Y is for Yawn to Yikes to Yippee I'm Done!!!

I'm Back!!!!

So my week hiatus extended into two.
So very sorry.
Thanks for those of you who didn't give up on me,
I lost one follower, but maybe she will forgive me.

Y week:

Today is all about the fireplace.

Yeah, that one.
The one I have bugged you all about for a few weeks now.
What, you forgot?
Does "Oh my big ole fireplace, what should I do with my big ole' fireplace? Should I paint it? Should I paint it? Really, you think I should paint it?"

I thought you would remember.

Here is the before:

I liked my fireplace, but as soon as I saw this picture, something didn't seem good about it.

I tried to fix it:
I thought just glazing some of the bricks white would help give it a little bit of definition and depth. Yuck, it looked more 1970's than before.

This week I painted the whole thing.
It took FOREVER.
I spent about 16 hours painting this monstrosity and I still need to do another coat on part of it, but I am over it for now.
Maybe one day when I have nothing to do I will add that second coat.
(another example of my decorating ADD, impatient and ready to be finished)

Here is the after:

Well? What do you think?
Lie to me because I don't think I can undo this...
Actually, I do like it, but it is hard to have just a snapshot of your room and evaluate it without everything else that makes it special.

Oh, man. I have to tell you that this weekend hubby and I went to Nashville and hit every Goodwill in the area.
I found something at every single one (except the next to last one.)
I can't wait to show you all the goodies. Some of them don't even need to be remade!

Come back later in the week!

X is for X-tremely Busy Week

I'm bailing on you all this week.
I had an idea for "X."
Let's just say that birds were involved.
But, alas life has taken priority over blogging.
You are probably thinking "thank goodness she's not sharing."

I am going to have to force myself not to blog this week.
I may not even keep up with my blog reading.
This week is going to be nuts.

I will be in a training Mon-Fri from 7:30-4:40
My whole family will be working at or participating in Vacation Bible School this week.
(Our VBS is at night from 6-8:30)
I have a 10 page paper to write (due Wednesday)
and a final to take (due Wednesday)
neither of which I have started on.

Okay enough of the pity party.
I just don't want those of you who DO read my stuff to stop coming.
(That is a whole 'nother story, I won't share with you all those issues.)
So here is what you have to look forward to when I come back after my week-long hiatus:

Cutifying the bathroom
More shutters
Outdoor spaces
More paint issues

Now, just to show you what I was up to last night...

I have whined and pouted about my fireplace:


It's too dark!
Maybe I should paint it?
Should I paint it?
What color should I paint it?
What to do?
Well, I did something.
I decided to glaze some of the bricks with white paint to try to give the bricks more interest. It seemed like a good compromise to painting the whole thing.
Here is the result:
Yeah, I thought so too. Not so much a good compromise.
Kind of makes me throw up in my mouth.

Look like I am going to be painting the whole thing.
What is the issue anyway? I think it is the black grout. The orange colored bricks don't really help. I'm just skeerd.

Oh, and here is the other project I have going on this week:

This is Marley.
This was a total impulse buy.
We already have two dogs (remember Millie and Toto?)

I don't know what is wrong with me. I'm just a sucker for cute face.
Just promise me you'll be back next week.

W is for Windows: Part III, Exterior Version

Last post on windows.
Have I worn you all out yet?

I have told you of my sea of beige.
Beige brick, beige shutters, beige trim.
Such a sad state.
Here is a shot of some of my beige before:

Hubby made the shutters for me.
You all helped me pick out the paint:
I went for the darkest brown (the one on the far right).
Hubby painted them for me and then got right on hanging them up.

The lower windows were no problem.
I held onto them (sort of) while hubby used a hammer drill to screw them into the brick.
The tricky part were those second story windows.
Remember this picture:
The left window wasn't that hard, I was able to hang out of the window and hand the tools to hubby as he needed them. He still had to hold the shutter up with one hand and drill with the other, but it went pretty smoothly.
Did I mention that he is freakishly strong?
He is 5'9" but he is solid muscle, I was impressed.

The nemesis was the right window.
I couldn't get the screen out to help him by hanging out the window so
he had to do it ALL by himself.
Hold the super heavy shutter, the super heavy hammer drill and keep the shutter level. According to him my job was to hold the ladder.
According to me my job was to hold the ladder and protect my head in the event he dropped the drill or the shutter.
Do you see foreshadowing here?

The shutter got the best of him.

It came crashing down and barely missed my head by what seemed like millimeters.
It came to rest on the air conditioner unit.
Thankfully nothing was damaged terribly, it was all purely cosmetic.
I was a little miffed that hubby was not more concerned about my condition, but he was probably lightheaded from holding all that crap up.
Before I show you the afters, I have to share a conversation that reminded me, once again, that God picked the right man for me.

Background: we are trying to extend that 20 foot ladder to its full height. (If you are unaware, as I was, an extendable ladder that is extended to its full height is really heavy and really hard to handle)

Hubby: Put your feet on the end of the ladder while I try to lower it.

Me: Okay, hang on (I have on flip flops)

At this point the ladder slips just a little

Me: Wait, it's slipping

The ladder slips again, I get scared, back up, let go of the ladder and it lands on hubby's back

Hubby (in an insanely calm voice): Put your feet on the ends of the ladder

Me:(while trying to put my feet on the ladder, I am bracing myself on the ladder, which is on his back)

Hubby: (still insanely calm) Please don't push on the ladder, it is on my back.

Really, that is all he said.

I wish you could have been there.
Super heavy ladder, wife adding more weight by pushing on it and he says "please."
I would have been hollering like a maniac.

Anyway, here are some before and afters:

This is the view as you come up the road to the house:

See that missing shutter?

That's where the one that almost killed me was

(said with some drama).

This is the view from the back (the area that is under the deck).
That is one of the back doors
(we have MANY means of egress, most of which I have painted "Crabby Apple")

Just a few more pics, just because hubby worked so hard on the shutters.
And maybe just a little hard on trying to kill me.

One of the windows on the deck

Looks so much more welcoming!!

W is for Wages

As soon as the temperature hits anything above 40 degrees my kids BEG to have a lemonade stand.
It drives me a little crazy.
But now that they are older and can take more initiative and responsibility they don't need as much assistance from me to go into business.

What gets a little hairy is the making of the signs, the hauling of the "princess folding table" and chairs, and of course the mixing of the lemonade.
It just creates a huge mess that I am left to either pick up
or endure the whining of "I'm too tired to pick it up now."

Disclosure: I am notorious for doing a project and leaving the mess for my sweet hubby to clean up. By the time I finish a project I am usually impatient and done and want to get the heck out of Dodge. So I really can't fault my kids, I just try to teach them better habits and follow through than I have.
Anyway, one day at my favorite flea market we saw a super cute lemonade stand. It had wheels and a cute little canopy over the top.
Alas, it was already sold.
But that got hubby's wheels turning. He had plans to make one.

Fast forward a few months (and a few princess table lemonade stand days later) and we were at yet another auction.
A microwave cart came up and before I could say "Bob's your uncle" hubby was bidding on it.
I proceeded to respond with "What are you doing?" (add appropriate shocked tone here) He said "I think that would make a good lemonade stand."
I was shut up pretty quick, because I could see he was onto something.

Here is the before (sort of). We still haven't gotten the hang of taking "before" pictures.
He had already removed the doors and added the picture molding around the edges.
I bet you all know where I am going with this.

I spray painted it white (to prime it) and then let the girls and a neighbor paint it white with brushes.
My decorating nazi side just had to find something else to do while they were painting
(luckily we had a yard sale coming up so I had plenty to do.)
When they said they were done I stepped in and smoothed out the puddles of paint and the run marks (there was so much excess paint it didn't even qualify as drip marks).
Here is A #1 putting some artistic touches on it:

Here is the other side:
I painted the front with chalkboard paint and then wrote our "menu" on it with my new liquid chalk markers.
I love these things!
I have another project I am anxious to show you (and the reason I got them in the first place) but that is probably going to be another couple weeks, sorry!

Here is the final result and her debut at the yard sale!
The kids had a ball with it and they made over $30!!

Makes you thirsty just looking at it doesn't it?

I'm sharing this with:

Just a Girl Show and Share Day

Beyond the Picket Fence Under $100 Party

Miss Mustard Seed Furniture Friday

A very important P.S.

I told you about this earlier, but it really needs to be said again.

Sarah at Thrifty Decor Chick

is giving away a Silhouette!!

What is a Silhouette?

A Silhouette is very similar to a Cricut, except you don't have to buy cartridges for it.

You can download all kinds of cutie things off their website for very, very little money!

I know I told you before that you shouldn't go HERE to enter for yourself.

How about you go HERE and just tell Mrs. TDC that

your friend Molly REALLY needs one.

That sounds like a plan to me, go tell her. Go on. I'm waiting.

W is for Windows: Part II

I showed you my bird windows last time
Now I am going to wear you out with all the other windows in my house.
I have one more window post coming that involves the exterior.
When I get stuck on something, I REALLY stay stuck.
Think about the birds.
I ended that post with about 24.
You can add 10 more to that.
Maybe it's OCD, maybe I was deprived of birds in my childhood or maybe they are just super cute.

Anyway, this window post will be bird-free. Promise.

Here is a window that I use as a picture frame.
It is on the wall as you go down the steps to the den:
I used glass etching solution on this window instead of my beloved Frosted Glass Spray Paint.


Next up is the new window I have on my mantle. Here is what the mantle looked like before:
But I needed the tall window for the screened in porch project (shown in Part I.) And hubby came home from a yard sale with a $5 window that had some great character.
So I tweaked the mantle
("I have a project that needs some tweaking"-name that movie)
and here it is now:

I love this window because it still has the hinges and the old latch on it. Plus I love the panes.
BTW, I am still thinking about painting the bricks, but I am a little skeerd.
What color will I paint the mantle? Will all my accessories get lost in a sea of white?
Maybe I should paint the hearth white
Oh the doubt. Oh the confusion.


Next window up is in Little Man's room. This window was turned into a mirror:



Finally, I found some AMAZING leaded glass windows at,
yes you guessed it, another auction.

I simple leaned one up against the wall in the foyer:
This window was a whopping $12.50. It is almost 5 feet tall and pretty heavy.
I love it!
But, wait til you see his big brother:

I window hangs perpendicular from the wall.
When you walk in the garage door it felt like you just "fell into" the dining room.
Drove me crazy.
This window acts as a faux wall and I love that you can see through it so it doesn't block the view.
Here is the view from the other side:

Oh yeah, big bro was $30.


So excessive on the windows or just enough? I love them, I can't help myself.

Ah, yes, the movie is You've Got Mail. Anyone get it right?

Joining with:

Jenny Matlock and Alphabe-Thursday

Just a Girl Show and Share Day

W is for Windows-Part 1

Home stretch people!
"W" week and I have so many things to show you all.
I decided to put my "windows" in multiple parts because, well because I use ALOT of windows in my decorating.
I don't really know why.
I guess I am just drawn to them.
Just when I think I am a little over using windows I will come across ANOTHER really cool window. You will see some of those later in the week. For this post I am going to start with a window that started pretty bland, but I think it (they) turned out pretty stinkin cute.

It started with an obscure window I got at the local flea market:


Before I go any farther, the pictures from this tutorial will not match up with the "after." The windows are different and the decoration on them is different, but the steps are the same. Perhaps you can forgive me for the discrepancies??

Anyway, it all started with a window. Seeing that clear glass got my wheels spinning. Caught up in those wheels were visions of birds and frosted glass spray paint.
Big shock huh?

I have written a more in depth tutorial of how I use the frosted glass spray paint here so I will just give you the shortened version, with pictures:

Here is the contact paper being measured and cut to fit the window panes.


Here is where I draw out the design that I want on the windows. I "image googled" vinyl bird art and pick something for inspiration.


Next step is to cut out the parts that I want to be painted

Then you spray paint the window with the trusty Rustoleum Frosted Glass spray paint.

Here is the set of windows I did using this technique. One window has two birds (to represent hubby and I) and the other set has three birds (to represent the kiddos). I hung them in front of the screens on my screened in porch.
Oooh, there's a little peek. See the window?? Okay, I'll give you a better shot. or two. okay maybe three.
There are the "love birds"


There are the "kidlet birds"


Here is a shot of both of them hanging between the frames.

I am linking this up with The CSI Project. This week is "Frames, Art and Wall Decor." Come by and check it out!!

So did you see how I HAND DREW that bird design. And I had to do a little research to find the design that I liked?

Well, Sarah at Thrifty Decor Chic could provide the answer to my woes.

She is giving away a Silhouette!! Oh and it comes with all kinds of stuff!! Now I am SUPPOSED to tell you to go to her site and check it out and enter for yourself.

I don't want to do that. I want it for myself. So, don't go. It's not that great.

But it really is.

Also joining in with:

Jenny Matlock: Alphabe-Thursday

Just a Girl Show and Share Day