Exciting news explaning my abscence...

Most of my family and close friends know this already, but I just realized that I had not shared this with my blogging community! I am expecting baby #4!!! I am just over 3 months FINALLY over the first trimester, and still on meds for nausea (which is par for the course with every pregnancy I have had) . Our due date is January 16th. The whole family is excited! Just thought I would share our happy news!

ALMOST done room makeover and desk done!

THE BOLD TOO BRIGHT BEFORE:

THE CALM AFTER :

AFTER

AFTER:

So...I have finally (sort-of) finished redoing my daughter's room . Mia is the sweetest, most sensitive, girly-girl I know (who also likes to kick butt in soccer). So, I decided that she needed her room to be as sweet and calm as she is. I have to say that I literally spent $16.00 on the whole do-over. I was given a couple of pieces of old furniture, and already had some of the paint that I used. The only things I purchased were the two faux plants , a pink sheet (both from Goodwill), and a mis-tint gallon a paint from Lowes. I ended up painting her room Bridal Blue by Olympic. You can't tell from the pictures but her ceiling fan(which is a MUST where we live) was Disney Princess OVERLOAD. Which was fine when she was younger (but she was OVER it). I painted over that baby and now it is a pink and white cutie! I opted for white black out curtains for the closet, and a pink twin sheet turned curtain for the window curtain. The bedding is Rachel Ashwell Shabby Chic that was gifted to us. The nightstand, dresser and desk were all given to us by relatives. The awesome pink mirror was a find from Ty's Grandmother's house. I still have some tweaking to do , and some things to add (like the new floors we are getting ready to put down in there), but for now I like it and it is officially the sweetest room in the house. Thanks for looking...thoughts? opinions?

SMALL GALLERY WALL

My friend K inspired me (She does that alot, because basically she's cool like that). She just posted an awesome gallery wall in her Master bedroom. I have been wanting to try one but was a little intimidated about the whole thing....colors, photos, symmetry...my head was spinning . FINALLY, I took the plunge. I decided to go small first . I grabbed a couple of my favorite pictures and, postcards along with my BIG S and stuck to a silver theme, and just went with it. I like the end result and think I'm going to do something similar in my daughters bedroom when we re-do it soon! Hope you enjoy! Thoughts???

big plans for the little piece!

I SOOOO cannot wait to tackle this next project! My parents (a while back) bought my daughter Mia an antique rolltop desk (30's or 40's I'm guessing) for her room. I FINALLY dug it out of their storage shed, and plan on sanding, painting and distressing this little beauty this weekend! The little chair will get a makeover also...The desk will FOR SURE be white, but II'm debating on if I should paint the chair another color...thoughts anyone??? OPINIONS GREATLY APPRECIATED!! ..............Isn't she a doll??

Spicing up the kitchen

before
after (excuse the messy counter tops)

I decided to do a small project to put a little jazz in my kitchen. I knew I wanted glass tiles and I knew that I didn't want too may because of my kitchen already being really small, I didn't want it to feel smaller so I decided to put all the tiles right behind my stove as a small back splash. I like how it turned out and I did it all by myself! I bought everything at Lowes. It's a small change, but I like it. It was my first time trying something like this so I am happy with how it turned out! You may notice I also changed the paint color. I do miss my Ikea bar above the stove but I had the hubby cut it down for me and installed it on another wall in the kitchen. Thanks for looking!

Board and Batten

AFTER

AFTER

BEFORE:

BEFORE:



I have been wanting to install some board and batten in my living room for some time now, and I finally decided to try it out in my small foyer to see if I could handle doing a larger project. I must say it was fairly easy. I went to Lowes and bought general purpose lattice for my vertical strips, and door casing for my horizontal. I then painted them White Mount in Semigloss (Olympic). I love how it turned out and I'm hoping to recreate this look in my living room.

Well...Shutter my fly!

I swear every time I log onto Shutterfly , it just keeps getting better! The card designs they offer range from whimsical to classic and there are so many options for how many pictures you can add (which is helpful for someone like me with three kids! ). Shutterfly is always my go-to stop for Christmas cards, birth announcements, and Birthday invites. They are FABULOUS without breaking the bank!

I was thinking this year about getting the Grandparents Calenders of photos of the Grandchildren , so they can see their cute faces every day! Check them out here: http://www.shutterfly.com/calenders

The Photo mugs would be great too: http://www.shutterfly.com/photos-gifts/photo-mugs

Imagine seeing those cute mugs on your mug! Would you not love it?

I'm thinking of throwing a Christmas party this year just so I can buy these cute invites! Totally worth it, right? right! http://www.hutterfly.com/cards-stationary/christmas-invitations

I literally have sat FOR HOURS trying to figure out which card I want to use, but still can't figure it out.... The pictures I posted on here are the ones that I would like to use, but I can't decide on the group shot or the individual shots of each one of them. HELP! What do you think? I would turn all the individual shots black and white! I've narrowed down my favorites to the ones up top! I love them all it is So hard to choose! It doesn't hurt when your kids are so cute they look great on every card! haha! No seriously! Go to http://www.shutterfly.com and check out all their GREAT products! You won't be sorry!!!! And tell 'em Ellen sent ya'!