Monday (P)inspiration [kind of]: Gorgeous Greys

Well, it's always something- isn't it?! I need to begin by saying RIP to my modem. It died on 11/25/11 [I didn't even get to say good-bye *tears*]. Soooo, until my new one arrives I'll have to get my posts out by hi-jacking friend's and family member's computers. And unfortunately, I couldn't log into my FB account on this particular hi-jacked computer... and I get to Pinterest via FB... soooo, I just got all of today's photos from House Beautiful. But I'll pin them all asap if that counts :)

Anyway- needless to say, all of this computer stuff is making me feel very grey; but no worries, I've decided to make the best of it and focus on gorgeous grey rooms! Enjoy.

Oh. my. goodness. Off to a good start, huh?! I'm in love with this room. The sunburst, that rustic table... and those chairs!

How elegant is this area? The antiqued mirror, perfectly subtle and completely uber-fabulous wallpaper, and that amazing furniture [is it a table or dresser? I can't decide]. So, so pretty!

This room looks calm, sophisticated and comfortable- but it also feels bright. What a great example of incorporating grey without going dark or dreary!

 Another wonderful example of the same idea... I seriously want this family room!

And look at this media room done right. I could start naming what I love, but I'd have to list it all... flawless! 

And the Royal Design Studio Stencil Winner is...

Whew... with a holiday right in the middle of this giveaway it feels like it's been forever since I first announced it!

Well, I went to random.org to select a winner and it chose comment #40... which is Kathryn!

Woo-Hoo Kathryn!! Please contact me @ salvagesavvy@yahoo.com by Dec. 3rd to claim your prize.

Thanks so very much to all of the ladies who entered, I truly wish you all could have won! And thanks to Royal Design Studio for this wonderful giveaway!

What I'm Makin': Sun Dried Cherry and Cranberry Salsa

Yup. It's a food post here @ Salvage Savvy [what?!].  I'm guessing that no one's thinking about thrifty DIY decor this week. Soooo, since we're all pretty much in "Thanksgiving mode" right now, I'm just going with it and sharing an easy recipe that is super-d-duper delicious!



** I discovered this salsa recipe last year in Country Living; however, I've altered the original recipe a little because I wanted mine less chunky and more saucey [which pretty much describes how I wish I looked like in my skinny jeans, too!]. Oh, and you've got to check-out their Cornbread Dressing with with Sage and Pork. Best. Dressing. Ever. I don't change a thing and it's perfect!!

Sun-Dried Cherry and Cranberry Salsa
1 12 oz. bag fresh cranberries
1/2 cup sugar
1 cup water
1 cup dried cherries, soaked in hot water for 20 minutes and drained
1/4 cup orange juice
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp ground pepper

1. Combine cranberries, water and sugar in medium saucepan and bring to a boil, boil rapidly until berries pop. Pour mixture into a large bowl and blend on medium for about 40-60 seconds. You want it to be saucey but not soupy: make sure there are still whole cranberries left.
2. Add all remaining ingredients into bowl and mix. If you make this ahead of time you can chill it until you're ready to serve... but I set it out early because I think its best at room temperature.

Isn't that easy?! And I promise that it's really, really good. Put it on your plate right next to the stuffing and eat them together- Yum.O.  Enjoy!

Monday (P)inspiration: Gorgeous Thanksgiving Tables

I'm a creature of habit. Which is why last week's weird blogging schedule was... well, weird. And now Thanksgiving is on Thursday so it's going to be yet another week of weird-ness [but the good kind!]. Anyway, I've decided to embrace the season and dedicate my posts to all things Thanksgiving. Today I found amazing tablescapes via Pinterest to inspire you as you prepare your table for the great feast! 

This one is my favorite. You know I love incorporating natural elements into seasonal decor, and this table is a perfect example of that. So, so pretty. [Where will the food go, you ask? Who cares... oooo & awww over your table first, then figure out that little detail of the food later :)]

Mis-matched china. [love] Simple, gorgeous and edible name cards. [love, love] Easy table decor that looks incredible. [love, love & love!]

Alright, you have noticed that I love neutrals- but Thanksgiving is a great reason to pull-out the bright reds and deep oranges without making any long term commitments. This royal red Thanksgiving table is so festive, beautiful and cheery!

Speaking of neutrals... here's a gorgeous table that is simple and elegant. I really do love it. [And I think this one even has room to set a turkey!]

Here's a great example of keeping it simple with natural elements and then adding the drama with candles. BTW, I have this little obsession with leaves... so this table is extra perfect in my eyes!

What a great, simple centerpiece. So pretty. [and I could even do this last minute... since basically everything I do is last minute, that's a big plus for me!]

Of course I had to include a few kids' tables!

This one is my favorite because it's super cute; however, it's also super practical and fun. And really folks, let's face it... all the kids care about is fun anyway. I love the drawn-on placemats too, what a cute idea [and it's the only placemat that won't end-up on the floor!].

Check-out this turkey centerpiece! So cute. I'm pretty sure that I'm not patient enough to make it, but this popcorn turkey is so adorable and really is a good idea for keeping the kiddos occupied until the real turkey is ready.

Ok. This one is obviously a snapshot straight out of a mother's imagination of what Thanksgiving "should" look like. In real life those sails would be knocked off the table in no time. And you can see that the kid in the green is about to rip his adorable little Pilgrim hat off [and he's gettin' paid to keep it on, so our kids' hats don't stand a chance!]. Despite all of the obvious "not gonna happen" moments shown here... I still love it! So cute :)

As always, I linked all images to their sources- so be sure to check them out if you see something you want to know more about!

Royal Design Studio Giveaway![closed]

I'm super excited about this you guys. I promised only to do giveaways if I truly love the product and company: and I have had such a wonderful experience with Royal Design Studio. They make the best stencils out there... which is why I'm thrilled that they're offering a stencil of your choice [$50 value] to one Salvage Savvy reader!! Seriously... they'll even ship it to you for free! Here are a few designs that I fell in love with...

And of course I really, really loved this one too... since I chose it!

Now it's your turn to choose! Which design is your favorite?
Let me know & hopefully it will be yours :)

[How to Enter]

Be a follower of Salvage Savvy.

Visit Royal Design Studio and then leave me comment below stating which stencil you would choose.

[Want to "up" your chances? Here's how to get extra entries!]

each additional entry should be in its own separate comment to count!

- "like" Royal Design Studio via Facebook (1 entry)

- "like" Salvage Savvy via Facebook (1 entry)

- follow Royal Design Studio via Twitter (1 entry)

- tweet, blog or facebook about the giveaway and include link in your comment (1 entry)

Giveaway is open thru Saturday, November 26th.

Winner will be announced on Sunday, November 27th.

[Good Luck!]

Stenciling for Newbies...

Five years ago I did a little stencil project for a client [and I mean little... like a tiny boarder on one wall]. Now, I consider myself a fairly handy gal- but upon completion of that project I collapsed to my knees, threw my hands into the air and proclaimed, "With God as my witness... I shall never stencil again!" [ok, I didn't actually do or say that, but I was super frustrated and didn't stencil anything else again.]

Soooo... imagine how I felt when Regina with Royal Design Studio contacted me asking if I'd be interested in doing a stencil review [ummm... me?!]. I was hesitant to say the least. That is, until I saw the website and all of its gorgeous designs. Seriously folks- beautiful stuff [I had to get-me one of those stencils]! And choosing just one was like being forced to choose a favorite child [ok, that's totally exaggerating- but it was really hard]. So, after many days of angst I finally selected the Chez Sheik pattern... then I was left to anxiously await its arrival [while wondering what I'd gotten myself into!].
Now, I can't really say this is a DIY post, because me telling you how to stencil is like Kim K. giving marriage tips [I know, I know...low-blow, sorry Kim!]. However, I do really [really] love how my project turned out, so I'll just share what I learned along the way.

First of all, I used Mandi's post from Vintage Revivals entitled Wall Stenciling 101 to get started. It's a great tutorial. Then, I read the instructions that came with the stencil [Who really reads the instructions?! I'll tell you who... me. Because I was afraid and wanted as much information as possible!]. I liked their tips and instructions because they were written informally like a blog's tutorial rather than a bunch of technical mumbo-jumbo. Finally, armed with all of my newly found book-smarts, I attempted to stencil for the first time in five years.

And... it really wasn't bad! Much to my surprise it went so very smoothly [I never cried or even threw a fit once, lol!]. This stencil had all kinds of marks that enabled me to line it up properly and easily which makes all the difference in the world!

So, here are my little newbie stenciling tips:

1. Start small. I didn't tackle an entire room or huge wall... I chose to do a small project for my first try and I'm glad because now I feel that doing an entire wall would be no problem!

2. Don't use too much paint: be sure to unload your roller as much as possible... just like in decorating, less is more.

3. Mandi's post mentioned that she preferred Purdy's White Dove Roller to a foam roller. I purchased and used both, and have to say that I actually liked the foam better... so to each her own!

4.  Don't let paint build-up on the edges of your stencil design. If you see them getting gunky [yes, that's an official stencil term used by professional stencilors only!] stop what you're doing and clean them off. If you don't, you'll regret it.

5. Thin your paint just a little bit with tintable glaze. It made clean-up sooo much easier.

6. Speaking of which... clean your stencil asap. Don't put it in the bathtub submerged in water then get distracted and forget about it until the next day. 'Cuz the water might drain out of the tub leaving you with dried-up blue paint in your bathtub. Then you would have to scrape the dried paint off your stencil and out of tub. I'm not saying it happened to me. Just that it could happen to someone.[Me].

7. Be patient. I'm not good a this one, but it really is important.

8. If you get a little frustrated by the imperfections [and there will be imperfections], just stand back and look at your work from across the room. It will be so. very. beautiful. And that will give you the motivation you need to keep going!

9. When doing touch-ups [and you will be doing touch-ups], it was much easier for me to touch-up the wall color part [for me that was the white part]. Not sure why, I'm just sayn' it was.

Are you having stencil envy right now?! Don't worry, I'm doing a Royal Design Studio Giveaway!! Enter today and you could win one for yourself :)

*Note, Royal Design Studio sponsored this review... but the opinions expressed were 100% mine!

Monday (P)inspiration: Tuesday Edition :)

Hello! Today's Monday (P)inspiration is going to be a little different because [well, for one thing, today is Tuesday, but the other reason is]... I get to show-off this Pinterest-inspired Christmas Candle Chandelier that I made!

 Amanda [editor of the Home & Garden channel at Craft Gossip] contacted me and asked if I would be interested in doing a Guest Tutorial for C.G. Well, I thought about it [for about a half a second] and then [squealed and] said "Yes!"  

So please head over there and check out how to make this for your home.

And if you are visiting Salvage Savvy for the first time today, then let me say, "Welcome, I'm absolutely thrilled to have you here!!" Please feel free to kick-back and roam about the blog in search of thrifty decor inspiration!

Now, speaking of being inspired, I want to share with you the (P)inspiration images for this project:

Isn't this soooo pretty [I hunted for a source and never found one, so if you know where it came from please tell me and I'll link it up asap!]. It was love at first sight, so I had to figure-out a way to recreate something similar... but with my own twist, of course!

 And these a-maz-ingly gorgeous tablescapes from The White Company and Censational Girl inspired my overall color scheme.

They are just so very, very pretty. Yup. It's official. I'm in the mood for Christmas now :)

We Need To Talk

Yup. It's time for a little heart-to-heart. Have you ever really liked a blog and then suddenly IT happens? You know what I mean… all of the awesome eye candy in which you’ve become accustomed to and those amazing DIY projects [that are so clever and inexpensive they make you want to cry] you look forward to each week get replaced with… well, stuff [too many reviews, giveaways of things you’ll never use, and sponsored posts]. Yes, there are still amazing morsels, but now you must sift through the “noise” to find them. And as a result, the blog that you once read almost daily becomes the blog that you check-in with once a week.  

Yea, well- I never want Salvage Savvy to be that blog. Which is why as I [attempt to] move into the next phase, I’m making you these promises today:

1. Even though I hope to monetize the blog [who knows if it’ll work, though!] I will never clutter it up with too many ads or sponsors.

2. I will only review products that I honestly believe you will want to know about, and I will always be 100% honest with you.

3. I will never put a sponsor above you for any reason.   

4. I will only do giveaways for products that I would want myself [and I’m super picky- I’ve only entered two giveaways my entire life].  If you see a giveaway on Salvage Savvy, it’s truly something I love.

5. I won’t ever waste your time with “noise.”

So, if you notice a few changes around here please don’t push the panic button! Personally, I always resist change.  In fact, I told myself I’d start this process at 100,000 pageviews and I just hit 150,000… so lets just take this nice and slow, shall we?! Well, thanks for the talk, I feel much better now :)
Oh, and I can't forget the eye candy for this post, so here's the obligatory beautiful moment via Garden View Cottage:

Ahhh. So gorgeous!

*BTW- if you are a blogger and have already crossed this threshold, I'd LOVE any advice/suggestions. Thanks :) 

Do You Display Them?

'Cuz I don't. Nope. Not me... I am too picky about my interior decor. Well, alright... I must admit that I've changed, because now I do. What in the world am I talking about?! Sports Photos. If anyone in your family plays a sport then you probably have a ton of action shots [and most likely almost all of them are stuck inside your computer or camera because who really prints photos anymore?!] Well, I recently had a change of heart about displaying those photographs and decided to search through my files for a few good shots of my [super awesome] son. You see, he loves all sports and is an excellent athlete [of course this proud momma has to add that little bit of extra information :)]. Anyway, I decided to begin a sports gallery wall for him in his room to celebrate his accomplishments; however, I wanted to do it in a very sophisiticated way. In order to keep it classic I chose to keep the colors monochromatic and to make the photos look like old, vintage prints. Also, I used all floating glass frames for several reasons:

1. Without mats I'm free to arrange the photos any way I'd like, and can use any size prints.

2. I'm sure I'll add more photos to his gallery in the future and I don't want to worry about finding the exact same color mats.

3. I had them lying around already so it saved time and money :)

So here's what I did: First of all, does your camera have a burst mode? At the store the salesperson was all like, "This camera is great for action shots because it's got an incredible burst mode." And I was all like, "Ummm. Ok. Awesome." [But in my head I was like, "What am I ever going to do with that handy feature?"] Well...six months later... !yay! I figured out how to utilize it. I took a series of photos showing his mad-soccer-skilz and then printed them out to look like an old film strip.  Now you can see him tearing up the field anytime you look at his wall. Yup, he had a big smile on his face when I showed him this series of photos, which put a big smile in my heart too.

 And then I included this photo of him suiting-up the first time ever before his first football practice. He was so nervous [and so was I, frankly]. I included this photo because it's a great moment in his "history" and helps make his sports wall feel more personal.

And then I included the classic "bustin' through the line, can't be stopped, tough guy" photo. I used Photobucket's free photo software editing for all of these, and both of these are the "old photo" option under the retro tab.

Finally, I included a phrase from one of his favorite scriptures. I chose it because it's a constant reminder that the Lord is our true source of strength and power. Plus, it's from a song that he sings at church every Sunday, so I knew that he would really relate to it. 

 And that's it! I'm so pleased with how it turned out... a timeless, classic sports gallery wall that will undoubtedly grow as the years pass! Now, do you display your sports photos [if so, please share your ideas for making it interesting!]?

Monday (P)inspiration: DIY Lighting

Today I'm dreaming about gorgeous DIY lighting! Enjoy :) *As always, just click on the image to find its source and how it is made.

This is so, so, so pretty! I'm in love...

Ok, this one isn't actually a DIY light, but I'm thinking it'd be a super easy knockoff... hmmm, maybe a future project!

Simple. Elegant. Gorgeous. Easy.

 This is a truly amazing DIY chandelier. You've got to check out how this was made: picture frames and wax paper were combined to create this super chic look.

This is soooo creative and such a fun addition to a little girl's room! I love seeing fresh, simple design like this.

Free Advice Friday- Getting that old, musty smell out of furniture

It's Free Advice Friday time... woo-hoo! Today's question is from Heather who wanted to know how to get rid of that old, icky smell that so often accompanies salvaged furniture.
Well Heather, I did a little research and here is what I discovered: first of all, don't bother with the furniture polish. Using that to get rid of odor is like spraying perfume on yourself after running a marathon [ewww.]. Instead, use Murphy's Oil Soap according to directions to clean the wood thoroughly. Then put it in a dry location and let it really, really dry-out [setting it out in the hot sun is best]. Now, in "the land of perfect" that will do the trick and your salvaged piece will have a fresh, lovely scent. However, I don't live in that land... [in fact, I hardly ever even get to visit it] so if you're like me that musty smell will hang-on and you'll have to continue working. Here are a few more extreme approaches to try:
Pine Sol: 2 gallons water with 1/2 cup Pine Sol.
Bleach and water: Wash it down again using 1 part bleach to 2 parts water, or you can dilute it more if you aren't comfortable with that strong of a solution... just be safe & smart.

Vinegar and water solution:  Washing it with this solution is less harsh than the bleach but it is still effective.
Charcoal: Place unused charcoal briquettes [yup, like you use to grill] in a bowl and place inside your piece. Keep all drawers & cabinets shut for at least 24 hours for best results. You don't even have to throw them away after you're done- they can still be used [Not sure I would though. My mind would trick my mouth into thinking that the chicken tastes musty...]
Kitty Litter: Natural clay kitty litter to be exact. Same drill as the charcoal: just don't throw it on the grill when you're done.

Baking Soda: I don't know about you, but I love baking soda because it works for just about everything. Once again... put it in a container inside your furniture just like the others, but disguard when finished.
Coffee: Weird, right?! Ground, dry coffee will work as well. [Please just don't use the good Starbucks stuff... cuz' that's just wrong.]

Surely you will only need to use one or two of these methods; however, if you try every idea and it's still too funky to bring into your home... I don't know what to tell you, maybe you should take it to Goodwill and let someother poor sap figure it out ;)

Adding Detail to Plain Roman Shades

I'm almost done with my son's little bedroom redo [and by "little" I mean, "supposed to be little- but I somehow ended up changing everything..."]. My latest project was to add stripes to his super plain roman shade. It truly was SO easy, but added alot of personality to the room [especially considering the project only cost $2.60].

Here's what it looked like before... which was fine, but I never liked the roman shade's exposed plastic top; however, I didn't want to add a valence to the window because I wanted to keep it really casual.

Plus... six years ago I managed to drip one drop of paint on them, so I wanted to hide it [obviously it didn't bother me too much since it took 6 YEARS to do anything!] .

I purchased some ribbon [Super hero hubby saw the spools and said, "You're not putting ribbon in our son's room, are you?" My response: " Ummm, no. Well, yes. Just think if them as shiny stripes though."] Then I measured-out where I wanted the "stripes" to go and used liquid stitches to adhere the ribbon to the fabric. And you may notice that the width between the ribbons is exactly the width of the ruler... that saved me alot of time/measuring!

Next, to secure the ends, simply leave enough ribbon so that you can fold it under and hot glue it down as shown.

Here's an example. I used sheers to [hopefully] prevent fraying .

Finally, after reinstalling the shade I added a ribbon across the top to hide that boring plastic piece. Yup. I hot glued the ribbon [oh, I mean shiny stripes...] right onto the plastic, and it instantly looked 1,000 times better.

That's all. $2.60 for two spools of ribbon and you're done [ok, ok... I already had the hot glue gun & liquid stitch stuff... so if you don't have it, add like a whopping $8 to that total.]

And here's how the roman shade looks when pulled up, which is how it stays most of the time [because really, look at that view... no matter how great my ribbon looks it's not better than that!!].