Photo Memory Chalkboard

When I first pinned this lovely chalkboard/memory/photo board from

Under the Sycamore

http://ashleyannphotography.com/blog/2010/02/25/we-all-got-presents/

I knew that I wanted one somewhere in our house. 

 It was a happy place of sweet family memories and reminded me of my old mirror from high school that I would tape pictures and funny sayings to daily. 

I know that may seem a bit juvenile but this one was done in such a tasteful and mature way that I knew I could imitate it. 

Isn't it lovely?

So, I collected a few pics, put a few nails in the wall and had fun arranging until I got a board that resembled her work.  I thought it would be fun to add the phrase "make today beautiful,"  because the members of this family do make each other's days beautiful.  Unless a certain two are fighting and calling each other "lovely" names.  ; )

Just for the record, this was a zero cost project. 

I simply collected and rearranged previously owned items.

Smallish wall in BBP's Room

I had a few minutes this week to update an important wall in BBP's room.  It is the wall that you first see when you look into his room.  It is a smallish wall that is snuggled between a large window and a corner.  It was hard to decorate as I wanted it to make a statement but not be too fussy or busy.  Before this week he had a bulletin board hanging above the shelf, but the cluttered papers and pictures made the room seem messy (whether it was or not) because this was the first view you got into the room. 

Well, I am happy to say I found a home on this wall for the large letter "B" I bought at Warrenton for $10.00.  I had also taken this great picture of our boy just casually relaxing on the ranger wearing his cowboy hat.  It captures all of his handsome, boyish innocence.  I just love it! 

 And wouldn't you know Goodwill had this perfect green picture frame.  I like this arrangement so much better.  Seems cleaner and gives a more personal feel of just who makes his home in this corner of our house.  Oh, and I didn't trash the bulletin board.  I actually moved it to a better location next to his desk.  Makes more sense there anyway. 

Painted Pumpkins

acrylic paint and pumpkins

make for a fun and artsy afternoon

Master Bedroom Progress

 

So happy to have made some progress in our bedroom. 

 It was an unbelievable mess for such a LONG time. 

 There is still much to be done but so thankful that we are moving forward 

This before pic is not great but it gives some small perspective into the room. 

 I had just finished painting the bed when this was taken. 

Here is an "in progress" shot from the same view point.

A pic of the curtains and pillows. 

 Not sure how I settled on this color scheme,

 but I like the cleanliness of the white,

peacefulness of the blue and cheeriness of the red.

And I am instantly filled with warmth when I read the chalkboard

we are loved

by each other

but most importantly, by our Jesus.

Pin-inspired

I pin ALOT! 

 But mostly that's all I do. 

 Pin, pin, pin but never make, make, make.

However, I was able to get a quick sewing project done that was inspired from a recent pin.

 I follow an amazing photographer Laura Winslow's blog. 

http://laurawinslowphotography.com/blog

She shares great photo ideas and on Wednesday's she does a post specifically on wall art.  Which I love!  So, while reading her blog I saw this little cutie.

 I loved the lighting, orange chair, and sweetness of the photo but was especially drawn to the shirt/dress combo the little girl was wearing. I wanted to try something similar. Luckily, we happened to have a shirt that was too short and some coordinating orange material for the ruffled suspenders and dress at the house.

Behold my copycat version of the dress. 

Spray painted bottles and tape

I pinned this great picture from http://farmhouseandchickens.tumblr.com/page/2



It originally appeared on this blog  Decor8  http://decor8blog.com/2011/05/27/color-me-pretty-summer-dreams/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed:%20decor8blog%20(decor8)

What a fun idea!  I also liked the unlimited possibilities of size, shape and color provided on the bottles, paint color and tape.

This week I stopped in to get some magnets at Michael's and found that they had rolls of monogrammed packaging tape on sale for 50 cents a roll.  However, I am such a dork, I thought the rolls had the entire alphabet printed on one roll.  As in all 26 letters on a single roll.  I didn't look closely enough to see that each roll contained only one letter.  If I had looked closer I would have actually left the store with a letter that had some significance to our family.  But instead, I came home with a roll of M tape, H tape and G tape.  Oh well, it was only 50 cents. 

So here is a photo of the project supplies.

  

I sprayed about 3 light coats of glossy white paint on the jar.  Then positioned the tape which stuck perfectly.  I did not apply a sealer coat but may do so if it seems I will be washing the jar often.  Right now it is just for "looks."

But, it does "look" pretty, doesn't it? 

Cost of this project

I had the jar already. Zero $$

Spray paint $3.24

Packing Tape .50 cents

Total cost- $3.74

You could whip up several of these and still only spend $3.74 as I didn't come close to using all of the paint or tape. 

Front Porch Freshen Up!

Today I am sharing the quick way I freshened up our front porch.  I don't have a before photo so just imagine nothing, bare bones, zero cuteness, just a porch.  That's pretty much the way it looked. 

 It bothered me every time I came home so I checked out pinterest for some "small front porch" ideas.  I have also been attracted to the mossy initial letters that are popping up on blogs and in magazines. 

 I had a "P" left from a Christmas project.  It was very glittery but I decided to try it with some black fabric to "bring down the bling".  I grabbed the ladder I bought at goodwill a while back.  It was only $4.00 and was the natural wood color.  I painted it black and added the "P". 

Then moved some flowers from the yard to the top and called it a day!  Nothing too fancy, just a little something to welcome up the space.

I actually had all of these items on hand so today this freshen up cost me nothing, zero, zilch, nada, no buckaroos.  That's the kind of decorating I love most!