Notice anything different?

Yep, there’s a new rug in town. But, first, the back story…

I love the sisal rug shown above. It’s crazy durable and after a year of living with three kids, it looks the same as the day the UPS man delivered it. One caveat. Not everyone’s feet are as seasoned as mine. I grew up in the country where it was okay normal to walk outside barefoot. I still prefer bare feet over the trendiest shoes. {That’s why you see my feet naked in nearly every photo of me on the blog.} But my HH and my kiddos have sensitive feet {the kids get all of their persnickety traits from their father – ha!} which deem the natural sisal a little too “scratchy” and “rough”. Sissies, I say!

To put the rug-related whining at bay, I made a futile attempt to layer a striped DIY rug over the sisal but it was welcomed with little excitement. Still not comfy enough for my delicate family. In an effort to secure the “Mom of the Year” award, I reluctantly started hunting for a plusher option. Two must-nots: 1) it must not cost a bazillion dollars and 2) it must not shed profusely.

About a month ago, after nearly six months of hunting, I found THE ONE. It is plush, oh so plush. In all, it cost me less than $275 for the 8′ x 10′ size. {Looks like the price has since increased.} And it barely sheds. BARELY SHEDS! I’ve been eyeing moroccan berber rugs for a while but they are so expensive and I was leery of reviews reporting beast-like shedding. So when I found this polyester version, I decided to give it a try.

What can I say? We are smitten. It is the rug version of clouds in heaven. I would say it has boosted our living room’s cozy factor 1000%. My feet are becoming more refined by the minute. But don’t expect them to start wearing shoes anytime soon. Another quality we were unexpectedly surprised by is the rug’s sound absorbing abilities. The vaulted living room sounds cozier if that makes any sense. HH and I noticed how the rug quieted the room as soon as we rolled it out.

The 8′ x 10′ shag is slightly smaller than the 9′ x 12′ sisal and doesn’t come with a non-slip backing so I just layered it on the sisal. The natural fibers of the sisal seem to hold it in place pretty well. I vacuum it once weekly and that’s plenty. My only complaints are that the rug is polyester and it does have an initial carpet smell. The odor was remedied with a week’s worth of open windows. And I will make my kids eat organic everything from here on out to counteract the negative effects of polyester. Kidding. A little.

I can’t keep the kids off the rug. They are like moths to a flame. Mabrey enjoys rolling around on the rug like so…

…when she’s not practicing her WALKING!

And, finally, proof that I have secured the “2013 Mom of the Year” award…

The day we received the rug HH and I rolled it out, vacuumed it, opened the windows then let the kids have at it. As noted, they were all about it. The very next morning Layne, our eight-year-old, woke up early, made his bed, got dressed and went out to the living room where HH found him planted face down in the rug at 7:00 a.m.

HH: Layne, what are doing?

Layne: Puppies and rainbows, Dad. Puppies and rainbows.

images: Dana Miller for House*Tweaking

Since our front door is still out of commission, we enter and exit through the garage man door or back french doors – both located in our mudroom. We use two large wardrobes and I set up a tidy little entryway in the mudroom to corral outerwear, bags, shoes and backpacks. I painted the walls dark and moody.

Things were starting to take shape but the empty wall was begging for some attention. Time for a mini gallery wall.

I picked up three non-matching picture frames from Target and paired them with three IKEA RIBBA frames that I already had on hand. I figured bright white, wood tones and a graphic chevron pattern would pop against the dark walls.

I came up with an asymmetrical arrangement and used my favorite 3M adhesive strips to attach the frames to the wall.

The frames are filled with family photos, a pen and ink of Layne as a baby that HH drew and vintage uniform patches from the gas station that HH’s grandfather used to run.

They welcome us home and bid us farewell.

Here’s how they look in the grander scheme. The french doors on the left look out onto our backyard and to the right is the laundry nook.

Get the look:

wall paint – Clark + Kensington flat finish in Besalt {Ace Paints}

trim paint – Benjamin Moore semi gloss White Dove

driftwood travertine tile – The Tile Shop

saddler bench – Wayfair

felt basket – Target

handbag – Amy Butler

jacket – Old Navy

wall hooks – Home Depot

RIBBA picture frames – IKEA

chevron picture frame – Target

driftwood picture frame – Target

bamboo picture frame – Target

Be sure to check in tomorrow to see the newly tweaked gallery wall on the other side of the mudroom! I’ll be sharing exactly how I use the 3M strips to install gallery walls.

This post brought to you by Threshold, a Target collection. The Threshold collection focuses on specialized design techniques including hand-painted accents and artisanal touches to make each piece unique yet affordable. What differentiates Target’s new Threshold collection is its unprecedented style coupled with its high quality and affordability. Thank you Tar-jay!

Other really awesome bloggers are working with Target and sharing how they use Threshold in their entries. See them here and here. Good stuff!

images: Dana Miller for House*Tweaking

Last week we surprised the boys {and Mabrey too but I doubt she had a clue} with a staycation. HH took Wednesday, Thursday and Friday off from work so we had a 5-day weekend all together.

Monday I scrubbed down and swept up the house. Tuesday I ran my errands for the week, got groceries and finished up all the dirty laundry. That left the rest of the week open for me to fully enjoy the staycation. I had this card waiting on the kitchen island for the boys Wednesday morning. Layne read the card aloud to Everett. They were ecstatic. Everett kept saying, ‘We’re on stay-buh-cation!’ What was on the fridge, you ask?

Why the schedule, of course. {HH purposefully overused the exclamation point. Everything’s more fun with an exclamation point! The more, the better!!!!!!!} HH and I decided it would be much easier for us to plan the staycation ahead of time instead of asking Layne and Everett what they wanted to do each morning. Early on in the summer, I had both boys make a list of things they’d like to do this summer. We picked many of them to do over the staycation. It made us feel not so bad about saying no to vacationing in New Zealand or Hawaii – both of which were on their want lists. Sorry, guys. Remember we just had a baby and mama quit her job?

Here are some pics from our adventures. I didn’t take as many as I would have liked but maybe that was a good thing. I was fully focused on our family instead of getting the perfect shot. It was nice.

We were so proud of the kids at the water park. Layne passed the swimming test which required swimming a full length of the pool and then treading water for one minute. He got a green wristband deeming him capable of swimming without a parent. He wore it with pride. He swam in every pool, rode every water slide. Even the really tall one that HH and I were a little skeered of. Everett wanted to do everything. No fear in that kid. Sadly, he wasn’t tall enough for the slides. Mabrey enjoyed the baby pool, some nude sunbathing and even a nap. She did so great.

On ‘make your own sundae’ night, we went dairy free. Chocolate frozen dessert {made from coconut milk} + blended frozen strawberries {oops!} bananas + a few dollops of Trader Joe’s Cookie Butter + sliced strawberries = dairy free heaven. The boys didn’t even notice it wasn’t a real sundae. Neither did I.

We hit up the local BMX track so Layne and Everett could ride their bikes. At first, HH had to help them over some of the steeper hills but by the end of our visit both of them were completing the track on their own. It was crazy hot that day but the heat didn’t stop them from riding for an hour plus. They were dirty and sweaty afterwards. Just how boys should be. Mabrey and I watched and cheered them on from the air-conditioned car. HH took his shirt off at one point and I was reminded that I have a pretty hot hubby.

At Scene 75 {basically a huge indoor arcade/small indoor amusement park}, once again, someone was too small to ride. This time it was the spinning bumper cars. {HH is in the background top right in the blue t-shirt looking over at Everett on the sidelines.} Maybe next year kiddo. I discovered why I never hang out in arcades. They’re loud, obnoxious, ugly, dirty, ADD-inducing and a waste of money. Not my cup of tea. But the boys had fun and that’s all that mattered.

Other non-stay-buh-cation-related events happened as well.

Mabrey turned four months old. When she’s laid onto her back, she immediately rolls to her belly now. Then gets mad after a few minutes because she can’t figure out how to roll back. She’s sporting a nice bald spot. The girl rubs her head back-and-forth when she sleeps. I keep finding stray hairs in her crib.

Everett’s love of costumes has reached an all new high. Like home decor, he prefers a mixed aesthetic as opposed to the matchy-matchy look. I call this his karate-pirate-ninja-surgeon look. He’s totally serious too. The headband, face mask and belt had to be put on just so. And I had to hold him up to look in the bathroom mirror at his reflection to which he stated, ‘perfect.’

I just realized I didn’t get a good pic of Layne! That’s probably because he’s too old, too cool for his mama to take pictures of. Just today he let the dentist know he is too old for stickers.

Or he’s always twenty steps ahead of me. I’m usually lagging {I just had to ask HH what word I was thinking of for that…for some reason ‘lacking’ was coming to mind but I knew that wasn’t it…before I could explain my ‘what word am I thinking of?’ question, HH quickly answered ‘penis!’ He’s not your typical engineer. He has a good sense of humor.} okay, where was I? Oh, yes. I’m usually lagging {not penis} behind with Mabrey in tow. I can’t keep up with those boys. Good thing school starts next week.

HH and I enjoy surprises if you haven’t noticed. {Hello. #3 is a girl! Still can’t get over that one.} Surprising the kids with a stay-buh-cation made it more fun. Have you ever tried a staycation before? Or a surprise one at that? They are the epitome of DIY vacations. Am I right?

Follow me on Instagram for more of-the-moment updates and sneak peeks!

images: Dana Miller for House*Tweaking

*THIS GIVEAWAY IS NOW CLOSED.*

It’s been a loooooong time since I’ve indulged in some pillow shopping. I’m holding out until we’re moved into the Underdog.

I guess you could say I’ve gotta thang fer pillas. They’re temporary {great for my frequent desire to switch up our decor on a whim}, inexpensive {especially pillow covers that can be placed over forms I already own}, and can help define a mood/color scheme in any room {personally I like to mix colors, patterns and textures together instead of just using a pair of matching pillows}.

So when Stacey contacted me about her new Etsy shop that features handmade pillow covers I was all ears…uh, eyes…although I admit that pillows sometimes talk to me. Weird? Good. I didn’t think so either. Modest Pillows is a great option if you’re looking to add a punch of color or pattern to your decor. You can use them to cover existing pillows or new forms.

Just browsing through Stacey’s shop has me twitching a little.

Must. Get. Pillows.

No, wait. Must get at least one bathroom and the kitchen finished at the Underdog then…Must. Get. Pillows.

No need for you to wait though. Stacey is offering up a gift card to her new Etsy shop as a giveaway this week! Lucky ducks. Here are all the details:

• PRIZE: one $25 gift card to Modest Pillows
• RULES: You must be at least 18 years old to enter. One entry per email address. International readers: You’re good to go on this giveaway. Stacey ships all over the world!
• HOW TO ENTER: Leave a comment on this post proclaiming “COVER ME!”
• DEADLINE: Enter before Thursday, March 8th at 9:00 p.m. EST. One winner will be chosen via Random.org and announced on Friday, March 9th.
• WHILE YOU’RE AT IT: Since we’re talking modesty here, divulge your most ‘un-modest’ moment. I’ll go first. I was standing in line for the trash in my high school cafeteria. I had just finished eating and was waiting to dump my trash and return my lunch tray. It was a hot, hot day. Our backwoods school had no air conditioning so several oscillating floor fans were turned on at their highest speeds. I was wearing a skirt…do you see where this is going? When one of the fans came around and faced me at full blast, I had something of a Marilyn Monroe street grate moment. But not nearly as sexy. My skirt blew up above my waist but because I was still holding my tray full of dishes, I didn’t have a free hand to push my skirt back down. So I just stood there holding my tray with my skirt blowing in the breeze until the oscillating fan turned the other way. I was mortified. Definitely not a modest moment.

If you’re interested in purchasing pillow covers from Modest Pillows, use the discount code “HOUSE” to receive 15% off your order. Offer ends March 31st, 2012.

Don’t forget to ‘like’ Modest Pillows on Facebook!

images: Modest Pillows

Remember this mood board for our master bathroom?

To keep the bathroom from feeling too sterile with all the hard, shiny surfaces {tile, gloss vanity, galvanized wall sconce, etc.} I wanted to incorporate a few natural elements in the form of warm wood tones. I thought that bringing in a small woven ottoman and/or a mirror with a wooden frame would help balance out the harshness of the other very bathroom-y elements. And if the ottoman and mirror were round, they’d also break up the strong rectangular lines {vanity, tub, overall shape of the room, shower tile, etc.} of the bathroom.

The bathroom is openly visible from the master bedroom. In fact, I plan on placing the bed so that when lying in it the bathroom is directly across the room. So, I’m going for more of a dressing room effect in the small bathroom vignette {sconce, mirror, vanity, sink} that will be seen from the bed. It helps that the toilet placement is off center from the bathroom doorway! Otherwise, I’d just close the door and call it a day.

I featured the Jules Mirror from Home Decorators in the original bathroom mood board. But with a price tag of $300, it was more than I was willing to spend. So, like I typically do, I used my mood board as a jumping off point to search for another mirror that was cheaper but still retained the two elements I was wanting – warm wood tones and round shape.

I create mood boards for my own home not to pick exact items but rather to create an overall look for a room. So, if an item that I use in a mood board is not at my price point {or if I simply think I can do better}, I have no problem straying away from the mood board and finding something different. I would say normally I end up buying maybe 60% of the mood board items and finding practical replacements for the other 40%. That’s just a rough estimate and every room is a different experience, of course. Still, it’s a process that has worked well for me so I continue to use it.

Now, back to my mirror search…

Somewhere along the way, it crossed my mind that hanging a wood-framed mirror might not be the best option for a bathroom. What about all the moisture? But I really wanted to make it work if I could. I searched everywhere for a round, wooden mirror – online and offline – to no avail. I decided to take a break from my mirror hunt. After all, it wasn’t pressing. We don’t even live in the Underdog yet. I thought I’d give it some time and eventually ‘the mirror’ would come to me.

And that’s exactly what happened. Weeks ago, on a trip to a local salvage/closeout store while looking for rugs, ‘the mirror’ found me.

Round? Check. Warm wood tones? Check. Budget-friendly price? At $79, check. I called Handy Hubby back at the homestead {Surprise! HH was at the Underdog working.} to make sure the mirror’s diameter wasn’t too big/too small for what we needed in our master bath. Wouldn’t you know? The size was just right. Another big check for the salvaged mirror. Then the “do I put a wooden mirror in a wet bathroom?” question popped into my mind again. That’s when I saw it. The mirror’s description tag. It read ’round teak mirror.’

I was sold. Why? Because teak has natural oils that make it ideal for wet conditions. It’s commonly used to make outdoor furniture, boat decks, exterior architectural elements and cutting boards. It doesn’t matter if the wood is treated or not. This round teak mirror was the perfect solution for our master bathroom! It came home with me. FYI – I didn’t find any buy-worthy rugs. You win some; you lose some.

Yeah, I know it’s just sitting on the floor leaning against the wall up there but can you picture it hanging? It’s gonna be fab. I don’t think I’m going to mind staring at it from my bed across the room. Not at all.

I especially like the wedged design of the frame. It gives the mirror interest, pattern and variation.

The wide frame does take away from the surface area of the mirror but HH and I only use the bathroom mirror to wash our faces, brush our teeth, put on a little makeup {me not HH} and fix our hair. So the size of the actual mirrored surface is plenty for us. A leaning floor mirror in the master bedroom has always been a part of the design in my head and we’ll use that larger mirror for full-length once overs.

And that’s the story of how a round teak mirror found me when I wasn’t even looking. That’s usually how true love starts, right? It is how HH and I met. And here we are 14 years later happily living in an apartment, renovating a house, raising two healthy kiddos and expecting another! I expect just as many fulfilling experiences from this mirror. ;)

In other bathroom news {ew, that sounds gross, sorry}, HH has started work on prepping the master bath for tile!!

He picked up supplies from The Tile Shop this past holiday Monday for all of our tiling projects to come {master bathroom, kids’ bathroom, mudroom/dining room} and there was some concern that his Danger Ranger was going to lose an axel. Luckily, the Danger Ranger held in there and pulled through.

Even with it in the box, I couldn’t stop googling over the shower surround tile. It’s so sparkly! HH has been busy throughout the week {after his long day job hours} prepping the master bath for tile. That’s the first room we’re going to tackle with tile. Should be fun!

So how about you? Ever found love for someone/something when you were least expecting it? Ever put off searching for that perfect piece only to have it find you later? I have a feeling when baby #3 arrives, it will be a similar experience as we definitely weren’t expecting to have more children. Sometimes you just have to let things come to you, huh?

images: 1&2, 4-9) Dana Miller for House*Tweaking 3) Home Decorators Collection

1.  Gardening gloves have nothing on black-dyed mulch.

2.  Handy Hubby’s Danger Ranger can hold ~1 cubic yard of mulch per load.

3.  Even though a professional landscaping company says it will take 4 cubic yards of mulch to cover your mulch beds, you can do it with 2 cubic yards if you spread it on thinly.

4.  Spreading mulch is a great way to get some time to yourself.  Neighbors and kids won’t even bother messing with you should you need some help.

5.  Spreading mulch isn’t too bad.  It’s the hauling, shoveling, wheelbarrowing and dumping parts that suck.

6.  Spirea looks fantabulously lime green against a black backdrop.

7.  For a self esteem boost, a woman need only visit a landscaping supply business.  It doesn’t even matter if you are smelly, sweaty, dirty and breathing heavily…whistles and second glances will ensue.

8.  Beach towels are a better alternative to white bath towels when showering after spreading mulch all day.

9.  Three-year-old and six-year-old boys think helping their mama spread mulch is cool for about 5 minutes.

10.  Spreading mulch burns enough calories to justify a #1 Big Mac Extra Value Meal from McD’s.

11.  Spreading mulch is a good way to entitle yourself to your first ever manicure.

12.  Deodorant is no match for 85° weather + hard labor + my armpits.

13.  The mailman doesn’t give a @*$! if you have been shoveling mulch for 5 hours straight.  He still wants you to walk out to his postal truck ASAP to sign for a package.  And he will honk at you twice to let you know he’s in a hurry.

14.  My eyebrows don’t do a very good job of keeping rivers of sweat from stinging my eyeballs.

15.  If you need a reason to justify buying new shoes, just wear your old ones to spread black-dyed mulch.

16.  It takes about 13 fillings of this water bottle to keep me hydrated when I spread mulch in hot weather.

17.  Capri leggings leave weird tan lines.

18.  I look like I’ve been working in a service garage all day after spreading mulch.

19.  It takes me 6 hours to unload and spread 2 cubic yards of mulch.

20.  My groin sweats?!

21.  I save $100-$140 by picking up and spreading my mulch versus having a professional landscaping company deliver and spread it for me.  That means my hard labor is worth about $16-$23 per hour.  Not too shabby.

images:  Dana Miller for House*Tweaking

I took a little time to bring some spring inside.  My family room mantel is an easy way for me freshen up our space:  it’s a small vignette, it’s a simple backdrop to begin with, my kids can’t touch it!, and I can crop out all the mess going on around it.  I started by switching out the velvet slipper chair for a mid-century modern chair from the living room.

I found the chair on the side of the road a few years ago, refinished it, and made new geometric print cushions.  To me, the velvet upholstery felt more wintery and I like the playful, modern look of this chair for spring.  I added a vase of $4 yellow gerber daisies to the scalloped side table and then moved onto the mantel.

Whenever I take on the task of switching up the mantel, I ‘shop’ around the house.  I found the trio of octagon frames in my craft closet and decided they needed to make their mantel debut.

I bought the frames from Goodwill last year, spray painted them white and added swatches of fabric.  I love the touch of geometry that the shapely frames lend to the mantelscape.  The bottom 2 frames are leaning against the wall and the top one is hanging from an adhesive 3M hook that I painted the same as the wall color to disguise it.  Since nearly all of our walls are painted the same color, I figure I can use it again elsewhere and it will blend in just as well.

To keep things fresh and airy – which is what spring feels like to me – I added round white votives and vases, a tall vase of green pom poms {also $4}, and relocated a paper maché ‘M’ from the living room.

Including monograms and typography in a vignette is a great temporary way to make a space feel personal.

I always like to have some warm candlelight glowing on the mantel since it’s about one of the only places I can keep lit candles out of the reach of little hands.

So that’s what my mantel is looking like these days.  I like to tweak it with the changing seasons.  It’s a quick, easy and cheap creative outlet for my fickle creative tendencies.

Have a lovely, springy weekend!

images:  all Dana Miller for House*Tweaking

As in, I use lots of hooks for lots of different purposes in my home.  {Gotcha.  I thought that title would grab your attention.}  Not only are hooks inexpensive and easy to install, but they also keep clutter up off the floor {somehow it looks a little better on a wall?!}.  That leaves more floor space open below for traffic flow, furniture, playing, parking, closing/opening doors, or just breathing room. Right inside our front door, I have a row of wall hooks for guests to hang up their coats, hats, or bags.

There’s even a lower set of hooks for little people who visit us:  our kids’ friends, neighbor kiddos, and our nieces.

In fact, we have no closet on the entire first floor of our home.  That’s not to say we never had a closet on the first floor.  We did.  But we found the closet door to be cumbersome in a small, crowded hallway so we DIYed it into a mini mudroom sans door.  There are hooks for coats, purses, backpacks, and lunchboxes.

I even hung a double hook at kid height just inside the mudroom on the doorway wall that we opened up to accommodate the mudroom.  When the kids are sitting on the bench removing their shoes, the hook is just to the left and in front of them.  It makes a great spot for them to hang their bags and jackets.  It’s amazing what kids will put away if you make storage options accessible to them.

Across the hall from the mudroom is a half bath.  I attached a wall hook at kid height between the sink and toilet to make hand-drying and towel-hanging easier on the kiddos {which ultimately is easier on me!}.

Having a large pantry off the kitchen area makes living without a traditional first floor closet doable. Behind the pantry door I hang a broom, dust pan, and small rechargeable sweeper.  That leaves plenty of room for the actual vacuum cleaner to sit on the floor without crowding the small space.

Handy Hubby installed a similar hanging system in the garage for outside brooms, shovels, trimmers, and other long miscellaneous items.

We have ceiling hooks in the garage to store our bikes.  {I can get my bike down but need help putting it back.}

And we hung two rows of hooks at the door where we enter the house from the garage to keep reusable shopping bags, swim gear, and helmets in check.  In the summer, we also use these hooks for wet swimming trunks/suits and drying beach towels.  {Our neighborhood has a community pool within walking distance.}

Right inside that same door, I hung a cork board organizer that has a trio of key hooks.  When we come home, before we even close the door to the garage, we always make it a point to hang up our keys.  Handy Hubby has a nasty habit of hoarding all sets of car and house keys in his coat pocket, leaving me stranded at home when I need to be at work or elsewhere.  Figuring out a simple, no-fail key hanging system was a must for our marriage!

I’ve utilized hooks upstairs in my home too.  Three of the four bedrooms have hooks located right inside the door for items that get used more frequently than things stored in the bedroom closets.  I hang up the kids’ comfort blankies {my guys have a fondness for silky blankets…especially Layne who chews on his…which is why I have to hang it up every morning to dry…it still smells awful to me but awesome to him}, a special kindergarten bus hat, toddler sleep sack, and guest towels on these bedroom hooks.

In the second floor laundry room, I have a row of hooks behind the door for hanging ‘line dry only’ items.  It works great!  Not only are my wet bras hidden out of sight, the heat from the nearby dryer shortens drying time.

And, finally, I used a double hook to hang my ironing board on a skinny wall in the laundry room. That way it’s up off the floor but not hidden in a closet somewhere further away from the laundry room.  Not that I iron all that much.  But still.

So those are a few ways I’ve incorporated hooks into the whole storage scheme over here. Currently, we have over 2,500 square feet of living space and plenty of closet space.  However, that’s all about to change when we downsize.  Finding even more clever ways to store things on a wall/ceiling, off the floor, with a hook or two is going to be a must.  Have you ever used hooks to resolve a storage problem? Share, please!

images:  1) TR Woodworks for Etsy…all the rest) Dana Miller for House*Tweaking

I saw this vintage apothecary matchstick bottle in the most recent issue of House Beautiful and thought, “I should try DIYing that!”  It was simply a small glass bottle filled with matchsticks and etched on the bottom for lighting the matches.  I already had a perfect little glass vase that I had found at Goodwill for $1 but had trouble scoring long {think 4″-6″} matchsticks to fit inside.  I finally found these 4″ matchsticks on Amazon.

They come in a set of three.  They were expensive for matches, but I planned on making two more of these matchstick bottles {for Mom and MIL for Mother’s Day} if the first one turned out okay so I figured ‘what the heck?’ and ordered ‘em.  One matchstick bottle for myself and two Mother’s Day gifts for less than $20 total is actually a steal, right?  I tried etching the bottom of the glass vase like my House Beautiful inspiration had on it, but the etching turned out not to be coarse enough for lighting the matches.  Scratch Plan A and onto Plan B which consisted of me cutting out the lighting strip from the matchbox, cutting it down to size, and adhering it to the exterior bottom of the vase with scrapbooking mounting squares.

I didn’t like the way the lighting strip showed through the glass when the vase was upright.

I cut out a circle of scrap fabric {from some leftover kitchen curtain material} and placed a folded piece of painter’s tape to hold it in place into the bottom of the vase.  {I wanted to be able to remove the fabric easily if I ever need to clean out the vase.}

I filled the vase with matchsticks and tied a small tag {another scrapbooking product that I already hand on hand} around the lip of the vase with twine.

Yes, that’s computer text added to the tag.  I didn’t want to write something on it just yet since I plan on gifting two matchstick holders to my mom and MIL for Mother’s Day.  I don’t have the other two vases {which I plan on buying at Goodwill} yet and want to make ‘em personal after I decide which one stays with me, which goes to my mom, and which goes to MIL.  I might even switch up the phrasing to something else but I like this one for my own home.

The lighting strip really works, too!  You just grab a match, hold the open mouth of the vase with one hand, and swipe the match across the bottom with your other hand.  Oh, and it doesn’t budge at all with those super sticky mounting squares holding it in place.  Just remember to keep it out of reach of little ones!

With the vase full of matches, you can’t see the fabric-covered bottom.  But as the match supply begins to dwindle, it will be revealed…instead of the lighting strip’s ugly backside.

I’ll have to keep you posted on how I tweak this DIY project into a Mother’s Day gift when that time approaches.  Wouldn’t it be nice to gift it along with a yummy-smelling candle? And to think that I’ll get 3 matchstick holders for the same price {$20!!} as the one in House Beautiful is pretty sweet. Nothing like taking inspiration from high-end products and dumbing it down into something affordable!

images:  all Dana Miller for House*Tweaking

I am so happy to share a design e-book that Lauren and Courtney over at Kelly + Olive included me in today!

The e-book, Ideas You Should Steal, features “17 fun projects submitted by top home, craft, and lifestyle bloggers from all over the web.”  {Those are their words, not mine.}  Not only does it benefit anyone looking for a quick and easy design project, but it also benefits the non-profit organization Dwell with Dignity.  Dwell with Dignity is a group of interior designers and volunteers who work to create soothing, inspiring homes for those struggling with homelessness and poverty. Their goal is to expose less fortunate families to nurturing home environments with the hope of helping them maintain a standard of living they can be proud of and thrive in.  So when K+O contacted me a while back about participating in this project, I didn’t have to think twice about contributing.  Who doesn’t want to see everyone live in a home that is inspirational and conducive family life?

Without giving too much away, the e-book features several well-known design bloggers along with step-by-step guidelines for the project they contributed.  I was completely shocked to see my headshot included alongside such savvy bloggers and designers!  It’s an honor to be included in the mix.  If you wanna see it all for yourself, then follow this link on over to K+O and make a small donation {$1 is the suggested amount} to receive your own download of the e-book. It just might make a difference in two lives – yours and a Dwell with Dignity beneficiary!

Oh, and if you’ve never heard of K+O, now’s your chance.  Kelly + Olive is the name of the design biz/blog that two Chicago gals run.  Ironically enough, their names aren’t Kelly and Olive at all but Lauren and Courtney.  And they’re pretty rad.  They offer professional advice on choosing a color scheme, furniture, accessories and styling techniques for interiors…online or in real life if you’re lucky enough to live near the windy city.

With all the chaos going on internationally over the past several weeks, I’ve been reminded of my gratefulness for our safe and healthy home.  Many people, including children, aren’t so lucky.  I’ll admit to getting caught up in decorating, painting, DIYing and just plain homemaking…but there are moments in time like this that make me appreciate all that I have and have done…it’s very humbling. Maybe design won’t save the world, but caring people like Lauren and Courtney can make it a better place to live.  100% of the proceeds of this e-book go directly to Dwell with Dignity. Thank you Lauren and Courtney for such a great opportunity!

Here’s to an inspiring, humbling, healthy and safe weekend.  Give your significant other, kid, baby, pet, parent or friend an extra hug.

images:  all linked within