Live Here, Decorate With This!

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Come visit me on Apartment 34 today for some home design inspiration!

Apartment 34 is a design lifestyle blog that I LOVE.  I am more than thrilled to have one of my submissions for Live Here, Decorate With This  selected to be on Erin's wonderful blog.

I chose a polka dot room for inspiration (me + polka dots = happy) The room is below, you will have to go check out Apartment 34 for my design picks!

My apologies for a slow blog week, sometimes the real world catches up! If you have 3 seconds, really that's all it takes, lol- Please vote for me to win Project Nursery's Party of the month (Pink Girly Birthday DIY) it is a tight race, every vote counts! Xoxo- Laurel

Via Pin  - Tim Walker Vogue Italia

Weekend Loves & Lens- Please Vote Edition!

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Don't worry not THAT kind of voting... No politics on the blog here- it is a safe place.

Please vote for ME on Project Nursery!

I am a finalist for party of the month for September for Kalia's First Birthday Party!  There is no login, just scroll past the monkey picture and choose Pinky Girly Birthday DIY from list if my party is your favorite!

You can vote once every 24 hours and voting ends Sept 30th.  I will not bug you daily (only if you follow me on Twitter, lol, I may be sending a daily tweet reminder...)

The other parties are beautiful and I am amongst great company, so if my party is your favorite, I would love your vote!

Hope your weekend was wonderful!!

Fall Means Chili Bar!

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I love cozying up with a blanket and eating a warm bowl of chili.  Every October, as Halloween approaches, we have a pumpkin carving and chili night with our friends.  We just pretended we were cold the years we lived in Hawaii.

I try to make my chili early in the day so that the flavors have time to develop and once I chop the toppings, I am done for the night! Setting up a chili bar is an easy way to entertain a large group without the host (me) having to do much once the guests arrive- I eat chili and drink a beer (or two) with everyone else! I can finally watch the Superbowl (and by Superbowl, I mean the commercials) because the chili bar is ready to go!

Toppings vary, I traditionally use: Chips, Cheese, Avocado, Banana Peppers, Sour Cream, Scallions, BACON, and Beer.  (Well, beer is not a topping but is always included, it is a Chili BAR and all...)

My favorite toppings- Cheese, banana peppers (lots of them!), scallions and a dash of sour cream.

How do you like YOUR chili? 

Happy Fall and Happy Weekend Everyone!

Follow me along on Facebook Pinterest & Twitter!

Thrifty Tuesday- Tray Makeover!

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Trays are not the most exciting thing in the world to find at the thrift store, but when I saw the tray on the left a month or two ago, I loved the shape and since I needed something to throw down my keys and sunglasses in by the door I picked it up.  For a $1 thought I could make it look pretty and if I failed, it was $1.

You may have seen it already as I sent the quickie makeover via my Instagram awhile back (I am @abubblylife on Instagram, come follow me! )

I picked up the round one last week for $1 as well, I loved the rounded tray and the handle! I am not sure it will stay where it is now, but it is a keeper for the house!

The before shots of both!

The bad news is since I did not seal it, the keys have scratched the tray up a bit.  I can live with it though! But if you try it at home, you should seal it.

I also made a little glitter pumpkin this weekend for a touch of Fall!

It is SO easy to makeover.   For a two color stripe look:
- Spray paint using the lighter color as the base and leave a few hours or overnight to dry.  *If you tape too soon after painting, the paint can come off when you lift.  Spray paint does dry fast, but it is best to leave for a bit to avoid lifting.

- Tape up (I wanted stripes) and spray paint your other color! You have to be patient and wait a bit for it to dry and then you can take the painter's tape off.  *You do not need to wait a few hours as the bottom base has dried and will not lift, you can lift at whatever your can of spray paint says for drying time

Ripping off painter's tape and seeing the final product is one of my favorite things to do, lol!

I had to include this shot of Kalia "helping" me!!

Since I had the spray paint and painter's tape, the project only cost me a $1 per tray and was an easy way to glam up my hallway.  I also needed it so I stop losing my freaking keys, which has not worked because in the picture are my spare keys because I could not find my real keys, lol.

Have you found anything interesting lately? Or NOT interesting that you worked some DIY magic on?

Check out my other Thrifty Finds!

36th avenue Tidy Mom Hubby Made Me Tatertots & Jello It's Overflowing

Thrifty Thursday Tip!

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Thrifty Thursday is here already!  Today is not a find but a tip- When in doubt, put it in your cart!

An item at a thrift store is typically a rare find and you probably will not find it another day or even within 30 minutes of seeing it.

I add everything I lull over to my cart and then before purchasing, I go through each item and make my decision to buy or not to buy.

I learned the HARD way.  Sigh, I spotted a beautiful condition vintage red wagon...  decided to think about it and walked away.  When I went back ten minutes later- it was gone and in someone else's cart!  

No wagon for Kalia :( and an important lesson for me!

Do you have any regret stories?

Check out some of my Thrifty Finds from the past!

Cake Stands Galore Thrifty DIY!

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If you are on Pinterest, I am sure you have seen the many ways you can make cake stands using thrifted materials.  Well, I wanted to do my own for Kalia's first birthday party.  I began hunting down materials two months before her party and gathering candlesticks and plates:

I looked for candlesticks that had cool shapes and tried to find plates with interesting edges.  On a deadline, I finally bought a couple more that were not exactly what I wanted, but I love the way they turned out.

I primed, then spray painted my desired colors.
I applied Gorilla Glue* to the top edge of the candlestick to the plate then applied pressure with some heavy cookbooks.  I left overnight.  *UPDATE 12-3-12- I have since used liquid nails and LOVE the results.  I suggest liquid nails over gorilla glue!

*I used Gorilla Glue because it is what I had around house.  Gorilla glue expands as it sticks, so use caution when applying, a little goes a long way.   If you are unfamiliar with Gorilla Glue, I suggest using another glue to adhere the plate and candlestick.

Spray painted stands are NOT food safe,  so be sure to place a layer on the stand when putting any food.  I used thin circle parchment paper that you can buy for baking- it worked perfectly!

The plates ranged in price from $.90 to $1.91 for the larger.  The candlesticks were $.35-$.75 each and I found one glass cover for $.50!  I would say total cost for 5 cake stands was approximately $11.00 not including the cost of spray paint.  (I actually had the spray paint from other projects!) 

I love them, I alternate between the white beauty above and the blue one for my favorite!

Super easy DIY and I think the results are beautiful!

If you enjoy, please comment, share or pin (or all 3 ;)

Follow A Bubbly Life on Facebook & Twitter! xoxo, Laurel

Weekend Love & Lens- Fall is Here Edition!

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Fall came to Ohio this weekend and I could not be happier!!  Autumn is my favorite season and living in Hawaii (I know, poor me...) I missed it for the past four years.

We embraced the cooler temperatures, opened our windows, put on a scarf and went apple picking this weekend! Neither my husband and I have ever gone and it was amazing! I cannot wait to go again in a couple weeks when the leaves have changed colors!  I also made one of my specialties- chicken pot pie soup- yummm!

Some shots off my iPhone from the weekend:

A Bubbly Life-

Please vote!

Kalia's First Birthday Party was chosen as a project of the week on Project Nursery! I could not be more excited!! I also have a chance to be Fan Favorite of the week- I would love your Facebook like on the link here for your vote!  Thank you SO much, voting ends today at 12 noon PST (3PM EST)

I picked up some pumpkins this weekend and I am excited to work a little DIY magic on them for you!

In the meantime, I will have another DIY from Kalia's party posted this week!

Hope you all had a lovely weekend, thank you for your comments, support, Facebook and Tweet love!

Thrifty Thursday- Chalk Dots!

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Wow, it is Thursday and I have not posted this week!

Sorry!! After a trip to Arizona, both Kalia and I are overcoming jetlag, so baby and my paying job kept me away!

Last week, I announced a new feature- Thrifty Tuesday or Thursday!  One of my latest finds at the thrift store was a steal!

I did not have to paint, cut or do any alterations- so no DIY tips here, just a great find- Wallcandy Arts Chalkdots!

I need a manicure...

We are currently renting and are reluctant to put any nails in our walls, so my beloved magnetic chalkboard frame sits on top of a table in our hallway.

I have missed being able to jot down notes in my kitchen and when I saw these at the thrift store I picked them up right away.

They peel on and off a wall SO easily and are reusable!  (hello, play room in our next house?)
I LOVE them!

And see that price of $4.94?  I went on half off day and got them for $2.47 !  They retail for $56! (I had no idea of the actual cost when purchasing them at the thrift store!)

Anyone else grab any lucky finds this week?