A Rendi Review

A friend of a friend contacted me recently. Her name is Jessie, and she is a Rendi stylist. She asked me if I would take a look at her website, explore it and hopefully find something I'd like. She follows my blog and just had a feeling I would really love Rendi's products. To be honest, I had never even heard of this Rendi company - I had no idea what it was all about. So I told her that I'd be happy to take a look. Well, boy was she right! It IS right up my alley! Basically, it's all customized projects - signs, picture frames, home decor...very cool stuff. We know I love my customized projects around this joint;)

At first glance, I didn't quite realize just how customized you can get on Rendi. I kind of thought it was one of those just add your name on the existing quote kinda deals. NOT SO. You can actually customize the words/quote too! Since I've only pinned about a bazillion and one quotes I love on Pinterest, it was the perfect opportunity to use one of the ones I'd been dying to have around our home.  I decided to choose this Rendi tag for my purchase - it's different to me - not your every day frame or sign, and I'd never really seen anything like it.

Yes, I'm a little crazy. I covered up our last name because the internet scares terrifies me. Not that anyone really cares what the heck my last name is, but I have kids, and well, motherhood tends to turn even the sanest person into an overprotective-wacko-nut-Mama Bear who will hunt and kill to keep her babies safe. So having a little anonymity helps me sleep better at night;) And I'm too lame to know how to blur that out, like those big timers do, so yes, I stuck a piece of paper on there to cover my last name. Moving on...

How cute is this tag, right?! You can choose from several fonts and colors - it's SO much fun! And I am so excited to finally have these words in my home - I LOVE them:

Awwww;) I just typed in our name, the year we got married, the quote, and all of our names. Love love love it. And if you don't have any quotes to use, they have a quote LIBRARY you can check out - they've thought of everything!

And this guy is BIG! I leaned it against my Pottery Barn Knockoff Ruler Growth Chart to show you.

Just shy of 2 feet tall! And you can't see, but that jute string is long - you can hang it from that string, and make it as short or long as you like. I've got a new gallery wall plan for the family room in the works (only in my head at the moment, but I'm excited nonetheless!), and this will definitely play a part in it.  I can hardly WAIT!!

If you haven't checked out Rendi's fabulous stuff, you MUST! Prices are reasonable, and talk about PERFECT gifts for weddings, anniversaries, new babies, graduations - there's something for every occasion, and you can customize it any which way you want. And who doesn't love a personal gift? Plus, the website is very easy to use - I navigated my way around there no problem, and I'm no techie by any means. You'll get your lovely package in no time at all -mine arrived just a few days after the order was placed. And I say 'lovely' because check out the packaging...

Every item is wrapped in this gorgeous blue and white box - makes you feel like you are getting something really special...and you are.

I am so glad Jessie contacted me and gave me this opportunity to have this treasure. I just love it. She is such a passionate stylist for Rendi - you really should check her out and give her some love! I thoroughly enjoyed talking with her and learning about this awesome company. She has a Facebook page, which is growing by the day, and she updates it and posts frequently, so go 'like' her if you would be so kind;) You won't be sorry. Check out her website here- www.jessie.rendistyle.com/

There is also a detailed section on her site about the opportunity to become a Rendi stylist. Jessie really enjoys what she does, and she would love to share this great opportunity with you. I have to say, it all sounds pretty fabulous!

I am already thinking about my next project I'm going to order from Rendi...there are some weddings and births coming up in my family, and the possibilities are endless here. I just know you'll love it too! Have fun:)


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DIY Sisal Tray

So I'm browsing the aisles of Lowe's -my new favorite pasttime...it's inching its way up to Target as my Favorite Place on Earth - ok I take that back, have you BEEN to Target lately?!!! Chevron striped drum shades?! umm, YES PLEASE! Just when I thought that place couldn't get any better...Ok, off topic...

Back to Lowe's...I was there picking up some wood for a project and decided to drag my poor kids around a little while while Momma had a little fun...and I randomly spotted some sisal rope. SISAL ROPE!, I thought, or actually I think I said it out loud (I do that when I get excited in a store - you should have SEEN me when I spotted the chevron lamp shades! If my kids were older, I would be a total embarrassment to them. I'm sure that day's not too far off in the future). I grabbed it, not even sure why, but I knew I'd find something to do with it. Plus, it was only $6 or something, so why not?! Then, when I got home, it hit me - I have this thing obsession with using old items around the house and giving them a new purpose - upcycling, as my Nate (Berkus) always calls it. I have a disgusting old cookie sheet - you know, the ones that feel like you're ingesting toxins just by looking at it? In my defense, it's buried under the "better" ones (although they're not all that much better at the moment), and we never use it. But for some reason I hadn't tossed it yet. Do you see where I'm going with this!?! Sisal rope + hot glue + cookie sheet = Sisal rope tray!

Check it out:

That was once this:

Yowza. Told you. You can feel the toxins, right? Anyone like a little rust in their cookies?
Here's how I did it.
Gather your materials - the nasty cookie sheet, your glue gun (and 897 refill sticks - ok, slight exaggeration, but you do use up a lot of glue for this), and this sisal rope:

Then I cut a bunch of strips to the length of the sheet and glued them on. Here's a tip - I glued a little section at a time, instead of one long strip of glue, because by the time I laid the end of the rope down, that glue was pretty much dry! So dab a little, lay it down, dab a little, lay some more down, you get the point;)

Then, once you're done all of those, start at a corner and do the sides:

With the sides, I didn't cut strips. I used one giant piece - just kept wrapping and gluing it all around, like in the picture above.

So the inside is complete, and I cut the rope. Now time to do the edges. I picked a starting point and just kept on - you guessed it - wrapping and gluing, wrapping and gluing...

Then you can turn it upside down at this point, to make it a little easier on yourself:

I ran out of rope just at the very end, so I didn't do the bottom. I think I'll probably pick up some more and do it though, just to make it totally complete, and no sign of metal cookie sheet to be found;) Not that people tend to come over and pick up my trays a lot, but I'll know. ;)

And that's it!

I'm not sure if I'll put it on my coffee table (because I do already have that $2 Coffee Table Tray on there, or maybe it'll be my summer tray, since the rope gives it sort of a nautical/beachy feel, don't you think?). I was also thinking of using it in my master bedroom, on my ginormous dresser. It'd be good for odds and ends, like my jewelry dish, some books and a candle or mug filled with flowers. Oh wait, did I say candle, books, and flowers? More like receipts, loose change, and 437 ponytail holders and bobby pins, maybe a couple old tissues, some chap stick. 'Cuz that's what's on there right now...Oh, and dust. Can't forget the dust.

I'd love to be one of those houses that doesn't have our remotes on display, but let's be honest. It is nice to have a place to put them, and always know where they are;) Not the loveliest decor, but when it's 6am and your 2 year old wants his Backyardigans, you will wanna stab yourself in the face if those remotes have gone missing. Trust me. Life's a lot more pleasant when you get that TV going and can snooze for another 23 minutes (yes, I know the exact length of the show. Been doing this parenting thing for going on 6 years now;) Someday I'll have a beautiful tray with lovely fresh flowers and actual books, that I actually READ, but now it's more like a remotes-and-magazines world I live in...

Did you notice the coasters on there from a few posts back? Just L-O-V-E them!

I'm really glad I made the 'oops' of cutting my strips a little uneven in the beginning, because it made me repeat the loop around the sides several times (to hide the shorter ends) and I like the way all those layers turned out. And that I kept one continuous rope going around it, instead of cutting lots of strips - makes the corners look pretty cool (I think).

Funny, the entire time I was working on this, I didn't know if it was going to be a total WIN or total FAIL. I mean, literally, I was working on the final pieces and still didn't know how it was all going to look in the end! But I'm pretty happy about it, plus I've got a little more room in my cookie sheet drawer AND I'm not poisoning my family. Always a good thing.




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I linked this up at these fab blogs...

From My Porch to Yours
and

Valentine's Day Mantel

First, there were the LOVE glasses. Then came the felt and burlap banner. Now I have finally added the finishing touches to make the Valentine's-y mantel complete. Once again, I had to face my nemesis: the tv mounted oh-so-low, leaving me with hardly any room for decorations. BOO. But I managed to do a couple fun things...

Gah. That monster of a TV is my worst nightmare. If I could do it over again, I'd either get a smaller TV (although Hubs would COMPLETELY disagree, I'm sure!), or actually, as much as I love the coziness of our electric fireplace from the months of October-February, what I'd really like is an awesome long one-of-a-kind dresser, with some place to hide the cable box, DVD player, etc (which are now in a table to the right of the fireplace). But back to the decor...

MORE felt rosettes. I have to say, if I don't make another felt rosette for as long as I live, it'll be too soon! No, they're worth the time (and hot glue gun burns), because I do think they are SO stinkin' cute, but man, can they take a while! I actually watched a couple shows I had DVR-ed the other night while I cut and spiraled away. If you missed how to make these rosettes, you can check out the steps here, on an earlier post.

I am almost embarrassed about how I made this next project. Remember in that post about the rosette ball, how I had glued them onto a floral foam ball? Welp, didn't have any more, and couldn't exactly leave my napping babes to run out and get some - so I had to take some extraordinary measures...

Let me explain what's going on in this picture. You see that pink ball on the right? They're those plastic balls, you know, that fill those ball pits, and we have only about a bazillion of in our playroom. So yes, I stole two, but realized they weren't going to be quite big enough...so I rigged that sucker with a few paper towels (I'm assuming newspaper, an old rag, anything would work), and taped it on there. Yes, with painter's tape because I have a problem finding masking tape whenever I need it, but painter's tape, well, that's ALWAYS around in this house;). It worked perfectly, and actually got me thinking, you could probably even make a ball, with some bunched up newspaper and tape, and forgo stealing toys from your kids...? Hmmm...

So that plastic pink ball went from this to this:

Ha! And I can assure you, my kids won't even know they're two balls short;). I decided to pick up a couple of those mini pots from Michaels (in the picture above), and spray paint them white, and wrap a piece of festive ribbon around it...

Oh, and just curious, does anyone else use their dining room table as a craft table, or am I alone in this one?

Better get that cleaned up before dinner! Glue and spaghetti, anyone?

So that's pretty much it, since you saw my L-O-V-E glasses and my banner already. I just added some pics and that's about it.

That's Hubs and me, both in second grade in these shots - he gave me these in a frame years ago, and I think we look cute in the middle of the mantel there;)

Plus it hides the big ol' SAMSUNG word on the TV. Gotta love strategically placed decor.;)

And I also put one of my favorites of our babies up here:

Our boy in a sea of pink, up in his sister's room...story of his life;) Thought with the pink shag rug, and my daughter's pink shirt, it would look all Valentines-y.

So after I took these pics, I was kinda wondering if the topiaries would look better on the ends?

What do you think?


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I linked this up at Decor Chick!

Easy Valentine's Day Centerpiece

Wow, here I go again...more Valentine's Day decorations! Am I driving you nuts yet?! Sorry, but I feel like I should get these all out of the way at once, in plenty of time for February 14th in case you want to use some of these ideas for your own home!

Here's another inexpensive-couldn't-be-easier idea for you...and yes, MORE conversation hearts are involved (I told you I bought a bajillion bags, didn't I?).

Glass hurricanes filled with conversation hearts and a candle, wrapped with ribbon. Oh my goodness, I just blew your mind, right?! ;) I mean, what CAN'T you do with some hurricanes? If you don't have some, I highly recommend you run and grab yourself some - every single holiday/season, you are set! I got mine at Michaels, but they're everywhere. Remember what I did for some fall decor?

Lentils, kidney beans, and yellow split peas, candles, and some jute.
And for Christmas, I used the large one for my centerpiece...

Stuck some mini potpurri filler in there, placed it on a cake stand, wrapped some berry garland and jute (AGAIN!) around it, tucked some fresh (leftover from our tree) greens around the base and called it a day. I just LOVE these guys!

Okay, back to Valentine's Day...here's a trick that I was SO pumped about - probably most of you do this in some form already, but I thought I was pretty darn smart when I came up with it.

Yup, I sure did go outside to my recycling bin in 10 degree weather to dig up an empty can for the candle to sit on. I thought, there's got to be a way so I don't have to use SOOO many candies, and I was pattin' myself on the back for this one, let me tell you...wow, I'm entirely too easily amused...moving on...

I wish I had all the same color candles, but I didn't, so the big one is red, and the smaller ones on the side are white. Not the end of the world;)

I've had that heart runner for a couple years now (pretty sure I got it at Target). Pretty easy and inexpensive way to make our dining room table look festive!

Speaking of easy and inexpensive, here's our chandelier at the moment:

Just picked up some of that wire-y flashy heart garland at the Dollar Store, a 6 pack of flashy hearts (for a buck as well), and the ribbon to tie them was -you guessed it- a dollar too! ;)

So that about wraps it up. Spent a few bucks, and have myself a festive dining room table. Not bad! Not the most elegant, but it is fun, and when you've got little kids, fun trumps elegance any day. They get such a kick when we get decorations out for each holiday, and while they're running around this joint, I will continue to try my best and make it fun for them. I always loved how my mom would deck out our dining room for every holiday...even St. Patrick's Day. Memories I still have and think of fondly, and I hope I'm doing the same for these kiddos!

Ok, it's naptime in this house, so I'm gonna try and get one last Valentine's Day project complete...the half-completed mantel is driving me batty I tell you! Then I promise...that *should* be it with all the hearts for a while;)

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Felt and Burlap Valentine's Day Banner

Ok, I don't normally do back-to-back posts like this, but this was such a spur-of-the-moment/had-everything-on-hand kind of project, and so quick that I just couldn't help myself;) Plus, I got such awesome feedback from you guys telling me you were going to make some conversation heart wreaths and felt rosettes over the weekend, that I thought I better catch you before you head out to get your supplies;). You just might have all this stuff in your crafty stash right now. If you have a tiny bit of burlap, a sheet or 2 of felt, a hot glue gun, and some paint, you are set to make this Felt and Burlap Banner for your mantel, your buffet table, any ol' place you wanna throw it:

Please excuse any and all glimpses of the top of the mantel, because I have done NOTHING except the L-O-V-E glasses...hoping I get a chance to change that this weekend, but back-to-back birthday parties tomorrow and oh, THE RAVENS GAME on Sunday (sorry, again, hard to contain the excitement that we are ONE GAME AWAY from the SUPERBOWL!!!!), the mantel might have to wait until Monday's naptime;)

See what I mean? I literally threw a stack of books up there, just so I could have something to weigh this banner down take this picture;)

This was so simple to do. First, just cut 6 (or however many you'd like to use) heart shapes out of burlap. hot glue them onto some red and pink felt (3 pink, 3 red)

Sorry for the blurry pic - didn't pick up on that...
Then, cut the felt around the burlap heart and you have 6 hearts:

I was going to leave them like this, but I decided to get out my 1 1/2 inch stencils and make Xs and Os. I had white paint, so I went for it.

Then, just dab some hot glue on a string of jute - I recommend first measuring your string, and placing the hearts on it first, so you know where you want them. And you're done!

I love how the burlap and our new rug (which I LOVE by the way - it's the faux sisal one from Home Decorator's Collection - SO soft, but still has the natural fiber look- it's a beautiful thing) complement each other. Horrible picture quality - it's an bad time of day here to take a pic of the family room - but you get the idea.

That's it! Easy project that takes a half hour, tops, and even better when you don't have to go to the store for the supplies!

Have a great weekend, everyone!

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