My not so little girl turned 9!

I love birthdays. I love having everyone over eating and having a good time. I am thankful for the small times like these that we get to spend together.

Spring is here!

I am so in love with my home and I love when all of the kids are over! I love how they get to play outside and its so peaceful and safe here. We grew up in the country doing country things and I love seeing my kids and their cousins getting to do the same things! I wish the kids were here on better circumstances though. We are missing baby Jameson in these pictures because he is having to spend some time at the hospital. He definitely needs some positive thoughts sent his way! I sure love that little guy!

White Washed Fireplace!

Ok.. I finally white washed the fireplace. I saw a tutorial on The Yellow Cape Cod Blog and decided I had to do it. My wash seemed to come out more transparent. I am not sure if I did more water or if my bricks were extra absorbent. When I first started... I will be honest I was having a heart attack on the inside. I was like oh crap... this is going to look awful. It was too late though. There was no going back so I just kept going forward. I could tell by the look on Andrew's face he was having a heart attack too but he said lets see what it looks like when it is done. So I kept at it, brushing on the paint, wiping some of it off. It took a few hours. It was pretty easy actually, just like the tutorial said. I also painted the gold trim on the doors black... Like I have said before.. I hate gold! I finished... I stepped back, and well I LOVED it. I think with the grey, white, and blue color scheme the fire place fits in much much better. I also think it stands out more and you can see the decor on it better. I can not wait for new floors... it will all look SO good together! 

Bargain Hutch Facelift

It has been awhile since my last post. I have a list a mile long of projects and now I am finally getting to it! I am starting off with smaller things. Like painting mirror frames:

Forgive me for not cleaning the glass first. I just took a quick shot of it when I finished it. I bought this mirror for $5 at a yard sale and it was a spray painted gold color... If you don't know me then you do not know how much I am NOT a fan of gold. My color scheme for pretty much the whole house are greys, whites, and shades of blues. I decided to go with this color of teal because it would look great in my master suite when I remodel it and because well it was left over paint from my dining room table project. So for a whole $5 I have a pretty bold looking mirror (that desperately needs cleaned)

While I was piddling around with small projects like that mirror I pretty much searched Craigslist every day for some sort of hutch or cabinet that I could add my own touches to. I wanted it to be real wood, solid (did not have to be pretty) and affordable. SOooo after about a couple months of looking I stumbled upon this gem. It was exactly what I had been looking for. It had character but was not too ornate. I liked the simple lines and thought it would go great with my farm house decor. It is a hand made piece made about 80 years ago. To me that makes it even more special. I love when something has that personal touch to it. 

Best of all it was only $100!  

It was really beautiful as it was, however the wood tone did not fit with my decor and I really wanted a piece to stand out and pop in my living room. The walls are grey and the couches are black. The tables are cream with a dark wood grain top. There are little splashes of blue here and there. So I knew I really wanted to go with color! Visit here to see what the entire living room looks like. 

I again decided to go with the left over teal paint. I have decided that I want there to be a teal piece in every room. When I am done painting every room aside from the kids rooms they will be some shade of grey. I was inspired by my dining table and decided to recreate a similar look with this cabinet. View here to catch a glimpse of the dining table. (I wish I took a full picture! kitchen remodel will be coming soon so there will be a better one coming!)

I only painted one coat of paint because I wanted to allow some of the wood to show through in the brush strokes. You know to add to the whole distressed farmhouse look. I allowed it to all dry and sanded at the edges and after one afternoon of work and a serious sun burn... I have one of my most favorite pieces of furniture! 

Drum roll.....

Ohhh how I love it! I also decided to leave the backing wood because I thought it allowed it to remain warm and natural. I love the details that gave it so much character without making it over done.

And this bowl that I had found at TJMaxx for $12 went with it perfectly! I bought the kraft paper eggs from Michaels forever ago and decided to finally use them. I am a hoarder of craft materials... at least it pays off.

So there is my handwork! I am beyond thrilled with it! I will be white washing my fire place soon... and crossing my fingers that new floors are in the near future! When that is all complete I will be definitely be posting and updated version to my living room progress!

Something fresh, bright and cheerful

I am eagerly waiting for spring. I am ready to get outside and tackle this beast of a yard. I want to grow so many things. Fruit, vegetables, herbs, flowers, and... succulents! I am full of ideas and almost cannot wait to get started. But I have to. SO in the mean time to temporarily satisfy this need for spring I have been keeping cut flowers in my home. They just make me happy. I decided for this batch to go with cheerful and what is more cheerful than yellow and white. I just went to Walmart and got two bouquets that cost me a total of $10. I had picked up the drinking pitcher earlier at Old Time Pottery. SO for $20 I have spring started early in my house and I am going to enjoy them until they begin to droop. I would recommend if you are suffering from winter blues to go out and get you some flowers too! 

Its time they do their part and earn their way! Chore Charts!

I have been MIA lately. Christmas was insanely busy, I am sure it was for all of you as well. Then I had wedding edits to finish up for my last two wedding clients of 2013. So January was dedicated to that. Now that I am caught up with everything I am able to put my focus, time and energy back into my home! Speaking of home. We love our house. Its beautiful, it has tons of light.. yet with our busy work and school schedules keeping it clean has been a struggle. It is too darn pretty to be messy! Well my children are coming to that age where they can be helping. They are about to turn 9 and 7. They are very interested in earning their own money so I decided a chore chart is a must! I bought 3 cookie sheets from the dollar store. I went to Walmart and bough the burlap ribbon, mini popsicle sticks and magnet tape. At home I already had a nice collection of scrapbook paper that I used for photo packaging so that part had already been paid for and some. I got home and set to work. I wanted a chart to contain all of the chores when they have not been redeemed. Then I wanted one for Aideen and Rowan. I have those scissors with the fancy edging so I cut out all of the paper that I needed trying to keep the colors coordinating but keeping each board a little different. I glued it all down including the ribbon. While all of that was drying I started writing down chores. With each chore I wrote down an amount that will be earned for each chore. I want to teach the kids personal responsibility and accountability. They get to pick which chores to do which day and they are in control of how much or how little money they earn. 

My very own coffee bar!

Hey! I finally finished the coffee bar! I love it! It looks super cute in my dining area and I have cleaned off counter space. I was lucky enough to get the cabinet and shelf for free. A neighbor was moving quickly and could not take her furniture with her and she gave me a few pieces. This was one of them! I painted the back panel white and some stripes on the top of the cabinet to lighten it up a bit and give it a little extra character. 

 The sign was home made. I bought the black plaque for $2.00 from Michaels and painted the words and cup of coffee on there. The mugs I used I bought from two different places. The blue and white ones were from TJ Maxx for $4.99 and the ones with the birds I picked up from a local liquidation place for $8.00

The canisters were $4.99 each from Target and I painted the labels on them. The tea kettle and cups I bought from Kirklands awhile back for about $15 I believe. All of the glass decorations were given to me by the same lady so I think I got out pretty inexpensive on this project for a total of: $55! (that includes the brackets it took to hang the shelves!)