Save Ferris

My dear dear friend (who is also the creator of the doorbell and bird-mobile posts on this blog)
was featured on Apartment Therapy!!
She is an AMAZING photographer as I'm sure you can tell by this amazing photo [which is for sale in her etsy shop bytheway]

Oh... and all proceeds from the sales of the prints go towards their son Cash's medical bills.
He has C.A.H. [which means he spends waaay more time in the ER/Dr's than any little human being should]
You can read more about him HERE

Congrats Yellow House!
[that's dear friend's blog by the way. You should visit it, especially if you're a photography buff]

Pillows

Doing a Living Room makeover in our "new" house (only took me 9 months to get around to it!)
Here are the pillows I made last night:

Both are made from Joann's canvas outdoor fabric (which is 19.99 a yard so get it on sale at half off like I did or use a coupon), and dark green felt strips.
The above picture also features striped green Walmart fabric for the bow

Would you believe that the white couch these are on is actually a worn out couch we've had waaay too long with just a large CA king blanket over it?! Until I find an affordable white/cream leather couch **cuz leather = wipeable = less stains/messes = more kid friendly** this will have to do! Upside? blanket tucks in to look like slipcover, and UNtucks to wash in the washer!

Total cost of these pillows:

Canvas fabric: $3.50 (got 1/3 yard)

Striped fabric: FREE- already had but I think it's around $2 a yard a Walmart for those of you interested.I  only used 4" (width) 

Green Felt: FREE-already had, but I used 1/3 yard and this is VERY inexpensive especially with 50% off coupons. $1??ish

TOTAL: $3.50!
Even though every layer of these pillows was an afterthought (making these projects take 3X's as  long as they should have.... basically ALL night) I.am.in.love.
and I am my own worst critic so that's saying something!

Unique Valentines Gift

  

Happy Valentines Day my friends ♥

p.s. Wouldn't this make a great gift ANY day/holiday of the year?!

Cousin Eric & CoCo Bean pay us a visit

My cousin Eric and his uber lovely family are paying us a visit today from the land of YouTube.
Enjoy these hilarious clips :)

Skinny Jeans:


Ted Williams Remake:


And lastly... one of my personal favs... Daddy's work:



Go HERE to see the most popular clip "THE KID WORKOUT"
and I wouldn't be a good cousin if I didn't give you a plug: Go subscribe and leave a comment on what Daddy and son should do next! 

The Yellow House spotlight with Vday Cards!

One of my dearest, very bestest, go-way-back, grew up together, friends has an oh so lovely blog and today she has some super cute Valentines Day Cards for you to print out for FREE!



Meet: CIERRA

And her "so cute he should be on a cereal box" son: CASH

Cash has CAH {Congenital Adrenal Hyperplasia}
You can read about his story HERE
In a nutshell... Cash is on several medications for life so he can produce the proper amount of hormones and if he is ever under any physical stress {cold, flu, sickness, injury, etc} he has to have an emergency shot to save his life.
All of this means Cash goes the ER more than any baby ever should! And that he is constantly being poked and prodded... so much so that his poor little veins are having a hard time taking it all.

Medical bills are taking their toll so sweet Cierra {who is an amazing photographer} opened an Etsy shop in which all proceeds go to help pay for those mounting medical bills.

Here's a sneak peak:

{Cierra, I lovers you ♥ You are an inspiration to many! }

Go check out her Yellow House 365 blog HERE :)

Clock Face

In case any of you are new here I figured I'd best specify that there are 3 of us that blog here (Debbie, Cierra, & Stephanie).... hence all the varying stories and such :) Anywho....
Remember my clock face tutorial?
Were ya wonderin' where I ended up putting it?

Well wonder no more my friend :)

Mucho luvs

-Stephanie-

p.s. Be sure to head on over to Cierra's other blog to check out her amazing giveaway!

The One with the Holiday Wreath

I've been absentee on this blog, I know, I know.
But all that matters is that I'm posting now, right? Please forgive me? K thanks. Besides, what I have to show you is pretty awesome.

What I love about this wreath is that you can have it up all year long,
depending on how you embellish it.

It's feminine without being too girlie
(my husband's not a fan of a lot of "frilly" things,
so this is a good balance.)

Plus, it's made from the pages of thrifted,
vintage books. Three of my favorite things!

So follow the link HERE to read the tutorial.
I have to warn you though, get more glue then you think you need.
I have a mini glue gun & I used (I think. . .) about 4 bags.

Seriously. And I burned my fingers. A lot.
Hopefully you will be more skilled with a glue gun than I am. :)

One more thing before we get to the photos,
this wreath might take you a while.
I sprawled out on my living room floor with a movie playing
after the bambino went to sleep so that I could
burn my fingers for hours & hours uninterrupted.
But I think it turned out quite lovely.

Now for an explanation if you have the time to read on.
I have been M.I.A. from this lovely blog for while for many reasons.
There has been a lot going on & if you want to read more about it, check it out here: theyellowhouse365.blogspot.com

I'm also doing a pretty sweet giveaway.
So stop in & say hello.
xoxo

How to create a Favicon

Hey blogland! What a hiatus!! Can I just say that when it rains.... it POURS! and to top it aaaall off, my computer crashed a few months ago and took the hard drive with it. :(

But today I got my computer back, my photoshop back, and consequently my BLOG back!! YAY!

You'll be noticing some changes around here in the next few days as I update the blog. One of those changes... (if you haven't noticed already) is our new FAVICON!!! What's a favicon you ask?? Look at the top of the screen in the address bar where you see our blog address and look at that cute littel baby image next to our address (http://www.alchemyjunk...etc) 

Here are a few other examples

It's seriously easy. ANYONE can do it! The Stories of A to Z (One of my fav deco blogs) has a super easy tutorial and I'm gonna send you her way rather than explain it myself :)

So CLICK HERE if you haven't already clicked on the link above.

Ahhh it's good to be back!!

-Stephanie

Small Shabby Chic Cottage

Remember those beautiful pics of that romantic bed loft and books shelf perched in the vaulted ceilings?
 Well I recently found the story behind that stunning house and would you believe that the entire house is only 9 x 14 and was renovated and decorated for only $3,000!!!

And the cute little lady that owns it doesn't even live in it full time as it has no kitchen, heating, or air. 

She calls it "my refuge" because she really lives in a TRAILER

and everything needed to renovate and furnish the place had to be hand carried across a small stream! CLICK HERE to read the full story from the NY Times and CLICK HERE for a slideshow of more amazing pics including her trailer and the stream that seperates her trailer and the cottage

Inspiration Pics

Hey all! Guess who's done hiding under a rock! :) Sorry we've all been M.I.A. It's been a chaotic, drama-filled few months but things have been settled for a month or so. I feel rested and ready to blog again! I'm sure the others will follow suite shortly. If you only knew the drama with a CAPITAL D we've all been through! And what are the odds that Cierra, Debbie, and I would all be handed lemons at the same time?! anyway.....

I've been scouring blog land, google, bing, etc for  inpsiration because......... WE'RE GETTING A HOUSE!!! We'll be moving in within a month and I can't wait to start decorating!! I'm soooo ready to blog about decorating again! So, over the next few weeks I'll post my inspiration pics (my camera and computer with my photoshop on it is 5 states away with my hubby for another month so copy/paste will have to do for now :)I'll post original pics when my camera/photoshop come home to momma! (momma misses you)

anyway...

As some of you may know, I'm Danish so I like searching through Scandinavian blogs as the pics are what I like to consider, "fresh meat".  A lot of my inspiration pics will come from there. Hope you all enjoy the eye candy until I get my camera, computer, and life back over the next month. (Debbie, Cierra, help a girl out and lets get posting!)

----

First off... a few pics from VINTAGE CHIC-stines blog One of my FAVE Norwegian blogs.

These pics she grabbed from The New York Times

I gotta say I'm not a huge "romantic decor" fan. It's something I'd do in my girls rooms but not through out my whole house. However I'd move into this house in less than a heartbeat given the chance!

 LOOOOOVE the book loft! Genius.

----

And although I'm not doing any cowboy themed rooms these next pics are definitely worth sharing!

They come from DEJA VU CRAFTS

LOVE the colors. Especially the blue. Most people I think would have opted for brown or black (on the bed and dresser) which would have looked nice but that color blue is oh-so-much-better given that it's a little boys room.

scrap wood turned coat hanger

It's all in the details. She could have gotten away with knobs but the rope pulls are much more country and look so cute!

I've gotta tell you... I'm extremely picky when it comes to decorating and it takes more to impress me than I'd like to admit. That being said, I think she did an amazing job!! She hit the nail right on the head! I don't think I've ever seen a cuter cowboy themed room.

John Deere Themed Baby Shower

I threw a John Deere themed baby shower for my sister back in March and completely forgot to share the pics until now. We went with a John Deere theme because:

1. her hubby is studying to be a diesel mechanic and loves tractors

and 2. her hubby's name is Jon :) We thought that was funny

We sent out these invites which I designed in Photoshop and then had printed at Costco as "pictures" so they only cost me .13 cents each! I think I spent a total of like $3 something.

In our family we rarely throw "regular" baby showers. We've done dinners parties, gone out to eat, had a cheese tasting party, and for this one we did a chocolate tasting party!

We served chocolate dipped fruit, donuts, jalepenos, and chips for appetizers

We carved tire tracks into the donuts

And we served the drinks in bottles with green and yellow straws.
(which we later cleaned and gave to her for her new baby boy)

Our theme colors were green, yellow, and brown (with bits of cream as an accent color) so we served lemonade & chocolate milk!

Our centerpieces were rusted iron baskets which we stuffed with raffia and rolled up diapers to mimic flowers (which also went to the new mom).

We used burlap as an underlay on the tables and a striped green fabric on top.

We bought some Lindt specialty chocolate bars at our local grocery store and cut them up into bite size pieces for our guests to try.

We had 9 really fun flavors including a Sea Salt Chocolate which had bits of rock salt in it. A Chili Dark Chocolate which was a spicy dark chocolate. A White Chocolate Coconut which surprised even the white chocolate haters. It was Delish! and a bit gritty from the mashed coconut. and of course a really really Dark Chocolate (85%) which was so dark it was like eating straight cocao. 

and we cleansed our palate inbetween samples with sliced lemon and lime 

(which again brought in the yellow and green thing we had going on)


All in all it was a blast! You can't go wrong with friends and chocolate :)

Pottery Barn Bedroom for Less

While browsing through the PB summer catalog I found THIS lovely bedroom I absolutely fell in love with!  

The nearly $1600 (not including artwork) price tag? Not so much. 

Here's my picks on how to get this look for le$$

LINKS

PB Starfish bedding

IKEA Bed

TARGET jute rug

HOME DEPOT rug

TARGET glass table 
PB Cooper Mat 
SANDHILL wood basket
ALL POSTERS Monet painting
ART.COM Van Gogh painting

My total INCLUDING selected artwork? $642.84 
OR $442.74 if you opt for the cheaper and slightly smaller rugs.  
Same great look without the hefty price.

List of MckLinky Parties

McKlinky parties to everything from Fashion, Crafts, DIY, Decorating and much more!
Use this list to link up your project fast and easy

MONDAY
Cottage Instincts- http://cottageinstincts.blogspot.com/
Twice Remembered- http://twiceremembered.blogspot.com/
Between Naps On The Porch- http://betweennapsontheporch.blogspot.com/
The Persimmon Perch- http://thepersimmonperch.blogspot.com/
Thrifty Decor Chic- http://thriftydecorchick.blogspot.com/
Made By You- http://skiptomylou.org/
Just something I whipped up- http://thegirlcreative.blogspot.com/
Making the World Cuter- http://makingtheworldcuter.blogspot.com/
Market Yourself Monday- http://sumossweetstuff.blogspot.com/
The Graphics Fairy- http://thegraphicsfairy.blogspot.com/ *Can only post projects that contain her free graphics
Make My Style- http://avidaccents.blogspot.com/ (Fashion projects)
Keeping it Simple- http://craftskeepmesane.blogspot.com/
Modern Craftswoman Monday- http://toolsareforwomentoo.blogspot.com/

TUESDAY
Talented Tuesday- http://theherberfamily.blogspot.com/
Get Your Craft On- http://todayscreativeblog.blogspot.com/
Timeless Tuesday- http://paulagracedesigns.blogspot.com/
DIY Day- http://asoftplace.net/
TootYour Horn Tuesday- http://sillylittlesparrow.com/
Make It Yours- http://mybackyardeden.blogspot.com/
It's So Very Cheri- http://itssoverycheri.blogspot.com/
Trash to Treasure- http://reinventedkb.com/
Power of Paint- http://domesticallyspeaking.blogspot.com/
Take A Look- http://craftedition.blogspot.com/
Tuesday Talent Show- http://myhouseofgiggles.blogspot.com/
Tutorial Tuesdays- http://hopestudios.blogspot.com/
Lucky Linky Tuesday- http://luckystarlane.com/

Wednesday
Beyond the Picket Fence- http://beyondthepicketfence.blogspot.com/
Show and Tell- http://bluecricketdesign.net/
Penny Pinching Party- http://thethriftyhome.com/ (frugal ideas only)
Someday Crafts- http://somedaycrafts.blogspot.com/
Idea Sharing Wednesday- http://womenwhodoitall.blogspot.com/
A little craft therapy- http://lanieree.blogspot.com/
Boardwalk Broadfest- http://bobbypinsboardwalk.blogspot.com/
Make It Yours- http://mybackyardeden.blogspot.com/

Thursday
Strut Your Stuff- http://somewhatsimple.com/
Life As Lori- http://lifeaslori.blogspot.com/
Tales from Bloggeritaville- http://lbratina.blogspot.com/
Beyond the Picket Fence- http://bec4-beyondthepicketfence.blogspot.com/
The Shabby Chic Cottage- http://theshabbychiccottage.net/
Make it Wear it- http://thetraintocrazy.com/ (fashion projects)
I Made It- http://everythingetsy.com/
My Creative Space http://kootoyoo.blogspot.com
House of Hepworths- http://houseofhepworths.com

Friday
Miss Mustard Seed- http://missmustardseed.blogspot.com/ (painted furntiture party)
Finding Fabulous- http://decormamma.blogspot.com/
I'm A Creative Cat- http://poppiesatplay.blogspot.com/
The Shabby Nest- http://shabbynest.blogspot.com/
Remodaholics- http://remodaholic.com/
Categorically Crafting- http://somedaycrafts.blogspot.com/ (different category every week)
Linky Loves Friday- http://sweetcharlie.blogspot.com/
Feature Yourself Fridays- http://fingerprintsonthefridge.blogspot.com/
It' a Hodgepodge Friday- http://itsahodgepodgelife.blogspot.com/
Show off your Stuff- http://firefliesandjellybeans.blogspot.com/
Fab Fridays- http://frugalandfabulousdesign.blogspot.com/

Saturday
Funky Junk Interiors- http://funkyjunkinteriors.blogspot.com/
Check Me Out Saturday- http://iamonly1woman.blogspot.com/
Saturday Soiree- http://alittlelovelyblog.blogspot.com/

Sunday
Under The Table and Dreaming- http://bystephanielynn.com/

If you know of any that I missed leave a comment and I'll add it to this list.

Thanks!

How to make a clickable header in Blogger

Wanna have a clickable header?!

 Look no further! Super easy tutorial to follow.

What is a clickable header you may ask?

Well look at the top of my page to try mine out!

Here is a pic of my NEW clickable header

And here is a pic of my OLD NON clickable header. My links were UNDER the header and in plain text.

.

Rather than explain how I did it I'm going to send you straight to the original source. I've long been a fan of Kari at The Snails Trail and she recently posted about it. Her post is easy to follow and complete with pictures and all!

Good Luck!

If you change your header to a clickable one let me know! I'd love to pop over and take a gander. Leave a comment with your blog address

Creating a Button for your Blog

Adding a Button to your blog is a great way to advertise.

[A button is a clickable image that leads others to your blog. Like the one I have in the top right corner]

If you already know the basics and are just looking for the HTML coding scroll down to the bottom of this post. I have included codes for BOTH types of Buttons: Grab My Button & Regular Button

There are 2 types of buttons: a Grab Button, and a Regular Button

Both are really easy to create

But first you will need to create an image (for which you will need Photoshop, Illustrator, or something along those lines)
Pxlr is a great online open image editor. And it's FREE! Woo hoo! You can also use Phoenix or Photoshop Online.
You will also need an account with Photobucket or any other image uploading website. (the basic accounts are free)

My tutorial will be with a Photobucket account.

First Upload your image to Photobucket.

 (Make sure you saved it in JPEG format and that your image is NO bigger than the width of your sidebar! An average sidebar is around 180-220 pixels. A good sized button will be around 200 x 200 pixels. give or take)

Find your image and click on it. It will automatically upload for you.

CLICK SAVE

Next, find your image in your account and click on the SHARE button

A pop up box will appear.

Click on the GET LINK CODE button

Then copy the DIRECT LINK code to your clipboard by either right clicking or clicking Ctrl C.

That is the HTML code you need to complete the rest of your button.

Next, you will need  to copy and paste the following code into your blog by clicking ADD A GADGET and then selecting the HTML GADGET.

CLICK HERE for the BUTTON CODES!

blogger was being dumb & not letting me post the codes. It was trying to read them and getting confused I think. GOOGLE DOCS to the rescue!

Creating a 3 Column Blog

Since I've been doing a lot of renovating 'round these parts (you like?) I thought I'd share with you some of my tips I've picked up along the way. I'm self taught so what I do may/may not be "by the book"

with that in mind....

HERE IS A GREAT TUTORIAL on how to switch to a 3 Column Blog (one with 2 sidebars)

*It might be a good idea to create yourself a private "TEST BLOG" where you can play around without it affecting your real blog. Mine is titled alchemyjunktestblog

Here's a screenshot of the website

These tutorials work even if you have a background such as a "cutestblogontheblock" background. Although I HIGHLY recommend removing the background temporarily while you add the third column.

I hope this helps! If you have questions feel free to ask. I'd go through it step by step for you but this website does it so much better than I ever could :)

and.... It's waaay easier than you think! There are only 3 or 4 steps.

If I can do it... YOU CAN!

***Adding some spacing in between the columns***
Once you've added your third column you may want to add some spacing in between the sidebars and main posting area. (Mine were too squished together) To do this CLICK HERE for this tutorial. Again, it's 1 simple step. very easy to do. 

Readin' and Ritin'

*Custom Chalkboard Paint Recipe is in the middle of this post... scroll down*

I can't believe it has been over a month since I posted.......

lot's going on

but I know it is the same with each of you.

 This I know:

 God is good.

 God listens.

 God hears our prayers.

 Family is everything.

I am so grateful for ALL things.

So here is what I made:

A chalkboard.

I know.

You been there.

You done that.

I tweaked it.

I started with this delicious found object.

Love the patina.

Didn't like the chalkboard paint choices.

Made my own.

Custom Colors How-To

Start with flat-finish latex paint in any shade. For small areas, such as a door panel, mix 1 cup at a time. Recipe is 1 Cup of paint + 2 Tbsp of unsanded grout. double or quadruple as necessary.

My color choice: Moss Meadow from Benjamin Moore

My grout choice

1. Pour 1 cup of paint into a container. Add 2 tablespoons of unsanded tile grout. Mix with a paint stirrer, carefully breaking up clumps

*side note: (I used luan for my project and cut it to size)

Here is a pic of the project ready to paint!

2. Apply paint with a roller or a sponge paintbrush to a primed or painted surface. Work in small sections, going over the same spot several times to ensure full, even coverage. Let dry. (I painted 4 coats. Not necessary, I just felt like painting.)

3. Smooth area with 150-grit sandpaper, and wipe off dust.

4. To condition: Rub the side of a piece of chalk over entire surface. Wipe away residue with a barely damp sponge.

You now have your own custom colored chalkboard!

To finish my project I used Gorilla Glue to glue the now painted Luan to my found object

Follow directions when using the glue.

glue EXPANDS!

You like?