From ugly duckling to...

I've still got some work to do on this cute little dresser, but for now, I've found it's spot in the house :)

Remember it started out like this?

One day there will be a cute comfy chair in place of that shoe bench, but for now, it works for our busy family.  I added some pillows with some covers that I made using the left over scraps from my other pillow covers, and voila, much more inviting, don't you think?

Please excuse the paper towels under the dresser, lol.
Need to remember to buy furniture pads for the feet!

I need a pillow cover intervention

So first I made pillow covers for the couch pillows and today, I made some for my bed.

The backs are "envelope" style rather than a zipper, and they aren't perfect by ANY means so don't look too closely :D

I haven't updated my bedroom in several years, and despite that we don't have furniture in our bedroom currently other than our bed, a black leather chair, and our tv stand, I wanted to spruce it up.  I'm sure once I buy something for the bedroom, furniture wise, I'll be making more changes :D

I started out with these, that I bought from Target a million years ago:

These are the covers from the original pillows.
I loved them when I bought them...at full price, GASP!

In an effort to "step outside of my box", I made a trip to Hobby Lobby and paired 5 different fabrics together.  This was panic inducing, yes, panic.  I know you're laughing, and that's ok.  I was laughing at myself too.  I mean, it's only fabric.  It isn't permanent, so what's the big deal right?  

Okay, so without further babbling, here is what my bed looks like now.  I'm not sure how I feel about all of the different patterns, but I'm going to live with it for a few days.

Now, pardon me, while I go rearrange the pillows...again.

Let the projects begin!

You know what happens when you visit the blogosphere?  

You start wanting to do all sorts of crafty projects, spending as little as possible, and then finding even more things to do after you've already compiled a huge list of things.  It's a viciously wonderful crazy circle :D  So.many.projects!

Here's my first one, well, the beginnings of one.  

I found a small, $20, chest of drawers on craigslist, that I knew needed to be mine.  I saw the paint color in my mind even before it was mine, and the perfect place for it in the house.

First things first...cleaning it up.  Lysol wipes were my friend during this process and a heavy duty vac to get the little webby things hanging around on the underside <shudder>.

Then, it was time to get rid of those darling little flowers that had been painted onto the dresser.  Cute, but so not for me or what I had in mind.  

I primed all of the drawers, the entire chest itself, and now I wait for the primer to dry.

Tomorrow, I apply the first coat of paint :D  

I.can't.wait!

Stay tuned for the finished project...

All moved in!

We closed on our new house, Jan.7th and were moved into it on Jan.8th.
It's been a whirlwind of a fall/winter, and I'm SO happy to finally have it winding down.

1/20th of the boxes we moved over :/

We still have a lot going on since we moved in when the house wasn't completely finished, but the work that's being done now, is so minute that it's not a big deal.  Slowly but surely, it'll get taken care of :)

I've been a crazy woman and unpacking boxes left and right.  We are almost completely unpacked, other than a couple of rooms, that won't be done until we get our storage situation taken care of (builders are coming in to install shelving soon).  I've even "organized" our pantry, which is easily 4 times bigger than our old one, by using various baskets I bought at Target and Ross.

I've started decorating too and wow, it's FUN!  I'm pushing myself out of my little box that I've felt the need to stay in for a long long time and really making this new house more US.  I want color, and fun, and comfort.  I want the house to be pretty but functional, and browsing the internet for ideas has sparked my creativity!

I bought an antique refinished table at a local antique mall for the living room, in a color that I would never have normally considered, a cool grayish blue.  I then found a darling lamp at Ross for $30 (lamp base and shade together), and 3 fun, non matching, on sale, frames from Target.  After that, my couch looked plain, and a big for me change was made.  I decided to sew some pillow covers, for our family room couch, in a fabric that is completely out of my comfort zone, and yet I completely love them.  I'm working on mixing patterns, and colors, but for now this is the first step.  Is it hard for anyone else to step out of their decorating comfort zone?

Now to work on getting those picture frames filled with photos of our family.  Kind of awkward staring at random people ;)

Show me your craft rooms!

With the move, I get my very own space!  I'm going to use it as a craft/scrapbook/photography/computer space but need ideas on how to get organized, and have it look pretty :D

Would love to hear ideas and see photos!

Now, off to look on pinterest :D

What happens when pipes burst.

When August rolled around, it was time for my son to start marching season at the high school.  Early mornings made for long days, hot ones at that, and staying in was really the only way to stay cool.  At the end of August the kids started school and we were back into a routine.  Things were going great, and then it happened.  

The yells of a 6 year old that the toilet was leaking water everywhere in the downstairs bathroom.  It's a sound that strikes fear into my bones, because water leaking from anything is bad.  BAD!  And, wow, was it bad.  I ran into the bathroom expecting to see water pouring out of the toilet, but instead I was greeted by a sloshy mess of hot water coming out from UNDER our baseboards and tile.  I knew immediately what it was and I knew it wasn't going to be cheap.

See we've been down this road before.  We weren't strangers to slab leaks.  Oh no.  We've actually had to repair 4 within a two year period.  A cheap or easy fix, it wasn't.  So, with dread coursing through me, I called the plumber, had the hubby turn the water off to the house (after we all had showered of course), and waited.   

2 hours later, it was confirmed.  A slab leak.  Definitely on the hot water side.  We had a couple of options.  Tunnel under the house or break the concrete open in the bathroom and hope we get the right part.  Neither was a good solution.  It was time to call insurance.  Ugh.

So, after over an hour on the phone with insurance, a claim filed, we had no running water.  We were moving out of our house into a hotel until someone could get things fixed.  Shouldn't be more than a couple of days...

13 weeks later...7 in a hotel with 4 kids, and 6 in an apartment with 4 kids, we finally moved back home.  I'm going to spare you the insanity that happened in those 13 weeks because it makes me crazy just thinking about it.  However, I will say that after 13 weeks our house has all brand new hard wood floors down stairs, new hot water lines through out, new baseboards, and freshly painted.  Oh, but wait, it's not our house anymore :/

After FINALLY getting the green line to move back in, we put our totally fixed up, pristinely clean house on the market and sold it.  It was the best Christmas present ever!  We closed on our old house on the 30th and in just a few days we move into our brand spanking new digs.  

Giddy doesn't even begin to explain what I'm feeling, because part of me is so sad to be leaving the house where our kids first started school, where we brought our littlest home from the hospital, where we've made so many memories.  Then there's the part that can't wait to move into a house where we've picked the countertops, the light fixtures,  and the wood stain, and we didn't have to live in it to get it all done.  Yep, so many mixed emotions.  

Here's to a happy, healthy, prosperous 2014!!!