master bedroom inspiration

Soooo...I'm thinkin' about redoing our master bedroom. I decided the other day that I'm going to jump on the beachy bandwagon. I mean hey, everyone else is, right?!?! No really, we want something soothing in our bedroom...a retreat, of sorts. Right now, it's a dark box with nice furniture, buried under clothes (mostly clean, surprisingly...just not put away). We spend so little time in our room right now. I rush piles of clean laundry upstairs during the day, but rush back downstairs to make sure the kids are ok. I hardly ever get stuff put away and almost never get it totally cleaned up. BUT, I'm thinking...if we can do it up NICE and have a place for EVERYTHING, perhaps it can turn into that sanctuary we're looking for.

With that in mind, hows about some inspiration!! We're thinking a robin's egg blue color...perhaps a little seafoam in color. We'll paint the trim white (right now, it's the same color as the walls, which are a dark olive-y color), and use our current furniture - a gorgeous dark cherry sleigh bed, matching night stands, and a couple of dressers - also dark wood. I'm toying with the idea of painting a dresser - maybe white, or a few shades darker than the wall color - something a little different than the rest of the furniture. Here are some pics of rooms that have different things I like...

Decorpad

I love the khaki/lt. bluish-green combo in here - very calm and refreshing. And those bamboo shades? Mine. I want 'em. BAD. Oh, and I think I now have my heart set on a board and batten wall. Just one. The main one that the bed will be up against. I think our dark bed will just pop with the crisp white b&b background.

Courtesy of HGTV (Credit: Caren Baginski)

I love seeing how the dark furniture will work with the beachy theme and that blue-greeny/khaki combo.

Coastal Living

Coastal Living

And I think that's our bed up there! It looks just like that! Now, the rest of the room...well, it's much...much more tidy than our room at present. I see no clothes in this room. Yeah, not really the case in ours. Seriously, the only way we may be able to keep the room looking tidy is if we become nudists - not even have to worry about clothes. The hubs might like that idea...'specially since he's been workin' his p90X.

Coastal Living

Again with the dark wood, the light blues...and I'm likin' the glass accents. Very cool and calm. We need some of that around here.

Perhaps a tropical looking ceiling fan sorta kinda like this one.

And I'll be honest, there's nothing I want more than Nester's striped drapes. Yeah, I'll DEFINITELY be makin' some of these for the room. I'll be on a wild and desperate hunt for wide khaki and white striped fabric, I just know it.

That's what I've got for now. Steve's agreed (PRAISE THE LORD!) but feels as though we should paint, like, tomorrow before he changes his mind. He loves the current setup (minus the bazillion stacks of clothes) and really could care less. But, I think he'll see just how heavenly it could be with a little paint, fabric, and TLC! Wish me luck!!

how does your garden grow?

Here we are again - another year of gardening! Last year was the first year that we actually tackled a garden, and Little Miss Blueberry LOVED it!! She loved planting the seeds, watering, and then picking the veggies. So we got excited this year to get going with the garden.......a little TOO excited, in fact. We decided to plant the seeds at the end of March. GULP. We learned something from this. In these here parts, that's TOO. EARLY.

Here's Steve reading over the directions with Little Miss. She's making sure he does everything correctly!

Next is the careful and precise placement of the seeds.

She was quite fascinated with the different kinds of seeds. We used a little ready-set-go type greenhouse that has the little dirt pods that you water, then put the seeds into. BAM. You've got a garden. Put the lid on and watch the magic happen!

A week later, this is what we had! A very curious set of eyes couldn't stay away from the garden.

Fortunately, I failed to take pictures of the in-between stage from what you see above and what you see below. Here's the deal....since we planted SO early, the plants quickly got out of control. We had to REplant everything into bigger pots and leave them inside for awhile (because around here, an Easter or May snow is NOT unheard of...). When it got warm enough, we put them out on the deck and they basically baked themselves into oblivion since the deck gets full sun. They all started growing together...some started dying because they didn't have enough space...it was getting a little ridiculous, really. By the time this last weekend rolled around, we still had some beans and peas that were makin' it, and then of course, the giant ball of zucchini and cucumber plants that had grown together. Our tomatoes and peppers could not be saved, so Steve picked up a few at Agway. Oh, and let's not forget the blueberry bush he decided to snag. ;)

So here's the garden now! We just had the one box last year (on the left) and realized we just didn't have enough space. So he threw together another one!

Here's my sweet hubs working on the second garden box...and his tan. ;) And Belle, of course, was barking incessantly at the staple gun. After all, she IS the boss around here.

Here's a shot of the zucchini/cuke box. I think those are beans in the back. Are you loving the stakes and yellow yarn trellace?? I think it works.

Then here are the tomatoes and peppers. Our neighbor told us that he grew some fantabulous cantelopes a few years back but that he won't plant them again since they took over his whole garden. We're contemplating doing another box, just for cantelopes!! If that's the case, we better get on that.

So, here's hoping to a summer full of fresh veggies!!

I think I might need my own tools...

Alright, I've got umpteen million projects on deck right now. It's almost too much. ALMOST. I love feeling creative and find that when I've got the ideas, I really need to run with them. I like making time for myself to actually DO these things. I got a little bit done today, but let's face it - I wasn't lighting the world on fire. I did laundry, cleaned up, played with the kids, more laundry, wiped down the kitchen cupboards, redecorated above the cabinets....did I mention laundry??? OY. I should be tired, but really, my mind is swirling. Here's what I'm thinking about:

• Sewing Lydia's quilt for her big-girl bed
• Painting a basket for her room
• Making tissue paper flowers for her room
• Hot gluing letters on canvases for Max
• Hanging Max's pics in his room
• Making 'white board' for craft area
• Hanging decor over sewing table
• Spraying storage boxes
• Adding fabric to front of storage boxes
• Spraying flower pots
• Making wreath for entryway
• Redecorating entryway table
• Painting giant fork and spoon
• Sewing kitchen valances
• Painting kitchen chairs
• Recovering kitchen chair cushions
• Making pillows for family room

Woah. That was exhausting just going through that list! And I know I'm missing a bunch of stuff. I kinda think I might need my own tool kit. You know, the basics - a few screwdrivers, a drill, a level, hammer, sanding blocks, etc. Steve's got tons of tools, but I can't really find what I need most of the time. I'm thinking my own set that's all PINK! That way, they'd be easy to find if something strays away from the pack. Does a pink tool kit exist??? I may need to look into this further.

The list above might not take long for most people, particularly if they've got great tools! But let's not forget - I've got 2 munchkins. Two very busy, adorable, snuggly, creative, hungry munchkins. They keep me on my toes! So my creative time is slim - I'll need to make the most of it when it comes along.

I got the fabric for my kitchen curtains/chair cushions/family room pillows. I LOVE the fabric! I really like that it's going to help with the neutral palette I'm going for, so I can add color throughout the seasons without too much hassle.

The florals will be in the kitchen/eating area, and the fun words/numbers/polka dots will be family room pillows.

For now, I need to shut down...recharge the batteries...get ready for another day. It's supposed to be B-E-A-UTIFUL here tomorrow - all week, actually - so I'm thinking it may be a good day to paint some stuff outside?!?! We'll see.

goodies from grandpa's

I mentioned recently that the clean-out process has begun at my grandparents. My grandfather died nearly 4 years ago, and the cleaning out of his and my grandma's things had just not been a priority. Well, it's underway now and we've found some vintage BEAUTIES in amongst the trash!

First up, this beautiful black plate. I think I'm going to use it for display above my cabinets. It's SUPER shiny and such a rich, deep black. Just beautiful! I knew it had to be mine.

Then we found this AMAZING Wedgewood set. This was my grandmother's. I remember her using the ashtray. And get this - when we opened the square box, we found personalized matchbooks that had never been used! I think this set will go on display in our 1/2 bath (way out of reach of little fingers, of course).

Ok, look at this GORGEOUS piece!! I'm SO in love with this. My mom says it's 'milk glass' and she thinks the pattern it was described as 'hob nail' with all of it's bumps. I'm going to Google it and find out more. Not only is this thing absolutely stunning on the outside, the real treasure was INSIDE!

I opened up the lid only to discover an old perfume bottle....and the scent of my grandma!!! OMGosh, my mom and I nearly burst into tears! How cool is this?!?!? We immediately put the lid back on so we didn't lose ANY of the smell, but I do find myself occasionally opening up the lid just to catch a small whiff of that heavenly scent. Miss you, Grandma!! *sniff sniff*

Lastly, we can't forget to give some love to these guys!! Who doesn't need a giant fork and spoon in their kitchen?!?! I swear, these things must have been gift-giving gold back in the 70's because I think my parents got everyone they knew a set of these, and then bought a few extra sets 'just in case.' My dad was stationed in Japan for a few years, so they picked these beauties up (and 60-70 of their cousins, I'm convinced) while shopping overseas. We've always joked about them, but I'm seriously considering putting these bad boys up in my kitchen. We'll see....I'm not sure Steve will go for it (unless, of course, he's given total permission to use them now and again!)

Just a little sneak peak at my delicious finds. There's still a hutch and possibly a few more furniture pieces I'll be calling my own soon. Stay tuned!!!

faux brick sidewalk

I can't believe how much I love this! I stumbled across this FANTASTIC blog today called The Painted Home. Wow - this woman has done some gorgeous things with her home - inside AND out. What she did to her outside walkway - genius!! She's got a cottage feel to her home and painting the sidewalk created such a warm, inviting feel. I want to find out where she lives and just walk up her sidewalk (ok, I think I'd want to go in and check out her beautiful home too, then sit out on her back patio and enjoy a glass of wine in that hammock!) Seriously - check this out - it looks SO real!!

So here's her before:

And here's the after!

Doesn't it look SUPER?!?! Here's her post on how she created this gorgeous walkway!!

Now, off to scour the neighborhood to see who's walk I can paint like this....... ;)

browsing and loving

So many of the blogs I read actually post about projects they've seen OTHERS doing. I've decided today, I'm gonna give it a go. I've seen SO MANY things I love and I really don't want to forget some of them.....so, I think I'll put a few here!

Ok, HOW CUTE ARE THESE????? I found them at Just a Girl and I'm completely in love. I neeeeeed to find some of these so I can make not only the first aid kit, but the dog kit - that idea is BEYOND genius! This woman should win a Nobel Peace prize for the dog kit alone. I mean seriously - keeping all of the dog's 'equipment' in ONE PLACE?!?!? Wow. She blew my mind for the day with that one!

Then there was this super cute tutorial I found over at House of Smith's for hanging roses. These are GORGEOUS! They look a touch time consuming, but I'm thinking Lydia's big-girl room will need a few of these.

There's so much more.....but I've gotta go for now - the kiddos are wakin' up!!!

stage debut + birthday wishes + creative overload = my weekend!

What a weekend! I've had a few pretty nice days, I must admit. Friday night, my daughter had her very first school program. She did SUPER! Oh my gosh - SO PROUD here. She sang all of her songs, did all of the movements, and listened to her teachers. She looked like such a BIG girl up on the stage - and she's only 3! She wore a mommy-made dress and was just adorable. She was so excited that she had family watching in the audience and was surprised when daddy gave her flowers after the show. All in all, Friday night was darn near perfect in the world of a mom!!

So then Saturday was my birthday. I'm getting old, but really, I don't feel it. Steve wanted me to get out on my own for a bit, so I went to my mothership - Hobby Lobby. Honestly, I could have walked around there for HOURS. Like, 5...maybe 6 hours. That sounds crazy, but really - there's so much to see there! I carefully selected a few things I liked and decided I need to checkout and get home. Well....as I'm unloading my cart and the cashier starts to wrap up my breakables, I reach into my purse for my wallet. Um, no wallet. I DUG through my purse (which barely had ANYTHING in it - I mean, I could see the bottom of the bag easily, but still no wallet in sight. I panicked. I told the cashier to hold up, as it didn't appear that I had my wallet with me. I called Steve - "Hon, can you check the diaper bag and see if my wallet's in there?" He's like, "Oh no...you drove all the way over there and forgot your wallet??" Yes, I did. I'm a doofus. Sure enough, the wallet was in the diaper bag. Why??? Because I've probably only left the house 2 dozen times in the past 3 1/2 years WITHOUT a diaper bag. *SIGH* So, I had to come home empty handed. They held my cart full of goodies for me and I was able to go back later that day to get my things. Geez - how embarrassing! I apologized no less than 10 times to the cashier and the woman behind me in line.

We went out for a yummy dinner Saturday night, and although I didn't have a birthday cake, I got to have some super delicious Tiramisu (specially adorned with a candle!).

In the midst of this fun weekend, the clean-out process swung into high gear over at my grandpa's old house. He passed away not quite 4 years ago, and it's been tough to get going on the clean-out process. But it's underway finally and I've gotta say, it's kicked this creative streak I've been exploring lately into HIGH GEAR! Basically, it's an entire house full of things - clothes, furniture, accessories, dishes - you name, it's probably there. I was able to go over last night with my mom and we looked through some old things my grandmother had treasured (i.e., silver plated serving dishes, old lamps, pot-de-cremes <---have you heard of these?!?!). I'm SUPER excited about a hutch we'll be bringing to our house from there. I'll be painting it, shabby-ing it up a bit, and putting it in our kitchen. I have sooooo many ideas running through my head right now of projects I'm hoping to do soon, I can barely keep everything straight! I blame this creative overload on the reading of blogs. Many, many blogs. Holy cow, are there some creative people out there or what?!?! And so many love to post their creations on the internets!! I'm fascinated, inspired, and completely overwhelmed. I'm lovin' it.

I'll be getting up some pics soon for what I'll be working on. In the meantime, I'm tired. Peace out from this now 34-year-old mama.

sheet music canvas

I have had a GIANT space of blank wall over my living room couch for far too long now. I thought I had figured out a plan by using some neat tin wall tiles, but hanging them was going to drive both Steve and I completely loco....so, we canned that idea. We hemmed and hawed and tried to rush the creative process, but people, c'mon - great ideas mustn't be rushed, am I right?!?!Finally, it hit me! I had a few canvases around and we've had these two empty frames that we'd be trying to figure out what on earth to do with. We have a piano in the living room and it hit me - use old sheet music to cover the canvas, then hang that canvas inside the bigger frame. Voila! Something BIG enough to make an impact over the couch and it would look great in the room.

Here's what I used:

• old sheet music (from when I took piano lessons as a KID, hence the aged look!)
• letter (simply printed from computer and cut out)
• blank canvas
• Modge Podge
• sponge brush

I'm new to this, so I didn't take step-by-step pictures, but basically, here's how it goes. Tear the sheets, apply a thin layer of Modge Podge on the back of each sheet and lay them on. BAM! That's it! I did wrap the sheets around the sides so it would cover the sides of the canvas where the staples were. Once each piece was on, I let the whole thing dry for a bit. After a bit, I applied a coat of MP on the entire canvas, then let it dry. I then printed out a very large 'G' (used Word to make a giant one), cut it out, and glued it on with the MP. I let it dry, then applied one more coat of MP. Done. Seriously, other than the drying time, this project took 20 minutes, TOPS!

And here it is with the black frame around it. I just used a long piece of wide black satin ribbon to tie it up.

Here's a shot where you can see it up over the couch. I wish I would have gotten a better shot of the room, but I had my long lens on - this one will have to do. I think it looks good! But the pillows, not so much. I now have ANOTHER project to add to the 'to-do' list: new pillows for the couch!

anniversary gift

So, I had NO idea what to get Steve for our 10-year anniversary. I was really stumped, but knew I wanted it to be special and, in some way, sentimental. Then, I ran across this tutorial a few weeks ago for subway-style art on Ucreate (GREAT blog, by the way). Anyways, when I saw it, I LOVED it and knew that's what I wanted to do! I'd MAKE Steve a super cool gift.

Well, the idea and assembly of the project is quite simple, but coming up with all of the sayings, words, dates, etc. needed to fill the board (which mine was probably a bit large) - now, that took time! Needless to say, Steve's gift was a few days late. But, I think it turned out SOOO great! Now we just need to figure out where we'll hang it.

Love you, hon!! Hope you love the gift, the memories, and the thoughts of our future together!

Lydia's Lydia dresses

My inspiration to learn to sew came from the genius, Chelsea, behind Pink Fig Patterns. She makes the greatest patterns that are so user friendly, even for a beginner like me. When I saw she had a 'Lydia' dress, I HAD to make one for MY Lydia! I made one...

...then, I made another...

...and now, I want to make more. LOL I mean, how many dresses is TOO many for a little girl?? She doesn't have too many places to wear them, so I guess I should be practical and not go overboard...for now. I do know a few other little girls who might like one, though!

I think I need to take a small 'clothes' break and focus on my first quilt! I bought some absolutely GORGEOUS fabric by Lila Tueller and I cannot wait to get started. Lydia will be moving to her big-girl bed soon, so I need to get on it! Like, NOW! Here's what it looks like all laid out:

So, I've got some sewing to do. I'll be sure to update as I get underway!

Could it be.....the PLAGUE???

Good grief, am I tired of being sick. **sigh** I have now had a 'cold' for two weeks straight. Basically, it blossomed pretty quickly into a sinus infection, but since I'm still nursing, I can't take anything. The pressure in my head...the swollen glands...the mucous...sounds attractive, right?!?! Wrong-o. And last night, the icing on the cake was when Max woke up to party at 3 a.m. Not sure whether it was the hours of thunderstorms or teething, but at any rate, he wasn't a happy guy. Seriously, could a Tylenol/Motrin recall have come at a worse time?? I think not.

Tomorrow is our anniversary (10 years!) and we're celebrating with.....wait.....wait for it....BULK TRASH DAY! We just hauled out a bunch of crap from the basement, including a large, non-working television. I had visions while we were pushing this beast up the steps of it letting loose and crushing us both and then wondering what on earth would happen in the morning when the kids wake up and mommy and daddy don't come running because they're TRAPPED under a GARBAGE in the basement. Yeah, I think my brain's still a little loopy, you know, from this congestion and all.

On the creative front, there's been little action. I did finish a dress for Lydia last weekend. But for the past few days, I've done nothing. Nada. Zilch. I'm a blob of creative nothingness at this point. BUT, I'm hoping it passes soon! I've got so many things on the horizon and things I really want to get done, so I need to get cracking. Maybe if I get super motivated, I'll post a pic of the quilt I need to start for Lydia.

In the meantime, I'm gonna soak up some juicy daytime drama with today's GH episode.

our dog

This is our dog, Belle. She is a Sheltie (Shetland Sheepdog), and for the most part, she's a super dog. Note I said 'for the most part.'

A few facts about Shelties:

• Even though they look like little Collies, they are no relation to the Collie
• They are herding dogs
• They tend to be barkers
• They are herding dogs

Belle is a very friendly pup. Well, she's not a puppy - she's actually 9 years old. She LOVES people and runs to greet everyone - neighbors, the mail lady, whoever. She loves everyone - she's not picky. She's not really into squirrels/birds/other critters, which is kind of nice because she pretty much sticks around the yard...except, of course, if she sees a person that she just has to go and see. Although, yesterday I let her out and, like most days, forgot about her for a few minutes. When I remembered to go let her back in, she was nowhere in sight. Usually she's laying on the front step, enjoying the fresh air. Not yesterday. I was holding Max so I didn't really go outside with him, but called her several times - no sign of her. I put Max in his bouncy and stepped outside to investigate. I started heading towards the driveway, continuously calling her, and all of the sudden, I see her sprint out from behind the neighbor's house - ACROSS THE STREET. Um, hello?? Belle, don't you get that it's not cool to cross the street? You're a smart dog, you should know to stay on OUR yard. And really, she's very good about sticking around (on bad days, we've secretly hoped she'd disappeared after we'd forgotten about her outside, but nope - she's always on the front step), so I was surprised not to see her. She must have been drawn away by something very interesting.

Have I mentioned these dogs like to herd??? Yeah, well that's the main drawback around here. Her herding nature leads to her barking. She hates when any of us leave a room and strongly dislikes having doors closed on her (i.e., when we leave the house, go the bathroom, you get the idea). Some days, she barks non-stop! It gets to be a little trying when she's barking, Lydia's talking, and Max is crying. Not exactly PEACEFUL!! She's everywhere - always up in everyone's business. Wherever the kids are, she's there. Wherever Steve and I go, she follows. Here's a shot of her making sure Max isn't getting into any trouble on his baby laptop.

I've been missing our other dog lately. He had to be put to sleep last year, only 10 days after we found out he had cancer. Soooooooo sad. We were heartbroken. His name was Boris and Steve got him when we were dating. He had what seemed like a cold, but after it just wasn't getting better, the vet suggested we check things out further. He had to be put to sleep to get x-rays done, and before the vet even did an x-ray, he took a look in his mouth. There he saw a large tumor that had been growing about his soft palette and had grown so large that it was now pushing down into his mouth. He figured that it had grown up into his nasal/sinus cavities as well and that was what caused his breathing to sound congested. Ten days after learning of this, we said goodbye to Boris. Needless to say, we think about him often and miss him terribly. Even Lydia knows Boris is in heaven. We love you, B!!