Spring Fling.

Spring is here!  Is it just me or does it seem like it took forever for it to get here?  

Things have been pretty crazy at our house.  You can probably tell by my lack of blog posts.

But amidst the craziness, I've had time to put up a few things to bring in a little spring.

Spring is my favorite season to decorate for.  It just makes my house happy.

I hope you can all enjoy a little sunshine today!

I'm loving ...

Mirrors over windows.

Source Unknown

It looks beautiful in a bathroom.

Design Manifest

Or in a breakfast nook.

Flea Market Trixie

Mirrors - awesome.  Windows - awesome.  Mirrors hung on windows - more awesome.

Now to find a window that I can hang a mirror on ...

Recovering a Bookshelf in Fabric.

I have a fear of painting furniture.  Fear that I could ruin a chair, waste 37 hours, or worse, make a mess! 

See this cute little bookshelf?  I was afraid of it.  I wanted to paint the back of it a lighter color, but I just couldn't bring myself to do it.  I knew that it looked cluttered and like everything disappeared at the same time, but I just kept staring at it.

I thought about it for a few weeks until the Nester posted this about taking risks in your home.  And it reminded me that my favorite things in my home are all risks.  So I did it!

Well, kind of ... 

I didn't have the right color paint and I didn't want to spend any money, so I covered it with fabric.  And by fabric I mean unbleached painter's drop cloth.  That I found in the garage.

But it looks great!  And I love it ... VERY low risk and very big pay off.  Nothing is better than free decorating!

Once the back of the bookshelf was recovered, I changed out the knob for $2.  Then I shopped the house and restyled the bookshelf.  A new look for less than a latte.   Why do I always compare things to coffee?  I don't have a problem, I promise.  I am just so thankful for coffee and for little risks that make a big difference.

I think this little project may have given me the courage to take another risk ... painting the next door neighbor, the TV stand.

What kind of risks can you take in your home?

I will be linking up to Nesting Place, My Uncommon Slice of Suburbia, Chic on a Shoestring Decorating and The Shabby Nest.

Clean tricks.

I love when my house is so clean it sparkles.  But life happens and most of the time my house is dirty.  I have dust bunnies that love me so much they just won't leave. 

There are a few things I do every day that trick me into believing that my home sparkles.  I think they'll trick you, too!

Photo via Hooked on Houses

1.  Develop a routine!  Every morning, I have a routine that includes making my bed.  Making your bed is one of those silly things that only takes a minute but it will make your life so much better.  You will think your bedroom is clean even if your dust bunnies want to marry you.

Bedroom via Houzz by  Jamie Laubhan-Oliver

2.  Open and sort the mail every day.

3.  Clean as you cook.  This really is a no-brainer, but for some reason it didn't always occur to me that I could clean as I cooked.  I try to have the majority of the dishes and dinner done at the same time.  It makes dinner much more enjoyable and then I can relax and watch the Bachelor when dinner's finished.

Kitchen via Houzz by Jean Allsopp Photography

5.  Clean the kitchen every night.  Counters and all.  If your kitchen is clean most of the time, you're more likely to keep it clean all day.  It's the same mentality as when you're on a diet and you eat a brownie and suddenly it's okay to eat 5,000 more calories.

4.  Do a load of laundry every day.  Sometimes I don't feel like doing laundry, but I always try to at least move a load from the washer to the dryer.  Then at the end of the day when I think about all the tasks I've finished, I always add laundry.  It makes me feel accomplished.  See, you have to trick yourself!

Laundry Room via Houzz

5.  Clean as you go.  Before you leave a room, try to clean up the mess you made before moving on to the next room or activity.  For me, this means cleaning up the nursery when my baby and I are done playing, or putting everything away in the bathroom when I'm done getting ready.

Source Unknown

My house isn't always perfect, but these things help me feel like it is clean enough.  They also help control chaos.  If you can keep the messes tamed, then they won't grow into scary monsters.

Cleaning Out the Pantry.

When my home is unorganized, it gives me a headache.  So every few months or so, I go through and reorganize everything.  It makes my life efficient and my heart happy.

This week I reorganized our pantry.  I am sure you can see why!

This is the after. I found things I didn't even know we had in the pantry.  Like dog biscuits.  It probably wouldn't seem so strange except for the fact that we don't have a dog.

So much better.  All of the baskets or bins are from Hobby Lobby and Michael's.  I just used stick-on labels for the bins.

Yay!  My pantry is organized.  I hope you all have a great weekend!

Silhouette Tutorial.

I made a silhouette of my sweet baby boy last week.  I love how it turned out and it was so easy!  It took me about 15 minutes from start to finish.

Oh, and I think it cost about $3.

The first thing I did was take a picture of his profile.  Getting a 15-month old to sit still and look straight ahead long enough to take a picture was the hardest part. 

There are a lot of great tutorials out there, but this is the method I used ... You will need two different colors of card-stock, a pencil, scissors, glue stick and a cut out photo profile.  I had mine printed in a 5 x7.

Carefully cut out the profile and trace it with a pencil using the back side of the photo.  Using the back side makes it easier to see what you're tracing.

Once you trace it in pencil, you can adjust it if you need to.  I added eyelashes.

 

 Cut out your silhouette, flip it over, glue it down and then frame it.

 The end.  Super simple and super cute!

I'm linking to My Uncommon Slice of Suburbia, Chic on a Shoestring and The Shabby Nest.

Putting a Little Vintage in the Nursery.

When I was pregnant, we didn't know if we were bringing home a little boy or a little girl.  Fifteen months later, I'm finally finishing up a baby boy's room.

Last week, I found some adorable things for the nursery while shopping for antiques.  Like those books under that sweet little bird.  His name is Henry.

And these charming blocks.

I fell in love with them as soon as I saw them.  They are so precious adorable loved perfect.

This room makes me so happy.  It makes me the most happy when I open the door after a nap.  It smells like my baby.  He smells like heaven.  Especially his head.  I could get intoxicated off the smell of his head. 

 I wonder if this little boy's head smells as good as my little boy's head.  Something tells me no. 

 My husband has a problem with the pink in the nursery drapes.  I tell him that's what makes it a nursery.  I also tell him that I'm at a 30% on the baby fever scale and you never know when a little girl will be coming.

These beautiful nursery rhyme books are from the same antique store.  I love antique children's books.  The best ones have drawings and scribbles inside.

I think the nursery is finally complete!  Except for that empty frame there.  Oops.