Build a Bar: The Cart

Pinterest seems to have just exploded with “the bar cart” in the last year or so.  Something about the “resurgence of the at-home cocktail hour.”  Which is great considering how much of a frugal franny I’ve become.

 

Seriously, the thought of paying between $4-$8 for something I can make at home is nauseating.

 

Ahem, back on track.  I’ve wanted a bar cart for a while and (shocking!) I’m not willing to shell out the $50+ to buy one pre-made.  Luckily for me, I live right down the street from a pretty rad thrift store and this beauty caught my eye.  The $8 price tag didn’t hurt either.

 

 

Since October (shameful), it’s sat in our living room becoming nothing more than an additional shelf.  Sometimes it would hold wine or licquor, but most times, it was piled high with random crap and in terrible need of a dusting.

 

Because we’re moving in T-minus 49 days (squee!!), Chris gave me an ultimatum before our long Easter weekend — either paint and finish it or it gets pitched.

 

Shit.  Point taken.

 

We had Good Friday off due to it being Good Friday (and yes, I do work at a public school) (And no, I don’t want to talk about it), so Friday became spray-painting day!

 

 

I put a coat or five two of white primer/paint combo over the entire cart.  However, it didn’t give me the coverage I wanted, so I will need to touch up some spots with a paintbrush and regular white paint.  But, the gold (*swoon*) legs were a stroke of brilliance and luck that Wal-Mart carried a metallic spray-paint.  After not waiting patiently for the white to dry, I taped off the parts I wanted to keep white and went to town on the legs & wheels.  Like I said last week, I’m really digging the gold & white combo and this beauty is going to be so fabulous in our new apartment.

 

Now the question is – what else do I put on this thing?  I don’t want to go whole-hog and buy all.the.booze ever made.  For Chris and I, it might be wise to have the basic types of alcohol (tequila, vodka, rum, whiskey), some mixers (coke, San Pelligrino, Crystal Light), and fun glassware.

 

Do you have a bar?  What rules of thumb do you follow?

 

xo

Sunday Scenes

Happy Easter, everyone!  Regardless if you celebrate this holiday or not, I hope you had a relaxing and enjoyable weekend with (finally) nice weather!

We hosted a couple of people this year and because it’s my first holiday of hosting, I just had to share!

Our teeny table with four brunch settings.

Grey Tablecloth | Target

Yellow Placemats | Target

Blue Placemats | Wal-Mart

Pink Chevron Runner | Pick Your Plum

Metal pails | Target

I filled each bucket with mini Snickers, mini Hershey Eggs and a cupcake liner full of M & M’s.  Definitely one type of an adult Easter Basket.  All the candy without doing the hunting! 🙂  But, the most important part?  The food, of course…

The egg bake was delicious.  I found it on the Betty Crocker site and it turned out perfectly.  And, we have a ton left, so it’s a good thing I liked it.

What are some of your Easter traditions?  

PS: Giveaway winner update – the runner up is… Jen from Marathon Mom!  My apologies to the first winner.  I didn’t hear back from you in time!

Five Faves for Friday (Valentine’s Day Edition)

In order to go to the original post, click on the blue link!

Another week means another round of my favorite finds on Pinterest – this week is the Valentine’s Day edition.  I LOVE Valentine’s Day!  It’s kind of a weird holiday to love, but it’s the one day where I can FOR SURE go out and look nice on a date with C (like tonight!).

Favorite Breakfast Idea –  Yup, another donut recipe.  But this one from Shugary Sweets looks perfect.  I better buy that donut pan this weekend!  I would Better Batter flour in place of the flour called for in the recipe.

Favorite DIY: Heart Tee – I love how simple this DIY, but also how great it looks!  It’s not an overwhelming print either.

Favorite Nerd-ness– This is awesome.  Even if you don’t understand the math involved (it’s been a long time since advanced algebra…)

Favorite Treat – The picture says enough, right?  I know what I’ll be putting in my friends’ mailboxes!

Favorite Gift Idea – This is the cutest thing ever.  It’s so much more meaningful than flowers or chocolate.  The owners (Alex and Olga) are one of the cutest couples ever.

Until next week!

Five Faves for Friday – Week of 02.01 (Clothing Edition)

I’ve been really stuck on the Women’s Fashion board of Pinterest this week.  Below are some of my favorite pins!

Favorite Outerwear: I actually don’t own a rain coat, so what better way to add to my wardrobe than with this monogrammed version from Marley Lilly?  I love the maroon color, it totally reminds me of my high school colors (maroon and white – Go Maroons!)

Favorite Fashion Advice: As someone who wears ballet flats and Toms most of the time and has short legs, this is some great advice from The New Professional.

Favorite bottom:  This skirt from Corilynn is beyond adorable.  Enough said.

Favorite Clothing DIY:  This would make such an awesome gift!  And, I love how it can be personalized.

Favorite Outfit:  Comfortable, but put together.  I would probably wear flats though.  And, the bag is to die for.

Crafty Christmas #3 – Christmas Card Holder

I love getting Christmas cards.  It really makes the season feel more festive and I totally gush over the pictures of the small children of our family friends.  This year, C and I (finally) ordered a batch for ourselves and I’m so excited about it!  In years past, we have just thrown the cards into a pile (I know – I’m so ashamed). But this year, I was determined to make a fun, festive, decoration to hang our cards on.

Materials:

• Christmas themed bag with ribbon handle
• Mini clothespins
• Scissors
• Ribbon of contrasting color (I chose silver to match the wording)
• Hot Glue

Instructions:

• Cut bottom of bag off.  Then, cut bag so that you have two equal parts.
• Choose which side of bag you’re going to use.  Then, remove ribbon.

• Cut a piece of contrasting ribbon about 4 feet long.
• Underneath one of the flaps, glue ribbon down.  Then, glue flap on top of ribbon.

• Repeat on other side.
• Reattach original ribbon through the handle-holes…this will be how you hang it!
• Using a ruler, measure every 4″ and mark it with a ballpoint pen.

• Hot glue mini clothespin on mark so that just the mouth of the clothespin is sticking out.

• Repeat at least 9 more times for that side.
• Then, repeat clothespin process for the other ribbon.

Voila – Our finished product!

Total cost of this project?  Less than 5 dollars (I used the silver ribbon for our tree too!).  JoAnn Fabric’s is having a massive 60% off all christmas stuff – so go now!