A Change of Sport...

Evan's room is the most neglected in the house.

I might have good intentions, and put it on my to-do list to change it up, but it doesn't usually happen.

His room is the only room in the house which has been the same color for the 7 years that we've lived here.

Sorry Ev.

BUT, blue and red ARE his favorite colors!

The last "change-up" was to make his room a little more "baseball-ish" when he was going through his baseball phase.

When I asked him the other day what he'd like his room to be now, he told me FOOTBALL.  It's his sport of choice now.

So today I got busy.

Here is the before.
BEFORE I asked him to clean it up.

It might not look too messy, but the bed isn't made, and the floor on the other side of the picture was covered with Legos.

I started first with a small project to get the room started.

I had an old window frame that I purchased at a barn sale years ago.

I also had printed some vintage-looking football pictures off of Pinterest yesterday.
I got out my stash of foam board from the kids past 4-H projects,

and I taped the printed pictures to one side of the foam board (after I had cut it to size) and put them in the window slots in the order that I wanted them.  Then I just put masking tape all around the edges.  It holds them pretty good because foam board is not heavy, and because I want to easily change them out if I need to.

Once finished, it looked like this...

SO EASY.

This is what started the theme of the room.

I moved his bed to the opposite wall, and took all the baseball stuff off his corner shelves, and added all the football items he currently owns.  (We'll have to grow this collection!)

I had sewed the pennant bunting about a year ago, and all the E's came from an antique store run I made with my cousin the day after Christmas.  The small chalkboard score board...one of my vintage chalkboards and a chalkboard marker.  Pretty cool.

The vintage metal cabinet in the corner of his room is his makeshift bookshelf and his storage for Lego models already completed.

I got it a LONG time ago at a garage sale, and it's made all the moves with us from house to house, and it's been in a lot of different rooms of the house.  It works best here.


SOOOOO.....

The important thing...Ev was happy with the outcome.  Me too.  Until I come up with a new "project" for his room.

The finished views.

Tomorrow, taking all the 10 bags I filled up today to Goodwill before the New Year.  We cleaned out Grace's closet, the game closet, and Ev's closet.

Whew.  I'm tired.

Monday Monday

Sometimes Mondays are just ho hum.

I'm not sayin' mine was fantastic, but it wasn't all bad.

Since I have a new job and I am totally IN LOVE with it, everyday of the week is much better.

It actually flew by for me today.

I had a lot of paper work to do at the office.

I also decided I needed to brush up on my instagram skills since I'm totally new to it, but want to love it all the same.

I want to learn how to edit my pics, and do all the cool stuff with them that I see others doing.

I want to love my new android phone.

But who has the time?

So, without further ado...here are some pics.

Some new pillows I made for our couch when I wasn't making them for my etsy store.

Grace doing pretty much what she does whenever she finishes her homework...

My favorite corner of the living room..

The vintage looking juice container I found at Goodwill, but which I use for a flower vase instead...

My new magnetic "bulletin board" that I found at a flea market this summer, but which I've embellished a little bit...

And lastly, our new favorite drink...plain water filled with lemons.  I can hardly drink plain water anymore...

So that's my Monday in a nutshell.

Was yours good?

Change of Scenery

I am a big fan of picture frames.

Just sayin'.

I'm also a big fan of displaying pictures in an extraordinary way.

I've been known to put pictures behind old windows and hang them on the wall.  Many times.  As evidenced here and in many of my other blog posts (under the windows or craft or project tabs on the side.) 

About a month ago, I posted this picture...

source

Since I have alot of aqua jars, and alot of pictures, this looked like a good idea to me. 
Original as a matter of fact.

Now, you could totally embellish these jars to your liking by adding a ribbon around the top, or twine, or raffia.  But I kinda like the plainness of the ones above.

I finally got around to this project this past weekend.  I know, it took me this long...but at least I finally did it.  Party because I had a whole day at home with no where to go, and partly because a couple of weeks ago I found the PERFECT pictures in our safe in the closet.  I honestly forgot I had them.

I rounded up all the aqua jars I had, and some clear ones with a square bottom because I thought they just looked cool.

I put them on top of the bookcase because for one, it's a good place to display them where everyone will see them, and two, one of the pictures was this...

my mom and her two sisters, posed of course, reading a book nonetheless.  One of my favorite pictures.  (mom is in the middle)

I put pictures of my husband as a little boy,

pictures of me as a little girl with my grandpa,

and pictures of my dad with his dad when he was little.

I think they look great.  In all honesty, I probably shoulda cleaned out the jars a little better before I displayed them.  I'll get right on it.  But I think overall, I like the look. 
They are in the perfect place.

Stairways

I need to change up the layout and color of my stairway picture frames.

I saw in a recent magazine a brialliant solution, but when I search for the picture online, I can't find it.

Summary:  mostly uniform colored frames, with some whimsical spray-painted colored frames thrown in.

I love these colors...

And have started to spray paint some and hang them. 

I even had this conversation with Grace the other day...."Mom, you gave Evan's picture the aqua-colored frame!  I AM the one who loves aqua!" 

Really?  Is is gonna come to this?

I'm picking up some mustard colored paint tonight for some other frames.

I'm thinking of some of these layouts...

And I'm diggin' the wrap around the corner look of these pictures.

I'll be tackling this project before our fall Sunday School party at our house this Saturday.

I want my stairway looking it's best!

I love the look of family pictures, showcasing my children throughout the years.

Does anyone have any ideas/links to share with me about layout for the stairway? 

Help a girl out!

Something Borrowed, Nothing New.

Since money is a little tight lately, I had to be a little creative.

I ALWAYS dream of redecorating/adding new things to the house, but sometimes that's just not possible.

I don't mind. It's not killing me. It just means I have to use more creativity to make it look like something "new."

That's what I did this morning.

I took stuff from other parts of the house, or even the same room for that matter, and moved them around.

It was kinda fun, cause things DID look different.

Even fans that look retro, but really aren't.
Or old windows, moved from the porch, cleaned up, and backed with printed pictures, look totally different in the living room.

How about collected wooden boxes filled with games?

And a frame moved from one side of the room to the other.
It doesn't have to be a big change, any is good. Just like the cheapest way to redecorate a room is just to repaint it. Moving stuff does the same thing. And you know how fickle I am about keeping things in the same place.

So, even though I didn't spend a thing, it all turned out good.

Try it, you just might like it.

Happy "moving!"

{Trip of my dreams}

I met my friend Kerri in Kokomo this past Saturday. I haven't seen her for months and months.

She and her family moved to Indianapolis about 3 years ago when her husband got a once in a lifetime job offer.

I miss her.

SO MUCH!

We decided to meet an an antique mall she had been to once before.

Three stories of brick bliss! {for those of you in Indiana, it's the Original Treasure Mart in Kokomo, IN.}

True to the fact that Kerri knows me so well, it was everything I had been dreaming about for weeks.

I really liked this bed/canopy.

The canopy is made from an old lampshade and LOTS of tulle. Grace would LOVE this! {I'm totally tryin' this.}

Right around the corner was this great set of nesting boxes for hens.

{NEVER thought I'd be perusing antique farm equipment and liking it!}

I did buy this, which caused an eye roll from Brent...but I plan on planting my red and pink geraniums in this once spring rolls around and putting it up on the porch.

There was booth upon booth of eye candy for me.

These were my actual purchases for the day. I was pretty happy with what I got, AND with what I spent. {There is a white picture frame down in the bottom that you can't see, and that silver looking this is an old towel rod.}

This is what I did with my purchases, minus the galvanized tub and the scrolled bracket.

I have a little bit of a globe/old map collection going on in my craft area, so this fit in great with what I already had.

The old tennis racket found it's way to the "game wall" in the living room.

The towel bar...oh yes, the towel bar. I thought long and hard about this one. I originally was going to use it in our downstairs bathroom as, well, a towel bar, but then I changed my mind.

This little bar inspired, an eclectic at best, little corner in the living room. The white picture frame I also purchased is what is hanging from the towel bar.

Everything else for this corner came from other areas of the house. I didn't have to buy anything.

I had a great time on my little "getaway."

I want to go again....soon. With Kerri.

How 'bout tomorrow?