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Home Decor

Almost There: Bathroom Art and FREE PRINTABLES

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I finished painting the upstairs bathroom over a week ago, but there have been a few other things that I wanted to do before showing the finished product. One of the things I wanted to do was add a little bit of art. There are lots of blank walls in this space, and with the new neutral wall color, I wanted to add some fun color and a bit of texture.

I created these.

 

I scoured the internet and Pinterest looking for ideas. I saw a few things I liked, but nothing that I loved. Also, I decided to create a few things of my own using PicMonkey (which I’m sharing with you today).
I first found some 8 x 10 frames at Target (on sale of course). I thought it might be fun to incorporate something personal and fun. I was happy when I found a great link for free chevron printables. This is one of my favorite patterns. I couldn’t decide on just one color, so I decided to do four. I printed them out on card stock. I had to trim them slightly to fit into the frames.
Then, I found these cute free printables at Hollywould Blog. I liked that they were simple. The Lather, Rinse, Repeat is my favorite. I also printed these on cardstock. I trimmed them and then using some scrapbooking double stick tape centered them and attached them to two of the chevron sheets of paper. They were then ready to be framed.

 

Finally, I had some trouble finding any other bathroom printables I liked so I decided make my own. (If you would like to download these for yourself, click the caption)
CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD

 

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD
I printed, trimmed, and attached, and was amazed at what I was able to do in PicMonkey. I think they came out pretty cute.

 

This might just be one of my favorite art projects. It was easy, fun, and only cost me the price of the frames.
Thank you to my wonderful husband, Brian, for helping me figure out how to use Google Drive 🙂

Goodbye Green: Another Bathroom Update

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When I start a painting project, I typically like to paint a bunch of other things in the house too since all of the stuff is out. Since I just painted some stripes in the downstairs bathroom, I decided I could do a little facelift in the upstairs bathroom too.

The upstairs bathroom had a floral border and faux finish when we moved in along with a bunch of other dated things. We did a small upgrade back then with a new toilet, some new tile, painting the vanity, and removing the faux finish and floral border. You can read about the updates we have made so far here.

 

However, I never really liked the color we painted it. I love green, but this was too saturated, and seemed to suck out a lot of the natural light we had in the bathroom. Also, it was too olivey, and made the bathroom seem a little dingy. I would have repainted it sooner, but there was so much else going on in the house at the time (furnace replacement, painting kitchen cabinets, painting every room in the house, new flooring, new trim, new doors, tearing down sub basement, mold removal, tuck pointing, etc.) that I finished painting and moved on. There was just too much else to do, and we really wanted to move into our first house.

After painting the downstairs bath, I could not believe the change it made and decided to paint the upstairs bath too. Since everything was out, Brian agreed it was the way to go. He too liked the change downstairs, and thought upstairs could use a little sprucing.  Also, I could sand a little more and try and remove any remnants of faux finish that were still a little visible.

In the coming days, I will have a reveal for you. So far, the bathroom is so much brighter. Stay tuned!

Anyone else out there have paint on their favorite yoga pants and in their hair? No? Just me?

Don’t forget to vote for Home Everyday in this year’s Homie Awards 🙂 Click here and show your support! Also, my good friend Jocelyn and her blog Grandbaby Cakes was nominated in the Best Recipe category.

Shopping: Fabric Style

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Fabric shopping, to me, is probably the most overwhelming of all shopping. I would consider myself and very experienced shopper, and I come from a long line of bargain hunters (aka cheap-o’s), but fabric shopping gets me completely overwhelmed.

There are just too many options. Too many colors. Too many textures. I wish I had the Sarah Richardson gift of being able to purchase and coordinate fabrics.
via
I don’t know if any of you stopped by JoAnn last week when they were having their huge store sale and clearance, but I did, and that made the shopping more overwhelming. When all the prices are good, it is hard to narrow anything down. Also, I don’t like to shop for just one fabric when I am making something, I like to do things that coordinate to help help bring some interest to the project (which is a secret right now, sorry).
Anyway, after hours of searching, I found this set of three fabrics that met my criteria of coordinating and being a great price (they were on clearance and half off of that!) and contained neutrals that I love (crisp white, chocolate brown, and soft gray).
Now the fabric is bought, it is time to start looking at sewing machines.
Anyone else have trouble fabric shopping? Think it is overwhelming? What do you do to get through a sea of gorgeous fabric on sale?

Stripes: Bathroom Reveal

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On Tuesday,  I told you I started striping the bathroom. Well, I think I have a problem. Now that I am finished, and it is functional again, I am already thinking of other places I can paint stripes. So far… it is everywhere. I know I cannot/should not do that, but the technique was so easy and it created such an awesome effect. Let’s get to the pictures shall we?

Before:

 

 

After:

 

 

 

I also repainted the trim in Behr’s ultra white in semi-gloss since the previous paint job wasn’t so good. Now everything looks crisp and clean.

 

As I said on Monday, I used these directions for measuring and painting from Skinny Boppy’s tutorial which can be found here. She took a lot of the guesswork out of painting the stripes.

I first, patched up any holes left behind from the water damage we had. Then I sanded any uneven parts, and painted the entire bathroom a base coat of Behr’s Barnished Clay in satin (I typically love flat paint with glossy trim, but in the bathroom is just makes sense to use satin). I actually did two coats of this color to help fully cover the peachy tan that was in the bathroom before.

 

Once I was sure that was dry, I began measuring. When you paint stripes, you want to keep cutting in again at a minimum. Therefore your bottom stripe and top stripe should be your base coat color. In order to make sure this happens, I measured from where the top of the wall meets the ceiling to the top of the baseboards. Then, I took that measurement and divided by an ODD number. Most people when painting stripes divide by seven, but that is typically for a larger room. This bathroom is so small that stripes that wide I thought would be a bit much, so I divided by nine. For example: 83″/9 = 9.222222 inches. That is not an even number of inches, but I started from the top of wall and measured 9″ from the ceiling and using a laser level I began taping. Then I repeated the process for each stripe measuring 9″ from the previous stripe. This causes the bottom stripe to be a little larger than the other, but it is barely noticeable with the toilet, vanity, shower,  and door in the way. When taping I also made sure that I noted which stripes would be the base color and which stripes would be the darker color. This helped me determine in which side of the level line I would put the tape. You always put the tape on the BASE COAT side of the stripe. Also, I put tiny pieces of tape on the base color stripes to remind me not to paint there.

 

After everything was all taped up, I cut in around windows, doors, shower, and corners, and then rolled on on the stripes with Behr’s Perfect Taupe also in satin. Finally, I carefully peeled the painter’s tape right away (while the paint is still a little wet) to get a perfectly clean line.

 

TA DA! I love it! Now to convince Brian we need stripes in the family room.

 

P.S. Today, I am Linking up at Serenity Now for Weekend Bloggy Reading! Check out all the awesome recipes and projects. It is a Pinner’s paradise.



 

Flowers, Candy, and Books: Valentine’s Dining Table Decor

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I know everyone in the home blogosphere is decorating their houses for Winter, but to be honest, I’m a little lazy. I don’t like having to put things up and take things down all the time. Occasionally, I will skip a holiday or a whole season in this case. This year, I decided to skip the snowflakes and the winter white decor, and start on Valentine’s Day.

 

When I think of Valentine’s Day, I think of my parents bringing home little gift bags of flowers, candy, and the latest Ramona book as a treat. My siblings would get their favorite candies and magazines. It was just a small gesture, but it is one I want to continue with my kiddies.

Since I don’t know how to decorate with books, and my favorite flower (tulips for those who ever want to send me flowers) isn’t really in season right now, I thought it would be cute to decorate with some candy.

Valentine’s Candy is the best because it is in small amounts, doesn’t count toward your New Year’s Resolution eat healthy plan (at least that is what I am telling myself), and it is wrapped in pretty colors.

 

The first thing I did, was buy a few bags of conversation hearts and fill the glass hurricanes I keep on my dining room table with them. We are not conversation heart people, I actually think they taste chalky, so I stuck candles in the hurricanes and used the candy strictly for decorative purposes. I felt kind of weird using food for decoration, but there are people that use bags of lemons that go wasted, so I didn’t feel so bad after that.

 

The rest of the candy is for consumption though (trust me I keep sneaking dark chocolates). I bought all our favorites: Dove dark chocolates, Dum Dum suckers, and a bag of Valentine M&M’s and then put them in some glass vases at different heights.

 

I then found some leftover fabric from this curtain project, and Ta Da! I made a simple, easy, sweet, and edible tablescape for the cost of some candy, that let’s face it, I would have bought this time of year anyway. Plus, at the rate we are going, the vases will be empty in time for Valentine’s day for Brian to fill with flowers (hint, hint).

Happy Valentine’s Day!!

Not as Hard as I Thought: Painting Stripes

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Over the summer, we noticed that some of the paint around the shower in our downstairs bathroom was starting to peel and bubble off the wall like this:

 

 

After talking to some bathroom experts, they advised us to re-caulk everything in the shower to prevent water seeping onto the drywall. We hired a professional to come and make sure that every corner of the shower was water tight. After a few weeks of making sure there were no more leaks, I decided to re-paint the bathroom.

This room was left pretty much untouched out of necessity. It was the only working bathroom in the house when we moved in, as the upstairs bathroom was getting a few facelift type upgrades (you can check that out here). Now that I have the time to paint (sort of) and we have another bathroom we can use while I work on this one, I thought I would patch up that nasty drywall and give it a fresh coat of something new.

 

The room is so so small, however it gets a great deal of sunlight from the window, so I wanted to do something light and soft. I also wanted to take into consideration the fact that Brian and I have been mulling around painting the nearby family room in the next few months and we like rooms to kind of flow. After seeing these beautiful pictures from my favorite blog Young House Love (I actually got to meet these creative geniuses in November, you can check that out here), I thought I would try some horizontal striping in our small bathroom too.

Brian and I made the trip to Home Depot and picked out the two perfect shades of soft gray. The base color for the room is Behr’s Barnished Clay in satin and the darker stripe is Behr’s Perfect Taupe also in satin. The paint expert at Home Depot said the satin finish is perfect for bathrooms for easy clean-up.

This is what it is looking like so far:

 

Brian and I think it has turned out better than we could have imagined. This technique is pretty easy and I used time saving tips for lazy people on striping from this Skinny Boppy for help (anything that caters to lazy people is up my alley). We are already thinking of other places to incorporate this easy technique. I still have to do the other walls, and as you can see I still have paint supplies all over the bathroom, but I couldn’t wait to share the progress. Hopefully, I can have a finished room to show at the end of the week. In the meantime it is time to put the paint clothes back on and finish up the stripes.

 

 

 

A Few Christmas Decoration Traditions

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There is so much to write about when it comes to Christmas, I feel like I might be writing for weeks after Christmas about all our experiences so far. While everyone has gotten a chance to see tree 1 and tree 2 as well as our mantel and our dining room table. I thought it would be nice to show you a few other decorations we have put up around the house that have been around for many many years.

This was my grandmother’s nativity that I inherited after she passed away. Every year when I take it out of its box, I am reminded of her and the millions of cookies we all helped her bake, seeing her at Christmas Mass, and Christmas Eve and Christmas Day dinners of my youth.
Here is a smalls snippet of my collection of snowmen. Some were gifts from family, some were made for me like the ceramic one by my mother in law. I did the needlepoint one many years ago. But my favorite is the sock snowman with the red hat made for me by my niece and god daughter when she was a little one. Now she is a senior in high school. Time goes too fast!
My parents had an idea pretty early on that I was Christmas crazy, so when I was in high school, they started a Christmas village for me. People have added to it over time. The kids love it.
Since Brian and I have been dating, I have bought him a penguin ornament every year. Some are fancy silver from Pottery Barn and, some are plastic from Target . But it is our tradition, and I love the quest of trying to find a unique one every year for our tree.
Do you have any family heirloom type Christmas decorations? Do you have a holiday collection that has been gathered over time? Share!

It Isn’t Much, but It’ll Do: Christmas Tablescape

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I’m Christmas crazy. I admit I have an almost unacceptable amount of Christmas cheer this time of year. Because of this, we have a fair amount of Christmas decorations. I have a Christmas village that my parents started for me when I was young, two Christmas trees, stockings hung with care, outdoor lights, my Grandma’s natvity, a small collection of snowmen, so by the time I get to the dining room I’m tired. The dining room needs something though, we are in there every single day.

Here is what I was able to do with what was leftover.

I used my favorite table runner found last year at Target on after Christmas clearance. I love the snowflakes stitched on it.

Then, I filled hurricanes with sparkly pear ornaments found at Home Goods last year and berries from Michael’s.

Finally, I added these felt snowflakes from the chandelier.

Not too shabby for leftovers. What do you do with extra holiday decorations?

Check back soon for a full scale tour of our house decorated for Christmas!

The Fire is So Delightful: Holiday Mantel Decor

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There is no snow here in the midwest yet. In fact, on Monday of this week we had a high of 70. 70 degrees. In December. I have a feeling we are going to pay for this later on this winter.Even though the weather is far from frightful, our mantel is ready for a cozy Christmas fire.

 

I found these Pottery Barn velvet stockings six years ago at an after Christmas sale for $5.00. Brian and I were just married and weren’t sure how big our family would be, and I was afraid of them being discontinued or something, so I bought six of them. Now we all have matching stockings. Also, we have a wonderful friend who has an amazing embroidery machine, and she has stitched all of our names on them for free!

 

The banner I found at Target for $4.00 and the ornaments are extras I had leftover from our family room Christmas tree. The Waterford ceramic presents were a wedding gift from my oldest brother and sister-in-law 6 years ago (they are probably my favorite Christmas decoration).

 

The finishing touch are the mercury glass candle holders which put a sparkly glow over the whole mantel. I found these after Christmas last year at Target on clearance. I think they are meant to be holiday decorations, but I keep them out all year. I love how they have a little bit of sparkle.

 

There you have it. Now, let it snow, let it snow, let it snow.

 

Linking up today at Ten June for the Christmas Cheer to the Blogosphere Event and The Lettered Cottage for the Holiday Home event! Get your hot cocoa ready for two great link parties. You’ll be at the computer for hours 🙂

No Two are Alike: Snowflake Garland

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Check out the kids and I’s latest craft.

 

No two of the snowflakes are alike. My kids love anything to do with paint and glitter so this was the perfect craft for them. Plus, I love how simple and rustic it turned out.

The inspiration for this project came from a table runner I found Target on clearance last year. The runner has stitched snowflakes (I will show pictures when I reveal my holiday tablescape). Instead of ornaments, I thought a garland would be more unique and actually more useful as I keep trying to find the perfect decor for our entry way and dining room.

Last week, at Michael’s getting supplies for another project, I grabbed some popsicle sticks for around $3.00 and then I saw a bag of pre-cut snow flakes for around $2.00. The total cost for this project was about $5 and we still have plenty of supplies to string enough snowflake garland around the entire house (which I may do as it kept the kids busy, and turned out so cute).

First, I covered the craft table with some paper and then covered the children with some of Brian’s old shirts. Next, I laid out some paper plates with brushes for each kid to have a work surface. Finally, I gathered some red paint (I kept it to one color to cut down on color mixing), glitter, and glue.

We first made some snowflakes out of popsicle sticks by gluing them into a star pattern.

 

Then the kids started painting.

 

 

Then came their favorite part: GLITTER!

 

After painting and glittering, I let everything dry for about 8 hours. Then, using a small hole punch, I made some holes in the snowflakes, and then carefully strung each of them on some twine I had on hand.

 

The kids are so proud they made the snowflakes themselves, and I am happy to have such a beautiful new decoration hanging in our entryway.

Linking up at Hi Sugarplum for the Christmas Cheer to the Blogosphere. Come check out all the amazing holiday crafts and projects. It seems like a Pinners Paradise!

Also linking up at Centsational Girl for the Holiday Home link event. Another great place for Christmas craft ideas.