some color

thanks to my awesome sister in law sarah, we were able to add some color to our family room! yay for hand me downs! i know it isn't the colors i was initially planning to do, but i figure we have lived here for almost 2 years... it was time to do something. and believe it or not, i did some sewing! haha it wasn't great. but i did it! {okay she sewed all the pillows but when she re-did her house she took out the stuffing in these. so basically i just added stuffing and then stitched them up..  still sewing in my book..} i think the curtains make the room feel much cozier. thanks sarah! :)

and again.

once again, another house/decor post. i sure have kept myself busy lately trying to make things that i find at the local thrift store D.I. look better. every item that i buy there is between .75 cents and $3. i have a feeling that sean might not appreciate me coming home with all this "junk" but when i walk out of there only spending $8 versus target where i would be spending over $100? well i guess he can't really complain. although i did get the placemats at target. if i could marry target and make little target babies i would. but since i can't right now i will just marry D.I.

i have started to stop at D.I. several days a week. then i usually hit up the antique mall on saturdays. i find new things every single time that i go. even if it has only been one day. i love it. seriously, it is a cheap, fun hobby and for someone like me who usually just sits on the couch when i get home from work? it has been good. what i really need to focus on though is some furniture that i can re-finish (because i actually need that kind of stuff) instead of all these little decorative things. oh well. it has become an addiction and i probably should stop, but there are worse addictions right? i even find myself checking out craigslist and KSL everyday to try and find cheap or free furniture that people don't want. so if you know of anything.... ha just kidding. sorta. anyway, here is what i have been up to lately.













those are the before and afters and then below i just took some pictures of how i used it all and what our dining area is looking like right now. i liked it before but i changed it up a little so i could add this "new" stuff...

{placemats from Target. LOVE THEM}

i hung up some post cards that my mom gave me for my birthday last year. sean doesn't want to add any curtains because he thinks that it will block out all the light.. which if you really want to know my opinion about that you can email me and i will let you know. but that is another story for another day. so anyway we met in the middle with these postcards that i just clipped on a piece of hemp. then i hung up some plates that i already had.



got all those babies at D.I. for $1 each. i painted the A for "Ashby". anyway, here it is all said and done! now i just need to find a lamp shade for that lamp! oh and that lamp was only $3 and it works! wahoo!



anyway, i hope that everyone is having a lovely week! thanks for stopping by our blog and always leaving such sweet comments. i don't say that enough, but i love you all. i am sorry that i have been a terrible commenter for like the past year! i need to be better at that.

i love D.I.

since i didn't end up decorating our living room all yellow, i figured i would throw in splashes of yellow where ever possible.

D.I. (Deseret Industries) has been my new favorite place. i spent $9 last night and walked out with all this stuff and more.






the rooster that needs another coat of paint and the salt and pepper shakers are not from D.I. but all of the jars and bowls and bottles are! i love that place. i got some other things there that i am still working on. hopefully i can finish those up tonight!

birds.

i can't stop working on crafts. i think i have OCD tendencies. i always have something that i get obsessed with at any given point. whether it be crafts, or having to check expiration dates on license plates on every single car that i see.. yes, that really was a phase at one point in my life. anyway, here is what i worked on tonight.



i painted these birds on canvas and then i spray painted this picture frame white. it used to be silver. see below picture. i didn't mind the silver but i am really into white lately, and i think spray paint is like cocaine but for my hands. so why not? i painted 2 other frames while i was at it. also this below picture was from when we first moved in and it was all cluttered and just not very put together. and we had the old tv stand. it's come a long way eh?





someday we plan to put a family picture above our tv. you know, a huge one with sean, moses, and i. sean is adamant about that spot being saved for a big family picture. so i decided to buy those one command strips that they always show on tv and i just want to testify to you that they work. they really do come off. i know this because i put something totally in the wrong spot and crooked and when i followed the instructions and pulled the little tab thing? totally removed from the wall like nothing was ever there. no stickiness.. no hole. no ruined paint. it was awesome. so putting these up with command strips was a good idea because sean is going to make me take them down when we get a family picture. i just wish i would have used these on some other walls that sean doesn't know about... let's just say it shouldn't take ten holes to hang 4 pictures. oops. and you know what sean? if you are reading this? we can't all be like you and pull out the tape measure and calculator and leveler just to hang one tiny thing. or maybe it's just me. waaaaay too much work if you ask me. (just don't look closely at those frames because they may or may not be uneven and crooked..ha)



so i got these coasters at my cousins wedding and there were a ton extra so i thought i would play around with them. i thought they were cute before though, but was in the mood to craft so i just took the extra and did this..



then i took this sign that used to say "bistro"...



and put our last name on it. it was cute before..but i seriously think i will spray paint anything right now.. so you better hide yo' kids....



that is all for now! goodnight!

this and that.

rather than explain in lots of words what we have been up to lately like i normally do.. i'll let the pictures and the words on them and very few other words do the talking...mostly because i am lazy after putting text on all these pictures. why do i do this to myself? especially late at night?

{candle holders were $1 each from DI. add some spray paint and there you go!}

when i say everything but the tv, i mean everything but the tv. well and the wii and stuff ;) but all furniture and decor were less than $100. lets just say that the antique store and DI have been my best friends lately.

or does it just equal boredom? i'm no artist. but it was fun.

our lovely table that i am so happy with.

he told me not to tell anyone he was wearing it around the house.

 and no, he didn't just get back from a bike ride or anything like that. just wanted to wear it. 

inside. for no reason. 

for sean's birthday we went and ate at Malawi's pizza which was sooo good. then we had a group of about 25 people go bowling. after that we had people over for cake and ice cream. it was a fantastic day!


not my most flattering picture. and yes, if you can even read my name on the scoreboard.. it was spelled incorrectly. by my own cousin. ha.



and my latest, unfinished project...

inspired by this incredible woman whose blog i am obsessed with currently.

sick of my before and afters yet? well too bad, i have been in a crafty mood lately 

and i don't see it going away anytime soon! off to bed! :)

good deals.

so remember how in my before and after post i said that all i needed was a new table to finish our dining area? well here it is! is it lame that i am excited about a new table? i guess it is not brand new. it is slightly used, but only a few months old. it is bar height. came with 4 chairs. i found it off KSL for a great deal and had it paid for and picked up with in an hour. it was about $200 less than ones i had been looking at from ikea and RC Willey. i had planned on this purchase to be later rather than sooner, but you can't let good deals just pass you by right? you have to act fast.. at least that is what i keep telling sean as my excuse for spending money. right. also the realtor helped us buy our house asked us this weekend if she could show someone our house who was interested in building one. if they end up buying the same model she said we could have $200 so i told sean the new table would probably seal the deal for sure and would pay itself off. (muahahaha...) anyway.. here are some progression pictures. from my phone. not great quality but my camera is dead and i am lazy.. i'll take better ones later.





wa-lah! i love it. i am super happy with it. now we just need a new, lighter colored rug. black on black is just.. too black. and i would like to find a square rug to go with the square table. i think the phrase i am using the most often these days is "now we just need...." i honestly don't think it will ever end. sean wants to kill me.

i did some de-cluttering in our TV area. also my friend Lee gave us a great new tv stand to replace our ugly, cheap one below. actually i didn't really dislike it or think it was ugly until my friend lee offered me the better one. until i finally got hers in our house i was loathing the old one. not sure why. anyway i found some cute birds, and frames and some other decor at hobby lobby all for half off. actually i bought three birds for $8 total when they were originally $15 each! so even better than half off. the frames were 50% off though. sweet. i plan to do a little bit more with this place. make some changes, find a different way to store the dvd's, paint some things, but for now this works. oh and the before picture was not taken on my cell phone. the after was taken on my cell phone and kinda looks worse. but i promise it looks much better in person.  at least to me. haha.



on another note, guess who turned 25 this weekend?



our nephew's birthday is 2 days after sean's so we had to throw his name on the cake :) i will post more on his awesome birthday and this weekend later. it deserves it's own post. for now i will leave you with this...



the kids in nursery at church just love sean. seriously. before i took this picture there was another kid trying to sit on his lap. meanwhile i had a little girl throwing blocks at my head, one "tooted" in my face and another kid was screaming "evwy one jus weave me awone!" into my ear. oh well. he is going to be a great dad someday, eh?

before and after.

so we have lived in our new house since july.. and we didn't put anything up on the walls for quite a while. part of the reason was that we were trying to get our sod laid before november. i think another reason was that we were just kind of nervous about it. we have hung a few things in the last month or two, but i finally decided i was tired of it being so bare. also, after my last post about my dream room i decided it was time to get to work. i still have some work to do... but here are some before and after pictures. also, our next purchase will be a new kitchen table and chairs. i already have them picked out, i just need to save up!

here is our dining area. the before picture was actually taken in like august. since then we had a clock on the wall and a few other things. but for some reason it just didn't seem quite complete to me. after being inspired by my brother sam and his wife sarah's cute little apartment, i decided we needed a table and mirror there. it is kind of hard to see with the table in the way. but i think it turned out pretty cute and it really opens that area up. it looks so much bigger!







our family room is shared with the dining area which is open to the kitchen. our house is very open concept. so these pictures below are taken while standing in the dining area. does that make sense? sorry i probably don't need to explain, but i would get confused if i hadn't seen it in person.









i had originally planned to go with the yellow theme in my previous post, but after going to ikea i went with some blues, browns, and grays. my grandma dallyne made that beautiful blanket on the couch. i love it. she is amazing! now i just need to find some fabric for some curtains. i am going to attempt to make them with the help of my friends and family..















i didn't do a whole lot to the kitchen but added a few little things. i love these little vases! all in all i think it turned out pretty cute! once we get our new kitchen table i think it will feel pretty complete. it is going to be bar height, and it is the same color as the mirror and table behind it. it's a perfect square and can fit 4-8 people. i can't wait to get it.

now that our 1/2 bath, bedroom, and family room are complete, we just need to work on our entry way, office, and spare bedroom. right now they are just full of junk. especially after christmas. (a post coming on that after this one) all that is in our entry way right now is that mirror i got from the antique store. now we just need to find a hutch or table to put in there. preferably one that has storage and hooks for coats! anyway, i am no decorator, but i have been having fun with it. i think sean wants me to stop though because i keep spending money on the house. but oh well, he spent our money on the outside of the house (yard and sprinkler system) so i think its my turn to spend it on the inside. am i right? oh and i promise we aren't made of money haha. i think part of the reason we haven't done much to the house until now is because we were saving up to do decorate. at least that is my reasoning for it. oh and also? ikea is awesome. but also... i hate it. i can't believe i got out of there alive and with any money left.. i think they purposely make it the way that it is so you will be in there forever and decide that you don't want to come back for a long time so you will just buy way too much. the end.

p.s. thank you so much lee for helping me do all this and putting up with my craziness at ikea! you are the best!