Spring Savings from MonogramWedding.com !

MonogramWedding has a spring savings sale going on - right now through April 30th place any order from www.MonogramWedding.com and receive free shipping! Plus, lucky readers will also receive 10% off by entering in the discount code ABBY at checkout! Free shipping + 10% off = AWESOME!

All of their products can be completely customized to be for any occasion - so even if there isn't a wedding in your future you can make birthday, baby shower, bridal shower... invites - or you create a custom thank you card by uploading any photo. You get to type out the text, choose your font, choose your color - and a minimum order is only 25! Check out an option I made for Trudie's birthday invites.. :-) So cute!

 Happy Spring Savings!

Re-vamped Entry Bench

Our entry bench was a bargain from Target, purchased 2 years ago. I always had a plan to do something with it, but was content with it for now. Finally 1 night I had enough of looking at the 'Cat Scratch Fever' and decided it was time to do the something.

YIKES!

 

{before}

I really liked the tufting, and wanted to do something similar, but wasn't sure how I'd figure that one out so I went to JoAnn's and found some furry white fabric - perfect in a house with a white dog, gray cat, and orange cat that like to lay on the bench, and it's just fun! It's super furry so if they decided to scratch you couldn't tell at all - and if they lay on it it just fluffs back up. I at first thought I'd glue gun it on - not sure what I was thinking because that was a stupid idea! I then got smart and got out the staple gun - so easy!

Pulled and tucked and ta-da! 15 min makeover. The kids love it!

But, something wasn't right, I still wasn't happy with it.

The legs needed to be painted! Wish I would have thought of that before I covered the seat because painting around the fluff was super tricky - good thing they are both white! I did a light sand, then primed with Behr primer.

{This is what happened when I went out of the room for a second!}

{on the new rug.. it's a good thing it can be flipped over}

{the culprit!}

Got it cleaned up, then back to painting...

Once the primer dried I used Behr ultra high gloss white paint. I painted it on with my free roller from Valspar! 

 

I like this much better!

It really balances the room now. So easy, I love it!

Uppercase Living my house

Recently I took on a new venture - becoming an independent consultant of Uppercase Living. I've only had one party, but so far I am really enjoying it! I was looking for something without a huge commitment since I have a full time job, but something that I could still be creative while making a little extra income, and getting out of the house & meeting new people. I came aware of UL because my mom had attended a party before Christmas and ordered my sister's and I each an expression. I loved it, so I looked into the UL company. For those of you that don't know, Uppercase Living is a company that sells vinyl expressions for almost any surface through in home parties. You can choose from products from a catalog or create something on your own in their designer {which I have more fun with!} So far I've applied vinyl to the wall in our kitchen, our bathroom door, the front door, a mirror, a picture frame, & Trudie's dog food canister. It's a great way to spice up any space without damaging the wall or surface with holes or paint, and if I get tired of it I can just peel them off. So fun! Here's a few projects that I have done so far:

{front door before}

{after}

hello!

  {Trudie's Dog Food Canister before}

{after}

{Our Bathroom Door}

{Above our sliding patio door in dining room}

I'm working on a few other projects and will blog about them when I'm done. I'm excited to continue this new venture of being an Uppercase Living independent demonstrator. The one party I've had so far was so much fun, helping guests pick items & colors {there are about 50 to choose from to make it perfect for your space}. If anyone is interested in ordering anything, hosting an open house, or becoming a demonstrator please contact me!

http://abby.uppercaseliving.net/Home.m

a more complete living room

As my last post said I went to IKEA last weekend to get some shelving for our living room. I knew which ones I wanted to get, but once I got there I of course picked out some different ones. :-) The ones I wanted were $69.99 each,  I of course picked out ones more expensive.. But I was willing to pay more since they had a little more character. I wrote down the aisle and section they were on and once Emily and I made it through the store we went to get them. To my surprise when we got downstairs the shelving that I had picked out were marked $79.99 - not $99.99 that was posted on the display upstairs! YEAH! Not sure why they were marked down but I didn't care! Here is what I got:

{IKEA Expedit Shelving Unit}

{Adam putting them together}

{Adam starting to put his records on the shelves}

{and complete}

The brown rug was my purchase from Urban Outfitters. A 5"x7" chenille rug for only $29 - it must have been a return or something to be marked so low! It's a good thing I got it because I got an email today from Urban Outfitters saying that my charcoal rug I purchased was on back order and they don't anticipate getting any more in. I'm kinda bummed because I think the charcoal one would look really good, but for the price difference I'm happy with brown for now.  We defiantly needed a rug!

The only negative about the shelving is that I had to move the end table and lamp from the one end of the couch. I think it looks pretty good between the 2 chairs {at first I was really worried that the owl lamp would be too big next to the little chairs, but I think it works}

I'm really happy with how they turned out, and Adam's records fit perfectly which was the main reason for getting shelving! I'm still working on accessorizing the shelves, but for now I love it. I feel like we have a cozier/more complete living room now!

Trip to IKEA

Adam has a pretty large record collection, and he listens to them almost every day! His records have never had a home except for laying around in the living room and lining the guest room wall. So we've been on the hunt for some shelving to house them. At one point we considered building something, but after my mom priced some wood we found that getting something already built would be about the same cost and cut out the tricky building part & painting.

I've been parusing magazines and blogs trying to find some ideas and inspirations for a shelving unit. That's when I came across Chic Little House. The layout in her living room is the same as in ours and I loved the way the shelving looked on both sides of the TV.  Would this work in our house?

{I did a little quick photoshopping to see}

Yup! I think I like it!

So an IKEA trip was quickly planned. Adam hates IKEA, so he came up with a plan, "I'll stay home but I'll put together anything you bring home." DEAL! I was already planning on meeting my bff Emily so it worked out perfect! I woke up early Saturday morning, got ready, made Em & I sack lunch, and hit the road! We met at Bridgeport for a little pre IKEA shopping and coffee. While there we went to Peets for coffee {yum!} Anthropology {where I got some cute soap and lotion for the bathroom} and Urban Outfitters {where I found a rug that I had just ordered online only in a different color for $29 - instead of $49+ shipping online, I got it}. Then we were off to IKEA. I had made a list of things I needed with measurements and also packed a tape measure, trying to cut down on the indecisiveness of "will this fit?" "will this work?" "do I really need it?" that is inevitable to happen there! 

A few hours later, and a few extra things in our cart that wasn't on the list.. and we were done! I was happy with my purchases.I dropped Emily off at her car at Bridgeport then headed home.

This is what I bought:

 

 :-) Wondering what it is? Check back soon for an update!