My butterfly inspired girl's bedroom.....

My girl's room has been Lenox Tan for over  a year now. I love non-traditional colors for kids rooms. I wanted something that could work for all 3 of my girls. Since it is a tiny room, I wanted it to be non-claustrophobic and and  very calming. I was very excited to see that tans are coming back in style. I love how Melaine did her daughter's room.

And I was totally inspired by super-talented Tara's use of paper butterflies. I had to be a copy cat. :)

 I painted all of the garage sale frames I had accumulated over the years to one color.

And then collaged them on the walls.

And cut out paper butterflies to "mount" in each one.

I am trying to decide what to do about the valances, if I keep them or not.

I really have to get that Etsy store of mine open so it's an easier decision. :)

I found this bamboo birdcage for $8 and painted it white, hung it on a ribbon from the ceiling and added some little flutterby's. It's kind of neat because when the windows are open it drifts just  a bit and the little wings kind of flap in the breeze.

The best part is; I took the book pages from a copy of "Little Women."

And the reason the beds are slightly off center is the little peanut sleeps over in the corner.

Someday when she get s big girl bed we are going to have to reconfigure the room  a bit; but we'll make it work.

Jen

Bloggy girlfriends.....

I was able to have  a nice little breakfast today with some fabulous friends in blogland.

Traci, Anne Marie,Tracey, Jeanne, shorty me and Amy

Jeanne was in town so we all got together and chatted over eggs and coffee....

And laughed and laughed and laughed. It was  a blast...These are some of the most talented,warm and amazing women ever....I feel blessed to call them my friends.

I couldn't have had  a better time...

Thanks guys.

Really? REALLY?

Yes ha ha Ha!... Really. :)

Jen

It's my blogiversary!

I can't believe I almost forgot!

Three years goes by fast!

(because every party needs a pickle hat.)

In celebration of my three year blogiversary, I want to share all of the wonderful blogs I started reading  (and still am)  back when I was just  a newbie blogger.

At that time there was probably only about 15-20 home bloggers, now, it's amazing to see the fabulous new blogs full of eye candy popping up everyday...

(That's back when HGTV actually had decorating shows and it wasn't the thing I now refer to as "the real estate channel.").

There was:

  Sweet Penny

Wonderful Dawn

Amazing Manuela

Fab Rhoda

Talented Tara

Awesome Sara

Alison Gibbs

Angela

Rosie

Lidy

Karla

Becky

Donna

Kim

There are many more wonderful blogs of course, but these are the first ones I really started with. Stop by and say hi. I've seen many blogs come and go for various reasons, but these ladies have hung in there through it all!!!!

Jen

Clear your calenders girls...

For The Nada Farm event!

October 8 and 9th!

If your going to be in the Illinois area, come on over!

We are trying an entirely new approach with a "story sale."

Everyone's excited....

The local hotel is even getting in with great deals.

I've been making and sewing and painting and shopping!

The best thing is it's Columbus Day weekend, so there is even more time for those of you out of town to travel!

There are going to be some amazing vendors all interwoven into a story at one fabulous sale.

There is going to be an unveiling of a  short movie about it (with details) on September 1st at Anne Marie's!

Jen

Layers of Lavender and Rosemary...

I  really wanted to add to my Lavender and Rosemary plantings this summer without added cost, so I used my Auntie's age old method for her roses of using jars like mini-greenhouses. I know you can also layer the plants, but I haven't had much luck with that technique.

After stripping the branch of leaves except for at the vary top and exposing some of the white stem part underneath, I put them in the loose soil and I kept the ground wet and the jars over the top.

I didn't use rooting hormone. I wanted to see what would happen with out it. I had read somewhere that you can root both plants in water, so I thought, why not, what have I got to lose?

It took about 3 weeks, but then I had roots!

Once they are established I keep them moist. Anytime I have carefully removed them to check for roots, I've put them back in in saturated soil and replaced the jar.  It was so easy and cheap. I've started saving them from everything like salsa and pickles. 

My garden looks like it is growing glass jars.

Jen

No S'more summer...

Back to school...

I would love to be able to say I am sad about it, but  I am starting to yearn for the routine of every day and to see what new adventures autumn brings.

As one last celebration, we decided to brave the mosquitoes. We had a mini-campfire with the kids and made yummy s'mores.

Happy back to school!

Jen

Curtain call...

I bought my vintage bedroom drapes at Farm Chicks earlier this year. Tracey and Tara and I were strolling through on the second day and they caught my eye.

I loved how they had such vibrant color a the top, but age and the sun had faded them toward the bottom.

 The only problem was there were only two panels and I needed 4; but at for $20 for the pair, how could I pass them up?! I knew even if I didn't use them as drapes, it was great fabric.

Luckily, my good friend, Anne, and I brainstormed and decided to split each panel in half and use them for decoration only. I have to admit, when pictures are not being taken, my hubby and I are black-out shade people. I am like a vampire with the morning sun.

I decided not to line them, because I love the  sunlight coming through them.. AFTER I am already up. :)

Jen

Headboard makeover....

My poor husband. Nothing he has left from his pre-Jen days is sacred.

With our budget bedroom makeover I really wanted  a new headboard for my bedroom makeover.

This one from Ballard's was my dream; but way out of my budget, so I decided to use it as inspiration instead and pretty up the one I already had. After all, it was solid wood.

Oak, 80's. UGH. A college remnant from My hubby's first bedroom set. I hope he knows the dresser is getting it next.

 I purchased chair caning from  Van Dyke's Restorers and I already had an architectural piece from an old dresser.

I first added my dresser piece ( sorry, no pics... my bad.) to the top. Then I primed and painted the whole thing.

I then cut the caning and then painted the  both sides and let it dry.

I stapled it onto my headboard. Use A LOT of staples. Believe me. I unloaded my gun into it.

later, you'll paint right over them and you can't even tell they are there.

'

I then cut molding to frame around the rough edges and hold it in place.

Where it didn't match, I just wood filled it. Then I painted the whole thing again.

Here's where I cried.

I guess when caning gets wet it relaxes and buckles.Which I did NOT know. When I pulled it in that night, I noticed it was all wavy and bumpy. After a full day of work on the darn thing, the tears flowed with a few expletives.

But then the sun came out the next day and when it had dried overnight, the caning tightened up again and it was flat. I think my saving grace was all of the staples.

And I was happy.

The total cost was $23.00 for the caning with shipping. I already had the other supplies on hand.

It just added the right touch to our new bedroom space.

                 It wasn't hard either, just time consuming. I love the idea of using caning now on other things...

Jen
Linking here

PS visit more makeovers at The DIY showoff and the Shabby Nest and Between naps on the porch

Bedroom makeover reveal!

My bedroom. Gah.

I am not going to lie to you. The before picture is  a whole lotta ugly. 

I actually cringe when I look at it; I'm actually embarrassed.

Let me tell you, when you have 3 kids in 5 years, it messes with you.

Our bedroom was  a dumping ground. We painted it when we moved in and that was it. From there it was just  a mish-mosh of what we had, I would hardly even make the bed because I could never get back in there during the day. I would literally get up, throw stuff in there and go. I was so busy trying to make every other space nice, I kind of forgot about the most important one. Ours.

Before... Gah...

When this company sent me some paint to try; I knew it was time to get off my fanny and finally make our space nice for us.

With  fresh coats of paint, new lamps and vintage finds, here's what I ended up with.

After

The vintage curtains, mirrors, and vintage embellishments make the space personal.

It's still our old headboard, I'll show you how I made it in another post.

Now, I am so happy to go in there and hang out. I also don't have to be embarrassed to close the door when people come over.

I've noticed the Hubs and I enjoy spending more time as well in our space. It is more than  just a dumping ground. It's kind of  a retreat.

It's a spot just for us.

~Jen

It's the great pumpkin Charlie Brown.. In August?

While dumping stuff in my compost and  fighting off the mosquitoes today, I found these two little, softball-size guys already ripe in my compost pumpkin heap! They must the the remnant of  a pie pumpkin I threw out there. I can't believe they were ready so early.

There were even more growing and starting to turn!

My mom was over and said, "Hey, look at this other vine they are different! Look at this BIG green one!"

See him? Me neither. I thought she was just being my crazy, 'ol Mom at first, :) then I moved a few Hosta leaves aside.

My Mom was right. There it was. There Mom, I said it, you were RIGHT.

It was so exciting, he's already the size of  a basketball! There is something so gratifying about growing and then finding little surprises along the way. I am going to guess him as Orange halloween type.

And for some odd reason I think pumpkins are male?

And this one is from the Jarrdale seeds I planted on the other side of the yard. He's already like a volleyball. They are supposed to be blue-green and Cinderella looking. I can't wait to see how it turns out!

I think I am going to be selling some gourds...

Rizzo Pumpkin Farm doesn't sound very authentic, does it..?  Now if I said Rizzo Pizza Factory...

Here's one last sneak peek of my big makeover coming Monday...

Have  a great weekend~!

Jen

Another sneak peek of...

The make over I am working on...

  Jen

Flowers....

One thing I love the most about summer; Free flowers  from my yard to brighten up my home.

 Even mint looks pretty in full bloom!

Jen

Next project.....

Since I am temporarily on hold with my cabinets, I decided to move on....

Here's a sneaky peek...

Jen

Dining room and Living room interior redesign...and a beer...

Unfortunately, this is not MY gorgeous house, but my good friend, Anne's. She was kind enough to let me come over and "play" a bit with her furnishings. I am no expert by any means, but I love to dabble in redesign; especially when it's somewhere like  a good friends who I know won't yell at me if they hate it.:).  I had walked up the block ( We call it Wisteria Lane.) with my camera and  a cold beer ( It was  a looooong day with the kids; only two weeks until school!).

She has this wonderful dining set that is a family heirloom. We "shopped" her house a bit and found some great things to use. She has a wonderful eye for Arts and Crafts, and we found some other  lovely treasures she had hidden away like pictures and a flea market mirror.

Dining room 

Before

After

Living room.

Before

After

It was so much fun to do some trial and error and see where the journey of what we found took us. The best thing is, now that things are where she likes them, she knows what other  accessories and art she needs to buy. 

 Afterward, Anne had given me  a bottle of wine, so I walked home with a can of  half-finished beer in one hand, a bottle of wine in the other, and my camera in my child's school bag with her picture on it. Mother of the year!

Good times, good times......

Jen

Work with what ya got...

The kitchen cabinet project is on hold until late September. Insurance is going to pay to replace the subfloor, one bank of cabinets right under the sink area and the flooring. How I am going to match our regular cabinets to match the new stuff is going to take a bit of paint magic for sure, but it's a blessing they are going to cover it and it has to be done. When I open the sink cabinets my eyes get  just a bit itchy. I wish we could afford to do the whole kitchen at once and get all new cabinets, but alas, it's all about make do as usual around here.

The good thing is, I have about 10 other projects in the works including this rough caning 

( which involves a bigger project), and now it's all about getting everything else ready for the mini-remodel.

We've never had to do anything major to the house before so the interviewing contractors and sourcing supplies is all new for us.

Any one have any advice for a remodeling a kitchen with kids?

I have  a feeling it's going to be just  a bit crazy.

Jen