Rocky Bella

DIY Clear Glass Lamp

2011-04-19T11:54:00.000-07:00

Sooo...Pregnancy took the domesticity out of me real quick. Actually that's not true, it took the "crafting" part out of me. I was all about cleaning, cleaning, and more cleaning. I was super O.C.D. about it- I would re-clean something that I had just deep cleaned the day before. I had this feeling throughout most of my pregnancy that I had to be prepared in case he came early... and of course he was a week late. Well now that he is here, and we have settled into each other a bit- I'M BACK- and it feels great. I have a million projects started around the house, and not too many are finished. Here is one that is:

I have seen clear glass lamps all over the place and LOVE LOVE LOVE them, but I don't love the hefty price tag that comes along with them. Why in the world are lamps so expensive anyways?!?!??! I don't get it.

Let me back up a minute... During my middle of the night feedings I usually google ideas that pop in my head, and end up browsing through blogs of course (on my phone- one handed). It keeps me awake so I don't fall asleep and drop Liam. Well I have no idea how I came across it (blame the drowsiness for my lack of memory) but I found this blog called Triangle Honeymoon and their post about a DIY clear glass lamp inspired by Crate & Barrel's Zak lamp that costs $229!

Crate & Barrel

They made one themselves....so why couldn't I?

Here are the supplies I used:

Large clear glass vase- Home Goods $12.99
Lamp kit from Lowes $10
White drum shade from Target $14.99
Drill bit for glass and tile from Lowes about $8
Gorilla glue -already had.

I turned the vase upside down and started drilling a hole in the middle of the bottom of the vase (soon to be the TOP of my lamp base). Ryan saw me doing this and decided it looked fun and wanted to take over... be my guest! So actually RYAN drilled the hole with lots of input (aka nagging) from me. Keep the area wet- thats what google said... dont go to fast it will crack... slow down.... don't put too much pressure on it. I'm sure I was a little bit annoying. =) It came out perfect and it was a good inch thick of glass on top.
Once the top hole was drilled, he drilled one on the side, closer to the opening of the vase. This is where the cord would come.

I stuck the wire through the side hole, then slid on the white rubber end cap, then stuck the end through the hole on the bottom of the vase (top of the lamp).

Once the wire is through the top hole, attach the rest of the lamp kit in the order that the instructions (that come with the kit) say. I would go over them, but its pretty self explanatory.

This is where I added some Gorilla Glue. I put a bit of glue on the screw and on the bottom of the metal piece (technical term), to make sure it didn't twist around.

And here is the finished lamp, sitting in my living room....

I have been working on a gallery wall behind my couch, s o excuse the empty (or store photos) frames I finally got all of the frames up, but haven't finished putting art inside them yet. More on that later.

Since there is so much going on on the wall I really wanted an understated lamp that wouldn't be "too much" in front of all those frames. This is perfect!

Back to my Bump

2011-03-09T11:46:00.000-08:00

Since I took a little break during most of my pregnancy I thought I'd share with you a bit about my life in the last few months or so. I would work on something and I think "I should blog about this!" but I never did; so I have some little projects to feature soon. The big one was Liam's room. It was a labor of love. I had my freak out moments where I thought, "This baby is not going to have a room when he gets home!" But in the end it all came together and I love it. I'll keep you waiting for that one though.
My pregnancy was fairly easy. I only got nauseous twice, and threw up both of those times. One was because I took a prenatal on an empty stomach. Ryan and I were in the car (driving to check out a craigslist side table- that ended up being a piece of plastic crap) and I wasn't feeling very good but I was about 5 months pregnant so I didn't think I would throw up since I never had any morning sickness before this point. To make a nasty, long story short... driving down a major street I decided OHHH YES, I'm gonna puke... and I couldn't get the window down in time. That's all I'll say about that...Not a pretty picture! The other time I was at home, and made it to the toilet so that was not so bad. So overall I was thankful that I didn't have to deal with being sick during my pregnancy! I thought "Why do people always complain about being pregnant, this is a piece of cake."
Toward the end (7, maybe 7 1/2 months) I began to realize why people complain about being pregnant! Constantly being uncomfortable, and terrible sleep, aching back, tired all the time! Poor Ryan had to listen to my ongoing complaints. In the end it was so worth it though.
I was 9 months pregnant and hadn't taken any maternity photos. I started to get really bummed about that, and wanted to capture this time in our lives. It was too late to book a photographer and I really didn't want to pay for that anyways. So I enlisted my little sister who took photography for 4 years in high school (that doesn't make her a pro, but at least a better option than just anybody). We had a lot of fun taking them. I made outfit changes in a field while trying to hide from some farmer when it was 50 degrees. It was a memorable day. I already love looking at them and thinking back to Liam getting ready to come into the world. Its crazy to think how much more love is in my life now than just over a month ago.

This graffiti one is just too fun not to include...

If you go over to Spearmint Baby (a great blog!) you can see where my baby bump was featured over there too.

Upcoming Product Review

2011-03-07T10:51:00.000-08:00

CSN stores has offered me $40 credit towards a product review for one of their 200 online stores. I love CSN, not just because they are awesome with their give-a-ways, but because they have pretty much everything on their site. One day soon when Liam is old enough I can check out some of their swing sets. Until then I look around for some goodies like these...

An orange hamper for Liams room, or maybe for his closet. Especially since I'm currently using an empty cardboard diaper box for his dirty close.

My oven would look good with this Lovebirds kitchen tea towel hanging on the handle

I'm really leaning towards some new white sheets for our bed...

Baby News!!!

2011-03-03T23:19:00.000-08:00

Liam is here... well he's been here for over a month now. I'm sorry to my poor blog for neglecting you for so long. I have had a very important project I've been working on- a new baby. =)
I am enjoying motherhood so much. Wow, what a great experience. I never knew how much you could love a little child until now. I use to hear that all the time, but boy is it true. I am amazed every time I look at him. God has truly blessed me with a wonderful family. I am so thankful.
The labor was good and everything went smooth. I can tell you more details later. Its currently 11 pm and I'm waiting to feed him in about 5 minutes. I have been following the book "Babywise" and so far things have been going good. There's been some rough nights/naps along the way.
I just wanted to quickly say Hello and sorry for being MIA for so long. I miss my blog so much. I have a different computer then I use to, and it is TERRIBLE for blogging which is a large part of why I quit. So I need to get use to this new (old) computer and I should be back soon. Here are a few pictures of my precious new baby.

First time home...

In the Hospital- 1 day old...

The following pictures were taken at 11 days old.
Mommy & Baby...

Family Love...

My favorite picture ever...

In his nursery, where we spend a lot of time feeding/eating...

My boys...

Family Time...

And this is Liam TODAY- at 5 1/2 weeks old and 11 lbs 2oz.

Nursery Bedding

2010-10-02T08:52:00.000-07:00

I found the bedding I wanted for Liams nursery, but there was a bit of a problem... it was $330! Sooo not in my budget. But I was really stuck on that design, nothing else seemed to float my boat if you will. It is called Chocolate Dots from Dwell Studio. I was determined to find it cheaper, so I started browsing craigslist in Los Angeles and Orange County since they are not too far from us, and Ryans brother lives in O.C. I searched for months... nada. Then a light bulb went off! I googled "Dwell Chocolate dots crib bedding craigslist". I found a lot of expired listings, a few were STILL too expensive, then BAM... the mother load! In Burmingham, Alabama the entire 4 piece set was listed for $50!!! I prayed and prayed then emailed her to ask if she would be willing to ship it to California, for a fee of course. She was sooo nice and responded right away. YES she said. She would ship it for $25, totally worth it, since she had to take time out of her day and everything. I was a little nervous but I paid through paypal which is pretty safe. Right after I contacted her, I paid, she shipped, I received it 4 days later. It is in great condition too. I still can't believe I got $330 bedding for only $75. Go craigslist!

We painted the walls a very light blue, much lighter than the walls above. I'll take pictures soon of the progress. I'm going to go with a light blue, brown, orange, and white color scheme. With hints of airplanes here and there, but not "themey". I can't wait to show you more. 3 1/2 more months til Liam gets here! I can't wait.

Free Nursing Cover

2010-10-01T10:00:00.000-07:00

Thank you to those who helped me pick-out a diaper bag. I ended up going with the Biplane white diaper bag. I know white gets dirty fast but I read the description and it says something about a wipe-clean surface. Here's hoping. Besides, I'm assuming with a baby... everything is going to get dirty anyways.

If your not sick of baby gear yet... I found a great deal on a nursing cover-up. You can go get a a FREE "Udder Cover" from UdderCovers.com . I was browsing my local craigslist.com and read someone's post about a $32. discount (the price of an "udder cover") when you put in the promo code "cranberry2" OR "onefree". Either one works. You will still have to pay their normal $9.95 shipping fee. I have no idea how long this lasts, but it is currently working. Side note: I am not getting paid for this at all! =)
I'm hoping my little cover will come in handy when I have to breast feed and there might be a few people around who I don't feel like flashing. I ordered the Porter one because it seemed the most nonchalant, although the Elsa is super cute too. If your not expecting these would be a cute (and CHEAP!) gift for the next baby shower your invited to. I received mine in just a few days and did not have any extra charges on my card, so its not a scam. Good news to you guys.

PORTER

ELSA

Cook This Not That ...Cheesecake

2010-09-30T12:31:00.000-07:00

Back in March, my friends Matt & Sam got me one of my favorite cookbooks. It is from the Eat This Not That line of books. One of my favorite recipes from it, is their Ricotta Blueberry Cheesecake. It is oohhhh so good, and you dont feel so guilty about eating cheesecake. Who doesn't love that!?!? Each serving has 360 calories. Not diet food, but better than compared 700.

Its Gettin Spooky Around Here...

2010-09-28T20:31:00.000-07:00

I started my Halloween decorating....

I started with my mantle. I used some black and white wrapping paper that I already had. I cut it in a thin strip so if my candles spill down, it won't stick to the mantle. I used some jars and vases and put some creepy stuff from Michaels in them.

For the witch and bat silhoutes, I found some images online. I traced them and used an exacto knife to cut them out.

For the front door, I stuck up my fall wreath that I purchased at TJ Maxx a couple years ago. Then I found the black sparkley skeleton at the $1 store! He can hang out til Halloween is over.

*Update* After I posted this, one of my favorite bloggers Vanessa decided to make use of the $1 store skeleton for her home-made wreath.... Go check it out because hers is way cuter than mine.

Then when you walk in...

I found these (above & below) orange jar candles at Rite Aid on sale for $3! They smell like spiced pumpkin... Mmmm. I cut out some bats on black card stock then attached them with twine. I love how the frosted glass glows.
I added a few touches of fall here and there. Some fall leaves in an apothacary jar sit in the living room next to the couch.

On the table in the breakfast nook, there are some fall fruits all glitzed up.

Dont look too close.. or you'll notice the beadboard was NEVER finished from forever ago. I started it, and really dont have the motivation to finish it...YET.

This morning I baked banna-nut muffins and then it really felt like fall in my house. Now, I'm just waiting for the weather to catch on to that. ;)

Shopping... and diaper bags

2010-08-01T08:00:00.000-07:00

CSN stores has extended their generosity to Rocky Bella once again! But this time, I get the benefits... sorry. They have given me a $50 gift certificate to spend at any of their online stores. I can't decide what to get. I keep getting lost in the online shopping world. There are just too many options. I think I've narrowed it down to either some some sofa pillows (I can never have enough), a diaper bag, or an accent rug for the baby room. I just can't make up my mind... I think I may be leaning toward putting my $50 towards and awesome diaper bag since I know I will need one. We are going to use some vintage airplanes in the nursery, so the middle diaper bag would go with that "theme". But I really like the other two also. Help...which one do you like better?

Skip Hop Wave Dot

Aviation Diaper bag

Skip Hop Lime Green

Its a....

2010-07-31T14:29:00.000-07:00

Boy! Yesterday we had our gender determination ultra sound and found out we have a boy cookin' in the oven! I am just about 16 weeks now. We are going to name him Liam Christopher Hearron. We have loved the named Liam for a while now, so I am thrilled to be able to use it. My dads name is Christopher and the poor guy had three daughters and no sons so we figure he has put his dues in and deserves for his grandson to be named after him. It has been great sharing the news of our son with everyone. Our friends and family are so excited, it makes it even better for us.

Now that I know what gender our baby is, I can get to SHOPPING! woo hoo. I want to start decorating the nursery asap since I have a feeling it will be a slow progression. Yesterday we made a trip to Home Goods and bought a few items to get the nursery going. Now I can start picking out bedding, colors, a diaper bag, clothes, etc. This is SOooo much fun already. I can't wait to have a little boy, how crazy!

Bell Jar full of Orange

2010-07-14T18:22:00.000-07:00

Months and months ago, my older sister Kacey picked up a couple of antique blue bell jars at a yard sale. I was the lucky recipient of one of them. I've seen ladies do some cool decor stuff with these jars, but seem to only use mine as a vase. I guess it is a good excuse to keep flowers in the house. I love my blue bell jar so much, but I don't always have it out to view. I got lucky, because the other day when Ryan made a grocery store trip he brought me home some beautiful orange mini roses.

I LOVE orange and torquiose together so it was a perfect match! It brightens up the whole living/dining area.

Remember when I did the Torqoiuse and orange chair redo..? My fowers remind me of this chair every time I look at them. I'm starting to miss doing furniture. I haven't done many revamps lately since its about 100+ degrees outside, too hot to be sanding.

Have a good day and stay out of the heat!

3 months and counting...

2010-07-12T17:55:00.000-07:00

I found out on May 7th that we are expecting! We had been trying for about a year and a half. I would say about half of that time wasn't technically "trying" but just more of not preventing it... which I guess is trying. But then after last summer we starting getting more impatient that it wasn't happening so easily. I started tracking my ovulation and all that good stuff. After a while, my doctor put me on Clomid (which is kind of like an ovulation helper). He was going to try that for 3 months, but it only took ONE month and BAM.... baby on board. I feel like I should name the babies middle name Clomid in thanks. No, bad idea. I wanted to wait until I was in my second trimester to announce it on my blog. I didn't want to jinx myself. We told everyone we knew right away though we wanted to share it with friends and family no matter what happened.

I am not one of those people who want to wait and find out if its a boy or a girl. If I could have known on day one I would have. I have a couple friends who think its terrible to find out and I should wait to be surprised. But the way I see it, it is STILL going to be a surprise when I have the ultra-sound, and THEN I get another day of joy when the baby gets here. Why lump it all in one day when you don't have to? Spread the love.

We have our gender determination appointment set for July 30th. The soonest they would let me. I will be a few days shy of 16 weeks. Hopefully we will be able to see the "down there" region of our little bundle of joy on that day. Thinking of names has been lots of fun. It was terrible in the beginning, I just kept thinking, "How can I make a decision when this is a lifetime label?" It was too much pressure. Then I started writing down any and all names I liked, even if I knew I'd never use them. We have narrowed that list down but a lot already. Now I just want to finalize a name so I can call my little seedling something.

I'm so happy to share our news with all of you... finally. Obviously, I haven't posted at all in the last 2 months and I feel terrible. I really haven't had any inspiration or ideas. Plus, I felt like I was lying to everyone by not telling you guys about the baby. I feel much better now that cyber space knows. I've been fatigued to where I could probably have slept all day every day. I've had no inspiration to be creative or even keep my house clean. But now that I've entered my second trimester I'm feeling much more energized, and the naps have decreased.

Our due date is January 16^th. I’m excited to be all huge and pregnant during Christmas. (I say that now, although I’ve never been huge and pregnant). I’ll keep you posted on all the baby news as it comes. Oh and I still need to write up the story about how I found out I was pregnant…

Thank you for being patient and not abandoning Rocky Bella while I’ve been M.I.A.

I appreciate my readers so much and I’m glad you’re still out there.

I will be back

2010-06-11T08:55:00.001-07:00

I promise, promise, promise! I WILL be back soon. Hang in there. I've appreciated some of your sweet emails wondering where in the world I am. They have been very encouraging. Thank you.

If you get bored tonight...

2010-05-06T11:25:00.000-07:00

Here is a little idea I stole from ALL over the blog world. Where it originated I have no idea. I have seen these twine wrapped bottles so many times; I finally just made them one night because I was bored with the TV. I used my 99 cent store twine, and some different shaped wine bottles I had used. Its usually not too hard to collect empty wine bottles around here. ;) I did this about 2 months ago. Better late then never I guess.

I had saved this small port bottle because I wanted to use it as a flower vase. But the contrasting size was needed, so I stole it from my vase stash. I only took pictures of making the small one, but its not like this is rocket science. It is however, a little time consuming when you are wrapping and wrapping and more wrapping. I just sat on the couch and watched whatever was on while I got my fingers all gluey. Gluey...? Someone should add that to the dictionary, it sounds nice.

Just apply glue in sections of the bottle then start working your way up towards the neck.

The "hardest" part is wrapping it around the neck where it begins to get smaller. The twine seems to want to travel upward and leave big gaps. Mine are is no way perfect, but who cares... this is twine wrapped trash were talkin' about here!

Then I cut some of the "fuzzies" off.

And put them in my china cabinet...

Bedroom Update!!!

2010-05-04T21:58:00.000-07:00

Update, Update, Read all about it. Well I guess Look all about it, cuz there will be way more photos then words in this post. Cuz lets just be honest.. tha its what we love the most. Soooo...We are FINISHED, yes FINISHED with the chair rail, caulked, painted, touched up... DONE!

The entire bedroom is not exactly done, I still have a bit more to touch up... new light switch covers, some bamboo blinds for the windows, art work on the walls, re-do a craigslist chair I bought...etc. But the focal point is totally done!

BEFORE: the bedroom had an awkward layout because of the odd third window behind the bed. It never looked "right".

(EWWWWWWWW)

The only way the bed wasn't in front of the window was if it was too close to the closet door that opened outward. Also, moving it away from the window meant it was closer to the door, and the room is already small enough without being forced to walk straight into a bed.

For an entire year I had no idea what to do with this un-masterful "Master Bedroom". Then I realized I could cover the entire wall with fabric. That was my bedrooms saving grace. My inspiration was for it to feel like a hotel, a get-a-way in our own house.Remember my dreamy white fabric inspiration post about my bedroom?

With that being said... we finally finished the chair rail in the bedroom and hall. (The guest room hasn't been painted at all).
Here is a shot of our little hall, which is about one shade lighter than the bedroom paint....

After we finished painting the bedroom we got busy with our "focal point" of the room.

I bought some fabric from a local discount fabric store for $3 a yard. I bought 15 yards and sewed the tops so they could slide onto the cheapo curtain rods I bought for about $10.

I didn't even paint the wall that has curtains on it, because well who's gonna see it!??!? Plus, I'm lazy. We had to cover up the curtain rods so...

With some advice from Vanessa at This & That (I'm sure your sick of me talking about her) I used a 1x6 board painted the same color of the wall, attached it to the ceiling with L brackets.She told me this is what they did in her room. Thanks Vanessa.

Ryan held it up while I screwed it in. I'm so immature, cuz that sounded really dirty... kinda. Sorry this post is no longer PG.

Then we put away all the tools, threw away the drop cloths with all the mess on them, and washed the bedding, spruced up the room... and TA-DA....

AFTER

In the corner I put and chair that I purchased from craigslist for $20! I need to paint and reupholster it still....

More to Come!

Chair Rails and a Winner

2010-05-03T12:10:00.000-07:00

I'm so happy every time I walk into the hall and see the new chair rail. I went a little crazy with it... I ended up doing our bedroom, the hall, and one of the extra rooms. I think it looks awesome and fresh. But before we get to that I should announce the winner from last week, SOOOO....

Thank you for everyone who participated in last weeks Give-A-Way to CSN online stores.
The lucky winner is Krissy L! Congratulations. Krissy, just make sure you send me your email address. Have fun shopping and good luck making a decision!

Okay now lets get back to this post... Can I just say how fun it is working with power tools like a miter saw. I felt like I was so cool. =) I purchased some casing from Lowes, Tudor is was called. I got enough for my bedroom, or so I thought. But once I started I was a bit short so I went back (the next day) to get some more and what do yanno... It was on clearance for 50% off! I was able to get the difference back from the price i had previously received. With that extra money I decided I should buy a bunch and do the hall and the guest room. They only had 3 left at that store, so I bought them out and then headed to another Lowes. I came back with more molding then I knew what to do with. I was able to do all the rooms I wanted to, and still have a bit extra. I think I will go get some more, so I can finish my kitchen finally. I started to bead board the kitchen and never finished. I have A.D.D. when it comes to home improvement.

I didn't have a level, so I measured 60" down from the ceiling all along the wall, and then used a straight edge to connect the dots. This was probably better because our old house isn't perfectly level all around anyways. Then I measured the sections of chair rail that needed to be cut, and got to mitering. I cut all the pieces first, then put them up on the wall. How did I do that all by myself you ask...?

I applied some liquid nails, then taped the boards up with some masking tape. Then I used a nail finishing gun to secure them in place.

The most difficult part (and it wasn't too bad at all) was where to molding was too short for the wall, so I had to connect two together. There were many little cuts involved in this, to make sure It was "just right".

I added the following picture because it was my favorite corner. Yes, I had a favorite corner. Some needed a lot of caulk to look good.. but this one needed just a bit. I even brought Ryan in to look at this specific corner because I was proud of it.

Here is my room done, well done installing not DONE done.

After it was installed I went in with a caulking gun to finish off all the gaps. We had way too much fun with caulk jokes. I felt like I was 13 because they never got old.

The next day Ryan and I got to painting! It was a great day because we completed a day of home improvement with out fighting! I don't know about you guys, but it seems like any time we work together on the house there is ALWAYS a disagreement to put it lightly. I think we both try to be the "boss" and think we know exactly how to do it , but not for this project. We completed the whole thing in peace! We were so proud of ourselves.

One of us worked on painting the top color while the other worked on the bottom color. We switched around a bit, to get the trim work done too. The top color Sherwin Williams Perfect Greige needed only one coat, but the Valspar Ultra White needed three coats! The Perfect Greige came out way more than I thought. I wanted it a lot more gray, but O' Well.

More to Come!

Reader Ravamp: Turquoise Treat

2010-04-30T10:59:00.000-07:00

My wonderful email pen-pal Kelsey over at Fabulously Flawed has just revamped the cutest dresser. She has a little baby girl named Layla on the way, so she wanted to create something unique and fun for her soon to be nursery. Kelsey scored this amazing dresser on craigslist for FREE... yes FREE! She got to work and did an amazing paint technique to make this dresser look FAB! I love it, and want it in my own house. I might just steal her idea. She watered down a deep torquoise paint and applied it to the dresser so that the wood still showed through a bit. Then with a "dry" brush applied a lighter shade to give it some dimension. She updated the drawer pulls with Oil Rubbed Bronze spray paint for a brand new look. Great job Kelsey.To read exactly how she did it, colors and all check out her post here.

BEFORE

AFTER

Chair Rails, its Happening!

2010-04-29T11:50:00.000-07:00

While I was diligently scraping the popcorn off the ceiling I decided our bedroom definitely needed a white chair rail, with white paint below, or maybe just a different hue of the color that will be on top. I've been reading about chair rails on the web, and many people say to NEVER paint the lower portion white or even a lighter shade then what is on top. Well I must disagree, I think these images from a house tour on Young House Love show that a lighter shade on bottom looks fresh, clean, and elegant... so there! That was mature of me, wasn't it?

younghouselove.com

This is almost exactly the color scheme for my bedroom (or will be). The blue ceiling, white below the new chair rail, and a beige wall. I want to paint my walls a bit more gray beige though.. much less tan.

remodelingguy.net

Here is a good example of a darker color on bottom. It is suppose to make the room look larger rather than "cut it up visually" like white is suppose to. But I really like the white below, I can't lie. Cut that room up!

designwithchristine.com

Don't forget to enter to win $40 towards CNS online stores... Enter here... you have til tomorrow night!

Get rid of that cottage cheese!

2010-04-27T22:25:00.000-07:00

No, unfortunately I don't mean the cottage cheese on my thighs... I mean the nasty stuff on my ceiling. It's GONE! All GONE! Yay, yay, yay...I am now performing the happy dance! For some odd reason our bedroom and only our bedroom had a popcorn ceiling. Well after over a year of waking up to look at that nasty texture I decided it was time to take care of it! With some email encouragement from Vanessa over at This & That (who I LOVE!) I realized I could do this MYSELF! So I headed to Lowes to pick up all the supplies I needed. Most importantly this...

My first mistake was thinking I could complete this project with a hand bottle sprayer! DO NOT attempt that at home. After 5 mad hand cramps, I decided to head to Wal Mart and splurge a whole $9 on a pump sprayer. Way worth it! It made this job %100 easier.

That with the best invention in the world.... the ceiling scraper pictured above that you can attach a bag to. It catches all the nasty stuff that falls on the floor. The bad thing about this is it gets pretty heavy after a while and you have to constantly empty the bag.

I decided to give the entire ceiling a good "one over" with the bagged scraper and then use a smaller metal scraper (about 3") to go over the ceiling a second time. This really helped with the mess. With that said I must apply a WARNING: it is still a very messy job! SOOO worth it though. Why didn't I do this a year ago?!?!

Here is a shot of where I began scraping. It is a BEFORE and AFTER picture all in itself.

Our bedroom ceiling was horrendous! Not only did it have popcorn texture, but there were major cracks and this lovely enclave....

I laid down plastic over EVERYTHING.... except the chair which got super dirty. I should have purchased a step stool or something.

After the entire ceiling was scraped, it was time to spackle the cracks...

Once spackled (the worst part!) I painted it a very pale blue, almost white. It was Valspar's "Hotspring Green (its blue, I swear! I don't know why its called "green"). Although it really looks taupe in this picture, but keep in mind my walls are currently a bright but light turquoise. I think the lighting is messing up all the colors in this room. I am soon painting the walls with Sherwin Williams Perfect Greige.

This is a bit more accurate to the color of the ceiling... (Look at the ceiling and ONLY the ceiling, because the rest of the room is... well... lovely can't you tell?!?!?)

Beware: Attempting this project is comparable to the chip song "Once you Pop, You can't Stop!" After I finished the ceiling I felt that the room definitely needed a chair rail, new fan, new window treatments, etc, etc, etc...

More to come =)

Addition: This project took about 8 hours including painting. My room is pretty small, about 12 feet by 14 feet maybe..?

Win $40 Shopping Spree!!!

2010-04-26T11:42:00.000-07:00

CSN Stores has graciously offered one of my readers a $40 gift certificate to any one of their 200+ online stores. That’s a lot of options folks! I was thrilled when they contacted me for this give-a-way and one lucky reader will be even more thrilled when they win it. CSN has everything you can imagine for you and your home from TV stands to shoes. You can shop for hours and not even view a tenth of their products!

Some of my favorite finds have been...

Cute pistachio desk fan (comes in 5 colors)....

Alfresco Zebra Indoor/Outdoor Rug

They have some of the cutest pet items I have ever seen, like this adorable dog bed...

And speaking of dogs... I LOVE this little doxie lamp that comes in lots of colors. I might be biased since I have two little dachshund's running around my house. I want this...

If you get these classic strappy sandals for $36 with free shipping, you'll still have $4 left over!

Okay, so you want to know how to enter to win the $40 CSN Shopping Spree?

Here's how it works. You have up to THREE ENTRIES.

For your FIRST entry just leave me a comment telling me what you want to buy, or just say HI if you can't think of anything yet.

For a SECOND entry, become a follower or let me know you already are a follower of Rocky Bella. Either way, let me know so I count you twice.

And for the THIRD entry, just place a link on your blog directing people back to this Rocky Bella give-a-way.

Also, make sure you let me know you linked back here, so I can count you for a third time.

That gives you up to 3 chances to win the $40!

This give-a-way ends Friday night 12:00 PST.

Pack it Up... Vintage Style

2010-04-23T11:19:00.000-07:00

When we moved into our new yet old (1947) house about a year ago, we found a few treasures laying around in the garage. One of those treasures was this great vintage luggage trunk.

It was love at first sight. Do you ever see something that makes you think "This is SO me!"? That is how I felt about my newly inherited trunk. So in honor of my wonderful free trunk I decided to bring you a day of Vintage Luggage put to good use...

Apartment Therapy

TheBeddingSnob.com

countryliving.com

FCH magazine

Oakland's Waterfront Hotel

Eric Piasecki for Elle Decor

The Pand Hotel

Apartment Therapy

Velvet & Linen

Kelly Rae Roberts House Tour via Decor8

Okay, So THIS is my idea... I want to take my trunk and put in on to of a vintage looking luggage rack. Like this one for 29.99 from Bed Bath and Beyond...

Or like this Potter barn Luggage Rack...

And set my old trunk on it to use as a flat screen TV stand. Is that a stupid idea? I searched for "vintage trunk tv stand" under google images and did not find anything like what I am imagining. Now I'm thinking this is weird idea. But at the same time I can't help but think I would love it. The problem would be where to put the DVD player and the Wii, and all those cords...! Ahh. I hate cords, they are all over my house. I dont how to hide them. I should work on that one day.

These are the closest images I found, but imagine a trunk instead of a suitcases with a TV sitting on top. Would that be weird? Help!

Country Living

HGTV.com

Sampler.com

CountryLiving.com

Check back early next week to win a $40 gift card to some great online stores! I'll post more about that soon.

A new Niece for Me!

2010-04-22T20:27:00.000-07:00

Earth Day was a great day... I have a brand new niece named Evie Aurora Hearron. She was born at 3:45 (ish) and is 7lbs 8oz. and 19" long. She is so tiny and so cute. It was great holding such a brand new human in my arms. She kept making all of these little squeaking noises that were adorable, like a little kitten noise.
Here she is with Ryan... he is a great uncle.

And here she is with her Daddy (my bro. in law Brandon) and new big brother Mavrick. He was not excited about having someone else to share the attention with, UNTIL he saw her. Then he was in love. It was the cutest thing... he whispered to her, "I love you, awwww so cute." We all about died right there.

On Set with Accidentally on Purpose

2010-04-22T15:47:00.000-07:00

Have you ever watched Accidentally on Purpose. I don't watch much TV since we don't have cable, but whenever I happen to see Jenna Elfman I must stop the channel surfing. Ever since Dharma & Greg, I have loved Jenna Elfman and her awesome hair. Recently I have fallen in love with the awesome set of Accidentally on Purpose. SO COOL! Do you remember loving the set of Friends? I definitely do, well this set reminds me of a modern day friends set. Plus, Jenna Elfman's character always has the cutest outfits. I wish I could live on that show.

I just had to add this photo... purely because I love the large vintage movie posters in the hall... Why else would I add it? (cough cough). ;)

Reader Revamp: My Pink Life- Side Tables & Daughters Dress

2010-04-21T20:05:00.000-07:00

Hi Everyone. I'm back with another Reader Revamp. I know it has been a while since I featured one, so here is a great group of revamps from Aimee Weaver at My Pink Life. If you haven't been to her site, go- GO now...check her out. She is currently working on a very big project... a baby. I can't wait to read about her pregnancy progress.
Here are just three of many great re-do's she has created.
First, check out this 80's nasty side table that she transformed into a neutral, useful, super cute table.

BEFORE

With some paint, a sander, and some new drawer pulls it looks 1000 times better.

AFTER

ANOTHER side table that she transformed was this Goodwill find....

BEFORE

This is a table that I might have just walked right past, but Aimee saw the potential and turned it into this classic looking side table. Great knobs!!!

AFTER

And I just had to include this next Revamp, because it is sooo cute. She took a cute woman's size 0 skirt from Goodwill and turned it into a super cute summer dress for her little daughter. What a great idea! It doesn't get cuter than this...

BEFORE

AFTER

Thank you Aimee for sending these great projects to me.

Here are some other great things you can find at My Pink Life...

If YOU have a Revamp you would like to share... Email them to me!!!! I love seeing all the creative things you guys come up with. And remember, you don't have to have a blog to be featured. Keep em' coming guys.

Crafty Can

2010-04-15T16:57:00.000-07:00

I received a couple emails about my "No. 5" kitchen utensil can. One reader, Laura, guessed it! It was just a coffee can with burlap and paint. Cheapest craft I've ever done, since I already had everything laying around. This old coffee can sat in my backyard full of clothes pins, until one day when I busted out the burlap and glue gun.

I loosely stole the idea from these Pottery Barn cans...

Pottery Barn

I cut out a burlap scrap with 5 extra inces for the bottom and inside....

Applied hot glue to a section of the can....

Once the sides were complete, I pleated the bottom and glued it to the can.

I did the same inside, with less pleating.

Then I used tracing paper to copy a the "No. 5" that I wrote up on a Word document. I just messed with the size and font until I found what I liked. Then I traced in onto some black craft paper that I had and cut out the stencil with an exacto knife.

I taped the home-made stencil onto the can and painted in on with some 99 cent acrylic craft paint. Thats it folks. Easy Peasy.

This has been linked to...

Butcher Block Counter

2010-04-14T11:56:00.000-07:00

Remember when I told you about my ikea trip to pick up a chunk of butcher block? I've wanted to instal some butcher blockin my kitchen for a while after seeing some juicy insipration photos around the web. So I got to it, and have now completed one side of the kitchen, the small side.

First I had to cut about 5" off the length to make it fit in my space.

Then I sanded the original finish all the way down to the raw wood. I mixed my own stain, because the "Special Walnut" was too light, and the "Dark Walnut" was way too dark. Sooo.... I got a quart of Special Walnut and added one of those tiny little cans of Dark Walnut to it. I shook it up real good, and wa-la the perfect color. If you decide to mix stains make sure you wear gloves!!! I didn't and had stain all over my hands for about 2 days.

I did two coats of stain, letting each coat sit for about 15 minutes, then rubbing the excess off. I let it completely dry for about 4 days.

Above, how it looked with one coat. Below, working on the second coat.

I used Waterlox Original Satin to protect it. I almost broke down and used a regular old oil finish from Home Depot, but decided I should do it right. I heard that Waterlox was the best, and I am so glad I listened. It was hard to find, as no body seems to carry it around here. I had to order a quart from their website.

In the following photo you can see how the water just beads up. It is super easy to keep clean and dry. I love my new counter! I can't wait to do the rest of the kitchen.

My kitchen was looking very cold, with the white cabinets, blue paint, tin backsplash, and stainless steel appliances. The warmth of the wood gives it a perfect contrast I think. It really makes the kitchen look more homey, warm and livable.

And just to refresh your memory, this is what the kitchen looked like about a year ago.

Dreaming in White

2010-04-12T21:29:00.000-07:00

I've been on a bedroom kick lately. Since we moved in over a year ago now, there has been very little done to our bedroom. I painted it light blue and immediately hated it. That’s as far as the decorating has gone. Pretty bad I know. So I've been thinking.... and trying to get some inspiration for the room. I've always wanted pure white bedding. A comfy all white bed reminds me of good times..... In high school my mom always took me on a "school clothes" shopping trip every year. We would drive the 2 hours to Costa Mesa and stay the weekend at the Westin Hotel and shop all day, then eat tiramisu at night. If you've ever been to a Westin Hotel then you know they are known for their "Heavenly Beds". It is the best hotel experience I’ve ever had; you never want to get out of bed. I wanted to re-create the "Heavenly Bed" experience in our room. So after years and years of wanting, I finally made it happen! A heavenly bed is not just any white bed by the way! It includes high thread count, down, and pure comfortableness. In order to make that happen this is what I did....

We've had a tempurpedic topper for a while now, so that helped get us started. Add a down comforter, with 720 thread count duvet and sheet set. At least four pillows is mandatory, and I would still like to add two European Shams and a bolster as well.

I'm tellin’' you.... this bed is A-MAZ-ING. I never want to get out of it! It completely makes up for the rest of the room being a complete disaster. But I have plans for this room. But like the rest of my plans, it will come to fruition in time... a long time. Here is what my room looks like tonight....

The Duvet was from Bed Bath and Beyond $80, normally $120.

Orchid plant I bought today at Target for $19.99.

Striped sheet set from T.J. Maxx for only $29.99!!! Score for cheapness + high thread count. Gotta love TJ!

I've been looking at a few inspiration photos like these:

I want to hang a big starburst mirror like this....

Pottery Barn

Above the bed, in front of a wall of curtains like all of these...

www.megahowto.com

www.materialgirlsblog.com

www.hgtv.com

And add a long bolster pillow to the bedding, with two matching lamps...

Decorpad.com

And then paint the walls with Benjamin Moore's Rever Peweter paint...

Other imspiration imgages that I Likey:

Heavenly Beds...

www.homefurnishings.com

www.blog.hgtv.com

Maybe some mis-match side tables, one round like this...

http://caramcbroom.files.wordpress.com

www.houseandhome.com

Two matching lamps on each side of the bed. Something like these...

www.chicago.apartmenttherapy.com

I found this one at World Market, for $69, but I'm going to hold out for a cheaper one since I need two.

I would also love to put a chair, side table and tree in the corner of the room.

A tuffed chair like this...

target.com

A modern accent table like this...

www.cb2.com

And a real potted tree like this...

So who knows if this will happen. By the time I can afford to complete it I will probably have changed my mind. Hopefully not. My plan is to purchase one item at a time, browsing ebay and craigslist first! =)

It is nice to get a start on our bedroom. It makes me feel like an adult to have a "nice bedroom". =)

The Ugly Truth Comes Out

2010-04-06T11:07:00.000-07:00

I know, I know... AGAIN I have been the world’s worst blogger. I come bearing NO Excuse! Maybe just one... this online masters program makes me really hate the internet. The computer has become my enemy instead of my ally. It is a tool in which professors can torture you with pointless group assignments, yet where is this said group? Okay, that’s all the complaining I'm allowing myself for today.

Moving on....
To make up for my lack of boggerness (I think we should add that to Wikipedia!) I have decided to show you some really nasty photos. Beware; these are not for the sensitive eye. With my iphone in hand I snapped a few shots of my house. I consider myself a thoroughly clean person, most of the time. However, his is not the case today, or this week for that matter. No, we have not recently had an earthquake of monstrous measures. And No, I have never even seen a tornado in my life. And No, I do not have 5 kids running around making disasters (or even one!).

So how has this happened you ask? Now you have found me speechless. I present to you.... the evidence.

A sewing/homework mecca, a calamity of coffee, chocolate and fabric.

As if there was not enough fabric mess on the table, I needed to strew it across my floor; then leave it for 24 hours... and counting.

You ain't seen nothin' yet! ;) Here is where it gets ugly.

Paint swatches that have been on the walls for about 6 months. At least I have decided NOT to use any of those colors. Blankets, clothes, shoes, and bags have no home here; the floor will do just fine it appears. And who needs to really make the bed...? It is just going to get slept in again.

I keep telling myself when we re-do this room with a big hotel-like all white bedding; I will want to actually start making the bed, just like this one...

(Pottery Barn)

There is just no reasoning with this one...

Now THIS is what is really driving me crazy! A messy kitchen, eww. That is one thing that really gets under my skin. Usually I can blame it on my husband, but not today. This one is alllll me. Latte mess, mail, sewing patterns (in the kitchen?), drug store bag hanging on the cabinet..? Why did I do that?

Changing this beautiful view is definitely on the priority list today.

Last but not least I present the breakfast nook/laundry room.

This is not a new development, it is one that I have been looking at for about a week now. For my birthday THREE weeks ago, I received an espresso maker from my parents; so why is the box still on the table? Must throw away! That green comforter.... well it doesn't fit in our washer so it has been on the floor for weeks. I'm dreading the laundry mat.

So there you have it. The hard, cold ugly truth; humans are messy, especially this one. And does Pottery Barn truly expect us to believe this is how someone's house always looks....

Reader Revamp: Giggle me White

2010-03-24T08:49:00.000-07:00

Today's Reader Revamp comes from the beautiful Tracey over at My House of Giggles. Go check out her cute kitchen too.

Here is a before photo with some terrible wood paneling and mauve carpet. Ohh la la...

They took the carpet out, painted the paneling and the walls white, white, white, even the fireplace. She recently updated her couches with white slipcovers to give them a fresh facelift.
And that painting above the fireplace... she made it!

And I just had to throw this picture in here, because her boys are soooo stinkin' cute and that little baby face just cracks me up.

Lately I've been loving...

2010-03-23T15:30:00.000-07:00

I am soooo totally loving the Liberty of London Collection at Target. They have clothes, dishes, frames, lamp shades, and ohhh so many more cute things. They have a bicyle that is to die for and soo many cute clothes. I had to pick up this darling shirt today, and I can't wait to wear it...

Reversible Pillows

2010-03-22T16:34:00.000-07:00

I'm sorry that I have been completely M.I.A. lately. School has been a little more work than I planned on, and because it is online the last thing I want to do is be on the computer. I sit in bed at night and think about what a bad blogger I have been. But I LOVE my blog, and I never wanted it to be a chore. With all my online work, being on the computer has felt like work lately. I needed a little break, but I'm back! Through all my laziness of blogging, I have still been busy with some lil' projects! Also.... yesterday was my birthday so we did lots of relaxing and partying!

Because you know I can't get enough throw pillows I decided to sew my own. I headed to a fabric store with no idea what I was going to do, only knowing I wanted some new color on my couch. I picked out a bunch of different fabrics that I loved. I am always attracted to colorful, patterned fabric. I decided to contrast all the colors with some natural burlap.

I already had some pillows that I bought at TJ Maxx a while back, so I took the inserts out and used them for my two new pillows. I just cut strips of fabric and sewed them together. Easy peasy. I don't really sew, so I just went with the flow on these. If I can do it, anybody can. They're reversible too, so its like FOUR pillows for the work of TWO.

Here they are above, with my clearance target pillows.

Yay, It feels great to be back!

DIY Spring Wreath

2010-03-12T16:33:00.000-08:00

I was inspired by all of the cute wreaths I've been seeing out there. Since everyone is getting ready for spring, the pinecones are coming down and the flowers are coming out. I'm not a huge fan of fake flowers so I decided to go with a Mossy wreath. I stole the idea to put our last name intial in the middle from Morning T's wreath which you can see here on her house tour.

I started with a grape vine wreath from Michaels, and a $4 bag of moss. I just grabbed clumps of moss and starting hot glueing them to the wreath. I filled in all the wholes until it was comlete.

You can buy the letters at Michaels, I spray painted mine black then glued it to the moss.

I purchased a mini nest, and glued some little eggs in it, and then just stuck the blue bird right in the moss. Ta Da. Easy but a tad messy from all the dirt falling off the moss when your glueing it. Make sure you use a table cloth that can get dirty.

I made it out alive

2010-03-11T14:56:00.000-08:00

I love Ikea, but that place can really do some damage on your wallet and nerves if you let it. There are just soo many people and none of them seem to be watching where they are going. Although I understand... they are preoccupied by all of the wonderfulness to gawk at. I made the 1 1/2 hour trip to ikea a couple weeks ago to pick up a piece of butcher block for my kitchen counters. Remember when I was wanting to do butcher block in this post? I decided to get going on it. I will start with just one side of the kitchen, the side that only has a small 43" section of counter top. After we get our tax money manybe I will finish the main side, and get a new sink. (Keeping my fingers crossed). I will show you more of the project later on. I just wanted to show you my ikea score. I was amazed to find that they have a fabric section! Who knew? Not me. They had a section that was 75% off! I purchased some panels that were already hemmed on each side. I turned it into two table runners. I also got some white organizing boxes for our office room and a few plants. Whew. I think I did good. I was so tempted to keep on shopping, but I held back. Kudos for me. That is a toughy at Ikea.

Etsy Monday: Bust Time...again

2010-03-08T11:47:00.000-08:00

It's Etsy Monday again, and I'm back with some more busts. Yes, I can't seem to get enough. They are just so cool for some reason. Remember back when I showed inspiration rooms with busts as decoration, and I raved about how I wanted one? And then miraculously that Saturday I found one at a yard sale. With just a little sprucing I made it look great again. A month or so ago I also found a more femenin looking bust at Salvation army for just a few bucks. It was ragged and yellow tones. I sprayed it with some high gloss white paint and it looks fantastic and crisps. It is now in our office. I decided to look around etsy to check out their selection of busts. They always have great one of a kind things, so I knew I'd have some luck. Here is what I found to share with you.

From seller: Blue Bell Bazaar.

From seller: Johnny Vintage

From seller: Atty's Vintage

From seller: Austin Modern

From seller: Im So Vintage

Lately I've been loving...

2010-03-06T08:04:00.000-08:00

source unknown

DecorPad

source unknown

DecorPad

Country Living

Benjamin Moore

DecorPad

Domino (may you rest in peace)

You may be thinking that some of these images have nothign to do with each other. That may just be true for some of them. These are all images I have saved for inspiration for my home office. I see something wonderful in each photo. I hope you enjoyed the eye candy. Have a great weekend!!

I've Got a Little Something Up my Sleeve

2010-03-05T08:39:00.000-08:00

Once of our three bedrooms has pretty much been a big storage mess ever since we moved in (almost a year now!). I decided I've had enough of the mess, and needed to get it on track. I pulled everything out of the room, which means my kitchen is a disaster now. I've been working these last couple days, moving stuff, filling holes with putty, sanding, painting and oh so much more painting.
This week has been an exciting week for me. I officially started school again. I'm working towards my Masters in Psychology. I hope to be a Psychology Professor some day in the next few years. I've always had a great passion for psychology theories and practices; it is all just so interesting to me. I finished my undergrad in 2006, and have done a few things since then. I never knew "what I wanted to be when I grow up" besides a mommy. But recently I realized my dream job would be to teach psychology at the college level. I can't wait until I get there. So in honor of my new student status...we decided to turn our extra room into an office where we can also have a sitting area to read or watch TV, a desk where we can use the laptop when we don't want it to actually be on our laps. It is coming along nicely, but there is still so much to do. I decided I would give you a sneak peek. Although, honestly I have NO IDEA when it will actually be done. In the meantime, here is a little glance of the work in progress...

Reader Revamp: Kitchen Transformation

2010-03-04T07:29:00.000-08:00

Thank you to those who sent in your Before and Afters. Keep them coming!!! I hope I get more from you guys, I enjoy them so much. If you haven't sent your projects in yet, make sure you email them to me. You do not have to have a blog in order to be featured. I just want to see all the creativeness out there.

Our first Reader Revamp is by Angie over at All My Treasures. Angie is a loyal follower of Rocky Bella, and I always enjoy reading her great comments. Thanks for sending your terrific Before & After my way Angie!

Here is what Angie wrote to me...

"The house was built in the 20's. The owner had updated most of the home but had left the kitchen as is. The funniest part is he was a single gay man living with a duck motif in his kitchen. This didn't suit him at all. Cracked me up!"
"I did this kitchen for a friend about 4 years ago and the total cost for transformation was $10,000.00.
That was for cabinets, granite counters, plumbing, lighting, drywall, painting AND a couple new appliances."

BEFORE

AFTER

This is the view from the dinning room into the kitchen. The contractors removed a total of 8 inches. 6 in one direction and 2 in the other and then rounded out the opening.

BEFORE

AFTER

BEFORE

AFTER

BEFORE

AFTER

There were once two pantries in the laundry room behind the fridge wall, but who needs two pantries? One was knocked out so the fridge could be recessed a bit. The extra couple of inches along with the wider entrance into the kitchen and getting rid of the ceiling fan makes it feel 300 square feet larger.

BEFORE

AFTER

The once dead space is now several extra cabinets and makes his once lonely wine fridge look like a built in. It gave him an extra 6 feet of counter space and added a small flat screen to watch cooking shows on.

BEFORE

When you squeezed through the door you weren't sure if the fridge was going to attack you or if you were going to get decapitated by the low hanging ceiling fan!

AFTER

Do you have a Before & After you would like to share? It doesn't have to be an entire kitchen like this. I want to see all that you guys are up to! Email me your photos and description of what you have done.

Before & After Search

2010-03-03T08:54:00.000-08:00

Do you have a Before & After that you would love to share? Email it to me and I might just showcase it. I love any Before and After’s, so please send them my way. It can even just be an "after". Let’s get those creative juices flowing. I have a few up my sleeve at the moment. I've been working on a new "office room". We have a third bedroom that has pretty much just been storage until today. I'll share my (very much beginning) of the redo with you soon. Until then I hope to live vicariously through your wonderful transformation.

If I receive enough reader input I will begin a weekly, or maybe bi-weekly (depending on the amount) showcase of reader re-do's. This can mean anything from a paper craft, furniture revamp, to an entire room redo. Anything goes! Send them this way. I've heard from Kelsey and her "Fabulously Flawed" Armoire makeover. I enjoyed it so much; I wanted to keep the action coming.

BEFORE

AFTER

Etsy Monday: Baby Bedding

2010-03-01T07:43:00.000-08:00

Continuring on with our Second Etsy Monday. I have so much fun searching for the coolest stuff. I admit it is a little dangerous though, it makes me want to shop shop shop. Just fight it Karli!!! And yes, I think I just referred to myself in third person.
No, I am not hinting at good news, there is no bun in the oven. Yet. I love baby stuff. It is all just too cute. I think about how I will decorate our nursery when we do have a baby. A little research ahead of time never hurt anyone, right...? There are so many ridiculously cute fabrics out there and I loved seeing how people created unique baby bedding out of them.

(Click on the photo to be directed to the "buy page"- I just invited that: "buy page", ya like.?)

I love the color mixing from Tiptoe Studios...

And her mobiles are to die for. I love fabric. I need to take sewing lessons.

The next two are from SBauerBaby who customizes with some gorgeous fabrics, including my fav. Anna Maria Horner.

RockyTop Designs (I'm liking the name) has a ton of the best fabrics to chose from and she custom makes crib sets. You gotta check her stuff out. Sooo cute.

_________________________________________________________

The Following four are from Custom House Baby...

_______________________________________________________________________

Reversisble Baby/Toddler Quilts from Tiny & Little

______________________________________________________________________

Cute Moses Basket's by Lil Ladybug's

___________________________________________________________________

Click on the rest to find the source and be redirected to the sellers page.

SOOO CUTE!!!

Decorating with Branches

2010-02-27T10:08:00.000-08:00

Here in Central California winter is beginning to wear off. Not all the way though, we just had rain yesterday. But still, the spring feeling is starting to creep. To get a head start I decided to bring a bit of early spring inside. We have this beautiful tree in the front yard that is blooming the most beautiful white flowers.

Inspired by the following images, I decided to bring some of its beauty inside.

Ethan Allen

Sunset.com

Domino

apartment of Carlos Souza

House Beautiful

And now my branches...

I used a wine decanter because none of the vases I have were small enough at the opening.

Before & After: Frame turned Memo Board

2010-02-26T10:46:00.000-08:00

While flipping through the Wisteria Catalog, I saw this bad boy and thought, "So Easy To Make!". Instead of spending $39 on a little one, I made my own.

When we moved into the house, there was a few old frames left in the garage (along with a lot of other random things). I used on of the largest frames for this.

It was super dusty and gross, so I cleaned it up then taped it off. There is a cream stripe through the middle of the frame, and I wanted to keep that, so I did two seperate "tapings" so I could spray paint from both sides of the stripe.

Once the paint was completely dry, I brought it inside, turned on the hot glue gun and grabbed my 99 cent store twine.

I cut up five pieces of twine.I glued one end of each piece to one side of the back of the frame.

Once the left side was all dry, I glued each opposite end of twine to the right side of the back of the frame. I did it this way for a reason. I was able to keep the twine much more taunt when one end was already glued into place. I could pull it tight while the glue dried. If it is not taunt enough it will droop when you hang things to it.

Then I just put a bunch of clothes pins to it, and hung it in my kitchen. It holds a few photos and lots of "inspiration images".

I also hung my home-made apron that I sewed a couple years ago. I love it, and it matches my kitchen actaully. It is usually hidden away in a drawer, but now I have a place to hang it.

While I was taking these photos, I was also in the middle of emptying my dishwasher. I left the door of it open, and forgot. I had my eye in the camera, and backed up right over it. I fell over backwards, lost my slippers, dropped the camera, and landed on a pile of knifes. Luckily I, as well as my dishwasher & camera was not hurt. I was lying on the ground cracking up at my clumbsiness.

Update on my Wreath

2010-02-25T23:53:00.000-08:00

NOW they are how I want them. My earlier post today I wrote about my book wreaths that came out "too round", not chunky, jagged enough. I didn't notice how much they were not what I wanted until I wrote that post and saw back to my inspiration photos. So tonight while watching Law & Order SVU I pulled apart 2 of my old wreaths. I needed an exacto knife for most of it. Then I re-glued them furher away from the center circle. Much better!!! Sorry about these photos... I did them on the quick with my iphone and its dark now at 11:30pm!

What's Black & White and READ all over?

2010-02-25T14:07:00.000-08:00

Answer: My new diy book wreaths!

Okay, bad joke.

Click here for an update to this post. I have altered my wreaths a bit!!! Much better now.

I have been eying these book wreaths all over the net. They are made out of book pages. They feel like they would be a display in Anthrpologie, so of course I loved them. Once I realized how easy they are to make, I was on it like white on rice. The two I loved the most were from The Shabby Nest and My Pink Life

The Shabby Nest

My Pink Life

After completing (not one, not two, but THREE wreaths) I still like their's better. Mine came out too round. Okay, that sounds crazy that a wreath is round and I don't like it that way, but look back at the photos above. They are not a perfect circle, I see a bit of jaggedness. That non- perfect circle is what drew me in. Maybe I will make some new ones and give mine away. Anyways, enough of my blabbering. Here is how I made my wreaths:

I started with a regular ol' book. Wait... let me back up a minute and tell a quick story. I kind of got in trouble with this book. See, I have this pile of books that I am giving away to Goodwill. Well Ryan must not have known that this was a "give-a-way" pile because he came home with some books that our friends gave him. (Sorry Matt & Sam, but that means you.) He set them in this pile. So naturally I went to get a book out of my "getting rid of pile". There was a book about the symbolism of a dollar bill. The pages looked really cool, there was some black and white images and a cool boarder aorund each page. I thought it would be great for a wreath. Since it was in the no longer being used pile, I tore it up and used it. When I finished it, he asked what book this wreath was made from. Whooops... I guess that one was suppose to be a keeper. He gave me a little bit of a hard time until I told him I would go check it out from the Library for him. Problem solved.

Moral of the Story: make sure you definitely have a book that can be torn up, and then double check!

I painted the edges with some brown paint. I read to do that somewhere, but I don't think this step is nessasary at all! I only did this to my first wreath and skipped the paint for the others.

Then I tore out a bunch of pages as close to the spine as I could. I rolled them in cone shapes, and put a bit of hot glue on each.

For my first wreath I purchased a wooden wreath base from Michaels for $1.99. For my other two I just cut out a circle with a hole in the middle of it. I used thick craft paper that I had around, and traced the circles with a dinner plate, and a salad plate.

Wine was an important step in this process! Sip, glue, sip glue, glue glue, sip, sip. It goes much better this way.

Above, you can see another wreath that I was working on that night. I'll show you that soon.

Once I had the base of paper cones, I just kept on glueing them on to fill any holes. I did about 3 layers.

Here is my first wreath (my favorite because of the images, and boarders on the pages). I hung it on my kitchen door. The door that has still not been painted white, just primed (over really old oil based paint).

Since my other two were going to be be near each other I used the same book, a book with more pages. I had two copies of Pride & Prejudice, so there was my answer. Jane Austin became a wreath, or two. I added some purple ribbon and hung them from two old windows that came from my parents rental property when they had new windows put in. I hung the windows on each side of the fireplace a while ago, but they just looked so plain. I think this is exactly what they needed.

House Tour with some Morning T

2010-02-19T13:18:00.000-08:00

Today I wanted to leave you with a cozy feeling for the weekend. So I decided to feature a house that I feel is so very homey, comfortable and beautiful. Its not a cookie cutter, all done in one weekend kind of house. It's a flea market, antique style, loved home. A house you want to open a bottle of wine in and chat with good friends. I came across Morning T Blog last night and got hooked. Lets just say I was up waaaay past my bed time (like 2:30am). I couldn't tear myself away. I had to look at every single post. I'm such a Peeping Tom, so I loooooove getting a virtual tour of other peoples homes. I take my dogs on their walk just around dusk, because thats optimal peeping time. Oh my gosh, I sound like a total creeper. I don't want to see people, just their decor, furniture and paint colors! Anways, enough of my freaky stalkerness, lets get to the tour...

Last night I copied this idea (above) which I have also seen on here on Finding Fabulous. I made my own (or three) twine wrapped wine bottles and added some pottery barn style letters painted on them. I'll show you soon.

Get Your Face On Party

2010-02-17T16:55:00.000-08:00

Because I'm feeling brave...

I'm joining the Party over at The Stories of A to Z. Its a Before & After party, but its not about furniture this time. Its my face. Ahhhhh. Wait... please don't run away.

She is bearing it all for the world of blogging, well her face at least. I had so much fun looking at everyone who linked up to the party. It would be unfare not to join and I love playing with makeup. I use to work at M.A.C. (well technically I'm still employed there, just "on-call") so I've had a lot of fun applying makeup on other people. This brought me back to those days. Not that those days were long ago at all. A year maybe...?
I'm not a full face of makeup kinda gal, only sometimes. Most days, its concealer, eyebrow powder, tinted chapstick, and mascara. Anyways, here it goes. I'm feeling brave. (deep breath)

BEFORE. I got dressed, but thats about it. I haven't even brush my hair yet.
(p.s. I'm cameraless today, so these are all taken with my scotch taped iphone.)

Time to bust out the goods.

Can you see me in the mirror? I'm waving at you.

I dont know if you can tell from this photo, but my eyes are done (without mascara yet), and I have little dabs of foundation on my forehead, nose, and chin. I'm almost there.

I love the "mascara face". Does anybody not look goofy putting mascara on...? I doubt its possible.

And if you're wondering what in the heck I am doing in the little picture on the bottom left... I'm bronzng my cleavage. Hey... every little bit helps. Its a little trick I use to do to my bridal clients. But dont put too much or it will make them look really far apart. ;)

And thats it folks... Much better I think. Now if only I did this every day. Nah, I'm too lazy.

I decided to wipe off the natural color lipgloss and go for some RED. Ohhh la la. Sometimes a girl just needs some RED lipstick. My favorite: Mac Red, by M.A.C. obviously.

I have that song stuck in my head now...

"Red red wine you make me feel so fine
You keep me rocking all of the time".

Maybe that means I need a drink. Yes, wine will be great right now. Off I go.

Don't forget to go over and check out everyone else's Before & Afters too! It's really fun to see people without makeup on.

Rug Burn

2010-02-17T08:35:00.000-08:00

We went to Costco last night to pick up some grub for our dinner company on Thursday night. I found a great rug for super cheap. I've been looking high and low for a LARGE rug for our living room. I didn't realize how expensive they are when you get into the large rug category (8x10ish). Costco had a bunch of 7.5'x10' rugs for $99! They say indoor/outdoor but they seem totally indoor to me. One in particular caught my eye. I really like the colors and design of it. I tried the pouty face on Ryan, but I guess we just can't buy it "right now".

Check this lil bad boy out, or big bad boy I guess...

$99!!!! I just can't get over that. Such a great deal.

Kitchen Cabinet Organized...Check

2010-02-16T08:00:00.000-08:00

I painted my kitchen walls and, ceiling last month. Once I started with the paint, I just couldn't stop. "What else can I paint in this color?" went through my head while I was finished with the walls and holding the paint brush in my hand. I opened up the cabinets to get a glass for some water...and WA-La *lightbulb*. It came to me...paint the insides of the cabinets the same blue as the walls. I set my paint brush down and started taking everything out of all my cabinets, gave them a good clean up, then got to brushing. It only took me 2 coats; 1 on some sections. Doing this little project gave me a great chance to organize all my dishes and cabinet things like food, or in my case lack there of right now. It feels so good to be organized. I feel like my kitchen is clean, even when it is a disaster on the outside.

AFTER...I obviously needed to go to the grocery store. I guess its pretty easy to organize when you don't have much to organize.

I forgot to paint the inside of this cabinet. Whoops. The big vent kinda gets in the way anyways...

I do love opening my cupboards now..

The color I used was a mix of my own, Somewhere in the middle of Moody Blue and Quietude - both by Sherwin Williams.

I took off the two cabinet fronts above the sink to make a little enclave. I still need to putty up the hinge holes and paint over that spot. Pretend you can't see that part.

BEFORE

AFTER

Etsy Monday: Pillow Overload

2010-02-15T11:06:00.000-08:00

I wanted to start a series on Etsy. For those of you who don't know about it, hurry hurry go to ETSY.COM right now! (p.s. I am sooo not being paid to plug them). I just LOVE etsy, you can find almost anything. I've always loved handmade things. Some of the best presents I ever received when I was little was stuff like a soap making kit, a candle making kit, stuff for decoupage. Its just in me. Thanks mom. Since I often find myself lost in Etsy I decided I would at least share some of my searches with you. Each Monday I will pick a topic and show you my favorite finds. The hard part is just not being able to get through everything, so there may be a favorite that I never got to view.

First Etsy Monday...Pillows. I love throw pillows! I definitely don't have enough...is it possible to have too many?? Well, I guess you can on a bed. I just don't understand those beautiful made up beds with dozens of throw pillows on them. How long does that take in the morning to make it up?? That's an extra 5 minutes of sleep right there. I admit, I'm lazy though. Any way....I've been eying some really cute pillows out there. I'm a big fan of the handmade ones on etsy. I wanted to share some of my favorites with you. I didn't realize how many there were out there. I just bought some clearance pillows from Target too. Dang.

Shabby Nest will customize it to whatever profile picture YOU send in. Cool huh!?

and these are made by her too...

The Home Centric on etsy has some great pillows. They all look very quality made.

I love this ruffle pillow, it reminds me of one my friend Casey made.

These pillows by Homemaker Movements on etsy feel indie and warm to me. Each one has a different vibe. I want some!

Made by Additional Comfort, this put a big ol' smile on my face. I think this is really funny.

Sweet...

From idotakeu

Ohhh for the love of Anna Maria Horner Fabric...

I've always wanted something of her fabric in my house. These pillow caovers made by Pillow Mio are so cute.

These pillow covers from Elegant Touch remind me of Ballard designs which I love so much but can't afford. So these are great!

I've been loving birds lately, so this screen printed pillow by Branch Handmade is making googly eyes at me.. kinda like the geico money.

Okay, as I am writing this post I'm realizing it is going to be the longest in the world... and we are only talkin' pillows here. I must stop. But I can't! I've barely scratched the surface of all the etsy pillows. So I'm only going to add some more without text, but you can click on them to be sent to its etsy home. I'm addicted.

Wishing Upon a Slipcover

2010-02-14T10:43:00.000-08:00

Right now, I actually have a patio chair in my living room. Yes that's right.... a white scrolly iron patio chair in the living room. I'm dying for more seating, comfortable seating that is. No more wooden chairs, no iron chairs. I've been reeeeaaaallly reeeealllly wanting a cute white, or off white slip covered chair. The problem: I'm not much of a seamstress; other than really simple stuff. A slipcover seems C-R-A-Z-Y to me! All the piping...I wouldn't even know where to start. I wonder how much it would be to have one made? Probably too much. Does anybody know of a ridiculously easy slipcover method, step by easy step? I need Slipcovers for Dummies...can someone write that please? I found this chair on my local craigslist and really like the lines. I haven't purchased it though. It's listed at $30. I'm sure I can probably get it for a little less too, since it is so attractive.

I think it would be perfect with a slipcover like Miss Mustard Seeds...

Here are some other inspiration chairs that are making me drool.

Country Living

Source not found

House Beautiful Photo Eric Piasecki

Wisteria.com

The best tutorial I can find so far is by Portland Domesticity

And actually this is a pretty good tutorial here at Blissfully Domestic, DIY: Laziest Slipcover Tutorial- right up my ally! The tutorial was written by Kristi at Pink Polka Dot.

I'm beginning to feeling hopeful now

Decor Pad.com

Country Home

Maybe I'll just take a short cut and throw a white sheet over it?? Noooo I can't do that. Even if it does look really good one this chair...

I like the wrinkled-a-bit look. Some pleats on the bottom maybe?? As long as it can come off and be thrown in the wash, I'll love it. With three dogs, two black dogs, one golden that sheds like crazy- there is no way this white will last long unless it is washable, washable, washable.

If anyone has some good ideas, or sites out there, I would LOVE to see them.

Hand Made Valentine, Roses & Dinner for 2

2010-02-13T16:44:00.000-08:00

Tomorrow is Valentines day, but we are cheating and making a Valentines Weekend. Today is our day together, mushy stuff and all. Tomorrow we are heading out, about an hour away to a place called Kernville with some friends to celebrate "Wiskey Flats Days". Its always a lot of fun, wild west style. I might even bust out my cowboy boots.

I decided to go the handmade route this V-day for Ryan. My friend Melissa sent me this cute idea (click to check it out). I'm lazy though, and decided I would improvise and make it a little easier on myself. But I kinda stole the general idea, just tweaked it A LOT. So when you are thinking... that doesn't resemble yours at all.... well I know- sorry for the build up.

I bought a bunch of Valentines day scrapbooking paper, red glitter, and some red ribbon at JoAnnas Fabric and Craft store. I wasn't exactly sure what I was going to do with it all, but I knew I'd figure it out by the time I got home. I just started with cutting out a bunch of hearts, gluing them together, on top of each other, and adding lots of glitter. The first heart says "I Love..." And then every other heart can finish that sentence.... like "how you buy me wine when I'm grumpy." Or "how you take out the trash without ever being asked." I didn't have a hole punch so I stuck a screw driver through the paper (ghetto version of a hole punch), strung the ribbon through, knotted it, then made a bow. It was a lot of fun to make, I found myself thinking of him the whole time.

My favorite part was giving it to him. He LOVED it, and his smile got bigger and bigger with each heart he read. He wanted to hang it up in the house (like it was decoration). That made my heart flutter. =) He put it up on our china hutch for all to see how much I love him. He is wonderful.

And for me Flowers. A man can never go wrong with flowers I tell ya. This morning I received a delivery of white, red, and pink roses... they smell so good.

There was baby's breath in them too, but I took that out because I love baby's breath all by itself. It doesn't do too much for me as a filler, but on its own its lovely.

So really, its like I got 2 bouquets in one!

Plus the other night I also got this gorgeous bulb when he came home from the grocery store. I guess it was a pre-valentines day flower. Or maybe because I was just in a bad mood and he wanted me not to be. Either way, it worked.

For the rest of the day we are just going to lounge around with each other. I'm finishing re-doing my coffee table while he is Wii Boxing.

Our plans for tonight are making a delicious dinner together out of my Williams Sonoma cookbook that his sitster got me for Christmas.

Maybe Salmon...?

I hope you all have a wonderful weekend filled with LOVE.

My first Mood Board...

2010-02-04T16:02:00.000-08:00

I've been sick in bed lately and sleeping the days away. My drug of choice lately has been NyQuil and lots of it, therefore my sleep pattern is pretty messed up. Yesterday I slept super late, napped in between, and couldn't get to sleep at night til after 3am! Dang you NyQuil... but oh how I love you. I'm starting to feel a bit better.

With all this extra time at night, I had the computer all to myself. (We have one computer and it is Ryans work- lap top, so he takes it with him during the day. I'm left computer-less until the evening.) So from after Law & Order til about 2 am I decided I was going to try and get a mini lesson in Photoshop and Illustrator. Ryan gave me a lot of good pointers, poor guy had to put up with my technological impatience. Sometimes I just want to throw the computer. Why don't they make these things more user friendly? Or maybe I'm just a little slow, very plausible.

It took me waaaaayyy too long, but I created my first Mood Board! I've always wanted to do one of these, but always got stuck. With Ryan's help in the beginning I got the basics down. When it was all said and done, I was so proud that I had finally done it!

So without further adieu, I introduce you to my first Mood Board (can you hear the drum roll?)....

1. Paint colors, I messed up here because I didn't save them. I could always go back and track down the colors from my fan deck. First time mess up. Whoops

2. Laboratory Flower Vases from Urban Outfitters

3. Canary Print Arlmess Chair from Target

4. Graphic Flat Weave Rug in Red from Wisteria.com

5. Kiev Laterns from Z Gallerie

6. Vintage Riveted Door Coffee Table from Wisteria

7. DIY burlap curtains made by Layla at The Lettered Cottage.

8. White canvas Streamlined Sofa from Wisteria

9. Chad Barrett Songbird Prints from Art.com

10. Enzo floor lamp from Anthropologie

11. & 12. Red Panama Cafe Pillow from Pottery Barn and Blue and White Linen Stripe pillow also from Pottery Barn

Sketchy Art

2010-02-03T18:28:00.000-08:00

I've never been much of an artist, and that's an overstatement... or under? Any ways, I'm terrible. But I can still love to look at it right? I've always had a thing for sketches, pencil or charcoal sketches. Honestly I'm not really sure if I would even know the difference. I love them though, there is something mysterious, raw, and beautiful about sketches. Without sounding like a weirdo- I really like sketches of the female body. Most look so classic. Now as far as what I would hang on my walls, I don't think boobs would really fly. =)
Even something as simple as this little tree, I love!

A little more bold...

Foggy, and mysterious.... I like it

Not sure what these are, but I like the grouping.

After the Chad Barrett post, you may be on art overload from me. I promise I have a rhyme and reason to this. See the thing is I took down the mirror that was previously hung in my living room to move it to the kitchen. It is currently hiding a huge hole in the wall as we wait for repairs to begin. So what was I to do with the space in the living room now? Well I have another, larger mirror that I put in its place. It is not quite large enough to stand on its own, so I wanted to keep with the mess of framed art all around it. However, I'm going to need new nail holes since the old ones were placed around the smaller mirror. And not so much black... to dark and depressing. Bring some wood in... light and dark.... Mmmmm that would be much better.

BEFORE

In the following photo, I just hung up frames on existing nail holes to see if I still liked the frame idea. Hence, the crazy positioning. So... no I wasn't drunk and decorating. The mirror may stay, or may go- not sure yet. It sure does give the small area a feeling of bigger space though.

WORK IN PROGRESS

Instead of whatever random pictures I already have (like I did previously), I want to create more of an "art wall" if you will. Now, I'm no art junkie so I'm just going to put up what I like. So this post is one more step closer to finding out what kind of things I want to frame for my wall.

Sketches are definitely in.

I want every frame to have different sizes of white matting. Also, not every frame needs to match, which is why the white matte, to tie them all together.

More inspiration...

LOVE this

Not a sketch, but I like the idea. Must steal.

all images from decorpad.com

Old Table Gets a New Life

2010-01-31T18:00:00.000-08:00

I'm really excited to share my new dining room table with you. It has been a labor of love.

I've had a plan to paint/stain it for a while but I wasn't sure exactly what I wanted to do with it. I thought of some colors, I thought of all white, I thought of all stained. I just couldn't make up my mind. So it waited... and waited... and waited. Ten months later I made my move.

When we moved into our first home in March 2009, we acquired some left-overs. Some good, some not-so-good. One of the left-overs was a sturdy old oak dining table. It was in great shape, but in my opinion, super out dated. The verdict: and it down the the raw & get to work! I decided on a dark walnut stain. I mixed a Medium dark and a really dark stain together to get a, what I like to call... dark-but not black stain. Like this...

I applied it and left it over night. The next morning I awoke to find a super duper uneven messy staining job. We decided the sanding job wasn't quite as raw as we had hoped. Some of the old poly has managed to stick around, therefore the stain wasn't soaking up as evenly as it should have. So Ryan got to work some more. The oak table had a previous thick poly shine, so it was really hard to get down to the raw wood. He bought a 60 grit, and worked his way up through 80, and then 120.

I decided to beat the wood up a bit to give it an aged look. I purchased 3 feet of metal chain from Lowe's. I took the chain and beat up the top of the table. It was actually a lot of fun, and got some aggression out for sure.

I think my dogs were a little scared of me + beating chains, they all ran for shelter- far away from me. Note to all of you who might try this: be careful! The chain recoils faster than you think, I have two deep bruises on my fingers where I got hit with the chain. Probably not the smartest decision I've ever made. Wear heavy gloves!

I also busted out a hammer and gave the table a few smacks, that's actually where most of the dings came from Use both ends of the hammer, the nail removing end actually works great, but be sure to move it around a lot or you will end up with a lot of "snake bite" looking marks. . Just stick to that method, no chains needed. Save your fingers!

So.... Once the table was sanded down super good. I applied two coats of stain. Between each coat I let it sit for about 10 minutes and then rubbed the excess off with a clean rag. After the two coats, I let it sit for about 24 hours.

Check out this post to see how I made up the chairs.

During that time I applied two coats of Valspar's Homestead Resort Jefferson White (Best creamy white paint ever!). Then I distressed the edges and sides a bit.

To top it off, I applied a Satin wipe-on Poly to the entire table. Wa- La, that's it. A brand new table for under $20 bucks. I can say that because the table was free, the paint I already had from my fireplace revamp, I had half of the stain so I only spend about $5 stain, and I already had the wipe-on poly, and I spend a little over $12 on sand paper.
You can also check out this post where I gave the old chairs a face-lift

Thank you for stopping in. If you want to see the China Hutch in the background's Before & After click on the picture below.

What I'm Loving Right Now...

2010-01-28T19:42:00.000-08:00

Prints from Chad Barrett on Art.com. I love all of these, they are colorful, pretty and vintag-ey looking. :) Reminds me of something from Anthropologie. I love all the birds, flowers, and butterflies. And the best thing is they are only $8.99 for a 9x12 print. I really want to get some of these and frame them with some matting around them. I want to start a wall of random framed art. Maybe some of these, and I really love sketches- like just pencil or charcoal sketches.

I'm in loooove with a Stripper

2010-01-19T13:20:00.000-08:00

Paint Stripper of course!

Now that we have a nice oven, the nasty vent sticks out like sore thumb... not like it didn't before I guess. But really- it was BAD! Whoever lived here before decided to paint it, then cover it with blue gingham contact paper that was peeling off, then a little more paint. I looked into replacing it but that was quickly found as NOT an option. Even a used one was running well over $300. And since it is 42" long I couldn't even find one that size. I thought maybe I would sand down the unevenness and paint it with a chalkboard paint. The result that came out is way better than I thought.
While looking for a stain at Lowes (for a different project), my eyes wondered over to a can of Stripper. There was one made esspecially to remove paint and adhesive from metal. Perfect! For $10.28 it was worth a shot.

I got my rubber gloves on a started painting that thick goo all over my vent hood. After only 15 minutes it started to scrape right off.

I got as much off as I could but some was still stuck on there pretty good. I did one more coat of Stripper, waited, scraped, then got some steel wool and scrubbed the rest off.

It took my about 1 1/2 -2 hours from start to finish, but the end result was much to my surprise. It looked sooo much better.

But it is not Stainless steel- just regular ol' steel, so it doesn't exactly match the oven and it has a tint of blue to it rather than a silver tone. The color is a bit uneven and tarnished looking at a closer look. Plus my dad said it will rust after time since it isn't stainless, especially since it is from 1947. So I think I'm going to try to find a steel polish to shine it up a bit more, and then apply some type of clear coat to prevent rusting. If it doesn't improve maybe I will paint it still.
Not too bad for under $11 instead of well over $300.

Inspiration for New Countertops

2010-01-18T15:53:00.000-08:00

I had the idea to put a butcher block counter top on a section right next to my oven. Then I thought, would it look wierd to have just one section of butcher block and it not match with the rest of the counters. I decided No, it would look fine - BUT wouldn't it look great if all my counter tops were done in butcher block? So I started googling some butcher block images to see how much I really liked it in other kitchens.

image from Duir Designs

image found here

Isn't this kitchen grand?I like the darkness of the butcher block here. It looks so warm and rich. Also I love, love, love those diagonal black & white floors. Hmm... maybe something to think about. Our kitchen floors are definitely on the list of things to do... although I'm sure that's pretty far in the future.

image from artistic furnishings

can not find image source

The following three photos are from the cutest blog ever, called A Country Farmhouse. Take a look around her blog and you can't help but want to live in this house! Its like she lives in a dream. Ohhh sooo beautiful and classic.

image from The Old Painted Cottage

Again, I am liking the warmer wood much better than the light beech color. This all white kitchen is instantly cozy with the dark wood.

can not find image source

I love the brightness, openness, and cheeriness of this kitchen. It looks like nothing bad could ever happen in there. It doesn't look possible to burn the toast when your kitchen looks this light. =)

Maybe a little too perfect... like Martha could live there.

can not find image source

This picture makes me want to paint my cabinets...

image from Design Sponge

image from decorpad.com

After looking all over for exactly what I wanted, and what is attainable... I found it!

Drum Roll Please.......

From the wonderful blog This & That written by Vanessa I found my ultimate inspiration. It was then I made my decision that yes I will do this. Even if it takes a while to save up and get it all done DIY style. I LOVE these counters, they are different, timeless, warm, and surprisingly really affordable.

Ikea sells 96" by 26" butcher block counter tops for $59. and 49" by 26" for $39! I did the math and I would only have to spend $157 on the wood. Of course then we would need a new sink. We really like this undermount stainless number that Vanessa and Eric have.

I did some "ebaying" and some "craiglisting"... and I found one just like it on craigslist for $80. I'm not going to buy it yet, but that at least tells me the deals are out there.

This is sooo on my To Do list for 2010. Hopefully before my birthday in March... maybe FOR my Birthday (hint hint Ryan). We'll see how that works out.

On our way to a New Kitchen

2010-01-17T13:20:00.000-08:00

I've been busy in the kitchen, and I don't mean cooking. For Christmas we got a new oven from my parents and a new fridge from Ryans parents. Yay! It was really time for an upgrade. 1972 called and wanted their appliances back. So we went from this....

to this...

And this...

to this...

I'm also putting in some "tin" backsplash, which is by the way- SO easy to do! I don't know why I didn't do this earlier. We've been living with that beautiful orange/gray backsplash since we moved here in March. I immediately tore down the nasty wall panels that we up as soon as we got the keys. Still not sure why I did that. Yeah, it was really ugly but it couldn't have been uglier then this...

Until now, one side of the kitchen is completed with the tin. I love it, and I love that I did it all my myself. That reminds me of the old Pull Ups commercials... "I'm a big kid now!".

I just finished painting the ceilings and now I need to finish the walls.

... whew. So much Id like to still do. Its a snowball effect too. Once you do one thing. you notice another "needs" to be done, and then another... ahhhh. I'm trying to step back and tell myself all in good time!

Here is my Would Love To Do In 2010 list for the Kitchen....

-Butcher block counter tops

-Finish tin back splash

-Bead board chair rail,

-Close off door to bedroom from off the kitchen (yeah, there is a bedroom that has an extra door to the kitchen- weird

-Put front loader Washer and Dryer in the laundry section. Right now we only have a washer in there & the dryer is in the garage.

-Finish painting

-Get new flooring. No idea what.

-New under mount kitchen sink with new faucet

-New lighting installed

I'm sure I'll add more to that very soon- but for now I'm trying to enjoy what I've got instead of what I'd still like to do. Man, thats hard too. I'm going to work on that.