Forever Home?

Are you in your forever home?  Do any of us really know?  We thought we were.... but then our boys moved out and now our 3rd child is about to turn 18 and she is chomping at the bit to leave home, so we have found ourselves with soon to be only two little girlies at home with us.  We really do not need all the space in our current home.  I do love our house but there is so much I want to do to it, $$$$$$ and too much space. 

But someday when we do find ourselves in our forever home, I am going to utilize this AMAZING website!! The Handmade Home.  Just look at this before and after!

They make it seem do-able.  I will need my hubby though, lets hope he will be cooperative.
Maybe 2014 will be the year I get some projects done!  What are your creative plans for the year?

If this isn't the cutest idea ever............

I met Becki from whippy cake at The Creative Connection a couple years ago, we traded products, my girls have super cute whippy cake hair accessories and she has a vintage ruffled Lollibag.   I saw the cutest picture of her on my news feed for my Facebook page and went to check out her blog.

I read the  jewelry board tutorial and it is such a great idea!  If my life ever slows down I may have to do this.  Maybe all my girls can help me build it for a homeschool lesson this winter.

Have a great Sunday!

Green and Spring, cannot wait

I'm having a bit of a hard time looking out my window at the SNOW mixed with rain and the SNOW storms on the way next week.  This is the part of Minnesota I hate and dread, those are strong words, but I have strong feelings.  I need tropical, I need spring, I need green.

This blog post kinda made my morning :)  I love the greens.  It's inspiring. I love the jade dishes....

 You know what else made me smile?  The styling of the new spring Boden catalog.  It is so retro cute!

Here is one of my new Lollitotes.  It is made from vintage Waverly fabric.  I love how retro it is and the colors are so pretty and springy.

What are you most looking forward to planting this spring?  I still have not figured out when I can start planting here in Minnesota, I usually think I can start way to soon, then we get another freeze.  I'm just hoping my clematis vine comes back and grows big and beautiful!

What are the temps where you are?  Still in the 30's here.

I won a giveaway!

I'm so super excited to get my Matthew Mead Holiday 2012 book!!  I wanted it, but you know it's one of those things you know you shoudn't spend the money on, after all you have Christmas gifts to get for 5 children....a Thanksgiving meal to buy all kinds of goodies for, etc....

I entered on Bluebird Notes facebook page and lo and behold, I actually won.  Thank you Koralee!  Thank you Matthew Mead!

You both made my day!

A couple things I bought at Junk Bonanza

A few weeks ago I went to Junk Bonanza, a lot of fun....VERY CROWDED. I think I'll not show up right away next time.  Or wait, scratch that, because my first run through I found a couple things I noted in my mind.  When I went back for them they were gone...
Next time I am just going to buy, buy, buy!

I ended up getting a peice of  *PINK* base board, two pink shutters, an orange lower case 'r' and an old light.

I put the pink baseboard in my daughters room up by the ceiling.  I was just going to have it be a cute accent peice.  But then I was hanging her curtain rod and I noticed her curtains were very long and I had a brilliant idea!

I asked my husband to hang them right on the pink baseboard and I really love how it turned out.

The light from the window does not make for a very good picture, but here it is anyway.  The curtains are from IKEA.

I put the pink shutters in my youngest daughters room along side her corner windows.  I realized after my husband had them up that I had them upside down!  He didn't want to switch them for me so there they stay, oh well.

Again the light is not really great, but hey, I am happy it is sunny out today!!  The shutters are all chippy and old.

And here is my latest Lollibag.

Have a wonderful rest of the week!!!

1/2 bath redo

When my husband goes out of town for work, I usually redo something in the house, it's just easier that way.  I have my own methods.  Recently hubby (lucky guy) got to go to Australia, so I tackled the 1/2 bath.  And when I say tackle, that is exactly what I mean.  I have to take a running leap to tackle these 12ft. ceilings.  It is beyond me why a person would need 12ft ceilings, I don't know what the builders of this house were thinking and we really didn't put much though into them being a problem..... until I ordered window coverings, we started paying to heat and cool that extra space, and I decided I wanted to paint!

My dad  brought over his 10ft ladder for me to use.  That sucker is heavy, I have never used so many muscles in my body.  I had to constantly lift and turn the ladder to reach the different walls, oh and I'm afraid of heights, oh and there is no room for a paint tray up there so up and down up and down I went.  The bathroom is small so the ladder never fully extended and that was another issue but oh well.  I got a good workout!

So here is the before picture, above...  My plan  was to stencil a  really cool design over a dark color.  I chose frosted plum for the base.

I really liked it at first.....

And then I got the whole room done and it was sooooo purple I was a bit worried.

But I knew the stencil would break it up a bit.  I went to the store and got a cream color called wax figure or something.  I put up my stencil and started.... and right away I knew this was not going to work.  I mean, OH MY LANDS, this was not going to work.  It was near impossible to balance myself atop  a 10ft ladder while not getting excess stencil paint where it should not be, while the blue tape held it's stickiness, and not to mention the corners, this stencil did not want to go easy into the corners, and after the first two stencil area's and strings of not so nice words I was done.

I thought oh great!  I cannot leave these walls all purple!  So not to overdo the stripe theme, but what choice did I have???  I decided to put big stripes up and then I decided well lets do all different sizes of stripes then I won't have to be so "precise".  Cuz  let me tell you it was a good 20 degrees hotter at the top of that room and sweat was dripping off me and it's dark up there and I'm balancing and trying to get a straight line with my level, every couple feet I had to get down and lift and turn that ladder.

Sorry I'm whining so much.

So I taped up my stripes and painted the creamy color, and I got that done......and I don't have a picture of that color done, but this is why I do this when hubby is out of town... I HATED THE COLOR!

The cream just looked so dirty, I was going for a clean crisp look.  Sigh.  Back to Home Depot for the 3rd time, I picked up falling snow, a nice crisp white!  I had to RE-TAPE the cream and start the stripes over.  But I ended up loving this new white.

I had one more stripe in the cream color at the top of the walls and I said oh heck no, I ain't taping that sucker again!!  So I purpled over the very top stripe.

Most importantly, my hubby like it!  That was a relief.  So he wasn't too upset when he found out I had ordered a new light that he had to install.

I had to take the picture with the light off, because it was so bright.  When we took the old light down, there was so much dripped painted and lines, I had to sand the wall to paint so there would not be lumps.

So this was the project that never ended but in the end I am very happy with how it turned out!  Now I need to find a gaudy white framed mirror and some decor.  I am not sure what type of decor though.

Next week I am going to Junk Bonanza, so hopefully I will find something there!

My DIY wall stripes!

So I started watching Craft Wars, it's "ok".... but on one show I saw a contestant, Mandi, and she had the cutest intro with a picture of a room she had redone.  I loved it so much I looked up her blog and immediately went to work on her striped walls project. 

I picked a small space, the hallway going to Sophie and Portia's rooms, but it was still overwhelming to me.  But it turned out great and I love it!

My hallway before, Cottonballs by Benjamin Moore.  Pretty boring.

A pretty small space, I thought it would be a snap.  Maybe I should tell you I'm not really a details project person.

All taped up, you can find detailed instructions at Mandi's blog.  I followed them to a T.  T is for tedious.  But I know if this is going to look nice it takes time. First I took a level and drew lines 3 in. apart down the walls, that was the worst part I think.  I hope I'm not discouraging you from trying this, I just didn't expect it to be so time consuming.  I have a new found respect for people like Mandi who do this all the time and then photograph it and blog about it.

OH and you may find like I did, that your house was built without using a level!  Not sure how the home builder did that, but I guess that's why he is no longer in business!


So you can see at the bottom of the above photo, you put on a coat of the current wall color first.  I put that coat on to keep the gray from bleeding under the tape, that's what Mandi said to do, so I did it.
Here is my gray coat below.

AND.............................................. WA LLAH!!  I love it!  Don't you?  So all the prep work was worth it.  The blue tape took off some of my original paint when I took it off and in one area a huge chunk of the gray lifted too, but I will just touch it up.

I would love to paint the wall cabinet door a hot pink or a mustard yellow, however I don't think my husband would look to kindly on that!

So now that, that is done.... I may venture into another project.  I may stencil a pattern in my half bath instead of wallpaper.  It would be much cheaper, but again very time consuming.  But I think I'll try.

So what do you think??

Things I love

I have been running into things I absolutely love and I thought I would share them with you!

As you know I am searching for wallpaper for my little bathroom.  One day I stumbled upon Jessica Swift.  I instantly fell in love.  These are the samples I ordered....

Banana-Magnolia

Divya

String-rose

She also has fabric!  I ordered some of that too.  So we'll see which wallpaper I end up choosing.

Another thing I love is printing coupons at Target.com

  I love the fact that you can use a Target coupon WITH a manufacturer coupon on one item.  You hit the jackpot even more if it is on sale and if it's a buy 3 get a gift card deal!!  I also signed up for a Target debit card to get an extra 5% off each time I shop.


Water.  I love water.  What I love more is adding fresh squeezed lemon juice to ice water.  It is so good.

Yesterday my 16 yr old and I had an itching to get out of the house and do some shopping.  We drove down to CoonRapids and try as we may we could not spend one dime.  That is a good thing and I'm glad it happened, but we found two things I am now in love with.

1.  By the register at Caribou Coffee they have little dark chocolate squares with sea salt.  They are a bit spendy for the size ...... .59 cents but oh boy were they good!  So salty and sweet!

2.  We stopped by the healthy food store to pick up some cod liver oil ( that's good too)... they didn't have any so we perused the store and found the most heavenly chocolate bar ever...
 Chocolove xoxox Almonds & Sea Salt in Dark Chocolate

I'm so in love I may try and find a case of them, the sea salty almond dark chocolate OH YUM!

You know what else I love??  Farm fresh eggs.  I have one every morning.

Do you have anything you just love and want to share?  Let me know!

P.S.   which wallpaper should I choose?

New Lollibag's and Redecorating..

Hello friends,

I know I have been in my home less than a year but I have the itch to redecorate.  I'd love some gaudy, bright, floral wallpaper, huge crystal chandeliers and a bright orange sofa.  Problem is, like my BFF and I always say.......it takes money.  But I am going to tackle one room at a time and my first project is my 3/4 bath.  I'll keep you posted....

Here are some new Lollibags :)

This one sold right away, it was so bright and cheery!  Love Heather Bailey fabric.

My new studio Part 1

Hello!  Well, I went back to that Goodwill and bought the vintage salad cookbook.  Yes I did, it has a whole section on "Molds".  Did any of my followers eat molds growing up?  As in, the gross molds?  Tuna molds?  Avacado molds?  Gelatin molds with sour cream and worcestershire sauce?   I am now obsessed with these creations.....I may even bring one to the next family holiday dinner just as a joke.

Ok, as you know I love Where Women Create magazine.  I would love to have my own space to create like that.  I have always done my creating in my dining room and everyone holds it against me that we don't have dinners at the dining room table because it's full of fabric and buttons.

Well that is going to change, hopefully sooner rather than later.  There is a room above our garage and that is going to be my studio!  Right now the stairs are in the garage.

We have been wracking our brains trying to figure out how to get them in the house.  First we were going to incorporate them into the laundry room which is just right inside the house by the stairs now.  Then we were going to have them come out in the dining room, but the latest which I am loving is having them come out in the house where my pantry is right now by the kitchen.

Going up.

It's a great space.  Very roomy.  I am a bit worried about light, so we are going to add dormers to the wall on the left for two more windows.  That is what will slow this project down, I'm not sure when we'll be ready to do that.

Dormer wall.  There are lots of outlets for all of our sewing machines.

This is the pantry where the stairs will go up, it is right over the stairs going to the basement.  It's a mess isn't it?  We will still make our laundry room bigger, so I can move the pantry storage in there. 

The door in the hallway that is closed is the pantry.  So the plan is to open the wall up on the left side of that door so there will be an open stairway and railing.  I hope we can, I would love that openess.  To the left is the dining room where I now sew.

If you have any bright ideas, I'll take them!

My Yellow Chandelier!

Well I finally did it, I found a chandelier.  I had discovered this chandelier in a magazine a long time ago and then forgot about it.  Until..................after 300 pages of online light surfing, I refound it!

It came in many colors, but I chose yellow.  Of course the shades were extra, sometime soon I will get them.

I love it, I think it's me, and it will look even better with shades.  If you would like to know where I purchased this light, please e-mail me.  It has been quite a fiasco.  And this light is not the best quality,  by all means I should be returning it, but I love it so much and cannot find it at any other store.

Over the weekend we celebrated Portia's golden birthday, her 10th.  It's not really until Tuesday but....
She wanted her barbie cake again and she designed her outfit and hair ribbon.  What do you think?

Guess what?  I signed up for  cake decorating class!  For the next 4 Tuesday night's I will be taking a basic cake decorating class and I'm kind of excited.  It is hard for me to do this by myself, but I decided to do it!  Wish me luck!

Wreath Giveaway!

Look at that beautiful wreath!  To win this wreath go to Dreamy Whites blog and enter!

I hope I win!

The hallway is ready to show you.....

You say, is that all that's ready??  Yes, I am afriad so.  I still have piles of boxes and things to hang in every room of the house!  My dear sweet husband, says he will not be working inside the house while the weather is nice.... while I appreciate what he is saying, that means I will have my piles for a few more months until the weather is cold.

Remember my nice long hallway in Oregon?  I had all my pictures there.  I am truly befuddled as to what to do with these 12 ft. ceilings I have!  Do I decorate up to the top?  Do I only do midway?  What?  Do I get decorative curtains?  Great, how much will those cost?  So if you know please tell me.

Here is my hallway...

It is so dark in here, I had to turn on my hall lights.

You can kind of see my wall lights, I didn't like what was here when we moved in, so I found these lights at Menards, kind of like Home Depot......you'll never guess how much they were.  A box of 2 for $5.99!!  At the end of the hall is my laundry room and on the left are the stairs to the basement.

To the right is my kitchen at the end of the hall to the right is the master bedroom.  The first door on the left is the pantry and the door right after it is the half bath.  I do have that done, I could show you that too!

So from right to left, laundry, stairs to basement, half bath, pantry...  I do like my Cotton Balls white, but I am noticing how dirty everything gets.  That goes for white baseboard and doors too.  But I love it, I would still choose white even with the dirt!

Have a great weekend, and leave me a high ceiling decorating tip, please!

Our new house

Well here it is!  I do love the outside of our house, even the color.  I love that we are on a culdesac and there is no traffic going by.

I also love the hydrangea's out front.



My best friend's husband is building a deck for us, I am looking forward to drinking my coffee out there in the morning's.

It is REALLY high off the ground.  So the railing will be nice.  I am afraid of heights.

This is the view from the deck.  We are on a small lake and that is the dock with a couple of chairs on it and an umbrella.  The sun sets over the lake every night, it is so very pretty!  It does help my heart to see that.  Yes, that is a swamp between the house and the lake.  Oh well, maybe it will dry up some day.

The door to the deck.  I wish I had the house all decorated and ready to show you, but I don't.  My best friend (Rach) is coming over tomorrow morning, ~early~, for a coffee....then we will decorate!
Thank you Lord for girlfriends. Amen.