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Sparkling Scarlet Snowflakes Christmas

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Stripes in the Dining Room

Our living room, dining room and kitchen are all open to each other so  I wanted the colors in each room to flow but still be their own space. I found curtains that matched the living room pillows to bring that color into the dining room then I became stuck. I’d been staring at a white dining room for about 2 months and it was driving me crazy. It looked very plain. Everything was black and white except for the one pop of color in my curtains. I couldn’t figure out how to get more color in there to make the curtains flow with everything else.  I didn’t think I could paint because the room is open to the kitchen and living room so there isn’t really a space to stop the color. Then one day I was staring at the same wall and thought what if I put one band of color around the room. I could stop at the kitchen cabinet and it wouldn’t look bad. I taped it off and then thought…Hmm, I could do one more below it and space it out enough to stop at the island. So I taped off another stripe.

 

Then I painted them in with leftover living room paint (Valspar paint that I had color matched to Restoration Hardware's Silver Sage). I love the color and it didn’t cost me anything extra. It also made the space cohesive and gave the room some pattern. I’m in love with this room now. It finally looks put together and works well with the living room while still having it’s own identity. I know the light fixture doesn’t go but this is military housing so I’m just lucky I was able to paint.

Here’s how the room looked the day we moved it.

 

Here are some more after pictures.

 

This is my Stripe Tutorial…

I took my tape measure and measured down from the ceiling where I wanted the stripe to start, I think it was about 14 3/4”, and made a dot with my pencil. Then I went all around the room measuring down from the ceiling and making a dot at 14 3/4”. Then I took my painters tape and connected the dots. Then I measured down from the painters tape for how wide I wanted the stripe to be, I think it was around 24”, and did the same thing around the room…You get the idea. I took my base color and painted along the tape line before I filled in with the stripe color so when I pulled the tape up the line would be smooth. I’m sure there are better ways to do it but this is what worked for me.

Pink

Here is the first finished room in our new house. It was a blank slate before.

All it takes is a little color to make a big difference.

 

The pink was a little brighter than I thought it would be so I decided to paint a flower silhouette to break it up some.

We’re going to get her a little table to go with the two chairs.

Hopefully the second finished room will be up soon!

A Real Housewife of New Jersey

We are moved in! New Jersey is not what I expected. I thought it would be more city like, it never occurred to me that it’s called the Garden State for a reason. It’s not too bad though. I’ve been really busy unpacking boxes and trying to figure out where to put things. I only have one room that I can say is completely finished. I hate to say that though because I never know when I’m going to walk in there and decide I don’t like where that is or this needs to be changed. It’s my second daughter’s bedroom so it will need to be changed a little when she moves out of her crib. Check back tomorrow for the pictures. I need to get back to work. I’m off to Wal-Mart to get some bath rugs and organizing bins! 

Big Changes

Well, we found out we'll be moving to New Jersey next month so all my projects have to stop and I’ll be spending the next (not quite) month packing up and getting the house ready to rent out.

I’m sad and excited at the same time. This is the first house we’ve owned and it’s been fun to work on it and get it to where I love it. I just wish I had time to finish. I’m also sad for my kids, they won’t be able to see the grammies and grandpas very often like they do now.

I’m excited because the house we’re moving into is bigger and brand new (they won’t be finished building it until about October 1st so we’ll have to spend about 2 lovely weeks in a hotel of some sort) but it won’t be “mine” so no painting walls or big changes. I’m already looking at ways to change things but not really change them.

Any good thrift/consignment/antique stores in NJ?

Pier 1 Knockoff

I was in pier 1 this weekend and saw these awesome jars and glasses with little chalkboards on them.

I decided to create my own with a jar I already had…Project cost: free!

I just taped off where I wanted the chalk board paint…

Then just spray your chalkboard paint…

 

Then when you take the tape off you get this…

Here is Zoe’s new treat container…

Love it!

Wow Wednesday

I’ve been having trouble keeping up with Crafty Wednesday so I decided to change it to Wow Wednesday. Every Wednesday I’m going to feature an Etsy that I’ve found and love.

This week, in honor of my new pup, I’m featuring Sugar Plum Collars. She makes collars and with awesome fabrics and hand stamped tags. She can do matching leashes too. As soon as Zoe is full grown I’m going to order one.

All photos from Sugar Plum Collars

She has a contest going on right now…If you become a fan on Facebook and send in a pic of your pup you’ll be entered to win a collar.

If you want your Etsy shop featured or you have a favorite you want me to share send me an email or leave it in the comments and I’ll check it out.