{ my kitchen }

My kitchen has always been so ordinary and boring! There really isn't a lot of wall space either, so my options for making it feel more put together have been limited. I'm not real sure what got into my husband last week but I liked it! He was off work early and suggested I go buy paint for the kitchen! So... I did! I only spent about hour looking at paint swatches! :)   At one point an Ace hardware employee actually came over to make sure I was OK and started suggesting colors to me! I eventually settled with grays! A nice charcoal gray for the wall and bright seal gray for the cabinetry! It took 3 days to paint everything! The cupboard doors took the longest! As you can see, there are a lot of them and each side got 2-3 coats! The problem was that I could only paint about 7-8 at a time and I had to wait a LONG time before I could turn them over to paint the other side because I didn't want to damage the new paint! Well... it's finally done and I am SO happy with it. My husband and I couldn't stop walking into the kitchen to just stand in it!

Here are some before pictures... ( my fridge wasn't normally in the middle of the floor though! lol )

And after!

 We used a bright white caulk line around all the counter tops and along the cabinets too. It created a beautiful definition between colors!

You might recognize this wreath from a previous blog! This was originally for the bathroom but it looked so nice here! So it's staying in the kitchen!

And one last photo because it's funny! I got stuck doing all painting above the cabinets. My husband was too tall to stand on the counter tops!  And of course I'm wearing one of my husbands work shirts so I don't have to ruin any of mine! :)

 And now my favorite part; creating wonderful things to decorate the space!

{ no slip dress up shoes }

My poor daughter is in love with dress up shoes. Unfortunately, we can never find them with no-slip soles. After a number of twisted  ankles and a few accidental splits, I've found a solution to the slippery problem.

All you need is:

1.  your daughter's slippery pair of heels  
2.  hot glue gun
3. scissors
4. a piece of cupboard lining ( that sponge type stuff that prevents items from slipping around)

Start by cutting out pieces of the lining to fit the bottom areas of the shoe.

Now just put a small amount of hot glue around the edges of the sole.

Now simply place the lining on the sole of the shoe and you're done!

So simple! And now I can be less worried that my princess will fall and break something!

{ black and yellow }

It's amazing how quickly a scrapbook can be made when you are making it for someone else! I finished a 20 page scrapbook in less than 3 days! Yes... I'm proud! It usually takes me an entire day to finish 2 pages! But I guess that is because I was trying not to put to much into it! My baby sister is getting married in just 9 weeks and I wanted to give her something she would enjoy forever! This particular scrapbook is meant to keep her wedding photos in. I tried to leave a lot of it really simple so that she can add whatever she wants to it without over doing it; A napkin here, a ribbon there. I also tried to make plenty of space for writing her own stuff. And so here is a little preview.

Of course there are no pictures on the mats so some of these won't look as busy as they might look now!

This one is going to be sooo cute with photos!

Not sure why it keeps posting my photos sideways... sorry

Well... if you see this Kaitlyn, I hope you like the preview! I'll bring it with me in May! And maybe in the meantime I'll scrapbook my own wedding.... yeah right!

{ hair bow organizer }

My daughter has a LOT of hair bows and flowers. Most of them are pretty big and it's hard to find a place for them without cluttering! At one point she had a drawer in her dresser dedicated to just hair accessories. But, after a few spring cleanings, I realized that she had more stuff than I thought! There were all these cute flowers and bows at the bottom that I forgot about and plenty of poms that were smashed and not fluffy any more. So... now that my daughter is 3 years old, I have finally made a place to put them!

What you'll need,

• A new or used large picture frame ( mine is from goodwill, $.99)
• Patterned paper to match ( I used paper from the My Mind's Eye, Tres Belle collection)
• Mod Podge
• Foam brush
• Ribbon
• Hot glue gun

I used a metal frame that was already the color that I wanted. If you buy a wooden frame, you may or may not want to paint it first depending on what you want it to match.
First step is to cut your paper to the size of the glass in the frame. My frame was pretty big so I used 2 pieces of 12x12 paper cut to fit.

Next step is to glue down your paper. You will want to spread Mod Podge over the back side of your paper. Then press it down to the glass. Be careful when you place it down because It isn't easy to move. If you do need to move it, I recommend sliding the paper, not lifting it back up.

Once all of your paper is down and the glass is completely covered, you need to let it dry for 15 min at least. Once it has had plenty time to dry, you need to apply a coat of Mod Podge over the top of your paper to protect it. Let this dry at least 15 min. I let mine dry for 30.

Now you can put your ribbon on. This is where your clips and bows will attach. Cut them the length of the frame plus a few inches so that it can wrap around the backside of the glass and be glued there. I used 4 ribbons length wise. Glue the end to the top back, then wrap it tight down the front of the glass and glue it to the back on the bottom.

Now put your glass back in the frame! I added some little green bows at the bottoms of each ribbon just cause it was cute! You're done! I hung mine on the inside of the closet door in my bathroom.

This would be so cute with a really chunky frame! OR even with a picture of your sweet girl behind the glass ( with no paper on it)!!

{ book page ball }

I'm am just so in love with the idea of using pages from old books to decorate! It creates such a cute look! I bought two black ceramic balls from Ross a year ago to put in my living/dining area and since have taken them down. I am trying to add a little more color because I already have enough solid black in here! One ended up breaking so I just have this lonesome black ball. Well... I decided to make it new again!

What you'll need:

• The lonesome ball (or any ball, box, frame, or whatever you want covered)
• About 6 pages torn from an old book
• Ink pad
• Mod Podge
• Foam brush

Here is the ball before. Pretty dark...

Start by brushing a layer of Mod Podge onto one page from your book.

Now place it down on your ball. Smooth it from the center of the page out to the ends. The ends will ripple and/or crease. Just press them down, it will add more character! Keep pressing and molding the page for about 30 sec to be sure it is stuck.

Now add more pages in different directions.

Cover all the black. When I reached the bottom I ripped the pages a little smaller to fit the area. Now just press a little long for good measure! Let It dry for about 15 min.

My ball had some cute swirls that stood up and I liked that. So I used my ink pad and just rocked it front to back along the whole ball.

The parts that stood up got inked. It also darkened the ripples and folds on the edges of the pages.This added more depth to it! I let the inked ball sit for anther 5 min.

Last, you need to put Mod Podge over the entire ball. This is going to seal everything up. It also makes it MUCH easier to clean and dust when it needs it. Let it dry for 30 min!  You can follow up with a clear acrylic sealer too.

Here is the finished and newly refurbished ball!

{ book page wreath }

I'm currently redoing two rooms in my house; the bathroom and the kids room. It usually takes me months to complete a room because it takes me so long to find exactly what I want in it. I chose to do my bathroom in brown, cream/ivory, and pink. Not bright pink but a dusty, muted, old fashioned looking pink. The theme? Vintage. Luckily, last week, I came across a wreath made out of the pages of an old book! I fell in love! This one was made by Mandy Sybrowsky, blogger for Little Birdie Secrets. You can see it here, on page 8, in Latter Day Woman magazine. What a cute idea!!! So that is what I spent my morning doing!


What you'll need:

1.  A wreath form ( got mine from Ben Franklin Crafts, $5)
2. An old book with yellowing of the pages ( I picked up a book for .99 at Good Will )
3. Hot glue

Alright, I bought a 400 page book and used half of the pages. I tore all my pages out before I started so the gluing would go more smoothly. You will be rolling/folding your pages individually though. It doesn't matter how you do it but it's cute to do them all different.

Take your form and start gluing your rolled/folded paper down one by one. You wrap the paper down the outside like so.

Once you've made it all the way around, you start a second row. This time you are just going to scoot your starting point back about an inch. This will create a shorter layer and also start to cover the inside of the form. I alternated the second row so they were placed in between the paper on the first row. Continue with a third and fourth row, moving your starting point back an inch on each.

When I got to the fifth and final row, I began to fold my paper a little differently. By folding the rolled piece into a tight V,  it saved a little extra time and used half the paper for this row. By the fifth row, your pages should be sticking almost straight up. You could do more rows though! You don't have to do just 5. The more rows, the fuller the wreath!

And this is what the back should look like...

And you're done! I am sooo happy with how this looks! I will be hanging it in my bathroom eventually! Not sure which wall to put it on. Might need to make another on to hang them across from each other on either side of the double sink! I'll post pictures once it's up permanently!

{ drink coasters }

I have seriously been looking for drink coasters that would match my living room for a year. I didn't want paper coasters, but the nice ceramic ones! When you live in Hawaii most items are found in "Aloha" print. And in the case of ceramic coasters, all I could find was honu and hibiscus! Not only that, but they were nearly $20 for a set of 4! Well.... That isn't really what I wanted for my space so I have had to improvise!


     What you'll need:
*4 ceramic tile, not the glazed shiny kind ( I actually used natural stone. I got 9 for $3.50!)
*Rubber stamp(s) of your choice
*Ink pad ( I recommend a stay on ink that won't run or bleed when wet, like StazOn ink pads)
*clear acrylic sealer ( I use Mod Podge brand )
*Felt
*Hot glue

Alright! So you start with your tile!

You simply stamp whatever you want onto your tile. I randomly put some flowers on mine. I was glad I ended up with extra tile because I experimented on a couple before I decided exactly what I wanted.

Once you've inked your image you will want to let it dry for 30 min or so. Then take them outside and spray them! Be light with the first coat just to ensure your ink doesn't bleed. Additional coats can be thicker. I sprayed 4 coats on mine with 15 min of dry time in between each coat.

Last step.... Hot glue some felt to the bottom of your tile to save your table from scratches! You can cover the whole bottom with a felt square or just do a felt circle on each corner and maybe one in the middle for good measure!


You're done! Simple, right?! I thought this would be cute to give as a gift, too! My baby sister is getting married in a few months and how cute would it be to throw a bundle of these in with some home decor that matches perfectly to what she'll want in her home!