Just Thought I'd Share...

Hello Friends!

I have had such a busy weekend! But I LOVE to keep myself busy, especially when I'm doing something creative. I made a few of these cuties (which I'm sure you've all seen before):

This Diaper Cake comes with 100 size 1 diapers, and is STUFFED with lots of "baby goodies" inside. I prefer more of a "Boutique Style" Diaper Cake, as do my clients. I think the other styles (where they attach all of the "baby goodies" in more visible fashion) are fun too, but I'm drawn to the ones that have a more clean look :) I had to make 5 of these for baby shower centerpieces, and the mommy-to-be was so happy when I delivered them to her that she cried! (and so did my cry-baby self...what can I say, I'm a cry-er lol!) It was special to her because due to the fact that her father was unable to make it to her baby shower, and instead of me taking the opportunity to shamelessly plug add my business name somewhere on the cake, I added a cute poem from her father, and when she read it she cried and thanked me :) It was sweet...

I enjoy making these! They are so much fun! Which brings me to this;

Don't you agree? Hope you all had a wonderful Weekend!

A "taste" Of My Kitchen Makeover-Budget Savvy Style

Hello Friends!!

I have a few pictures that I would like to share with you of my budget savvy Kitchen makeover. Honey chile let me warn you, the before pictures are a hot mess! Quite terrifying if you ask me. LOL! We are FAR from finished with our Kitchen, but I wanted to share with you how something as simple as a can of paint can take an atrocity of a room, to fabulosity all in the matter of a couple of hours. I am so indecisive when it comes to choosing paint colors for the walls, so I have yet to decide on a color for the kitchen, so please bare with me. Also, I still need to decide on:
a blacksplash
countertops
new light fixtures
purchase new stove
purchase new above range microwave
purchase new dishwasher
And install wainscoting in the eating area
Remember, I am going for a Coastal look in my home, so I want to execute it right. For now here is a start to our transformation. I hope you don't have nightmares due to my horrific before pictures (lol). You might have to sleep with a nightlight after viewing these (haha). Enjoy!

 See, told ya! Hotmess.org! LOL

 My kitchen lacks storage, so hubby and I are going to add either a peninsula where that iron bakers rack is to extend out the counter tops and add more lower cabinet space, or add another pantry cabinet.

 I don't understand for the life of me why the builder chose to add those GAH AWFUL tiles above the microwave. (UPDATE: Those tiles are now painted out black to blend in with the rest of the cabinetry. My OCD  eyes couldn't take seeing that horrible rectangle of awkward tiles anymore)

 I forgot to snap a before shot of this side of the kitchen. Trust me you aren't missing anything, it was just as horrific as the other before pics. (UPDATE: Big Bertha (What? You don't name your 'fridge? lol) finally kicked the bucket so she is no longer with us. We miss her late night weird loud noises  songs that she use to sing to us while we were trying to sleep. And she was such a jokester, she would chill our food one day, and the next day she would take a break from work. Honey chile, she did this for about a week. So we had to part ways with her. Her attitude was a mess! We now have one of those cute 'Fridge-on-top-freezer-on-bottom style refrigerators. The only thing is...it's white! My little heart was set on stainless, but since those are special order only for the size we wanted, and I couldn't wait for 2 weeks for it, I had to take what was in stock (*insert sad face*)...OH well, work with what you have right?

 I added the lights just to see what it would look like, but I am going to purchase a more slim under cabinet lighting, and also add trim around the bottom of the upper cabinets to hide the under cabinet lighting. I also added a china cabinet where the iron bakers rack use to be. It will live there temporarily.

I want to knock down those upper cabinets to the left to open up the space a bit more, but I'm starting to think I should take off the doors and do some cool open shelving to house my purrrty dishes, or have glass put in the center of the doors, or perhaps chicken wire. I don't know....we'll see what I come up with.

I hope you enjoyed my budget savvy Kitchen Makeover.

Design Crimes - Bay Window Molding Fake Out

Hello All!


Welcome to my Blog. This is my VERY FIRST post and I am (EEEEEK) excited! So, today's post will be all about a Crime I committed. Not a REAL crime silly, a Design Crime. What's a Design Crime you ask? Well, a Design Crime is when you break the rules of Design by cutting corners, and think outside of the box to make the design work for your pocketbook you! For example, making a Capiz Shell inspired Chandelier out of Wax Paper- this totally breaks a Design rule and is totally thinking outside of the box, not to mention it's EASY on the pocketbook. See how it works? This installment will be the 1ST of many more Design Crimes that I'm sure I will be committing while on my quest to transform my "cookie cutter" home into a crisp and airy Coastal Bungalow. Oh, did I mention that my favorite color is black and I live in the desert? Yes honey chile, the scorching hot desert! I am surrounded by Joshua Trees, tho I long for the shadiness of Palms. A girl can dream can't she? lol.  I'm sure that we are all guilty of committing Design Crimes, I hope that you will share some of yours, but for now on to mine.

I adore Molding! Especially nice chunky molding. Well, my pocketbook wasn't feeling so chunky considering I had just finished tackling the ever popular "Board and Batten" treatment in my hallway, living room, dining room and not to mention a complete makeover in my kid's bathroom. (I'll be sharing those photos with you soon) I was left with a few pieces of door casing from those projects so I thought it would be a great idea to beef up the bay windows in my kitchen. Wanna take a walk on the wild side and commit this Design Crime too? Well, here's what I did:

 Step 1: Cut Door Casing to desired height. In my case I want my windows to appear taller than they really are so I cut mine 2 or 3 inches taller than my window. I attached with liquid nails and a couple of nails (countersinking them) 

 Step 2: Repeat on the other side.

 Step 3: Measure out each window section and attach the casing on top of the casing piece from (from step 1) and work your way over. (be sure to level)

Step 4: Attach your last piece, and then step back and admire your work. (hehe) I allowed this to dry overnight, and then painted it the next morning. When you paint it out it gives the illusion of taller windows with beefed up molding. Now I am no expert, and I do not know if this is the correct way of doing this, but I am pleased with the results! I still have a few nooks and crannys to fill in, but for the most part I am satisfied. 

(You won't believe the condition this FREE table was in when I rescued it. I'll save that for another post. I'm on the hunt for fabric to recover the seats and YES I joined the "paint your doors black group" HAHA! I LOVE it)

What do you think? Will you try this in your home?


Hope you enjoyed my 1st installment of Design Crimes.