Feb 21, 2010

She's Finished!

Rememeber this little chair I showed you last week?



Well guess what? She's finished!!!!! And I'm in LOVE!!!




I found the chair at the local thrift store, (Value Village for all you Canadians), where they were asking a mere $10! Using a gift certificate I got from my sister for Christmas ~Jana, you know me so well~, I was able to get the chair for FREE!

The fabric was given to me by my mom, again, for FREE! She was going to use it for some curtains in her kitchen cabinets but decided to go another way and I benefited greatly from her indecision. Thanks mom!!!

I needed a little more fabric than what she had so I did have to buy a bit more... at 50% OFF! Yaya again! Plus I had to buy the buttons to cover.



A side-by-side...


So total money spent...

$35!!!


I WIN!


I'm linking this post to the following parties. Go on over and check out many other great projects!!!

The DIY Show Off

TATERTOTS and JELLO


Funky Junk's Saturday Nite Special




The Persimmon Porch

MomsTheWord



Design-A-Holic

Making

DIY Day @ ASPTL



Decor Mamma's Frugalicious Friday

The DIY Show Off

Yay for me! I was featured today on one of my very favorite blogs....


The DIY Show Off

If you're looking for great crafting, decorating, sewing (I could go on and on) ideas then check out this blog. I promise you...

YOU'LL LOVE IT!!!

And remember that chair I talked about here....?

Well, she's finished!! I love it so much that I'm not sure I'm going to let anyone actually sit on it!

Check back tomorrow for before and after shots!

Feb 17, 2010

Heart and Stroke Foundation


Wanna help a 6 year old win a prize package?

And on the plus side you might feel good about doing something good!

Visit his web page here:
BC HEART AND STROKE FOUNDATION

Perfection



Don't get me wrong, I am in love with my new house. We love it here and the fixer-upper projects have been a lot of fun, no, really! But I stumbled upon this photo this morning and it just screamed perfection to me. I'm in love!

Doesn't that just look like a home you'd like to hang your hat in, take off your shoes and snuggle up in a nice big overstuff chair with a good book and a fire?

What do you think?

What is your vision of 'perfection'?

Feb 10, 2010

It's Gonna Be a Beaut!



I've got a super fun project in the works!!! It involves this chair...


.... a little fabric and some TLC.

I'm pretty excited for the outcome!

Check back for updates.

Mudroom Before and After

I've been taking a ton of pictures while we do this whole house renovation thing and since things are really starting to feel 'finished' in a few places I thought I'd share a few photos.

First up, the front door and entryway/mudroom.

We started with a nice white door and royal blue window panes.





Not terrible, but certainly not what I had in mind.


Ahhhh, much better.


~Keep in mind, many of these pictures were taken a while ago, which is my excuse for pumpkins being on the front porch!~

When we open the door you'll find many, many changes.

First I'll show you a bit of the floor as it used to be.

You'll notice the carpet. Ewwwwww. Imagine the water and mud and dirt and everything else that was in that carpet. Yuck.

This is the only photo I have of the floor 'before' because it was one of the very first things I tore out.

We decided to go with a dark but neutral tile that we found at Home Depot.

I love it. We (and by we I mean my super talented cousin Elana) laid the tile in an offset pattern and I really love that it's a little different than what most people do.

The wall of the mudroom were covered in a plastic-ish something that did NOT want to come off.

And there were hooks everywhere. Functional? Yes. Functional and beautiful? Not quite.

So I pulled off the hooks and shelves....

.... and patched the walls for paint.

And my favorite part of the 'before'?

The yellow/brown/orange window leading from the mudroom to the main part of the house.

Gorgeous isn't she?

So the steps went as followed:
- Replace carpet with tile flooring
- Remove hooks and shelves and patch walls
- Paint
- Add beadboard (on top of blue-ish stuff cause it won't come off)
- Remove brownish/yellow/orange window
- Enlisted Kaelen (awesome brother) to make a built in 'locker' system
- Decorate!!!

Here are some of the 'afters'!!!




I love how it all turned out.

What do you think?
I'm linking this to some of my favorite sites!!!

Feb 3, 2010

A Little Fabric....

I've discovered that a little fabric goes a long way!

I've been thinking that the french doors leading to my piano/t.v. room have been lacking a certain something. I thought about covering them with some panel curtains but I didn't want to lose the light and the view into that room. Luckily I found some great fabric on sale for 70% OFF!!! I think I just may have made The Nester proud with my 'mis-treatment'!

Before:

The wall was bare and needed a punch, plus the molding near the ceiling stops right in the middle of the room? Don't ask me why.

With a few tips from The Nester and some of this...

We get this...

AFTER:

Ahhhhh! So much better, no?

I liked it so much I decided to do the same thing in my bedroom.

Remember this post when I talked about how I thought the long wall behind my bed needed something more?

BEFORE:

Not bad, but in need of somthing more...

AFTER:

Ahhh, just what it needed!

And would you have ever guessed that it's simple, old push pins keeping these bad boys up? I'll switch the pins out for something a little more permanent when I find the perfect rods but until then the push pins will do and the good news is that you can't see them even if you are right under them! YAY!

I'm in love with the results! But what I'm most excited about is that I spent a total of about $12 for the fabric in both rooms!! Yay me!

***On a seperate note, I found the photos I took from the day we moved in!!! I'll be posting before and after photos of different rooms in the house in the near future so stay tuned.***


I'm linking this post up to some of my favorite blogs! Feel free to visit and get some really great ideas for your home!

Between Naps On The Porch

Thrifty Decor Chick

A Soft Place to Land

ReInvented

A Silly Little Sparrow

Today's Creative Blog

Finding Fabulous


Feb 1, 2010

Blog Stalker



There are a few blogs here and there that I like to stalk. I visit their blogs often because I enjoy their uplifting words, great crafty ideas, beautiful photography etc... but I never leave comments on these blogs because they don't know me from Adam! Personally, I love when people leave comments, whether I know them or not, it's always nice to find new friends and fun blogs. I would wager that most bloggers feel the same way about comments and yet here I am.... rarely leaving comments. It's bad blog etiquette is what it is! I'll try to do better.

Well, now that that's out of the way...

My reason for this post...

I was recently visiting one of these blog 'stalks' the other day and loved what she had to say about why she blogs. While I haven't had all of the same experiences or trials that she has, I can honestly say that I feel the same as her when it comes to why I blog. I loved her idea of printing the posts off and putting them in a binder for her kids and posterity. I know a few of you who print your blogs off professionally and I love the look but let's be honest... I've been meaning to do this for 2 years now and just haven't gotten around to it. A binder seems like a great way to start things off. Anyway, without further ado... the post from Christal...



Why do we blog?
Sometimes people think bloggers are wasting time, bragging or showing off what they can do or what they have. Or how freaking cute their kids are {guilty} j/k! Or what stunning skills and talents they have.
But really it has nothing to do with that.
I do it for the journal aspect, to record my favorite quotes and thoughts. I print mine all off and put them in a binder and someday when my kids look through them they can see real life what we did, things we made, feelings we have, etc.
I do it to share what I know {as mindless as it may be sometimes but its me} and to hopefully help someone in some way if I can through my own journey of life and experiences.
I've had lots of people ask about my allergies, the church, adoption, whatever...
Its a place where we as moms, women, {some men}
get and share ideas that help us be better moms and better people.
we craft no not all of us and that's totally fine, we are all different. but for those of us who do we do it to make our homes more homey and welcoming to share what works for us cause it may just work for someone else
we get dinner and recipe ideas that benefit our homes and family and add variety
we get product ideas that make life better, whether big or small
I 've found people that understand what I'm thinking and feeling because we've been through the same things
people who are going through what we have been through and continue to go through infertility.
I've learned that my thoughts and feelings are normal that the things I've felt over the past 13 years are normal. I don't have to feel alone or that no one understands what I'm going through because I've found so many going through the same thing or who have been and
I consider them friends some I haven't met yet, some I have.
Some may think we are a different breed but its improved my life, my kids life, my attitude and feelings and its helped me to keep connected to others who I don't normally see.
I enjoy it and I appreciate the feedback and help sometimes with issues.
ITS made me feel more thankful for all that I have, and made me more aware that no matter
our religion, country, race, weight, height, looks ...we all generally feel and think and hurt in the same ways.
Its made me appreciate the small things and enjoy the big things.
Its made a dull day, brighter. It's given me something to look forward to some days.
Its made me think a lot more than I ever have. I feel like I've become more accepting of not only myself and my flaws {that for the most part happen to be normal after reading all your blogs lol!} and others, and that feels good to feel like your doing something right and its okay to have a bad day.
and its nice to know we aren't all perfect and its okay to share and learn about it and from it.
We write what we feel in a place that is all our own to express our feelings, vent if we want and to share thoughts and our journey, and hopefully its a safe place to be free to say what we really feel and think and be respected for it. Because we are all different. and we all have a lot to learn from each other.
I think its good to be reminded that we all have our vices and trials that sometimes nobody knows about. That we don't always share with the world, but are there.
It's the judging, comparing, mocking and assuming that gets us in trouble mostly with ourselves, our thoughts and self confidence and hopefully we have the power to get over it and be ourselves to learn, grow and see each other for who we really are ----on the inside!
The little bits and pieces that make up life.
.... that's what I get from blogging.


Thanks Christal!

If you'd like to visit Christal's blog just click HERE. Her posts are wonderful and inspirational.

(and by the way, I did get permission to post this from Christal, just in case you all thought I was a stalker and a thief! But now that I think about it, I didn't specifically ask to take her photo off of her profile page and use it. Maybe I am a thief!?! Hope that's ok Christal!)

Jan 28, 2010

Engagement Shots

I've been getting kind of busy with the photography lately and I've been loving it. I did another engagement shoot the other day with a couple who I've known for a really long time. I'm so happy for them. Who wouldn't be? You can tell by this photo that they are so happy to where they are at in their lives.

This was my favorite shot of the day.

Head on over to my photography blog for a few more engagements shots. I'll be posting more as I get them edited.

Jan 27, 2010

Lima Bean Wreath

I found this idea over here on a blog I love to frequent.


You can make it too with just:
a hot glue gun
lima beans
a foam wreath
ribbon
spray paint.


I didn't spray paint mine yet. I'll do that once the temperature gets above freezing!


It took me about an hour for the whole thing. A nice little project when you want to take a break from dishes, floors and meals.

I'm thinking I'll leave it white for the rest of the winter then go with and apple green or turquoise for the spring and summer.

What do you think?

If you make one of these little beauties please come back and let me know. I'd love to see the results!!!

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