Living Room Makeover

Our house has been red and black for the last five years. It's beautiful (in our opinion) but it was before we really started to get into the vintage and vintage inspired theme. Since we have a entire  garage "warehouse" full of amazing items we thought we would re-decorate our home to highlight the new direction we were taking. 

Almost everything we used was from Goodwill, garage sales or stuff we already had. It's amazing what a different you can make with stuff you already have! 


We wanted to lighten up the room and give it more of soft/girly feeling. We started by choosing a teal color to lighten up the red tables.The tables came from Goodwill and were just plain wood when we first got them. After seeing the results we started to really get into it! On our wall we had black Ikea frames with red and white fabric in them. Since this was no longer our "style" we went up to the craft room  to see what we had. 

We have a habit of collecting old fabrics and stitching circles so it was a no-brainer that we would use those on our wall. We think decorating the entire wall cost around $4. The fabric and "frames" have been all collected at goodwill.

The sofa table was given to us by our mom's friend for FREE! We just had to paint it black. We added some lighter touches and made the the sofa table less crowed. We nailed an old wooden box to the wall and put in teal insulators caps and have since added a "U" . In the up right corner we actually just nailed plastic doilies to the wall. It really looks clean and fresh! 

We've had this t.v. stand forever! It was a Target buy WAYYYY back at one of our first apartments. The chair in the pictures is garage sale find. We even found the chair cover at a sale. You have to dig and keep looking but you can find some good stuff! In the before picture, we had chunky candle sticks and a glass full of rocks?! We took a frame we already had put some burlap and added a vintage scarf. To top it off, we added some old luggage and a red glass candy dish our grandma gave us. 

We already had these pillows up stairs, so we brought them down and the went PERFECT with our new colors. I might add that our couch is a queen sleeper sofa that we got at a sale for $125 including delivery.  That's a good deal! 


I sadly didn't take any before pictures of our lighting, but just picture the standard white globe lighting that comes in almost every house. We wanted to change that out too! They just weren't girly and fresh enough for our new look. 

We found three glass balls at Goodwill Outlet for $0.49 a pound! We joyfully took down the plain balls and added these. In the entrance way we wanted a chandelier but our  ceilings are to low. We solved that problem buy taking the lights out of a beaded Christmas tree and turning it upside down to equal VERY inexpensive and pretty cool chandelier. All new light for less then $5. 

That is our living room. It went from dark to a light airy space we can enjoy sometime and wind down at the end of the day.

We are planning on doing a kitchen and outdoor living space makeovers soon. Make sure to check those out!

What To Do With It Wednesday?!- on Thursday

I blame being born two weeks late on my never ending tardiness. So, "What to do with it Wednesday" might sometimes show up on Thursdays but I'm guessing never a Tuesday! ha

Before I get to the blog, I want to talk about what we did last night. We went to see a sneak peak of the Indianapolis International Film Festival line up for the festival this July. It was awesome! I'm so excited to go check out the movie line up! We got to vote for which trailers we got to see and let's be honest, they all looked AH-MAZE-ING. I was most excited to see the trailer for Video Stop. It looks REALLY GOOD! Click here to read more about this movie.

We were also out with a dear friend and really funny comedain Matt Holt. Check out Matt Holt Comedy and DEMAND (don't just ask, DEMAND) that he be booked at a comedy joint near you. Esp if you are in the midwest.  Matt is going to be moving to L.A. in November and you really don't want to miss out. He might just get to big for Indy! :)


So now onto the blog blog and "What to do with it Wednesday". Like I said before, I'm sure like every good hoarder crafter, we buy stuff that we think is a GREAT idea at the time, only to sit back and wonder what were we thinking? It can be big or it can be little. It has to be something you don't really want to donate/re-donate to Goodwill.

So for my second"What to do with it Wednesday" I picked my "new" outdoor lounge chair.

At $2 dollars it was a steal!  (She wanted $3, I asked for a $1 but we agreed on $2) I'm making and outdoor living area on our deck (pictures when I'm done) I thought this would be PERFECT to have so I can sit on the back porch and read my book. Two problems....

The small problem is that its missing a bar on it. I don't want my booty to fall to the ground but I think that can be easily fixed with a cord or just moving the foot bar up.

The big problem is I didn't now how expensive outdoor cushions are. I just can't bring myself to spend $50 or more on a cushion for a chair that cost me $2.

So, the questions becomes....What do I do with it? Does anyone have any ideas on how to make an outdoor cushion? Should I just spend the money since I saved on the chair? Any other ideas what to do with it? Basically, what to do with it?

AHHHHH WHAT SHOULD I DO WITH IT?

Weekend in the Life of Almost Gemini

Spent this weekend shopping, wedding and relaxing. We didn't have a lot of good finds. We went to an antique store that was going out of business. We got a couple cool things but other then that the day was pretty disappointing. 

I took my lovely date Evelyn, to my friends Shawn and Jean-Ann's wedding. It was really pretty! She was a beautiful blushing bride and they truly looked in love. The also have some funny friends! Our dinner table kept us laughing the entire time! It's always awesome to meet new and fun people!  My pictures didn't turn out so I had to steal this one from NINE23PHOTOGRAPHY. 

 OF COURSE, we spent Sunday with our "Dadster". If there is one thing this man loves it's gifts (then family or family then gifts, I can't remember). You can tell the by the look on his face his is excited to be a dad find out what he got! The gift we gave him is top secret, sorry folks. He did dip into the beer, while mom and I had some wine and Heather drank a "pain in the a$$" (virgin pina colada)

We spent Sunday by the pool. No pictures of that (you're welcome)! Even dad put on his swim trunks and joined the his ladies of leisure. I read a book, Heather finished her homework, dad slept and mom played words with friends. A perfect day if I do say so myself! 

We went to an O.K. dinner at Bonefish Grill. I'm not sure what is up with service theses days, but I can't seem to get good service anywhere. After dinner we decided to take pictures in my cap and gown before I have to give it back. 

Even thought both sis and I are both graduating in 2012 we only had one gown. Anyone know photoshop? Maybe you can make a family picture for us! :)  

Mom wanted to try on the gown too. This is one of the tame photos. I promised not to post the others. My birthday IS on Saturday and I DO like presents, so this is all you get, folks! 

It was another great weekend! Since I'm taking Thursday AND Friday off, I'm looking forward to another great one! I hope everyone enjoyed their Father's Day and had great weekend. 

We are going to be doing the Indie Arts & Vintage Market on June 30! Make sure to check us out!

Obsession Confession

Wait! Did you think I was only obsessed with old photos? How wrong you are! I have many, many, many obsessions to share but most recently.... Vintage thermos!

It started when I was at an estate sale and bought myself a vintage lunch box. I take my lunch to work everyday and I wanted to take it in style. Also, I could bring home my baggies in it to re-use! :) I didn't even notice the thermos was in it.  My thoughts went straight to wondering where the lunch box had been. I  like to think the person that owned it worked on a high-rise building.  I pictured him swinging his legs over the edge of a metal beam eating a ham sandwich. (My first thought was baloney, but I really don't like baloney so I choose ham instead!) When I took it out of the lunch box to wash it, I fell in love.

 My First

It's from Sears and I looked it up (of course) and it was selling for $40. Who would've thought?

 After that I couldn't stop. Every time I see one I have to buy it.  The green thermos was my second. It even has a cork stopper, which I wished I would've taken a picture of.

Then there were five! 

Aren't they beautiful!? So what's your obsession confession?

P.S.
How about that cabinet? It was $5 at a garage sale and I was looking at it. I wanted to have a dresser to put in gardening stuff in. I was debating on if this would work better and the guy said I could have it FOR FREE! AND he carried it to the car for me! That was a full service sale. It going to be part of our outdoor living space makeover which I hope to have done before winter!

A Weekend in the Life of Almost Gemini

We had a great weekend! We got to celebrate our grandma's 82nd birthday. That woman is still on the go like she was 52. She and grandpa came into town on Thursday and we were on the move until Sunday. (Well, mom was on the move until Monday) Mom and dad's present to Grandma was a haircut and mani/pedi. Grandma was so excited. She loves to be pampered! Thursday we went to Goodwill Outlet which is one of grandma's favorite spots. She spent $1.80 on a rake, two metal containers and a chicken plate. We when went to Walmart, we saw the same rake for $11she was very excited about her deal! Mom, sis, grandma and I spent Saturday going to garage sales. I think grandma was ready to go around 8am but we didn't get started to around 9:00am.

We did  take a break for the garage sales and had a chance to stop by Restyle's barn sale. 

It was a great day for a barn sale. The weather was amazing and there was a nice breeze! Restyle had some really cool furniture here is just a small sample of the coolness.

I might be bias because I've known Sherry Pisockyj for longer then I haven't but she brought some really neat and unique merchandise to the barn sale.

If you see something you like you like you can e-mail Sherry.


It seems like we can't go anywhere without seeing Nicki! Not that we mind, it's always fun to see what The Vintage Farmhouse is up to.

Make sure to check out her blog! I love all the white in her house! I also love Nicki's theory that you can just bleach it but I still say with three kids she is a brave, brave woman!

We also got a chance to catch up with Jackie from Shambora Studios. As always, she had some really great stuff.

To round out the Horton's crew we got to chat with the lovely ladies of Damask Designs.

Not only is a blog about design, there is a lot of love in this blog! Also as a bonus you get story about an amazing adoption.


We didn't stay to long, grandma was jonesing for another garage sale and some Panera's. It was great seeing everyone and made us even that more excited for Horton's!

Ohh man we have a lot of work to get done before then! Wish us luck!

What to do with it Wednesday?!

What is "What to do with it Wednesday"?!
Like every good hoarder crafter, we buy stuff that we think is a GREAT idea at the time, only to sit back and wonder what were we thinking? It can be big or it can be little. It has to be something you don't really want to donate/re-donate to Goodwill.

This week I chose a large red wire bin.

We bought this for $5 at a sale. It wasn't truly for sale, but we asked and the lady said she would sell it. We had grand thought of some how making it a display in one of our show. At over four feet we just couldn't make it work! So now it's taking up room on our back deck.

What to do with it?

Do you have a "What to do with it?" Add it to our link. Maybe together we can come up with some amazing and new ideas!

Linky parties to attended

Savvy Southern Style
A bowl full of lemons
Cowgirl up!
Homemaker on a Dime
You're talking too much

Old Mill Festival

As I said in my last post, we had a BLAST in Noblesville at the Old Mill Festival. We can't thank Peggy and A Corner Cottage enough for inviting us back for the second year. If you are in the area the store is a must see! It is a sensor overload of all things AWESOME! Stop by tell Peggy "Hi" and tell her Almost Gemini sent ya!

The festival was kicked off with a bed race We were so busy setting up I didn't get any pictures of  it. BUT It brought back the good ole and short lived days of Ball State. I just can't mention the past without singing, Glory Days! I guess it's pay back for when we used to sing it to dad!

We spent TWO weeks setting up shop in the "warehouse", only for it to once again look NOTHING like we planned. This time it was even better. It is AMAZING what two caffeine deprived sisters can come up with at 6:30 am. Every time we have an early morning show, we collectively question our choice to give up caffeine. We did forget our milk glass which was a little disappointing since the first thing we sold was our only piece of it.  So soon we forgot about the forgetting when the products we did have flew off the shelves!

So I still don't have a clue how to blog, so the pictures are fuzzy and small. I AM practicing! Maybe in the next year or 10 I'll get the hang of this!

During the festival, there was an on going art project.The wonderful people of Noblesville were handing out FREE zip ties to anyone that would take them. People were then given the freedom to put them around the trashcans, bike rack and/or traffic signal.

I think the adults had just as much  more fun then the kids! Well all expect this one...

Miss Rilee was having a blast (can't you tell by the look on her face) Her mom is the owner of Jaded. If you are in or near Crawsfordsville, IN you better make sure to stop by and check her out! Jaded is THE FASHION place in Crawfordsville.

We also saw our favorite wood working and candle making couple! Diana and Brad Adkins from Little Woodshop. Here are some of the awesome stuff they had there!

I love all the colors and cuteness. Brad makes and Diana paints. They also had THE CUTEST birdhouses

Isn't he just adorable! They also make our candles which smell AH-MAZE-ING. You can contact them at Little Woodshop. I'm told they are working on a website themselves so I'll let you know when its up and running.




We are now working on our space for Horton's of Tipton and hoping to get some more stuff on our etsy sight. Last show was 12x12 and Horton 6x6. We are trying to figure out how to build up without breaking down! Wish us luck!

And so it begins

We had a very successful show this weekend! Thanks for everyone that came out and saw us! It was amazing how many friends showed up!!! We love the support!!!


I'm putting together a post about the Old Mill Festival but first I thought I would give you a little taste of how we actually became Almost Gemini! 


When our dad turns on his computer, it always says, "and so it beginnings". I need to figure out how he did that.  I've always thought of how awesome it would be if my computer said, "These are the days or our lives" A tribute to a show I've watched since birth. While some children under the age of 5 would watch cartoons, I was wondering what Stefano was going to do next and why once someone had kids they were always just "upstairs" Even at that young of an age, I couldn't help but wonder why after being kidnapped a100 times Hope never used her gun? She IS a police officer. 


Anyway, that's not what I'm here to chat about. I wanted to inform you on how Almost Gemini actually began.


As I've said before (and it might become a reoccurring theme) I've never been known for my crafty ability or my creativeness. I can cook better then most (toot toot)  but crafting wasn't in my vocab.


About three years ago, I found myself with some extra time on my hands. I had no clue what to do. I was looking for a hobby that required little to no skill (I own my skill level, folks), I had read about every book in the library.  While looking for tutu for my friend's daughter's birthday, I realized (at that time) there were no good affordable tutu's. I had the light bulb pop up over my head and made a decision that would forever change my life. I asked my dear sister to take me to Hobby Lobby. With joyful tears in her eyes, she hugged me and threw me in the car before I could change my mind. After that I kept asking to go back, and we did, much to Sis's delight. 

So before the tutu explosion of 2010, I was cranking those babies out! I was a making and selling machine. But, before you knew it everyone and their mom started to make them. There were just too many people at the shows that sold them, so slowly the tutu's died off. BUT don't you worry your pretty little heads because then TheUllman sisters were already supplying the world with "hair flair". 


Heather, the talented one (another reoccurring theme), was already onto something. See folks, every three years or so I cut bangs only to start going them out the next day. Sis being annoyed by my ways of pinning back my bangs (plain bobby pins,binder clips, paper clips, chip clips, stir sticks, anything I could find) developed "hair flair". She took vintage earrings that we had and made them into beautiful bobby pins.  


See...beautiful! 

She is talented and creative isn't she! The are still our #1 seller but now we supply the world and save from the dump just about anything and everything! We think of it as a fun hobby but we have to sell the stuff for two reasons
1. To make money to buy more
2. So we don't end up on the show "hoarders"


Two very good reasons I might add!