Blessing #223 - The Reading Nook Bench

Friday, I shared how we are making over the boys rooms for the Christmas present.

What?

It's January and we are still working on their Christmas present?

I know. I know.

Anyway, we live in a house that is about 150 years old.  It's beautiful.  It's quaint, and sometimes it's a little crazy.

The boys rooms are side by side.  You have to walk through Collin's room to get to Brandon's room.  There's no actual door between their rooms, but a little landing.

This picture isn't really a before pic.  This picture was after I had cleaned out the area and painted it.

Originally, we had a cheap book shelf on that tall wall, but that didn't work at all so I boxed up the important books and gave the shelf to Goodwill.

Parenting Lesson Learned: Never put a bookshelf with precious keepsake memory books in a room alone with two little wild men.

The landing is kind of awkward.  Let me show you the other wall you can't see in the previous picture.

Yep, two doors on the same wall. Nope, they don't match. Yes, the one door is so high off the ground my entire dust pan can fit under it.  Like I said, 150 year old houses can be crazy, but isn't that one latchy door nob on the right just gorgeous!?!

Because the space was so awkward, I really didn't know if I was even going to do anything with it, but one day, B was talking to Shad about his hopes for the new room and said, "Dad, I would really like a place to read."

When Shad told me that, I said, "Wait! That's all I need to know!"

See, I am not only a math nerd, but I am also a book nerd.  I love, looooove, LoOoOoOoVe books, and I always have.

When I was in the sixth grade, I had a notebook where I kept record of all the books I read and I wrote little reviews of each book.  I still remember that I read 65 books that year.

What?

No, I was not very popular in middle school. Why do you ask?

Yes, I love books.  If Brandon showed the slightest interest in reading, I was going to run with that.

I asked my friend if she saw any ideas of book nooks on Pinterest to send them my way.  She then suggested me, "What about a crib mattress?"

I really didn't think it would fit, but the crib mattress was in the attic so I had to try.

Do you see it? No, not the dirt on the mattress. It fits. The mattress fits perfectly!!! I couldn't believe it! My friend that suggested it was my new hero!!!

I knew I would like to get the mattress off the ground, but I really didn't want to spend much money for a base.  Also, I needed a base that was movable if I needed to get into that door. When I told Shad about it, he suggested I use some plastic crates he had saved for me at his work.

I laid the crates out and realized it would take two rows of three crates, but fortunately, we had enough!

The crates were nice, but I really wanted them to be the same color so my good friend spray paint saved the day!

A while ago, my mother-in-law gave me a few cans of orange spray paint when it didn't work for a project.  Orange was a perfect splash of color for the book nook...especially free orange!

YaY! I found an awesome gray chevron crib sheet from Target for $15, and the pillow is from our living room that graduated to this space.

The blanket is a teal blanket from TJ Maxx for $15.

The crates are attached to each other with zip ties.  The crate base probably isn't strong enough to support two adults, but for two little boys, the crates work.

B was so thrilled with the bench! When we loaded the books into the crates, B said, "I am putting my fiction books in this crate, and my non-fiction books in the other crate."

I don't think I've even been prouder.  I almost said, "Yeah! Great idea! Do you want to use the dewey decimal system or the library of congress system?" I reigned in my nerdiness though and just gave him a big kiss.

As thrilled as I was with the crates, I knew it needed one more step.

A pop of polka dot fabric! I wanted a pin dot, but Hobby Lobby didn't have it. This big dot works though.

The fabric was about $4.  The orange pillow is a pillow cover from Hobby Lobby that I used a 40% off coupon to make it about $4 or $5. Again, I used another pillow from our living room that was getting a little old to fill the pillow cover.

Suddenly, what was an awkward, wasted space, is now my new favorite space in the whole house!

The view out the window is gorgeous! I really wanted to space to feel magical like a special little hang out just for the boys.

I am just loving this bench and reading nook!

And so are the boys!

All the pictures of the bench perfectly styled are pretty, but I love this picture most of all.

This is how, I've been finding the bench every morning piled with B's sleeping bag, stuffed animals, dinosaur book, and a flash light. B has been falling asleep there every night, and I couldn't be happier.

If you are keeping track, the total spent on this bench was...

crib sheet $15
blanket $15
fabric $4
foam core board (to put fabric on) $3
pillow cover $5
TOTAL $42

The Reading Nook is not done yet.  I still have to dress the walls, and I might do something fun with the ceiling.

I just love that a wasted, awkward space is being filled with many supplies I already had to make something magical!

Blessing #221 - Christmas Home Tour 2013

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas around here! I just love Christmas! I am the designate Christmas Nut in our family! Every family needs a Christmas Nut.

This Christmas, we are going to be in Georgia, and although I've been so excited for Christmas, I just didn't have decorating motivation.  Last Thursday though, I decorated up some mantles.  I decided to just use what I had and go with it.

Here are a few Christmas scenes from our house.

Originally, my Christmas pyrex display was pink flamingo, green, and white, but it became this hodge podgy mix of pieces....AND I LOVE IT!

Normally, I have some chalkboard art in my pantry, but this year with my apron collection, I decided to close the door and add a little tree.

This shelf isn't perfect, but my motto for decorating this Christmas was, "Close enough!" I had to have one of my favorite Buddy the Elf quotes somewhere in my house!

This fall, I found a lot of wooden ornaments, Shad and I both loved them and I love how they are showing up in our Christmas displays.

The nativity is one of my favorites.

In the dining room, I didn't plan on decorating this mantle, but I had some gold sticks, a gold sign, and my nativity. They looked surprising good together.  The green on the bucket kind of messes with your eyes, but I just didn't feel like painting it....Close Enough!

My most favorite addition to our decorations is in the dining room.  Shad and I have been looking for ceramic Christmas trees at yard sales for as long as we've been yard saling. Then one magical day in an over 50 community yard sale...we found three!

Both Shad and I remember our Grandmothers having one of these.  I just love that we have them in our house!

OH! When I bought the white one in the middle, the guy told me, "I used to sell those trees door to door at Christmas time. They were made my prisoners at a local prison, and I worked there."

I just looked at him, "Are you telling me the tree was made by prisoners? That just makes me love it more!!!"

We still have our eyes out for more trees to add to our collection.

On our dining room table, we put a pink poinsettia that our landlord gave us.

In our hallway, I also put another one in an old mop bucket.

On our tree, I changed out the mesh and ribbon.  When we put it up the middle lights were out.  I didn't have time to fix it, and really wanted to get the tree up so....Close Enough! This is our tree before we put all our special ornaments on it.

For our mantle, I planned on doing the same mantle from last year, but then I really wanted to show off my wooden ornaments.

I went nuts when I saw how they looked in the Dr. Pepper crate. I love it!

Here is a full view of our fire place.  We put a little heater in there just to knock off the chill sometimes.  (We can't light a fire in the fire place)

I hope you enjoyed this little tour of my house.  You can find last years tour here. 

I'm sharing this post with A Thoughtful Place. 

Blessing #219 - Fall Mantel 2013

Fall is here! Fall is here! And yes, even though the highs this week are in the 80s, I'm still calling it fall!

For my fall mantle this year, I just kept it simple and pulled a few things together that I already had.

My favorite part of this mantel is the sign.  Psalms 126:3 is one of my favorite verses that reminds me of gratitude.

That board is actually the side of a drawer that we pulled out of a dresser.  The drawer fell apart, but I just couldn't get rid of the board.

I'm so glad I didn't.  I just love everything about this sign.  A board made new used to show a verse about what God has done for me. He makes broken things new!

Tomorrow, I start 31 Days of blogging! Last year, I wrote about 31 Days to Love you Home, and I can't wait to start this year!

 

Blessing #207 - A Menu Board

It's been a good while since I have blogged last. My summer with the boys has been fun...but intense. I love them to death and we've had a great, fun summer, but like I said it's intense. It takes a lot of work to get all the energy out of two little boys so they don't turn that energy out on the destruction of my house.  The boys and I have had a fun and busy summer, but that didn't leave much time for house projects. However, school is starting up next week, and I'm itching to get back to some projects.

Today, I just wanted to share a piece that I put in my kitchen last week, my menu board.  A few months ago, I found this Pepsi sign at a yard sale for $2.

This was not your normal yard sale.  It was a warehouse of somebody that had a restaurant.  The sign was cool, but what really sweetened the deal was a bag of extra letters that I found and asked if they could be thrown in to sweeten the deal. 

This Pepsi sign looks so cute as a menu board! Doesn't it!?!

Well, here's the thing.  As much as I liked it, I took the sign down just a couple of days later. Why? Let me show you a picture of my dry erase calendar in my mudroom. 

Yes, this picture was taken yesterday not months ago.  In March, a friend even pointed out my lack of calendar changing skills, but I still didn't change it.  Yesterday, after an eight month long January, I changed the calendar. Well, actually I just erased it, and then the pen wouldn't work so now the calendar is just blank. 

I had to be honest with myself, I'm just no good at calendars and menus.  Because of my forgetfulness, I knew that cute menu sign would have the same menu on it for weeks, and I knew I would feel a little tinge of guilt for not changing it. 

Who would feel guilty over not switching out a menu!?! Doesn't that sound crazy!?! But I knew it would happen so I embraced who I am and took it down.  

In place of the menu, I put up a display for the boys artwork.  A place to show off our "art" is much more fitting for our home and for me. Tomorrow, I'll be back and share that project.

Oh! And I believe I might use the Pepsi board in the boys room.  

 

Blessing #203 - Toolbox Transformation

Today, I have a quick make over that I really love!

Over the past few weeks, I have been painting more signs.  My supplies normally stay in my chalk board dresser, but when I'm working, I just leave my paints out in the middle of the table.  That can cause a problem when my tools seem to walk away.

The other day, I decided to use this tool tray that I got from a yard sale over a year ago.

I put all my paint supplies in the tray and it worked great, but it just didn't seem creative enough for all my tools.  A little teal paint later and....

I just love it! I love that this tray was used for tools and hard work and now it's all bright and pretty!

Originally, I was going to put the create label right in the middle, but I like it so much better down in the corner.

Oh! But it gets better! I looked through my shelf paper scraps and....

They match perfectly! I knew I saved those shelf paper scraps for a reason!

Now my tools are much more tidy.

 A bright color, some shelf paper, and a label! So many of my favorite things on one piece!

I'll be sharing this project with these great sites. 

Blessing #180 - Mason Jar Pendant Light

I've been working in my kitchen for a couple of weeks.  I did not plan to work on my kitchen right now. Remember, I was working on redoing the bathroom, but I had an attack of ADDD when I decided to put shelf paper on my back splash.

When I changed out the receptacles in my kitchen,  I felt like super woman.  After that victory, I found myself staring at the fluorescent light above my sink that needed a new bulb.  Did I really want to replace the bulb when I really did not like that light?

That's when I started thinking, "I bet I could take that light down."  After a few phone calls to my dad, I took the ugly fluorescent down, and I knew exactly what I wanted to do.  One of the first pins I saw when I joined pinterest was mason jar pendant lights.

After reading a few tutorials and with my new found electrical skills, I decided to try. What's the worst  that could happen.........besides electrical shock?

One piece of advice I would give if you are going to try this project is to make sure the light kit you buy does not use poles, but has a nice looking wire that can be adjusted.

The shortest length in the pendant kit I bought was twelve inches, but a kit that uses a chord could be adjusted to any height.

Once, I finished the project, I stood back, and realized.....I really didn't like it.  What? I have been thinking about this light for over a year, and I didn't like it!?!

Right away, I knew it was way too long, but I was unsure of how to fix it.  I decided just to hacksaw the pipe in half and just have it not connect at the top. Yes, it's not perfect. It's rigged, but it's better than hitting my head on it when I am washing dishes.  Eventually, I will buy the pendant kit with the chord and not these poles, but for now this is working.

When I painted the trim of the window, I was shocked at what a difference it made.  It just seemed to make the light pop.

Yes, those are dishes waiting to be cleaned in this picture.  I tried my best to get a half way decent picture of this light, but because it's in front of a window, the light was always to bright.

I tried taking a picture from the outside, but that pesky gorgeous sunset reflected off the window.

I love my new light! It's so much better and cheerier than the old fluorescent!

Blessing #174 - Spice Crate

One of the tricky parts of my kitchen was the awkward corner cabinet.  I never really knew what to do with it, and ended up just shoving anything that didn't have a home in that cabinet.

When I was looking for uses of my Christmas crates, I knew I wanted to do a spice rack, and I knew it would look perfect in the awkward corner cabinet.

After my bread crate was such a success, I knew I wanted to put shelf paper in the bottom of this crate, but the dividers got in the way.  I tried to remove them, but they didn't budge. Shad tried to get the dividers out, but we realized they were going to break...because Shad's that strong. (sorry I had to throw that in)

It looked like I wasn't going to be able to put the shelf paper in the crate, but I am very stubborn.  I racked my brain to find a plan B. (If you look in the top left corner of the picture above, Collin proves yet again, that he is the best photo bomber ever.)

Willing to try anything, I cut a piece of shelf paper to fit the crate.  Using tweezers, I slid it over the side of the crate and under the dividers.  Surprisingly, it worked!

Once the crate was ready, I moved my spices into matching spice jars.  The labels are Martha Stewart labels from Staples.  I'm not a fan of my handwriting at all, and I will be changing these labels eventually.  I just haven't quite decided how I am going to do that yet.

On the top shelf of the awkward cabinet, I store a gallon pitcher, extra pyrex, and kids cups are in the pink basket. I use the spice crate almost like a door.  Behind the crate, I have extra plates and cake stands that I use for entertaining.

The shelf paper adds a cute punch of color and brightens up this cabinet.

Tomorrow, I'm sharing the moment when I knew I had crossed over into crazyville with my love of shelf paper.