Valentine’s Printables

I am starting to set my mind on Valentine’s Day. With three little ones all needing to show up at school with something for each classmate, I have learned the hard way to NOT try to do it ALL the night before!

Here is a sampling of some of our past projects. The printable file is under the image. Enjoy!

jar valentine printable

{Click HERE for a collection of printable tags}

Red Valentines Gift Tags

valentine bag printable subway art valentines day printable

{Click HERE for sign printable}

The printable below I originally designed for Mother’s Day, but I saw it going around Pinterest for Valentine’s Day. It would be a lovely and easy gift for someone special. I just printed it right on scrapbook paper with a light pattern, trimmed it down and framed it.

{Click HERE for post with printable link}

framed HK quote

helen keller printable

So, are you ready for Valentine’s yet?

XO,

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My Daughter’s Room–Updated {Yes, Again!} in Aqua Blue, Brown, and Pink

Chair as nightstand at 11 Magnolia Lane

This post feels a bit like Groundhog Day, because this isn’t the first time I’ve written a post on my daughter’s room redo!  My daughter’s style is constantly changing, and her room has changed along with it. In our historic house in North Carolina, her room was pinks and greens with tons of vintage touches, perfect for the first and second grader she was at the time (click HERE to read the post):

Pink and green little girls room at 11 Magnolia Lane

When we moved to Tennessee, she told me she wanted to get rid of ALL the pink in her room.  Gasp!  That was pretty much her entire room.  We tried aqua blue, green, and white for awhile, but the pinks kept creeping back in.  Finally, we decided to embrace it and added pops of hot watermelon pink to her color scheme.  Here’s what we wound up with, read about it HERE:

Aqua, hot pink, and green girls' bedroom at 11 Magnolia Lane

I lived with it for about six months, but then my daughter and I both realized that it was a little, well, much.  So we turned to Pinterest (of course!) and found two rooms that we adored:

Edie at Life in Grace did this gorgeous room for her girls (swoon!), and I loved how she used brown to make the bedding pop:

Life in Grace Girls’ Bedroom

Then, Chris at Just a Girl did this gorgeous room for her daughter:

Little Girls’ Room at Just a Girl

I love the way that they both use brown (chevrons and zebra) to set off the bedding.  And, of course, it’s the same bedding–Serena & Lily’s Annabel duvet cover.  My daughter is named Annabelle, so obviously it was meant to be!  We ordered it, and the game was ON!

Here’s how it turned out:

Tween girl's room in aqua, brown, and pink at 11 Magnolia Lane

I spray-painted the iron headboard–again–covering up the hot pink with white.  I was tired of the brass accents that were there from the 70′s (it was my headboard as a girl), so that worked out well (I was tempted to do the antique brass that Edie has in her girls’ room, but chickened out).  Then I spray-painted her flea market nightstand from robin’s egg blue to metallic silver.  Here’s the before:

Bright blue nightstand at 11 Magnolia Lane

And the after:

Metallic silver nightstand by 11 Magnolia Lane

The lamp was a Target purchase and the drum shade was white.  I covered it with brown zebra shelf paper from TJ Maxx (we’ve given several rolls of this away on the blog and it’s in stores now).  The quatrefoil monogram is a free printable from the ladies at For Chic Sake (thanks, girls).  I used a different color combination in my closet.  The brown bedskirt is from Goodwill ($2–score!), and I already had the sheets and the pillows.

Closeup of nightstand

Amy gave me these square polka dotted plates when she changed her color scheme in her kitchen a few years ago–I think they were a TJ Maxx purchase.  We pass things back and forth more often than we’d care to admit, and it’s probably a good thing we don’t live near each other, because our houses usually sport pretty much the same decor.  I used my Silhouette Cameo to cut letters out of that same roll of vinyl shelf paper and stuck them on the plate–instant wall art!

Monogrammed plate wall art at 11 Magnolia Lane

The little table got a coat of brown spray paint, but it’s lived several past lives.  I wrote a post about it HERE and you can see all the different ways we’ve had it painted.  It was a $3 yard sale find.  There’s a big wooden “A” on the wall above it, and I spray painted it metallic silver (it was hot pink and then celery green prior to that!).  By the way, I also spray-painted the lamp shade brown–why not?Brown and white side table at 11 Magnolia Lane

At the foot of the bed is my daughter’s armoire–it’s been in my kids’ rooms since my son was born, and the door panels have had different paints, fabrics, stencils, you name it.  For this project, I gave it a shot of brown zebra!

Armoire panels covered with sticky shelf paper at 11 Magnolia Lane

 

To the left of the armoire is my daughter’s ballet barre.  You can read the tutorial on that HERE.  It only takes up about 3′ of wall space, and was under $20 to build–one of my favorite ideas ever!

DIY ballet barre for little girls' bedroom at 11 Magnolia Lane

To the right of the armoire is her “bulletin” board–a thrift store picture frame I filled with chicken wire (the tutorial is HERE).  A little girl needs somewhere to put all her paper bits, right?  The kitty cat collection is OLD, because it was mine when I was her age!

Chicken wire frame as bulletin board at 11 Magnolia Lane

In the corner to the left of the window is her reading area.  Right now there’s a patterned papasan chair from PB Teen there, but I’m hoping to have an old slipper chair from my bedroom recovered in white and put in its place.

Little girls' bedroom at 11 Magnolia Lane

 

Reading nook at 11 Magnolia LaneHer desk was a find at the Cameron Antiques Fair in North Carolina.  It’s a junior size and just right for her.  Last time I checked, there were twelve tons of junk in the drawers!

Antique desk at 11 Magnolia Lane

I’m planning to change the window treatments–the panels were on clearance for $10 at Ikea, so I’ll just pop them on Craigslist and buy another pair in a softer pink–or maybe brown.  Thoughts?

I only shot the top of the bookshelf, because we have TONS of books in our house, and it’s hard to make them look cute when they’re jammed in there every which way!  The little white shelf was from Goodwill, as were the vintage Bobbsey Twins books.

Bobbsey Twins books at 11 Magnolia Lane

 

And last, but not least, here’s a repeat of the first shot.  The chair was given to us by a friend.  I painted it white with brown accents and covered it with a brown and white striped fabric that I had in my stash.  This little chair has seen a lot of different styles over the years, too.  Right now, instead of a stack of books, it holds my daughter’s Kindle, because that’s as good as a couple of thousand books, right?!  You can also see the close up of the duvet fabric–so beautiful.

Chair as nightstand at 11 Magnolia Lane

 

We are not changing this room again until she goes to college.  Or, at least for a couple of years!  And for those of you who are wondering, my son keeps saying that he doesn’t want his room updated–he likes it just the way it is.  HERE’s a post of how it looked in our North Carolina house, and it’s pretty much the same here.  One of these days!

Do you have any rooms in your house that you obsessively redecorate, or is it just me? :)

Thanks for stopping by.

christy name pic

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Dining Room Tables & Kitchen Tables?

One thing we did shortly after moving in our house was switch our dining room table with our kitchen table.

 Our switch was more of an experiment, but I liked it so much we’ve kept it that way ever since. Recently I have spoken to several people who have done the same thing so I no longer think it was that strange of a thing to do!

Here is the same table {above it is in our dining room} shortly after we moved in still in our kitchen {below}.

Not only had our family of five outgrown our round, designed-for- four kitchen table, but anytime we had company we had to eat in the dining room. Sometimes that seemed too formal and just too much trouble for a casual meal. Since we have more casual meals then formal meals these days this seemed like a good solution.

Even New Year’s Eve –the best picture I can find of our dining room table actually in the dining room– with six adults here we had to camp out in the dining room rather then hanging out in the kitchen, which was a little strange because at every good party, don’t you always wind up in the kitchen? :)

By the way, yes that’s Christy and our friend Robyn  {we covered her stairs HERE} and they are drinking {THESE} if you are interested!

So, this switch meant saying goodbye for now to formal sit-down dinners. I loved the spacious dining room in our old house, it held a ton of people and while we lived there, we definitely put it to good use.

{This is our former dining room, same table, in our old house, set for a dinner party, the post is HERE}

dining in kitchen

So far this change has been a good solution. In fact, we haven’t missed having a formal dining room at all. If we weren’t planning on moving, I had envisioned this room becoming more of a library anyway. I even started adding books into my former china cabinet after I moved all my china to my Butler’s Pantry.

2 cabinet

So, I am curious. Anyone else feel like they could repurpose their dining room? Anyone else already made the move? Tell us your thoughts…

XO,

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Anniversary Pillow Tutorial–Perfect for Valentine’s Day!


You guys know I’ve been playing around with pillow slipcovers lately (read about my house number pillows HERE).  Recently, some of y’all might have seen the 2013 pay-it-forward challenge that made the rounds on Facebook…well, I decided to participate, and I knew I’d need to come up with a great gift idea for my friends who decided to do it with me.

Since we’re getting close to Valentine’s Day, what better way to commemorate the establishment of a family than an anniversary pillow?  Here’s what I made:

Aren’t they cute?  I had done one in a different size for our front porch and knew I liked the look, and the fact that it was personalized:

Wouldn’t this be a great Valentine’s Day, anniversary, wedding, or bridal shower gift?  I’ll confess, I even made two of them for friends having January birthdays, because I knew they’d love them.

Here’s how to make these exact pillows.  You’ll want to follow the step by step tutorial for Citrasolv fabric transfers that I wrote HERE, and if you want yours to look like mine, use canvas painter’s dropcloths from Home Depot as your fabric.

The pillow forms are from Hobby Lobby and measure 16″ x 12.5″.  They go on 30% off sale about once a month, and that’s when I bought mine.

For the name, I used Century font in size 135 (for longer names) up to 175 (for shorter names).  You’ll need to play with that a bit.  For the “EST” (established), I used Respective font in size 125 point, and for the year I used Constantia in 125 point.  Big Caslon and Freebooter script are also good choices.

These might be cute new baby gifts, too.  Just put the baby’s name and birthdate on it, instead.  What a fast, and easy way to make someone a personalized gift!

Thanks for stopping by!

 

 

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{Amy’s} Updated House Tour

One of the nicest parts of blogging is that I have a permanent record of all the houses I have {recently} lived in. Of course the reason I haven’t shown every room in our current house is because every room hasn’t been whipped into ‘perfect’ blog-worthy shape.

However, I have done some updates and the time has come to pull some photos together in one place. We’ve been in this house over a year now, and while I still have a long list of things I hope to do, we’ve come a long way from our move-in day.

So the first thing you notice about our home is the large front porch and the pretty lake we live on. Here it is decorated for spring–I can’t wait for warmer weather to arrive here so we can enjoy this space again.

In the front door…

To our front hall with the forever in-progress Gallery Wall.

 On one side of the stairs is our Dining Room with its blue ceiling. {Read more HERE}

Through the hallway to the left is our Butler’s Pantry {Read more HERE}.

Behind the Butler’s Pantry is our little Guest Bathroom and guest room.

sink

Across the hall is my Office. {Read more HERE}

Down the hall into the Family Room, here is a picture since I haven’t posted about the entire room yet.

The family room is across from our kitchen {Read all about our kitchen HERE}.

And our adjoining breakfast room with the $30 hutch I remade, you can also read about how we did our open shelving HERE.

Heading upstairs you will find our daughter’s room {Read more HERE}.

And our laundry room {Read more HERE}.

Here is one of our upstairs bathrooms, this was such a fun project {Read more HERE}.

Here is a shot of our boys’ room. They used to share it, but we recently separated them so their rooms are also still ‘in progress’.

Here is a picture of our Master Bedroom {Read the ‘in progress’ post HERE}

So, thanks for hanging in for all that! Since you did, I am going to share a little secret. A few weeks ago, after much consideration my husband and I have listed this home for sale.

Without boring you with details, we have loved living in it, putting our spin on it, and living both on a lake and near the beach, but this area isn’t our home. And the time is right for us to return to what is home in our hearts, where we have family to lean on and dear friends to enjoy.

{So, if you know anyone looking for a house in Virginia Beach please send ‘em my way! 11magnolialane@gmail.com}

In the meantime, the focus of my home projects has shifted a bit and we’re actively searching for our next {and hopefully forever} house. I am excited at the thought of having a new home to decorate, and expect that will mean I will have plenty to share!

Thank you, as always, for stopping by.

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Decoupaged Hug and Kiss {XO} Wreath for Valentine’s Day

I don’t usually decorate very much for Valentine’s Day, but I decided to make a wreath for my front door this year.  I snagged some hot pink candles for my chandelier, and found the cutest pink striped and polka dot pillows at Southeastern Salvage for $5 apiece, so it seemed destined to be!

The wreath was so easy:  I started with a grapevine wreath that I already had, and then I bought a cardboard “X” and “O” from Hobby Lobby.  They were on sale, so probably about $1.50 apiece.  I then selected two colors of scrapbook paper (also on sale) in complementary patterns.

First, I put the letters face down on the wrong side of the paper, and traced around them. I then cut the paper out to fit.

The X was a little too big for the 8-1/2″ x 11″ paper, but the pattern was such a busy one I knew that no one would notice if it wasn’t a continuous pattern, so I could use a small patch piece.

After cutting out the paper, I painted the backs and the sides of the letters.  I used Anita’s Acrylic in Hot Pink. (The tops are covered with the paper, so didn’t need to be painted)

After the paint dried, I used ModPodge decoupage paste to adhere the scrapbook paper to the front of the letters.  I brushed the paste on the top of the letter, and on both sides of the scrapbook paper.  This gets the paper wet enough that it adheres well.

This is the part where you have to get your hands messy, as you smooth out any wrinkles and make sure that the paper is neatly folded around the edges and sides.  As I suspected, you really can’t tell that the pattern is interrupted on the X at all.

After my letters dried, I used a hot glue gun to glue a florist’s wire to the back of both letters, and then wired them onto my wreath.  You could certainly adhere them in other ways, but I thought this would make it easier to take them off and replace them with something else later.

I did try some pink flowers, then some pink tulle and mesh, but I didn’t like any of those things as much as I liked the plain X & O on the wreath, so I left it just like it is.  All in all, it was a fun, fast, and inexpensive way to decorate for V-Day.

One other thing that would be SO cute:  use “X O X O” or “BE MINE” to make a banner to string over the front door or the fireplace mantel, similar to what I did for Christmas (these are the same Hobby Lobby letters as the wreath project, by the way).

Thanks for stopping by!

 

 

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DIY Moss Sphere

First off, I have seen this idea and can’t remember where so I don’t want to pass this off as exclusively my idea. Thanks to Pinterest there really aren’t original ideas anymore, right? Regardless, I am so pleased by the results of this easy project I had to share it.

I have had this little concrete urn for awhile now. If I recall correctly, it was a Homegoods find that Christy graciously let me claim as my own {or maybe I snatched it from her hands? I can’t exactly remember… :) } .

I use it in various ways in my decor…like with this tablescape…{the best cupcake recipe ever is in that post, just FYI}

Or in various decor on my mantel

But recently it occurred to me that it would be the perfect base for a rustic but yet natural moss sphere. It seems very Restoration Hardware to me {maybe that is where I saw something similar?}.

Here are the simple steps I used to make this.

I purchased a styrofoam ball in the right diameter to rest in the urn from Michaels. I didn’t do this, but you may want to paint the styrofoam green first so the white doesn’t show through if you are a true perfectionist, obviously I am not!

I used this moss, the kind in sheets, to cover the foam. I actually think using regular loose faux moss would have been easier, though probably even messier. I would suggest laying out a trash bag underneath your work area as the moss gets everywhere!

Start by wrapping the ball with a large piece of the moss. A hot glue gun is key to this project, I used a lot of glue and it didn’t, as I feared, melt the styrofoam. The moss adhered very quickly. I used a few pins and tacks to hold it on while it was drying just to help it hold.

The only tricky part was adjusting the flat moss to the round ball as you work your way around. I did this by cutting slits in the moss, and sometimes even needed to remove triangular shaped pieces so it would wrap over the ball.

And, then I just used some loose moss to patch up any empty spots left when I was working my way around the ball.

Here it is…all done in our hallway. I like that the greenery helps fills in the empty look that the house has now that the holiday decorations are all packed away.

After trying it several places, its now gracing our front hallway with its little bit of {faux} nature. I am on the lookout for a smaller urn to make a small one to go with it next.

{You can find the instructions to make the initial frame HERE}.

Also, Congratulations to Jessica, Comment #47 who won our latest organizing giveaway for chevron shelf paper and chalkboard vinyls. Jessica said:

Thanks for the awesome giveaway opportunity! Loving the chevron paper and the labels would be perfect for a pantry re-do I have been waiting to start. I follow your blog via email. Love the laundry room makeover and want to paint mine now!

Good luck with the pantry makeover Jessica and make sure to send us some pictures when its done! Thanks to everyone who entered.

XO,

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Chalkboard Paint Dog Food Container

**Don’t forget to enter our January giveaway here–it closes tomorrow (1/15/13) so don’t delay!**

I’m sure you’ve noticed I’ve been doing quite a few pet-related posts lately, because we’re now up to two dogs, a geriatric cat, and a hamster.  There has to be a system in place, or chaos (and animal hair) reigns!

I saw the cutest idea on Pinterest, by TidyMom, and knew I’d have to try it.  She spray painted a big old popcorn tin and made a dog food container that looks just as good as the Ballard Designs one that I’ve been eyeing (that goes for $50 a pop).

I hit Goodwill last week and they had tons of these tins for $0.99 each.  The price was right!  Here’s what I started out with:

I’m sure my neighbors laugh at me, because the grass in my backyard is always spray-painted in a variety of colors!

I covered the Holy Family with two coats of chalkboard spray paint, but of course any old color would do to suit your decor.  The chalkboard paint means that you can stop there, and just write your pooch’s name on the can.

I decided to take it a step further, and used my Silhouette Cameo and some white vinyl to cut out a white dog bone (purchased from the Silhouette store for $0.99) with Sunny’s name cut out in the middle (Boyz R Gross font–one of my favorites).  I love how it turned out!

This is a slightly smaller tin that I wanted and would be better for a small dog or a cat, but it works for now and I will keep looking for a great big one.  I suppose if you had two big dogs who ate the same food, which I don’t, you could buy one of those great big metal trash cans and use that.

Add a decorative scoop to jazz it up a bit:

If you haven’t checked out my repurposed shutters-turned-dog-gate, click here to see another cute doggie project.

Thanks to Cheryl (aka TidyMom) for the Pinspiration, and thanks for stopping by!

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Laundry Room Makeover

 

I didn’t start with an ugly laundry room by any means, but when you spend SO much time in a space, I figured there wasn’t any reason not to make it more enjoyable!

Here is the laundry room as it was when we moved in. We were lucky to have a tile floor, cabinets and even a chandelier but it was just a little boring.

As I mentioned in our Home Goals post I also wanted to make it more functional, it goes without saying that with three kids I do quite a bit of laundry.

Here is the AFTER {I won’t make you scroll down!}

Its hard to see in the photos since the room has no natural light, but I painted the walls a pale blue color. I used my ironing board cover {Homegoods, purchased several years ago} for inspiration.

To give the ironing board a place to hang, I painted a wood plaque from Michael’s, drilled holes and installed cabinets knobs to hold the ironing board up. We did the same thing {except with hooks} for my Mom’s Craft Room.

The biggest need the room had– after painting it reduced the “boring” factor –was I wanted a large space to fold and sort laundry. Front loaders have disadvantages, but they make up for it by having all that great space on the top.

I measured the room wall to wall and purchased cabinet grade plywood which Home Depot cut to size. I attached simple wood molding to each wall to support the shelf.

I also used a molding strip along the back wall, as well as installing some inexpensive 13″ metal shelf brackets {I don’t have a picture} underneath so the wood would have some extra support in the middle.

I tacked a piece of molding across the front of the board so it looked a little prettier, and don’t be mistaken by the cleanliness of these pictures, the shelf is put to daily use with piles of laundry!

On the other side of the room, I hung some IKEA brackets {the come black, but I spray painted them matte silver} with some standard small ready-made shelves from Home Depot.

Underneath, I added a coat rack {also spray painted} to use to hang things to air dry. These shelves hold the laundry once its been folded and is waiting to be put away.

I added a few decorative touches, like this little sign which seemed appropriate for jobs that can get boring very quickly! {printable to come}.

I will admit that this room is so much more functional now, but it also makes doing laundry a little nicer…and since the laundry doesn’t seem to end, I think it was worth the effort!

So tell us, what projects are you all working on these days?

**Don’t forget to enter our current organizing giveaway HERE**

XO,

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New Years’ Organizing Giveaway

THIS GIVEAWAY IS NOW CLOSED!

We ran a giveaway a few months ago with almost exactly the same items (shelf paper and chalkboard labels), and it was so popular with everyone that we knew it would be great to have a re-run in January, the month when everyone is organizing and tweaking their decor.  So, here’s what we have for you this week:

Two packages of turquoise-blue chevron shelf paper (four rolls, total), and twenty chalkboard vinyl labels.  Tell me you can’t think of a thousand ways to use these!  These are the same exact chalkboard labels that I used to organize the shoe boxes in my closet:

Of course, you don’t have to organize your shoes with them.  Maybe you need to label toy bins in the playroom, or organize batteries and lightbulbs in the closet.  You might want to use them on flour, sugar, and other dry goods in the pantry, or to label your laundry supplies.  I could go on and on!  You’ll soon realize that you could use hundreds. :)

The chevron shelf paper is like this gray pattern that I used in my dining room on the panels of my buffet (but obviously, it’s turquoise):

Amy used the same pattern, along with a turquoise quatrefoil, in her pantry:

And then she used a gorgeous black quatrefoil in her butler’s pantry:

Amy S., who just happens to be a good friend of mine, used the rolls that she won in the last giveaway to line the back of a gorgeous antique cabinet, and it looks awesome.  One of our readers, Nicole B., told me on Facebook that she used some to cover her KitchenAid mixer.  That is probably the most creative idea I’ve heard yet, but I’ve also used a different roll (brown zebra, if you must know) to cover a drum lampshade, a round wooden tin, and the door panels on my daughter’s armoire, because I’m reworking her room once again.  The fabric under the giveaway goodies is her new duvet comforter, by the way.

 

So, of course you want to know how to enter.  You can enter up to five times, depending on how “connected” you are/want to be.  Here’s what you do:

1.  Sign up for email updates, like us on Facebook, or follow us on Twitter or Pinterest.  All of that is on the right sidebar and gets you one entry.  Leave me a comment below telling me you follow/like us.

2.  Share the giveaway link on Facebook, 1 entry (leave one comment)

3. Mention the giveaway in your blog, 1 entry (leave one comment).

4.  Pin the giveaway on Pinterest, 1 entry (leave one comment).

5.  Tweet about the giveaway, 1 entry (leave one comment).

So, you can leave up to five comments below.  Make sense?  Let me know if not!

The giveaway runs now through Tuesday, January 15th at 12pm CST.  We’ll announce the winner via email and on the blog on Wednesday, January 16th.  Good luck!  Can’t wait to hear what y’all do with these goodies!

Thanks for stopping by.

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