Is it Already May?

Best looking room in the house

I finally finished the curtains for Daniel's room! They are lined and I pretty much figured them out as I went along. I tried looking for a tutorial on how to make lined curtains, and found about 8 different ones. I am pretty pleased with how they turned out, and even more pleased that they are done.

The coloring in these photos isn't the best. In person the colors look much better and match more closely.

You can also see the book shelves/ledges we put up. I found the idea at Ana-White.com, Tommy built them, I painted them and Tommy hung them. I love that the space behind the closet door isn't wasted and it makes such an attractive display.

Quiet Bear

My hopes are to make some sort of pouch or pocket to attach quiet bear to and store his/her clothes inside. A friend gave me this idea. She made one for her children, and it was a special toy they could only play with during church. Daniel has only sat with us once in church, for the Maundy Thursday service, and he actually did pretty well.

Making Resurrection Buns Easter Morning

It had been a while since I made these and I think I should have either bought bigger biscuits or smaller marshmallows. The idea is for the biscuit to be hollow inside, like the empty tomb. But hey, it's not like Jesus rolled the stone back after he busted out, he left it open for the world to know. Reminds me of the lyrics from In Christ Alone, "Then bursting forth in glorious day,

up from the grave He rose again."

They tasted divine, especially after being largely carb-free for the two weeks before.

He is not here; he has risen, just as he said. Matthew 28:6

Blue and Orange and Stripes All Over

Tommy and I have been talking about painting Daniel's room since we moved in. We painted the common areas (study, kitchen, living room) fairly soon after moving in. Then we did the bathroom. We kinda stalled out after that since it took so much longer than we anticipated.

A while back while reading The Tightwad Gazette I came across the idea of mixing leftover paints to create new colors with which to paint. We had a whole gallon of blue left from the living room accent wall and various shades of white left from the previous owners. We also had lots of leftover painting supplies from our other projects.

We purchased 1 quart of orange paint and some painter's tape all from our monthly budget, so our cost was very low.

We LOVE the results. It took us just under a week to finish. Stripes take a bit of time as you have to let one color dry before painting the next. And when you have a 2 year old, you can only paint when they are asleep lest you end up with multi-color finger prints on everything. But when said toddler doesn't like to sleep in the guest bed, and wants to sleep in their 'wittle bed' your painting time becomes even more shortened.

We started with a rough outline of the stripes we wanted.

Then we (Tommy) went back and taped off lines for the other stripes.

Daniel checked all of Tommy's measurements.

We ate ah-mazing Crispy Chicken Parmesan.

The final result. Nice crisp lines using the tips from Centsational Girl.

Daniel's quilt matches wonderfully. And his room looks bigger and brighter.

I have plans to make new curtains for his room, provided I can find fabric. And we would also like to get a new dresser. At least a new-to-us dresser. And add a few shelves. Yep. I've got a list for Tommy. :)

Bathroom Remodel

When Tommy and I were looking for a house earlier this year I started to think we may never find what we were looking for. We expanded our search area just a bit and found this house listed online. After looking at the pictures online, we knew this was our house. Visiting the house with our realtors was conformation that this was the house for us. At about 30 years old, the previous owners took stellar care of the house, making many upgrades to increase it's value and energy efficiency. Granite counters, CFLs, stainless steel appliances, low-e windows, brand new roof.
But the hall bathroom had received no love since the house was build over 30 years ago. It was in relatively good shape, just very dated, and plain.

BEFORE:














This is what it looked like when we visited before we made an offer. No storage except for the awkward thing over the toilet.



















The previous owners had a thing for toilet paper storage. The wallpaper wasn't too offensive, just way too blah. And what's the point of two mirrors like that? It's not like you can see the back of your head.

I forgot to get a picture of the light fixture before; it was probably the worst part. It was similar to what's in the master bath. It provided poor lighting and was kinda odd.






DURING













This was under the wallpaper.




















AFTER




















We bought something to store towels and various sundry bathroom items in to hang over the toilet.



















We also bought a new vanity since the top of the other one was a very dated color and the wood on the base was cracked. And don't knock the m&ms over the potty. Daniel gets one each time he goes, and he's learning his colors too!



















Tommy removed the mirror and medicine cabinet and replaced it with this one. He also installed a new light fixture. I hope to find some fake lemons and limes at a decent price to put in that empty basket.



















We used the yellow paint we originally bought for the kitchen, but hated in there. I think it looks great in the bathroom, and if we ever get tired of the yellow/green combo, yellow/blue also looks great together.














I made some artwork for the wall, it's not quite what I want, but I hope to fix it just how I want within the next month. The colors look better than this picture shows.

Overall, I am very pleased with how it came out. I am so blessed to have a husband who can use tools and stick with a job until it's finished. The white and yellow are so bright, clean and fresh!

Slowly

The house is coming along slowly. The kitchen is mostly unpacked, and we bought paint yesterday. Daniel likes to open all the drawers and cabinets.














We also bought paint for the study. I can't wait to get that room painted and set up. It will be our library/study/office/sewing room. I've gotta say, I'm most excited about it being a sewing room.