{Summer is winding down…but who doesn’t love BTS Shopping?}

So here we are….looking at August in a few days. I know this is how it feels every summer, but man….it just goes so fast. I guess leaving town for 2.5 weeks out of 1 month doesn’t exactly help the cause, but hey…

I’m not going to lie though…it will behoove my bank account if I get my butt back to work. I keep finding different projects to do around the house or decorations to update and it’s just way too easy to shop when you’re not at work all day. Between the pool project and my obsession with changing things up, it’s been a pretty expensive summer around here!

The pool project is definitely coming along though. The biggest kudos must be given to my husband though. I’m not one for super public shout outs on social media, but he has pretty given up his entire summer to this project. My dad has been here every weekend and Kenny has been right along side him working in the abysmal heat getting this thing put together. And all week long, loading and unloading wood, cutting wood, nailing wood boards, etc. It has been the most intricate project we’ve every taken on. We’re definitely nearing the end, but it started May 30th. With the month of June being almost a total washout and our travel schedule in July, we’re definitely behind schedule, but we’re still looking at being done by mid-August.

Updated pics of the progress are below. We still have to cut out the rounded edges from inside the pool, attach handrails and spindles, and building/attach the stairs.

I’ve actually been able to control myself from heading to Target all summer, but did stop by last week. I love Target when it’s back to school time. Just to make sure I didn’t splurge on a bunch of stuff, I ended up ordering all school supplies through Amazon. But I did find the wire rack/basket below in the $3 bin. Looks so cute as a jewelry organizer. I just nailed the rack to my wall and used 2 binder clips to hang so there would be room for earrings to be hung on it. The basket is perfect for chunky bracelets that don’t lay flat.

I also realized that my jewelry box needed to be cleaned out, big time! It has so much dust and so much jewelry that I don’t even use anymore. I forgot to do a “before/after” pic, but the after is below. I literally ripped out all of the old inserts because they were covered in lint that I just couldn’t seem to get clean. I bought cork squares from Amazon a while back for random reasons and they were perfect for inserting into each of the areas. And looks so much more clean.

I posted the next little project on FB last week, but figured I’d include it here as well. I’ve been wanting to update my headboard forever. I would really like to buy a new one, but that just seems like a luxury that I don’t want to pay for right now…so why not look up ways to spruce it up? So I headed to Pinterest and started to get some ideas. I wanted something that could be easily removed and changed out if necessary. Not sure I’m in love with the black, but it’s something different so I’ll let it last for a bit. Until I find a new pattern around the house I want to try. I use burlap for so many things: wreaths, ribbons on presents, etc. I’ve linked the roll I got from Amazon below.

So now for the basement transformation. We have typically “basement couches” downstairs that we bought off of a neighbor a while back for like $75. The cushions fall off all of the time, the look is pretty dated, and they just don’t help the fact that our basement isn’t finished and the overall look of the space is pretty bleak. So…as were driving home from Atlanta I saw an Amazon Prime deal for furniture covers that were $35 a piece. That’s a pretty good price for a 2 piece cover. So I bought 3. One for each piece: loveseat, couch, and chair.

I was so happy with how they turned out, I bought another for the chair’s ottoman and looked up a cover for the Queen Anne chair we have that needs to be re-upholstered because it has tears in it. Wow! I couldn’t be happier! Again…I got so excited I forgot to take a true before and after pic, but I did manage to take a before of one piece so you can get the idea of what they all looked like. The covers come in tons of colors and are super soft with a honeycomb like pattern on them.

So after doing this to about 5 pieces it was a pretty expensive little “spruce up,” but man it was worth it in my book. The kids have sleepovers down there and watch movies. It’s so much more comfortable now. And I have the treadmill setup down that so when I work out it’s such better scenery!

Among the other projects I took on were changing out the handles on our bedroom furniture. Again…I was needing a change. We have had the furniture for over 10 years. The wood itself is solid, but some of the handles had fallen off and it look jenk! And they were the kind of handles that clanked when you walked around the room. Super annoying. So I went on Amazon and found a set of 25 kitchen cabinet handles and replaced them all! Looks so much more modern.

Now for some back to school items! Not actual necessities, but those aren’t the fun things to buy anyway. Jane has a ton of adorable booties for sale right now. So many different styles and options. I’m linking their entire “booties” page below if you click on the picture. This way you pick what style works for you. I have several booties from Jane. Always read the descriptions though. Some will say they run true to size and some will advise to size up or down. That’s a pretty important detail!

Jane Back to School: Click Image to Shop (affiliate links)

I also posted on FB recently that I’ve become an affiliate with Etsy. I can’t say enough about this platform. The amount of unique items I have found on here is crazy. From jewelry, home decor, lanyards for IDs, phone covers, etc. There’s something for everyone! And the shops on here are always running deals. I have bought decorations for birthday parties, skins for my computer, phone decals, etc that have all been personalized for a special touch. It’s definitely worth checking out. And once you buy from a boutique that you like, you can favorite it and go back to just that shop to see the new items they have added over time.

I’m linking some of their back to school items that are either on sale or are offering free shipping below. The back to school t-shirts are just adorable!

I think that’s about it for now lovelies. I need to go make some lunch for the kiddos and get my day started….yeah, you heard me right…started. I’m still drinking coffee and in PJs. Ahhh….summer. I need to take advantage while I can. I’m back to the grind starting Thursday!

I’m even going to workout while watching Orange is the New Black. How am I just now jumping on this bandwagon btw?? It’s totally addicting…but since the content is so crazy I have to find private places to watch it without kids walking in to join.