Simply Cottage Love

Perfectly Imperfect Wreath {DIY Decorate}

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Fri, 21 Oct 2011 12:18:00 +0000

It doesn't seem right that I could love this wreath as much as do... but there it is. Something about the perfectly imperfect nature of this wreath just makes my heart happy.

I love the color contrasting off the bright white of the frame... I love the frou frou nature of it's frills against the rough and weathered wood.

There's alot of these floating around bloggy land and I was dying to try one out for myself.

If you are so inclined to try one out for yourself... here's how I made mine~

Fire up the trusty glue gun (mine has seen better days!) and pick out some ribbon.

Gather up some foam pipe insulation, about two packages of coffee filters (you can get these in white or natural), and some gorilla tape or duct tape.

You can find the pipe insulation at Home Depot (or other hardware stores) in the plumbing section. There were five pieces in a packag priced at $2.47. That's less than .50 per wreath form!

Hold the edges together while you wrap the tape around it. It's tricky, but keep those edges together so that your form ends up being circular instead of oval.

Don't worry if it doesn't look perfect, you just want a general shape... it will all be covered up soon.

Now, grab your coffee filters. You can either fold up a bunch and start gluing or you can fold-glue-fold-glue. I personally needed the time in between each gluing to recover from glue burns.

So, you will fold it in half, then into quarters...

...then into eighths. I also folded the tip down to give a better surface to glue on. Apply glue to the tip. I found it important to let the glue cool for a moment. If it's too hot it will melt the foam. I'm sure this could be remedied by using a low heat glue gun.

Lay the form flat and start gluing, layer by layer. I found it to be helpful to stagger the layers (like bricks) as you add each layer.

There you have it. I wasn't very anal about it and I personally like the casual look I ended up with. It makes me happy every time I look at it!

Whimsy Studios brightening my day...

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Thu, 13 Oct 2011 17:23:00 +0000

Well, as you might have seen on my Facebook page... my laptop completely crashed. Almost two years of pictures are currently trapped somewhere on my corrupted hard drive. Lesson learned... back up your pictures. Once again, one of those lessons I fail to learn until the worst happens.

So meanwhile I'm left to blog without photos. I thought I'd take this opportunity to show you some incredibly cute prints from Whimsy Studios. Lori is a mom and illustrator. She blogs over at Fresh Picked Whimsy. I just love her paintings! I started looking through her Etsy Shop and found so many great pieces that would be great at my house~

I can see this one in my bathroom (you know... where it's all sunshine and beachy)...

And this would be adorable in our Master Bedroom...

I think this one is perfect for our entryway...

(anyone who has been to our house knows we truly run a circus here!)

And when going gets rough it's nice to remind yourself that sometimes you just have to suck it up...

heehee!

A little cuteness always makes your day brighter : )

Beachy Wall Art

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sat, 08 Oct 2011 12:15:00 +0000

One step closer to a finished Master Bath!

Pinned and Completed!

I found this gorgeous mantle on Finding Home and absolutely FELL in LOVE with it.

*Sigh*... isn't it beautiful....?

I pinned it and knew that there had to be a way to incorporate something like this into our Master Bath. It would bring exactly that touch of beachy coastal feel I wanted without being too kitschy.

Our Master Bath has been {almost} done for several ~~months~~ weeks now. In my process of procrastinating with the painting of the kitchen cabinets I decided to take an afternoon and get some decor up in our Master Bath.

I hauled out an old window frame I had picked up from a garage sale for $5. I added a couple layers of sisal twine and grapevine wire. From that I hung some sea stars that I had picked up from Michaels, glass mason jar lids and some of my grandmothers shells that she had collected from the Connecticut shore near her home. I thought it was a great way to display some of her collection. A glue gun is all it took to hold everything together.

It's not exactly like my inspiration pin, but I'm pretty happy with the overall look!

Nifty Thrifty Tuesday at Coastal Charm

Fall Wreaths {Decorate}

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Fri, 07 Oct 2011 21:34:00 +0000

There are so many gorgeous wreaths out there in bloggy land. I thought I'd put together a few of my favorites that I have pinned. But first I'll show you my front door.

My wreath was put together because not only did I not want to spend any money this year on Fall decor... but I also had zero time to create one of the gorgeous wreaths that I'm going to show you. This means I whipped out the can of flat black spray paint and raided my decor shelves in the basement. So... here's what I came up with using some old garland stuff, spray paint, spiders, and a cheapy BOO sign from Target's Dollar Spot.

I don't like quite as much as the one's I've pinned.... but for this year (the year of renovation) it will have to do.

Here's some other gorgeous Fall Inspiration...

Fall Ombre Rosette Wreath by Flamingo Toes

Easy Breezy Wreath by Crafted Niche

Halloween Version of her Paper Bag Wreath by Vaccumming in High Heels and Pearls

Ruffle Burlap Wreath by A Mommys Life...with a touch of yellow

New Fall Wreath by Lookie What I Did

Cinnamon Stick Wreath on Dilly Dallas

That's a whole bunch of Fall Inspiration! I could keep going... but I should probably stop! Maybe by next year I'll have some time to make one of these beauties!

What We Do In This House...{Thoughts}

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Wed, 05 Oct 2011 13:19:00 +0000

There are simply times where I am just overwhlemed with emotion. It's usually a feeling of gratefulness. I look around me at how lucky I am. Four beautiful, perfect children. A loving, adoring, and caring husband. A warm and safe house.

I wonder how we can get so caught up in what we don't have, what we can't have, how things should be. We get distracted by TV shows, the internet, or video games that we forget to simply BE with the ones around us.

Sometimes my love for them (my fam) feels so big I can't believe that I can be distracted. I want to be able to live every moment right there in that moment. And not worry about the messy kitchen, or whether or not I have email, or the growing To Do List in my head. I have so many things I want to do. I want to pick up running again, I want to craft and create all day, I want to finish painting my kitchen, I want my house to be clean and to put good meals on the table, I want to find the best deals in town and save the most money I can for our family, I want to read a book. So many things I want to do or wish for. I want to have my hand in them all... but there are only so many hours in a day.

I love the moments I find myself completely engaged. I know beyond all else that is what my family really cares about. So the house isn't always clean, or projects are slow to be finished. What matters most is being WITH them. I hope for my children that during those moments I can pass onto them the things in life that I know are important - loving each other and themselves, giving to and forgiving others, having fun and challenging themselves.

I hope that if I can make this sign and place it in my living room I can not only remind myself of what is important, but I can reassure my family how important they are to me.

This image was found on Pinterest courtesy of A Lady's Findings. It's a future project for my home.

How To Install a Sink- and the New Countertops!! {DIY}

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Mon, 03 Oct 2011 13:36:00 +0000

We've been slowly but surely making progress on the kitchen. This week we had our new countertops installed~ which meant our drop in sink had to come out! If you are looking to do that- go here. I got that done, surprisingly with no problem. The old countertop went out the curb (hallelujah!!), and without too many gliches the new countertop was installed by the guys from Lowe's. Now I had about an hour and a half until the kids walked back in the door from school. Twenty-four hours without water or a sink in my kitchen was enough for me! I guess I'm spoiled, but I was under the gun to get this sink back in- and fast! So, here we go-

Gather your tools~ wrench, screwdrivers, garbage disposal key, plumbers tape, and silicone sealant

Forgive me for the lack of initial pictures I got excited and started installing without getting out my camera. The first step will be to run a bead of clear silicone around the edge of your countertop where the sink will sit. Find a helper (thanks hubby!) to help you lift the sink carefully into the drop-in spot. You'll probably have some silicone squeeze out the sides of the top of the sink. Quickly wipe these away, but don't get too picky about it because you will soon be putting in the clamps and this will cause more to squeeze out. The main goal here is to make sure you have your sink straight and centered.

Now, lay out your clamps that either come with your new sink or came off your old sink.

Using your screwdriver, tighten the clamps under your sink.

Now is the time when you will go back with a rag and wipe away all the excess silicone sealant. Mineral spirits will help clean this up too.

Whenever you uninstall and then reinstall plumbing parts, always use new plumbers tape. This will insure that you will have a water tight seal.

Screw the plastic nut back onto the sink for the non-garbage disposal side of the sink.

Using your wrench attach the water supply hoses to the water pipes. Make sure that the cold goes to the right and the hot goes to the left. Don't forget to wrap the pipes with new plumbers tape!

Okay, this part gets tricky by yourself. You'll want to lift the garbage disposal up so that the ring can be slid back onto the neck of the drain (or whatever that's called). On mine you had to line up these grooves on the ring of the disposal to slide onto the tabs sticking out of the hardware on the drain.

Using your garbage disposal key, tighten the ring onto the drain tabs.

Wrap the screw threads with plumbers tape again and then tighten the nut on the disposal drain pipe.

This is the tube that connects your dishwasher to your disposal. It took me a couple of tries, but you'll want to make sure this is pushed on as tight as possible. Loosen the screws to make sure you can get the connection tight.

Now tighten these screws.

Turn your water back on and let it run for a while. Keep check on all the connections you just made to make sure there is no leaking.

So... here we go! New contertops and the sink is reinstalled! Yeah! All before the kids came home from school!

We chose Spiced Java by LG- a solid surface material (like Corian)

And in case you didn't remember the wonderfulness of my prior counter top (yuck!)... I'm loving the improvement!

We're still working on getting all the paint and hardware done on the cabinets. And obviously the floor is slated for a remake. But it's coming along!

Home Stories A2Z

Kids Birthday Celebrations

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Thu, 29 Sep 2011 20:37:00 +0000

We had some serious birthday fun this month! Four birthdays in nine days can get pretty crazy.
Thank goodness for Pinterest or i never would've come up with ideas for easy celebrating. Check out here where I came up with some of these ideas.

My little guy loved his Dump Truck Cake. Best of all you don't have to be perfect for this to look really cute. I personally thought the gummy worms were a nice touch : )
I don't know what the blue icing has to do with dirt or trucks, other than the fact that's what the Birthday Boy wanted on his cake.

Each of the kids got their own dump truck to shovel cake into and eat out of.

Everyone woke up to a decorated door on their birthday morning. I also wrote a little birthday message to each child on their bathroom mirror.

The kids loved making some really easy and cheap decorations to keep up for the month of September. Crepe paper banners strung up in the dining room made every day feel special.

Can I get an "Amen"? I found this cute printable here.

The boys were more than thrilled with their cake. Yes, there really is a whole cake under all that candy!

Yet another super cute, free printable from eighteen25.

We ate entirely too many treats between all the celebrations! (and loved every minute of it!)

I tried to simplify when I could. I bought one big roll of plain paper and then assigned everyone a color ribbon and hand stamped their names on the packages.

Super Mom I am not! I admit I breathed a sigh of relief when my daughter begged for a store-bought cake.

We had a blast and are just now coming off the sugar rush. Just in time to gear up for Halloween!

home stories a2z

Removing your Sink {DIY}

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Wed, 28 Sep 2011 11:57:00 +0000

Within 24 hours I will have a new countertop, for which, I can't tell you how excited I am! So... to avoid paying the installers $800 we will remove the sink and old countertop ourselves.

Here's the step by step if you ever find yourself in the position of pulling out your sink.

(I warn you... there are no pretty pictures here!)

First things first: gather your tools. Pliers, a flat head and phillips screwdriver or driver attachments, garbage disposal key, utility knife, and small pry bar. The garbage disposal key should be near your garbage disposal or wherever you might keep your important manuals. Ours was in a drawer next to the sink. It's a good idea to actually use some gorilla or duct tape and keep it affixed to the disposal.

Clear out the underneath of your sink cabinet as well as the top of your sink area. No need to remove cabinet doors, mine are just off because we are in the process of painting them. Unplug or shut of the power to the garbage disposal.

Find your water shut off valves under the sink. There should be a hot and a cold knob. Turn clockwise (righty tighty) to stop water flow to faucet.

Turn on faucet to verify that the water is really off.

Using your pliers disconnect the water supply line from the water pipe.

Unscrew the plasic ring to disconnect the drain pipe from the garbage disposal.

Using a flat head screw driver loosen the screws holding the clamps for the connection to the dishwasher. Remove this tube from the garbage disposal. {ewww!}

Using the garbage disposal key, place it into the horizontal hole and give a strong pull. Be sure to support the disposal with your other hand as will simply fall out of the support ring. Set the disposal in the bottom of the cabinet until you are ready to reinstall.

Loosen the plastic ring to disconnect the drain tube from the "non-disposal" side of your sink.

Using a utility knife cut the silicone adhesive that is adhering the sink to the countertop.

Most sinks have clamps holding them tight to the countertop. Locate these clamps, loosen the screws and remove the clamps. My double sided sink had six clamps.

I was by myself while removing the sink so I found it helpful to lay inside the cabinet and push upwards on the bottom of the sink to pop it loose from the countertop. You can also use a crow bar to help loosen from above. Once it popped loose I was able to (stand up) grab hold of the faucet and carefully lift the sink out of the hole. Place the sink on an old towel until you are ready to reinstall (if that is what you plan to do). Otherwise consider dropping it off at your local ReStore for someone else to use. I also noticed that my sink had a recycle symbol on the bottom noting that it was safe to recycle. Never would've thought of that.

Here we go! Ready to remove the old countertop. Tommorow night I'll be reinstalling the sink : )

Can't wait to see my kitchen transform. The cabinets are coming along, new flooring in the future, and countertops tomorrow!

Ready to Reinstall?? Go here for the DIY!

Holy Wow! Vinegar can do THAT?! {Tips}

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Tue, 27 Sep 2011 12:15:00 +0000

Do you ever start a project and then get pulled away by one thing or another (homework help, burning dinner, or children falling out of trees?). Yeah, I'm sure no one ever has this problem{enter sarcasm here}! Well, of course that happened to me the other night. By the time I came back to my painting project - what did I find? My VERY favorite paintbrush completely encased in dried latex paint. I had (what felt like) miles of cabinets yet to paint, a sleeping toddler, an opportunity to paint... yet my favorite brush was in no condition to do so.

Somewhere in the depths of my brain I seemed to remember hearing that vinegar could clean dried out paintbrushes. Knowing that I didn't have much to lose I dropped it into a glass full of my cleaning solution (1/2 vinegar, 1/2 water). I came back in about a half and hour and Lo and Behold {yes! I was pretty sure I could hear angels singing!} the paint was softening. A little work on it under some running water and the brush was good as new!

I can only imagine how well this would've worked if I had used 100% vinegar. I looked around on line and found that many places suggest you actually heat the vinegar a bit and let the brush soak for hours.

photo via: www.tastyexploration.com

I have long been a proponent of cleaning with vinegar ever since I learned that vinegar kills 99% of bacteria, 82% of mold, and 80% of viruses. We all know it's environmentally healthier and is SO much cheaper than buying all sorts of glass cleaners, anti-bacterial sprays, etc.

Here are some other tricks you do with Vingear:

Remove mold and mildew in showers and tubs by scrubbing with vinegar
Remove stains from linoleum by pouring vinegar on and leaving for 10-15 minutes
Clean toilets and disinfect cutting boards
Get rid of lime and calcium build up on fixtures by soaking in vinegar for a few hours and then scrubbing with a toothbrush.
Deodorize your garbage disposal, microwave, and fridge.

Anyway, I was so excited I had to share! Have a great week!

Learning to Tile at the Do-It-Herself Workshops

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Fri, 23 Sep 2011 14:51:00 +0000

With the kitchen remodel we quickly realized that it was going to be necessary to retile the backsplash. I won't torture you with more awful pictures of the tile our home came with (unless you are really curious!). Of course we don't have a clue when it comes to tiling. Up til now my solution has simply to cover up the tiles I don't like (that will have to be a future post!).

Last night I took advantage of series of classes by Home Depot called the Do-It-Herself Workshop. They offer a variety of classes such as Cabinets, Flooring, Garden, Room Inspiration, Martha Stewart Living, Bathrooms, buying countertops, installing crown moulding, and Tiling.

photo courtesy of Home Depot

Honestly the timing couldn't be more perfect. I have the old backsplash ripped off (OK... there might be just ~~a couple of gaping holes~~ a little damage that still needs to be repaired) and the new countertop is going in this week {squeal}. I can't wait!

I wasn't sure what to expect walking in to it, but it there were more people than I expected- about 20 women and two men. The instructor wasn't up to par I would say. I found myself wishing that his "assistants" would just step in and teach the class since they seemed to be much more knowledgable about the actual process of laying tile.

I got plenty of time to berate them with questions, as did the others in the class that were interested in their specific project (bathrooms, floors, backsplash). Overall I did walk out of the class feeling more comfortable working with mastic and grout. I know what types of materials I will need to install tile, the different types of tiles available and what type of grout to use with each. I also got some hands on time cutting tile and grouting.

I was pretty excited to hear about a "newer" product that is available, called Simple Mat.

Rumor has it that this sweet stuff can take the place of the mastic, or adhesive. This $20 box covers about 100 square feet, and although it is more expensive than putting the adhesive down it's not messy at all and seems like it would be a lot easier. Basically you peel and stick these adhesive sheets to your backsplash (or bathroom wall), pop your tiles on and then grout away. I'm super excited to give these a try!

After class I snuck across the street to Lowe's to snap some pictures of the tile backsplash I want to install. So far it's the only one that I have found that I think I'm comfortable with. There are a lot of options out there but I'm' having a tough time coming up with the best fit for our "cottage" kitchen.

This style uses the most affordable 4"x4" white tiles. Works for me!

See how the tiles are staggered on the upper part? I like that!

My only change might be to use glass tiles as the accent strips. I'll look for a java color that will work with my countertop.

All in all, the class was pretty good... but I still feel like I have a long way to go. The most intimidating part now is laying out the pattern.

For now though I will try and get those cabinets finished before the countertop comes (Wednesday!!) .

September Porch {Decorate}

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Thu, 22 Sep 2011 12:29:00 +0000

As busy as I've been inside trying to get the kitchen painted, you all know I got sidetracked a bit cleaning up my new rocker. She was definitely a trash to treasure project! I was feelin' pretty crafty getting my "no-sew" skills on with the cushion. So finally here is my front porch. I think I got it spruced up just in time to decorate for Halloween!

Here's a whole porch shot- That would be my little guy trying to scare away the ginormous spider that lived in the corner of the porch. I think he was doing a pretty good job looking fierce! Although you can't see the front door, you aren't missing anything. There was nothing on it!

Yes, I know... you are overwhelmed with the color and creativity! Ha!

Some of the changes I made weren't just to take the front porch from Summer to Fall, but to update some features of our new home that simply weren't working for me. Take a look at our doorbell... I mean for real! Would you want to come ring my doorbell if it looked like this?? {ICK!} It's part of our whole house intercom system (which apparently was quite popular 20 years ago).

First order of business was to break out my trusty auto body spray primer, fine grit sandpaper, and Oil Rubbed Bronze Rustoleum spray paint. Sand, prime, and paint... and the doorbell at least won't scare visitors away anymore!

Ahhhh..... so much better!

I picked up the "Fleurs" hanger at a garage sale for free (yes! same place I got that free drop cloth I mentioned when I re-covered my chair cushion)

I used one of my 3M hooks that are removable. It was originally brushed nickle, but a hit of ORB spray helped pull the look together.

Any idea what to do about the glass block, short of ripping it out? It's not my favorite look, but I'm not sure what to do with it!

I was bit delayed in getting this post out because I was looking for a pot for the orangey colored mums. I happened onto a pedestal pot at the dollar tree on clearance. I snatched it up for $1.50 and hit it with some spray paint. Problem solved!

Stick bundles in a basket. I love this simple kind of decorating. I plan on adding more through the fall.

I've already got some things ready for Halloween, I won't put those up until the first week of October. For now we dedicate September to all the kids birthdays! : )

No Sew Custom Pillow {DIY}

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Mon, 19 Sep 2011 19:23:00 +0000

I just added a new wicker rocker to my front porch. You can check out that transformation here. I was lucky to have the custom made cushion that came with this antique piece. My problem was the fabric was a no-go with the turquoise and I have ZERO sewing skills. I mean, I'm not even sure I'd even know how to turn on a sewing machine!

So... when I stumbled across this post by Beth at Home Stories A2Z I knew there was hope! She used drop cloth canvas, hemming tape, and fabric glue to create this and other adorable pillows.

She gives a great tutorial on using Scrapblog to create the adorable graphics as well!

I actually had the supplies I needed stashed away in various places in the house. I pulled out the drop cloth canvas I got for FREE (yes!) at a garage sale, my Heat n Bond, and my iron. Instead of using fabric glue, which I didn't have, I improvised and used my glue gun. Here's what I came up with~

Pin It

I figured there had to be way to use this technique on a custom shaped pillow. This particular pillow had all sorts of curves. Here's a tutorial for those of you that are curious how I did it~

Start with your supplies~

Scissors

Drop Cloth Canvas

Heat-n-Bond (hemming tape, stitch witchery, or the like)

Iron

Glue Gun (not shown)

Acrylic Paints

Sponge Brush

Painters Tape

Pillow that you would like to cover

Trace your pillow onto your drop cloth. Be sure to trace it onto the side that will be flipped to the inside when you are done (not like I did!). I'm sure you can use some sort of sewing marker that dissapears... but I didn't have anything like that. Do this to two pieces of canvas.

Add two inches to your custom shape.

Cut out your shapes.

Cut your Heat n Bond

I cut mine in fairly thick strips because I was concerned about it holding up on a thick fabric like the dropcloth. I followed the curved lines of the cushion. Leave one side open so that you can slide in your pillow.

Follow the directions on your Heat n Bond package to adhere the two pieces together. Flip your pillow inside out creating a pocket for your cushion.

Slide your cushion in.

Sorry, I don't have any pictures of this next step. What you will do is turn the edges in towards the inside of your pillow leaving a clean seam on the outside. Run a line of hot glue just a couple of inches long and press this seam together. Hold for a minute or so until the glue sets. Be sure to just work with a small section at a time. Work your way across the open seam until you have secured the pillow inside. That's it!

The blank canvas wasn't doing much for me so I added some stripping to it using some acrylic paints I had on hand.

Just measure... (my center line was 1" wide, and each blue stripe was 1/8" wide)

tape...

and paint.

Pin It

I'm pretty happy with how it turned out. I'm sure it could've been better if done with a sewing machine, but for those of us who can't sew~ this works out just fine!

For the Love of Pinterest {Birthdays}

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Wed, 14 Sep 2011 14:24:00 +0000

September is a fun month for us! We have four kids, all with birthdays in September! And not only in September, but within 9 days of each other! So this weekend we have the twins 10th birthday on Saturday, and our littlest guy turns 3 on Sunday. My daughter has the long wait until next Monday before she can celebrate her 8th birthday! So instead of painting, crafting, and being lazy... this is what our weekend will look like~

Kit Kat Cake that I'm making for the twins birthday
{via: Sisters' Stuff}

The Cars Cake I WISH I was talented enough to make for my
three year old.
{via: flickr}

A cute idea for said three year old that I could probably
recreate easier than that Cars cake!
{via:kidsstuffworld.com}

Decorated Doorways on Birthday Morning

{via: Secrets of a SuperMom}

Crepe Paper Bunting
{via: Jen Johnson Guesting at eighteen25}

A new 15' Trampoline from Grandma and Grandpa
{via: Sam's Club}

That's just a few of the great inspirations I found out there in Pinterest Land.

Do you Pinterest? If you don't and need an invite, just let me know : ) You can find me here. Feel free to add your link to your Pinterest boards in the comments, I'd love to check them out!

Go here to see how the weekend parties turned out : )

Turquoise Rocker {DIY}

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Mon, 12 Sep 2011 18:13:00 +0000

Lucky for me the MIL is is downsizing... sweet! I have been the lucky recipient of two couches, an entertainment hutch, a rocker, and a coffee table, to name a few. And that's just in the last couple of months. Good for me she has great taste! Here's the latest giveaway (almost throw away) off my mother in law's front porch. Supposedly she bought this years ago from an antique shop. Looks like it's had better days!

This is where we started out- layers and layers of paint, a torn woven seat, and a variety of injuries endured through the years. So we ripped out the seat, knowing there was no way we could fix it. We had to come up with a new plan for that seat.

There's nothin' that Gorilla Glue can't fix (what?! you broke your gorilla?!). Love this stuff, I've used a few times now and have been really happy with the durability and how easy it is to work with.

We grabbed some wire brushes and went to work. Even the kids loved helping with this job. It was hard to get to a point where the paint would stop chipping off, but we tried to get as much off as possible to get a good base for the new paint.

We had to get creative to make a new seat~

I used some scrap bead board I had laying around from the kitchen project and cut a new seat (thanks sweetie!). A little adhesive called Power Grab and the handy dandy nail gun and she was all set!

I got busy with a good solid coat of spray primer. And then came the fun stuff!

Whhhheeeee! Mediterranean Blue by Valspar. I personally haven't used Valspar before now and I'm kinda in love! I was completely suckered in by their gorgeous color choices. I only had to go to four, count them, FOUR, stores to find this color! Sheesh. I have love, love, loved the way this went on! Here she is... all ready for the front porch!

Ahhh... so in love! The color on the right is more true to life, but I wanted to show you the new seat all painted. And you see that cushion? I recovered the original cushion that came with the chair. Didn't think I knew how to sew? Guess what? I don't! See how I covered the custom cushion without sewing a stitch here!

Project Materials:
Wire brushes ($2.98/set of three)
Gorilla Glue- already owned
2 cans Spray Primer- already owned ($2.98 retail)
1 1/2 cans Valspar Spray Paint in Mediterranean ($3.78 ea. at Lowe's)
Approximate total: $17

Not bad! I'm pretty thrilled with the results!

Pin It

Front Porch Peek

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Fri, 09 Sep 2011 12:18:00 +0000

I have been soooooo busy inside since we moved in, for the most part I have neglected the outside. I just love Fall... and when hubby brought home a couple of mums I got the itch to clean up the porch. I also have a new addition for our front porch but it's getting a little makeover right now. I can't wait to show you the whole porch but for now here's a little peek at some of the prettiness going on right now.

Flags are up for 9/11

Ah! It's so nice to show pretty pictures instead of demo and unfinished projects!

The Peeling Paint That I Love! {Tips}

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Wed, 07 Sep 2011 12:42:00 +0000

Have you guys seen this?? There are Teflon coated paint trays now! I saw this at Lowe's the other day and couldn't believe it! No more liners? No more scrubbing? I don't know about you,but I hate cleaning out a paint tray, and I also hate to keep buying liners to through away. I am forever stuck wanting to start a painting project and not having a new liner. I don't know, maybe I'm behind the times, maybe these have been out for years. But I hadn't seen them, and I was excited! So, I had to buy one (they only run about $6 by Shur-Line).

I worked on my project, then dumped the unused paint back in the paint gallon, and let the paint tray sit out until it was dry. By the next day everything was dry. I peeled back a corner and....

Just pulled it off!

Good bye old paint!

Hello clean pan!

I think I'm more excited than the 1950's housewife who got her first teflon baking dish! Of course I use these pans more than the ones in the kitchen! : )

Kitchen Update

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Thu, 01 Sep 2011 12:38:00 +0000

Well, for most of August we've been working on the kitchen. Bead board installation went smoother than I thought (future post coming on that).

These are some rough pictures before I prepped the trim for painting. There were a few surprises along the way, like using more trim in more places than I realized. I also learned how to use the table saw without chopping off my fingers, which is a good thing! And I had so much fun using my new nail gun with the air compressor (thanks Dad!). Priming is in full swing and I'm so close to getting some great color in the kitchen- I can't contain myself!

I couldn't help it, when I went to Menards to pick up more primer and trim paint... I had to get the wall color. What better thing to do while you are waiting for primer to dry than to get some color on the walls!

As always I had last minute deliberations with the paint color. I came so close to getting the turquoise color that matches our Fiesta Ware to put on the walls. A gallon of it actually came home with me.

But I think I'm going to go the safe route and use this gorgeous buttercream (Dutch Boy Honey Bear) on the walls. I think it will really warm up the kitchen (and make the hubs happy!).

I have to say I love the Dutch Boy Color Visualizer. Have you ever seen this program? This program was available at my local Menards. I was able to plug my exact colors in along with a guess on the new countertop color (Spiced Java).

Once I saw the colors together in a sample kitchen I was sold on the Honey Bear/Lambswool White combo. Apparently you can purchase the CD from Dutch Boy and even download a picture of your room that you are working on. Cyndy, over at her fabulous blog, The Exchange, just posted about using the new brochures that were created by Sherwin-Williams and HGTV. They have some pretty inspirational pictures and unique color combos. What's your favorite way to pick the color of your room?

School Supplies Cabinet {ReOrganize}

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Mon, 29 Aug 2011 12:33:00 +0000

School has been in full swing for just about two weeks. I'm feeling the pinch of my disorganization when homework time rolls around. We moved in the beginning of the summer. I'd say we did well getting things unpacked and diving into our home remodeling projects. Not so good was the organization... especially of this little cabinet. It sits in a fairly central spot in our home, just outside the kitchen near a dining area. And is collects EVERYTHING!

For the last few years our school has sent home all the school supplies that the kids used throughout the school year. This includes boxes of broken crayons, highlighters, half-dry glue sticks, and the list goes on. Having three kids in elementary school has led us to quite a collection. This cabinet is the graveyard for all that and more.

This is more of what was in the cabinet before I started taking pictures.

Knowing what I wanted to use the cabinet for was the first step. Since this cabinet is so centrally located in our home, it's a great place to have odd things on hand. Things like more batteries for the Wii Remote, lightbulbs, and activities for the toddler, as well as homework supplies. It may not work for everyone, but this is what helps our family function.
Secondly I pulled everything out and sorted it into the usual KEEP, DONATE, TRASH piles.
We organized items into like piles. Sorted through the mountain of crayons and markers and stowed all the extras in storage bins down in the craft area in the basement.

Now we are left with just what we need. Everyone can find what they need when it comes time to work on school projects and I can open the cabinet without creating an avalanche. We have duplicates of marker and colored pencil jars since they are so popular. Better to have two than to have to referee a fight.

I had a dozen or so mason jars I picked up at a garage sale. They work perfect for holding markers and pencils. Everything is labeled with chalk board tags so it's easy to find.

I love my chalk board tags made from bead board. I just wrapped the neck of each jar with sisal twine and added the tag. You can check out my Etsy Shop to find them : )

I picked up several of these baskets at a garage sale and they work great to hold the larger items like glue bottles, stickers, watercolors and flashcards.

I ran out of cute storage on the bottom shelf. But the see through containers with labels at least make it nice and clean looking.

Now I can't wait to paint this little guy. The drab brown is bringing me down. I've had the shelf forever and have always meant to paint it, but never got around to it. What would be cute? I'm leaning towards turquoise or something for a bright pop of color!

For now though I keep working on the kitchen!

I'll be linking up the parties listed in my sidebar : )

I can get distracted sometimes... {Thrifty Finds}

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Mon, 22 Aug 2011 18:50:00 +0000

I should be working on installing beadboard in my kitchen. What am I doing instead? Drooling over these new lights I found at Lowe's--- for $5 a piece!!

Yikes! I kinda loved them when I spotted them on the clearance table. And then I loved them even more when I saw the 75% off sticker. Have you checked out your Lowe's for lighting? They have great stuff and when you find it on clearance, that's all the better!

When we moved into this house we picked out the WORST two rooms and decided to tackle them first. First up- Master Bathroom, quickly followed by the kitchen. But somehow.... our Master Bedroom keeps ending up in the mix.

We debated for weeks what color to paint the bathroom. We wanted a beach cottage feel. But do we go with greens? or blues? The debate went on and on. We even put a couple of patches of a seaside green up on the wall. I had picked the gallon up from the mistint table at Lowe's or Home Depot (I can't remember which). And then one day while perusing the Anthropologie website, Hubs and I both fell in love with a set of sheets.

We ordered them, with promises that THIS will be our anniversary present to each other because there was no other way that we could ever agree to spend THAT much money on sheets. I was thankful when the arrived because FINALLY we would have some colors to work off of. But again... do we pick the pale blue? the medium blue? hey what about that coral color? Ugh. The debate continued. Until one day when we realized that the {mistint} seaside green MATCHED the minty green in the sheets. FATE had intervened! The decision was made.

So the bathroom was painted sea green and in the end we are both happy with it. I know I keep promising the big Master Bath reveal... but I STILL can't find the perfect bathmats... and there is still some wall art to work on. And I just want it perfect when I show it off : )

And now... when I am supposed to be focusing on the kitchen I bring home lamps for the Master Bedroom {head slap}

Yep, that's just a naked down comforter! I'm still hoping and praying
that Target gets the duvet cover I picked out back into stock!

Don't judge the nightstand... it has a paint job in it's future!

Maybe by the time I finish the kitchen I will have accumulated all the right accessories for the bedroom and all there will be left to do is paint! I can dream? Right?

Now... on to installing that beadboard!

Made some Momma Birds

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sat, 20 Aug 2011 13:35:00 +0000

Thanks to Larissa over at mmmcrafts I recently added a new pin to my Crafty Ideas board on Pinterest. She offers a free downloadable template of this-

Make a Momma Bird (or two)

Ah! So cute! I didn't know where or when I would find the time to play around with this but I had to at least pin it. So... when my poor mother in law had some minor surgery we thought it would be the perfect time to put the kids to work making her some cards.

We hauled out the scrap paper box, printed the easy template, and I got busy tracing. Keep in mind I let the kids do all the cutting and gluing. They also had full creative license over the choice of paper... so ours differ a bit from Larissa's! But the mother in law loved them and the kids had a great time!

My daughter wanted to add some ribbon embelishment
for "grass".

Even my sons got into making them!

We just let the kids use a Sharpie to add the eyes and beaks
to keep it simple : )

And here's her finished card.

I wish I'd gotten a picture of all three completed cards. It was very cute when the kids added hearts and stars to scene. I was so glad to find something that was easy to do, fun for the kids, and looked adorable when it was finished. And best of all I didn't feel like pulling my hair out trying to complete this craft with four kids!

Linkin' it up here:

Fastest Way to Remove Wallpaper Border {DIY}

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Thu, 18 Aug 2011 12:35:00 +0000

Usually when you start a project it takes longer than you expect. One thing leads to another and before you know it you've opened the proverbial can of worms. Once in a blue moon things go better than expected. This was one of those times.

Our new kitchen has many lovely features from the '80's. One of them being the wallpaper border.

Sheesh... what were they thinking??

The tools you'll need to remove your wall paper border:

A bent scraper, a spray bottle of water, a rag and Tiger Scoring Tool

... and your absolutely most important tool...

A hand held steamer

I don't care what you have to do- beg, borrow, steal... well, okay, don't STEAL it! But you get my drift. It's worth putting out the word to everyone you know to find one to borrow for the afternoon. A shout out to my MIL who was nice enough to lend us hers. Thank you!

So... once you get your tools out here's what you'll do-

Take your tiger tool and score the border. Go over each section four or five times. Just be careful not to press too hard or you will make holes in your walls.
Spray one section down with water so it can soak while you begin steaming.
Take you steamer and shoot the steam at the border.
Begin peeling the border off. Use the bent scraper to help it come off.
More than likely the border will come up in two sections- the thicker patterned part and a thin layer of paper glue underneath.
Use a rag and water to rinse off any small pieces of paper and glue residue.

This method works so much better than the fabric softener trick. It seriously took me half the time I thought it would. From start to clean up- job complete in one nap time (about two hours).

Paper Pennant Banner {Decorate}

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Mon, 15 Aug 2011 12:59:00 +0000

Banners are all the rage now. I'm kinda in love with them. One word from the hubs that he was down with the idea was all it took for me to rush out and grab a stack of cutesy scrap book paper and start cutting away.

There are a bazillion tutorials out there on how to make great banners-holiday banners,chalk board banners, birthday cake bunting, and fabric banners.

Diary of a Quilter

The Design Confidential

Intimate Weddings

Peppermint Pinwheels Etsy Shop

I just went the easy route and grabbed some cutesy heavy duty scrappin' paper and modge podge. I cut some templates of the two sizes of triangles that I wanted to use and got busy tracing and cutting.

I applied modge podge to the back side of the small triangle
and centered it on top of the larger triangle.

I then applied modge podge over the whole thing and firmly ran my
finger over the whole thing to get rid of any air bubbles.

Here are all the triangle drying. I added a second coat of modge
podge to each piece.

I took a small hole punch and punched a hole in the two topmost
corners of each pennant and ran sisal twine
over and under through each piece.

A quick afternoon project to add a little more color to the bathroom.

Linking up to some fabulous parties:

Beach Cottage Crate {Thrifty Finds}

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Fri, 12 Aug 2011 13:02:00 +0000

Here we are a week later and I am just finishing up some projects from my garage sale goodies last weekend. I had planned on building a cubby style shelf for our master bathroom to go over the jacuzzi tub. I was going to use this to hold towels and such since we had taken down the chrome towel rack.

I sorta kept putting off the project since I knew it would be a bit of a time investment for me. I'm not the most experience carpenter and the process usually involves a lot of frustration, learning, and calls to my dad. So... when I stumbled onto this little gem I had a lightbulb moment. The crate had the look that would work with our beach cottage/boat house feel master bath.

Yep, spider webs and lots of dust!

Once I got it home I realized one corner was damaged.
A little Gorilla Glue, wood putty, and joint compound fixed

it right up. Sanding and paint.. you'd never know!

I used a sampler of returned paint I picked up from the HD
for .50 cents.

Here she is cleaned up with a coat of gray.

And now for a top coat of white. The idea is that I will
sand it down so that I can see the gray through the white.

I drew on my letters. The first night we met hubby and I were at
this lake. Yes... we were high school sweethearts and this was the
cool place to hang out!

Here's the letters all painted. Yep, you guessed it 112090 is
the date we my sweets and I met. We're a little sappy... you'll
just have to deal with it!

And here it is after I sanded it down.

You know when you think I project is going to go a certain way and it just doesn't? Well this was one of those times! I was so sure that I'd be able to just sand it down and get nice soft hints of gray. But when I began to sand I would go straight through to the dark brown. yuck. No gray to be seen. There wasn't much I could do at this point though... so I just went with it. When you are working with found items it's best to be flexible!

And here it is attached under my window by the jacuzzi.

Amazing what a bit of paint can do!

I love it now and am so happy I found something that not only was cheaper than buying my own supplies to build a shelf... but it saved me loads of time as well! Total cost for this project:

Crate- $1.00

gray paint- $.50

white paint- already owned

Total- $1.50

Linking up at these fun parties:

Perfectly Imperfect

Mason Jar UpCycle {Thrifty Finds}

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Wed, 10 Aug 2011 20:25:00 +0000

Last weekend while my parents were visiting we hit some local garage sales. Anyone who knows me, knows that I LOVE a good garage sale. There's nothing better than finding something that looks like junk and turning it into a thing of beauty. I've been on the hunt for some vintage mason jars to make some candle holders for our Master Bathroom. I stumble onto a good little group. When I brought them home they looked like this~

Three vintage mason jars for two bucks a piece.

Using some items I had on hand I whipped up these cutie little lanterns. Now all I have to do is find some hooks to hang them on my bathroom wall by the jacuzzi. I think they have a nice whimsical coastal feel.

You can see I couldn't wait to hang them before I tried out the candles!

I used some grapevine wire and sisal twine as well as
some cute ric-rac to dress up the jar.

The lantern can be hung from the wire hanger.
There is plenty of room to allow for the heat of the
candle to escape.

The candle nestles into the sand in the bottom.

I had so much fun making these I had to put something similar in my shop! Just think of how you can change them for the season! Fun!

Linking up here:

Installing Allure Ultra Flooring {DIY}

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Tue, 09 Aug 2011 13:04:00 +0000

So we've been working on our Master Bath re-do for the last few weeks and we are down to the final push. After much hemming and hawing we finally decided to go with the ultra cool, 100% water proof, Trafficmaster's Allure Ultra vinyl plank flooring. We chose Sawcut Colorado... which I LOVE! I was hoping to get this bathroom done before my parents trip to the midwest here to see our new home. Of course... the nice UPS guy brings 5 hefty boxes of our new flooring a mere 24 hours before my parents are to arrive. I was a bit intimidated to start the work on my own. I figured if I waited for the Hubs to get home, at least if I didn't do it right it wouldn't be all my fault!

The best thing to do is to look online for instructions and videos on how to install this flooring. You've heard it's the easiest flooring to install, right? Have you also heard that it arrives without instructions? For real.

My favorite tip came from the nice people at Find N Choose- #12 From a women’s point of view, if you are helping with the project, have the supper prepared ahead of time. This way when the job is finished you will only have to heat up the supper and not have to deal with a complete supper; everyone can relax. Another option is to have the meal brought in, or go out for supper.

It's nice to know that we still live in the 1950's.

So... here's some important information to know before you start. Here are the tools that you will think will work:

Heavy duty Ginsu scissors, every exacto knife and box cutter in the tool box

And here are the tools that you will actually need:

A 2 foot carpenter's square, Tinner's Snips, a heavy duty screwdriver or crowbar, tape measure, pliers, hammer, marking pen

Some things to keep in mind as you begin installation:

when disconnecting your toilet do so from the wall not the actual toilet (otherwise you might end up breaking the interior components of the toilet like we did).
always measure your planks, don't assume that because the box says that the planks are 7.5" x 4' that they actually are.
you will need extremely heavy duty snippers to cut through the planks. Most information online suggests that you score the back of the plank several times and then bend to snap it. This doesn't work very well, it is much faster and effective to use the snips.
You can leave about a 1/8" space between the baseboard and the end of the plank, the quarter round will cover it.
If you need to make a cut that will not be covered by quarter round, for example, next to bathtub, use your box cutter or exacto knife. It won't be as easy as the snips, but it will be a cleaner cut.
You will need to purchase a new wax donut ring for the re-installation of your toilet. It is always recommended that you should replace this when you move your toilet. You are also increasing the height of your floor you could potentially end up with a gap and leaking from your toilet.
Paint your trim before you install your new flooring. That way you don't have to worry about the mess. But be prepared to do plenty of touch up after the floor is installed. There will be nicks and scrapes from re-attaching the quarter round and installing the flooring.

Here are some step-by-step instructions to help you install your own Allure Flooring:

Remove the quarter round from the edge of the floor. Do this by gently prying away from the baseboard with a small crow bar.
If you are working in a bathroom, like we are, remove the toilet. Shut off the water at the valve behind the toilet. Flush the toilet and use a plunger to remove as much water as possible from the bowl. Using your pliers unscrew the water supply hose from the wall. Remove the covers from the bolts near the floor of the toilet. Using your pliers again unscrew the nuts from the bolts on either side of the toilet. Lift the toilet and move it out of your work area. Be sure to set it on an old drop cloth because there is wax on the bottom of the toilet.
Be sure your floor is clean and free of any debris.
Keep in mind that you will stagger the seams in each row.
Start against one wall and lay your first piece out in the corner. Attach your second piece with the side tongue and groove area. It's pretty self explanatory how these first couple of pieces attach. Move across the floor until you come to area to cut. Measure very carefully.
If the cut is tricky you can use the paper inserts that comes with the flooring.

Lay the paper on the floor and trace the area that you need to cut around.

Cut out the area that needs to be removed from the paper insert.

Lay the paper template over the back side of the plank and trace the the edge.

Carefully cut along your guide.

If all goes well, and maybe with a little adjustment, you should end up with this!

7. As you lay each piece in you'll want to make sure that the short end of the piece is slid into it's neighboring groove. Then push back at a slight angle until the long end of the plank joins. Due to the flexible nature of this product it is easy to manipulate and bend the plank. Fit the side of the plank closest to the wall in last.

As you come to the carpet edges simply pry the strip up with a small crowbar or large screwdriver.

8. Once the flooring is complete you can replace your toilet, nail the quarter round back in place, and caulk around bathtub areas.

Caulk around bathtubs and areas without quarter round.
This will keep your floor water tight.

This last row by the shower was bit tough to get a close cut on and still be
able to have room to install it. We used Caulk Strip to give us a
good seal and cover up the messy edges.

Although this installation can be done by one person we found that in several instances it is very helpful to have two people working together. This was our first floor installation so I'm sure that an experienced person could have done this quicker. Most websites suggest that this only takes a couple of hours but we found that having a two year old attempting to help and managing our three older children seemed to slow us down a bit. All in all we decided that with the right tools (and maybe a babysitter for the weekend) we are confident we can tackle the big project of laying Allure in our 800 sq ft Kitchen/Dining area.

Before

After

A few more little decor projects and a final Master Bath reveal is soon to come! Can't wait to share!

Linking up here:
Home Stories A to Z
The DIY Showoff