A vintage-y inspiration

Well, it's official... I now have three teenagers living under my roof. Recently my baby girl turned thirteen. It seems like just yesterday, when she was collecting lightning bugs and lizards. Yeah, she's not your typical girly-girl... Although in some aspects she can be.. It's kind of complicated.

Alright, so to get on with my subject. It all started a few months ago when we attended my nieces wedding. The theme was "Vintage" and as soon as we got home my daughter decided she wanted a "Vintage" bedroom. Needless to say I was completely thrilled with this decision, because not only do I love all things vintage, but now I have discovered that my daughter has  great taste as well! Yay!

Okay, so the search was on for some "Vintage-y Inspiration".., and that's when it hit me. I had recently seen a really neat idea on Pinterest

that involved decoupaging scrapbook paper to the wall and and even though this was going to be a very daunting project, I was feeling up to the challenge. 

The next time I headed to Wally World, I strolled myself over to the scrapbook aisle, and low and behold, setting there on the shelf was the perfect homespun scrapbook paper!!! Woohoo! 

Okay, so I snatched it up and ran,not walked, over to my daughter in the grocery section. By that time, full on inspiration had hit and I had a buggy  (yes, we are from the south and we don't say cart, we say buggy)... Anyway, by the time I got to her I had a buggy full of inspiration, including one pink and one teal flat sheet, which I found on sale for 5 bucks a piece (HAPPY DANCE).. In case your wondering I had plans to have them turned into a duvet. 

Ahh yes! This was going to come together nicely.. I could feel it in my bones!                                        

   She also came up with the idea of painting one of her walls with chalkboard paint, which was also going to work quite nicely with all the other vintagey goodness.( Yes, I know Vintagey is not a real word.. I just like it ok, don't judge!) 

We'll, I set off for home with the following items: 1 package of Homespun scrapbook paper, 1 bottle of Modge Podge,a bag of those little sponge/paint brush thingies, 2 flat sheets, and various spools of decorative ribbon. 

Later on that afternoon, as I was pouring my last drop of decoupage out of the bottle I quickly realized, if I was going to make this happen, I was going to need a lot more glue than this!  Only problem was, this stuff was not cheap at all, so I did the only thing I knew to do when I get stumped. I called the crafting queen herself. No, no I don't know Martha Stewart on a personal basis, but I do have the next best thing, only she's a lot cuter and has never served time.That would be my cousin Rachel. 

She advised me to go buy a bunch of bottles of Elmer's Glue( which was only a fraction of the price) and mix it with equal parts of water. I have to admit, I was a wee bit skeptical at first, but the following morning I headed back to the store that nobody likes to go to, and purchased about about 6 or 7 little bottles of school glue, and because I didn't want to have to make a third trip, I convinced my cheapo self to pick up another pack of scrapbook paper.

Alrighty now, I got back home, mixed up my first batch of homemade Modge Podge, and it worked beautifully! In fact, I am happy to report to you that even though it lacks the luster of the original, it smoothes on way easier than the real deal and is much easier to work with. Two thumbs up for Rachel👍👍 and her homemade glue!

After about a week of back breaking labor the wall was finished. Here's a little peeksy...

The next step was to find someone who was willing to make the duvet, that currently only existed in my head. The search was on, and after only a little begging (just kidding) my sweet friend, (who by the way use to babysit my little darling when she was just a tot).. Oh yeah, that sweet and uber talented friend took on the task of turning my clearance sheets into a duvet. Ok, here's where I brag a little on my my friend Michelle. She  is A-MAZING! She sews, and then adds the most beautiful details to everything from a skirt to a ruffled purse. 

Okay, so  the following SundayI wasn't even the least bit surprised after church when she presented me with this gorgeous duvet, complete with a tiny row of pink buttons, and pintucks all across the front! Yay!! If you are reading this Michelle.. YOU ARE THE BEST!!!

So these are the first couple of steps to transforming her bedroom. I also made a couple of pillows to go with the duvet. Even though we still have a ways to go,  I am very pleased so far. So here are a few pics and I PROMISE to have the finished results soon!... Oh yeah, and if you are wondering what is up with those pitiful curtains.. They aren't finished yet.😉

Til next time! 

Beachify

    Inconclusive,indefinite,irresolute..    These are all words Google uses to describe my disorder, but to put it in Layman's terms... I simply have a hard time making up my mind. I'm sure one day they will have a pill for it, but until then I will just continue on changing my wall colors.

   You know it's gotten out of hand, when the first thing a person says to you is "So Mandy,what color are your walls this week?" Even though they may be exaggerating just a tad, there is a lot of truth in this statement.

  For instance, when we moved in, our kitchen was already painted a deep sagey green, and at the time I was kind in love with aqua. I ended up repainting the kitchen "Glass bottle blue".. I absolutely loved it... Uh, for a few months anyway. 

   Okay, so after that I developed a sudden fondness for the ultra trendy Yellow and Gray, and consequently had to repaint my kitchen again.After several attempts, I finally settled on Banana Cream. ( It wasn't what I pictured in my mind, but it would do)

    Well, a few months later I came to the realization that the yellow and gray wasn't really working for me either, but hang on a second and I'll get back to this subject.

   Meanwhile I absolutely fell in love with the new fashion trend colors of Mint,peaches, and corals and thought to myself  "Self, that would look really nice in your living room!"...Guess what? It did, it really did! Yay! I was finally happy with a color decision! 

   Wait for it, Wait for it,.... Yes those colors did look very nice in my living room, EXCEPT ( you know there always has to be an except)... Except my husband is a tiny bit obsessed with deer hunting, and I currently have not one, but two deer carcasses hanging from my wall. One of which is a hideous skull!!!

    Okay are you getting the picture now?.. For some odd reason the ultra feminine colors of peach, mint and coral don't seem to jive too well with dead animals. I know, I was shocked myself!

   Well, now this brings me to the title of this post BEACHIFY... Okay, so I was scrolling the Internet the other day and discovered this site called Pinterest BAHAHAHAHAHA.. No, I'm kidding. I'm a full fledged Pinterest junkie! Some folks drink coffee to wake up in the morning. Not me, I just drink in the visual delights of Pinterest. 

   Anyways, where were we?.. Oh yeah, so I'm getting my daily fix, and I see a series of pics with beau-ti- ful light blue green walls complete with seashells, lanterns and the whole nine yards. 

  Now I'm just gonna cross my fingers and toes and hope that the weathered beach look will blend harmoniously with the deceased stuffed animals. Any how we are now in the early stages of    beachifying the living room, kitchen and laundry area. So far I've purchased a similar color called "Ocean sea breeze", beachified my living room shelves, and made a sign from an old piece of paneling. Ta-daaaaa!!!