Two More Reveals {The Door is Done}

In all fairness, a lot really has been going on around the bungalow. Sometimes I get down on myself for not being as productive as I think I should be. Then, I remind myself that I'm a working, single parent who happens to also blog and run an Etsy shop. That's a pretty full plate.

After I process all of that, I sit back, put my feet up and remind myself that it's okay that every one of my projects takes double the anticipated time. It's also okay to post unstaged and imperfect pictures from time to time...

One of my most recent projects was a new storm door. You probably remember the original door post where I mention my little cleaning mishap. Anyway, it's been replaced {thanks to my dad}!

First, the broken door had to come down.

Say "hi" to my parents and Preston. It was a family affair that day!

Next, the old door had to go out to the curb. {Someone actually came and took it in the night.}

Then, we were left with a giant hole in the house. This part was a little nerve wracking!

Dad, was then able to jump into the real work!

Hours later {HOURS}, we had a beautiful new storm door installed! This took some figuring out though, and my typically handy dad seemed to struggle a bit. Let's just say that it was a process... 

Let's take a look back at what it looked like before.

Much better! Yes?

Next, was a necessary change for Preston's room. We don't have central air, and my little guy is very warm blooded, so I decided to get him a ceiling fan before summer really sets in. He started with a dreaded "boob light". {It was here when we bought the house.}

Please, ignore the poor picture quality. I'm still relying on my cell phone for all my photo capturing.

Anyway, I decided to go with the same ceiling fan I already have in my bedroom, and I did that for a few reasons.

First of all, I like the simple style of it. I also love the power it gives out and the overall quality of the fan. Our ceilings are pretty tall, and this fan comes with a handy remote that includes a light dimmer too. Basically, it's the perfect fan, in my bronze finish, for a modest budget. You can't go wrong with that. It's also a special order product from Lowe's, and since I work there now, a discount was taken off this time around. Score!

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Disregard the giant toy mess. I've recently taken care of it with a new toy storage option. A post on that will come later.

I'll leave you tonight with one of my most recent favorite shots of Preston. He just came home from nine days away in Florida with my parents visiting my brother and his family. I didn't get to go, because I had to work {insert sad face}.

This was taken on the beach near Palm City. Isn't he precious?!

Crystal xoxo

Before & After: Two Projects Under $20

I've sort of lost steam in the bathroom, but I have been productive in a few other ways. Don't worry. The bathroom will get done...eventually. I can't live in ruins forever!

In the meantime, let's take a look at some of my FINISHED tasks. Shall we?!

First up, if you're a Facebook fan, you may remember this little $5 stool I picked up at a local antique mall.

Half a yard of fabric later {$3.75} and a staple gun, and I had THIS for under $10!

There was the great debate on whether I should paint the legs or not, and you can see that I opted not to. The wood was in almost perfect condition and too beautiful to touch, and I can always do that later, but for now I'm super happy with the outcome! Trust me when I say this project was really easy too. This is only the second time I've ever recovered something, and I was amazed at how quickly it went! I even lined up the Greek key pattern almost perfectly, if I do say so myself.

Onward. Project two is another one with Facebook mention. You might recall that I scored some great tiles for $1.73/sheet. If you're not up on the price of tile, that's an AMAZING price! I ended up buying the store out and only ended up paying around $20 for the loot.

Here's a look at what my fireplace looked like before. It was worn and ugly and still proudly held the bungalow's original 1940's brown squares.

A coworker of mine ended up helping me out in a major way and installed it for FREE on his day off! I am so appreciative of all his hard work and friendly gesture. Thanks for being a good sport Chris and posing for a bloggy pic too!

Drum roll, please....

$20 CAN refinish a fireplace. Who woulda thunk it? Open those eyes ladies and be resourceful bargain shoppers. It pays off in such a major way!

As you can see, I have yet to dress the fireplace. I'm actually working on a little project {with major impact} for the built-ins, and I'm also considering painting the inside brick now.

As with any older home, the floor was anything but level, and there are some areas that had to be heavily caulked in the back, so I think a few coats of paint on the brick will hide that well. It turns out that these smaller mosaic tiles were perfect for a not so perfect area though. Chris says these smaller tiles are more of a pain to deal with, but they are more forgiving with an uneven area.

Please note: This fireplace will be used for decorative purposes only. You should not build a fire over tiles such as these, and our chimney was capped when we bought it.


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Crystal xoxo

Birthday Decor & What Started it ALL...

I joined the awesome network of creative online entrepreneurs when I opened my first Etsy shop in 2010. Then, I was known as PreschoolDoll Designs, and I made homemade crayon party favors and some educational products for preschoolers. The crayons were my biggest sellers {and what cost me countless all-nighters}...

The majority of my business came from children's birthday parties, and I began an instant love affair with party decor and design. My clients came to me with an array of ideas, and I found myself wanting to do more for them. {Of course, I've always loved all aspects of design, so it's often hard for me to just zero in on home decor specifically!} For whatever reason, I never actually pushed a party decor direction in my shop. I still don't in Modern Bungalow , but occasionally I get special order requests for party decor anyway!

My latest children's party request has been for a "UNO" themed first birthday party for a little boy named Alex! I actually did Alex's baby shower...

Needless to say, I am honored to be a part of Alex's UNO Birthday party too! Here's what I've thrown together so far. A door sign to greet guests and help introduce the theme...

Then, I went ahead and made a highchair bunting too...

I have one more project yet to do, but I had to share some {I'm doing a wedding currently too} of what I've been up to on the business front lately!

Happy Friday,

Crystal xoxo