making progress [office and playroom]

The time has officially come for Joel to handover his claim to the spare bedroom.  He has enjoyed four years of peaceful video game playing, but we have quickly realized that we need a place where we both can have separate functioning spaces and a spot for Judah to enjoy while I'm working on my laptop or Joel is playing video games.

So we set out to the ReStore last weekend and found the perfect tables to create the long work station we have in mind.  Yay!  Here Judah and I are checking out the mirrors and doors.  The next project on our list is to finally decorate our bedroom, so of course that means make a headboard.  And if I can find an older door with fun accents to replace our pantry door, I may just have to bump that up my list as well.

We also decided to just get rid of the bed that is currently in our spare room.  It was such a freeing decision and we figured that we can just buy a really nice blow up mattress for when we do get the rare overnight visitor.  Why didn't we do this sooner??

Once the decision was made to open up all that space, my mind raced with possibilities!  So I realized that I needed to reign them in and do what I did for Judah's nursery--an inspiration board.  I still love Judah's nursery so much and I think a lot of that is because I made a plan to it and stuck to it.  I also stayed within the budget easily because if something didn't fit with my plan, then I didn't buy it.  Who knows what knick-knacks I would have ended up with if I allowed myself to buy every cute thing I came across.

So here is what I'm dreaming up for our new space:

We are picking up the second desk this weekend and getting our paint. Progress!  We're going to paint the room a light grey with some beige undertones (I hate saying greige because it's so trendy, but yeah, we're painting it greige), and picking it out was so difficult.  Can you tell?

They were all basically the same color! We decided to go with Hazy Skies by Benjamin Moore (or really Home Depot's version) and I can not wait to cover up that dark blue. Bring on the light!

We're shooting to have complete by the holidays, so hopefully I'll be able to keep you updated on our progress.

Until then, I'll be scouring garage sales and thrift stores for wooden kid table sets (ideally round table), fun kid-friendly decor, and desk accessories. Wish me luck!

painting pumpkins

A few weeks ago, I attended my very first pumpkin painting party!  I've been to my fair share of pumpkin carving parties, but I always leave with a weirdly misshapen jack-o-lantern because I'm not great with a knife.  But a pumpkin painting party was waaaay more up my alley!

Our hostess with the mostess, Eryn, had stations set up and provided us with paint, modge podge, foam brushes and polka dot brushes, and snacks. She even made us all cups--it was so cute! :)

It was such a fun night and inspired me to decorate my house for fall this year.  I always mean to get pumpkins and fall decor but never do because I always forget or else I am already spending too much at the store when I remember.

As I was waiting for my first pumpkin to dry, I snapped a few pics to see what everyone else was doing--they all came out so great!

Beth and Eryn in the zone

Ali, Kameryn, and Whitney

This was such a cute one!  I think Ali painted about 7 pumpkins that night, haha

Sarah and Amie

My painted pumpkins! (minus the cute polka dot one)

Gotta love this girl--I didn't even know she grabbed my camera until a day later. :)

happy fall!

It's officially my favorite season!!  I got my candle burning, pumpkins painted, and now my wreath is up!  I didn't do one last year and regretted it all season, so this year I had mine up by October 1st. It wasn't what I planned on, and I only had a small time-frame, but I'm so happy with how it came out.

Total time spent putting it together and hanging it up was 8-10 minutes and nothing is hot-glued.  Wreaths don't have to be difficult! I bought three stems (two of the yellow and one of the mini pine cones) and just stuck them all in there and tied a ribbon around it.

I do plan on modge podging the ribbon and then will tie it again, so it's a more sturdy ribbon and not so floppy.  But like I said, I just wanted it up!

Happy Fall!

DIY [ "wallpaper" ]

During this past weekend trip to Ikea, I knew I wanted to get two oversized white frames for the wall you see when you walk in our bedroom.  At first, I thought of putting pictures of me and Joel (our hands and feet pic thanks to Amanda Causey)  and then switching it out as the family grows or we get older, but then it hit me.  Do I really need to see a blown up version of myself first thing when I walk into our room--even if it is more abstract??

The answer was a big, resounding "absolutely not."

I've had this idea in mind since before we bought our house, but I haven't had a space for it--until now.  Where else is the perfect place to be reminded of not only our wedding day, but a verse that is very dear to us as a couple and individually?  So that was it.

I took the last part of the verse and got inspiration from a fabric I saw at Ikea (can't find it online) and this Ballard outdoor rug:

I love the "under fancified" (it makes sense to me) scribble type fonts and how it looks like an art piece when standing away from it, but then it's legible when you get closer. And I'm on a big tilting kick right now with my designs, as I'm sure you noticed.  The verse is cut in half vertically and reads as one between the two frames.  I absolutely love when things in my mind turn out how I want it and can't wait to get them up on the wall!  I'll be sure to update this post when that happens.  Joel is hard at work assembling everything else we got this weekend, so I might just have to give it a shot myself. 

Also, because I'm always thinking of how I can turn anything into a gift, this would be a great, inexpensive Valentine's Day gift:

• Create a text box in Word
• Paste the verse or quote you want inside
• Make that nasty shape outline clear or white
• Play around with different fonts, sizes, and spacing
• Enlarge the box or shrink to match your frame (under the "format" tab in word, you can make it an exact size you want--see image)

You could even save this gift idea for someone's birthday or Christmas.  I bet if you find out now what verse is meaningful to your future gift recipient then they won't even remember by the time December rolls around!

DIY [spray paint happy]

i am obsessed with spray paint! actually i think i'm more obsessed with quick fixes to cheap purchases. i could fill a closet with all the junk i pick up with the mindset, "oh yeah, this is gonna look great white!" it's a sickness.

over my vacation, i was finally able to devote some time to my DIY projects and spent an entire afternoon painting. for this project, i had no clue what i was going to do with these (frames??) when i bought them. i just liked the size and shape.

i don't even know what they are, but i do know they were less than 50 cents.



after much debate, i decided to make them into chalkboards! there are many other blogs that show you how to do this probably a lot better than me, but here's what i did.

enter chalkboard spray paint. i bet you didn't even know they made such a thing. at least that's what i tell myself. i like to think i'm super cutting edge. :)



then i "seasoned" the board and made many scratching sounds, which had joel wincing in pain in the next room. muahaha. i don't know why you have to do this before you use it. i just know you do. teachers? explanations?



next came the edges. i covered the chalkboard part and it worked great UNTIL i had to peel the tape off after. i had a couple spots take some black off, but i just used my handy dandy permanent marker to fill in those spots. (side note: i had these dark gray lounge pants in college that i wore all the time, but they had a couple tiny bleach spots on them, so i often just colored them in with my marker. quick fixes i tell ya! too much?)



and voila! i'm not sure what i'm going to do with them just yet. for one, i plan on getting some chalkboard markers and putting a verse in it or a favorite quote and putting it in our living room. the other one will be for notes to each other or little reminders like in the first pic. i love how they came out!




total cost: a whopping 6 bucks for both! (so about $3 each with lots of paint to spare)

did i make anyone a believer in the power of spray paint yet? :)

list love

hi. my name is jenny, and i'm a list-o-holic. i can't get enough of lists or notepads that are so cute that make me think of lists to create just so i can write on them. currently on my desk at work, i have about three coordinating notepads and a super cute "to-do" list that i found online. they just make me happy. recently, i discovered how to make my own notepads, and i wanted to try one out myself. i figured the one we needed most at home was a grocery list. at the apartment, we had a special notepad we used and a certain place to put it. now that we're in the house, i had to think of another solution since i'm trying my hardest to keep our counters clutter free. so here's my little "how to" if you want to make one too:

design two on one sheet, print at home or local print shop (kinkos, office depot, etc.), and cut.


line up papers and cardboard backing (i used the back of an old yellow memo pad from college and cut it to fit...how notes from media law survived the move is beyond me). hold together with binder clips (i'm sure you could use books stacked on each other as well...just make sure the ends are lined up).


break out the rubber cement...if you don't have any on hand, it's only $3 at hobby lobby. however, i've heard that padding compound works way better...just a little fyi.


apply two coats on top.


go clean up the mess you've made so far while you let it dry.


tear off the first sheet because it's gluey and gross (i attached a messed up sheet, but a normal sheet of paper cut to fit would work too).


attach to fridge with magnet or leave on counter, then stand back and soak up it's beauty.


you're probably thinking "what's the big deal?" but let me tell you that a grocery list nearby is a must. i've always written down an item as i need it instead of just sitting down and writing a long grocery list before we go to the store. it cuts down on impulse buys (for me at least) and lets me know what i have on hand without having to search.

i really like how it came out and can't wait to start using it. i have so many other ideas for lists, but i must pace myself. i think my next list will be our "bill list" that i created. it's organized by month and has all our bills listed by the company with the due date next to it. we normally check them off as they get paid each month, so we both know which bills still need to be paid and to remind each other if the due date is approaching. it works like a charm, but now that we have a few more bills to add to the list, it needs to be redone. yay for me! what other list ideas are out there?? i should start a list...

sew fun

i have officially used my new sewing machine that was given to me by joel's parents this past Christmas!! i've been wanting to break it out and make something but lacked the motivation and skill...until ashley that is! she needed to make curtains for her little boy's room and needed motivation as well. ashley has way more experience with her machine, so she offered to help me learn mine and show me how to thread it. after we took a trip back to my apartment (i forgot the pedal--just shows how much of a beginner i am), hobby lobby, and wal-mart, we got started. i got a tutorial on the art of pillow making and stuffing, and then i was on my own. it wasn't as hard as i thought, and i was so happy with how they turned out!

ashley was so fun to hang out with and cracked me up by talking to her machine and praying out loud that the thread would hold, haha. i have a feeling that new house will be FULL of pillows because they are the only thing i currently know how to make. hopefully, i'll venture out into other areas, but i think pillows seem very fitting for now.

here are some pics that ashley shot while i was learning. she's such a mom...and a great teacher to bet! :)