All a girl really needs is a good hairdryer.

The kids started school last week. That means it's time for our bi-annual paint fest. It's much easier to paint when the kids are in school.

It seems like the paint bug usually bites in the spring and then again the first week of school. We've painted the office, the kitchen, dining room, and laundry room...twice, and the living room.

This weekend we painted the hallway and the kids' bathroom.

Kids' bathroom before

Kids' bathroom after

We have this colorful, not too girly, not too boy-ish shower curtain that I love. I bought it in an effort to brighten up that bathroom without having to paint. Because I'm lazy and painting around the toilet was not high on my Exciting Things To Do list.

The before picture proves that the shower curtain wasn't enough bright. But which color do you choose to paint the walls when you want to decorate with every color under the rainbow? That was the dilema that kept me up at night for 4 years.

When I finally decided on a color, Honey said to go buy the paint and we'll do it this weekend. He's learned to jump as soon as I decide on a color, because I've been known to change my mind a time or two.

As projects usually go around here, "painting the bathroom" quickly snowballed in to replacing the bathroom light fixture, and painting the hallway.

And, as projects usually go around here, "we'll" do it this weekend quickly turned in to Honey doing most of the work because I had a 1/2 day sub job that I'd forgotten about. Honey had the hall finished and the first coat on the bathroom by the time I got home from school.

We went to the football game Friday night and got to bed kind of late, so I slept in Saturday morning. By the time I woke up, Honey was putting the finishing touches on the second coat.

I did, however make some new wall art .

I got the idea from Meg at Whatever. When I saw this project, I immediately thought of our shower curtain. I bought a 22'x28' canvas and used the long side for the crayons. I bought a box of 64 crayons and needed 2 boxes of 24 to supplement. It took 82 crayons to cover the 28' across the top of the canvas. I just followed Meg's instructions.

We used my hairdryer to melt the crayons. The kids loved watching the colors run. They all tried melting, but liked watching better. We did it in the garage with some packing paper covering the floor. If you don't hold the hairdryer the right way the wax does sort of sling everywhere. Hot wax on the toes kinda' burns.

I think I'm going to add some words to the bottom in the white space. I'm thinking "Be clean."

We'll see.

That would be so easy to make

Have you ever been shopping with your mom and find something you both think is really cute? And then just about the time you're committed to it, your mom whispers, "That would be so easy to make". And you pause...just long enough to imagine how cute yours would be and how much less money you would spend if you would just make it yourself.

And you leave the store, empty handed, talking about the grand plans to make that really cute thing...someday.

No? Are we the only ones that do that?

A couple of weeks ago Pleated Poppy shared some pictures from the new Pottery Barn fall catalogue.

When I saw this center piece, it was love at first sight. I knew my dining room table would never be the same. And then I heard my mom's voice whisper, "That would be so easy to make".

And after a WHOLE ENTIRE DAY of searching EVERY SINGLE STORE in my town for the perfect bowl, almost settling for a basket because I just didn't think the perfect bowl existed, but then, ALAS! at the very last store I tried I found one!...that centerpiece lives at my house.

Inspiration...

...to love my job

...to cook
...and keep the table cleared off



...to find joy in loving my family even in the mundane

Two someones are turning 7 this weekend...which means I've got a party to plan! Have a great Monday!

The mantel show-off thing

Nester is hosting a mantel show-off thing over at her place. A couple of weeks ago we painted and spruced up our living room. This is the mantel-scape I came up with then.

I liked it, but I didn't luv it. So this morning the mantel show-off thing inspired me to take another look at it.

This was the first option.

After rearranging a few things and finding some other stuff stashed around the house I decided that I needed some more of the blue-ish color. Considering the fact that the blue-ish color is my favorite, the mantel was a little red heavy for my taste. Does anyone else find it ironic that I found more red stuff than blue-ish stuff?

I tossed the blue-ish plate up there behind the candle sticks. It wasn't my favorite. So I took it down.

Here's the option I've settled on. For now. I still need something blue-ish for the right side. Maybe I'll paint the plate a solid blue-ish color? I think I need something about as wide as the plate but taller. What do you think?

It Took You Long Enough

After living in this house 3 years, I finally got some inspiration for the living room. I'm nothing if not slow when it comes to decorating.

When we were packing up to move (3 years ago) I got rid of most of my home decor. I'm not sure why. It wasn't particularly outdated. I think I was on this simplify kick, and I read somewhere to get rid of everything that didn't make you smile. So...I did. I kept the stuff I really loved and got rid of the rest.

And, if I'm being honest, I was a little bitter over having to move.

And then we moved into this house, and it was really bare. Really.

Until the kids filled the space with shoes and blankets and backpacks and craft projects and baby dolls. And for some reason I could never get a vision for the living room. I'm pretty sure it had absolutely nothing to do with all the kid stuff.

A couple of weeks ago when we were on our Spring Break road trip we made a pit stop in Fredricksburg, and I found my inspiration. FINALLY! Honey was really sweet and jumped at the chance to get me moving in the "let's-do-something-to-the-living-room" direction.

And this weekend we pulled it all together...mostly.

Here's the before...

You can see my inspiration pieces on the hearth of the fireplace. You can also see some laundry that needed to be put away, a purchase that needs to be returned, and some paper left over from the SS Drama Queen. But just overlook that and focus on the blue metal wall hanging, the pot, and the urn.

After some paint and some quality time at Hobby Lobby, here is the after:

This is what I see when I'm doing the dishes. It may or may not inspire me to do some dishes every now and then. I'm not making any promises.


I decided after we got the walls painted and the furniture back in place that it looked so...brown. It needed some color. So the blue/teal stuff was my main focus, but I added in some red here and there just for fun.


I've always been so anti-red...this embracing of the red was a surprise even to me. I think it was the giant red candlestick I found for 50% off that convinced me.

The brown paisley pillow is my favorite.

I'm still looking for a small, not-obnoxious, cheap red pillow to go on the couch. Also? On Friday, my new BFF the electrician is coming to make one of my life long dreams come true. He and his assistant electrician are going to install recessed lighting in our living room. I can't wait!

A Post that's NOT about Weight Watchers

A little over 10 years ago, Honey and I were planning our wedding. We didn't have many fights during the whole planning process, in fact I can only think of 3. One of them was about our bedding. Honey didn't want anthing too girly, flowery, or pretty. I wanted something classic, versitle, and blue. Because I love me some blue.

We looked high and low, over and under, in the expensive stores and the discount stores. We were finally ready to give up, when one day I came across the perfect compromise. It was a reversible comforter with a subtle flower print on one side and a neutral plaid on the other.

I dragged Honey to the store to see this one last choice. He gave in because it was blue, and the flowers weren't really bright and in your face, and because I sweetly agreed that sometimes we'd have the flowers on top and sometimes we'd have the plaid. It was the perfect compromise. And we loved our new comforter set. And in all ten years that we used it, we never once displayed the plaid on the outside.

Every once in a while, Honey would change the sheets on the bed. I would walk in a few minutes later to discover that he'd turned the comforter over and displayed the plaid. I would leave it for about an hour and them promptly turn the comforter back to it's best side. I guess that 7 hours over 10 years was enough to satisfy the "sometimes" in our comforter compromise clause.

Now that we're an old married couple, Honey has been itching to buy a king size matress. Every time we sleep in a king sized bed in a hotel, he comments on what an amazingly, heavenly sleeping experience he's had.

I've been a little hesitant to think about a king sized bed, not because I just love being so snuggled up with my sweetie every night. It's because I've dreaded the new king sized comforter shopping. Since that fated day 10 years ago when we registered for our newlywed bedding, I've never seen another comforter that I like, much less one that I think Honey will endure. I was pretty sure that the perfect compromise comforter was only a mystic legend, and we were just lucky to happen upon it once in our lives.

Since the first time Honey brought up the king sized purchase, I've been on the prowl for a comforter. I decided that if I ever found a suitable ensemble I'd purchase it. Whether we had a king sized matress or not. Because you never know when a mystic legend will disappear into thin air.

And friends, I bet you see where this is going. Monday was the day of legends. Honey and I were enjoying an afternoon to ourselves. Honey needed a restroom break in JC Penny's, and I waited for him in the comforter section. While I was browsing, I happened upon the only other comforter I've ever liked in my married life. And it was on sale. The king size set was only $170. For a king.

Honey returned to find me perched on the bedding display. I turned to him and said, "I like this, do you?"

To which he replied, "How much is it?"

"$170"

"For the whole set?"

"Yes."

"I like it."

And that was it. No fighting, crying, or pouting. We've come so far in 10 years.

We brought it home. I pinned the bed skirt so it would fit our queen. We picked up 2 king sized pillows at Walmart to fill the shams, and we brushed off the fact that the comforter is much too big for our queen sized matress. The hurdle to a king sized matress has been jumped. Honey couldn't be happier.

Would you like to see some before and afters?

BEFORE:

I took this at Christmas for the home tour. It's the only one I have of the old stuff.

AFTER:

Doesn't it make a huge difference?! No one is more surprised than me that it's not blue. I love that it goes with the color we already had on our walls and the curtains we already had on the windows. It also goes with our furniture, which I love, but is admitedly hard to compliment. It does have flowers, but they aren't all girly. Now all we need is the bigger matress so you can actually see the really cute bed skirt.

I really love it, which is a good thing. Because we only do this every 10 years or so.

Christmas Countdown

Well, slowly but surely I am getting the cleaning/decorating done. It's a marathon, not a sprint, right? Wednesday was the most productive day this week. The kids and I cleaned, vacuumed, mopped and dusted 1/2 of the house. Then when Honey got home from work we rearranged the living room so we will have a place to set up the tree. Today the plan is to finish cleaning our master bedroom and mop the kitchen floor. Then the decorating can begin! Or at least the hauling down boxes from the attic. Since Honey will be home all day, we are going to set up the tree for sure. That way we can decorate it whenever the urge strikes.

This year, I chose to decorate the kids bathroom for my item to add to our Christmas decorations. I am going to save most of the house pics for BooMama's Christmas Tour of Homes. (Click on the button in my sidebar for more information, and please plan to participate! It will be so much fun!)

BUT, just in case you are having trouble getting in the spirit of things, I'll give you a little teaser. These are the towels in the kids bathroom. I just LOVE them and wish I had some for MY bathroom!

How do you like me now?

Have I mentioned that we recently moved? Did I tell you that one of the things I love about our house is that it has stained concrete floors? Well, it's been 2 months, 2 weeks, and 6 days, and even though I didn't think it was possible, I love those floors more today than I did on our moving day.

Don't get me wrong, this new relationship took some getting used to. I had to put felt pads on every piece of furniture that touches the floor because it doesn't like to get scratched. I also sweep way more frequently than I used to, also because it doesn't like to get scratched.

Probably the biggest adjustment has been giving up the Swiffer. In my pre-stained concrete floor days, I was a Swiffer girl. I had all the Swiffer products, I could have been on a commercial. You never really know a person until you live with them, and until we moved in, I didn't know you couldn't use the Swiffer Wet products on the floor. They dull the bright, shiny finish. The stained concrete prefers just a mop with mild soap and warm water. This process really does make them look great!

Just like Jennifer B, I love to wipe clean and dispose. I'm not a fan of the old sponge mop and bucket. It just grosses me out. And I definitely can't bring myself to clean the kitchen floor with the same mop as I used on the bathroom floors.

So in an effort to make this relationship work, Honey suggested I try these. Surprisingly enough, I've been very pleased. I bought 2 refills, one for the kitchen and one for the bathrooms. After you use them you just throw them in the washer and then let them air dry. They are cheap enough that when I've used them a few times, I will toss them out and buy fresh ones.

There is still the bucket of dirty water to deal with, but I just try not to think about it too much. What's the old saying? Go in to marriage with your eyes wide open, after the wedding keep your eyes tightly shut...

Another step down the road of simplify

Yes we are simplifying our lives. We've been doing it for several months, but we had a lot of stuff to get rid of. One aspect of our life that was just draining me was the whole backpacks, lunchboxes, jackets, sports equipment thang. All that stuff that just gets dumped on the dinning room table. In our new house it gets dumped on my favorite part of the kitchen, the bar. If it is a really crazy day, it oozes over to the chair in the living room nearest the bar. Well, yesterday, after weeks of waiting, we got our...well, I'm calling it our mud room bench, but the guys at the store call it a hall tree. Whatever you call it, it's here and it is allowing us to take just one more step down the road of simplify.





There is this cubby in our laundry room that is just perfect for it. It is wide enough for all 5 of us to have our own hook and it is sturdy enough for the girls to climb up on the bench and and hang their own backpacks and jackets. The bench has a lid on it and there is TONS of storage in the chest underneath. In fact, both of the girls can fit in there! If you ever want a piece of furniture and you just can't find what you want in the stores, go by the Unfinished Furniture Store. They are so nice and they can custom build anything! They'll even finish it for you for a very reasonable price. We were in there so much getting this ordered just the way we wanted it, I felt like we should have the staff over for dinner! When you stop by, ask for Danny (he's one of the owners) and tell 'em we sent 'ya!

I should be folding laundry, but...

I decided that in all fairness to the house we currently live in, I need to write a list of all the things that I will miss about it. (This is the post we should let the buyer family read!)

1. the gas logs in our fireplace
2. the recessed lighting in the living room
3. the decorative lights over the bar
4. the swing-set
5. the vegetable garden
6. the master bathroom
7. the kids' bathroom
8. the guest room
9. the plug in our mantle above the fireplace
10. the shelf near the ceiling above the fireplace
11. the plans brewing in my imagination to add on a second living room and a huge back porch

Moving

Honey and I have been married 8 1/2 years. In our first 4 1/2 years of marriage we lived in 6 different houses. We became pros at moving. We had it down to an art. When we moved into this house 4 years ago, we had very little baggage. We learned that it was way easier to get rid of it than it was to pack it and move it. Since settling into our current house, we have aquired more furniture, more children, more yard equipment, and that is just the major stuff.

Several weeks ago, in an effort to simplify (my theme for the year 2007), I began to organize, de-clutter, dump, trash, donate, and any other verb you can think of that means "to get rid of". Turns out, I'm glad I did, since we are moving in the next 45 days or so. I am excited about our new house . It's truly an answered prayer and a blessing from God. I am not excited about all the work that goes in to moving. With January drawing to a close, and my self-appointed month of rest ending with it, I am dreading the act of moving. So, in an effort to inspire me to begin packing this weekend, I've decided to post a list of things that I love about our new house. (in no particular order, of course)

1. The private pool/park right around the corner.
2. The breakfast bar in the kitchen, just big enough to feed three children.
3. The mud room (really it's a mud "area", but it will be big enough for all 5 of us to use)
4. MUCH smaller yard = less yard work (more like a weekend hobby than a part-time job)
5. Closer to Bubba's school
6. Sidewalks
7. Playroom
8. Stained concrete floors!
9. Bigger pantry
10. Bigger office/sewing room
11. Less bathroom to clean
12. Larger family room/kitchen
13. Finally being able to put our armoire in our master bedroom where it really belongs

We probably shouldn't show this list to the family that bought our house. They might change their minds!