hand painted wallpaper and a new (old) table

A couple of weekends ago my husband and oldest son were sick. The twins go down at 8, so I was left alone, by myself, on a Saturday night. I drank a couple of diet mountain dews that day so I would have the energy to do all the laundry, cleaning, etc that is involved with sickos in the house, and ended up with a ton of extra energy while everyone was sleeping.

So this is how I spent my evening:

I had been wanting to do something with these walls for a long time, so thought I would paint some trees on them.

I've been enjoying them, but now the room feels much busier and not so calming, so I will probably paint over them. I am thinking a faux grasscloth paint treatment. Because I change my mind all the time and don't want to fully commit to wallpaper.

On another note, my parents are consolidating from two houses down to one and were going to put their wooden kitchen table in storage. It is an awesome table - I used to do my homework on that table - and I thought it would look nice in my kitchen, so my dad brought it up to us.

I am really happy with it.

The only issue is that it is much nicer than my old white table, so I have to really watch the kiddos to make sure they aren't gluing or using markers on it.

I keep cloth placemats on it all the time and I think that kinda scares my boys away from it. 

It certainly makes dinner nicer.

And I am thinking about putting a rug underneath - one of those indoor/outdoor rugs from Ballard Designs. We'll see.

So, to completely fancy up the kitchen I decided to move the wicker chairs from the kitchen table to the dining room, and I moved the fully slipcovered chairs from the dining room to the kitchen.

Moving those chairs around really made a difference in the dining room.

It feels much less formal now, which is great. 

Because this table is used for legos, ninja battles, games, etc.

It is only used twice a year for dinner.

And it opens up to the playroom.

The winter mantel

So that's what has been going on around here.

We are getting 6-8 inches of snow today. School pickup should be........interesting.

I'll post again once I decide on the playroom walls.

Stay warm!

Mod Podge photo letter answers

I have had a few questions about the mod podge photo letter lately and thought I would just put together a quick post.

The letters are actually called paper mache letters and can be found here. They only sell a few letters - I have no idea why - but hopefully the one you need is there.

I have also found them online here , although they are a bit pricey. But it looks like they have all the letters.

For Felecia - not quite sure why the pod modge messed up the photos. I glued all my photos on with the mod podge, then let it dry overnight, then sealed it all. Was yours dry when you tried to seal it? Your other option is to just not seal it. I made a photo heart, didn't seal it, and it has been fine.

Hope that helps everyone!

my stenciled floor, skirted buffet, and kitchen prettiness

Right before every holiday or party when we have people visiting our home, I get on a decorating kick. 

I want to have a new project or two to show off.

So this year, prior to our Christmas guests arriving, I decided to tackle a few projects that have been on my mind for at least 6 months. That deadline of an arriving plane is a great motivator.

To start, the downstairs bathroom floor:

This floor is just no-wax vinyl squares, that are stained and gross because for whatever reason I chose white floors for the bathroom and mudroom when we moved in 7 years ago. What was I thinking??

I found a pretty 12 by 12 stencil online. 

  Eventually I would love wood floors in here, but until then, this will do.

Then there's the buffet in the dining room. That is overflowing with toys.

I have been wanting to hide that mess for a really long time, and finally decided to break out the ironing board and adhesive to get 'er done. I avoid my sewing machine at all costs.

Finally, I wanted to pretty up the kitchen corner a bit and had extra muslin from the buffet skirt, so I decided to make a faux skirt for the kitchen sink.

Faux, because I just attached a cafe rod to the cabinet door, instead of removing the door completely. 

Because I still have kiddos running around and don't want them playing with the clorox wipes.

That's it, folks!

Our guests arrive tonight, my twins turn 5 tomorrow, they have a party on Thursday, I work on Friday, and one of the twins is puking today.

Such is life. Hoping my sweetie pie feels better for cupcakes tomorrow.

Have a wonderful holiday!!

Okay. Figured it out.

Well, not quite sure what happened, but I figured it out.

So here are the rest of the pics.

My new favorite spot in the house. Right next to my Christmas present (the fireplace).

The dining room. 

Christmas

I keep waiting for the time when my house is perfectly clean to take Christmas pictures, but I have realized that is not going to happen. So I went around the house this afternoon and took some pics.

Now for whatever reason my post and all the pics are only showing up in html code.

So I have no idea what pictures are what.

So I can't really comment on stuff. Sorry. Hopefully I can figure this out soon.

In the meantime, enjoy the pics!

Above the kitchen cabinets

Happy Fall!

We had a great Halloween - when we got home all our toys were gone! I guess that's a good sign. We'll have to do that again next year.

You know that space above the kitchen cabinets? The one that is always so difficult to know what to do with? I have never been a fan of decorating up there...maybe some baskets or cookbooks would be okay. With our recent kitchen "redo" I decided to go a different direction.

This space was empty for several months, but it soon began to feel cold.

I really love the current "living room kitchen" look that is in all the magazines lately - you know, making the kitchen look more like a room as opposed to a function. So I thought, "brass frames with matted pictures". More living room, less kitchen.

So this is what I ended up with.

The frames were 1/2 off at Hobby Lobby - I think $12 a piece. Then I purchased the mats, put in some cardstock the same color as the wall, and cut pictures out of my favorite coffee table book.

I think it really brings things up a notch. And maybe for Christmas I'll put in some vintage Santa pictures.

Now I just need to put in some glass cabinet doors, maybe a skirt for under the kitchen sink, some bun feet for the lower cabinets, chalkboard paint the island, etc.

On another note, I am working on launching my own health coaching business! I will let you all know the launch date when I have it set. Please feel free to contact me if you know of anyone who wants to live a healthier lifestyle but needs some help getting there. It is very interesting going through this process - learning how to "sell myself" - let go of the "employee mindset" - and allow myself to dream big.

Here's to looking at things from a different perspective!

Have a great day!