Thursday, September 30, 2010

Put a Roof on it!

Today I'm showing you a room that I don't think I've ever showed you.  And funny thing is it's one of my favorite spots in the house (and Ruby's).  It's our sun room.  It's been a room left in the dust in our home improvements.  BUT...today it's catching up -- they are puting a new roof on my favorite spot.

The roof got hit with some serious hail and it was leaking -- so it was time for an improvement.  And because this room faces south it gets piping hot in the summer -- to the point that no one will go in there -- it's scorching!  So we chose to have a new, actual roof (not glass panels) put on.    I know it will darken the room a little bit, but we are having two skylights put in.  At least we'll be able to use it all year around now. :)


Here's what it looked like this morning -- all cleaned out and ready for a new hat!



So lately I've been hunting the web for some sun room ideas and decorating tips.  Oh the possibilities of this room! Any thoughts on what I should do?

I'm thinking for sure a shelf  of some kinds (behind where I stood to take the picture) -- but what?  Short, tall, built-in??

Daybed or couch?

Fluffy rug or jut rug?

Fan/light or chandelier?

Coffee table or ottoman?

Roman Shades or Long Drapes?

Cushy chair or bistro set?

See what I mean??  The possibilities are ENDLESS!  I have a feeling this will be a long, fun process of decorating -- so I want to do it right! :)

Any ideas??


Wednesday, September 29, 2010

GIVEAWAY: Moen Arbor Kitchen Faucet

It's time for an INCREDIBLE giveaway! I'm SO excited about this -- and I think you're going to LOVE it! ;)

Remember my new kitchen faucet I showed you this morning?  Remember all the gushing (pun intended!) I did about how much I LOVE my new faucet and how easy-peasy it was to install? (If you want to read it again, you can here)  Well get ready to grab your wrench and install your own -- because Moen wants to give YOU one too! AAAH!  Seriously -- are you guys SO excited!?!

Oh I'm just so excited for you!!  This faucet is wonderful!


Here are the details on what you can win:

(The faucet comes with the option to mount in a single hole or three hole sink and all the parts you need)
WHEN:  Until 10/5/2010 at 12:00 p.m. central time
HOW: ANY of the following ways:

1.  Become a Fan of Moen on Facebook (leave a comment that you did)

2.  Visit Moen's Website and tell me what your favorite product is in the comments

3.  Become a follower of The Hand Me Down House (and leave a comment)

4.  Twitter/Blog/Facebook about this giveaway and link back to it (leave a comment that you did)

That's FOUR ways for you to snag a new kitchen faucet of your own!  Good luck!!



Moen Arbor Kitchen Faucet

Alright, so you all know how much I want to redo our kitchen... and if you didn't know -- I want to redo my kitchen! :)

It desperately needs a cabinet makeover, new appliances and some new counter tops.  DESPERATELY needs.  While we're busy planning our makeover for a later date and time we make do with what we have.  It's not like it doesn't function -- it just needs some "prettying up".  I'm sure most of you can relate to this feeling.   

The folks at Moen must have read my mind and known I needed something pretty in my kitchen in the interim.   Perhaps someone over there saw my current kitchen faucet:






Moen was SO wonderfully kind and sent me a new AWESOME kitchen sink faucet.  It's gorgeous!  You want to see what they sent me to use and review?




GORGEOUS, right!?!  


The day I received my new faucet was a day we were going through a cable/phone/Internet transfer at our house (ugh!) and this was the absolute best "pick me up".  I waited all of two minutes before I decided I was installing it right away.  I just couldn't wait to use this lovely faucet. Seriously.


Now, some of you might know that I work for my family plumbing business.  And although this is the case, I'm no plumbing expert -- believe me!  


That being said, ANYONE can install a new faucet.  It's SO simple if you just follow the instructions.  And honestly, the hardest part is taking the old faucet out.  Ours happened to have some rusted bolts that gave me a GREAT workout trying to get them unstuck.   But, in the end I got the old faucet out without a hitch.  




Here's my faucetless sink.  A great idea when you're replacing your faucet is to give your sink a good thorough cleaning -- and be sure to clean underneath where your old faucet was.



The new one was almost TOO easy to install.  I kept thinking I was missing a step because it was such a breeze.  The instructions that Moen sent were wonderful! 


Once I had my base on I could add the faucet and run the water lines and post down underneath my sink.




Once the lines were connected and the faucet was secured to my sink, I was able to run the sprayer hose down through the faucet and connect the new sprayer head.


And do you want to know just how much I LOVE my new faucet?

A TON!


The faucet is a dream.  It has a sprayer option to do dishes and the sprayer head also swivels around, making sink and dish cleaning a piece of cake. It also has a "pause" feature that stops water while the faucet is on, which makes filling pots and coffee makers SO easy.  




At first I was a little worried about the height -- I thought maybe it would splash a lot when using the sprayer -- but it absolutely does not.  The handle is in a very convenient spot (and you can chose a right or left handle mount when you install it) and doesn't get in my way or get bumped while I'm using the faucet.




Although Moen sent me this faucet for free, my opinion is completely mine.  I honestly LOVE this new faucet of mine (so much I keep telling my hubby to leave the dishes for me to do -- it's true).





What do you guys think?  


Thanks so much to the Moen team for letting me review this faucet and for giving me something pretty for my kitchen!


And if you're my friend on Facebook, you know that I promised a really exciting giveaway for this week.......come back later today and I'll be sure to spill the beans (it may be related to this post, hint hint).  :)



Tuesday, September 28, 2010

Redi Shade Simple Fit Winner

Okay you lovely bloggers -- it's that time -- to announce the VERY lucky winner of the Simple Fit Redi Shade! Can you barely contain yourself?



Well first I HAVE to say another HUGE THANK YOU to the team at Redi Shade for sending me and one of you lucky gals one of their Simple Fit Redi Shades.


Alright -- I won't make you wait anymore. :)  The winner is:


 Which is:



kmogilevski said... 87
I would pick the following shade: http://redishade.com/store/rs_light_blocking_fabric_corded.html kmogilevski at gmail dot com


CONGRATULATIONS, KATIE!

And I have to say -- even if you didn't WIN one -- these are SUCH awesome blinds -- I would HIGHLY recommend them to ANYONE.

Be sure to visit Redi Shade's website for their Simple Fit blinds if you are in need of any shades.


Raffia Mod Podge Vase


Well as the temps and leaves keep dropping -- it's feeling more and more like fall here.  So you know that that means.....more fall decor! :)

Remember that raffia wreath I put together a few weeks ago?  I had plenty of raffia left over for it and I wanted to use it for another project.  This time around I thought I might make a raffia vase.  

So, here's what you'll need to make your raffia vase:












- Raffia (I used multicolored)
- Mason Jar (I used pint sized)
- Mod Podge (I used the glossy kind)
- Paint Brush
- Ribbon
- Dollar Store Flowers











First I painted Mod Podge on the outside of my jar.


Now comes the messy part.  Wrap a few pieces of raffia around the the jar and Mod Podge over them.  You have to hold them down for a few seconds so the ends of the raffia don't pop back up.  You'll get your fingers really Mod Podged for this part. :)  


I continued doing this around the mason jar.  I tried to overlap the ends to help hold them in place.

Once I had the whole jar covered I let it dry overnight.  If you're in a pinch or something you can always take a hair dryer to your vase -- it will accelerate the Mod Podge drying time.  (I know it looks scary now -- but it'll turn out -- I promise!)



See, it looks MUCH better now that it's dried.  Once I had my vase I put a ribbon on top and filled it with some dollar store flowers.



VIOLA!  A cute little fall flower jar!


I just could not help snapping a picture of my new vase with some of our pretty fall trees in the background. :)


Linking up to:
Mondays:Between Naps on the Porch ; C.R.A.F.T; Craft-O-Maniac; Keeping it Simple; Mad in Crafts; Making the World Cuter; The DIY Showoff; The Girl Creative Tuesdays:  All Thingz Related; House of Grace; I'm Topsy Turvy; Lucky Star Lane; Sugar Bee Craft Edition; The CSI Project; These Creative Juices; Today's Creative Blog Wednesdays:  Blue Cricket Design; Creations by Kara; Debbiedoos; Domestically Speaking; My Backyard Eden; Night Owl Crafting; Seven Thirty Three; Someday Crafts; The Thrifty Home; Trendy Treehouse Thursdays: Beyond the Picket Fence; Craftastical!; Fireflies & Jellybeans; House of Hepworths; Life as Lori; Somewhat Simple; The Shabby Chic Cottage Fridays:  Chic on a Shoestring; Finding Fabulous; Fingerprints on the Fridge; Frou Frou Decor; Frugal & Fabulous Design; It's a Hodge Podge Life; It's Fun to Craft!: Just a Girl; Remodelaholic; Simply Designing; The Shabby Nest; Tatertots & Jello Weekend:  A  Little Lovely; Be Different Act Normal; Funky Junk Interiors; House of Thrifty Decor; I Heart Naptime; Kuzak's Closet; Under the Table & Dreaming

Saturday, September 25, 2010

What a Week! :)

This last weekend I had intended to get all kinds of home improvement and home decor projects started, worked on, finished and then share them with you bloggers.  Oh boy, did I have BIG plans for some areas of our house.  Buuuut, I don't know if you noticed I only got one little project completed this weekend (my painted sheet drapes).  So I thought I would share with you where I've been (and an important realization I had).

I'm a "get-things-done/don't-have-time-for-to-sit" type of person.  Although I think I'm pretty efficient with my time, I also ALWAYS have something going on and something I'm doing.  I like life that way. :)  But this last weekend I decided my cleaning could wait, my house projects could sit and my to-do list could stand still for a few days.  I enjoyed my whole weekend spending time with my two fantastic sets of grandparents and having coffees and dinners with girlfriends.  That's it.  I traded in my projects and crafts for some quality time with my family and friends.  What a great reminder it was to me that things can wait and how important the relationships with those I love are.  I think it's important to sometimes let go of the to-do list and enjoy the company of family and friends.

That's my lesson of the week. :)  Just kidding.

I would like to thank some wonderful blogs that featured some of my projects this week, too.  So a great big thank you to these fantastic ladies and their blogs:

Keeping It Simple

Just a Girl

Creations by Kara

Tatertos and Jello

One Pretty Thing (thanks so much to Rachel for several of her features this week!!)

And I'd also like to thank my WONDERFUL sponsors -- these ladies have some awesome, awesome, jewelry -- and I'm just honored that they have chosen to be my sponsors!





Be sure to check them all out -- they all have such unique treasures -- perfect for yourself or for gifts!




Wednesday, September 22, 2010

GIVEAWAY: Simple Fit Redi Shade

Alright, remember my post from waaaaaaay back, yesterday??? :)  I added a new drape and shade to a boring old window:


 Well as promised, I have an awesome giveaway for you guys!

Simple Fit Redi Shade was SO kind and sent me one of their fantastic shades to install in my house.  Okay -- so I'm not gonna lie -- I was a bit skeptical at first.  I didn't think that shades could be installed in ONE minute as they show in their promo video:




Buuuuut -- I took the Redi Shade Challenge myself. :)  I don't have a video for you -- but I did take pictures of a timer:



















Granted, I spent a minute reading through the instructions to make sure I was installing it right -- it seemed too easy!  But that's how long it took me to snap my shade into place. 

It honestly is as easy as their video shows -- and they are SUCH nice shades!  I will order any new shade I need from Redi Shade -- seriously.   They're not paying me to say this -- I am SO impressed with their stuff! 

They offer all kinds of shades and blinds -- from cordless, to black out, to light filtering -- all kinds!  And it gets better -- they're prices are VERY reasonable too.  Believe me -- I've done a TON of shopping for blinds as we didn't like any of the ones in our house when we moved and their prices are some of the best I've seen.  AND, I KNOW they are a great product -- so you're definitely getting your money's worth.  

My BlackOut Custom Sized Redi Shade - installed in 22 seconds!!



Okay -- so are you just dying to know what we're giving away!?! 

YOUR VERY OWN CUSTOM SIZED SIMPLE FIT REDI SHADE!!!



Are you SO excited!?! :)  Well I am for you -- because I know you are going to absolutely L-O-V-E these awesome shades!

So here are the details on how you can win your very own:

WHAT:  Custom Sized Redi-Shade
WHEN:  Through September 27, 2010 at Midnight
HOW:  Leave me a comment  -- whatever you want -- any comment will do. :)


FOR ADDITIONAL ENTRIES: (leave a separate comment for each one)


~ Go to Simple Fit page on Redi Shade' site and post a link to the shade you would pick out


~ Blog/Facebook/Twitter about the giveaway


~ Become a Fan of Simple Fit Redi Shade on Facebook


REDI, SET, COMMENT
YES - pun intended!!

Tuesday, September 21, 2010

FB TIME!

No....that doesn't stand for Football time ..... (not 'til Sunday at least!)

It stands for FACEBOOK TIME! :)

I've finally done it and created The Hand Me Down House on Facebook!  I literally JUST did it -- and I'm fan-less ... :(  So quick become a fan so I'm not left all by myself on there! :)

The Hand Me Down House

Promote Your Page Too

And don't forget -- tomorrow we will have a VERY exciting giveaway! :)

No-Sew Painted Drapes (and a teaser)




So today I wanted to show you a "non-sewer" solution to drapes.  I'm really not a sewer.  I REALLY want to be -- but I'm too nervous to get my machine out and use it.  I recently had to bring my little sewing machine in for repairs because apparently I have a "death grip" on my fabric when I feed it through.  Oops.  

Anyhow, since I've had it repaired I just can't bring myself to get it out again.  I had every intention of sewing the drapes for our guest room, but in the end, my fear won.  I have no problem using a saw, air nailer or power tools -- but my sewing machine is just one of those things I haven't learned yet.  Someday, my bloggy friends.....someday.  :)

So enough about my "non-sewer" ranting, right!?!  :)  The point was I found what I think is a REALLY cute way to get around sewing drapes.

I started out by measuring my window so I knew how much fabric I needed.   My windows aren't ginormous like some of the new-house windows out there, so I didn't need too much fabric.

Next I went out and picked up my materials:

Two Flat Twin Bed Sheets: $7.19 each
Fabric Paint: $2.49
Stencil: $2.99
Stencil Brushes: $.99

TOTAL: $13.66

You'll also need drapery hardware too. I used a leftover rod from our our old house.....one instance where my pack-rat instincts came in handy. :)





I washed and ironed my sheets and laid them out on our kitchen island.  I taped the edges of the sheet to the island so that they didn't move and slide around while I was stenciling.  I decided to stencil a line of this pattern across each panel.  

I used the "top" of each sheet as the bottom of my drape since it's usually a little bit more decorative.  I started about a foot and half up with the stencil -- but I think I would've liked it better if the pattern was a little closer to the ground.



I taped down the stencil and stippled the white paint onto the sheet.  When you pull the stencil up, it should look like this:


 From there I just continued to do a pattern across the fabric until I reached the end.  I let it dry, and then I went back and did a stencil in between all of the first ones.  I tilted the stencil to be diagonal -- so it will look like this:


 Once you're done with all the "in between" stencils, you'll have a pattern like this:


Now it's time for the top of the drape.  I folded the top six inches over the back of the drape and ironed it so there is a crease.  I then took hem tape along the edge to hold the "seam" in place.  Then you can slide the drapery hardware into the little pocket you created.




Sorry for the not so great pictures -- the foot of our guest bed is not too far from the window and it makes it kinda difficult to get a good shot. :)

BUT, I have to say for a new sew drape -- I'm pretty happy with the result.



And now for the teaser..... 



Did you see that fantastic honey-comb shade?!?!  I'm SO in love with it -- seriously.   It's a new Redi Shade.  And it is FANTASTIC!  Next time I have to get shades -- Redi Shade is my first stop (no, they are not paying me say that -- I'm completely serious).


So, be sure to come back tomorrow and I'll tell you all about the shade and maybe.........we'll just have give one away too. :)


Linking up to:
Mondays:Between Naps on the Porch ; C.R.A.F.T; Craft-O-Maniac; Keeping it Simple; Mad in Crafts; Making the World Cuter; The DIY Showoff; The Girl Creative Tuesdays:  All Thingz Related; House of Grace; I'm Topsy Turvy; Lucky Star Lane; Sugar Bee Craft Edition; The CSI Project; These Creative Juices; Today's Creative Blog Wednesdays:  Blue Cricket Design; Creations by Kara; Debbiedoos; Domestically Speaking; My Backyard Eden; Night Owl Crafting; Seven Thirty Three; Someday Crafts; The Thrifty Home; Trendy Treehouse Thursdays: Beyond the Picket Fence; Craftastical!; Fireflies & Jellybeans; House of Hepworths; Life as Lori; Somewhat Simple; The Shabby Chic Cottage Fridays:  Chic on a Shoestring; Finding Fabulous; Fingerprints on the Fridge; Frou Frou Decor; Frugal & Fabulous Design; It's a Hodge Podge Life; It's Fun to Craft!: Just a Girl; Remodelaholic; Simply Designing; The Shabby Nest; Tatertots & Jello Weekend:  A  Little Lovely; Be Different Act Normal; Funky Junk Interiors; House of Thrifty Decor; I Heart Naptime; Kuzak's Closet; Under the Table & Dreaming




Related Posts with Thumbnails