Tiny DIY Fail: Sound Off!

What I'm sharing today definitely doesn't count as a giant FAIL in the classic sense, although I've had my fair share of those, all of which stem from the fact that I know what I'm doing only about 7.5% of the time. Eh, fake it 'til you make it, right?

Anyhoosies, I've mentioned several times that I had grand plans to build my own little version of IKEA's Hemnes Sofa Table. I bought the material, made "The Plan," and then psyched myself up... for a month or two. (It's cold here in the winter, y'all. I can think of 17,543 things I'd rather do more than stand in my garage in snowy weather with a rapidly freezing runny nose filled with sawdust. Sounds tempting, no? I do love to paint a picture with words.)

I finally got tired of waiting, even though the trees are all still bare here in Narnia my town and the near constant wind is insisting on ruining my best laid dress-wearing-cute-hair plans. It's sort of springy... kind of.  Temperatures in the low 40's count, right?

This week I built my sofa table, and it looks nice except for one thing...the legs.

Oy, the legs. Or "squatty toadstool hooves," as I lovingly call them. You see, I changed some things to "The Plan" last minute and I thought I had adjusted everything but forgot to adjust the leg length to reflect the wider trim. So now instead of a few inches of leg showing at the bottom, I was left with those. Bah.

What do YOU think?

I am thinking about cutting some extra pieces of wood just an inch or two long and carefully adding them to the bottom, then puttying and sanding the heck out of them with my magic seam-disappearing skills. Like permanent elevator shoes for my table. I don't want it to be crazy tall, just a teensy bit leggier. I've got carpet, guys! Those suckers will literally disappear and I'll have a miraculously floating squat table behind my couch if I don't do something.

Also, please know that if I do decide to add some length to the legs, by the time I share the plan and instructions with you I will have meticulously updated "The Plan" to reflect the new, improved measurements. That way my sofa table will be the only one needing therapy for its height issues.

While I mull my options though, I thought I'd see if anyone else had any brilliant ideas to fix my little 'oops' that were better than my brother-in-law's first suggestion of 'sell it and build another one.'

I don't like building stuff that much, dude. No thanks.

My Piano Bench Gets a Quick Fix

Long before my parent's piano came to live at my house a few years ago, its matching bench that I remember taking ill-fated piano lessons on as a child gave up the ghost. It was replaced with a black bench complete with a snazzy cream leatherette seat.

I was not a fan. Especially after it started to show some wear and tear.

I've had plans to fix it up for a long time, but nothing serious until I stumbled across some fabric recently at my local Home Fabrics store. They carry a lot of discontinued fabrics, so their stock is always changing and they can be a fun place to waste a couple hours on a rainy morning while your kids are in school.

The fabric that I found was linen, a chocolate brown and aqua Ikat - I have no idea who made it or what it was called, I just know that there was only a yard or so left and I paid $3 for it. Score.

I sanded the piano bench well and brushed on some oil-based primer before spraying it with Rustoleum's Heirloom White. The whole project, including recovering the cushion, took me less than a couple hours.

I love easy fixes, especially when they cost less than $10!

Sharing this post at The Shabby Nest, Decor Chick, Thrifty Decor Chick

My Birthday Cake: Rooting for the Underdog

(Note: Did you notice that I didn't post the decorating with... collections post yesterday? I checked the schedule, and it turns out that I was a week ahead anyway. Oops. So I spent the day recovering from Easter, and I'll post it on its originally scheduled date of May 2. Hope that's okay!)

Earlier this month, I asked for help deciding what type of birthday cake to bake. Well, the poll is closed and the cake was baked last week.

Here's the incredibly important, ridiculously official poll's results:

And... here's my cake.

Let me explain.

 I have a thing for the underdog in any game. So I sort of squished the winner and the loser together and made a chocolate raspberry cake topped with ganache, like the mousse cake. Oy. I felt so bad for the poor chocolate raspberry cake. It was like walking into the pound and seeing rows of sad little kittens and puppies, except imagine they were all squished into one giant chocolate-flavored sad baby animal.

This is why I don't like making decisions!

As for the cake itself, it was good. It wasn't phenomenal in my opinion (other people really seemed to like it a whole bunch though), but that might have had more to do with my overwhelming poll-induced guilt and the fact that I'm actually not that big a fan of cakes in general. (I do love carrot cake but I think that has more to do with the cream cheese frosting and less to do with the produce in the cake). Maybe I need therapy?

I used a boxed Devil's Food cake mix to make the cake, because I'm all about cutting corners. I cut it into four layers, and topped it with a mixture of a raspberry filling and ganache. Then I covered the finished cake with more ganache. Finally I added a few raspberries on top for cuteness factor, and in a desperate last ditch effort to lessen my guilt. It didn't work.

I used the raspberry filling recipe from Our Life in the Kitchen.

And the quick microwave ganache recipe from Our Best Bites.

Don't hate me, okay?

Basic H Giveaway {Winners}

Ohhh, what a weekend. I do love Easter. I hope you all had a fabulous time with your loved ones.

I don't have the last "Decorating with..." post ready to publish just yet, and on an entirely unrelated note, I'm never drinking champagne again.

And I might start packing emergency sewing kits in my car, or even just taking along emergency backup clothing -- because driving to church and stepping out of your car, only to have your dress strap break in the middle of the street and show off your lady undergarments? Not the best start to a Sunday.

So, while we're all waiting for me to get my act together, I thought I'd at least placate you by announcing the winners of the Basic H sample from Bonnie at House of Grace.

So here they are, courtesy of random.org:

Comment #18 - Elaine

Comment #17 - Grunged, Glittered, n' Branded

Comment #20 - Abby

Comment #28 - Bonnie

Comment #7 - beanbag - my very own sister, awww!

Congratulations ladies, please email your information to Bonnie at [email protected] to collect your free samples!

What a Day...

We woke up this morning, Good Friday and Earth Day, to this outside our windows...



But inside, my living centerpiece and its transplanted grape hyacinth is thriving in a warm, sunny spot.

I'll be spending the day working on a cake,

dying eggs with boys,

and looking forward to a wonderful Easter Sunday.

I hope you have a fabulous weekend!

Spring Place Card Printable

I am getting so much inspiration from other fabulous blogs lately! I found a post on Easter place cards at a blog called The Inspired Housewife, and I decided to make my own version for my Easter table.

I downloaded some bird clipart from The Graphics Fairy, recolored them in Publisher and printed them out onto heavy cover stock. I got my X-Acto knife and a piece of scrap wood, and it was as easy as one...

two...

three!

I think they're darling and perfect for any spring table.

If you want one, click on the picture below then save the full-sized photo to your computer. Print it out and enjoy!

Sharing at Just A Girl

Shaklee Review & Giveaway

I've heard so many nice things about Shaklee's Basic H2 from various blogger reviews, that I've been dying to try it myself. I've had mixed experiences with "natural" cleaners in the past, but I was really intrigued by what I had heard about this product... it sounded like it actually worked. Novel, right?

Lucky for me, Bonnie - a Shaklee distributor who blogs at House of Grace - offered up some samples recently to interested peeps like me. I jumped on it, and Bonnie agreed to mail me a sample.

Have you ever heard of Shaklee or Basic H2? I hadn't before I started blogging.

Let me give you a rundown on what I've learned about Shaklee:

• Shaklee is a direct sale nutrition company.
• They were the first company in the world to be certified Climate Neutral -- they offset their carbon dioxide emissions for net zero environmental impact. (Pretty cool, huh?)
• They're all about healthy living, and a healthy world.
• They've been featured in lots of magazines, news programs, and shows like Oprah.

They have an entire line of cleaning products, and Basic H is a concentrated all-purpose cleaner that boasts these credentials:

• Biodegradable
• Organic
• Non-polluting
• Phosphate free
• Non-toxic
• Non-irritating
• Non-flammable

Why did I just pull out the fancy bullet-point list for you? Because all those things are actually, honestly important to me. I am a fan of Mother Earth, with sensitive skin and a son with asthma.  If you recall from my recent post about decorating with plants, indoor air can be more polluted than outdoor air, and cleaners are one of the contributing factors. So tracking down a reliable, safe, effective cleaner is something that matters in my world, and I'm sure a lot of other women and moms feel the same way.

Anyhoosies. Bonnie sent me a sample of this fancy concentrated Basic H2 cleaner -- a teensy vial that was enough for two 16-oz spray bottles. One bottle (with two drops of cleaner) for windows, and one bottle (with the rest) for all-purpose cleaning.

I'm totally in a shame spiral about sharing these 'before' photos, but here we go... onto the review!

De-greasing.

 I think the Basic H2 did a fantastic job with grease, and apparently you can just add a little more of the Basic H2 for situations where the grease is worse.

My husband had left a ring of melted/solidified butter on my ceramic stovetop from when he made popcorn (his secret addiction) and without thinking (or even taking a photo, oops) I sprayed the Basic H and wiped. One wipe, no residue... color me impressed. This is one of those areas where I feel like Basic H might be even been better than my regular cleaner.

Here's the shiny after photo:

Window/Mirror Cleaning
My boys are horrible to mirrors -- they sit in front of the bathroom mirror, brush their teeth, tell jokes, laugh and spew toothpaste. Our mirror gets dirty... every. single. day. I let this one go a few days without cleaning for effect, and then used the Basic H. It even made the squeaky noise I love so much when I was wiping it -- and zero streaks. Just as good as my usual blue window cleaner.

Shameful Accumulations of Old Dirt

My fridge is another place that gets dirty. Little jam covered hands going for milk, you know the story. The texture on it also accumulates dirt (like vinyl flooring) and after many years of use, it looked pretty bad -- even with my weekly wipe downs, the years of dirt was still stuck into the texture.

I didn't actually realize HOW bad my fridge was until I saw the crazy 'before' photo (seriously, this camera... not taking any close up shots of my face anytime, I think it would crush my tender spirit.)

I did one handle with the Basic H2 and one handle with a magic eraser -- I had to scrub with both... maybe a teensy bit more with the Basic H2, but the result was the same -- much better than regular all-purpose cleaner.

I'm actually glad I didn't know about this when I was pregnant with my younger son and nesting -- I remember sitting on the floor of my bathroom and scrubbing grout lines with Oxiclean and a toothbrush.

Regular Cleaning

It was time for the spring garage door hosedown, so I let Basic H2 do the honors. I sprayed the door, hosed it down, and then went back to the windows with the window/glass cleaner bottle. Love. If only Shaklee would come out with a cleaner that would fix old paint jobs...

My overall impression of Basic H2? It's great! It does everything a regular all-purpose cleaner does, but it saves money and packaging because it's concentrated, and it's better for my family and the planet. Also, I really believe that it beat my regular cleaner in the de-greasing department. Win-win-win.

I'd be really interested in trying some of Shaklee's other cleaners... I'd love to introduce my oven to the Scour Off paste. Regular oven cleaners are SO toxic.

Here's the good news:

First, if you want to pick some of this great cleaner up, Shaklee is having an Earth Day Special -- membership is free with a $30 order, plus Bonnie has her own little special running on top of that for new members.

Second, Bonnie has also offered to give away 5 samples of Basic H2 to Take the Side Street readers! Remember, each sample makes 2 bottles -- one for regular cleaning, one for glass.

Here's how to enter to win a sample of your own (one entry for each item):

1. Comment on this post!

Bonus points if you tell me how brave I was to post the before photo of my fridge handle.

2. Follow my blog -- come on, you know you want to!

 If you already do, let me know in a separate comment.

3. Follow Bonnie's blog, House of Grace then comment again, letting me know.

4. Follow House of Grace on Facebook and comment so I know!

This giveaway is now closed.

Spring Centerpiece

Yesterday, Kimba at A Soft Place to Land shared a living centerpiece she made for spring and when I saw it, I knew I had to have it for my Easter table. I don't really decorate for Easter, and pastel bunnies and jelly beans just aren't my thing -- I prefer to go the "earthy, renewed life" route with my spring decor.

So I ran right out to Lowe's, picked up a galvanized bucket, a dill plant and two clearanced violas for 25 cents each.

The rest of the plants came from my front yard. Yep, that's right -- my neighbors were treated to the sight of a slightly muddy, determined fool digging up moss in her jeans and flats in the rain. (Act now, think later!)

In addition to the moss, I dug up some grape hyacinth that's getting ready to bloom (being oh-so-careful to bring a large area of soil with it and hopefully avoid bothering it too much... cross your fingers that it blooms), some wild violets, and some mildly fuzzy, silvery plant that almost looks like lamb's ear. My lamb's ear was not large enough to take a section from, so this will have to do.

I added a little nest I already had and some polished rocks.

I love it! I think it's the perfect centerpiece for Easter and the rest of spring. It looks like a little fairy garden.

 Now if I could just get a daffodil to bloom in my front yard before Easter actually rolls around, everything will be right in my world.

Later today I'll be posting a little giveaway... so make sure to watch for it!

Sharing at Just A Girl, Funky Junk Interiors, SAS Interiors/Green Door Designs, I Heart Naptime, Under the Table and Dreaming, The DIY Show Off

Decorating With... Plants

Happy Monday! I for one am incredibly, blissfully happy the weekend is over -- I need a rest. Do you ever have the kind of weekend where you're running nonstop and you just want to drop to your knees and cry, "A nap, a nap! My kingdom for a nap!"

No? Just me? Hmm.



Today we're talking about plants.

Yeah, that's right. Plants, baby. I like 'em. Just not the ugly, messy ones.Or the tacky looking fake ones.

Okay, let me rephrase... I like the good plants.

And bonus -- they're good for you! Some houseplants actually remove toxins from the air, and since indoor air can actually be more polluted than outdoor air (hello cleaners, aerosols, PAINT for you other addicts out there), and Americans spend 90% of their time indoors (um, maybe we should go outside?)... well, it just makes sense.

Plant it up, baby. Just use the good ones.

I'm not going to give you any spectacular pointers for decorating with plants, except to suggest that you avoid trailing plants in snazzy hanging macrame planters.

 I will however, pester you about adding plants to your home if you don't already have them -- I love how fresh and green they are, and I really enjoy having natural elements inside. It's sort of one of my decorating philosophies. (I wasn't even aware that I had any of those until just now, in fact! Philosophy #1, 'bring nature indoors.')

I'll also offer some basic tips to help you in your houseplant quest:

Bad plants:  Scraggly philodendrons draped across bookcases and along walls, twenty cluttered pots of African violets stuffed on a window sill.

source

That isn't cute, I promise. So don't wrap a plant around your living room four times just because it can reach. Keep it trimmed, people... nobody wants to see a mullet plant.

Good plants:  Succulents. Large statement making plants with a great shape -- as in something you can incorporate into your design as a 'living sculpture' as opposed to a shapeless mass of green leaves.

Fabulous Fiddle leaf fig (Ficus lyrata) photo from Elle Decor 

Here are some of my favorite houseplants, just in case you're interested:

1. Jade (a succulent) via BHG 2. Paperwhites via Real Simple 3. Asparagus Fern via BHG 4. Moss via MisterPeter! 5. Christmas Cactus via BHG 6. Various succulents via Apartment Therapy

So there you have it. Stick 'em in some pots, use them in your fancy vignettes and enjoy. Just don't forget to water them.

Next, we'll talk about fake plants and flowers -- they can still bring a lot of appeal to your house, just without all those fancy health benefits.

Bad fake plants: Dusty fake ivy top of cabinets (unless you have them on your cabinets... except not really. You should get rid of them immediately.) Elaborate artificial flower arrangements that are obviously fake and tacky.
 
Good fake plants: High quality faux flowers in more organic groupings, a la market bunches -- still use sparingly, 'cause real flowers are about one hundred times better. Realistic looking succulents (even though they're easy to grow, don't be afraid!).

Faux lilies from House*Tweaking

Gooooorgeous faux peonies from Laura Demick

So that's that. Choose to decorate with plants plants, but no fake ivy, no ring-around-the-living-room, and avoid tacky. Simple enough, right?

One last tip: no matter the plants you choose, keep them clean. All plants, even fake ones, need to be dusted. Dust isn't pretty, and it can actually inhibit live plants from absorbing sunlight and working their magic toxin-reducing powers. So wipe them down or even consider taking them outside for a little shower now and then.

Are you a lover of fake plants, or do you keep it real? Do you share my decorating philosophy #1? Can you watch my kids so I can take a nap? Seriously, this weekend ruined me.

Come back next week for the last post in this series, decorating with collections!

Schoolhouse Light Love

Morning! I hope y'all got more sleep than I did, my kiddos are sick again. Boo. Hiss.

In happier, less infectious news, my DIY schoolhouse light has been featured over at
 Knock Off Decor!

Have you heard of Knock Off Decor yet? It's fabulous! Beckie from the popular blog Infarrantly Creative started it recently, and it's an amazing resource for tutorials and projects to help you achieve high-end looks on a budget. It's even organized by inspiration store, so if you're looking for something specific you can hop on there and see if somebody already has instructions for you -- brilliant, I tell ya!

Go take a peek, I promise you'll be happy you did. Especially if you'd love to make any of these fabulous projects:

West Elm Window inspired headboard

PB Poppy pillow knockoff

Anthropologie-esque Cirrus bedding

Ballard Designs inspired sunburst mirror

All images found via Knock Off Decor -- go check it out for links to each fabulous project!

A Painted Rug - Worth Miles of Tape and Sore Knees?

Remember the Dash & Albert rug I mentioned earlier this week? The one that I heart and wrote sonnets for and want for my laundry room?

Yeah, that one.

Well. I'm sort of working on my laundry room, but not really working on my laundry room right now. And since I'm not a fan of financing my decorating whims with credit cards, my laundry room budget is pretty much nonexistant right now. So when I found a flatweave rug on clearance at Target last week, I decided to try this rug painting business that's circling the blog world.

{ The Rug, Before }

I needed to cover the entire rug before painting new stripes, so I picked out a sample can of blue paint at Lowe's, and threw some fabric medium into the mix. Did it make a difference? Hmm. Probably not, but since fabric medium is designed for acrylic paint, and wall paint is acrylic latex, I decided to fudge it and throw some in, just in case. I have zero idea if it made a difference in the final product, but in the interest of full disclosure, I wanted to...well, disclose.

After the blue paint was dry, I started taping the stripes. 

Then the craziness started. Oy, my knees hurt.

 After all that crazy knee-bruising fun, I pulled it all off and saw my finished rug.

I like it. I don't luuuuuuurve it, but I think it will do nicely in my laundry room until I I can throw a little budget Dash & Albert's way, if you get my drift. I even like the lines where the paint bled a little, I think it makes it look more woven. It's so faux-bulous.

{ The Rug, After}

Next time though, I think I'd opt for a simpler rug painting project... as in buy-a-solid-colored-rug-and-stencil-a-fabulous-design-on-it.

All in all, though -- I definitely think it was worth it.

Project Breakdown

clearanced rug $9.98

paint $5.26

fabric medium $6.16

green frog tape $5.98

Total Cost: $27.38

Total Time (excluding dry time): 2 hours

Sharing this post at: Just a Girl, Be Different Act Normal, The Stories of A to Z, My Uncommon Slice of Suburbia, Centsational Girl, The Lettered Cottage, Thrifty Decor Chick

Words for Wednesday

"When I was 5 years old, my mother always told me that happiness was the key to life. When I went to school, they asked me what I wanted to be when I grew up. I wrote down 'happy'. They told me I didn’t understand the assignment. I told them they didn’t understand life."

- John Lennon