Creatively Living

Spring Mantel 2012

2012-03-16T00:19:00.000-07:00

Spring Mantel Project

complete!

I fully anticipated being finished with the fireplace and wall renovation, but oh well, at least we have a mantel to decorate. Until now, I don't think I've ever really decorated this mantel. We are working on the downstairs now, but in the past it's always been a big junk room and for over a year, it was our garage (lots of tools).

I love these little dollar store birds. I wish I would have bought more, although I have quite a few up already, I think I could over do it with these and that could get a little weird.

Our Spring Banner that the kids and I made.

Wrapped eggs. I used twine and plastic eggs.

I love these moss covered branches. They are from the good ol' Pacific Northwest. I broke them off some trees the last time I was up by Spokane.

I'm obviously getting really into this yellow, black and white theme we have going on in the basement.

Fabric that I traced in black sharpie, and Modge Podged on a plate. I think it really ties everything together.

This mantel decor was really inexpensive.

The Spring Banner was Dollar Store items and fabric scraps.

The B&W plates were 25 cents each at a yardsale.

The yellow plates are from the GW and have fabric glued on them.

The vases and candle holders were all from GW and yardsales.

Eggs in twine were things I already had.

Birds were from the Dollar Store (2 for a dollar!) They were there at Christmas time.

Flowers were from Hob Lob.

Mirror was from Lowes. I have it up year round.

Tree branches and moss...free. :)

--Katie

Posting to:

Saturdays: I heart nap time- Sundae Scoop Tatertots and Jello Be different Act Normal Funky Junk 2805 Making Lemonade Blog I am Along for the Ride Lolly Jane Raising Oranges The Tattered Tag Meg and Mums 6 Sister Waywayd Girls' Crafts

Sundays: Homemaker on a Dime Sunday's Best CRAFT

Delightfully Noted Blissful and Domestic

Spring Banner: With the Kids Wednesday

2012-03-14T22:07:00.001-07:00

Well, I'm going to detour from the shelf posts to show you the Spring Banner the kids and I made today. It was really simple and I like how it turned out.

We started with these awesome Dollar Store egg doilies (FYI, they had cute, yellow tulip doilies too).

Then I printed and cut out letters spelling SPRING, and glued them on.

Next we took some scraps of fabric (love when I can use some scraps!) and cut them into strips.

Here are the kids cutting their favorites.

We taped and tied it all on some twine and wallah!...We had ourselves a Spring Banner! ....AND...It basically cost me 1$!

This is obviously on the opposite wall from my Gallery Wall, which is showing in the mirror.

I'm off to put some finishing touches on the Spring Mantel! Can't wait to show you all!

--Katie

Posting to:

Sundays: Homemaker on a Dime Sunday's Best CRAFT

Delightfully Noted Blissful and Domestic

May is National Mobility Awareness Month. Do You Know a Local Hero?

2012-03-14T00:14:00.001-07:00

This is a Sponsored post written by me on behalf of NMEDA for SocialSpark. All opinions are 100% mine.

Did you know that May is National Mobility Awareness Month?

The purpose of this month is to educate the public that people with disabilities constitute the second largest minority group in the United States, and that they can live active and mobile lifestyles!

There are mobility equipment dealers, manufacturers, certified driver rehabilitation specialists, and other professionals in the community, dedicated to improving the lives of those with disabilities.

NMEDA or the National Mobility Equipment Dealers Association, and their partners, want to share the stories of local heroes through on-line communities, the NMEDA facebook page, blog and website.

A local hero can be defined as anyone in your community, whether a caregiver, a veteran, or person with disabilities, who is working at overcoming mobility challenges.

Do you have a local hero? (I know I can think of one right now!) You can encourage that person to share their story by sending them to www.mobilityawarnessmonth.com.

Local heroes, friends and family members are encouraged to vote for their story on the National Mobility Awareness Month website.

Prizes that will be awarded to the stories with the most votes, include a minimum of three custom WAV vehicles (wheelchair accessible vehicles), which will be awarded on national television!

So let's help get the word out and encourage people to share their stories and vote! I can already think of a friend of mine that I'm going to be sending this information to!

--Katie

Decorating Shelves #1 : Creating Balance, (by using weird stuff from around your house)!

2012-03-12T23:20:00.000-07:00

OK, so since I had 25...yes, 25 photos for this post. I thought I'd better break it up into 2 segments. lol

Now, I'm no expert on the rhymes and rules of decorating. I've had no formal training, and I don't claim to know anything for certain....ok, not much for certain. I do however, LOVE decorating shelves! LOVE it!

So I guess you could call this "my analysis" as to why I think things work and why they don't (take it for what it's worth folks!...and that might not be much).

I actually enjoy it (for the most part) when the budget is low and I have to re-purpose things from around my house to use as decor. I feel that I'm the most creative this way and come up with the most interesting ideas.

I decided I wouldn't buy a thing for these shelves (now that I think about it, I did buy clear gloss enamel spray), but everything else was stuff I had around.

#1) Trends with a "twist" provide interest.

So you've probably seen everyone including little animal figurines in decor now days.

Here are a few examples I found on Pinterest:

Rue Magazine

Censational Girl

See the little gold owls on Censational Girl's built-ins. She actually has a fun post on Styling Bookshelves that you can see HERE.

Young House Love

Young House Love has a post HERE about her obsession with spray painting porcelain animals.

So I found this little guy...let's not be original, we'll call him Dumbo, at the GW. He was just sitting around in my back room waiting to be painted.

Only problem was, when I went to buy spray paint, I still wasn't totally sure of my accent color. I wasn't sure if he was going to be red (original idea), or if I was going to need him to be white or what.

So I bought a high-gloss, clear spray enamel, to see if I could just paint porcelain....brush marks and all, and then spray a high gloss on it and it worked nicely!

This pic is "before" the gloss spray job.

You can't see brush marks from a shelf, just glossiness and color. (final pic is down below)

Next up.

2.) Using things you already have to add pattern and layers.

I layer A LOT. It makes big things work and small thing work. Depending on what you're needing them for. Glues are amazing and you can come up with all kinds of interesting things by doing this. (One example of this is the frame in my entryway.)

I needed more yellow. So I took this old rusty box (you could even use a painted cracker box, or something?)

and added some pattern, color and eventually some words. I didn't end up loving it, but it added some height and color where I needed it.

I added both projects with a fun little ukulele, and they all made a pretty decent looking shelf.

3.) Use a variety of shapes and sizes.

So here's my philosophy on shelves. You need variety of things for visual interest. Different shapes and sizes. I was always told to work with odd numbers. You'll notice that I try to have 1 of something, 3 of something or 5 of something. I'm not sure if this is exactly true, but it does seem to work for me. My eye likes it better.

When it comes to shapes, I love spheres. I maybe over-do them a little. I have too many wicker ones, do you?

If I need to add a little more color and pattern. I usually wrap or paint my wicker spheres.

Below: Nasty old spheres from my old LR.

Start with some fun fabric. Remember to have solid fabric in coordinating colors also.

I usually use some fabric I have around. And cut it into long strips to wind it around the ball. If you have extra material from something in the room, it usually ties everything together even better.

Once it's covered. I take thread and wrap it to hold everything in place.

You can use pins to hold the thread in place in the back, or you can use them all over to add interest.

I put mine on a silver tray and they ended up looking like this.

4.) Paint ANYTHING.

Paint is a cheap way to reuse what you have in order to tie everything together.

Here I am putting a GW birdhouse in my 5 gallon bucket of paint. This was quicker than brushing or spray painting it.

A little paint and a little distressing, (I even painted a dollar store dove a yellow color), and it all worked on the shelf. If I would have left the birdhouse black, no one would have been able to see it against the black background.

5.) Balance....NOT overkill!

With design, our eyes needs a place to rest. This is why you often hear the saying, less is more.

One thing I've done lately is to show only the book pages, not the bindings. This way I have a shelf of solid, non-patterned, non-cluttered white. My husband thinks this is nuts, but I love the way it looks and he has many other bookshelves, so I'm goin' with it. You could also recover the bindings in white paper or fabric and re-label them.

Notice on the shelf above, you can see a lot of the black fabric behind the decor. This also needs to be balanced. I tired to balance the number of shelves that showed more black background. On each shelf set. I used the top and middle shelf to show more black background.

Here's an another example of adding a little color, without it being overwhelming.

6.) Ground the bottom.

My personal preference is to "ground" the bookshelf with a solid, more massive object, or objects. (that is my nontechnical way of saying it). I'm meaning books, or large containers, or something a solid as possible. Not a bunch of little this and thats.

I used this old apple crate that I found off Craigslist and stenciled TOYS on it. It's nice looking and very practical, since the kids can easily pull it out and play.

These shelves are by my Gallery Wall, and there is already a lot going on in this part of the room, so I tried to keep them pretty simple. I tried to only add bold color on every other shelf.

So here is self set #1, how I made decor out of random things around my house, and how I attempted to use them to "balance" the shelves.

I actually like the other set of shelf set better, but since this is so long, you'll have to just wait until Thursday to see.

--Katie

Posting to:

Sundays: Homemaker on a Dime Sunday's Best CRAFT

Delightfully Noted Blissful and Domestic

Tell it to Me Tuesday #11 Features and Linky Party!

2012-03-12T15:49:00.000-07:00

Hey Everyone!

Welcome to Tell it to Me Tuesday #11!

First off, you have only a few hours left to enter to win a gorgeous Ramsign sign!

Click HERE to enter the giveaway.

Now onto this week's AWESOME features!

1.) Days of Chalk and Chocolate's Spring Decor. She will show you how to make some beautiful eggs!

2.) Emmaline Bags shows how to make a baby cradle purse! This is so incredible!

3.) Bella Nest gives an old rolling cart an awesome makeover!

4.) Oh My Creative gives a tutorial on how to make an awesome St. Patty's Day drink, for any party. You can't beat rainbow sprinkles lining your cup!

5.) Nutmeg Place makes cornice boards out of foam board and duct tape! Seriously, that is MY STYLE!

6.) The Consigner Designer revamped this table by distressing it and adding an AWESOME graphic!

7.) Remodelando la Casa shows us her fantastic laundry room makeover!

8.) Suburban Prairie Homemaker shared her gluten free Irish Coffee Bar Cookies. I'm a sucker for gluten free recipes!

9.) VixenMade made her own Candy Bark. This looks sooo good!

10.) The Internet Made me do It. shared her delicious looking Buffalo Chicken Tacos.

11.) I know I usually don't have 11, but I have to give one more feature to Ashbee Design for such a creative holiday project. Who would have thought of Ombre Colored Eggs?! Love it!

If you were featured, grab a button!

Now on to the party!

Da Rules (not many)

1.) No giveaways, sales,or linky parties. Just posts on things you've made or accomplished or have inspired you this week.

2.) Please paste a button or a link back to my blog.

That's it! Follow me on the sidebar under GFC, Linky Followers, and I now have a Bloglovin' widget, or facebook, or Twitter if you wish, and please visit a couple others. We all love some linky love!

DIY, crafts, recipes, renovations, sewing...anything that has inspired you or you think would inspire other's this week!

Blog Tag

2012-03-12T00:16:00.000-07:00

Happy Sunday Everyone.

Savvy Savings and Setting for Four

have tagged me in a game of blog tag. I guess you'll get to know a little more about me.

Here are the rules of the game!

You must post the rules.
Answer the 11 questions that the tagger posted for you and then create 11 questions to ask the people you've tagged.
Tag 11 people and link them in your post.
Post their button on your post if they have one.
Let them know you have tagged them.

I've seen some tags where you tag 11 and some where you tag 5, so I'm going to go for the in between number of 8. I know, nothing like changing the rule to someone else game!

I'm going to take a few questions from each blogger, so here are a few things you may not know about me!

1. What have been your most popular posts?

You can see the top 10 on my side bar, but I think my favorites are my chalkboard backed cabinets, and my Master Bedroom.

2. Floral or graphic prints?

A: At the moment, graphic.

3. What advice could you give to bloggers?

A: Do what you love, but don't let it overtake you or your relationships.

4. Why do you Blog?

A: I blog because I love sharing the things I love to do with others who are inspired by the same things.

5. What is your favorite color scheme?

A: I love so many different color schemes, but I seem to almost always end up including black and white, or black and cream, and that's a lot of what I wear, so I guess that would make it my favorite.

6. One word that describes you?

A: active?? Busy? something close to that lol.

7. The most craziest thing you have done?

A: I've had the chance to do a lot of crazy things through the military. I used to take my three babies (1, 2, and 3 yrs old at that time) on huge military cargo planes across the Pac. ocean. We would bundle up and wear ear plugs, but it would get us from HI to WA for free :)

8. What is your favorite room in your house?

A: Probably the nursery. I photographed it a long time ago, before I edited my pics. I need to give it another photo shoot, but I love so much about that room.

9. Your dream vacation and who would you bring?

A: a fun city, with lots to see and do. I would take my entire family.

10. How would you describe your decor style?

A: Good question! I really have no idea. It's not modern, but it has some modern elements. I guess eclectic?

11. What makes you happy?

A: Spending time with my family. As in, relaxed time with my family....like a movie night.

OK,....there ya have it.

I'm tagging:

1.) The Northern Cottage

2.) The Messy Roost

3.) My Skinny Tale

4.) Crafty Imaginings and Silly Things

5.) Be Sweetly Inspired
6.) About Blogging Time!
7.) Suzy Home Made
8.) Paint Speckled Paw Prints

*I'd love to hear your answers to the same questions that are above :)

Thanks for playing along!
--Katie

The Spartan Race! Needing Some Workout Motivation?

2012-03-09T20:41:00.001-08:00

This is a Sponsored post written by me on behalf of Spartan Race for SocialSpark. All opinions are 100% mine.

OK, when I saw the video on this link (Spartan Race), my heart started to beat a little faster....no seriously, I'm so excited about this! This post will probably be too long, because I have so much to say about it!

So what am I talking about? I'm talking about the Spartan Race!

Spartan Sprints Obstacle races are muddy, 3+ mile races that are a great way to get you off the couch and to start living!

You might be thinking about how "not" in shape you are. Don't worry! These races are for everyone, and range from 3 mile races with 10 obstacles, to 5K sprint races, to races that are 40+ miles!

From beginning racers to hard core runners, this is a great way to get motivated. They say that 99.9% of people who try this finish, and those people who get a true thrill out of insane workout challenges will be satisfied with the more difficult races!

Here's another cool thing about this race. It can be for the entire family! They have a Jr. Spartan race (this is obviously a much tamer version of the adult race) for ages 4-13. My kids would LOVE this!

I like that the Spartan Race was designed with the idea that working out doesn't need to be torturous and tedious. It can be fun and exciting. Dare we say even exhilarating?

The Spartan Race also provides it's participants with a daily workout, a weekly newsletter, and inspiring blogs that will help you get race ready in 45 days!

You can do this! Sure, it may be tough, but if you follow the plan and the daily tips, it can be a life changing experience!

Spartan Race is also proud to be raising money on behalf of Home for ou r Troops, an organization that is very near and dear to my heart.

So check this link out and watch the video. Spartan Race and get inspired! I know I am!

For frequently asked questions click HERE.

--Katie

Crappy Bookcase Beautification

2012-03-09T08:56:00.000-08:00

Bookcase Beautification! (With the Kids Wednesday!)

Here's a little tutorial on how I beautified some really ugly bookcases and it's....With the Kid's Wednesday, a couple days late :)

About four years ago, a family friend's mother passed away, and they offered me quite a few things out of her garage. I had just moved from HI, with pretty much nothing, and was willing to take and beautify about anything.

Among the finds were two really ugly bookshelves. One was plywood, used for paint in her garage, and totally falling apart, and it just happened to be about the same size as a bookshelf inside that looked like the one below.

*this one was found off craigslist, since I didn't have a picture of the original bookcase. I couldn't even find a picture bad enough to show what the plywood one looked like!

I painted them black, not long after I got them home, planning on doing more to them, but like a million other projects, they were stuffed in the basement, and left for a very....long.....time.....

until yesterday morning, when I came down to give them a little love.

Obviously this is the one that was falling apart. Pretty nasty huh?!

First, I re-nailed the sides together, so we could minimize those gaps and sturdy the bookcase.

Then I had a little helper clean them with me.

Then I took some molding with a nicely curved edge and these curtain rod ends that I found on clearance at Lowes awhile back and began the beautification process.

Don't worry, I didn't let her play with these. I was trying to get a picture of her and she wouldn't leave them alone.

I cut and nailed the trim to the edges of the bookcase.

Ooops. If you try this, be careful to only hit the nail, or you'll have extra puttying to do!

Here is the trim around the frame of the bookcase. Then you have to putty any nail holes and gaps.

Then I took the curtain rod ends and screwed them into the bottom. Luckily, there were solid wood strips at the bottom. Still, I don't think these are going to be bookcases that we can scoot around.

Now she has some legs.

Then I had each of the older kids paint a shelf. Chloe was not happy to do this at first.

But by the end, she wanted to paint more. (we wear our clothes inside out when we paint...in case you're wondering).

Next, I took some fabric that I found at Craft Warehouse.

I used spray adhesive to attach it to the back.

Here's the top.

and the bottom, with a good picture of the legs. On this bookcase, the legs were slightly too far outside the frame, but I got it right on the next one.

So we took this...

and we added paint black paint I already had (you can buy a quart for $8 at Hm Depot)

* $7.50 worth of fabric I bought with a 40% off coupon at Craft Warehouse.

* $5.00 worth of curtain rod ends that I used as legs. (I think they were around $2.50/pair on clearance at Lowes. If it wasn't too noticeable, I could have used wood rectangles in the back and only used a pretty pair in the front to save on cost.

* $8 on trim.

This is per bookcase.

Total cost for me (not counting the paint): $20.50/bookcase

Ooo, so much better! I have two of these and they're flanking the downstairs window. It's looking pretty cool!

Now onto quarter round, sewing pillows and embellishing some curtains!

--Katie

Posting to:

Sundays: Homemaker on a Dime Sunday's Best CRAFT

Delightfully Noted Blissful and Domestic

Dollar General's Bracket of the Brands!

2012-03-07T21:55:00.001-08:00

This is a Sponsored post written by me on behalf of Dollar General for SocialSpark. All opinions are 100% mine.

It's March, and that means it's time for March Madness! Even if you don't follow sports, I bet you shop at Dollar General.

Well, Dollar General is getting in on all this March Madness fun, by hosting Dollar General's Bracket of the Brands on their Facebook page!

We all love Dollar General, and we all love coupons, so by "liking" Dollar General on Facebook and playing Dollar General's Bracket of the Brands, you get great Dollar General coupons, and the value of these coupons increases every week (this means you also get a new coupon every week!) You even get to choose your which brand your Dollar General coupons are for!

Here's how it works; each week, there is a "bracket of brands". You get to choose between two brands (I choose Ritz). Once you've chosen a brand, you'll be given three multiple choice questions about the brand (don't worry, they're just for fun). Once you answer these, you'll be taken to the coupon download page that you can see below.

Did I mention there is a BONUS to win a trip to the BIG GAME and Dollar General GIFT CARDS?!! Can you imagine having a gift card to Dollar General?! I could come out with a serious amount of craft supplies!

Dollar General's Bracket of the Brands ends on 3/25. So don't wait, go now and "like" Dollar General on Facebook, and play Dollar General's Bracket of the Brands to unlock your coupons! It's a fun way to save on some popular brands you already buy!

--Katie

I've been over at Meg and Mum's today!

2012-03-06T23:20:00.000-08:00

Hey everyone!

I forgot to mention that I've been over a Meg and Mum's today sharing how I turned our old pantry door into something awesome!

Head on over and check it out!

--Katie

Spring has Sprung. It's Yard Time!

2012-03-06T21:40:00.000-08:00

This is a Sponsored post written by me on behalf of Scotts® for SocialSpark. All opinions are 100% mine.

Aren't you all just LOVING this warm weather! Yesterday it was 67 at my house and the kids and I played outside all afternoon!

As you'll see in my upcoming yard pictures, I have a "park" as a back yard! It's HUGE and is a lot of work to take care of.

My husband is away on Army work often, and I usually end up with the task of yard maintenance. This year I'm considering making yard maintenance easier with the Scotts® Snap® Spreader System.

I'm loving their new Snap Pacs and how they connect directly to the Snap Spreader. No cutting, and pouring from heavy bags. The system even auto-programs the appropriate spread rate.

The Scotts® Snap® Spreader System, also has a unique Edge Guard feature that keeps the product where you want it. I usually have it all over my sidewalk and driveway, and then I have to worry about the kids picking it up, so this feature is very appealing to me!

When you're done, the Snap Pac self-seals upon removal making it easy to store. This helps keep animals and pests out!

This quick video shows some Scotts® Snap® Spreader System testimonials. It's a good video to watch to understand just how this "no mess, no guess" system works!

If you are in charge of your lawn maintenance, or you're looking for a good Mother's/Father's Day gift for someone who is, I'd encourage you to check out Scotts® Snap® Spreader System.

Also, I have "liked" Scott's Snap perks on Facebook. Scott's Snap PERKS Program begins March 7th and if you "like" Snap perks on Facebook you can find out about promotions and win some amazing prizes!

--Katie

The Gallery Wall is Finished!

2012-03-06T12:15:00.002-08:00

It's Finished!!!

The Downstairs Gallery Wall (and all the trim and paint that goes along with it).

This is the basement before we moved in. I don't have any pictures of the actually gallery wall side, but this is the wall directly across from it. So, originally wood paneling, old-school flooring...you get the idea.

For a year and a half, we made this side of our basement "the Garage" (since we don't have a real garage). It was blocked off by the TV, chairs, work benches, ect... and all the tools, saws, and MESS was in it! I could barely stand it, but I agreed to it in order to get more help from the hubby.

Then came the time to take it all down, Christmas Eve was going to be at our place this year, and I insisted that we rid the basement seating area of all our SAWS!

So I cleared, and cleaned and ~~stuffed,~~ placed all the tools in other areas, and ....I began making the Gallery Wall.

Here is the gallery in it's begining stage.

......and here it is finished!

Since I already have other picture walls in my Master Bedroom, and in my upstairs hallway, I tired to include more memorabilia and not as many pictures in this gallery.

There were three drawings that I included that my gallery that were drawn by my great-great grandpa! They are dated 1908.

The kid's and I made some wall art. You can see all the details on that HERE.

and these cute engraved baby spoons that were my husband's. You can read about the recovered matting and displaying family heirlooms HERE.

I was able to book a local artist to draw this awesome family picture. (he is a 6yr old named Joel, and he happens to live here). You can read all about that HERE.

Of course, we painted the wall and had to add the faux trim and molding. You can read about how to put faux trim on paneling HERE.

Yea! It's finished! Now on to some bookcases I have to finish up for the next basement wall!

--Katie

This project has been featured on:

Posting to:

Thursdays: Transformation Thursdays Somewhat simple Show off your stuff House of Hepworths Delightful Order My Simple Home Life The Frugal Girls Thrifty Thursday DIY Diva Thursday Tablescape Thursday No Minimalists Here Crafty, Scrappy, Happy Thrifty Decorating Between U and Me Thrifty and Fabulous Shabby Creek Cottage The Vintage Farmhouse Craftionary The Vintage Farmhouse

Sundays: Homemaker on a Dime Sunday's Best CRAFT

Delightfully Noted Blissful and Domestic

Tell it to Me Tuesday #10! Features and Linky Party.

2012-03-05T16:13:00.000-08:00

Welcome to Tell it to Me Tuesday #10!

This week's giveaway is brought to you by Ramsign. You can win one of their beautiful signs by clicking HERE.

Now on to this week's features!

1.) Magnolia Lane shows us her Little Girl Room. Absolutely beautiful!!!

2.) Cornerstone Confessions shows us how to make this flower pot stand. This would make a beautiful spring entry!

3.) Just in time for spring decorating, Crafting Rebellion shows us her DIY Egg Topiary.

4.) PB&J Reveals her AWESOME bedroom!

5.) Simply Living gave her bathroom wall a makeover with this awesome frame collage!

6.) Days of Chalk and Chocolate made this super-cool-and-creative Planter Bed Crown. I think this is so beautiful...and clever!

7.) Be Sweetly Inspired, got this incredible look by Modge Podging fabric to her dresser!

8.) The Project Queen made these vinyl decals for plates in her daughter's kitchen re-do. These are sooo cute!

9.) Decorate Life, Be Inspired, made the cutest little girl's dress out of clothes she already had.

and for the Healthy Living Category

10.) The Internet Made Me do it, made this delicious looking Sesame & Flax seed recipe! Yumm!

If you've been featured, grab a button!

Now on to the PARTY!

This week we're going to be doing things a little differently. We are going to have ONE category. Everyone sort of ends up linking in both categories anyways. (don't worry, I accidently do that a lot too).

Also, I find myself viewing the links starting at the top, and the healthy living links get viewed last. Sometimes they don't get a chance to make it to my FB page, so I think it would be more fair to have one category.

Da Rules (not many)

1.) No giveaways, sales,or linky parties. Just posts on things you've made or accomplished or have inspired you this week.

2.) Please paste a button or a link back to my blog.

Creatively Living's "The Best of February!"

2012-03-05T01:11:00.000-08:00

Happy Monday Everyone!

I thought we would do a little recap. Here's Creatively Living's "The Best of February!"

Hand Art for the Gallery Wall

With the Kid's Wednesday

This project turned out to be a star with over 55,000 hits!

How to Refinish Cabinets in 1 Hour

This project also made it in my top 10 posts of all time.

Valentine's Day Coupon Banner

With the Kid's Wednesday

The Reading Nook Project: The Bench

If you're thinking about building a bench, this is one of the easiest ways EVER!

The Reading Nook Project: The Curtains

I'm loving how this little nook is turning out! But it still has a long way to go!

Embellishing a Plain Pillow with Yarn

A yarn project that I shared on CSI.

Add Faux Molding and Paint to Wood Paneling

With the Kid's Wednesday

Beam Beautification 101

With the Kid's Wednesday

Spring Wreath: Potterybarn Knock-off

This project also made it in my top 10 posts.

The Mid-Wall: Before and After

Displaying Family Heirlooms

The last project in the basement gallery wall (soon to be revealed!)

That's it! We're already off to a good start in March with the Entryway Reveal. Stick around for a LOT more work on the basement, some really exciting giveaways, awesome guest bloggers and great link-up parties in March!

--Katie

Posting to:

Sundays: Homemaker on a Dime Sunday's Best CRAFT

Delightfully Noted Blissful and Domestic

The Weekend: Basement Stuff Hunting

2012-03-04T00:13:00.000-08:00

Hi everyone,

Wow! It's been a busy weekend so far! I'm pooped!

I'm not sure if I've mentioned it, but the hubby has been far away for work quite a bit lately. What does this mean for me?? This means: 5 kids + homeschooling + renovating + my small dietetics job + blogging + normal life stuff = exhausted Katie!

These sorts of situations present themselves over and over in my life and I have to relearn and relearn to get some help!

So, I traveled up to the in-laws this weekend. They were so great to take the kids while I went up to a neighboring city (I love cities) and shopped the GW, Salvation Army, and the best fabric stores, finding basement this and thats!

All I can say is, it was wonderful! (to all my Spokane friends, I picked up the phone to call you for a GW rendezvous more than once, but I made myself put it down and take some solo time).

Photo from Country Living via Holly Mathis Interiors

This is my fave "basement pillow inspiration" picture. I'm in love with the colors and patterns. Unfortunately, I didn't run into any floral fabric nearly as cool as this, but I did find some other cool stuff! I bought WAY too much of other people's ~~crap~~ discards, and remembered that it sometimes takes a little alone time to remember what "balance" feels like :)

Tomorrow we'll have some more basement re-make pics and get ready for an upcoming giveaway from Cutting Edge Stencils!

Hope you're having a great weekend!

--Katie

The Entryway Reveal

2012-03-01T22:50:00.000-08:00

Happy Weekend Everyone!

It's time to start doing some room reveals around here!

You may remember when I posted my Entryway at Christmas post. Well I shared my

my everyday Entryway the other day over at Bella Nest, so it's high time I share it here!

This is actually not one of my favorite spaces (great way to start this huh?) I actually finished decorating this space a couple years ago, and I think I'm a little board with it. If I didn't have LOTS of other rooms I needed to be finishing, I'd probably be stenciling the wall in here or something!

Anyways, I finished the all the trim and painting touch-ups in this room in late November, but by then, we were into Christmas projects, and then I had my Sister's Room Makeover, and then I had to finish my Master Bedroom Reveal, so I could enter it in all the "first of the year" type link-ups. All this to say, the Entryway has been COMPLETELY finished for about 3 months now!

So, here's the tour that I shared a couple weeks ago on Bella Nest.

_____________________________________________

I'm going to take you on a little tour of my entryway that I have adorned with thrifting finds and dollar store items.

Below are a couple pictures I found from before we moved in.

This one is mainly the dinning room, but you can see the yellow entryway door, to the right.

Here's a pic mid-way through the painting process, and pre-tile. I have no idea why my laundry is there?

Here is the after. I will note after the pictures where I acquired everything.

Jars and some of the candles: Goodwill

Welcome sign: Ross on clearance due to a scuff.

Uptown sign (name of a older shopping area up the road): Yardsale $7. Didn't have to do thing to it!

Curtians: originals from the 1940's. I added the brown and recovered the pull-shade.

Mirror and glass containers: Tent clearance at Craft Warehouse

Peace and Hope sings: $1 Christmas ornaments at Walmart

Sliver Dish: Yardsale

Tile and Hardware: Home Depot

Dresser: Goodwill $25!

Large frame: Thrift store $3! I used drywall to back it, and painted it black. The other frames are from the Goodwill also.

The sign says, "As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord".

The picture....is WAY too old. (I have two more kids now...time to change it!)

Cloche: Yardsale

Lamp base and candle: Goodwill (I used fabric around it)

Plant and grass rocks: Dollar store

Lamp shade: Walmart

Stick table runner: Yardsale (I think originally from Potterybarn)

Vase: Goodwill. I dressed it up with burlap and a strip of fabric

Sticks: outside and Hobby Lobby

Pic frame: Dollar Store

Tray: Christmas clearance at Walmart $2

So, there it is! Now back down to working in the basement :)

--Katie

This project has been feature on:

Posting to:

Sundays: Homemaker on a Dime Sunday's Best CRAFT

Delightfully Noted Blissful and Domestic

Displaying Family Heirlooms

2012-02-28T23:38:00.000-08:00

Well, this is the last gallery wall project I'll post, before the big gallery wall reveal! If you'ld like to see the others click on

Kid's hands for the gallery wall.

and

Kid made gallery wall art

This tutorial involves this beautiful silver that my mother-in-law mailed me not too long ago. This spoon and fork were made for my husband's birth. They have his name, birth date, weight, and length engraved on them. When I saw them, I was in awe of how cool they were! Do people still make this sort of thing?

Here's a close-up of the silver. The picture doesn't show the engraving very well, but it's actually pretty easy to see when you're holding them.

I figured I would somehow put it on the gallery wall, but didn't have a shadow box and didn't necessarily want to go buy one.

So, I took this old frame and matting (it actually used to be a wood color frame with hunter green matting, but I had sprayed it black for the gallery wall a couple months ago), and traced the matting size on the paper.

Then I glued the matting on the paper.

I left room on the inside and clipped to the corners.

Then I folded the corners back and taped them. I seemed to only be able to find duct tape today.

Then I cut another piece of the paper and taped it on the back, so only white would be showing through the hole of the matting.

I guess this post could also be titled, "another easy way to change out your matting".

Then I took Gorilla Glue and glued the silver to the paper.

In retrospect, I would have used hot glue. The Gorilla Glue started to foam around the edges of the silver and looked messier than I would have liked. I also started wondering if it would wreck the silver at all. I think the hot glue would have just peeled off if needed.

Aren't the cute in there? I ended up having to switch them to opposite directions, because the frame was going sideways on the wall and I like them better than way.

A little more sanding and a little paint and the gallery wall will be done!

--Katie

This project has been featured on:

Posting to:

Sundays: Homemaker on a Dime Sunday's Best CRAFT

Delightfully Noted Blissful and Domestic

I, Katie, the blog loving Follower.

2012-02-28T21:31:00.000-08:00

So, it's almost here, March 1st. The day that Google Friend Connect will go away for all the non-Blogger blogs. I am a Blogger blog, so you don't have to worry if you follow me through GFC, and if you are also a Blogger Blog.

The entire situation still confuses me though. I am no techy. I feel that a just missed out (age wise) on that generation below me. The one that has never really known what it was like to not have a computer in the house. I know it isn't true, but I have this impression that anyone in their mid-20's or younger, picks this stuff up as if they were reading a Cat in the Hat book, and to me technology is like getting a doctorate in bio-physics. No, actually bio-physics came easier to me than web-building.

Even though I will still have GFC on my sidebar, there are so many non Blogger blogs that I follow, and many that I participate in Linky parties through. So, what's one to do?

My first decision was to jump on the Linky bandwagon. Everyone else was doing it, so I figured that Linky must be the new way to follow, and I still would say it's probably a good way to follow. To be honest, I haven't given Linky a lot of attention yet. I know I need to be linking my posts into Linky so others can see them that follow through Linky, and I keep forgetting to. I tried to find the people that I follow on Linky's dashboard, and I was really confused (it doesn't take much with this stuff).

There have been a few bloggers screamin' out about Blogloving. Screaming in a good way. Saying it's easy and you don't have to manually put your post in. So, the other night I realized I need to make some decisions. You see my situation is that I'm still viewing blogs from a gadget off my sidebar. Yup, the old school way, and when I must have reached the max number of blogs for that gadget, the gadget just wouldn't add or take away any anymore. It just fizzled out. So I started putting them all in Google Reader, which I realized after sometime, only held 300. I have about 500 I follow...I know, I know, hence the title of this post! So I e-mailed a few bloggers, those bloggers who were screaming about Bloglovin', and decided to give it a try, and all I can say is,..... it's working, it's easy and i'm not confused! It only took about an hour and a half to enter my 500 blogs! lol.

Now, I'm not saying anything bad about Linky. The man who runs that company seems really nice, and the bloggers who helped him create the program, I have the upmost respect for, so I'm sure it's a good way to check your blogs. It was just confusing, well, confusing to me, but like I mentioned before, that doesn't take much!

So Blogloving is now on my sidebar. You can follow your blogs that way if you wish. This is my two cents (for what it's worth). That the Bloglovin answer was an easy way to go, for me at least, and that if you also are seriously perplexed by technology, and are saying, what? huh? how? to this entire "blog following" situation, you might just check it out.

You can also follow me through Facebook, Twitter, E-mail, or Subscribing. All found on my sidebar.

Below is a button that will take you to a Bloglovin Blog hop, at the NY Melrose Family, if you wish to go to one.

--Katie

Tell it to Me Tuesday #9: Features and Linky Party!

2012-02-27T16:18:00.000-08:00

Hey everyone

Welcome to Tell it to Me Tuesday #9!

First off, this week's giveaway is from Ramsign! Click here to see their beautiful signs and to enter for the giveaway!

Now on to the features!!!

1. ) Our Thrifty Nest of 7 painted their white cabinets gray, and added a splash of yellow. (with 5 kids I've thought about changing the color of my white cabinets too! Their kitchen reveal is impressive!

2.) Meg and Mums re-makes this buffet with stunning results!

3.) Full Circle Creations show her incredible DIY on making canvases, painting and sketching on them. She makes it look pretty easy and it would cost next to nothing!

4.) It all Started with Paint remodels her powder room. I love a bathroom with baskets and cute numbers!

5.) Remodelando la Casa shows us her new tongue and groove wall! Talk about a great way to add some interest!

6.) Everything Has A Place displays her gorgeous table setting for Spring.

7.) My 1929 Charmer shows us her kitchen reveal! Love that tin backsplash and the little cabinet legs!

8.) Suzy Home Made show how to made a DIY camera strap out of a cute scarf!

Healthy Living Category

1.) The Terpblog tells us about their 52 week workout challenge. If you take on a workout challenge with friends and involve a little wager $, you might be more likely to succeed! This is a fun idea!

2.) Another FANTASTIC idea (seriously love this one) is to have a MOM's Camp during the summer!!! This is a great "healthy living" idea, because this would aid mental stability during the summer! lol RE-invented will give you all the details on how to put on your own Mom's Camp!

There were seriously SO many good ideas. To check out some great spring craft and decor ideas and to see other room reveals at last week's party, click HERE.

If you were featured, grab a button!

Now on to this week's party!

As before....

There will be 2 categories for this party:

1.) The typical: DIY, crafts, makeovers, recipes, ect...

2.) Staying healthy!

Don't we all want to be more healthy. It seems to be on everyone's resolution list.....just about every year! This will be dedicated to healthy recipes, workout tips, and health success stories. PLEASE no product info! Let's keep it to healthy eating, exercise and staying healthy success stories, or just getting out and MOVING!

Da Rules (not many)

1.) No giveaways, sales, linky parties (or specific product info for the health section, such as, Slim Jim Shake Cleanse. ..ya know what I mean?)

2.) Please paste a button or a link back to my blog.

The "Mid-Wall" Before and After

2012-02-25T14:41:00.000-08:00

Well, I'd love to be finishing up the details of the Reading Nook, but I'm going to have to wait until the hubby can get some lighting arrangements finished up in there. He probably won't be able to do this for a couple months (I know, so sad) so we will be moving on to what I call....the Mid Wall, which I finished a few days ago.

These are the before pictures, well really, these are mid-way-through pictures. The wall and stairway beams were originally knotty-pine wood paneling, and the floor was the "old-school" linoleum. I don't have an actual "before" picture.

This wall was a dart-board wall for the previous owners, and that is why you see a lot of white blotches. This is where we added putty to cover up all the dart holes. The strip of wood on the bottom is where we took off an unused baseboard heater and added some molding, and the blue smudges are from the kids drawing in blue glue stick...oh renovating around little kids. Two steps forward and one step back, right?

Here is the After....

The line you see to the right of the computer is a push door that opens to a storage spot underneath the stairs. The Mid-wall is in between the Reading Nook and the stairway.

I organized the bookshelves.

I used my "Be Thankful" painting. You can see my DIY for that here. It fit perfectly in my new thrift store frame.

I glued a couple things together to make a frame, still need a smaller picture though, and I have a small catch-all bowl. Because every room needs a catch-all!

I found the green and gold frame at a thrift store about a month ago. I loved it so much, I decided not to paint it and to incorporate kelly green into the room.

We usually do our home school downstairs and even though there is no leg room in the shelves, it works well to sit here and do my work while I help the kids with theirs. My husband's desk is directly across the room.

I added a little plant and put a few fun, gold and white feathers in my pen cup.

I made a new pillow for my chair, which brought more green into the space. These green strips were made from an old shirt. Tutorial to come soon.

So once again....the before.

and the after!

Now to finish the trim on the downstairs gallery wall!

--Katie

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Chatty Chics Guest post

2012-02-24T05:48:00.000-08:00

Hi ladies! I'm Melody from Chatty Chics and am thrilled to be visiting with you today!

Katie, thanks so much for inviting me to guest post! I love to chat about just about everything- Home Decor, Food, Money Matters, Shopping, etc.

Before I ever dreamed about having a child, I dreamed about decorating a nursery. I know, that's pretty odd but I've always loved the feel of nurseries and couldn't wait to decorate my own. One thing I always wanted was a large tree painted on one wall. I wanted a tree that would be friendly, yet cute enough that would work in a toddler's or even child's room as well. Something that would "grow" with the child. click for full image.

When it came time to draw the tree, I ran into problems. I can barely draw a stick figure, much less a tree. So I searched the web and found this image.

I love the shaggy branches and how large it is and knew I'd want something that would cover a large portion of my wall. So my very talented friend, Holly stepped in to help me. (Unfortunately I didn't take pictures of the process since I wasn't blogging then. My apologies!) Here are the supplies you'll need: 1. Acylic paints 2. Projector and pencil 3. Bowls/Plates for paint.

We originally went "old school" by tracing an image onto a transparency. Then we projected it on the wall so we could trace the trunk with a pencil. We didn't want to trace the leaves as we knew we wanted to be a little creative with that part.

Unfortunately we couldn't get it as large as I wanted so we took some liberty to extend the original lines for the trunk and branches.

After the frame was drawn on the trunk, we filled it in using sponge brushes and acrylic paints from Michael's. Holly blended a few of the colors together to create the lighter browns and the "glow" around the black hole to create dimension. (Adding white to any color lightens it.) She took a small paintbrush and created the "grass" around the bottom of the trunk.

To create the leaves, we used a darker color first and a sponge brush and used two quick strokes to create a leaf. You really can't mess this up as we both did it and they all look pretty much the same. Start with the dark color, then mix in a medium and lighter color as you work your way out to add the dimension.

I actually wanted to go wider (as I always like to do things with a bam!) but Holly said the scale would be off for the room. Who knows. I may still make the leaves extend across the whole wall, much to her dismay I'm sure. But I love it. And that's what matters. Stay tuned for tours room by room. Stay tuned as I'll share the entire nursery in the upcoming months. Happy Painting!

Blessings!