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Summer Beach Mantle

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It must be summer, because apparently I have some time on my hands.  I’ve been having a lot of fun decorating around my house lately, so I decided to swap out my mantle decor for a summer look.  (By the way, have you ever noticed how mantle and mantel are both used when describing that ledge above the fireplace?  Well, Google says that you can use either spelling of the word.  If Google says it’s true, then I’ll believe it.  Everything you read online is true. Right?)  Anyway, I don’t change my mantel-mantle decor too often.  I usually stick with the same candle holders and antique books year-round. I’m kind of linking this beachy theme though!
I shopped the house for this look.

Well, actually I shopped the garage.  Since I’m moving schools this summer, all of my teacher stuff is packing into my 3 car garage.  Lucky for me, I have absolutely everything that I have ever hoarded collected!  Ya know those shells that you collected when you were 5 and your mom said, “Why are you saving those?  When will you ever need them again?”  Well, I still have all of those shells.  Not only that, but I add to my collection every year!

Every year, when we go to Seaside, I add a few more shells to my collection.  I store those in a box labeled “good shells” as opposed to the other box that is filled with all of those shells I collected in my younger years.  The good shells made it onto the display, along with those neat glass jars (below).  Won’t those look pretty with a few strands of beachy looking grass poking out of them?  The jars were from my son’s antibiotics after having his tonsils removed a few years ago.  Did I mention that I may have some hoarding tendencies?

I love this big shell!  My mom brought it home from her honeymoon, many years ago.  She let me have it to add to my collection.  Does that make her an enabler?  You know… the whole hoarding thing???

I always brought back shells, from Seaside, for my kindergarten teacher friends’  collections too.  Boy, am I going to miss those ladies!  Maybe I’ll make new friends, at my new school, who like collecting shells too.

The shells that are stored in the other box – not the one labeled “good shells” -earned a spot in the glass jar. They aren’t as pretty, but they are nice vase fillers.   
I’ll share a few more beachy spots in my house soon.  Until then, happy shell collecting!!!
(I’m really not a hoarder!)

Springing Forward With Pussywillows

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Flowerworld to the rescue!
Every year my school friends and I do an art project with pussywillows.  The trees are hard to grow in this area.  I’ve heard that there is some disease that is wiping them out.  Combined with our wet weather, these trees just aren’t seen very often in our area any more.  Flowerworld sells cut stems by the bunch, so I ran out and bought a bunch for each teacher.  I bought two for myself because I knew I wanted some for home.  
It’s now officially Spring! 

Super Simple Floor Pillows

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My floor pillows have a new look!  Over the Summer, I dressed our over-sized pillows in Moda’s Salt Air prints.  The Salt Air line just screams Summer.  With the start of Winter, I thought they were in need  of a new look.    Last year, I made a quilt with Moda’s French General line and I had some leftover fabric from that project.  (My original plan was to use the reds in borders and backing, but I liked the light and bright better.) I had just enough of a solid and a floral pattern to make two pillows.  I love the way the pillows coordinate with the quilt!
Floor pillows are SUPER simple to make.  I bought extra large pillows at JoAnn and cut squares the same size as the pillow.  I added zippers to my pillows so I can easily wash the covers.  I sewed the zipper into the fabric first, and then sewed right sides together all around.  


Floor pillows are perfect for movie night, fort building, and great for adding a bit of color to a room.  My family room has been lacking color since I painted it white, added white drapes, and a few chocolate brown pieces of furniture.  A little red for the winter is just what we needed.  

Happy sewing!
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Kids’ Desk, Writing Center, and Bulletin Board

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Yesterday I shared the cute little gallery wall in my daughter’s room.  Here’s the other area we’re finished with.  This is her desk area, which she uses as a writing center and art area.  (She does her homework downstairs, so this is more of an arts and crafts area.)

We had an old bulletin board sitting around, so we painted it with one of our sample paint colors.


Then, we printed out a few pictures with some friends.
 
 

 The furniture used to be in my son’s room.  So, the desk is new to my daughter, by not new.  I painted the peg board writing center that used to be downstairs.  This is the perfect spot to keep writing supplies on hand.  I loved having this in the kitchen because it encouraged writing every single day.  My hubby got tired of running into it and politely asked if it could go somewhere else.  He lets me do just about any hairbrained idea I have in our house, so when he says something bugs him, I try change it for him.  He puts up with a lot of crazy ideas.  It’s the least I can do.

With a few projects down, we only have a few left to go!  Happy painting!

Gallery Wall With Painted Frames

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I still haven’t posted pictures of my daughter’s finished room because… well… the room isn’t exactly finished yet.  The curtains are still hanging in puddles on the floor, waiting to be hemmed and embellished.  The quilt is still at my long arm quilt lady’s house, being finished, and I haven’t even started on pillows or cute pillow cases.

I did finish up the gallery wall with some cute painted frames though!

I used frames I had around the house and painted them with colors that coordinate with my daughter’s quilt. I purchased four different colors of sample sized paints from Lowe’s.  I knew we’d be doing a few projects in this room and paint seemed like a cheap and easy way to go.  

I started pinning several different arrangements for gallery walls.  My original idea was to include an old window or some sort of subway art, but this seemed like plenty. I had planned to let my daughter choose all of the pictures for the frames, but she was a bit overwhelmed when I started scrolling through options on the computer with her.  So, I just picked photos I like instead.  She was happy with the finished wall, even though there wasn’t a lot of ownership into the selection.

This wall is above the long part of my daughter’s bed, so I thought a reading lamp was a good idea.  I found this one for about $12 at IKEA and my friend, Diane, picked up the wood block that the lamp is mounted on from Michael’s.  I love that redish-pink color and wanted to add one more little accent with it on this wall.

 

Old picture frames and several paint colors make a pretty cool gallery wall, if I do say so myself!

I can’t wait to show you the finished room!  Maybe I’ll get everything done by Spring Break! Now, I need to find more things to paint with those cute sample size paints!

Happy painting!

What’s Your Color Story?

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Are there certain colors that are just “you”?  You know what I mean… when your family is out shopping for your birthday and they see a shirt in “your color” and they know it’s perfect for you.  Right now, I’d have to say that red, tan, white, and brown are definitely my colors.  I was looking through some rooms I had pinned on Pinterest and noticed a theme.


They may not all be seasonally appropriate, but you can totally see the color story here, can’t you?

I’ve been thinking about new quilts recently and the colors I’d love to use. I’m using the colors in the above pictures as my inspiration. I also found these color combinations on Pinterst and I’m kind of liking them too.

   

Here’s an idea I came up with.  We’ll see how it goes.

That’s my color story, and I’m sticking to it.

Happy quilting!

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Fall Pillows

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It’s not officially Fall yet, but the Fall pillows have made a return.  Last year, when I broke my foot and couldn’t go the pumpkin patch with my kindergarteners, I was forced to stay home and craft.  (I’m really thankful for fabulous teaching partners who jump right in and take over!)  I whipped up these little pillows with some burlap I had on hand, fabric paint, fabric scraps, and my embroidery machine.  I recovered outdoor pillows I already had, so I didn’t even need to make a trip the craft store!
I saw this idea on Pinterest and couldn’t resist.

 They are the perfect outdoor pillows for fall!

The leaf pillows have made a return as well.  They were made from cheap Wal-Mart placemats that I stuffed with batting and sewing up.  I love a simple project!
Happy Fall Decorating!

Little Treasures

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I was talking to my mom tonight about the boxes in her garage.  She’s a collector.  No, not like those that you see on Hoarders, but she has a good amount of stuff. Now, I completely understand.  I have a box in the garage labeled, “Special Things.”  I’ll be honest, it has my cast from 5th grade, the tail I had for five whole minutes after a haircut, and probably some really important notes from junior high.  You never know when you’re going to need treasures like that!

(Side story:  If you lived through the 80’s, you know exactly what I’m talking about with the tail.  Well, I really wanted a tail, so I rode my bike to get a haircut and had the stylist leave a tail.  Then I had a friend dye it.  It was supposed to be blond, but when you have dark hair, it just turns orange.  I had my orange tail for about five minutes, and then my mom saw it.  She said, “We’re going out to dinner.  If you want to cut that tail off, you can come with us.  Otherwise, you can eat out back with the rest of the animals with tails.”  That was the end of the tail, but I saved it in my box of special things just for the memory.)

Now, back to my mom and her garage. She has a box labeled, “Nanie’s junky old jewelry nobody wants” and another labeled, “Really really really old old stuff.”  The box labeled really old spices proved to be a nice little treasure.  I love these little containers!  They are no longer in my mom’s garage.  They have a new home in my kitchen.  I found a few at a vintage store and added to my collection too.

Happy treasure hunting!

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A Dreary Day Treasure

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Summer weather has been slow to start around here.  Last week, on one of the dreary days, my mom decided to clean her garage.  My sister and I have learned that when my mom cleans her garage, we will be the recipients of the treasures.  Sometimes they are true treasures and sometime they are “treasures” (said with a very sarcastic tone).  I’m kind of liking the treasure she brought for me this time.  It’s an old typewriter that my grandparents used.


It’s not super old, like the one my sister has, but I think it’s pretty cool.


What do you think?  Is it a keeper?
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Using Shells as Home Decor

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It’s time for a little summeritme beachification around the house. I have a large collection of shells and sand.  I’ve been collecting as long as I can remember.  Every time we go on a trip, I fill a baggie with sand to bring home.  I’m also on the lookout for cool shells.  Most often, I buy the shells at an aquarium or gift shop.  When I started collecting, I remember my mom asking what I thought I’d do with all of my shells and sand.  I can only imagine her frustration as I carefully packed my box of sand and shells as we moved to a new house, moved off to the dorm, lived in an apartment with no storage, and all the while having my special treasures in her garage. I saved my special collection through high school and college, and that’s when it finally came in handy.  I now have 3 large paper boxes filled with sand and shells, that I store in my classroom.  Every year, during our beach unit, I break out the boxes and the kids start exploring with amazement and wonder.  (Shells really are amazing if you stop and think about their beauty.) At the end of the unit, I pack everything back up in the boxes, but I bring a few of my favorite shells home for the summer.

A few weeks ago I went to our brand new Hobby Lobby and found some small glass bottles.  My kids and I filled them with sand from my collection.  This picture shows sand from two different beaches in Hawaii and one from the Bahamas.

On my way home from Hobby Lobby, I stopped by my favorite store, Goodwill.  I found this shadow box.  It was meant to be!  I had the little bottles and a box full of shells waiting to fill this perfect little shadow box. My kids filled it up and we hung it in the family room. 

Then, I moved onto other parts of the family room.  I filled my wire basket with shells and pulled out a few of my Seaside photo books.


I saved a few of my big shells for the side table in the family room.  The conch shell was a souvenir, brought back by my mom, from her honeymoon in the Bahamas.  Another Seaside photo album and a few more shells finish off the beachy look.

See, mom, those collections I had as a kid really did come in handy!

What do you collect, friends?  What do your kids collect?

Happy Beachification!

Linky Parties

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