What I Want/What I Buy

I WANTED these Welsey striped throw pillows from Crate and Barrel. On Sale, they cost $16.95 each.

Instead, I purchased 4 Wesley place mats for $3.95 each.

I hand stitched the place mats together because I was feeling intimidated by the sewing machine.

Add stuffing (purchased with a coupon at Jo Anne) and I was able to create this! Total cost of my pillows was less than $18 versus $33.90 at Crate and Barrel.

See the Crate and Barrel catalog in the corner of the photo below. I WANTED 5 of those cobalt blue glazed pots. They are no longer available on line, but they were over $35.00 each.

Instead I bought 15 inch Tera cotta pots for $8.75 , one quart of Behr paint and primer in one (yes, I choose to use a pricey paint), one spray can of Thompson's Water Seal, and two spray cans of Minwax polyurethane. I followed these instructions from the Young House Love blog to paint them.

And got THIS finished product for our front entry...

and our patio...

The overall costs of the pots was around $80.00,

versus at least $175 I would have spent at Crate and Barrel.

I am pleased with the results, of course because I didn't feel I could afford the other items, but also because I did it myself. I will tell you, as I painted and sealed the pots over MANY, MANY days, Mark was getting impatient with me to PLANT in them!