New things for behind couch

I went to Goodwill yesterday and got somethings for the new table behind the couch.  I think what I got looks good,  maybe just a little tweaking.  I am also using a faux fur pillow case to lay on top of the toys in the living room.  I saw this on some blog, sorry I can't remember which but I liked it.  I  put a plant in the room too, say a little prayer for it, because Noah is sure to tear it apart.
Thriftydecorchick is already ready for Fall, NOT ME!!!!!  I sent her a pic of a leaf room divider I made, she wants all pics fall right now.  I am going to post it on here as well.

Inspirational Idea #2

I have taken a little break from crafting for a few days, but yesterday morning I was reading some blogs when I saw this little table a chick made for behind her couch.  She had gotten the idea from thriftydecorchick.com.  I of course wanted it.  We really don't have room for end tables on that side of the room, and never have a place to put our drinks when we sit over there.  We had some scrap wood in the garage so we just cut it and put it together.  You can find the full instructional plan at thriftydecorchick.com, just check out her living room from the page "our home".
I really like the table, but still have not figured out what to put on the shelf.  I am going Goodwill hunting today.  It is hard to put any Nick knacks around with my little one, he has his hands on everything.  This is a pic I took last night, but I was just trying to get some ideas of how to decorate it.  I would like to get some of that faux wheat grass.  Well here is the pic, the decor behind the couch not permanent, but what is permanent is my new dark hair,  Tom dyed it yesterday.  I love the L'Oreal Ferira hair color, usually go to salon which is like $120.00, but I swear my hair looks as good as when I leave there. 

Tree Art Complete

I'm so happy, the copycat branch art is complete!  I love it!!!  Thank you so much for the idea again vintagerevivals.blogspot.com. 

This is the before. It was ahhhh BORING!

Here is the after!

Thanks again vintagerevivals.blogspot.com!

Did you know?

I just found out if you have AAA you get 10% off at Target, The Gap Outlet, Banana Republic Outlet, Payless shoes, Kohls if you spend over $100, 5% off at Kmart, 5% Sears online order.  I don't have a Target, but I know all you do!(and let me tell you every curse word is going off in my head whenever I talk or hear about Target)
Just wanted to share this little tidbit.
A very big thank you to diyshowoff.blogspot.com for featuring my leather cornice box today!

A New Outlook

I have been working on my copycat tree art to put above my couch, it's coming along nicely.  We are looking for the perfect branches right now.  I want to put one of the branches on the wall  from the tree that fell on our house a month ago. 
     One thing I did yesterday which is not a true makeover, but feels like one was washing my windows inside and out.  It is amazing what a difference that can make.  Tom put up my curtain pull backs the other night, and I didn't realize how big the front window is.  The world looks like a new place with clean windows.

I literally can not put anything on the window right now, or my end tables due to my 13 month old.  I don't know how everyone else does it. 

I have a little baby proofing tips for all you moms with little ones.  If you have a fireplace and worry about them cracking their head open on it, and you haven't been able to find a helmet for them to wear try this.

This is pipe insulation, and works great.  We used masking tape to keep it up, we didn't trust anything else to stick to the marble.  It is cheaper than the stuff made for child proofing.

Amazing Post On DIY Blog

I just got off the thediyshowoff.blogspot.com site, and found the best thing ever, it was posted from Vintagerevivals.blogspot.com.  I will be doing this above my couch.  I love it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  Thanks for the idea DIY, I am all over it. 
I also have to say thank you Betterafter.blogspot.com for featuring my light bulb vase, I feel so proud!

Pantry Makeover

Here is the before pic of the pantry that is actually in the living room on the opposite wall of the fireplace.  This is also the entry you see when you come in the front door.  When Tom re tiled the fireplace, we bought the same tile for the floor in the entry way, so keep that in mind when looking at this area. It will be a fabulous before and after, it is a fall project for us, Tom is working on an outdoor project right now.

This is what it looked like when you opened the doors of the pantry, I know holy pack rat.  We had put this project off for awhile, but decided it was time to tame that monster.

Would you believe we just get everything out of the closet, and BOOM Noah starts waking up from his nap.  Noah usually sleeps for a couple hours, noooo not when I have this, and may I remind you bloggie people this is where we hang out the most, this would be a one years olds dream to get into all this business. So anyway he woke up after a half hour, luckily Tom took over the job.

Noah finally had his second nap, and again for some reason woke up after a half and hour, that at least aloud me enough time to do a little work.  We had decided we wanted to be able to label the pantry, so Tom cut these pieces of wood to put on the edge of each shelf.   We primed them, and then nailed  to the edge of the shelf.

We then decided to organize and fill the pantry, I thought that painting the white piece of wood with chalkboard paint for labeling would help keep us organized and look cool too.  (I feel a chalkboard intervention coming on, I love this stuff. MAGIC)  I have to mention that I know the handwriting isn't great, one I don't write good in general, and two I had my little one at my feet the whole time.  I challenge all of you to that.

I also wanted to put chalkboard paint on the edge of our closet in the entry off the garage.  I have baskets with hats, scarfs, and mittens.  I thought it would look good, and be functional.

  This was a very rewarding challenge for us.  It is so nice to actually see what we have to eat.  I do know we need to go grocery shopping now.

And here the biggest challenge to keeping this pantry organized little NoNo (Noah's nickname since birth, and can I just say not a good one.  We are constantly like NO NONO. I don't think he could be more confused.)  Can you believe we actually had the canned goods on the lowest shelf for a little while.

A few changes around here

It has been a very busy weekend already.  We went garage saleing yesterday, and got some wonderful things, plus we made the decision to lose the red wall in our living room.  The whole family went garage saleing, and my step daughter Brianna got some really cute lights.  They are white, made of paper, and are really tall.  Brianna is doing a jungle theme in her bedroom, and wanted to spray paint them brown with touches of gold.  I was JEALOUS, they are FAB!  She paid $1.00 a piece for them.  Here are some B & A's on them.

I had purchased a wicker vase at Goodwill sometime ago, but it was black, and for the first time ever I think I wanted something white.  This is the only type of big art options I have with a one year old around, tearing the joint up.  I knew at least if this falls on his head it will not hurt.  I love the way it turned out!  Tom was nice enough to spray paint it for me.  We all did some sort of painting yesterday, melt my heart!  These are the B & A's on the new wicker art.

This was the final project of the day/night, painting the red wall in the living room.  This wall has been driving me nuts.  It has literally controlled my decorating for the past year.  We painted it this color, because my friend Laura in Florida did, and it looks great.  This is a wonderful lesson, what looks good in one house doesn't necessarily look good in yours.  I have been through every phase possible decorating wise to try and make myself like it.  The madness had to end, hence the accent wall now turning to white.  It turned out fabulous in my opinion, and finally feel free to decorate the way I like.  We are just getting used to it, but already we all love it! Here are the B & A's on this last project.

I got this cute basket with grass at a garage sale yesterday too.  I have this random little cut out in the wall with a mirror behind it, thought this would work.  Those rented movies on the TV are so late, why do I rent them, not to mention the little one got a hold of the dvd remote, and it is no where to be found.

If anyone knows me, they know I hate snakes, frogs, any reptile. Noah found this little guy in the yard and I wasn't scared, of course he was the size of a quarter.

Drift Wood Photo Hanger

We just got back last night from a fabulous vacation in Old Orchard Beach, Maine.  It was quite relaxing considering I had a thirteen month old, and an eight year old.  The ocean was pretty chilly, but we all went in.  The food in Maine, is the best!!!  I ate seafood everyday, and let me tell you YUM TO THE E!!!  The Maine (excuse the pun) problem for me was not being able to get on the laptop.  The motel said it had WIFI, but when we tried to log in, their password would not work.  It was a good break from the computer, I guess (minor with drawls).   Well now on to my next project.When we were in the ocean I found a piece of driftwood, and thought it would make a good picture display.  I hope you all like it, I think it is wicked cool.  It was easy to make, just add clips and wire to hang.
   I put a few pictures from Maine, check out the size of the jumbo shrimp we had!  The picture of the store is one of my good friends store, and she has the best candy, even tried chocolate covered bacon.  It's Old Port Candy Co. in Portland, she is famous for her pumpkin fudge.  If you are ever in Maine, you should check out her store.

What a Bright Idea

This is a light bulb vase I made a couple of years ago.  The light bulb was carefully stripped of all of it's guts.  I used to have a flower garden, and sold the flowers during a local craft fair we had in town.  I sold the flowers in mason jars, and also these light bulbs that Tom helped me make, not an easy project.  They were a huge hit.

I will not be posting for a couple days, off to Maine.