Farm House Love

Updating our Kitchen

2012-05-22T08:13:00.003-07:00

Recently we replaced the white stove & microwave for stainless steel appliances. Our new fridge is on it's way and I can't wait! This week I'm working on painting the walls. I'm using Clark & Kensington's Baby Elephant, found at Ace Hardware. Here's a sneak peek of one wall:

Other upcoming projects in our kitchen include:

change out the valance for something burlap (because that's my latest obsession. haha)
new countertops- I've pinned some inexpensive, DIY countertop projects that I'm going to look into. Pinterest here I come!
paint cupboards white- I'm pretty sure this will change the whole look dramatically. This is one project I'm really looking forward to!

Check out this post for other "before" pics of our kitchen. Stay tuned for"after" pics! :)

So I settled on this...

2012-05-17T13:08:00.000-07:00

...instead of a tattoo and I must say, I LOVE IT! It's so much less-permanent. The outside of the bracelet is the lattitude & longitude of where Mike & I got married and I had my two babies (Lewiston, Id). The inside is our initials with 7-7-07, 4-1-09 & 10-15-10.

I found it here. If you haven't subscribed to GroopDealz yet you need to!

Window Dressings Complete!

2012-05-12T19:48:00.003-07:00

We My wonderful husband hung up all the flower boxes this afternoon (well, I'm still missing one but should have it by the middle of next week). I can't wait to fill these puppies with dirt and plant some more flowers. I think I'm going to do all RED wave petunia's with white flowers (hanging down).

Eeeeek...I can't wait!

So, since this was my mother's day present I guess I should say...Happy Mother's Day to me!!! and to all you other mothers out there. Have a blessed day tomorrow!

Simple wall decoration

2012-05-05T21:03:00.000-07:00

Inspired by Pinterest and this blog post, I decided to take my vinyl wall decal to another level. This was a really simple project! Here's how I did it:

Step 1. Applied this cute vinyl wall decal to some boards we my wonderful, compliant husband screwed together.
Step 2. Painted the whole thing brown. (helpful hint: make sure you choose a darker color than the wood)

Step 3. After the paint dried I carefully peeled the stickers off.

Viola! The finished product :)

Beautfiul Sunsets

2012-04-30T21:04:00.000-07:00

The sunset was so pretty tonight so I quickly grabbed my camera and took a shot of the barn outside our back window. This picture is SOOC (straight out of camera). The sun was shining on it just perfectly!

Inexpensive DIY shutters

2012-04-30T15:55:00.000-07:00

So happy with our latest project. It was super easy and the best part is that it cost less than $100 for all 14 shutters!

Here's how:
1. Measured all the windows from top to bottom
2. Went to the hardware store and bought 1 x 6 boards
3. Cut 4 boards to size & 2 boards across (one on top, one on bottom)
4. Screwed together
5. Painted with flat black exterior paint and hung up!

Before...

...and AFTER!

Re-purposed crib

2012-04-27T15:35:00.000-07:00

Easy peasy pinterest-inspired project I'm telling ya! and cheap. Total cost was less than $30.00 (approx $4 for the can of chalkboard paint and 3 chairs at a local thrift store for $7/each). The boys are getting so much use out of it. I'm really glad I did it! :)

A baby calf is born

2012-04-19T17:54:00.000-07:00

Ryder's 3rd Birthday!

2012-04-02T20:49:00.000-07:00

What a great weekend! We celebrated in McCall, Id. Ryder got to try out skiing again & went out to lunch at Smoky Mtn Pizza Co. before we headed back home. The night before we had a small birthday celebration. And the theme?... well John Deere of course!

20 questions: answered by Ryder
1. What is your favorite color? red & blue
2. What is your favorite toy? tractor toys
3. What is your favorite fruit? potstickers (which is actually his all-time favorite food)
4. What is your favorite tv show? Pocoyo
5. What is your favorite thing to eat for lunch? circle pancakes
6. What is your favorite outfit? dressin up
7. What is your favorite game? playin tag
8. What is your favorite snack? fruit
9. What is your favorite animal? giraffes
10. What is your favorite song? playing music
11. What is your favorite book? reading books
12. Who is your best friend? Dylan & Harlee
13. What is your favorite cereal? marshmallow cereal
14. What is your favorite thing to do outside? play on the trampoline
15. What is your favorite drink? chocolate milk
16. What is your favorite holiday? Easter
17. What do you like to take to bed with you at night? my kitty
18. What is your favorite thing to eat for breakfast? cereal
19. What do you want for dinner on your birthday? John Deere tractor cake & candle
20. What do you want to be when you grow up? I just wanna grow up. I wanna grow up like the other kids.

I love this boy

2011-12-02T13:35:00.000-08:00

...enough said!

Crock Pot Hawaiian BBQ Chicken

2011-11-30T20:52:00.000-08:00

Inspired by this blog :)
~ Super fast, easy and yummy!

Easton's Room

2011-11-30T16:37:00.001-08:00

My handsome boys

Love the big closet, but the doors dont' stay on track & need to be replaced

This is the original crib set that I bought while pregnant with Ryder, nearly 3 yrs ago... but having 2 babies close in age I quickly learned that functionality outweighs everything. Anyone with me on this one? ;) BUT if I have a girl, the CUTENESS would come screaming out of the nursery... guaranteed!

As I mentioned before, this room had a bright red wall and three walls that were a taupe color. I kept one wall taupe and painted the other 3 walls this baby blue color. We put the molding up around the floor boards right away (which changed the look dramatically). Like the kitchen and utility room, Easton's room came fully equipped with this type of roller shade (both windows). I LOVE the look of big, thick wood blinds so they got replaced right away ;)

Upcoming Projects for E's room:

1.Wall Art (thanks to Pinterest, I have soooo many ideas!)

2. Paint the built-in shelf white, change out the hardware or spray paint with ORB, and take down the peg board.

3. Paint the closet a different color (any ideas?) & replace the doors

4. Hang up the valances that came with the Crib set

Inexpensive Wall Arrangement

2011-11-30T15:40:00.000-08:00

Materials used~
1. Frames/Pictures
2. Ribbon
3. Scrapbook Paper Pack
4. Monogramed letters
5. White Paint Pen
6. Spray paint

materials on hand: glue, hammer, nails, scissors

A better view

2011-11-30T14:05:00.001-08:00

Living Room

2011-11-29T13:51:00.000-08:00

don't mind the vacuum ;)...had to quickly take a pic, before the boys' destruction took place

Hubby was able to hang the TV and hide all the cords. The DVR box, DVD player & VCR in the office around the corner (in a cabinet) It worked perfectly!

As you walk out of the kitchen you enter the living room. It's pretty big so I divided it up by having this (off to the right) more like a sitting area. We bought this futon off of Craigslist for $40 :)

I have a plan for something above those pictures. EEK...;) And I would love to paint the bult-in china hutch some other color.

Another view of the living room. I want to get the mirror framed ( a big, black, thick frame is what I'm thinking...) It has been in the house since hubby was a little boy so we couldn't part with it (plus, I really like it).

The Kitchen

2011-11-29T12:44:00.000-08:00

The big project for this room is to paint the cupboards WHITE. I've found some really good tutorials on Pinterest and went ahead and bought all the materials needed at Ace Hardware. So, soon this will be a WHITE kitchen with new countertops...and possibly new stainless steel appliances.

We replaced an old green hood fan (above stove) right away. The old one was gross and didn't have a light. I MUST have a light for cooking. Is it because my eyes are bad? ;)

See that big white wall? I can't wait to fill in that space but I want whatever it is to be PERFECT. I'm thinking "HOUSE RULES" would look great there. I will post pics of an updated wall soon. As I was looking at this, I can't believe the light switch cover looks like THAT. My electrician of a husband has not changed it out yet. *sigh* I'll cut him some slack, though ;)

We replaced the window coverings in this room before moving in. Like the utility room, the big window had a roll down window covering and the window above the sink had...nothing.

Bakers rack that we've toted around from house to house fit perfectly in that space. Glad I kept it!

More *updated* pictures to come...so stay tuned!

Utility Room

2011-11-29T11:20:00.000-08:00

Ok, so I admit...I am IN LOVE with my new utility room BUT it does need ~~some~~ a lot of work. How can you go wrong will all this space though really?! The amount of storage is heavenly. I would like to paint the cupboards white and replace the countertops, paint the green wall some other color, and replace the flooring more than anything. I also saw an idea on pinterest, where someone took pallets and placed them under their washer/dryer. I'm thinking we could do that too, for cheap!
We replaced the window coverings right away, before moving in. This room has a total of 3 windows. One window had a sheet, used as a curtain. The big window had a big rolling shade (I don't even know what they are called...off to google that in a minute) but it was in the house for years so that had to come down right away. I found these big wooden blinds at Goodwill, still in the box for $9.99 each. Yes, that's right...$9.99! I LOVE finding good deals. As a matter of fact, thrifting is my true passion in life. Mike cut the blinds down using his own table saw. Total cost on window coverings for this room was $40 plus tax :) Woot Woot!

So, I picked out this one...

2011-11-28T12:28:00.000-08:00

Canon DSLR Rebel T2i ...and I LOVE IT! I really need to take the time to figure it out more but there are so many things that I love about it already. It was on sale at Costco on Saturday ($150 instant rebate). The hubby approved of it, as well. He's so good to me :)

Decorating for the Holidays!

2011-11-27T19:37:00.000-08:00

Although I was feeling a little under the weather today, I came home from feeding the cows this morning and had the grand idea of taking all the Christmas stuff down from the attic and decorating. Sooo, we turned on some XM radio ( Holidays & Happenings channel, of course) and went to town....and it took all day! With two boys (under the age of 3), everything takes ALL day ;)

So, here's one picture that I took before the J-O-Y (that I so delicately cut out, spray painted and super glued onto my candles) got ripped off by one little tot...which happened almost immediately. However, the stockings are still hung and only missing a couple parts & pieces. *sigh*

Why I need a new camera...

2011-11-06T12:11:00.000-08:00

Reason 1. My camera has been dropped one too many times

Reason 2. Every picture turns our blurry.

Reason 3. When reviewing the pictures, it suddenly shuts down with an E 32 (or whatever) flashing on the screen

....Well, yeah, you get the picture (no pun intended) This momma is buying herself a new camera for Christmas! Merry Christmas to me...

This picture was taken at my friends wedding. We looked great, in my humble opinion, but you can't really tell because every picture turned out blurry. Renee made a beautful bride as well but..

Inexpensive Halloween Decor

2011-10-26T13:43:00.000-07:00

Purchased materials:
Black Spray Paint
Orange Spray Paint

materials on hand: hay bale, green bucket, large cardboard box to make stencils (eyes, nose, mouth)

The Big Move

2011-09-12T15:08:00.000-07:00

The "Mike & Aimee Uhlenkott" rock is planted...CHEERS to new beginnings!

Soooo, we've decided to move...AGAIN! Yes, I am officially insane. Four kids, two moves in less than 3 months and it's the middle of Harvest for my hubby, which means he is working 12+ hours, 7 days a week. If I haven't totally lost my mind by now, it's bound to happen soon.
We have an opportunity to move into the house that my husband's grandparents (his Dads parents) originally "homesteaded" ://www.thefreedictionary.com/homesteaded...which I find is really interesting all in itself.
As you can imagine, I am having a hay day with our new house. I love, love, love it! It IS old and needs some work, but has a lot of potential. I can't wait to get started on all the projects....and with the help of www.pinterest.com/aimeeuhlee
...the ideas are just TURNING!
So here are some projects that need to be done ASAP...
1. Paint Ryder's room. Right now it has 2 walls that are a taupe color and 2 walls that are bright purple. So not ok with lil Ryder Roo.
2. Paint Easton's room. The "theme" in his nursery is brown & blue polka dots so the main colors are brown, blue, and white. The current wall color is red...bright red!
Ok, so that's a start and needless to say, I am very much looking forward to sharing ALL my ideas and adventures with YOU! So, let's do this! :)