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6.30.2013

loving our Flor

Ever since we moved into our new house 2 years ago, we knew that we were someday going to get some Flor tiles. Flor tiles are 20"x20" carpet squares that can be used for wall-to-wall installations as well as to create custom area rugs.

We loved the idea of Flor because it gives you the freedom to mix & match colors and textures and create an area rug or runner ANY size you want. When dealing with a 24' hallway and a large family room this was the perfect option for us.

We took a trip to the Flor store in Georgetown and LOVED playing with all the samples. We were able to pick some colors and designs we liked and brought home 6x6 samples to confirm our selections.


...Design...
Once we were home, we began drawing out some of our ideas/designs on graph paper. 4 squares = 1 Flor tile. It was simple to layout and visualize this way. Not a fan of pen & paper? You can use their Florbuilder program to get a good visual of what your rug will look like!



Did I mention that Flor will cut their carpet squares in 1/2, 1/4 or diagonal for you (for a small fee)? Trust me - It was worth every penny. We were so glad we didn't have to cut them ourselves when they arrived.

Once we had decided on our layouts, colors & patterns we placed our order. The very NEXT DAY our order had shipped and a few days later we were laying out our Flor tiles in our spaces.


Family room


Hallway

Solid blue - Made You Look "Teal"
zig zag pattern - Good Vibrations "Jade"

Dining table

Overall - Hey Jack "Taupe"

...Assembly...
Assembly of the Flor tiles was pretty simple

We started by dry fitting everything (meaning we put it all together to see how it would look before getting the sticky dots out). Once we had everything situated the way we wanted it, we used the Flor dots to secure the tiles together.


Adam would pull 4 corners up, I would peel off a Flor dot and place it at the intersection and he would carefully lay the corners back down to secure them to the dot. Although you could probably do this alone, it was much quicker & simpler with two sets of hands. We placed a dot everywhere 4 corners met and placed a half dot along the edges where 2 tiles came together. This made for a nice, snug fit and ensured that nothing would move around.

...Price...
Although I won't get into all the pricing details, I have been asked if we think going with Flor tiles is less expensive than buying pre-made area rugs. For our situation... YES!... and I'll explain why:

1) We lucked out with when we ordered. Flor was offering 32% off your entire order! This discount definitely help us a lot. Keep an eye out, because they frequently offer 25% off and/or free shipping.

2) As mentioned above, we were dealing with a 24' long hallway. For us to get a custom runner made from another area rug company would have been very expensive.

3) For what we spent, we could have probably purchased 1.5 area rugs from a normal store. We got 2 large "custom" area rugs & a 24' long runner for this price. To us, "price vs. what we got" seemed like a win win! You can't beat that :)

All in all, we LOVE the outcome. We've waited a long time for area rugs in our home (2 years!) and the spaces finally feel warm & homey.

[P.S. this post in NOT sponsored by Flor - we just love their products]


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6.24.2013

pom pom flowers

Raise your hand if you're a plant killer...


For any of you sitting on your couch with your computer in your lap and your hand in the air - this project is for you. 

I kill plants. There, I said it. 

Because of this fact, I've made it my mission to bring low (or no) maintenance "plants" into our home. I've made paper flowers, knit cacti... and now these: pom pom flowers! 

This project was as simple as collecting a few sticks from our backyard, making a few pom poms with some fluffy yarn, and hot glueing them together.


My husband actually gave me the idea to add little "buds" to some of them. I simply knotted my yarn a few times, cut off any excess yarn and then hot glued them on to the sticks where I had trimmed off other small branches.


These simple pom pom flowers help bring "life" into our home while maintaining my "low (no) maintenance" approach.


What do you think? I like how they bring a little bit of added color to our entertainment center. No watering needed.

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6.21.2013

before & after: tree table

After we bought our house (and before I started blogging) we had this happen...


Yes, that is a gigantic tree branch... that fell on our house. What's crazy is that you have to look really close to even seen that there is a house there! It was a very sad day for 2 brand new [first time] home owners. After some help from our friends, family & new neighbors we were able to get the backyard cleaned up and Adam fixed our damaged porch roof. Good as new.

What we had now was a large pile of leftover wood from the tree branch that came crashing down in the wind storm. Adam, being the handy man that he is, made this beauty:


It's kind of ironic that this lovely table was part of something that had originally given us such a headache. We love the story behind it and the character that it brings to our family room. 

I think we win, tree!




Here's a simple breakdown of how the project was completed:
1] cut tree limb into a 3"- 4" thick disc
2] allow to dry so bark can be removed
3] sand until smooth
4] coat with polyurethane for durability (Adam did 6 coats with a foam brush)
5] attach legs - we ordered ours from here (note: he was a really great, friendly etsy vendor & the legs are excellent quality. We'll definitely be ordering from him again in the future.)

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[p.s. this post may be linked to any number of these blogs]

6.14.2013

knit & crochet food

So... I'm a little obsessed with crocheted/knit food. As a kid I would have LOVED having these to play with. How fun!! I think that if I start now, I could [maybe] make all of these adorable foods below by the time we have kids down the road. 

Which one is your favorite??? I don't know if I can choose. Click the links to view more information & tutorials.

[1] crocheted hot dog by bitter sweet
[2] knitted mushroom by mama g's big craft blog
[3] knit strawberries by pezdiva
[4] crocheted bowl of ice cream by cake sachets
[5] crocheted apples by planet june
[6] crochet pizza by morbidsparks
[7] knit piece o' cherry pie by pie knits
[8] crocheted peas in a pod by lions brand
[9] crocheted eggs by mamma pyssel
[10] crochet sandwich by yummi gurumi
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6.10.2013

taco salad

Do you want to know what my kind of recipe is...?
The kind that is quick & easy to make (less than 15 mins) and is so delicious that you sit at work all day thinking about how you're going to eat it when you get home. This is one of those recipes.

This taco salad was what I always requested for my birthday dinner as kid... and now that I'm "grown up" my husband and eat it at least once a month (or more).

INGREDIENTS:
1 bag of cheesy doritos
Lettuce, shredded
1 - 1.5 lbs. ground beef
1 serving of taco seasoning (or store bought packet)
shredded cheese
sour cream
salsa, olives, chives or whatever else you like to eat with tacos

Sauce
1 can tomato sauce
1 can tomato soup
1 jar taco sauce

Directions:
In a medium pot, mix together the tomato sauce, tomato soup & taco sauce. Let simmer until hot. The longer it cooks the tastier it gets.

Brown the ground beef in a pan and mix in taco seasoning per the directions on the packet. Spread a layer of doritos on your plate (we like to crunch ours down to bit sized pieces) and layer with lettuce, meat, cheese sour cream, etc. Top off with a scoop or two of the taco sauce.

Enjoy.
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