I Love A Good Copy Cat Find

So remember this lovely window fabric I posted about here? It hasn't left my head since.

Well as I was strolling through Pier 1 a couple weekends ago, I found these on sale for $12 a piece!

The pattern and the colors of the Pier One pillows are so reminiscent of the very expensive fabric from above. Yay for me!

And, a big thanks to Stephanie, who sent me the link of the original fun fabric! It's definitely a favorite, but just a little too pricey for me and the mr.!

xoxo

What's Good In Your Hood {Columbus}

We're headed to Ohio today. Columbus to be exact. Let's get to it : ) !

$60 {2} Shield Chairs

$50 Vintage Dresser

$30 Coffee Table

$30 Kitchen Table

$135 Desk

$35 Large Ornate Framed Mirror

$10 Lamp

$20 Chair

$30 Octagon End Table

I hope someone found something that might work perfectly for them! Columbus had some great things to offer. : ) If you want me to search your craigslist just send an email to Nuestravidadulce@gmail.com and I'll add it to the last.

Enjoy your Wednesday, friends.

xoxo

I Can Breathe A Sigh Of Relief

Turbo Tax is my new best friend and I will now be recommending it to everyone. I went from thinking we owed lots of money {yikes} to getting a small refund back {score!}.

It found deductions I would have never known about. I feel much better now. Whew! : )

xoxo

Three Cheese Manicotti

Mmm, mmm! I'm becoming quite the cook these days! Last week it was enchiladas and now this week it was manicotti {recipe spied here}!

Dave and I gave it two thumbs up and I will definitely make it again. Have a fabulous weekend everyone. ♥

xoxo

Bargain Bin

So while David and I were shopping for paint for our little DIY chevron fun, we...ok, I perused the bargain aisle at Michael's and found these great little geometric coasters for $1.oo! They are a baby pink color, which I don't love, but that's nothing a little paint can't fix!

Right now we are using them as coasters in our living room, but I could also see them sprayed any color of your liking and framed to make for some cheapie wall art. At $1 for all four of them, who could pass them up?

Oh, and I also scored some green and clear damask packing tape for a $1.00, too! : )

xoxo

What's Good In Your Hood {Philly}

Happy Wednesday and happy craigslist hunting. Our city of the day is Philadelphia!

$15 Mirror

{So easy to spray paint and make current!}

$100 Antique Dresser and Mirror

{Love it!}

$75 Table and {6} Chairs

$60 Long Dresser and Mirror

$70 Straight Lines Dresser-Solid Wood

If you want me to search your craigslist just shoot an email to Nuestravidadulce@gmail.com and I'll add it to the list.

Thanks for reading and I hope someone found something that caught their eye! : )

xoxo

Antique Mall Find

My sweet husband and I made a little stop off at my favorite Antique Mall this weekend and ventured out with this beauty for only $25!

She's going in the hallway soon, but I am still contemplating if I want to paint her or not. I really like the gold as-is, but spray paint is calling my name, too! : )

xoxo

Already Ready For Dinner

Mmm, mmmm--I am excited about these tonight! Usually Friday is our going out-to-eat night, but these are begging me to make them.

Happy Friday loves.

And a very special Happy 24th Birthday to the best sister-in-law in the world. David and I love you, Emily Ann!

xoxo

When The Time Comes

I hope that my future kid{s} will be as cute and stylish as hers. Seriously, her little guy and gal have the best wardrobe ever. Trust me, I'm taking notes.

Oh, and their mom? She's a pretty fabulous photographer and awesome decorator!

You gotta check out her blog! It is a pure delight! : )

xoxo

What's Good In Your Hood {Denver}

Happy Hump Day. It's one of my favorite days because now we can slide into the weekend. My students always freak out when I wish them a happy hump day! After I explain it's is hump-the noun, and not hump-the verb, they have a little laugh. : )

Anyhoo, let's get to it! Denver is such a gorgeous place, let's see if there are any good deals to be had!

$40 Lane Coffee Table

$225 Desk and Chair

{Pricier than I usually list, but I love the bamboo details!}

$30 Tufted Chair

$30 End Table

$30 Mirror

{This would be fun to repaint and make into a chalkboard}

$80 Dresser

$20 Long Dresser

$75 Buffet, Table, and Chairs

{Quite the deal!!!!}

$130 {9} Drawer Dresser

{This thing is huge!}

If you want me to search your craigslist just send an email to Nuestravidadulce@gmail.com and I'd be happy to add it to the list. I'm a bargain hunter, but if you have something specific or a budget I'd be happy to work with that to find that hidden gem. : )

xoxo

Office Makeover-Part 2 {What's That Pattern Called Again?}

Oh sweet Dave. I love that man so much. He's pretty much up for any DIY idea I have and I love him even that much more for it. For weeks, maybe months, I have wanted to paint a chevron pattern on our kitchen floor.

{image spied here}

This image has haunted me, guys. I was very close to doing it but then chickened out. I couldn't see spending that much energy on something that might be a fleeting trend, especially knowing me and my ever-changing tastes. So I decided to save my chevron for a later project.

As you all know the office is in the midst of a makeover and it hit me that this was the prime-o destination for some chevron pattern in our lives. I knew what colors I wanted and how I was going to go about painting, I just didn't know how I was going to figure out all that math. You see, I'm a Spanish teacher, and I do Spanish. My family likes to refer to me as "math stupid". I take absolutely no offense because I have the math skills of a 6th grader, maybe. Ha. You may think I'm joking but 6th grade is being generous.

Anyhoo, my sweet husband has a math brain and offered to help me with the planning! See, I told you I loved him so!

I first decided on these cheapie JCPenney drapes that cost under $20 a panel + a coupon, too! If the chevron pattern didn't work out on the first drape I had plans to return the rest. Easy peasy.

I showed David this West Elm rug and he kinda took it from there.

I know there was a lot of measuring and dividing and he somehow ended up with a template. He measured all of the drapes for me and I got to painting. I don't think you'll be able to see, but there are faint pencil markings for me to use as a guide.

Painting took what seemed like forever. 2 hours for each drape to be exact. You see, I painted them all by hand with no painter's tape to separate the black and white lines. Talk about needing a steady hand. I was too worried if I used spray paint or even regular paint with the tape that it would bleed and I wasn't willing to risk it.

I made a little trip to my favorite and pricey craft store and picked up a stiff brush and two bottles of black paint. I made sure that the paints were safe for fabrics and that's about it. I barely have any left so my estimations were pretty close.

And, if you've stuck with me this long, now here's the grand reveal! I've still got some arranging to do of my "stuff" which is on the agenda for this weekend!

It's pretty safe to say I'm in love with them!!!! And, there's still more to this office reveal, but that will have to wait just a little longer! : )

xoxo

Homegoods' Goodies

Thanks to my sweet sister-in-law and soon to be brother-in-law, I was the lucky recipient of a fabulous little gift card to one of my all time favorite stores, Homegoods! During Christmas break David and I visited said store and picked up this perfect little lacquer box that is sitting pretty in our new office. If you look closely you can see the new DIY drapes in the background! : ) Can you guess what pattern they are?

I was super excited to get that little box because it reminded me so much of a West Elm jewelry box that I just never got around to buying.

However, I was truly the lucky one because my look-a-like only cost $16! I'm pretty sure that the West Elm one was at one time close to $100. My procrastinating paid off because the West Elm one is no longer available.

Stay tuned this week for the rest of the office makeover! : ) Have a wonderful week, everyone!

xoxo

Office Makeover-Part 1

Wow. Looking back through some photos of our office makes me chuckle. It's so funny to see things I thought looked good, or see how we first started off. Take this photo for instance.

Just look at those bookcases! Eek. All those frames turned catty-corner...yikes. And the stuffed animals? Joi, come on! Who was telling me that was a good choice? Lots of things would change in this room as we saved up our money. Slowly we painted all of the trim and window coverings, ligth fixture, and furniture.

The color scheme managed to pretty much stay the same for the entire time--shocking, right? Now we see I took some liberties to make the bookshelves pop as I thought I learned the art of arranging items. Not half bad, but still not totally loving it. Oh, and as you see we were on to rug #2!

Then, not too long ago, as DIY projects started luring me I changed out our rolly chair { and took it to school } for a reupholstered and painted antique chair. Also, another rug came into the picture as well as a cheapie chandelier spray paint makeover!

So, I think I'm about ready to bring you up to date. Why yet another makeover? Well, seeing as David and I have joined the new millennium and both have laptops, there really is no need for two desks. David volunteered to move his out and then I just knew that everything needed to be changed. David is an avid book reader and lover so those bookcases found a new home in the basement where they actually house books! A functional decision instead of a decor based decision! Who knew I was capable of such?

So with that minor change, ideas came pouring in!

New paint color-check!
New credenza-check!
New/old desk-check!
New rug-check!
New draperies that I just cannot wait to share-check!
Chandelier makeover-check!
New/old lamps-check!

Before

After {Iron Mountain by Benjamin Moore} Sorry for the fuzzy pic!

Next came the sweet credenza I found at the Goodwill weeks ago! I had been checking on it weekly and decided to snatch it up when it was marked down to $17.50. And those lamps..they used to be a hideous brassy/black and I sprayed them with a Valspar teal color. They were a great little deal at only $12 for the set! The shades are uneven because I was trying to decide which one I liked better. I ended up going with the shade style on the right! I found the shades at Garden Ridge for $14.99-such a great price.

I finally admitted that the pink wasn't working and adapted the light to favor a more subdued white! Also, although I loved my $30 Walmart rug, I knew I needed something more substantial to anchor the room and went with a sisal choice from Home Depot purchased with a gift card! : )

Also, I adapted the desk seating and spray painted one of the three free chairs I found in my grandparents' neighborhood to a bright yellow. The fabric I chose was on sale for $13 a yard and I reupholstered it in a snap. If you recall, that same chair's twin is hanging out in our master bedroom, as well!

The old black desk headed downstairs to house our desktop computer and the repainted white one came up. The black just wasn't working with the new dark gray walls.

Thanks for reading if you made it this far! I have a few more surprises for you in the rest of the reveal, so please come back to see more. My absolute favorite part of the office are the DIY drapes. They are fabulous-promise. I am so, so excited--just wait and I hope you'll agree!

xoxo

Who Would've Thought?

Not me, that's for sure. I never in a million, trillion years would've pegged myself as a goodwill/salvation army stalker. I go in there weekly to scope out the sleeper deals. If you asked the Joi 5 years ago if she would enjoy thrifting she would've laughed! Now, it's one of my absolute favorite things! And, the ones I frequent always have great stuff...lucky me!

My newest find was worth every penny of its $1.99 price tag. I don't know what about it spoke to me, but I had to have it! It's a handmade piece from the 1970's and I adore the colors. : )

Are you a thrift store shopper? If so, have you always loved it or are you a recent convert like me?

xoxo