Everything's Better En Masse

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Sometimes less is more, but sometimes more is more....

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Southern Living

House Beautiful

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Even the humblest items can get a boost in status when done in multiples. Consider these ideas:

-Check thrift stores for colored glass bottles, frames, baskets or vases that you can use to create a stunning arrangement. Use a single color of spray paint to give them a cohesive look.

-Dollar Stores carry simple square vases that could be filled with small bouquets of a single type of flower and used to create a "runner" on a dining room table.

-Do a mass planting of a single variety of flower bulbs.

-Fill multiple glass containers with a single item from nature such as pinecones, acorns or shells.

Can you think of other areas where groupings of multiples could be used to make a statement in your home?


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Faux Bamboo Find

Months ago I came up with a design plan for my foyer area that included a faux bamboo bench. Little did I know that these little beauties don't come cheap. New benches can cost $600 or more. I searched consignment shops, thrift stores and Craigslist hoping to get my hot little hands on a bench for a reasonable price. After a few months, I found one in need of some tender loving care in a local shop for $175 and pondered buying it for approximately two seconds before the cheapskate in me said, "Patience woman!"

Persistence pays off my friends. I found not one, but two bamboo benches in a local antique mall for $45 each. As luck would have it, the dealer was on site and after a lovely conversation, she offered me a discount. $77 for both benches = Very happy girl!





The finish of the wood is dated and the fabric could best be described as "geriatric chic", but for the price of some paint or stain and new fabric, these diamonds in the rough could turn out to be very chic.










Now for the fun part, deciding whether I want to stain the wood or paint it and what type of fabric to use when I reupholster them. Since my foyer leads directly into both my great room and my dining room, I'll need to keep those areas in mind when choosing a finish and fabric. This redecorating thing is a lot harder than it looks on HGTV!

Notice the small blue and white pillows? My prize for winning a giveaway at everything LEB. Thanks Lindsay, I love them!

Still searching for the perfect finishing touches for this room.

Any ideas or suggestions?

De-stressing at Home

Via BHG.com

When I asked Debby from Inspired Design if she would be willing to help me out with a guest post, not only did she immediately agree to help, she also virtually wrapped her arms around me and gave me a supportive hug by writing a thoughtful post about taking time for yourself after a hard day. Thanks Debby for the sweet gesture!


Hi there, it's Debby, from Inspired Design! I am happy to be helping out Karen while she is spending time with her brother who is very sick. I know how stressful it is to watch someone you care about suffer, so my hope for Karen is that she will be comforted by her family and home when she gets home from the hospital. I know when I am having a stressful time it helps to curl up in some comfy p.j.' s, sip a cup of tea, and curl up with a great book where I can forget my troubles for a little while.

Chamomile Coziness

Green Tea Daydreaming

Black Jasmine Richness

Exotic Flavored Black Tea Escape

Photo credits: Rooms 1 & 2) Simply Seleta, Room 3) Hooked on Houses

Room 4) Elle Decor, All sleepwear: Anthropologie, Tea photos Harney & Sons

Thanks, for having me, Karen, and I know I

speak for everyone when I say, we are thinking of

you and your family and will be waiting for you

when you come back!

Our homes truly are our havens during rough times. Thanks Debby for reminding me to take a little time for myself.

Found While Blog Hopping: DIY Drum Shade

I have been on the lookout for months for a reasonably priced drum shade, but have had no luck. I just can't bring myself to pay big bucks for a shade. Enter Ashley Keylor of The Keylor Family, my DIY hero, for coming up with this low-cost solution to paying $100's for a pendant light with a drum shade. Best of all, everything needed for the project can be scooped up at your local Hobby Lobby store.

Isn't she smart as a whip?!! Find a tutorial for Ashley's project here.

Guys and Dolls Party

Jesse from Good Girl Gone Glad is not only a fabulous blogger, she's also a wife and very busy mother to three children, including a set of twins. With her twins, a boy and a girl, soon to be celebrating their 4th birthdays, Jesse wanted to throw a party in their honor that would let each of their personalities shine. I'll let Jesse explain in her own words how she managed to accomplish just that.


Hi Strictly Simple Style Readers, It's Jesse from Good Girl Gone Glad and I am honored that Karen asked me to guest post on her wonderful blog. I thought I might share a recent party I put together for my twins who turned 4 years old. I am always amazed at all of the creative ideas across the blogosphere. And after a blogger recently shared some of her party inspiration sites I couldn't seem to get enough of looking at the wonderful inspiration photos. My idea of a party thus far for my children has been, sadly enough, a cake and having family over. This time was going to be different. =) What do you do when you have a boy and a girl to plan for?

Jesse's adorable twins

What I came up with I called "The Guys and Dolls" party.




I love all of the pom poms that are all over the net and though how cute those would be made in a mini version as cupcake toppers for my daughters half.





As for little man, we decided on mustaches on a stick! I didn't realize what a hit they would be.

What better way to remember our mustache fun than with a photo booth!

I used picnic mats that I had picked up from the Target $1 bins to make our backdrop. Of course we had to test it out before the guests arrived.





I was really surprised at how many of our party goers participated in the photo booth! So much fun!












Even our smallest party goer tried on a mustache!





And since I was trying to do it up right, we had to have party favors. I had been wanting to get my children's handprints on canvas for some time now, and thought that would make a fun party favor. So in preparation for the guest I purchased a couple of 3 to a pack, flat canvases at Michael's Craft Store for $3.00 each. I painted them a slate blue and as our wee guest came in I stamped their hands. This way by party's end they were taking home a dry print. I love their perfect imperfectness.






I might mention that we held our little get together on a Thursday evening at 7:00. Which was perfect. It was like a dessert party, where everyone came, but then were gone by 8:30. Everyone, including us, still had our weekend all to ourselves.

I hope this encourages you, if you were like me and hadn't tried your hand a "party" party. Thank you so much for having me!


Isn't that creative? A single stop at a craft supply or party store would allow you to get the makings for all of the decorations. Who doesn't love anything that saves time? If you like this idea, there is plenty more to be found at Jesse's blog.

Thanks to Jesse for filling in for me today. I'll be back tomorrow with a brand new post.

Frugal With a Flourish

Filling in for me today is Jess from Frugal With a Flourish. If I had to give Jess a nickname, I'd call her the Royal Repurposer. Jess has a real knack for seeing things, not as they are, but for what they could become. For instance, Jess took an old $3 spice rack from the thrift store and, with the help of some paint, turned it into storage for her collection of beads.

How about these silhouette plates that Jess created from Dollar Store finds.



Today Jess will be talking about another of her favorite topics, bargains. Specifically, she's found some great deals among merchandise that's marketed to college students. I give you Jess...



I am so pleased to be blogging today from Karen's at Strictly Simple Style! Karen was one of the first bloggers I met back when I started blogging 10 months ago and she is one of my favorite blogland friends.

A couple of weeks ago I did a post on "Great Ideas to Steal from Dorm Rooms" that was about all the ways you can maximize space, use double duty furniture, and personalize your space. Today - I would like to expand on that and say that there are a ton of great deals out there right now that they are marketing to young college kids that the rest of us should be stealing! So here are eight great items to snag from your favorite college student and use in your own home!

For starters - one of the things you can never have too much of in either a dorm room or one of your own rooms is storage. I love this bright storage trunk.

Yellow Storage Trunk - Target - $39.99

Next up - if you don't have room for an ironing board (or you don't iron that often) perhaps investing in a ironing blanket is a better use of space than a big ol
ironing board.

Ironing Blanket - DormCo - $7.55

Make the most of your corners with these corner shelves! I love the idea of using these up a corner of a short wall to do accent display!!

Set of Two Corner Shelves - Target - $14.99

How adorable is this lamp? It is classified over in the Dorm Section of the web site at Target - but I think this would pop in any room!

Ceramic Table Lamp - Green - $19.99

Laundry is easier in college when you can roll it to the Laundry Room - and that is no different in your home too! Love how this one folds up flat on itself! Even more space saved!

Chrome Laundry Sorter - Walmart - $32.88

No room for a home office? How about just hanging this over the door organizer to create an office space anywhere!

Metro Storage Organizer - Dorm Co - $15.22

How adorable is this double bell alarm clock! Stylish and practical! But again - categorized with the Dorm Stuff!

Double Bell Alarm Clock - Target - $19.99

I so want one of these! Save your fingers when you are bringing in bags and bags of groceries! This is a necessity for anyone who has to drag in groceries up stairs or any distance from a car!

Baggler - Dorm Co - $4.98

Listed in Essential College Frames - I say this set is an essential ANYONE frame set! Nine basic black frames and such a great value!

9 Pc Frame Set - Target - $17.99

So there you go - eight great items to steal from your favorite co-ed! What about you? Anything that you would recommend stealing? Any of the ideas above spark some ideas for you? Let us know!

Thanks to Jess for filling in today. Stop by and visit Jess at Frugal With a Flourish.

Too Many Cooks Spoil the Bridal Shower

Elizabeth had always had a knack for hosting the most elegant affairs on a shoe string budget. She knew all the best resources for finding great deals on supplies for decorations, invitations and food. She could whip up a swanky soiree like nobody's business and stay as cool as a cucumber throughout the process. So when Elizabeth's sister-in-law Janie announced her engagement, there was no question that she would throw her husband's sister the shower to end all showers. She started mentally planning the shower the day after the engagement was announced.

Elizabeth would start her search for inspiration with Martha Stewart Weddings

Unfortunately, about a month before the big day, a monkey wrench was thrown into her plans, the best friend of the bride-to-be desperately wanted to help plan the shower. This would be a problem, you see, the bestie's taste could only be described as tacky with a capital "T". Elizabeth's parties could be photographed for the pages of Martha Stewart Living. At best, a party planned by Bestie might have made the cover of something called Modern Redneck Living.

Elizabeth's idea of the perfect bridal shower dessert

Bestie's idea of an elegant dessert presentation.

As the saying goes, too many cooks spoil the broth. Unfortunately, that theory can apply to party planning too. Elizabeth agreed to plan the shower around the theme that Bestie suggested, spring flowers, a theme that could work. She knew she had her work cut out for her and that she'd need to suggest ideas in such a way that Bestie would think she thought of them herself.

Elizabeth's idea of elegant decorations on a budget

Bestie's choice for decorations

Bestie was in charge of choosing party favors, but Elizabeth, in her most tactful of approaches, suggested that she might consider checking out a garden center for seed packets and gardening gloves that Bestie could tuck into gift bags embellished with ribbon and a tiny silk daisy.

Bestie's suggestion for the perfect party favor for a bridal shower

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Elizabeth was less than thrilled with the skimpy flower arrangement that Bestie insisted on displaying at the center of the buffet. (She suspected that Bestie had snatched a handful of weeds from her garden and plopped them in a metal paint can she picked up at Home Depot on the drive to the shower.) However, since the event was held in Elizabeth's lovely home, the atmosphere more than made up for the weeds on the table.

When all was said and done, Elizabeth had no choice but to compromise. After all, it wasn't all about her, it was about celebrating the upcoming wedding of her husband's sister. Since Bestie was Janie's long-time friend, excluding her would have made the day less sweet for Janie. (For the record, Elizabeth is hoping that Bestie won't be quite as gung-ho when it comes time for Janie's baby shower!)

*All characters in this story are fictional, any resemblance to actual individuals is by coincidence only. So if you thought you might be the "Bestie" I was referring to, you might want to think twice about volunteering to plan the next event!

Have you ever been in Elizbeth's shoes? Let's hear all the gory details.