as our Save the Dates on Etsy.

So when my in-laws gave me an Etsy gift card for my birthday, I couldn't wait to use it.  I hopped online and started going through my favorites.  Nothing jumped out as something I needed to have right that moment, so I waited.  And waited.  Then a few months ago, I become obsessed with birch bark.  I wanted to get either some candle holders or coasters or something made out of it, but I couldn't decide.  So I waited some more.  

Then I saw something on Pinterest (my other favorite site) that peaked my interest.  It was a handmade ladder used to display blankets.  I knew it was perfect for our cottage style home, but I thought my husband might be able to make it for me.  I mentioned it to him one day and a few months passed (not his fault, we've been really busy).  But I still reaaallyyy wanted the ladder.  

I hadn't thought before to check the price on Etsy, but when I did, they were around $50.  I decided to reach out to the seller to see what the exact cost of shipping would be.  It was around $30.  I hemmed and hawed over the price for awhile.  Since I had the gift card, though, I would only have to pay for shipping.  I realized that if my husband were to make it, he probably couldn't do it for less than $30 after all of the supplies.  That was justification alone for me!  So I went ahead and bought it.

I couldn't wait for it to come in.  It did take some time, since the sellers had to actually build and stain it.  Finally, a few weeks after the original purchase, it arrived.  It came in one piece and was securely bubble-wrapped.  Unwrapping it was like Christmas morning.  It was beautiful.  And sturdy.  And big.  

The first thing Dan said when he saw it was, "Yeah, I don't think I could have made it as nice as that."  So yes, he ultimately approved the purchase.

Now came the tough part...finding a place to display it.  The only place it really worked was in the living room corner, between the fireplace and makeshift entertainment center.  I debated on kitty-cornering it or putting it flush against the fireplace wall.  Then I questioned whether to leave the captain's chair in that corner, or remove it.  Ultimately, I decided to leave the chair and angle the ladder.  We need all the seating we can get in that room.  Then I just used the red and white striped pillows we use on the back deck and threw some blankets we had on hand on the rungs.   

I do think the corner looks a bit cluttered, but I think over time, I'll figure out how best to accessorize the area.  I would love to get a few more pattered blankets to bring a bit of color and texture to the area, but I'm not in any rush to get those.  
 
Of course, now I'm a little nervous on what we're going to do when we put up the Christmas tree.  Last year, we put one of our wicker chairs in that corner to make room for the tree, and I just loved how it looked there. Unfortunately, I don't really have any other place to put the ladder.  This is the problem with having a small house.  I see so many things I want to use, but i just don't have room for it all.  That's why I switch things out so frequently - to use it all.  Ultimately, I want the ladder to be displayed where people can see it, but I may end up moving it around with each season.

Be well,

Paint Projects

The upstairs of our house has been neglected since we moved in.  We have two bedrooms up there and a bathroom.  I've had so many different ideas as to what to do with the spaces, but nothing has really stuck.  And since Dan and I are the only ones who go up there, there really hasn't been a sense of urgency to update it.

Since we had the runner installed up the stairs, though, we knew we wanted to at least finish off the upstairs hallway. Before the runner came, Dan painted the entire stairwell, so we knew we'd eventually continue that upstairs.  The original wall color was pretty similar to the "Shaker Beige" we used everywhere else, it just needed to be refreshed.

My hubby is so good.  He took a day off from work and used his time off to paint and do house projects.  We already had the paint on hand, and the hallway isn't very big, so he had that done in a few hours.  As you can see from the pictures below, the change was subtle. 

Before

After

I knew this was on the hubby's to do list this day, but what he didn't tell me was his plan for updating our two sconces.  One is at the top of the stairs and the other is on the wall outside our bedroom.  I always liked the shape of them, but hated their gold finish.  

When we first moved into our house, we had most of the light fixtures replaced with oil-rubbed bronze ones.  We even changed out all of the doorknobs to match.  We wanted to keep these sconces, though, and had plans to spray-paint them with oil-rubbed bronze.  I didn't realize Dan was going to tackle these this day, so I was surprised to come home from work and see them done. 

Dan is very careful when working with electrical.  It's not something he does often and he had a tutorial from a good friend who's well-versed in most home projects, so he felt comfortable doing this.  He shut everything off and unhooked the wires.  He took the sconces down to the basement where he sprayed them with a few coats, letting them dry in between.  Then he just hooked them back up and turned the electricity back on.

I like this so much better than the gold, and it didn't cost us anything since we had the spray-paint on hand from another project.  The only thing that bothers me now are the gold brackets on the bannister.  I really want to take them off and spray them, but the hubby is adamant about leaving them alone.  When we had the bannister installed, I wasn't even thinking about the color of brackets they would use.  I think I was just so excited to have a hand rail installed that I didn't think it all the way through.  I should have specified that I wanted them to be oil-rubbed bronze.  

In any case, here's the entire hallway as it stands.  We didn't end up painting the white trim since it looked to be done just prior to when we moved in.  The hubby was happy about that.

 

The hope chest is my mom's.  It was one of the first pieces of furniture we moved into the house and it just fit perfectly at the top of the stairs, under the slanted ceiling.  It provides a lot of extra storage and it mainly houses extra blankets and sheets right now.  The rug is from Home Goods (of course) and ties in with the green and blues of the pillows we have on the hope chest. 

Continuing with the painting projects, a few weeks ago, we had the outside trim and all of the windows painted on our house.  It was one of those things that came up in our inspection.  The window paint was peeling and the inspector was worried about the wood eventually rotting.  Dan wanted to paint them himself, but life got in the way, so we decided it was worth the investment.  The company we used had most of it done in one day and just needed a few hours on day two to complete it.  It would have taken Dan a lot longer.  It's amazing how some fresh white paint can make such a difference.  

We also had the front door painted.  We figured since they were doing everything else, why not add this.  We had them match the original color since it ties in with our shutters.  I didn't realize how badly this needed to be done until I compared the before and after shots.
   

What a difference!  Luckily we don't need to have the entire house painted just yet.  Up next I think we're going to focus on the upstairs bathroom.  We have to paint the ceiling due to some water damage when we first moved in.  The problem has been fixed, but we haven't gotten around to painting.  I am also toying with the idea of either painting or replacing the vanity.  We shall see.

Be well,

DIY Fall Centerpiece

Making the change from "Halloween" to "Fall" is pretty simple for me.  I don't have a ton of Halloween decor, just a few odds and ends.  Once Halloween was over, I collected some of those decorations and switched them out for non-Halloween specific decorations.  For example, the dish rack in the kitchen got a quick makeover.  I just switched out the pumpkin and witch for a decorative wooden ball and a framed pin a friend brought us back from Thailand.

Now that this was off my plate, I could shift my focus to Thanksgiving. Dan and I will be hosting this year, so of course, my first thought wasn't about the food, it was about what my table centerpiece would look like.  I knew it needed to be small since our table isn't very big.  I also wanted it to be in one piece so I could easily remove it when it came time to eat.  I had seen a wooden box centerpiece on Pinterest I was pretty sure I could replicate.  After all, I already had all of the supplies I would need.  So, I ran around the house and collected everything.

I bought the wooden box for $2 at a flea market a few years ago.  I had only used it with some flowers for a spring decoration, so I just took out that arrangement and started with a blank slate.  I got the garland from Dan's aunt who was getting rid of a bunch of fall decorations and let us pick out whatever we wanted.  That was a fun day!  I had the mason jars left over from a Christmas project last year and I had the Epsom salt on hand because who doesn't have Epsom salt in their basement?

The first step was just to place the mason jars in the box to see how many would fit.  That was easy.  Then I played around with the garland and figured out how best to fit it in there.  I ended up trimming it a little bit and removing some of the brown twigs on it.  I looped it around each jar and stuffed it in and around, wherever it would fit.


Once I had this how I liked it, the Epsom salt came into play.  I was unsure about this part at first.  I didn't have taller pillar candles for the jars, so I knew if I wanted to use votives or tea lights, I'd have to find a way to raise them up.  The salt worked perfectly.  I just poured roughly the same amount in each jar until I ran out.  Each jar was a little less than halfway full. 

Now came the exciting part.  Turns out I didn't have enough votives, and the larger tea lights I had in mind were too big to fit through the tops of the jars.  I decided to use plain votive holders with regular tea lights, but then realized I only had two holders.  Then, upon digging through my bin of candles and accessories, I found some fake red candles.  And I had three!  These were the perfect solution.  I didn't have to worry about lighting the candles, things getting too hot, etc.  And the red looked great against the orange and yellow leaves.  I couldn't have been happier.  Pretty sure I gloated to Dan for a good 10 minutes on how perfect this find was.

So now that it was done, I had to find a place to display it in the meantime.  Mantel?  No.  Living room table?  No.  Kitchen?  Maybe.  I ventured into the kitchen and realized that its original destination of the kitchen table was perfect. 

Of course, that meant I had to relocate my pears on a serving board.  Darn, I really loved the simplicity of that.  Oh well, time to move on.  I put the pears on top of the stove and they looked pretty cute, so I left them.  Don't worry, we take them down when we cook, just in case.

I can't wait to host Thanksgiving!  One of the best parts of hosting (aside from being with family and the food, of course) is bringing out all of our serving pieces and china.  It reminds me that there's a reason I collect all this stuff!

Be well,