DIY

Yep, I did it (a while ago). I jumped on the Pinterest bandwagon. I have found so many crafty things that I want to do and finally took the time to do some of them, but first, another birthday decoration has been completed:

I am more than thrilled with how this turned out! I picked up some cardstock at Michael's, traced a bowl and cut out circles. I did the same using a smaller bowl on some left over white card stock I had from the wedding and glued them on. Then I printed out the letters using a font I liked in word, cut them out, traced them on silver card stock, cut them out again and glued them on. I love it! You know what's even cooler? I can hang it up every year for her birthday! Total project cost = $7 ish!

Next up is a free project:

We already had these shadow box frames, I stole the scrabble pieces from my mom, and used left over card stock from the banner for the rest! Gotta love free!

Next up is my felt flower project:

I used a picture from Pinterest as inspiration and used a tutorial on there to make the felt flowers. Then I just placed them where I thought they looked best and sewed them on. Embroidery hoop and 3 pieces of felt (even though I could of done with only one white piece), for a total project cost of $2.93!

And finally my 'book' shelves:

This also came from Pinterest (See? I told you there was some neat stuff on there!) I hit up the local Goodwill and picked up 3 hardback books for $1 a piece and then drove over to Walmart and picked up L brackets ($2 for 4) and started this bad boy project! Super simple, put 2 L brackets underneath the book, measure book and place another L bracket on top so the book is essentially wedged in between the two. You can get a better view of the book in the picture of the 'Scrabble Love' up top. This whole wall cost me less than $12 to decorate! Pretty impressive! We have a photo shoot this Sunday so I'm sure a new family picture will be hung shortly, and on the empty bookshelf, I'm thinking a bud vase with pom flowers, and our last name.

And since this sorta ties in with DIY, I started painting the rest of our house last week. We only have a few more projects for upstairs and then we will be finished and can move on to the basement!!! So here's some before and after pics:

Kitchen before - We plan on painting the cabinets white, installing new hardware, getting an OTR microwave, and putting in new counter tops.

This side needs a new window, blinds, and window treatment.

Kitchen after.

Kitchen after.

Living Room Before.

Living Room Before.

Living Room Before.

Post Paint :)

Living Room After.

Since we have an open floor plan and the living room flows into the kitchen, when you walk in the door I wanted everything you see to be the same color. I was tired of the poop brown and love that grey went with the color we wanted in the kitchen (green) and the accent color we wanted to use in the living room (plum). So in the first 'before' picture, the vaulted wall above the stairs will be painted plum, and so will the wall behind the door when you walk in. I love that it's uniform now, and it's really surprising the difference fresh paint can make.

So what's left for the first floor? New paint and hardware for the kitchen cabinets, and a new counter top as mentioned before. New flooring in the living room and kitchen (we are going to do the same floor throughout so it seems more like one big room), and new trim. 4 rooms renovated, 2 to go! Yay for making progress!