DH hates it, but I love it anyway

We recently made some changes to the kitchen.  One of the things that really bugged me was this corner.

 I need my calendar, but I had to get it off the wall to write on it, and I just felt the whole area was a little too cluttery.  I wanted something that would hold the calendar, papers, pencils, appointment reminder cards and all the other stuff that I needed in that corner. 

Enter this beauty, $2 from a garage sale.

My husband hated it, but I loved it.  It was just the right size. After 4 months of it sitting on my counter as is, I finally decided it was time to paint it.  It only took two naptimes and one bedtime to finish.  I love the way it turned out.

I didn't do as many coats, because I kind of like the way the dark wood comes through and makes it a little vintage-y!

When we did the kitchen, my hubby decided that the router needed to be moved from it's hidden spot in the closet to a prominent place in the kitchen. (?)  Thankfully, my magazine holder (that the hubby still hates!) is just tall enough to help cover the most artistic router.

The corner as is:

(notice my garbage disposal switch, 10 miles from my sink...)

And now

Full view - before

And After

Basically, I love it! The little ceramic box on the counter was given to me by my uber-talented sister.  It is still looking for a permanent home. And now that I look at this picture, I think the little iron circle (a goodwill $3 treasure) needs to be moved down a bit.  Still, I think it's a huge improvement!

I'm linking to
 Thrifty Decor Chick's Before and After party
Between Naps on the Porch's Met Monday
Funky Junk Interior's Saturday Nite Special

I'm no HGTV

When my daughter was a newborn and I was adjusting to being home all.day.long with nobody but a baby to talk to, I used to watch a LOT of HGTV. Like I had their schedule memorized. ANYwho, I always hoped to find great ideas that I could use to decorate my house. After a few months of watching, I came away with one great idea. They used a silverware tray to display a guy's collection of knick-nacks. We have some cute little trinkets that just get lost on a bookshelf.

After over a year of searching, I found this bad boy at Goodwill. I was so excited to get painting that I didn't take any before pictures. But it used to be maple colored wood with a white background.

When I painted it, I wondered if I had made a mistake.

- do I like the black?

-does it seem like something is missing?

-does the black make it hard to see the little figurines?

-does it need something else?

It's been sitting like this in my office for about 4 months because I have no idea what to do next. I would gladly appreciate any suggestions. I was hoping that posting about it would help me dig out of the rut, but it didn't. So for now I guess it'll go back to the project pile.

Valentine's Tree

I've never been one to decorate for holidays other than Christmas. This year, however, I seem to have this major desire to decorate for every holiday. This afternoon, I whipped together this little bad boy. It only took me one naptime and one trip to the dollar store. Now that's my kind of craft!

 

I had a little tree that my MIL used at our wedding luncheon. I've kept it for 4 years, never knowing what to do with it, but not wanting to throw it away. I decided it would make the perfect little Valentine's tree! I found some darling little wood shapes at Michael's for $.50. Add a little ribbon and felt (to hide where the ribbon is hot glued on). Perfect!

But it still seemed like it needed more. I remembered some darling little heart picks from the dollar store that I would not let myself buy until I had a specific use for them. I knew they'd be perfect. I pulled the sticks out and used a tiny bit of craft wire to make a loop. With the hearts being foam, it was super easy to stick the ends of the wire all the way in.

I love how it tuned out!! I also love that it only took about 30 minutes total. Yea!

Please excuse the lackluster photography - I'm trying, I really am!

I'm linking to

 
(couldn't figure out how to get the Show and Tell Party button from DIY Showoff)

It's time to start preparations for next year!

Before December was even over, I found what I must have in my house for next Christmas. Some darling ornaments found in this book that my mom owns - Star of Wonder by Nancy Halvorsen. Ok, I really want everything in this book, but seeing as how I didn't inherit my mom's sewing gene, I am going to start small. Thanks to my mom's endless stash of fabric, the cost for this project will be minimal. And I'm hoping that the addition of 21 little handmade ornaments (3 of each of the 7 patterns) will make my tree a little less depressing next year! Here goes nothing!

At long last, the after pictures

You know how you start something simple, like painting the kitchen. And then you have the "as long as we're painting, we should....." And then the project morphs and grows and everybody in the house gets sick and progress stops. And then Christmas comes you are so busy that you don't have time to work on it. And then everyone gets sick again. You begin to think the projects will never be done.

Not that I would know about that.

It all started about a year ago, when I noticed water dripping off of our light fixture. Hmmmm, probably not a good thing. A quick call to our handy man (my dad!) and 3 holes in my ceiling later, the water leak was fixed.

After the ceiling repair, our kitchen was in desperate need of a paint job. It only took us a year to get started. Here are the before and afters:

Before:

After:

I love the farmhouse plates from Goodwill for $.25 each. The plate hanger I picked up at a garage sale for $2. Awesome!

Before:

After: New paint and molding!

My sister gave me this sign - I love it!

Before:

After

Minus a little sanding and touch up paint on the ceiling, we are done! I am really pleased with how it turned out.

I am so in love with the wall color (Oatbran by Valspar) I want to paint my entire house with it!

I'm linking to the Shabby Chic Cottage Transformation Thursday.

Big things are coming

We are so close to finishing a major project that we started months ago. I can't wait! We were supposed to finish last night, but the husband had an urgent need to watch the Fiesta Bowl. Tonight, I have reserved him and we will finish! Here's a sneak peak...