Wednesday, April 28, 2010

BIG Bookshelf Reveal!!!!!!!

OH MY GOODNESS!!!

I just can't stand to wait any longer.....

Even though I am not completely done with her new room, I just HAVE to show you the new bookshelves in Brooke's room...(I showed you a little hint HERE)

I wish I could take credit for building these....they are AWESOME...but my sweet friend, Tanya's, husband and his brothers built and put them it!!! And they did an awesome job!!! I'm in LOVE with these bookshelves!

Let's take a look to remember what the room looked like BEFORE the shelves were built...

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(My little diva had to get in on the action....)
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Yes, that's a crib you see. My 3 and a half year old daughter LOVED her crib and refused to come out of it... so I just left her in it.....she never climbed out....but she has finally been moved to a big girl bed, which you will see soon when I reveal her big girl room...
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This bay window in her room was wasted space...I couldn't really put anything there that was functional....

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As you can see, I was starting to run out of room...the toys were starting to take over because they had no where else to go....

That's when the builders showed up to save the day....


...and my yard looked like this for the day.....


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At the end of the day, I had these!!!!!!!
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To save money, I had to paint them myself (the painter wanted $700...I bought 2 cans of paint for $50 and did it myself.....I'd say I saved a LITTLE money, wouldn't you?!?)


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Sooo, I got them painted, and even added beadboard wallpaper to the backs of the shelves....(you can read about another beadboard project HERE)

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After I put in the beadboard wallpaper, I decided to paint the insides of the shelves a chocolate brown...
(the color is Betsy Ross Brown by Valspar at Lowe's)

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I LOVE the way the chocolate paint makes the white shelves POP!!
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Sooooo, HERE THEY ARE!!!!

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Our storage in this room REALLY increased!! Behind those cabinet doors are baskets with toys, and there's now more room on the shelves for more baskets, as well as room in the closet for more toys! YAY for extra storage!!!

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My favorite part of the shelves is this storage area.... I had one of these as a child in my room. I had so much fun using it as a hide-out.....and my girls have been using this storage area for their hide out too! It's become the hiding place of choice in our house for SURE!!!
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It opens right up, and is made so it doesn't mash any little fingers....I love being able to just toss toys in there, close it, and not worry!!!!
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I'm just THRILLED with the way these turned out!!! This room is definitely my favorite  in the house!!!

I am still working out the little details as far as what I am putting on the shelves, and the other details of her big girl room. I'm almost finished and can't wait to show you her entire room!!!

'Til then, have a great Wednesday!

Linking to.....


UndertheTableandDreaming



Tuesday, April 27, 2010

Move Over Octo-Mom

Move over Octo-Mom....

We have ELEVEN ducklings at our house...

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(Remember last week I blogged about finding the eggs HERE)

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Good gracious, these little boogers are cute...

I kind of have an attachment to the little critters....


And....check out the site outside my window earlier tonight...

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Gorgeous!!!

 
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Happy Tuesday!

Saturday, April 24, 2010

I Was Featured....

I woke up this Saturday morning to check out my favorite blogs (the ones you see on my sidebar), and saw that I was featured on Domestically Speaking's Power Of Paint Party!!!!!

For those of you who have no clue what that means, Domestically Speaking is another blog out there in blogland I follow (along with hundreds of others). She gives decoratings and organizations tips and fun crafts ideas....she's full of great ideas!!! So check her out if you haven't already!

Thanks Maryann for featuring me....I'm honored!!!!



Friday, April 23, 2010

Show Us Your LIfe at Kelly's Korner

Show Us Your Life with Kelly's Korner



Today over at Kelly's Korner it's "Show us Your Life" Friday....

This week's topic is "Show Us How You Met Your Husband"
You can click HERE to read all about how Ryan and I met...

It's a story I never get tired of sharing....it's definitely proof of how God has a plan for us all. He always has us RIGHT where he wants us at all times..... Our God is good!!!!!

HAPPY FRIDAY!!!!


Wednesday, April 21, 2010

Move Over Van Gogh

Some of you have commented on my blog or told me in person how creative I am because of the things I do on my blog....

I appreciate all of your sweet comments....nothing makes me feel better than getting a compliment from someone who likes what I have worked hard on....

But I have to tell you, I get it honest.

Check these out....(beware, LOTS of pictures)





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Okay, so what 'cha think????

Are these not all gorgeous?!?

These are paintings done by a TRUE artist....

a man of many talents...

an architect who also happens to have a law degree....

...and as you can see, an extremely talented artist.

These painting don't even touch the surface of the hundreds of beautiful paintings he's completed....he's painted enough to fill up an entire art gallery.

These paintings aren't done by Van Gogh or Matisse....

not done by Rockwell or Michaelangelo....

But they were all done by MY DADDY!!!

How many people can say they have a talented artist like THIS in the family?!?

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(Here he is in his art studio with my youngest daughter)

My dad is a man of immeasurable talent...as you can easily see from his drawings and paintings.  You can also check out his website HERE

I haven't met a painting/drawing of his I didn't like....they are all spectacular, with every brush or pen stroke carefully placed in the perfect spot. 

Thankfully, my Daddy loaned some of his creative DNA to me....I didn't get much, but what little I did get, I put to use with my crafts, sewing, creating and decorating....
Creativity is my outlet these days...it helps me keep my sanity...it relaxes me...it makes me feel productive....

.....and now that I am staring a 14 month deployment right in the eyes, it's what I will have to get me through the next year while my husband is off at war...

So, over the next 14 months, starting May 1st, I will be working on lots of things I will be calling "deployment projects.....more on that later... 

....hoping the next year goes by fast, my creativity grows, and my sainty stays until my sweet hubby comes back home to us....


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In the mean time, say a prayer for us, get ready to follow all of my deployment projects, and check out my talented daddy's website.....
HAPPY WEDNESDAY!!!!!!!

Monday, April 19, 2010

My First Beadboard Wallpaper Project....

Have you ever heard of beadboard wallpaper????

I hadn't either.

But when I did, I knew I just HAD to try it out.  I have always wanted beadboard in my childrens' bedrooms, but because of my lack of knowledge on how to use any kind of power tool, I could only enjoy beadboard in other peoples' houses.....

Until I heard about beadboard wallpaper.

Not just beadboard wallpaper, but PAINTABLE beadboard wallpaper!!!!
You can get it at Lowe's for about $15 a roll.

You hang it up like normal wallpaper....and once it's dry you can paint it any color you want!

 I wanted to try this out....I've never hung wallpaper before in my life, so I tried out a small space in my laundry room to see how it looked.

I LOVE the way it turned out....




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I measured the wall and bought a piece of trim (and had the guy at Lowe's cut it for me, since I am not power-tool savy). I think the trim was around $5.

I also bought a few hooks for about $2 a piece....



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For this project, I just threw a quick coat of white paint on it (even though it was already an off-white color, I wanted it to POP off the walls)
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I also hung up this bulletin board for messages or notes...even though I haven't used it yet..
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There's no room in my house for a mudroom (which I would LOVE to have), but this really helps keeps things neat and organized as we walk in and out of the house.
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I am also using the wallpaper in Brooke's new shelves in her room....they are still not complete, but here's a peek at what they are looking like....(I painted these a chocolate brown)...



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Hoping to show you her new shelves sometime later this week...

Have a great Monday!!!!!!!!!!!