After last week’s rug failure, I redeemed myself at a local thrift store. My sister, V, and I stopped in to see if there was anything we should know about. We browsed the lamps, dinnerware, and toys without success. Fate brought us past a few rugs, so I scanned the rack and saw a small rolled up rug, backside facing out. The West Elm tag caught my eye, so I laid it on the floor and saw this:
A 3 foot by 5 foot 95% wool (the lighter raised areas are rayon) Ayo rug for only 25 bucks.
I sent a picture to Ben asking what he thought of it. No response. After talking it over with my sister, we agreed it could work as either a large bath mat or an entry rug. Then I noticed a few small pieces coming out of the raised areas. At checkout, I pointed this out. Because of the defect, the clerk took $10 off so I paid $15. Putting this in the rug win column. Excited to find a place for it in the new house.
If you missed out on this. Yep, we’ve got another sale going on in our Etsy shop in honor of April Fool’s day. Rather than playing a trick on you, we’re offering up a sweet deal. Enter the code FOOLSDAY at checkout to get 50% off your entire order today, tomorrow, and Wednesday only! That means our custom cut out designs are only $25!
Last week, I ordered an indoor/outdoor rug from Overstock. This one, specifically.
I had high hopes it would look and feel nice and could work well in several rooms in the new house. Well, it arrived yesterday and I’m probably going to send it back. I’ve seen indoor/outdoor rugs that have a texture similar to jute or sisal rugs. The gray areas of this rug are similar to sisal. But the ivory design is almost a basket weave texture.
The rug is thin, which I expected, but the backing is coarse. A rug pad could help, but I almost prefer getting my money back. Ben hates this rug, too, so I don’t want to keep large pieces one or both of us dislikes.
It’s just frustrating because large good rugs are hard to find, especially in a modern pattern. This smaller wool rug has a fun pattern, but it’s considerably smaller and more than $100 more.
I predict Ben and I will have a hard time agreeing on a pattern because he doesn’t like the pattern of that rug, either.
Have you recently purchased a rug you love? If so, care to share a link?
The other night, while lying in bed, I had an idea. In honor of Valentine’s day, let’s kick February off with a sale. So, that’s what I’m doing. Today, eight by 10 inch Love Heart and I Love You This Much prints are only 5 bucks!
But there is a catch. Tomorrow’s price is $6, Friday they’ll cost $7 and so on until the price is back at the original $15 price. So hurry to get your customized prints.
But wait! There’s more! Carved Initial cut outs, both Birch and Oak are also on sale.
Only $30 for a custom cut out today. Just like the prints, we’ll be raising the prices by two dollars per day until we’re back at the original 50 dollar price.
Because I don’t want this to seem too much like a sales pitch, here’s a little freebie, available for download now through Valentine’s Day. After that, we’ll add this print option to our shop.
Red:
One month ago, after meeting up with my blog pal Jen and local readers, we offered up a Goodwill Challenge. I bought a thick hardcover book.
I know, it’s not much of a make over, but I’ve always wanted to make a book safe. A 15 cent book is a good tester, too. Jen’s challenge was an even better excuse to get started.
First, I separated the first few pages and the front cover, keeping everything bound with binder clips. Then I mixed plain ol’ Elmer’s glue with a little bit of water and brushed it all over the edges of the book. Mod Podge would work for this, too, but I only had glossy and I wanted this to look as realistic as possible.
With the edges glued together, I put a few pencils between the front pages and the glued pages. To help the pages dry tightly, I popped Ben’s jug of wine on top. Twenty or so minutes later, the glue had completely dried.
To get started cutting, gather a pencil, ruler and a sharp utility knife. Draw a border on the front page (I used the text as my guide). Use the ruler to cut a straight edge, going through as many pages as possible.
Pull the pages out and keep on cutting.
Don’t stop now. Cut along the edges.
As I cut, my edges got messier and messier. This doesn’t matter. It will all be covered up.
After about 15 minutes of cutting, I had removed enough of the inside to fit my iPhone inside and close the cover.
Once you’ve hollowed the book to the depth you’d like, cover the inside edges with the glue mixture. Spread more glue along the top of the hollowed border and let one page out of the clips. Set the page down and cut out the inside for a clean top page. Put something heavy on top to dry. Now you’ve got a handy book safe to keep all your worldly possessions inside.
I have to admit, after cutting to the iPhone depth, my new camera arrived and I quit working to fiddle around. And I haven’t gotten back to cutting yet. But you get the idea.
Now, let’s do the Safety Dance.
Have you ever made a book safe? Wanted a book safe? What’s your favorite book?
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