How I Decorate a Room: Part 5.

How I decorate a room... I see an idea. I dream about it for a long time. I get the stuff I need to do it. And then I do. Or if I can't do it, I find someone who can do it to help me. Case in point...

Back in June, a blog that I read, Iowa Girl Eats, posted on her Friday Favorites a picture of a cheap old bookshelf that was transformed with a little bit of paint and an old pallet. I loved the idea and thought it'd be fun for the new room. So I started dreaming...

And then my cousin Julie told me she had an old bookshelf and wanted to know if I wanted it for my new place. Why yes, yes I did. Because I had something in mind for that old bookshelf.

And then I hear my aunt Cindy telling me about how she found some pallets that she was using for her vacation Bible school and she was really excited about them because they were clean and perfect for what she was needing. "Dearest aunt Cindy, what are you going to do with those pallets when VBS is over?" "Nothing, do you want them?" "Why yes... yes I do."

So then I knew I needed to paint the ol' thing, and really liked the white idea. So, I used my resources (Pinterest) and found a way to paint furniture without sanding it. (Sanding stinks... you know you don't like it either.) So I went and bought paint with my dear roommate Kathryn.

And then comes the tricky part... I had a bookshelf. I painted that bookshelf. I had pallets. I had the idea. Now how am I going to cut the pallets, drill some holes, and nail them on to my bookshelf. I didn't have the tools... or the skills.

So I asked my friend at work who is really handy. Plus I really like hanging out with him and his wife. "Hey, you and your wife should come over to my house, I'll make you dinner, you can make my bookshelf, and then we can play games." (Playing games is what we do.) His response? "No thanks." Rejected... But another co-worker, who overheard our conversation said, "I'll help!"

So my friend Lee from work came over... and we made a bookshelf! Well... he made a bookshelf, I just helped where I could. Here are some pictures documenting the evening...

 (Pulling apart the pallets. Did I mention my friend is buff, tattooed,  and Asian?)

 (Arranging the order of the different colors of boards.)

 ("Oh hey, Lee!)

(Lee cut the boards to size, drilled a hole where we wanted them (so the wood wouldn't split), then nailed them on.) 

 (Lee and his impressive handiwork!) 

 (Me... I guess you could say I'm the brains behind the operation.)

 (Bigsby was checking it out...)

(With books on it... I've decide to take out a lot of the stuff so you 

can actually see the wood behind it. But you get the idea...)

A big thanks to Lee! I couldn't have done the project without him!

365 Photo Project: Week 17.

Day 116.

Today was the last day of mustard... September flew by! I can't really believe tomorrow starts October. It was a solid last week of mustard pictures... Let me show you.

Day 116: some art that I painted for the new room. Day 117: a cute frame that I got from HomeGoods with a tree picture that I took for the new room. Day 118: some birds that my roommate bought for our kitchen windowsill (one for each roommate... I was told that I'm the mustard one.) Day 119: some string... I started embroidering again. Day 120: my splurge pillow from Target (isn't it cute and worthy of a splurge though?) Day 121: the dress and cardigan that I wore to a wedding that night. Day 122: leaves... the trees are finally changing!

Day 117.

Day 118.

Day 119.

Day 120.

Day 121.

Day 122.

While I have thoroughly enjoyed this month of mustard... I'm eager for a new month and a new color. October is the month of... pumpkin! (Orange, for all you literal, less creative types.)

How I Decorate a Room: Part 4.

I did some projects last weekend... I basically took old things, that I have decorated with at some point in my life, and made them new. That's the best way to save money when decorating. You splurge on some things but you thrift and revive others.

My first project was to take some old frames that I got from Target or Bed Bath and Beyond or something (they are from a bathroom that I decorated in high school... so it's been a while) and update them. They were black and white prints in a black frame. But I wanted my own prints that I ordered of my Instagram pictures in gold frames. ("Gold frames?" you ask... Yes, besides white, I've been having a hard time finding neutrals that go well on the brown walls.)

So, I took the old frames apart (free). Spray painted them gold. (Spray paint was $6, but I've already used it on other projects, so I would say the cost was about $1 for this project.) Inserted my own pictures. (I ordered 25 prints for $19 (including s/h) on Printstagram.) And ta-da! Custom art for about $1.09 a piece. Not bad...

Before

After 

I also took an old lamp and covered it with some cute fabric as I saw in this tutorial. I had a lamp that I had previously painted gold (I know... I need to chill out on the gold thing. People will walk in my room and think that King Midas has been there. *bad joke*) And an old lamp shade that was dirty and had a crack in it. And a piece of scrap fabric from Hobby Lobby for $2.09. And a little bit of glue stick and hot glue gun. It was a bit more difficult that the tutorial showed because my lamp shade was tapered, and her's was straight. But with a little pleating it all worked out. New lamp for about $1.76 (I had some fabric left over that I'll use in a different project.)

 Before

After

So there you have it, 4 new pieces for the room for a combined total of approximately $5.03. Not bad...

Light.

I got an encouraging e-mail from my brother Joel last night. He said that he was reading a devotional by Charles Spurgeon and thought of me when he read it because I've been a bit... down. It was pretty much the perfect thing for me to hear/read last night. I thought I'd share it with you all. Just in case you are having a time in your life similar to mine...

The Divine Light in Darkness

-For thou wilt light my candle. (Psalm 18:28)

"It may be that my soul sits in darkness; and if this be of a spiritual kind, no human power can bring me light.  Blessed be God! He can enlighten my darkness and at once light my candle.  Even though I may be surrounded by a "darkness which might be felt," yet He can break the gloom and immediately make it bright around me.

The mercy is that if He lights the candle none can blow it out, neither will it go out for lack of substance, nor burn out of itself through the lapse of hours.  The lights which the Lord kindled in the beginning are shining still. The Lord's lamps may need trimming, but He does not put them out.

Let me, then, like the nightingale sing in the dark. Expectation shall furnish me with music, and hope shall pitch the tune.  Soon I shall rejoice in a candle of God's lighting.  I am dull and dreary just now.  Perhaps it is the weather, or bodily weakness, or the surprise of a sudden trouble; but whatever has made the darkness, it is God alone who will bring the light.  My eyes are unto Him alone.  I shall soon have the candles of the Lord shining about me; and, further on His own good time, I shall be where they need no candle, neither light of the sun.  Hallelujah!"

Oh How I Need You.

I've heard my mom and dad say before, "We can always tell you're not in a great place when you're not blogging." I haven't blogged much lately about anything other than my photo challenge post. And I've gotta be honest... work is kind of rough right now, and it's taking a toll on me.

I walk in the door every morning with good intentions. "Today, I am going to maintain a good attitude the whole day and love on my co-workers. I'm going to be the light that this place needs right now." Then something bad happens at work, or it's announced that more overtime is needed, or *fill in bad work thing here*, and there goes my good attitude.

One of my favorite band's, All Sons and Daughters, came out with a new EP yesterday, and the song that opens the album has been really encouraging to me. It's called "Oh How I Need You"... It reminds me that I can't do this on my own, that no matter how good my intentions are if I'm not leaning on the Lord then of course they aren't going to last, and how I need Him. It's a good reminder. And the truth that I'm trying to rest in today.

Because it's a brand new album there aren't any YouTube videos out there to show you of the song. But you can visit the link below to hear the whole EP for free.

All Sons and Daughters - The Longing EP

"Light, Glorious Light, I will go where You shine. Break the dawn, crack the skies, make the way bright before me. In Your light I will find all I need, all I need is You."
-Oh How I Need You, All Sons & Daughter

365 Photo Challenge: Week 16.

Day 111.

Believe it or not, I'm starting to run out of mustard things that I own. So, I'm having to try a little harder to spot mustard. A little work never killed anyone though... So let me tell you about my week in mustard...

Day 109: I got a lot of packages in the mail one day... that's what you get when you go crazy on Etsy. Day 110: a big fan at the Royals game... a fan was pretty unnecessary considering I was wearing a jacket and scarf. Day 111: a cute wreath that my roommate made for out front door. Day 112: a print that I bought on Esty a few years ago. Day 113: I illegally took this picture of a piece of art at the Plaza Art Fair. Day 114: my shower curtain. Day 115: yet another mustard scarf, hanging from my new coat tree/scarf hanger.

One more week of mustard...

Day 109.

Day 110.

Day 112.

Day 113.

Day 114.

Day 115.

Try-It Tuesday (a little late): Gingerbread Pumpkin Bars.

I haven't had a Try-It Tuesday recipe in a while. It's because I'm cooking for only myself these days and have been more concentrated on making meals that I have the ingredients for and know how to do, than trying something new. Now I can see things from my mom's point of view a little more when she says that cooking is more functional than hobby-al. (Yep, hobby-al is a word.) I haven't tried new cooking recipes, but you better believe I'm still baking... Let me tell you about it.

Things at work have been a bit of a downer lately. Morale is low, and I keep on waiting for our management to do something encouraging to help morale (because normally they're really good at that) but they haven't. So... I took it upon myself to encourage my team with the best method that I know how... baking. I made these Cookie Dough Pretzel Bites for them a couple of months ago and they were a hit. So I made those again. (Last time it took me forever to put the dough in between the cookies, freeze them, dip them with chocolate, sprinkle them with sprinkles. The trick to speed up the process... two words: piping bags. If you ever decide to make these, and want to make them quickly, ask me about it.)

Cookie Dough Pretzel Bites

 Their picture

My picture

I also made this recipe for Gingerbread Pumpkin Bars. I had mentioned this recipe when I was gearing up to bake with pumpkin. And y'all... this stuff is good. I can already hear you saying, "But I don't really like gingerbread..." Believe me. You'll like this recipe even if you don't like gingerbread. I made a huge pan for work and it was gone by the end of the day. If you're looking for a new, perfectly fall, pumpkin bar recipe... look no further. This is the one.

Gingerbread Pumpkin Bars

Happy baking!