Mirror mirror on the wall, you're the fairest of them all!

Well, I got the mirror finished, and I am going to go ahead and put it out there that I LOVE IT!

When I started out, I really didn't know where I was going with it {not a good plan}. I did however know what colors I wanted to incorporate. However, after the stool debacle I was a little hesitant to jump off of the neutral train. Forging ahead the mirror first got some more life with the same green paint that was used on my coffee table tray. That's a pop of color for you!

The room has a more rustic look so I watered down the grey used on the stencil walled entry and formed a glaze. This glaze was rubbed all over the mirror.

Some stain is then applied to the detailing in order to give the piece some more depth. And there you have it!

Sometimes it's just a free simple change that makes a room fresh!  I am still thinking that I want to do something more with those plates, but I'm not sure yet.

I'm just not that in to you...

 I've had this stool for many years, and as you can tell it has been used as a paint stool quite a few times.  

Inspired by the colors and pattern of this Union Jack Rug the stool began a transformation...

it felt too busy and contrasted the wood more than I liked, but I wanted to give it a weathered look anyway

I don't know, not feelin' this one so much.  I actually preferred the pre-distressed look better.

I tried hiding moving it into the mud room

and...I'm just not that into you!  I am tired of fiddling with it, I'm thinking I might just go with a solid color and call her good.  Input, suggestions advice are all much appreciated at this point!

Weekend Spruce Up: On the Banks of Squaw Creek

Happy Friday everyone!  I am soo ready for the weekend.  We are planning on staying close to home and out of the Super Bowl traffic.  It is fun to live where all of the hoopla is going on, but traffic is NOT my thing.  If you are planning on staying home and looking for a fun weekend spruce up you have to check out this great DIY craft project by On the Banks of Squaw Creek.  Katie is a teacher, farmers wife and mom to a cutie patootie.  Check out this great project she has for us!

Don’t you love my new, fabric, toy storage bins for the living room?

Would you believe that they started out like this?

How about this one?

Which started out like this:

Here are some guidelines for making your own…each box is different, and I’m not sure I’ve figured out the best way to do it, yet, so expect that it will take a little experimentation.


1.  Find a box.  Cut the corners off of two of the flaps.  It makes things a little easier later on.   (I’m not sure which two would be best…I tried the short flaps and the long flaps and either seems to work.) 

I used this handy dandy thingy (a zip and snip) that hubby bought me for Christmas.  It cuts through cardboard like (insert simile here.)  It’s also AWESOME on all that plastic packaging that toys, tools, and other Christmas presents come in.

(I also had to cut part of the flaps off on that box.)


2.  Measure.  Measure all the way around your box and add a couple inches.  Measure from the bottom of your box to the top of your flaps, and again, add at least 3 inches (you will want your fabric to wrap around the top and bottom.) 

3.  Cut your fabric.  For the diaper boxes, I used two fabrics and sewed them together and pressed the seams.  This made the whole project a lot more complicated because I was obsessed with making sure that the seam was level and the same on both boxes.  It’s not.  I may come back later and glue some ribbon at the seam to even it out a bit more.  If you are a perfectionist like me, just use one fabric, or for Pete’s sake, don’t use a plaid fabric because it’s too darn easy to tell if you screwed up by looking at the top of the box.


*Note:  My boxes were almost 60 inches around (all 3 of them.)  So, if you are buying fabric for this project, I would buy 2 yards so that you have enough length, or plan on sewing (or gluing or stitch witchering) two shorter strips together.


4.  Glue.  Apparently I was too busy burning the flesh off my fingertips to take pictures of this part.  I started on one of the sides that was least likely to be seen (the short ends on the diaper boxes, for example) and used hot glue to attach the fabric along the bottom of the box.  Pull it tight as you go. After wrapping it all around, I folded under the edge and glued that down.


5.  Next is the tricky part.  The fabric isn’t attached yet on the flaps.  Fold the flaps down, and try to get your glue gun underneath them.  If you value your fingertips, you may want to use a piece of cardboard or a plastic knife or something to shove the fabric under the flap. Keep working with it, alternately swearing, tucking fabric, and picking glue off your fingers, until you have glued all four flaps down.  I’m sure there’s a better way to do this…I just don’t know what it is.

6.  Enjoy your new boxes!  The one under the end table holds games and puzzles.  Adam loves it.  Last week, I said, “Look, Adam!  I made you a new box!”  Later that night, at my Grandma’s house for her birthday, he was asking me for it there.  Crazy kid, loves organization as much as I do.

 One of these will hold dinosaurs, and the other will hold diapers and wipes.  I’ve had this fabric for almost 3 years, so I consider this to be a FREE, but beautiful project.

Do you have any cheap, pretty storage solutions?  I’d love to hear about them because I’m always trying to hide stuff!

I found this project especially interesting because for one I have LOTS of diaper boxes, and two it is free {mostly}.  If the weather holds out I am going to be working in the yard, but if it turns ugly I'll be inside making myself some of these guys!

Weekend Spruce Up - Garden

While the rest of the country is buried under snow, we're jumping into spring with temperatures in the upper 60's to low 70's.  What this means for my weekend is that I can start back up my exterior house painting and work on preparing for our spring garden.  You may remember that I got the back of the house done before Thanksgiving, and since then it has been at a stand still. 

Our yard is divided into three sections.  The front yard, the backyard and the side yard.  This is because our garage is located and the back of the house, and technically breaks up our backyard space.  The side yard has been neglected for the entire three years that we have been in the house.  

 {this area will be the vegetable garden}

{future outdoor living or dining}

I told you it was neglected!  Excluding that fire pit, we don't even have chairs to sit and enjoy it :)  This weekend we will be starting the old but new to this side of the house fencing project.  The goal is to divide this space into a vegetable garden at the back and an outdoor living space to the front which happens to be just outside our kitchen.   Be prepared to hear about this project for a.very.long.time as we don't really know anything about gardening or landscaping, so if you have any tips or advice we'd love to hear them!

I don't want to keep your eyes burning with that ugliness, so let me leave you with some photos that I hope my garden will someday resemble!

modern landscape design by san francisco landscape architect Huettl Landscape Architecture

landscape design by los angeles landscape architect Stout Landscape Design-Build

contemporary landscape design by san francisco landscape architect Arterra LLP Landscape Architects

modern landscape design by san francisco landscape architect Shades Of Green Landscape Architecture
Wouldn't these be a great way to do the tomatoes and pepper plants!

contemporary patio design by seattle landscape architect Exteriorscapes llc

Oops I did it again...Card art take two

I played with your heart...  (you'll be singing that all day now ;)

I have never been one for decorating for Valentine's Day, in fact the day itself isn't that big of a deal to me.  My mom however is a HUGE holiday decorator, and sends me some sort of small gift every year.  Those LIVE LOVE LAUGH mini vases were a Valentine's gift from her last year, and these beaded heart coasters came from her as well (still trying to decide what to do with those, stay tuned).  When my sweet hubby brought me some hot pink roses this weekend I decided that they needed the company of some hot pink Valentines Decor.  So stealing a page out of my Christmas Card Art I took a cute Valentine's card that I had given to the Mr. a few years back and framed it. 

 

 (because I care what people think, cheesy candle or no candle?)

 (why do I point things out?  please excuse the toys in the baskets, I am usually better about hiding them from view!)

Pink is not a color I have ever decorated with, but I love the fun pop of color that this adds to our home!

Kitchen Chalkboard Wall

I'll be the first to admit that sometimes I just want to get a project started, and tell myself "I'll come back and touch that up later".  That was the case with this U.G.L.Y. you ain't got no alibi ugly telephone jack that is disrupting my chalkboard wall.  The initial thought was that we could put a phone there, however our home is a 60's ranch and has no electric to plug a modern phone into {we don't even have a land line}. Instead I decided for some unknown reason to "disguise" it... um, not so much!

I wish I had know how easy this would be to remove YEARS ago!  Apparently telephone wires can be cut and shoved into the wall.   

Yikes, this was honestly the scariest part for me, I have always been told never under any circumstance cut wire without turning off the electric.  I left the plastic housing in the wall because honestly it looked like it had become one with the wall.

 

Then a little patch work with the help of a mesh and metal wall repair kit and some spackle.  The tricky part was sanding it to the same texture as the rest of the wall.  A couple coats of chalkboard paint and your done.  With the confidence I have gained doing this little project, I am thinking I can tackle taking out the outdated intercom system.  I mean really in a ranch style home do you really need those monstrosities?