Using Removable Vinyl

Decorating My Laptop

Ok its not that I've run out of things to decorate around my house but I just had this weird urge to decorate the cover of my laptop. When I ordered my laptop I could have chosen from many different colors and custom designs - but for an extra cost, of course. So being the frugal person I am I passed on paying the extra money to trick out my laptop. 

I decided to jazz up my laptop. I could get some vinyl in fun colors and use my Cricut to cut a cool design. I ordered the vinyl from H&H Sign Supply. They have many colors and their prices are good. I paid $3.00 a YARD for the vinyl. You can also get a discount on your first order by entering FIRSTORDER in the code at checkout.

So here's the design I made out of white, silver, light purple and dark purple vinyl. I did make a slight mistake that was fixed easily. When I put the design on the cover of my laptop was closed. When I opened the laptop I discovered my birds were upside down if someone was to walk by and look at my laptop. Easy fix. I just turned around my little birdies and voila! Fixed. Be sure to get the removable vinyl or you may be stuck with your design for a long time.

Shoe Locker

If you can't get rid of it --- hide it!

I have this area right inside my garage door where the kids come in and just dump their stuff. I know we all have it and eventually it gets to us. I didn't want to put any furniture there because it is a walk way and it would make the space narrower. However, since there is always a pile of stuff there anyway our walkway space would not change. So my plan would was to put a bench there that would at least hide their stuff and still have the same amout of space to walk through.
Let's face it if you can't get rid of the stuff then hide it!

This is phase one. I have another shelf that will go over the top I just haven't had a chance to work on it. I got the bench (its actually a tv stand) from IKEA. The kids had fun helping me put it together. (twice - of course I realized when it was
almost all done that I had one piece on backwards. Darn it! Oh yeah,
and you know it was the first piece I put together!)

Look at those dangle earrings! She's the best dressed handywoman!

Ethnic Dinner Club

A couple months back I started an Ethnic Dinner Club. I had been in one back in OH before I moved to Indy. Its a very fun night of getting together with friends and trying new restaurants and new types for foods. Our only rule is we don't do "chain" restaurants. So far we've done Thai, Indian and Belgium. This month we tried Moroccan.

This is the Saffron Cafe. The owner Annie was so helpful explaining the dishes and making recommendations. I chose the Tagine which came out in a beautifully painted clay pot. The dish had chicken, pears, apricots and prunes. It was soooooo yummy!

Next month we will be at a German Restaurant - after all it will be Oktoberfest!

Home Decor Websites

Were you a big fan of Design Star as much as I was? I loved watching the makeovers each week. Time and time again I'd see them shopping in a cool little store and want to shop there! So I spent one whole afternoon researching where the Design Stars shopped.

Here is a list of what I found and a few others I like.

http://www.theaccentfurniture.com/

http://www.furniturefirst.com/roomplanner/planningwiz.php?zipcode=11235 

(This is a room planner with lots of furniture to play with.)

http://www.westelm.com/?cm_type=gnav

http://www.cb2.com/

http://www.chiasso.com/

http://www.lampsplus.com/

http://www.urbanoutfitters.com/urban/index.jsp

http://www.pearlriver.com/v2/index.html

http://www.pier1.com/Home/tabid/36/Default.aspx

http://marketplace.hgtv.com/As_Seen_on?from=vs

Be careful though! You may be surfing for hours like me!

Bedroom Inspiration from Polyvore

I love, love, love Polyvore. (www.polyvore.com) I could play all day on it. If you're not familiar with it let me explain. Its a sight where you import clips (you need to download the clip tool) of items you've collected from other websites and then create a composition space. It lets you virtually create your room before you buy any items. Here's my bedroom that I'm working on. I already have the comforter.

moroccan bedroom inspiration by accidentaldecorator on Polyvore.com

http://www.polyvore.com/cgi/thing.outbound?.embedder=1414939&.mid=embed-imagelist&id=22307634
$100 - bedbathandbeyond.com

Casablanca Lantern -Black 10"

Z Gallerie
$7.95 - zgallerie.com

Pier 1 Imports - Metal & Rattan Wall Décor
$60 - pier1.com

New York Scene is an Ode to the Greatest City in the World
Z...
$10 - zgallerie.com

The Land Of Nod
Kids Mythic Paint and Toxic Free Mythic Paint
$6.99 - landofnod.com

DesignerLinensOutlet.com - Amy Butler Constanta Comforter and Sham Set...
designerlinensoutlet.com

It All Started with a Bedroom Closet

Here is the project that started it all. Our closet was just a mess with a lot of wasted space. One can only straighten the stack of clothes so much before it gets to you! The piles were getting higher and higher and now matter how straight they'd always fall over.

So we decided it was time for a closet makeover. A trip to IKEA and a gallon of paint and this is how it turned out. Painted the walls light purple and the shelves are black. It turned out really nice.

Now I'm in the process of making over the rest of the bedroom. Just got the walls painted purple and now I'm getting the rest of the room put together.

My Favorite 4-Letter Word

You're right if you guessed IKEA. But I have a word even better (I know - gasp!) SALE - at IKEA.

My main purpose for the trip was to buy a closet system for my closet. We had to take 2 cars because the panels are 8 feet and they barely fit in my car with no one else in the car. But when we pulled in and saw "SALE" on the front I got all tingley. Of course we ended up with everything including the kitchen sink. Well not a sink but an oven that hubby needed for the basement. By some small miracle we got everything to fit.

And that's only 1 car. Didn't take a picture of the other car that was packed! The closet turned out great and I'll show you pics in the next post. The closet is just the beginning of the whole bedroom makeover which I'm excited to share!