Our Living Room

I've been waiting to share what our living room looks like for a while and well here it is.
I forgot to take a picture in the VERY beginning of moving in but the wall was this color first.... (behind Lucy and my mom at her b-day party)

and all we had in the room was this chair...

My brother Brad built it all for me :)

Shelves in as he fits them to the space - no fireplace yet.


At Christmas without a picture in the frame...




And this is it now...




As you can see I have one frame left to fill with a family picture - that are been taken this Friday. And I am changing out the sunset picture - it's too bright in comparison to the others.

Looking into the dining room from the living room

My plate wall & chalkboard



My friend Abby drew out a design for me.... and it was so perfect. I had not even THOUGHT of adding bookshelves and a fireplace. But I looooooooooooooove it. The house feels so much more like ME.

In the Craft Room: Valentine's Day Mantel

So here is my new mantel all decked out for Valentine's Day.




At the top is this heart, that I made a couple years ago and I still love it!


For a month this mailbox sits out and we all write love notes to each other or draw pictures or whatever and then on V-Day we'll open them all together.


My banner made from old book pages, some embroidery thread, patterned paper and my Silhouette.
The papers I used were:
Webster's Pages ting-a-lin Collection "Candied Apples"
Echo Park Paper Dots & Stripes Ruby Red Large Dot
Little Yellow Bicycle Elizabeth Park Lacy-Lattice Grey
Simple Stories 100 Days of Summer Endless Summer
the girl's paperie by Margie kitch


For FHE we talked about Charity and how this time of year is a great time to think of things and people we love. So we made hearts (Lucy cut most of them out) and we all wrote on things and people we love. We do this every year and it always makes me smile the things the kids write.


Are you decorating for Valentine's day??

Monday Madness

Whoops there went a week hey?! We have been in a bit of shambles around our house. Things are in piles all over the place and we can't put them away. And we couldn't decorate for christmas, so all the containers with decorations were sitting around the house too. Perfect. All cause some painting and building was being done.

It was all thanks to these lovely shelves my talented brother was building and someone named Dave was painting. So now they sit waiting to be filled but I can't yet because the paint is supposed to harden. Technically it's supposed to be for a month. But technically I can't let them sit there looking all nice and white and not decorate for Christmas. So I am going with a week.... that should work.... right? Until then I want to do my tiling around the fireplace... but I need a wet saw - anyone know someone who has one I can borrow?? No I don't know how to tile but I expect someone on you tube does and they can show me!



I did add our stockings just cause i HAD too.... although I need to get some names embroidered on them. Although Regan says I should do that by hand and I say no way. That's what machines were invented for!


Our tree is finally up and decorated!


This wall is in progress too.... My prints are done now and ready to pick up and I have to add a few more frames. I love it.

I did decorate the railing. Cause nothing is changing on that. We have been keeping up with Advent things and books. I'll update all the books we've read and the activities we've done that I missed. Since I KNOW you all are on the edge of your seat :)


PS won't my living room look great when my shelves are finished, fire place tiled, curtains hung, frames filled? Yep. Love a talented brother and a talented Abby who suggested the idea of the shelves that I hadn't even THOUGHT of doing!

Art in the Living room

This is a snap shot of my living room wall. I just got it to look like this. As in on Saturday I started getting out the ladder that my brother Bob had left here (like I asked him too) and started getting all the hangers out and then my dear husband got the hint and actually did the job :)

I take lots of pictures. Lots of ones that mean a lot to me. And sometimes I don't get many printed. Why NOT?! Who knows. I get some printed for scrapbooking (although I need some printed from lately to scrapbook). But I need to display some of my art. My photography. So I bought that big frame from Ikea last time I was in Calgary. And got a large 20x28 print done at London Drugs. And trimmed off a tiny bit so it would fit in the frame (ever notice Ikea frames NEVER fit regular printing sizes?).
This is the picture in case you are wondering.


The Alphabet art is something I've been working on forever. I had all the letters done a month or more ago but it wasn't antiqued. So finally I did that too and my wonderful husband hung them all up for me. It is TOTALLY inspired from The amazing Susie Haarris. She has lots of other ones I am going to make on my own to hang in my house!

I want to add a small wooden word "love" and perhaps one other thing since it's best to have an odd number. But I love how it looks.

Have you blown up any BIG pictures lately and hung them up?

And thanks for all the comments on yesterdays post. I wasn't looking for accolades on my mothering at all, just sharing my thoughts. I used to spend more time writing about things more on here and I've decided I need to do that more often.

Bedroom upDate (well partially)

Our red wall in our bedroom. Already this color when we moved in. It perfectly matched my bedspread :) And can you see the great painting the reflection of the mirror?? My MIL (Bea) gave it to me and my SIL's (Whitney) mom (Carol Robinson) painted it. (got that straight??) And the headboard my SIL Val gave to me. Looks like I am all about people giving me stuff hey??


I am painting the headboard. So that's gone.... still haven't made my bed though.... I actually painted the little bedside tables too. They used to be kids dressers but they are WAY to small to actually hold clothes. For a baby they are fine but Alden can fit like 2 pairs of pants in the drawer. So I repurposed them to be bedside tables. And did my favorite thing - painted them white :)


Then I added a whole bunch of white frames. And made my bed. Busy day. hahahahaha

I'm having troubles with my headboard. The paint was seeping thru so my white looked pink. SO I have to do a primer coat first. I think it will look great once I get the headboard up too. Then all I need is lamps the same color (and shades on both) :) and to print out some pictures for the frames.

What do ya think?
And HOPPY Easter! :)

In the Craftroom: Drowning in Papers

I don't know about you but there are papers around here. Piles of papers. From school, bills, church papers, renewal slips, artwork by the kids, handouts, and a whole lot of other ones.

I didn't know what to do with them, but after I couldn't find the paper I was supposed to fill out to register Lucy in preschool for next year (i am registering her in both preschool and kindergarden since we haven't made up our mind which she is doing yet).

This wall has been bothering me for a while...


SO I combined them and these...


And got this.

One clipboard for each of us (Eli doesn't really have papers yet...)

Soon all the Christmas cards on the dry erase board will be put into the scrapbook album - but I haven't gotten there yet....So just image that empty (hahahahaha)


And I've always wanted a poster of the Keep Calm one. So I made one myself and printed it off at costco to fit the 12x12 frame I already had. So if you'd like one you could let me know and I'd email it to you. Cause that will make you comment and cause I like you. :)

In the Craftroom: StarFish Wall Hanging

I've been in the crafting MOOD. Seriously.
So besides all the Christmas crafts we've been doing (which I'll show you tomorrow or Tuesday) I've been doing home decor ones too :)

Like this one.


Started with a cheap white outcast cupboard door from Totem. Good times right Jen?? :)

Sanded it down a bit and rubbed it all over with this and then wiped it off with a wet cloth (sorry totally blurry basement evening picture!!)

To get this effect.

(close up)

Then drew on my hanging holes.

And used my fancy dancy drill

Used some cool ribbon from SEI that my nice friend Mary gave me forever ago. Strung it through and tied some knots.


Then Glue gunned on my Nova Scotia star fish. Perfect-o!


I am not joking when I say the entire thing took my... oh about.... 10 minutes. Start to finish. Sweeet.

I bought 3 other cupboard doors and 2 of them are also finished crafts and hanging in my home. I'll show them soon!