OBEY YOUR PARENTS!!!

Located in our basement is my favorite wall art. Why is it my favorite? Because it displays the rules. Yes, the rules. We read them a lot. Thanks to Caleb and his attitude (where does he get it from?!) Anyway, I found a cute cross stitch at an antique store and printed out some rules (from etsy), and put them into frames purchased here at IKEA.

We visit this rule a lot...

And this one too...

Now....if we could just get him to follow those rules.... :)

ABC's ... Easy as 1-2-3!

A while back I purchased some ABC decals at Meijer (before they were discounted to only 9.99!!). Anyway, now that that basement is finished, I have been busy getting the play area organized and decorated, so I went to the Dollar Tree and purchased 26 random frames. My orginal intent was to paint them all white, but I just loved the natural look of them- it really made the colors in the letters pop! So, how does one go about hanging 26 frames? Thanks to one of my favorite websites, younghouselove, I was able to hang all 26 with ease. Step 1: Arrange frames how you want them. Step 2: Cut out pieces of paper to match the sizes of the various frames and tape them to the wall.

Step 3: Mark the nail holes on the pieces of paper according to where the hanging apparatus is located.

Step 4: Pound your nails on the marks you drew on each piece, remove piece of paper and replace it with the frame.

So, there may not be doorknobs on the doors yet, but at least this play area will have cute decorations.

More to come...

Maternity Leave Makeovers

I decided to take advantage of the time I had at home with my babies, to do some house re-decorating (which, yes, I do quite frequently). So, here are a few pictures of the living room and dining room (and basement pictures will come soon!)... Living room before: Dining room before-before:

Dining room before:

AFTER!!!:

We moved the old couches down to the basement and purchased these lovely beauties at Art Van. They are a dark chocolate color...kinda hard to tell in the picture. And, yes, those are toys stashed under the coffee table. A little bit of reality for you there.

(I scored this sideboard on craigslist for 50 bucks and slapped some dutch blue paint on it and new hardware....bada-bing!)

I sold the table we made (the long, skinny, knock-off wood table). We were wanting something smaller (and circular), that would have the option of seating more if possible. This table was another craigslist deal (100 bucks!). It is solid oak and has 2 leaves that extend it into a nice lengthy table for when we need the space. And notice the cute claw feet. Ya, me likey. :) Of course, we painted it this lovely off-white color to match the hutch.

This hutch used to be red. I like it better now. That's all I have to say about that (use your best Forrest Gump accent when you read that please)

Stats:

Old table- sold for $400

New table- purchase for $100

New Chairs- IKEA, $20 each

New Blue Curtains- IKEA, $20

Hutch- $20 for paint and monogram

Sideboard- $50 + $15 for paint + $20 for hardware

New couches- $500

Coming soon!:

-we inherited a sideboard and coordinating shelf from Russ' parents that we painted and put in the basement.

-some cute alphabet wall art for the basement

-guest bedroom in basement

-new light fixture in entryway

-new play tent for Caleb (the old one broke) :(

Whew! I'm tired!

Amy Out.

Crazy Caleb

This is what happens when you ask Caleb to help bring things to the dinner table (and aren't watching...) And this is what happens when you are busy and Caleb gets into things (notice the cool hat...)

And this is what happens when you buy new furniture and move the old furniture....and discover what your 2.5 year old has been hiding under the couch for 2.5 years.

.... the couches were big people....not easy to move....give me a break will ya? ;)

-am