Shopping | Oh, the Fun…

Ok, that title is confusing. Please read: Inspiration While on Vacation, Not: My Inspiration is on Vacation. So back in the beginning of September, Mitch and I took a trip to Bethany Beach, DE for a few days. His uncle graciously lent us his beach house, so we hit the road with our bags packed and music blaring. There’s a full recap coming your way tomorrow (video!!!), but I figured I’d share some of the snapshots I grabbed throughout the week that made me think “Oooh, that’s awesome! I wonder if I could make that!”

So, for the sake of all things beachy, adventurous, and home/crafty related, here are:1. Use a shell as a dish. This one was $4 at Beach Plum Antiques, but I’m sure you could find a large, shell-like thing somewhere for a similar price or cheaper (or FREE if you find it on the beach!). Clean it up, fill it with change, keys, jewelry and you’re all set to go.2. Spray paint a star fish (or any other natural-looking thing) for a quick burst of color. I found these ones at a store called Sea Level (one of our favorites from the week!).

3. Fill a vase or glass piece with sand and shells for instant beachy decor. We actually have this exact piece at home, which is what sent my mind into “I COULD TOTALLY DO THAT” mode. This is also from Sea Level.

4. Distress wooden letters for a vintage-y look. And then, while you’re at it, spell something on your mantel, shelf, table, etc. These $10 ones came from Bella Luna on the Rehoboth boardwalk.

5. Spray paint glass jars white to make them look ceramic. I was in love with these $23 and $17 ones from The Pelican Loft (also on the Rehoboth boardwalk), but resisted the urge to buy every last one.6. Use mini pencils to create a cute, school-themed picture frame. How fun and simple would that be?!

7. Perhaps my favorite, stamp letters onto burlap bunting to create custom signs and decor. This might be one I try pretty soon… with fall here and the holidays around the corner, you might see some burlap-y decorations popping up around our house. I don’t remember which store these were from, but they were selling them for $5 a piece. So cute!So that’s that. Seven ideas inspired by the beach and there’s more vacation where that came from. The montage video of our trip is just about finished, so you can look for that tomorrow and on Friday, we’ve got a Superlative party all lined up! Our favorite restaurant, best day trip, coolest shop, etc. all comin’ your way. Stay tuned and have a great rest of your day!

-Leslie

This weekend was tons of fun! We spent some time with family, visited Philly with the kiddos for a Service Project, and … did a little shopping. I am not a huge fan of shopping (especially if I’m tired, which then leads to cranky), but I do like hunting for treasure. So as long as I can convince myself that that’s what we’re doing, I’m usually okay for a good shopping trip every so often. 🙂

On Friday, Mitch and I ditched cleaning the house and hit the stores, with the hopes of checking some things off of the “to-get” list. Surprisingly, even though we were doing errands, it ended up being fun because we each found things that we had been on the look out for!

It’s amazing- as I get older, the things that excite me become increasingly more pathetic. Like this cordless vac for instance… we have been lamenting that, while the white tiles in the bathroom are crisp and clean looking, they have the tendency to look gross pretty quickly because dust and dirt are far more visible against their white background. We keep the vacuum downstairs and have been thinking that it would be nice to have a small, handheld one upstairs so that we can give the floors a quick once-over every day without having to lug ‘ole faithful out all of the time. Score one for Bed, Bath, and Beyond.

Another fun find was this bathroom storage unit… we’re not yet sure if it will have a home in our house or if we’ll be taking it back, but we want to give it a go. Another point for BBB.

And then we got to Target… one of my favorite places! Mitch opted to hang out in Modell’s and Payless to see if he could score some new kicks, while I did my routine meandering through Target, drooling over home things that aren’t in our budget. Spoiler Alert: he found some.

And perhaps, my most exciting moment of the day… finding a possible solution to our design dilemma in the family room! If you were with us last week, I gave a little shout out to the progress we are making in the family room. While we are liking how far it’s come, we’re not loving it’s current state. I’m having trouble pinpointing the style and color scheme of the room and have been waiting for inspiration to strike. Needless to say, these little beauties might be just what the doctor ordered to provide some direction for the room!

I will be honest- the red CLEARANCE tag caught my eye before my mind even registered what the item was. But at $10 for each lampshade, I figured, why not give them a shot? Especially if this could be the missing link to our family room solution! Here’s a sneak peak at what they look like all set up:

Yes, I think this might work. This gets me excited about the direction in which the room is going… and I will definitely keep you posted as it continues to transform! I think this warrants ten points to Target.

Hope you had a great weekend! Did you go on any adventures? Any shopping trips that proved more fruitful than expected? I’d love to hear all about it! It’s so fun to hear from you/ swap war and triumph stories. For example, after the “trash to treasure” vase face lift bit we did, I had some readers share their own spray painting escapades. Check out the set- up for this chandelier transformation!

She made her own spray paint workshop out of cardboard. Love a creative problem solver! And the best part? The screws got their own paint job too (see below on the left)! Nice work, Nancy!