I've been holding out: Mini-makeovers

There have been quite a few changes that I have failed to present to the blogosphere. I will remedy that now.

First off, has anyone noticed the sidebar and under-the-post advertisements? Yep, we have officially monetized the blog. This is a good thing. So please, when you check out the ads on the side, you support me and Josh. Theoretically the ads customize to the subject of my blog, so I hope that no inappropriate ads pop up.

Second, The coffee table has been updated. Got a bit of a facelift. Well, more like surgery. Here is the "before."

When we went home about a month ago, we utilized my father-in-law's miter saw. 

AKA ultimate man toy.

So Josh and his dad tore up my coffee table pallets. 

Making any sense yet? 

 Enter cedar planks...

Well this is the outcome...

Ta-dah! Cubbies! The basket on the left is the perfect size, simply my coincidence. I got it a year or two ago, so I hope Michael's still sells them. I think I'm going to spray paint them.

Also, did you notice I put the scraps of wood in the fireplace? hee-hee. (We won't burn them. They will come in handy some day, but they were in the way for now.) I can't wait til we get to have a real fire to cuddle up by.

Josh's mom and dad also gave us some patio furniture.

It has been so handy since it started cooling off.

We've also done a bit of rearranging. We put the record player on top of one of the wooden crates by my grandmother's chair. Now we can actually use it, and it also serves as a side table. 

So the other crate stands alone. Luckily my grandfather-in-law gave me this cool old shoe-polishing contraption. You would put your shoe on top and all your supplies go in the compartment. Which now holds some mason jars and poetry books. 

We also moved things around in the guest bedroom. 

And I made a little wine bottle decor.

It is really difficult for me to throw away glass bottles of any sort... So we had all these wine bottles sitting around.

I thought it looked a little too "college frat party," so I added a bit of brown butcher paper and lace to make it seem more intentional.

I wrap all my presents in this brown paper. (It is also very handy to put under canvas so you don't accidentally get paint on the carpet.)

All I did was cut it to size, use one little piece of tape to secure it (as you can see under that lace), and tie a ribbon of lace around it. I had these twig branches from a previous project and just stuck them in each bottle so it looks like a little wine bottle forest. 

I think it is very autumnal, which is kind of the theme of the "red room" as Josh calls it. 

Speaking of autumn, the mantle got a little mini fall makeover.

 I used the scrapbook paper leaf cutouts that made an appearance at our wedding (we asked out guests to "leave a message" on them) and used the tiny clothespins to clip them to the chicken wire. 

And because I love to include wedding pictures, here are the scrapbook paper leaves at our wedding:

So I used some of the leftovers for decoration.

Another change is in our kitchen. We have very limited counter space (and cabinet space for that matter... small kitchen in general) So we hung a shadow box type shelf thing. 

Here is the "before."

And the "after." We put lots of random things on it that just didn't have a home yet.

Such as our favorite coffee mugs, K-cups, salt n peppa, all our vitamins, an iron trivet, tiny teacup from my pretend tea set as a child, etc.  

Remember kids: always take your vitamins. We really do take these every day. Yay us!

 I don't think I've ever shown you my little side wall between the kitchen and living room. 

Can you spot the thermostat?

It's in the middle! Cute, huh?

By the way, that daisy yarn-embroidery picture is one of my favorites. 

I have also placed a little wooden folding chair (given to me by my sister) in the empty space behind the too-small side table.

I think it is adorable. It's just there to fill the space (and it fits perfectly) but it looks like a little desk.

Also, you can see that the ladder is currently the blanket holder.

Well that's all for now folks. 

Stay tuned,

Haley