ENTRYWAY UPDATE

One of the things that I wasn't crazy about when we bought this house was the lack of an entryway. I don't need a grand foyer by any means, but stepping directly onto carpet from the outside just felt weird. 

(We hardly had the keys to the house for five minutes before I tore the valences down)🙈

It made a huge difference in the house when we replaced the old carpeting with a wood laminate. At first I wasn't sure about the idea of laminate floors because I was afraid they would look shiny or cheap, but they have been awesome! We went with a more distressed, rustic finish which really helps to make them look more like wood floors. The best part is that they are super durable. There isn't a single scratch from our German Shepherd skidding across them everyday!

I also added an entry table to help delineate the space and make it feel more like an entryway with a place for guests to leave their keys or shoes.

This mirror is a Restoration Hardware hack. I saw this mirror online, but there was no way I was going to spend $800 on it! I found a similar mirror at Kirkland's for $30. It's sold out now, but it may come back in stock. The main difference from the RH mirror is that this one doesn't come with a decorative hook. I made my own by painting an old cabinet knob from our kitchen with a hammered bronze spray paint. Then I glued the knob to a nail and lightly tapped it into the wall with a rubber mallet so I wouldn't scratch the paint.

(There's also this mirror at Wayfair for $65 if the one at Kirkland's doesn't get restocked)

I ordered this vase from World Market. I'm going to try to plant something in it soon, but I don't have the best track record with keeping plants alive, so we'll see how that goes…haha

HALLWAY UPDATE

          

     

I can't believe it has already been almost a year since we moved into our first home! This was actually the first house that we looked at when we started house hunting, but considering the fact that it hadn't been updated much since it was built in the eighties it kind of scared us off! We looked at so many houses, but we ended up coming back to this one because we loved the neighborhood so much. 

It was kind of intimidating thinking about the amount of work it would need, but I just started by making a long list of projects for the house. 

I also read a ton of online tutorials for the updates we were planning on doing because neither of us had much [any] experience😜

Here's a progress picture from after we painted and ripped out the carpets.

I had been dreaming of having a Moravian star light fixture since I'd first seen them on Pinterest, so I was so excited when Dane surprised me with one that I'd saved on my Amazon wish list! I was originally planning on putting it in the dining room, but when we went to hang it we realized it was way too small for that room so we ended up putting it in the hallway. I love the way that the light reflects on the walls and ceiling!

Dane volunteered to remove all of the decals around the house 🙌

I took the picture on the left on the day we got the keys to the house. If we'd only known what was under that carpet💀

I really wanted to do a gallery wall, so I ordered these black frames with matting from Ikea. They're only $6.99 each! I had the black and white pictures printed from Walmart.com and delivered to my house.  I love it because delivery is next to nothing and you can avoid going into the store!

I absolutely love Persian and Kilim rugs, but…I don't love their price tags. I've been mixing some natural fiber rugs in to balance out the cost. They're really reasonably priced, and they feel good on your feet, priorities. haha

More house updates to come!

                             

BRIDESMAID GIFT

For my first blog post, I thought I'd share how I created inexpensive gift boxes to ask my sisters to be my bridesmaids. (Like I really had to ask, haha)

I made my boxes for around ten dollars each because I already had a few of the items from other projects, but they can easily be made for under $15.

The cigar boxes are from a local antique store, but I've seen them online as well. I tried to find boxes that had a romantic theme.

The rose petal soaps are my favorite item from the boxes. They just look so beautiful and mesh well with the colors of the cigar boxes. I found mine at a Tuesday Morning store for $6.99, but you can also get them here at World Market.

The test tubes, tins, and jars for the bath salts are from Michael's. I also found the gold letter magnets there which really helped to personalize the boxes.

I wanted to add something sweet to the boxes as well that would still be pretty. I went with the Lindt chocolates because my sisters are very vocal about their chocolate preferences, must be a family trait...but Ferrero Rocher or macaroons would be good alternatives.

This pink candle from my older sister's box is also from the dollar store. We clearly have a special connection...haha. I printed the saying from a Word document and hot glued it to the candle. If you find it to be offensive, you can leave the candle as is, or write a personalized message to your bridesmaid.

Given the fact that 3 of my bridesmaids are underage, I decided to opt for mini sparkling cider bottles from the Dollar Store instead of champagne. I attached a straw from the Target dollar section with a ribbon.

I had to do a bit of searching online to find reasonably priced nail polish. I found that it was much more cost-effective to buy a set of minis instead of individual bottles. It took a little time to find a set that had a color I thought each of them would like, but I ended up finding an unopened set on Ebay.

I was originally going to use shredded paper filler to cover the bottom of the cigar boxes and nestle the items into it, but one of the cigar boxes I found at the antique store was already lined in felt and I loved the way it looked so I decided to do that for the others. I hot glued felt colors that would complement the colors of the cigar boxes and the other items.

I also added a thin piece of paper that I rolled into a scroll with a personalized note asking each of them to be my bridesmaid. (Spoiler: They said yes)

These are the free items I had around the house that I added:

Feather

Geode

Epsom salts

Straws-dollar section at Target

Black and White photo 

Ribbon

And, here are some other items that would be cute additions!

Vintage Handkerchief

Body Scrubs

Lip Balms

Mini Wine/Champagne bottle

Small Candle-dollar store

Macaroons

Keihl’s lotion

I hope this gives you some inspiration for your own bridesmaid gifts, or gift boxes for any occasion!