CSI Mod Podge Challenge

One of my favorite projects of past was the Ballard inspired French document. The CSI Project is having a Mod Podge challenge and I have added this project to the competition. Amy from Mod Podge Rocks is the guest judge this week and you have to check out all the great projects she does with Mod Podge.

This was my inspiration for the project.

My project cost $422.75 less than the original! You can see how I made this along with a cost breakdown here.

I love how it turned out!

Thanks to The CSI Project for hosting this competition. Please drop by to see all the creative projects using

Mod Podge.

Hugs, Sherry

I'll be joining the parties at:

Thrifty Tabletop Breakdown!

I want to thank you for all the sweet comments on my Restoration Hardware look-a-like table. You guys are the absolute best! I can't begin to tell you how much I appreciate your friendship and support.

If you have read my blog for any time at all you know I prefer to decorate on a budget and thrive on finding that fantastic bargain. I like having nice things in our home but I have found so much of the expensive decor can be duplicated or purchased for a lot less money. That being said I want to show you what I spent to put together the look in my previous post. Here's the breakdown.

The table is a copy of a $1295 Restoration Hardware one. As I mentioned in my previous post I found the identical table at Roomstore for $379.

The mirror I found at Anthropologie at 70% off. I have seen this same mirror priced at $300 other places. I paid $62.00.

Wisteria had some gorgeous prints in a mirrored frame for $150 each. I loved them but I knew I could find something I liked as well for a lot less. Last year I found similar prints in mirrored frames on clearance at Target. I paid $9.00 each for my version of Wisteria's art.

The little black sconce was purchased at a consignment shop for $5.00 and the Quimper style plate at a garage sale for $1.00.

During my search for the table I stopped at Bassett Furniture and purchased the green glass lamp for $10.00

from the clearance room. This lamp had an original price tag of $140.

The metal urn was painted bright gold when I found it in a junk shop for $6.00. A little paint and glaze solved that problem. The urn was filled with seashells purchased at a garage sale for $2.00. There must have been 200 shells or more in the bag. The coral, star fish and pink shell I have owned for years.

I Love this plaster architectural piece and it was $8.00 from the same junk store that had the urn. I also got the large basket there for $5.00 and the metal gym basket for $10. The two wine bottles and large apothecary bottle I have had for years. I am sure I paid less than $10 each for them. The best buy of all were the two antique clay pots purchased locally at an on-line auction. My cost for both pots was $3.00!!

Total cost for all accessories, including wall and tabletop = $150! See why I love hunting for bargains?

*Thanks for the advise on painting the vent. I had wanted it painted but hubby was afraid the paint would chip off the metal. With so many of you backing me up he caved in!

Thanks for stopping by.

xo,xo, Sherry

I am linking up my thrifty table top to the following parties:

Southern Hospitality

Coastal Charm

Bargain Hunting And Chatting With Laurie

Colorado Lady

Tales From Bloggeritaville

Dipity Road

Debbiedoos

Finding Fabulous

CSN Winner !

I want to thank each and everyone of you for entering my CSN giveaway and for supporting my blog. Also, a big thank you to CSN Stores for their generosity. The winner of the CSN $80.00 giveaway is.......

Claudia @ Dipity Road

Please drop by and tell Claudia congratulations. She has a lovely blog and she also is the host of Friday- Finding Beauty. Congrats Claudia! Send me your email and you can start shopping.

xo, Sherry

Restoration Hardware Look-A-Like

There is still time to enter the CSN $80.00 giveaway Here. Entries will be accepted until midnight 8/23/10. Good Luck to everyone!

I promised to show you my new Restoration Hardware look-a-like table that I purchased for $379.00 compared to RH price for the same table of $1295. You can read about my obsession to find a similar table at a reasonable price Here.

It's funny how one little table can create so many changes! Of course we had to pay to have Sheetrock repaired, new paint color was selected and the wall painted, a wall unit had to be sold to make room and a new lamp, mirror and accessories were purchased. I have the best husband in the world to go along with my crazy ideas and constant changes.

New $10.00 lamp reminds me of antique wine bottles.

I love the new mirror from Anthropologie...especially at 70% off!

We originally had a large wall unit on this wall. I loved the piece of furniture but it completely blocked the

in-take vent. We noticed this summer that the family room was not cooling as well as the rest of the house and that the air conditioner ran constantly downstairs. This resulted in some very high electric bills.

I really don't like that you can see the vent but we noticed immediately a dramatic difference in the temperature of this room and I know it will pay off in our electric bill.

I have a busy day tomorrow working on a project I have been putting off for two years. Thanks for dropping by and all your kind comments.

Fondly,

Sherry

I am linking up at the following parties:

Color Outside The Lines

Coastal Charm

Restoration Hardware For LESS + Giveaway

Do you ever just fall in love with a piece of furniture and can't stop thinking about it? When I first saw the salvaged wood collection at Restoration Hardware it was love at first sight! Then I saw the prices and I thought this would be an unfulfilled love. I am not a person that gives up that easily and I made it my mission to find a piece similar to the RH console table at a price I could live with. It didn't matter that I had no place to put the table if I found one.

RH Table $1295

I was a woman obsessed and spent hours scouring the Internet with no luck. I visited every antique and salvage shop in town. I even inquired about having a table custom made. I did find a couple of salvaged wood tables at furniture stores but they just didn't make my heart race like the RH one.

That all changed the day I walked into Room Store Furniture and there was MY table! My table at less than 1/3 the price of RH. A salvaged wood console table exactly like the RH table went right into my SUV and headed home.

You'll have to check back later for more pictures. You have to give a girl a chance to decorate first.

There is still time to enter the $80 CSN giveaway Here.

Thanks for stopping by and I really appreciate all the sweet notes you leave me.

xo, Sherry

I am joining the parties at:

Southern Hospitality

Coastal Charm

My Romantic Home

Bargain Hunting And Chatting With Laurie

Free Botanicals + GIVEAWAY

There are some big changes going on in our living room. You haven't seen much of this room because I have never been totally happy with the results. Well, that is all about to change! We just finished painting, there are new drapes to hang and I have been looking at sofas and chairs. This process may take a little while to complete so I will show one change I have made.

I recently posted about the trumeau mirror I painted and the blue and white plates hung on each side. If you missed that post you can see it here. I really like the plates but I felt the room really needed some color.

Before

After

The botanicals were found on-line at a royalty free site. I tweaked the pictures using Picasso so that the colors were more vibrant and the images were cropped so they would be larger. These were printed at home on textured photo paper that was purchased at a garage sale for 25 cents. I believe any good quality copy paper would work also. The matted frames were purchased on clearance at Target for $2.50 each.

The total project cost $10.25!

Now, if you like these prints you can copy the ones below for your own project. Just right click on the image and "save as" to your stored pictures. I enlarged my prints to 8x10 and printed without a border.

If you have not entered the CSN giveaway you can still enter HERE.

Thanks for dropping by and I always love to hear from you.

xo, Sherry

I will be joining the following lovely ladies and their parties.

Coastal Charm

The Shabby Chic Cottage

Between Naps On The Porch

Southern Hospitality

Todays Creative Blog

Under The Table And Dreaming

Grey Willow + Giveaway!

I want to thank everyone for your kind comments on my stool and mirror makeover. You are the best!

If you haven't entered the giveaway you can enter here for a $80.00 CSN gift certificate. Entries are accepted until 8/24/10.

I previously posted about turning my plain brown and white painted willow pieces into the new modern grey willow. If you missed the post about my Tuscan breakfast and willow transformation you can see it here .

This is a really easy and quick process and the results are fabulous. I have found that it does work better on willow than rattan or wicker, though I have been happy with all the results.

For this project you need light grey craft paint and a brown glaze . I use Ralph Lauren Smoke glaze for everything and love it. First, dry brush the grey paint randomly over the piece. You do not want to entirely cover the willow or it will look like you just painted it. While the paint is still wet apply the glaze randomly. Do not wipe glaze off unless you feel you have applied too much. Once the paint dried I took sandpaper and lightly sanded haphazardly to expose some of the natural color. Below are before and after pictures of candle holders.

I used the same process on the food cover and tray. These pieces were lightly spray painted white when I purchased them. If you like the lighter grey look you could spray paint your piece white before adding the grey paint and glaze.

I have transformed a number of pieces which I will show you when I post pictures of the party I am hosting in a couple of days. Thank you so much for visiting!

I am joining the parties at:
My Romantic Home
Shoe String Decorating
Dipity Road
Between Naps On The Porch
Silly Little Sparrow
The Brambleberry Cottage
Life As Lori
Somewhat Simple

New Giveaway!

I know you all love to shop. The thrill of finding the perfect item at the perfect price is exhilarating. But do you ever wish you could find everything you’re looking for, all in one store?

Well if so, then this giveaway is perfect for you. CSN Stores has generously offered one of my followers an $80.00 gift certificate to any of their 250+ stores. Shoppers have access to over one million products from awesome lines such Cuisinart, Kohler, Corelle, Fisher-Price and many, many more. Take a look at just a couple of the many fantastic products CSN Stores carry.

To enter this giveaway just leave a comment letting me know you are a follower of this blog. For an additional entry blog about the giveaway or add it to your sidebar. Make sure to leave a separate comment for each entry. If you do not have a blog leave an email address where I can contact you. This giveaway is limited to residents of the U.S and Canada only and ends at midnight August 23, 2010.

Thanks so much for dropping by and entering this giveaway. I wish each of you the best of luck! xo, Sherry

I've Been Busy, Part 2

Hello everyone! I hope you are having a great day. I have spent the last couple of weeks trying to get through my long list of projects and get ready for a party I am hosting. There is nothing like having a party at my home to get me motivated to finish all my little projects.

The first thing I tackled was this cute little iron footstool that I purchased at a thrift shop. It was already painted white so all I did was reupholster the top. Here is the before picture.

And here is the after.

Using blue tape I painted the stripes on the burlap to give it somewhat of the effect of a grain sack. I love that the color goes so well with my rug and the furniture in this room.

This mirror is a Craigslist find. It was a pretty mirror in the gold finish but didn't really go with the room. I painted it with leftover pale gray paint, dry brushed with a little off-white and then lightly distressed.