The CHEAPEST Bathroom Redo Ever!!!

I am SO beyond excited about my "new" bathroom! I have been itching to redo it for so long now, bug I just keep putting it off because I really want a new countertop, and kinda wanted to do it all at once.

(I really wish I knew where my camera memory card thing is... I have had to take the pics on my phone, so they are not so great! My bathroom really is gorgeous now, but the pics don't do justice!)

Well, I was sitting at home the other day and decided I would just go for it! I had NO idea what I wanted to do. Well I had a little idea, but not enough for me to start a project. I am a HUGE planner, maybe it is more I am just scared to do something permanent.  I have to draw it out, think about it for a few weeks, draw it again, prepare all the stuff... then MAYBE I would get started.  I am very timid when it comes to making big changes. I am afraid it will look bad and then I have to start over... And I HATE painting!

So....... I had a bunch of paint left over from past painting projects, enough to paint the bathroom. I wanted something different then all the walls one color, or a solid accent wall. I also have always wanted to try stripes, so that is what I did. I'll write a post about stripes later.

This project cost me less then $30! Not even kidding! I had the paint, tape, the baseboard, a couple rollers, paint pans, and all the decorations. I did need to buy another paint roller, and pan(which now I have a couple left over for another project), and I also bought a new shower curtain rod and shower liner.

Started by ripping the linoleum off the walls. Instead of baseboard there was linoleum on the walls. I like the look of baseboard better. I then filled the holes and waited for the spackel to dry... I HATE WAITING! Finally, once the spackel turned white I sanded it.

I primed the walls 2 times. I did not have a lot of paint to do several coats, and I had primer, so I primed them. Again, waited for that to dry. Finally I was ready to paint. Threw up a coat of paint... and oh ya, waited again!

I cut and applied the baseboard, cleaned up, decorated, and I now have a beautiful new bathroom! I seriously love it!

Projects I still want to do in here...

* new sink

* new faucet

* possibly refinish the cabinets black
* put a frame around the mirror
* new countertop
(ya, kinda like this!)

 * eventually new flooring

However in the meantime, this will do! I love it. What do you think?

Easter Shelf

Today I present to you my completed Easter Shelf! For each holiday/season,  I decorate this shelf and today, I will show you my Easter shelf!

I like it! What do you think? I have my banner that you can learn about HERE, and the printable that I made, you can read about it HERE, or download the printable HERE! 

 The stuff on the shelf, I am not going to do any individual post about. I bought them from a place in Orem Utah called Crafty Wood Cutouts, HERE is their website, and HERE is the link to the Easter decor on their site. You can shop and order products right on their website, or you can go to their store!

I bought all the paper for these projects from Joann Fabrics, buttons from Hobby Lobby, and I already had the tulle and paint. 

If  you have any questions about how to do any of these projects feel free to let me know! 

What do your Easter mantels, decorations look like? What fun things did you make for Easter?

You can do it, if AshHas!

xoxo

Spring/ Easter Banner

So.... I really want to start working out on a regular basis, but I have no motivation. I have things that SHOULD motivate me, but they don't. What really got you motivated? Any one want to be my workout buddy, that usually helps!?

I found this really great blog, BenderFitness.com. The girl puts up free workouts that you can watch and follow along, or just read about and do yourself. She is adorable, and I would love to steal her body and put my head on it. Well maybe I will just steal all of her. I think she is beautiful! Anyway, I was sitting at home last night and the hubby was at work, the girls were asleep and decided I would try one... The videos are about 17 min long and you can just start it over and do it as many times as you want. Well, I did not even make it through the whole video before I gave up... Seriously! I could not do it for 17 min!? Really!? But yet, I still don't want to do it... and the mini me on my other shoulder is telling me I should...

I watched The Biggest Loser this season, and the Finale was the other night. OMG Danni, Lisa and Joe looked AMAZING, hard work does pay off and in the end it will be worth it. I know that! BUT how do you motivate yourself to put mind over matter and just do it!? If you figure it out, let me know!

Anyway, on to todays post... an Easter or Spring (or Christmas, or fall, or Halloween, or 4th of July, or...) banner...

This is a really simple project. It took me less then 30 min to do, all you need is card stock, ribbon or tulle and something to poke holes with. I got a hole punch from Joann Fabrics, it punches cute little rectangle holes. It was $5.99 and I used the 40% off coupon!

All you have to do is cut your shapes out (you can do circles, triangles, these square type deals, whatever shape you want), punch holes, thread and tie your ribbon or tulle, and your done.

So simple, but so cute! This banner adds such a cute flair to any room or party, and you can make one for any season!

You can do it, if AshHas

xoxo

FIRST and FREE Easter Printable

I usually download someone else's already created printable for my holiday shelf, however for my Easter shelf, I wanted the printable to be landscape instead of portrait, and could not find any that were portrait.

I thought, just how hard could it be to make one? So, here is my version of an Easter printable. You are all welcome to download it and use it, if you want.

Here it is in my frame...

Click here or on the photo below to download the free printable! Enjoy!

You can do it, if AshHas!

xoxo

Repurposed Toddler and Crib Bedding

Now, let me put a warning out there. If you are going to attempt anything like this, get a quilting frame! What a joke without one!

Having said that, I like how this turned out, but it would have looked much better if I had a quilting frame, and choose different fabric for the back. I found some perfect shade of pink, super soft fabric in the $1 section at Wal-Mart, so I bought it, BUT it was stretchy, which was not a good thing. Do not use stretch fabric on a quilt. I am sure you already knew that, I did, but that was what I had so I used it anyway.  Oh well!

My girls have one queen bed that the two of them share. Previously #1 had a toddler bed, and #2 had a crib. My plan was to get them in a "big bed" and maybe they would sleep in their own need. I didn't really want to change their room decor over this, I mean, I still liked the bedding they had. So I decided to make one queen quilt out of the 2 sets.

No pictures for a tutorial. This one I really wish I had pictures of, but I oh well. My hubby said I should take pics, but I didn't listen.

I took apart the old bedding... They were kind of quilts, so there were several parts to each comforter.
I got my queen size comforter and laid it out flat on the ground. Using all the small peices of the old quilts I pieced the top layer together, on top of my comforter in order to make it the right size.

Starting in the middle of the quilt,  I started sewing; pin, sew, lay back out, repeat... One. Piece. At. A. Time. It kind of took forever, but then again, I am not a professional.

Once the top was done, I sewed the back fabric together in order to make it large enough to cover the back.

This is where the quilting frame would come in handy. Putting the rest of the quilt together would have been really easy if I had one.

Instead, I struggled wondering how in the heck to get the top, batting, and back together so it looks good and stays... I got it, but it was all skeewompous. Eh, it was my first quilt, what do you expect!?

To finish it off, I tied yarn knots in order it to keep it all together and I was done.

It was a larger project then I expected going in, but it was a great learning experience. I want to make another, to use what I learned.

I really like how it looks on the bed, you can't really see all the infections. Then again, isn't that what gives a homemade project love, the imperfections?

What projects did you get started on and then realize it was a bigger project then you anticipated? What other uses have you found out of old bedding?

You can do it, if AshHas!

xoxo

Vintage Chair?

I am ssssslllllooooowwwwwllllllyyyyyy redoing my house! And by slowly I mean, I have lived here for almost 2 years and done 2 almost 3 rooms so far! I have a long way to go!

My front room I want that, old fashioned, modern, but vintage look? Is there such a thing? I am not even sure what it is called. I have not been able to find pictures of it, cuz I am really not sure if that is even what I want... confused? Ya, me too! But when I see something that I want for it, I know it! Eventually it will be done and I will be able to just show you!

I just finished my seating area (well kind of, I still want to make some pillows and finish the window), but I still like it! I have caught myself walking down the stairs and stopping just to look at it for a second! It is the first place in my house that I am actually excited about what I did to it!! The picture doesn't give it much justice, but it really does look good!

What do you think?

I found the chairs at the Deseret (Deseret Industries)! The rocking chair was $15, the other was $5. They were in pretty rough shape! But... with some spray paint, and fabric, you have some beautiful vintage, modern, chairs!

Refinishing them was SOOO easy! I did not take pictures of it, sorry!

Take off all the cushions, sand, spray, scuff and BAM! Done!

To reupholster un stitch the old stuff, (be sure to take a mental note of how it was put together so you can put it back together) trace it on the new material, cut it out, sew it together, and put it back on. It is really easier then it looks! I PROMISE!

Once the chair is painted, the cushions are reupholstered, put them together, you might have to screw them on, tie them on, or nail them on.

And there you have it, a pair of gorgeous chairs!

The table, I have wanted for the whole 2 years I lived here, I have just never found it! I was a Gordman's the other day! AMAZING store, if you have not been I suggest you go, and bring lots of money! I found that table for $40, 20% off coupon, made it $32 bucks! For the EXACT table I have been wanting I was willing to spend that!

 











Then a cute kind of old fashioned clock and saying completes the table.

This whole look cost less then $80! What a steal of a deal!

What are some of your favorite areas of your house? What project are you most proud of?

Thanks for stopping by!

You can do it, if AshHas!!

xoxo

Changes are in the Air!!!

I have been going through something for the last couple weeks that has been the most difficult thing I have ever had to go through. I am not really ready to talk about it here but, I have had a lot of time to think... I have thought about my life, my health, my kids, my priorities, and mostly importantly my happiness... And well, needless to say, I was not happy with were everything was. I needed a change...

Enter, new Ashlee. I am going to keep this blog, but will handle it different. I will still post craft tutorials, but it will not be handled like a job. I am not going to beg or bribe for followers, while that would be cool and an ego boost if people found entertainment in my posts, but I am not going to force it.

In addition to crafts I am going to document my progress on my hopefully upward path to a happier Ashlee.

So to start, I noticed that my diet was awful, hence my comment the other day about my love for frozen mac and cheese... Bad, right? So the first thing that needed to be improved was my health.

I took a good look at myself and noticed that I felt grouse. I felt bloated, I had gained a bunch of weight, had zero energy or motivation, my skin was worse then it ever has been, braking out and blotchy. I have felt this way for sometime, but it had just hit me. I needed a change. I have been eating fast food, processed food, ranch dressing on everything, hardly any fruits, veggies, or anything healthy for that matter. No wonder I felt this way!

I began researching... Most diets, new years resolutions, etc. fail because it's too dramatic of a change that you get overwhelmed and just give up. I want my lifestyle to change, not my diet, or food choice to change for a couple weeks, it has to be a lifestyle change, but within reasonable limits that I don't get overwhelmed. So, I know myself and I am not going to make a bunch of healthy meals that takes 2 days to prepare and includes ingredients I can't pronounce ( I have done this, thinking I can do it... I planned it at work, was all gung ho, ready to cut out all sweets, make these uber healthy meals, eat exactly 1200 calories a day... and by time I got home 4 hours later I had already given up... It was too overwhelming. Too extreme.)

I found meal ideas that my girls and I would actually eat, and that I would take the time to make. Again keeping it realistic for me. Then I created a 2 week menu; breakfast, lunch, dinner, 2 snacks a day. I don't care about calories, if I am eating healthy and being cautious about my sweets I do not have to be strict, and count every calorie. Because what did we learn? Every time I am strict I fail.
I made a grocery list and went shopping... I plan to start it on Tuesday (I already have plans for today). I have been eating much better all weekend, no Mt Dew (this one has to be extreme, cold turkey, that stuff is so yummy, but so bad for you), lots of water. And I already feel a little better, I have a loooong way to go, but I want to feel like a million bucks, and know I can!

So stick with me, give me advice, encouragement, and ideas.

Some more tips I find helpful!

If I really want a doughnut I will have ONE, maybe just a bite of one, but I do not need a doughnut, candy bar, cookies, Mt. Dew, and another doughnut. Just one is enough.

Take into consideration what you have going on when making a menu. If you know you are going to be in a hurry one day, plan a quick or crock pot meal.

Don't be afraid to try something new... While you don't want to go too extreme and plan every meal that is new or includes something you don't normally like, one a week is good. Example...I HATE bananas... idk why, just never have liked them, tried then a number of times, and I still think they are no good. My girls love them so I keep them around the house. Well, I made a smoothie the other day and decided to throw in half a banana, just for the extra fruit, and I tasted it, with an open mind, and it was the best smoothie I have had. I could even taste the banana. Lesson here, Try it... You might surprise yourself.

Well that's it for today. Thanks for your support!

You can do it if AshHas!
xoxo