Happily Domesticated

Busy Husband….

2012-02-03T12:57:00.001-08:00

My birthday is coming up and for my birthday Matt has agreed to build me a crafting table! No more folding tables for me!! Maybe the new table will help me feel creative again and I can catch up on my scrapbooking!

Here are the ones I am leaning towards.

This one is nice. I would modify the sides though to fit my Cricut.

Although I like this one as well but I don’t think I like the sides. It looks messy to me. I love this whole room in fact.

and before he builds that, he will be turning our old coffee table into a craft table for Cohen that will also go into the craft room. How cute is this?!!

Cohen turns 2! Airplane Birthday Party

2011-12-15T06:57:00.001-08:00

They party has come and gone and what took me 5 months to plan only took about an hour and a half to throw. I will let the photos tell the story.

Don’t judge me. I know “claim” is spelled wrong. It was fixed. I was having major foggy brain this day. I could barely get out a story! What’s even funnier is when I asked Matt to look at that sign he said “Ba-gauge?” I said , “no, baggage is spelled correctly”… spelling it’s our homes strong point.

These are the goody bags

Present table aka “Checked-Baggage”

Airplanes in the entry

Time zone wall and directions to the restroom.

Map banners

“Come Fly Away” banner

The signs that got staked into the yard (forgot to take photos =(

One reads Cohen Airlines the other reads Terminal C

We converted half of the garage into a room. We hung light blue plastic table cloths from the dollar store and I cut out and taped white clouds to them. I ran more airplanes on fishing wire from one side of the room to the other and then added crape paper and balloons.

I am really sad I didn’t get a photo with all the food on the table. We had cute little mini sandwiches my mom made and nachos (which are always a hit)

The tables were lined with more maps. We had a lot of maps already from Matt’s military days and and then picked up a lot of city maps from the thrift store for $.25 each.

Another view of the garage with the happy birthday cloud banner. This room was the big hang out. Who doesn’t love to be around food?

Glider airplane anyone???

Airplane propeller pops

And our little pilot, complete with his costume.

The party was great and Cohen got some really cool gifts and at almost a week later, we are still trying to get our house back in order!! It was tiring but so cute.

I have come to realize that I need to no worry about the small things, like airplane cut cheese or airplane cut cookies. Chances are they will be left in the fridge and forgotten about and all those hours of hard work are wasted.

I love yard sales!!

2011-11-18T13:02:00.001-08:00

I LOVE yard sales. LOVE them. It’s probably one of my favorite things to do . I get all excited and my heart starts racing when I pull up to one and see kids clothes, kids toys or furniture.

I also love my iPhone. It has an app that was made just for me. It’s called the yard sale app and it links up with craigslist and plots all the yard sales on a map. Then it knows my location and tells me all of the sales around me. Since we are at the end of yard sale season I didn’t expect to find anything good when I looked this past weekend. Sometimes you don’t need a bunch of yard sales, you just need that one GOOD one.

Well I found my one good one. A home daycare and preschool that was closing and selling off everything. They started at 9 am and I was there at 9:01.

By the time I left I had a huge pile of stuff and a lot of it was free. I walked away with only spending $20 and am kicking myself now for not buying more stuff (like puzzles and educational things)

It was like Christmas in our house when I got home. I even considered putting some of it away until Christmas since some of the items were on the Christmas list to get him (table and chairs and a trike). Hey, he is 2. He isn’t going to know or care if it’s used! I won’t be able to get away with it for much longer. I did end up letting him have it all. He skipped his nap 2 days in a row after getting the toys. He never skips his nap. Excitement maybe??

Now I think all he will get from us for Christmas is clothes, which he needs!

Here are the items I scored

Table and 2 chairs- FREE! The lady said there was come missing screws and it was wobbly. Matt added the new screws and I tightened it up and it’s perfect!!! These tables are easily $100. I know since it was on Cohen’s Christmas list. He loves the table. He plays with his toys and eats snacks.

The 2 big soft cars. One police and one fire truck. We just pulled the other one he has, a school bus, down from the closet that morning. In the past he hasn’t cared to much for it but this morning he did. This was an exciting find. $2 each.

All the toys on the table were FREE. They are baby toys and will be put up for baby brother.

Tools. He is getting a tool set for his birthday from Grandma and these will add to it. $.75 for all

I don’t even know what to call this but we have blocks that also have these little dots and they stack on top of each other. Cohen enjoys it. $4

Another baby toy although Cohen enjoys playing with it. The Roll-a-Round balls fit it and we have a lot of those plus it came with a box of them. $2

The magna doodle $1

The trike. It’s the kind that folds down. $4

This little race car track which has been his favorite $3

Enjoying his table

A few weeks ago while shopping for his birthday décor at Goodwill I came across this pirate ship water table, new in box and everything still packages. I scanned the bar code with my phone and saw it retailed for $89.99. I paid $20. This will be a birthday/Christmas gift even though he won’t be able to use it for at least another 6-8 months

Is it too early to start nesting???

2011-11-17T13:59:00.001-08:00

I have got some major nesting going on over here! I am ready to give me entire house an over haul.

First, I want board and batten in my entry way and up the stair way and into the upstairs landing. I think it NEEDS to happen. It will make the area so much better. I also want to paint the toe kick part of the stairs and the wood piece that attaches them all to the wall. I am thinking something like this would be perfect.

Here is what it looks like currently… Actually the stair photos are from when we moved in so those are old but they definitely need to be freshened up. The board and batten and all the white paint just make everything seem so clean.

I pretty much just want my entire house to be board and batten. Matt should be starting the board and batten in the baby room this weekend. I told him he might as well not even put his stuff away cause I want it through out the entire house! I think if he gets in his groove he can become a pro and knock a room out every weekend. I want it in the bathrooms, our bedroom, the craft room and the living room! I think I have issues. And another thing… I want it all done now!! He asked me if I was going to help him and I said, “Yes” then he looks at my stomach and says, “HOW??!!” I am fully capable of painting and with board and batten I think it’s half the battle. It needs probably 5 coats of just white paint on even inch of wood. But the end result is amazing. The board and batten gives such a custom look to a room and it will up our value. Plus, if he wants to live here for a long time he is going to have to turn this into my dream home! So far he is doing a good job. I am beginning to think I need to learn how to do board and batten that way I won’t have to wait around and nag on him the whole time.

Ok on to the next project. I want to paint my front door black. All I need to do is go get the paint but I am worried with the weather being cold that it’s not the right time. It won’t adhere correctly if it’s cold outside and the door is freezing (since it’s metal and all) But it’s something I want to do every time I look at it.

Here are some crafts I have done this past week.

I found this frame at a yard sale for $1. I spray painted it black and then duct taped burlap fabric (that I got at a thrift store for $.60) around the cardbaord. I then traced and painted a big L on it and hung it on the empty wall in our living room. Total cost for this project, $1.60.

At the same yard sale I got this huge frame and print. The lady gave it to me free since she said the print needed some TLC. I didn’t care about the print, I wanted the frame. I planned on redoing it but I have never re-done one that had a fabric boarder. It was pretty simple after I dissembled it, spray painted and then nailed it back together.

The fabric was still in good shape and matched the rest of my stuff, burlap! It looks so good now.

I had planned the put the frame above our bed but decided to do something else with it.

Another thing that has been bugging me was my photo wall. Every since we moved and I did it, it has been bugging me. So I redid it.

De-cluttered it really. I think it looks better but Matt prefers it the other way. Can you see the new frame?? It’s now the center point on the wall.

and lastly, my panty. It’s been on my todo list for months. I just never know how to get it quite organized the way I want. So I spend an evening covering old diaper boxes in some fabric I had. It was simple really, I basically just wrapped the boxes like I would wrap a regular box and instead of taping on the sides, I taped everything to the bottom oh and not just with normal tape, but DUCT tape. We have become great friends lately. The insides do not look that pretty but who cares?? They sit high on a shelf and are filed with things that only get used every once in a while, like plastic cutlery, cookie cutters and candles.

Now, I really need some my book shelves in the living room to hold the toys that are on the shelves. I really hate seeing kids toys out. I think they should all be hidden away in little compartments. If I can figured out how to fabric a box so it can withstand a beating and it not require a lot of time and effort, that would be great! I have more projects to post but this is about all I have in me for now.

A start on the baby room…

2011-10-17T13:43:00.001-07:00

Matt threw out his back again this past week so after having his birthday party on Saturday, he said on Sunday he wasn’t going to do anything…

Next thing I know he is starting the demo and framing for the baby room. Cohen got to help too. He is a natural and should be building his own stuff in no time.

I call this: Operation close the doorway between two bedrooms.

Before:

During:

Here is what is looks like currently. This week sometime he will be adding the frame work inside the the opening and then putting up the dry wall and texture. From there he will start on the board and batten and the book cases.

I have also chosen a color for the room…I think. It’s Valspar’s Birdbath Grey. Now, I could change my mind a few more times before it’s actually time to start painting though…

Happy Autumn

2011-09-24T07:08:00.001-07:00

Happy first day of Fall. My favorite time of year. It is fun decorating a new house this year. I look forward to falling leaves, the changing colors of the trees and Apple Hill!!

Coming soon will be my post on how I made this Autumn sign. So simple. Took me all of maybe 30 minutes.

I love fresh flowers in the house… for some reason is makes my house feel cleaner?? So cheery.

Yard Sales Finds

2011-09-04T18:30:00.001-07:00

Matt had friends in town this weekend. They got in very late Friday night. When I woke up at 6 am, they were still all up! So, after they went to bed Cohen and I snuck out to a yard sale I found on my “Yard Sale” app. They advertised lots of kids stuff and it being super cheap! So we headed over.

It was super cheap. I wish I could have found more stuff.

Clothes were $.25 each

This Snuzzler was only $2 and brand new! I wanted one of these when Cohen was little and knew one day I would find one for cheap.

All of these toys were FREE!

My total for this trip was only $3! Not too shabby!

Dream Nursery

2011-08-26T07:18:00.001-07:00

My friend Emily came over to visit yesterday and brought me the Baby and Children's Room catalogue from Restoration Hardware… Why have I never seen this before??!

Every room is exactly what I want for the baby nursery. I am going to have fun recreating the perfect room at a fourth of restorations cost.

The colors are calm and neutral. Whites and beiges and burlaps. Vintage and classic. Here are some I LOVE.

This one (bottom) might be my favorite. Love the iron crib. I have always dreamed of having a nursery with an iron crib but have yet to find one under $800.

Here are some big boy (and girl) rooms that I love

Would this nit be the cutest school room??!

Coming soon in March 2012

2011-08-04T13:26:00.001-07:00

Cohen is going to be a big brother come March 2012!!

I am 7 weeks along and feeling all kinds of ill. The joys of pregnancy!

Cohen is pretty excited with the news, too! =)

7 weeks down

33 weeks to go!

My Husband Rocks!

2011-07-26T15:40:00.001-07:00

The first thing we wanted to do when we moved into our house was replace the awful DIY painted concrete countertops. Most of the varnish/sealant as warn off, it had burn marks, scratches and no matter how much I scrubbed, I couldn’t get them clean. It felt dirty all the time and I hated cooking in there.

We had plans to get granite within weeks of moving in and then our plumbing needed to be fixed, which took all of our money we had allotted for the kitchen. So I thought it would be a long time before I got my dream kitchen.

So instead, about 2 months ago, we decided to sand down the concrete countertops, give them a new coat of black paint and seal them. It was a way for me to know they were clean and anything that touched the top was from me! Well, after putting on the varnish that needed to cure for 3 days, we had a freak rain storm and our ceiling sprung a leak and dripped over a large spot of the countertops. Since the sealant had not cured yet, it caused it to bubble up and peel away from the counter. It wasn’t pretty!

So, I go to Texas to visit the in-laws for 9 days.

When I came home, this is what I saw. My mouth dropped open and I was speechless.

My wonderful Husband did all this in a weeks time and surprised me. It is SOO pretty and is exactly what I would have picked out had I done it myself.

Our dishwasher died the same week so I he got me a new one of those as well. LOVE it.

Now all we need is a new fridge and it’s complete!

The sink is HUGE. We joke that we could bath a 5 year old in it. It’s wide. It’s deep and it’s an undermount which I LOVE! and the faucet and soap dispenser, my fave!

It’s the prettiest kitchen I have ever had!! My husband is the best.

BEFORE and AFTERS

Thrift Store finding

2011-07-23T13:03:00.001-07:00

Thrift store findings…

Man, I love this thrift store. Everything half off on Wednesday and Saturdays.

I got Cohen a snow jacket for $2

3 button up shirts (2 from Target 1 from Children's Place) for $.50-$.69 each

and a long sleeve stripe shirt from Children’s Place for $.50

Total was around $5 and that was with tax

They also had an accent chair there for $13.00. It would have been $6 and I am now kicking myself for not getting it. It was ugly shape but the overall structure of it was nice. Clean lines and it was comfortable. It would be been a good piece to have professionally reupholstered…

Maybe I will go back Wednesday and see if they still have it… It might be “meant to be”

A room fit for a cowboy

2011-06-30T09:23:00.001-07:00

When we finally got our house I was excited that finally decorate Cohen’s room. His last room was so tiny that I just really stuck to colors verses a theme. His last room was browns and creams and while that was nice too, it wasn’t exactly I had envisioned for his room.

I first thought I wanted to do vintage airplanes but after his first birthday I decided I had to have a cowboy room. Mainly because it allowed me to reuse all his decorations that I worked so hard on! The color scheme stayed the same; Navy blue, maroons, browns and creams. I didn’t want it over the top cowboy, like someone threw up cows and hay all over his room, and it what we did works great cause if I decide I want to change it years down the line all I have to do it swap out the decor and it will still work.

Here is what it looked like when we moved in. Boring and dirty dingy flat white.

First we moved the crib to the guest room. This was his residence for a week.

Then we got to work! I say we but by that I mean, Husband.

We would put Cohen to sleep and start sawing and nailing. It was loud!! Even though he was in the next room, he never woke up. When he’s in bed for the night, he’s out!

After the board and batten was installed, I painted the top half. It’s by Behr and the color is English Channel. We got the paint and primer in one. SO worth it. It took barley two coats which is rare for my walls since they have no texture and require 3+ coats even with the lightest color.

Then the time consuming part came. Painting the board and batten. White after white after white… Doesn’t seem bad but it’s on a flat wall and the boards are primed MDF so it showed all the brush strokes. It took 3/4 coats and if we didn’t run out of paint it could have taken a few more!

After a week of hard work, the room is finally done.

Wont you come in??

The curtains are the same ones he had before, I just added some scrap fabric I had to the top of it. The red valance under the curtains is attached to the wall with furniture brads and it’s just a sheet! It’s the red sheet I got from goodwill and made his crib sheet out of. The excess became a curtain.

The pillow I made… andddd you can tell. I am not thrilled with it so it will be going soon.

The window seat now has a bench built on top of it and was framed out.

Garth Brooks “Rodeo” lyrics in a rope font, framed

The chalk board table!

He LOVES his room. He always runs in and grabs his toy gun or his chalk and goes to town! I am pretty proud of it, too. So cute!

3 years ago…

2011-06-21T11:20:00.001-07:00

wow, life use to be so… easy and boring!!!

Thrift store finds for the week

2011-06-21T10:27:00.001-07:00

I have been slacking with the thrift store updates lately.

I have found a few good ones in my new town and a few in the town up above us.

Yesterday while out at lunch with the family, I visited one of my favorite ones. They always have 50% off everything days. Yesterday I scored Cohen some clothes for next season. All the clothes are either Old Navy, Gap or Green Dog (Macy’s) and in EXCELLENT condition. I didn’t pay over $1 for anything.

He got 2 rain coats, 2 sweaters, including one for the holidays, 2 button down shirts and i pair of jammies. If I had more time I know I could have found so much more. This is all I could do in the 5 minutes I had.

The fire tuck jacket is borderline goofy for me but it looks better in person and it’s reversible.

I also scored this adorable pier 1 imports stick pony for just $1 at a yard sale!! SO cute in his cowboy room!

Everything I touch becomes a chalkboard

2011-06-21T10:22:00.001-07:00

Chalkboard paint… the new drug.

It all started with this free mirror my Mom got at a yard sale. She had no use for it so gave it to me. I didn’t think I had a use for it either until a light bulb went off. This would make the perfect chalkboard in Cohen’s cowboy room!

So, will my chalkboard paint (Can be found at any hardware store usually next to the spray paints) I started painting. It took about 3 coats until it was perfect.

Now, the paint instructions say to wait 3 days for it to cure… We waited about 1 day and it works great!

Remember this table I blogged about like years ago?? I scored it at the dirty thrift store in Ohio, still one of my favorite thrift stores. Well, it is in Cohen’s room and acts as a play table. This too got a make over with chalkboard paint. I don’t know what it is about this paint but it makes you want to go paint happy!! If it’s in my way chances are it is going to become a chalkboard!!!

I wanted to paint the doors, walls, and dressers… it’s like a drug! I mean, come on, how much fun is it to write on the walls and you won’t get in trouble and it just wipes clean??

A Cowboy name sign

2011-06-14T15:32:00.001-07:00

What cowboy room isn’t complete without a little cowboys name in rope?!

We had completed Cohen’s room and as I was trying to decorate and get it back in order I just found I couldn’t get things right. It was lacking something but I couldn’t tell what…Then it hit me.

He needs his name in rope above his crib. That would take up enough space on the wall and would be the thing I was looking for.

Since we just got done doing all the wood stuff in his room, we had some scraps laying around. I believe this is oak but I am not positive… My wonderful husband then took some left over trim and attached it to the side for me.

I painted it white and had planned on putting a dark stain on top and then distressing it before attaching the rope but my stain turned out to be to red for my liking.

Hard to tell by the photo but it has a lot of red in it.

I then took the brown paint that I had left over from his dresser and painted it roughly on top, still letting some of the stain to show through.

After that dried( I used a blow dryer since I have no patience) I used some sandpaper and scratched/roughed the top.

Then I got to work making the letters and stapling every few inches or so until I had a full name that was even on the board.

To attach it to the wall, we screwed in a couple screws in the back of the sign and wound wire across them. Don’t forget to sink a heavy piece like this into a stud! We made sure it was good and secure since it will be hanging over my babies head!!

TA-DA! The finished product! (room photos to follow as soon as we get the crib put back in)

Project: Front Yard

2011-06-02T13:44:00.001-07:00

Our front yard has gone from ugly and weedy to oh so pretty in just 2 days! Thanks to my BIL and FIL who were visiting from Texas. We always seem to save the big projects that require a lot of back breaking work for when they visit.

Matt pulled up all the weeds by hand over the entire yard and rota tilled. We then had a layer of top soil brought in. Here is what it looked like the morning of “Project: Front Yard”

The pond was already here when we moved in, however, the electrical outlet that the pond was plugged into was never hooked up. Surprising?? Nope. Nothing surprises me when it comes to this house. Matt dug up the wires that ran from the pond, under ground up to the street then under the driveway and down the other flower bed and then under the drive way again and then after cutting a huge whole into the drywall inside of the garage he found it. It was about 6 inches away from the breaker box… just sitting there. So we had an electrician come out and hook it up for us. We now have a functional pond!

Trenches are dug and sprinkler system was laid.

Cohen loved to dig and help Poppy install the new sprinklers. Nana watched him while I went shopping for flowers. It' was nice to get out by myself.

The next day, Matt was home from work and the all 3 guys started laying sod.

Then there was flower placement, stone placement, flower planting and mulch

Something about the green grass sure makes the yellow on the house pop more. We want to paint the house grey with white trim and black shutters but the more I look at it, I think I am liking the yellow. Just needs a fresh coat.

I have always wanted a grassy front lawn (from Sod) Instant beauty and lushness.

All the plants we put in were “deer resistant” but that didn’t keep them from coming by this night and eating the blooms off of ALL my new plants. I have now sprayed them with some deer off repellent that smells of something I can’t even begin to explain.

My hydrangea on my front porch took a beating =( all the new blooms which took so long to appear, gone.

My water can was a debate in our household. I wanted it. Matt did not. I LOVE my water can. It was used on our last pond and I insisted it be used on this pond! It was a garage sale find for $5 and Matt rigged it up to be a fountain. In the end, he ended up installing it and I couldn’t be happier. Happy wife, happy life =)

Our fishies. We had 8 and are now down to 3 or 4 I think. Only the strong survive! Once they stick around long enough I will consider naming them.

The plant in there will grow quickly and provide shelter for our little friends.

I painted the other adirondack chair and covered some pillows out of this thick fabric that was actually 2 valances and 2 pillow shams that I picked up at Goodwill for $2. The colors go well too!

I still turn onto our street and think, “wow, that's a good looking lawn!” LOVE our house!

Now… I need more gravel for the front parking, paint and some shutters and we have great curb appeal!

My new best friend

2011-05-27T20:18:00.001-07:00

Am I crazy to think that I want these???!!! They are bottoms to a swim suit and I think I may shell out $30 for them. They are spanks you can swim in. Yes, PLEASE!!

Hello? Anyone out there?

2011-05-26T21:38:00.001-07:00

I’m back! I haven’t been in the blogging mood lately and still am not but I wanted to post some photos of what I have accomplished this week. We have had family in town from Texas for the past week and a half and it took my MIL telling me to do something with my shelves for me to actually get motivated. Now, these photos were a few days ago. I have added a few more things and will continue to until I feel it is complete. Goodwill here I come!

This shelf looks a little sparse but I have since added to it.

Ok…. what else have I done that I can share… oh yeah!!!! The front yard!!!!! Stay tuned!

The Man Cave

2011-05-14T06:17:00.001-07:00

I finally got the man cave organized! Matt has been asking me to do something with it for the last few weeks. So I decided to surprised him today and when he got home he was pretty happy. Now, I try and do the best with what we have. This room is pretty bad. The siding on the walls is awful. These cubbies in the wall are ugly and the drop ceiling makes me feel like I am in an office building. Part of it is cut out because the cable was wired to a support beam above it. There are spider webs in every crevice (that is actually true for the whole house)

We have big plans for this room though and one day it will be great! Since our living space upstairs is kind of small and narrow, we will one day turn this into a family room.

Our plans are to remove the siding on the walls. Replace the flooring with hardwood. Remove the drop ceiling. Basically redo the entire thing from top to bottom!

Laundry Room=Done!

2011-05-05T14:17:00.001-07:00

I tackled the laundry room in just 1 nap time. It’s the same color that is through out the house, Benjamin Moore Spanish Olive.

There's our new dryer. LOVE it. One day I hope to get the matching washer. Maybe I should wash a load of rocks so I get it sooner =)

The pantry. I could probably fit everything in the kitchen in it. To hide it I hung a shower curtain rod and some curtains I already had. I didn’t want to to paint around every shelf so I so I just painted a line to separate the two

Relaxing Guest Room

2011-05-03T07:17:00.001-07:00

Every time I finish a room, I always say, “This is my favorite room”. Well the guest room is done and I have to say this is my favorite room =)

The color on the wall is Behr’s Dolphin Fin. It’s a light grey. In some lights it can look purple, green or blue but it is in face a true grey with no undertones. I did a lot of research on the perfect grey and Dolphin Fin became my choice!

I love how the room feels so clean. Everything is white. White linens, white furniture, white bed, white trim, white, white, white!

Yesterday Matt put up the new blinds and new ceiling fan and I put the finishing touches on it last night. I am still on the look out for the perfect curtains. I want to do something with a busy print since this room can pull it off. All the ones I have found so far are around $20-$25 a panel and I am not paying that!!

I am on the look out for a rug as well, but I don’t want to spend very much. This will most likely be on the “want” list for a while unless I come across the perfect one at a great deal. A rug really isn’t necessary to complete the room. It still looks good without it!

I already had everything to decorate the room. All I bought was the basket hamper and 1 more bed pillow.

Only cost for this room was paint, ceiling fan and blinds.

The metal bed use to be my Mom’s bed when she was in high school. Then when I was in high school, it became mine. It has been every color you can imagine.

The desk was my desk when I was little. It got a new coat of white paint alone with the bed side tables.

The chair… man I love this chair. It actually has 4 others that match it and a table. It was suppose to be our new dining room table. My Mom got it at Denios swap meet after I convinced her that she needed it. I then took it in hopes of it being my new dining table. I love the design of the chairs. So vintage yet pottery barn at the same time. Well, the tables legs broke off and were beyond repair and my husband, who doesn’t share the same design style as me, said NO! So the table was recycled and I now have 5 chairs. I am suppose to get rid of those since they are taking up room in his garage but for some reason I just can’t bring myself to get rid of them. I love them. So, I may be spreading them out around the house!

I painted and hung 2 empty frames on either side of the window and then hung a white plate in each. I love white plates. Matt hates them. He says it’s to “shabby” for him. The guest room was my perfect opportunity to create my ideal room!

The lamps use to be oil rubbed bronze and black and the shades were red and brown. Didn’t fit into my color scheme! So I painted them. The lamps got a coat of semi-gloss white spray paint and the shades,well I just searched my craft paint and found the perfect color. Yes, I painted the fabric and it looks gooooood!!!

The white doors are the divider between the guest room and the craft room. I am going to paint those the same grey as the walls to help them blend. They are never shut so I didn’t realize what an eye sore it is! Well, at least to me they are.

Behind the door hangs an old window that has been passed back and fourth between my mom and I. I added a couple hooks to to the bottom of it and added a few more white plates =)

Once I showed my Mom the room, she said she had the perfect mirror to go above the desk. It works perfect! It is white and old and has a little flower design in the corners.

Next and final room… COHEN’S ROOM! and I have a feeling that is going to be my favorite room! =)

Scrapbook Room almost done!

2011-04-26T21:30:00.001-07:00

Scrapbook room is 70% done. All that is left is painting the baseboard and trims, a rug, a new table, blinds and curtains and a new ceiling fan. The lighting in here is horrible! I should add a couple lamps to the “need” list as well.

I took am old frame and hung up a layout from Cohen’s scrapbook. He was about 4 months old. I miss my little guy so small

Another room down 2 more to go

2011-04-25T14:42:00.001-07:00

Oh, painting should be my middle name! It feels like all I ever do is paint. Next room up was the craft room. I was having a hard time choosing a color for it.

It took me about an hour to take everything off the walls, unscrew all the light/electrical plates and tape everything off. I did it all on that computer chair right there. It actually worked quite nicely seeing as the chair has wheels and I just pushed off from wall to wall until everything was taped. I was in pain after taping off the ceiling.

My ever so kind Sister, who is on spring break, came over for a few hours and helped me paint the craft room during naptime. It worked out perfect. It took almost 2 hours from start to finish which is exactly how long Cohen slept! It went from dirty white to a very pretty pale purple. Valspar’s Stardust Evening to be exact. It is hard to tell in the photos but it is really pale. In some photos the walls almost look white.

I can see the potential magic that is going to be made in this room.

Next up is the room which currently looks like this. It has became the room that I put everything that doesn’t have a place yet. I am hoping to paint this coming up weekend and have the room completely done. The in-laws are coming in 2.5 weeks, so that is my dead line!

I am going to go with a light grey. The room doesn’t get a lot of light so it will have to be a lighter color. The bed, bedding and the all the furniture in the room are white and I think grey will compliment it rather well. It will feel light and airy and clean!

Once I get the craft room totally done I will post more photos but for now it is going to look like this until I can sink all those rods on the walls into studs. I put them where i thought they looked good and 95% of them can’t support anything! So I must fix it… when I find time and energy.

Another weekend, another project

2011-04-12T07:08:00.001-07:00

Another weekend, another project. That is going to be my slogan for probably the next 5 years.

My wonderful Sister came and spent the night with me and helped me tackle the dreaded staircase and landing. It needed to be done pretty bad. Like the rest of the walls in this house, the stairway had dents, dirt, scrapes and everything else you can imagine a white wall painted with flat paint having. Oh yeah, and there was painters tape along the baseboards leading up to the landing that the previous owners LACQURED to the wall! So that involved taking a scraper and peeling it, along with part of the dry wall, off.

After a nice thin layer of patch we were back in business again!

(The painters tape that was lacquered to the wall)

Here you can see the part of the wall that came off with the tape. This is after it had been patched a sanded.

There is still tape around one of the banisters but since it’s on the other side of the wall, we can’t get to it. I need to take an hour and just sit there and try scrape it off.

We thought for sure this was going to be the hardest area to paint but surprisingly it was pretty easy. Once everything was taped off it took like 30 minutes to have the first coat on.

The color is the same I used in the living, dining, kitchen and entry. It is Benjamin Moore Spanish Olive. Love it. It is a perfect green with a hint of tan. Depending on the lighting.

So here's the bad part. How do we get up to the top on that really tall wall?? No ladder will reach/be safe enough to use. We priced out scaffolding but the cheapest we found was $200 and it wasn’t worth that price for a one time use of 5 minutes.

That book case shelving unit there is going to be a linen closet. We are pretty sure that was the previous owners intentions since the baseboards stop at that point. We are ordering cabinet doors for it.

It took 5 hours, 3 coats and 1.5 gallons of paint to get done! Did I mention our walls are not textured at all so it requires many coats and you can see every patched hole and flaw.

My Sister also helped me finish up the master bath. While she did that I made curtains for my bedroom.

I need to go shopping for some matching rugs, too!!

My curtains made from painters drop cloths.

I like the idea of having matching table lamps on the side tables, but we already have 4 sconces plus a ceiling fan. I think I may look for something else to put on them.

My new silhouettes I made for above our bed. Both of them are Cohen. Yes, for some reason he does look like he is from an African American decent.

We really need some grown up furniture. I have had that dresser since high school!

I LOVE our room color. I am so happy I went with something a little darker and a little out of my color palette.

Left to paint:

Upstairs bathroom (which is nasty!!) I might paint it the same Spanish Olive since I have 21.5 cans left
Scrapbook room ( I need help picking a color)
Cohen’s room (dreading it since he won’t be able to take his naps in there that day) – I think a khaki color. Something boring and neutral
Guest room- a soft grey

and the top half of our half bath on the main floor. (We ran out of paint and then decided we aren’t really a fan of the color so are considering changing it to something else. Actually, Matt isn’t a fan of the color and says it needs to be repainted. Easy for him to say, he hasn’t picked up a brush once!!!)

The last 3 weeks

2011-04-05T20:10:00.001-07:00

I don’t even know where to start… Since moving into our new home 9 days ago, I have yet to sit down on the couch for more than 10 minutes. I have been very busy! Here is what we have been up to the past 3 weeks.

We moved out of our house. We hadn’t closed yet on our new home and frankly at that point we didn’t know if it was going to happen. Regardless, we had renters that were waiting to move in so we needed to be out.

Our nice friends took us in for 8 days. At the time we thought we might be living there forever. It was a lot of fun though. Everyday I had to keep reminding myself that we had no home to move to and that those 2 huge u-hauls out on the street were packed with our life and costing us money each day they sat there.

Even though we were sad/frustrated about our loan and our house, we still pretended to be on vacation with our friends. Plus , our boys are only 7 months apart so they had a constant buddy the whole time. Is it weird that taking care of 2 kids is way easier than taking care of 1??

Day 7 of our stay, we got the word that our docs were ready to be signed. So we hoped in the car and drove an hour in a bad storm to get her done.

That next day, Friday, we got our keys. Our friends were really sad that we were leaving and told us they secretly had hoped we never got the house so we could stay there forever.

Saturday morning.

We moved. YAY! It was a rainy, windy, yucky day and 15 minutes up the road it was snowing.

My Mom and Sister met Cohen and I at the house to put the cleans on it before the guys showed up with the moving trucks. Man, was it dirty! It had been vacant for at least 18 months. All the cob webs and spiders (there were a ton) were even dead!

The first room that was put together was Cohen’s. Took about a hour and it was complete. It just needs paint. The story of my life. Paint. Paint. Paint. These are photos from yesterday after hanging decorating. Once I paint it, it will be so cute. Please excuse the huge ball pit in the corner. His room is so large it’s like a bedroom and play room in one. I also want the rain gutter book shelves attached to the wall next to the chair… Matt isn’t a fan of these so I may have to do them myself while he is at work. He will love them when he sees it.

So after a week living here I have managed to only paint the living/dining/entry/kitchen room. It took me F.O.R.E.V.E.R. Painting around all the beams, baseboards and windows really stunk! But, it sure looks great now. I had a little help from my Brother, who taped off half the beams and from my Mom who helped paint a little bit. She mostly just watched the Bubs so I could get my work done which is the biggest help!

The craft room. My 2nd favorite room in the house. I still need to pick a paint color. I am really not sure what color to do. I was thinking a pink, since I am surrounded by boys in the house, but I just can’t decide yet….

The deck is definitely an extension of our living space. We are out there probably half the day. It’s perfect for Bub’s to play on and he can’t get out of it. With the nice weather this past weekend, I planted some flowers. Since I have no lawn, hanging baskets are going to have to be my new thing.

The entry way and photo wall. I am not in love with this look so it will most likely be changed when I have the energy and creativity to deal with it.

The toy closet. I love that I have a place that I can store the toys away in. I don’t like walking into a room and be surrounded by them. This closet is really large and extends under the stairs. I leave the door open and Bub’s goes in picks the toys he wants to play with

The view from the front door. Walking in you can see right out the windows and over the hills. My favorite room of the house by far.

The landing… This is a work in progress and probably will be for a while. That shelving unit will have doors put on to it to make it a linen closet. Can you believe I don't have one?? The window has since had a cushion and curtains added to it. They aren’t the curtains I want forever but I needed something there for now.

Master Bedroom. LOVE this color.

The guest room… pretty much consists of boxes of stuff I have no idea where to put. Once the rest of the house is in order I will start working on this. I am thinking in this coming week….

We LOVE the house. The neighborhood is wonderful and every time I walk the dogs I see lots of deer and jack rabbits. It is such a nice change from where we came from.

Now the house has had its problems to far…lets see.

To take a hot shower in the master bath, you have to run both faucets, otherwise it just stays cold. Leave it to my clever husband to figure that out.

We ran out of propane 2 days after moving in. The heater and hot water run off of propane. It took them 3 days to come out and fill it up.

Our dryer is gas. The hook up for the dyer here is propane. In order to use our dryer we have to find a conversion kit,which is really hard to find since our dryer is so old. So we had to buy a new one. We did that on Thursday hoping to be able to do laundry that night… nope. It will be delivered Tuesday. I have been without a washer/dryer since we moved in. We are pretty much out of clothes.

Next up… we have a busted pipe in the back yard which is attached to our sewer pump/tank. It is leaking sewerage into our yard. So instead of getting the new granite countertops we wanted, we now get to spend that money on a plumbing company to come out and fix everything. Because of the crack in the pipe, we have been unable to really use the water/dishwasher/shower/toilets. The more we use the water, the more we risk busting the pipe completely and causing more damage and costing more $$$$!

Our internet just got turned on and even though I haven’t missed it too much, it is nice to have it back.

As of tomorrow, everything will be fixed and we will be back to normal life! I am going to be doing laundry for a year!!!

2011-03-09T10:08:00.001-08:00

We should have received our keys the the new house 2 days ago… but we didn’t. I should be there right this very second painting…but I am not. I’m sitting in my jammies on the couch looking at photos of my house.

After a small stupid confusing stressful situation, our closing date has been postponed to TBA. Were really hoping to be moving
IN TO the house next weekend. Regardless, we have our new tenant moving in on the 18th and they can’t change their plans. So if we don’t have the keys to the new house, we will be living in a hotel until we do! The down fall to this plan is I won’t be able to go in and paint and clean before moving in which is only going to add stress to my plate. I am the type of person who will have everything unpacked and hung up within 2 days. This won’t be the case! Thankfully my Mom is going to take some vacation days so she can watch Cohen while I get everything painted and situated…. I don’t like to allow myself to stress. What will happen will happen, but this is sure testing me. I am just hoping and praying really hard that we get some good news this week.

8 days until we pick up the moving truck and load it up… even if it has no where to go.

My Rug is here!!

2011-03-03T19:43:00.001-08:00

It arrived just before the rain and during nap time

It’s huge… 9’x11’ I believe. Pretty much takes up my entire livingroom

I unrolled it and was pleasantly surprised at how nice it was considered we bought it without ever seeing it. I am happy with the purchase although it does seem to shed a lot… we vacuum at least 2x a day and still get a full canister each time. I hope that ends soon.

Niquie loves it. Even though she is not allowed to lay on it. I don’t want this rug ruined by smelling like dog!

The colors in the photo make is seem brighter and very colorful. In person it is more muted

Now the hard part… what color to paint the new living room so that it all blends???!!!

Overstock.com Love!!

2011-02-21T08:52:00.001-08:00

We found an area rug! I have been on the search for seriously months for the perfect rug. I love all the Pottery Barn rugs but didn’t want to shell out $800 for the size we needed. Plus, with dogs and a toddler I don’t want to spend too much money on something that is going to get a daily beating.

After looking for rugs online we found one we liked but it was pricey! So I started looking on Overstock.com and found the same exact rug for half the price! It is pretty hard buying a rug online without seeing it in person but it had good reviews and if we don’t like it, was can always ship it back. Did you know Overstock.com has $2.95 shipping on all items regardless of the size?? That's pretty amazing. We ordered it last Thursday and it is already in transit. I am really hoping we LOVE it.

Here it is. The background color is more of a beige or tan, not grey like the photo shows.With all the white in the house and our dark furniture, we are trying to lighten it up a bit. Hopefully this rug can withstand peanut butter sandwiches! The colors are browns, sage greens, tans and splashes of blue. My plan is to paint the walls the same color as the blue in the rug to tie it all together.

I have found soo many rugs I want from Overstock. These are some of my favorites. All most all are under $150 and they are the big sizes like 8x10+

Love this stripe outdoor rug for the deck. I think this one is like a 10’x12’. It has been added to my “want and will get someday” list

And these outdoor ones also

I think the black is pretty fun…maybe for my scrapbook room

This is always a safe choice and I may do something like this in a runner rug for the entry way

Also a safe and neutral choice…maybe for our bedroom??

I have the perfect spot for this one… Guest room. Imagine gray walls, white metal bed, bedding , curtains and dresser and then this rug. Perfect. Matt hates it but I like it!

2 weeks and couting

2011-02-20T21:22:00.001-08:00

It’s pretty hard to believe that in 2 weeks we will be getting our keys. We saw the house again this past week and I am sooo excited. I didn’t want to leave. Last time Cohen saw it he wasn’t walking yet so everything was new and exciting, including all the stairs! I am sure those will be my nightmare.

In other great news, we rented out house! We held an open house today and had 3 people show up. One lady filled out an application on the spot and wanted it. We really liked her and in the end ended up choosing her. After we chose her we had someone call and practically beg us to let her see it, even though we told her it was taken. She even hinted towards bribing us to let her have it and retract our offer to the other lady.

So after the showings, we took down all the photos and drapes and patched all the holes. I will paint tomorrow. I really don’t like living in an empty house but it is a reminder that moving is just around the corner.

So the next few weeks will be packing and organizing and a little bit of sewing to get things ready. 2 weeks will fly by in no time!

Remember our pergola we built less than a year ago?? We may have sold that as well. Some guy will be getting back to us tomorrow about it. Hello re-done hardwood floors!

Cowboy rocker for my buckaroo

2011-02-09T07:00:00.001-08:00

You know how hard it is to find a cheap leather rocking chair? Well I found one! Thanks to Craigslist. Matt says it looks horribly like an old mans chair and though it’s not the color I would have preferred, I don’t care. I only had 3 requirements.

1. It be leather

2. It rocks

3. It will fit both my baby and I when I read him his nightly bedtime stories and put him to bed.

This fit all 3 of those

My only complaint is that is leans back really far when no one is sitting it in. I think this weekend we are going to replace the rocking part on it since it was some chew marks from a dog and we will make it more upright.

I can already envision myself rocking bubs to sleep in just 27 days!

For now, it has to sit in my living room. I can not wait to move. Our house is bursting!

More deals

2011-02-07T16:57:00.001-08:00

Some of my finds over the past few days

This Corona bucket was spray painted red and will go in Cohen’s room…maybe hold some small toys?? $1… I over paid. I should have paid $.50

This red pillow was found at a yard sale. I painted the “C” on it today in black paint. This will sit on Cohen’s window seat in the new house. We have changed the plans and Cohen will now be getting the room that was going to be ours and we are now taking the master bedroom back.

Pillow $.25

This photo frame looked like it belonged in a cowboy room. The inside is leather. I got this frame, the 2 lanterns I posted about yesterday, a plate and a big mason jar for $5. Breaking it down, this frame was about $.50

I got allll this thick brown canvas fabric. Not sure what I will so with it, but it was only $2.00. Once I got it home I realized it smelled horrible of moth balls. YUCK. After a bath in vinegar and water and an all day dry in the sun, it smells much better. I am not sure how many yards are here but it is half the length of my back yard. Maybe 10 yards??

Today at the Thrift Store I got frames. These 2 frames had great potential. My plan was the spray paint them black and put fabric on the mats. After I upholsterd the mats I started thinking that maybe the color was so bad?? It looked like past of the coastal theme we are going to try and go with and the greenish blue color matched the blue in our bedspread… so the frames my be complete or they may be painted black in weeks to come. Stay tuned.

Frames $2.00 each

These frames never stood a chance. They were painted within 5 minutes of being home. They will be added to my photo wall at some point.

The round frames were $1.00 each and the bottom one was $2.00

Cowboy art

2011-02-06T22:00:00.001-08:00

Ok I changed things up a little. I made both of the silhouette photos have a navy blue back ground…I actually used fabric fro the sheets I had made Cohen since I was out of paper

The print in the middle is Garth Brooks song quote from “Rodeo”. I put it in a rope font that I down loaded and then I took the plain white mat and wrapped it in burlap. Pretty cute!

I found these old lanterns for his cowboy room out at Denios auction. Paid $3 for the pair. They will look cute sitting on a shelf in his room. I also got a metal bucket I am going to spray paint red and a brown leather basket to add to his room. Not sure what I will do with them yet but they will work!

Granola Bars

2011-02-03T21:09:00.001-08:00

I have been making these lately and they are sooo good! I add peanut butter to mine and Cohen and I enjoy a batch every couple days.

Yummy Granola Bars

Cowboy Silhouette

2011-02-02T07:27:00.001-08:00

Does this look dumb??

If i decide to go with a cowboy theme for Cohen’s room, that I will hang these in there. I made then with my Cricut. I love the little silhouettes. I am not 100% in love with them. I kind of feel like that are kidish and I don’t really like style. Should I make them with the same back ground color?? Should I change something about them?

I rock!

2011-01-29T08:01:00.001-08:00

Yeah, I totally made a fitted crib sheet in less than 10 minutes last night. I rock. It cost me $2. I will NEVER buy another crib sheet again.

I found a high thread count twin flat sheet in a pretty red at Goodwill last night, which matched Cohen’s new rug, for $4.00. I can make 2 crib sheets out of the 1 twin sheet.

I followed these instructions and less then 10 minutes later I had a very pretty, matching perfectly, nice, high thread count fitted crib sheet!

It looks good with milk spilled on it to.

Goodwill Finds

2011-01-24T21:50:00.001-08:00

Went to Goodwill today and found some new pillow shams that fit my big old yellow pillows. I am not in love but they do hide the stained yellow pillows and will be a good backdrop for our bed when we move and get a headboard.
2 shams=$1.99

Remember how I keep shrinking my shower curtains?? Well I saved it instead of throwing it away knowing one day I might use it. That day was today. I covered 3 pillows with them. The covers took maybe 10 mins each. So easy.

Here is what they look like on each side. Now I could add buttons to the one of the right, but I don’t have any that I like and our big enough.

So instead I tucked the flap into the pillow case and it works perfect!

I need to put white cases on my pillow before putting them into the sham since they see through
I also got a baby gate, a lamp and a hanging closet organizer from L.L.Bean to hold sweaters all for $9

Can you see it??

2011-01-22T20:47:00.001-08:00

The powder room on the main floor.

The ceiling

What do you think?? This room

With board and batten

and above the board and batten maybe a sharpie print

Or this pretty design???

Another Dilemma

2011-01-22T20:23:00.001-08:00

I have another dilemma, an yes it’s about my new house. Can you tell my brain is being racked and my excitement is hard to contain??

Dilemma: Cohen’s room.

Stick with a plane theme, which I haven't really done, or switch to cowboy theme??? I have always wanted a cowboy nursery but I liked the planes as well. We don’t do the childish looking plane/cowboy stuff since we want him to be able to grow into his room and when he is done, we can take the stuff and use it as office decor (which is why we chose planes)

But, what if he wants to be a little cowboy? Doing his birthday was so much fun and I think doing his room would be just as fun. We have most of the stuff for the decor. I could even shadow box frame his first wranglers and hang the photo everyone signed for him on his 1st birthday.

There is so many cowboy prints I can go with that have a more vintage look. Then again, he doesn’t really have any wall space for a huge print.

OR……………….

I could stick with airplane theme and run with it a bit more??? Who could forget this room that I LOVE so much, minus the star bedding which is a little to country for me.

I like this muted stripe look. Matt would never go for it. He hates stripes on the walls. But maybe if he could see how good it could look he might change his mind?? This room would look good with a painted ceiling =)

Black, black, black

2011-01-22T20:08:00.001-08:00

For our master bedroom in our new house I am on the lookout for side tables. I don’t really care what the look like (just not modern) and I want them to be real wood. I plan on painting them black. I am also looking for a dresser that possibly matches, also real wood, that I will be painting black. Now I need a headboard and instead of shelling out the $3k on the one I want from pottery barn, I think I will possibly make and upholster one or make one from an old door or find a wood one and paint it black. Black, black, black. I like black.

My room colors will be white, black, tan and light blue. All the colors of my new comforter plus my black furniture.

I think I will be going out on the edge and painting my ceiling in our new master bedroom. The walls will be a light bluish grey color and the ceiling will be a beige. Beige is the new white, well at least they use to say that a few years ago. A painted ceiling sounds scary and yes, it is just paint so if I don’t like it I can repaint it, but do you know how hard and awful it is to paint a ceiling?? I did it by myself in my current house which is the size of a shoebox and it took me a while and broke my back!! So I better love it!

Here is what I am thinking. Light blue walls. White trim. Tan ceiling. Can you picture it?? I think it will look great and really warm up the room

Here is a room that I LOVE. It’s from HGTV’s Rate My Space. I want a Master suite like this

Rain Gutter Book Shelves

2011-01-22T16:07:00.001-08:00

I LOVE these rain gutter book shelves. I will be making some of these for Cohen’s room.

Origionally I was going to get these picture ledge shelves from Ikea but they are about $20 each. These rain gutters come in 10 feet widths for $8. With the end caps and the screw hole things its about $12 for two 5 foot shelves. Can’t beat that!

Here's how to make it

WERE MOVING!!

2011-01-20T13:58:00.001-08:00

They accepted our offer and this perfect home will be ours in a short 7 weeks! SOOO excited I feel like a shopping spree. Probably a good thing that I am still in Texas and cant go spend money!

My wheels are turning…

2011-01-13T21:33:00.001-08:00

This lady is so creative.

Would you have ever guessed that this was NOT wallpaper?? She hand painted this onto her walls. I love it so much I was looking to see where to buy the wallpaper from. This is a little too much work for me! Do you know how many naps times it would take to complete a project this big?

And this??!!! Look how elegant a flat screen tv can look hanging on a wall. This is a must do for me

And this… I am not a real fan of the design, but it was all done with a sharpie!?! I think it looks great. I know I could never convince Matt of doing a design on a wall in sharpie, but maybe if he saw how good it could look, he would change his mind!

And this??!!!! She is good

And these easy lined curtains?? These would be perfect and so easy for Cohen's room during nap times when I like the room really dark. I can just add a sheet to the back of the current curtains and I have black out curtains!

O.M.G. I was just thinking about the guest room in our house, (I call it our house since I know we will get it) and at first I was gonna spray paint it this coastal blue

But now after seeing this, I may go this route. In fact, I think I may still paint the bed and in time, make a slip cover for it. So many possibilities!

She has so many ideas that are soo easy.

I also plan on making this, not from her blog but from someone else's. It’s a PB knock off and I love it

New bedding

2011-01-11T10:50:00.001-08:00

I have been on the search for a new comforter/bedding lately. I haven’t updated ours on over 4 years. I can never find one that I love.

Last night I did, while walking through Target. So I got it!

All excited, I then started searching for the sheets that matched it but couldn’t find them anywhere online. They are sold out and no one carries them anymore. Just great. They looked pretty cute, too.

So while doing some research I found the same comforter on eBay, brand new in the packaging still, for $30 less. So Yes, I took the comforter off my bed, took the pillows out of the cases and boxed it all back up. This morning Cohen and I took a trip back up to Target and returned it and as soon as I got home I ordered the one off of eBay. With my $30 savings, I ordered 1200 thread count Egyptian cotton sheets in beige to match. I will always inconvenience myself to save a buck!

Here is the comforter. It is part of the Simply Shabby Chic set, but isn’t really girly like most of their collection is. Matt doesn’t like it but he never likes anything. I make the house a home so he will just need to get used to it.

(without flash)

(with flash)

Now, imagine it with black furniture and walls painting… maybe that bluish grey color that in it??

Ribbon Rack

2011-01-09T20:27:00.001-08:00

I made my ribbon rack! I just need a wall to hang it on. I am out of space in the shared office.

It needs another coat of black spray paint but it’s been to cold for me to do it. So the next day that reaches at least 50 degrees I will be finishing it! Now I need to get more ribbon to fill up top 2 rows.

Awesome Ribbon Rack!

2011-01-06T11:03:00.001-08:00

This lady is brilliant. It is exactly what I have been looking for and exactly what I will be making today!

2011-01-05T05:53:00.001-08:00

I found it! This is how those people are attaching things to this rod. All at IKEA

2011-01-04T09:39:00.001-08:00

Ok, so I am finding great craft room blogs and I really can’t wait until I have my own.

This room is fun. The purple is a little to bright for me but you see those rails on the wall? They are holding ribbon. That is a great idea. That would require me to wrap all my ribbon on thick cardstock so it can be hung and thats not something I want to do. Cute idea though.

I like the call art. It’s just framed scrapbook pages. I will be doing this.

Ok. So it is hard to see in this photo but you see the same rods I mentioned before? They are mounted underneath the shelf? That's a great idea but what i cant figure out is how it is holding the stickers??! I thought that it was possibly curtain rings and then clipped onto the sticker, but that wouldn’t work… (see more photos below)

Here is the rod. It is welded to the circle pieces that hang on the wall

These are the curtain hooks. They are too small to fit over the circle things and then go onto the rod. So…they must be using something else…but what?!!! I think I need to take a trip to Lowes and figure it out

I’m just a dreamer…

2011-01-03T07:52:00.001-08:00

Yes, I am a dreamer. A big one. After putting an offer in on a new house I have to sometimes take a sleeping pill at night just to ensure I get some sleep. Sometimes I lay awake at night imagining what a room would look like in a certain paint color and how I could decorate it and where I would put my furniture. My latest victim, my scrapbook room in a house I don’t even own, let alone live in! Yes, our offer is pending and we should hear back soon but it doesn’t keep me from dreaming.

If we get this house I am going to have my own scrapbook room. I had my own in Ohio and I love it. This one is even bigger meaning I can host scrapbook nights and have room for everyone! I have never done a scrapbook night, but I will if I have this much space!

Here is the room I am working with

And here are some ideas I have. Really, I want my room to kick the pants off of any of these rooms. I want it to be like something out of a magazine! These rooms are great too!

I am thinking of doing a fun color on the walls. Like maybe a robins egg blue?? Something that Matt would never let me paint in any of the other rooms of the house. This would be ok in the the scrapbooking room because it is ALL MINE!

LOVE this table. I think it’s pottery barn. I even found on on Target.com but its still VERY expensive and it’s not even real wood. [ Insert handy husband] Matt said he could build me one that is just as nice and half the cost! Now, where is he going to find time to do that? He is already so busy! Maybe I should add work working to my list of things I can do and attempt to build it myself

This is a beautiful room! I LOVE it. I like how clean it looks with all the white and the soothing grey colors. I think I need a little more color if I am going to be creating in there

Yes, I will have a wrapping stati0n. No, I don’t wrap gifts that often but when I do, I will have a station specifically for it. Plus, what ultimate craft room wouldn’t be complete without a gift wrapping station. I feel like if I had this, my gifts wrappings would look like a master piece!

This room makes me happy. Sigh. one day I am going to have one that looks like this. All organized and in pretty cupboards. Although I keep seeing these craft rooms with stools as seats. If you have crafted for long periods of time, you know a stool will not cut it. You need to have a nice comfy chair, maybe with some built in massagers

This is more like what mine would look like. All in plastic bins. I would love to have them in a cupboard and all sophisticated looking but realistically, this is how mine would be.

Look at those paper organizers. I would love that. Although, I love my dresser that I have all mine stored in right now. I would just love for my room to look like a scrapbook store.

Those tables are nice too. They aren’t big enough for a person like me. I like to spread out and make a mess

Now here is my dream room. The table I want. the nice cupboards in the back to house all the stuff. The cute chair in the corner for taking a break. In fact, that looks like a chair they have at Ikea. That's more up my price range. I LOVE the black and white colors here. I am thinking this is the route I will be going.

So, lets all cross our fingers that we get this house and I can start on my dream scrapbook room!

Are you our home?

2011-01-03T07:35:00.001-08:00

We should hear back this week on a house we put an offer in on a few week ago. We love it. It’s in a gated lake community and you can even get through the guards at the gate unless someone has left your name for them. It is a development built in the late 70’s and all the homes are custom. No 2 homes looks alike. Where this home is located, both ends of the streets end in a cal-de-sac meaning, there isn’t a lot of traffic and chances are if you are diving on this street, you probably live on it.

Everyone walks here. It’s like the thing to do. Walking, jogging, biking. SO right up my alley! Plus, there is so much wildlife. Primarily deer. We were diving around the area and we saw 8 deer on a lawn eating some plants. Just crazy. They have two 24 hour security guard that drive the community at all times and from what I hear, don't ever go over 25 miles otherwise you will get ticketed! Every 4th of July they have fireworks on the lake. They have a club house and a restaurant that only the members and community can use. There are about 6000 houses in this community and it sits on a golf course so now, Matt thinks he needs a golf cart! They have boat docks to hold your boat and so many parks, dogs parks, play grounds and tennis courts.
So back to this house. It’s 4 bedroom (could be 5) 3.5 baths and 2400sqft. Built in the 70’s

Pretty much showcases everything I love about this house. LOVE the hardwood floors, the view, all the windows and natural light and the ceiling. The ceiling is my #1 favorite. So much character.

Love the built ins and the fire place. A TV will hang about the mantel

Dining Room. Door to right is the garage.

So much light!

Looking to the master bedroom with half bath on the left and stairs leading down stairs to the right. That door will be removed. It was put up and not installed correctly plus, it is out of place. You can’t put a door on a vaulted ceiling hallway opening like that and make it look good.

Looking out to the upper deck



These would be a DIY concrete countertops that have been painted black. Awful. They were poured unevenly and you can see the paint marks. The tile along the back wasn’t laid right either and it’s popping up in certain places. It all needs to be redone. Good thing I married a handy man!


Laundry room and pantry at end of kitchen

I can see myself sitting in the adirondack chairs drinking coffee while watching the sunrise from this porch. New railing will be put up so it’s safer and believe me, no kids are allowed out there unsupervised! The railing is about 3 feet tall. It looks shorter in the photos

The blue tarp at the top is covering a walk out porch from a bedroom

Master. This will be a guest room/ play room. We don’t want to be a floor apart from Cohen so we will make our room in one upstairs…kinda bites cause I want to have a bathroom and walk in closet in my room!!



The GARAGE! Matt’s favorite thing



my scrapbook room with a small patio overlooking the view. It also has double doors opening into Cohen’s room. Not thrilled about it but we plan to either close it up or keep it for a future kid so Cohen and this future child can open the doors and play with each other. Or one day it could possibly be a play room!

I am seriously dreaming of the best scrapbook room ever created. I can envision it now.

Looking into Cohen's room and the hall way

We are going to put shelving into those little cubby units and I think I will put his crib on the wall in between them. or maybe his dresser…

The 3rd bedroom upstairs with double closets. We are going to be using this as our master. It is right next to the upstairs bathroom

One day it will be the prefect girls room with double closets and a window seat

The back yard. This is the only down fall of the property. It is on .40 acres but it is all on a hill! So we will have to do lots of grading and leveling it out to get it where we want it. This will be one of the first things we do since the dogs will need to go out and potty somewhere. Even then, we will have to have it fenced since there are a lot of deer and I don’t want the dogs to cross paths with them. It could be bad. In this community you can’t fence your property with privacy fencing, but you can use all other type. We might choose an iron or other metal type of some sort. I like having things fenced in.

Which brings me to the last room. The man cave. As of right now it is the only way to get to the back yard but we plan to add stairs fro the upper deck leading to the lower deck. This man cave is all Matt’s. Although, he did say he would share a portion of it with me and some exercise equipment. I really want a treadmill for when it’s cold outside and I want to jog during nap time.

That brick corner is for a pellet stove but the owners took it with them. We plan to replace it. We plan to remove the drop ceiling and the siding on the walls and make it not look so man cavish

It also has a full bath with double sinks and a closet. This is the room that could be used as another bedroom, possibly a master suite when we got done with it.

The deck. you can see the corner of the photo that the neighbors have their property graded. They have like 4 levels and it looks great. One level is grass, then a few steps down leads to another level which is a mesh top and has a soccer goal for the kids then a few more steps leads to a jungle gym and swing set. It looks great and we plan to do something like that as well.

View from the deck

We are the only offer on this house. Since it is a gated community and you have to use a realtor with lives inside the gates to get you in, it makes selling homes there a little more challenging. Our odds of this one actually working out is pretty good which would be nice since this is the 8th? house we have written an offer on and probably the 50th we have seen in the past 7 months.
It’s 40 mins from where we are currently living and about 30 mins to the mall area which has all my shopping places, but I think it will be a great sacrifice to make for Cohen to grow up in such a beautiful place

Birthday Party: Decor

2010-12-13T20:21:00.001-08:00

All of my planning and hard efforts made Cohen’s first birthday a hit! He was the cutest little buckaroo I had ever seen!

** Birthday photos have been posted on my private blog. Message me your email address to be added**

Here is the decor of the party. I wrapped our map photo in the living room with brown packaging paper and hung a “Howdy” burlap sign that I handmade and painted. It was hot glued to some ribbon and then I added clothes pins to the top of each letter for an added bonus. I finished off the photo with 2 bandanas and a cowboy hat!

On top of the entertainment center was hay and a photo for everyone at the birthday party to sign and leave a note on.

I also made the “I’m One” sign the same way as the “HOWDY”

one… just cut it out and hot glued it to ribbon then tied it with a few more ribbons in between each letter

I made a flag for the front of the house out of burlap.. can you tell I was really feeling the burlap??!!

We got a few bales of hay which was perfect for holding our (stick) ponies. (Which, but the way I found at the dollar tree!!! Can you believe that?!!)

As the kids arrived, they grabbed their personalized cowboy hats and ponies and galloped on into the party.

Our little cowboy on his party day all rested and ready for some fun!

We served Chili, mini smokies, corn bread, hotdogs, potato salad, guacamole, nacho cheese dip and pasta salad… I think only 1 person ate the chili. People kept going for the hotdogs and the nachos!

The invites

The food

The candy station full of “cowboy rope” (licorice) “Horse Droppings” ( Whoppers) and “Cowboy

fuel” ( pixie sticks)

The cutest cake my friends’ sister made is so talented. She is the one who made my baby shower cake. It is the BEST tasting cake I have ever had.

The high chair wrapped in red and white check fabric, an “I’m 1” sign I made and his beautiful cake

The weather was great and we were all able to be outside. I love California for the fact that it’s December and we are outside BBQing. It started to sprinkle but all the guys got on top the pergola and covered it with tarps. By the time they were done, the rain was gone.

As fun as planning his party was, I am pooped and planned out! I have to decorate for Christmas and I feel like I have nothing to give. I am excited and thinking of birthday #2 though!

I’m a slacker

2010-12-01T20:55:00.001-08:00

I am a blog slacker… I know it has been a long time but I will post soon, after Cohen’s birthday. I have been really busy with all the planning. It’s going to be SO fun!

So much crafting, so little time

2010-10-19T09:25:00.001-07:00

I have so much crafting to do and no time!!

I am making most of my Christmas gifts this year which is going to be really fun, but I just need to find time. I think I am starting to panic because I like to have everything done before December 1st. I think I need to remind myself that I have almost all of December as well.

I also need to start planning Cohen’s 1st Birthday party. It is going to be a cowboy theme and so adorable! I need to take photos for his invites and then ship his invites and then make the decorations for the party. I want to make his cake, so I need to find a cowboy cake pan. I also need to figure out where we are going to have have this party. My house doesn’t hold many people. I would say comfortably 10-12. That doesn’t even take care of my family. I wish his birthday fell during summer so we could be outside. I am hoping that December 9th this year won’t be too cold and maybe, just maybe we could possibly have it outside? I know in part Christmas’s we have been able to sit outside. Thanksgivings are normally spent outside hanging out and Cohen’s birthday is 2 weeks after that. I think I will hold out hope!

I need to take our Christmas card photo soon so that I can get those ready to go out. I need to scrapbook the last month for Cohen’s book.

On top of everything I need to do, we are going to Texas for 10 days starting this Friday. I wish I could bring all my crafting stuff and work on gifts while I am there, but bringing my cricut and everything I would need would just be silly. I do plan on working on a few things there and just leaving them for them to open Christmas morning. That way it saves on shipping.

Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmm…..well that’s all I got! I need to go make my to-do craft list and start using my time wisely!!

Tie Onesie

2010-10-19T09:10:00.001-07:00

I made this cute onesie for Cohen. Now I can’t take credit for it because I copied it from this blog. She has some other stuff I plan on copying soon, like her DIY growth chart. SO cute.

So this was my first attempt at sewing on a onesie. It is far from perfect. I am still trying to figure out my sewing machine and the tensions and everything so this is really just a practice onesie. Even for a practice onesie, I still made Cohen wear it out in public! Poor kid.

I am sure there will be many more posts on this type of stuff since I am determined to make a cute flawless one… plus, the dollar tree had tee shirts that were surprisingly a really nice quality! So I bought some to play with. That way, when I ruin them it won’t be such a heart ache considering a 5 pack of white onesies is anywhere from 8$-10$.

I am going to attempt to do an initial tee shirt like these (which I stole from Etsy.com)

I need help!

2010-10-14T12:57:00.001-07:00

Everyone keep your eyes open for little boy cowboy boots size 4. I need them for Cohen’s first birthday outfit. It’s going to be a cowboy theme and you can’t be a cowboy without cowboy boots!!

These are one I found on eBay from Gymboree but I don’t want to pay $25.00 for them, especially since they wont be worn every day!

So if you happen to see any on sale or at Once Upon a Child, TELL ME!!

Fall Banner

2010-10-09T12:46:00.001-07:00

Here are some new crafts I have done lately for fall. I love Fall. I wish it was the only season we ever had.

Here is a cute fall banner I whipped up in about an hour. I gave it to my MIL who was here visiting from Texas. She has been asking for one for a long time!

Remember this sign I blogged about over a year ago?

It started off as this

The with my Cricut I made this with paper and hung it outside. It looked really cute until the first rain we had and everything was ruined.

So I decided to paint on it instead and the final outcome is this.

It took a little paint, sand paper and my Cricut machine.

It looks so cute on the front porch and I get compliments all the time from neighbors.

Happy 4 year anniversary!

2010-10-09T12:32:00.001-07:00

We just celebrated our 4th wedding anniversary. 4 years. I can’t believe it had been 4 years! They have been the best 4 years and I can only hope the next 4 years are just as great!

For my anniversary gift Matt got me a couch! I have been wanting a new couch for almost a year now. Our old one just stunk of dog and I couldn’t get the smell out. Plus, it was pretty worn looking and didn’t provide enough seating for more then 2-3 people.

So here is the new living room with the sectional. Before, I had brown curtains but after adding a brown couch it looked like someone threw up poop in my living room so things needed to be tweaked a little.

I took down the brown curtains and made my own. That will be in the next blog post. I also added a photo wall. I have been wanting one for a while and it seems to work with this layout. I still need to get some throw pillows since the ones that came with the couch are ugly and orange and yellow.

So here is my question.

Does it look ok that I don't have curtains on both sides of the windows??

I feel like the way I have it opens it up and makes the room feel bigger. If I have them on both sides then I can’t really have a photo wall since it will look to cluttered.

And now to the next question…what to do with the rest of the room. We still want to keep our leather chair and are thinking of putting it where the entertainment center is. We would bring our flat screen TV from our bedroom and hang it where the map photo is and place a table underneath it to old the cable box and stuff… the only thing is that I don't want it to look crowded and the chair is wider and longer then the entertainment center so I don’t know if it will work. I guess only one way to find out!! I really think we just need to find a bigger house already!

Ergo baby carrier

2010-09-25T20:01:00.001-07:00

I would really love to win this baby carrier! I am blogging about it so it can count as 1 of my entries! =)

Garage Sale Finds

2010-09-21T14:20:00.001-07:00

I love garage selling!!! I think I go with my Mom and Sister about 2x a month or more.

Last weekends deals filled my entire car up to the point that I couldn’t see out my back window!! Here are some of the items I got.

Everything was for Cohen. I did not get one thing for myself!

A snow suit for Cohen size 3T. A paid of shoes, a t-shirt and a pair of shorts.

Cohen got lots of new really fun toys that he LOVES! I paid $.50/$1.00 for each toy. Some of these toys are still $10 at Once Upon a Child.

Then on our way home, we drove by a garage sale that we weren’t planning on stopping at. We were all getting pretty tired. That was until I thought I saw a child's Anywhere Chair from Pottery Barn! I had been recently doing a lot of research on these and my Mom was going to get him one for his birthday. Sure enough it was an Anywhere Chair!! Not only one but two of them!! They were monogrammed “Cooper” and “Carter” which worked out great since Cohen has a cousin named Carter! For now, we have just been calling Cohen “Cooper”.( Ironically, those were my 2 top boy names before we decided on Cohen and I still hope to have a “Cooper” one day)

We walked away from that garage sale only paying $5 for each chair!!! Now I just have to order a new cover for it with Cohen’s name on it. The price brand new for the chair is $130 +tax and shipping. Mine will be $45. $5 for the chair and $40 for the cover.

I guess you have to be a mom to get excited over sippy cups for $.25 each. My sister called me a sippy cup hoarder when I wanted to buy every one they had. These sippy cups are $4.00 each in stores! I got 9 of them and plan to give the girl ones to my friend Kimmy. I also got 11 Dr. Brown bottles that have hardly been used. Those were $.25 each as well but I bought a bunch of stuff from them, along with a hose winder thing and gave him $10 bucks for it all. I have packed the bottles away for my next child, or I will sell them on eBay. Either way, I couldn’t pass up brand new bottles for $.25 each!

I am happy with my Saturday findings. I do need a bigger house though soon since this chair takes up half my living room. It is the oversized one which will fit him until he is married =) Well, maybe not that far, but I can fit it! So he will not be outgrowing it for many years!

It’s half the size of my couch! (please excuse the messy room)

My heart smashed into the ground

2010-09-10T21:52:00.001-07:00

I am so tired of looking for homes. I just want to find the right one and move already!!!

Tonight we looked at one. It was L.O.V.E. Perfect in every single way. I couldn’t find one flaw. 4 bd/3 full bath, 2600 sqft plus a loft and 3 car garage on 1/4 acre landscaped yard backing up to an open field, located on a court at the end of the development with no neighbors behind and an UPSTAIRS laundry. Real hardwood floors in living room and corian in the bathrooms and showers. Beautiful cabinets through out house and newer carpet. It was amazing. The master had a closet that was as big as my laundry room. It breaks my heart just writing this. It had 2 sliding glass doors leading out to 2 different parts of the back yard. One side was going to be for Cohen and his sand box and swing set would be where he and all his friends would play. The other side for adults only!

It was priced excellent and I was sure I was going to be living the rest of my life in it… that was until we heard that on top of the mortgage and HOA fees (that we were ok paying if we could get a good price on a house) there ate mello-roos due as well. Mello-roos are basically an extra property tax to pay for things like streets, water, sewage and drainage, electricity, infrastructure, schools, parks and police protection to newly developing areas. From what I read, they only exists in California. So on top of the $115 HOA, they had a $280 mello-roo due per month as well! The mello-roos have to be paid for the next 26 years, until the cost of everything is paid off. Super stupid. So that would add to much on to the mortgage and we sadly said never mind. I actually wanted to scream and throw a tantrum like a little school girl.

Man, I now know why every other house is for sale and you can get so much house for so little cost in this development! No one wants to pay the high fees to live there. So long my dream home. It was fun imagining my life in it for all of an hour. It was such a wonderful life, too. I picked a spot for my Christmas tree and where I would hang my Autumn wreaths. I could see us teaching Cohen to ride his bike in the court and playing with the neighbor kids (aged 2 &3..we became friends) ooooo the love I had for this house…It will be hard to find another to make me feel the way this one made me feel.

Click photos to enlarge

View form master….awww…no houses behind

The great loft/playroom

Garage Sale Finds

2010-08-29T08:38:00.001-07:00

This weekend felt exactly like fall. It was so wonderful considering it is only August!

I got up and showered and headed over to my Mom’s house around 8 am. I was in jeans and a sweat shirt. Such a nice change from last weeks 110 degree days we were having! We were in route to garage sales by 8:15. This is the time you need to go to find the good deals!

She has the places to shop by her house. All of the homes are older and sit on lots of property and lots are hidden down these little streets you never know existed.

I have been the driver the past few weeks and I think we have concluded I drive well until I see a sale… then I start running into curbs and driving crazy. Sales always get my heart rate going! It is my DRUG!!

I added it up and it looks like I spent about $22.

Here is what I got:

A street car rug for Cohen to play with his cars on (some day) for $2. It is in great shape! we had this as a kid and my brothers loved it!

I got a globe for $3. It is cool and old looking

I got this plate/frame stand/holder thing for $.50. They guy wanted $1. He claims he paid $30. I told him he got ripped off. When I started to walk away he said I could have it for$.50. Sold!

I got these 2 oval photo frames for $1. I plan to spray pain thtem and do something cute… they will go in my “If I eve get a bigger house…” box

One of the cool finds was this old heater. It looks like a fan, but it is actually an old heater. I have been wanted an old metal fan like this and am still on the look out. Pottery barn sells them but I don’t want to pay a fortune and I prefer mine old and real!

If we ever move I plan to put it in Cohen’s room on a shelf. At least it was my plan until Matt saw it and stated claim to it. Along with that globe that was also suppose to be for Cohen’s room! I got the heater for $3

Then we stopped at this beautiful house. She was was over priced on everything except this glass jar. $1. My mom had it in her hands and was planning to buy it but I somehow managed to rip it out and convince her she didn’t need it. She still wants it and I think I might give it to her… I mean, I did have an advantage. She was in horrible pain from her arthritis and it being so cold so she couldn’t really fight back =) I am so mean.

This bight shiney red gum ball machine was spotted a mile away… we were driving by not knowing if we wanted to stop. I saw this thing and put the car into park pretty fast! I have been wanting an old gum ball machine for some time now to put in Cohen’s room. This one isn’t as old as I would like, but it will do. I paid $5 and I though that was too much. I could have talked him down, but all I had was a $5 bill and he was our last stop so I just decided to pay full price. I really like it!

Another thing I got that I am really excited about are these drinking glasses! I have the same exact set and over the years, one by one, they have broken. I am down to like 2-3 of each size left. My plans were to get the same set again and every time I go to Target I pick them up and then put them back because I see something else I would rather have. I got these glasses for $5!

The 2 baseball mitts are for Cohen one day. They are already broken in and will be perfect when he plays baseball. Extra gloves are always nice to have. We got those last weekend for $1 each

That sums up my Saturday garage sale finds. I should post my findings every Saturday since I seem to be going every weekend.

Yesterday was my priciest one I have done in a while at $22. Last week I got a ton of stuff and I think I didn’t spent over $10.

Easy dry erase board

2010-08-25T21:33:00.001-07:00

Did you know you can make a dry erase board out of any photo frame that has glass?!!! Brilliant, I know! Thanks to the blogger I copied. I can’t find who it is, but if I do I will link to it.

So at Goodwill a few weeks ago I got this hideous floral display in this nice oval frame

I removed the flowers and then took some fabric I had and placed it inside of the frame. I then used the same doily that I used on the tote bags and added some flair at the top and bottom of the fabric. I put the frame back together and hung it with string! It is now perfect for grocery lists or any other thoughts I might have for the day. Today, I love crafting!! This cost me a total of $2.00

Turned out so cute! I think if we ever move, I will make a bigger one to hang in my kitchen or office. I love it!! This would also be a great Christmas gift and you can personalize it with different fabrics!

I blame it on the blogs!!

2010-08-25T15:33:00.001-07:00

I have been crafting a lot lately! I blame it on this blog.(Click to enlarge any photo)

I am not putting detailed instructions on how I made each item. If you want to know, you should be able to get them by clicking on the link to the blogs from where I got the,

First, I made this monogrammed book bag. Really, it could be used for anything… Groceries, books, crafts! Sooo easy and so cute!!! I am thinking this may be great Christmas gifts ;)

Canvas Tote: $.79

Paper doilies- package of 12: $1.99

Spray adhesive and fabric paint I already had. Probably about $5 for all

Spray adhesive one side of the doily to get it to stick to the canvas. It doesn’t move once down, but easy to pull up when you are done. Start painting over the holes in the doilies.

I then used my Cricut and cut out a “L” to use as a stencil…you could also draw one on by hand and then paint it

Finished product!

Then while garage selling this past weekend, I picked up a couple empty frames for $.50 each. With one of them, I made this cute chicken wire bulletin board thing. Also a copy from this blog. It turned out cute! Maybe one day if I get a bigger house I will be able to put it up somewhere. I was even thinking it would look cute in Cohen’s room with old plane postcards attached to it.

Then I took wooden clothes pins and added some scrapbook paper… sanded the edges and used them to attach stuff to the frame! So cute!

My next frame I got, I turned into a necklace holder. I flipped it over and screwed in 3 hooks along the inside. It holds all my necklaces! I didn’t do anything to the frame as far as paint. I might one day spray paint it but I just didn’t feel like it =) I got the idea from Pottery Barn. Mine cost me $.50 unlike the $40.00 one at PB. I would make the earring one, too, but I just don’t have any earrings that could hang on the wires. Mine all have little backings.

Home #4 is out

2010-08-09T19:30:00.001-07:00

Well, we are no longer moving. As sad as I am, the house just wasn’t the right fit for us. After doing some research we found that the HOA has some crazy rules. We would have to get approval to have a swing set or anything that is taller than the fence line which is 6 ft.They could say no and Cohen wouldn’t be able to have a swing set.

They regulate your internet and if they feel you are using to much they will slow your speed down. If you are downloading anything illegally they will suspend your service. You have to get approval for plants that you want to plant in the front yard. That is fine, we understand they want it to look nice BUT you also have to get approval for what you plant in the BACKYARD!!! You have to have permission to remove trees and plant new ones… this isn’t a home for us. We had big plans for the backyard and they did not including asking permission to plant flowers!

Also, you can’t let you grass die. If it is dead you get a fine. The thing that most people said on this online forum is that the HOA is rediculous. People would buy bank owned homes where the water has been shut off. Of course the grass will be dead. Just a few days after moving in they received a fine for having dead grass. They also received fines for have a moving truck outside of their house for long. One lady even got a notice for having a sun shade in her window to block out extra sun. They also make you pay back HOA fees on the house while it sat vacant. They require first and lasts months HOA fees due when you move in. It really felt like a rental house more than a home.

With all this information we received, we decided to pull our offer off the table and continue our search. As excited as I was to be getting a bigger house in a nice walking neighborhood I think in the long run we will be happier.

Bloggy land copycat

2010-08-06T22:43:00.001-07:00

Looking at home decorating blogs is getting me into trouble! Good trouble though! I haven’t really had the time, since having Cohen, to sit down and look at all the home blogs that I used to frequent. With a purchase of a new bigger home soon, I know that I am going to need some ideas for decorating a bigger space! A few nights ago I started looking and it got my brain rolling.

People out there in blogger land are so talented. All of their stuff looks so good.

Last night after I put Bubs to bed, I handed Matt he monitor and took off to Goodwill to find frames that I could spray paint black in hopes of one day adding them to my future photo wall. My friend Jaime has one and I am going to copy her! Here is her wall:

So I got some good things at Goodwill. I actually didn’t grab a cart thinking I wasn’t going to find much. This is where I went wrong. I was in the frame aisle and so so many I wanted. Once in particular was an oval frame. It had an ugly flower print in it but I didn’t care. I was planning on making this cool white board thing, which I can’t seem to find in bloggy land again, but it was cute! Well I went to grab a cart and when I returned for the frame a lady in front of me was 5 seconds to quick and snagged it just as I was going for it. I know she was doing something cool with it. She didn’t look like the type of person looking for ugly art to hang on her wall in a Goodwill. Makes me mad!! I will always grab a cart now!

Here are the frames I got. They all got a coat of black, except the ones on the left. They were already black.

I framed Cohen’s newborn foot print from the hospital. Look how tiny and sweet it is. Man, I miss that little teeny tiny foot and his teeny tiny toes…

This item doesn’t have a before photo, but the base was just wood. It looks good painted black

Then I got this jar. I have been seeing these around in bloggy land for a while. I sprayed painted the top black and then took from vinyl I had from my Cricut, cut it out and rounded the edges. I then removed the adhesive back and stuck it right to the jar. Can you believe this stuff also acts as a chalk board?!!!! Look how cute the dog treats are now. Total cost for that was $3. I am not on a massive goodwill hunt for more jars like this. I really want to do this. I am basically in love with everything this lady does, including her Son’s airplane room. So I will be a copy cat on a lot of her stuff!

This shelf was a find back in December. It was white and I got it at Goodwill for $3. I spray painted it black a while back but it just sits in a corner since I have no idea where to put it. More like, I don’t have any room to put it! That will change once we move!

It is going to look great once it goes up!

Now I have spray painted stuff in the past but when I do, I normally by the cheapest spray paint possible. I thought it was all the same. Man, was I wrong!! I used Krylon satin black on these and I can’t believe how great everything looks…you can’t even tell it was painted! I am REALLY loving spray painting. Plus, they have continuous spray now and I don’t suffer from spray paint finger syndrome

Next, I want to recreate some crafts. This lady uses her Cricut a lot in her crafts and it looks so cute!

There is this

And this maybe to spell out Cohen’s name for his room

And I will be coping this. I love the detergent in the jar with a scoop!!

Offer #4

2010-08-06T22:19:00.001-07:00

This post was written a few days ago but I hadn’t posted it yet.

We just got the word that they accepted our offer! We are officially in escrow!

So we put in our 4th offer on a new home and yes it is a new home. I know I said I hated those, but I may be changing my mind a little bit.

One come up on a search a few nights ago and it said it was on 1/3 acre. I thought that had to be wrong because new homes are on the tiniest lots possible, which is why I don’t like them. Well sure enough, it is on 1/3 acre. It sits on the end of a court, which is what I wanted! End of court homes always have large properties.

So I drove by yesterday to see if it was something we might want to look at and while driving through I couldn’t believe how many mommas were out walking and jogging with there kids. There are lots of landscaped walking trails and it was a clean neighborhood.

So we met with our agent at that house around 4:30p, which is the hottest part of the day. It always seems like we are out looking at houses at the hottest part of the day and during Cohen’s nap times!

It is a bank owned property. 4 bedroom 2.5 bath and 2500sqft. It is a 2 story, which I don’t like and the laundry room is down stairs while all the rooms are up. How does that make since?? Please tell me builder of the house! The house was built in 2006 and has a formal dining room, living room and a kitchen open to the family room. It has a 3 car tandem garage (meaning it looks like a 2 car garage but when you are inside one of the sides of the garage extends back 1 more car space. Matt LOVES this)

The outside has blue shutters and a blue door. Not a fan of that. If we get it, we will be changing that color.

The best part!! The backyard is HUGEEEEEE. The back fence spans 3.5 houses. It has lots of pathways and flower beds already laid out… they were going for low maintenance gardening so there is lots of gravel that we will be taking out. This is the reason we like the house. We have been thinking about if we want it or not and we keep going back to the fact that it sits on a third of an acre.

The house is closer to Matt’s work, so he will only have about a 30 mins drive.

No getting to the inside… the previous owners were wanting to change up the builder basic feel of the house but painting some stuff. however, they did not do it right. Everything cabinet, banister and fireplace they painted, they didn’t sand. They went right over the top of the lacquer on the oak. This means that if you aren’t careful, it will scratch right off. So if we get it, we will have to redo some stuff the correct way.

They also were not afraid of color or wall paper or stripes or sponge painting. Likes I said. Lots of painting to be done!

Here are some photos:

The toilet seat is up in this photo because the back of the toilet has been spray painted green and some decals were added to the top. Who paints a toilet??!

Ceiling in dining room. It is wall papered to look like tin. That is going to suck pulling down.

Pantry

Another one bites the dust

2010-08-04T13:32:00.001-07:00

Well I didn’t put it in the dryer this time… I let it air dry. But after putting it up I noticed I did something wrong.

Then I read the washing instructions “DRY CLEAN ONLY”

C’mon now!!! So lame and all I was trying to do was wash the pee marks out of it! Matt claims it was Baxter who peed on it… Baxter must be really cleaver then because it is at toilet level, 2 feet off the ground and a span of 2 feet. I am not saying it was Matt, it could have been another guy, but Matt is the only guy in our house.

Maybe I just shouldn’t wash them anymore since I can’t seem to do it right! Maybe I should just learn to read!