Christmas Mantle




Change up your Christmas mantle by adding an unexpected pattern, such as animal print. Multiple textures really makes an area stand out. Natural elements such as faux sticks added to the softness of a Christmas stocking creates depth and interest.




Thanks for stopping by, please leave a comment below letting me know what you think!

Little Girl's Room Makeover (For $100!)

I've been on a blog hiatus. Although I haven't been blogging I have been still working on things around the house. I am 90% complete with babygirl's room and I think it will stay at 90%. I don't have one more ounce of energy left in me to paint her dresser...maybe I'll get around to it eventually.



Her room was truly a labor of love and has taken almost two years to complete. Primarily because I was working full time and attending school full time and didn't have the time to work on it. The good thing about taking my time was that I was able to find some major deals and sales that allowed me to only spend $100 on her room. (I will get a post together soon to discuss cost breakdown and how I was able to save on this room!) I have included links for some of the post that are related to this transition under the pictures for more information.

Here was her room before:




She had a tiny little toddler bed, a small little table set, and her little cubbie. I miss these days when she was actually small enough to fit this stuff!

Here is the room after:


Her toddler bed was replaced with a full sized bed. I don't think she'll out grow this anytime soon.


I asked babygirl how she wanted her room and all she wanted was pink. Pink everything! So that's what we went with. We painted all the wall a soft pink. To break up some of the pink I added lots of whites...white bedding, nightstand, lamp shade, curtains, and soon - one day - a white dresser.


For an accent wall I used sample sized paints and painted rectangles on the wall. The rectangles are not perfect and I think that's what makes them cute and different.




I used the rug she originally had. It's so soft and seems to be a favorite spot for Ci-ci (our Yorkie) to hang out on.


The nightstand, clock, jewelry box and lamp are all from Target. Sidenote: As you can see this is a lived-in space...note all the stickers on the nightstand. :)


On the other side of the room is her gallery wall. I've said in a post before. I don't like hang pictures over beds so I dedicated a wall for all her pictures. There are some of her favorites.


The curtains were originally white and updated using oops paints. This was such a easy project and you can find out more about it HERE.


I love how the curtains turned out!


This chair was found at the thrift store and was originally brown. I spray painted it pink and added a cute fabric.


The cubbie system that was shown in the before picture was moved to the closet. It created a great space for storage and really keeps things organized. Read more about this HERE


...and that wraps it up for her room. Now I can focus on something else! Hopefully it wont take another two years to get a room done. Or at least 90% done. :)

5 Gallery Wall Tips

Babygirl's room is just about complete. I just need to paint her dresser and it will be a wrap! Today I'm sharing her gallery wall. I'm very leery of hanging pictures over beds, even when secure, I always worry they may fall. So, I dedicated a wall in her room to hang her favorite posters and pictures.


 I love gallery walls. I like to think of gallery walls as organized chaos; which is very similar to my thought process :) So here's 5 things I keep in mind when making a gallery wall:
1. Plan - Lay out your frames on the floor to get an idea of how you want things or draw it on paper. This will reduce excessive wall holes from moving pictures around once already hung.
2. Frame Everything! - Framing pictures gives a gallery a more polished and cohesive look. and speaking of frames....
3. DON'T MATCH! - Mix and match your frames..your frames do not have to be the same style. I have two different styles of frames in this gallery.
4. Vary the sizes- Varying the sizes of the pictures adds interest to your gallery. No picture is ever too small or too big for a gallery in my opinion. What's important is placement!
5. Collect - Collect different things to put in your gallery wall. For babygirl I used just pictures, but for your own you can use whatever, wooden letters, shelves, skies the limit...


This is a collection of pictures we've gathered over time. I found the white framed ballet girls on clearance at Hobby Lobby for $12.00 and the two Love pictures for $8.00 a piece. Her posters, from some of her favorite shows, are framed in plastic frames from Hobby Lobby. And lastly, her Minnie Mouse picture is an old tote bag that we cut down to size. We still have a few posters to hang, one for Frozen, a Barbie and My Little Pony one.
So what do you think? and am I the only paranoid person who doesn't hang pictures over the bed??

Trend: Black Painted Interior Doors

I recently took the plunge and tried the black interior painted door trend. If you've been following me for a while, you will know I updated my entryway about a year and a half ago. I loved the space but now I want some different... yep that's the indecisiveness in me. So I'm starting fresh.



Last week I shared my DIY entryway picture and this week I'm sharing my painted door. My first entryway update was shared last March on Hometalk's facebook page. Some of the comments suggested painting my door black. I honestly had never even considered or thought to do that. Fast forward to now, two of my blogger friends, Erin and Brandi, painted their doors black. I loved it! So I figured I would give it a try myself.
The process was simple. I'm not the best painter, but it turned out pretty nice. I followed this tutorial here for the painting. Before I painted I cleaned the door with soap and water and taped some of the hardware. This color is Forest Black by Glidden. I got it color matched to Behr paint plus primer in semi gloss finish. This is a great color if you don't want to go too black.


I started by doing the border of the panels. Then I filled in the panels, then went horizontal and then vertical. I found the most important thing here is to follow the wood grain and to use a systematic approach. I also used what I had on a hand which was a paint brush and a small foam roller.

I think the before and after speaks for itself. It's a big difference!


So what do you think??

DIY Leopard Print Wall Art

I'm not sure what's going on but lately I've found myself with an animal print obsession. I've had the huge zebra print from IKEA for years now, which I recently brought back out the closet. After seeing a fellow blogger, Gold and Stripes, cheetah print wall stenciling I wanted more. So today I created some wall art to put in my entry way.



The process was pretty simple. I found a stencil and canvas at Hobby Lobby for the print. Home Depot has all Martha Stewart products on clearance so I grabbed some textured metallic paint for pretty cheap and I got to work.

I started by using the stencil. I moved across the canvas until I reached the end of the canvas.


You can see here the rows I created by using the stencil. The stencil was super cheap so this was one of the effects of it. To get rid of the lines I free handed leopard prints in the gaps to make it more cohesive.


 I also wanted to add some texture to the photo so I pick some of the prints to add an extra amount of the textured paint to.


The texture paint is very thick here's what it looks like close up



And after doing all of that I had my finished piece. Notice here the lines are not as noticeable as before.


And now it is complete!


I love how it turned out! Is anybody else obsessed with animal print like me? Do share!

Linking to:
The Girl Creative
Ginger Snap Crafts

My Friend's Space: Eclectic Beauty

This past Sunday I visited my friend's house. She recently purchased a house that she is renovating. I really love her house and it has a lot of great potential. She is about finished with her living room, with the exception of painting. I love how it looks. She chose an eclectic style...it is so gorgeous!
(Please excuse some of the quality these photos as I took them with my cell phone)

I love the blue tones in her space! and let's talk about this coffee table. It is gorge! She got it from Restoration Hardware.


She also found some great pieces at Goodwill. She had the couch on the right reupholstered and the chairs to left are as they were purchased. I love both pieces!



She used accent pieces to bring in pops of orange into the room such as this orange pillow and the orange and yellow accent piece against the wall. The wall art also has the hints of orange in it.


And here is another view of the room. I so wish I could have gotten a good picture of the front of these brown chairs. Unfortunately, the lighting and my cell phone just could not get the job done. But please know they are also great pieces she also found at Restoration Hardware.

A special thanks to my friend, Cyana for letting me show off her space on my blog.

So what do you think of this space?


Dining Room Updates

A couple of weeks ago, I shared this post about updates I was making in my dining room/deck entry area. This weekend I did a little more work on the room. I have been extra lazy on the DIY front lately...that quickly changed when I went to browse through Hobby Lobby and found a picture I really liked. I thought it would look good in the dining room. It didn't hurt that the picture was on sale marked down to $24.00 from $119.00! Major deal!
So here's a little background about my dining room. When we first moved here I went on a painting frenzy. I was painting the walls all kinds of colors. I think mostly because I had been living in an apartment where painting was restricted. So I figured my place, my paint choices. I painted the dining room two different times, the latest being a yellow-golden shade. I hated it two months later but never got around to changing in.
So this weekend I finally made the change, encouraged by my picture find, and also a $30 -5 gallon bucket of Behr paint + primer I found months ago (that I have literally painting every wall with).

Here's the after. I love it! So much brighter! and I really like the artwork! I have an open floor plan and the reddish color ties in nicely with my living room.


 Here's the before. I think the paint color really darken the room and I just couldn't find a good match for it.
And of course my little helper. She's busy drawing letters on the wall with the paint.


I plan on trying to build a console table to put under the picture to set up a mini bar area. Also, I need to get a rug for under the table, change the covers on my chair cushions, and lastly, spray paint the vase that you see the stick coming out of and I will be done with this space!
Let's see if I can finish this room by the end of August! Wish me luck. 
Until next time!

FROM A BUG REPELLENT CANDLE TO A FLOWER POT



I wanted to share this quick and easy project that you can do. I made this cute yellow flower pot out of an old burned bug repellent candle. I thought the tin was so cute and was a great pop of color to add to my porch.


It's quite simple to do, just empty the candle out of the tin, cut a hole in the bottom of the tin for drainage and plant your flower. So simple and free!

Have you ever repurposed anything into a flower pot? Do share!

Behind the Big Green Door: Blog Tag!

My blogger buddy, Erin tagged me in a blog tag. She blogs over at Live Pretty on a Penny. Visit her blog for great DIY inspiration, she also an awesome MUA!

Now for the blog tag, I've been given a list of questions to answer so here they are:

Are you named after someone:
Yes, I was named after a random lady on Cleveland radio My mom liked her name, so that's how I ended up with it.

When's the last time you cried:
Just this past Saturday.. I've become such a big cry baby since having Rhyan.

Do you have kiddos:
Yep, a beautiful little 5 year old girl!

If you were another person, would you be a friend of yourself:
I sure would, I'm a great friend who people can always depend on (so I've been told :) )

Do you have a guilty pleasure:
Yes, Jerry Springer (hangs head in shame) When I wasn't working I watched it twice a day.

Do you like handwriting:
I can't say I have anything against handwriting... I've always wished I had better handwriting but I was doomed from the start being a lefty.

What's your favorite cereal:
LOVE Cinnamon Toast Crunch

What's the first thing you notice about people:
Hair

What's the color of your eyes:
Brown

Scary movie or happy endings:
Happy Endings (I'm such a sap ugh!)

Favorite TV Shows:
OITNB, Scandal, Breaking Bad (Can they please make more seasons!!), Jerry Springer, Family Guy, South Park, The Office, LHHATL

Summer or Winter:
Summer!

Hugs or Kisses:
Hugs

Do you have a special talent:
does DIY count?

Where were you born:
Cleveland, OH

What are your hobbies:
DIY, decorating, shopping

Do you have any pets:
Yep, a Yorkie named Cici



Favorite Movie:
Any superhero movie, Captain America, Iron Man, Thor, X-Men

What color is your car:
Blue

What do you want to be when you grow up:
Alive.. lol. No really, I would love to do work in Marketing. It's my passion. I'm getting closer and closer to my dream job and I'm excited about it!

Now I'm tagging: my love, Jana who blogs over at The Jane Tales. She's a fashion blogger with amazing taste!

On a Personal Note: Saying goodbye to Noah

Who knew saying goodbye to a dog would be so emotional?? I have never considered myself a dog person so I didn't expect having to surrender one of our dogs today would be so hard. We've had him for 6 months and my daughter absolutely adores him.

Unfortunately, our little Noah wasn't developing correctly and was looking at a pretty difficult life the older he got. So after taking him to the vet today, we decided to surrender him to the vet in hopes he will find a family that will be able to financially support his needs.

So here's a short tribute to Noah!








DIY: Stenciled Curtains

Here's a little update that I have been working on lately. We have been working on the front and back patio, and I wanted to make the entry to the back deck look a little nicer.

I wanted some new curtains for my sliding doors. The cost was going to be a little much for two panels because of the height of my ceilings. So I went with stenciling the curtains that I already had.


Here is the before and after of the space. Before was the walls was golden and the plain curtains were boring


I stenciled the curtains and painted the walls a neutral color to brighten up the area. I also added a piano bench I found at the thrift store for $8.00. You can see in the before and after that some work is being done on the porch too. I will discuss that in a later post.


The curtains are from Ikea and were pretty inexpensive. I used about 3 sample sizes of Behr Muted White for the curtains and a stencil from Hobby Lobby. The total cost to update these curtains were about $20.00. I like the white against the khaki color. When the sun shines through them it looks a bit silvery.


Here's a close up of the pattern. It was quite a tedious process and literally took hours. I don't see myself doing this again for a while! I think the updated curtains and lightened walls really made the space much better and brighter. I love it!

I have stenciled a rug before, so if you need the how-to for this check out this post. It's a similar process.

What do you think?

DIY: The Easy Way to Update Outdoor Furniture

I am on a mission to get the outdoor area fixed up. After being here two and a half years I think it's time.



Today I worked on the outdoor patio furniture. We've actually had this furniture for about 4 1/2 years. It's so comfy and I love it. But after years of rain and wear and tear the cushions have become dingy and dirty. I tried washing and scrubbing but it didn't get out the stains.

I looked into purchasing some cushions. I was looking at about $40.00 for new cushions for two chairs. So I thought to spray paint them....and at only $3.67 you can't go wrong with this option!

Sidebar: I spray paint everything and this project is the first one where I've had a hard time getting the spray paint right. If you plan on doing this, use several thin coats to try to get the paint even

So anyway, here is the chair before



You can actually see the water stain on the fabric. It was pretty plain too.

Here it is afterwards






And there you have it, a simple update. I bought some pillows to add some color to the chairs.

Spray Paint: Navajo White. Pillows: At Home (Formerly Garden Ridge). Chair: Big Lots

So what do you think? Have you ever used spray paint on fabric??