Help Me Mandi, Help Help Me Mandi (rockin' to the Help Me Rhonda song by the Beach Boys in my head)

Okay, I'd like to say we just moved into our house but "Just Moved In" would actually have been almost a year ago.

I have been very slowly decorating, adding furniture, and painting our house. With 4 kids at home there isn't much time to get everything done that I would like which is why I come to this room.

This is our 3rd floor suite.

We have designated this to be our guest room/craft room. We now live in North Carolina which is quite the trip from our friends in Dallas and an even larger trip from our family in Utah. Our house can get crazy loud with 3 boistrous boys and 1 crazy two year old girl so we need a room where visitors can escape.

This is where Vintage Revivals comes in. She is doing an incredible give away. She is going to come to my house (heaven willing :)) and make it over.



I need help!

As you can see from the next few successive pictures it has become my catchall for the leftover furniture and and now our yard furniture that we haven't assembled yet. Everything is up for a makeover.



The bedding was coordinated with my daughter's room (I made the duvet out of a set of curtains and the pillows out of a valence and the front and back of a larger pillow) in our last house so that can be redone, the bed actually has a really cool canopy attachment I haven't used since childhood. Wouldn't that be fun to use again?

There is a desk with two book cases, the tv cabinet,
a side table (look at those legs...beautiful!)

and don't forget....


The Drums! Doesn't everybody need a set of drums in their oasis?


My only attempts at decorating have been to hang my madeover spoon rack and two pictures in the bathroom. I would love to pull this room and the bathroom together to make it feel like a beautiful fun vintage/modern space.

I have already picked out everything else for my house and I know the feel I want, I just haven't been motivated to pull it together upstairs on the 3rd floor.

I need help!

Here is a peak at the bathroom. It is cute and quaint and pretty bare.


Now if Mandi from Vintage Revivals wants a big challenge, I would love if she could find a way to make a creative storage solution for food storage or shelving. We don't have basements and everything is creatively hidden under beds. Yikes!

Last of All, as a gift from me, I will gladly lower the temperature of my humid 3rd floor for any guests especially if their name starts with M and ends in Andi.

Announcement

I have been thinking for months of starting a new blog...it will include crafting (cuz you know I am a genius right??) Oh, where was I, OH yes, it will include crafting, decorating, furniture refinishing, sewing tips, etc. I hope you enjoy it and will follow me there once I get it set up.

Easter

I realized this year as I pulled out my Easter decor I was very much lacking in the Easter category. Even worse I realized was how small my decor was. So, I started with my front door. Good place to start right? I saw a great idea for fabric covered eggs from www.theidearoom.net. So this is what I did per her instructions. I started with plastic easter eggs, chose an assortment of fabric, and then cut them wide enough and long enough to cover the eggs.

Next I notched out triangles from the fabric
then painted the fabric with modgepodge and rolled my egg up inside. I then took all the eggs and hot glued them to a styrofoam wreath form, added a ribbon and hung it up.

And Then They Were Gone

My children managed to devour two entire loaves of Rhodes dough scones during conference on Sunday. That was with an ill husband and a me too busy frying them up to eat myself. Keep in mind...Abby didn't eat any. That means my three little skinny minis ate them all themself. These lonely scones were all that remained.

Memorable Moments

As I was watching my neighbor plough a garden in their back yard, I looked down to see a flash of a pink hooded towel escaping out my back door. Abby in all her glory ran to the 5 year old twin boys house where grandma and boys were sitting out on the swing. Although she can't speak English we were all laughing.

Stay tuned

I bought this at a consignment store for $50. It has an end table to match although I didn't need it, it was a set. The top wood is in bad shape and the glass doesn't even fit so I am planning on making a fabric covered ottomon. I am so excited to get started.
Don't you love the legs?

I thought about painting it all but it has a really nice finish already and bonus it is square. Those are hard to find. Yea for me!

Meet Charlie

He's beautiful and I am in love. He sounds great too.

Laundry Room Overhaul

I know we moved in less than a year ago but my laundry room is driving me crazy so I am organizing it again.
Before

And After

Logan's Big #6

We celebrated by going to McDonalds (for the kids) and Salsaritas for the grown ups for dinner. We then took everyone bowling. It was great fun. Then home for Pokemon cake and presents.

He was very excited to get Diary of a Wimpy Kid movie, Megamind, Pokemon Black for DSi and a penguin pillow pet.

I can't believe how grown up he is. Logan likes to talk to everyone. He loves to inform us of what is going on, especially during soccer or basketball games. He learning to read and write very well. I love to read his stories he write at Kindergarten. He is the best at playing by himself and will be entertained for hours with k'nex or legos. I just love my 4 eyed cuddle bug.

Happy St Patricks Day (a little late)

I loved the heart shaped Valentines wreaths so I decided to create my own version of the clover. I took 3 small hearts and the letter I in styrofoam and hot glued them together.

Then I cut 2 inch squares of green felt off the bolt. I left them as squares instead of cutting circles because I wanted them too look more like leaves. I folded them diagonally twice then pinned them in. Several hours later, and sore fingers it is done.
Oh, ya and I did letters with modgepodge and paper from www.theidearoom.net I got the subway art from www.eighteen25.blogspot.com

I totally know how she feels

I was busy in the shower a couple of weeks ago and Abby was busy keeping herself entertained. I call them my footprints or Sticker fun.


For a long time I have been following www.themeanestmom.blogspot.com and apparently she knows how I feel. Check it out.

Hairbow, Flower, and Headband Organizer

I got this idea from my cousin to use an over the door shoe organizer for hairbows. So I bought one and prettied it up using grosgrain ribbon and made loops at the top for headbands. In hindsight, I should have hung the headbands through loops that ran verticle but I was out of ribbon and she doesn't wear them very often anyway so it works for now.

Thrift Store Tray Makeover

I found this awful tray at Goodwill and thought I could do a rehab with some paint, modgepodge, and scrapbook paper. It was pretty easy except for the part about spray painting outside on the dead grass in the middle of windy season. I spent a lot of time peeling grass off my projects. :) If I had to do over again, I would have used a spray paint primer instead of a brush...smoother finish.
Before

Middle

And After



At the same time I took an old spoon collectibles holder and gave it a face lift too. Not bad for $2 plus paint.
Before (well before paint but after I attacked it with sandpaper)

Middle

And After

Now I just have to decide what color to paint the room so it actually stands out a little. Not loving the white on white but that will be the last room to be painted. *sigh*

I also had these two poster prints of Monets Water Lillies that I had since I went to Giverney in college. I have always wanted to use them but could never find the right size frames. I finally found some at Michaels. They were black and didn't work with the prints so we added some spray paint there too. :)

Shower Curtain Hook Makeover

I couldn't find any cute shower curtain hooks to go with Abby's new bathroom makeover courtesy of one too many shopping trips to the Pottery Barn Outlet so I decided to makeover my own. I bought some plain silver ones from Target and took this old valence that I had used to make a pillow and thought it would be cute with my curtain. I cut out circles just larger than the buttons and modge podged the button to the center of the circle then, I cut strips into the middle and hot glued them onto the back. See how it turned out? I love it.