May round up

It's hard to believe that today is the last day of May. It seems like the month flew by, but when I look back at everything I accomplished this month I realize I did make the most of my time.

Here is a quick recap of what I accomplished in May!

1. I finally revealed my basement makeover
2. Celebrated my daughters birthday with a Mad Hatter tea party
3. Made bead board picture frames for Mother's day gifts
4. Last day of school teachers gifts
5. added some color to my front porch with a spray painted rug
6. put together a tiered polka dot planter


Wow! I guess I was busy this past month! You'll have to wait and see what projects June brings about {even I don't know the answer}!


If you are not already a follower I would LOVE it if you became one!


                                                                                    Amy












Linking up this week at 
serenitynow, craftomaniac, apinchofjoy, askanna, iheartpears, ourdelightfulhome

tiered polka dot planters

 Hi everyone! I'm finally back after a long weekend break and some relaxation with the family. We had such wonderful and extremely hot weather this past weekend. My family and I spent most of our time in the pool and as a result I have some very hot pink colored shoulders!

I did squeeze in one little project though!

I've been eyeing some painted polka flower pots that Amy over at positively splendid put together, and decided to make some for myself!

I started off by shopping for three planters in various sizes. I also purchased some potting soil and different types of flowers.

I painted the pots in three bright colors and hand painted the white polka dots.

I put small rocks from our garden in the bottoms of the  planters before adding the soil. My daughter snapped this lovely photo of me as I was adding the flowers. 

My completed tiered planter.

My front porch is finally starting to come together! I'm hoping to add a few more touches and then show you the entire porch later this week.

Hope you have a great day! It is storming here with rain and strong winds so I guess that rules out the pool for today!

                                                                                            Amy

Linking up this week at

elizabeth&co, abowlfulloflemons, thewinthropchronicles, iheartpears, cleanandscentsible, raegunramblings, pincushioncreations, thenymelrosefamily, stringtownhome, myuncommonsliceofsuburbia, notjustahousewife, romanceonadime, sugarbeecrafts, craftyscrappyhappy.net, twoyellowbirds, theshabbycreekcottage, somewhatsimple, crystal&co, houseofhepworths, practicallyfunctional, serenitynow

Teacher gifts...chalkboard flower pots

Yippee! It's Friday and the last day of school for us!

Hello Summer oh how I've missed you!

This past week I've been racking my brain and Pinterest to find the perfect end of the year teacher's gifts for my girls {my son is in seventh grade and so not into giving his teachers hand made gifts}.

I finally decided to go with these adorable flower pots I found first on Pinterest and then tracked down to this talented lady, Mariah from giggles galore! This is her version...

This is what ours ended up looking like...

I started off by spray painting the bottoms of the pots with chalkboard paint.

My daughter's were each in charge of painting the yellow band around the top their pot.

I used a tape measure to mark the inches along the edge of the pots. My youngest daughter wanted me to write all her numbers for her, but my oldest daughter did hers all on her own. We used a fine tip Sharpie marker.

Last night we finished them up with some pretty flowers and my daughters each wrote their teachers name on the pot with chalk.

Of course I had to take pictures this morning before they left for school! I promise I do have a son you just don't see him much {he's almost thirteen and hates getting his picture taken}.

I love the chalkboard on the pots, I may have to make some for myself!

So many cool ideas for teacher's gifts out there in blog land! If you are in need of ideas I suggest heading over to Pinterest.

Have a wonderful weekend!

                                                                                               Amy

Linked up to the following

serenitynow, twoyellowbirdspinterestchallenge, askanna, apinchofjoy, creativelyliving, adventuresofadiymom, ourdelightfulhome, cherishedbliss

spray painted rug

This week I am attempting to spruce up our front porch. It is in desperate need of some lovin' and crying out for a pop of color.

However this is a busy busy week leaving me little free time to work on my porch. Plus it's the last week of school and we need to make teachers gifts by Friday. No pressure right!

I did find some time today to squeeze in one little easy project. I picked up a plain rug and a can of spray paint at Home Depot yesterday. 

I feel in love with this pretty blue color, it just screamed SUMMER to me!

I used some painters tape to make lines and then sprayed away.

Now I can check one project off my porch to do list. Still lots of little projects I want to do out there. Hoping I can get it finished up by next week.

Thanks for stopping by!

                                                                                             Amy

Linking up this week at

cleanandscentsible, creativelyliving, abowlfulloflemons, sugarbeecrafts, pincushioncreations, thenymelrosefamily, primp, sugaranddots, somedaycrafts, polkadotsonparade, craftyscrappyhappy, twoyellowbirds, theshabbycreekcottage, somewhatsimple, crystalandco, houseofhepworths, thediydreamer, the36thavenue, serenitynow

Basement reveal...FINALLY!

I am so happy to FINALLY be sharing my basement makeover with you today!

I got a little sidetracked by birthday parties, kids sports events, and life in general {you know how it is}. Our basement is for the most part complete and I am loving it!

If you've been following along my journey in our lower level you might remember it started off looking like this.

Now it looks like this...

The movie and video game area.

The screen pulls down for family movie nights.

I love my new repurposed bookcase and diy domino art!

Now onto the bar and snacking area!

And last but not least my favorite area in our basement, my scrapbook and craft nook!

I had a fantastic time making over our basement. I went a little out of my comfort zone using colors I've never used before like gray and red, but I am so glad that I did. Even my husband who said "don't paint the basement gray" is happy with the end result.

Have a great day!

                                                                                           Amy

Linking up at

the36thavenue, embracingchange, 52mantels, theshabbycreekcottage, somewhatsimple, thehouseofhepworths, mysimplehomelife, frenchcountrycottage

youngandcrafty, atthepicketfence, tatertotsandjello, herecomesthesun, theorganisedhousewife, lovelycraftyhome, raisingoranges, serenitynow, toomuchtime, cherishedtreasures, craftomaniac, apinchofjoy, askannamoseley, stringtownhome, adventuresofadiymom, ourdelightfulhome, myuncommonsliceofsuburbia, hopestudios, elizabeth&co, thewinthropchronicles, abowlfulloflemons, romanceonadime, cornerstoneconfessions, chronicchristiancrafter, cleanandscentsible

Party features

The days are just flying by again and it is already Wednesday!

I love looking at all your ideas, crafts, and yummy recipes every week but I am struggling with the time involved with hosting parties every week. 

Now that Summer is almost upon us {next week is my kid's last week of school} I'm really feeling the pinch.

So for now I've decided to hold off on hosting a link party every Wednesday. 

I'm thinking of hosting just once a month or a themed link party. 

I'll still be here blogging away during the Summer. I still have a  long to do list of projects I'd like to accomplish before Summer ends!

Now it's time for some FUN... last week's features!

Adrianne from happy hour projects made this teacher appreciation bracelet. 

Back for seconds showed us how to make these delicious double stuffed brownies. 

Joanne over at double wide in the sky shared her oh so yummy looking margarita cupcakes.

Thank you so much to everyone who linked up last week!

Today I have a little spray painting to do and tomorrow I will finally be revealing my basement makeover!

Hope to see you tomorrow!

                                                                                         Amy

Bead board picture frame

Another Monday has arrived again. I hope all you mothers had a wonderful Mother's Day!

I spent the day with my family. I sat in the rain at my daughter's soccer game {no place in the world I'd rather be}. Spent time with my mother. Went out to eat with my family, my in-laws, and my parents. I am very blessed to have a loving supportive mom and the sweetest mother in-law ever. I also have three super amazing children who make me smile every single day.

For Mother's Day I usually try to make a homemade gift of some type. This year I decided on bead board picture frames. I got my inspiration from Rachel over at Adventures of a diy mom. She gives you a step by step tutorial plus she has lot's of great ideas and projects to check out!

We had some leftover bead board in our garage so I just cut it  down to the size I wanted. For the stand I used a dowel rod cut to size. 

For the stand I had my husband drill a hole the same diameter as the dowel rod into the frame. I used my always handy hot glue gun to hold the rod in place.

I dry brushed on three different colors of paint, waiting for it to dry between coats. 

I wrapped a ribbon around the bottom to hide the hole.

Then hot glued on some mini clothes pins to hold the photos. Plus this way you can easily change out the photos whenever you like.

The back isn't very attractive. I guess if I hadn't waited to the last minute I could have painted the back as well. But you can see how I attached the dowel rod.

Another low cost and easy project to put together. Next year please remind me not to wait until Saturday to start my Mother's Day project though! Nothing like waiting till the last minute!

Thanks for stopping by today! Have a memorable Monday!

                                                                                            Amy

linking up this week at

houseinroses, craftomaniac, askanna, ourdelightfulhome, creativelyliving, cherishedbliss, myuncommonsliceofsuburbia, notjustahousewife, elizabeth&co, winthropchronicles, abowlfulloflemons, somedaycrafts, polkadotsonparade,

Whimsy Wednesday party features

Sorry I know I am doing things a little backwards showing you the features after another weeks party has already started. What can I say I'm just a bit nutty like that!

One of my favorites from last week was titled all about Alice inspiration. Since I just put together my own Mad Hatter tea party you had to know this would be a favorite of mine! Thanks to Little lady bird for putting all these Alice ideas together for us!

Katie over at Creatively Living always amazes me with her clever and beautiful makeovers. Loved her kitchen reveal and the open shelving looked so organized.







Barb at turtle and tails made over her foyer by adding trim, doors, light fixture, and new paint. It really looks amazing!





With mother's day right around the corner I am always looking for new and creative gift ideas. I loved this frame and free printable made by Samantha at crafty texas girls.





Lots of love and thanks to everyone who linked up last week. Don't forget to grab your FEATURED button from up top if I featured you today. Also this weeks party going on NOW please link up and spread the word!


Happy Wednesday!




                                                                                            Amy

Whimsy Wednesday link party

Welcome back to another round of Whimsy Wednesday! 

I will be posting last weeks features tomorrow so check back!

Rules

follow me on GFC, linky followers or Facebook

anything goes recipes, crafts, makeovers, furniture as long as you made it!

You MUST place my party button or text link somewhere on your blog or post.

Please visit with others and leave them some comment love.

Mad Hatter tea party

What a weekend! Saturday we celebrated my daughter's ninth birthday with a Mad Hatter themed tea party!

We came up with the idea months ago, but I still spent most of last week rushing to finish all the props and decorations. My daughter was thrilled with how it turned out. She even helped with painting the colorful flower pots and arranging the flowers.

Sorry I know photo overload, but I just couldn't help myself. I didn't want to leave anything out.

All the girls had a great time at the tea party. We served finger foods and sandwiches and of course tea. My lovely mother in law spent many hours making the birthday cake {no kidding when I say that thing weighed at least fifteen pounds}. It was so much fun to plan this party, my daughter was just sad that the party went by so quickly and soon we will have to take down the decorations {I talked my husband into letting us keep them up for a few days}.

Last week really wiped me out so I don't know if I will even want to work on any projects this week. I am almost finished with our basement makeover and will share that with you soon!

 Have a wonderful week!

                                                                                          Amy

Linking up this week at...

the delectable home, elizabeth&co,thewinthropchronicles

craftomaniac,notjustahousewife, abowlfulloflemons, natural-nesters, chronicchristiancrafter

askannamoseley, pamspartyplanning, sugarbeecrafts, romanceonadime, hopestudios

houseinroses, adventuresofadiymom, thenymelrosefamily, atthepicketfence

apinchofjoy, primp, pincushioncreations, frenchcountrycottage, lovelycraftyhome

vintagemauve, somedaycrafts, sugaranddots, organizeyourstuffnow, serenitynow

creatively living, polkadotsonparade, themommyclub, craftyscrappyhappy

stringtown home, theshabbycreekcottage, 52mantels, mysimplehomelife

cherished bliss, the36thavenue, raegunramblings, raisingoranges, herecomesthesun

myuncommonsliceofsuburbia, somewhatsimple, houseofhepworths, thediydreamer