itsy, bitsy, teeny, weeny, turquoise polka-dot bikini*

Oh, today my heart skipped a beat or two when I got the mail. Delivered especially for ME today was a package containing a new swimsuit. I am not one for buying swim suits or even one to wear a swim suit, but Lime Ricki hands down has the BEST selection.

Everyone I know seems to have a Lime Ricki swimsuit and well lets face it...if everyone jumped off a bridge into a deep murky mist below I would follow, so I jumped on the band wagon and bought a new suit for myself and lets just say love happened.



Oh how I love the deep turquoise color and the vibrant pink, BUT even more importantly....hold it, hold it....

the tankini actually sucks in my post-prego gut. Now, I know most of you are like 105 lbs and six feet tall, but I originate from a small clan of hobbits so even a tic-tac shows when I eat one.



Now, that I have bought one I need another. I can already see myself in a brown polka-dot swim suit soaking up the sun, while Hunk leans over me and says, "WE DON"T COME TO HAWAII TO TAN, IF YOU WANT TO TAN YOU CAN DO IT IN MONTANA"...Oh, well it was a nice thought imagining how great paradise would be ;)

DISCLAIMER: My little sis, who of course is up on the latest fashion, told me that if you do order the one piece make sure to get it a size smaller then you normally would...just sayin'...in case you were wondering

Mod Podge is a girls best friend....next to chocolate;)

I went through this phase a few years ago where I bought a million metal stars. My hunk would say that I went through a phase where I bought a lot of useless junk...I would say to him, "you have no vision, and you are an accountant." The conversation never went well after that remark. Anyway....

Now, that we have moved into a new house and barnyard red is no longer the main color in my house I knew I needed to either re-vamp my trusty stars, or say good-bye. "GOOD-BYE!" Heck no. So I dediced I would try turn my drab stars into something fab!



I grabbed a few items from around the house and decided to "re-design" the stars. So the main cast of characters included:


Metal Stars (duh) ;)


Mod Podge...


Martha Stewart Flower Punch..or any shape you want.

You will also need:
*scrapbooking paper
*scissors


Now to get this look I followed a few simple steps:


*First, I cut out pieces of scrapbook paper to match each point. I ended up having five pieces that kind of resembled diamonds.
*Once I cut out the pieces I laid them on each point and fold them so they fit perfectly on each point.
*Then I removed them from the star and covered the entire star with Mod Podge.
*Quickly, but with ease, I laid each piece of scrapbook paper on its designated point.
*As it dried I put another layer of Mod Podge over the top to hold the pieces in place.

Now for the butterfly punch:
*Once the paper had dried to the star I began to punch out butterflies from either the same scrapbooking paper or from coordinating paper (I did both).
*Once I had my butterflies cut out I began to fold their wings inward to give them some dimension
*Once they were folded I put a tiny dab of Mod Podge on the "body" of the butterfly and then stuck them to the star.
*VERY IMPORTANT. I didn't glue the butterfly wings to the star, just their bodies. It gave the butterflies more dimension and it looked as though they had landed on the star.

the final outcome looked like this!


After I had finished both stars, I let them dry and then hung them in little punk's room.

What a great way to still keep my rusty ol' barn stars by revamping them into something new and trendy!

Light it Up!

I love lamps. Oh, how they brighten a room. My deal-e-o is that I am cheap, and most lamps are highly over-priced. So my challenge was to turn my run-of-the-mill, everyday lamps into something eye-popping!

I took a white lamp shade from Target and with a few simple tricks it was transformed...



...into this.


To get this look. I took the left-over stickers from the center of a cd label making kit and stuck them all over the lamp shade. I then used Krylon spray paint to cover they shade.



For the next lamp shade. I covered the lamp with paper doilies and then spray painted over the doilies with Krylon Ocean Break.

**The key to making the doilies stay in place while spray painting is to stick them onto the lampshade with double-sided tape.



It seems that fabric rosettes are a hot-ticket item these days. I decided to replicate the idea on this lamp shade.


To get this look I followed a few simple steps:
*I cut up an old white shirt or cloth
*I then cut the strips into 1.5" sections
*Once the strips were cut I tied one end into a knot
*Using the glue gun I put a small dot of glue onto the lamp shade
*I then stuck the knot onto the glue and then begin to twist the cloth around the knot, I then glued periodically.
*Once I finished the first rosette, I then repeated the process over and over again until the lamp shade was completely covered.

And the cost to re-due three white lamp shades into three rockin' living room accessories....drum roll... under $10!