I have a tree in my yard that is producing little seed pods that I thought would make a beautiful wreath. So I took an hour out of my day today and made one. And, dang I’m good! It is good lookin’! It was super easy to make and looks great on my front door, so I want to share how to make one. There are probably a lot of things around your yard that would make a great wreath. (I can’t wait to make one in the fall when the leaves on my trees change colors.)

First, gather your supplies. All you really need is a grapevine wreath (mine is a 10″), some floral wire, and scissors. (Side note: grapevine wreaths happen to be 40 percent off this week at Roberts. They are usually about $2 for a 10″, so you can get it for just over a buck right now. Floral wire is about $1.60.)

Second, cut off enough bunches of seeds, leaves, or flowers to make your wreath. My hand shears made this super easy.

Next, gather enough seeds to make a thick bundle and secure the stems together with floral wire. I gathered three to four branches of seeds for each bundle. Once you have enough bundles to go all the way around the wreath, start securing them to the grape vines with the floral wire. The trick is to make sure that the top of each bundle hides the stems of the one before it.

Once I got this far I realized that the stems are pretty flimsy, so I wound a long piece of floral wire around the entire wreath to make sure the seeds didn’t flop over when I hung it up. I also sprayed it with some floral spray to help it keep its color for a few days longer that it would without it.

Ta da! After a short trip to Roberts to buy a $.99 wreath door hanger and some pink ribbon, my new wreath is proudly displayed on my front door. My husband keeps asking me about where I got the idea for it. He can’t believe I came up with it myself.

(P.S. Don’t you think this would make a great centerpiece if you lay it down and put a candle in the middle?)

Tags: DIY, Uncategorized // 5 Comments »

Now that my kitchen is nearly complete, I feel comfortable actually purchasing things to put in it. And number one on the list is, of course, my kitchen table. And I finally found exactly what I want. It is a good price, the perfect look, has two leaves for all the parties I’m going to have, and comes with a long bench. The problem? The guy who listed it on KSL.com won’t call me back. What is the opposite of luck? Because that is what I have. Mr. Jerry from Heber please return my phone calls!

Tags: Uncategorized // 1 Comment »

I think a lot of people know that a good trick to saving money when they want to remodel their kitchen or bathrooms is to keep the cabinets and either paint or stain them. Well, I just wanted to show you proof that this is true.

In my old condo we wanted to redo our guest bathroom because it looked gross. Seriously it was bad. People would come out with their nose wrinkled, and I just knew they were thinking their body was probably infected with some horrible fungus just by stepping in there. However, we didn’t have a big budget. After finding a beautiful black-framed mirror for cheap ($17.77 in the clearance section at Furniture Warehouse on Redwood Road!) we decided to paint the water-warped cabinets to match. We had tried to stain the cabinets a few months earlier, but it just brought out the flaws even more. I was very pleased with the outcome of our paint job.

Here are my tips if you decide to paint your cabinets:

• Make sure to take the hinges off the doors and frames when painting. Nothing says tacky more than half painted hardware.
• Sand and wash each piece so there isn’t any gunk and so the paint will stick.
• Prime your cabinets and doors. Don’t skip this step just to save money. It always helps the finished product look better and stay nicer longer.
• Choose either semi- or high-gloss paint. Why? Because your cabinets are going to be around water and food. These finishes clean up real nice and won’t stain. (PS I hate flat paint in all it’s forms. I painted a front room with it once…big mistake.)
• If you want to do this to your kitchen but are a bit nervous, try it in your bathroom first, just to make sure you like the outcome. A lot of houses have the same type of cabinets in the bathrooms, so once you paint or stain them you will know exactlywhat to do differently if you don’t like it. I’m so glad we did this in our condo. We were going to stain all our kitchen cabinets, but once we saw the outcome on the cabinets in the bathroom we knew it would have been an ugly mess in the kitchen.

Enjoy the before and after pictures!

Here are a few things I would have done to this room if I had stayed in this condo a bit longer: bought some sweet handles for the cabinet doors, replaced the faucet, and actually have bought a toilet paper holder. Those seem to work well in bathrooms for some reason.

Tags: Advice, DIY, Home Decorating in Utah--Tips!, Interior Design Ideas, Uncategorized // 1 Comment »

My husband and I have done a lot of painting in our day. I don’t mind it so much; it’s the taping I can’t stand. I really wish I could say we were one of those couples that works as a great team when we are in tedious situations, but it would be a big lie. After hours of taping we start getting really snappy and mean to each other. (The last time we painted I’m sure I called Seth a lame-o and jerk face a few times. Gasp!) So when Seth saw the Smart Masker Pro at a home show he grabbed it. It is supposed to make taping around windows, doors, and trim a breeze.

So we whipped it out this weekend when we painted our kitchen and…it worked! When we pulled the tape away there were still some leaks we had to touch up, but no more than usual. The taping was done so fast–I would guesstimate it took about a quarter of the usual time. I totally recommend it!

Kitchen pictures coming soon…I still have the handyman down there working on a few things.

Tags: Advice, Uncategorized, Very Interesting // Add Comment »

Project Update: We’ve had the handyman over today replacing doors and fixing lights, etc. The only thing I can complain about is the millions of flies that are now in the house. The doors were open all day and they took it as an invitation.

On to more exciting subjects. I got my Utah Valley Adventure Passport in the mail a month or two ago and recently found it again. It’s a fun little booklet that lists 10 adventures you can participate in throughout Utah Valley. At every stop you can get the booklet stamped just like a real passport.

The exciting thing I discovered are the coupons in the back of the booklet. There is one for 20 percent off any one item in the Thanksgiving Point Emporium (excluding furniture). I LOVE the Emporium. It has a ton of beautiful and unique home decor, jewlery, and other odds and ends. It is a bit expensive, but everything is beautiful. It is worth it to go just to get ideas, even if you can’t afford anything. But, hey, with 20 percent off some of the pretty things just might be in your grasp.

If you want a Utah Valley Adventure Passport you need to visit the Utah Valley Visitors Center at 111 S. University Avenue in downtown Provo.

Tags: Things I Like, Utah Home Decor Stores // Add Comment »

I would love to commission a portrait of my husband and myself. I’m sure it will take years until I can afford it, but doesn’t it just seem so classy? Diane Rollins Feissel does great work (a 16′"x20" is $700) , but it would be fun to find an artist from Utah that could do it. Let me know if you have any suggestions.

Picture from Feissel’s website. Idea off Mighty Haus .

Tags: Interior Design Ideas, Things I Like // Add Comment »

It’s official. We are having someone come over first thing Monday morning to fix all of our problems.

I am so happy.

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I posted this on KSL.com last night and have already received a reply. I’ll let you know the outcome…

There just aren’t enough Saturdays in a month! We have a bunch of projects that need to get done and are looking for bids on what you would charge to do them ALL.

List of projects

1. Replace two outside doors with pre-hung doors of the same size that we will buy.

2. Make kitchen faucet work. (We just bought a new one and hooked it up. Alas, it doesn’t work. We think it is user error.)

3. Complete gluing down last 4×4 section of wood floor. Not many tricky cuts at all. Tongue and groove.

4. Make bathroom light work. This is the trickiest one (I think.) We have replaced many lights before, so we are pretty sure it isn’t user error. This time we replaced the light, which was working just fine, with a new one from Lowes, and it just won’t work. We have tried multiple times and even replaced the switch.

Please e-mail me at patriciadawn8[at]yahoo.com with your bid on what you would charge to complete these projects. Please include:

1. Cost

2. How much time you think it will take to complete all these projects. (Your best guess.)

3. 2 references

4. Contact info.

Tags: Uncategorized // 1 Comment »

I just found these antique map drawers on KSL.com. They would be perfect to store scrapbook pages or papers in and actually ad character to a craft room. Too bad it’s $125. I’ll have to keep my eye out for something like this at yard sales.

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I have an Ace Hardware store just a few minutes from my house. It is fantastic. I absolutely recommend going to and Ace if you have one anywhere near your house. I’ll give you a list of reasons why, but to be fair I’ll list the bad things too.

Pros:

• Helpful! There is always someone standing there right as I walk in who will show me to the exact thing that I need.
• They actually pick out the thing I’m looking for and send me on my way. I don’t have to just hope I’m buying the right thing.
• They know me. They have started saying my name when I walk in the store like the people at Cheers did with Norm. (Well, not quite. But I’ve been there so much it is almost like that.)
• They listen to problems, analyze them with me and then help me find the things I need to fix those problems.
• Free popcorn. Very buttery. Yummy.

Cons:

• They may be a bit pricier than the big stores. But on most things it isn’t by much.
• They don’t have as big of a selection as the big stores. (But really this could be a pro because I hate walking miles in those huge stores, and sometimes it is just plain intimidating.

So decide for yourself, but I would suggest stopping by to give them a try (and get some free popcorn).

Allred’s Ace Hardware, 330 S. Main Street in Pleasant Grove.

Tags: Advice // 2 Comments »