I'm honored and humbled to have my Mini Bedroom Makeover featured today by Roeshel over at The DIY Showoff! I received an email from her earlier this week, but was holding out until today to tell you all. :)  It's a little scary to see your bedroom plastered all over the internet and on Pinterest, but kinda cool at the same time. I'm so new to the blogging world that it's all still a little bit surreal!

Roeshel and her husband are remodeling their old farmhouse and blogging about their journey of DIY projects. She's built up quite a following over the last two-and-a-half years, which is not surprising considering her and her husband's work. 

You can view my featured post here, and please stay awhile to check out some of the projects that she's completed in her beautiful farmhouse!


Lots of love,
Mary

I did a little organizing today. I'm stepping out on a limb here and showing you my pantry. It's not the most organized or the most beautiful, but I think it represents more of the "reality" rather than the dream pantry we've all seen on Pinterest, etc. Maybe I'll get there one day.

Here she is after a little organization today.

For several months now I've been collecting baskets from thrift stores and wherever else I can find them on clearance. The idea is to better categorize items in my pantry for easier access and for a cleaner look.

Do you remember the nameplates I used for our Thanksgiving table this year?

They've been re-purposed as labels for my pantry baskets. With a little hot glue, each basket now has a label that can be rewritten at any time since they're mini chalkboards! Not bad for about 25 cents a piece.

I still have more work to do, but at least it's a start. :)

Lots of love,
Mary

Lately, I've been a busy bee with Christmas and all! No projects because Christmas was my project. And the last couple days have been catch-up and relaxing and enjoying my family. I don't know about you, but by Sunday evening I was EXHAUSTED -- in a good way! Despite the little sleep and nonstop action, it was all worth it to see my family enjoy the Christmas festivities. The big day was on a Sunday this year, which made it extra special. I can't think of a better way to celebrate the birth of Christ.

A few highlights,

Our tree wasn't the most beautiful this year, but has got to top the list as my favorite...for a few reasons. First, we found out that the tree was angled/bent at the bottom AFTER we got it home and in the stand. Because of this, it isn't that sturdy and is impossible to position straight. I managed to lightly string a couple strands of lights around it and we sat back and watched our little ones place the ornaments wherever they wanted. It was so much fun! As you can see, most of the ornaments are in a cluster not higher than three feet from the bottom, but I didn't care. :) This one was for the kids!

In other news, I haven't been able to find the baby Jesus to our nativity set for the past three weeks! I searched and searched and had pretty much given up. Then on Christmas morning, as Adi was opening her stocking, she screamed, "mommy, mommy, I found baby Jesus!" To my surprise -- stuffed at the bottom of her stocking -- there he was. I must have checked the stockings like 20 times. I think it was fitting, He was "born on Christmas day."

Merry Christmas! Our BIG present to the girls this year was a brand-new puppy! Isn't he a cutie pie? His name is Tebow and he is a nine-week-old Miniature Beagle. The whole family is just in love with him! This is our first family dog so I am knee-deep in potty training materials. Any and all advice you have is much appreciated! I would love to have both Tebow and Gabby, our two-year-old, potty trained by time baby Daniel arrives in March! I'm going to be busy! :)

And now for the AMAZING news! I received an email this morning from Cassity at Remodelaholic who told me how much she loved my Mini Bedroom Makeover and that she was going to feature it on her and her husband's site today! Ahhhhhhhh! That's me screaming in excitement! Her family is such an inspiration! Be sure to check out their blog for a wealth of DIY knowledge. I could rummage through their archives and never run out of inspiration to glean from. You can see my featured post here!


Lots of love,
Mary

I told you I had something up my sleeve! It all started when my husband had to go on a two-day business trip to Dallas. After he left on Tuesday morning, I got to thinking... what if I could pull off a mini master bedroom makeover before he returned on Wednesday evening? You see, our master bedroom has been neglected big time! Because nobody goes up there, it's received no attention whatsoever. I wanted my husband and I to have a nice place to retreat to at the end of the day.

Let me preface this by saying that it was a "mini" makeover. I had less than 24 hours and two children to care for at the same time! I have many, many more plans for this space, so look for "master bedroom makeover 2.0" in the future. :)  Without further ado... introducing the final product:

And for comparison, this is what our master bedroom looked like before.

Does this look at all familiar? Since moving in, we just placed our furniture in the room and walked away. Have you done the same thing? Notice how the cords are stretching to plug in all our "necessities." And one of our lamps were moved to the guest room to accommodate out-of-town company. Tacky, I know... it's embarrassing.

First things first, we needed an actual bed frame -- or in the very least, a headboard. Since upgrading to a king-size bed, our pretty queen-size Z Gallerie bed that we had been using moved to the guest room. I've seen DIY headboards all over the internet, so that's what I set out to do. Fortunately, Home Depot stocks 6' long pre-cut boards for about $5.50 a piece. I used six boards, stained them, and screwed them to the wall using a course drywall screw.

We also needed some lighting changes, so I picked up these nightstand lights as well as the ceiling fan and called a very generous friend to come install them last-minute for me.

I brought in Hayden - the antique cedar chest to frame the foot of the bed, and also picked up a few nightstand accessories...

...including this super-cool motorcycle statue that I couldn't resist for my husband's side of the bed.

To keep it practical, I used books that my husband actually reads topped with a couple vintage, old-looking books.

And finally, I purchased this rug to frame out the space and add a little texture and dimension.

Now that this much is done, I want to do more! (Oh the lack of time and resources). Until next time...

**Update: I have recently posted a tutorial specifically dedicated to the headboard portion of this project. Click here to view.**


Lots of love,
Mary


Linked up here:

Let me just say... I'm so tired! Between the Christmas rush and the fact that our house has been hit with a cold, which brought on the discovery of my precious little 4 year old's battle with Asthma (or Restrictive Airway Disease)... poor baby, I'm exhausted! Needless to say, I haven't been doing anything crafty and have nothing new to show you. I'm re-posting my DIY Rustic Christmas Star tutorial just in-case you missed my guest post over at TypeA last week. I do however have a few surprises up my sleeve and will be sure to share all the details and pics with you in a couple days.

...........................................................

This project is one that I did last year after seeing one at my local Pottery Barn. I'm not sure if they sold the stars or if it was just a part of the store decor for Christmas, but as soon as I saw it I said to myself, "I can do that!"

It's quite simple, really -- just how it looks. Off I went to Michael's and purchased a couple bundles of their pre-packaged sticks. Note: make it a point to get the straightest ones possible. Curvy sticks are hard to tie together and it will be harder to achieve the straight lines you need for your star.

Make five even piles of the straightest sticks possible. Just use your judgement to determine how many sticks per pile. Those piles will become the five lines to your star. Lay them out as you see they look and fit best together. I used a standard twine that I had on hand, but any sort of twine-like string will work just fine.

Wrap the twine around each point of the star as tightly as possible. Then, tie a double-knot around the back of the star and secure with a dab of hot glue. Repeat this process until your star is complete.

I found it was easiest to tie down the star points first before securing the middle sections. Once your glue is dry, you may add any other decorative finish that you desire. I chose simple white lights and I have to say -- this is one of my favorite decorative pieces to pull out each year.

The best part is that this is an indoor/outdoor project. What about a front door wreath alternative? Hung above your outdoor nativity set? Or maybe three different sized stars hung above a window?


Lots of love,
Mary


Linked up here:

Drumroll please... introducing "Bennett."

Remember a week or so ago, I picked this little guy up at Goodwill? Let me remind you...

Yes, Goodwill is a bit messy!

I used a homemade chalk paint recipe out of Behr Midnight Dream. Like I said before, I have plans to complete a more thorough chalk paint comparison in the future. I'll keep you posted. I don't really have enough info for a thorough analysis yet.

After two coats of the blue, I distressed, applied Annie Sloan clear wax, then taped off the white stripes. I used Behr Off White for the stripes.

After distressing and waxing again, I added the AS dark wax to age it up a bit. That's when the piece really popped!

I kept the original brass hardware and just polished it up a bit.

I'm really happy with the results. Perfect for a boy's room or even a bachelor pad! He looks rich and sophisticated. 

Bennett has already found a home. He was sold before I had a chance to place the ad. And the best part is that he is staying in the family, so I can visit him anytime I want!

Lots of love,

Mary

I'm linked up here: