In Honor of School Starting

New Design to Wall Shelves

I am soo much happier with this new design to the wall shelves in our living room. For a while I've had our wedding things up there but I had grown tired of it. There was a lot going on and I decided that it needed to change. De-clutter and simplify. Now I have some new things up there and things that I truly love.


Top Shelf: I saw these letters when a friend of mine brought them to Sassy Scrappers one night. I instantly decided I wanted a set of them. She had gotten them at Big Lots. So as soon as I was able to I ran out there (thinking they wouldn't have them anymore) and was excited to see they still had some. I primed them and painted them black. I knew I wanted them on a shelf but they wouldn't stand up on their own. So I went to Home Depot and picked up two pieces of wood. One for them to sit on and then a smaller piece to support the standing letters. Especially the O that wouldn't have too much in contact with the bottom piece. After I painted them Seann attached all the pieces together for me. I just love how it looks up there!


Middle Shelf: I have a few scrapbooks laying down with a wood block that I had made for Seann. There is a wedding book, the ABC book Melissa made for Jaden, and Jaden's "First Year" book. All of the sides of the block are covered with a different scrapbook page so we can rotate it whenever the mood strikes us. Next is a special piece to me. This is my Willow Tree Mom holding a baby. I wanted one of these for so long and when we found out we were pregnant with Jaden I had to have it. Then there is a couple of pictures of Seann and I at Disney World that I had made for him. I made it out of an old children's book that had seen better days. (No not one of my kids books, although that would work, I actually got it at the Goodwill) Then there is my laser cut metal piece that says DREAM. Positioned behind this is the Willow Tree figurine of a couple holding a baby. (Another one we got when we found out we were pregnant.) This is to remind me to never let go of my dreams. We had a dream for 8 long years of having a baby. It reminds me to DREAM BIG. One the far side are a few more little scrapbooks and flip books.

Bottom shelf: On the bottom shelf is a green lumiere that says ENJOY LIFE. Another great reminder. Then there is a Willow Tree figurine of a Daddy holding a baby. (Yup another one we got after finding out we were pregnant.) Next to that is a picture of my in-laws and brother-in-law. Christian (brother-in-law) gave us the picture and frame for Christmas. It was originally in a wood frame. But since I'm on a black kick....you guessed it. I spray painted it black. Much better! Then I have another laser cut metal sign that says LOVE. And lastly there is another lumiere, this time red. And it says BELIEVE. It kind of has a Christmas feel to it. It reminds me of part of the story of Jesus' birth. Luke 1:45 "Blessed is she (Mary) who has believed that what the Lord has said to her will be accomplished!" That gets me every time. She didn't believe because she saw it happen or that it had even happened yet. She believed at the moment that she hear it, that the Lord said it would happen. She was blessed because she believed! How wonderful is that?!

No Soliciting

Here's a sign that I made for our front door. I actually completed it a couple of weeks ago and forgot to blog about it.

Here's a project I started this month at Sassy Scrappers. We've always had issues about who's turn it was to go to the store with Mommy or Daddy. (And Mommy and Daddy usually forget who went last time.) So in an effort to make things fair I came up with this system. I found pictures of each of us and cut our faces out of them. Then I created paper dolls of each of us that I attached our faces to. (I did two sets of each kid.) I covered them with contact paper to extend the life of them and put magnets on the back of them. So the idea is that under each of us there is a set of kids. The first person, as in the case of Seann's side in the picture is Jaden, is the next one to go with Seann. Then his figure is moved to the last position and it shows that the next time it's Acacia's turn to go with Daddy. It will be a great visual for kids as to who's turn it is. (And if whoever's turn it is happens to have a get in trouble or chose not to go that time, then we'll just swap them with who went in their place.)


This is my next project. It's the sewing table that used to belong to my Grandma. However it has some damage. When Seann and I used to have a dog (Mokie), he got to it one day while we were at work and chewed on the legs of the table. It also has some dings and nicks here and there. So I've decided to fix it up. I am filling the dings and nicks and repairing the spots that Mokie chewed on the legs. Then my plan is to take off the hardware, and paint the whole thing black. I'm hoping this will spiff up the piece. (Yes I know....black....I've really been on a kick lately to paint things black.....picture frames, storage boxes, etc.) So as soon as this project is done I'll post pictures of the final product.

New Toy Chest / Reading Area

This is the toy chest that Seann and I built. We have had this in our garage since my parents moved from Everett to Marysville. It was one of those "We'll get to it someday" projects. Well Seann decided that yesterday was the day. We started putting it together and realized that it was missing on small piece. No problem. Seann headed off to Home Depot and got a piece of wood to cut down. He also got some hinges for it as they were not included in the kit.

Today we finished it up. I attached the foam and the fabric. (This is the fabric that came with the kit. Not my choice. But for now it will do and someday I'll redo it.) I had to get a little bit of help from Seann with the fabric. Then Seann attached the hinges.

I decided that it should go in the "toy closet". (We have taken off the door to the closet under the stairs and the kids use that as their toy storage area.) Seann was able to get it in there and it fit just right. What do you think?


It also make a great space for the kids to crawl up and read a book on. (Somehow Seann got talked into sitting down and reading a book. LOL)

Acacia is thrilled with it as you can see. Jaden.....he just got up from a nap and is not quite fully awake. That's why he has such a sad face. He does like it, I promise.

Small area of organization for the kitchen BEFORE and AFTER pictures

I have been inspired by some blog posts lately. People taking things that they got at either Goodwill, garage sales, etc. and fixing them up to give them new life or a new purpose. We have a spot on our counter for the incoming mail, phone chargers, etc.


We had been using a bread box to store some of these things out of sight. But for a while now I have been wanting to us the bread box for .....GASP.....A bread box. The other day as I was on a hunt for something else at the Goodwill I came across this little storage box. I liked it but it wasn't quite right. It needed a little work, but for $3.99 I could fix it up.

I didn't like the brown tones coming out of the insets. I wanted them to be all black. So I pulled out my handy dandy black spray paint (and a box I grabbed from Costco to put it inside of while I sprayed) and got busy. A few coats later and this is what I came up with.

Then taking some time to clean out the old bread box and mail organizer, I compelted the transformation. So what do you think?

I love how it looks! It spruces up the area and the black ties both pieces (and the paper towel holder) together. It is a nice new look and for less than $5!

And Mr. Bread Box....... I have plans for you!Stay tuned........

Wow I forgot about my blog!!

Ok I guess I forgot about my blog. Not even sure that anyone even reads this. But when I saw this tonight I had to post it.

This is SOOOO something Seann would do! LOL I showed it to him and he said "Yeah, I've seen that. In fact we tried to do that to Carl's desk at work" LOL