March Madness

We have been super busy the past 2 weeks! I don't think I have ever mentioned this, but Lee and I are both graduates of the University of Northern Iowa. If you have been watching NCAA basketball March Madness, you may have heard of them. But I will start at the beginning. We took a long weekend and went to visit Lee's sister and niece and nephews down south. The night before we left UNI beat UNLV in the first round of the tournament. This ment that UNI would play #1 Kansas in Oklahoma City on March 20. Since Lisa only lives 3 hours from Oklahoma City, the three of us decided to go to the game.

We had a blast! Little UNI ended up beating the #1 team in the country, Kansas. It was a major upset and we were happy to be there cheering on the panthers!



We decided to keep going and follow the panthers to the Sweet Sixteen game in St. Louis this past Friday night.

The atmosphere in the dome was great. There were so many UNI fans there dressed in purple ready to cheer on the panthers. Even though UNI lost by 7 points, we were so proud and had a great time! (sorry for the bad picture!)

Of course we had to go see the arch before we left!

Ceramic Egg Crate (Part 2)

I am back with my finished egg crate. I was planning on sharing the before and after with you. The only problem is that I forgot to take a before picture! Just imagine it with a pastel green color. I used white spray primer and white spray paint to change the color. This was the first time I have used spary primer and I really liked it. It worked really well. Now for the after pictures.....

Garden Windows

I am in LOVE with garden windows right now. Definitely need to have one of these someday....

All images are from centsationalgirl.com - go check out her kitchen. It is gorgeous!

Fashion Friday: Swim

It is Spring Break week and I have been dreaming of beaches. Target has some cute swimwear this season. Here are a few of my favorites....

How To Make a Cake Stand

Many bloggers have been using cake stands to decorate with. I love the look and have been wanting one but didn't want to spend a lot of money. I looked for one at places like Goodwill and thrift shops and couldn't find one. I decided to try to make one myself. I started out looking for some type of taller dish and a plate. I was shopping at Marshall's one day and came across a really lucky find. I found this stand in the clearance section that would make the perfect cake stand bottom for only $0.70! I bought this quiche dish at Marshall's a few weeks later to use as the top of the cake stand for $4.99.

I only plan to use this for decoration purposes so I used super glue to attach the top dish to the bottom stand. I had super glue on hand but you could use epoxy as well. Here is the finished product that came in at a grand total of $5.70!

Dream Closet

One thing I would love to have when we buy a house is a big closet. I know these closets are probably not possible but wouldn't you love to have a closet like one of these?

northernvirginiamag.com

decorpad.com

decorpad.com

decorpad.com

Fashion Friday: 2010 Academy Awards

celebrity-gossip.net

This was my absolute favorite dress of the night. LOVE it!!

What was your favorite dress?

DIY Art

We have a lot of DIY art in our home. I like to be reminded of the people and places we love and have meaningful and interesting "art" around us.

Since we were just married in September, we have a few special pieces framed from that day. One of my aunts wrote a very meaningful letter to go with the gift they gave me at my wedding shower. I framed that letter and it hangs on the wall of our bedroom.

Another reminder of the day that I framed is the maid of honor speech my friend Amanda wrote. She wrote a poem that talks about our friendship and my relationship with Lee. (I know...she is so clever! Best MOH!)

I made this simple piece on the computer. It is just a fun way to display our wedding date in the collage we have on our bedroom wall.

The last 2 pieces are in our master bath (although they used to be in our dining room of our old apartment). I made this painting a few summers ago. I bought the canvas and spray painted it brown. After it fully dried, I dipped the top edges of a bucket and a smaller cup in paint and put them randomly down on the canvas. It turned out pretty well. I like that the circles aren't perfect and there are a few paint splatters.

The last piece of DIY art I will show you cost less than $1. I bought this chunky frame at Goodwill and spray painted it brown. I went to Menards and picked up a few paint chips (for free!) that matched the other art in the room. Then I just cut up the paint chips and arranged them on the cardboard back of the frame and taped them down....cheap, simple and cute!

Have you guys done any DIY art recently? Do you have any fun personalized pieces in your home? I want to hear your ideas!

Happy Birthday!

Happy birthday to my amazing husband! You are the best! I love you!!

Fashion Friday: Ruffle Heels

My awesome hubby bought me these cute ruffle heels for Christmas (from Old Navy). They have been sitting in my closet ever since. Hurry up Spring....I can't wait to wear them!

How To Make a Headboard

There are many DIY headboard instructions out there. Mine are a combination of trial and error and reading many other headboard instructions. There are a few things I want to point out. We used a foam mattress pad that we bought at Wal-Mart. We found this to be MUCH cheaper than buying foam at a quilt shop. Also, we used a white flat bed sheet from Wal-Mart instead of fabric. I wanted a white headboard so this again was a MUCH cheaper option than buying white fabric. Make sure you iron the sheet before making the headboard. We used a heavy duty picture hanger to hang the headboard to the wall. I hope you find these instructions helpful. Happy headboard making!

Supplies:
Lightweight Wood (cut to size)
2-3” Foam (we used a mattress pad)
Quilter’s batting
Fabric (we used a bed sheet)
Spray Glue Adhesive
Button-Making Kit
Long Upholstery Needle
Washers
Fishing Wire
Drill
Staple Gun

Instructions:
1. Cut your wood (or have hardware store cut it) to size.
2. Measure out and mark where you want the button tufting to go.

3. Drill holes in the board where you want the buttons.

4. Spray one side of the board with the spray glue and place the foam on top. Trim off any extra so the sides are even with the board. Note: If you are using a mattress pad like we did, make sure the flat side is up. Do not glue the flat side to the board.

5. Spray the top of the foam with the spray glue and cover with the batting. Make sure there is enough batting on all sides to wrap around to the back of the board.

6. Let it sit for 10 minutes to make sure everything stays glued down. Flip it over so the batting and foam side is face down. Wrap batting around to the back of the board and staple into place.
7. Lay the fabric (bed sheet) on the floor with the back facing up. Make sure the fabric is flat and there is enough on all sides to wrap around to the back of the board. Lay the batted side of the board down on the fabric and position it in the center of the fabric.
8. Starting with the middle of the headboard, wrap the fabric around the board pulling tightly. Staple every inch or so until you get all the way around the headboard. Make sure you are keeping it pulled tight. Fold and staple the corners like you are wrapping a present.

9. Cover the buttons with your fabric and follow the instructions to make them on your kit.
10. Take your upholstery needle and fishing wire and poke through the back of the headboard to the front through the hole you drilled. Once you are through the front, string the button and poke back through the hole to the back. String the washer on the fishing wire and tie tightly to get the tufted look.

11. Repeat the above step for as many holes as you drilled.

Organization Tips

Today I thought I would share a few things that help us stay organized around The Cody House.

Until recently, we have never had a good system to deal with bills and mail. They always ended up in piles on our kitchen counter. It was time to get a mail organizer. I found one at Target that I liked but it seemed a bit expensive. A week later I was at Marshalls looking around and came across the exact same mail organizer at a lower price and on sale! I snatched it right up. Here is our cute mail organizer that I love for keeping our counters and kitchen table a little cleaner!

Another thing we use to stay organized in the kitchen is the recipe binder. I just use an old binder and page protectors to keep all our recipes together. These are the recipes we have found online, in magazines or from friends. I like to have them in a binder like this because I like to see the pictures of the food and have room to make notes on the recipe. I like to keep this binder narrowed down to recipes we really like and actually make.

Both our bathrooms have great storage space. However, we needed some bins to organize all our bathroom "stuff". I didn't want to spend a lot of money on anything though since we are renting. I went to Target and found these cheap plastic storage containers. Lee and I each have one under the sink that holds our everyday items....

In our cupboard behind the door there are 3 containers on one of the shelves. One of the stacked containers holds medicine/first aid supplies and the other holds beauty stuff (fingernail polish, etc) The open container has things like suntan lotion, aloe, bubble bath, lotion, etc. in it. These containers have worked well to keep our bathroom organized.

The last organizational item I wanted to share is how I organize our coupons. We get the Sunday paper every week and I look online for coupons which has helped us save some money when we go grocery shopping. I keep three envelopes in my purse to keep the coupons organized. One is labeled Beauty, the second is Food and the third is Other. Having the envelopes labeled like this makes it easier to see what I have and find the coupons.

These are a few of our tips and tricks. Now it's your turn. What are some items or tips you have that help you stay organized?