DIY Wreath for the Holidays

This year I was going for a white and metallic theme for the holidays so I wanted to make my own wreath. The total cost of this project was less than $10 and I absolutely loved the way it turned out! Happy Crafting!

MATERIALS NEEDED (all found at craft store like Michael’s)

• Styrofoam Wreath Form
• Glue Gun
• Yarn / Ribbon
• String
• Wood or Foam Mini Letters (I bought a bucket of the wood letters that’s found next to the foam letters)
• Accent Décor: I used a straw sunburst I found in the dollar section of Michael’s, but you can use anything

DIRECTIONS

1. Take the end of your yarn (or ribbon) and glue your starting piece to the back of the foam wreath. For extra security you can tie it to the wreath and then glue it down.
2. Start wrapping it around the wreath, while adding strips of glue to the back of the wreath to hold it down as you go.
   
3. At the end, you’ll have to add extra glue under and on top of that last piece in the back to make sure it stays in place
4. For the Sunburst, I found this piece in the dollar section of Michael’s. I cut down the stem and pushed it through the foam and glued it down. You can pretty much glue anything that isn’t too heavy, anywhere on your wreath. Mini ornaments, artificial flowers, etc would be super cute too!
5. For the “Merry & Bright” banner, I glued the back of the top of each letter to a piece of string, then I glued the string to the back of the wreath. Make sure you check where you want the top of the banner to be and how you want the banner to hang. You can get creative here and use any holiday phrase you like (or even your last name, “SMITH HOME”). You can also change up the colors of the banner by painting the letters or you can use other types of letters such as foam letters, stickers, etc. Just make sure to let the glue dry or else the banner may not stay in place.
   
6. To hang you can get a wreath hanger that attaches to your door. If you don’t like the look of a wreath hanger or don’t want to spend money on buying one, you can take a bendable piece of wire like a paper clip or ornament hook and push it through the top middle with a piece of the metal angled up of the wreath and glue it town (like the shape of an L or U, just don’t have the metal go straight out or your wreath will stick out if it’s against a wall/door). Then you can use your string to create a loop and tie and glue it down to the metal hook. Now you’ll have a little piece for hanging your wreath onto a nail, hook, or wherever you plan to hang.

Get Lifted - Upcycling Furniture Heights

First off, I apologize for not having blogged in awhile. I was super busy with work and coordinating my first wedding, which you'll hear about in my next post =)

Anyway, my last 2 pieces of furniture turned out to be too low to the ground so I needed to find a way to raise them up, but still keep it cohesive with the rest of my pieces, and stylish of course.

First off, I got this fabulous TV stand from www.vivedecor.com

I've seen this same Braxton Studio brand TV stand on sites like Amazon and Wayfair, but I found it for the best price on www.vivedecor.com for $250, shipped! Such a great deal, not even Ikea could give me something for this price at a comparable style. Anyway, I was stoked on the price, but of course with something that cheap, there's something bound to be wrong. When I got it, it was in a million pieces! With all cheap furniture, that's not really made of solid wood (mostly wood particle), you usually have to assemble it yourself and it doesn't come in one sturdy, ready-made piece, like the good old wood furniture pieces from back in the day. At first the assembly was going ok,, but when I went to drill in the very bottom piece, the holes weren't lining up and the directions didn't label some of the parts correctly. It took about 4 hours to put it together, and I ended up having to drill some of my own holes to make it fit. Thank goodness I'm a bit handy and knew that I could drill my own holes, because if you rely on directions, this would've been impossible! Anyway, I finally got it assembled and realized it was a bit too low for my  taste, especially since my sofa has 6" tapered legs which lifts it off the ground.

The solution? I found these mid-century style hairpin legs off of Furious Endeavors from Etsy . I worked with the shop owner Lou who was fabulous to work with! He made me a custom listing for 6" hairpin legs so they were lifted the same height as my sofa. I forgot I needed a leg for the very center of the TV stand to support the weight of the TV so it won't sag, so he is even making me a custom leg for that as well. His legs are the best price around and are already coated, while most other sellers sell these metal legs un-coated, which means they'll rust if you don't coat them yourselves.

The old legs were these cheap plastic silver squares that were about 1.5" high which I hated and were too low. I replaced them with the Furious Endeavors from Etsy metal hairpin legs. All you have to do is drill them with your own screws. I used 1.5" drywall screws and a basic drill. See the finished project below! I love how the legs made a super modern and plain TV stand into a mid-century style which i loved, and gave it the height I needed!

 

Now for my 2nd piece of furniture that needed some added height. You may remember my vanity below from a previous post. I ended up painting the frame grey, because I didn't like the contrast of brown and mint. I also ended up purchasing an Eames style Eiffel Chair like this at a furniture store for $40 because it was a floor model. That was such a steal in itself as this chair retails for about $100. The chair looked almost brand new, except for a few scuffs, all of which I removed with a Mr. Clean Eraser , which by the way is awesome for removing scuffs off walls, shoes, furniture, etc. Anyway, the chair barely fit under my vanity would scratch up against the lowest point, so I needed a way to raise the vanity.

My first thought was to get some circle wood pieces cut at Lowe's or Hope Depot to glue or drill to the bottom of the legs. Then it dawned on me! I remembered Michael's has a bunch of pre-made wood pieces so I took a trip there to see if I could find anything. I found these little wood pieces in the wood section for about $2.50 (with the Michael's 40% off coupons they always have). I knew the width and round, traditional style would go perfectly with the curved legs of my vintage vanity. I also got some E6000 glue, but you can use wood glue or drill them straight to the legs since these little wood pieces had a whole at the bottom and was hollow. I just worried since the legs were thin, that it might crack the wood, especially since it's a vintage piece, so I decided on the glue method for now.

I painted the wood pieces grey first to match the vanity, and then glued them on. Read the glue directions as this one requires 24 hours to dry. This type of glue is also a bit toxic, so make sure to have the windows open or apply in an open area.

I love how it turned out, and not my chair fits perfectly under, without touching the vanity. I feel like the addition goes perfectly with the existing style, and doesn't look like I added it. What do you think?

Even, Rambo approves!

Project Vanity

I've been on the hunt for the perfect vanity for a couple months now. I wanted something vintage and classic that wouldn't go out of style, but still had some whimsy. Another important feature was that it needed to have storage for all my makeup and hair necessities. Lastly, and the hardest part, was that it needed to be 42 inches wide or less because it would be going into a niche 42" wide. Well low and behold, Craigslist brought me this beauty. It's actually a desk that I'll be repurposing as a vanity. I love the shape of the legs and all the drawers!

You probably can't tell from the picture, but the person who had this before put a cream wallpaper on each drawer. They were a bit beat up, so I decided I was going to paint it and change out the rusty knobs. Below are my supplies: Valspar mint green paint, foam brush and sandpaper. 

I haven't moved into my new place yet, but I was planning to have some mint green accents, so I thought I'd paint just the drawers green. I peeled off the wallpaper off of one drawer and I found that there was a keyhole that was covered. I painted it to see what it would look like, and the wood wasn't taking the paint well, plus I didn't like the extra hole. I wasn't sure how I was going to fix this. I thought about putting a sticker over the hole, but then i knew the shape of the sticker would show through the paint. Finally, I found some electrical tape and covered the entire drawer with it. If you have to do something like this, you have to line up the tape perfectly so that they don't overlap, otherwise you'll see the lines after you paint over it.

After my first drawer, I decided to just paint over the wallpaper, and it came out better than painting directly on the wood. I changed out the tarnished knobs for these cute crystal diamond shaped ones I found at Lowes.

Here's the finished product! I'm still not sure about the color. I'm going to have to see how it looks like with the rest of the room once I move into my new place. If it doesn't fit in with the rest of my decor, it's an easy fix with a new  color of paint. For now, I love the pop of color and how it turned out! Now I just need to find a chair or stool and a mirror to complete my perfect vanity.

DIY Gold Bookshelf

I've been on the hunt for a gold bookshelf and haven't been able to find one under my budget of $100. Maybe because the color is associated with luxury, all gold furniture I've run into seems to be very pricey.... and you know what that means, a DIY project.

Instead of starting from scratch, I decided to do another Ikea hack. I wanted something very simple, and let's face it, cheap. I found the Ikea Vittsjo for $40. Here's what it looks like before I got to it.

All I did was spraypaint the bookshelf frame, but spray painting is not as easy as it sounds. here are the Materials I used: White Primer Spray Paint, Gold Spray Paint, and 180-250 Grit Sand Paper. Optional: mask

DIRECTIONS

1. Find an open area like a backyard or garage. If you choose to do it in a garage like I did, make sure to keep the garage door open as spray paint fumes are not good for you!
2. Keep in mind that there will be "overspray" which is spray paint residue that will get everywhere and looks like a light powder, so make sure there is nothing nearby that can get accidentally sprayed in the process. Make sure to put tarp, cardboard or some sort of material to protect your floor.
3. Assemble the book shelf but do not put the glass shelves on. You can put the 2 top and bottom wood boards, or you can spray paint them separately.
4. Wipe down the book shelf and make sure it's completely clean and free of dust or other dirt.
5. Prime the bookshelf with white primer. When you spray paint, the key is to do a very light coat about 6-8" away in an up and down or right to left motion. 
6. Let the first layer of primer dry (about 10 minutes) and then do another layer or 2 until the bookshelf is white. Again, make sure you don't spray too close or too heavy or else the paint will drip and you will see that texture.
7. After the primer is dry, lightly sand the entire shelf t make sure the surface is smooth. Wipe down any sanded residue.
8. Take your gold spray paint and spray one light layer. Again, make sure to stay about 6-8" away and keep it very light or else your paint will drip.
9. Let the first layer dry and do another layer or 2 until you get the color you like. I did 3 layers. 

DRIP TIP

This was my first time spray painting a piece of furniture and I did mess up in a couple of places where I spray painted too close or too heavy where the paint dripped. In order to fix this, i took a stronger sandpaper (60-80 grit) and sanded off the paint where it dripped and had an uneven texture. Once it was smooth, I re-primed with white and then spray painted with gold. It blended in pretty well, so don't worry too much if you mess up and have to do this. 

Here's the final outcome styled with some of my favorite books, sculptures, and albums!

Ikea Hack Part 2 - Matching Dresser

In my earlier post, I showed you how to do an Ikea Hack on the Rast 3 Drawer Chest with a little painting and staining. There is no matching Rast Dresser, but the Ikea Tarva 6 Drawer Chest is pretty darn similar. It is a little pricey at $150, but all other 6 drawer chests I liked started at $250 or more. Here's what it looks like after assembling it.

I'm sure you can get even more savvy on this part and find cheaper unfinished furniture or a thrifted dresser to re-finish, but all-in-all I'm still saving at least $100 for a brand new dresser that looks so much more expensive. I plan to utilize it as a TV stand in my Master Bedroom as well. Here's how it turned out after following the same steps as finishing the night stands in my previous post:

And here's the Tarva Dresser with the 2 night stands I made to match, oh and my Assistant Rambo too.

Keep checking back on my blog for my next DIY project with bookshelves.

DIY Ikea Hack

In my last post, I found a steal of a bed, but even with saving over $600, spending almost $700 on a bed is still a lot of money. I wanted to finally graduate from Ikea onto better quality furniture, but hey some times you just have to make it work. I'm investing more money (while still finding a deal of course) on the main pieces, and going to Ikea or consignment stores on the smaller pieces. I've been seeing a lot of Ikea Hacks on Pinterest so I decided to try my hand at it. I got 2 of the Ikea Rast 3 Drawer Chest which were only $35 each and in an unfinished wood. Here's what it would look like standard.

For this ikea hack, I bought all my supplies at Lowe's except for the new knobs:

• Valspar Ultra White Semi-Gloss Paint (1 quart)
• Minwax Wood Finish Stain in Provincial (1 quart)
• Minwax Semi-Gloss Polyurethane (1 quart) 
• Knobs from LeeValley.com
• Foam brushes (roller and hand brush)
• Sanding Block or Sand Paper 200-220 Grit (not pictured)
• Old towel or t-shirt to wipe off stain (not pictured)

The Lowe's employees in the paint section are always very helpful, so use the free help if you're not super knowledgeable like me. They tested different stains and paints for me so I could make sure I liked what they looked like when dry. They also recommended supplies and gave me tips. One tip I have to share is to make sure to use the same material brush if you're using more than one, as the different brush strokes will show. I used a roller brush to cover more surface and then a small hand brush for the corners and for staining, so i made sure both brushes were foam. Now for the dirty work...

The first step was to put the ikea night stand together. It's much easier to paint and stain when it's put together. 

1. Wipe down the drawers and make sure there's no dust. I used the roller brush to paint the cover of the drawers white. I painted each drawer 3 layers to get that white color I wanted. Make sure to follow the instructions on drying time between each paint layer. 
2. For the frame, lightly sand the surface and wipe off all the residue with a towel, or in my case an old t-shirt. 
3. I used the foam hand brush to lightly paint the stain on. Follow the steps on the stain. This stain said to wait 10-15 minutes then wipe the excess stain off after with a towel. I was happy with the color after one layer, but you can opt to do another layer of stain if you want it darker.
4. After the stain was dry, it was time to seal the stain with polyurethane. It's important to use very light layers and make sure there is no excess drip because it will dry like that and look like gobs of glue. For this brand, it recommended 3 layers of polyurethane with a 2 hour dry time between each layer. Follow the directions; after the first layer dried, I did a light sand, wiped off the excess, and brushed on another layer of polyurethane. I repeated this and on the 3rd final coat, you don't have to sand it down, just let it try for at least 24 hours.
5. The final step was to screw in my own knobs since I didn't like the ones it came with. They have a variety at Lowe's and Home Depot.

And here is the final product. I absolutely love how rich the stain came out and how the white paint and gold knobs give it a modern feel.

Would you have ever guessed that this started as a $35 Ikea Drawer Chest? With just a few more bucks and some sweat equity, I think these new night stands will look fab with our new bed, and dare I say, look expensive too. We also made a matching dresser which will double as a TV stand, so watch out for that on the next post...

My First Post - Savvy and Savory ?

Let me introduce myself, my name is Audrey and I'm living in Southern California. I’m absolutely excited to start this new chapter in my life which is part of the reason why I wanted to start my own blog. Let’s start off with the title. I wanted something that captured my love of “frugalista” shopping, food, home decorating, DIY projects, traveling, wedding and event coordination, and my own personal journey as a  new homeowner. As you can see this blog is going to be about a lot of things so it was impossible to find a title that incorporated it all, but mainly it will be about living life fabulously without breaking the bank and my delicious discoveries through food, travel and life as it happens… hence Savvy and Savory. I can’t take full credit for that name though. I bounced around a bunch of ideas with some friends, and one of my BFF’s, Krisheila thought “Smart, Savvy, and Savory” and I really loved the ring to it and play on words, so I just cut out the "smart" since savvy incorporates that and boom, there you have it.

Beyond the title, I’ve always found writing to be cathartic and I thought this might be a good way to document my finds and my life. I have a philosophy I like to call the “5 F’s”: Family, Friends, Food, Fashion and Frenchie.”  That pretty much sums up the things I love most, and in case you’re wondering, the last one is for my French Bulldog/Frenchie named Rambo. He’s going to be 4 years old this year and yes I enjoy dressing him up every once in awhile, taking a bazillion pictures of him, and letting him sleep on my bed with me. How can you resist this face?

Excuse the tangent, I’m sure I’ll be going on a lot of those, but let me get back to the point of this blog. I see a lot of blogs focused on fashion and décor I can’t afford or the lives of people I can’t relate to. I make what I like to call the “medium bucks,” and I think I am doing fairly well, but I am by no means rich. This blog is dedicated to those women who are in a similar place in their lives where they’re settling down,, moving up in their careers or still searching for the right one, renting or owning their own home… all while doing it in an affordable style. Just because I’m 30 something doesn’t mean the fun has to stop, but it also doesn’t mean there aren’t challenges, and I’ll be sharing those hurdles as well.

 A little more about me, I’m a Marketing Director at an IT Company and I love the company I work for, but I hope to one day also be a Teacher/Professor, two extremes I know. For my undergrad I got a B.S. in Communications & International Business Marketing, and I’ve been working in that industry for over 7 years now. Don’t get me wrong, I still love Marketing, but I've always had an itch to teach. I’ve always loved tutoring kids and about 3 years ago, I went back to school to get my Teaching Credentials and Masters in Teaching. Although I now have my masters and credentials, it just isn’t the right time to be a Teacher, especially in Southern California. I looked everywhere, but because so many teachers are still getting “pink slips” (laid off), when there are positions open, they hire those teachers back because new grads like me don’t have enough classroom experience. I could start substitute teaching to get my foot in the door, but with a new mortgage, I just couldn’t afford the instability of being a sub, which is why I’m still happily keeping my Marketing job. I’m decent at it, and my 2 bosses are amazing to work with, I’m very fortunate. I’m happy where I’m at, but every month when I see my grad school loan payments, and how expensive it is, sometimes I doubt my decision to go to Grad School because I’m not utilizing that degree. It’s hard to not have regrets, no matter how much people tell you not to. I just try to remind myself that someday I’ll be able to use it, whether it’s teaching elementary school kids or combining that passion with my current job and teaching Marketing at a college level, one way or the other I hope to make teaching happen.

Alright, I’m sure you’ve had enough of me. I hope you’ll share your stories too as this blog progresses. Feel free to ask me questions or leave comments, I love to help my fellow ladies (or men too if you’re reading).