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Working on the front entry last month (check it out here!) I realized I needed to also do a little something with the boot box we built in.  It was still as functional as ever, Easton uses it to store his hats, scarves and mittens, and  he has a lot of hats, scarves and mittens! Hehehe.

 I wanted something easy to make, and since I don`t have much in the ways of sewing talent I started thinking of different techniques so fasten everything together. I`ve always had good luck with the Elmers spray glue, so I stuck with it! (Ha!)

While at Fabricville a few weeks ago I picked up some really cute hounds tooth  fabric for Easton's new room makeover. After coming home and sitting it on the boot box, I really loved how it went with the painted design on the opposite wall. That reminds me, I will have to go get more for Eastons room!! 

I ended up having to buy two pieces of 2 inch thick foam because the sheets were either just too small, or way too big! I cut them to fit (24"x 30") and then spray glued them together to get a comfy, 4" thickness. 

Then I started wrapping the foam like a gift, and spray gluing the fabric down as I went. It was a pretty simple process and the fabric really stuck to the foam nicely!

This is the final product. It took me 20 minutes to finish and I love how it looks!

And best of all, its Easton approved! (He couldn`t believe I whipped this up while he was at preschool!)

Better go make the boys some lunch, until our next project!

The Entry Post! Part 1 of the Main Floor Transformation!

Ok guys! I am far too excited about this post! 

My entry! - I had painted the entire main living space (minus the kitchen) the blue and purple *see previous post for full deets* back in November 2012. We lived in it, we loved it, but we both agreed when we painted the kitchen it would be lovely to take a fresh, more tame colour throughout the house. The transformation is still a work in progress, there are so many things to change out since the space looks totally different now, but I am in love with this first room! 

If you remember, the blue and purple were super bold, but they covered really well with the Benjamin Moore Regal Ulti-matte paint I had chosen, in Gray Owl (OC-52). With the first coat you could just barely see the blue coming through, and after a second light coat - gone completely! I can't say enough about that paint! And the fact that its a imperfection-hiding, matte finish, and is durable and washable for my high traffic/kid friendly rooms is a HUGE plus!

I picked a navy blue colour for an accent, thanks to a gorgeous pillow from Target!  Instead of painting the same focal wall with the boot box, like I had before with the purple, I opted for painting the inside of the front door! Oh my gosh! It was love at first sight!! Since I wanted something super durable I picked pearl finish Benjamin Moore Advance paint in a Newburyport Blue (HC-155).

After I had finished the door I loved it so much I thought about painting the closet doors, and the powder room door the same blue, but that is still a hot debate at our house! So in the spirit of compromise I decided to stencil a tribal pattern on one wall. 

Using Liquitex paint markers in titanium white and a stencil I made from a piece of cardboard. The stencil was super easy to make, I just drew out a triangle, folded in each corner, then cut out around the shape. Voila! 

I traced the pattern starting in the middle of the wall, alternating the triangle shape top up, and down from left to right, and then did the two rows above, then two rows below. I found it really hard to see, so I went over the lines a second time.

When I was all done, and I had the pattern drawn and dried I filled the space with a few new goodies like the large full length mirror I got for a steal at Home Depot, a black table with gold dipped legs, courtesy of Target, a plant in the window and a little brass accent in candle holders and a cute little brass piggy from my local thrift shop! Oh and of course a couple of pictures of my boys! ;)

Its not completely finished. I'm working on a bench seat cushion to sit on the boot box, But that's a DIY post for another day. I will say I am so happy with how it all turned out so far! Its so nice to start over with a completely blank slate! 

Until the next project calls my name! 

Antler Project! - the Finale. (Finally)

A while back I traded some cotton candy sugar for a set of antlers. Yes, you read that right! Cotton candy for antlers! I had a project in mind for them, and well, that project turned into something else, and then something else again but now, finally, I have them mounted on the wall!

First I spray painted the antlers with a gold sparkle spray paint. I love the glamour a little sparkle adds, even to something like deer antlers!! This is the first time I used the Rustoleum Glitter paint but I have to say I loved it! It covered great and doesn't come off when being handled nearly as much as I feared. I've only seen a sparkle or two anywhere since I started!

I decided to mount it to pieces of pallet, just to make it a little rustic feeling. I cut six pieces the same length, then cut 45° angles at the ends of each piece. After that I put the pieces together in a chevron pattern with some glue, and nailed on some braces across the back. 

Once I got them together I realized it was much too big so I cut the bottom two off and went with 4 pieces instead. (Yep, good ole trial and error! Ha!) Next I used three screws to secure the antlers into the wood.

I found some super cute poppies in a vase at Walmart and cut them out and hot glued them to cover the center of the antlers, so you couldn't see where I screwed them into the wood. What I really like is that I can pop the flowers off seasonally, or just whenever I want to update! Maybe I will find some pretty real touch flowers down the road for a more permanent solution!

 I used a picture hanging kit on the back to add wire so I would be able to hang it on the wall. Here is the final product, hanging proudly in my living room. Love it!!

Feel free to share! And don't forget to follow to see what we're up to next!

"If you want an adventure, take a step outside"

Making sure that our Minty Green Dream house had the same character on the outside as  we were trying to get on the inside was super important to me, so, after living here for about a year I finally settled way to make it more 'us'! 

The deck needed a major clean up! We stripped off the lattice, closed it in underneath with vertical deck boards, put on new treads and risers, and finally sanded and stained the whole thing! For colours I used Benjamin Moores Arborcoat solid stain in Chantilly Lace (OC-65) on the railings, spindles and risers and Chelsea Gray (HC-168) on the floorboards. For the front door and accent colour I went with Raspberry Blush (2008-30). Such a pretty coral colour!!

Just to add a little pizzazz I painted a chevron stripe in my accent colour on one of the risers, and added our house number to the same riser in a modern font from Home Depot. They didn't have the house number in the colour I wanted so I brought them home and spray painted (again, Krylon is my go-to!) them with a flat black. Absolutely love the way these turned out! So much so that I did the same with the door handle, reusing the one that had been on the door previously! Cost savings!! 

The lights are from Kent Building Supplies and made by Moonrays.They have to be wired in, but they turn on by photo sensor. We put two on every second stair just to add a little bit of light, and to show off the stripe of course! It looks pretty and it adds to the safety of our visitors, afterall, there are a lot of stairs to climb! I should also add that I painted these too... I love flat black! I even found a flat black light that I didnt have to paint, matched perfectly and was much more modern looking then the one that was on the house before! Another awesome Kent find! 

My front door I found completely by mistake searching around the Habitat for Humanity ReStore in Dartmouth. I couldn't believe my eyes when I saw the EXACT door I had been looking for completely untouched and in brand new condition for 80 bucks! I was so excited I called Brett to come pick it up on his lunch break and painted it that night! I even painted an old chair and I found on kijiji to match!

The only thing holding us back from being head over heels in love with the yard was the yard itself so we got the fine folks at Elmsdale Landscaping to come and give it a makeover! They completely tore up the old front yard, pulled out the snowball tree, resodded and planted two beautiful sugar maples!

Before - So many weeds and dead areas!

After - So fresh and so GREEN GREEN!

Easton, pretty proud of his new trees!

Now that all is said and done I can finally say I love it! And I'm super proud to call it home.