paper backed expedit makeover

Remember that wood planked paper I used on the bookcases in my master bedroom {here}? Well I had lot's leftover and thought it might look fantastic on the expedit's in my craft room.

This is what it looks like from the back. Not pretty, but it gets the job done. The hardest part of the whole project was unloading everything to move that big expedit away from the wall!

A simple way to dress up my expedit, and it was free!

Have a great weekend!

Amy

Linking up this week to...

serenitynow, classyclutter

A look at my craft room/office

My craft room and office area is in what used to be our formal living room. It is the first room you see when you walk in our front door and is connected to our formal dining room. Last January I made the switch from formal room to functional room and moved all my scrapbooking and crafting supplies here. You can read all about that here.

I was in love with the crafting side of the room, but the sitting/reading side of the room was still blah. That mainly had to do with our fourteen year old sofa. Last month I finally got around to selling it on craigslist and purchased the Ikea ektorp sofa {you can read about that here}.

The room is now what I would consider finished {for the most part} and I am thrilled to share it with you today.

This is the view from our front door.

I love my bright yellow side table a craigslist diy project and the framed photo of our first home.

This little table was a garage sale find.

This is the view from our dining room. I brought in my painted stripe curtains from the family room.

Another view from our dining room. You can see my craft space tucked into the corner and our entryway. 

My favorite part of our entire house!

This room was a long time in the making, but I'm glad to have a space that my family and I will actually use. I spend a lot of time at my desk on my computer or crafting. The sofa is the perfect spot to sit and read, and my girls like to sit at the coffee table and do homework and craft as well. 

Thanks for coming by!

Amy

linking up this week to...

rainonatinroof, craft-o-maniac, ourdelightfulhome, thescoop, homestoriesatoz, myuncommonsliceofsuburbia,

thewinthropchronicles, abowlfulloflemons, sugarbeecrafts, romanceonadime,

thediydreamer, whimsywednesday, mygirlishwhims, greenwillowpond,

polkadotsonparade, livelaughrowe, 52mantels, serentiynow, classyclutter,

frugalfriday, the36thavenue

Ugly dolls

Over Thanksgiving break my daughter's discovered a new craft...doll making (I call them ugly dolls my girls find that offensive). They did this all on their own too which made their craft lovin mama very proud!

My girls are thirteen and ten years old and made these all by themselves using old shirts, buttons, my fabric glue, and cotton balls as filling! I had no idea they made these until they came downstairs and showed me.

So I did what any other mom would do...I took them to the craft store to pick out some fabric (they went with grey fleece) and some better filling.

To make their dolls they started with a template drawn on paper or cardboard. Then they traced it onto the fabric, cut out the fabric and used Liquid Stitch fabric glue to attach the fabric together (glue inside out). Leave a small opening at the bottom to insert stuffing and then glue shut. They used various craft supplies to decorate their dolls; buttons, ribbon etc.

I just had to share these with you because I thought they were super cute! I might even have to make one myself!

Amy

linking up to...

serenitynow, sixsistersstuff, tatertotsandjello

snowflake and burlap wreath

Winter has officially hit Ohio! My kids had a snow day on Friday and they had fun all weekend playing outside. All of this snow inspired me to make a winter wreath for our front door.

I started off with a grapevine wreath, white spray paint, burlap ribbon, snowflakes (from the Dollar Tree), small pinecones and berries.

I gave the wreath a couple light coats of white spray paint. Then I used my hot glue gun to attach the ribbon to the wreath.

Lastly I attached the snowflakes, berries, branches, and pinecones. 

Easy to make and easy on the wallet!

Have a great day and stay warm!

Amy

linking up this week to...

ourdelightfulhome, rainonatinroof, homestoriesatoz, timetosparkle, notjustahousewife,

titus2tuesday, thewinthropchronicles, elizabethandco, romanceonadime,

diydreamer, whimsywednesday, whatevergoeswednesday,

livelaughrowe, 52mantels, embracingchange, the36thavenue, sugaranddots,

serenitynow, sixsistersstuff, tatertotsandjello

Ikea ektorp experience...office update

After two long years of dreaming of a new white sofa for our living room {aka my craft room/office} I finally purchased one. Every time I went to Ikea I would test out the ektorp sofa and tell whoever was with me "this is the sofa I want for my/our living room".

Over the past few months I've read every review written on the ektorp. I already knew it was comfy from all my test runs in the store, I just wanted to make sure about quality and of course how easy or difficult it was to wash those slipcovers. 

 We sold our old couch on craigslist and the next day my husband and I headed to Ikea {luckily we live about 45 minutes away from one}. The box was large, but it fit perfectly in the back of our minivan with the seats folded down.

Once we got home we unpacked everything. This is how the couch comes. If you have children they will love playing in the gigantic box even if they are teenagers!

Here are all the cushions and slipcovers.

My husband actually had my fourteen year old son put the sofa together {he may have helped him a bit} and it took about fifteen minutes. Then my husband and I tackled the slipcovers which took another fifteen minutes.

It's only been a week, but I'm pleased with the sofa so far. 

Now I need to work on finishing off the rest of the room. Hoping to show you the entire room next week!

Amy

linking up this week to...

polkadotsonparade, whatevergoeswednesday, thewellcraftedhome, 52mantels,

livelaughrowe, therealhousewivesofriverton, serentiynow, shabbynest,

lovelycraftyhome, what'sshakin, tatertotsandjello, ourdelightfulhome,

rainonatinroof, homestoriesatoz

staircase GALLERY WALL

I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday! We hosted again this year and I was wiped out afterwards. Glad to be back blogging again!

I've wanted to do a gallery wall on our main staircase for awhile now. I finally saved up enough dough to purchase new frames and since we recently did a fall photo shoot I had plenty of family photos to display. 

I started off by shopping sales and using store coupons to purchase new frames {all from Michael's and Hobby Lobby}. It took me a couple of weeks to track down everything I needed.

I arranged all of the frames on my floor {sorry for the blurry pic}. Then I traced each frame onto paper.

I hung up each paper with painters tape. Then I rearranged them until I was happy. I did a lot of rearranging so I'm glad I didn't just "go for it" like I normally do and end up with walls that look like swiss cheese.

This wall is one of the first things you see when you enter our home. It was hard to get good photographs of the entire wall.

The view from the top of our stairs.

So thrilled with our new gallery wall! I love seeing all of those sweet faces every time I go up and down the stairs.

Thanks for stopping by today!

Amy

linking up this week to...

givemethegoods, homecoming, ourdelightfulhome, timetosparkle, 

myuncommonsliceofsuburbia, homestoriesatoz, elizabeth&co, abowlfulloflemons,

winthropchronicles, notjustahousewife, romanceonadime, theinspirationexchange,

whimsywednesday, madetobeamomma, greenwillowpond, mygirlishwhims,

polkadotsonparade, whatevergoeswedneday, thewellcraftedhome,

52mantels, livelaughrowe, therealhousewivesofriverton, serenitynow,

shabbynest, lovelycraftyhome, what'sshakin, tatertotsandjello