The House that went from Drab to Fab - Living/Dining Room

 Our Living Room was the 2nd Room we renovated.  After almost three years in our home, I couldn't stand the ugliness of this room, plus the fact that it was the first place people saw when they entered into our home.  The room needed some major repairs to say the least.  When we first moved in I would over decorate to hide the hideousness.  By the pictures below you can tell it really didn't help much.  The mirror above the fireplace was not my style, and it had some well worn parts to it.  I wanted my husband to remove it as soon as we moved in, but he was afraid of what may lie behind it, so it stayed.  The room had an unnecessary door leading into the bedroom (girls room) that we put the couch up against until it could be enclosed.  We put temporary window coverings on the windows (especially after we had a few comments made from neighbors that they saw us eating dinner...as they drove past), and I didn't like the feeling of being in a fish bowl. The room needed extensive T-L-C, and (if you look closely at the 2nd picture below, you will notice next to the kitchen doorway a really bad patch job next to the console table, we believe the wall had been kicked in).   The ceiling was covered in black soot, since the fireplace was improperly ventilated causing the smoke to come into the house. And to top it all off, the fireplace cover itself was pretty, but needed some attention, but the tile surrounding the fire place was an orange brown, which also appeared to have been painted with stain.  A few more highlights were that the room had no lights, ugly 80-ish maroon carpet that smelled like animal urine, the hardwood floor under the carpet had several holes in it (large enough that we could not salvage the floor), outlets were just boxes randomly placed in the floors around the room and there were too few.

The process began in late spring.  Most of the furniture was moved out of the room, and the the process of gutting it began.  The paint-able burlap like wallpaper was removed from the walls (it went from one side of the room across the ceiling and down the other side), the one wall had all the lathe and plaster removed and the hardwood floor was removed along with all old electrical.  The photo below in the first picture, shows how the electrical boxes were placed throughout the house just against the wall, and in some places just in the floor.  The photo below to the right shows the holes that were randomly in the floor.

Once the room was completely gutted, the process of putting it back together began.  The ceiling was furred out to add insulation (and boy did this house need it).  The wall that was behind the couch had the door framed in and additional framing was added to studs that needed some additional support.  Plywood was put along the floor to make way for the new bamboo flooring.  The outside walls were drilled out to add electrical boxes, recessed into the wall.  And new electrical outlets, switches, and fan boxes added.  While my husband was crawling around in the yucky attic he found that at one time the family room had had a light. We wondered as to why any one would want to remove it.

Once all the rough work was done, new Sheetrock was added to the walls.  To help smooth out the outside walls, Sheetrock was added to them also, as the lathe and plaster was basically plastered to the brick. Trim was added around all the doors and windows and wainscoting was added around the room.  The fireplace mantel was sanded down and a shelving system was built in on the corner wall to make the space usable.  By September the room was all prepped and ready for paint and flooring.

We used a raisin-red paint on the upper walls with a light rose glaze ragged over the top.  The combination was quite beautiful and made the room feel very cozy.  The white trim and wainscoting kept the room light and airy.  My husband installed Bamboo flooring which I immediately loved and it made the room look and feel so complete.  The Fireplace Mantel was stained and the fireplace cover was refreshed.  We removed the tile, but found the brick underneath to be quite charming, so we never did re-tile it. We had custom blinds ordered for the windows and boy was this such a treat for me.

Below is a collection of the room at the time it was finished.  I know they are a bit dark, but they were all I had.

Below are pictures of the Living/Dining room at the time we sold the home.  It was one of my most favorite rooms in the house, and I really miss the coziness.  We were given such compliments over the years for this room and most people thought that the red paint was wallpaper.  Even all the Realtor's who we had come and viewed our home, commented on the "wow factor" this room possessed when you walked in.  Soon my husband will start on our new family room and give it the same trim and paint job.  We even kept the old square wood windows from above the fireplace cabinets (when we had the new ones installed) that we will add as a decoration to our new fireplace mantel.

Busy Summer

I have been a bit absentee on my blog this summer, but only because I have been having too much fun with my family, especially my kids.  I was pregnant with baby #4 last summer, along with moving, being in limbo for a few months, building a home and having a new baby in the last part of summer.  So as you can see I didn't get to do much fun stuff with my kiddos.  So this summer we have been having fun overload.  I have been taking my kids all over our State on all kinds of adventures.  To museums, Ghost Towns, Train Depots and anything Historical or just plain fun (like swimming and splash parks).   School will soon begin again and I will be back to blogging and making lots of fun things. In the meantime I hope you are all enjoying your summer.

I have been creating cute things in between all the fun activities, so stay tuned for some fun things.  I am currently working on some new bows and headbands for back to school, so if you are local and need some custom made Hair Bows or Headbands to match your girls' school outfits, please feel free to contact me.

(notice the new headbands I am working on)

Watermelon Headband

I love Watermelon and at one time had my kitchen decorated in watermelon decor.  Imagine my excitement when my sister-in-law picked from my ribbon stash, watermelons to have a baby headband done.  My sister-in-law was so gracious to come over one day and help me learn some tricks on Photoshop, so I wanted to do something for her in return and since she has a baby girl, I told her to pick out some ribbon or colors that she would like a headband done in for her daughter.  I thought about this headband for a few days and then went to work putting it together.  At first I tried to incorporate the black into it and found the size of the ribbon to be to large to do a simple small bow and needed to build the headband around the bow.  In the end I decided that the black just didn't work and stuck with Pink, Green and White.  I loved the end result and did end up adding a touch of black as the knot on the bow.  Thanks Charlee for helping me out, I hope you enjoy the bow. Charlee, I am excited if you do a watermelon themed Birthday Party for Miss Q.  Miss Sophie even happens to have a watermelon dress for the occasion, so she too will be getting her own watermelon headband.

Baptism Hairpiece

A while back I came across this Rolled Ribbon Rosette Hair Bow on Pinterest:

  I really loved the style and decided that I would make this Bow for my Daughter's Baptism Bow.  The Image on Pinterest linked me to momadvice.com website.  I found the Tutorial to be very well done and was able to make this fun Rosette.  I found the shabby rosette ribbon at Walmart.  I used all the ribbon on the spool as I wanted it to be a bit larger.  Once I was done with it I added a crystal button to the center and then a fun ostrich feather puff.  My daughter was so excited to have such a fun Hairpiece to wear on her Baptism Day. 

Patriotic Fun

I am feeling very patriotic this year and have gotten a jump start on my kiddos 4th of July accessories.  

Since I am feeling so festive, for anyone interested in having one of these cute accessories for their own kiddos, I have included the price with each photo.  I have limited numbers of each one. I will even ship to those who are out of state or my local area (Salt Lake to Layton) for a charge of $2.50 for the first item and 0.25 for each additional. 

Red, white and Blue Fluffer Bow - $5 (only 4 left)

Red, white and blue Flower Bow - $5 (only 6 left)

Blue, white and red Flower Bow - $5 (only 4 left)

RWB Feather Headband: $10 (supplies are very limited on this one) - Only 2 available (can also be put on a regular headband)

Star Spangled Shabby Headband: $5 (3 left)

Red White and Blue Rosettes: $8 (can also be put on a regular headband)

 Red, White and Blue Doggie Tie - None Available

Red, White and Blue

I have recently seen a lot of Red, White and Blue in the stores and online, which is making me feel extra patriotic this year.  For the past two years, we have not decorated for the Month of July due to craziness in our lives, but this year it will be different.  I am looking forward to a mild summer and spending lots of time with my family.  Due to my Husband serving in the Armed Forces, we are going to celebrate it right this year (BBQ's, parades and Fireworks).  So to start it out right, I have started creating fun things.  Stay tuned for some fun 4th of July creations:

The Tale of a Lime Green Bow

Every so often I have a bow that just doesn't "pop" as I had originally envisioned.  So today I am going to tell my tale of the Lime Green Bow.

I had a request from a friend who asked for a lime green colored bow, similar to a Fluffy Red Bow I had done at Christmas time.  When I started out I had a hard time finding different textures and prints for just plain lime green, and I felt that the lime alone was just too strong.

I did find some fun lime green and white polka-dot ribbon, so I came up with this creation:

I emailed the creation to my friend and she asked that it be more of the solid lime green color.  I like to make sure that anyone who I make bows for gets a bow that they love, as I know how challenging it can be to find just the perfect bow, which is why I started making custom bows in the first place.  So I went back to work to create a plain lime bow, resulting in another trip to Joann's,  Michael's, and Hobby Lobby to see if I could find any other ribbon to bring an all-Lime bow to life.  I found some additional options and went back to work.

I came up with this creation next:

I emailed this one off to my friend to see what she thought and went to bed.  The next morning I looked at it and didn't like it, it was just to blah to me.  So I once again hit Hobby Lobby hoping to find something to help this poor bow.

Back to work I went to create the perfect lime green bow, and I came up with this creation:

Once again I emailed it off and went back to bed.  By the next morning I still did not feel in love with the bow and decided I would give it one more shot.  It was missing something that I just couldn't capture.

I put my kids to bed that evening and decided to come up with several options and came up with 8 different combinations and emailed them off to my friend to see what she liked the best.

The top row of bows consisted of all lime green ribbon, which I felt just made it too overpowering.  The second row of bows consisted of the Lime Green polka dots with a white background, giving the bows a softer look.

In the end I ended up with two bows that I finished off and loved.

Here are the final results:

This top one was sent off to my friend and I loved the sparkle the green polka dot ribbon added along with some marabou puff under the flower to give it a little extra surprise and of course the green and white polka-dot ribbon on bottom gives the bow a nice soft touch.  In all it provided the perfect amount of "POP" for this bow.

This bottom creation I finished off for my own girls and I love the peak-a-boo white marabou along with the green and white polka-dot ribbon on the bottom with the final touch of a green rhinestone added to the center of the flower.

I even made a headband for my Baby girl with the green and white polka dot ribbons, white and green marabou and then topped it off with a white flower:

I made the mistake of having my husband proof-read this and now that he knows how many trips I made to craft stores, and how many hours I spent in the design process he thinks I should increase my prices by 654.3725%.  (Thanks babe for proof-reading, you know I like any excuse to visit the craft stores...)

Crocheted Butterflies

A little while ago a friend of mine had the cutest crocheted butterfly clips in her daughters hair.  When I asked here where she got them, she told me that someone had crochet them and given them to her.  So this got me thinking that maybe I could find a pattern on the Internet for them and sure enough I found this  great pattern on the Little Birdie Secrets Blog.

Her tutorial was fabulous to follow, and I spent some time at nights (after I put my kids to bed) making lots of fun Butterflies with leftover yarn and crochet thread.  The tutorial includes three different sizes of butterflies.  I had fun trying the different sizes.  As I had the different sizes of crochet butterflies stacked on top of each other I got the idea to stack them together and then finish them off to put on clips.

Here is the finished products, and I can't wait to crochet some more.

Meg's Dress and Pinafore by Olabehle

In March I was busy making lots of fun things.  One of the things I made was this dress found on the You Can Make This website .  The pattern was called Meg's Dress and Pinafore by Olabehle.  My cousins wife had asked me to make this dress for her daughter for Easter and noted that her daughter loves the color blue.

I went on a search to several fabric stores for just the right fabric.  I found just the right pattern at Hancock Fabrics.  They had just put out a new line of fabric, and when I saw it I just new it would be perfect.  The Fabric was a bit pricey so I had to purchase it in two seperate visits so I could use coupons.  I returned home to see what coupons they had online and found a 50% coupon I could use on the first visit (which my hubby was so kind to go and pick it up for me, since he was in the area)  and then I was able to use a 40% off coupon the second visit. They also had fabric in the colors of green and pink in the same line.  I may go back and get more to make some things for my girls.

The pattern I purchased from You Can Make This was an E-pattern, and I found it very well done.  The only thing missing was that it doesn't tell you what they allowed for the hem on the dress, so I put a 1/2 inch hem on the dress (I like the look better), and then continued with the pinafore.

One of the fun things I learned from this pattern, that I had never done before, was hand pleating.  The pattern included the instructions for hand pleating and it was explained very well.  At first I thought I was going to hate it, but I loved it.  I also loved the fact that it gave the dress a more finished look then machine gathering.

Here is my finished project.

I loved this project so much that I have now picked out some Paris fabric at Hobby Lobby to make a dress for my eight year old daughter, and possibly one each for my five year old and baby girl.

Stain Remover Tip for Sharpie or Dry Erase Markers

Am I the only mother who loathes sharpies and dry-erase markers when it comes to kids?  I find that my kids have ruined so many clothes with these types of markers.  Who thought that replacing all the chalkboards in schools with dry erase boards was the thing to do. When I was in high school I never had a problem seeing the chalkboard,  but during my senior year the school started replacing the chalkboards with dry-erase boards, and that is when I started having a hard time seeing the boards and had to get glasses.   Now that I have young children, I dread when my kids come home from school with dry-erase marker on their clothing.  I have had them wear brand new outfits to school, only to have them come home with dry erase marker on their clothes. The first time this happened I was furious, how was I going to get this out?  I put it in the wash (after trying the hair spray trick) and the stain didn't come out.  I was upset beyond words. my daughters brand new dress from her birthday was now ruined, permanently scarred by the ugly black mark!  I then decided to see what I could find online about removing dry-erase marker from clothing.  I finally found a website with a possible solution that I decided to try the next time it happened.  I didn't have to wait very long, and this time it was on my second daughters brand spank-en new Christmas dress, on Christmas (her cousin had received a small-dry erase board from Santa), I was horrified.  I was ready this time though, and hoped with all my might that this solution I found online would work.  To my amazement it did!!  I was so happy, I literally did a happy dance and sought out my husband to show him the results (I am a bit of a freak about my laundry getting clean, I hate spots).

So, this past Sunday, my five year old daughter was wearing a brand new white dress to church and comes out of class telling me how much she loves the smell of the sharpie she used to color her picture with.  As she is telling me this I see the black marker on her brand new dress - why does this always happen on their brand new stuff?  Once again I just died.  So I decided that I would use the same solution on the sharpie that I used on the dry-erase marker and to my amazement, it worked!

I just had to share this wonderful solution for all those Mothers out there, who are just like me and loathe the sharpie and dry-erase markers when it comes to kids.

Here are the things that I now keep on hand in my laundry room:

Here is the dress with the ugly black marker stain:

After blotting with rubbing alcohol and then scrubbing what was left with Murphy's Oil Soap:

Look at my perfectly clean dress, free of ugly black marker stain, making this Mommy very happy!!!

The House that went from Drab to Fab - Girls Room

Shortly after the outside repairs were done on the house, we found out we were expecting our first baby.  We immediately knew what our next project would be, but did not know how huge it would become, and the time it would take to accomplish the task.

The room we chose as the babies room was across the hall from our room and as you will see from the pictures it had some very ugly, old, and worn paneling.  This room also had two entrance doors to it; one from the family room, and the other from the hallway.  The light fixture was hideous, to say the least, and consisted of one light bulb on a two light bulb fixture, and the glass cover was missing.  The carpet was an ugly maroon, and very dirty.  We suspect it was installed in the mid  1970s.  The moldings were broken and in some places missing completely.

The door shown in the picture above became obsolete and the only access to the room when finished was from the hallway, giving the room more functionality.

 My husband worked tirelessly tearing all the old molding and paneling from the walls and what should he find below...hideous wallpaper.  He then worked on opening the closet to its full potential. The original small door that was on the closet, only allowed easy access to half of the closet space.

The room pretty much received a total makeover.  The plugs were recessed into the walls (most of the plug boxes in our home were boxes against the walls, making it hard to have any furniture flush against the wall), new light switch and plug covers, new moldings, Sheetrock to smooth out the wavy, damaged walls, the outside wall was furrowed in a bit to add insulation.  Upgrades included new moldings trim, and rosettes, hardware, fan light, carpet, blinds, textured ceiling, bead-board style wainscoting and the walls were painted a light green with a sage green sponged over the top.

I became pretty stressed in February, when this project was not quite done and I was due the end of February.  The room was such an intense project that my Hubby spent all his extra time on it.  The carpet was delayed (causing me more stress) and was not installed until the Friday before my due date (which was Sunday).  Lucky for us the Baby ended up being 4 days late (amazing since I was so stressed out).  This room became my favorite room in the house and when I walked in it, the light was rejuvenating and the room felt as though I was in a completely different house.  It was hard to believe that this beautiful room now existed in such a drab house.

Ready for Baby:

At the time of sell.