Pantry Paint Stencil {DIY}

As I mentioned in the pantry reveal, I have to admit this painted stencil wall was a labor of love. While it was not difficult, it was also not the easiest of DIY projects...when my husband goes away I have a tendency to take on new projects {like last week when I built a sewing table, or like the time I painted stripes in my bathroom} but this project has potential to get started and never finished {consider yourself warned!}

Isn't it lovely hidden back there?! 

I started on a center shelf and worked my way from left to right. Once I got started I wanted to be done because I loved how it looked! 

{Yes, I love googone!}

But if you look closely, this is NOT wallpaper, it is not perfectly uniform. It is not even really stenciled like a traditional stencil. It is mainly free handed, or by tracing a pencil line. 

And the pencil lines aren't always covered. I realized that some of my trace marks were very visible. I ended up having to buy a real eraser because we had none in the house! 

After a quick once over with my Dyson handheld vacuum, {it's the best btw!} all of the eraser funk was off the wall and my pantry was ready to be reassembled.

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Quick Bathroom Update {A little paint goes a long way!}

Last week I finished with my powder room update, complete with paint, diy board & batten and a diy vanity. And here is the complete breakdown of everything I did, and what it cost.

This week my husband was away with work, so I figured I should do something else creative...I'd been thinking of doing some sort of stencil in my bathroom, or even possibly stripes...yesterday, I decided on stripes. It was SUCH an easy update. It took about an hour to tape everything using a level...and about an hour to paint three coats of a soft cream paint.

The secret of painting a crisp line is to "seal" the tape using either mod podge or your base color of paint (I used the dark color and then painted over with the new cream color.) The results were excellent. The only "problem" was a small area along the left corner/wall where some of the paint came up with the tape. It took about 1 minute to touch up this morning! I also added a new bead of caulk along the shower surround. To do this, I added blue painters tape and ran a thin bead of caulk, smoothing with my wet finger. So easy! 

What a difference, right? It's hard to believe I was able to do this in one evening! 

I'm linking up to The Pity Party over at 30 Handmade Days

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Photo Wall Fun...{part 2}

 I've always been a fan of a nice photo wall or photo collage. {View here to see my photo wall from my previous house.}

I love displaying pictures around my house...although sometimes I probably should change out old pictures and replace with newer pictures, I always tend to just add more.

It all started with a grouping of frames, most were purchased at IKEA. I haven't been able to get a good picture of the pictures hanging on the wall because it's opposite a huge window and even on an overcast day there is glare...{oh well, you get the gist!}

Here is a picture from a few weeks ago:

To hang these pictures I used a fun technique that I discovered on Pinterest. I used a clothespin, drilled a tiny hole through the "closed" end and nailed in a tiny nail with a flat head. Simply hang the picture from the side with the flat head, and use the top portion to hold up the picture. Once you have the picture where you'd like it, simply press against the top of the frame. You'll leave a small indent where you can hammer in a nail. This is any photo-hanging eyeballer's dream!! 

It's difficult to see in this picture, the nail is across the bottom. 

Here is my most recent photo with an addition to the photo wall...

I used the painting technique of Jaime from That's My Letter, who again I found through Pinterest. I love her blog and think she is amazingly talented! 

Here is the same sign hanging on the wall:

And here is a picture of my boys playing, because it's just cute:

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Getting there...

You know. THERE. As in being finished unpacking. Being settled.

I remember back when I first got married and my husband and I moved to Colorado. It seemed like we were moved & settled in overnight. Granted, we had no kids, pretty much no furniture, and were eager to get settled and get our life together started....but this move is just taking FOREVER to get settled. It's a big house. We have a lot of stuff. We have two kids. I have no energy. {Sigh}

But, I'm getting there. I refuse to allow myself to unpack my sewing room until we're settled. And I'll admit, we're about 90% there. I need to finish my office space--and the basement--but so much progress has been made. I'll get there.

In the meantime, I'll show you the bookshelf I built {last YEAR, seriously, I made it last September!!} It's finally living in Callum's room and FINALLY repainted. I used the genius Ana-White.com for the design. We {and when I say "we" I mean my fabulous husband} painted it last year, but the color I picked ended up being this strange orange-pink color--sort of salmon-and just was NOT working for me. So we finally repainted.

I'm  happy with it, I like that he can see the front of his books and easily pluck out the one he wants. Sadly, I think he needs more shelving. {Honey, don't hate me for saying that!}

And, I love red in a boys room. Don't you?

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It's amazing what a little paint can do!

As we are settling into our new home, it seems like it's been quite an undertaking. Moving with young children is interesting, to say the least. Luckily, both boys have been really great sports...and we finally splurged and purchased a wireless fence for our dog.

Mason now has full run of the grass portion of our yard. The base unit is in our basement, and as long as he is wearing the collar, he is free to roam. It did take a few weeks of training and of course we still monitor his movement, but at least now I don't feel like I have to watch him like a hawk. I just wish I had known about this fence 7 years ago!

Mason enjoying his big yard {the red necklace is the collar for the fence...}

But, I digress...back to the house. Moving ourselves required two Saturday U-Haul rentals, and bribing some friends with beer. My in-laws were also a huge help...I thought we might have almost killed my father in law, but the man is a machine, and he helped moved every piece of furniture {lots of solid wood, no less} from the old house to the new!

Unpacking has been a slow process. Our initial plan of attack was to unpack essential items, and then worry about the rest. Well, we pretty quickly did that, which left the non-essential items lingering. I've only had ONE freak-out. All of the chaos is starting to wear on me and I need the non-essentials to find themselves a home. But, I of course had big plans to spruce up a few things....like my husband's childhood bed and dresser. It's solid wood furniture. It's survived countless moves. And we've moved it 4 times already since we married...I decided a nice blue color could & would look great:

The top was left in it's original finish. I added new drawer pulls from Lowes (on sale for $3!)
I used Valspar paint samples from Lowes for about $3. Total paint cost $6! 

We also painted the bed frame to match. 

Of course it would be great if I had taken before pictures, but alas, I didn't. Sorry, I'm sure you can use your imagination. It's amazing what a little paint can do!

Now I've got to paint/prime some laminate bookshelves. We'll see how this goes...

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