Get dirrty.

Sorry, I couldn't resist channeling Christina for a second. I have so many little projects I have wanted to share with you, but when I asked on Twitter -- the vote was for the outdoor project, so here. we. go.

This one isn't nearly isn't as fabulous as the deck, and again, I feel like I'm probably preachin' to the choir. I'm sure most of you already know these tricks, but I like to share with the group. I'm nice like that.

When you buy your hanging baskets or plants, you can make them look like a million bucks by just replanting them out of the cheap plastic containers and into your own.

OK, they won't like a million bucks, but maybe $20.

I showed you these planters for the deck from Goodwill last week -- a steal at $2.99 each:

I had a vision for them, so I spray painted them and then wasn't sure if I was going to plant anything for the rest of the summer/fall. Who was I kidding. Unfinished projects make me twitch. Shake. Shudder. Itch.

I found some beautiful plants for cheap and got moving. Most of the time, your decorative pots will have holes on the bottom, but if they don't, or if you'd like to put more in them, all you need is a drill and a large drill bit:

Just put a few holes in the bottom -- for plastic containers, any drill bit should work. These planters are a weird fiberglass kind of material, so I used one made for cement. I put five holes in the bottom of each. As is mentioned, even if your planters have holes, you'll probably want to put a few more in. It never hurts to have a little more drainage. (I feel like I just said "holes" 15 times.)

Anyhoo, after that, instead of buying a ton of of expensive potting soil -- try this little trick. Keep the plastic planters from the plants you plant, (wait, huh?), and before you put the soil in, put the old plastic planters in first:

This is great for two reasons -- you'll use half the soil, at least. And they are soooo much lighter to work with when you're done. My grandma used to use charcoal on the bottom of her planters. I've also heard of using the foam packing peanuts. Those peanuts are expensive though -- so just use what you have!

AND, please don't buy the expensive potting soil they put out right up front at the nursery -- go to the back and use the cheaper bags -- they are harder to find but are about two bucks and change for a bag. You can sprinkle some Miracle Grow on the plants after if you want that in the soil. I've even used the cheaper top soil and mixed that in as well, and those are only a little more than a dollar a bag.

If your plant is a hanging basket, take the little clips off the planter first:
Then, to loosen the plant up to get it out, roll it around on it's side a few times, then shake it a bit and it should come out easily:

The great thing about this time of year is finding plants for el cheapo -- they are clearancing them out for the fall plants and you can find major deals. I found some Coleus plants at Menard's last for only $3.99 each -- SCORE!!

I have never planted Coleus before -- I wasn't sure about them at first. I walked right by and left them there, but they were are oddly beautiful to me. Kind of wild looking but I was a bit mesmerized -- I had to go back for them:

Gorg!! Hopefully they'll hang in there for a few more months!

Remember, fall is a great time to plant bushes and trees! I have no idea why it's a great time to plant bushes and trees! But it is!! Really, I think it's something about roots, before the cold hits, yadda yadda yadda. So keep in mind even as fall nears (YAY!!!!!!!), you can still work on the landscaping for a couple more months!

So glad you all loved my hole patchin' post. Please check out the comments for some really great tips -- you are all so brilliant! Sorry I have no clue what to do with plaster though -- anyone know how to patch that up?

My consult rates will be $20 starting Monday, so if you are interested, let me know before then! I'm thrilled to be working with so many of you -- thanks for your patience. Any new consults may be about two weeks out before I can get to you, but I will as soon as possible!

Got Holes?

I almost titled this post, "The most boring post ever in the history of mankind," or, "Read this to your kids to help them fall asleep tonight." Or, "Warning: Drowsiness may occur as a result of reading this post."

But instead, I came up with "Got Holes?" Works, eh?

So if the builder in your house was towel rod happy like ours was, you've probably got lots of these:

I mean, they were giddy with these things. We had a loooong one in our powder room -- for bath towels. And there's no bath in there. Or shower. Giddy.

First off, if there are anchors in the wall (and builders are anchor-happy too), it's pretty easy to get them out. Take a pair of needle-nosed pliers and get in there and grab the anchor:

Pull it and it should come out fairly easily. If it won't, try pounding it back into the wall and through. Either way you'll be left with a massive hole. It will be way bigger than the anchor seemed to be, but just relax peeps! I got your back!

Next is my little trick I learned awhile back. If you go to fill the hole as is, it will take a ton of spackle to fill it in. Instead, before you fill, take some thick paper -- I've used grocery bags and lately these little annoying-as-crap mailers that come out of the magazines:

Tear off little pieces and stuff them into the holes:
This gives the spackle something to lay on and grab ahold of. (By the way, the fun little ring around the holes happens when you have zero patience after painting a wall and are dying to get the rods back up. Yeah. Don't do that.)

Then take your loverly spackle that you mostly use for these (textured stencils) and not what it's intended for:

And frost the holes with it. It's fun. Try it.

Keep frosting till you've covered the holes, using the scraper to take off the excess and then reapplying a few times. I like to leave a little smudge of extra on top so the holes are covered really well:

After it's dry sand it down a bit and reapply if needed. Wipe down after sanding well, wiping off all excess spackle you can. Then find your paint, freak out when all you have is the eggshell finish and not the semi gloss finish you need, say what the heck, no one will ever notice, and use a small foam brush to paint over the spots.

I have to tell you -- be very selective where you put anchors in your walls. Generally you will ALWAYS see where they were, no matter how well you patch them up. Anchors tend to pull the drywall up around them a bit, so the drywall is never quite flat. But I promise unless you are really looking, you will never notice them again:

See?? Told ya! If you are patching small nail holes, just use your finger and put a little smudge in the hole. Just a little dab. Just a smooch. Like you're kissin' your sister. (Name that movie!!)

It may just be because I'm the freak I am, but even the smallest changes make a huge difference to me. Before, the towel rod was the first thing you saw in our bathroom:

Now, it's my pretty little bench and my enormous shower curtain:

And the iron scrolly jobby isn't hanging at giant eye level anymore, it's at human eye level. All is right with the world. I filled about 14 holes yesterday, and it only took an hour, total, to do it all.

Easy peasy Squeezy! You go by Squeezy now. Just so you know.

Any other good patchin' tips? Share them in the comments!

Making your plain books pretty.

Hope you all had a wonderful weekend!! I have gotten a ton done, and hope to still get more done this evening. I've done about ten loads of laundry. TEN people. Hate it with a burning, searing passion.

So for a little creative break, I worked on a quick project I've been wanting to do for a long time. Back when I showed you how to do my wallpaper art, many of you commented that you use wallpaper for many other projects too, including covering books. LOVED that idea!

On my Goodwill coffee table in our living room, I have a simple stack of books:

I always recommend taking the cover off your hardback books. It transforms them and makes them so much prettier. I've been pulling books from all over and from Goodwill, trying to make the sizes work just right. I'm a little DOCD (Decorating Obsessive Compulsive) about little things like that. I found plenty that work, but the problem was, I didn't like the color of the book, or the titles. I've told you before I have many, many issues.

I thought about using my wallpaper, but wanted something with a design. So I went to Hob Lob yesterday, coupon in hand, to find adorable wrapping paper, and wouldn't you know, they had nothin'. I mean, you've got to be kidding me nothin'. Because I was determined to find something, I checked out the fabric and found these:

Adorable. With just scissors and double sided tape in hand, I covered each book in the fabric. I just cut the fabric to size:

And then used the double sided tape to secure the fabric:

This does not hold extremely well, so if you want to be able to use the books, I'd recommend something like hot glue instead. Because we don't use these often, the tape works fine. Just keep in mind hot glue will ruin your Love to Last a Lifetime book from Goodwill though. Just so you know.

The result:

Oh how I love you, you purdy little books!! Soooo elegant!

Love them!!

Obviously, you could use just about anything to cover books. How cute would this be in a kitchen with cookbooks? Although I use mine all the time, so that may not work for me.

Snort.

**Just a little side note -- this is just a fun way to add some pop to a room. I love my uncovered books as much as anybody -- have them all over my house. This is a cheap and easy way to add some texture or color to a room if wanted. It's just for fun!

P.S. You may have noticed lately my little "blogicon" that shows up with my blog title in your browsing tabs, or in your bookmarks. Cara from RockSTARRMom.com was sooooo incredibly sweet to make one for me. I love it! Thank you Cara!!

P.P.S. If you have purchased a consult, I will get back to all of you this week!! Just a quick note to tell you all I'll be raising my consult rate just slightly -- probably next week. If you are interested in the consult for the $10 rate, get it to me this week! I'll give you warning before I raise the rates though.

Clearing out the clutter.

Every time I've ever started a new job, I've always asked for a week off between the end of the old one and the start of the new one -- does anyone else do this?

I always felt like I needed a week to get my life completely in order before starting a new endeavor. It's like cleaning the house before you go on vacation -- I need my mind to be free of the stuff like laundry, crap, clutter, dishes, crap and more crap.

Knowing I was going to focus more on this blog, a couple weeks ago I started feeling like I needed to get the house under control. Yeah, the basement is organized (pretty much), my closets are beautiful and I know where to find things in my pantry...

BUT. Until last week, our garage looked like this:

Stop gagging, it's better now. I swear. Please don't enlarge the picture. Please. I couldn't take it anymore and during daycare and nap time a couple days that week, I hit it hard core. And it felt soooooo good people. It looks amazing now! I have one more project to finish in there and then I'll show you. I know you can barely stand it, you are so excited. I know.

My car has been my "office" for the past two years, and pair that with a two-year-old and let's just say I would never, ever, EVER subject you to the before pictures of that. It was reheheheeeeally bad. I spent one hour with trash bags -- one for trash, one for stuff to go back into the house. Now it smells yummy in there -- nice and clean. Not like before. Three little words -- "forgotten sippy cup."

I may know how to organize, but the paper clutter just sticks in my craw. (When's the last time you heard that phrase? Wordsmith, I am.) Seriously. I cannot handle it. I've tried just about everything, but the only thing that works is this big fat basket:

I just throw every random piece of paper I don't want to deal with into the basket. You'll notice the pile started on the side as well, and on top. Ummmm...it's not working so great. About every week, month, three months, I sit down and go through it. I finally did it last night and felt like a new woman.

Then I found this bag of crap from the car clean up:

Shakes fists in the air!!!! Curses!!

And now the garage is clean, the car is clean -- but this is the laundry room:

Have I mentioned how very, very much I hate laundry? Like, a lot. A lot a lot.

And in the middle of the paper and laundry and crap, I realize that buying four new pieces of drinkware has completely thrown my kitchen cabinets into a frenzy. I was trying to figure out how to fit all of these:
Into this:Ummmm yeah. Should I mention we only really use two wine glasses ever and for parties we use plastic cups? So why the need for fifty trillion glasses? I guess I keep having dreams of having a super posh party where everyone drinks out of real glasses and never breaks a single. one. Never gonna happen.

This weekend, I plan on getting rid of as much clutter as possible. It feels soooooo good folks! I challenge you to do the same -- even if it feels too big to tackle, you'll be surprised what just an hour can do. Try little bits at a time. Make room for large piles -- trash, put away and deal with later. You don't have to find a spot for every little thing right away.

You will feel like a new woman (and a couple men) afterwards, I promise.

I am so excited about your requests for consults and advertising!! I'm beyond thrilled and can't wait to get moving -- bare with me as I get through this weekend, and next week I'm all yours. ;)

P.S. I am so glad you loved the sewing table as much as I do!! Guess how old the Singer is? You'll never believe it -- 103 years old! Isn't that the coolest??

When FAB happens by accident. (And for FREE.)

So I've never considered myself a dumpster-diver. I mean, I will dig through the Goodwill shelves with the best of them, but trash just ain't my thing. But a couple months ago on the way out of the neighborhood, I saw something sitting at the end of a neighbor's driveway with the trash.

I couldn't really tell what something was...I just saw it had GREAT legs. Long, curvy, sexy legs. I slowed..but my pride got the best of me. I mean, really. Was I going to pull over, grab that thing and stuff it in my car in broad daylight? In my own neighborhood?

No way.

I totally sent my sister instead.

Ah yes, she is ten years younger and used to doing my dirty work people. When she was three I was elated that we could make a game of "Go get sissy a snack!" and "Go pick up sissy's room!" It was fab. And still is. I begged her to go grab it. By now it was raining and I was panicking. She must get it NOW!

She did it and called me cursing because it was "soooooo heavy Sarah, seriously" and babbling on about "like 50 pounds" and "you totally owe me" -- blah blah blah. I was all, "Toughen up Sister!" and "It's good for you!" and, "Go get me a snack!"

Well, I felt bad later cause this sucker was HEAVY. Like, what the bleeping bleep is in this thing?, heavy. Upon some inspection, we realized it was a very old sewing cabinet:

She was in really, really bad shape. I had a vision though...

First, I put on my super cute accessories -- a mask (dollar store) and goggles:
Up till a few months ago, I never used either one when sanding, but now I try to use them all the time. I see the HGTV guys do it, so like always, I do as they do.

Next I took all the innards out of the table and she lost about 40 pounds like that. (Wouldn't that be nice?) Then I pulled out Mr. Cutie Patoot Sander. This little guy is cheap and will do just about any job in half the time as sandpaper:

After you finish sanding, you must wipe it down, like, fifty trillion times. I swear it takes longer than the sanding. I just use wet paper towels but tack cloths work great too:

Keep wiping till no more stuff comes off.

Because the top sanded down so easily, I had a wild hair to stain the top instead of painting it:

But I just wasn't feeling it. It was beautiful, but it wasn't my original vision. I did a little freak out that I had just wasted all that time, but I had another wild hair as I started painting over it:
I did one thin coat so you can see the red wood coming through. Um. People...I LOVE it. Ack!

I was so excited to get to the next step -- my inspiration for this was a beautiful little side table that was one of my few real furniture splurges. It is black with a very faint gold scrolly design on the front and I love it. So I gathered up my stenciling tools to recreate the look:

My shimmer/faux paint (bought it at Lowe's years ago and it has lasted FOREVER) and my glaze paint -- also has lasted forever, like a freaky long amount of time:

You need very, very, very little -- just an itty bitty dollop:

Mix them up and use the little stencil foamy thing (also has lasted about five years) and just dab it in:Get all the excess off, you want as little on the foam as possible:I taped the stencil down, and taped over the areas I didn't want to get painted:

Then I pulled it off and....

FREAKED OUT. I hated it. It was waaaaaay too bright. And I completely forgot about the handle that had to go back on as well. I thought I had taken a pic but I think I was freaking out too much.

I decided to paint the whole front panel black and just be done with the whole thing, so I started sanding over it. And a beautiful thing happened -- exactly what I wanted:

Well, I'll be. It was perfect. By accident.

Then I distressed the whole table just a bit. Because distressing stresses me:

I didn't use poly to protect it, I don't think this one needs it. I just scrubbed the old hardware and love how it turned out:
SWOON people!!

I'm still playing around with accessories:

The print above is going -- I'm making something else for that spot I'm very excited about. Let's just say the two little words: Ballard. Designs. Ack!

Here's a really bad, dark before picture with my GORG little Goodwill side table that was just too short:

And here's a really bad, dark daylight after picture:

I love!! Here's the Singer that was inside...she's a beaut:

Anyone know if these have any value anymore? It really is gorgeous. Wish I had a spot to display it.

This whole project was FREE! Free trash and free Glidden paint. Say it with me... Awwwwwwwww yeah.

I want to thank Kelee for highlighting me this week over at The Katillac Shack -- if you head over to see her beautiful site, be sure to comment! You'll be entered to win this FANTASTIC headboard!!:
Not even kidding, that is awesome!

P.S. I am so humbled and thankful for all of your wonderful, helpful and inspiring comments and and e-mails concerning my last post. I can't thank you enough. I am SO excited!!