Growing up, my sister used to roll her eyes every time my mom and I would talk about doing something crafty or decorative. I was constantly moving my room around, or making things to put up in my room or the house. She would look at me and roll her eyes. She was too cool to do those things. She didn't have time. I was so boring... that is until she moved into her first apartment and wanted it to look nice on a budget, then my crafty ideas weren't so boring anymore. That was a looooonggg time ago, and we have found a common love of things crafty that will make our homes look fabulous and cost us little. We love to go to thrift stores, garage sales, estate sales, and we absolutely love Craigslist.

Well, about a year ago, her and her family moved into a new home... well, new in the sense that it was new to them, but let me tell you, this "home" needed some work. It was way dated, but it was good space and had lots of potential. They, luckily, like to do a lot of the work themselves, and my brother in law is quite handy. So they have been updating the home for the last several months. I have to say it is looking quite fabulous. So I've been bugging her to send me before and after pictures, but you know how it goes sometimes. If you want something done right, you have to do it yourself. And since now I just so happen to have a fantabulous camera, I went over and took them myself. So for the next few days I will be focusing on her do-overs.

So first we will look at her kitchen. Now I have to say, the before was quite awful. Really bad cabinets, dated, and pinkish paint on the walls. No I'm not kidding. But again, it had really good space.

Here is the before of some of the space...




And here is the after...






Okay, so I have to tell you about the deals that my sister got on this table and chairs. So she had been saying that she needed a new table for her breakfast nook, and because it was such a weird shape we talked about a round table. So we stumble upon a yard sale and BAM! right there in the front yard is an antique round table. Because it was an antique she paid more than she normally would have, but it was really perfect. Then on Craigslist she found someone selling these five chairs for $50 for ALL FIVE CHAIRS. Now granted, they were uglier than sin, but nothing that a little paint and fabric can't fix.





And now her kitchen looks amazing. She framed some of "my" scrapbook paper, put up some other thrift store finds (the chandy was $30 at a thrift store, the rod was way cheap too at the Goodwill) and some inexpensive Ikea curtains, and her kitchen is complete. I think they did an amazing job for not being so crafty. Just kidding sister... you rocked.

So, tomorrow I'll show you some other fun things she's done with her house. Oh, and I can't close without sharing a pic of my little one. So this week she got to sing at the monthly PTA meeting. The theme was Western and the kids were suppose to dress as cowboys and cowgirls. For the record, she posed like this, I swear... no coaching from me. She is all about the drama.