A long, long time.... In a galaxy very close by

So unfortunately this isn't a Star Wars post, though I do love the show. 

  The long, long time is in reference to how long it's been since I have posted.  It's summer time and having my little fashionistas home with me 24/7 has given me much less time to work on home decorating and furniture than I had hoped.  I do have a bit to show you.  Remember when I said I was dreaming of buying Beddy's zip up bedding for my girls? I still dream of it (I LOVE their styles) but I am on a very limited budget.  For now I found a less expensive solution and I purchased Zipit bedding for their bunk beds. 

This is their beds now. I had them make it. -I wish I would have tucked in the bottom one for the photo-  The bedding is a fitted sheet that zips on both sides and attaches to the comforter and one standard pillowcase.  Any additional pillows or accessories don't come with it.  Each of these costs approximately $50 so around $100 for both bunks was a good value to me.  The Beddy's seem like a much higher quality bedding set start around $250 each. 

Making their beds is super easy now they just zip up the side and arrange the pillows. It takes about 5 seconds and no tears and that is nice because it's so hard to make bunk beds! When I ordered the bedding and I was about to check out with two in my cart, it said it would waive shipping and handling if I ordered another. I was curious if it would do this on one bed set and make the overall purchase price less and YES, it did! So if you decide to order 2 or more, only put one in your cart and then it will make you a "deal" to get more.

I saw these cute turquoise curtains at Target the other day and since my girls have decided on hot pink and turquoise, I may have to pick them up on another visit. 

   I have also been working on my VW bus dresser. 

I have a little model car on top for perspective. I want to move the turquoise color lines up higher because they are too low for a bumper and license plate to be added and I really want to have those. All the lights are just clamped in place right now but they will be bolted on eventually.  The colors would match my girls new color palette for their room but I haven't decided quite yet if I will keep it. It is still up in the air if I will sell it, keep it in the garage to hold my tools or add it to the collection of random furniture in the house. I do like that the headlights work. When I get done with it, I will do a blog post about how I got them all to work including the little yellow safety lights. 

I hope you are having a wonderful day! 

Love Lori 

Ghosts of organizations past

Sorry I have been silent for awhile.  I had more things going on than I could keep up with.  I was browsing through my old Pinterest boards and I stumbled on some of my old organization projects.  

In my old house I made this inside my spice cupboard. It was so handy to always know where my cups and spoons were. It was just made from a couple cheap boards and some teacup hooks.  I used the same teacup hooks and dowels to store my ribbon on this shelf. 

I have always enjoyed crafting and design so IKEA has had many tools of organization that I have loved to utilize.  Here is some of their kitchen storage in my craft room. 

My paper punches sit nicely on the bars while my markers, pens and tools dangle below.  I have a busy, hectic life at times and my little girls love getting into my things.  So as much as I love organization it doesn't always stay as clean as I want. My big goal is to de-clutter now that they are getting older and to teach them how to care for nice things. 

In my old place I had removed my lazy Susan and installed more IKEA rods and hooks. I didn't like things falling behind the Susan and getting trapped.  This was a halfway done photo, I installed a second set in front of these and I LOVED it.  I just wish I had taken a photo before we moved. 

This is on the wall in my kitchen right now. 

Yes, this is how we eat, very fancy! I love great and easy solutions to everyday needs and I am determined to get my house more clean and organized in the future. 

I would show you my little fashionista's room -a soon to be remake- but the mess is embarrassing right now.  Please let me know your favorite tips and tools to clean and organize, I could sure use them. 

Have a great day! 

Love Lori

Dedicated to my oldest child Bernie who passed away about two weeks ago.  We had him 12 years but in our hearts forever. 

This little light of mine

I found this pretty light at Lowe's hardware the other day on clearance and I knew I had to get it. 

With tax it came to $24.01 and I thought the flower shape would be perfect for my little girls room.  I haven't done a lot to make their room very interesting.  I have one dresser I painted that they share. 

These are the drawers of the dresser in their room.  Here is the before & after picture. 

I did go back with the silver guilders paste and lighten the hardware.

Here is the light installed, I think it's beautiful!  We saved the original flush mount light to re-instal when we move since we are renters. This was my Mother's Day gift to me.  I would love to buy my girls "Beddy's" zipper bedding to make their bunk beds easier to make.  (It's on my wish-list.)

These are the type of bedding I would like to buy for them.  They are a local Utah company that I am not affiliated with but I drool over their designs.  The best part is they have zippers on both sides of the bedding so kids can zip it up like a sleeping bag. 

They even do grown-up sizes! They have Queen ones and soon they are launching King sized bedding.  I have a King sized bed and I might actually make my bed everyday if it only involved zipping.  They have an online website and they are starting to sell them at RC Willey stores so I am watching/waiting for a great sale. I am thinking Christmas would be cozy with these.  Other than getting a new light, I have been taking it easy. I just had another operation (low back nerve ablation) and although it's helping, I am not quite ready for work in the shop. 

I hope you enjoy something beautiful today!

Love Lori

North Star

I have worked on this old nightstand for awhile now.  It's still not all the way done but it's getting close.  

Here it is today.  Here is the old girl when I began a few months ago. 

I think it looks a little neater now, what do you think? 

I started by cutting out a vinyl design on my Silhouette Studio.  I then wood burned the image onto the wood table top. 

I then colored all of the compass and  I did an overall dark stain with Americsn Finishes Java Gel stain.  I liked it but I wanted to fade it out just a bit.  

The top is the more faded out look.  I did go back in later and apply more stain. 

When I had that big primer day, this was one of those pieces I primed with several other pieces. 

Then I went in and I sprayed it all "old white" color.  I used the Annie Sloan color and I had Home Depot match it in Behr paint because spraying chalk paint doesn't work well but I wanted the same color.  When requested I do use Original Annie Sloan but it's one I paint on without a sprayer. 

I sprayed the handles in Rustoleum in Oil Rubbed Bronze finish.  It still needs another day or two of work. (and a few more screws for the handles)  once I spray one more finish coat on the sides and clear coat the top it will be done but I just wanted to show it to you today. 

Have a great day, 

Lori