Stripes, Navy, and Paisley

Are you ready for the next part of the bathroom makeover? Last week I announced that I was going to feature a different part of the makeover each week until the big reveal. If you missed part 1 (paint) and part 2 (ORB glass jars) you can check them out here and here.

Now onward!

This week I’m going to show off all the “linens” that were added to the room.

Starting with my favorite: the shower curtain!

I’d originally wanted one with bold navy and white stripes, but I couldn’t find one…and then I found this one at Target. It’s perfect! And I had a gift card, so it was free to me!

Next up are the towels.

I didn’t get my navy shower curtain, but I did get my navy towels! I found these at Kohl’s. They were half-off plus I had a $10 off $10 purchase coupon, so I scored a great deal on them.

And finally, the rug.

Honestly, I like the rug, but I don’t love it. It’s not the exact look I was going for. But a rug definitely finishes a space and for only $20 it’ll hold me over until I find what I really want.

I am loving how the bathroom is turning out. I can’t believe it used to look like this:

Yuck!

Next week I’m going to show y’all what this looks like now.

Get In My Belly

If you follow me on Pinterest you know that I have a board called Yummy (and you can tell when I’m hungry because there will be like 5 recipe pins in a row). One day I said to myself, “Self, why don’t we actually make some of those recipes instead of just drooling over the pictures?” And so I decided to put on my apron (figuratively) and get cookin’.

The first recipe I tried was Baked Avocado Fries. Let me start by saying I love avocado! If you’ve been a follower since February you’ve already heard me declare my love for avocadoes. So of course I had to try avocado fries!

Review: Meh…they weren’t nearly as good as I was expecting. When I looked back at the original recipe I noticed that she sliced the avocado into larger chunks than I did. That probably would have made a big difference. Mine were too much breadcrumbs, not enough good stuff. They also could have used more seasoning. I thought they were a little blah.

I only needed to buy an avocado to make these (hooray for cheap side dishes) and the recipe was easy to follow. However, 20 minutes was way too long to cook them. Maybe it’s because I only used 1 avocado, but mine were ready in less than 12 minutes.

I’m going to try these again, but next time I’m going to slice them thicker and season them differently. I’ll let you know how they turn out.

The next recipe I tried was Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Cheesecake. Doesn’t that just sound amazing?! How can you go wrong with cookie dough and cheesecake? You can’t IMO.

Review: Heaven in my mouth! I wanted to sit in front of the TV and eat the whole pan. That would have been amazing! Unfortunately, the entire pan would have been 120 points! So, I had to cut them up into 12 pieces (10 points each) and only eat one piece…

The recipe is really easy to follow and I had most of the ingredients on hand. The only things I did differently were using salted butter instead of unsalted and I had to bake mine for longer than 30 minutes. I’m smiling just thinking about them...

This recipe is definitely going in the “keeper” pile!

I have a lot more pinned recipes that I’d like to try. If y’all are cool with this post I’ll definitely share how they turn out. Have you tried any of the recipes you found on Pinterest?

Birthday Bedding

I finally spent the birthday money I’ve been hoarding for the last month. You know you’re getting old when you spend your birthday money on bedding. But it was the only way I could justify dropping $100 on a comforter. That and the fact that the West Elm one I originally wanted was way more expensive.

West Elm Pintuck Duvet Cover

King Duvet - $119

King Sham  - $24 each

Total - $167 (not including duvet insert and bed skirt)

So, I went searching online and found a similar version at Target. It was cheaper than the West Elm version and it included the shams and bed skirt. And it was a comforter, so no insert necessary. Ding Ding Ding, I think we have a winner!

I went to 3 different Targets before I finally found it in a king size. If I was smart I would have looked on their website to see which store had them in stock, but that would be too easy…

Of course it came out of the bag wrinkly and smelling a little funky, so I had to wash and iron it.

(half ironed)

Let me tell ya, ironing this bad boy sucked! But I think it looks a lot better.

Before you see this…yes, I know I need a headboard.

I’m so happy with my decision. It makes me smile every time I walk by. I was a little annoyed that there were some dirty spots on it when I pulled it out of the bag (let’s be a little more careful in the factory please), but they aren’t really noticeable once it’s on the bed. And I can always bleach it.

And yes, I could have sewed one myself and saved even more money. I’ve seen some great knockoffs out there, but I don’t really have the time. It’s already taken me 3 months to buy one. Who knows how long it’d take if I had to make it…

So what does my boyfriend think?

“Of course it's white”

 =)

Gone Social

Yep, I finally gave in.

All the cool kids are doing it.

You can now ‘like’ The Junk House on facebook!

You can also follow my boards on Pinterest!

Thanks Lesley for the invite!

If you haven’t joined Pinterest and need an invite, leave me a comment with your e-mail and I’ll hook ya up!

In other news, remember when I showed off all the goodies I got from the Faith Hope and Charity Swap? And I said that I still hadn’t sent Cassandra her items? Well, I finally did! You can check them out here.

I believe Lakota is planning another swap before Christmas. I’m definitely signing up again! You should too!

200+ Follower Giveaway!

***CLOSED***

Sponsored by

I can’t believe I have over 200 followers! Yay!

And to thank y'all for putting up with me following my blog, I’ve got a sweet giveaway planned!

Who doesn’t love getting packages in the mail?

That’s what I thought.

So, today’s giveaway will be for 2 lovely prizes!


The first prize is from Our Creative Hands! Rachel is offering a handmade, hand painted 5-peg wood shelf from her shop.

This wood shelf measures 33 1/2x6x9 sanded, stained and varnished includes 5 pegs with 2 large saw toothed hangers on back of shelf for hanging. Sanded for a primitive appearance. Shelf color is black.

The second prize is from me!

 

I’m giving away one letter of your choice (just like the ones from my gallery wall) and a necklace I “made”. I call it Lucky in Love. 

Just to recap, one winner will receive:
Handmade Shelf from Our Creative Hands
One letter of Choice
Lucky in Love necklace

The shelf and letter/necklace will be shipped separately, so you’ll have 2 packages to look forward to!

Here’s How to Win:

(please leave a separate comment for each entry) 

• Follow The Junk House  (1 entry)

• Sign up for Our Creative Hand’s newsletter  (1 entry)

• Like The Junk House on facebook (1 entry)

• Post about this giveaway on your blog (include link in your comment) (1 entry)

4 chances to win!

I will verify each entry.  I tried to make the rules as simple as possible, please follow them.

Giveaway will close Sunday, August 7^th at midnight (AZ time). The winner will be chosen via Random.org and will be announced Monday morning. I’ll e-mail the winner (please leave an e-mail address if not on your profile). US and Canada Only. Sorry everyone else =(

Jar(s) of Hearts

This post has nothing to do with hearts. I just really like that song. If I ever go through another breakup I’m going to play that song on repeat…and Rolling in the Deep by Adele. Anywhoo, back to my jars.

I found these glass jars at EV Lutheran Thrift for $3.00 total. I think I found one each week for 3 weeks. At the time I didn’t have a project in mind, but I liked them, so I bought them.  

Before

$0.50

$0.50

$2.00

I taped up the glass parts and primed:

I sprayed them down with Krylon’s ORB and Minwax Poly.

I filled the jars with q-tips, cotton balls, and bath crystals.

Love! For only $3 I ended up with the perfect finishing touch for my bathroom makeover.

Speaking of my bathroom makeover...

Every week I’m planning to feature a different part of the makeover; working my way up to the big reveal. This is only part one!

Sam vs. Palm

Have you ever started a project and immediately wished you’d hired someone instead?

That’s how I felt after I decided I could trim my own palm tree…

A couple weeks ago I got a “friendly reminder” from my HOA. I had 2 weeks to trim the dead fronds off my palm tree or else. Ok, it didn’t say “or else” but I’m pretty sure that’s what it meant.

So, of course I wait until last minute because I think it’ll be really easy. They are dead so I should be able to just pull them off. The tree isn’t that tall, so I might not even need a ladder!

WRONG!

One pull on the frond and I realize it isn’t happening. So, now I need the big clippers and a ladder. I have to climb to the top of the ladder (not the very top, I'm not that stupid) to get close enough to cut the fronds off. They aren’t even easy to cut! I have to put all my body weight into the clippers to cut through the stems, which then makes the ladder wobbly. Long story short, it took me a (wobbly) hour to cut through 12 of them!

And I was drenched in sweat by the time I was done. Did I mention it was hot out?

All trimmed up! I hope you’re happy HOA!

Next time I’m hiring a tree service….