Front Room {after}

Here are some shots of the newly improved front room. I typed up descriptions to go along with the pictures twice and for some reason I could not get the words to show up so I quit. Comment if you have questions or concerns.

Choosing Paint

I had a hard time choosing the new color for my upstairs living areas. I knew I wanted grey but its hard to choose a good grey because they look so differently when put on the wall. I ended up buying 5 samples and I am glad I did.

I ended up choosing Sharkey, by Martha Stewart at Home Depot. It is the left bottom swatch in the picture above. I went with Elephant Skin for an accent wall and I am almost ready to show pictures. I kind of ran out of steam painting 600+ square feet. Plus, I am making pillows, looking for art and tables. Lots to do when the redo is spur of the moment. 

Halloween Mantel

Here is this year's Halloween "mantel".  I mostly used stuff I had from previous years with the exception of the crow (Dollar Tree find) and art (see below for links). My mantle looks good on the new, darker wall. The color is Elephant Skin by Behr. 

1. Subway Art

2. Eat Candy printable

Here is what the room looked like before the paint change, although its hard to tell the difference in color. Trust me, its about 3 shades darker.

Another Room Re-Do

You might be wondering what Martha Stewart's dog Sharkey has anything to do with it. 

You will have to wait another day while I finished up the painting. 

25 Way to Wear a Scarf

Love this video!

Easy Earring Holder

I was pleased when I found this frame at the DI because I am always looking for this style.  

I planned on ditching the cherub and wire, then I had an idea to hang my earrings from the wire. 

I got lucky because I didn't have to do much to make this work, but you could easily replicate by using chicken coop wire. 

Another Barn Wood Sign

I've gotten a little crazy with these barn wood signs. The wood sat for months, untouched, and now all the sudden I've decided I must make use of them. Using the same technique as I did on the Egg Sign, here is my latest-

What Do You Think

About my amazing find? Its been sitting at my parent's house for a few weeks and I forgot how much I love it.

I have not decided what I am doing with it or where its going. Any ideas?

24 Hour Craft-A-Thon

Last week I had a 24 hour Craft-A-Thon with my sisters, friends, aunts and cousins. There were 10ish of us at any given time. It was so fun. 

Erica and Kelsey worked on re-fashioning some clothes. They took in some dresses, shirts and made up a skirt extender as seen here. Calleen and her mom Linda (sorry, no pic) were working on hairbows and pillow cases.  I didn't get a picture of my mom, but she also came and worked on an apron. 

Here is my awesome aunt Rachelle, who was working on a tulle wreath for her door.

This is my cousin Hailey, who showed up late (she left her friend's party to come party with us!) but still managed to sew this adorable owl pillow. 

Adian was also present but he didn't craft. He was actually really good and kept us entertained. His sister Sydney was also hanging around, but no picture of her because she was probably too busy getting into the canny ("candy"  how Aidan likes to say it)

This is Sarah and she worked on a cool Halloween Banner. We were glad she was able to come despite her husband being gone and having to manage a few kids. Thank goodness for babysitters!

Rachelle and "Owlie"

The party was at Heather's house but I can't seem to find a picture of her. We are planning another craft-a-thon in November and I cannot wait! 

Ps. Go Utes ;)

Farm Fresh Eggs Sign

I decided to make a sign for my parent's chicken coop (they have16 chickens...give or take). It was pretty easy but still took me awhile.

I took some barn wood and cut it a little bit smaller than the width of a door frame (Thanks to Amanda and Kim, Brad's friends, for the gifted wood).

Next I sprayed two coats of KILZ and 1 coat of Krylon White.

Next, I drew up the design using my Silhouette and cut the images from vinyl.  

 Here is the stencil of the chicken

I used some cheap WalMart spray paint to paint the chicken and the letters. 

Here is the final product. I think it turned out pretty good!

 

Ps. Don't tell my parents about the sign since its a Christmas present ;)

DIY Necklace Holder

 One day perusing Pinterest I came across this necklace holder- (I love all those necklaces btw)

                                                        Source: karapaslaydesigns.blogspot.com via Jennifer on Pinterest

Being a good sister, Erica took note and later made it for my birthday present. Here is what my necklace situation was before: 

very organized and not annoying. at. all. 

I believe this was made by taking a board found at DI, painting it white and adding cute knobs from Hobby Lobby. Simple, yet so cute. I really love it! 

Nothing New Antiques

This antique shop in Richfield, Utah was packed from top to bottom with wonderful treasures. This sign greeted me in the kitchen area:

Lots of beautiful colored glass, hobnail, apothecary jars, vintage Pyrex, etc. 

Thrifting in Rural Utah

A few weeks ago I went on my annual camping trip to Torrey, Utah. The girls decided to pile into two cars and head into "town" to look for antique stores and yard sales. We did  not have much luck. See for yourself.

View Larger Map

We started out at point A and did not find anything until point B. We found two yard sales in the small town of Aurora. Picture this- you have had 1 or 2 visitors all day then two cars roll up and 13 girls pile out. We were like the sister wives.

grandma, heather, ginger, rachelle, penney, hayley, calleen, lexie & morgan (in the back)

this guy was for sale

New Blog

I have a new blog, Mayfair Market you should check out {in a few days since there is NO content yet. lol} I am in the process of setting up my Etsy shop where I will be selling vintage, home made and antique wares.

Owl Baby Shower

Recently my sisters and mom hosted a baby shower for our cousin Jesi. I designed the invitation copying my sister Heather and Tiny Prints. The owls came from a kit by Holly Brooke Jones and the papers are from Persnickety Prints in their freebie section.

We made lettuce wraps using recipes from Sunny Anderson and Our Best Bites.

Cowboy Caviar was made by Heather. Idon't have her recipe but its a delightful mixture of avocados, black eyed peas, tomatoes, cilantro etc. The recipe I use calls for black beans which is a nice addition. 

Cupcake toppers made by Sweeten Your Day. I won them from a giveaway at Kara's Party Ideas. The cupcake stand was found in my parent's backyard. 

These little disasters are supposed to be chocolate covered rice krispie owls.  Make the rice krispie treats as usual, cut out with a cookie cutter, dip in choc and add eyes. 

Here is the full spread. Don't you love the cupcake stands? Most of the plates, jars and owl figures are from thrifting.

Erica made this wreath and my mom made the owl pillow using a tutorial from Toad's Treasures.

Guests filled little treat bags full of sweets as a favor. 

I used a free printable set from TomKat Designs for the favor tags and food labels. In Photoshop, I changed the colors to match the invitation and used the same owl from our invitation.

Can't forget a picture of the cute mom-to-be