Fireplace Before and After

Here is a picture of our family room from the seller's photos.  Sorry, it's the only one I have that shows it before all the painting I did.

Shortly after we moved in, one of the first things I did was paint the fireplace mantel white.  I just didn't like that oak color, and you couldn't see the beautiful details at all.  I had been in love with white mantels for a long time, so I was pretty excited to do it!  I also painted the left and right side walls a soft green color.

Originally, I left the wall above the fireplace that khaki color - it looked pretty good, I thought.

Here is a photo taken around Easter after I painted the mantel.

Sorry, the wall color looks a little weird in this pic, but it's the same as above.   

See all the cute detail in the mantel?

Recently I decided with the soft green walls, and dark brown furniture that the fireplace wall needed a punch of color.  This room connects with the dining area and kitchen, and I have these gorgeous rugs I bought at Pier 1 that have all the colors I want.

There is brown, the green of my walls, beige, mustard and a warm rusty red color.

I also bought these dried peppers in Mexico that bring that punch of rusty red in. They are HUGE - but I love them! haha

So here is my new bright fireplace wall:

It looks pretty orange in the picture, but trust me, it's not.  It's more of a brownish color really.  I love it!  Every time I look over at that wall, it just looks so warm and yummy. hahaha(maybe cozy is a better word).

Here is a side-by-side for you to compare:



What do you think?  Seriously - it looks so much better in person. The only bad thing is, it totally clashes with my Valentine Decorations!

The next thing I need to work on is window treatments - I hate bare windows!

 

UPDATE:  Here is an after after picture....  :)

 

We added shelves!!  You can read the full post HERE.

Well, thanks for stopping by!



DIY Touch and Feel Book

(I made some cuter covers - see end of post) haha :)

I was looking through my filing cabinet the other day, and found this touch and feel book that I had made for my boys when they were little.  I also used these for a church lesson about hands - the kids loved them!  I uploaded all the pages, colored them, printed them out, and made a new one for my daughter.

I just made them on regular cardstock, and if you want them to be more durable, you could laminate the pages before you glue the extras on.

Here are the pages:

feather, and pipe cleaners,

sandpaper, and a shell,

some batting, and my daughter's handprints. (I used craft paint)

I just used hot glue to attach everything - punched holes and added rings.

I am sure there are more cute things you could add - a piece of terrycloth, satin or fur, or small rocks (if your kids are older and wouldn't choke).

You can download the pdf file here.  There are 2 to a page, the top one is colored, and the bottom is black and white, so your kids or class can color it themselves! 

Hope you like them!

Edit: After I posted this - I was thinking how much cuter I could have made these books! Really? Plain white pages? That is sooo not me! Oh-well, you guys go out there and make these cuter, okay?

Okay, I couldn't stand it - Here is a little nicer cover page.

Simple Valentine Decorations

As I was putting up my Valentine's Day decorations, I realized that my hurricane jars are missing. I bought two of them last year on sale, packed them away when we moved, and now they're gone.  I am so frustrated!  I've gone through every. single. box.  Nowhere to be found!!  I love to put a big candle in the middle of the jar and then pour candy hearts around it.  Oh-well.  :(  Here are some more simple ways to decorate for Valentine's Day:

I love this one, because it's so pretty, but super inexpensive.  In fact, I got the entire thing at the dollar store!
Vase, artificial roses, and Red Hots.

Topiary.  I bought this gorgeous flower hanging ball at Michael's last year, and cut off the ribbon.  Then I painted a dowel red, and poked it through the middle. You could probably make your own with a styrofoam ball and artificial flowers.

Pillows.  I made these little pillows a couple weeks ago.  You can see the post HERE.

These are some gorgeous pillows my sister-in-law made.  I will post more details soon.  (Wow, I really shouldn't put the picture right next to the ones I made - hers look a million times better!)

I bought a bunch of these paint cans at a craft store, tied ribbons on the top, and put vinyl around the outside.  This one says "Kiss Me".  Sorry, it's hard to see - I am not very good with my pictures, yet.

Glass blocks - I love these, they make them so much more user-friendly now.  The new ones have wide slots in them that you can fill with things.  Rose petals would have been super pretty!!

I love printables! I got this frame at the thrift store, painted it black, and printed out the words on my computer. I can't find where I got this one - it was last year, but there are some stinkin' cute printables out there!  I might have to get more, and then change them out. Haha :)
(Oh, and that little jar is from the Taipan Trading Company, in Utah.)

Edit: Oh I just ran across that printable - it's from this site.

Candles with ribbon, and a glass from the dollar store filled with little styrofoam balls.  The glass has words all over it, it's really kind of cute.  The heart picks are also from the dollar store.

Well, that's pretty much it - I have a couple other projects I'm working on that I will post another time, and maybe I'll miraculously find my hurricane jars. Ha!

Thanks for stopping by!