Finally, I'm Done... Well, For Now Anyway:) Lot's of Pics!!

My last big project was converting the formal living room that no one used into a semi-play area for the kids. Almost all of their toys (excluding big riding toys) are in this room except for some books, dress up and some stuffed animals

So far it's working out well, they can play in here and there's a french door that connects the room with the family room where the TV is, so if their favorite show is on they can play and watch at the same time. They don't even need me! JUST KIDDING! I don't let them watch TV all day, just from 9-12 and 4-7. KIDDING AGAIN!;) Actually, now that the weather is finally warming up we will be outside for a majority of the day-yay!

Anyways, enough rambling, here's what I've done: (oh, and some of you have asked when I have time to do all of this and I'll tell you, I am blessed that both girls still take 2 hour naps, well, Harper jumps for an hour and then sleeps for almost 2, but that's another story, you can read about it here if you're interested).

Living Room before:

A little "stuffy" and unusable...

And after:


More relaxed and nothing is breakable! I added baskets so a ton of their toys, dolls, games are in those and adults can still sit in here during a play date or whatever while the kids play.

The saying on the wall says: A laugh is a smile that bursts. I put some cute pictures of Ainsley with Harper laughing on either side-rarely do I get good candid shots!

So this table was a natural wood color with beautiful purple, blue and pink marker (not sure how they got their hands on real markers) scribbled all over it! It also had crayon marks and various stickers on it. So I decided to paint it black with green and yellow polka dots (same yellow, called Blonde, that is on the walls) So now it goes much better in the room and Ainsley says she really likes the new "look". (I'm glad she approves :)) I also thought it would be good for Bennett (not too girly) for when he gets older.

I really enjoy Ainsley's artwork from school and I try to save most of it so she can look back on it one day but the folder is overflowing so I decided to pick out the ones that were colorful and fun. The far left is one of her many paintings, then of course a duck and then on the right is dinosaur sponge stamps- she loves this one!

This is one of my favs in the room because I love funky prints mixed with traditional style! I got the frames for less than $5 at Jo Ann fabrics as well as more scrap booking paper (love that stuff, too bad I don't scrap book) and typed up A is for Ainsley, H is for Harper and B is for Bennett on the computer and then framed it with ribbon.

This is another one I did, not perfect by any means but it's funny, being the perfectionist that I am with most things, when it comes to homemade decorations I'm just going for a certain look and it doesn't bother me if when you look closely things aren't quite straight or perfectly centered. I had fun doing it!

************

I got these today in the mail and I had to share! This is what I ordered from Kristen at Faulkner Family (she works for Uppercase Living) and it turned out great! I love it! I must say I've used the press-ons from Target, Michael's and Scribble It and Uppercase Living by far was the easiest to apply. If you want to design your own or just see what they have- go to Kristen's blog and contact her, she's very sweet and great to work with! Thanks Kristen!!

This is one I got for free from Uppercase Living- they were having a sale and you could choose from a couple so I chose this one- I love these things!!

************

I had to throw this in (no I did not make these-sigh) My sister sent me some things in the mail today and first, the purses are for this fundraiser my mom's group is doing- part of it is raffling off baskets and I decided to do a "Mommy and Me" basket- I thought I'd add some of my Chez-Ami stuff, with some cute flip flops for a mom and daughter, bows, head bands, and I asked my super crafty, creative and talented sister if she would be kind enough to donate a mommy purse and a little matching girl purse. So as you can see they turned out adorable!! And these are just her simple bags- you need to check her blog out (LexiWynn Designs)- she will probably kill me for this but she is still working on getting her website back up so in the mean time I said I would do a blog for her just to display some of her work. She does parties in the Chicago area mainly so I'm not sure if she is going to start selling actual items on line yet- like I said she had no idea I was going to show some of her work so she might not be happy- sorry Lex!:)

And then she just threw in this burp cloth for Bennett! She does not have a monogram machine but you know, it was just something she did at the last minute- no big deal...(sigh, again) it's hard being related to 2 women that are so creative and talented when it comes to design and sewing!!

So not sure if you have discovered these but I just did and absolutely love them! In the picture it's hard to see but it's just a roll of tiny glue dots that I've used for things like securing fabric trim on hard surfaces, ribbon on picture frames, ribbon for Easter baskets or straightening a stubborn picture on the wall. I especially like it for straightening pictures- since I like to "eyeball" things I'm often in the predicament of slightly crooked pictures or the hook on the back wasn't put on straight so I just stick the glue dot to the corner of the picture and stick it to the wall and it works like a charm. I got these at Michael's- where else?!

***********

I squeezed in another project that I originally planned on just purchasing a new one (chandelier) from Ballard Designs (with Mike's approval of course:)) because I'm not crazy about the light fixtures the builder put in our house. I prefer a venetian bronze to brushed nickel but again, I'm not going to go crazy with major decorating and changing this house when we may not live here for a long time. So at Michael's I found the plain lamp shades and bought a fleur-de-lis stamp (I really wanted the Bee stamp but couldn't find it:() and then some bead trim and made my own chandelier so to speak. Cheap fix but makes a big difference I think.

Here is the chandelier before... And after, still not my ideal chandelier but a very simple project and I think it makes it look so much better! It's called working with what you have people (and I'm not complaining about what we have- I'm very thankful!!)...

So that's it- I got the bumper for Bennett's crib as well as Harper's head board covers today in the mail- it was a fun mail day today!! They look great!! But I know I've bored you enough-now that I'm done, I can relax a little and enjoy these last few weeks before it gets really hectic in our household!! But I can't wait!!