little change, big impact!

forgive my before pic...I didn't think this would be a pic I would post when I took it, but here it is anyway!

a little drab and "plain" don't ya think?

well not anymore...thanks to some new pillows!

still have color, but now there is a little "pattern"  and some texture!  all for about $20!  my sweet sis-in- law made me the green pillow covers, and I just used my plain green ones underneath, and the striped ones are from Taipan...$6.49 each!  I think that's pretty good for a pillow, and they have ALL my colors!

I like little changes that make a big difference!  Now I just gotta paint that wall!

side note:  after I published this...I thought it was funny that my "drab" picture was so bright...and my new and improved pic was kind of dull...sorry, still trying to figure out good picture taking skills! LOL!

We've got SPRING fever!

Maybe I should re-phrase that and just say we've got the fever!  Ugh, not much crafting or decorating going on around here.  Let's just say the last couple of days have been no fun!  One kiddo with 2 ear infections, and 1 with strep!  Thank heaven for antibiotics...and for the fact that they are treatable WITH antibiotics!  Hopefully, soon I'll be getting my "craft back on" !

Last week, before the fever hit, I saw a cute spring banner here, and I knew I wanted to make one...so, while mine is a little different, ok, completely different, I used what I had...and just went for it!

I used a chip board book page for each piece, and just printed the letters on my computer on scrapbook paper, then mod podged the paper to the chip board, added a few embellishments, tied some ribbons, and that's it.

and these spring blocks were super easy, and they are so bright and cheery.  I was making a set for a friend for her birthday...(Hi, Jill) and figured what the hay...I might as well make me a set too...yay, 2 for 1!

I am REALLY ready for spring, and warmer weather...Utah is funny that way, and sometimes we get all 4 seasons in one day!  At least the inside of my house is looking a little "springy"!

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 My Frugal Family

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just a girl

ready set vignette

All Star Makeover!

Several months ago, my sister in law Jolynne asked me if I would help her decorate her little boys room.  After many failed attempts at trying to get together...We FINALLY did it!

I asked her to send me some pics so I could get an idea of what we would be working with...

This is his room before...with cute little him (Talmage)

The walls were already painted, one a light denim blue, and the other three just a light neutral tan.  This is the furniture we would be working with, and she told me she was planning on getting new bedding!

So after a little shopping we got together one day...and this is his room after

Painted dresser, new bedding and headboard, and some accessories!

This is the wall his bed was on in the before pics...this is where we got it to that day, and then she added the stars to the shelf later. (pictured below)

These cute letters on the wall are a thin mdf from Hobby Lobby...$1.99 each (unless you can wait, and get them for 1/2 off when all unfinished wood is 50%, and it does that often.)

We mod podged cute sports balls paper and plain cardstock to match the bedding, and hung them with straight pins and painters tape...yes, they are that light, plus bonus...teeny tiny holes in the wall.

Here is the shelf with the cute stars, sports pegs, And, I'm not sure if it's just the picture...but we might need to adjust some of those letters, not sure they're straight, good thing it's just teeny tiny holes! :)

this is the headboard Jolynne made...after I told suggested his bed, and the wall would look better with a headboard. 

 It was sort of a last minute idea, and I told her to google padded headboard...and this is what she made!  She's the best kind of person to help decorate...I tell her to do something, and SHE DOES IT!

She did awesome...

Cost Breakdown:

Bedding $95.00

Brown Paint: $20.00 (and she has "enough left to last for the rest of her life"...hmm, maybe I should go look around the rest of her house and tell her what else to paint! (yes, she is THAT obedient!)

wall decorations, lamp, and accessories: $60

Headboard: wood $10, fabric, $10, buttons $8

Spray paint for dresser handles: her hubby already had in the garage

Making one little boy feel like an ALL STAR...priceless!

So, in case you forgot...

BEFORE:

After:

She loves it, he loves it...that's what I call success!

Feature Yourself Friday @ Fingerprints on the fridge

Saturday night Special @ Funky Junk Interiors

Metamorphosis Monday@ Between naps on the porch

Talented Tuesday @ My Frugal Family

Easy board and batten in a bathroom!

Really, last board and batten post for a while..PROMISE!....at least until I do another one! :)

This is my girl's bathroom, it's in our basement, and it has a ledge...I know, kind of weird, but what do you do...SO, I wanted to do something with it, and I thought board and batten on this one little wall would be simple, and it was. This was my very first go at b&b. I just used regular old mdf... for my baseboards, vertical slats, horizontal piece, and then another mdf to finish it off as the shelf at the top.
The ledge makes it a pain to hang towels...I've thought about just putting some hooks right on the top board, but I'm not sure if the wall is tall enough...for now, a hook on the back of the door works fine.

I used a finish nailer (cause I had one), but a project on this scale could easily be done by just using small finishing nails, caulk it, paint it and you're good to go. If I remember right, about $15 to do this project...not counting paint.

Linking to:Workshop Series @Funky Junk Interiors

Playroom is done!

Disclaimer: these pics are not great, but I hope you get the general idea

Thursday morning during preschool I was looking around my playroom and was kind of disgusted about how bad my baseboards were looking...so I decided I was giving them a face lift!

Before...

so I pushed all of the furniture to the middle of the room so I could repaint them, and then my mind started working...

The Barbie house could use a fresh coat of paint too, and while I'm at it...how about red for the roof!

then, while I was painting said baseboards, I noticed all the dings in the wall...so out came the spackle...and since I'm gonna have to paint anyway, why don't we just change the whole color...

I love the green apple color...but I didn't love it in this room. It's a bright color, but it actually made the room dark...perhaps it was just a bit too much of such a bold color. So, I started at the bottom with white...

Then I did "baby bluebird" at the top...

When I first started this blue color, it honestly looked white, and I got scared that there wouldn't be enough contrast for me, but I just kept going

And since I was painting anyway, we might as well add some molding...yeah, that's how I roll!

On one of the walls I have a ledge, and I really DO NOT like it, it's a weird height, and so I was worried if I did molding below, it would look wierd, or even if I went right up to it, it would cut the room in half, so I decided on a pattern that I hoped would kind of camoflauge it, and still look good!

I used 3 1/2 inch mdf, and went all the way around the room, leaving a 9 inch space between the two boards ( It was originally going to be 8 inches, but then we were running into light switches, so I adjusted my plan, and we went 9.

Then I did the vertical boxes every 8 inches apart on the top section, and every 18 1/2 inches on the bottom. My vertical mdf were 2 1/2 inches...that's a whole other story!The idea was to have 3 top boards in the space of every 2 bottom boards.

Here is one wall, still in the spackling and pre-caulk stage

I had previously done the mdf baseboards when we originally finished this room 4 years ago, so at least that part was done.

And here is what it looks like after:

I know that ledge would blend in a little better if there wasn't something on top of it...but hey, if it's there, I might as well use it right?

A kind of hidden close up, and I'm thinking that shelf would be really cute red too, but then my buckets wouldn't show, and then I'd have to re-paint them, and then......................

it never ends.

so excited for Toy Story 3....

The freshly painted Barbie house...complete with new red roof! and the other side.

Seriously, this was a HUGE project...and the fact that I started Thursday afternoon, and had to be done by Tuesday morning didn't make it any easier.

Hubby helped a ton with this one...otherwise I'd still be down there working!

BUT, now it just seems clean, and fresh, and bright.

I'm still not sure if it was worth all the work, but maybe that's because the memories of caulking are still fresh in my mind. I figure it cost about $150.00 in paint (3 gallons), caulk (4 tubes), wood (6 16 footers, and 20 10 footers).

so worth it or not, yay, it's done, and I really do like it!

do it yourself day @ a soft place to land

Talented Tuesday @ My Frugal family

Workshop Series @ Funky Junk InteriorsFeature Yoursel Friday @ Fingerprints on the fridgeMetamorphisi Moday @between naps on the porch

A weekend project...

just a sneak peek of what I've been working on

still working on it...and it is turning out CA-UTE!
I PROMISE...more pictures when it's done!

My go at Board and Batten!

OK, so this is my only before picture of my project...this was little girl #1 and # 2's bedroom...but with baby #4...and finally a BOY on the way...something had to change.

Whew...see why that color was not all. around. the. room.!

I bought a gallon of a soft blue paint that I liked, and matched his bedding perfectly, I taped everything off, and just repainted the pink...blue! (My mom's idea...she's always trying to save me...or de-ter me from my hair brained ideas...well after having it that way for a couple of days...I just wasn't satisfied)

I took down the peg board and started the work...Oh, did I mention I was 8 1/2 months pregnant at the time...OR the fact that my husband had to go out of town for A WEEK???

Well, whatever...I knew I needed something to take my mind off of both of those things...so board and batten...here I come! Every one told me I was crazy...I was going to put myself into labor...REALLY? HELLO, 38 weeks pegnant, August, AND while yes, hubby was indeed out of town...it was only an hour away...he could make it...so I said BRING IT ON!

I wish I would have taken pictures during the process...who knew anyone would have wanted them...umm, hello...me!

So, these pictures don't really show how I did it, but you can check

here

Staci did her dining area...after we met through blogland...and after I shared all my experiences with her...she did a great job! (not that I'm the reason she did this...anyway, moving on)

this is my little guys nursery...ummm after!

I wanted the "look" all the way around the room, I decided on 5 feet high. I wanted it to be high enough to not be hidden by furniture, but low enough I could still hang things above it.

I started by ripping out all of the baseboards...and used a 6 inch mdf as my new baseboard (I wanted the boards to be even, and I did. not. want. to cut. all. those. angles. If I would have left the original base) Then I used 2 inch mdf as my vertical slats.
After I measured one whole wall worth of boards and cut them all...I had a problem Houston
My top board would not sit evenly on top of them WHAT???...so even though my base boards were straight...apparently, my wall was not.
So I pretty much started over and had to re-think my plan. I marked my top board and attached it..( I used liquid nails, and a finish nailer) and then I measued every board (where it would go) and that worked much better! the boards were all only 1/4 to 1/2 inch different...but that is big at the top, if your top is off by that much. Actually, most were the same size...just those one or two that were off slightly.


And then there's caulk it become my bff...maybe more like my bitter enemy. This step is tedious, and time consuming, and tedious...but makes everything look oh, so nice.
Another thing I learned...a little too late I might add...is that I wished I would have painted the lower portion of my walls white BEFORE putting up the slats...it would have saved me A LOT of painting time...cause then I just would have had to touch up and paint the slats...instead I had to use a brush for the edges, and then use a roller in those little spaces...what works for one, may not work for another...that is just what I will do next time.

a close up of the base, and the slats.

And while I did take out the original baseboards...I left the door casings...and I think they look great. (And I saved myself some time)

No, I did not go into labor...dang...in fact I had to be induced two weeks later (I guess the little guy wasn't as excited about the new room as I was)

I knew I could do it...I feel a sense of accomplishment and pride! I worked those power tools, and made my home a better place...one room at a time!

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For a sweet Little Lady!

my cute friend Sarah had a baby girl this week...well and I know a thing or two about little girls so I had decided that I wanted to make her some flower hair clips for her gift...well, one thing leads to another, and I decided to make a hair bow holder to go along with it!

This is how I did it...

frame (any size) I used the glass, but if you dont have glass, you can use a piece of cardboard, that's what great about this...you can just use any kind of frame you have, cute paper ( or fabric) I've done both, both work great, ribbon, and mod podge

cut the paper or fabric to fit the size of your glass or cardboard and start mod podging on.
this is what you get when the mod podge is done

I decided I wanted to personalize it...cute baby is Molly, and her nursery is decorated with lady bugs...so I thought the little lady sticker was fitting. Yes, those are all stickers, you could use vinyl, or even hand write something on, I had the stickers...and I liked the pop of red, then I mod podged over that to seal them.

Then I picked my ribbon, and cut it so I made sure I had enough to take around to the back to fasten. I chose 3 different ones...you can do whatever.

This is the back view...I used hot glue. Don't glue the ribbon on the front of the board...you only want to glue at the back, otherwise, your clips will have nothing to "clip" to.

Then stick it in your frame...and this is what you get...


(these flowers are made with the little alligator jaw clips) and they are fun to make too! YAY, no more paying someone else for hair flowers!

Just clip the little alligator jaw clips right onto the ribbon...

Cute AND functional!

I hope Sarah and Molly both like it!

Here is a link to her nursery bedding...not her nursery...just the bedding.
Hope I matched it OK.

Lil' Kids - "L is for Ladybug" 4-Piece Crib Bedding Set

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bathroom decor on the easy part 2!

This is the before of our half bath...you know the bathroom guests would use when they came over for a visit...and it needed help...in a bad way! When we built our house our builder insisted on satin paint...I HATE satin paint. it's just too dull for me, and with kids, you can't touch it, wash it...yuk! So I wanted to do something in there that looked good, was kid friendly, and actually looked like I tried.

before:

I decided to just paint the lower 5 feet of the wall in American Tradition, Milk Chocolate...in Semi gloss. (this pic looks really shiny, but the paint was still wet!
during:

Next, I bought a 6 inch mdf board, and 2 packs of brushed nickel knobs. (they were 9.99 each for a pack of 10 at Target), and I just screwed the knobs to the board. (if I remember right, I did every 13 inches)

and did the board all the way around the room!

It was easy, and fast, and a project I did all by myself. AND, I think it looks pretty cute too.

I like that the color is neutral, and this look can be dressed up or dressed down. It was simple, and really achieved the look I was going for in there! Oh, and my baby likes it too!