Black and White

I love black and white photography....So I must have a wall dedicated to my photos!

Here are 2 of my favorite black and white pictures I took the other day. I love pictures of my princesses just playing and being themselves.

This picture warms my heart.

Here are some of my loves from PINTEREST, which, YES, I am an addict.  It is almost 11 pm and I am sitting on the computer pinning...a mothers Heaven right!!

But I am so torn......There are so many options.....do I only do photos or do I mix it up a bit......

Oh the possibilities!

Source: prettyspace.tumblr.com via Brooke on Pinterest

Source: houzz.com via Brooke on Pinterest

Source: blog.effortless-style.com via Brooke on Pinterest

aregrre

Source: paloma81.blogspot.com via Brooke on Pinterest

Gingerbread Houses {best frosting ever}

My cute little mother every year makes ginger bread houses...the real things...where you make the dough, roll it on to a pan, cook it, cut them out by hand and hot glue them together!!!  Pretty impressive huh?  We always look forward to go to "Grammy's" to make gingerbread houses!  

Just getting started...and our faces are already a mess!!  She is concentrating very hard!

If you don't have a recipe for the frosting I would highly recommend this recipe.  You can make icicles with it and it also drys hard!

3 egg white at room temperature

1/2 teaspoon of cream of tarter

1 pound of powdered sugar

Mix everything together and continue mixing until your frosting will make peaks!

Also make sure you keep it covered with a damp cloth, if you don't it will dry out and harden!

Happy Gingerbread House Making!!!

Minnie Birthday was a success!!!!

My little princess turned 3 Sunday, Sniff, Sniff!  I can't believe  she is growing up so fast.  It seems like yesterday that I was pregnant and thinking "this pregnancy will never end."  I guess the saying, "time flies when you're having fun," is true!

For every birthday I have bought her a new dress.  She believes girls only wear dresses, to quote her "mom, girls DON'T wear jeans, they wear dresses they can twirl in."

As you can see this dress met her expectations, so, YES, pictures must be taken!  

I LOVE black and white pictures and I love how these 2 turned out!  

 She really wanted a Minnie Mouse birthday party.  We just got back from Disneyland and everyday she wakes up and tells me what ride she wants to ride on today, because all we have to do is get on an airplane and go to Disneyland...right? 

She really wanted Minnie Mouse candles....so this is my creation for candles...no we didn't light them on fire!  

I actually drew what I wanted for a cake and had a local bakery make it for me.  I put pearls around the bottom, it seemed to be just the right touch!

I created a Mickey Mouse silhouette on for my vinyl machine but couldn't get the bow quite right!  I decided to try a bow out of ribbon and I love how it turned out!  Surprisingly enough it was actually easier then cutting out bows, BONUS!!

All in all her birthday was so special for her and she loved being a princess for the day!

I LOVE YOU BABY DOLL!!!

Pottery Barn Pillows {look a likes}

I saw these pillows in the Pottery Barn catalog and really really wanted some....

but they are $36 a piece!

I found an awesome tutorial here and I made my own!  

I would have to say I am quite proud of myself as sewing is not one of my favorite things and often times when I start a sewing projects it sits for MONTHS...but not this one, they are DONE and I love how they turned out.  

They are going in my daughters room.  Her room seems to be the project that never ends...I just can't get it just right...but it is getting closer!

Living Room Progress...

Living Room Before

The Landing Floor Before

Desk Before

Living room AFTER (but not quite done) with a hint of Christmas.

I love how the casings around the windows and the chair rails POP with the dark paint color. 

I repainted the landing floor white, which turned out awesome except it gets dirty FAST!!!  I have always wanted a Planked wall so as you can see I made me one under the stairs....I will expand on that later.

 And the Desk...I LOVE IT!!!  

This is a 6 foot desk that easily weighs 500 pounds it took 3 large men 

{I mean BUFF men} to get it in my house. 

 It had to be refinished inside because it was so heavy.

I found 2 chairs to go in front of the desk, I am in the process of remodeling them right now!

Lamp Redo

Before

After

I found this lamp at an Estate sale and even though it wasn't pretty to start with I LOVED THE LINES and DETAILS!!  The best part was it only cost me $5!!

With a little paint and a new lap shade it is the perfect accessory to complete my night stand!  And it has become quite a conversational piece....I call it my little old lady lamp gone modern!  

Triangle Banner

I have always seen Triangle Banners and LOVED THEM....so.....I finally made one.

To make this banner I actually just used12x12 scrapbook paper {cardstock}, cutout one triangle per sheet, making the top of each triangle 12 inches and coming down to a point I then...used my favorite thing...a hot glue gun to glue it onto my ric rac.

Painting....Molding.....

The last 2 weeks my husband and I found some motivation.....

Before

After

I am in love with our new paint color!  Which is a good thing because painting a 2 story entry is no easy task...so it will have to stay for a very long time.
My favorite this is how the darker paint color makes the new moldings pop and look so clean!  Moldings are something so simple yet I forget sometimes the drastic impact they have on the feeling of a home.  I will not expand right now...we will save that for another post!

I have also repainted the banister a dark chocolate color which I also love.  There again a very good thing because painting a banister is no easy task...it takes FOREVER!  And I really don't want to do it again!

Now it is time to decorate ... the best part right?  I have never had so much wall space before...I AM SO EXCITED!!!  

An Early Morning and a K!!

WOW, it is 6:30am and I am up and moving...not by choice but since daylight savings time my daughters think 6:30am is a good wake up time.  I decided I might as well get up and blog right?

Here is yet another sneak peak at my daughters room...geez one of these days I will get it done right?  It is so close....I am currently working on pillows for her room hopefully I can post them tomorrow!

I just love letters, I thought she needed a few.  I actually drew the shapes on this letter and then painted them and outlined them with a ball point pen.  Such a fun way to add color to a letter!

Night Stand Redo!

I am so please with how this nightstand turned out!  The best part is the cost...I found the night stand at a Thrift Store for $7 the knobs cost $6 and the best part is my neighbor had left over paint I used!  I know, right, a night stand for $13 can't beat that.  I am so pleased with the Chandelier hanging over it, it seems to give it just the right touch, don't you think so? (name that movie, all you moms out there with a Cinderella addict will know)

Hope you are having a wonderful evening

TTFN,

Brooke

Make Your Own Scrapbook Paper

I LOVED doing this project!  All you need is a little paint, and a ball point pen...well if you are like me a pencil too!

I first with my pencil I mapped out how I wanted all my squares, rectangles etc
I then watered down Acrylic paint so it was the consistency of ALMOST water colors...mainly because I didn't want my color to be too bright...just soft and faded.
Next I took a ball point pen and went around the boxes and added more lines and hearts and circles and so on.  The best part of this project is if you mess up it looks like it is supposed to be that way!!

I am using this in my daughters room .... golly her room is taking too long to finish.  Some days I feel as though I am in the FAST LANE going very slow...I guess when you have a 2 year old and a 5 month old it is to be expected!!

DIY Spoon Rose

ahhh would you ever guess this rose is made out of spoons?  I LOVE IT and they are so easy to make...really...I did it on my first try!  Yes, that is a big deal.  I found an awesome tutorial on Can't Stop Making Things....try it out!!

Napkin Pumpkin!!!!!

 This weekend my Mom and I made this cute pumpkin. 

 {I LOVE crafting with my Mom}  

I know it looks like we are super crafty and excellent with a paint brush but don't be fooled!!  

IT IS A NAPKIN!

To make:

Paint your pumpkin Black, cut the design out of a napkin you wanted to use (it is easier if your napkins design is rectangular rather and square we bought these at Target) and Mod Podged it!

Sneak Peek

My oldest daughters room is coming...SLOWLY...but surely!  I love how these boxes turned out!  The best part is they are great for a ON A BUDGET project!  I covered paper mache boxes with white paper, the fringe is actually just tissue paper you use for birthday presents {you probably have some in your closet} and random ribbon...really anything I could find around the house that were the colors I wanted.  Her room is coming together so nicely, hopefully it will be done soon...my next project is sewing a slip cover MY WEAKNESS!!!  Wish me luck!

halloween fever

 I made candy corn sugar cookies!!  They were delicious and super easy.

Separate your dough into 3 equal parts
Dye 1 part yellow and another orange
Flatten each color
Stack them with Yellow on the bottom
Squish them into each other SOFTLY
Now just cut it like bread to desired thickness
AND the most important part...ENJOY

I don't know about you but I think for every holiday I have a favorite decoration and for Halloween it is my witch.  My friends mother made her for me a while back and I have been in Love ever since.  She is one of those dolls they actually cook!  So fun!  If you look close she is holding the cutest little cat bucket!

Barn Wood

Where to start with this piece.  My mother in law gave this to my husband and I when we got married...ages ago and it has sat in the basement...as a gem waiting to be discovered.

My husbands grandpa actually made this out of old barn wood!  My main concern was keeping the integrity of this piece, I lightly sanded it down to keep all the imperfections and texture.  I then brushed stain on and rubbed it off IMMEDIATELY with a wet rag.  The stain picked up all the imperfections as I had hoped.

I LOVE THIS PIECE!!!

My Dresser.....

It is done!  I just love how it turned out!  I actually did my whole bedroom set.  After 5 moves in 7 years your furniture starts to look a little banged up so why not give it a fresh start right?

The only hard thing about my bedroom set was it is a veneer.  After some trial and error and research I found when refinishing a veneer...PRIMER IS YOUR FRIEND.  I sanded it down LIGHTLY just to get the top coat off and them primed away with Kilz Primer.  I even used a paint with primer just to be safe!