Update from Last Weeks Ladder Project....

I was so excited last week to be featured on both Linky parties I submitted to!!

Eventhough I wasn't in the judges top 10, I was Amanda's pick over at the CSI project!



The ladder was also featured at My Backyard Eden!


Thank you lady's for having such fun and inspiring blogs!

Pantry Redo, with Mod Podged Fabric Contact Paper

Get ready for a long winded post! One of the things I wanted to tackle this month was our pantry. So what better weekend to do it than my birthday weekend (after we tackled the backyard course)!!

Here is the before picture of the pantry...

I was inspired over at House of Smith's and would have copied her entire pantry if I could have. But I still wanted to be somewhat original. I really wanted to buy wallpaper, but there were a few reasons I didn't go that route; 1) I could really only order if off line, and I am one of those people that has to see it first before I buy it, and 2) I wasn't going to pay upwards of $30 a role with a 2 role minimum to only cover half of the pantry! I also WAS NOT going to paint the pantry. Don't get me wrong, I love paint, but Mr. Husband and I paid a pretty penny to have the entire interior of our house painted... so I'm not about to paint the walls or shelves just yet!

So I improvised. I have had my eye on some Amy Butler fabric for quite a while, and thought "D, where can you use that awesome (and a little pricey) Amy Butler fabric.... ummm, your pantry of course!" Then I thought "D, how are you going to put fabric on your walls?" After thinking about it for a while, I had a vision...

I decided I was going to "Mod Podge" the fabric on to contact paper. This way, if i ever want to take it down, it would peel right off...

So off to the races I went! I only needed one role of contact paper, Mod Podge, 3 yards of fabric, and I ended up using 8 sheets of scrapbook paper, 8 ft. of decorative molding, and some fabric flowers... for cuteness.

**NOTE: Yes, Mr. Husband was totally okay with this fabric and color scheme. When I texted him a picture of the fabric asking if he was okay with it, he said "of course sweetheart, whatever makes you happy." Ahhhhh.... I heart Mr. Husband :)

After figuring out how long I needed the paper to be, I taped it together so I could just cut strips when I was done Mod Podging the fabric on....

Flipped over the contact paper, and Mod Podged! I thought this was going to take forever... but really only took about 20 minutes.

While it was drying, I decided I should probably empty out the pantry... and holy monkeys! I had no idea we had that much stuff hiding in the pantry, for two people no less...

Once the fabric dried, it really was as easy as cutting strips the right height for each shelf... then peel the back off and stick on the wall! It really is a awesome version of wall paper, because you won't have to rip down your entire wall just to take it off one day.

I then decided we needed some more height (our house as super high ceilings). So I mod Podged some scrapbook paper to some of the leftover contact paper and did the same as listed above.

Then to kind of cap it off, I added some decorative trim to the very top after spray painting it with "Heirloom White." As a side note, I also ended up adding clear contact paper to our shelves. With the jars and baskets I was going to end up using, I didn't want to have to deal with scratches.

Then the rest was simply a matter of collecting Jars, and buying some jars and wire baskets at Crate and Barrel (with leftover wedding gift cards). I couldn't be more pleased with how it turned out!

A close up of the scrapbook paper with decorative molding...

I was so excited to finally be able to use my Pink mixer as a decoration... she hated her cabinet home!

The Pasta jars were sitting on our counter, but I decided they would be much more functional in the closet; we wouldn't have to worry about always keeping them full just for decoration!

I also took this idea from House of Smiths.... I went to our Ikea and used that jar to house the vegi oil... I hate those plastic containers they come in!

I am a cereal fanatic, so much so that we typically have like 7 different kinds of cereal at a time. So hopefully having just four containers will control my cereal collecting habits. Above the cereal I have my sprinkle collection, and used a cake stand I already had, added a layer with a candle holder and a wooden disk to give it a tiered effect...

I found these condiment holders at Crate and Barrel too. They were on sale for $4.99 a piece. But they were yellow... So I spray painted them green.

I also purchased these baskets at Crate and Barrel... you can find these anywhere for way way cheaper than at C&B, but I had gift card funds that needed to be used...

So here is one more BEFORE:

and AFTER!!!

Linking up to the Mod Podge CSI challenge and Thrifty Decor Chic before and after party!

Our Backyard !!

When we bought out home, we had the option to have the backyard finished, but we figured we didn't want to spend a few thousand dollars on something that would look completely generic and not cool. Aside from that, Mr. Husband (Fiancee at the time) and I were like, "How hard could it be?". Of course my impatient self couldn't wait to get this back yard started (especially after finishing The Hanging Ladder ), in 110 degree heat no less!

Well, let me tell you... It certainly is one of the hardest, longest projects I (we) have ever worked on. Our first weekend, we needed to accomplish a pretty tedious task... Getting a PVC pipe under that nice green wall right next to Bo, the bougainvillea. Sorry for Mr. Husband's indecency... This blog just went from G to PG :)


Okay, now we're back to rated G :)

We couldn't have done any of this without my dad... seriously... he saved us at least $1,000 on the sprinkler system alone... (he wouldn't look at the camera... he was apparently too busy helping us dig a massively deep hole under concrete. The nerve of some people)

After a couple of days of repeatedly soaking the dirt, we FINALLY pulled the PVC pipe through! I never realized how awful Arizona soil is... after you get about 8 inches deep, you hit straight up clay.

Mr. Husband making sure everything worked okay...

But here's what happens when you go PG... you get a crazy sunburn!

The next week was phase 2. We had to dig all the trenches for the sprinkler system in the backyard. I quit on this one pretty early because I just can't stand the heat, but Mr. Husband was awesome. After he laid down the pipe, he made this happen!


The we moved on to Phase 3 the next weekend... I was determined to have a retaining wall and a fountain. I didn't care what I would have to do to get it... even if that meant laying the 10 pound blocks all by myself while Mr. Husband shuttled them to me from the front yard (where home depot had delivered them).

Then this past weekend, my Birthday weekend, we had rocks and plants delivered (no grass yet). After I had already had everything delivered, like a dummy not planning well, I had found out that we shouldn't have the grass planted until the beginning of October. Well, I wanted everything done next weekend, which is why I spent my birthday weekend planting trees and bushes!! I was furious, but oh well... at least we finally will get a few weekends to rest!

I can't wait to see the finished project soon, but in the mean time, back to some inside crafts!!!

Hanging Ladder with Lanterns

I've been so excited for this post! A few weeks ago Mr. Husband and I were at Scottsdale Fashion square getting ready to spend some gift card money at Crate and Barrel (I already feel like a trader, but we got some awesome stuff for our pantry decorating... that post coming soon!!)... Well, Pottery Barn is right next door, and I couldn't resist going in. I saw this and just. about. died.!!!

If you can't tell what that is, it's a antique ladder with twigs on top. It was just so amazing!

So then I kept walking around, and died again. I loved the lanterns hanging from the jute.. sooo Pottery Barn-ish!

So I thought to myself "D, what can you do to have both of those elements without making too many new holes in your new patio ceiling (seriously, our house was just done being built three months ago), and without making Mr. Husband uber mad...."

Well, let me show you :)

I first looked on Craigslist for an old wood ladder, but figured I could just make one myself and get exactly what I want. I went to Home Depot and spent less than $5 on wood (the ladder is 6 ft. long). I then started assembling the ladder in the craft room, started staining, and then got a bit too nervous about staining the wood in there, so moved to the garage...

While the stain was drying in the garage, I started working on my lanterns. I just got married 2 months ago, and along the aisle in the church I had shepherd's hooks with lanterns lit up. I tried to buy stuff for the wedding that I new I would be able to reuse again, and I'm so glad these lanterns made the list!

They were white, so I spray painted them black...

These are the hooks I used to hold the fishing string (to somewhat give the ladder the illusion it is floating). Here's the deal... I am in Arizona, and for the next few weeks we'll probably be getting some amazing monsoon storms. So I needed to make this "ladder hanging thing" in a way that would allow me to take it down easily, should I need to. I also attached the lanterns with "S" hooks, so I could take them down right away if I need to.

After the stain and top coat dried, I took some nice twigs I found in this dumpster, dried them out and stapled them to the top... Everyone finds awesome furniture on the side of the road, and I find tree trimmings... I'll take what I can get !!

I had finally finished and was ready to hang it up, but as expected, we had crazy winds... So I opted to wait one more day. It killed me!!!

But finally, here she is!

The whole project cost me less than $20, and I would say it's well worth it!

Linking up to CSI's Pottery Barn Challenge and My Backyard Eden!