centsibly chic sisters

Quick Fix

2011-10-29T12:09:00.000-07:00

I think this dresser is the very first piece of furniture we ever spray painted-about 7 yrs ago, in a church parking lot b/c we didn't have space at our apartment. It used to be banana yellow and white, from Grandma. It's cheap but for now it gets the job done. When we painted it white I painted the knobs black to go with some other dresser we had at the time. 7 years later, the knobs were driving me crazy in our room because they look so cheap. So a few months ago when I was roaming around in an antique shop- I happened upon these knobs. Nothing too fancy but metal instead of wood and at 50 cents a piece I knew it would be a good upgrade!

Of course, I didn't take a picture til half way through- so now u can see the difference

After

A little DIY styling on the top- the S is from Hobby Lobby at 50% off it was $5, the frame was something I had, and the stencil print I did myself with some butcher paper and a sharpee, books I gathered from around the house

Bedroom Details: Rustic Touch

2011-10-19T16:29:00.000-07:00

Next up, I wanted to add a little personal touch and I remembered I had a piece of barn wood I got at an antique shop several months before. It was $6 and I intended on using it for something else, but that didn't happen, so I thought--- I'll use it now!

All it took was some white acrylic paint, a few stamps sets, some memories, and a little creativity

I just thought through things that are special to us-- kids, where we got married, first date, cute sayings, places we've lived, favorite vacations etc.

Now it is above our bed- not sure I love it there, but now it's too meaningful- I have to hang it somewhere!

All the stuff above the bed I had, just pulled from around the house- but the white vase was $1 at a garage sale, the duvet set was $30 online (i can tell u where if ur interested)- I still want a white quilted coverlet to mix and match the bedding a bit more, & I made the pillow covers

Bedroom Details: The nightstands

2011-10-19T14:19:00.000-07:00

Once the bed was moved in, our little ikea tables looked pretty radiculous as nighstands. They were way too low. The standard rule of thumb for nightstands is- they should to be about the height of the top of your mattress. Some like them to be a little higher, some a little lower- but this is like 2 feet lower, not gonna work! So since I had two of them, I tried to figure out how to use both to make one taller nightstand.

Thanks to Ikea Hackers, I saw this picture- perfect!

I took my two tables, stacked them on top of each other just as a starting point. Looks pretty silly as is but we're getting somewhere.

From there, it was a lot of trial and error. I wanted mine a little different than the Ikea Hackers pic, so I would just chop some, come see it in the room, chop some- over and over and over until it looked right. I won't tell you how long it took me, I just couldn't decide exactly how I wanted it!

Finally, I got it the way I wanted. Once the first one was done- making the second was super fast- I had to get 2 more tables at Ikea (not bad at 7 bucks a piece!) then just use the final measurements from the table I already did. I tried a few methods of getting them to stay together- but once my AWESOME neighbor told me to try E6000- that was the jackpot, they are solid!

Of course, I'd love to just open a catalog and order fancy beautiful nightstands or refinish a matching set- but for using what I already had, and not having to paint another piece of furniture- I'm pretty pleased!

Bedroom Details: THE BED!

2011-10-19T13:42:00.000-07:00

Well our bedroom has finally come together one piece at a time. It's not the most amazing thing in the world, but without spending much money- it has come a long ways! Instead of doing one mammoth post, I thought I would break things down a bit. So first up and most exciting was THE BED! Here is what we had when we moved in- white walls, no molding (u can see where we started doing molding in the top left corner) a brass headboard we painted black years ago, old bedding etc.

After scouring KSL and trying to find a good deal on beds, I came across Ana White's site, and loved the farmhouse bed. It's been floating around blog land for awhile but it really is perfect. After showing the plans to Paul-one night he just packed up, went to the store, came home with all the supplies, and only a few hours later he had totally completed the headboard! I was shocked! I knew he was a handyman, but holy moly- I am so lucky :) It was a good excuse to get him the drill set he's always wanted, and if that means he'll keep up the projects then that's fine with me!

I think it only took him one more night to do the foot board and rails. Then it took me 3 times that long to fill all the holes and paint. It was kind of a beast to paint actually, lots of primer and paint. I do love how it looks unfinished in these pics though.

Here it is when we first moved it into the room. I just kinda threw the bedding on and it's not looking great. But at this point we did have the crown molding up (ALSO thanks to Paul, ok I guess I filled all the holes and painted too) and the wall color was up. But still lots to work on--- notice the way too short nightstand and hideous puke orange chair (no offense to Grandma) --- these eye sores will be addressed in upcoming posts!

Virtual Family Room Design

2011-10-14T08:00:00.000-07:00

Recently my close friend moved into a new rental and asked for a little help figuring out how to pull things all together and make a space she and her family will love! Since she lives out of state we had fun with lots of emails back and forth and were able to pull a few things to get the ball rolling.

The family room was painted in ButterCream from Restoration Hardware.

The stairs and upstairs hall were going to be tan and she wanted a fun pop of color in the kitchen that went with everything else. I gave lots of suggestions and she picked my fave- Sherwinn Williams Sea Salt!

Next up was fabric for the curtains. Something that pulled the two spaces together and freshened things up. There was a lot to choose from between online stores, etsy, etc. I just started pulling some and putting them in a pinterest file...

Then she went to her local Joanns and found this one! Lucky for her it was on sale- perfect!

Next up... define style- I had her take a few fun design quizzes that help you "define" your style. You can check them out too- it's always fun to see what the books say you like even if you don't think they ring true.

BHG decorating style quiz

BHG decorating personality quiz

HGTV style quiz

Kaboose decorating style quiz

Ethan Allen find your signature style

Last steps- she sent me a few pictures and told me what they need as a family- more lighting, storage for kid stuff, fun patterns/personality. So here are the before's....

BEFORE

I just focused on the left side/family room because I couldn't figure out how to do both in one photoshop doc. But I used furniture from both pics. (slight disclaimer-- I can't get that silly blue pillow from that tan couch smaller and I know it looks silly and off, but whatever- I'm still trying to figure out this whole photoshop thing)

Color palette: I pulled colors from the curtains you already have, the wall color, and light colored carpet etc

Style:
formal- The side table, lamps, and picture frame are a sleek shape/luster to give a little sparkle
french- I had no idea how to incorporate that part of your surveys given what you already have :)
vintage- A few rustic/fun pieces - the basket full of books, little toy box by the chair, coffee table- I have seen some fun rustic/vintage coffee tables online lately using old pallets or trunks or things that you could do way cheap. Oh and the cute little blue clock is a fun little vintage accessory

Functionality:
* Play/storage space for the kids: an ottoman/coffee table like that would hold a lot of stuff and serve as a toy box if u wanted, the little toy basket by the chair, basket of books etc. I was thinking of making the other half of the room the main place with large storage, a twin to the bookcase you already have and a storage thing between the two etc.
*Lighting: I put a tall lamp in that area (u could just use the one you already have) and then one on the little side table, but if you do the sofa table you could also flank two on either end or in a grouping to add a lot of light right there

Keeping costs low: I used most of the large existing furniture pieces- the major thing is if you don't use the drawers in that sofa table that putting it behind your sofa gives you the perfect spot to put cute, fun accessories or artwork, or lamps for reading to give more light in the room. It also give a focal point to the room besides just the window. You could also just re-paint or use the side tables you already have in place of the ones I put on there.

**Once again... this was TOTALLY a fun project! I love these little virtual design projects- just as fun to design and it doesn't cost me a dime! You can see the other one I did for my friend here

If you or anyone you know would like a virtual design- let me know! I work for free :)

Free Fall Decor

2011-10-12T08:01:00.000-07:00

When I was walking to a neighbors house the other day I noticed several pallets that had just been dumped in an empty lot. My mind started reeling on what I could do with them, and there are ideas online everywhere. Table, headboards, dresser, art... I wasn't sure what I was going to do with one but I knew I would put it to use some how. So after watching for a couple days and realizing no one was going to claim the pallets, I broke my back dragging one back to my garage. It sat there for a week or so until I decided I wanted to spruce up the entry way a bit and add some touches of fall.

Here's a reminder on what the entryway looked like before board and batten

This is how it looks now...all the decor stuff was free, minus the 2 dollar pumpkins I bought a week before & stuff I already had

Scrapbooking paper and paper bags for the banner- all stuff I had

Some wheat looking twigs I grabbed on our morning walk & some mulch with a candle on top

Then my DIY pallet sign. It took me a long time to rip the pallet apart, & I woke up the whole neighborhood trying to do it. Then I cut them down a bit, hooked them all together with wood on the back- then created my own saying/stencil. I saw this quote years ago on an old window in an antique shop, I've always wanted to use it somewhere- and now it's perfect for fall/thanksgiving. All I did was print out letters from Word, then cut them out by hand- using the negative space from the paper as a stencil. I just used some white craft paint & my stencil brush. I love how it turned out, and love that I didn't spend a dime!

Done and done.

A day at the zoo

2011-10-12T07:06:00.000-07:00

A few months ago my brother-in-law asked if he could come pick up the kids and take them to the zoo for the day, of course I said yes and then I panicked- an entire day to myself?? Where to start!? Of course I wanted to run to a million stores and just look at stuff, but since we were really trying not to spend any money- shopping seemed like a waste of time. SO... instead, I decided to do something free and stenciled the hall! I know this pattern is EVERYWHERE, but when I first saw it on Jones Design Company I knew I had to do it somewhere.

The two things I learned in case I attempt stenciling in the future-- it takes a LONG time, and DON'T use a dark pencil- then it takes 2 coats of paint to cover it, ugh

Sprucing up the Laundry Room

2011-10-11T21:00:00.000-07:00

I haven't posted projects in forever so my goal is to get up-to-date over the next few days, that's the warning- project overload coming up! For now... the laundry room. Simple updates that make a world of difference. It's still not complete but I smile when I go in and out of there a million times a day.

Here it was when we moved in- then add in our 1970's non-matching washer and dryer set that always smelled like smoke and combine it with the wire rack exposing every laundry product we owned- NOT a good combination.

We bought unfinished stock cabinets- painted them white- finally made like the biggest splurge of our marriage and got front loaders, painted the doors, simple accessories I pulled from around the house- done!

Crown Molding Turned Mirrors

2011-06-20T08:08:00.000-07:00

We got a killer price on crown molding so we did our Family Room, Kitchen and Master. We had a few scraps left over so I decided to attempt making my own mirrors to go above our thrift store dresser! I could just buy one big mirror, but I wanted two identical mirrors to give us each our own little vanity type landing spot. So I picked up a cheap unfinished frame, a square craft mirror, and some L brackets. Paul cut the wood to fit around the unfinished frame.

I attached the L brackets on the back to hold everything in place. Filled all the gaps with wood puddy and tiny dowels. Final touch was spray paint left over from doing THESE chairs.

Hang em' up!

Perfect! I love how its on the wall opposite our windows too because it helps the light bounce and brighten up the space! (have i mentioned how bad i want a nice camera!? ugh... i could decorate 3 rooms with the cost of one of those babies, one day, one day)

Sunburst Mirror for the Master

2011-06-16T08:30:00.000-07:00

Sunburst mirrors have been all the craze for the last year and then some... so I never wanted to do one, I usually wanna stray from things that are too trendy and these mirrors are EVERYWHERE. For example...

Addicted to decorating...

The Lettered Cottage

Centsational Girl

But when I started doing our bedroom, there was really just the perfect empty spot over one of our dressers so I thought- heck with it, I'll do it anyway. But... everywhere I looked were mirrors that were missing something or not necessarily the way I would want to do it. The ones above were some of my favorites/inspiration. I like the shims idea, I like the paint sticks but I always feel like the mirrors look unfinished or off proportion. So I just ventured to a few craft stores to see what I could come up with to get it just the right way for me!

Shims... about $1.50 @ Home Depot

I found a bamboo roller shade at a thrift store for $4.00

Round clock face, unfinished craft mirror, 10" embroidery hoop

Laying it all out

Hanging it up!

Still need to accessorize the dresser- but for now, I love it!

I HATE picking paint colors!

2011-06-16T06:36:00.000-07:00

I am pretty sure that my least favorite part of decorating is picking the perfect paint color! I always have the idea in mind of what the perfect color will look like, but it is so dang hard to translate that into paint colors that actually exist. So with our bedroom I knew I wanted gray- blue (shocker, i know!) with a little more touch of blue than green since we have blue/gray/green in the rest of the house. Luckily... in my search I found THIS awesome blog- Favorite Paint Colors- it is nothing but the "perfect" paint color in any color scheme you might want! 6 paint samples later... I went with Dolphin Gray by Martha Stewart, thanks to this photo!

Doesn't it look especially beautiful will all my junk everywhere? Hey... I guess that's the glory of a work in progress! Crown molding- check! Paint- check! Maybe one day it will be as beautiful as that nursery above it!

Angie's House

2011-06-15T23:22:00.000-07:00

I have a cute friend Angie in the neighborhood that has said several times that she wants help with her family room. So after making a little storyboard for my bedroom, I thought maybe I could do something similar for her! So I called her up, checked out her space, and spent a little time putting something together for her. Here are the pics of her space...

We were able to pin down a few things

-color scheme: red, yellow, green

-style: traditional

-wood: definitely like dark wood

-struggle with the long narrow space

-touches of rod iron throughout the space that could be incorporated here too

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

So here was my attempt- I did a story board, and then wrote out a detailed description on every item in the room- where to get it, how much she could expect to pay, why it made sense etc!

This was SUCH a fun project, I loved every single minute of it. Even if they don't use any of the info- it was so fun for me that I'd do it again in a heartbeat. Thanks Angie!!

Master Bed Before and Storyboard Plan!

2011-06-15T22:53:00.000-07:00

Since we have almost conquered the entire main floor in less than a year.. of course I just start moving on up. Sheesh, sometimes I think I need to just give myself like a year off of decorating but I just can't seem to do it. So anyway--- our Master Bedroom is next on the list! I hate having a room that I walk into and just think- UGH. No paint, no plan, no nothing. Here's what it looked like a few months ago- a hodge podge of furniture, hand-me-downs, stuff that worked in our last place but not so much here etc. etc.

So the very first thing I did was make a little mini-storyboard of ideas I like and just tried to create a whole scheme for what I want my room to ultimately look like! It was so fun to put together... I think I just might have to do this every time!

Pulling this all together totally inspired me... so I've been busy trying to get this "feel" of course w/out spending a fortune! I will be posting each project step-by-step so stay tuned!!

Thinking outside the box with photo displays

2011-03-26T07:18:00.001-07:00

Several people have asked about my different photo displays lately so I thought I'd break it down a little. The one thing I always told myself was worth spending money on in life is good photos! So thanks to a lot of family/friends over the years (Jill, Val, Emmie, Jamie) we've gotten a lot of awesome pics of us and the kids so I wanna see them! There is no better way to make my home feel like mine than personal photos everywhere. But I think the standard just hanging posed pics on the wall is way too boring so I try to think outside the box and have fun with some photo displays. It's tricky to display tons of photos but still make things feel un-cluttered and streamline. But here's what I've done!

I always get questions about the photos above our TV. Our great friend Jill is an amazing photographer and we were lucky enough to get her to do our last family photos!! You can check her out here! I wanted to use some pics from the shoot to make a big statement in the room. I love, love, love canvas but it can get so pricey. I did a DIY canvas project in our last boys room here. With these pics I wanted them really big so I opted for foam board.

I got one piece of foam board at Joanns for like 3 dollars. Then I took the CD from our photo shoot to Kinkos, had them pull up the photos I wanted and blow them up to a 20x20 size. Then I had them printed on regular paper. At that size they have to use their really big machine so it got pricey. It was 20 dollars a piece. So I spent about 65.00 dollars for everything for all 3- when I looked online-- ONE mounted print this size can run you up to 500.00!! Craziness. Obviously the quality isn't the same, but for a similar effect, I'm totally happy. Seeing my little guys face BEAM when he walked down in the morning and saw a life-size photo of him on the wall was worth everything and then some!

Next up is this photo collage! I got the center picture for Christmas and was so excited about it until I hung it up and realized how small it was in the space, I knew I had to come up with something. I could do your standard framed photo collage like you see in all the magazines but when I started looking through all our pictures from over the years I realized there are sooo many fun pictures, memories etc. that I want to SEE. I don't want them just sitting in a box or stored on the computer somewhere. So I went through every photo CD we've had from when the boys were newborns until now. I had soo much fun looking through pictures of the boys as babies, or fun family vacations we took. It was hard to narrow it down- even to this many pics! But I picked ones that had special meaning or brought back certain memories. I got them all printed at Costco and varied the borders- some without any border, some with a thin white border, some thick.

I laid everything on the floor and Paul and I decided together which photos would make it on the wall. Again- so fun to look through and re-live all the memories together. I also thought it would be fun and add visual interest to include all our names in the collage. So I just bought letters at a craft store and adhered coordinating scrapbooking paper to them. For the names I used left over foam-board and stickers in a font I liked-simple, but love that it makes it personal.

I put all the photos on the wall with just that blue sticky-tac you can get at any office supply store. I love this too because it is soo easy to switch out or rearrange pictures as time passes without putting different holes all over. I added a few little frames I've had forever from the target dollar bins (and i've finally gotten them to hang straight :) Overall I probably spent 20 bucks for this- to print the pics, sticky tac, letters, scrapbooking paper etc. I love that we are all CENTERED ON CHRIST! It's probably one of my very favorite projects ever and it is a great conversation piece!

By now we all know about the life of this family tree and I did a post about it here

And this magnet board was a lot of fun back in the day- I did a post about it here -so nice to put all those random letters to use. This is where I put pics of friends and family- after I get everyones Christmas cards, I cut out their pictures and put them here and then they get updated every year with new Christmas cards! Love it!

**Linkin up at the DIY Showoff! (button on the left margin)
** Linkin up at The Inspired Rooms Gallery Wall Party!

Country drab to flowery fab!

2011-03-25T22:41:00.000-07:00

We got our kitchen table and chairs free off of KSL like 5 years ago- and the table has held up but the chairs are HORRIBLE. Standard Windsor chairs but the paint was all coming off, spindles missing, etc. So it has been time for new chairs for a long time! But new chairs can be a fortune! So after showing Paul a quick KSL ad one day- he came home from work with four chairs in his trunk to surprise me. If you ask me- that's way more romantic than roses, any day! :) I haven't been super motivated to work on them though so they've been sitting there forever. I finally tackled the project and lets just say..... you win some, you lose some. They turned out fine- and its definitely an upgrade but it took FOREVER. Sanding, priming, painting, glossing, stapling, stapling, stapling, stapling. Next time- I am just getting the super duper expensive, round pedestal table of my dreams with a set of 8 chairs- but until I get filthy rich to afford that--- this will have to do :)

Saw this chair on KSL--- $12.50- good bones, well built, padded, definitely an upgrade
I think I liked it because the shape of it totally reminded me of this Pottery Barn chair--- The Napolean --- $179.00! I will take 12.50 thank-you, even if it has an ugly heart :)
Thanks to these babies- I got the job done. That two dollar black sprayer is the best investment EVER

So these...
Became these...
Before...
After!

I ordered a different fabric online, but when it arrived I HATED it. Darn it! I didn't want to pay for another fabric so I had to dig through my stuff and use something I already had. This fabric is Pink Zinnia by Alexander Henry. It's a bit juvenile for our kitchen chairs, (would be totally cute in a craft room, kids room, office) but whatever. Just gonna have to make it work! Oh and then I covered them in vinyl because kids and fabric- not a good fit.

Just glad they're DONE!

DIY vinyl family tree! (nat)

2010-11-03T21:32:00.000-07:00

In our last place I tried to come up with a fun way to display all the recent family pictures we'd done with each of our families--so after walking through Ikea and getting "inspired" I decided to do a vinyl-like family tree. I had it in our old place here and then later here. Well when we got to our new place-- I decided this was the one thing I wanted to incorporate here too. BUT I thought the tree itself needed a major re-vamp. Good good bye Ikea decals, hello vinyl by-the-foot thanks to Roberts! Roberts now carries vinyl in about 10 colors and it costs 1.99 a foot! Yahoo!

Very first I just jumped online and googled vinyl tree images. TONS pop up. But if you buy one online it can cost 75-hundred+ dollars- who wants to pay that much!? NOT ME. Soooo I found a pic I liked...

....then I sketched out the image of the "inspiration tree" the best I could on a huge piece of butcher paper- made to the scale of where I ultimately wanted it to be hung. Really no science behind it, just eye-balled and sketched, there was a lot of erasing and tweaking but it got the job done. Then I bought a huge piece of brown vinyl- I believe I got 6 feet (12 bucks) I took the butcher paper drawing that I had cut out and traced it onto the vinyl, and had to piece a few branch pieces together but managed to get them all on there.

Then I got about one foot of red and green and used some scrapbooking paper I already had for a bit of yellow and black. It only took about 30 min to get it all actually up on the wall and voila!

A re-vamped and totally cute way to display our family! I love that every time I walk down the stairs with our 18 mo. old he points and says- mommy, daddy! (Even though I desperately need to switch out almost all the pics, totally out-dated!)

Total cost- without the frames, about $16.00!!! Ahhhh

Linkin up to thrifty decor chick!

A painted rug (nat)

2010-10-16T19:35:00.000-07:00

Why in the world are cute little entry rugs so expensive? I looked at all the typical places-- walmart, target, wherever and I just didn't want to spend 25+ bucks on a simple entry rug. PLus no one really had patterns I liked anway. So the next time I stopped by Ikea I just got this plain and simple yellow rug- 10 bucks- I can handle that!

So when I got it home and put it by the door it was so boring. Yes it was inexpensive, and I liked the color but I needed to do something to it.

So I originally was going to stencil a fun pattern onto it with fabric paint. I found this awesome blog post where Marzi transformed her floor with this fun paisley pattern. She later posted the stencil for others to dowload

So I made the stencil, and started painting the rug-- lets just say it took FOREVER. It took a ton of paint and just way too much time and didn't look great at all soooooo onto plan #2

Stripes of course! Easy, cheap, dramatic. I googled painted rugs and found a few fun ones

Womens Day

Young House Love

Haas Home
GingiberSnap

I am not really in love with animal prints, lattice looks too complicated, and zig-zag was cute but the last one was my favorite and TOTALLY easier then trying to stencil. A lot of these people used spray paint though--- and I attempted spray paint but holy cow it didn't absorb into the rug AT ALL. Back to a good ole' brush and paint can--- all stuff we already had on hand. I did use a clear coat to seal it and a spray can did the trick here

Yay!!

Kitchen decor on a budget (nat)

2010-10-08T13:40:00.001-07:00

Still loving the striped wall but it needed something--- nothing too busy b/c the stripes do enough but something- trying to stay on our new budget is depressing, but makes things more fun and challenging too so here's the solution for now!

My sister and I got these awesome little signs on our garage sale escapades last spring. I haven't done anything with them yet.. just waiting for the right place and we moved and yada yada so... I finally dug them out again to put them to use! I decided I better veto the Iced Tea one :) so that left the other two- they looked blah and unfinished just as they were on the wall so I took a simple matted IKEA frame that I won at Bunco- (Thanks Linds) framed the pic... and tada- instant art for the kitchen for 2 bucks! It's looking a little lonely though so I either need to get lucky at Bunco again or head to IKEA for the 50th time to give this pic a friend--- hmm might be awhile, but for now- I like it!

Then onto the 3 white doors in a row--- what to do, went to a cute little craft show and tada! perfect cheap solution! vinyl lettering for 3 bucks! OK... i have to admit I don't really love all the vinyl lettering craziness that is out there- all the same quotes we see everywhere and some of it is all a bit cheesy. BUT i do think if done tactfully- vinyl lettering is super cute. If you don't over do it or really search for a quote that means something to you then its great. So anyway- I liked the font on this one a lot, its totally simple, inexpensive, and breaks up the space and fit the door perfectly. Yahoo!

Just ignore all the messy stuff on the counter! ...and the fact that i am still in debate about where the clock should hang-- i am thinking 6 inches lower? yeah, probably!

Stripes! (nat)

2010-10-08T06:59:00.000-07:00

When we were deciding which walls to paint which colors- it became apparent to me that this wall definitely need to be something a little more exciting than one more solid colored wall. Also- since the wall isn't huge I thought it would be a fun place to do something different, and we could easily change it down the road if we hate it. So I scoured the internet, magazines, everything for a good idea on what to do!

Wallpaper is totally "in" and totally fun but probably don't want to go that route--- I could do a stencil to look like wallpaper(more on that later!!)- probably a bigger project then i want to take on--- then i saw stripes!! I first saw the idea on this blog- and I loved it!! Totally subtle, not too difficult, and I could use the existing color we already had on the wall. This blog was great because it gave step by step directions on how they did it. Quickly after I decided to do this--- then I saw it here- Layla from the Lettered Cottage made it so beautiful! So we used our laser level, a little ruler, tape, caulk, and voila! That first link really does give great directions if you want to try it out yourself!

**oh and the one thing we decided to do to make it easier is we used the existing wall color on the top and bottom stripe so we didn't have to tape off the ceiling and base boards!
The only thing I don't like is---- I guess the whole rest of the decor world saw the same exact idea I did because now I've seen like 20 blogs that have done the same thing. Oh well- great minds think alike I guess! My hubby loves it too though which makes all the difference!

First up... paint!!! (nat)

2010-10-01T21:38:00.000-07:00

So it was a few weeks before I even thought about paint... its overwhelming. And this is like a REAL house, not that our townhome wasn't a home... but it was old, people had already painted before, we could try things and know we weren't going to be there forever so it was ok. So painting was totally intimidating. Plus so many of the walls connect so I had to be 100% sure and committed to whatever color I chose. So I did a lot of research, a lot of searching online, a lot of buying samples and even then- when the color first went up-- I freaked out. I am so used to everyone who just paints their whole house beige and goes from there- so I worried that putting color up wasn't neutral enough and I'd regret it- fear of commitment!

I thought I really wanted Silver Sage when we moved in because I had seen it here... and loved it, but just goes to show that colors look totally different in different spaces- Sea Salt for sure!

top-foggy mist (SW) sea salt (SW)
bottom- the best lowes could do at matching the swatch from my card(aka... not very good) and silver sage (RH)

I knew I wanted the perfect blue/gray- but with green in it! I wanted it to be neutral but still be color. The only thing I could rely on is the subscription insert/card that was in all my cottage living magazines. I've been holding on to that little card since I re-did our Master bedroom in our last place and wished I would have used this color instead. It's just the perfect color! So I used that card to find the perfect color! I took it to Sherwin Williams and Sea Salt was the match! And oh how I miss Cottage Living-- sad, sad, day

on to some before/afters!..... family room before anything!
furniture (oh and ceiling fan... thanks to randy and paul!) and samples--- Before
After- or at least getting there- that wall to the right is painted now too and so is the kitchen
Entry before
Entry- 1/4 done! Ugh... its completed now but it was a lot of work- poor Paul had to slave away on the 2-story+ entry and do two coats! I KNOW he's glad its done!
I have a few pics of it totally completed but that shows the next project.... stripes! And I don't want to give it away--- so until the next post..... oh and I just have to say that I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE the color. It really is neutral, but a color and it's exactly what I've always wanted! Phew!

A big blank slate! (nat)

2010-09-28T13:26:00.000-07:00

Let the games begin! Well.... we've been in our new place about two months now so I am finally finding the time to blog again! Soooo just for my own record, for my sis to keep up to date, and for anyone that cares--- here's the beginning of my decorating journey! It is NOT easy with the age of the kiddos right now, and hence-- not a huge priority, but I am sure once winter is full-force again I'll be stir crazy and a painting machine!

So I guess the best place to start is just the main floor- its what everyone sees, its where we spend 90% of our time, and its the most work! So here is the "virtual tour" of the main floor right before we moved in all our junk. It's one blank slate- the house is 5 years old, but no one ever put an ounce of paint, decor, nothing-- which I guess is good for us!

Outside- pretty good, but kinda just a big beige box, hmmm shutters? new color on the door? oh and don't get me started on landscaping!? ugh.... foreclosure= horrible amounts of yard work. and we just found out we are required to have 2 trees in the front yard........trees?? how in the world do we pick out good trees? lots of learning ahead!
front door/entry

looking from the front door to the stairs/family room

family room

eating area/kitchen--- that fluorescent light drives me nuts-o. hmmm maybe recessed lighting in like 10 years when we can afford it :)

have to admit- started to freak out when I saw the kitchen in this house, I was sold! The kitchen in our last place is what sold me too- its just so crucial, the majority of my time is spent here so I have to love it! I would REALLY love it if it was white, but I'm not about to paint really nice cupboards. At least the appliances are white!

laundry/mudroom- hmm i'm thinking beadboard, wallpaper (ok probably not, but maybe stencil at least!), hooks, shoe racks, --- yahoo!

too bad the washer and dryer that will go here are no kidding- like 50 years old. hand- me-downs, one is white- one is cream, but hey! they work and thats the important part!

ok that about sums up the main floor--- so we'll start there, watch out sherwin williams- we're on our way!

A little something for me! (nat)

2010-07-21T07:07:00.000-07:00

Well in the last month we've managed to sell our home, pack, clean, organize, house hunt, find a new place, offers, inspections, appraisals, etc. etc. etc. ---- but I've also started up a little project just for me! A little headband line to keep me busy and totally have fun with. Thanks to a neighborhood full of great friends and a lot of comments and encouragement I decided to give this a shot and hope for the best! Thanks again to Heather, Linda, Kimberly, Melissa… the list goes on and on!

I shouldn't even post links to these because they are sooo neglected right now with the busyness of moving, but in the upcoming months these should be more respectable
www.talieblooms.com
www.etsy.com/shop/talieblooms

Currently I'm at two retail shops, have been invited to one jewelry party, and been offered a vendor spot at a local boutique. There are so many options out there to explore when I just get the time to make enough products. It will probably be short lived, but since I have design A.D.D. thats probably not a bad thing :)

INFANTS

GIRLS

WOMENS

I've been busy! (nat)

2010-07-21T06:46:00.001-07:00

Holy moly I have been absent from this blog for a long time! There are definitely reasons why! We sold our house! I can't believe it's actually true. We put it on the market in March and I am happy to say we are well on our way to a new place! Hopefully in about 2 weeks we'll be settling in to our new home.

Its already begun--- some nights I can't turn my brain off just thinking about all the new design possibilities. I've been tearing out magazine pictures like crazy. I just have to remind myself to take it slow and do one thing at a time! It will be so fun. Our first place has been such a fun project for me. It's where I realized I really love design, I learned a ton, and I think I finally figured out what I really like after lots of trial and error. When all the papers are signed and everything is official I'll post some pics of our new place-- it's a total blank slate.

I think I have officially decided on what color I want for the walls. Or at least some of the walls. Found it a few months ago and haven't found anything else I like better yet. So my sample is already being shipped from restoration hardware-- so then I can of course go match it at Lowes for 1/3 the price :)

The color is.... Silver Sage. After narrowing it down to colors like benjamin moore's harbor gray, paris gray, paris rain- behr's pensive sky etc. etc. etc. I found a blog with a beautiful home and she used Silver Sage in the Entry/Living Room/Dining Room/Kitchen and I LOOOVE it! Yay!!! Can't wait!

SO........ farewell cute little townhome, you done good.
http://pgtownhome388.blogspot.com/

Bathroom Wall Decor Projects

2010-07-02T11:33:00.000-07:00

I decided to paint and finish remodeling my upstairs bathroom. It was yellow and I had my children hand print blue and red on the walls. Don't ever do that it took me sanding the hand prints down and two coats of primer to cover them up. I still need to finish painting the vanity doors and redo the floor, but we have painted and replaced the light fixture. It is so much more appealing now and brighter.
To go with the beachy cottage look that I love I made a few wall decor items. This mirror I scored at a yard sale for $5. I painted it white and glued shells to cover it. The shells have been collected from several years worth of beach trips and I picked up a few extras at the craft store. It took awhile to finish the project but it gave me the touch of whimsy I was looking for.
My favorite find was these prints. I purchased them off of e-bay for $15 for the set. I bought unfinished wood scrapbooking frames, because I needed a 12x12 size and distressed them. The look works great. I need a few more accessory items like a fun toothbrush holder and a great rug. My husband is also promising to frame the bathroom mirror. These changes should make the finished product great!

Little Girl Room Makeover

2010-07-02T11:31:00.000-07:00

The boys new bunk beds.

Thanks to some very generous friends we were able to get a wonderful bunk bed set for my boys for free. They are wonderful. Of course they are also the new jungle gym. While the boys adjusted to sleeping together in their new shared space, I got to relish in finally creating a little girl wonderland for my daughter. This is the first time in her short life that she hasn't shared a room with a boy. This monumental occasion called for pink! She wanted a room that was pink and green and I was happy to oblige. We have had fun decorating together. I have a few more ideas for redoing the desk and dresser to tie the room together better but in the meantime she and I have been having fun. This is what we have so far:
This is her room when you enter it. We rearranged things a little to make room for larger furniture pieces. The walls were painted Laura Ashley "Rose" and the trim was painted white.
The bedding I got for a steal at TJ Maxx and she and I both love it. Today she got mad at her brother for coming in to her room with sticky fingers- in case he touched her quilt. The yo-yo bed skirt I made my hand a couple of years ago but it didn't work very well with her old bed. I think it looks great with the new one.
I had some scrapbooking frames left over from another project. So we spray painted them pink, added coordinating scrapbook paper and attached her initials. - It was a great touch and too cute.
I found these shelves at Lowe's on clearance. We both loved them. They are perfect for all of her little knick-knacks.
The curtains I made by hand from a simplicity pattern. The fabric has a delicate little polka-dot pattern and I made the tabs in a coordinating fabric that I had on hand. I love being able to make 4 curtain panels for $30! I think they finished off the space very nicely and softened it up.

The little girl in me definitely came out working in this room. There are still a few things that I would like to do. - But we both love it.

Garage sale Jackpot! (nat)

2010-06-12T14:13:00.001-07:00

On our recent trip home I told my mom the one thing I really wanted to do was check out some garage sales. They live in a really nice area and everyone seems to give nice stuff away practically free. So after just a few hours on two different days I was ecstatic with everything I was bringing home!!! Even if it meant strapping things to the roof and getting bad gas mileage on the drive home-- it was worth it! There is really nothing I love more than getting an incredible deal on something I love. Ahhhhh

So--- here's my favorite!!! I got this Pottery Barn Kids Twin Quilt with matching sham. In great condition for 8 dollars!! 8! It matches the boys decor perfect already and will be awesome when Blake gets moved to a twin.

For anyone wondering how good of a deal that is... Here is a Pottery Barn Kids Firetruck Quilt currently for sale (even discounted at this price)... for....... 159.99! and... I think mine is cuter :)

On to my next favorite find.... can we say double jogging stroller for 15 bucks! I almost bought a different one for 30 but decided to shop around--- found this one which was even better and steers awesome for 15. I'll admit after the purchase I realized a few parts were broken but nothing I couldn't fix with a little duct tape once we got home. I've already been on like 5 walks with the kids and even took them to Walmart and back. Perfect for the summertime!

My sister and I both fell in love with these cute little vintage inspired signs. Since I already scored some sweet stuff I said she had first dibs. So she originally bought them for a buck each but then after being the wonderful sister she is... she let me take them home instead because she knew how much I really wanted them. And yes, yes, I know we probably shouldn't have gotten the Iced Tea one but you have to decorate in 3's! What else was I supposed to do?!

Another great snatch.... a radio flyer trike for 5 bucks!! Seriously? Why are these so dang expensive in the stores? That is why I've never gotten one before, my poor neglected child. At almost all the stores right now they retail for 49.99, not a price I wanted to pay but now Carson is thrilled to finally have a "bike" Everyday after he'd wake up and beg to ride his bike. Now we just need to get him the real deal... training wheels and all.

And the last post-worthy purchase.. clothes!!! I was on a hunt for fall clothes for the boys and holy cow I went to the right lady--- she had bags of 4T stuff, all name brand from either Childrens Place, or Gap. So between her and one other stop I got 9 shirts, 1 sweater vest, 3 pairs of jeans, 1 pair of cords, 2 PJ sets, and a pair of winter boots for....................
10 dollars. Phew! It seems like I go broke every time the seasons change and I have to buy the kids clothes so its nice to know I got so much stuff for less than the price of one pair of jeans. Yahoo!

It's amazing we actually fit everything back into the car to make the trek home, whatever it was so worth it. Maybe its a good thing the garage sales here are lame or I would have way too much stuff!

Living Room Makeover - Finally Done

2010-05-03T10:38:00.000-07:00

This is our before. I won't even show you my desk area it was always a mess. The carpet was gross and we wanted color.

So our living room transformation is finally over. I am really happy with it. It compliments the rest of the house better and is much more like me. It is of course hard to grasp dimensions from photos but I thought everyone might still enjoy seeing our hard work finally reach a conclusion. My husband is still working on finishing a little side table and new desk chair for me, but those photos will have to come later. I would love any positive feedback- this was quite a project.
This is the desk that my husband built. He did a great job. It is a nice big work surface and everything I need is close at hand. The filing cabinets underneath have been a nice additional storage touch.
This coffee table was a great craig's list find for $20. It was in rough shape, but sanding it and painting white have made it a really nice piece.
View from inside the room looking out. I am planning to get an over stuffed chair for the corner, but these work for now.
My bookshelf organization project. We will probably paint them white eventually.
I loved decorating these little shelves. This one helps me remember what is most important and to relax about the little stuff.
I moved my slipcoverd couch in here it worked better. I had a lot of fun putting it all together. Of course I am already thinking about what I want to do next.

The Cover-Up

2010-04-02T13:45:00.000-07:00

As I continue progress on the living room I have been coming across decorating challenges I didn't expect- mainly the fact that I have less money than I hoped. Fortunately, a little creativity has set in. This week I have been rearranging furniture to create the feel I want the room. When I did this I realized that I really wanted this little bookshelf to serve as an end table. The size was great and I was able to organize everything inside but I didn't like looking at the clutter. My whole living room challenge has been an exercise in hiding clutter so what was I going to do?

I came across an article in Better Homes & Gardens where someone had used fabric to create a little entry table out of plywood. I didn't need to make the shelf I just wanted to cover it up. So here is what I did.

I started with some navy blue broadcloth that I bought for $1.79 a yard. It took about 3 1/2 yards to complete the project. I measured all of the surfaces to be covered. For example the back was 33" wide by 29" high. For the front I measured and cut two pieces adding about an inch to the width of each piece so I could finish the edges. I added 1/2" seem allowance to all of my pieces and 2" for hemming at the bottom. I then sewed the pieces together starting with sewing the back to the sides. I sewed the top last and the front pieces to the top very last. To my relief it fit. Yeah!

Plain blue was a little boring so I found this trim and bought about 4 yrds. I could of used a little more to go around the top, but that is okay. I top stitched it around the edges and finished!

I would like to add a piece of glass to the top to finish it off and it helps keep the top free of dust. I am pretty happy with the result and now I don't have to look at clutter. This could easily be adapted to any decor-just change the fabric style and trim or ribbon. - Happy crafting.

Living Room Makeover Stage II

2010-03-24T18:35:00.000-07:00

My living room makeover has definitely been an ongoing project. The floor is down and the finish work is done. I have added a few more touches and I wanted everyone to see the update. After visiting Ikea for some filing cabinets and assessing the budget I decided to rework a few things and only purchase items that would make a difference and create the look I wanted.

I just got a new table lamp and floor lamp today. I am really happy with them. I waited for JCpenney to have a sale and use a combination of two coupons for 30% off. I got two lamps for $90 a great deal considering the regular price would of been over $250. The little table I got at Ikea. I made the little table doily from some fabric samples I had. I just patch worked them together. The flower arrangement I also made. I bought a new pad for this chair. The old one was blue and clashed with my wall color. I am really liking the contrast of the light cream with the blue. It is so calm and relaxing. I think of it as my adult escape room. The kids have the family room. This one is mine!

Because we splurges for the floor and two new filing cabinets I didn't have enough $ to buy new bookshelves. So after some rearranging around the house I moved these ones into this room and made better use of them. I skirted the bottom section with cafe curtains and rods. I using the filing boxes on top for extra storage. It felt so good to turn what used to be a mess into something truly organized. I also love being able to keep things hidden. It keeps down on the clutter.

The finishing touch for this room to be done besides some furniture rearranging is the completion of my corner desk and shelving. My husband has built a nice corner desktop and workspace that will hold the computer and give me room for crafting, sewing etc. It is still in construction phase but should be done soon. I am then going to hang a nice clock, calendar and some additional open shelving. I can hardly wait. I am hoping to then bring in a nice area rug and some artwork. I will keep you updated. In the meantime my portable buffet table is my current desk. It works for now.

Stay tuned for other projects. I am also refinishing another end table a coffee table and a wooden desk chair for the room. I love seeing it all coming together.

Better before and Afters...

2010-02-26T15:23:00.000-08:00

I know I posted most of these pictures already but I thought the impact was better seeing side-by-side before and afters. So... this was coming in the front door

Before..
and After
And looking from the other direction--Before...
After

Our unexpected renovation! (nat)

2010-02-24T15:36:00.000-08:00

Well... About 5 weeks ago, after a great weekend in St. George we came home and unloaded things as usual through the side door. I didn't notice anything right away but after a few minutes I realized the carpet in the living room was wet... asked my hubby if he went through the front door with wet shoes. No, No, then we realized we couldn't open the front door, and then we realized in the kitchen that our beadboard was totally warped and wavy. Not good signs. We called a water damage company to check things out real quick so we could evaluate what to do. Sure enough... everything was SOAKED. Soooo without all the boring details about insurance fights, tears, phone calls, estimates, etc. etc. Here's a glimpse into our lovely home.

Here's the wavy beadboard in the kitchen, you can see a little line in the ceiling too

Prepping for the job
My buddy Fernando. I kept having to leave the room because if I was there he just wanted to talk about his kids, wife, neice, lunch break instead of working :) He sure was funny though, eased my nerves a bit. Check out those paint colors. Bright red, turned mauve, turned chocolateOk starting to freak out a bit. Water dripping everywhere, finally discovered a pipe burst on the swamp cooler and slowly dripped into two nail holes in the roof... no big deal right!?!?
What started out as some water damage and one construction guy....quickly turned into a major demo with 6 guys, and a plumber. Pretty sure this is the picture I took the day I cried uncontrollably when they tore everything apart
After a week of industrial fans, and freezing, the house sat like this for at least 2 weeks. They wanted to make sure nothing else was going on, no other leaks, repairs to the roof etc. At least it was live-able but cold, and a big eye sore

Next up, insulation and dry-wall. This was an exciting day! It started to look normal again I didn't snag picks of the tape, mud, texture--- it would have been a picture of my whole house completely covered in plastic, not too exciting. But here's paint and re-matching the paneling. Finally the finished product! (minus the doorbell :) The house feels so much bigger, and I cannot get over how much I love it. It's so nice to just have the house back, to not live in the guest room, to not have workers show up when I'm still in my pajamas, to not stare out the window for the crew and wonder what the house will look like by the end of the day. This is the view when you walk in the front door now--- ahhhhh finally an open floor plan. A-M-A-Z-I-N-G

And of course I've had fun putting it all back together and adding some new touches!

Thanks to this bench that was a gift from my husband's Grandma and a shelf I bought for 15 bucks and assembled, I am loving my new little "nook"
So it's official, we are open for business again and we're thrilled to have 2 visitors already next weekend, yahoo! Stay tuned for all the projects I did to get the place looking up-to-par again. I had FUN!

** We linked up today over at the DIY showoff! Go check out all the Greeat projects from the Show and tell!

Living Room/Office Makeover (manda)

2010-02-23T13:04:00.000-08:00

Okay, so I know it has been forever since I blogged. I have been bogged down in winter snow for what seems like decades. But the snow has melted and I have begun projecting again. Every President's Day weekend my husband and I tackle another project in the house. This time it was the living room.

These are before pictures of the Living Room. It was nice, but I really wanted to paint and have the space flow and coordinate to the other rooms of the house. The carpet had to go and now that I have new windows the whole room needed to be painted. Basically, I wanted a complete redo and to open up the space.

These are the before pictures with the carpet all ripped up.

The carpet was ripped up and replaced with plank flooring- thanks to my handy hubby. I painted the walls Behr's Celtic Grey and the trim my favorite Behr's cotton whisper. The colors were recommended coordinating colors to match the rooms downstairs. These changes are almost the last couple on my to-do list. It is hard to imagine that I might be running out of projects. I think it is more that I am running out of things that I want to spend money on in this house. We would like to up size eventually. Until then I couldn't be more thrilled we have really started to make this home our own.

These pictures are pretty much how the house still looks. I told my hubby that I wasn't putting anything back in until I had an organized place for it to go. This may take several months. In the meantime my husband, bless his heart, has been a trooper. He spent the majority of last week ripping up carpet and laying new floor. Now if it will stop raining long enough for him to cut wood he can finish it off with the transition strips and shoe molding. I can't wait for the finished project. I will include updates as the space progresses. Stay tuned I have great plans!

Cardigan re-vamp

2010-02-18T21:11:00.000-08:00

Since it's been WAY too long since I posted something new (we came home from a long weekend to water damage all through our house, it has taken over a month to rip it all apart and re-build---more to come soon!)... I thought I'd post a quick little cardigan re-vamp I did thanks to a post I remembered here at Homemade by Jill! I got a cute sweater/cardigan at a big Layers warehouse sale today, (i had no idea it was so similar to jills!) but when I got home- and actually got to try it on in front of a mirror I realized it was totally big, baggy, and not-flattering. So... I took in the sides, chopped off the sleeves, and voila! Problem solved.

This is the shirt inside out just so you can see how to do something similar. I just chopped off the sleeve, cuff, and pin them together, sew around and you're done. If you need to make it smaller just sew inside the original seam a bit. Half way done... lookin much better!
OK it is SO not perfect, and I am not a seamstress, I just pretend to know what I'm doing. But, I like it!
Good thing I got a scarf at the sale too.. since it IS winter, and I just chopped the sleeves off!

Boy's Room Redecorating (manda)

2010-01-07T11:12:00.000-08:00

After 3yrs. of living in our house I have finally gotten around to the last few rooms that I need to paint and decorate. (Of course the saying goes- once you finish painting you move and start all over) This includes my children's bedrooms. I wanted to redecorate my oldest son's room before purchasing bunkbeds and moving his little brother in with him. So in my efforts to redorate and create a room that two boys would eventually share this is what I came up with.

This is the before picture. My son was 5 at the time so the primary colors worked. The furniture is all a nice bedroom set that we inherited from my in-laws, minus the dresser which is from ikea. Now that everyone is older I needed something that my boys could grow into but would still be fun for young boys.

I started with painting the room. A friend of mine had done a similar wall color technique but with she painted the walls to chair rail height with two different colors of blue. I wanted something a little brighter, but still wanted a dark blue color. So I opted to go white on the ceiling to wainscoat height (1/3 of the way down the wall) and do blue from there down. I used my favorite white Home depot's Cotton Whisper by Behr and the blue is Valspar's Deluxe Eddie Bauer Home- Denim. The is a pretty easy process. I painted the white first and just went down far enough to ensure that it would be below where I wanted the blue. I then used a chalk line to mark the walls, taped the line, and painted the bottom -denim. The trim and windows were then also painted to match the ceiling.

It was definitely time for a bedding update. The old quilt was frayed and much too little boyish. Knowing that I would be making bedding for bunk beds I did everything x 2. I found 2 Ralph Lauren Down Alternative comforters at TjMaxx for $26 a piece. A great deal! Then I needed to cover them. My son wanted red so after much searching I finally found a set of red sheets by Woolrich on clearance at a local overstock store and bought two. I had two sets of knit sheets already. I sewed the red sheet to the blue- making the duvet cover reversible and whoola! I am hoping to mix and match the sheet sets on the bunk beds to make the spaces coordinated yet individual. The accent pillow was $5 and is a Waverly blue ticking stripe.

My window treatments including denim valances and red roman shades finish the look. My husband helped install shelves over the desk for my older son to keep things away from his brother and help clean up the clutter. I would like to find a night table to match the other furniture, that will have to be my next project. My clever sister also suggested adding dresser pulls to dress up the dresser. I will probably do that too. We are all very happy with the new room. My son is the most thrilled of all.

Homemade car-mat for Christmas (nat)

2010-01-02T21:34:00.000-08:00

*Just making a note that we are linking up over at the DIY showoff today! So fun to check out everyone elses craftiness! Go check it out!

I decided to get ambitious and make a car-mat for my son this year. I originally just bought a car-mat from ikea but then before I opened it I looked online to remember what kind of images were on it- and realized it is not as cool as I thought. I am sure it would have worked just fine but what's the fun in something that's not homemade right? The problem is I get super excited about something, go buy all the supplies, then have to buy a million more things because I didn't think through everything the way I should have, and then I get half way through and am totally burned out and wish I never started. Live and learn, live and learn. I think overall I am happy with how it turned out and the fact that he was actually really excited about it on Christmas morning, made all the effort totally worth it.

The main goals of this project were
-center the mat around places and things that he knows from his daily life- including... walmart, target, the mall, church, temple, community pool, football stadium, basketball court, our house, grammy's house(complete with hottub in the the backyard), grandma's house, a construction site etc. That means that not everything matches up perfectly and is not all to scale but who's counting!?
-make it last past Christmas Day- the mat itself is all just fabric and can be thrown in the washer if needs be and just folds up to be stored wherever. Any problems can be fixed with a little stitch or two. The places can be changed over time as life changes.
-make it 3-D (2-D? uh pop up? you get the point...) so he can actually play with everything instead of just driving over it all. Everything can be moved around so if he gets bored with the same old set-up he can just create his own.

sooo... here it is!

Once again, adding all the details is what's really fun for me. I experimented with all different ways of making all the buildings and places then at Michaels one day I found the perfect solution! They have these wood cut-outs of different things so I just got a few that I knew I could transform to look like different places, colored them in, attached small blocks of wood I had on hand on the back with hot glue to make them stand up etc. This church and temple were castles that had big flags on top of all the piers, i just cut them off then had fun adding the church name, angel moroni etc. (oh and notice the "G" on the mtn in the background, totally not to scale but i wasn't gonna make enormous mtns. there is a Y by the football stadium too)

After several attempts I ended up making Walmart and target out of recipe boxes. They were the only thing the right size that would hold up with the beatings I'm sure they'll endure. I just used spray paint then printed out the logos from my computer, laminated them with my laminator (something everyone one should own!) and used sticky velcro I had on hand to attach it.

Since he's been to several BYU football and basketball games I thought that would be fun to include. I loved it when he saw the logos and started chanting GO COUGARS! The goal posts just about put me over the edge with excitement- another find at Michaels for 2 bucks!

I could go on and on but you get the jist. I think it's something the boys will really get into over time, if not- i still had a ton of fun making it!

The Christmas Box (nat)

2009-12-30T22:11:00.000-08:00

**linking up over at Thrifty Decor Chic!

Ok not the Christmas Box you are thinking of... you won't read about it in a little green book (perfect dad!) but if you come to my house you will see the best Christmas box I've ever had!! It's a white toy box that my dad spent hours putting together just because he knew how happy it would make me. He made the mistake of telling me on the phone one day that he needed a project to work on. So I told him I found this grrreat piece of wood for 5 bucks at a thrift store and decided that it would make the perfect top to a toy box! So he cut all the wood for the rest of it, primed, painted, assempled, hinged, went to home depot about 10 times, and I LOVE it!! The perfect solution to all these crazy toys.

So it all started from this... I think it was maybe a cupboard door, I had no idea what I wanted it for but I could not pass up an awesome beadboard door for 4.99!
And this is what it became! Toy box, bench seat, coffee table, ottoman- so multi-functional, love it!
It houses everything PERFECT! And thanks to the lid stopper, my Boys won't get their fingers slammed. Great job Dad!! I decided that doing more of a distressed look on the top was probably the best route to go since it is a toy box and I am sure it will endure many beatings over time. We'll just make it look like it's supposed to be that way. Oh and who doesn't love whacking away at something, great Holiday stress reliever!

Christmas Catch-Up (nat)

2009-12-30T21:59:00.001-08:00

Now that I have a camera again(thank you Santa!) I can finally post a couple Christmas Projects to get things up to date! Yahoo! So here's just a few...

This is a little project I did for my mom- since none of us kids live close by I got everyone to write at least 20 reasons why we love mom! So when she wishes we were closer she can look through and maybe it will make the distance just a little easier.
I just printed them all out on cute coordinating scrapbooking paper, added some puffy stickers that spell out F-A-M-I-L-Y and a little ribbon. SO cute and so sentimental. It was a hit!Just a simple decor project- picked up these hideous blocks at a local thrift store for less than 2 bucks, sprayed them white, added scrapbooking paper, letters, and mod podge to finish things off. The great thing is I can turn them all around and do another word like BOO for Halloween. Love a cheap fix!

I so want to do these (nat)

2009-12-11T09:25:00.001-08:00

There are a million projects out there that I always want to do!! AHhh I can't keep up. Saw this one today though over at The Crafty Nest. Love em'! So cheap, and so cute!

Christmas Cake (manda)

2009-12-10T11:33:00.000-08:00

I have a Christmas party to go to tonight and since I finished finals- Yahoo! I decided to make a cake for the party. I was really happy that my cake decorating skills didn't leave me over the past few months. If you were wondering- yes, I made the whole thing it is completely edible- flowers and all.
I love that I have learned how to do this and can enjoy the fruits of my labors. It's funny though after all this cake making. I really don't like cake much anymore. I wonder if that would work for ice cream?

MIA (nat)

2009-12-07T10:48:00.000-08:00

Well I haven't been able to do much posting because... my camera broke! It was a SAD day but it also means I am getting a new camera for Christmas! Yahoo! (ok nothing special, but still) So although I have a million projects in the works, - curtains, playmat, christmas decor, etc. etc. I don't have anything to show you. I'm sure I'll figure out something to post about but for now... I'm on a break!

Window Changes (manda)

2009-12-02T07:08:00.000-08:00

I had new windows installed to the front of my house about a month ago. I love them. They are great and really updated the front of the house, but what I have had the most fun with is updating and changing my window treatments. When we moved in everything was cheap aluminium mini-blinds. We changed a few out earlier for some shades but with the new windows everything had to come down.

This was my chance to get what I really wanted. While strolling through target a few weeks ago I came across a whole end cap of roman shades marked down 75% off. They were perfect. Mostly a nice cream color. I selected jute shades for 5 windows downstairs and thermal cloth shades for 5 windows upstairs. All of this only cost me $95! Yeah! My patient husband has been helping me get them all installed. We have practically no window sills, so the shades all had to mounted to the outside but with cute curtain panels it works great.

I picked up these curtain panels that I am in love with at Ikea. I had to hem them a little but the iron in hem strips made it a snap. They go from the ceiling to the floor and really add a great feature to the room. Now I am just saving up for my new couch.

Please tell me about your window challenges and solutions. I would love to hear all your clever ideas!

My new windows!

Cute Country Christmas Wreath (manda)

2009-11-25T11:46:00.001-08:00

My old Christmas door wreath had faded badly. - Fake flowers will do that over time. So I decided one of my earliest Christmas decorating projects would be to make a new wreath. I wanted something a little country to match the outside of my house. I went to the local craft store and set my mind to work. For about $15 this is what I came up with. You could easily apply these techniques to match any decor style. The possibilities are endless. I taught a class one time on wreath making and I was surprised by everyone's creativity. You could also use a real wreath, but I want mine to last till next year so I opted for the artificial kind.
My first step was to find a small plaque to add a nice extra element. I wanted something that said "Merry Christmas" I bought this little plaque to transform for 50 cents.
I used some computer graphics and came up with this sign. I love to use Vintage Workshop they have a great selection of vintage graphics and fonts for all kinds of projects.
I painted the plaque with red acrylic paint and then distressed the edges by adding a glaze tinted with brown.
I then decoupaged the paper to the plaque and covered the whole thing with a thin coat of Modge Podge to seal it.
For the wreath I started with a basic 24" artificial evergreen wreath. I went around and fluffed it all out before starting. This really helps to make it look prettier and less fake.
These are the basic supplies needed:
1 24" wreath
5-7 cut artifical poinsettia picks
5-7 pine cones
6 yards of ribbon of choice
assorted nature of other picks - only about 3
raffia
Hot Glue Gun
wooden dowels
(working in odd numbers helps make a prettier presentation)

After fluffing the wreath. Lay out your design start with the poinsettias. Set everything in place first and then glue in down.
After the poinsettias and pine cones have been placed wrap three yards of the ribbon around the wreath. Carefully tuck it in behind the other decorations.

Make a large bow with the other three yards of ribbon. Wire this bow to the wreath, to help it stay in place.

I than added a few holly berry picks and raffia for a little accent.

Attach the decorative plaque using small wooden dowels, glued to the back of the plaque. Wire in place.
The finished wreath.
The easiest way I have found to hang my wreath is using those removeable hooks. This is better than a wreath hook that goes over the door because your door closes easier and the wreath doesn't get smashed. Happy crafting! If stored in a wreath box this will last for years.

What I'm most proud of (nat)

2009-11-17T22:41:00.000-08:00

I think out of all the projects I have completed, this is the one I am most proud of. It also took the most time and work out of anything I've done. I actually completed it about a year ago and then spent months making them for siblings and family members for Christmas last year. It wasn't until about 2 months ago that I finally completed one for my own kids.

A little background on why I did it, I never felt like I knew the stories from the Book of Mormon very well growing up and didn't really know the order of them so I wanted to make a way for my kids to learn the stories and remember them in a fun way. There are children's versions of the BOM stories out there but I didn't love any of them, they are either really short and only highlight a couple stories or they are super cartoony looking and not interactive. So I just made my own. Although I came up with the concept behind each page, how to make it interactive, figured out which pictures and concepts to use on each page etc.... the words of the stories I paraphrased from the Children's Book of Mormon published by the church. This is also where I went to make sure I included all the major stories and got them in the right order.

I wish I was an artist and could have created the pictures myself, but since I'm not I used images mostly taken from clipart published in the Friend magazine and compiled at this site. I believe I also used some from Mormonshare.com and Sugardoodle. I did pull some random images like backpacks, fish, flags, etc. and I wish looking back now that I had done a better job at finding the site I used for everything. I think it works great for Family Home Evenings, Sacrament mtg, and any age group can get SOMETHING out of it. So here we go... sorry the pictures aren't the best I'll try to describe as I go. I did 24 pages total but here are some of my favorites.

Here's the beginning, Lehi's family traveling across the wilderness with a compass to guide them like the Liahona. On each page highlighted in yellow, it describes what the child should do on each page- here it says, Can you help Lehi's family leave Jerusalem? Use the compass to help point the way. The people come out and move around and the compass is attached with velcro so you can take it off and move it around.
This page has been a favorite for sure with the younger kids. Yellow words- Can you help Nephi escape by dressing him in Laban's clothes? Don't forget to grab the plates!Can you help un-tie Nephi? The boat comes out and moves around here too.Look inside the tents to see what King Benjamin taught his people. - Each tent has something that Benjamin really did teach, like one says- If you faithfully keep the commandments, you will be happy and someday live with God.Some stories I couldn't find actual pictures of the people like Alma the younger, so I had to think outside the box a bit. I love how this one turned out. I made name tags and glued BOM's in their hands to make them look like missionaries, then in their backpacks they have pictures of Christ, familypictures, planners, etc. On the back of the things in their bag are things that represent a good missionary. Like... they pray to heavenly father for help. Oh and since the pages are laminated, you can use a dry erase marker to draw faces on them (or complete the crossword puzzle shown below) The yellow here says- Are you preparing to serve a mission like Alma and Amulek did? Look in the backpacks to see what helped them be great missionaries.

Here I found separate pics of stones, sheep, a sword etc. to create Ammon's story. Yellow words- Can you save the King's sheep by helping Ammon chase away the robbers?

Here I found a flag, attached it to a kabob stick and found the actual words that were on The Title of Liberty to cut and paste on. Yellow- Can you help Moroni bless the land, by putting the Title of Liberty in his hands?I used a free online crossword puzzle maker for the attributes of the men in the Army of Helaman
A nativity- another favorite for the young ones. Yellow- can you help each person find their place in the nativity?Final page-Can you help Moroni hide the plates in Cumorah's hill?

Once again, that was just a few. I did 24 pages- some things not shown, Lehi's dream, wicked King Noah and Abinadi, Alma and the Sons of Mosiah, Alma baptizing 204 people, the Anti-Nephi-Lehi's bury their weapons, Samuel the Lamanite, the death and resurrection of Christ, The Jaredites and the Brother of Jared. This was quite the undertaking and so I do ask that if you share this idea with others or attempt one on your own that you give me credit where credit is deserved and add a link back to this site. My hope is to one day maybe look into publishing and making this available to others but for now- I haven't a CLUE how to go about doing that... if anyone knows especially where copyright comes into play let me know!! Thanks for looking, I'd love to hear your feedback!

Christmas came early!! (nat)

2009-11-17T22:39:00.001-08:00

Ahh don't we all remember back to the furniture we got as newly weds, where at the time we thought it was so great and just so cute!? Wow, its nice to know that we can all upgrade in life. Here it is, our old entertainment center. Bought 6 years ago with wedding gift cards at walmart for 100 bucks. I really did like it. I liked it even better when I bought an Ikea curtain panel and put it in the glass to hide all the junk we stored in it. But... after a few moves, the "wood" on this thing just wasn't surviving. The tv totally started leaning to the right and having busy boys made it so i had practically no little accessories all over. Sooooo when my hubby decided he was ready to splurge on a new TV i demanded a new console.

ahhh a REAL piece of furniture. i went to every furniture store in the state i think and searched online and no one had what i wanted. i wanted white first off, but that seems to be very hard to come by. and we are still living on a limited budget so spending 600+ for a decent piece of furniture just wasn't an option. after talking to a few friends we came across a guy that said he could make one for us! yes! we sent him a few pictures of one we liked at ikea (that they don't make anymore b/c it was a piece of junk i guess) anyway- for 300 bucks he made this custom for us in 4 hours! i love that it has tons of storage, totally ties in all the white bead board from our kitchen, could be used as a buffet, sofa table, etc. later on if we needed, and is real, solid, sturdy, durable wood! i am sure i could have craigslisted something, or re-done a thrifty find but sometimes, i must admit its just nice to have something brand new. oh and the tv... yeah love it. the other GREAT thing about this was... we took our old entertainment center and used it to totally re-organize the laundry room! it needed a major overhaul, mostly all my crafty junk. so we tore apart the entertainment center and made shelving for all my stuff! i LOVE getting organized!
Laundry room/crafty nook before...
and after! when you live in a small space, every square inch is important and this "laundry" room serves our family so well! i love having a space all to myself for all my crafty stuff. my little sanctuary.

So these are the shelves made from our entertainment center. It makes such a difference getting everything up off of the table. so much more work space! we put shelves on the other side of the room too for all Paul's tools and stuff. so great!and just a little shot of my inspiration board. so much more inspirational now that i can actually see it! it hasn't been updated in a long, long time- i should probably get on that, but it still makes me happy. everyone should have one!

My family found a new home! (nat)

2009-11-13T15:10:00.000-08:00

Ok no, we are not moving although hopefully one day that will be our wonderful news. For now... just my family photos have a new home. I've had this big empty wall that goes up our stairs and I have done a few things and none of them have ever worked. As you can see... big wall, tiny pictures- so not ok.

I decided that I really wanted to make my family tree work here since that was my original intent. You may remember it from this previous post.
The problem from the beginning was the adhesive on the back wasn't sticky enough for these slightly textured walls so I thought sticky tack would work as a last resort, then at the store I saw this Poster Tape. Totally removable but sticks things to walls. Ahh I love a cheap solution.
The other problem was this is a decal that I bought at Ikea quite awhile ago and they no longer make it. This becomes a problem because my lovely 2 year old thought it would be really fun when I wasn't around to start ripping the tree apart, leaving me with half a tree. If they don't make it anymore... then what do i do!? So.... I just took scrapbooking paper that I already had, traced around the few remaining branches and leaves I did have and there ya go. Instead of replacing all the missing leaves with just black and brown again I thought it might be kinda fun (also kinda cheesy) to use paper for the leaves according to the season. So now there's green, red, yellow, brown, and black- but maybe in the spring I'll have fun with it and change it up again. Who knows!! Now that I can make the pieces myself, the possibilities are endless. Totally something you could do too! So here we are again... totally bare and sad
and feeling much happier
sure is a cute family, i'm glad i get to see them everyday now instead of exhiling them to the basement. happy fall!

$2 Halloween Costume (nat)

2009-10-28T19:55:00.000-07:00

Over at the DIYshowoff they are doing a halloween project show and tell party so I thought I'd link up and try this whole linking thing out! This is about all I've had time for this Halloween! In the past I have spent weeks thinking about what I want my little guy to wear for Halloween and this year, with everything I've had going on I totally procrastinated and didn't even THINK about what to do for Halloween until Sunday night and then I found out we had a party Tuesday morning. Ahhh no time to go buy something, nothing can be shipped that fast. So I had to once again get resourceful. Here is what I came up with. I think it turned out pretty darn cute!

This became...

This! With white cardstock, lots of staples, duct tape, and some felt on the inside for padding it turned out pretty well. Oh and there is a little mouse on the top, you can see in pics below.

Then this... (thanks to my neighbor that works at IKEA and gave me this because she gets tons for free!)

Became this! We've been watching Ratatouille a lot so that's what gave me the idea. I totally cheated and didn't want to finish the edges so I cut off the finished edges of the dish towel and just sewed them on. And thats what I used for the neck and waste ties too.I had fun with all the details. I made a pocket, sewed on the name that I just printed from my computer, bought a pack of mice from walmart for 2 bucks (the only money i spent!)and sewed the mouse on, and finally added a recipe card with the instructions for ratatouille here's the little mouse on the hat too

Once I padded the inside of the hat he loved it! Oh and I made the little candy bag out of a bag of sugar we had, glue, and mod podge. Halloween success!

A little texture to my magnet board

2009-10-17T20:15:00.000-07:00

Thanks to this great blog that is stuffed full of fun ideas, I came across this post where she talked about seeing this chair in Better Homes and Gardens. I thought it was such a fun idea and a great way for me to put all my random scrap booking letters to use. So I took this photo and used it as my inspiration for a re-vamp on my really boring magnet board. We are linkin up over at thirfty decor chick for the before and after party too!

See- I told you it was really boring! One of the first decor items I got in the 2nd apartment we ever lived in. It started out plain wood, then got painted black, then brown, it needed some serious life put into it.
So I gathered all the random scrapbooking letters I have, which i don't even know why i have them because i don't scrapbook- it takes me WAY too long to finish one page. I had a few of these wood letters too and just cut some of the edges for the whole- going off the page look.
Here it is with all the letters added. I actually think it looks super cute this way and it would be really fun for like a playroom or little kids room but since it's going in my family room and i didn't want it to distract from the pictures it got 2 cans worth of white paint. I love that this project only cost me 2 bucks- gotta love spray paint for 96 cents!
Oh and I used hot glue to put everything in place. Some letters were sticky on the back but I just wanted to make sure they were all stuck on and not going anywhere
Yeah it took a lot more paint than I thought it would to cover the brown and all the colorful letters.
Tada! Ooooo, AhhhhThen I stuck all my pictures and magnets back on and decided I was so done with the magnets now too. Scrapbooking paper just glued on was not working for me anymore.
So I just covered them in scrap fabrics I had instead, I love an easy facelift!
I especially love that it makes the pictures stand out so much more now. Ahhhh LOVE it!

I think I'd pick this one...

2009-10-15T14:12:00.001-07:00

Love this!-But I'd have to add some punches of color. So fun! I love the lamp shades and clock pillow. Amazing what accessories can do!

Living Room Ideas

2009-10-15T06:51:00.000-07:00

Natalie- I am glad that the fabric websites worked out for you. Hope you enjoy figuring out your choices. I want pics when you get it done.
These are photos from an article in Sept. Country Living Magazine. The whole issue is dedicated to makeovers- gotta love that! Anyway, I am thinking of using these photos as a starting place for my living room makeover. Basically the article showed how to start with a good basic decorating canvas and accessorize from there. You can't go wrong with the basics. There were three different remakes. I of course went for the American Country one but you would probably like the other two. It may be online, check it out.

I am thinking of using this as my start, adding the coffee table and end table that my husband is refinishing for me. I have brushed nickel lamps but need some fun shades. I am also planning on making my slipcover with a narrow blue ticking strip. I was thinking of checking out thrift stores for some empty frames.

And thats why sisters are great!

2009-10-14T14:16:00.000-07:00

I love having a design dilemma and Amanda knows just how to help me out! I checked out several places online but wasn't loving anything-then she suggested this one and I loved these prints and REALLY love the prices wahoo!!! You are the best... now's the hard part, picking which ones! I'm leaning towards---

This for the kitchen
And down the line maybe some of these for pillows to go on my new (or new to me) bench!
(I'll post a pic of the bench soon)---and i know i obviously love floral- i just can't help it!

I'm still thinking I might like this to attach to the top of the white panels in the family room
Or this.... but color would be funOthers that were fun for who knows what but I'm sure I could find a place

If only CUTE fabric was cheap-darn it! (nat)

2009-10-13T14:44:00.000-07:00

So I have some white curtain panels in my family room right now and they are slowly driving me crazy. Yes I love white but with yellowish walls (not my choice, i would change in a minute if i had the help to do it!) and then these white panels it is feeling soo bla to me. Plus they aren't long enough. Soo my plan is to buy some really cute fabric to add to the top to give some interest to my room, add some color, and make them long enough. The problem is I cannot find super cute fabric, in the colors i would need, the price range i want to pay, and i wish i went to design school so i knew all the right places to look. Anyway... in a dream world here are a few that I like...Uhhh yeah... LOVE these, anyone want to contribute to the I cannot afford, but love Anthropologie fund? Thanks!

Ok this would work.. oh and 6.50 a yard- even better--- wait, what!? I have to get the entire bolt? Why can I not find this anywhere else?
Ok how about green? 14 a yard? Hmmm we are getting there

Ok on to the next window..remember this one in my kitchen?
well i did love it, and the shape is still great for the space but I just feel like the colors have completely limited how I can accessorize in the kitchen. I want something with more colors than blue, green, and brown so I can use different colors- i am getting bored again. What i really want, that I mentioned before is this...
I used it here- i would have so much to go off of, green, blue, white, red, orange, yellow, brown. Once again- 99 bucks for enough yardage to cover the window.

Conclusions: I guess I'm stuck with what I've got, darn

Sick of my plain t-shirts! (nat)

2009-10-08T09:37:00.000-07:00

Well being a stay at home mom and having boys with reflux means I have WAY too many plain, boring, spit-up proof shirts. I would love to have a totally new wardrobe but instead I just tried to find ways to vamp up my boring shirts! With just a little creativity and some digging through my scrap fabric here's what I've got so far. The possibilities are endless I began to realize. These ones are nothing special but at least I don't feel totally lame walking around in my sweats all day!

So this one looks a lot better on, the pleating on the shirt makes it cute which is why i got it originally but the white was fading and just wasn't lovin it anymore. I just traced over this area of the shirt with tissue paper, then cut it out and used it as a pattern. Cut the fabric and sewed it on. I didn't worry about finished edges and all that- too much work, and it's not like this is gonna be a date night shirt or anything

Here I just googled silouette of a bird, printed out a few and used those to trace onto a fabric I liked. I did use some interfacing under so it would be easier to sew it on and hold up a little better. Once again, no finished edges but I kinda like the frayed look. Although- word to the wise, adding birds to a shirt that doesn't fit well- doesn't make it fit any better!

Ok now we are getting a little fancier. This is probably one of those love it or hate it ones. After looking at a bunch of different images on etsy I just kinda threw this one together. I took one long piece of fabric, made pleates, ironed them in place then on that right side I just kinda rolled the pleates up until it made a flower. I just pinned everything on and used my machine to sew it on. I may have added a few stitches by hand to the flower part to make it extra secure. Final touch was a little ribbon to hide the stitches... hmm still kinda love it- still kinda hate it, I'm on the fence. Oh I did see a cute dress over at Make It and Love It and she shows you how to make a flower out of fabric similar to this.

OOh now this one I actually really like. Nothing fancy but it's so "me" And it was so easy. I just had a little flowery fabric left over from a diaper/wipe holder I made so I cut out some of the flowers, cut out interfacing to match, and sewed them on! You'd be surprised what you can come up with if you look at your fabric in a different light. Oh and of course I loved it when the lady behind me in costco said, I love your shirt where did you get that!? Ahhhh I made it!

Now this one I can totally give all the credit to Josey and our lovely little craft night. She found some pics of cute ruffly shirts and we gave it a try. Basically you cut a circle, and pinch it from the under side until it makes a little flowery shape. Then you just sew straight across the bottom to make the flower keep its shape. Later I happened upon this site which gives you a little tutorial and instead of sewing it straight on the shirt you sew it to a piece of fabric then attach with safety pins so you can take it off when you wash the shirt so you just have to use a glue gun- you can also move it from outfit to outfit- so smart! You can check out some other adorable flowers here!

After learning the technique I came home and tried it out. This is the only shirt I spent money on- I actually bought this shirt at target on clearance for 2 bucks! Then I used a purple shirt I already had to do the flowers/ruffles. I think I did 3 flowers then sewed them together, then sewed them on the shirt. I did handstitch these on in several places for extra security but if you have a decent machine I am sure it works great! Next time around I would totally go up higher to cover the whole collar (what was I thinking!) but I think I like it.

Oh and I made a little matching headband too. I already had one of these elastic headbands hanging around so I just added a group of 3 on here too- so easy!
Ok and I got really brave and even wore this to church.... and now I am getting REALLY brave and posting a totally cheesy picture for you to see too-consider yourself lucky!

Out with the old and IN with the new!! (nat)

2009-10-05T16:07:00.000-07:00

AHHH I am so excited! I finally got all of our posts done from pretty much the last two years! Phew, now it's on to whats happening now!! Thanks to this whole bloggy world I have so many upcoming projects I don't know what to do with myself. But here's to more tutorials, better photos, (or at least as good as i can get with my current camera... christmas is coming!) and tons of before and afters! A little glimpse into whats coming up... re-vamping plain t-shirts, my new and improved magnet board, loads of consignment "finds" and organization overhaul in the laundry room! Can't wait for you to see!

Couch Slipcover (manda)

2009-10-05T15:20:00.001-07:00

So I have spent the greater part of the last week working on making a custom slip cover for the small loveseat in my family room. After making my own pattern, creating a skirt that pleats on the ends and making 20 yrds. of piping for the skirt and seat cushions I must admit I am pretty happy with the result. The fit is great and no more tucking! All and all not a bad remake of a $50 Goodwill find. Now believe it or not I think I am ready to tackle the other one, although I might wait a week and paint a few things in the meantime. I am a sucker for projects!

Pottery Barn Pillow (nat)

2009-10-05T14:59:00.000-07:00

Last Christmas I was out of town and actually got to go into Pottery Barn instead of just look through the catalog. I was thrilled to see that they actually had some stuff on clearance! I was even more excited when I saw this Serafina print in a cloth napkin! Of course there was only one but I scooped that thing up soo fast. So I got a different one that was on clearance to use on the back, it makes it fun that it's reversible. In case you aren't aware- cloth napkins are soooo perfect for pillows, pin them back to back, sew around, leave an opening to stuff or add a cushion and you're done. Totally cute, super easy to make, and only 4 bucks total- yahoo! Makes me want to actually buy more of this fabric for my kitchen but it only comes in 1 yard (25.00) or 5 yards (99.00) UGH

I've been framed! (amanda)

2009-10-05T07:40:00.001-07:00

My Family Room Gallery.

I love, love, love black and white photography. I have taken a few classes myself but am definitely an amateur. I would love one day to fill my house with my photography but in the meantime. I enjoy finding nature prints especially trees and using them around the house. I think it really helps to bring in a touch of the outdoors. These are a few examples of my favorites from around the house.

Such a nice Fall touch with my largest and most favorite print

This series works especially well in the Fall and Winter. I would like to find a few Spring/Summer prints that I like as well. I may take a few myself.

These pictures hang in my Living Room. They were so easy to do and the whole project was only about $20. My husband had kept these nautical prints printed on really nice linen paper that his sister picked up in France. I have always loved them but wasn't sure what to do with them. They are an unusual size and proved difficult to matte or frame. I finally found some unfinished wood frames without backs and antiqued them using a Williamsburg Blue under an antique white. They turned out great but it is difficult to make out the detail on these white walls. Another project in the works- redoing my Living Room decor.

More master bedroom artwork. I tried several combinations of things over my bed. It was proving difficult because my headboard is curved. I finally decided on this series of Monet art prints. I love Monet and I do tend to like a French country style. I printed these from the internet and framed them with black frames I think I paid like $5 a piece for. They look great over the bed.

I love rearranging wall art and making new creations. I needed a few new pictures for my master bedroom and had read that you should fill your adult space with pictures of you as a couple. These are two of my favorite wedding photos. I scanned them in to my computer and printed them out in sephia. Framed them in black mated frames I already had and viola new art and a great memory.

Pillow Talk (amanda)

2009-10-05T07:38:00.001-07:00

Pillows have got the be the greatest practical accessory item ever invented. They work in a variety of spaces and can instantly take your decor between seasons and in and out of styles. I Make almost all of my pillows if I don't make them myself. I buy them cheap and I mean cheap. I never spend more than $5 generally. You can't make them for that price so that makes it a bargain.
This my living room couch and pillows. All of the black and white toile I bought for less than $2 a yard and have been saving it. It made great pillows and curtains for this room and helped tie the whole space together. The black pillow I scored at Target on clearance for like $2. The satin pillow was $5 at Big Lots. The afgan was handmade by my aunt as a wedding present.
This is a great demonstration of how simple changes can really change a space. I have had this ocuch for like ten years and would like to replace it but I like the style and the color so it just keeps being reinvented. This is how we have it now with fall complimentary pillows. The slipcovers on the cushions come off and I have washed them and restuffed the back pillows by emptying them out refluffing and putting it all back in. Well worth it to get more life out of my sofa.
This is the picture of the same sofa - sagging a little with a slipcover and different pillows after we painted the Family Room last fall.
This is the bed in my master bedroom in my old house. Very blue (my favorite color) and a bit more country- notice the same throw from my living room. I love repurposing and finding new homes for things. I kept this loo for several years, but when I redid my master bedroom in my new house it was time for a change. I wanted a more sophisticated style. So what better way than to change bedding and PILLOWS!
I made these shams- very easy to do.

PILLOW SHAM TUTORIAL

Step1 - Measure your pillow add however much extra you want as a flange on the edges. In this case I wanted two inches so I added 2" to the measurement all around plus another 1" for the seams. This is for the top side.

Step 2- for the bottom piece add another 4-5 inches just to the width this helps have an opening for inserting the pillow.

Step 3- Cut the back piece in half and hem the two side pieces. This creates an opening to insert your pillow.
Step 4- Sew the top and bottom to each other with right sides together.
Step5- Turn the sham inside out and than top stitch two inches from the outside edge all the way around. Insert pillow and viola! A do it yourself sham.

Just a word about fabric. I love to find fabric deals online. Often you can get really nice decorator fabric for great prices. I also search clearance areas at Jo-ann's You can get better deals. Also don't be afraid to use apparel fabric or quilting fabric on pillows just about anything works.
These shams were made from lined linen that I got on clearance for $2 a yard. It is heavy great stuff. These shame were a little different to make because they had side ties and are square pillows. Basically I measured the pillow and made one two pieces. One piece the length and width plus a seam allowance the other the same width but with a longer length to fit around the edge of the pillow like a case. This piece was folded in and sewn to the inside just on the edges, so that I could still insert the pillow. I added ties by sewing long strips together and attaching them to the edge and had two new shams!
A bolster is tricky. You have to measure the width plus the length all the way around the pillow. Then sew contrasting pieces cut in circles to the ends. I added buttons. I covered them with the contrasting fabric. Coverable buttons are easy to find at your local craft store. I cut the length of this pillow a little too short so it bulges just a bit. I suggest measuring with just a little give around your pillow insert.
My new bedding all put together with pillows. The colors worked great around the room and helped bring in the wall colors and the fabric I also used on the curtains.
Other handmade pillows. I love mixing pattern with pillows and especially love the result when it works in a room.
The red striped pillow was another example of clever pillow covering. It is two napkins sewn together. I like the pattern and the edges were ready finished I just sewed around the edge and left the bottom open to insert the pillow. This particular red pillow is actually a green and yellow floral one that came with the love seat redone and matching much better. The other three pillows were all $5 store finds. The toile one is actually Waverly for $5! Gotta have it!

Hello Beautiful Bedroom! (nat)

2009-10-02T12:07:00.000-07:00

After

I know there's a lot of flower patterns going on on the bed but i like it. i found the two white and blue pillows on clearance at TJ Max for 7 bucks for the pair. they are actually chair cushions, i just cut off the ties. the bedding is half of what we had before (shams, bedskirt) and half of what i mixed with our guest room bedding downstairs (pillows, duvet cover). I did the little saying thing over the bed. 3 canvases from big lots, just printed out words from the computer, scrapbook paper and mod podge. not my best piece ever but i guess it will work for now. i wanted something with a personal touch.

Before...

After

Before...

After

and here's the story on the accessorizing, i want a new dresser to replace the tall one- its a piece of junk, but what can ya do. this dresser if you look back at the photos had out dated round black knobs so this was my one expense really was updating the hardware. i really like what i ended up with and think it makes a world of difference.

These were the frames that used to be above the bed. i had a calendar given to me for my birthday that has these fantastic photos. i really wanted to display them with it still flowing with the room. I do need something on the dresser between it and the photos but i haven't gotten there yet. i'll dig around the house and see what i come up with. something simple but it needs something. long term i will probably take the mirror that originally attached to this dresser and frame it out with molding for a mirror or something

and this is my favorite piece of the whole room. if you look at the before photo--- the top of this dresser is always the dumping ground and i've tried every box, bowl, etc. i could find to keep this area organized and nothing has worked. so i was in savers like 2 days ago and they had this cutest file box with drawer that is super sturdy wood and the color was perfect! love the shabby chic look. oh and it was only 4 bucks- love that!

Do you like cake? (manda)

2009-10-02T07:12:00.000-07:00

These are a couple of birthday cakes that I did before starting my series of cake decorating courses. They were fun to try and make on my own with very little direction. The butterfly cake I made from shaping a 9x13 cake and piping stars to create the colors on the wings. The antennae is made from licorice.

The Star Wars clone trooper cake idea I got from doing a Google search for star wars cakes. Someone had done a similar idea with fondant. I used a paper mask and traced out the pattern on the cake then outlined it and filled in the outline with piped stars. The red color was very hard to make I would suggest buying the exact color you need first or checking out Wilton's website for color mixing directions. All in all I think it turned out pretty cool and the birthday boy loved it!

For a fun summer time break for me I have been taking Cake decorating classes. I had a great friend in Charlottesville who introduced me to the idea and I have had a lot of fun experimenting with the kids birthday cakes over the past few years so I decided to get a few more skills and actually learn the techniques.

I have really enjoyed it. It is really a great opportunity to do something just because you have always wanted to learn how. I owe a lot to my husband who supports me in all my endeavors without complaint and watches the kids in the evening.

This picture is of my Grand Finale cake for Course 1, I start Course 2 next week. I have been taking Wilton classes at Michael's with a friend and have loved that the cost has been 1/2 off during the summer. I am hoping to use the 4th of July as another excuse to practice and am bringing a flag cake to our neighbors BBQ.

I would highly recommend this to anyone looking into learning how to decorate even if just for family events. I thought that I had some basic cake decorating skills before I started, but I was clueless.

This was my final cake for Course #1. It was an 8" by 2" cake with a icing center. The icing is butter cream. I made all of the roses. Some people really hate trying to do these, but I seem to have great luck with my frosting consistency.

This is my completed Cake for Course 2. It was really fun learning to make all the different flowers and trying techniques I never even know you could do. I am contemplating going into a little side business. What do you think? I have one course left. I can hardly wait to get going.
All of the flowers are made out of Royal Icing and the birds are made with color flow. This took a great deal more time and skill but I think it is very pretty. The cake itself is a 6" x 2" oval pan set. The cake is frosted with a basket weave pattern in butter cream icing. - My only word of caution on this one is that cake pans that are deep have to cook longer. I had trouble with mine not going long enough and the cake was somewhat crooked.
I took all of Course #3 but the last class, because of another obligation. So for my last cake I got to be more creative. I learned how to work with fondant and learned how to stack cakes. The Wilton Course #3 cake looks more like a wedding cake.

I finished my last cake decorating class this past week. What a blast it has been. Great thanks to my husband for putting up with a few evenings on his own with the kids and all of the extra cake and icing we have had around the house. We will probably both lose some weight after this is over. We are also both very tired of cake but I have learned a ton of great artistic culinary skills.
My final cake was supposed to be a two tired "wedding" cake with fondant roses, ruffles, and stringwork but I talked to my instructor last week and she said that as long as we incorporate the things we have learned that I could do whatever I wanted. So for a two-year old's birthday cake I went to town.
His cake is a two tiered cake on cake. The bottom cake is chocolate and white checkerboard on the inside and the top is marbled. The road and the checkered flag top is fondant as well as the "Radiator Springs" desert like background on the bottom layer. All of the other accents were piped on except for of course the cars. I am really happy with how it all came together and I am sending my friend with pictures to show my class instructor. However, unless it is for someone outside of our family I am not making any more cake for awhile.

The bathroom saga (manda)

2009-10-02T07:10:00.001-07:00

This little bathroom has been way too long of an ordeal to redecorate. When we were redecorating the Master bedroom. I really wanted to paint the master bath as well. The biggest reason for this was that the vanity countertop was pink! The floor was pink too, of course it matched the pink carpet that was in master bedroom to begin with, but that was almost the first thing we got rid of. We pianted the walls - Cottonseed by Behr and if you look at an earlier blog you can see the tutorial on how I painted the lineleum counter. I am really happy with the result and it has lasted and cleaned up beautifully. We also replaced the ugly wooden towel bar and toilet paper holder with more decortive chrome ones. Last weekend we decided to tackle to floor and my husband needed to replace the inner workings of the toilet because it was leaking.

During the process of taking off the toilet we discovered that the wall behind the toilet had started to mold, yuck, from the leaky toilet We then had to remove part of the wall and replace the drywall. A whole new adventure in and of itself. Last night we finally finished- 6 days later with what should of been relatively easy.

A few words on the floor. This is a small bathroom only 4x5 floor area. I really liked these vinyl stone like tiles. We bought a box at Home Depot. The box includes all of the instructions you need. All you have to do is measure out where the center of the floor, make straight lines with a chalk line and lay down the first tile. The tile is self-adhesive you peel the backing and lay them down. Around the edges we had to cut pieces, but it worked great and I love it. It only took a couple of hours and viola! New floor. We chalked the edges instead of laying show molding against the baseboards. We were able to get the tiles so close to the edge that it didn't take much. To me it makes the bathroom feel larger.

I found this great product at Lowe's for dressing up builder's bathroom mirrors. It is basically framelike piece that you attach around the mirror to make it look like it is framed. (See the first photo). It really helped dress up the space. Although if you have a the $ I would frame out the mirror or buy one. But this stuff was cheap and I found it on clearance. It only cost me about $10 to frame around the mirror and I did one of our other bathroom's too.

My future plans for this space include installing a shower door. The curtain is a real pain. I may also add a few new storage or accessory items. I am really hoping for a nice spa feel when all is said and done.

Not so crazy about my carseat

2009-10-01T16:17:00.000-07:00

Well before the arrival of baby #2 (back in April)-I wanted one final project to keep me busy before the baby so I decided to recover my carseat. Since I will be hauling it everywhere I go for the next year I wanted to like it. I've never been a big fan of what we got- so I thought at least I could enjoy the way it looks! I can't believe I actually pulled this one off though. It took a lot more brain power than I anticipated and I learned a ton. Thanks again to my good friend (josey) for helping me think through some things and inspiring a lot of ideas. I took the existing carseat cover and just made a pattern from that- after a lot of trial and error and a few mistakes it's done!

Before...
And here's the after...

The color on this first picture is really weird---it looks more like the bottom pic. Anyway---kinda bold. I made a little diaper/wipe holder out of this fabric and just couldn't find anything else that I liked as much so I used it for this too. Anyway... it was fun to do but I'm also happy it's done!

As far as a tutorial, yeah not a chance on this one- sorry! It was a lot of trial and error and making a mock-up with ugly fabric before hand. My best advice if you really want to do this is to buy a pattern or just take off your existing cover and try to think through how all the pieces come together.

Only been a day (nat)

2009-10-01T13:22:00.000-07:00

ok its only been a day and i already found another blog that you HAVE to see. sooo cute! LOVE her style

http://www.craftynest.com/

Welcome!! (nat)

2009-09-29T14:38:00.000-07:00

Such a saga, where to begin!? So hopefully a lot of you know what it's like to have a sister, but a sister that lives WAY TOO FAR AWAY is no fun! About two years ago we both bought our own homes and discovered a whole new love for decorating and getting crafty. We started a blog between the two of us so we could stay up to date on each others projects and give feedback. Just in the last month our eyes have been opened to the enormous world of blogging!! Holy cow there are so many of you amazing crafty, thrifty, designs divas I can't take it all in. So I guess we decided to throw our projects onto a blog of our own in hopes of connecting with fellow crafters and having a place to archive all of our ideas together. We are definitely amateurs as far as decor and blogging but hey we all have to start somewhere right? We have soo much to post so add us to your reader! I think we have about 20 posts to do just to get us caught up to date, and I know we have about 20 things on the "things coming up next" list. Thanks to everyone out there for all the inspiration! I think my two favorites to date are Jill over at homemadebyjill and sarah at thriftydecorchick, you have to check them out! Phew, I think that covers it for now... lets get this blog a rollin'!

Cute baby shower idea! (nat)

2009-09-23T12:18:00.000-07:00

Last night some girls in the neighborhood put together the best baby shower! Four of us are pregnant and all due within a month of each other so they did a combined open house or "girls night out" to celebrate and it was awesome! The whole night was so fun because not only was there great food, but once again Josey came up with this great idea that kept everyone busy! There were about 5 plain onesies for each of us and everyone got creative and decorated the onesies. These girls are soo crafty! They all turned out soo cute and it was so fun to just sit, socialize, and sew together. It was such a fun idea- thanks to everyone that helped out and all the cute outfits! We are sure to have the cutest kids in town.

I tried to snap a few pics of how cute they all turned out! I was so impressed with everyone's skills. Such a fun idea, especially since everyone got so into it.

Boys room re-do (nat)

2009-09-22T21:43:00.000-07:00

As soon as we found out we were having another boy I started planning out what I wanted to do to make the nursery into a cute boys room. So without major changes (wall treatments or re-painting etc.) I re-vamped the room to make it work for 2 boys. After about a million projects I think I am satisfied. Probably a few more things will be thrown in along the way but for now I'm happy. When we bought the house this room was painted a dark army green, it looks lighter than it was in the photo. So thanks to the help of my dad it has a totally new look!

Before...
After
Details of the different projects are below.
To the left- changing table, pics, diaper shelf etc. This changing table is just a dresser we begged off of my husband's grandma when we were snooping in the basement! It was painted white and mustard yellow. With our first, I just repainted it and painted the knobs- gotta love it when things are free!

To the right- rocking chair, shelf, reading/toy area
This rocking chair I picked up with our first too at DI (local consignment shop) i think it was like 20 bucks. I touched up the white paint and made new covers for the seat cushions that you can un-zip, remove, and wash. I still need to make a pillow for this chair and a pillow sham for the bed... hmm someday. Oh and I used to have these letters above the bed done in really cute scrap booking paper and ribbon but i can't find a picture of them anywhere. I haven't put up new letters yet, I'm waiting til we pick a name for baby #2!

Now here are some of the projects close up- I had a lot of fun with these pictures. I love the look of pictures stretched on canvas but it is soooo expensive. So I got creative and bought 3 canvases at joann's (at 40% off) and then had pictures printed out on computer paper at kinkos (like 1.50) then I used good ole' mod podge to wrap the pics onto the canvas, just kind of like you are wrapping a present. Not perfect but definitely worth the price tag. I think it turned out pretty cute. These pictures are what inspired a lot of the room. Add some cheap square frames from the dollar bins at target, scrap booking paper, and vinyl lettering- voila

I tried to do the mod podge streaky to make it have more of that canvas/rustic effect. Hard to tell in a picture but you get the idea.

Onto the sewing projects- I made the duvet cover. Couldn't find anything I liked in the stores at the price I like to pay so I made one. Just used an inexpensive sheet on the back, and two coordinating fabrics for the front, added some buttons to close it all up. The great thing is since I change my mind so much now all I have to do is make a new cover instead of buy a whole new set when I get sick of this one. Oh yeah and if you look back at the first couple pics I made the window treatment too. It keeps the heat in and the light out perfectly at nap/nightime and is just rolled up during the day. Here's a tutorial if you are interested in making a similar window treatment for yourself!

I re-did this shelf awhile ago but it had like stars and moons cut out on the back which I got sick of so I took some cardboard, covered it in fabric, and put it on the 3 back sections. Perfect size for housing diapers

Finally, stuff on the shelf. Found these boxes super cheap at Michaels, covered them in scrap booking paper etc. Not the greatest close up but whatever.

The great vintage car my mom bought me for my birthday and a cute pottery barn plane I got at the after christmas sale since it's actually an ornament.

Make an apron (nat)

2009-09-22T21:31:00.000-07:00

I made this apron for a friend for a big Christmas exchange. It was fairly easy and is cute but practical. Thanks Mary for the pattern! I did a quick google search and here is a list of 52 free apron patterns if you want to try one out yourself! Oh and thanks to Melissa for the great Super Saturday meal planner idea. I made one for myself and several family members. I don't know if they use theirs but without mine my family would starve, I use it to plan out my meals every week!

Christmas decor (manda)

2009-09-22T21:28:00.000-07:00

Okay I think I am having way too much fun with this seasonal update thing. But here is my Christmas mantel. I made everything myself except for the peace stocking holders of course. Eventually, I plan to move my silver and gold decor to a Living Room or Dining Room and decorate the kitchen and family room more kid friendly then the stockings will match better, but I like this because red and green would clash with the way I have my family room now. I guess that will wait for the next house. Happy decorating.

Workspace re-vamp (manda)

2009-09-22T21:16:00.001-07:00

Workspace before...
And after
This is my improved work space. It is so much more organized, which I love. I can't almost wait to get scrap booking and actually be able to see what I have. The turn top organizer I got at Michaels you gotta love 40% off coupons. The paper organizer I got at Office Max on clearance. Check out the previous picture of my work area and you can easily see the big difference.

Train birthday cake (nat)

2009-09-22T20:56:00.000-07:00

Well I really need to work on my cake decorating skills. One of these days I'll take a class. This was my sad attempt at making a train cake. It didn't even taste good, oh shucks! Next year, I'll have to give it another go and pick something cool off of this fantastic list

Make Your Own Christmas Stockings (nat)

2009-09-22T20:41:00.000-07:00

I did these stockings last year and I think it's probably one of my very favorite sewing projects so far. It was a lot of fun and I learned so much by doing it. I love that I know I'll use them every year for many years to come! I'll try my best to add a tutorial, ask as many questions as you need if you want to try yourself and the instructions aren't clear. It probably sounds really complicated but it's really not, I just gave all the details.

** Linking up to the Holiday party at The inspired room

CHRISTMAS STOCKING TUTORIAL

1. This is the stocking pattern that I used (thanks josey!). I didn't really follow all those directions, I just used the shape of the full stocking that's on page 3, but make sure you enlarge it 200%

2. I looked online at Coloring Book Pages to find the images that I wanted to put on the stockings first. There are a ton out there that are free to print. I thought this site had really cute one's though so that's what I used
http://freechristmascoloring.com/Christmascoloringpages.html

3. Once I found the images I printed them the size I wanted and then traced them on to graph paper. I labeled each part the color I wanted it to be.

4. Next I headed to the fabric store. The stocking fabrics I just used whatever material looked cute. Cotton, home decor fabrics, whatever you want. Mine are all different. And I tried to make them coordinate. Then for all the pieces for the images I bought Wool Felt. It is pretty pricey but you only need the smallest amount they will sell to you b/c it doesn't take much. You can use regular felt, it just doesn't look as nice or hold up as well. I used wool felt for the top of the stockings with the names too. I also bought embroidery floss for all the embroidering (it was like 3 bucks for a pack of 20 colors) and i got any little embellishments like a pom pom for the santa hat and wood stars etc. I also got interfacing. I used interfacing on the actual stocking to make it thicker but i also got iron on interfacing for the images that go on. You don't need much and its cheap.

5. Cut out the stocking fabric for the front side.

6. Then cut out the shapes for the image from your graph paper and cut out the wool felt accordingly.

7. The part that took the longest was adhering all the tiny image pieces to the stocking and then embroidering. It's not hard at all, just tedious.

8.You don't have to fuse all the image pieces on with interfacing, I just found it to feel much more durable that way and the lady at the fabric store recommended it. Then with embroidering the pieces on. I mostly just used a really basic stitch. Start from the bottom, go up, come back down. Over and Over. I did look on You Tube to see how to do a French Knot to do things like the snowman's mouth and the dots on the ends of each letter in the names at the top. For the names I used a backstitch which I guess is best for fine details.

9. Oh and for the names, I just found a font I liked on my computer, printed out the names and then traced them on before embroidering.

**Ok I think that's about it. A lot of info I know, and I won't be offended in the least bit if you don't use any of it. I just had several people that asked a ton of questions to so I thought I would share the wealth!

Halloween crafts (nat)

2009-09-22T14:10:00.000-07:00

Some friends in the neighborhood got together and we all tried our hand at tie-dying. So this was just a white shirt, I put one rubberband around it and then dyed it all orange. Add a little face with sharpee and there ya go! The idea is from family fun, you can check it out here

Earlier in the week we decided to slave away and make Halloween sugar cookies to pass around to friends and neighbors. This was always so fun growing up and my mom made sugar cookies for just about every holiday. It will be much more fun when I have kids old enough to actually help frost them all... it took me forever!

Modern family tree (nat)

2009-09-22T13:53:00.000-07:00

Since we have had lots of recent family pictures taken on both sides of the family, I wanted to come up with a fun way of displaying them all- so I thought this would be cute. I really wanted it up in the family room going up our stairs but our walls are too textured and the tree wouldn't stay stuck on that wall... oh well, it's now been moved to the office/guest room so anyone that comes to stay with us can admire my adorable family! I got the idea from walking through ikea. They had a similar one (different decal) on display in a nursery. I bought a different decal there and then arranged it to my liking. I LOVE it!

Finishing a Kitchen Hutch (manda)

2009-09-22T13:52:00.001-07:00

I have wanted a nice Kitchen Hutch for - I don't know- probably years. For Christmas/my Birthday my husband gave me one and said I could pick whatever I wanted. I looked and looked and by far the best way to go to get what I wanted was as the Unfinished Furniture Store. They were very helpful I told them what I was looking for and the helped me sort through catalogs of different styles that I could order. I decided on this on it is solid pine, not that awful particle board stuff.

To finish a piece of furniture like this. The first step we did was to sand it well creating a nice smooth surface. Then you rub on the stain of choice. I used Minwax Early American Pine. It had the nice aged pine look I was going for. You can apply more than one coat of stain to darken the color but I didn't. When that has had time to dry completely, it doesn't take long, you apply the polyurethane. I brushed on the polyurethane but I know that some people like to rub it on. Rubbing it on gives a more aged look. This step is really important because it seals the wood and gives a nice finish. I went for a matte finish because I didn't want it very shiny. I added new hardware.

You could just as easily paint a piece of unfinished wood. Or search Goodwill, Yard Sales, and Craiglslist for old furniture. Just make sure that they are solid wood, otherwise sanding and refinishing will not work!

This is the finished product all decorated. I love it. I finally can display things. It also helps fill up a very large empty wall in my kitchen. I love the homey country look it gives in the space.

Quiet Book (nat)

2009-09-22T13:51:00.001-07:00

Well about 2 years ago I started making a quiet book... yeah it has taken me forever, but it is finally done!!! It is definitely full of mistakes and amateur sewing but it will serve it's purpose for now. I used a pattern my mom had from a book she bought years ago when living in germany. I have so many memories of that book from when we were young so I am so glad I did it- but even more glad it's done!

ok, i know the cover is a little girly but hopefully one day i'll have a girl that can appreciate it

i would post more pics but i think it might be against copyright issues and stuff even though these patterns are a million years old... i dunno

Make your own fruit bouquet (nat)

2009-09-22T13:33:00.000-07:00

I threw a little party at my house celebrating all things spring and I wanted a healthy treat to go with all the junk! I've always thought those fruit bouquets I see on commercials and stuff are really cute but I figured I could probably make one myself. It was super easy and fun.

FRUIT BOUQUET TUTORIAL

What you need:
-Pineapple, strawberries, kiwi, cantaloupe,
-head of ice berg lettuce, some green leafy garnish
-some sort of planter or basket or plastic container (got mine at the dollar store)
-wooden kabob skewers
-flower cookie cutter (found a cheap one at a party supply store)
-melon baller

1. Put the lettuce in the bottom of your container
2. Slice pineapple into thin slices, then cut out flowers with the cookie cutter
3. Use melon baller to make balls out of your cantaloupe
4. Put the different fruits on kabob skewers just however it looks cute to you!
5. Place kabob skewers into lettuce. I cut mine different lengths to give it some dimension and different height.
6. Put your leafy garnish on top of the lettuce to cover it up
7. Enjoy!

Refinishing a dresser (manda)

2009-09-22T11:36:00.000-07:00

Here's a before photo that showed the dresser. It is hard to tell but the finish was really wearing out and I wanted an attached mirror.

Before...
After...
The dresser was sanded and painted with an oil based primer followed by an enamel acrylic top coat, which went on very smooth and we are very happy with the result.The polished nickel hardware came from Lowe's.

Master bedroom remodel (manda)

2009-09-22T11:20:00.000-07:00

Before...

Okay so I got lucky the other day at the unfinished furniture store. They were having a 50% off sale. So I was very excited to find a already finished black framed mirror and an unfinished night stand for $140 total. So having found these pieces I think I know have a plan for my bedroom.

I am going to paint the walls Celtic Grey, it is a soft gray.green color. I am going to try and refinish my dresser a nice ebony black stain, with some distressing to match the mirror I purchased to go above it.
I am having trouble deciding what to do about my cedar chest, but the color and hardware will definitely be changed. Any suggestions? I don't want everything black. I like a more subtle mis matched look. As long as they match stylistically.

The bedding I am going to do in cordinating creams and blue grays to match the wall color. I am also going to change the curtain by adding a roman shade to simplify the look and let in more light.

The bathroom I plan to paint a nice creamy tan, I am going to attempt the paint the laminate counter top as well. I know it can be done. I just need to find the book on how to do it. I think I might also change my wedding pictures for something in a nice b&w print, maybe Paris?

When wedding pics are 10 yrs old. It is time for a change.

Please consult my previous blog post of bedroom post to get the idea. I am also going to change the bed hardware but I am not sure with what- definitely a nickel finish of some sort.

Would love to hear comments, suggestions, etc.

So I have been working on my bedroom for a week now and I have a few things done. First off check out my family blog to see the bathroom vanity before and afters. I have successfully painted my bedroom but that was a panic because I got it all painted and thought it was too dark so I spent the next day determining solutions. I poured through faux finishes and fabric ideas and finally decided that instead of painting the darkest wall as an accent ( I was worried this would make it look like I forgot to paint a wall) I decided on what you see here. I am now working on trim and paint the bathroom while my husband helps with furniture and doors. I think I may have a decent before and after at the end of the month. What a project!

The bedroom is done and I know of at least a few people who wanted to see the end result of my hardwork, so here you are. As doing all of this sort of makes me feel like I am on HGTV or something I shall give you the play by play.
I made the pillow shams and window treatments myself with fabric ordered online and from Jo-ann's.
The framed art above the bed is a series work of the Rouen Cathedral by Claude Monet. I framed and matted them myself. The frames are from Micheal's.
The mirror and the wooden nightstand came from the Unfinished furniture store. The nightstand is stained ebony. The dresser was sanded and painted with an oil based primer followed by an enamel acrylic top coat, which went on very smooth and we are very happy with the result.The polished nickel hardware came from Lowe's.
The lamps and the metal end table are from Ikea.
The room color is Cloudy Day by Behr and the trim is called Cotton Whisper also by Behr.