When you need a little something....

Take this space, for instance. We definitely need something on the wall to balance this sucker out.  I made a 5' shelf and painted it green. I painted some drawer pulls white and sanded the edges to soften the look. 

A couple of things to keep in mind:

• When hanging objects above furniture, a good rule of thumb is to choose something that is 2/3 the size of the piece of furniture under it.  You don't want to under, or overwhelm what you are trying to compliment.  If your accessories are too small, add additional objects to create a collage. If your wall hanging is too large, pull in lamps or side tables to beef up the area below.  

• Consider height.  Hang things so they are at a comfortable eye level. A common mistake is to hang pictures too high.

• Match the feeling and style of your furnishings. If you are hanging a contemporary picture over a shabby chic side table it may feel out of place.  

If you are like me, you don't have a lot of extra money to buy accessories from your home. So what do we do?? We use what we already have, we make do and improvise! I like do decorate with books. Easy, inexpensive, and most of us have a few already.  

Actually I think I prefer a darker picture.

Most of all, have FUN! Be creative. Add a little of your personality into your decor. 

headboard bench~

A little while ago we made ourselves a taller headboard by tacking trim directly to the wall and then painting the inside.  

I wanted to make a bench out of the old headboard.

I totally have to give The Joe props on this project. I started making it on my own and he jumped in and offered to help. I'm glad he did, because he taught me a few things that I wouldn't have considered. First we measured the inside of the headboard in between the legs and cut some support boards.  We just used pieces of wood that we already had in our garage so we wouldn't have to spend any money.  We used a 2x4 for the back support and a piece of wood from an old bunk bed for the front and side supports.

We snagged the legs off of a kitchen table for the front legs and also popped the corner supports off so we could copy them.  

I wasn't even thinking about the bench being way too tall. The Joe told me to measure the height of a regular chair and we should cut the legs down to match.  

We put the bottom support system together and then used a piece of 3/4'' mdf for the the seat.  We had a few measuring frustrations along the way, and we were both pretty tired from shoveling rocks into our backyard all week, but I'm pretty happy with the way it turned out!

Paint{Blue Sea Spray} by Glidden

My Utopia~

Pictures by Valerie Porter

Just a little yellow~

Before

After

Yellow~{Naples Yellow} Dutch Boy
Green~ {Spanish Olive} Glidden

because I'm a bad person...

When we sold our home, I inadvertently sold a shelf to the buyers who wanted a lot of the furnishings and decorations left in the home.  I had previously gifted a shelf that was hanging in my living room to my SIL. I wasn't thinking about that when selling the room decor.  I've been kicking myself ever since.  That's why I was pretty excited to find a similar shelf for 7 bones at a thrift store.

I painted it an antique white 

And made some really basic little birdie stencils.

Hopefully this will make up for my air-headed ways.  

Linking to Frugal Friday on The Shabby Nest.  Pop over and see Wendy. She is simply amazing. I'm sure all of her followers have some amazing projects as well.

For Rachel's baby girl...

This project has been ridiculously gruesome today. I can't even believe it. I just wanted to make something for a friend who's having her first baby girl in a couple months and OH MY WORD! It's been such a headache. Everything that could possibly go wrong with this project has.  Just looking at the picture makes me want to reach into the computer and strangle the darn thing.  

 The paint was too old and crumbly, so it was impossibly hard to get a decent paint job.  It took me forever to design the vinyl and I'm not even sure I like it that much.  I choose a cream vinyl, which when placed on the pink suddenly looked incredibly neon yellow. I pulled off the "Sweet Princess" and reprinted it with black.  I knew I was going to hate that because it would peel off some of the paint in the process. Of course I wasn't able to get the black on exactly the same spot. When I wiped stain across the whole thing to tone down the yellowishness, it totally accentuated the places that the vinyl had previously been and it looked like the words had an obnoxious shadow next to them.  I had to repaint the board pink and then scratch the paint off the vinyl and then re-stain.  After doing that TWICE, I think it's pretty well hidden. This little project has taken WAY longer than it should have. 

He he he....I think I need some ice cream.  Something with chocolate and nuts perhaps.  

Family blocks for the race

Come to the race.

Thursday, July 8th

88 W. Harbor Parkway 
Saratoga Springs, Ut.

Check-in starts at 6:30 p.m.
Read Brian's inspirational story
HERE
Truly amazing...

~Run, Give, Help~

Just another pegboard for the race...

If you missed seeing the information about the 2 mile benefit race, check it out HERE

another 4th idea...

(scrap page created using THIS kit)

So last year I came across another great idea. A flag photo booth!! I picked up this flag at Wal-Mart for about $9. It came with a pole and everything, but I didn't use that part. The idea is that you take an individual picture of every person you spend the holiday with. We took some goofy and some just smiley. The smiley ones ended up turning out better, but I intend on getting some goofy ones this year. I LOVE the idea so much I am making it a yearly tradition!

4th of July fun...

So I saw this idea on a blog and thought it was right up my alley! Super easy and super cute! You use a clear plastic cup to protect the cupcake and frosting, wrap it up in a bag, tie with cute ribbon and print out the cute tag you can snag off the post for free. Mine are already sent into Costco! Cake mixes are on sale at Wal-Mart this week... I plan on taking them around on Sunday to a few of the gals I visit each month. Heck I might even make some for the mister to take around too! Happy 4th!