Summer often means trips to the beach, walking in the sand, and collecting seashells.  Have you ever wondered what to do with all of those shells you’ve been storing?  I just use mine as a vase filler, which is an easy decoration for a table, mantel, or bathroom.  These ideas that I’ve gathered from around the web require a little more creativity than that, but are totally doable! 1. Kim, from Sand and Sisal, put together this gallery wall of framed shells.  I love how personal, yet professional it is. Source: sandandsisal.com via Lauren on Pinterest 2. Martha Stewart came up with a great little craft for kids. These little…

Today I just have a simple question for you.  I need some help!  The drapes I made for my dining room last summer are a bit too short, I think.  People have varying opinions on drapery length, so I realize this is ultimately a matter of opinion.  However, I can’t decide if I should change these or not.  Should I lengthen them or leave them?? I have some white fabric already that I will use to add material to the bottom, if I go the route of lengthening, so it won’t cost me anything, just some time.  I’ll need to move the hardware up a few inches above in order…

Recently I received a question from someone asking where online I have purchased my fabric.  So, I thought I would answer her in a post, just in case some others of you were wondering the same thing. Of course, there are countless online fabric stores, but these are just the ones that I have experience with. My go to is Fabric.com.  They have all kinds of fabric — home decor, quilting, and apparel — and their prices are very reasonable.  Shipping is free, with any order over $35, and it’s usually easy to come up with that big of an order. source When I purchased the huge order of burlap…

We’ve been debating over a swing set for the backyard for months now, and just couldn’t wrap our minds around spending hundreds, or even thousands, of dollars for some wood, swings and a slide.  After some research, and a consultation with a man at our church who builds custom swingsets, we decided to tackle a major DIY project.  Thankfully, we were able to do this while Bradley’s Dad was here to assist. I have to say this is by far my favorite outdoor project yet!  Other than eating the veggies from the garden, the pergola even tops our raised bed vegetable garden.  In doing some research, Bradley discovered that most…

It was about 18 months ago that I started reading about chalk paint, a type of paint that can be applied without stripping, sanding, or any kind of prep-work.  I didn’t really believe it at first, but the more I read about it the more I wanted to try it out.  Well, as I shared with you last week about the Dresser for the Nursery, I finally used it!  I’ve compiled a list of thoughts on this paint that will hopefully be helpful for those of you who may not have used it yet, but are considering it. source ASCP saves a ton of time if working with a piece…

Now that we’re in the middle of June, I decided it was time to take my spring wreath off of the dining room table, where it has been in the construction phase since April, and finish it for my front door. This was the least expensive wreath I’ve ever made!  Want to know why?  I used plumbing piping from Home Depot to make the form.  It costs $0.97.  Everything else I already had, so for $1 I have a wreath that I love! I don’t remember what this stuff is really called, but you can find it in the plumbing aisle of the store. There is a slit in it…

If you spend any amount of time reading home decorating blogs, then I’m sure you’ve run into posts about ASCP {Annie Sloan Chalk Paint}.  I mentioned in a previous post that I had purchased some and was planning to paint a dresser.  Well, it’s finally finished and ready to share with you! This is what it looked like before: Sorry for the pictures!  I started this project at night, so the lighting was awful!   I simply took off the hardware and spray painted it black.  Then, I used Pure White ASCP to paint the dresser and drawers.  Working with the chalk paint was great, but I definitely have a…

Potted plants and/or flowers flanking the front door have been on my to-do list since we moved into our house 16 months ago.  Pots are pretty expensive, though, so I put it off.  This spring I decided to use some junky pots that were laying around and spruce them up a bit for the porch.  With just two coats of paint, a stencil, flowers and dirt, I now have two beautiful pots! This is what they looked like before I started:  I sanded these rough edges as much as I could to get them a bit smoother.  It didn’t completely fix the problem, but they do look much better. I…

Our home has seen its fair share of diaper boxes over the past three years.  It wasn’t until about a year ago that I started saving them.  I saw several blog posts about covering diaper boxes to use as pretty storage; an inexpensive and pretty way to store items, rather than purchasing decorative baskets or other containers for storage. I purchased fabric for Mason’s nursery and after making the bedding and window treatment{reveal of the nursery will be coming in the next couple of weeks}, I had plenty of fabric leftover for little projects.  It was fun to cover some diaper and wipes boxes with fabric so that now I…

We have moved 4 times in our not quite 6 years of marriage, each time living in a different sized dwelling, using various combinations of our acquired home decor.  My color schemes have changed a few times over the years, and because of that some things that worked when we were first married just don’t cut it now.  It’s not in the budget to buy new items for each house, so instead I’m trying to work with what I have {as much as possible} and make it the best it can be for our home.  One of my recent discoveries is that if I don’t like something the way it…