Copy Cat... Part 2

It's Thursday! Do you know what that means? No, it's not just the eve of Friday (which most are probably looking forward to the end of the work week). No, No. It's actually the day to link up with Katie and Steph for their weekly Saw It. Pinned It. Did It.

A very long time ago (as in very long time) I did this post about a project I saw on Pinterest. Basically if you don't want to go look back, it was a post in which you can make a hemp pendant lamp that looked EXACTLY like one at West Elm.  The one you can purchase online from them is around $80.00 and is still available on their website. It looks like this...

I loved it! It's simple and would look perfect above our dining room table. But... I'm cheap. Real cheap. And so is my husband. Don't get me wrong... I LOVE nice things and if I could I would straight up buy that pendant from West Elm and not lift a finger. BUT... when I saw a pin on pinterest that told me I could make an exact replica I wanted to try it. 

This project took me several days to make because you have to do quite a few rounds and let the glue dry each time. But here are the supplies I needed.

• a bouncy ball from any store (I got mine at Walmart)
• a bottle of Tacky Glue
• A spool of twine or hemp rope (I got mine at Michaels)
• Rubber Gloves (these are a must because you will be running the glue over the rope)
• And a beer (which is optional but highly recommended)

I basically used a bowl to make a circle on the ball (with the air hole in the middle) with a permanent marker. This will be the part of your pendant that hangs down over your table so you can easily reach up to change the bulb. You don't want to wrap any rope or glue through this circle, only around it. Basically after that, you just put on the gloves and start coating small sections of the rope in glue and then wrapping in circles around the ball. You have to work with the string a little bit to make it go in different directions or you will keep wrapping the same section over and over again.

This is me taking a break to enjoy my beer! Yum.

You can see where I kept the circle exposed and no rope wrapped there... You can also see where some of the glue is still wet. This took me several days because you want that full look with not too many exposed areas.

Once you have it wrapped enough to where you like it, take a tire pump thingy (its a technical term obviously) and place it in the air hole (another technical term) to let the air out. Make sure all of the glue is completely dry so you may have to let it sit a couple of days. If not, it might cave in on you when you let the air out.

Now here is what it will look like after you pull the ball out of the inside. 

You can see where some of the glue is there. You just have to pick it off and clean it up a little. Once you do, you will have an exact replica of the West Elm Pendant for..... less than $15.00. Whoop Whoop.

Now all you would need to do is buy a pendant kit from your local hardware store or Home Depot and hang it up from the ceiling. Something like this would be perfect and it comes in different finishes.

So there you have it. A high price look for less. Hope you enjoyed it and please let me know if you try it!!

Sold!

Last weekend my hubs, my momma, and I went to the Homearama here in Louisville. We usually go every year because I personally love the idea of being nosey and walking around peoples fabulous houses while they are all decorated. Oh, and there is also the wishful thinking part. I may have almost talked my husband into buying me one of these houses.... in about 30 years. I won't hold my breath.

Anyway, this year homearama was in Norton Commons and if you haven't heard of it (like if ya don't live here) you should maybe google it. Just sayin' because its a pretty neat community. They have all you need right there in their subdivision: doctors, restaurants, fire stations, you name it, they can walk to it. You feel like you are on a movie set with this quaint town square and picturesque houses. Straight out of Pleasantville.... not kidding. Which is probably why I love it so.

So here is the picture unload from the day. I only was patient enough to snap photos of the first 10 houses or so... sorry :)

  This children's room was decorated by my friend Meagan. She is super talented and I LOVED this room.

 I loved that the front door of this house actually opened to the side porch! Verrryyy sneaky! 

 This was my favorite house on the inside... You'll see why in the next couple of pictures.

Yeah, so a bunch of random pictures of a bunch of houses. I wish I had gotten more pictures of the outsides to match with the insides but oh well... maybe one day I'll get good at this photography thing!

DIY?- Cuz I Gotta

Too much cheese? Yeah but I couldn't resist!

Let me share with you the little gem I found on craigslist. I knew immediately I wanted it because I had been searching for some type of china cabinet for a long time. I also knew I wanted one that I could paint and transform into something beautiful. The great part is I suckered my mom into buying it for me for my birthday coming up. :) Score.
This is how it went down:
Me: "Mom, if you love me you will buy me a china cabinet for my birthday. Or just because I am a wonderful daughter."
Mom: "Well I guess."
Guilt trips work.
Now that I think about it I don't know whether the I guess was that she loved me or that she would buy it for me.  Probably both but I did get the cabinet so I don't know what that tells me. Just kidding! My mom super loves me!

I love the details at the bottom and the top has clean lines. The inside has two shelves that need a little TLC but nothing that I can't handle.

Here are some eye candies to get my inspiration flowin'.

         

             

What I love about all of these is they have charm and a pop of color. My kitchen and dining room are very neutral so I want that pop of color on my cabinet. I am thinking of painting the outside a blue sea green and then the inset a marscopone cream. I think it will look perfect housing my jadeite dishes that I have started collecting. 

 Swoon. That just might be the prettiest thing ever. I am going to try and start on this project this weekend and let you know how it turns out. I might even guilt my mom into coming over to help. I've never ever tackled a project like this but I figure if I screw it up then it's nothing a little paint remover can't handle, right?

    

Living room makeover

So, remember when I told you I sent back our brand new living room furniture? Yeah, well I did. But we got our new-new living room furniture in a couple of weeks ago and it put me in the mood to do some rearranging. Here is a very... ummm... child like rendition of our living room before and after the rearranging. Bare with me people... 

You see that big space to the left of the chair... I just felt like it was way too empty. (and please note that these pictures are not to scale :P)  So after I did some rearranging it looked more like this...

 That big question mark is a "Why in the world is there that much space there" kind of question mark because in real life it's not really like that. The new layout may look more cramped but it really defines the room and space so much better than to have it open and looking like the furniture doesn't fill the space.

There is still a long way to go but I finally feel like I have a plan and am sticking to it. Our room is Van Courtland from Benjamin Moore and it has a lot of white trim and crown molding. The book cases I am bringing in to the after picture will be painted white with a neutral background color.

Throw in this ottoman and fabric for curtains and I think I just may love my living room... finally!

Sheew... this post took a lot of hard work with the picture uploading. Let me know your thoughts on the whole thing!

I need professional help...

Design help that is. You see I've got this adorable 1940's house with all the charm in the world and I just can't make up my mind how to decorate it. The problem is I like too many different styles. How in the world do you just pick one and go with it? On top of that, I am a horrible decision maker and I can never make up my mind... my husband knows this and bless his sweet heart is always patient with me.

Case. In. Point.

We bought these new pieces of furniture from Haverty's and we just got them delivered on Wednesday. And it really pains me to say it but.... I hate them. Blah.

*Please pay no attention to the curtains in the background. They aren't staying and they were there from the previous owners.*

Ok, so I don't hate the couch and I don't hate the chair; it's just that together its a no-go for me. The chair is giving off a yellowish tint next to the couch and I just can't deal with it. You see it? Anyway, we exchanged them yesterday and got the same fabric on the couch on the chair too. I think that will let me open up some possibilities with rugs and accent pillows. The curtains will be switched to white with some darker bamboo shades underneath. Here is my inspiration photo that I LOVE!

drools...

images courtesy of plum cushion

You think I could get plum cushion to come decorate my house... or just let me have hers? Wishful thinking...