These rooms inspire me. Hope they inspire you too!
From Pinterest- can’t find resource
I love the white and grey theme. My favorite is the last photo, the ironstone and wicker baskets are so beautiful!
Enjoy your week!
Monthly Archives:
June 2012
26
June
2012
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June
2012
22
June
2012
3 comments
June
2012
DIY Reality
Ok friends, this is not a pretty post, but reality. As I am home resting with my new little man, I have had a few days on the couch staring at all the undone projects around my house. I get discouraged when I read other blogs and it looks like everyone has their life together and their houses are perfect. Then it hit me that I do that to you guys too! I realized how careful I am when taking pictures and posting about things in my house, to only show the things that are done and pretty. Well, that is far from the case. Although I take a lot of pride in having my house mostly made up of DIY projects, there are some down sides. Especially when it is a business, you tend to pour your energy into getting things done for shows and clients, and not yourself. Here is a little dose of reality in my life…
So remember this buffet that I painted a couple months ago?
Well, I wanted to just get it done and I was pregnant, so I couldn’t lift it. So instead of waiting for my hubby to come home and help me, I just painted it right where it was. I didn’t want to get paint on the carpet so I just didn’t paint the bottom of the legs. I figured I would get that done later. Yep, you guessed it, it has been two months, and they are still bare.
And I bought this side table about a month ago and had every intention of painting it…
Well, it is still unpainted (and a mess)! Yes, I probably could have cleaned this off before I snapped the picture, but this post is about reality right?? Yes, that is my breast pump in all it’s glory!
And yet another example is my dining room table. I bought this three months ago and started painting, didn’t like the color so I repainted half and it is currently still half painted sitting in my dining room!
Sorry the lighting is bad- the table is half white and half off-white, but hard to tell in the picture.
And I sanded and stained the top, but didn’t put the polyurathaine on and we ate on it anyway so now it looks like this…
Yes, this is my reality. I hope I have made you feel better about those unfinished projects.
21
June
2012
5 comments
June
2012
We’re Hittin the Road!
Alright well in just over a week I will be taking off for about a month. We are hittin the road! With all 3 kiddos! Our first stop will be Sacramento to visit my husband family and then after 10 days or so we will be hittin the road again and headed up to Spokane, Washington. So I have been doing my research on fun activites for LONG road trips for kiddos 3 and under. Here is some of the ideas I have come across so far.
What a great idea. All kinds of fun activites using a cookie sheet and magnets! Each kiddo can have their own cookie sheet, so their will be no fighting or arguing over that and Audra just got some letter magnets for her birthday that will be perfect for all these fun activities.
I also found this on Pinterest, which I also thought was a great idea with those cookie sheets. You can chalkboard paint them, so they are multi-use.
And you can take those great dollar store puzzles and add magnets to the back of them, so they can put them together on their cookie sheet! My 3 1/2 year loves puzzles, this will be perfect.
I am also printing out lots of these great coloring sheets. I’m going to add 2 clothespins to the top of the cookie sheet to hold coloring pages in place. Thankfully my kiddos do love to color. I have bought them each their own pack of crayons, again to hopefully avoid the arguing.
This site has lots of great maps. I have printed out a map of the united states and highlighted the route we will be taking. At each stop we take along the way, the kiddos will get a new sticker to add to the map, so they can see how much further we have to go.
I am also working on this little project, one for each kiddo. A pillow with their intial and a pocket to hold their little toys or babies. And a great handle so they can carry it themselves. I will work on a tutorial for you guys for next week.
That’s what I’ve got so far. If you have anymore great ideas to keep the kiddos busy, besides movies (we of course will have the dvd player with a few new movies and lots of fun snacks!) I would love to hear them. My kiddos sure are excited to see our families and are sooo ready to get out of this crazy HEAT! Oh wait that is ME! Hopefully all you Arizonians are staying cool while I am enjoying some beautiful weather.
20
June
2012
9 comments
June
2012
Paint Dipped Cans
A couple weeks ago I had pinned a picture on Pinterest, of some paint dipped cans.n And after Mandy’s tutorial 2 weeks ago of her paint dipped vase, I wasn’t so sure if it would be too much work. I’m not as resourceful as she is about fixing things that don’t work after the first try. Her recommendation was just to make sure the paint was thin enough to create a smooth surface, but not too thin that the color doesn’t take. So yesterday I decided to try my hand at some cans. I always have lots of cans and the girls are in need of some more organization in their room.
First things first you will need some paint, I of course of all kinds of random paints, some acrylic and some samples from Lowes. If you are ever in need of just a small amount of paint for a project, the sample sizes from your local hardware store are the perfect size, and they will mix you any color you want.
And of course a few washed and dried cans.
I then used an empty and cleaned cream cheese container to perform the actual dipping, but any container bigger than your can will work, just make sure it is bigger than your can and has high enough sides (that when you dip your can in, the paint won’t sploosh out the top). So once you have your container, pour your paint in. The sample size paints were perfect for this, because you do need a fair amount of paint.
Then its really pretty simple, just dip your can in. I then slowly spun the can in a circle to try to even out how high the paint came up on each side. The bottom line is that its not going to be a perfect line, at least I couldn’t get one, but as long as its even enough for your liking. I kind of determined I like the unevenness, but its up to you. 
Now simply pull the can straight up and let the excess paint drip off for a minute or so. Once its done dripping move the can over the a safe area to dry. I used some foil and just let the cans sit on the foil and dry.
I then proceeded with the same process for my next 2 cans.
I did let them dry overnight to ensure that they were completely dry and then moved them into my girls room to get the organzining started.
Today we are joining a pinterest hop! If you want to join us, use this link
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June
2012
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June
2012
Inspiration Tuesday
Here is some inspiration for you to help you get through the week. Enjoy!
Have a great week!
18
June
2012
2 comments
June
2012
The Newest Junker
Benson Troy Arnold is here! We have been enjoying him this week so no projects, but I promose for some good ones next week!
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June
2012
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June
2012
A Balloon Banner
This past weekend we celebrated my daughters 2nd birthday! The party was very low, since I knew it was going to be crazy with lots of little kiddos running around. But it wouldn’t be a kids party without balloons! My kids love balloons! So I had seen this fun idea on Pinterest of course and got busy creating my own version.
Well I first have to apologize for these pictures, because they did not turn out very good. I guess that’s the problem of doing things at night the lighting is awful. So hopefully you can at least see what I’m talking about, if not check out the tutorial on Design Mom she has great pictures, making it very easy.
First things first you will need to blow up all your balloons. I had not noticed how many she had used, but it was A LOT more than I had bought. I had 20 balloons.
Next you will thread a needle, with either thread or twine. Any size needle will work, I used a large needle making it easier to thread. You want to pass the needle through the tail of 3 balloons (in the other tutorial she used 4, but I didn’t have as many balloons so I only did sets of 3).
Once you have the needle passed through the tail of all 3 balloons, pull the balloons together and tie a knot in your thread and trim off the extra thread. Continue this process until you have used all your balloons and tied them in sets of 3. I had 6 sets of 3. When I do this again I would definitely used more balloons, but for this time, this would have to do.
Once you have all your sets of 3, again thread your needle. This time you will want to tie a knot at the end of your thread. Start by passing the needle through the center of the circle created by the tails of the 3 balloons and to secure the end, then pass the needle through one of the tails.
Now just contiue the process of stringing on each set of 3 balloons by passing the thread through the center of the circle created by the tails of each set of 3 balloons. They should all stack on top of each other.
Once you have all of your sets of 3 on your thread on the last set pass the thread through one of the tails, like you did at the beginning of the string to secure the end and finish with a knot. So now you should have a banner of balloons!
To hang mine, I strung a piece of tulle through the balloons. I didn’t attach it to the balloons at all, just strung in between the sets of 3 and used a few tacks to secure it to the wall. And that’s it. Hopefully that made sense. It’s really easy to make and the kids loved it. My daughter woke up with the balloons hung on her birthday and loved them!
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June
2012
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June
2012
Tuesday Inspiration
from Pinterest via Heidi Claire
from Pinterest via Better Homes & Garden
from Pinterest via Greige Design
from Pinterest via Apartment Therapy
from Pinterest
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June
2012
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June
2012
DIY Vintage Jewelry Display
Happy Monday! I know Monday’s are usually not fun, but If I haven’t already had my baby (I am writing this Sunday night), he will be coming tomorrow, so I am excited it’s Monday! I have been in full nest mode as you can imagine- I am currently 6 days past my due date and have had a lot of free time because I didn’t have anything scheduled last week. I figured I would have had him already
But, I have gotten a lot done! Baby’s room is so close to being done, can’t wait to share that with you! We love it!
I have a problem when it comes to getting things done, if I can’t get all of it done perfectly in the amount of time I have, I just don’t do it. I have been wanting to organize my jewelry since we moved into our new house 4 months ago, but haven’t gotten around to it. Well, I decided to just do it! It most likely won’t stay like this for long (I have other ideas) but it was nice to at least get it done.
I wanted to get some really cute hooks from Anthro to hang my necklaces, but our wall is cinderblock and I didn’t want to drill holes, so I just used the command hooks. They aren’t the cutest, but they will work for now.
I had also been wanting to make these earring frames with lace for a long time, but one of our awesome vendors Material Girls had them, so I bought them.
Love them, and it looks so pretty!
07
June
2012
3 comments
June
2012
saved
Have you ever set out to make a super cute project that is suposedly really easy only to fail massively? Well I have. Many times, but lucky me this time around I think I made a decent save. When I started this project it was with the intent of making this dip drip vase.
I gathered my supplies, a dollar store vase and some gold metallic glass paint, and dipped my vase. Only to find out that the paint that I used was too thick…..it didn’t drip at all, making the vase really ugly and undrippy. But have no fear I was not about to let this project completely fail. I did have to post about it after all. So in a last ditch effort to save it I pulled out my trusty round sponge and made a polka dot vase.
It’s hardly perfect, but it is fun, and considering the hot mess it was before I’d say it turned out looking pretty great.
