I'm BAAACK!!

Well, thanks to Tiffany this blog hasn't been completely neglected! My family has had a whirlwind of a few weeks so while I've had good intentions for blogging but it's just not made the cut.

I've had this wall staring at me since we moved in to our house in June. It's a bathroom... so I feel like I'm pretty limited on what can go up on the walls here. It's also above the tub which gets used rarely and I didn't want the typical towel bar to fill the space. {I don't have a photo of it completely blank. :( That would have been good of me... but do me a favor and imagine it without the basket!}


So, when I came across this photo on Pinterest I knew what I was going to do! {Now you can see where I got the idea for the basket in the previous photo}

So, I took this blank wall.



Built another cafe shelf {see the tutorial here}. I painted it the same color as my cabinets and then got my brain working on what would go up top...



I added a metal and wood piece I picked up from Round Top/Warrenton. Then I searched the frames I had sitting in my guest room for some to create an arrangement on top of the shelf. {Ignore the change in lighting... I have put off taking photos for 3 weeks now so it was 8:30 pm or never!!}


I took some of our family pictures and edited them to be in a sepia tone and had them printed at Walmart to fill the frames.

All this stuff was bought at Hobby Lobby at half off. I used the inspiration photo as a starting point for what I wanted it to look like.

I would still like to eventually replace the blinds to the rattan shades to bring a little warmth to the room but for now I'll live with the white blinds. I will have to figure out way to convince my hubby that replacing perfectly good, functioning blinds is worth it. Ha!

So, there it is... pretty much the ONLY thing I have had time to work on in several weeks. But, I'm happy with how it turned out and glad to have yet another wall checked off the "to do" list.

Stress-free decorating!

How many times have you hung things on the wall, stepped back to admire your handy work, and noticed it's crooked, off-center, or not spaced correctly? Or, how about those annoying frames that have two sawtooth hangers, or the kind that the screw has to fit into the hole "just so" and to make it even worse there are usually more than one of them? Oh, how I dislike those!!

Well, I'm here to share with you an easy way to make hanging things so much easier and less frustrating!

My first tip is to use masking tape {or painters tape} on the wall to lay out where you want your piece to be hung so you can imagine it there. I did this with my kitchen shelves so I could "live with it" for a day or so, just to be sure.

Next, take your tape and lay it over the top of whatever your mounting method will be. In this case it's the pesky screw holes that have to be exactly right or else you'll NEVER get the thing hung.

Use a pen or pencil to mark the holes. {In the case of other types of hangers you'd do the same concept...just marking where your nail or screw needs to end up}.

Take that piece of tape off and place it on the wall where it needs to go. This is why I love using the tape to lay out the outline of whatever I'm hanging. You can use that tape to measure out where exactly your nail/screw holes should be and there shouldn't be a need for a 're-do' because the height or centering wasn't right.


Nail or screw your holes, remove the tape and hang your piece!

I promise you this has revolutinized how I hang ANYTHING in my house. I wish I'd done this for years. I would have saved myself so many holes. Not to mention the crooked, off centered, & uneven decorations I've lived with just to save myself from doing it all over again.

I hope it helps you too!

Picture frames

I love open picture frames!

I picked these beauties up at Round Top last week and am SO excited about using them. I'm not even sure how I'm going to use them, but they will, through some shape or form, find their way onto my walls. For $10, how could they not?!

Transitional Urns

Please ignore the massive amount of spacing on this post. My computer has a mind of it's own right now!

My urns stay hard at work year round!
Today, they look like this...

Which I'm very excited about since that means that Fall is around the corner!

Yesterday, they looked like this...

And in a couple of months, they will look like this!..

They can do no wrong :)

Good Girl Jar

I've created a good behavior reward system for my 3 (almost 4) year old daughter Addison! I first saw this idea here & thought it would be perfect for her. I've noticed that she thrives on rules & rewards lately. Not that she always obeys the rules :), but she likes to know what's expected of her.

I came up with 6 different activities that she could use encouragement on. Each small jar represents that chore or behavior.

The large tupperware is the rewards jar.

I spray painted the lids black (I used primer first) & cut out circles of different colored card stock. I used white card stock & Lindsay's Silhouette machine (thanks Lindsay! I've put it on my Christmas list!) to make the activities . I glued everything together with a glue stick, which worked fine for Day 1, but may need to be re-addressed with further wear & tear.

With each successful behavior, Addi can move 1 coordinating item to her reward jar. For eating well & asking to be excused from the table, she gets a green pom pom. Brushing her teeth earns her a blue flower. Cleaning up her room and the living room gets her a jingle bell. She gets a pink crystal ball for doing something kind for someone else. And a cross if she can recite her weekly bible verse. We've JUST started working on that one, so we'll see how it goes! And I notice that I'm a picture short. But purple is for bedtime. If Addi goes to bed (and does not get out of bed), than she gets a jewel in the morning.

The rewards jar consists of prizes that Addison loves! A piece of candy. A craft project. A trip to the store to get a new toy. And once it reaches the princess crown, SHE gets to pick the reward (within reason). Maybe a trip to the park or ice cream with Dad. I like the idea of letting her pick, but I'll have to see how that one plays out! The good thing about the reward icons, is that I can change them out if they don't seem to work or if she tires of them. I just printed the pictures on address labels so that I could cut them out and stick them on the jar.

Like I said, this was only the first day, but Day 1 was a huge success! Even my younger daughter (just turned 2) contributed to the jar tonight by brushing her teeth and picking up her toys! So this could be a great way to encourage team work with them! Well see!

My VERY Simple Fall Decor

It's officially FALL!!! YAY, I am so excited.
But, we live in Texas so there really isn't a 'Fall' season here like in other places. Check out the weather forecast for tomorrow!

Although I am sad about the temperature, I couldn't be more happy about the potential for RAIN! We need it oh so bad. It rained here for a little while this afternoon and my kids had a great time using their umbrellas.

If you haven't heard, Texas has had a terrible drought this year. So, we've only seen rain a handful of times {ALL YEAR LONG}. There have been countless wildfires all over our state. This one broke out just across the highway from our house. Thankfully it was contained quickly and no structures were damaged.

So, I finally pulled out my fall decor last weekend (or I should say my hubby did!). As I pulled it all out I realized how much I disliked what little I had.
I've started working part-time at my kids school so my "free" time is limited. The house won't be decorated like I wish it was... but for this season, here's what I've got.

For the life of me I can't take a good photo of my mantle. The lighting is never right! And every time I look at it on 'film' I realize how blah it really is.

I will add candy corn to this apothocary jar {eventually when I make it to the grocery store}.

I made this Fall frame by cutting out the word FALL using my Silhouette machine, using it as a stencil and spray painting it. That's the lazy way {hence the fuzzy edges}. I'd recommend hand stenciling it with a sponge brush.

This wreath is hung on the mirror using a burlap sash.

I added a few fall colored berry stems to this urn that was already here. More berries are on my Hobby Lobby to do list.

Well, there you have it. It's simple. It's boring. It's lacking the awe factor. But considering it was 100* today it's as "fallish" as I'm able to feel today.

Recipe {Creamy Chicken Casserole}

This is one of my weeknight favorites!

Ingredients:

3 cups shredded or chopped (cooked) chicken

1 can of cream of chicken soup

1 8 oz carton of sour cream

1 tablespoon poppy seeds

1 1/2 cups crushed Ritz crackers

1/4 cup melted butter

Combine first 4 ingredients: spoon into a lightly greased 9x13 baking dish. Combine Ritz and butter, and sprinkle over chicken mixture.

Bake uncovered at 350 for 30 minutes.

Yum!