Front Exterior Makeover: Part I

We bought our house in March of 2008 and since then we have made a ton of improvements to the back and inside but for some reason the front of our house was forgotten. Well not totally forgotten. We did paint the door red and knock down the banisters on our front porch, but that was it.

I have been wanting to make some more changes to the front for some time now but wasn't quite sure what I wanted to do. Plus we don't have any extra funds set aside for home improvements so I am pretty limited. But I like challenge, so game on! After I painted the door red I realized that I wasn't too fond of the doors and the shutters matching. It has taken me a while to figure out which color I wanted and paint isn't cheap so that idea was put on hold until today!

After talking with my dad, he brought to my attention that they had an extra gallon of dark brown paint from when they repainted their exterior a few months ago. Can you say happy dance! That exactly what I did when he told me we could use the paint for free....thats right I said FREE! That fit perfectly into the budget!

So here is a before...
Don't mind the bare front porch and dead bushes. That falls into Exterior Makeover: Part II and Part III

And here is the after...
Can I say that I am in love with the new color and it makes the front red door...POP!

I love how the hardware goes right along with the shutters. I could not be happier! Now on to adding a swing to the front porch. Hopefully we can score a great deal on that one was well!

Cost of this project: $0. That makes this momma smile!

Caged Crazy

So I have a new obsession...birdcages/houses. Why you ask? Well I am not really sure and I didn't even realize it until the other day but its true. There are many different things you can do with them. This Christmas I filled one with ornaments. I wish I would have taken a picture before I took them all out, but it was pretty neat! Now I have too many. I don't have a place for all of them! But that didn't stop me from bringing home this one.

Here is the newest addition to the family...

I love me some Garden Ridge! They always have the best cages. Oh and this was red lined, so I got her for half price. Cant beat that. Then I picked up some smelly candles to go in there. Here is a wider shot with with her friends...

Now my favorite part...

Isn't she pretty! I just love it. It looks so much better in person. The camera does it no justice! Now onto an older birdcage that I have had for quite some time. I found this on in my Nana's garage and since she wasn't using it, she gave it to me! How nice of her!

See, a candle can turn anything into awesomeness! (not sure if that is a word but it works for me)

Here are a few more...

I still need to find a place for these. I used both of these in my Christmas decorations but now they have no home yet. Hopefully soon! The one on the left was another find in my Nana's garage. She has some pretty awesome stuff in there! The one on the right is my awesome find at Pier One. You can read more about that here.

Here are some more pictures that include my two bird houses which currently have a place on top of my cabinets.

I got the white bird house from my mother in law! It is one of my favorites!

I mean look at the detail! So beautiful!

This green one I bought while vacationing in Branson, MO. The amount of birdhouses to choose from there is ridiculous! But I came home with this one and I love it!

So simple...

I love finding different ways to decorate! Its what I do for fun people. I know some may find it boring but my house is my masterpiece and I take pride in her.

Ahoy Matey!

It has finally arrived! My Anchor door mat is here. I am soooo excited! Now just to get home and hang my new wreath and place the door mat in its new home.

Here she is...

And here she is with her new friend...

I cannot wait to get home and get everything into place.

Winner Winner Chicken Dinner!

So I have completed, well with the help of my mother in law, my very first craft project of 2012.

I am so tired of always trying to find the perfect wreath so I decided it was time to make my own. This was kind of hard because I have never even tried to make one before, but lucky me...we are home in Arkansas for the week and my mother in law is a pretty crafty woman! I told her what I wanted and she showed me how to do it! She is pretty awesome like that.

I found my inspiration a few weeks ago at my friend Jessica's house. Here is the beauty...

I walked up her front steps and saw this amazing front door mat. So guess what I did? Yep I went and bought it. Bed Bath and Beyond for $25. Not too shabby since the last time I bought a front door mat was almost over three years ago.

So anyway back to why it was my inspiration...I decided that I wanted to buy a wreath that somehow tied in the colors from the mat, but I could not find one anywhere! That is when I googled the word "wreath" and then my eyes were opened to the world of wreath making! Here is the one that I loved and wanted to recreate but with different color flowers...

So off to the store we went and bought...

There you see some burlap, wire, flowers and not pictured is a wired wreath frame.

And then we began to put the wreath together...

First you have to take the end and use the wire to attach it to the wire frame.

Then you just twist the burlap how ever you want to and every few inches connect the burlap to the wire frame with the wire cord.

And you just do that over and over until you get your desired thickness.

Once you get your thickness you begin to poof out the burlap to cover the wire cord.

At the end you need to make sure that all the wire cords are tightly wound.

Next step was to put the flowers on it.

All we did was put the flowers where we thought they looked best and put them through the wire wreath frame and began to bend the stem of the flowers around the frame. We didn't use a hot glue gun so that later on down the road if I want to change my flowers, I can!

Here she is...

Love it! And I cant wait to see it all together with my new front door mat.

I like it already!!!

Oh and the total cost of this project was $15. That's a winner people!!!

Happy New To-Do List Year!

So I am never really one to make resolutions but I would rather set goals for certain things. This helps me with my to-do list that just never seems to end. Well maybe I keep adding things to it but needless to say, it never ends.

Half of my to-do list pertains to my house. Go figure! But there is really no painting involved (maybe outside)...surprise! I am pretty sure the walls are the way I like them for right now. That may change, but I really do love the colors of my house! So here we go. My list for 2012. Oh and before I begin my list I have to take down my Christmas decorations. I know, I know! I am behind but since we are still visiting family in Arkansas, the decorations rule the house until this coming weekend.

So back to the list and this is in no special order:

Outside:
1. Dig up dead bushes in front yard.
2. Replace with new bushes.
3. Determine a new color for the shutters. I am thinking black.
4. Do something with our weird triangle on driveway (will post pictures soon).
5. Change hardware on all exterior doors. Thinking about getting the keypad entry. Love those!

Inside:
1. Stain hardwoods (hoping by mid-February)
2. Add carpet to all bedrooms.
3. Replace tile in hall bathroom.
4. Craiglist a dresser for Kate's bedroom and refinish it.
5. Cheap way to recover an arm chair

If budget allows:
1. Replace kitchen counter tops.

I love the look of the concrete counter tops. A bit more expensive!

2. Replace kitchen backsplash.

Loving the subway tile!

3. Repaint kitchen cabinets.
4. New deck floor (it needs some serious help)

Craft goals:
1. Finish my first infinity scarf.
2. Finish knitting Emma's hat.
3. Work on new quilts for all three babies.

So there are my goals for this year! We will see what actually gets done and what also gets added to the list. I have suddenly turned into this crafty momma, so I am sure the craft list will grow and I cannot wait!

All of my projects will be budget friendly. I love finding cheap ways to do a project. It feels more rewarding that way. Putting the hard work into something is way more satisfying than spending thousands of dollars on a piece. So we will see!

I hope you all had a happy new year and that you have set goals for yourself. I love having a list to complete. It makes me feel like I have a purpose!

Love to you all...

Space Savers Unite!

As much as I love my little home I can't stand the size of my kitchen. It definitely will not hold this family of five in a few years but right now I can only find simple solutions to having no space at all!

A few weeks ago I had the pleasure of going to visit on my best friends in Northern Virginia. The bonus to that trip is that she lives about an hour from IKEA. I went into the trip to find a kitchen set for my daughter for Christmas and I came out with that and so much more! I found a huge space saver for my kitchen in the form of a spice rack. It doesn't go in your cabinet or on top of the counter....you hang it! I know, genius! Oh and this little piece of awesomeness only cost me about $15. Gotta love IKEA and their reasonably priced goods.

So I paired this hanging spice rack with a hanging basket that the lovely previous home owners left over three years ago. It has been hanging out in our laundry just collecting dust so I finally decided to put it to use.

It may not be the prettiest but it helps save so much cabinet and counter space. I love it! The space was very much welcomed!

Oh and you know me, I probably will end up spray painting the hanging basket at some point but right now I am just happy to have some space to work with!

Deck the Harts

I cannot begin to describe how amazing it feels to finally be done with school. Not only can I be home with my babies, but I can get back to my house! I can't wait to get started on my list but most of that will have to wait until after the new year. Christmas is a lot on its own to handle.

I know I am a bit late but here is a December decorating post! There is a bit of everything on here :)

So right at the beginning of December I decided that I wanted to make some of my own Christmas decorations to save money and it was a success! Here are some of my creations...

With a glue gun, one can make anything!

finished product...

I made a smaller one as well with green and white striped ribbon but for some reason I forgot to take a picture of that one. It turned out just as good as the one above.

Now on to the next project...

So I originally was going to make a wreath with these cinnamon sticks but decided against it. Since they were just laying around I decided to make some candle holders. I saved two picante sauce jars (why I have no clue) but they definitely came in handy. 

Once I hot glued them on the jar it felt like they were missing something....

Ahhhh....thats much better! I have learned to save wreaths from previous years because they can always be used for something on down the road. I made two of these and when a candle is lit up in there, it looks so pretty. 

Here is another reason to save wreaths!

I used this one for the centerpiece on my coffee table. Oh and there is one plus to having pine trees in the backyard....there are PINECONES every where! Another penny saved.

Here are a few more pictures of the inside my home.

I ended up putting the green and white striped ribbon around the sticks to pull the room together.

There are my two jars all decorated with a few reindeer.

 Oh and on a side note - see that green lantern thingy to the right? Yea that was my best find at Pier One ever! That baby was marked down from $65 to $15. I know right? Amazing! Ok back to the pictures...

Here are some pictures of my outside. I think less is more when it comes to decorating outside. I get that from my momma. These trees are on their third year and they are still going strong!

Here is my wreath on my front door. I used this wreath last year and I loved it so much, I decided to use it again. I added a new touch this year with the little silver "H." I got that little letter from Target for about $.50 on sale. You can't see it from the street but when you come up to the door it shines!

Oh and lets not forget the  most important decoration of all...

The Hart family Christmas tree.