Monthly Archives: January 2012

imagine the impossibilities {link party}

  By Karah | January 31, 2012 - 7:08 am | , ,
26 Comments

It’s here.  The big day is finally here!  Welcome to the Imagine the Impossibilities Link Party! First, if you haven’t entered to win the $50 Lowe’s gift card click here to get signed up. The giveaway is sponsored by OPC.  One Project Closer maintains a very up-to-date list of Home Improvement Coupons from most of the major home improvement stores that we all love so much.  Their site is updated daily by a real person (Kim, one of the editors at OPC).  So, after you hopefully win the gift card and before heading off to Lowe’s to get all of the supplies for your next project, you should stop by OPC for a Lowe’s Coupon and save upwards of 10%.  I recommend bookmarking the page for future reference! Boy, did this month fly by after we all decided to tackle our most daunting tasks, or what? Or, was that just my 10 day trip to Maine then 9 days of house guests, all the while trying to hang a whole gallery wall on one screw? Yesterday I, along with my fellow challenge hosts, posted my Impossible project reveal and today is all about YOU! Even if you haven’t completed your project, you switched projects midstream, or your project didn’t work out as planned it would be great to see you linked up.  We’d all love to learn from the journey. And speaking of love, don’t we all LOVE comments?  Well, I sure do, so it would be super cool if you took some time to give your fellow challengers some “Hoorahs” along the way. We’ve set up the party so you only have to link up ONCE and you will appear on the party page from each of the co-hosts blogs.  But then definitely click on my co-hosts buttons below to be sure to show them some love today on … continue reading →

$50 Lowe’s gift card giveaway

  By Karah | January 30, 2012 - 3:17 pm | , , , , , , , ,
190 Comments

THIS GIVEAWAY IS NOW CLOSED. Hello again, and Happy Monday Afternoon!  I hope you all enjoyed my Imagine the Impossibilities Challenge project reveal this morning. Update:  The Imagine the Impossibilities Link Party is here.   If you missed it, you can read here about how I made a gallery wall using only one screw in the wall.  Heck yeah! I now sit so I can peak at the gallery wall every now and again.  :) To learn more about the “I Might Be Screwed (Just Once), A Gallery Wall Experiment” process click here, here and here. Now to the real business at hand this fine afternoon.  The first evah TSB giveaway, sponsored by OPC!  I am down right giddy about this giveaway. In no small part due to the fact that I have a love affair with Lowe’s!  Well, in my mind, I actually have a love affair with this guy. Seriously, could I be standing any closer to him???  :) He’s Chad Knaus and he’s the crew chief for the NASCAR team sponsored by Lowe’s.  Due to our long standing love affair with him this NASCAR team, my husband and I have become so brand loyal to Lowe’s it’s just a teensy bit scary. So, for the first TSB giveaway to be a $50 gift card to this company that we love so much … I can hardly stand it! And, it’s all thanks to OPC.  That’s One Project Closer.  If you do not already know, OPC is a fantastic online resource for all things DIY.  They publish How-To articles, Tool Reviews, Crafts and more! If you enjoy home improvement projects, how-to guides, tool reviews, and more, you NEED to check out One Project Closer. Follow along as they shadow contractors on the job site, test out the latest tools, and … continue reading →

the one screw {gallery wall} is HERE!

  By Karah | January 30, 2012 - 7:08 am | , , , , , , , ,
103 Comments

I did it!  I really did!  Here’s the proof!  (Beware – there are plenty more exclamation points to come!) If you’re new here, you may want to go here, here and here to get caught up on my “I Might Be Screwed (Just Once), A Gallery Wall Experiment”. Because today is all about the result.  The glorious, one little screw, only cost me $15 result!  Booyah! Although, it did almost cost me my sanity … and the tip of my right index finger.  Which I really can’t spare … although I’ve learned I never really needed the left one.  :) Unfortunately, I have no pics of the times when all balance was lost.  When one suffers in solitary, there are no spare hands for photo ops when you’re almost breaking the antique mirror your mom just gave you. My original layout was this.  (Minus the canvas pic of downtown Willemstad, Curacao along the top.) I wanted the canvas silhouettes of the dogs to be front and center – they are by far my favorite DIY project of all time part of this project.  And when I had it all laid out on the floor I thought I would be OK with just the 2 canvases in that one column.  But, once it all got hung, there was too much space at the bottom for my liking. Don’t you hate it when that happens?  :/ I think it is because the frame with the coral, to the left of the center column, is hanging just a scosh lower on the left side than the right. Which is due to the driftwood shelf hanging a little lower on the left.  More details on that another time.  Let’s just say, driftwood shelf = bane of my one screw gallery wall existence.  :) Also, the B … continue reading →

friday features

  By Karah | January 27, 2012 - 7:08 am | , ,
12 Comments

TGIF!  Although, I was just reminded that I have signed up for an 8k road race on Sunday and I still don’t have the whole gallery wall hung yet.  :/ No matter what, I (along with all of my challenge co-hosts) will be posting my big reveal on Monday morning.  I’m just not exactly sure what I’ll be revealing just yet.  Sigh. AND, Monday will be home to two firsts here at TSB … I will be publishing a Monday afternoon post – 1st time for 2 posts in 1 day because … Monday afternoon will be the very first TSB GIVEAWAY!  It’s a $50 gift card to Lowe’s so you will want to be sure to come back and give yourself a chance to win! Then Tuesday is the Imagine the Impossibilities Progressive Link Party!  We all go live at 7am eastern time, I am sooooo looking forward to seeing what everyone has accomplished.  Down right giddy I tell ya. Now, let’s take a look at some of those projects in progress, shall we?!? Pamela over at Pink Hammers and Sippy Cups had plans to tackle the art of baking pretzels as her challenge.  Then a little bit of life happened and she has a whole new, much more challenging, project she NEEDS to tackle.  Here’s a sneak peak of one of her inspiration pics, but you have to click here to find out her big news. Suzy over at Saved by Suzy decided to tackle organizing a few closets and her pantry for this challenge and she is making awesome progress.  She may have had to toss some pantry items that were 5 years old, but it’s now looking like this, with some empty shelves and all. She still has her master bedroom closet to finish.  Be sure to … continue reading →

6 diy {driftwood} crafts

  By Karah | January 25, 2012 - 7:08 am | , , , ,
35 Comments

If you’ve been around from the beginning then you know this little blog journey started with my driftwood Christmas trees. And, being that I live on the island of Curacao, I have what seems to be an unlimited supply of this driftwood stuff. And, yes, I do realize that many of you are reading from locations that look (or feel) a little more like this right now. Maybe you can consider this a little summer in January … or just a rude “in your face” sort of post from a girl on an island.  ;) I am hoping for the former.  Please note that I have refrained from putting any pics of beautiful sunny beaches and turquoise water. But, here are a few of the other things I’ve done with driftwood along the way. Full disclosure on this wreath, the glue I used did not hold up after it had been left out in the rain and slowly and painfully fell apart one little piece at a time.  :( This little driftwood shelf has been such a great addition to our little kitchen with even littler storage.  And if you saw my 12 Days of Kindness you saw this guy. I’ve got this guy in my blog header. Here’s the whole shelf on the wall. I found this awesome piece along the beach and to hang it I just drilled a couple holes in the wall and a couple holes in the wood.  I was able to line them up using a little tape and paper trick I learned from John at YHL. You may recognize the coral pieces on the left from this post.  And, I’m happy to report, the clear varnish is still doing the trick. I also have a few driftwood pieces planned as part of the gallery wall. … continue reading →

thrifting {goodwill}

  By Karah | January 23, 2012 - 7:08 am | , , , ,
51 Comments

Hello, hello!  And happy Monday to all you fine folks.  I’m checking in with a little gallery wall update.  Yay! If you are new here and don’t know of this gallery wall I speak, you may want to start here and then here.  And then when you’re done laughing at my idea you can read on.  :) I did actually get started on making some things happen as they relate to the wall last week.  And man, did it feel good. Do you ever go through extended periods of time not doing anything crafty and then when you do a little project you get all re-motivated to turn your sheets into a bed skirt and stuff like that? Well, that is a project for another day, but here is what I have been able to accomplish in the realm of “I Might Be Screwed (Just Once), A Gallery Wall Experiment” projects. Remember these beauties from Goodwill? “Ooh la la” now looks like this. And those matching flower canvases are becoming this. I’m not sure what I think of all of the billowing, maybe I pulled it too tight.  Anyone have any thoughts? And who can forget the horses and the cross stitch?  Those frames painted up quite nice.  And that lavender mat got a fresh coat of paint, too. Oh, and I drilled some holes in this guy… And, uh, well, that’s about it.  :/ So, nothing has been hung, but things have been painted and drilled and un-stapled and re-stapled. It felt like progress, even though the wall still looks like this. At least it’s becoming a collection of good looking things.  I just hope I can get them all hung by my one little screw.  Or, my challenge post might turn into a tutorial on how to paint … continue reading →

Go Patriots!!!

  By Karah | January 22, 2012 - 1:25 pm |
10 Comments

This is definitely not a sports focused blog but I happen to be a sports focused gal so this post is purely because this is all that is on my mind today … and I happen to have a blog to share it.  :) Go PATRIOTS! Gallery wall update coming tomorrow.  Progress was actually made this week.  Finally! I hope you are all having a splendid weekend.  

friday features {on thursday}

  By Karah | January 19, 2012 - 7:08 am | , , , ,
20 Comments

We’re turning impossibilities into possibilities here people, and I’m not just talking about me and my fellow challenge hosts.   But, to check us out (our project updates I mean) please click on our names here: Karah - that’s me!, Kari from Thistlewood Farm, Kelly from Eclectically Vintage, Linda from It All Started With Paint, Stacey from A Sort of Fairytale and Andrea from The Cottage Market. And, before we take a look at what some of the other challengers have going on, I need to get my brag on for just a sec.  I have been having some fun email banter with an AWESOME blog out of Maryland (I can hear all my MD peeps collectively going “awwww”.), One Project Closer.  Being that I am a New England Patriots fan and Ethan is a Baltimore Ravens fan, we have agreed to not discuss the ever important game that will be happening this coming Sunday afternoon.  I would hate to have to verbally berate a new blog friend over email right off the bat.  ;) Anyway, Fred asked if they could add me to their Blog Community!  Are you serious? Heck yeah!  And just check me out with my new Community neighbors.  I am in such good company, take a look. This is such a great feature on their site that scrolls through new posts from all of the blogs in the Community.  You should definitely check it out here. You’ll see some familiar names when you’re there like Centsational Girl and Young House Love, and I was also pleased to discover a few new favs like Emily from Merrypad and Brittany the Pretty Handy Girl.  She just made a Valentine’s Day heart out of twigs, and you all know how I heart natural elements.  Check it out here!  And there are many more, be sure to take a … continue reading →