Repurposing a Broken Mirror

     I bought this frame last summer at a yard sale but when I bought it there was a mirror inside.  I have a thing for mirrors apparently and I also like the look of rod iron in decor.  One day my middle son was dusting the mirror when it fell off the wall and the mirror completely shattered.  I was so bummed but for some reason couldn't part with the frame.  I had it in my basement for a long time before finally figuring out what I would do with it. 
     Len cut a piece of wooden board for me that would fit perfectly in the frame.  He also bought chalkboard paint.  So I painted the board and let it dry overnight.  I started off using a roller paintbrush but it didn't seem to be sticking well to the board so I switched to a paintbrush which worked better. 

 

     The next day I hung up our new chalkboard in the dining room.  I've been using my Chalk Ink Marker on it but I think I may need to get a thinner tip marker.  Either way I am happy with the result and I look forward to getting creative with what I'll write on the board. 

 

                                                                                                                Ang

    

Repainting the Bathroom

     When I first chose the color for our downstairs bathroom, it was supposed to be a peach color.  The peach ended up looking a lot more like pink.  My husband was not too fond of it and since I have three boys it seemed like the pink would have to go.  The shelves across from the toilet were painted a pastel green but the two colors together just reminded me of an old folks home in Florida. 

     Here I had already taken the shelves down but you can see the side. 
     Since I didn't want to spend any money on more paint, I used the same paint we had used on our bedroom ceiling "Celery" to repaint the bathroom.  Thankfully there was enough.  The shelves were painted brown; a free quart I had gotten from Ace Hardware.  And the wall behind the shelves was painted "Resolute Blue" the same color as our upstairs bathroom and Dylan's room. 

The shelf over the toilet I didn't need to repaint.  I had used some free Ace Hardware paint to paint it when we first moved into our house.  It was just a natural yellowish wood before I painted it.  The shelves across from the toilet were originally a dark wood. 

     This bathroom is still not done though.  Eventually the floor will be replaced along with the vanity, sink, faucet, mirror and light fixture.  Thankfully the tub/shower and toilet can stay.  I look forward to whenever that happens. 
                                                       Ang




    

Fall Camping Trip

Last weekend we stayed at a cabin at a KOA campsite in Lena, IL.  The cabin was quaint and cute.  The boys enjoyed riding their bikes around the gravel campground.  We even took Chloe, who was a magnet for the fall leaves.  My favorite part was a hike we took through one of the state parks. 

 

 

Looking for frogs. 

I'm ready for breakfast. 

 

 

 

 

 

Yummy Food

  I made this cheesecake for Fourth of July.  So yummy. 

A favorite summer treat.  Ice cream with berries and hot fudge. 

A perfect fall meal: roasted chicken and veggies with a maple syrup and honey mustard sauce.  I just love yummy, beautiful food. 

 

 

Chloe: our Shih-tzu

     Born on January 9th, Chloe joined our family at the end of March last year.  She's something I had prayed about for a long time and finally all the details came together. 

 

     In April we bought our house and then in May we moved.  With so many changes she did great and took it all well.  She was up for the adventure. 

She has brought so much laughter to our family with her quirks and funny personality.  The boys just adore her. 

Here she is looking through the stair railing. 

 

We have since gotten rid of this loveseat but it used to be her favorite place to sleep.  Sometimes you could see her legs sticking out from under the loveseat.  And every once-in-awhile she'd peak her head out to see if she was missing anything. 

Anytime someone is on the floor for whatever reason, she thinks it's time to play.  Here she is licking Len to death while he tries to assemble a stool. 

She loves being out on the patio, the wind blowing in her fur while she sniffs the air for anything interesting. 

Being loved on by her biggest fans.  She certainly does not lack attention.  We are so happy she's part of our family. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Len and my room- Before/After

This was Len and my room before.  It looks so small.  There was only a piece of carpet on the floors and one dresser in here. 

There is a huge window which overlooks the street and field with silos across the street.  This doorway leads to a walk-in closet, of sorts.  The closet is a project for a later date.  It's a good size closet but the space isn't utilized well with how it's set up. 

The ceiling was in terrible shape so Len took it all down.  I wish we had had the time to insulate and keep the high ceilings but we couldn't.  Maybe someday. 

I choose this green for the walls and the ceiling is a green that is two shades (or is it hues?) lighter. 

Len, contemplating the ceiling. 

The new ceiling put in. 

When Len put the new ceiling in, he also added electical so we could have an overhead light, which wasn't possible before.  After all that work, I thought we deserved a chandelier.  Len also put up the crown molding.  I found curtain rods with crystal balls on the ends at Ross, Dress for Less.  The curtains came from Ikea. 

The walk-in closet is to the left up there. 

The chandelier I also bought at Ikea for $40. 

This chair I got at a yard sale for $20.  It's also an Ikea chair.  The lampshade in the background matches the curtains.  The cords on the carpet there are for the fan.  We still haven't figured out our ancient AC here so we've just been using fans at night.  I do have a big bare wall space to the right there.  Still trying to figure out what to do with that.  I may end up painting something if I don't find any decor that I want there. 

The big wall clock I found at Home Goods.  This piece of furniture I bought a couple summers ago for $5 at a yard sale.  It was white, scratched up and pretty dirty.  I took the four ugly legs off and painted it.  I like having it in my room now. 

When we first moved in, I had all my office stuff in our bedroom as well.  That only lasted a short while.  It was too hard running up and down the stairs and trying to stay organized.  Now my office stuff is in the dining room where it's so much more convenient for me.  I'll show you that at a later date. 

Derek and Logan's room: Before/After

Derek and Logan's room had this "world" wallpaper on three walls.  The ceiling has blue wallpaper with stars on it.  They both liked the ceiling so we kept that but took down the "world" wallpaper and took up the purple carpet. 

Their room also had the closet built-ins and here's the purple carpet. 

They wanted a red, white, and blue room so we got the blue ceiling, three red walls, and three white walls. 

I found a dark blue curtain at Kmart. 

We used all the same new carpeting for the upstairs.  Len installed it himself since this kind came with the pad already attached.  Much easier to install. 

I love it when we can finally hang things on the walls; the finishing touch. 

Derek's corner. 

There is a skylight in this room.  We can't figure out why the lights on their fan won't work.  We may have to replace this light fixture. 

Logan's corner