Happy Friday! I hope everyone had a great week! I am enjoying the (almost) spring weather today, knowing that next week it will be in the single digits. I am still working on the vanity for our bathroom disaster makeover, and it has been THE hardest piece of furniture that I have ever stripped! I have no idea why, but the paint just didn't want to come off. Now that I've sanded it, and painted it, I've realized that the stain from under the paint is bleeding through. I've learned the easy fix for that, and I'll share that with you tomorrow. I'm purposely lacking pictures of it, because I don't want to reveal any of it until it is finished. But I'll give a sneak peek of it tomorrow. Today, I want to introduce you to a new blog that I came across. Gaby blogs over at Life in Eight, which is about organization and decorating. I L♥VE her style! I was reading about her bedroom makeover, and when I saw that she designed her own stencil AND is sharing is with us for FREE, I emailed her right away and asked if she would share the post with my readers. I'm so happy that she accepted! Please take some time to check out her blog, you will NOT be disappointed! So here is Gaby....
Friday, January 18, 2013
Wednesday, January 16, 2013
Get Organized with $150 Giveaway to The Container Store!
Myself and 14 other bloggers are so excited to provide you with this opportunity to make one of your New Year Resolutions come true! We all want our organization to be pretty and sometimes that costs money so we are offering all of you the chance to win....
Tuesday, January 15, 2013
"Like Me" on Facebook #32
I'm SO excited!! I've been linking up to The Naptime Review's "Like Me" on Facebook, for a while now, and this week I get to be a co-host!
Monday, January 14, 2013
A New Look and a Freebie (Valentine's Day Printable)
I spent the evening last night (ok, all day and night), re-designing my header. I was ready for a change, and with the new year here, this was the perfect time!
Sunday, January 13, 2013
Saturday, January 12, 2013
♥♥♥Love♥♥♥
With Valentine's Day just a month away, it is time to start getting inspired for love! Do you decorate with cute banners and hearts? Do you make special crafts for your kids? Who is your Valentine? These are some of the things that I am lovin' on for Valentine's Day this year!
Thursday, January 10, 2013
Wednesday, January 9, 2013
DIY DISASTER
Good morning and happy hump day! I'm so happy that the kids finally went back to school yesterday. I can get back to all of the projects I have sitting around half finished. One of the big projects that I've been working on, is a bathroom vanity makeover. Well, that isn't really the big project....it's just part of the big project. I'll start from the beginning. I am the best wife ever! Ok, so I just thought I would throw that out there, here is really where is started. My husband went out of town, and I thought it would be nice for him to come home to a new bathroom. This was my plan: tear out the old linoleum, replace it with peel and stick "wood" floor (did you know they make that? It looks great! At least in the box ;)) replace the vanity with a "new to me" vanity that would have a fresh new look, replace the toilet seat, remove the bottom row of tile and replace it with tall base board, re-caulk the tub, paint, add a new shower curtain, and some new decor. Doesn't sound like much, right? I went shopping for all of the supplies, enlisted the help of my sweet neighbor, and in true Jill fashion got straight to work.....at 10 pm the night before my husband was to arrive home! That's just how I roll. What my husband came home to definitely wasn't the same bathroom that was there when he left. It was my first DIY disaster! We tore out the old linoleum, to find another layer of old linoleum. As I started to pull that out, what I found underneath was a rotted, stinky, subfloor! What was I going to do?? Well because I am a skilled carpenter, and plumber, at least that is what the certificate on YouTube says...I was going to attempt to replace the subfloor. The ONLY thing that stopped me, was this is our only bathroom, and what if I couldn't figure it out? I pictured a big hole in the floor and no toilet. That is where I stopped, and that is what he came home to. Not happy with his over ambitious wife the next day. This is the before, as you can see it really needs an update!
That sweet neighbor of my that was helping me, purchased a new vanity for her (much easier) bathroom makeover, and I painted her living room for her old vanity. When I'm finished with it, she will wonder why she didn't just bring this one back to life! This is what is looked like when it came to my house. I've been stripping the old paint off for the past 3 days, 3 DAYS! I even wondered if I gave it some dollar bills, if it would strip faster ;-). There was layer, after layer of paint on this thing! Today I plan to sand it.
I don't want to show any pictures of the progress of the bathroom or vanity. I'm excited to be able to show the finished bathroom reveal, so just keep these nasty pictures in your mind as I get it ready for an amazing before and after. Hopefully the bathroom reveal will include new floors. Can I borrow someone else's husband please?
Update and question: I returned the peel and stick floor because my brother gave me a few boxes of really nice laminate wood floor. I know that isn't the best floor for a bathroom, but I know it will look amazing. Have you used laminate wood in a bathroom? Have you had any trouble with the moisture?? I'd love to hear about it!
Wednesday, January 2, 2013
Hopes vs. Resolutions 2013
Happy New Year my sweet readers! As we ring in the new year, I think about the year that is past, and areas of the year that I plan to leave in the past, and what I hope for this year. Are you one to make resolutions? I've always felt like resolutions are, in a sense, just failures to look forward to. If they weren't we probably wouldn't be putting the same things on the list year after year. I don't want to feel like I failed at my endeavors, but rather feel excited to tackle some things in my life and hope that I am successful at doing it. Ok, I know, sounds like the definition of a resolution. Whatever makes me feel better, I guess. Here is my list, not necessarily in order, and some hold much higher hopes and expectations....
- Spend "real" time with my children. I'm a stay at home mom, so you would think I spend plenty of time with the kids. I would definitely agree with you most days! But, the truth is, as a stay at home mom, I find that I am around my kids...not spending time with them. I've put these expectations on myself, responsibilities that I must do everyday (even though continually they never get fully accomplished). As long as I hold myself to those unrealistic expectations, I'm going to miss all of this precious time that I will never get back. I should know by now, that I'll never finish the house cleaning by the time my husband gets home. The kids will have managed to (without a doubt) destroy all that I have cleaned in a whopping 15 minutes of walking through the door. By the time my husband gets home, it looks like I laid on the couch all day in my pj's while the kids had full run of the house. Thanks to Beckie at Infarrantly Creative, I learned about Lowe's Build and Grow, I signed up for the next to classes that they offer. The kids will L♥VE that! This year I want to do less yelling like a drill sergeant (some of you know what I mean), and experience more laughter, love, patience, and connection with each of my kids.
- Refinish furniture on a regular basis. I'm not sure that I have ever done anything else in my life (as far as something for myself), that makes me feel more fulfilled and just proud. I hope to finish at least 1 new furniture project a week. This blog began as a blog of furniture projects, and somewhere along the way, it has veered away from that. Looking back, it was the very time that I stopped blogging about what I love, that I began not blogging as much. That is where my passion is, and what I love to write about. I love to share those post with you, and need to bring my blog back to what it started for.
- To put my jewelry and furniture into a local retail space. I'm pretty sure I said this last year too, but we weren't at a place to really make that a reality. This year, I plan to (in the very near future) bring the jewelry from my shop, Speak Out Loud, to some local stores and find out what options are available to me. I want to have a space large enough to hold the furniture that I refinish, cause Lord knows our condo sure isn't! My dream has been to turn my hobby into a living.
- Lose weight. This is THE "STAPLE" resolution, right?? It belongs on our list, like milk and bread belong on our shopping list! For so many reasons, this is a must for me. For some reason, and I'm sure the cereal at midnight, and the fast food aren't one of them, I have been gaining weight all year. The weight that I am at right now, is the most I have been, not being pregnant. I need this to BE and FEEL healthier, to feel better about myself, to show my kids that it is important to take care of yourself, as well as to take that time for myself.
- This one is the big one...the one no one likes to admit to or talk about....QUIT SMOKING. My children are at the age that they can communicate LOUD AND CLEAR, that they want mom and dad to quit smoking. This is something that I want so badly, but have never really quit on my own. I have never smoked through pregnancy, I actually can't stand to be around cigarette smoke when I am pregnant. Well I am surely not going to be getting pregnant again, so that will not be an option. The only time that I was successful (not pregnant) was with Chantix. At the time that I used it, it wasn't talked about how it could make you suicidal. I'm not sure that, even had I of known that, it would have discouraged me from it. But, I had no idea of it, and soon after I started the medication, the thoughts came to my head. My son was a couple of years old at the time, and I worry that had he have not been in my life, the thoughts might have taken over. I never could imagine how someone could take their own life, but after experiencing such overwhelming thoughts, I can understand better what someone might think and feel in their darkest place. It is very scary what the mind can do, and even scarier that a little pill designed to help you, can control your mind and your thoughts to go to a place that you never thought imaginable. It took me months to regain my "sanity" and I quit smoking for about a year, but I will not be going that route this time. BUT, with all of my being, I pray that I will quit in the next couple of weeks.
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