balancing a big room and filling an empty wall

In our new house we have a great big family room downstairs that we LOVE!

On one side of the room we have this...

We needed an entertainment center with A LOT of storage for all our books, games, and yes VHS movies (I know, I know, I'm a little behind on the technology front).

As much as I would love a huge wall of built-ins or a ginormous Potter Barn entertainment center these 5 bookshelves from Target have been a great solution for a really reasonable price.
See the old window frame on top? My sweet friend recovered it from her home renovation.

It was one of the original windows in her 130+ year old house

and it is one of my favorite things in my house. Thanks again Tiff!

On the opposite side of the room we had a few chairs and a huge blank wall so the room looked very heavy on one side and bare on the other.

Sorry, no pictures of the huge, blank, beige wall.

Just use your imagination. ;0

I knew I wanted to use the wall to display our family photos and I framed each 8x10 in a beefy matted frame like so... But it wasn't enough.

So, I added these "buttons" and some ribbon above the frames ...

and then some vinyl lettering below the group of pictures like so...

The wall is 9ft high and 16ft wide and by the time I finished the display of family photos with the lettering it measured 9ft wide by 3ft high and made a huge difference.

But it still felt out of balance with the other side of the room and since I wanted to keep things very clean and open feeling I decided against adding more furniture/ accessories to the wall and instead picked up my paint brush.

I taped off the wall for 18 inch stripes (making sure I didn't need to paint where I had the vinyl lettering) and took the original beige paint and added white (just like with my painted wallpaper) to create a bit of a contrast without making it too "bold".

I wanted it to visually draw your eye but not smack you in the face.

And here it is all finished...

I LOVE it!

If I had really big muscles I would have moved the elliptical out of this picture but... well, I don't... which is why we bought the elliptical.

Next up for this room- DRAPES!

I already ordered the fabric... can't wait!!!

Elena and "Light up the Night"

A friend of mine shared the story of this sweet little girl with me and I wanted to help.
If you feel so inclined please take a moment to donate to help find a cure for cancer.

"March 18th, 2010 we went to the doctor because our two-year old daughter, Elena, was low on energy, had a low fever, and was developing bruises on her legs. We were rushed to the emergency room at Primary Children's Medical Center in Salt Lake, and found out the earth-shattering news that Elena had High-Risk Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia, ALL. We however are extremely grateful that today this type of cancer is not the death sentence it once was. Elena is now 6 months into treatment and is doing well. She still smiles nearly constantly. It is (insert correct word, I can't think of one that adequately describes this feeling.)... as we think that we would have buried her months ago if we hadn't gotten her diagnosed, or if the cure didn't exist.

Although most children (about 90% of ALL kids) like Elena do beat this cancer it remains a grueling journey with many risks. Elena will get chemotherapy until she is almost 5 years old. Like many before us we are participating in a study to help improve treatment. One of the drugs she gets, Oncaspar, is very effective, but an unacceptably high percent of patients have severe allergic reactions to it, some life-threatening. The study we are on is comparing this drug to a new type of similar drug that researchers hope will have the same benefits with milder side effects. So far Elena has not had a reaction to Oncaspar. This research is very expensive. And much needs done.

Please help our children in the fight to cure childhood cancers. We are raising funds to help with Leukemia research by participating in a walk on October 9th called "Light up the Night." We are trying to raise a fortune by that date to help fund leukemia and lymphoma research. Childhood cancer research is SO underfunded - generous donations are desperately needed so that we can improve treatment and eventually find a cure. Even $1 helps. Please visit our Team's Page HERE to donate. Donations are tax deductible.

Elena thanks you!"

ALSO, my generous friend Cassidy will be donating the proceeds of all sales from her etsy shop to Elena until October 9th so go check it out HERE.

Painted Wallpaper

I first saw "painted wallpaper" a little while ago

here and here and LOVED it

but

this post by jones design company was the final straw.

I HAD to do it!!
She even has the template you can download!

I decided to make my pattern a little bigger

(because I'm lazy and didn't want to paint as much!)

so I enlarged it before I printed it.

Then I traced it onto cardboard and kept the paper pattern for corners and edges.Just trace, trace, trace and then grab a little paintbrush (the size you want your lines so you can paint it in one stroke) and paint, paint, paint inside the line.

If you're like me you don't have hours and hours to spend on any project so I would paint a few then wrap my paint up tight in a bag to keep it from drying out.

Works great!!

Let me just say that my wall is FAR from perfect but the great thing is you really can't see the imperfections unless you really get close and stare for an awkward amount of time.

Nobody looks that close... except for maybe your mom... and your sister... but that is only because they are trying to figure out how you did it so they can copy you! Don't let the fear of imperfection stop you from doing this!
You will love it!!

Total time spent: About an hour a day for 6 days (to do a 10x14ft wall)

Total cost: $0

I just used the leftover paint from the wall and added a little white paint to lighten it.

What a difference!!!

I can't show you the whole room yet... it's not ready for the public.

(in other words: the bed's not made and it's covered in dirty laundry)

okay, okay,

I'll show you anyway

Yep, that's pretty much what it looks like. ;)

We bought a brand new house and are busy, busy, busy, making it feel like it's "ours".

Not to mention doing all that stuff you have to do with brand new houses like:

Building hanging shelves in the garage...

Window coverings for EVERY WINDOW IN THE HOUSE...
so our neighbors don't have to see us in our underwears... your welcome.

Hello expensive btw!! But, it has given me lots of opportunities to practice my immature sewing skills as I am making curtains for all of those windows. Can't wait to show you what I'm learning!!

Painting walls... because I'm just not a beige-all-over kind of person.

I made it for 3 months and just about lost it so now I have one beautiful blue wall in my master bedroom and ahhhhhh, it feels much better. More on that later.

And just a little crafting on the side...

You KNOW I had to make one of these beauties.

What is it about creating something... it just makes me smile.?!?!

You can't see me but I'm smiling right now... ;)

New to me

Hello there.

I've been busy:

Moving across the country to our new house...
Enjoying my new view...

And my new niece...

And spending time with my family on a new beach.

Finally feeling settled in and ready to create something "new".

Nice to be back. :)

Losing Focus

I have a love/ hate relationship with blogging.

I love it because it opens me to a whole new world of ideas and information and creativity and gives me a place to share my thoughts and ideas and projects. Not to mention meet new people like YOU! I LOVE it!!

The hate (lets say dislike- hate is a strong word)part comes in because I sometimes find myself spending WAY too much time on the computer. I have 4 young kids and I can't tell you how many times they have stood next to me asking me a question over and over again, trying to get my attention as I jump from blog to blog.

Anyway, I feel I am losing my focus... gotta take a step back.

My kids will only be this little for a "little" while and I just don't want to regret how I spent this time.

So, thanks for being so good to nannygoat. Your comments make me smile (LOVE that part too)and I will see you in a "little" while... that rhymed

PS This is just a much needed break... I'll be back

You guys rock

Seriously, thanks for all the comments on the Cricut.

You gals LOVE your Cricuts- that is FO SHORE!

And I had my hubby read ALL of your comments (I had to tie him to the chair)



and then I showed him some of the Cricut's magic:

(I haven't scrapbooked for 2 YEARS! It is SO much easier this way.)

("This is stuff I did just over one weekend... imagine the possibilities honey!")

And it WORKED!

He said I should get one. (Squeal!)

Since so many of you mentioned other digital cutters like the Silhouette I am checking into those too....

thank you!!

Now to convince my husband...

because I WANT one...

a Cricut Expressions that is.

My sweet friend Jessica loaned me hers to play with for a few days and I am LOVING it!

I racked my brain for a quick project to test out this magic machine (ps cricut is not paying me for this ;0) and I found an Ikea 10x10 mirror and of course some scrapbook paper.

This tree is on the serenity cartridge... I adore it...

A little Mod Podge.

I CANNOT believe how easy that was.

The hardest part was picking out which font to use!

I hear it can cut fabric and vinyl too! Check out this flower... I am salivating... I need a cricut.

Attention all Cricut owners

Please, I am really considering buying one and I want to know what you think about yours. What do you love? What do you hate? Would you buy it again if you could do it over?

This puppy is not cheap so I would really, really, really appreciate any thoughts on it!
THANK YOU!
(and thanks again Jessica)