Tuesday, July 31, 2012

Master Bedroom Reveal

I have been recently working on little things in our master bedroom to give it a facelift.  Hubby and I  didn't dislike our master bedroom, but didn't love it, either.  We have a nice bedroom suite we bought when we got married, and I like it, but now it really doesn't represent our style.  For now, we need to keep it, so that is why I decided to try to change some smaller things.

To revamp our bedroom, I know I needed to do it through the curtains, bedding, and colorful accessories.  Our bedroom is connected to our master bath...there is a wide entry into the bathroom from the bedroom, but no door.  (I would never design a house like that!)  The bathroom actually was carpeted when we moved in our house.  YUCK.

Because of this connection of the two rooms, painting is a huge chore.  There are high ceilings and many, many doors, windows, and bathroom fixtures to paint around.  When we moved in, there was ivy stenciled all around the bathroom.  Uh, no thanks.  We painted over that with a celery green color.  We liked that color for a while, then hubby told me he never really liked it (he has a habit of telling me things like this years after all is said and done...), so we painted it what we wanted to be a light maize yellow.  It turns out our bedroom gets tons of natural light (unlike many other rooms in our house) and the yellow color actually looks sunny and lemony.  I do like yellow-it is a great neutral.  (Try to think of a color it can't get along with!)  When we painted it yellow we wanted a quilt that would coordinate with it.  We found one from Macy's Martha Stewart line.  It had the traditional quilt "stars" on it, and the colors were bold--green, brown, blue, red, and yellow.  I found it after TONS of store and online shopping.  I'm super picky when it comes to anything like this with pattern or colors.  Just ask the hubby.  :)   Recently, he said that after 2 years of having said quilt, that he really didn't like it that much and that the colors were too bold.  Hmmm.  I could have gotten irritated, but instead I looked at it as an opportunity to switch things up a bit in our room and give it a fresh look.

While revamping our room,   I kept all of the current furniture and did not move any of it around.

Here is what we did change and some info. on each:

1.   Snagged new lamps from Home Goods.  I LOVE these lamps.  The shades are a burlap material and give a great textured look.  The bases look old.  They were a maize-yellow color, but I wanted them to stand out more and not blend into the wall too much, so I painted them this charcoal-blue color.  I rubbed off some of the paint to let some of the maize color show through.  I love how they turned out!


2.  Took down our white window blinds and purchased sheers and drapes from Wal Mart.  I actually wanted a big, bold print at first for our windows, but am glad that we went with these simple ivory ones instead.   They are soft and shimmery.   I like that there are grommets at the top to make them less traditional-looking.

3.  Made these throw pillows!  I knew I wanted to make my own (now that I am a novice sewing-machine-user---I still have a long way to go, but am learning!)   and pick some fabrics that would work.   I love patterns and seeing what I can put together.  I happen to be slightly in love with the blue printed fabric.




4.  Bought this fun vintage fan.  I have wanted a fan like this for a long time!  I happened upon it at a new little store in my area that is full of treasures.  What I really love about it is that it is the same color as my new pillows.


5.  Found this AMAZING quilt at Target!  You need to understand that I have looked for weeks at any store in our area and online for a comforter or quilt to change the look of our room.  Since I am super-picky, this was not an easy task.  The pattern and colors had to be just right.  The only thing this quilt doesn't have is any thickness...that is why we really wanted a comforter.  This quilt makes up in looks what it lacks in thickness.  We simply put a thin khaki down-comforter that we already had under it to give the bedding a little more presence.  I love the colors and patterns.  I also love that it is reversible with the fun stripe on the other side.  All this for only 60 bucks!  Moving on.....

6.  Stumbled upon these cool bird prints from Home Goods.  They were $24.99 each!  I love the subtle colors and how they look when vertically paired together.



7.   Added accessories/art from other areas of the house or kept some that were already there.  I moved some small pieces around like the little vases and books.


8.  Took an old chair that used to belong to my hubby's parents (one of those Meaningful Pieces that I have posted about here) and painted it red, then sanded it a little.   It was old and brown and plain before.  Now it just screams "Look at Me!"

Here are some shots of our revamped master bedroom.  We didn't spend too much, and I absolutely adore how it looks.



Thanks for taking a peek at our master bedroom revamp!

Linking up to:
Savvy Southern Style--Wow Us Wednesdays
Primitive and Proper-Piece of Work Wednesday
Someday Crafts-Whatever Works Wednesday
We are That Family-Works For Me Wednesday
House of Hepworths-Hookin Up with HOH
One Creative Mommy-One Creative Weekend
The Shabby Creek Cottage- Transformation Thursday
Thrifty Decor Chick-Show Us Your Bedrooms




3.

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Monday, July 30, 2012

Fall is Soon Coming...How Do You Decorate for Fall?

Don't worry, I am NOT decorating for fall yet.  It's the end of July for goodness sake!  I have seen some great link-ups talking about fall decor already and if you have been in Hobby Lobby or other craft stores lately, you surely have seen the aisles of orange, brown, and gold seasonal goodies.  Fall is my favorite time of year.  I love football weather, getting out my sweatshirts and jeans, and decorating for fall.

I wanted to post a couple pics of how I decorated my mantle and sofa table for fall last year.   This year I am going to try to go a different route with my decor, but I really do love the items I already have.  Hmmm...I am going to have to figure out how to use what I already have and make it look different.  I love a decorating challenge!

Here are the pics from last year:



This year I want to keep my pumpkins and "wheat stalks" but put a fall wreath or something else large above the mantle.  I didn't realize then what a huge space I left empty up there!  In the top picture, the acorns are keepers--I love them!    I also love the real mini pumpkins and funky-looking fall gourds.  I don't plan on using the silk leaves.

So what about you?  Have you thought about Fall yet or are you too busy still soaking by the pool?  I know I should enjoy the time I have left of sweet summer.  Soon it will be dark far too early and I will be complaining that I am cold.  :)

Linking this project up to:

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Tuesday, July 24, 2012

A Mini-Vacation

After Riley's birthday party a little over a week ago, I needed a couple days to recover...stenciling my dining room wall and then getting ready for her party in the same couple days put me a mode of needing to just rest and not do a project or a post.  Also, this past week my twin sister, Dia, and her little sweet girl, Camdyn, who is almost 4, went with Riley and I on a girls-only long weekend to our sister Pam's house in Eastern Tennessee.

I could write many funny stories about our trip there, which with stops and two little girls was about 8 hours...but I'm going to keep to sharing some pics of the outside of my sister's house as well as some fun things that we did our on short stay.

First off, let me say that my sis Pam has amazing taste and her decorating is BHG-worthy.  That is why when I saw her home when we pulled up (I had not been to this house before) I about drooled.


This house has a wrap-around porch and it is HUGE!  I told her she could have a party of 200 out there.  There are 3 sitting areas, and in the back is this mammoth hydrangea bush.


My brother-in-law, Greg (who has only been married to my sis for a little over a year, and is a total keeper)  did a beautiful job on the landscaping around the house.  The trees cover the driveway and everything is lush and full.  (Dia and I were amazed at how GREEN everything was--here in Ohio we have nothing but brown lawns.)

Pam took us to a fun little town in Jonesboro, Tennessee, which is the oldest town in the state.   On Friday nights they have a live band playing on the front steps of their courthouse.  The town is full of history and charm--two of my favorites things in a small town.



The next day we went to a nearby lake and rented a pontoon boat.  SO FUN.  This lake is one of the most pristine in the country.  It was spectacular...so relaxing and scenic.  Our little ones enjoyed being the captains.


Is this gorgeous or what???

Thanks for letting me share our fun mini-vacation with you!  It was fun having some sister time and getting to be with family.  I missed my other kiddos and hubby a lot, but hopefully they can come with us next time.

So what about you, do you have relatives to visit in a fun or scenic place?  What are your favorite small towns that you have visited or secret little gems to visit?

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Monday, July 16, 2012

Beach Birthday Party {On a Budget}

This weekend we had my daughter's 7th birthday party at our house.  Now I don't have a problem with birthday parties at bounce places, bowling alleys, skating rinks, or swimming pools because she has gotten to attend many of those in the past year and they are all always fun.  However,  since we had not had a friend birthday party for her before, I really wanted it to be more traditional and simple.  I also feel when kids have their parties in public places you lose some of the personal feelings you get when they are at home.  Some parents have shelled out over $300 to rent a place.  Plus, I have been at parties with her that she barely had any contact with the birthday kiddo because they are all running around bouncing or playing all over the place and they don't even see eachother let alone really talk or interact.

That being said, we decided on a simple birthday party at our house.  We wanted a summery, beachy theme.  Riley and I found some great pieces at a nearby Party City that had some great colors in them...pink, blue, and green.  We bought the large pouf balls and a few other small things.  Then we went to the Dollar Store and got lots of goodies...pink straws, shells, leis, headbands, and flowers.

Birthday girl and her favorite little cousin

We purchased a pack of 12 pink gift bags and some foam letters at Jo Ann's on sale.  I used the foam letters to spell out Happy Birthday for the banner (I loved how this turned out!  Scrapbooking paper + ribbon + foam letters)  and the girls also got to put their name on a bag with these letters to hold their things.  We had them do this when they got to our house to give them something to do while we were waiting for all of the party-goers to arrive.



We had a headband for each girl that we got at the dollar store (6/$1).  We took apart a couple of bushes of large pink silk flowers (also from the Dollar Store) and my step-daughter, Kaitlyn, hot-glued them onto the headband.  They turned out so cute and everyone wore the headhands and leis.



I kept the decorating simple.   Other than the banner I made (which I got the idea from Courtney at
 A Thoughtful Place--thanks Courtney!), the hanging poufs (Courtney had these exact ones too--I just realized that!) and a couple other little things, I used shells, starfish and other beachy things that I already had or that fit the color scheme we were going for.


To eat we made hot dogs on the grill, mac 'n cheese, fruit skewers,  blue jello cubes (to look like water of course!), and chips.



I scored the polka-dot platter with the fruit skewers on it for 75 cents and the shell platter for 62 cents on clearance!  I love when a plan comes together!  The "tablecloth" on the sofa table that we brought out to the porch from the great room is actually an extra flat sheet from my daughter's bedding set.

For dessert, we made Funfetti cupcakes with colored icing that we made to try to match our color scheme.  We found sprinkles to match too!

We put fun sour sugared candies on skewers that the girls got to take home with them.


There's my red cart!  Didn't quite go with the scheme, but I covered it up a little with scrapbooking paper and it was great to hold the sweets.

For games, we had all kinds of "beachy" themed fun.  Here are the games we played and a short description.  I have pictures of the girls playing these but since I forgot to get permission from parents to put their daughters' pictures on my blog, I left them out.  All of the games were fun, simple, and mostly free!  If you have any questions about any of them, just e-mail me or leave or question in a comment.

Games:

Musical Towels- same as musical chairs but use their beach towels.  We had beach-sounding music going and used that to start and stop for the game.

"Hot Potato"-but with a wet sponge-  The girls sat in a circle.  As music played the girls passed around the dripping wet sponge.  When the music stopped, the girl holding the sponge had to squeeze it over her head.  We re-wet the sponge after each time to get it really wet.  They LOVED this game!

Water Balloon Toss-Traditional water balloon toss where each girl had a partner and tossed, starting out close together.  They stepped back each time until their balloon burst.

Beach Bingo--I got my set at Party City for less than $3. All of the pictures were beach related--sunglasses, bikini, sailboat, etc.

(Another game that we ran out of time to play that is cute is "Shark, Shark, Fish"--played just like Duck, Duck, Goose.)

We also had a laundry basket full of water balloons to run around and throw at eachother, and hula hoops and beach balls to play with during any down-time---all from the Dollar Store.

Our party was super-fun and successful.  I loved watching my daughter's face and hearing her giggle with her friends.  I think it will be a birthday she will never forget.



Linking up to:

The Girl Creative-Just Something I Whipped Up
My Uncommon Slice of Suburbia- Tuesday's Treasures
Take A Look Tuesday Craft Edition-Take A Look Tuesday
Trendy Treehouse Shutter Love Tuesday-Create and Share
Home Stories A2Z-Tutes and Tips
One Creative Mommy-One Creative Weekend
Hubby Made Me-Throwback Thursday
Bloom Designs
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Wednesday, July 11, 2012

Versatile Blogger Award

Imagine my happiness when not one, but two fantastic bloggers have nominated me for the Versatile Blogger Award!  Being around only 3 months and still needing to work on sooo many things on my blog, I am thrilled and honored.  I have learned so much but especially that there are so many like-minded women out there that I connect with. So many TALENTED, BEAUTIFUL WOMEN that are caring, ambitious, and creative.  They are all such inspirations to me!  I am taking baby steps and have so much more to learn.  I truly connect with so many of you--even though we are strangers!



First, StaceyAnne from Rendition Road nominated me a couple days ago.  Thank you, StaceyAnne.  You made this newbie feel so special!

Stacey's blog Rendition Road features rescued items that she takes from yuck to amazing!  I especially love her recent transformation of some old nightstands.  StaceyAnne is an expert at taking furniture pieces that most would think of as trash and turning them into amazing pieces that are drool-worthy!  If you want to know how to paint, refinish, or beautify furniture, this is the place to go!  StaceyAnne has beautiful taste and it shows in everything that she does!

Take a look at her most recent project French Graphic Bedside Tables:




What did I tell you, beautiful, right?

Then Maria Elena from Our Home Away From Home nominated me today!  Thank you Maria Elena!  Your comments made my day!

Maria Elena has beautiful taste and it shows when you take a peek at her home tour.  One picture and I was excited to see the rest of her home:


Is that magazine worthy, or what?  I also notice that she takes beautiful photos...you'll want to go over and check her out!

Both of you, StaceyAnne and Maria Elena, thank you, thank you!!!

Now I get to tell you a few things about me....

1.  I am a full-time special education teacher.  This will be my 16th year of teaching.  I currently teach K-2 in an elementary building.  Yes, I am patient.  And crazy.

2.  I have a twin sister named Claudia.  She is amazing, 2 inches taller, and I always say could beat me up.  :) She apparently stole all of the nutrients from mom when we were in the womb.  She also has a blog, yourmilitarystory.com.  AND she is also a teacher!  I also have other equally beautiful and talented sissies--they are my heroes!

3.  I have 4 great kids--1 naughty dog--and 1 amazing husband.

4.  I have been decorating and creating my whole life.  I have always thought how I could make things myself and am always looking to make things more organized and beautiful.

5.  I have an embarrassing collection of shelter magazines.  I suppose the issues from 2004 on back can be tossed since in the design world, that is totally outdated.   :(

6.  This summer I have conquered my fear of sewing..I both have now hand-sewed something and used a sewing machine.  Woo Hoo!  I also have spray-painted for the first time!  I know, I know.  Late bloomer.

7.    Let's see...last one...I dream of someday renovating an old farm house or lake house with my hubby by of course, a lake, in a quaint little town...and owning my own sweet shop of treasures that I can surrounded by daily.

Now is my chance to nominate some great bloggers!  Look at this list of fantastic blogs and make sure you visit them!  Their talent is AMAZING!

Not Just a Housewife



Here are the rules for this award:  (thanks Maria Elena for letting me steal your rules list!)

1. Thank the Blogger who nominated you.
2. Include a link to their site.
3. Include this award image in your post.

 
4. Give 7 random facts about yourself.
5. Nominate 15 other Bloggers for the award.
6. When nominating, include a link to their site.
7. Let other Bloggers know they have been nominated.

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Tuesday, July 10, 2012

Beverage Cart Pinterest Challenge!

On my last post, I picked three contenders to try to link up to the Pinterest Challenge.  I picked the one that  1)took the least amount of time and that  2)I already had the items needed on hand.  Sounds lazy, I know, but I am planning my daughter's 7th birthday party this weekend here at my house and have many other things going on, so I needed it to be that way to make the Tuesday deadline!   However, I do plan on painting my pottery and stenciling my dining room wall (see last post for those inspirations).  I already bought my stencil and paint and got the wall prepped!  From tutorials I have read on this project, I know it's a loooong process so I didn't try to break my neck (and hand) doing this one yet.  However, this month of July is sacred for me being a teacher because the month of August will be busy for me getting my classroom ready!  I still plan on doing projects and as many posts as I can in August but stenciling a wall probably won't be on the schedule.  So my goal is to do that this month, cross your fingers for me on that.

Anyway...back to my original topic...I chose to do the beverage cart as my Pinterest Challenge.  Here was the inspiration picture that I chose from Pinterest:

Pinterest
Remember, my metal cart came from my parents' basement laundry room and was holding their detergents and supplies.  I know we had this cart in our laundry room even as I was growing up, so it's been around the block.

Here is what the cart looked like when I took it from my parents' house.  This is after I swept major cobwebs and nastiness off of it just to put it in my car.  It had major rust on the bottom shelf.




All projects seem to go more smoothly when you have a cute 7 year-old helper in her PJ's, don't you think?


I ended up taking the cart apart so that I didn't have to tape or try to cover the chrome handles and sides.  I want this cart to primarily go on our enclosed back porch (see recent post on that project here)
and I wanted it a fun, punchy color, so I decided to go with this bold red.




I love that the cart is on wheels.  I plan on using it to put drinks on when we have company, plants on when we don't , and everything in between.  I have never had a cart before, so who knows?  Eventually it may turn into a mobile office.  :)

Here it is painted and put back together:



And for right now, I decided to embrace the season and make it a fun cart to go on the porch.




 I plan to use it this weekend to hold all kinds of fun for Riley's birthday party.  I can't wait to post some pictures of that soon.  I have never hosted a kids birthday party at my house before, so we'll see.

Be sure to stop back soon to see my painted pottery, stenciled wall, and birthday shenanigans.

Also, make sure you check out not only my Pinterest Challenge beverage cart, but the tons of other inspirations here.

Linking up to:
NOT Just a Housewife- Show Me What Ya Got
Centsational Girl-Pinterest Challenge
Young House Love-Pinterest Challenge
Ten June-Pinterest Challenge
Shabby Nest-Frugal Friday
French Country Cottage-Feathered Nest Friday
It's A Hodgepodge Life-It's a Hodgepodge Friday
I Love Pretty Little Things--Friday Pretties
Romantic Home--Show and Tell Friday
Sassy Sites--Feature YOU Friday
Savvy Southern Style-Wow Us Wednesdays
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