Shades of Color

Adding some bling

2010-10-08T09:00:00.000-07:00

In the middle of all my fall posts and decorating, I found the funnest hanging crystals to hang on my daughter's chandelier. Do you ever find one of those deals you just can't pass up, this was one of them. Seriously a dollar each...not per crystal, per grouping. It stopped me in my tracks, since I have been looking for something like this for a while now. I already had the beads that were draped along the top, but I always thought it needed a little more. This was perfect. Great find...and who doesn't love a little bling!

Fall on my porch

2010-10-06T14:27:00.000-07:00

One of my favorite places to be is on my front porch. I love treating it like another room in my house. I have been slowly putting out all my fall decorations these past few weeks, and I love the change of season it brings to the porch. It has been unusually warm here and my flowers are still hanging on. It feels like I am still in between seasons, but in the next few weeks I'll have my planters cleaned out and my lanterns hung. I can hardly wait!

A touch of fall

2010-09-22T13:22:00.000-07:00

I love the fall. The smells, colors, food, cool crisp days, the color of the sky. You name it, I love it. It is defiantly my favorite time of year! I am so excited to begin my fall decorating. My fireplace mantel is one of my favorite places to decorate.

Usually I put a full leafy garland and drape it across the mantle, but this year I wanted to go a little more simple. I found these oversized leaves in packages at the dollar store last year. I was decorating for my daughter's baptism, and placed them on the tables. I found them in my boxes, and decided that they would be perfect to give my mantle a new look. I think they make it look a little more updated and modern.

I love tipping over baskets and adding leaves to it int the fall. It makes me feel like those fall days you spend raking leaves and jumping in.

I found these candle sticks on clearance in the yard department in our Fred Meyer. I decided that instead of matching pumpkins this year, I would mismatch my pumpkins and add a rod iron pear I usually have in my kitchen.

I love adding a touch of fall in my kitchen as well. I added some fruit and pumpkins to my hutch in my kitchen. You can never have enough pumpkins I say.

Last, I have to show a picture of my kitchen table all done and decorated for fall. I found this great burlap table runner at Tai Pan and new I had to have it for my table. Happy Fall!

Is there anything I won't paint

2010-08-25T15:01:00.000-07:00

The title of this post makes me laugh. While my hubby has been gone out of town on business, I took the opportunity to paint my kitchen table. I have been thinking about it for a while now. All the finish was coming off, and it just looked old. I had to put a table cloth over it just to hide the ugly top.

I sanded the top and legs with very rough sand paper. Then I cleaned it off really good and rubbed a product called liquid sand that I swear by. I have painted a lot, and I mean a lot of cabinets and furniture in my day, and the paint sticks onto this product so well that there is never any chippage. I used a good enamel wall paint, the same black I used to paint my island and range hood. Then I went to painting the chairs. Not quite so fun. I prepped them the same way, but I wanted them a different color. I first painted them a mocha color I have on my hutch, but it just didn't look quite right. I decided to paint the red over it, and I loved it. I was the most nervous about chipping paint on the legs as they banged each other and the table. I decided to distress the heck out of them to make them look old anyways. Why not. I finished up with three coats of poly just to make sure we can actually eat on it. Here is the finished product. I still need to put my centerpiece on it and a runner, but I am waiting to make sure it is good and dry. It was a fun project, and only took me a couple of days. Not bad at all.

By the way, the reason I titled this post the way I did, was because of my dear family. I called my hubby and he laughed and said he wasn't surprised I was painting the table. He said there is probably nothing I wouldn't put a coat of paint on. Hmmmm.....maybe, maybe not.

Flowers, words, and playing in the yard

2010-08-06T14:21:00.000-07:00

It has seriously been too long since I have had time to think about or do anything on this blog. Summer has been fun around here. I have been having a great time with the kids, but I am starting to get a little excited about school starting. Time alone...time to think...time to be creative! Can't wait. Just this past week, I have had a little time to finish a flower arrangement I wanted to do for my kitchen table. I found the vase at Hobby Lobby and decided to fill it up. I know... the colors are fall, but they are my very favorite colors and make me happy all over! My ultimate goal...before winter...is to paint my kitchen table. Can't wait for that project!

I am still working on my son's room. I wanted to put some vynil up on the wall, and was looking for the perfect quote. I had a great one about character...very inspiring I thought. My son was begging for this one. Seriously begging. Well, it's his room isn't it. I bought it, and put it up above the magnet board. I think it looks good and is funny in a quirky kind of way.

I have been having a great time in my yard too. It's summer, we must not forget about all the outside fun. I love my yard this year. The weather has been cooler and rainier than normal, and the flowers are beautiful. I love just sitting outside, listening to the kids play, and enjoying a good book! Happy weekend!

Friday Favorites

2010-07-16T13:57:00.000-07:00

This Friday I decided to post a couple of my favorite things. I am a sucker for old doors and windows. This window is my absolute favorite. It not only is my favorite window, but I have my favorite fabric behind it. A red toile quilt pattern. I made window treatments out of this in my old home, and had just enough to put it behind my window to take with me. My second favorite is this old door I found at a local antique store. I put a wreath on it, added a painted letter, and put on a vynil saying. I love how it turned out, and it fills a long wall space perfectly. Well, the weather is hot, and smoothies are calling. Have a great weekend!

Magnet board

2010-07-14T15:34:00.000-07:00

Do you remember this ladder I had left over from my son's old bed? I had something in mind for what I wanted to do with it in his new room.

I decided to turn it the other way and make it into a magnet board for above his shelf. I just took sheet metal, cut it to the size of the openings, nailed them on, and trimmed the bottoms out with quarter round wood. I decided to leave two empty for shelves to put fun things on...he has already decided it is the perfect place to display his old pine wood derby cars.

Here it is with the desk. Don't you just love the mini water cooler? It kind of makes me shudder, but it is seriously his favorite thing in his room.

I got some wall shelves from Target. They came in black, but I sprayed them the same chocolate color of his stripes. He chose some of his things and artwork to display next to his bed. They also work great as an end table. I also found some fun furry pillows today at TJ Maxx. I love a great deal!

Desk Makeover

2010-07-12T15:42:00.000-07:00

I spent last week working on my son's room. I found this desk at an antique store. He loved it, so I brought it home. I like the lines of it, but it just needed a little paint and some TLC.

I took the colors from the stripes I painted on the wall, and put them on the desk. I love the way it pops against the green wall. The nice part of buying something second hand is that I could customize it and make it my own for very little money. It is the perfect size for his room and he loves it! I have a few more things to hang and I will be ready to show the end result!

Inspired

2010-07-02T13:35:00.000-07:00

My husband and I just got back from a two week trip to Paris and Belgium. It was a lot of fun, and so nice to spend time together. I came back so inspired! I love all the architcture that surrounded me everywhere. The light posts that lined the streets were one of my favorites. I want to put one like that in my yard for sure!

I love the columns, chandeliers, rooms, and colors that were everywhere. There was so much red, yellow, creams, and blue used in all the places we visited. I was drawn to the design immediately. I loved all the arches around the windows in this room. Very inspirational.

Shopping was so much fun there. I love the chandelier I found in this store, and I am dying to copy this mirror! Unfortunately for my hubby, I came back armed with a lot of pictures and great ideas to copy. I am still working on finishing my boy's room, and I will post pics when I get it done!

Paint, Stripes, and a boy's room make over

2010-06-03T14:45:00.000-07:00

Do you ever wonder what you were thinking? All of a sudden the kids are out of school and you decide it would be a great time to re-do your son's room. HA. Well, that is exactly the boat I am in. My son has had his bed up on the wall for about six years now, and he has just outgrown it. We had talked about taking it down and fixing his room up for a while now. My hubby had to leave for a few weeks on business, so the plans kept getting pushed back. Finally, we have made some progress.

This is what the room looked like before. The picture was an afterthought after I started tearing apart the room. He isn't the neatest boy (what eleven year old boy is), but I am hoping that getting rid of the big monster desk that collects tons of paper and dare I say crap will help the room immensely. I am going to down size the desk and put the bed on the floor.

Here is the room now. We have taken down the bed, painted the walls apple green, and striped turqoise and brown stripes on the focal wall. I always say that the stripes will be easy, but after two days of striping I am eating my words. I love how it turned out so far. I am far from done...and have a lot of fun ideas to put into action. But for now, I am just glad the bed is back in, and my son is happy. I'll report more progress later.
By the way, I can't wait to show you what I am doing with this!

A new life for an old desk

2010-05-24T14:25:00.000-07:00

Recently, I had to purchase a desk for my oldest daughter's room. I went looking at all the local thrift and antiques stores, and came across this lovely yellow desk. My husband looked at my funny and asked if I was seriously going to buy that one, and I of course said yes. I looked past the color, and at the great lines and details I could add paint to. Her room is three shades of raspberry and green so I added those colors to the desk. I love how all the details popped with each color I added. My very favorite thing to do is to give old furniture a new life. It is cost effective and very fun to do. I have to add a little tip, my favorite product to use while painting furniture is liquid sand. I rub this on before I paint, to clean and believe it or not "sand" it. The paint adheres to the surface so well after I use this product. I even used it on my cabinets before I paint them, and seriously get no chips in the paint. My daughter loves her desk, and I love projects I can get done in one day!

I heart Wainscotting!

2010-05-18T15:14:00.000-07:00

I absolutely love wainscoting. I knew when I first walked into this house, it was what it needed. When my hubby and I decided to remodel the main level of our home, I knew that I wanted this in my living room. We looked around and priced a few pre made kits, and in the end, decided to just make it ourselves. My hubby and his brother took mdf boards and routered them to finish off the edges. We nailed backer board to the wall and added the routered boards. I primed and painted them white. I decided to put it up higher in the living room than in the hall. I liked the look of the piano against the white. It was a lot of work, measuring and making it all fit and look right, but in the end I totally love it.

Rag Wreath

2010-05-10T15:35:00.000-07:00

I decided I wanted a different look on the porch this year. All my pots and door were painted a green and blue. I wanted to paint everything gray except the red chairs. I like how it turned out. It kind of has a country modern feel to it. I love how a little paint can transform a space and give it a completely different feeling. I wanted a different wreath to hang on my door this summer, so I thought of making a rag wreath with all of my extra fabric in my craft room. This literally cost me a couple of dollars for the metal wreath form. I just ripped strips of fabric and tied them together on the wire to form the wreath. That easy...way fast..and a great look!

A new color for the guest bath

2010-05-06T13:43:00.000-07:00

Here's a picture of my guest bathroom before my change. Not too bad, but when I switched the paint color in my kitchen, I wanted to paint a color that complimented that new color change better. Can I just say, photographing a small bathroom like this is a bit challenging.

I saw this sink, and fell in love! I new that I had to put this sink in the bathroom. It is small enough to fit in the space, but now I have a place to store all my towels and T.P.

I painted the room a gray blue color that is in my squares in the family room. After I painted it, I wanted to add another touch. We decided to add beadboard to the ceiling instead of crown molding. Very fun and different touch. I like the way it adds light and interest to the room. By the way, I found this great tin piece at TJ Maxx, and new it went perfect with the bathroom.

Here is a finished picture of the room. As far as a bathroom goes, we love it. Now I need to get motivated enough (talk my husband into) to paint the laundry across the hall.

A touch of color

2010-05-03T08:00:00.000-07:00

As part of our kitchen re-model, we decided to paint the whole main level of our home. I chose the soft yellow color I love so much, but I needed something that popped. I love love love color. I decided I would paint a pattern of different color squares I pulled from the family room rug. This was time consuming, but not hard. The trick to it was to use a laser level and draw the squares out with a pencil. Then instead of taping the squares, I just painted the outline with a painter's brush, and filled in the rest with a larger brush. There was no touch up from pulling the tape and all my lines were clean. Really, not that hard, I kind of found it relaxing. Crazy, I know, but that is what painting does to me.
Above the mantle is a mirror. This was our original plan, to disguise the TV behind a two way mirror. Cool idea right. It was great until the sun shone in, then you couldn't see the TV great. Drove my Hubby nuts. We decided pretty quickly, this was not working and had to come up with another plan. We decided to build up above the mantle with a sort of frame. We framed it out with wood and put sconces on the columns I found in the outdoor lighting department. We love how it turned out, and everyone is happy. Me, because it just isn't a TV hanging above the mantle, and my husband because he can see the TV better.

A kitchen Re Do

2010-04-29T14:13:00.000-07:00

After a lot of thought and consideration, I have decided to come back to my decorating blog. I love the creative outlet it gives me and the fun people I get to talk to and meet. I love how it pushes me to think about and create fun projects to show and tell about them. I am excited to start posting again and sharing fun and exciting ideas about the things that I love.

So when I stopped this blog I was in the middle of a kitchen re-do. It was such a fun and exciting process, and I love the end result. We completely gutted the kitchen. Took out all the cabinets, and created a slightly different footprint. This is the picture of the kitchen we had before. The cabinets were an old oak, and I painted them cream to add some interest. I loved this kitchen and my colors, but the cabinets and floor were old, and it was time for a change.

It was a very big project. A lot of time and energy went into making the kitchen how we wanted it. It was weird to see how small the kitchen felt without any cabinets in it.

We installed cream cabinets for the main cabinetry, and bought wood cabinets to make our island with. My husband added molding, corbals, and a shelf. I painted the whole thing black to add some color and interest. We did the backsplash in cream bricks and accented it with color glass tile. For a pop of red that I am always in need for I added these fun red pendanat lights above the island.

I went in a different direction this time with color. I wanted something a little more soft and neutral. The color I chose and love is Martha Stewart's onion skin from Sherwin Williams. I love the soft cherriness it gives the room. My hubby and I built and designed the range hood for above the stove, and I painted it the contrasting black. I also painted the existing hutch a carmel color to match the colors in the glass tiles. We love how the room came together, it was a fun and exciting project to do together.

A kitchen Island inspiration

2009-03-12T12:51:00.001-07:00

We are in the beginning of a kitchen remodel at our house. We decided to customize our kitchen island. I have been searching pictures for some inspiration. I came upon this image on google and I love love love it! We'll have to see how close I come to this!

Some before pictures

2009-03-09T10:51:00.001-07:00

Well, my project is starting this week, so I decided to go around taking some before pictures so I can look back and remember what things use to look like.

Here is my green in my entry. I am going to paint this the color of my living room now. We are going to also add some wainscotting up the stairs and down the hall.Here is my yellow living room which is going to be a surprise to even me what color it is going to be painted. This color is one of my favorite colors I have ever painted, so I know I will enjoy it throughout other parts of my home.

Here is my red family room and kitchen. This will look very different with new cabinets and paint color. Before you gasp, the cabinets I have now are over twenty years old, I just painted them when we moved in.

Hope you enjoyed the before pics. Can't wait to show you the after!

A little of this and a little of that!

2009-03-06T06:43:00.001-08:00

Happy Friday! Whew, what a week I just had. My blog was seriously neglected this week due to parent teacher conferences for my kids, no school for my kids, basically my kids. lol I did however, get outside to start putting out some of my spring decor. It was so lovely and warm that day, and guess what, it's snowing today. Typical March weather. We have a remodel coming up real soon so I need to start seriously finding my paint colors. I have been desperately trying to find the right combination and just couldn't get it. Just the other day my Romantic Homes magazine came in my mail and there it was. My inspiration! I love this color and room. I decided to try the color in my living room.
I went to Lowes and got a couple of quarts of paint. The blue green is for the front room, the light yellow is for my entry, kitchen and great room.
Yes, gasp, I am painting over my red! My favorite red. The hubby says I need to lighten it up a bit. I chose this soft yellowish color, Marthat Stewart's onion skin for the color choice. Don't worry, there will be plenty of red still popping up!
Seriously, what am I doing? I love love love this color, but I still don't know. We are going to put wainscotting on the bottom half of the walls and paint it a crisp white. This blue green color will be on the top half. I am going to live with it for a couple of days and see. Does anyone else have committment issues when it comes to paint? ARGGH!! Have a great weekend!

Letter Letter on the Wall

2009-03-02T10:56:00.001-08:00

A while back I decided to change up the window treatments in my daughter's room. The old ones were just a valence of napkins that went across the top of her window. After putting them up, I decided that the blank space in between needed something more. I didn't know what, so I thought about it for a while. Finally the other day, I came up with some extra time and decided to stencil a phrase above the window. I did it in my other daughter's room, why not in this one. I think it turned out great and was a FREE and creative way to solve my problem. Very easy, and in literally ten minutes I had a great feature above my window.

A small Friday favorite

2009-02-27T08:00:00.000-08:00

I love snowmen. I always keep a few out around my home all year. I just recently got this one for Christmas. It was a gift from my Aunt and I love it. Happy Friday!

Re-using the old

2009-02-25T12:16:00.000-08:00

I love fixing up old pieces of furniture. Not only is it cost effective, it becomes a one of a kind piece for your room. I had this old dresser given to me from my mom. She used this when she was a girl, and my brother had it in his room too. I painted the outside of it the cream color that is on the top part of my girl's walls. I painted the doors the green color and stenciled a rose pattern on it. I found this mirror at Ross on clearance for ten bucks. I know! I spray painted it cream and hung it above the dresser. I love the way it turned out. Very specific for her room.I had this end table in my living room. it was painted black. I took the same colors from her room and dressed it up with a little paint. I added some little roses and painted a big green diamond on top. I distressed the whole thing and voila, a fun free end table for a little girl's room.

I'm in the mood for a change!

2009-02-23T12:07:00.000-08:00

Here it is. My snowball of change going on. It all started with the need to replace the old floors. Well, since we are putting new wood down, we might want to replace the kitchen now so it won't ruin the floors later, hmmm.....since we are doing this, how about adding some wainscotting on the walls in the living room and up the stairs....hmmmm.....That sounds good, how about changing the colors, doing something we've never done before....wow...this is going to be a big project! So there you have it, aside from being the longest run on sentence ever, this is where my mind has been lately. Trying to get it all right. Here are some color ideas I might try. I might change it up some, we'll see. Stay tuned!

A Friday Favorite

2009-02-20T10:54:00.000-08:00

One of my favorite things in my home are the topiaries I have placed around. I have been taking pictures of my flower arrangements lately, I think I am excited for spring or something. I made this light yellow topiary for my entry a couple of years ago. I just snipped off the tops of the roses and hot glued them on large Styrofoam balls. I put two sticks in it and placed it in a inexpensive painted terracotta pot.I bought this one at Michaels a few years ago. I love the colors, it matches my family room perfectly.
I just bought this to go above my closet in my entry. I like the interesting shape of it and how it softens the space up there.
I made this to go by my piano. I just bought a metal topiary form from the garden department and took some ivy and wrapped it around. An easy, fast and cheap way to add a little foliage in any room.

Adding interest with paint

2009-02-18T10:40:00.001-08:00

I love picking and using colorful colors in my home. Paint is a pretty, quick, and cheap change you can use in any room. I love using many colors, stripes, and shades in my rooms to add some interest. I used these two shades of green in my hallway. I picked the lighter one first and went two shades down on the same paint swatch, and painted the darker color for the bottom. It is so much more interesting to me than just the same shade of green.I love putting stripes in any room. It looks like art on the wall and adds a ton of personality. I use a laser level and tape off my stripes. In this room I used three different colors, stenciled a scallop edge and dotted the middle stripe with the room colors.
I striped this room with three different shades of raspberry. I added some scallops and stenciled a pattern on the middle stripe.
My son's room is in the basement. He wanted to have navy blue and lime green in his room. These colors would have been too dark in there, so I painted the room a light neutral color then added striped of the colors he chose.

Unique flower containers

2009-02-16T10:13:00.001-08:00

I like to add color using flowers and foliage in my home. Most...ummm...all of them are fake, and I know, if I were Martha they would all be real and beautiful. The fact of the matter is I kill most every indoor plant that comes my way, so this is my substitution. I like to find different, fun containers to put the arrangements in that are specific to a room I have decorated.

These flowers are in my guest bedroom. I have a cream and black toile bedspread on the bed, so I was so excited when I found this cute toile box at TJ Maxx. It fits the arrangement perfectly for that room.When my daughter was born I had some flowers delivered to me in this cute container. When the flowers were spent, I added some silk ones that matched her room.
I love water pitchers. I found this one for my room and added some flowers in it to soften the top of my secretary.
I like to find small trunks and add flowers to them. It is interesting and different and a fun way to display an arrangement.
I found this container at the craft store. I put some foliage in it and have it on my kitchen counter to add some texture and interest.

Hello Hello does this thing still work?

2009-02-13T14:06:00.001-08:00

It has been too long since I have posted last, and I have been seriously neglecting my blog. This being said, I thought I would try today and see if this thing still worked. Ha Ha. I had to post pictures of my sugar cookies I made for my son's class Valentine's party I did yesterday. That is one of the reasons I have been absent lately. I was going to take some pics of the laundry basket full of games and crafts, but I was running late, stressed and forgot. Anywhoo... I am so happy to say I survived the party and most importantly, it is the last one I have to do this year! YEA! I hope everyone has a happy and fun Valentine's day tomorrow! Eat something sweet for me!

Some of my Favorites

2009-02-06T10:27:00.000-08:00

I was looking around my house and noticed a few things my hubby and I have built and also some things that were given to me that my Grandpa built. I love these things because they are original, sentimental, and have memories associated with them. They help me remember the person every time I look at them.

My Husband and I built this screen while we were living in our first home. It had a big living room that needed something to fill up part of a wall. We got some plywood and drew up a design, cut it out and painted it. I decided to stripe it to add some interest and hung a plaster piece I found at a local antique store. I put it in our living room now and painted it to match the color of our foyer. It brings in the color of the entry and marries it with the living room. I love this old table. It was my desk when I was a little girl. It was lime green at the time and my mom stripped the paint off to show the original wood. My Grandpa made this when my mom was young and they had it in their house. I love using things that have been passes along.
This is another piece that my Grandpa made for me when I was little. I used it for playing house in my room. I took it with me and now have it in my upstairs hall.
We built this when we were living in our other house as well. It is made from two by fours made to look like pieces of picket fence. I painted brown underneath and crackled white on top. I put it in the stairway going down to our basement now.

Dressing up those windows

2009-02-04T12:42:00.001-08:00

I think that window treatments add so much pattern, color, drama, you name it, to a room. I love to be creative with mine.

Here are the window treatments I have in my upstairs family room. My hubby cut out a board to the size I wanted. We added some molding, paint, and some knobs to hang the drapes from. I wanted to make it look like an old architectural piece to add some interest to my windows. I loved how it turned out.
Here is my living room window. These are the first window treatments I've ever sewn. I just sewed squares together, added some tassels, and draped them over a tension rod.
I did the same thing for my kitchen windows.
We made this cornice to go on our downstairs family room window. I covered it with fabric and ribbon and sewed small squares and hot glued them at the bottom.
This valence was our old shower curtain from our old house. I cut it and hemmed it, pulled it up with some extra ribbon I had hanging around, and voila....a great FREE window treatment.
This is my son's window. I don't show his room often...probably because it is never clean enough to get a good picture. We hung a couple of old golf clubs and draped three lime green place mats and two blue napkins on it. So easy and cheap!

A valentine craft...From Me?

2009-01-30T10:36:00.001-08:00

So I finally broke down and did it. I made a Valentine's wreath to go on my porch screen outside on my porch. It isn't like I have anything against the holiday itself, I just have never found myself decorating for it much. Now that I have seen all the cute crafts and decorations everyone has shown in blog land, I got kind of inspired. I got a foam wreath form, some ribbon, and some roses, all from the dollar store. Only cost me four dollars. I wound the ribbon around the form and hot glued the roses on. It was so much fun I may even do another valentine's craft someday soon. Hmmm...don't hold your breath. Ha ha

Shopping in the garden department

2009-01-27T12:46:00.000-08:00

I love to shop in the garden department not only for my outside garden, but for the inside of my home as well. I think it adds interest to a room and is fun to figure out new ways to use things.

I found this pedestal on clearance the end of the summer season and I knew just where I would put it in my home.I found these iron pieces and sprayed them to match my room. I hung them on either side of a picture I have in my hall.
I love re purposing flower containers. I loved the rose on this one so I tipped it over on my table to show the design and add a little interest.
I found this urn and decided it would be perfect for this small orange tree I have in my kitchen.
I love this pot. I have gone back and fourth on whether to take it outside or keep it in my house. I think when I put the sticks in it, I decided the perfect place for it was in my stair landing.
I love birdhouses. I have found some fun ones on clearance over at the local nursery. I like to look at them all year long, but it especially cheers me up on those cold winter days.

A room fit for a Princess

2009-01-23T10:13:00.001-08:00

I have to say I have been a horrible blogger this week. My week has just gotten away from me and before I knew it, it was Friday. I had a little extra time this morning and I decided I would post some pictures of my oldest daughter's room. Warning....extra girly post!

Here is the dresser that started it all. This was mine when I was growing up and my mom passed it along to my daughter. The problem was it is yellow and blue and my daughter wanted pink. I decided to add a combination of many different colors to make it work.I found this desk at the antique store for about thirty bucks. It was all white so of course I added some colorful touches to match the walls. I painted the top of the desk yellow and stenciled pink diamonds on top. I found the old chair at a garage sale painted it white and added the same colorful details.
I wanted to make her a large bulletin board to display her art. We had some scrap wood and molding in the garage and put this together. I painted it pink and added her name.
This is her picket fence shelf we made her for her birthday one year. I painted it white and added some flower stencils for some added interest. She loves to display all her collectibles on it.

I love her drapes. I made them with my mom a few months back, and hung them with ribbon off of nails. I hot glued silk roses to the nail heads to hide them. I put a round wood table in the center so she could have her tea parties.
These pictures are of the whole room. I striped the walls to give it the look of wainscotting. I love doing kids rooms. You can just let your imagination go wild!

Some picture frames and a shelf make over

2009-01-14T12:52:00.001-08:00

I found these tins for my daughter's room at Michaels a few years ago. I hung them above her closet and just felt they needed something.So.... drew a whimsical shape on some particle board and my husband cut them out for me. I painted them the same raspberry color as her walls, stenciled some small green flowers on them, and taped the tins on the back. It was a free instant pop of color that those tins needed.

I found this shelf at Ross for five dollars. Can you believe that! I know I couldn't. I couldn't just walk by, so I knew it had to come home with me.
I decided to spray paint it cream and add some raspberry and green to match my daughter's room. I like the way the details popped when I added the extra color.

Organizing

2009-01-12T08:00:00.000-08:00

I am joining the party over at Thrifty Decor Chic today. It is all about organizing and de-cluttering our homes. Here are a few things I do in my home that help me organize my things.

I love this can organizer I found at Costco a while back. It rotates the cans for me so I don't have to worry about using the old cans first.I found these cute boxes and baskets at Ross and decided they would be perfect to hold my stamps and sewing supplies in my craft room. I love it when things are functional and pretty too.
I use this glass hurricane to hold my loose buttons in my craft room. The buttons are both organized and serve as an accessory to my room.
My little girl got these nesting suitcases for Christmas. She loves to store her little trinkets in them and carry them around with her to play.
I love canvas totes. I have two in my other daughter's closet that help keep her build a bear clothes and small toys like her littlest pet shops. She can just pull them, play, and clean up easily after.
I had my daughter help me paint a few of these bags. We did one for their play beauty supplies and we this one for some baby clothes, blankets and bottles for her dolls. She had a lot of fun helping with this project.

A Friday Favorite

2009-01-09T09:42:00.000-08:00

The new year has got me thinking. A lot of friends have posted about their favorite projects of the past year, and I have to say my bathroom ranks up on the top of my list. We re-did our master bathroom after living with nineties decor for four years. I am so sad I don't have a before picture. I looked everywhere and decided we probably just video taped it instead. But imagine this, white formica counters oak cabinets, white walls, and the worst royal blue small ceramic tile you have ever seen. Needless to say, this was a fun room to update!

I painted my cabinets black and distressed them. Got a new counter top and tiled the back splash. I painted the walls the same color of my bedroom ceiling. I found these sinks at Lowes. I knew I had to have them. Our counters were a little low for my hubby, so this was a great solution to raise them up. Don't you love the faucet!
Awe....a picture of the toilet. Yes this is the water closet. I just added some dry flowers to a vase and framed an old calendar picture I had laying around.
Here is a picture of our shower. I put the same tile as the floors in the shower and we added a little detail in the center. My hubby did all this, and I think it turned out great!

If walls could talk

2009-01-07T13:12:00.000-08:00

I love words in a room. I have some vinyl lettering I have found and put it on a few of my walls in my home. I put this in my guest room. This one I painted a green frame and put it on my living room walls.
I stenciled this above my daughter's window in her room.
I have a few word signs hanging as well. I love using these words as art around my house!

It's about time!

2009-01-05T12:52:00.000-08:00

I am posting this post because since it is the new year I feel I am thinking about time a little more. What things I want to change or do this new year! Besides the fact that some days I lack the time to get a lot of things done, I love clocks. Here are some clocks I have around my home.

I have this clock sitting on my hutch in my kitchen.This clock is hanging above my piano downstairs. I look at it when I am on the computer to see how much time I have left to blog. Ha Ha
I found this clock at an antique store. I love iron, and I love it more when it looks old and weathered.
I have this clock on the shelf in my living room. It plays a cute song every hour.
My grandma gave me this clock a while back. I have it sitting on my piano in my living room. It makes me think of her when I look at it.
I found this one to go in my youngest daughter's room. I did her room kind of shabby chic so this went well.
This is my favorite clock in my whole house. I'll tell you why. My hubby made this for my when my first two kids were just little. I wanted a clock like this so bad for our home and he surprised me with it one Christmas morning. I still love it every time I see it.

Let it snow!

2008-12-29T13:35:00.001-08:00

Christmas day at our house was fun and white. We got about two feet of snow that day. It was beautiful because we didn't have to go anywhere and drive in it, but I feel bad for those people who had to be on the roads. I love the way it makes the Christmas lights look.
Here is a picture of our piles. That is the top of our tree. We were pretty sick of shoveling snow by the end of the day.

Have yourself a very Merry Christmas!

2008-12-25T00:00:00.000-08:00

Wishing you a Very Merry Christmas and a very Happy New Year!

A few more Christmas touches, and a white Christmas

2008-12-23T09:00:00.000-08:00

Here are some touches I have added above my closet in my entry. I love the pop of red the poinsettias give to a room!
I love adding berry wreaths around during Christmas. I have this one hanging on my old door.
I have this one hung next to my wall in my stairway going downstairs.
It is defiantly going to be a white Christmas at our house!

Christmas in my basement

2008-12-22T09:00:00.000-08:00

Here are some Christmas touches I have put downstairs in my family room. Here is the top of our downstairs piano. I found these hatboxes in a thrift store. They were about five dollars all together. I thought they were a great find, and I love Christmas hatboxes.

I put this arrangement on a wicker basket I have next to my chair.

I made this Santa when I was in middle school. It was my first real craft project.
My mom gave me these a few years ago. My kids love having them on.

I heart my santas!

2008-12-19T09:00:00.000-08:00

I have shown some of my santas in other posts, but here are some of my favorites! I have put some of them on my hope chest with some other Christmas touches. They make me smile to look at when I come into my family room.Here is my large santa. I put him on my pedistal and he greets everyone who comes into my foyer.

A few touches to my banister

2008-12-17T09:00:00.000-08:00

I love garland along the stairway banister at Christmas time. I love walking in and having the lights greet me. For my banister I chose some thin, lacey garland and strung some lights in it. I think it reminds me of something soft and old fashioned.

I hung these Santa tins off each rung and filled them with some of the garland. I love the stripes and old world Santas on them.

Some Christmas touches in my kitchen

2008-12-15T12:45:00.001-08:00

Here are some touches of Christmas that adds a little spirit in my kitchen. It is where I spend the most time, so I always make sure I decorate it for the season!

I added some berry rings in the cups of my chandelier and hung my rusty stars from it.I added some more berries in my light fixture above my island to add some pop and color.
I kept my container with the pine cones in it from fall, and I added some sprigs of berries in glass containers to surround it.
I have had this snowman and Santa forever. I liked how rustic they looked when I bought them.
Here is my hutch again. I always put my village on it.
I added a little color to the shelf on my island, and carried the berry theme down to that shelf.

Some Christmas Friday Favorites

2008-12-12T09:00:00.000-08:00

Here are a few of my favorite things. My two villages. I put one village on my hutch in my kitchen, and one in my living room on my old dresser. Just looking at them makes me want to live back in time. OK, I don't know why all my text is underlined, can't figure it out so I'm just going to leave it! UGH! Happy Weekend to everyone!

Some more touches of Christmas and some paint cans?

2008-12-10T12:19:00.001-08:00

Here is a few touches in my living room. We got this nativity when we got married and my girls love to look at it and rearrange all the characters.Here is a mini tree I put some glittered fruit on to add a little more Christmas to my table.
Here is my living room tree. I put my violins on it and my old world Santa. I had to do a small tree for that room because I have too much furniture to fit a bigger tree.
Here is my favorite ornament. I love old Santa Clauses.
I love putting the violins in the tree next to the piano. Kind of a musical themed tree.
I just got finished with these paint cans. I don't know if I love them or not. I am going to put some treats in them for some neighbors and teachers. Hmmmm.... we'll see if I change my mind!

A couple of trees and a Mantle

2008-12-08T09:00:00.001-08:00

Here is my tree in my family room. I call this my memory tree. It has all the ornaments we have collected over the years as a family. Every time I get the ornaments out each Christmas it brings many happy memories back from years gone by.This is our tree topper. I love old world Santas. My husband and I got this the first year we were married and I put it on top of the tree every year.
I love to add homemade touches to my trees. I dried thinly sliced oranges in my oven on a low heat and put hooks at the top. They smell so good as they are drying, and they keep year after year. I also make gingerbread men out of applesauce and cinnamon. I have had these forever too.
We put our tree inside a hose container we found at the garden department. We just put the tree in the center opening, and fill the bottom with Christmas lights and silver balls. I thought this was a great idea until my tree tipped over yesterday. I need to come up with a better method to hold it up! I also have wrapped boxes in some santa toile wrapping I found a few years back.
This is the other tree by the mantle. It is my overflow tree since I have so many fun ornaments.
This is a picture of the whole mantle. I went pretty simple this year. I usually have topiaries and candles up there, but I just felt a little less fancy this year.
I use some of the dried oranges and gingerbread men and scatter them through the garland to match the trees.
The stockings are all hung waiting for Santa to come to our house!

A TV cabinet Re-do and some Christmas touches

2008-12-04T11:15:00.000-08:00

Here is the before picture of our TV cabinet. My husband built this for us last year when we were painting the downstairs family room. I had seen these cabinets for well over a thousand dollars and of course, didn't want to spend that. We drew up the plans and then my hubby built it, and I painted it. I love the way it turned out. Well, the TV in the cabinet suddenly died on us, and of course we "had" to get a bigger TV. The only problem was that it wouldn't fit in the TV opening. My hubby took it outside, sawed it in half and ......Here it is! Just a little bit bigger. He added the keystone in the center to save the molding and arch and added some small cd shelves along the side. I think it turned out great, and you could never tell it was once cut in half.
I added some garland with lights on top and some fun snowmen since it is downstairs with the kid's tree. I love my snowman hat box!
I just added a few Christmas touches to the things that were there so I wouldn't have to find somewhere to store all my non christmas things. I just added some snowmen and put my round ornaments in my containers. I love the way Christmas things make everything become festive and fun!

Oh Christmas Tree and Candy Canes!

2008-12-02T12:30:00.000-08:00

Remember these?They became this!
This is our downstairs kid's tree. The one Santa stops by and leaves gifts under. I got the candy canes and lollipops painted and I love how they turned out on this tree! It just puts me in the Christmas mood every time I look at it!

A few of my favorite things!

2008-12-01T07:41:00.001-08:00

I had to get in on it! The party over at Thrifty Decor Chick. Since it is Christmas time and I am in the holiday mood, I had to show one of my favorite parts of Christmas! This is Christmas time on my front porch.

I love garland. I love it draped everywhere with lights, without lights, you name it. I had to string garland in front of my porch railings to welcome all who visits! I love the red berries, it adds just a little Christmas pop!
I love to decorate my porch, my red chairs, my christmas pillows, my lantern which reminds me of a Dicken's Christmas. I love my old screen door and my latest find, a sled which I can leave out all winter!
Here it is all lit up. Did I mention I love Christmas lights at night! There is nothing like them! I have to say I love my old whisky barrel which usually has flowers in it, now has pinecones with lights underneath to add a fun glow!

Here is my house. Did I mention one of my most favorite things is my hubby who spends time to light up our house to make it look fun and festive. We only did the porch this year so you can't see the top half of my house in the dark.
One last thing, and I don't have a pic sorry....I have to say that as I was straightening up my house this morning I happened upon my nine year old son's room. He actually cleaned it....well! I felt that I needed to put that on my favorite things list this morning!

Some finished projects and some just getting started!

2008-11-24T12:20:00.000-08:00

I had shown this magnet board earlier with my Christmas gift ideas. I finally got it painted and hung in my kid's playroom. I just painted it red and distressed it a little. My kids are having a blast playing restaurant and hanging their papers on it. While I was taking pictures of the magnet board, I just decided to take some pictures of the whole room. This is a little storage area under my stairs in my basement. Last year my daughter wanted the rose petal cottage for Christmas. She was six at the time, and I thought she would grow out of it too quickly. I made a bargain with her and told her that I would make a little house for her under the stairs. The kids love to play here, and it is their own little spot to make a mess in!

I have seen the cutest letters on plaques all over blog land. I decided I needed to make some for my girls. I grabbed some letters from the craft store and decoupaged the paper onto the plaque and letters. I love how whimisical they turned out.

Here is a sneak peak of a project we just cut out on Saturday. I am making candy canes and lollipops to go on my tree. Can't wait to show you when they are done!

Some great finds and a quick Christmas ornament

2008-11-20T09:50:00.001-08:00

I did a little shopping this past weekend and found some fun finds at great prices. I love that combination! I found this pear at Ross for a great price. I am going to put it on my island as part of my buffet for Thanksgiving.I also found this iron canister (I don't know what to call it) at Ross at the same time. I have seen these at other stores for much more money, but it was on clearance there. I put some pine cones in it as a decoration, but I am going to use it for thanksgiving to put my rolls in.
I found this old sled at the antique store along with this old window. I am going to put mat in the window for my mom for Christmas so she can put some photos in it. I am planning on putting the sled on my porch. I was thinking of painting it, but my husband said it would look better just as it is. We'll see!
I made a trip to Hobby Lobby this last weekend. It is an hour and a half away so I had to stock up. I bought some cute decorations for my daughter's room and some glass balls to make ornaments.
Here are the ornaments that I made. I saw this idea at the "I made it party" hosted by just a girl. I can't remember who did this, so let me know if it was you! I just rolled up strips of scrap book paper and stuck them inside. I found some decals at the scrap book store and added some bows on top.

I just bought some paper basket filler and put it inside for these ones. I also put some decals on the front of these, but decided to not do a bow. These were so fast and fun to do! It put me right in the mood for Christmas!

Mirror Mirror on the wall

2008-11-17T10:23:00.000-08:00

First of all I would like to thank Coco from Get With it Mom for this fun Autumn Friends Award. How fun is that ! I was so excited to get it! I love visiting her place, she always has great ideas!
So I need to list five things I have always wanted to do.

Here it goes:
1: Visit Europe
2:Ice skate in Central Park (I love New York!)
3: Build a house
4: Have a family
5: Open a Store

So I need to pass this award along to three other friends. Here they are
Sarah from Thrifty Decor Chick
Angie from The Happy Homebody
Nicole from Our Cozy Nest

So here are some mirrors I love that are around my home. I love mirrors and the way they can bring more light in a room, or make the room feel bigger. I try to find different looking mirrors to add interest to a room.

Here is a mirror I found to go above the sink in my guest bath. I love the iron and the way it looks like a window.
I found this mirror at a local boutique. I love the knob on the side, and I just had to get it.
I found this window box at another boutique. My husband and I added the mirror in the back and I put a flower arrangement in the front. I have this hanging above my couch in my family room and I love the interest it adds in that room.
I have shown this mirror before, but I love this mirror I think the best. It is a long old window. We took out the glass and added a mirror behind. I have it hanging in my bathroom.

An idea for that old wood

2008-11-12T12:08:00.000-08:00

So I had this cut wood sitting in my garage I had bought for a different craft for the longest time. My husband kept asking me if I was going to do anything with it, and I came up with some fun ideas.

I got some wood letters from JoAnns and some fall scrapbook paper. I painted the wood to match the paper and decoupaged the paper onto the letters. I was out of modge podge so I just added a little water to my kid's elmer's school glue. It worked great! I think I am going to do this every time. I also made some Christmas ones too! I found some JOY letters and did the same process for that, then I decided to stencil and distress the Ho Ho on the other wood. It was a fun, fast, and cheap project anyone can do!

Christmas gift ideas!

2008-11-10T08:08:00.000-08:00

Yea! So I am joining the party over at Just a Gir l. I have come up with some ideas for gifts to give away for Christmas. I am so excited to share these and get other gift ideas from other people!

I am going to do this for my family this year. It is so easy and inexpensive. I had my husband cut and router the wood, then I painted it and had vinyl lettering made to go on it. If you don't want to use vinyl lettering painting the words would work just fine too!I love scrapbook paper, but I don't usually use it for it's intended purpose. I made this recipe card holder using a tin box purchased at my craft store. I covered it with paper and ribbon, then tied a ton of ribbons on the handle. Put some of your favorite recipes inside and you've got yourself a great gift for anyone who loves to cook!
I gave these books away to my family when I was in college. It is a Christmas advent book. Each day starting December 1st there is a Christmas story inside to read as a family before bed. I use still use this every year, and my kids look forward to reading a story with me every night.

I just made this on Saturday so it isn't completely finished yet. I am making this for my kid's playroom, but as I was making it I thought what a great Christmas gift this would be. It is just a square piece of tin framed with some old bead board we had in the garage. The great part of it is that the tin fits right in the slats of the bead board. You could even make some great magnets to go with it!

Friday Favorites

2008-11-07T13:48:00.000-08:00

I was looking around my kitchen the other day and discovered that I had quite a few tea pots placed around. I didn't do this intentionally, but I guess it just happened.

This is my favorite teapot and saucer. I found this at a boutique while shopping with my husband. It was fifty percent off as a seasonal item. I fell in love with this, and knew I had to have it to put a little bit of whimsy in my kitchen.I had this rusty pot filled with flowers in my storage room for the longest time. After Christmas last year, I re-did the top of my hutch and found that it went perfectly there.
I love this birdhouse teapot. I have it inside of my hutch right next to my other favorites, my oversized fruit.
I got this teapot during one of my Tai Pan shopping trips. I like how it looks old and weathered, and I love it on top of my armoire.
Lastly, this was the first teapot I ever bought. I found this at an antique shop here in town. I love it's old and simple look.

Picture picture on the wall

2008-11-05T12:33:00.001-08:00

I think pictures can add so much life and personality to a room. A person's artwork on their wall can say a lot about them. I love art and color, and I love to find great ways to hang my pictures to add interest to my room. Here are a few inexpensive creative ways I have found to add some personality to my home.

This is a grouping I did in my downstairs family room. When we bought the house the previous owners had a wood beam hung on the wall. We removed the beam and noticed that there was an obvious mark where the beam was. I decided to paint a red stripe along the wall and outline it in black. Then I found these hooks at Lowes and decided to hang some family picture from it. I found the quote at a local craft store that I thought went well and tied the whole thing together.
I had this frame up in my room for a while with some random photos stuck in it. I really didn't like how it turned out, so I went to the scrapbook store one day and found some paper and did a layout behind the glass. I hung it up above my secretary in my room. I love looking at it and the fun pictures of my youngest daughter I put in it.

This picture is hung in the middle of my stairway in my entry. When we were in college and didn't have a lot of money we discovered puzzles. This picture is a puzzle my husband and I put together and matted and framed. It gives a lot of great pop without a lot of money.
I had these tins hanging above my cabinets in my other house. I didn't want to hang them in the kitchen in this home, so my husband made me these great frames out of some extra beadboard we had in the garage. I painted them black and hung them on the wall going up my stairs.
Lastly, I finally dug out a picture of the before of my kitchen. I had some fellow bloggers asking to see the before, so here it is. Not a pretty sight. The picture isn't that great because I had to scan it in. I had this wallpaper in the whole kitchen, down my hall, and in the entry. The sound of the wallpaper steamer still gives me creeps to this day!

A Few Charming Blogs

2008-11-04T12:54:00.000-08:00

I have recieved an award from my friend Angie over at the Happy Homebody. I thank her and love reading her blog and seeing her fun decorating ideas! So heres how it goes:

"These blogs are exceedingly charming. These kind bloggers aim to find and make friends. They are not interested in self-aggrandizement. Our hope is that when the ribbons of these prizes are cut, even more friendships are propagated. Please give attention to these writers. Deliver this award to eight bloggers who must choose eight more and include this cleverly written text into the body of the award. "

So there it is...I hope I copied it correctly. Here are some other bloggers I have chosen

Coco from Get with it mom
Kim from Home is where the heart is
Jen from Time out for me
Lori from Be different, act normal
Erin from Life is a banquet-gather round
Sara from Thrifty Decor Chick
Chris from Just a Girl
Jennie from the Johnson Journal

Headboards on a budget

2008-11-03T08:27:00.001-08:00

I don't think I have ever bought a bedroom set for any of my bedrooms. Don't get me wrong, I would love to if I could, but I am on a budget. So...when there is a budget, one must get creative. Here are some creative headboards my husband and I came up with for some of the rooms in our house.

We made this headboard for my master bedroom in my other house. It now lives in our guest room. We got some plywood and cut it to size and added some crown molding and a decal. I painted the first coat black and the top coat cream, then I sanded it all over to make it look aged and worn.
This is a headboard in my daughter's room. We were looking for something girly to go behind her bed. I was at the furniture store one day and saw a mirror that was supposed to go on top of a bedroom dresser. I asked the salesman how much, and I found out it was a very reasonable price. I got excited and decided right then to make it into my daughter's headboard. When I told the salesman what I was going to do with it, he thought I was crazy, but oh well! I painted the wood white and distressed it. I took out the mirror and cut a piece of plywood to fit. Then I took some batting and covered the wood with some fabric. It was so easy and fun and gave the bed just the look I wanted.

This is my headboard in my bedroom now. We wanted something a little more modern. My husband cut out square pieces of plywood, we covered the plywood with batting and material, then we screwed it all into another piece of plywood that fit the bed. I alternated the pattern of the fabric to add some interest then we added some molding to finish off the top and the sides. That was the cheapest headboard we have done, but I love the effect it created.

Happy Halloween!

2008-10-31T08:11:00.001-07:00

Happy Halloween! This is about as spooky as we get around here! Here's to a safe and spooktacular halloween!

A week of halloween fun!?!

2008-10-30T12:32:00.001-07:00

So here it is, my week of fun. Hmmmm.....I don't know about that! I think I am officially crazy. I got a note home from school asking me to be room mom this year for my nine year old son's school class. I have done a lot of parties in my mom career so far, but this one is the most intimidating! I think it is because it is for the older kids, and I don't want to be the lame mom. Ha Ha... So this week instead of doing fun fall crafts, or decorating something in my home, I have been making pinatas and spider suckers. I wanted to do a pinata for his class, but most pinatas cost about thirty dollars. I decided to make one (they are just going to bash it anyways), and it was my favorite price...free!Here is our craft. I love pipe cleaners and googley eyes, and the kids love suckers. Hopefully they'll like it!
I made these caramel apples for some neighbors and friends. I took the caramel wraps and wrapped them around the apples then I dipped them in chocolate and nuts or sprinkles. Then I had left over chocolate so I drizzled them on top. They look kind of messy right now, but they are pretty when they are wrapped up. It is such a fun and easy little gift to give!

Weekend of Pumpkins

2008-10-28T12:48:00.001-07:00

This weekend my family and I drove to Logan to see their annual pumpkin walk. People create scenes using pumpkins and put them in a park for people to come and enjoy. It is so fun, and I can't believe how creative people are with their pumpkins. My kids look forward to this every year, and we always have a great time while we are there. I thought I would share a few pictures of some I thought were extra creative!

Ok, I 'm not trying to get political on you, but I thought this was hilarious. It's Obama in a crib with a sign that says too young and McCain in a rocker with a sign that says too old. So funny!I loved what they did with this tractor and the corn stalks behind it.
This was so creative...it actually had a water fountain running in the pumpkins.

Fab Four!

2008-10-27T12:39:00.001-07:00

Yea, I have been tagged again! Allyson from House of Stephens tagged me, so here it goes!

Pick your 4th folder
Pick your 4th photo
Explain it ... Pick four people to tag!

My fourth folder was about my kitchen. I did a paint re-do. My kitchen was full of blue and pink wallpaper, pink formica countertops with bright blue ceramic tile on the backsplash. It was like the year 1990 had thrown up in my kitchen. I painted my cabinets cream and distressed them, then I painted my island and desk black. We put new formica on the island, and my husband tiled around the counters. I love red, so I painted the walls a barn red. That was my fourth post, so I picked four pictures to go with it. It is funny this was the post, because my friend Angie was asking about seeing all of my kitchen the other day! Thanks Allyson for the tag!

Here are four more people I decided to pass this along to!

Angie from the Happy Homebody

Coco from Get with it mom

M.L. from House of Whimsy

Lori from Be different, Act normal

Lights that light my house

2008-10-24T10:39:00.001-07:00

I have a problem, I must confess I am hooked on chandeliers. I have them all over my home. I think they have such a way of adding life, interest, and a little romance in a room. I love how you can add character to them like I have done here. I added these inexpensive lamp shades I found at Lowes. I love the beads and thread dangling down. It adds a little whimsy to my kitchen.

This is my chandelier in my entry. When we moved in, there was brass everywhere. We changed all the doors and locks to oil rubbed bronze, but there was a problem I didn't have the budget to buy a new large chandelier. Simple solution. We took down the old chandelier and sprayed it with an oil rubbed bronze spray. All of a sudden we could see all the character and lines in the light fixture. It is one of my favorites.
I found this chandelier at Lowes again. A while ago we got a new grand piano in our living room. I wanted something above it that was a little more formal. I found this and noticed the middle section looked a little like a treble clef. Perfect light for my music room!
I got this chandelier at Walmart for five dollars believe it or not. It was plain white so I added some color. My daughter's room is full of color so I added the colors from her wall and fabric right to the chandelier. Then I found some beads at Walmart and had her string them on the wire. She had so much fun participating, and I love the way they sparkle at night.
I found this light at Lowes again. Do you see a theme? This one is in my other daughter's room. She has raspberry and cream in her room, so the light fit perfectly.
This chandelier is in my sitting room. It was small and fit the space perfectly. I found these shades that had a pattern in them that mimicked the rug under my bed. I think it adds a ton of romance in that space.
I love this light. It is in my craft/guest room. I don't have a lot of silver or blue in my home, but I found this and decided to try something new. I love the way it compliments my blue room.
So there you have it, that is my little obsession. I think lighting is the jewelery of a room and can really set the mood and tone that you are trying to achieve!

Pumpkins

2008-10-23T13:33:00.000-07:00

I found this pumpkin in a pot at JoAnns the other day and I wanted to put it on my table for a centerpiece. I love pumpkins and fall, and I knew I could use it clear into November. I was looking at the rest of my kitchen and wanted to do something on my island. I found three terra-cotta pots at the craft store and painted them an olive green and distressed them. Then I put a piece of floral foam inside and covered it with some moss. I got some plain plastic pumpkins on clearance and painted and glittered them for some interest and sparkle. I glued some berries down then glued my pumkins right on top. It was such a fast and easy project, now my kitchen feels more like fall. As I was taking my pictures of these pumpkins, I noticed I had a lot of pumpkins around my home. I had to take a picture of one of my favorites. I bought a plastic hollow pumpkin and filled it with a bunch of fall florals. I love to find new and exciting ways to use pumpkins in my home! I have to say, it is has been so fun to read other people's blogs and see their fun and exciting ways to use pumpkins. It just keeps me motivated to keep making my house feel more like fall.

I've Been Tagged!

2008-10-21T12:59:00.000-07:00

So I have been tagged. How exciting is that! Thanks a bunch to my friend over at
Thrifty Decor Chick for tagging me! Love her blog!

OK...Here are the rules!
Link to the person who tagged you, and post the rules in your post

Share 7 random/weird facts about yourself
Tag 7 random people at the end of your blog and link to their blogs
Let each person know they've been tagged by leaving a comment on their blog

So here goes...7 random things about myself. HMMM....

#1 - My favorite place I have ever visited has been New York City. Granted, I haven't been to a lot of places in my life, but that was absolutely by far the best trip I have ever taken.

#2 - My absolutely favorite movie of all time is Gone with the Wind. I am a hopeless romantic and I could watch this movie over and over again. But, since I am married, and my husband is not a hopeless romantic, the times I watch it have been sparse over the years.

#3 - I have three darling kids. When I was pregnant with my first child, the ultra sound told me the baby was going to be a girl. Surprise....after 24 hours of labor, I had an adorable little boy. Boy was I shocked! Needless to say, we had a lot of pink outfits to return.

#4 - My very favorite color is red. I think it goes well with my personality. I am very organized, and I am a little bit of a control freak. One might call me a Type -A personality.

#5 - I enjoy all kinds of music from John Denver to Bon Jovi. We are a musical family. I play the flute, piano, and sing and my kids and husband all play the piano. There is always music playing at our house.

#6 - I think I am the most uncoordinated person when it comes to sports you've ever seen. I always hated the gym class volleyball games. The ball always seemed to come directly for my head.

#7 - I will probably eat just about anything. I am not a picky eater. One of my favorite foods is lasagna. I ordered this for my second birthday along with a German Chocolate cake. My mom thought I was crazy. Yep, I love to eat, and I love to cook!

So there you go...I hope I didn't bore anyone to death. I do not like talking about myself, so this was hard. I have loved seeing everyone's blogs and getting inspired to make my home beautiful!

Here are seven blogs I am going to tag:

Jenny from The Red Bulletin Board
Liz from Mabel's house
Shannon from Bless our Nest
Erin from Life is a Banquet
Kim from Home is where the heart is
Betsy from Snips Snails and mommy tales
Watch the wind blow by

Adding a Little Personality to my Yard

2008-10-20T13:15:00.000-07:00

So Fall is here, and I finally have to suck it up and realize that. It is not that I don't love the fall, it is just that we had snow until the middle of June here this year and a ton of snow last week. So now that everything is dead, I had to clean out my yard for the winter months ahead. Now that I have completely depressed you, (not the reason for this entry), I thought I needed to take some last pictures of my favorite finds in my yard before they go in for the winter.

Here is an old garden gate I found at an antique store. I took one look at it, and knew I needed it to hold up my raspberries. I love the old worn out iron look and the detail on this fence. It was just what the raspberries needed.

Here is another old piece of iron I found . I decided to put it in my garden and train my vine to climb it.
Here is another old window. Yep, I'm obsessed. I hung it on the side of my shed with a wreath to welcome people into the yard.
I found this at Tai Pan for about ten dollars I think. I gave it a coat of red paint and plant my purple petunias in it.
I found this at the same antique store I found the gate. I love having this sitting in my front garden filled with daisies and impatients. As for now, I think it is the perfect pumpkin holder.There it is, my "fall garden". It has been fun to look for unique and fun pieces and use them to decorate the yard!

Oh to be Organized!

2008-10-18T15:36:00.000-07:00

So today was clean out the yard for winter day. Yes,much to their disappointment our cute little slaves even had to get in on it. Now that it is done, I love how clean things look. It got me thinking, I need to organize my house now. This is my absolute favorite book. I got this book from my husband for Christmas with a label maker a couple of years back and I love it! "Sorry for the lame gift" he said, but I have to say I drooled over it then and I still do. I wish I could take the pictures in this book and just transplant them into my home. Check out the closet and the armoire for the little baby. I would love to open my closet in the morning to this! My absolute favorite page is the craft armoire. I would die for something like this to store my craft supplies! Well, I guess I better get motivated and tackle one room at a time...Happy organizing to you!

My faux fireplace

2008-10-16T13:29:00.001-07:00

This picture is of my living room in my first home. The room was large, and there was no architectural detail to it. Me and my husband decided what it needed was a fireplace. This was our first house, and we were right out of college. Needless to say, we didn't have the money for a real fireplace so we did the next best thing. We made a faux one! I loved it in that room and I think it added some interest it needed. Please pardon the pic...I had to scan it in, it was taken before the time of my digital camera!

When we moved into our new home, it already had a beautiful gas fireplace and mantel in it. We didn't know what to do with our fireplace. I looked around and thought about it, and it dawned on me. It would be a romantic place in the sitting room of our bedroom. I took pictures of it in my room, and pictures of the whole sitting room. I painted my room red of course. My favorite color, and painted the fireplace a soft cream color to compliment it.

The frame of the mirror I have hung over the fireplace was a gift given to me by a neighbor I grew up by. She was an extraordinary artist and had many beautiful frames like this hanging around. I love looking at it and thinking of her.

I found these chairs and table at a local antique store. I cleaned up the chairs and reupholstered them with fabric to match my bedding. I painted the little table the same cream color to match the fireplace.

I found this urn at the same store and had to have it. I love the rustic look of it, and the texture it gives to the fireplace mantel.

I also found this birdhouse at the same place and knew that I had to have it for my room. Don't you just love all the little details on it?

Here is what my whole sitting room looks like with the fireplace in it. I love the way it looks and the warmth it gives to the room.

Old Windows and doors

2008-10-14T12:43:00.000-07:00

You might say I am obsessed with old windows and doors. I love them. To me, they tell a story of things past. Many things can be seen looking through a window, many people could have walked through the old door. What stories can they tell us? I love buying them from the antique store and bringing them home to find a use for them. I have put fabric that I love behind some of them.

I was in need of a full length mirror in my bathroom, so I found this long window and thought it would be perfect hanging on my wall between my bedroom and bathroom. I love it, and it is angled just enough to make me look skinny.

I like to display family pictures in some of my windows. I added matts and pictures to some of the panes, and scrapbook paper that matched my room in the others.

This was the first window I ever bought. I kept it just the way I got it and hung it above my closet in my entry. I love the old chipped paint and broken panes. I think it gives the window character.

Here are two old doors I found. One I put behind my chair in my family room to add a little interest to it, and one I put on my porch to welcome any visitors.

I put some photos of my kids in this one and hung it in my family room. Now that I look at it, I think I better update those photos. Hope you like some ideas for using old doors and window!

Bathroom Mirror

2008-10-13T14:08:00.001-07:00

My girls have a jack-and-jill bathroom between their rooms. They chose the color purple to be painted in there. I was not in love with the color, so I tried to come up with some ways to make it better. They had a long mirror above their sinks that was not framed. I drew out the pattern I wanted on some wood and my husband cut it out for me. We also drew some over-sized flowers to go on it, and I painted them with all different pastel colors and dotted them with the back of a push pin. I also painted poka dots all over the frame to add whimsy and color. I found some wooden letters at the craft store that spelled out their names, and painted them to match the mirror so each girl knew which sink was hers. It was a very easy and inexpensive way to add some life and personality into that room.

Project for my craft room

2008-10-11T20:09:00.000-07:00

Here is a before and after of a picture frame I made. I had these old cream wooden picture frames I had hung over the guest bed in my guest/craft room. They always sort of bugged me and I needed to add a little more pattern and color into that room. I found the cutest scrapbook paper at the Hobby Lobby and decided to use that to cover the frames and add a little color. I added some flower chipboard which I also covered in that paper, and some random letters. I hung them on the wall next to my craft cabinet. I had this cabinet since we were in college. It was an inexpensive white cabinet I bought at Walmart. I painted it cream and stenciled letters and a gingham pattern on the front. I took out the glass on the doors and added chicken wire. It was a fun and inexpensive project that added some life to an old piece.

new front door

2008-10-09T12:59:00.001-07:00

Here it is. My new front door. I am so exctied to have this door. My old door had seen better days and just didn't fit the style of my home. I found this door at Home Depot and we stained it a rich cherry color to match the floors we are going to put in the main level. I have been waiting for this door for a very long time, and I think it gives the entry the character it needs.

Fall in Idaho

2008-10-06T12:37:00.000-07:00

Idaho may not have a ton to offer in the way of shopping and entertainment....who's complaining. But...we sure have beautiful falls! We took the kids up the canyon to take some fall pictures and found a beautiful spot at Cherry Springs. I love the smell of the leaves, and the crunch under my feet when I walk through the falling leaves. I also love the fall colors. Most of my house is decorated in those colors. They are very comforting colors to me. I think that the kids had fun playing in the leaves, and I had fun just being in the mountains enjoying mother nature's wonder.

Raspberry Sherbet

2008-09-30T13:30:00.000-07:00

Raspberry sherbet pretty much sums up my daughter's room. Everything in her room is a shade of raspberry, cream, or green. I striped her walls with three descending colors on a color swatch. I scalloped the bottom of the horizontal strip to soften the linear pattern, and I added some personality with a stencil. I found some raspberry and cream fabric which I made both the window treatments, the bed skirt, and reupholstered the chair with the remaining fabric and added the green on the dresser with a little paint on the drawers.
I think it looks both girly and old fashioned. Everything was done on a budget which makes it fun and full of personality.

My great find!

2008-09-30T13:16:00.000-07:00

I went to the antique store a couple of Saturdays ago looking for an old window for my mom for Christmas. As I was going through all the windows, I looked up, and there was the cutest canopy bed frame. I instantly thought of my little two year old. She was growing out of her toddler bed and I made her the deal that if she would potty in the big potty, I would buy her a princess bed. I looked at it more closely and decided that this is what I would like to get and went to pay for it. Come to find out, it only cost thirty dollars. I couldn't believe my ears. I took it home and gave it a cream coat of paint and painted the middle raspberry and green to match her bed spread. I felt pretty good about that shopping trip!

Summer or Fall?

2008-09-30T13:10:00.000-07:00

I added my corn stalks to my front porch the other day and looked back and realized that all my flowers and plants still look great. Usually when I am putting up my stalks all the flowers have frozen and things look more fall-like. Oh well, I can't complain about the beautiful weather...I actually hope it decides to stay!

Happy Fall

2008-09-23T13:24:00.000-07:00

Fall just kind of snuck up on me this year. Before I knew it, it was the middle of September and I hadn't put out my fall things yet. I love to just put touches of fall throughout my home. My husband tells me that the house already has fall colors in it, so it is easy to incorporate the fall into my decorating. I put my leaves and pumpkins on my mantle and decorated my old dresser in my living room with leaves and wicker pumpkins. On the top of my closet in my entry way I added some leaves and a white pumkin to tie in with my white flower that is already sitting on top of the suitcase. Doing this put me right in the mood to cook some warm soup and make caramel apples with my kids. Happy fall to you!

Updating with paint

2008-09-22T13:21:00.000-07:00

Here are some pictures of my kitchen. I need to find some pictures of how it looked before. Old oak early 90's cabinets, bright blue wallpaper with bright pink flowers on it. White counter tops....UGH! I defiantly needed to make some updates. Since gutting the kitchen wasn't in the budget, I decided to use paint. I painted the cabinets a light cream color and distressed them. I added new oil rubbed bronze hardware, and painted the island black. My husband added the shelf on the end of the island to make it look more custom, then tiled the counter tops around the side. We bought a formica counter top to put on the island that looks like granite. It was a relatively easy update that cost a lot less than gutting the whole kitchen. I love my hutch. It was custom and came with the house. I had painted it first, and then quickly decided to paint my cabinets to match. I painted my walls red, and everything pops with color and life.

Living Room

2008-09-08T12:30:00.000-07:00

Here is a picture of part of my living room. I painted the walls a light yellow mustard color called onion skin. I painted a large area of my green color in my entry to highlight the quote that I have above the wall of my piano. I love everything old and used. I found the old window at a local antique store. I didn't know exactly what I wanted to do with it, and I had some left over fabric from some window treatments in my old house. I stapled the fabric onto the back of the window and it showcases it nicely. I was so sad I couldn't take along my window treatments when I moved, but I am happy that I have a memory of them still in my living room.

Front Porch

2008-09-04T13:29:00.001-07:00

This is one of my favorite spots of my home. It is my front porch. I had decided that if I ever did get a front porch I would decorate it like a room in my house. I used to have a wooden bench, but I ended up putting that in my backyard. On my search for new chairs on my porch, I came across some red chairs at Pier One. Unfortunately, they only had one, and I knew that the search was on for red chairs. I found some unfinished wooden chairs at TJ Maxx, and I painted them red. I love the pop of color it adds to the porch. I found my Lantern on a trip that I took with my family to Boise a few years back, and I feel it gives the porch a homey feel. I love old doors and windows. I found this old screen door at an antique store here in town, and I knew I had to have it for my porch. I painted it a green color I had from my walls in my entry, and hang seasonal wreaths on it. I love summer, my flowers, and a welcoming porch that says come in and sit down!

My first post

2008-09-03T13:17:00.000-07:00

This is my first post on this blog. I have another blog where I post fun pictures and activities about my family. My absolute passion is decorating my home. It has become a fun hobby for me since I have become a stay at home mom. I am always curious how other people decorate their homes, and I love looking at decorating blogs from real people. I have been thinking about this for a while, and thought it would be fun to post some of my pictures from my home in hopes I might inspire others to play with color and design. This is my home. I live in Pocatello Idaho with my three kids and husband. I fell in love with this home when I saw the front porch. My favorite movies are Anne of Green Gables and Gone with the Wind. I love the homes in both of these movies because of their front porches. I am a romantic at heart, and a front porch is so romantic to me. Sitting out at night, watching the kids play, and just relaxing, that is the best part of life for me.