{my new rug}

Our old rug just wasn't cutting it...it was lame.

So I had been planning on buying a new rug for months. MONTHS, I tell ya.

I even knew the place I wanted to buy it from! A outlet that a friend had purchased a rug from, where they let you bring it back after a few days if you didn't like it. How sweet is that?? Cause buying a rug is such a small thing...yet not. You have to look at it EVERY. SINGLE. DAY.

So you better be in love with it.

Which I am.

She's a beauty...simple, chocolate brown with a slightly raised damask pattern.

And there's no hiding the fuzzies!

And of course, because she's brown...I have to change my black and white decor. Darn. Ü

Letter'd

I love to make stuff....have you noticed that before? Ü

I just do...and if I see something I like, I can usually figure out how to reproduce it...

but more often than not, I see an idea I love...bookmark it, then after it rolls around in my mind for a bit, it then tries to assault me until I get it done!

Sometimes one little idea transforms itself into several different ideas.
I wanted to do something with little butterflies on canvas...I thought it might fill a great blank space in my bathroom. But then, it kind of morphed from that into filling space on these ginormous letters I bought to go over the girls' beds.
(My friend, Shannon, did an awesome job covering a ginormous B with scrapbook paper)

I bought these letters a long time ago....painted one...then moved onto another project, as I am prone to do. Which is the reason I always have something to do...it takes a lot to start a project, then not finish it, then go back to it a few weeks later after starting 2 other projects in the meantime.
But when I got assaulted by the butterfly idea...it seemed that cutting out 100 itty-bitty butterfly's and gluing them onto the ginormous letters was the thing to do! All that cutting....made me want a Cricut uber-bad!

The girls seem to like them...just as much as they like anything I "craft" for them, I guess (I'm resigned to realize they won't appreciate me till they leave for college, just like I never appreciated my mom's creative genius till she was 1000 miles away!)

I'm just glad I haven't found little ripped up butterflies under their pillows!

And the "Worst Bathroom" Award goes to...

MINE!

So...in a month, my inlaws are descending on me to throw me a baby shower (and no, that's not like DESCENDING...but like 'descending like angels from Heaven'. I love them!). And I've made a list of home improvement/redecorating projects to get done in that month. One of which includes: MY BATHROOM....gag. Seriously. If there was an award out there for ugliest, most out-dated bathroom...I would win it. I've wanted to submit pictures to HGTV or something, but they never seem to be hosting any of those cool shows in the Dallas area, bummer.

Our house was built in 1955 and it shows, from the wood paneling to the stone wall to the stone planters to the cracking walls and ancient, broken furnace (I hate you, too, furnace) to the smell that you smell when walking in after being gone for a week...it's OLD. The previous owners did the best they could in their own ghetto-way...I guess they told themselves to just not look that closely, or maybe I'm just picky?? Who knows. It's definitely the epitomy of a "first home" and now I know what I want in my second home!

I've never done anything with this bathroom, mainly because I've just been at a loss as to what to do. After taking the wallpaper off the kitchen walls and re-painting the kitchen, I didn't want to EVER tackle another wallpaper project again. But, 2 years later...I cannot stand it anymore and I want that wallpaper OFF...it just doesn't go with anything...the best I could do is a lighthouse curtain/theme, with no hope of changing it...what matches with blue plaid? So, guess what I'll be doing in the coming weeks...hoping it only takes me a week or two. The trauma of the kitchen project still lingers.... Ü

So, here it is...another thing that is hard to work with is the blue tile...and the pink sink, along with the pink tub...and yes...that's some sort of heater, don't quite know how to use it...right now it just sends a chilly draft into the room! If I knew what I was doing, and wasn't so afraid of what I'd find BEHIND the tile...I'd take a sledge hammer to it and put down some linoleum.
There are two things I DO like, one is the trim around the mirror and above the top of the tub (shocker, I know...I actually like something...). Of course, it needs a touch up of paint, as do the cabinets and drawers...but thats easy!

See....lighthouses....makes me feel old. But notice...our tub is made for short people, lol. Poor James' head probably touches the ceiling when he showers...it's like a cave! lol.
The heater....this past week has been very cold...so it would be nice to know how it works!

Blue tile...matches the blue plaid...but thats just ALOT of plaid! The other thing I like is the amount of space...counter-wise, the two cabinets and the 8 drawers. We don't use all of it so far (tho, when Emily lived with us, she used the space!) but if (heaven forbid) the girls use this bathroom as teenagers with their hair products, curling irons and makeup...there would be PLENTY of room! I've been trying to decide what to do after I take the wallpaper off...
Option #1: paint the walls white....problem: the white-white paint may just increase the dingy-look of the white-ish tile on the walls.
Option #2: paint the walls this neutral tan color I have on the rest of my house. Problem: don't quite know if it will compliment the blue and pink (PINK!, for goodness sake).
I would love to do another color...but then again, the problem with anything matching blue and pink...and I don't dare try to match the blue, cause who knows if it would work!

I've also been looking for a new shower curtain...something that kinda matches...
This one I LOVE....the tree's are just too cute. Don't know if it would exactly GO...but it's just so dern cute!This one is my 2nd runner-up...I found it randomly on the Target website. I'm not a big fan of paisley...but it has the pink and the blue...and it's just wild enough to catch my fancy. But of course...this is 'James' bathroom'...he's a sweetie and gets ready for work in this bathroom b/c the bathroom in our room doesn't have a door...and he knows I need my sleep.

Which is why I should probably go with something more bland like stripes or a solid color....but after hating this bathroom for so long...I'd like to have some fun with it! After putting in the work to remove the wallpaper and repaint everything...there needs to be some FUN left! Ü

I {HEART} Pottery Barn Kids

I'm not a big magazine reader...I subscribe to them every so often, but never end up paying for them (so I never really get them....so really, it's pointless...sorry Rachel Ray and Self Ü). I do however get Parents magazine....though I look at maybe 1 in 5 and try to donate the rest to the rec center weight room!! I like to look at the pictures, especially while working out.
But there is always an exception! I do get excited to look at ONE magazine....like overly excited. And that would be Pottery Barn Kids.....yes, ma'am....I love to look and drool and imagine and copy! I about cried when I saw this room set:

Isn't it the cutest thing you've ever seen!!! Thank you Pottery Barn for being so wonderfully creative!

And of course, they are bringing out their Halloween costumes.....Another reason I love having a girl...such cute stuff to dress them in! James and I seriously start thinking 6 months in advance, of what they will wear on All Hallow's Eve (James more than me)! I'm quite disappointed though, since I have to work this year....totally not cool.

The collage on the wall in this room is adorable, I love the silhouette of mom and baby:

And since the girl's birthdays are just around the corner, I wanted to see what kind of cool ideas PBK had. They are in dire need of a new table, since the first one from IKEA is totally trashed. And as always, love the mismatched chairs.


This isn't the dollhouse I would choose...I want something more victorian for them.

Would love to get this monstrosity for them. First seen at Bonnie's house and learned that it wont fit thru a normal size door. Ü
And how lovely (and ORGANIZED) is this playroom....

*****SIGH****

THIS is the reason I don't look at magazines....lots of stuff I love but cannot have. Makes me feel too "gimme gimme gimme" and I hate that feeling of anxiety and pressure of WANTING.
Deep breath and moving on....

{Progress}

Here is the beginning of my tree! I'm so excited to see the way it is turning out. Even though it looks a bit {S-C-A-R-E-Y} shhhhhh....don't sait it outloud! I'm hoping that it will look quite nice when I add the leaves! I just took the paintbrush to it one afternoon and the creative juices started flowing! I'm just thankful the girls haven't been too {S-C-A-R-E-D} of it!On the adjacent wall....I've put Bella's Castle! (ok, so it DOES belong to Cinderella, but we are renting it out) Nope, didn't freehand this one, though I wish I had that kind of talent. Bella was quite excited to see this one on her wall.
I'm just about ready to be over and done with these projects! I really enjoy the painting part, and creating it all....but it would be nice to FINALLY have it finished and not be changing my mind constantly about it! I need to get a couple accessories for the tree....wouldn't be quite complete without an OWL and a fairy door....that's right, I said FAIRY DOOR (the coolest thing ever)!