Scripture in Our Home (pt. 1)

I talked last time about the contest over at Doorpost that was helping me to get motivated and do some of the decorating I'd been wanting to do.  I thought the best way to do it would be to just do one or two rooms a post...that way you aren't overwhelmed (LOL I know! ;) and I have more time to work on more projects.  (ok, maybe that's the REAL reason, but I think the other sounds good too.)

We'll start with Ezekiel and Zane's room.  I've already shown you part of it, but since this post I've done a bit more decorating (and added a baby!) in this room.  

First off is probably my favorite piece of art in our home. 

 I had this print custom made for my son Ezekiel using   Ezekiel 36:26.  This verse is one of the reasons we named him Ezekiel.  It's such an awesome picture of how salvation is all about God and all BY God!  Jackie from Willow of Wonder was amazing to work with!  I showed her the quilt my mom had made and we talked about the map being in the artwork, as well as a treasure chest with a heart (of flesh).  She did an amazing job!  I framed the print and hung it above Zeke's bed to be a constant reminder of our need to be given new hearts.   (their room only has one tiny window and it's super hard to get a good picture.  *pout*  The reflective license plates don't help with the photographing any either, but I promise it all looks good IRL!  lol)

The other display of scripture in their room is a bit of a pun...um...ok, it's a big pun.  Taken totally out of context to fit my needs, but I think God has a sense of humor and I think he's probably snickering about this one too!  

I got a dresser from my sister-in-law and refinished it.  I painted it red first, then black and I still need to do some more sanding so you can see the red through better.  The dresser holds Zane's clothes and diapers.  The top has a changing pad, wipes, spray and is finished off with this fun little scripture (1 Cor. 15:51 - We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed.  Most people believe the verse is actually referring to the rapture, but, hey, it's true here too!  lol.)

And just for kicks...

cute cloth diapered baby bum!!

If you'd like to join in the fun you can check out the contest rules here.  Thanks for stopping by!

Zeke's Room (still a WIP)

So here are some "before" pictures...(as in RIGHT before.  My mom and MIL were getting ready to crack open the paint and start in when I snapped these.)

And the other side of the room...

here are some not very good pictures of what it looks like now.  

We left the ceiling white and painted the walls Silver Sword.  Zeke's bed is half of the bunk beds he and Kessa used to share.  I sanded it down and then painted it with a glossy black.  I LOVE the way it turned out!  

My mom made his quilt for him several years back.  I designed it based on an Elsie Flannigan print that's no longer available.    

Then, last December when I was looking through the Water4Christmas Etsy shop I stumbled across this designer.  She only had girl prints, but I loved her style and the idea and I'd been wanting some artwork with Ezekiel 36:26 on it for Zeke's room so I contacted her and she did a custom print for me, which turned out AMAZING!!!  

I sent her a picture of Ezekiel and a picture of his quilt and asked if she could come up with something.  The map on the print...just like the map on his quilt.  I LOVE LOVE LOVE what she came up with.  (and she is selling them in her shop now too if you think your little guy needs one.  ;)

Then about a month ago I found a free download for this great vintage style Cars 2 movie posters.  They were just what I was going for as far as getting some "Cars" style into his room without being too themey.  I printed them out at home and then framed them and hung them up with Command strips (those things are great!)

And next to his closet (which is the kids FAVORITE spot in our house!  lol, it's like a little cave and the perfect size for them to play in.) I hung up some licence plates.  I'm hoping to continue adding to this collection (if you've got any you'd be willing to donate I'm willing to pay shipping! lol )

and in the poor neglected corner by the door is Baby No Name's bed.  

Things that I'm still planning to do:

• Find a dresser that I can put a changing pad on top of
• Make curtains
• do a vinyl cutout on my Silhouette of either Proverbs 8:33 or Proverbs 19:20
• Find/make a laundry hamper

So that's it!  The pictures aren't great, but I really love the way it looks IRL.  

Heart Banner + Clipboards =

Some new room decor!  lol.

I have a complete tutorial for how to make this very heart banner up on A Walk Down Memory Lane if you're interested.  ;)

I still need to add some more pictures to my clipboards...but my printer seems to be on the fritz!  Grrr...

I had an extra heart that I needed up not using on the banner so I added it to the corner of the center clipboard along with a few flowers and a ticket and I had the "love" vinyl leftover from a sign I made using the negative space as a stencil.  

And *hopefully* tomorrow I'll have some new throw pillows on the bed to show you too!  :)

We Will...

The kids and I have been learning a lot about love lately
.  We've been reading 1 Corinthians 13 a lot before bed.    It's more for me than them I'm sure, but it's also great to have scripture to point them to when training them in how to treat others.  Anyway, I wanted to make a new wreath for Valentine's day (you can see one I made last summer here.)

I used the "Change of Heart" kit (which is on sale right now!!)

The wreath was like $3 at Wal-Mart.

I used my SU Heart Punch and Martha Stewart Butterfly one too (umm...yea, I'm totally addicted to those!) For all the words in my handwriting I used my VersaMark pen and then sprinkled EP over it and heat set it.  I also used spray adhesive on the "love" and coated it with red glitter...nothing says love like glitter!  ;)

 

 
Love that Blackmagic Coredinations cardstock!!!  I used my glue pen to trace over the designs on the MME paper and added glitter to it too.

Grace's Room Revisited

A few months ago I undertook the MAJOR task of turning our "sports" themed office into a sweet nursery for our baby girl.  You can see the whole transformation here.  I LOVED the outcome...however because I loved it so much I just couldn't bring myself to put just anything up on the walls.  So they stayed blank.  For a LONG time. It seemed like a long time anyway. 

Then, last month, I made a canvas for her room.  I have known since way back when I was pregnant and we decided to name her Grace that I wanted the lyrics to this song on her wall somewhere. 

I used the Scrap-Tastic January kit, Holiday Hangover, for this project, as well as bits and pieces from my stash.

(the ribbon and way too cute pin are from my friend Jennie.)

To the left of the photo I used a lot of rub ons, most of them I rubbed on rather haphazardly, tearing them and then adding the rest somewhere else, and I used the tiny letters in the kit for most of the lyrics, just changing it up a bit to add more emphasis to certain words.

Even after I got the canvas done I just couldn't hang it up... it looked so small and lonely on that big, blank, white wall.  So it sat on the floor in her room for a month while I decided what to do.

Finally...with the help of my SIL's Cricut (thanks Sam!) I used the Storybook cartridge and cut out a TON of butterflies in different sizes, inked the edges (you knew that was coming didn't you?!  lol) and then added them to the wall too.  Here's what we've finally ended up with:

 

 

It doesn't look so lonely with all those butterflies.

 

(oh, and the pink on the canvas...spray paint.  Watermelon spray paint.)

"Fall Cleaning" Continued

So if you remember this post, and this one you remember that I had a lot more I was working on and I forgot to show you!  Oops.  Anyway, I don't have any before pictures of the kitchen which is really too bad because it was quite a difference for just changing up what was on the counters and taking off the cabinet doors.  Here are the afters though.

Just imagine those cabinets on the right on both sides and lots of clutter on the counters and you'll have a pretty good idea of how the "before" looked!  lol

And a close up of my doorless cabinets (which I LOVE!  Got the idea from here.)

(yes, I know my blue dishes don't match my red and green kitchen...but the dishes are MINE and I love them and the kitchen...it's a rental!  lol ;)

And I also have tackled our bedroom.  This is the before of what I've done so far:

I had to move those bookcases there because we have SOOO many books we couldn't just get rid of them and there was litterally NO WHERE else to put them!  lol.  I think they might be getting a coat of white paint and some distressing come spring.  I love the way they look but I'm not digging so much woodgrain.

And this is after! (oh, and what you don't know is that the bottom four shelves are cram packed with books as full as they could possibly be so that I could make these upper ones more attractive!)

and a shot of the bed too.  I got the pillow idea from her. (I think...)

(it really is just a couple towels rolled up with some white fabric and ribbon pinned around it!  Can't beat that...aside from the fact that my kids want to destroy it and I'm afraid they're going to get poked!)

Ok, I think that's it for me tonight.  I'm off to try and scrap for the first time in I bet a MONTH!!!

sorry the pictures are being weird...blogger is the devil!

Advent Calendar

I've been thinking about what type of "advent" calendar or "count down to Christmas" I wanted to have and I finally settled on an idea and just did it! I wanted something unique and that wouldn't be too expensive to make. (my total cost was $.53 because I ran out of red embroidery floss!)

I'd seen people use tiny stockings and things like that for this idea but I didn't want to go out and buy 25 of those suckers...plus I wanted it to be a little more personal. So, what's more personal than socks?! (ok, underware are but there is NO WAY I'm making something for the whole world to see out of my underware! lol)

I grabbed all our "divorced" socks and a couple pairs too because I didn't have 25 mismatched ones and started stitching. I made sure I had socks from everyone in our family so they would be all different sizes and then I just embroidered the numbers on the top of them. After I did all that I decided they needed a little something more so I used fabric glue to add the pompom trim and buttons to some of them. Then I used clothes pins to hang them from a ribbon and was done!

Each sock has either a treat (for days I know we're going to be busy busy) or something fun to do.


(sorry the picture is so bad, this is hanging in a hallway and there was just no way to get a good picture of all of it. Oh, and i just noticed I need to take down the hangers for the pictures that are usually there! )

Fall Cleaning - Day 2 {Grace's Room}

All right!!!! I feel like it's been forever since I originally posted about the Office/Nursery Makeover. However...it is FINALLY done!!! WOOHOO!!!!! (well...it still needs a few finishing touches, like stuff on the walls, but...in the big picture...it's DONE!!!!) Anyway, I thought I'd show you the before, during and after shots all together...I just LOVE before and after shots that are this different! (on a side note, not sure why my after shots are such poor quality. Sorry.)


Ok, the two photos above are the room looking to the right when you walk in the door. We had the crib, rocking chair, changing table, and two speakers all jammed in there...along with misc. other things!

And below is the top of that same wall....with the weird paneling and nasty sponge painting and not so girly boarder.


Now ready for the after?



Here it is! The walls are white and we just have the crib, a trashcan and changing table there now. (and a way cute little girly chillin' in the crib!)


This is the before looking straight into the room from the door. Yup, it was crazy cluttered and crammed.




Above and below are during shots. I thought I was just going to be taking down boarder and painting...but when I got the boarder down I discovered a huge gap between the boards at the top and drywall....so I ended up having to mud and sand a TON of the room...and probably should have done even more of it!


and finally....




The after!!! I just LOVE walking into her room now. (and really the pictures are a FAR cry from how good it looks IRL.) I've got some canvases and things I'm working on for the walls...I'll show you those once they're done, but all in all I LOVE how this turned out!!!

The Office/Nursery

Ok, this room is totally driving me CRAZY!!! It's like melding pot of all things cluttery...and my baby sleeps in here! So I've decided I'm going to join the Fall Procrastinators Party over at The Inspired Room.

I'll be back later tonight with before pictures...and I'm not going to clean up ANYTHING before I take them! Talk about embarrassment! lol.


Ok, pictures...the weird wood at the top just gonna have to deal with that...but I hate the boarder and the sponge painting the previous owners did...



our huge computer desk...full of JUNK!!! We've already moved one of Tim's guitars and amps out of here...now just one more amp and one more guitar to find a better home for!

Why yes, that IS clothing hanging from the shadeless floor lamp. The shade was glass and the kids knocked it over and broke it...before Grace was even born! and my sweatshirt from a late night feeding gone wrong probably...moving on...



The little cutie that's causing all the chaos in the "former" office (and a ton of headbands and shoes and such on top of her dresser!)


There you have it! Those are the befores...No cleaning or tidying or anything. Hopefully I'll be able to show you some "in progress" shots soon!

Celebrate: Home Decor

I just LOVE LOVE LOVE this month's kit at Color Me Daisy called Celebrate (which is sadly sold out!) They do still have some great add ons left though!

Anyway, one of the projects I've been wanting to do is make a wreath for our front door. I found this grape vine wreath at WM for a whopping $3.17!!


I just LOVE the way this turned out...and it's the first thing with all five of our names on it!!!
*sigh* I love things with all of us together...even if it's just our names!