Reveal- Master Bathroom

Welcome to our master bathroom!  After two years of slow progress, it’s officially done.  Done, done, done!

When we moved in, our master bathroom was dated.  Blue toilet, wallpaper, and a soffit above the vanity….welcome to 1989!  Just seeing these pictures again makes me cringe.

When we started this project, I knew I wanted the room to feel light and airy.  The light grey paint on the walls and the subway tile in the shower help to balance out the espresso vanity we selected and dark shelves above the toilet. I’m also in love with the blend of the rustic mirrors and the sleek glass shower door.

The containers on the top of the vanity make it easy to grab the items we use each morning.  Stylish and practical solutions are especially important in small spaces.

The faux Roman shade was the last project I needed to complete the room. I followed this tutorial I found on Pinterest.  The project cost me $12 and took an hour to complete. 

 

It’s amazing how different the space looks now.  I hope you love it as much as we do!

Advertisement

Master Bathroom plans

Want to see which fabric I picked for my next DIY project? Check back next week for a full rundown and complete details on how I added the finishing touches to my master bathroom.

Living Room Part 2!

Does anyone else feel like they can never just finish one room?  Well I am determined to complete our living room come hell or high water.  This is a little bit of my inspiration but I think I need some more color!  I would also like to add three floating shelves and create a gallery wall.  Other DIY on the list is paint our dining room and our small third bedroom this winter!  Look out Home Depot and Ikea here I come!

 

living room part 2 by msotirokos featuring beaded accent pillows

Polished brass lighting / Nourison beige area rug / Austin Horn Collection beaded accent pillow / Americanflat contemporary home decor / Patterned curtain / Throw pillow / Rustic wood wall art / Wood home decor / nearly natural 3-ft. Potted Ficus Tree

Beautiful Glass Art in Pittsburgh

While I have been working for the Arthritis Foundation, I became friends with a former honoree, and amazingly talented glass artist, Ed Kachurik, and his wife Carol.  His studio is nestled in Westmoreland County, just down the driveway from his cozy home.

I have the opportunity to visit with him at least once a year to see all of the new pieces he has created while I am picking out awards for our Bone Bash Gala.

I highly recommend his work for unique, one-of-a-kind pieces for awards, paper weights, ornaments, light fixtures, cremains, conversational pieces and more.  Ed and Carol are happy to tailor a piece for you!  Here’s their website.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

$10 DIY Tomato Cage Holiday Tree !

You have to love the internet!  How would life be with out pinterest and a facebook full of minifeeds with crafty friends and mothers!? I have to thank a DIY champion and sorority sister for this idea.  She really hit hers out of the park.  My quick rendition was simply that- QUICK!

I had been on the hunt for a reasonably priced 3′ – 5′ tree for the front porch.  I made mention before that this is only our second holiday season decorating together.  That means that we slowly making a holiday decoration collection.

Last year I promised post season I would pick up mark downs.   And of course I forget.  Desperate to add a tiny bit of cheer to the front of our home- I scoured the internet (aka- Amazon.com.)  I did not have the urge to spend $65.00 on the tree I thought would be the best fit.  So I promised myself once again- I would buy one post season.

Then I saw this great suggestion- and there are several ways to make it your own.   Although mine is a bit simple- you can surely dress it up here’s what you need :

1.  a tomato cage (We had ours from the summer stacked in the back yard)
2. tree trimmings OR faux garland (I got 6 15′ strands at the Dollar Tree for $1.00 each)
3. your favorite decorations (this year, I got that at the dollar tree as well!)

Thats it!  My garland was on a wired string- so I didn’t even need glue or ties to adhere it to the tomato cage frame.  Now I can choose to reuse the tomato cage or garland for other projects if I choose.

Xmas Kraft DIY

Last Saturday Rachel my fellow 5andwhiner and DIY master, got the great idea to make a craft for the holidays.  I choose something that neither of us had in our homes and would come in handy.  A holiday card holder, I mean lets face it there’s only so much room and so many magnets for the fridge.  This craft also only cost us about $15 each since we split alot of the supplies.   So after a somewhat exhausting trip multiple stores we had all the supplies to get us started.  Below is a list of items you will need to get started.

Supplies 

-Chicken wire (we chose the hexagon wire)

-Staple Gun

-Inexpensive frame any size (we picked ours up at Goodwill)

-Tiny flag banner (optional)

-Black acrylic paint

-Pack of varying mini clips

-Artificial wreath

-Fabric/ribbon

DIY Beef Jerky and other protein-packed snacks!

Since I have been breastfeeding, I am always looking for protein-packed snacks to help me stay fuller, longer, while also providing vital nutrients to Miles. I loooooovveee beef jerky and always have, except it’s pretty expensive to buy ready-made.

My husband is the king of appliances, and last year we bought a dehydrator.  We found the perfect blend of savory and spice marinade with the Alton Brown recipe.  We just use a dehydrator for 4 1/2 to 6 hour (or until the beef is completely dried out). HIs recipe uses a box fan, so that would work, instead, if you have that.  The beef only cost us $13 to make 3 lbs, and we had other ingredients around the house like soy sauce.   We used beef round as the cut.  Last time, we used flank and found it to be fattier which made it hard to prepare.

Other snacks I enjoy with high amounts of protein are:

Edamame – also known as soy beans in pods.  There are 8 grams of protein per serving and only 8 carbs and 2.5 grams of fat.

Plain Greek Yogurt with Honey – 23 grams of protein and only 9 carbs!

Cottage Cheese – I like it with tomato, but a lot of people like it with fruit like peaches, apples or grapes!  There are 13 grams of protein and 8 carbs.

Granola or Oatmeal – great for milk production.  There’s 5 – 6 grams of protein.  This is higher in carbs so you might want to eat this for breakfast.

Hoping this little guy grows to be big and strong!

DIY Office Decor

On a recent trip to IKEA I decided to pick up a few items to spruce up my new office.  I came across a few things and managed to spend less than $10 bucks on all the items.  I moved last Monday and previously my office did not have much space to decorate.  I picked up these very inexpensive boxes and figured I could store things in them or at the very least they could just look cute on my book shelves but they needed a little something!

Supplies:

Small and Large Smarassel boxes

DIY decor large washi tape in gold dots

Credit Card to smooth out wrinkles

Also patience that is key

Below are my step by step photos of how to assemble which took me a total of 20mins:)

Note: This washi tape is super sticky!! But you can peel it off and keep redoing it until there are so many wrinkles you have to throw that piece away!

What have you done to spruce up your office??

Jellybean

My little lady has a nickname, Jellybean.  I’m not sure how it happened or where it came from, but she’s the sweetest treat I ever did meet. 

With Halloween right around the corner, I thought it would be fun to challenge myself with a new craft project; creating Ainsley’s costume. I collected my supplies this weekend, but it’s been a slow process with all of the “extra” things going on at our house at the moment. I’ll be back next week to share an update…or hopefully the finished product. 🙂 In the meantime, here are some clues about the materials I’ve been working with. (Remember- I love my little jellybean!)

Supplies:   

  

  

Any guesses? 🙂

Master Bedroom Inspo – Part 1

Months ago I painted our master bedroom a dark navy.  It turned out really well and I even put stripes on the back wall using a the same color but in high gloss.  I will admit I did not document this well so I didn’t blog about it previously.  I’m sure like a lot of women in America I moved on to other projects through out the house and well sort of forgot about attempting to finish the bedroom.  Well I got back on track after a labor day furniture sale perked my interest and motivated me to finally get an “adult bed“.  It’s a sueded material with a nail head design on the headboard.  I really love it and it is extremely sturdy!  My next project is to create curtains behind the bed which surround an unsightly chimney.  Here is a little mood board that will hopefully keep me on track!

Color that I chose for the walls – painting tip (use aluminum foil on the tray so you don’t ruin it and can reuse it just throw away the foil when your done! )

 

Bedroom Inspo by m-sotirokos featuring polypropylene rugs