Michael's New Finds and Subway Tile

So, I kept seeing lots of sweet deals at Michael's on IG, so I finally gave in and stopped by there the other day. Boy, did they deliver!

I got all this for around $20...

Everything was already 40% off and I was able to use a 20% off entire purchase mobile coupon on top of that. I think I mentioned before that I want my hubby to build a small bookcase for me in the living room. The bookcase is next on our to do list. My goal of this shopping trip was to find a few things to decorate it with. I wanted some farmhouse style things, boxes, and baskets and would you believe that's exactly what I found?! 

I love this weathered crate...

My hubby actually saw this crown box and showed it to me, thinking I would like it. I seem to have an affinity for all things crown related (I even have a couple in my mouth!-ha!) so of course I loved it. He found it in the dollar bins, but when the cashier rang it up, it was a mere FIFTEEN CENTS!!!

I can't tell you how much I love this metal bucket...

The twisted metal handles were my favorite part.

I really loved how much texture this basket had, so it hopped into my cart as well. Do you spy Holly sitting on my bed, WHERE SHE'S NOT ALLOWED? Lol!

Another thing I kept seeing all over IG was a slew of cute Valentine's Day decor from Target's Dollar Spot. Well, my Target didn't get the memo or something, because they STILL don't have any of the cute things I saw on IG. Although I did happen to snag this cute metal vase there.

I'm guessing it was in the Valentine bins because the handles remotely resemble hearts? I plan on keeping it out year round though. Maybe I'll use it to style my new bookcase. :)

So, in other exciting news, we've finally started to replace our kitchen backsplash with subway tile! This is the current state my kitchen is in...

Actually, I was able to move everything back on the counters after this pic was taken. We started the demo on the old backsplash yesterday. See that whole area above? I was able to remove all that tile by myself in less than ten minutes! #superwoman. :)

My hubby had to go back to work today, so we'll continue the renovation on Friday when he's off again. At first, we thought we might have to replace the sheetrock because when we removed the first few tiles, there was A LOT of adhesive residue left on the walls. We just couldn't imagine scraping all that off and thought it might be easier to just replace those sections of sheetrock. Thankfully, we figured out a way to remove the tiles and smooth out the surface without too much trouble or elbow grease. 

We were able to remove all the tiles, save for a few directly behind the stove. I didn't want to mess with moving the stove and being without it quite yet. So, Friday we should just have those few tiles to remove and then we can start the installation of the subway tiles. I'm sure I'll provide a few updates on IG throughout the weekend. 

We actually removed the existing tiles, smoothed the surface, and filled a few holes in about 4-5 hours, so it wasn't nearly as bad as we anticipated. As usual, I'm taking pics the whole way through and will provide a full tutorial when we're done. :)

~Lisa