Home

"Start by making your own home a place where happiness and love abound, through your love for each member of your family and for your neighbor. Try to put in the hearts of your children a love for home. Make them long to be with their families. So much sin could be avoided if our people really love their homes.

-Mother Theresa

It's no secret that I've been pining over a brand new home the last couple of years.
I wanted a bigger house (ours is currently 1900 square feet), with newer everything.  I wanted a bigger lot, preferably one with a couple of acres.  I wanted a pool, and I wanted more bedrooms.  (We currently have two kids sharing)  Most importantly, I wanted my own space.  A space to work.  A space for a studio.  A space to create.  A space that I could close the door.  (Are you noticing the "I", not "we"?)

I scoured the internet for houses.  I looked at a few with one of my friends, who is a real estate agent.  I did drive-by's and talked to financing people.  I convinced myself that we could afford our dream home. 

It's not that time.  My husband and kids were never on board.  I realized that we could not move without making huge financial sacrifices.  I was willing to put our family in a sticky situation to have the house that I thought I deserved.

Sigh...

Thankfully I saw the light (after my husband gently took the blinders off :)  I realized that I am not entitled to a brand new house just because I want one.  (Hello, age of entitlement)  I realized how lucky we were to have survived the huge housing boom.  So many of our friends have gone through unemployment, foreclosures, bankruptcy, and broken marriages due to all the financial stress.  Why wasn't I happy and content with what we have?  Is it my intrinsic nature to just want more?  Or is it a sickness that we all share as a society?

Soooooooooo...
I am encouraged and excited to make our home a lovelier place.  I love to decorate, re-decorate, move things around, create my own wall art, and find new furniture on a budget.  I've been so inspired by my friend Tiff over at House of Belonging and her series on "re-booting".  I'm ready to start with what we have and make it even lovlier. 

Here's a few pictures I took over the weekend.  I'm planning on painting a lot of furniture that we already have.
This big bookcase for example.  I'm thinking white?

This room needs big bright fluffy pillows.  Maybe sell the black chair on Craigslist and look for a colorful chaise?  Oh, and the TV stand peeking out from the corner?  Turquoise please.

 

This is the bathroom in our house that serves as the kids bathroom and guest bathroom.  It is small but easier to keep clean!  :)  I'd love to make a mosaic mirror for above the sink.

Those are just a few projects I have in mind.  I'm excited to get started.

 

Oh yes, and my pinterest boards?  Maybe I'll finally get to a few of those ideas!  :)

Current state of my studio

I've been telling you for months that I moved the house around (again) and I'm so happy with the results.
I've been wanting to take pictures to share with you but the truth is that I'm not happy with the photos.
We don't have a lot of natural light in the house, and I stink at taking lowlight inside photos.
But I finally decided to bite the bullet and show you what I've got :)
Starting with the current state of my studio.

It's actually located in the "dining room"...I'm blessed to have a husband who really doesn't mind that I take up a whole room right in the middle of the house!  It's actually much better for me to be here than in the back of the house in one of the bedrooms.  I'm sandwiched in between the kitchen and living room, so I'm near the kiddos all the time.  I love that!

This is my command center of sorts.  I'm still using my big ol' chalkboard for my weekly to-do list in the etsy shop.  Those black boxes house all my fabric, sorted by color.  They are overflowing!
after the hustle and bustle of Christmas I cannot wait to get in there and start playing with new ideas!

My brushes etc...This box needs to be organized!

I found this at Joann's and hung it on the wall...I love it because I was always losing my scissors!

This shelf desperately needs to be organized and "prettified".  It houses all my random supplies, but I want to come up with a better system. 

Ava recently decided to donate Olivia the artist because she didn't play with her anymore.  I took her as a mascot.  I love Olivia!  ;)

My inspiration board is tucked away behind the shelf.

The glass doors lead out to the pool.  I love my logo quilt and found a perfect spot for it above the doors.

My teensy eensy sewing desk that wants to be painted yellow.  Notice my spinach pizza I had for lunch?
I love that painting a lot.  I've had it for 10 years...you can't see the details but it has a bunch of amazing affirmations painted in the background.  I might have to put it away for awhile though...I always notice Logan's friends giggling over the boobies...dang middle-school boys ;)

Oh!  I got this fabric stack in the mail yesterday.
It's a new line by Carol Van Zandt...It's by Andover fabrics.  It won't be shipping into the stores until January.
I'm especially partial to the blues and grays...I'm thinking of making some new bible bags with them.

Okay, my little studio tour is over.
I'm hoping for some thrifting luck soon to help me with some prettier organization.
wish me luck!  ;)

This and That

I made this super duper rainbow messy flower a few weeks ago.
I originally thought I would make a bunch of them for my shop...but they are too time consuming!
I do love it though, so it's pinned to my jean jacket right now.

It's actually too hot to wear a jacket right now, but as soon as it cool downs this is my go to jacket!  :)

 
I'm trying to be more intentional about my eating habits, particularly my sugar intake!
I'm a "would-you-like-some-coffee-with-your-creamandsugar" kind of drinker...
I'm skipping the sugar and just using this "natural" creamer...it's okay.

My favorite go-to snack or lunch right now...toasted whole wheat bread with goat cheese and some mandarin oranges.  I would prefer some chips with that, but I'm being good and having a small salad or cut up veggies instead.

Aren't these the cutest?
I bought them from a vendor in MN but I can't find her card!
They are super small and made from polymer clay...Jackson calls them "Googlies" and he usually has the red one in his hand :)

I bought Henry a decal so he knew where to find his food...lol
Isn't it cute?
Yes, I definitely need to paint the baseboards.
They were supposed to be touched up after we put the wood floors in...but it's one of those things that is on my loooooooooooooong to-do list.

On my immediate to-do list?
Clean off those counters and get some work done!

Happy Tuesday :)

Hello Yellow

Yellow is my new favorite color.

The End.  :)

Sneak Peek

Happy Memorial Day!  We had a BBQ/pool party yesterday to celebrate, and we are all hanging low today.

It hasn't been quite a full week yet for my living room challenge, but I thought I'd give you some sneak peek shots!

 See you soon...I'm gonna to sneak some creative time before taking the kids to see Kung Fu Panda 2 :)