Virtual Makeover with World Market & Spruce Up Your Space Sweepstakes

This is a sponsored post brought to you by World Market. My opinions are always my own.

I have a confession today. This might come as a shock, but much of my house is blah boring beige! I know, I know, you're thinking but what about the bright yellow side chair, and the teal foyer table, and the chevron curtains?! These bright additions are fairly recent. For years I was stuck in the beige box–afraid to buy something non-neutral. "But what if I hate it 10 years from now?" What was I thinking? Nothing lasts 10 years in my house. I'm a perpetual DIYer and always looking for new ways to change and update things. My house is in a constant state of redecoration. 

So yes, there are some rooms that are still relics from the past. Stuck in their beige boring-ness I created some time around 2004. My dining room is one such (I just typed "suck" on accident... but it's kind of fitting) room. Check 'er out. 

I don't know if a dining room could look more stark. I bet you can hear me echoing through your screen. I'd also like to point out that the table (which I do love, and is from World Market), light, and hutch are just a bit off center. The room has got such potential with it's high ceilings and nice light, it just needs a World Market makeover!

This is also the very first room you see when you enter my house. In fact, you don't even have to enter. The UPS man, Jehova's Witnesses, and Girl Scouts get to see the blah from the front porch. Why did I get brown curtains too?

So, I did something about it... kind of.  You see, World Market is hosting "Spruce up your Space Sweepstakes" where you, yes you, could receive a $5000 World Market shopping spree and a personal shopping experience and design consultation with one of their top design bloggers! So what would I get with a $5000 World Market makeover?...

Welcome to my smorgasbord of color thanks to the new fall lines at World Market-- Maison Des Artistes, Urban Dwelling, and Glasgow Fog. If I got to go all Supermarket Sweep on them, this would be my dining room. (I'd totally were the sweat shirt too) I love all the color!

1. Aberdeen Darby Chair // 2. Blue Flower Wool Lumbar Pillow // 3. Green Ikat Velvet Dori Lumbar Pillow // 4. Blue Potted Accent Lamp Base // 5. Thyme Burlap Floor Lamp Shade // 6. Marcelle Tufted Ottoman // 7. Gold 8-Bottle Taj Wine Rack // 8. Green Ikat Urban Dweller Napkins // 9. 8' x 10' Purple Ivory Lattice Flat-Woven Wool Rug // 10. Painterly Chevron Plates // 11. Rose Quartz Velvet Throw Pillows // 12. Teal Velvet Lumbar Pillow // 13. Gold and Teal Aberdeen Curtain // 14. Greyson Chairs With Nailheads

Can you imagine it? I can. What would you get if you won? For ideas, you can follow World Market on Facebook, Twitter, and Pinterest. The grand prize is $5000, but there will also be 3 first prize winners who will each take home a $1000 World Market gift card. Pretty sweet deal. Spruce Up Your Space ends September 9th, so click here to enter!


This is a sponsored post brought to you by World Market. My opinions are always my own.

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Personalized Water Bottles for Game Day

Disclosure: This post was sponsored by Tide through their partnership with Circle of Moms. While I was compensated to write a post about Tide Plus Febreze Freshness Sport, all opinions are my own.

It's fall! School is back in and sports are starting up. While football will be what's on TV at our house, soccer is my kids' sport to play. Technically it's the "fall" season for soccer, but we live in Florida and nothing about the weather in August is fall-like here. It's going to be hot, sweaty, and stinky, which makes drinking plenty of water even more important. A fun way to get my kids fired up for a great season, and to be sure their water doesn't get mixed up with the rest of the teams', is personalized water bottles. Here's what we did.

Supplies:

• Plastic Water Bottle (one with a handle or loop)
• Ribbon
• Small Wood Letters
• Letter Beads
• String
• Hot Glue

Step 1
Paint wood letters.
You will need 2 of each letter you use. One for the back one for the front. Make sure to paint the front side of one letter and the back side of the other.

Step 2
Cut a small section of ribbon, thread it through the handle of the bottle, and sandwich the ends between the two letters you just painted. Glue with hot glue.

Step 3
String letter beads onto string, and dab a little hot glue on the knots to make sure they stay put.

Step 4
Tie the stringed letters onto the water bottle.

That's it! A simple craft but very functional and one that will get the kids excited about game day.

And once the game is over, and you're stuck with a basket of sweaty soccer laundry, try Tide Plus Febreze Freshness Sport. Seriously, it works great! As a parent that's had to wash the game clothes over and over, sometimes that funk just never quite goes away. (you smell something?) This is specially designed for sports apparel so it'll work hard on those grass and clay stains, as well as leave them fresh smelling! (I'm throwing the cleats in with the next load... those suckers can stick up a closet like nobody's business) See you on the field!

Disclosure: This post was sponsored by Tide through their partnership with Circle of Moms. While I was compensated to write a post about Tide Plus Febreze Freshness Sport, all opinions are my own.

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End Table Makeover

A few weeks ago I posted a pic on the While They Snooze facebook page of a $6 end table I scored while thrifting one Saturday. It wasn't exactly what I had been picturing for our master bedroom, but for $6 it was way better than the chipping, laminate, POS table my lamp was currently on. Back the car up, done deal.

I got it home and my husband casually asked if slowly all of our furniture was going to be from the 1960's. (You see, I have a thrift store problem... more about that later) I have to admit, he was right. It did look kind of dated. Challenge accepted! Time to update.

First we sanded.

And then busted out some homemade chalk paint.

(Reluctantly giving her little brother a turn)

Taped off the legs for some "dipping" action. (I also sanded and waxed the top)

Sprayed the legs in Rust-Oleum Metallic Gold. This stuff is awesome. (Yes, I've been trying to find things to spray paint gold all week. #stopmebeforeispraythekids)

Scuffed up the hardware so I could paint it. (Left: scummy, pre-scuffed. Right: post-scuffation)

Sprayed and reassembled.

And, since I had ALL of the supplies already, this table really did cost $6. WHAT!? Goodbye 60's, hello bright, airy, modern, and fresh! Now I just need to figure out what to put in the drawers. I've never had storage in my end table before!

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Life Inspired Link Party #6

Hump Daaaaay! C'mon, you know the commercial. How's your week going? I'm feeling less flustered than last week (slightly... I also just had 2 glasses of wine) and ready to be inspired. Here are my faves from last week.

Table Makeover with Mod Podge and Wrapping Paper from Rain on a Tin Roof

Annie Sloan Chalk Painted Bed Take 2 from The Lilly Pad Cottage

Fireplace Update from Storypiece

And, here are what some of my lovely fellow hostesses are up to...

1. Microwaved Brown Sugar Acorn Squash - Poofy Cheeks

2. Color Blocked Metallic Terra Cotta Flower Pot from Balancing Home

3. DIY Painted Drink Dispenser from Sew Woodsy

4. 4 Ingredient Peanut Butter Chocolate Cookies from Sweet C's Designs

Now I'm hungry and I want to paint something. Get to linking!

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How to Make a Duck Tape Pencil Case

This is a Sponsored post written by me on behalf of Walmart for SocialSpark. All opinions are 100% mine.

It's here! First day of school. Kaley, my oldest, is heading to kindergarten in the coming days. She's so excited she's asked to wear her backpack of school supplies around the house almost every day this week. I've resorted to hiding them for fear there will be no glue sticks left. We bought the supplies a few weeks ago on a special "big girl" trip to Walmart. She was so happy to fight her way through the frenzie of kids swarming the #2 pencils... validation that she's finally one of the big kids. To send her off in style, we came up with a quick craft. After all, she'd need someplace to keep all those pencils. So,this is how to make Duck Tape® pencil case.

Since we were already at Walmart, we picked up all of our Duck Tape® there. It's cheap and they have 5 million options. Seriously, had no idea how far they had evolved from the grey stuff my dad had in the garage when I was a kid.




Supplies:

• Duck Tape® - As many rolls and colors as you'd like (you'll need at least one roll of the small size for the edges) 
• Fabric scrap - About 10" x 10" 
• Velcro dots - or anything you'd like to use to close your case 
• Scissors 
• Ruler 

​

Step 1: Cut a piece of fabric 10" x about 10". I just measured the 10" one direction, then made sure it was wide enough to fit a pencil the other direction.


Step 2: Stick your Duck Tape® to the wrong side of the fabric. Go crazy with the pattern. It's up to you.


Keep sticking until the fabric is covered and smooth out the bubbles.




Step 3: Flip over your fabric and trim the tape.




This is what you should have now.


Step 4: Fold your fabric up about 4" so the Duck Tape® faces out. This will give you a 4" pencil case with a 2" flap to close it.


Step 5: Tape the sides using Ducklings (yes, that's what they are called... how cute is that?!) or smaller size roll of tape.




When you get to the flap, just cut a tiny slit to make it fold over neatly.


Step 6: Box your corners. To make the case look a little more like a case, and less like an envelope, I smooshed my bottom corners in with my scissors like this.


Then I pulled from the inside and flatted from the outside, until they looked neat and even.




Step 7: Finish taping the rest of the raw edges and the two side seams on the inside.




Step 8: Add a closure and you're done. I didn't trust that the velcro would stay stuck so I put a few stiches in. I also glued a button to the front for decoration.




It turned out so cute and was so easy... it kind of looks like a little clutch purse. Oh, la la. Won't she be fancy in kindergarten? Love that I can just cut the Duck Tape® and not have to worry about anything fraying like with sewing. Makes it really simple. Duck Tape® projects are really good for kids too... almost no mess. We also jazzed up some of her notebooks in about 3 seconds with the leftover tape. Extremely simple and now she'll be able to tell her notebooks apart from the rest of the class. Love that.






So there's still time! Go buy Duck Tape at Walmart and whip something up. If you want more ideas, follow @theduckbrand on Twitter or /ducktape on facebook. Happy first day of school!

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