Painted Backsplash

Hello!  I'm sorry that for the past month my blog has said, "Merry Christmas"!  I've just accepted the fact that I am really terrible at posting, hopefully you have too :)

I hope everyone had a great New Year and you're sticking to all your resolutions!  I finally finished a project that I started months ago but then procrastinated on finishing.

We have talked about putting in a backsplash, but never got around to it.  I realized I could do this at basically no cost (I only bought a sample of the dark gray color).  So, I figured I would go ahead and try it.

I used a stencil from this book and chose this one because I thought it kind of looked like tile.

It was a bit time-consuming, which is why it took me so long to finish.  I only had one (15in?) square stencil and would have to do a couple coats for each stencil.  I used a sponge for the area above the sink, but realized using a small roller was MUCH quicker.

The design is imperfect in places, but I am happy with how it turned out.  Rob helped finish it off with some trim on the edges. (ignore the touch up paint that I need to do in this pic).

You can also see some of the other changes in these pictures, like the chalkboard above the stove.  It's just a piece of wood we had in our basement that I painted with chalkboard paint.  I've been having fun changing it up every couple of weeks.

Also, the window above the sink we've had in our basement for years.  I just wiped it off and put a piece of wrapping paper behind it.

So, I can finally cross that off my project list! 

Merry Christmas!

Wishing you all a very Merry Christmas! The gifts are all open, our tummies are full of sticky buns, and we're enjoying the relaxation of the morning. We're looking forward to spending time with family later today and tomorrow! Wishing everyone a blessed day!

Time to mourn

I know I normally don't talk too seriously on this blog, but it doesn't feel right not saying anything about what happened last week in Connecticut.  Myself, along with everyone else in this country are devestated.  And as a mother, I cannot even begin to comprehend what these families are going through.   It has felt like there has been a black cloud following me around,  and to know that it is their reality...there are no words.

I have done my best to avoid the news.  I have not watched one thing on TV about it, and most of what I read is through the interenet news or things people post on facebook.  I don't want to read the arguments about the politics of it at this time. Quite honestly, I have tried my hardest to stay clear of all of it.  Mostly because I don't want to consume myself with it,  and I have wanted to respect the grieving town and families.  But, in doing so, I have suppressed my emotions.

I realized something last night as I read the eulogy that Noah's mother gave at his service yesterday.  I need to let myself mourn.  These children deserve to be grieved over, their families, mourned with.  So, I finally gave in.  I cried for a long time.  I prayed hard for the families, I thought about the children and how similar they are to my Aiden.  I cried and prayed over my sleeping children.

Life is hard.  It's scary.  Being a parent is the hardest and scariest thing I have done. I know that these children don't belong to me, that they belong to God...but that is a difficult reality, and one that maybe I haven't totally accepted.

So, right now, I am allowing myself to mourn for these children and their families.  I am choosing to focus on them, to learn about them, and to read the wonderful things their families say about them.  I will think about the too short lives they lived here on earth.  I will will hold my children closer and thank God for every day I have with them.

You can read the beautiful words from Noah's mother and his uncle here.

Christmas Decorating Inspiration

Thanksgiving came and went and I can't believe the Christmas season is already here.  I haven't felt too motivated to start decorating, which is kind of unlike me, but the snow that we got today helped get me in the mood. 

I lit my favorite winter candle, turned on my Snow Angels record and broke out the twinkle lights. 

I've said it before and I'll say it again...twinkle lights are the easiest and best way to decorate for Christmas.  Just put twinkle lights everywhere.

I love this idea to make a twinkle light curtain (from the Land of Nod catalog)

Also from Land of Nod is this fun room

And last, this picture makes me swoon.  I love everything about it!

Hope you are all enjoying the holiday season and aren't too stressed yet!

Happy Thanksgiving

I am overwhelmed by how blessed I am; amazing husband, healthy children, warm house. There is so much to be thankful for. Wishing everyone a wonderful and blessed Thanksgiving!

Fall Decorating and Entertaining

I've been trying to write this post for weeks, but it seems like every time I went to do it, something came up and I haven't been able to finish it.  Life feels very busy right now and it's only going to get worse with the holidays quickly approaching.  We've really been enjoying the fall season, and I'm doing my best to ignore the Christmas stuff in the stores and enjoy November.

A few weeks ago, we started to make some changes in the backyard.

This summer, Rob and I talked a lot about moving the picnic table closer to the house.  We liked it under the big tree, but we thought we might use it more if it were closer to the house.  We also thought it would be better for entertaining to have it be part of the deck area.  

Rob extended the pea gravel area next to the deck.  He also cut the benches off the table, thinking it would fit better without attached benches.  We're still working on a good solution for seating around the table.  Leg chairs are a little tricky with the gravel, but we don't really like the look of having slate or pavers down on top of the gravel.

We also bought some new deck chairs.  We have had our eye on these for a couple of years and when they went on sale at Target.com, where I also get free shipping and 5% off with my Target Red Card, it was hard to pass them up.  

We've already spent some time out in this area entertaining in October.  We got to use the wood stove twice too, which was great.  

Back in the beginning of October, we had Rob's family over to celebrate Gwyn's birthday.  For the past 4 and a half years, Gwyn has lived in Uganda and hasn't been home to celebrate her birthday.  So, we were excited to all be together this year.  

I love entertaining.  I love setting the table, and doing little things here and there to make things feel special.  

This wide windowsill in our dining room is one of my favorite pieces of character in our home.  It's the perfect place to set up drinks.

I also made this runner for the table out of a yard of fabric that I've had for years and never used.  Isn't it just perfect for fall?!  We're hosting Thanksgiving dinner here for about 8 people with my family and I am really excited to use this again.  

I've never done a great job of decorating for other seasons/holidays besides Christmas.  This year I have been trying to do a little more for fall.  I am definitely not one to decorate for Halloween, but can get into the pumpkins and coziness that fall brings.  

I took some pictures around the house the other day and thought I would share with you, Instagram-style.  

I made this little garland on the mirror out of fabric scraps.  I also go that little owl a couple weeks ago on clearance from the Patch NYC line at the Shops at Target.  

I actually made this wreath back in September, but never shared it.  I see stuff like this all over pinterest and it was surprisingly easy.  I just wrapped a foam wreath in burlap and to make the flowers I just kind of twisted and glued scraps of fabric.

I do have 2 mercury glass pumpkins that I've had for a couple of years and other than that I just kind of scattered little pumpkins around.  

I also did some rearranging in the dining room.  I swapped out the 2 lamps on the buffet for the one that has been up in the guest room.  Sometimes ya just need a little change.  

So there it is, the post that I've been trying to finish for weeks.  Hope everyone is enjoying the fall season.  Hopefully I'll be back soon!

$5 Fix

We only have one bathroom, but it's a pretty good one.  There are a lot of things I like about it;  it has entrances on both ends, making it feel bigger and there is plenty of room to sit on the floor and give the boys a bath.  We haven't done much to the bathroom since we moved in.  We're hoping to at least paint in the near future, but we often talk about changing bigger things down the road to make it more our style.

Unfortunately I am a terrible blogger and took no pictures of the before of this project.  When we moved in over 5 years ago, there were some light fixtures in the house that were outdated, one being in the bathroom.  There is a small pendant in front of the shower that had a glass shade with flowers and bows painted on it.  We never changed it and eventually just got used to it.  It didn't start bothering me until we got the shower curtain we have now.  So, I took off the glass shade and replaced it with a small white shade from an old table lamp.  It looked kind of ridiculous but at least the flowers and bows were gone.

I decided it wasn't necessary to replace the whole fixture and after some research realized we could just get a new glass shade.  I loved the look of this one from Schoolhouse Electric but did not love the $35 price tag.  Plus, it would cost $17 shipping!!  Here' s a little fact about me, I hate paying shipping on things.  I will do everything in my power to get free shipping on things I order online.  So paying half the price of the already expensive shade for shipping was never an option.

I started to look around on Etsy and Ebay and then I had an idea...why not try and find something at Goodwill?  They always have random fixtures and shades, so I thought I will try and keep my eye out for something.  Sure enough, the first time I looked I found something.

Again, I forgot to take a picture of exactly what I found.  It was a gold hard-wired sconce and it was pretty ugly.  But, it had 2 glass shades that were in perfectly good condition.

This is one of those projects that was cheap, and minimal work, but literally looks 100 times better.  Plus, now I have an extra shade, just in case.  It only cost me $5 total and I couldn't be happier with how it turned out.

 Rob and I both agree we like the vintage look of the fixture and the shade goes along with that.  So, again, another positive Goodwill experience!  I also bought 90% of Aiden's fall/winter wardrobe there and most of it was brand new stuff from Target.

So, always check out Goodwill- you never know what you might find!