Ya Gotta Love Spray Paint

In November, my huband Bill worked very fast and hard on laying hardwood floors in our living room. We love them. He did a great job. However, our builder's grade floor vents really looked out of place. Bill mentioned that 'some day' we will get brass floor vents. Well, someday may or may not come. In the meantime, I got this tip from a website I visit off, www.thriftydecorchic.com I decided to go get some Oil Rubbed Bronze spray paint and turn my boring builders grade vents into something that is a step up in the right direction. Check it out, the before and after:


I just realized these photos are in my entryway and you cannot see the hardwood Bill did. So, here's a glimpse of his handy dandy work.

Sneak Peek's Into Our Little Girl's Bedroom

We have completely moved our homeschool classroom out of our 4th bedroom. Here are some shots of our classroom. Respectively moved to our dinner table.
Here are the 'Sneak Peek' photos of Nina-Li's room.
What in the world am I thinking with this crazy color????

And then I am adding this color...what color is it???...Pink...Red....????

I was in Joann's and I couldn't resist this little daintiness to add to Nina-Li's room. It's just about as girly as you can get. Wahoo!

So, we let Dawson loose in Nina-Li's room. He is quite handy with tools. But, what in the world is going on here...???

To be continued. . .

Dates Are For More Than Just Calendars

I've been feeling very craft lately, and haven't had the time between adoption paperwork and homeschooling. Well, one of my good friends 40th birthday was just enough to satisfy my appetite to create. I was inspired by two blogs:
It's a Strange and Lovely Ride http://strangeandlovelyride.blogspot.com/2010/01/guest-bathroom-facelift-part-2.html
Susie Harris http://www.susieharrisblog.com/

The first blog is what gave me my idea. She created wall art with numbers and included her anniversary date. She referred to Susie's blog on how to paint and transfer numbers that you print off. When I saw this, I knew right away who to make it for. My friend Julie was embracing turning 40, celebrating that 10 years ago she wasn't sure if she'd ever have children and then suddenly had 4 in 4 years. So, I decided to make her wall art that celebrated significant milestones in her own life.

Remember these?
This is a calendar frame, I'm guessing from about 7 or 8 years ago. I remember receiving one myself for Christmas. I got this for $2.99 at Goodwill. I then added slats of wood that my father had. He cut them down for me and I painted them black.


After inserting them and securing them with a staple gun, I began to lay-out numbers and transfer them like Susie Harris suggested.




I then painted in the numbers and taa-daa! The end result:



Each number is a birthdate and wedding anniversary. Julie loved it. I hope to explore more possibilities using this technique and Susie Harris' blog.
Soon we will begin our daughter's bedroom. She is still in China, but we hope to bring her home within 6 months or so. We will share these updates soon. Right now our classroom is in her room and I am almost done moving everything out.

Hot Chocolate Bar

As cold as it is right now (4 degrees I think). Hot chocolate has become a staple in our household. Every year we buy it in bulk, this year we have bought it twice already! Today I decided to make it a center point on our island. The small jar is filled with Hershey's chocolate bar grated and broken into pieces. When my boys saw what I was doing they were so excited. They were suddenly very cold and needing some really, really bad! An easy way to add warmth to your kitchen! Enjoy and stay warm!

Before & After Fireplace Woodwork & Mantle

Happy New Year! I am so glad that all of my Christmas items are finally packed away. With the snow & cold temperatures I have begun my hibernating right on schedule and begun to focus on my home. As many of you know we painted our fireplace woodwork 3 years ago (I think??). I want to show you a before photo:

Wow! This pict was taken shortly after we moved in to our home in August of 2005.
I have revisited this because I have had a constant delima over the past 4 1/2 years of how to decorate my mantle. I was so excited to finally have one. However, decorating around the media doors was such a challenge for me. With the addition of a flat screen TV, it made it even more of a challenge. How-EVER! I have risen up to the challenge and finally found something I really, really LIKE! I was at the HobLob store (which I could truly spend a small fortune at) and found these candle sconces that I love!!!!! I hung them on each side of the flat screen. Then a few months ago, my sweet babe picked up these metal rosettes for me at 'Metal by the Foot' and put them on 4 caps of woodwork. LOVE-IT!!! Check it out:
What I'd like for you to notice is the fireplace screen. If you think about it - it is not needed. We have a fancy gas fireplace (urgh) that works with a SWITCH! Doesn't seem right, does it? Anyway, the fireplace screen adds dimension to the fireplace and really sets off the surrounding tile. Also, if you can notice the difference in flooring. Look real hard, it is in the bottom left hand corner, squint if you must! As many of you know by now we installed harwood floors in November. We are truly happy with it. One thing I have to be careful of is that I balance light & dark colors. Gotta watch it.
As you can see I still need to figure out what to put on my mantle. I am having a difficult time finding the right thing. I know many of you can relate to this, because it is the number ONE thing I hear from ya. "I like my stuff, I just don't know how to place it!" I'm with ya girlfriend. Unfortunately, Bill doesn't have a hard time figuring out what to put on the mantle with his electronics. But, he does bless me by hiding all of those crazy cords!

Another project I worked on today is our kitchen bulletin board. Remember at Christmas I put up Christmas photos. Well, I loved it so much, I had to change it to 'snow play' pictures. My kids love being outside and cannot understand why I won't take them sledding when it is 4 degrees outside! I'm hoping to do something a bit crafty later this week, stay tuned.....

I Didn't Anticpate

Quick little post. I'm taking down Christmas. A bittersweet process for me. I've made my way to the porch. One of my favorite areas to decorate. I didn't anticipate the trees to actually freeze into the pots! I wonder when they will thaw?

Split in Two

1 Coffee Table
Divided by 1 Saw
Equals Two Shelves!

Yep! That pretty much sums it up. I got this oh so cute black coffee table at our church rummage sale for 10 bucks! Oh yeah! (Sorry, I don't have a 'before' pict.) Well, the living room was a bit crowded with two coffee tables, but I couldn't give it up. So, I was at my friend Sandra's house admiring her display shelving, when wala! I had an idea. So, thanks to hubby and his handy dandy saw, we got two shelves to display our family photos. We re-painted the shelves with some black spray paint and as good as new!
I'm kind of thinking I want to add some cute little scroll type brackets on each side for 'support'. However, I might be pushing it, not sure yet.