Something fun….. I was nominated for the best DIY blog over at Apartment Therapy. If you are so inclined I would love to have you pop over and vote :) I know I probably don’t have a shot with all the other BIG blogs but it is fun to be on the list. You have to login on their site to vote so thanks in advance if you do vote.

I don’t know how often I will have internet service and when I will be able to check on your links. But I will, I promise! And I have to tell you that I have talked with my sister and several friend who said they have made several things you have linked up! I sometimes forget I am not the only one benefiting from your awesomeness (just kidding)!!!

Remember:

*No etsy shops, giveaways, or things you are selling

*Link up you own work

*Link back to me in some way

*Visit other links and share the love

Thanks! I am curious to wake up on March 1st and see what really happens with it. I have heard many different versions of what should happen. I am fine with it not being on my sidebar as long as I don’t lose any of you!!!

We are leaving this morning to go on our trip!!! We are going as far as Salt Lake City and then we will have a small break because we are going to tour the Utah Truffles factory! Eeeek! I am so excited :)

Then we will continue on to Boise where we will stay over night with my husband’s sister. Then the next day will be spent at my in-laws house and then we will go onto Seattle :)  I am looking forward to spending time with family :)

I will be posting my DIY adventures in Seattle as soon as we get there and I get started. I am so thankful to have this opportunity not only to have a family vacation but to have some projects to keep me busy during this crappy time. My husband has some leads on jobs so we will jump on that as soon as we get back.

I am thankful also for awesome friends and neighbors who will look after our house and chickens & ducks while we are gone.

See you tomorrow for this weeks linky party :) And pray for me…..I will be in a van with four small children for a few days straight. On second thought, maybe you should pray for them!!!

The one pictured is not the right size. In order to be able to print it out at the full 8×10 size, you will have todownload the 8×10 print. If you have any questions let me know!

Thank you guys for all your support!!!

Pin It

I sat on the stool ALL the time to read, sing, or daydream while looking out the window. If I couldn’t be outside then then next best thing was to look outside.

We all have different design styles. We all have different ideas of what a home should be and what it should look like.  Really it doesn’t matter what your home looks like as long as you love it.  I strongly believe that the only opinion that matters is your own.  I know that when I post pictures of my house on my blog that  not everyone that sees it will be in love with it. I know my own style that has been slowly formed over several years is unique to me and is not for everyone. But even when I read a negative comment somewhere about something in my home  it doesn’t really bother me. When I wake up and see the stenciled ceiling in my bedroom, I smile. When I am on my couch in my sunny gold family room watching a movie with my kids I feel cozy. When I am cooking in my french country kitchen, I am happy. I love my home. I love the fact that my style is reflected in every nook and cranny but even more importantly I love the memories made in my home.  I even love the nicks in my wood floors cause by hot wheel cars, the “art work” that sometimes appear on my walls, and the word indentations on my kitchen table from my kids doing homework. That means my house is lived in. It means my house is used and loved by my family.

Today I wanted to share with you a few things about my home I grew up in. Like I mentioned before, my dad was a milk man and my mom (a teacher) stayed at home with us 4 kids. We didn’t have a lot of money but you would never have guessed that when you came in our home. She was creative and resourceful. She loved antiques and would save her money (sometimes for a very long time) to buy even one piece. A lot of the things in our home were second hand. This couch came from a thrift store and she had a neighbor recover it.

This turquoise couch is one of the things all my siblings and I want to steal!

Are you dying over how fabulous this huge mirror is???

My mom hung an eclectic picture collage going down the stairs before that was the cool thing to do. Heck, before there was the Internet!

I used to hide “treasures” in this yellow secretary. This is also on my list of things to steal.

This next item has a story…….

My mom had her eye on some antique light switches. They were very expensive and way out of her budget. She brought it up to my dad. Keep in mind that my dad was a big burly (yep, I said burly) man who wore cowboy boots and spent more time in the mountains than most bears. He acted the way that she expected. He said they couldn’t afford them. Little did my mom know that he was scheming. Another thing to know about my dad was that he was very generous and had an amazing sense of humor. (Oh the stories I could tell!!! ) Anyway, one night my mom crawled into bed and she felt something touching her foot. She thought it was my dad’s wallet or something and immediately got irritated. She tore away the bedding and there were her light switches.

What do you think any of us think about when we turn on or off a light in the downstairs? We think of the sacrifice my dad made to make my mom happy. And because he passed away from cancer when I was 15, it makes it even more meaningful.

If you wait until you have money to decorate and make your home your own it will never happen. If you wait until you can afford to go buy everything new you are missing the point.  It is the old, the new, the made, the hand-me-down, the collected, and the worn out but loved things in your home that make it yours.

So no matter what your home looks like, love it. Love it for the fact that it is the place you share with your loved ones. Love it for the memories that are made there.  And if you are reading this and thinking “I DON”T love my home”, then sit down and think about why. Why don’t you love it? And whatever the reason, whether it is the space itself OR your attitude, do something to change that. Because a home should be a place that you love. A place where you feel happy. And you shouldn’t have to wait until you have the money to do it.

I am super excited to see what you have been up to.

REMEMBER:

*No esty shops, things for sale, or giveaways

*Link back some how (button or text link)

*Visit other people’s links and share the love

*Max of 2 projects (PLEASE only link up things YOU have made and that you have not linked up here before)

I have a dear to my heart kind of post I am planning for Wednesday. I am excited to share it with you. And of course tomorrow is the linky party :)

Alright, let get to business. We had two giveaways last week and we are over due for some winners!

The winner of the Poppy Seed $30.00 gift card is . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Allison from It’s My Life

And the 10 Shaklee sample winners are  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Brooke Adkins

Kris from Everywhere Orange

Katie Holt

Autumn Leavitt

Ashley from Simply Designing

Marcy

Sharon from Elizabeth and CO.

Elissa O’Leary

Breanna from Dollar Store Mom

Heather from Happy Chippy Junk

Please email me your address so I can forward it to the appropriate people. And if you won the sample of Shaklee, remember it is teeny tiny but makes 2 bottles of cleaner is you follow the directions.

I am sad though. I think of all my little DIY projects I had planned. I hope this doesn’t affect my blog too much. I will just have to get even more creative I guess!

I know we are not the only family to be affected by this crappy economy. Many of you are in the same (sinking) boat. Fingers crossed for all of us that things get better soon.

I don’t pretend to know what it is like for a man. To have the weight of being the bread winner for the family is bad enough when you have a job, let alone when you don’t . I know it is harder for him than it is for me. When he got home I hugged the crap out of him. And then I started quoting one of my favorite movies,  “You is smart, you is kind…” and he finished it with “you is pretty” and we just started laughing. ( it suppose to be “you is important” but he remembered it wrong. He laughed cause he thought I was going to call him pretty and I laughed cause it was wrong :P )

I am going to take the rest of the week off.  I need to sit down with my hubby and make some plans for the future.  I will be back here Monday.

Love you guys!!!!!!!

I have not done any projects lately. Not even any Valentine related items.

I just don’t feel like it.

And I promised myself when I started this blog that I wouldn’t do something just so I would have something to blog about. So I will look through your lovely projects instead! And maybe it will help me get out of this funk :)

I asked my kids individually this question: “What is love?” I thought it would be so cute to share their answers. You know, an out of the mouth of babes kind of a thing.  Yeah, didn’t work out like that. My 4 year old tried to come up with something but ended up just being confused about how to word it. The same with my 7 year old. My 10 year old said “Love isn’t just something to tell someone. It is complicated. You have to do a bunch of stuff.” I thought that pretty much hit the nail on the head. Love is a hard word to define.

The other day my husband was home from work and he knew it had been a long time since I had read a novel. I use to read 10+ books a month before kid #4 and my blog (which is basically kid #5).  He took the kids out to play, cleaned out the van, did dishes, made dinner, and put the kids to bed all so I could lay in bed and read. THAT is love. I used to get all worked up when we were first married when I ended up doing more on Valentine’s day than he did. I would do insane over the top things like spell out an original poem with letters I had cut out of sugar cookie dough and had hand painted with food coloring. It took me a few years to realize that it is not a cookie poem that says love, it is all the little acts of service through out the year. It is nice to have a day set aside to honor the special people in our lives (and eat crazy amounts of chocolate) but love is like my son said ” You have to do a bunch of stuff.”

(source)

 We will be having our traditional  dinner on Valentine’s Day. We all dress in red clothes and everything we eat is red or pink.  The kids LOVE it.  Maybe I will make them a cookie poem. I think they will appreciate it more than my husband did……

HAPPY VALENTINE’S DAY (tomorrow) !!!!! I LOVE you all too :)

By the way, I have 2 giveaways going on right now. You can enter  to win a gift card to the store Poppy Seed or  you could be one of 10 winners of a sample of Shaklee Cleaner.  So if you haven’t already checked them out , go do it :)

I am a bleachaholic. I am a germaphobe. And I come from the school of the stronger the smell, the more it is working.  In some small recess of my mind I know that that is not true, but the germaphobe sickness thinks that unless everything smells like bleach it is not clean.  For the most part I have let myself go on thinking this, except when I am cleaning my bathroom. I have to open the window and stick my head in my shirt so I can actually breathe. Yeah, not good. And it started me thinking about other options.

I was contacted my one of my darling readers, Latoya, and she wanted to know if I wanted to try some Shaklee cleaner. I have seen reviews all over blogland from some of my favorite bloggers and I was intrigued.  Not only that but Oprah likes it.

(source)

Yeah, THAT Oprah.

And they use it to clean the White House.

(source)

Yeah, THAT White House.

So what is the big deal with these cleaners???  Why do NASA, and the US Olympic Team, Dr. OZ, Gweneth Paltrow, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger  and other celebrities use and endorse it? Because it is healthy.It is safe. And it is good for the planet.

See this 16 oz bottle? I just got mine, BUT I know bloggers out there who have had their bottle for 2 YEARS and it isn’t gone yet. It is super duper, ultra concentrated. And it is $12.00. Whicca-whicca-wha??? $12.oo for a cleaner that lasts at least 2 years and cleans basically every hard surface in your home??? Dude.

They have tons of other products like cleaning wipes, laundry soap, dishwasher soap, dryer sheets, ect. But if I could only have one thing…… It would be the Basic H (pictured above). It rocks my socks. Does it clean better than all my other cleaner and my beloved bleach? No. But it cleans just as well. And I don’t have to hide my head in my shirt or open windows. And I don’t have to have the worry in the back of my mind that the chemicals could harm my kids.

I get to giveaway 10 sample of the Basic H!!! ! 10 lucky winners get to try out this awesome stuff for themselves. Now I am going to warn you, the sample is tiny. Like the size of a penny. And when I first found that out I was having second thoughts about this giveaway. BUT then I read on and realized that this itty bitty sample makes one 16 oz bottle of all purpose cleaner and one bottle of glass cleaner.  Which makes sense since the 16 oz bottle of concentrate lasts over 2 years!!! (remember….I just said that a minute ago? I know I am throwin’ facts atcha left and right :P)

So do you want to know what all the fuss is about??? Here is how you can enter:

* Leave a comment telling me what product you are the most excited to try

*Like Latoya’s page Scott’s Crib on Facebook

*Leave a comment telling me why you want to change to a healthier cleaner OR if you already use it, tell me what you think about it.

THANKS! And good luck!

I have a fun giveaway for you today! I recently discovered a shop called Poppy Seed Projects. They all kinds of kits for home decor projects.  You can order just for you or get a group of friends together and paint away! Their goal is to allow you to make custom items for your home without breaking the bank. Isn’t that what we all want???

I just spent about an hour on their site looking at all they offer (they even have classes!). Here are a few of my favorites……

The subway art kits

How stinkin’ cute are these??? And I love how you could choose to make them antiqued like this or not.  You can see more sign options on their site.

You know I love me some funky frames :) And you probably also know they are normally pricey. I love that Poppy Seed makes them affordable!

Another kit option they have are different kinds of magnet boards. I am digging the chore chart!!!

They offer so much more, like vinyl, wood blocks, wood letters, plaques, seasonal items, and craft supplies.

Today Poppy Seed Projects is offering one lucky winner a $30.00 gift card to their store!!! Yay!!! That way you can pick out whatever your heart desires :)

To enter:

(You can do one or all three)

* Like Poppy Seed on Facebook

*Follow them on Pinterest

*Tell me what your favorite thing is they offer

Good luck! I will announce the winner in a week :)

I have been organizing my home, and my blog and I thought that maybe I should organize the linky parties as well. I think I am going to have them split up into categories like food, sewing, DIY or something like that. What do you think? Do you like that idea???

While I was painting the dots I had a cool idea. I was halfway done so I didn’t do it, but I thought I would pass it along in case anyone was interested. What if you did the polka dots in ombre??? You could start out with a heavier contrast at the bottom of the wall and by the time you got to the top you could barely see the dots at all! Wouldn’t that be awesome?  If anyone that lives near me wants to try it out I have the stencil you can use ;)

Well, happy Monday! I hope you have a great day and I will see you back here tomorrow for this weeks linky.

It started out as a JARA lamp shade from IKEA. This is an 18 inch but they have other sizes. I love this shade because the inside flips around depending on how you are going to use it ( hang it or  put it on a lamp). Very smart!

This lamp shade is a bright white. I wanted it to match the hallway better so I sprayed it with Krylon’s Almond spray paint. I only recommend painting a shade that is smooth like this one. Now, it is tricky when you paint something that will have light going through it. It needs to be super even or it will look terrible and patchy when you turn the light on. I sprayed a couple thin layers and then hung it and turned on the light. I VERY lightly penciled around the parts that needed more paint and then sprayed it again. It will look hairy when you are done spray painting. The little fibers suddenly show because of the paint. Just take some fine grit sand paper and sand the lamp shade.

As far as the stenciling, I was going to use the same stencil that I used on my ceiling in my bedroom but I could not find it. So I used my Silhouette machine to cut this shape out of vinyl. I was able to stick the vinyl right on the shade and then I used a foam  brush to apply the paint.  I sprayed some of Rust-Oleum’s Heirloom White on some paper and then got it color matched at Home depot so I could have a quart of regular  paint in that color. That is how I painted all the doors, trim and cabinets in my house. I was going to cover the whole shade in the damask pattern but when I got all around the center I decided I really like the look. So I kept it that way :)

This is what the light fixture looked like in my hallway before I added the shade. It is original to the house and very charming. But it seemed pretty small up on the ceiling. I love that you can still see this light fixture when you walk in the hall even though there is a shade on it.

I love mixing patterns. This room is a good example of mixing patterns with out it being too crazy or busy.

Source: Gabba Gabba Gorgeous

I would have never thought to have a polka dot headboard but it totally works!

Source: Casart Coverings

I know, I know….this picture has a Christmas tree in it and it is February. But lets focus on the table cloth. LOVE it!!!

Source: Better Homes and Gardens

 And then you have the classic black and white dots. I liked the mix of big and small in this picture.

Source: The Second Bedroom

Source: Aura Home

 Who wouldn’t want to sit in this fun casual kitchen??? It looks like a happy room!

Source: Beauty and Grace

I love the use of polka dots as framed art in this dining room. Great idea!

Source: Jones Design Company

Source: Houzz.com

My hallway :)

Whether it is a rug, curtains, a chair, pillow, art, headboard, beadspread or your walls, polka dot can be a fun and chic addition to a space.

Do you like to play with pattern? What are some of your favorites???

*Max of 2 projects

*link up a project that you have not linked up here before

*link back to me in some way

*visit other people’s projects and share the love

Thanks!!!

This is the view from the front room

I love playing with patterns.  That is why I hoard fabric and why I love to stencil.

And I am kind of infatuated with polka dots.

I used the small scale polka dot stencil from Cutting Edge Stencil. The wall color is Almond, the trim is Heirloom white, and the dots are a mix of the 2 paint colors. I will be giving the paint code info later this week.

My hall is really just a small  6′X8′ “room” that is the hub of the upstairs. It is in the center and all the rooms branch off from it.

This is the view from the kitchen

I moved my mason jar planter planter back to the hall. I had moved it into my kitchen. I loved them being in the kitchen BUT they were on the wall right above a heat vent. The poor plants dried out in just a few days. Whoops! So they are back to the hall. They do well there. The house plants that I used need indirect light (medium to low) and they thrived there.   If you missed it, you can read the original post about my wall planter.  *I am still planning on an update post all about them!*

I realized after looking through my other posts about my hall that I have never shown this angle with my pantry. I love older homes with their fun built ins :) There was a plug on the inside of the pantry so I drilled a hole through the wall so I could hang a CD player. We love music at out house and this was the perfect place. It is tucked away in a little corner and with it facing the stairway, the music is easily heard downstairs.

This is on the other side of the arched doorway

The first time I did my hallway this frame was yellow.  To be honest I had a hard time painting it a different color. But when I put it all together I LOVED it :)

Thanks for letting me share my new hall!!!

Lamp shade tutorial

Hallway paint color codes

Pin It

Okay, the lucky winner of the ticket to the conference is . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Dana, who said “I’d love to attend this conference…. I teach first graders to write their stories everyday. It would be nice to fill my own bucket with ideas too! Improving my skills would improve my teaching. Always a plus!!”

Email me soon so we can get you your ticket :)

(source)

Pardon me while I walk with my head in the clouds :)

I have been working so hard on getting my house organized. I have cleaned out the filing cabinet, some pesky miscellaneous boxes, cabinets, closets, bedroom, playroom, laundry room, and the desks. I have made new job charts for the kids and have started a new cleaning schedule for me. I can now see the light at the end of the tunnel in regards to how our house functions. BUT……

I have neglected my blog. I usually have posts scheduled out a couple months in advance and I have a huge poster board calender with all the giveaways, reviews, etc all on there complete with contact info. But I have not made a calender for January at all! And here it is almost February. So I apologize if you are one of the people who emailed me about something and I agreed and then never got back to you again. I am going to try to go back through emails and find you. And if you are one of those people, I won’t feel bad if you email me and say “Dude. What the heck?” In fact, please do :)

So as soon as I get the last little bit done on my house I can really focus on getting back on track with my blog. I am headed to the dollar store tonight to get more poster board :)

When I started this blog I had no idea it would become a part time job. I had no idea I would get 100+ emails a day.  So thank you for being patient with me as I try to get it together. Because apparently I can only do one thing really well at a time.

*link back to me in some way (text link or button some where) My button is on my sidebar.

*link up a max of 2 projects

*no ESTY shops, things for sale, or giveaways