Weekend Wrap Party - Fill er Up! (the bookshelf that is)

I'm gonna take a crazy wild guess & say that you probably either went, witnessed or heard about an Easter egg hunt this past weekend? Hard-boiled some eggs? 

How did I know? I'll just shot straight with ya...I'm psychic. I also know that you will be visiting this blog every day for the next couple of years. :-) Okay...you got me. 

This past weekend, I did a live remote broadcast (I work full-time at an Atlanta radio station) at my home away from home - Carriage KIA. We had an Easter egg hunt for the kids, gave away Dove Award tickets (like the Christian Grammys) & ate some great pizza from Stevi B's of Gainesville. We had great weather & a grand ole time. 

We also had dinner with some great friends of ours, church & this project -> 

If you are just "tuning" in to the Parties for Pennies blog, my husband & I just bought this house last year. It was built in the 60s so it's needed a little work but we got it for a steal & it's a great location. Since we just got married last summer, we've slowly (as we've had money) tried to make it feel more homey. 

Please tell me that I'm not the only one who wants it all to be done right this second?! I get so impatient just wanting to walk in the door & it look exactly like I envision it. HGTV never takes this long. Ugh. ;p 

The bookshelf above is one of those things that took forever. We were going to DIY it but with our limited time & finding a great deal on this set from IKEA, Mike just had to translate the stick figure IKEA instructions for the KIRTORP  (or something like that). My hero! 

This has been sitting barren for at least 2 months. So I finally decided to get er done. 

I had my camera on the wrong settings so I'm really sorry it's not as crisp as it should be. Ugh...epic blogger fail. 

I'm sure I'll rearrange it multiple times. This is actually a free for all too. 

I am a pinner. I am a blog follower. I am a hoarder of West Elm, Z Gallerie & Pottery Barn catalogues. 

I am NOT a decorator. That said, please leave me comments with any advice or suggestions! I need all the help I can get. 

Here's a breakdown of what's goin on up in there. 

1. Some wooden balls that Mike's dad gave us

2. I think I got this many moons ago from a 70% off clearance section at Z Gallerie

3. $5 for both at Target. This is why you should ALWAYS browse the end of the aisles at Target!

4. This is actually a damaged good from Z Gallerie...70% off

5. One of my favorites...from Home Goods. 

6. A secret stash of cable instructions & DVD cleaners

7. A cute white ceramic turtle my friend Jenny gave me for my bday. aww...

8. A Canadian Silver dollar that my friend George gave me for my bday last year. I loved it & had an extra frame sitting around so some scotch tape later & cardstock sheet later...voila. 

To the right, to the right...

1. Home Goods find

2. Picture from our Hawaiian wedding 

3. Goodwill pitcher

4. Gift from my sister, from Z Gallerie (love) 

5. Those rocks in there are lava rocks from Hawaii. Not sure if I was supposed to smuggle them in or not. Oops. ;-) 

I started taking all the covers off the hardback books b/c they looked better but I began to worry that Mike would not be too happy about that. So I stopped midway through. He still doesn't know, though...shhh. ;p

Do you have any tips for arranging bookshelves?

 I'm glad that it is gone from barren to bustling. 

Can't wait to share with you a fun spring time party project this Wednesday!

Freebie Easter Tip: Do NOT leave eggs boiling unattended for long. They are capable of exploding & it does not smell pretty. Hopefully others can learn from my mistakes. :p