Home Sweet Home

Well Hello there Old Blog of Mine....now that the dust is settling and I can finally take some time to write an entry to our family blog since it's been several months. TIME was the last entry I posted...and WOW...has time flown by. New Years is upon us and before I start going off on a tangent and talking nonsense....or if I'm still talking to anybody out in blog land...who knows if anyone pays attention to this. Well I'm back to post some updates to tickle your Remodeling Fancy. Yes you wannabe weekend warriors and pinster maniacs....we have been playing musical rooms since we moved to our new home...and we have been living upstairs, in the family room, then downstairs, then upstairs, then downstairs for the past month or so as we have been going project after project putting TLC in this house and making it our Home. So for your viewing pleasure, I will be posting some Before and after Pictures. Let me know what you think! :) Warmest Regards this Christmas Season and New Years. BEFORE: Formal Area

AFTER:

BEFORE: Downstairs Community Bath

AFTER: Downstairs Community Bath

BEFORE: Downstairs Master Guest Suite

AFTER: Downstairs Master Guest Suite

BEFORE: Downstairs Master Guest Bath

AFTER: Downstairs Master Guest Bath

BEFORE: KITCHEN

AFTER: KITCHEN

BEFORE: FRONT ENTRY AREA

AFTER: FRONT ENTRY AREA

Time

It's 5:22 in the morning....I've been up early in the morning for the past week because there has been a lot going on that can keep me mind active...and what better way to express this behavior of non-sleeping by typing on my blog. It has been awhile...and I feel this would be a good way to express the bittersweet nature of our decision to move. It's just 1 word- TIME. When I speak with my advanced aging patients...I love to hear their comments about "how times use to be slower-people were a lot friendlier, time was spent more with FAMILY". For the past couple of years, it's been an ongoing discussion between my husband and I...especially for him because an hour and 15 or so minutes on the road (to and from work) during peak hours of traffic has been very stressful. Alas, the sweetness is that when we arrive to our homestead...it felt like home. We have awesome friends that we love as family, neighbors that we get a long with (except for 1 who has finally moved out!!), we have relatives that live close by. Everything is situated perfectly....except for the sacrificial drive that takes 3 hours of life each day. TIME- or lack of, seems to be a secret weapon to destroy the family it seems. Despite the value of the newest technologies in industry making things easier and FASTER, ultimately, it seems that it pushes the expectations for people to want things just as quick, but with more outcome. It makes people more IMPATIENT, it encroaches on family time or even date night (Texting or finishing work during dinner perhaps?)No Wonder they call this the NOW Generation. TIME- We want to gain it back. What we want back is the time wasted on the road. It's been a teeter-totter topic, because we absolutely love our home, our church family, and the proximity of relatives. However, traffic isn't getting any better...it is definitely a stressor that Jason has faced for the past 7 years. The decision or desire to move has been on our minds for the past 2 1/2 to 3 years. It's just the realization that we can't get our time back, without other sacrifices. It is a give and take, but our priority is our eternal family and to strengthen it the best we can. We are not turning our backs to the place we've made home for the past 7 years, we are just moving forward in hopes to gain back TIME. :)

Dr. Emily

Please Pause my Music Playlist to listen to the Smilebox

Customize a slideshow design

Inspired Craft

Well, I couldn't help myself.  My uber-talented hairstylist, Katrina, has such cute interior decor.  I loved the door knob wall hook she had located in her entry way that she said she got from pier 1.  They are similar to these:

Very Cute.  Anyway....I have to admit, I'm a bargain hunter.....and I don't mind going to very discounted stores to find stuff.  Well, I found something similar on clearance at Big Lots (definitely not Pier 1) however, i thought hey...why not.  It was cute...it had a crystal door knob thingy and the color matched my living room anyway.  The picture of Christ above my piano and this pin that I got from pinterest:

 inspired me to make a couple of wood plaques I used to mod podge the same scripture Matthew 7:7 (although I know in the quote in our scriptures it's "SHALL" not "WILL"...but the message is the same).  It came out nice....but i'm debating to change the frame...or re-paint it black.  I dunno.  Here is what I did:

PLAQUE #1

PLAQUE #2

COMPLETE DISPLAY ABOVE MY PIANO

So to make this project you will need these supplies:
 #1- Find yourselves some doorknob looking hooks

#2 Wood Plaques from Craft Store

#3- (2) D ring hooks that screw in the back of the plaque

#4- Craft Paint- your choice of Color

#5- Mod Podge

#6 Foam Brushes

#7 Scrapbook Paper

#8 Printed Quote of Matthew 7:7 with whatever font using Word- Print it out on paper

#9 Ribbon of your choice

So paint your plaques (let it dry), mod podge some pretty scrapbook paper onto plaque (let it dry), mod podge the quote onto plaque (let it dry), screw in the D ring hooks in the back of each plaque, cut some ribbon and tie it on the D Rings....tie the plaques to the doorknob hooks...and hang those puppies up  and place them on the adjacent to your inspired picture of our Savior.  Then Voilà! There you have it folks.

ADDENDUM:  I decided to paint the frame Black.....while hanging on the wall because it was just easier and I was lazy ;)

DIY Pedicure

I normally treat myself to a wonderful pedicure at least every month...but honestly, I haven't had the time, and this Pinterest thing has drained my cash flow into my creativity supplies.  SO....I had to do one of those DIY pedicures. By the way, I have been having trigger thumb/tendonitis...or should I say, Craft-itis from all the fun discoveries i have been finding on Pinterest. (Pain-terest for now).  Anywho...I'm honestly not good at giving myself a nice pedicure with the full salt scrubs etc etc...although I highly deserve one...heh heh. ;).  I also love all the cutesy flowers and designs you can request when you are getting a pedi.  My plight is that if i have to DIY my Pedi this month...how am I suppose to make it pretty.....I mean, my thumbs are killing me and I can't make pretty flowers?

Thank Goodness Again for my SCRAPBOOK RUB-ONS!!!!

All You Gotta Do is after you paint your nails...Rub on one of these pretty puppies on and Seal it with some good Top Coat. :)  Have Fun You Lazy Crafters YOU!

Attempt at Organization

So I'm excited because we got new floors in 3 of our rooms.  Apparently the Spring time has spurred us to finally change our carpet which has been doused in cat urine.  We've tried steam cleaning, we've tried using Stink Free (which does take the odor away), Resolve you name it.  But it changed the carpet and the carpet pad...and honestly, it was starting to get embarrassing.  Jason researched the flooring and we got an engineered wood...It definitely is an investment and from what Jason has read the kind we got is pretty resilient to any damage for pets sake.  Here are some pics of our new Floors

Living Room

Dining Room

Anywhoo...it's handscraped...so any scratches will add to the charm of the wood anyway..and can be covered with any correction marker.  Also any pet accidents, since it's glued down...we can just wipe up any mess. Well since we had to move stuff out our office, the new floors also made us want to re-organize. Jason has all his electronic cable stuff that use to sit on the floor when he had the carpet. Now that we have the nice floors, he thought it would be good to put a small shelf underneath the desk to get that stuff off the floor. I thought it was great idea. Until I realized that we have a FAT cat named Maui who decided to hop onto the shelf and.....well....after a couple hours of work to get the shelves up and organized to Jason's liking....here is the aftermath of what happened (p.s. Pause my playlist so you can hear the smilebox). 

Family Photo Display

I had some dead space on the walls of our Hallway and needed a solution to display some family memories.  I was pinspired by a few ideas on Pinterest of course, but I didn't want to go full out and spend too much time on it.  SO yes, this is one of my LAZY crafting ideas.  But Here is the example of the finished product:

Looks pretty nifty eh?

NOW FOR THE TUTORIAL.......

SUPPLIES:

TUTORIAL

STEP 1: CUT WIRE/YARN strips for the clothespin to hang on

 STEP 2: Affix Ends of Wires to Frame.  You can go deluxe by using eyelet screws and tie the ends of the wire/yarn to them...But since I was little LAZY, I just used Magic Tape.  Yeah I know....I know. ;)

STEP 3:  Just for Peace of Mind

STEP 4: DOUBLE STICK TAPE (or if you are deluxe...then go ahead and use your glue)

STEP 5  Affix the Pretty Scrapbook Paper of your choice to the Frame

STEP 6:  The most work you have to do for this project is to attach this little booger to the frame with a hammer and tiny nails. 

STEP 7:  Add clothespins...you can get this from the craft store such as MICHAELS 

 ...they do have cute ones!

 STEP 8:  Add Your Photos, Quotes, Whatever you like

Here is one of my Photo Displays:

Here is My 2nd Photo Display

 Here is my Gallery Wall of Family Memories :)

HAVE FUN CRAFTING!!!

Lazy Craft- Decorating Glass

Not Sure why I haven't done this before.....but now I'm wanting to find more objects laying around the house and attacking them with Scrapbooking Rub Ons...So much FUN!!!

Miniature Garden

I found miniature gardening Pins intriguing and inspiring. I think my dad would have loved doing this type of stuff when he was physically here with us.... so I decided to try it using a succulent arrangement/bowl that my mom had brought to our home...originally planted for my dad. 

Put a little cute fencing...and park bench.  There is a little "Wishing Well" too

I found a mini wheelbarrow...so I just painted it red...it matched the barrel planter

The Succulents are growing nicely.