I'm a sucker for the sale.

It happens once a year.

If you live near KC, you may have heard of a store called Nell Hills.  It's packed full of the most beautiful furniture, pictures, home accessories, rugs, etc. In the store, prices are not friendly with my budget, but this one day a year they mark 'em down and people go crazy.  People like me, and my mom, and even my dad.  :)

drooling...

We got in line at 6am and waited for the curtain to the sale tent to open at 9am.  There were about 20 people in front of us, and believe it or not, it was FREEZING! Maybe if I had posted this closer to when the sale happens (first weekend in June), that wouldn't sound so shocking.  About an hour before the sale opens, they open the curtain and people get to browse from afar.  This might be the best part! They open the door, and people literally run down the aisles (some with laundry baskets!) filling up on the deals.  Here are a few things I couldn't walk away from.

Spotted this baby and ran for it first thing! $40

The mirrored chest was another great score! $50.  In the bookshelf you can see a blue bird, black and white mugs and the woven glass jugs, all which I scored at last year's sale! The clock was handmade by Justin's Grandpa, and was given to me for my Bday this year.  Love it.

Drink bucket $8.

Silver birds, $3 ea. Cookie Scoop, $1.

Most things are marked down because of slight damage, but nothing I couldnt' live with.  The chest has a small crack on the very bottom, the lamp required a run to the hardware store to secure the shade, the bucket had a small dent, and the bird has a chipped tail.

Not only did I score some cool stuff, but I had SO. MUCH. FUN.  I love that my parents enjoyed it, too, because really, it's about spending some time with them, getting up too early, waiting for three hours in the cold, and trying your best Tetris skills to get the stuff to fit in the car.  (and sometimes it doesn't.... hi AB!)

Can't wait until next year!
-m

DIY Map

Finally found some time (and motivation!) to finish this map project that I have been wanting to do for quite some time now.  I found the vintage style map at Office Depot of all places for $7.99.  The map is 32'' by 50''.  I thought for sure I could find a frame in that size.......

Turns out I don't have hundreds of dollars for a custom frame, so I came up with a new plan.  I wanted to be able to use push pins in the final product, so I thought cork board would be good.  Again, not found.  I found some foam board at the craft store that I could cut down to size, but again, it was like 20 bucks!  I headed to Home Depot.  I found a HUGE piece of foam board (insulation?) for $11, and they cut it right there for me- score.

The board was purple, and since I didn't see a frame in the near future, I decided to just paint the edges brown.  Lucky for me, I had some helpers!  

After the paint dried, I used spray adhesive to spray it to the board.  Easy, and done!  I hung it on the wall with command strips since it was so light.  For the push pins, I found some bottle caps at Hobby lobby and glued flat pushpins to the backs.  I'm happy with the results!

-m

Chritmas Decor.

It might be a little later that I hoped- but there are still 3 days left!  I've done my best to spruce up the house with a little holiday cheer.

Watch out, Rudolph.

Our first REAL tree!

Leftover wedding decor turned holiday decor.

Merry Christmas!

-m

p.s.  Anyone know how to access your Instagram account NOT on your phone? These pictures came from my old phone, and I had to go round about getting them on the blog #bad photos.

Pillow Talk.

I've been having lots of fun reworking our living room this past weekend!  With our old couches out the door, and our inherted new furniture, I've had a burst of energy to create something new with this room.  Not that it looked bad, I just didn't really feel like it was right... let's hope I do after this :)  I've decided to paint the room a taupe/gray, and am thinking of adding some pillows to spice it up.  Here are some I've been drooling over as inspiration.

West Elm. 

West Elm. 

West Elm.

West Elm. 

West Elm.

Crate and Barrel.

Crate and Barrel.

Crate and Barrel.

Crate and Barrel.

Crate and Barrel.

Enjoy!
-m