Summer pergola

Our last exterior project of the summer was building our pergola to give us some much needed shade.

 

We added bamboo fencing to the top for shade. It doesn't completely block the sun, but it does make a huge difference.

 

I used inexpensive drop cloths for curtains.

 

I love having a shady spot to sit outside and enjoy time with my family.

 



Summer project round-up

Hello!

It's hard to believe that summer is over and fall is here already. I thought I would take some time today to play catch up on some of the projects our family has worked on in the past few months.

 

All of these projects are outdoor/exterior projects.

 

First off is something I had wanted to do FOREVER which is paint our big backyard shed. The previous owners had stained it red.

It's hard to tell in the photos, but this shed is more like a small barn. It's huge and tall. Painting it was an all day job even with my crew of helpers.

 

Not a completely finished project, but such an improvement already.

 

 

The second project I'm sharing was actually the first thing we've ever paid to have done professionally (cause we're cheap and like doing things ourselves).

 

My husband and I tossed the idea around of doing this ourselves to save money, but sometimes you have to know your limits.

 

Project #2 is a driveway expansion.

Over the summer we added yet another driver to our family. We now have two teen drivers (scary I know). We have a three car garage, but needed more parking space so we decided to make use of our unused side yard.

 

 

 

 

I know its not the most exciting makeover, but this has been such a life saver for our family.

 

Since this post is getting long I'm going to finish up tomorrow with our last outdoor summer project.

 

Hope you enjoyed seeing what I've been up to lately.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Dressed up water bottles and birthday parties

This weekend my youngest turned thirteen.

I can still clearly remember turning thirteen myself. I had a sleepover with all my besties and stayed up late in the night watching music videos because it was the only time you could watch them.

My daughter didn't want anything big for her birthday which was a little hard for me and my party planning self. We had some family over and ordered pizza. I couldn't resist adding a touch of color and fun to her party though. 

I know this is nothing new, we've all done this before but I still wanted to share this little glimpse of her birthday with you.

I found some colorful straws at Target and added some fun scrapbook paper to the water bottles. 

I miss planning themed birthday parties for my kids. We've had some great one's in the past {see link below}. I guess I can start planning for my son's graduation party next year {sigh}.

Carnival party ideas

Nerd party

Mustache bash

Mad Hatter tea party

Have a great day!

Floral crown headpieces

My daughter and I have spent the past couple evenings making beautiful floral crowns for a school project. 

She came up with the idea to make these and I quickly jumped on the bandwagon. 

(she was less than thrilled to model for me)

Here are the supplies needed...

1. wired twine

2. floral tape

3. hot glue gun

4. wire cutters or heavy duty scissors

5. flowers

Step One...

Measure and cut wire twine (I wrapped mine around my daughter's head to get a rough measurement) add a couple of inches so you have extra to twist close. 

Step two...

Cut or pull off selected petals and stems. Use floral tape to tightly wrap stem to wire twine. In some cases our flowers had no stems so we hot glued them on. 

Step three...

Keep attaching flowers until completely covered.

The finished products...

We made a dozen of these which took us a couple evenings to complete, but I'm sure her classmates will love them!

I might have to make one for myself!

Painted books

Today I have an inexpensive little project to share with you. 

Painted books.

It's really that easy...

1.Find some old books at a garage sale or thrift store

2. Paint them with acrylic craft paint

3. Distress the edges with a brown stamping ink pad

Here are the same books before I painted them.

Since some of the books were dark in color it did take several coats of white paint to get good coverage. Once the paint dried I ran my stamp pad along the edges. I've also heard of people using sandpaper to distress the edges. 

They look beautiful on my family room coffee table, and I only spent around $2.00 for the books. Love it!

linking to the following...linkpartypalooza, creativityunleashed,

handmadehangout, featherednestfriday

Half bath makeover with industrial shelves

After recently repainting part of our main floor I decided our little half bath needed an update as well. 

It was still nice, but I was over the stripes and wanted a different look.

(BEFORE)

I started by sanding down the edge of each stripe. Then I painted the room smooth stone by Glidden. 

We added industrial shelving on the back wall above the toilet (love them to pieces).  We changed out the light fixture and added a wood frame around our existing standard build mirror. Lastly I added some new fun touches to the room.

AFTER

                         

  

I stained the wood shelving and mirror frame with Min wax classic gray stain. We used Liquid Nail to attach the wood the mirror. 

Sorry this room is so small it's hard to get a good photo. 

Total budget for this room was under $200

Paint was leftover

shelving and mirror supplies $90.00

Light (found here) $30.00

Artwork/ decorations $70.00

linking up to the following...

Inspire me Monday, elizabeth&co, creativecirclelinkparty, creativityunleashed

linkpartypalooza, handmadehangout