headband review and giveaway: drumming beetle

You may remember in past mood boards, I've featured some adorable sewn tea sets like this one:

My high school friend, Rebecca is an amazing seamstress. I mean, the girl's got skills. I've bought a set for a niece of mine and have always enjoyed the creativity and talent she brings to the table. So when she asked me if I wanted to "test-drive" some hair bands, I was all over it. 

She sent me three, and when they had arrived I had miraculously done my hair that day [an amazing feat since I've been pretty awful looking since I've had my wisdom teeth pulled]. So here they are and I have to pre-apologize. It's been a long time since I've done "selfies" and I'm not too confident at it. Also: I may have had to look up headbands on Pinterest just to figure out how to wear 'em. I've never been a girly girl and haven't worn a headband since the 90's, even though I've pinned plenty. I'm glad I got over that problem.

I LOVED this one. It fit perfectly and I love the twist top or whatever you call it. I may have worn it all day at home just to get compliments from my hubby. Here's a picture of Rebecca wearing the same one. I love it with her curly hair and wish I hadn't straightened mine that day.

Isn't it so cute? Here's the next one...

Again, awkward selfies. This one made me feel very 40's pin-up. What I didn't realize until after this little photoshoot is that this is an adjustable one which is good since I have a pretty small head. In fact, two of these fit really nicely on me which was great since headbands are usually too big for me. The next one wasn't as fantastic. I mean, it was made well but I had no. idea. how to wear it. 

I think it would look better on someone with a bigger head or someone who has a lot of hair. Mine was a little flat so I couldn't get a lot of volume in the back but if I had my "old hair" before I cut it, I think it would've looked a lot better. 

All in all, I was so so pleased. And Rebecca is fantastic. She's willing to give 3 of these suckers  away to a lucky winner. Just comment on this post and you can win 3 styles [your choice]. A winner will be picked by late Wednesday [I'll share the winner with Friday's post]. 

And if you don't win or can't wait to get ya some, check out her facebook page or email her at drummingbeetle@yahoo.com if you don't have Facebook! 

Enjoy and may the best chica win ;)

bar cart

Last Friday I had planned on sharing my potting bench turned bar cart but things didn't go as planned. I finally got my goods together and with the help of Mother Nature calming her stormy skies, things got done. We had this potting bench since we moved in thanks to some untouched credit card points. I had painted it a safe green and never used it. We did gardening. But apparently, I didn't need a bench when it came down to it. Enter senor rojo.

And goodbye mystery stains and unused space-taker-upper! After two coats of paint, I added these casters. I had my heart set on casters but had to use these that required a bit more work rather than the kind you could just screw on. I had to use a 3/8 drill bit and only insert it 1 3/8" deep so I used tape to mark off the depth on my drill bit. In the end I like it more since it has the gold touch. 

Then you just tap in the first part of the castor and the rest clicks into place. It's really simple.

I also used this guy that I was hoarding for about 3 years. I had gotten him at Costco [okay, two of 'em] for only $35 each. A little spray paint and we're good to go... Photobomb warning. I couldn't choose. 

I wanted to add the wine glass holders to the upper part but when I got home I realized they were way too big so we ended up adding them to the bottom part and it worked out better that way. A little radio and beer for some good times doesn't hurt things either. 

I love the thistle bottle opener that I found on Etsy too. Nothin like a little nod to my Irish-Scotch background while we're preparing the bar.

I am very proud of this succulent [and another one that I have that isn't shown]. I was looking for some at Lowes and found a whole mixture that was on clearance from $15 to $5! The gold bowl was from Target's threshold line and I added some sand on top. He was on the edge of death and I brought him back- a first!

The tea towels are from Pier 1. And everything else I really just had on hand. You can find similar white buckets at Target right now for putting drinks in. Just test yours ahead of time to see if it leaks and if it does you know to add a bag to the bottom before your party. More of a concern if you're inside but I've been there. And don't forget the tequila. 

Obviously, this is the stylized version. If real friends and parties would be involved there would be more snacks, less pretties, less pictures, and more fun. I plan on it too. Oh, and you may have noticed in this post how absolutely horrible our deck is! But alas, we have a plan and I can't wait to share it with you. We just have to get Mother Nature back on board! And if you're unsure of my direction/color scheme [I am too, so it's easy to do] I'm going for red, pink, gold, and navy. I think. I really just want to throw all the colors and see what sticks ;]  Operation blissful backyard is in full swing!

guest post: Jenn from Home Style Report

Hey guys! I'm sitting this one out today and letting Jenn take over. Feel free to hop on over to her blog to see my post and check out her fun site! 

Hey there! I'm Jenn from Home Style Report  and I'll be hanging out with you guys today. I'm a DIY/Home blogger from the Cincinnati area, I'm newly married, and overly obsessed with a four-legged, curly haired, labradoodle named Zeke. At the moment we are about thiiiis close to having our kitchen renovation wrapped up and I've decided to share a little hacky/crafty project with you guys.

I'm a huge fan of white subway tile and I've been loving the looking of layering artwork overtop of an accent wall or backsplash. Unfortunately our kitchen is a bit small so our options are a bit limited, but in a dream world I would have loved to be able to do something like this, from 7th House on the Left. Floor to ceiling tile and large art prints just seem like the perfect combination.

Unfortunately, large prints and floor to ceiling tile isn't in the picture. Don't get me wrong, we
have lots of plans for the space (more on that here) It's just going to be on a smaller scale. Then I saw how YHL turned a calendar from Rifle Paper Co into multiple pieces of city art.

I had been debating this idea in the past but I never really found a calendar with art that I wanted to display for more than a month. That was until I took a pit stop at Rifle's site and found this calendar. It was only $8! Seriously, how do you pass that up! Pssst - it's still available!

Then I had to find some frames. These took a bit longer to find since the size is slightly wonky. I didn't want to go with anything white since they would be against a white tiled wall but I still wanted them to fit the overall look we are going for in the kitchen.

In the end Target sealed the deal with these guys. They would pop against the white tile but still tie in with the stainless from the appliances. They were nearly perfect other than the wood trim. Major clash with our new counters right? My thoughts exactly. It had to go.

Now I'm a big fan of the paint lift. It's similar in nature to a face lift but oh so much cheaper and a lot easier to reverse. To be honest it felt a bit weird to paint something I just purchased from Target. I would have no problem if I got it at a craft or thrift store but there was something slightly naughty about this.

Don't ask me why, I'm just delusional like that I supposed. I debated some crazy greens and yellows but in the end I settled on navy (Martha Stewart's Deep Sea to be exact)...a very me color. Safe and neutral - my comfort zone.

Much better right?

Then it just came time to cut the pictures from the calendar.

In total I spent around $40 for the calendar and three frames. It seems a bit steep but I still have nine more pictures I would like to frame and put in other places around the house. Maybe a mudroom perhaps...once we actually have one of those. Said room is currently a heaping pile of junk.

Big thanks to Caroline for letting me guest post while she is recovering from having her wisdom teeth removed! Head over to my blog to see how she has style her beautiful bookcases. They are awesome...and I want to steal them. I must refrain from doing stuff that's illegal and I'll just gawk at the pics!


It's me who has the thanking to do! Jenn saved me while I was an intoxicated mess! And wow. This is quite the sneak peek of some amazing tile and those sexy countertops! I'm dying. And those touches of copper... she's killing me. Meanwhile, I'm going to be doing some calendar stalking. Thanks again, Jenn!

You can also find Jenn on Pinterest, Facebook, or follow her on Instagram @homestylereport!