I've been Inspired! / A new Spring Wreath

I found this shower curtain at a visit to one of my favorite little stores. I fell in love with it and it is my inspiration for my guest/daughter's bathroom. I will add some chenille at the bottom and tie the ribbon up top on the shower curtain rings. I was waiting for something to pop out at me. I just wasn't "feeling" the decor for this room yet...Now I finally have a vision, so the work begins!

BEFORE

Here is the "during" shot of the room. I have been working for days tearing down this wallpaper. Thanks for everyone's tips. They are helping. I'm almost done. I am going to paint the walls green (a lighter shade of the shower curtain) and add some beadboard on the righthand wall.

The AFTER will follow after a few more days of work!

I order these birds from Jen over at Lipstick and Laundry and I love them. It was her idea to put "HOME TWEET HOME" on them. She is so talented and even threw in a bonus bird! Thanks Jen.

Click on the picture to see a close up. I put them on a wreath for my front door. It turned out pretty cute!

Some "Springy" decor

My Favorite signs of Spring

Spring is here so I put out my favorite bunny sign that I found at my favorite antique store nearby. I love the simplicity of it!

I managed to get some of my bulbs planted this winter (the rest are still in the brown bag :( ) and I am seeing the rewards! My absolute favorite flower is the tulip. They make me smile when they poke up their little heads from the ground at the first sign of warmer temps. They are my first signal that Spring is here!

My little "Johnny Jump Ups" are starting to perk up too. Not all of my pansies look good this year. I have found that these "jump ups"are heartier during the winter than the pansy. I think I might go to planting only this kind. They have such cute little faces.

This is my first purchase at the nursery every spring. My mom and sister say that I buy them too early because we usually have some cold nights ahead in March. I just have to bring them in when it gets below 40 degrees, but I don't mind. I always get red; they just say "cottage" to me. My daughter and baby boy and I took a trip out to the nursery to get these this week. The kids love going just as much as I do. My baby looked so cute in his little sun hat and my daughter loves to ride on the cart! She already knows so many flower names...maybe a future gardener herself...

I can't wait to start planting some things!

Pinecones Anyone???

Our snowstorm left us with a TON of pinecones in our backyard! I picked up some of them today and this was maybe 1/4 of them. They are so pretty, but I don't know what to do with them. Do I throw them away or give them away or keep them for crafting?? I hate to put them in the trash, but I have way too many. Any ideas?? Any takers???

Finally, A Snow Day!

The kids were ready to play!

A sleigh ride! I think they are wet and cold!

Making a snowman

We all had a great time! This was Brayden's first time in the snow and he actually liked it except when a flake would fall in his eye. The other two had a ball and so did daddy. At one point, they disappeared and I couldn't find them. They ended up getting the sandbox lid and a Rubbermaid bin lid and found a hill to slide down in the neighborhood. Makenna said that was her favorite part. Bryce said "all of it" was his favorite. We made some good memories in the snow! We finished the day with some snow cream made by dad. He uses snow collected in a bowl, milk, sugar, and vanilla. The kids added chocolate chips to theirs.

A fun time was had by all!

My Dining Room

I found these dishes at my favorite antique store and fell in love with them. They were one of my inspiration pieces for the room.

This tray and the "Tuscan" casserole and tidbits and saucers were also my color inspiration. I love this turquoise color!

Here is the shelf I made that I had promised more pictures of. I made it from a bifold closet door (you could use a shutter too) and some wooden brackets I got at Lowes. I screwed them together and spray painted it black. It was very simple.

Here is a closeup of the bracket.

I also made panel curtains in there. The fabric coloring did not turn out as bright as I wanted it once they were lined, but I am not redoing them! I put pom pom fringe on the sides to add bit of interest to them.

A Quick Bedroom Update etc.

We have not painted our Master Bedroom yet, but I needed some color and "prettiness" in there, so I added these simple curtains using a red toille tablecloth I found at an antique store and cut it in half and used black rick rack to hang it up. These were no-sew ( the best kind!)

This is my dining room. I found this mirror and fell in love with it. The curves are so fun and unique! I made this shelf out of a bifold door and some wooden brackets, then I spray painted it black. More pics of it to come later....

This is a bird I have on my mantle for winter. I used kosher salt in the hurricane and set him in there like it was snow. I love decorating with birds in winter and spring!

A glimpse of warmer temps and a few good laughs

We actually had a beautiful, warmer day last week and got a chance to go out and play. This is Brayden's first time in his backyard swing. He was so relaxed in the fresh air, that we went to sleep.

The kids loved pushing him...I had to remind them that he does not like to go really high!!

My baby laughing so hard that it made us all laugh. The other two were making a puppet go "BLAH" at him. He thought it was so funny!

There is nothing better than seeing my kids laugh. It is like medicine for the soul.