A Halloween Quickie

I know I said I'd be light on projects but I can't help myself. I'd rather be painting and making a mess in the garage than packing. I can't stand packing! Especially since now I have to pack for not only myself but for the 2 boys, our dog and cat (and occasionally the Hubs but don't tell him I told you that.)

Anyway- Happy Halloween!! I thought I could take down my Fall Wreath for one night to celebrate the evening. I saw this idea on Curbly and knew I had everything on hand to make it. 

Not You're Grandma's Wallpaper

Wallpaper has gotten a bad rap in recent years. I would think manly because when most people think of wallpaper images like this come to mind:

Metallic Butterflies anyone?

Attack of the pink flowers!

It's always sunny in this kitchen

Small Steps toward a Big Change & A Winner!!

Tell me if this has ever happened to you; you want to add or change one element in a room and you end up feeling like you have to change and update everything in the whole room? 

That's kind of the predicament I'm in now. 

A week or so ago I was super excited to find out I had won a roll of wall paper from 2Modern. Score!

Last Friday my wallpaper arrived!

I've spent some time researching ideas of what to do with it. I can't do anything permanent since we're renting but there's lots of other things you can do with wallpaper besides glue it on the wall.

Use it to update the look of your furniture:

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Update the look of cabinets:

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Create a unique unexpected nook:

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Get functional and use wallpaper to cover a cork board for a one of a kind look:

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And my personal favorite faming wallpaper as artwork:

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I'm really leaning towards the idea of framing a large section of my wallpaper behind our bed in the master bedroom since our bedroom could use some pizazz.

Which leads me back to my original issue. If I add this one large focal point to our room I feel like I need to change almost everything else.

The wallpaper is really modern, our bed leans more to traditional styling. I'd love to update our bedding- we've had it forever! I'd love to have a king size bed anyway.

I've touched switching up our bedroom some before. I even threw together a Pinterest Board of some dream items. So could this be the time for a big change? Hmmm... seriously considering it. There are two main things that have been holding me back though.

1. $$ Money $$

2. Time- We're hoping to PCS on out of Altus in the next year. We'll find out whether this is an option or not in October. Crossing our fingers and saying our prayers!!!

And don't worry I didn't forget about the winner of the Coupon Cabin Gift Card Giveaway. Thank you to everyone who entered. The lucky winner is-

Drawing #11,541 PRIVATE

Home Depot Giveaway 10th drawing held by Rachelle Falcon 21 entrants, 1 winner

Winners (1)

 1st: 4

That would be Tam who said:

Tam said... 4

We are in need of some new bathroom towels so I plan on using that Macy's coupon!

Congratulations Tam!!! I've sent you an email. Enjoy your Home Depot Gift Card!!

Thanks again everyone and have a great day!

Big Boy Room!!

Happy Monday Everyone!! I'm sad to see the weekend end but at least it means it's finally time to show you Con-Man's Big Boy Room! If you missed it you can read up what his room looked like before and on my inspiration for the room here and check out my Pinterest Board where I gathered and saved all my ideas.

Con-Man went to a little summer school last week so I finally had time to throw all his toys in his closet/ toy box  give his room a good clean up. I don't know about everyone else but every time I try to clean up after my son he pulls out other toys and makes a new mess right behind me. C'est la vie...

Anyway- in a rare moment of cleanliness here are pictures from Con-Man's Big Boy Room:

The comforter was the jumping off point for the color scheme. I saw it on the Land of Nod website and decided to DIY one myself. The pattern on the wall just came to me one day. I wanted a feature wall but didn't want anything to busy. We're renting our home so this will be easy to paint over when we leave.

I built the bed following plans from Anna White's website. You can read about my trials and tribulations here. The bed provides a lot of hidden storage; something we needed since I moved his old shelf into his future baby brother's room. 

We had the airplane already. It was a gift Connor got for Christmas. He loves to tell people he has an airplane on his ceiling. The bedside lamp is from Ikea.

I built the step stool as well from leftover scrap wood from his bed. It was quick and easy to make; but as you can see I still haven't decided which color to paint it yet.

The curtains are the same ones he had before. I made them from sheets. To refashion them I purchased some cheap orange sheets from Walmart and sewed them onto the bottom. 

I purchased the wall art from Neve Designs on Etsy.

The desk was the Hubs' from when he was little. I debated whether or not to paint it to go with the new decor. In the end I decided to leave it as it is to give a vintage feel to the room. Con-Man likes to sit here and color in his coloring books.

I made the crayons and chalk holders from stucco trays. I liked how they have an industrial look; it went well with the transportation theme of the room.

As you can see I left one wall of the exisiting chalk board paint. It was the only wall Con-Man ever drew on and I felt like all the black darkened the room.

The rustic wood wall art is made from salvaged pallets. Con-Man likes to tell people that he has Lighting McQueen on his wall!

I found the old stop sign at a vintage shop here in town. I love the bullet holes in it!

I built the bookshelves based on some Ikea spice racks I had seen online. Ikea never had them in stock so I had to DIY my own! 

I'd still like to get some bean bag chairs to put under his bookcases so we can sit and read with each other instead of sitting on the floor.

I tried to make the room bold and fun because that is Con's personality. He's outgoing and energetic and there's no denying his love of anything with wheels; especially cars. 

I'm hoping this room lasts him a few years. I think we'll be able to keep the duvet for a long time since it has a lot of colors in it; so we'll be able to change things up easily if need be.

Linking to The CSI Project!

Boredom Buster: Oobleck

Warning! Don't do this activity unless don't mind a mess and are ready to have a lot of fun!


It's been really cold here in OK lately. We even had some unseasonal snow!

We don't get outside much because of the dreary cold weather. And on top of that the kids area at our local gym has been closed since December for remodeling. Being cooped up inside has led to a stir crazy Con-Man. This got me wondering how Con-Man and I were going to spend an afternoon and my mind wandered back to the 5th grade when our teacher read us the Dr. Suess book Bartholomew and The Oobleck. 

After she read the story we made Oobleck and played with it in the classroom. It's an interesting substance in that is is neither a liquid nor a solid. You can punch it with your palm but if you try to pick it up it acts like a liquid and slips through your hands.

I thought it would be a fun experiment for the Con-Man and I to try out. I found a great recipe on Instructables that even has a video. 

I had all the ingredients on hand- Cornstarch, water, and food coloring.

Mix 1 cup water with 1.5- 2 cups of cornstarch. Start with the water first then add the cornstarch a few tablespoons at a time. When your getting close to using most of your cornstarch add it more slowly, use your hands if necessary to mix it in. You want to get it to a state where it's not a liquid anymore but not so solid that it doesn't run though your fingers when you try to pick it up. Play with it some to get the right consistency.

Once you have the right feeling of weirdness add your food coloring. I used green since that what color it was in the book. Now it's time to play!

Con-Man was a little wary at first but he quickly went into mess making mode.

This was a great afternoon project because I had everything on hand to make it, it was easy to make, and it kept Con-Man occupied for almost an hour. Next time I do this I'll try to get the book from the library first and read it to him.

Though it splattered everywhere clean up wasn't to bad. Once it dries you can just wipe it up or take a damp towel and clean it up.

Has anyone else ever made Oobleck before?

Incorporating Design Trends In Your Home?

I hope everyone had a wonderful weekend! We actually had some nice weather here in OK (if you discount the major windstorm we had earlier that knocked out our power). I usually like to start the week off with a craft or DIY but thought I'd mix it up a bit and talk about something that I've been thinking about for a while. 


It's the New Year and it's usually a time when I and it seems like a lot of other people reassess their home, clean things out, and change things up. But how much do you really change?


For example, every year Pantone comes out with their "Color of the Year". This year it's Tangerine, last year it was Honeysuckle (I bet a lot of husbands loved that). It's fun, bright and cheery. But do you try and incorporate it into your home or just look at it for fun inspiration?

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Or do you try and incorporate it into your wardrobe?

What if you don't like Tangerine? Well did you know that Benjamin Moore comes out with a color of the year as well?!?! Their pick for the year is Wythe Blue. A little easier to incorporate into a home in my opinion.

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But which to choose? Orange or Blue? Who is right? Should you go with orange or go with blue. Maybe do both?

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And as long as we're incorporating trends, what about Chevrons? Those are cool.

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What about pallets? I like the idea of pallet reuse but should I make everything in my house made from them?

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Or stenciling? 

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Birds?

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What to do? Which to choose? 

Should I stencil an Tangerine Cheveron on my wall and hang a pallet made frame with a picture on a Wythe Blue bird in it? 

AUGH! 

That would be a little extreme...

So I guess I'm just wondering how other people deal with the changing trends. 

Do you try and incorporate them in your home each season? 

Do you just look at them for inspiration?

Do you even notice them at all and do your own thing?

Do You Houzz??

Lately I've been hooked on the Pinterest craze along with everyone else. I love browsing around looking for ideas and cool projects. Another site I'm easily becoming obsessed with as well is Houzz. Have you heard of it?

If you're looking for ideas for you home or just like looking at beautiful homes this is the website for you. I can look at these photos all day long and dream (and drool). I want them all!

You can search by room or style. They have almost every style you can think if; modern, traditional, Spanish, ect. After browsing you can create "Ideabooks" and save the images you like in each one. You're able to put notes about what you like about the room.

What even better is that each photo contains information about the room provided by the person who uploaded it; usually the architect or designer of the home. Some of the photos have information and pricing on the furniture and lighting in the room; even what paint color is used on the walls. Pretty awesome!

And it's free!! So, do you think you'll Houzz??