I was planning on posting this last night, but to my surprise, my husband put aside his "man card" for the evening and watched the movie The Help with me. :) 

Now onto the main event! Have you heard of the famous Miss Mustard Seed Gold Leaf Chalkboard? I was so excited to try this one out since I've been coveting the one in her staging photos for quite some time now. I learned that she had a step-by-step tutorial over at HGTV (here), so when I found the MOST AMAZING frame at a garage sale for only $5, I knew exactly what I wanted to do with it! Here is my final product:

This is one of those times when I wish I had a before pic of the frame. Two of the corners were completely missing... thus the $5 price tag. I used some molding clay to first form a mold out of one of the good corners. After that dried, I used my new corner mold to create the two missing corners. Here's a close-up of the molding that I had to recreate (you can't even tell!):

I followed Miss Mustard Seed's tutorial to a "T." The only exception was when it came to painting the chalkboard center, I had no primer. Was I going to take the time to drag out my two toddlers and make the big trip to the hardware store just for primer? Nope. Was I going to wait until the next day? Nope. What to do? I saw the gold leaf adhesive spray on my counter and just went for it. And it worked! So mental note: if you don't have any spray primer on hand you can substitute gold leaf adhesive spray. :)

Lots of love,
Mary

What is it you ask? MY HOUSE IS CLEAN! Yes, that's right. We had a professional cleaner come in the other day to clean the house and prepare for expected company, which forced me to pick up and organize a bit. Which brings me to my New Year's resolution: to keep it that way! My goal is to spend 15 minutes every morning, noon, and evening walking around the house to just pick up things and put them back in their place. It may seem like a simple task to most of you, but this has been hard for us to do. And with the children getting older, it doesn't get easier. I need to train myself to be a better housekeeper.

Source: realsimple.com via Claire on Pinterest

I normally don't make New Year's resolutions, because as my pastor said this last Sunday morning, "We should be resolved to be more holy every day of the year." This statement doesn't necessarily mean that we shouldn't be making New Year's resolutions, but rather it puts those resolutions into perspective. My primary duty and joy is to be a wife and a mother, which includes being the keeper of my home. Let me be resolved to be more diligent in this area every day of the year and not just around New Year's Day.

So now that I've aired out all my dirty laundry, I must know... am I alone? Or do you struggle with the same thing?

 

 

Lots of love,

Mary

Due to the overwhelming response from my Mini Bedroom Makeover, and the wealth of questions regarding the making of the headboard, I thought it was best to write a specific post detailing how it was made and the challenges that I encountered in the process.

Step one was purchasing my wood. I chose pre-cut 6' boards from Home Depot (we have a king size bed). These are what the boards looked like once I got them home from the hardware store.

(Sorry about the photo quality -- this was a cell phone pic.)  Please note: when choosing your boards,  the "prettier" boards in my opinion (second board from the right) bow more than the others -- although I think it's totally worth it! :)  I positioned the boards in the order that I wanted them to look on the wall, then I marked the back of each board by number order. I also put an arrow pointing in the upward direction so that I would remember the placement when I went to install the headboard.

Next was the wood staining process. I moved the boards to the garage since fumes with wood stain are extremely strong. I chose Minwax in the color Jacobean and brushed the stain on in the direction of the wood grain using a cheap throwaway sponge brush. Then after each large section, I wiped with a dry rag. I just LOVE how the stain made the wood grain pop! Ideally, I would've left them in the garage for 24 hours to dry and then add a wax finish, but because of my time constraint I rushed to install them as soon as the stain was dry to the touch. I later applied the wax finish after the install and big reveal.

On each end of each board, I drilled two equally spaced holes where I wanted my drywall screws to go. I didn't bother finding studs since the boards weren't that heavy to begin with. I've hung heavier pictures on the wall using drywall screws, so I wasn't worried in the least. I measured, then positioned and leveled the bottom board first and screwed it into the wall. It's important to note that on my first try I didn't use long enough drywall screws. This required an additional trip to the hardware store, but what project doesn't? :)  At the end of the day, 2" screws worked well for me. If you look closely, you may be able to tell that a couple of the boards still stick out a little bit from the wall. I'm okay with that and actually like it when these type of things aren't "perfect." That's what makes it unique and a little more rustic rather than a perfect, manufactured look.

I'm extremely happy with the results and would do it again in a heartbeat! It really is easier than it looks. If you have any further questions, please don't hesitate to send me an email here or leave a comment below.


Lots of love,
Mary



Linked up here:

Happy New Year! I've had such a wonderful time over the last few days just enjoying time with my family. We took the kids to the zoo today! It was a beautiful 81 degrees here in Arizona, but I'm not bragging. :)

I found this little beauty a couple months back for only $5 at one of my local Goodwill spots.

I fell in love with the straight lines and the muted wood tone. The best part? It's also a folding chair!

I recovered the seat cushion with a piece of scrap fabric that I had on hand.

The fabric seemed to fit the piece well -- a kind of vintage-modern feel.

Nothing was done to the wood frame. It was just perfect as-is!

I find that you can never have too many chairs around the house. This one moves from room to room as needed. So glad I found it!

In other news, I've had so many questions about the headboard done as a part of my Mini Bedroom Makeover, that I will be posting a more detailed tutorial tomorrow. Stay tuned!


Lots of love,
Mary

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