Front Room Rug

We've REALLY been needing a new rug for the front room ... the other one got thrown up on & when I took it outside to clean it up (yes, it was *that* massive of a throw up) ... this HORRIBLE wet dog smell came from it, and NEVER left. We ended up having to dump the rug, because nothing would seem to make the smell go away or die down. It was that horrible.

Which wouldn't have been too big of an urgent deal. Except I have FIVE kids, and it's a very light cream carpet in this rental & stains are inevitable (ugh, I hate the carpet color!). I had been planning on stopping at this store next stop in Vegas. It's cheap enough, it was definitely the best way to go ... until Tuesday night & my husband came to my rescue!

He called to say he picked up a rug at the auction for me, and told me it was only $15. And to be honest, I was kind-of annoyed thinking there was NO WAY it would work ... but I really do like it! YEAH! :) It goes wonderfully with the front room curtains and everything else I've been making for this area. Love it! It feels like the room is so close to be finished ... I can't wait! :)

Frontier Days

I originally come from Las Vegas. And when there is a big convention in town, you learn to steer clear of downtown and avoid the tourists at all costs. So I was genuinely surprised at how big of a deal Frontier Days is here in Cheyenne. But it's proving to be a blast so far! We've gone to a gunslinger's show & the local parade this morning. There are so many fun & free things to do with the kids ... nothing else is getting accomplished very quickly because of it! Today my husband is actually off of work ... they close the whole credit union to celebrate the frontier days! Woo-hoo! We're hoping to catch a free pancake breakfast in the morning ... if we can get the kids ready quickly enough. And then to head on down to Denver for a temple session and the grand opening of this store! I'm so excited!!! :)

Kitchen Windows

This is another project using the fabric my friend gave me in Vegas (I made a throw pillow and the front room curtains so far with the lovely free stuff!). This blue print was definitely a favorite, but there was only two yards of it ... so I decided to use it to make some valances for my kitchen window! I spent $20 on the new curtain rods from Wal-Mart and can't believe the difference it can make (to me at least!) to have a little bit of decorating done in that area. :)

Then, I wanted to make the area above the kitchen cabinet look a little nicer too, so I took some vinyl letters and placed them on a 1x8 piece of wood I had in my garage ... fresh butter ... yum! And best of all ... a free little sign too! :)

Front Room Curtains

When I'm stressed ... I craft. Hence the major pile of things that are getting accomplished right now. LOL. I made my husband move the curtain rod from our bedroom into the front room (since it could grow enough to fit this massive window). The curtain panels themselves were completely free using up the checkered fabric I mentioned I got from a friend and I even lined them in some cream fabric she also gave me. So far I'm in it less than $75 for the front room re-do (since the bench was $40 and I had to buy the black paint), but I can't believe the difference it's making!

Our Family Motto

We have been trying to play tourist in our own town ... taking the kids to museums, and checking out the local sites. This past weekend my husband was FINALLY off of work for a day, so we went to see the Buffalo at the state line and also checked out Nebraska ... which is home to the original Cabella's store ... my husband was in heaven there. :) We got this shot of the kids on a hammock there, nothing spectacular about my photography, and the baby wouldn't even look at the camera. The kids have blue stained lips from Sonic slushies ... and Colton is a little fuzzy ... I love the photograph though! It was a really great day, the kids are all smiling and it was so nice to re-connect a bit as a family ... all of us together.Which I guess leads me to my posting today. I have heard from a lot of people mention the idea to have a family motto. And so we sat down one night for our Family Home Evening to discuss a couple different ideas and voted on it. We chose "No Empty Chairs" ... meaning we want to have no empty chairs (or none of us missing) when we get to heaven. Being that I had no budget for decorating ... I used an old board from Savannah's room (I didn't even bother to sand it down or anything!) and painted it brown and used up some white vinyl I already had on hand. It hangs up above the front door ... so hopefully people will notice it each and every time they come in and out and it will become ingrained in their memory. :) **Sorry for the crappy photo, our front door is in the middle of a lightless dungeon ... ugh. ***

Improved Hair Clip Holder

I got this HUGE frame for $2.50 at the auction last summer. I popped the ugly before picture out and painted it this teal. Since it's so large, every attempt I made at putting ribbon on it to hold hair clips led to the ribbon bending funny, and I didn't know what I was going to do with it instead. THEN (!!!) I saw a picture of someone's hairbow holder with chicken wire (genius!) and I told Ryan that's what I needed him to do for me! :)My husband is awesome ... 'nuff said. Now to make enough bows to fill it up more properly ...

Our new sitting area

So right after Lizzie was born, a double seater bench came up for bid at the local auction, and Ryan was sweet enough to go get it for me. $40 was a pretty high price for something at this auction (especially if you had seen it before we painted it!), but he knew how much I wanted it and was sweet enough to get it for me. :) I finally got around to painting it, and now I just have a few spots to touch up ... but I love it! I made a slip covered pillow cover with some yummy fabric my friend gave and I think it looks fantastic right at the top of the stairs ... a lot less cluttered then it was before! :) And just wait until you see the new curtains I made out of the same checkered fabric ... that is ... if ny husband ever is home long enough to hang them up for me, lol.

PB Vintage Keys Artwork

This has been on my list of things to make for way too long ... and I finally got a chance to do it! Thanks to my new crafting partner. :) I haven't never had a friend to sit and do crafts with like this since Danielle moved to Texas ... love it! Here's the link to the tutorial.
We did follow her directions, but I cut out the circles and letters with my cricut. Then we placed them both down in their spot and dabbed paint all around ... so much faster that way! I love the end result and have already hung it up ... and as soon as I finish the part underneath I'll have to show the full reveal! :)

4th of July Headbands

We had an awesome fourth of July! I wanted to make some flowers for the girls & my hair ... and also for our friends' girls that we met up there! So I stayed up until 1 am burning the edges of the flowers ... which was especially painful waking up at 6 am (with 3 feedings in between) for the parade. But! It was so worth it to see all the girls with their flowers on their heads! I got the tutorial from here. The flowers have six layers, I did layers 3-6 for my headband, 4-6 for Savannah and only 5 & 6 for Lizzie's head ... it made them the perfect size for each girl and they are so inexpensive to make, love them! In total I made 14 different flowers (for my girls and my friends two girls & her as well) ... and it only cost me $4.50 for the fabric ... with LOTS left over! YEAH! :)