Amy |

Announcements and Entertainment Center Remake

Posted on May 14, 2013 by Amy

Hello! First of all, what a week last week. Christy completely surprised me with her sweet post on my birthday. I was at Terry’s enjoying the champagne breakfast she hosted for me when I saw a facebook comment about it on my phone. My husband and I read it together a bit later, I was definitely crying and he was, well, happy to be included in the love fest! What a birthday it was, I am the luckiest girl to have these friends :) and your sweet comments made my day!

Well today I am going to get back to what we try to do best, talking about furniture and home stuff. Before I do that though I have a few quick things to mention. First, upon hearing that Google Reader was ending, I started using BlogLovin’ and I LOVE it. I just wanted to throw it out there, and I know that there are many ways to keep in touch with your favorite blogs but if you haven’t tried it, click HERE. You can search by blog name and add it to your feed, then when you visit the site you have a nice list of all recent posts. They also send you a nice neat email everyday with everything. It just makes my life easier (and more inspired!) so I wanted to share it with you all. Thoughts?

Second, we are CRAZY excited to be a part of BlogHer’s review team for Mary Kay Andrews new book–she just writes such fun ‘chick lit’–and this book is written about a DIY/Home Blogger! { you can pre-order it HERE if you are interested} Without giving anything away just yet, the book is called “Ladies Night” and so, of course, Terry and I decided we needed to host another Ladies Night in the book’s honor. Our fabulous friend Janet offered to have it at her lovely store The Empty Nest so we hope anyone in the area will come out and share in the fun. We’ll have lots of drinks, yummy eats and a super creative craft project, all essentials for a Ladies Night, right? Its scheduled soon at The Empty Nest in Warrenton. Stay tuned for more details via our facebook page or email us at 11magnolialane@gmail.com and we’ll put you on the VIP invitation list {just kidding, no list, all welcome!}.

OK, NOW back to our regularly scheduled programming! I am slowing making some changes around my new house, because we are still “renters” here I am taking my time about making many changes to the house. So, in order to make my home feel more like me, I figured it was a good time to work on some of our current furniture.

The “Before”…

Even though the colors in our family room here are very different then our last very white, house, my furniture seems to still work OK with the darker walls in this house. Since this is a two-story room, so we won’t be painting it anytime soon even if we buy it. I had planned to refinish our TV entertainment center to a Restoration-like gray in our last home, but never did and once we got here the obvious color choice was cream. So, I picked up some Annie Sloan Old White from Janet last week and got to painting.

The internet doesn’t need another “I painted with chalk paint” so I will skip right to the “Afters”…I still haven’t waxed it, but it brightens up the whole room. Its amazing what a bit of paint and a few hours of time does, isn’t it?

Here is the real reason the room works better now, not to give you vertigo, but this is the shot from our open hallway above. The room is now balanced with the cream colored couch and directly across the cream colored console. I feel much better and as with most projects, I wonder why I didn’t do it sooner?

Have you painted anything recently?

Thanks for stopping by~

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Posted in DIY, Furniture, Home Inspiration, Projects & Printables | Tagged chalk paint makeover, console makeover, cream, diy, entertainment center, furniture makeover, paint, white | 1 Comment

The Paint Colors at 11 Magnolia Lane

Posted on May 6, 2013 by Amy

We frequently get emails asking what paint colors we’ve used in various rooms in our homes so I thought I would pull them together in one post for everyone’s reference. Choosing paint colors is tricky, and it’s always helpful to see how the colors look in someone’s home first. We haven’t always gotten it right {like I wrote about here, though this color has grown on me and I don’t plan to repaint} but we’ve nailed down a few of our rooms with paint success stories for your reference.

So here they are, in no particular order, and I have linked the post on the room for more information on sources, etc.

Craft Room Makeover, {Post HERE.}

Color: Apple Blossom by Benjamin Moore {Natura}

Christy’s Dining Room, {Post HERE}

Color: Sherwin Williams Fawn Brindle {half strength}

Christy’s Kitchen Makeover {Post HERE}

Wall Color: Benjamin Moore Waynesboro Taupe

Cabinets: White Dove

Amy’s Master Bedroom {Post HERE}

Wall Color: Dutch Boy Driftwood Gray {Refresh Line}

Terry’s Dining Room {post HERE}

Wall Color Benjamin Moore Revere Pewter {Dining Room}

Terry’s Baby Nursery {Post HERE}

Wall Color: Benjamin Moore Moonshine

Amy’s Dining Room Ceiling {Post HERE}

Ceiling Color: Martha Stewart {Behr} Salt Water

Christy’s Bedroom {Post HERE}

Wall Color: Benjamin Moore Pebble Beach

Amy’s Laundry Room {Post HERE}

Wall Color Benjamin Moore Windy Sky

Christy’s Daughter’s Room {Post HERE and update HERE}

Wall Color: Behr Iconic Sky

I am realizing we paint quite a bit and may need a Part 2 post! But that’s a start. If I forgot a room you are curious about just let me know.

Do you have a favorite “can’t miss” paint color? I’d love some suggestions!

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Posted in DIY, Real Spaces | Tagged favorite paint colors, paint, paint colors, room makeovers | 1 Comment

The story of 11 Magnolia Lane

Posted on April 30, 2013 by Amy

Today we are sharing the story of 11 Magnolia Lane.

I have been thinking about writing a post on the “story” behind our little blog for awhile now. I figured at some point our readers have wondered our connection or maybe the meaning behind the “11 Magnolia Lane’ title and the backstory on how we started all this. Honestly, many days when I turn on my computer and see the sweet comments and the facebook posts I marvel at how we got here too.

So, here is the “longer” version of the “About Us” tab. I started a {different} blog as part of my paper (wedding invitations, party design etc.) business in 2009. Whenever I did a project for a wedding or event, I posted it on my little blogspot blog. Most of my followers were my supportive friends. I met Terry during that time as our sons were in preschool together and since she was an event planner there was an instant connection. We started working on weddings and events with our respective businesses, quickly becoming close friends as well. We soon needed to create a website/blog to promote the wedding and charitable event work we were doing together. As we tried to think of a name for the site, we both decided we liked the southern motif and were kicking around using “Magnolia” in the name of the event business.

{Terry}

At the same time, I was reading “party/event” blogs for my business which quickly led to reading home blogs {there were fewer at that time} and I was instantly hooked, after all I love to work on my house as much as I love to entertain. It occurred to me at the time how segmented the blogs were—there wasn’t much crossover {at that time} between the party/event blogs and home décor/DIY blogs and the idea hit me to recruit some talented friends to create a magazine type blog covering all those things like-minded people want to read about. And, as I mentioned in this post on our causes, through our event work, Terry and I were hoping to launch a fun but charitable fundraising event, and we figured a blog would be a great way to spread the word down the road. And, 11 Magnolia Lane was born.

Enter Christy…I have known Christy since my first day of college when– thankfully –the computer assigned us a roommates. We couldn’t be better matched as far as our tastes {y’all probably notice similarities in our decorating, and we tend to reconvene after separating while shopping to find the exact same items in our baskets!} and have stayed close friends in the years since our college days though we haven’t lived near each other since that time. My visits to see her were always the highlight of the summer and it was easy to see how talented she was at decorating her home and entertaining her house guests.

{Christy}

As luck would have it, about the time this type of magazine type blog idea was kicking around in my head, Christy and family had just moved into this stunning home in North Carolina. Each time I visited her I felt like the world needed to see how lovely not just the home was, but the creative ideas she used to decorate and keep her family organized. Before too long, I roped her into joining up with Terry and I to start this little blog. Her pretty house became our initial “brand” and we used a {made up} address of 11 Magnolia Lane, liking the concept of the house and our readers being our welcomed guests.

We were pretty haphazard when we started, we posted whatever we were up to, and the holidays were upon us so we had plenty of stuff to write about. WordPress picked up Christy’s chalkboard post for “Freshly Pressed” and we suddenly started getting tons of comments on it and before we knew it we were off and running. We sort of played at blogging our first few months, just posting when we felt like it, making a few connections in the blog world and having fun with it. Most of our friends and families probably didn’t even know we were doing it, but it was fun for us.

Things suddenly changed for me when my husband was unexpected transferred across the state shortly after we got the blog rolling. This admittedly threw my life into upheaval with having to close my design business, halt the event work Terry and I were doing, unexpectedly sell our house, find a new house and start completely over in a new area. Terry was working on a major event about the same time and Christy was also moving, {since she is military she rolls with it better then I did!} so we all pulled away from the blog in the summer of 2011, not really thinking or knowing if we’d continue working on it. {Note: that summer was the time Christy remade her new kitchen which eventually got published in Better Homes & Gardens Kitchen & Bath Makeovers, lest you think grass grows under her feet!}.

BH&G Kitchen + Bath Makeovers--Christy's kitchen

photo courtesy Kitchen + Bath Makeovers

I suppose after awhile we all missed blogging, after all, we’re pretty type A girls so we constantly have projects going and a blog provides great motivation to keep going, going going! By fall of 2011, we got back to posting again, I had plenty to share about the house we’d just finished having built, Christy was quickly completing makeovers on her new home and Terry started the work on her “In the Kitchen series” of cooking/healthy meal plans—which I was happy to hear she is going to be bringing back soon—and pretty soon we were back in the swing of it all.

In the spring of 2012 we planned a weekend to meet up in person to get better organized and get some photography of the three of us done. {FYI for new bloggers, of all the things we’ve done, I think giving the blog the polished look with the new professional photography helped us the most.} We had a great time that weekend, and came back with renewed energy and suddenly 11 Magnolia Lane became not just a hobby but a business.

While we’re on that slightly touchy subject, after all we all just want to read blogs and see beautiful room makeovers and mouth-watering recipes, not advertisements right? Well, that spring we were accepted into the BlogHer network which has been a great relationship for us. They provide occasional sponsored opportunities which help us offset the costs of running a blog, not to mention the personal costs of craft supplies, décor supplies and even sometimes the childcare we need to actually write our posts. We are very, very careful about which opportunites we participate in, trying only to take ones that match our subject/content areas and things we actually endorse, and we appreciate our readers understanding about them.

So we’re now entering a new stage at 11 Magnolia Lane. Terry is still spending time with her gorgeous new baby boy, but she’s got a ton of ideas about healthy eating and menu planning coming up soon. Christy is getting ready for her next move and will have a new house to start making gorgeous—probably a rental home this time which will give a new perspective since many of our readers are renting as well. I am in a new home too, we were fortunate enough to be able to move back to where we lived when we started the blog {just blocks from Terry!}. We don’t know yet if we’ll be able to buy the home we’re in—we hope the owners will sell it to us—so I am also in a quasi-rental situation as well. Christy and I both think this is a great opportunity to show new projects that don’t involve major construction . We have some great new things coming up, such as offering decorating/ organizing services in our respective areas and possibly offering some of our favorite home décor items for sale via 11 Magnolia Lane. Christy and I are heading to Haven {anyone else going? We’d love to meet you!} this summer to network with other DIY bloggers. All in all, we think the future is looking bright!

Thanks to all of you who read us, and especially take time to interact with us via comments, email or on Facebook. As a blogger we all have many, many days where we think—“What am I doing posting my pantry on the internet??? This is totally nuts!” But we enjoy the relationships that we’ve built online and it’s been fun to be a part of this ‘blog-o-sphere’ as it grows.

Did I answer anything you might be wondering? If not, please leave questions in the comments. As always, thanks for stopping by!

XO,

{Amy}

{We are sharing this post at Savvy Southern Style}

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Posted in General & About Us | Tagged 11 Magnolia Lane, about us, amy, background, blog story, christy, new house, terry | 14 Comments

Hulu Plus Giveaway and a new way to enjoy the classic “Soaps”

Posted on April 29, 2013 by Amy

So, does anyone out there have a secret (or not so secret?) love of Soap Operas? I admit that after years spending my days in an office or home office, daytime television slipped away as an indulgence in my life. However, I remember the days before reality TV was dominated by feuding housewives and before HGTV was available ALL DAY LONG, when my college roommates and I convened by the TV after our classes to decompress with a few hours of diet cokes and the soaps in the afternoons. Ahh…those were such carefree days!

Nowadays, changing TV tastes and the abundance of TV channels available have to led some Soap Operas ending their shows. Iconic soap characters lived for decades with twists of greed, catfights, love triangles and more then one come-back-to-life-after-being-killed-off story lines.

While I haven’t tuned in to soaps for awhile, I am sure I am not the only one who remembers the characters like Viki Lord played by Ericka Slezak, the central heroine of One Life to Live (who began the role in March 1971^[4] and played the character continuously for the rest of the show’s run) and Erica Kane played by Susan Lucci, one of the most iconic female soap opera stars EVER? Who are your favorite characters? I know I am not the only one who knows exactly who “Luke & Laura” are? Right? Or am I showing my age!

Personally, I think its great to see classic shows return to air. When you can instantly pick-up what is going on with a story line because you remember the characters from years ago its easy to get hooked right back in. And, I think that watching via HULU is a great way to to decompress after my kids are in bed at night so as not to detract from the millions of things that unfailingly must get done each day.

So, we’re spreading the news that two of TV’s most beloved soap operas in history are back with brand new episodes weekdays on Hulu starting on April 29^th with an exciting giveaway (scroll down). Many original cast members are back as well as a “hot new group” of cast members. These new shows being reintroduced via HULU are 3o minutes long and are proclaimed to be ‘edgier, sexier and hotter’ then ever. And now thanks to streaming TV via HULU, you can follow a NEW One Life to Live and NEW All my Children on your schedule and at your convenience. {with no VCR timers to set! }

Here is a bit about each “story”…

One Life to Live: Follows the complicated lives of three main families: the wealthy Lords, the powerful Buchanans and the strong-willed Cramers. The quiet simplicity of small town living is often interrupted by the drama between them yet despite the struggles, strong family bonds keep them united. Click HERE for more information about the new One Life to Live. All My Children: Revolves around the lives of the residents of fictional Pine Valley. For nearly forty years, this town has seen the trials and tribulations of its dynamic families. Now your favorite stories are back, and more dramatic than ever! Click HERE for more information about the new All My Children. SO…now you can watch your favorite episodes on-the-go AND have full access to the Hulu library which includes complete series episodes of top TV hits.

To begin a free week trial, just click HERE.

If you aren’t familiar with Hulu and Hulu Plus here is a bit about how they work.

Hulu.com is a free option for users who want to watch TV shows on their computers. Hulu is limited to the PC environment.

The Hulu Plus subscription service is the first and only internet video subscription service to stream full current seasons and a deep library of back seasons of hit TV shows from ABC, BET, Comedy Central FOX, NBC, MTV, VH-1 and more, in HD, to computers, internet-connected TVs and Blu-ray players, set-top boxes, mobile phones, and tablets, all for $7.99 per month with limited advertising.

AND, now for the GIVEAWAY!!!

One winner will win a free year of HULU Plus! Simply leave a comment on this post (below) telling us your favorite soap opera character (any soap). One winner will be chosen at random from the comments left before 5/26 and one grand prize winner will win a Roku streaming player!

Good Luck!

XO,

Amy

Sweepstakes Rules:

No duplicate comments.

You may receive (2) total entries by selecting from the following entry methods:

a. Leave a comment in response to the sweepstakes prompt on this post
b:Tweet (public message) about this promotion; including exactly the following unique term in your tweet message: “#SweepstakesEntry”; and leave the URL to that tweet in a comment on this post

c: Blog about this promotion, including a disclosure that you are receiving a sweepstakes entry in exchange for writing the blog post, and leave the URL to that post in a comment on this post

d: For those with no Twitter or blog, read the official rules to learn about an alternate form of entry.

This giveaway is open to US Residents age 18 or older. Winners will be selected via random draw, and will be notified by e-mail. You have 72 hours to get back to me, otherwise a new winner will be selected.

The Official Rules are available here.

This sweepstakes runs from 4/29/2013-5/26/2013

Be sure to visit the sponsor’s brand page on BlogHer.com where you can read other bloggers reviews and find more chances to win!

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Posted in giveaways | Tagged giveaways, soap opera | 46 Comments

Makeovers & Margaritas Girls’ Night

Posted on April 24, 2013 by Amy

I was thinking back the other day about this really fun party I hosted several years ago. It was pre-11 Magnolia Lane so I shared it on my event design blog but never here. Since I had some pictures from it and thought I would run a quick recap for nostalgia’s sake if nothing else.

And since we featured Margaritas {my husband’s very famous margaritas…stay tuned for recipe!} I thought the timing was perfect timing with Cinco De Mayo just around the corner.

I have been to many, many “direct sales” home parties–you know, like Mary Kay, Thirty-One, Pampered Chef–and even hosted a few. Since I sometimes (but really not always, I promise) like to make things a little fancier then my guests would expect, I decided to jazz things up a bit when I hosted this Arbonne make-up party for my girlfriends.

We had so much fun playing with the make-up…check out this awesome display. By the end of the night we were all smoky-eyed and red-lipped beauties!

At the time, part of my business were the paper products–the labels etc. so I featured them prominently at this party. I own up to having had a habit of making my events a bit of a personal showcase for my design business

I made little drink stirrers along with some take home favors for the guests.

And, you may even recognize the letters on the “You Are Beautiful” banner from my Vintage Sign Tutorial last week {click to see how I repurposed them}.

This night was so much fun, I may have to do it again. Last year I hosted a Girls’ Night Out for Thirty-One Gifts along the same line, maybe I need to get another Girls’ Night in the plan again soon!?!

If you want more information, click HERE to learn more about Arbonne’s products {they are just the best in my opinion!} and for contact information.

On to the FUN part! My husband’s Margaritas are simply the best drinks around {well along with his Martini’s {they are also HERE}}. I persuaded him to share his recipe–its very simple, no pre-packaged mix and these are so fresh and tasty. Having been a bartender, he describes things in “counts” for how long he pours–and warning: He is HEAVY HANDED!–so just change the portions/ratios according to how many you are making.

******************

Margaritas

4 counts good, gold Tequila {vary by how strong you want the drink}

4 counts sour mix {we use Poe’s—do NOT use “sweet &” sour mix!}

2 counts good Triple Sec

3 counts Rose’s Lime Juice

Tons of fresh squeezed Lime juice.

We do the cold glasses rimmed with salt, because of course he’s a “professional” {in his former life LOL} but serve however you like.

And now you’re ready for Cinco De Mayo!

XO,

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Posted in Entertaining, Events, Girls Night Out, Shopping, Spring, Weddings & Events | Tagged arbonne, girls night out, makeover party, margarita recipe | 1 Comment

DIY Vintage Sign

Posted on April 19, 2013 by Amy

I have wanted a vintage “Groceries” sign to hang over my pantry just like Christy had over her wall calendar but haven’t been able to find one. So, I decided to make one. This actually was a part of the chalkboard paint projects we recently posted about on Tatertots and Jello, but I never actually included it in that post so the project debuts here today!

This is a very easy way to make a sign, I know there are lots of other ways–stencils, vinyl etc. but this is a way I came up with since I don’t have a vinyl machine nor did I have the right size stencil.

I used this exact same technique to make this “Easter” sign last year for my mantel.

My technique is SO simple. First, I used either a ready made plaque (from Michael’s) or just a scrap board (from Home Depot) and painted it. The black paint on the groceries sign is actually black chalkboard paint, my daughter painted this scrap piece of wood while I painted the board for my DIY Huge Giant Chalkboard last summer as her keep-her-occupied “project” so it just needed lettering.

I used these simple paper die-cut letters, I got these at Michael’s several years ago and have used them for tons of projects and they are the perfect size for a 3 to 4″ board. You just place them on the board, spacing as equally as you can.

Then just trace around each letter with a pencil.

After that, I just painted the letters using a small paint brush. Even though I used chalkboard paint, I used regular white craft paint to fill in the letters on the “groceries” sign. I did two coats of paint for this one because the white looked a little thin.

It doesn’t have to be perfect, if you go slowly its not too difficult to stay in the lines. As you can see, I used a very fancy paintbrush–I think this one came out of my daughter’s $1 watercolor set?

I would like to finish this sign off to make it look more “vintage”, maybe with some light stain or some dark wax to tone down the white letters a bit, but that won’t happen until the boxes with those items are unearthed. If I do, I will be sure to update and let you all know if it worked.

In the meantime, this little sign is now just hanging there over my pantry. Easy!

Is anyone doing anything fun this weekend? I have more painting to do in our new home but can’t seem to motivate!

XO,

Sharing this at Serenity Now.

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Posted in Crafts, DIY, Projects & Printables | Tagged diy vintage sign, groceries sign, kitchen, make a sign, no vinyl sign, painted sign, pantry | 2 Comments

A new baby and a new house!

Posted on April 12, 2013 by Amy

**Our newest giveaway is up and running over on our Current Giveaways page. We’re giving away two copies of 31 Days to a Heart of Hospitality, an ebook by our friend Edie over at Life{in}Grace.**

Here is a bit of what’s been going on with the other two of us while Christy’s been covering 11 Magnolia Lane over the last two weeks! She did a great job of course She is now in the midst of preparing to move, and winding up the school year, so I told her I would jump back in and give everyone all the news.

First of all, we are SO proud to share our newest resident at Magnolia Lane. Last week Terry and her family welcomed this sweet bundle of joy to their family. I have been lucky enough to spend time with him and can attest he will just melt your heart!

Gorgeous photo by Courtney Anderson Photography. He is in his beautiful nursery, see the whole room HERE.

And we’ve completed our move! Well, at least as far as we are able to reside in our home, but we still have boxes everywhere. We really jumped back in our new area with kids’ activities, school events, sporting events and of course, that new baby pictured above to visit :) so unpacking has taken a backseat.

Our new home is very different from our former lakefront home near the beach. We traded the water view for space, space and more space. Just having a basement for ~~storage~~ the kids to play in is so nice, not to mention all this closet space I will be sure to show off more of the house once I get it more presentable but for now here is a bit of a sneak peak via my phone.

{the dining room}

While we waited for our belongings to arrive, I had a few days in the empty house to make some adaptions so it would match our current cooler, light color scheme. Much of this home is decorated in warmer tones like yellow, mustard, moss green and burgundy.

{the family room}

We discovered the other day that the stripes on the fireplace wall are not what they seem–wallpaper–but actually painted on the wall. I need to find out the scoop on that from the owner, it’s just amazing to me someone could paint perfect stripes on a two-story wall.

{the front hall}

{the screened porch–I have BIG plans for this space!}

I did have a few projects right at the top of my list. First off, my oldest son is moving into the room that was a former office. I tackled removing the flowered wallpaper border, as it is not really my son’s taste. I’ll do a post on that shortly, I learned a lot of what to do and not do removing wallpaper. Here is the room previously, it was an easy fix and after the border came down, the beige walls work perfectly for a preteen boy.

I also painted the master bedroom. It was formerly dark minty green, and our bedding and accessories didn’t really match. I have been obsessed with the Sherwin Williams color ‘Blue Diamond’ since I saw it in my brother in law’s beach condo last winter. Its the perfect palest blue, with just hints of gray, and couldn’t wait to use it in my bedroom. Had I not just painted my old master bedroom, I would have redone it immediately to that color after our visit.

Unfortunately things didn’t go as planned with the color, it came out WAY more blue then I expected. Here is the repainted room, and while I like it, its obviously not the ‘palest’ blue out there. I am not sure if its the dark green behind {but I used paint with primer?} or perhaps I incorrectly remembered the color and got something else similar instead, or maybe the color was off from being mixed at Home Depot? {Thoughts?} Anyway, lesson learned but I will just live with it–or repaint the room again down the road!

I am off to go unpack, but thanks for stopping by!

XO,

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Posted in Before and After, General & About Us, Home Inspiration, Home Tours, Real Spaces | Tagged baby, bedroom, before, Dining Room, master bedroom, moving, new house, Porch | 4 Comments

How to build a {DIY} Giant \ Huge \ Wall Chalkboard

Posted on March 25, 2013 by Amy

This is hands down my most favorite project in my house.

Maybe ever.

It wasn’t hard, nor expensive and it provides not only organization for me but fun for my kids. And it’s most certainly a “conversation” piece.

Last summer I built this giant chalkboard for my wall between my dining room and kitchen, across from my butler’s pantry. I had to hold off showing it on this blog thanks to the interest of a lovely magazine scout, but since our house will likely sell before we could fit in a photoshoot {sniff sniff}, today I am revealing it in all its glory!

I think the hardest thing about this project is finding a large empty wall to use.

This space wasn’t large enough for any shelving so putting up a giant chalkboard was the next logical choice, right?

{Maybe not if you had asked my husband!?}

Obviously there are easier ways to do this project then the route I went. If you are lucky enough to have flat walls, you could tape, prime and paint chalkboard paint on the walls and then just trim the space out. I had to go the extra step and prime, paint and tack up a smooth chalkboard-painted piece of wood thanks to my ultra-textured walls which there is no way you could write on. It’s also good in that I can pull it down in case the next owners of my house don’t want a giant, huge chalkboard. I don’t really know why they wouldn’t though?

So, I used a very thin, lightweight plywood board {cut to size at Home Depot}, primed with spray primer then covered it using a foam roller with multiple coats of chalkboard paint.

There was one obvious issue with the space I had in mind. The lovely thermostat right in the middle of the wall.

I used a jigsaw to cut the hole in the board, I measured several times to make sure everything would line up correctly. School was out, so I had a great helper.

I then primed and cut to size some lightweight molding to trim around it. If you are intimidated by a power saw I can tell you that I used a miter box to cut the trim. Its a bit of an arm workout, but anyone can do this, no power tools (or gym trips that day) necessary.

My plan was to cut trim to build a frame around the thermostat, but in an effort to save myself anymore sawing, I decided to search my attic for a frame that might fit instead. Luckily, I had one that worked perfectly–it fit like a glove, it’s not even glued on–and it probably looks more polished than one I would have built.

We make great use of this space: for coloring, for lists of things to do, or inspirational quotes. I am refining my “chalk art” skills and while, of course, I aspire to have lovely works of pinterest-inspired chalk art on it, in actuality, it’s a great space for the kids to color and receive gentle reminders for them from me.

Thanks for stopping by!

Sharing this post at~

Tutorials & Tips at Home Stories A to Z, Tuesday’s Treasures at My Uncommon Slice of Suburbia, Wow Us Wednesdays at Saavy Southern Style.

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Posted in Children's Activities, DIY, Home Inspiration, Organization, Projects & Printables, Real Spaces | Tagged chalk paint, chalkboard for textured walls, diy, diy chalkboard, frame a thermostat, giant chalkboard, hallway decor | 12 Comments

Moving Tips & Tricks and How to Stay Sane!

Posted on March 22, 2013 by Amy

***OK FUN STUFF FIRST—the Shabby Apple $50 gift certificate giveaway ends tomorrow, if you haven’t entered click HERE to be entered to win some fresh spring fashion!***

Well, OK the staying sane part while moving might be a stretch but I am going to try my best this time. I am getting ready to move, and Christy is also getting ready to move so I thought it would be a good time for us to try to come up with a post of tips and tricks.

source image

Ya’ll kicked in your suggestions via facebook and email and it was great! I am already making use of so many of your tips. On this topic, I know that our military spouse (a crown Christy wears as well) readers know that of which they speak. Thanks for the input, everyone!

In case you missed it, we’re packing up our current home and moving “home” in a few weeks. Being that this move is our choice as well as long-distance, we don’t have the budget for a crew of trained packers to come in and wave their magic wands and leave me with all our belongings nicely in boxes. I am that magic fairy, and I am going to be working hard these next few weeks! So, again, any way possible to make it easier will be a HUGE help.

So here is all the great advice you all gave me when I asked, such great tips!

Take everything off the walls and keep together. Label boxes with each room. Live off paper plates and paper products. Pack up the kids room leave out only a few toys. Pack and stack boxes in your garage while kids are at school. Pack suitcase of clothes for each kid and yourself and live out of and wash only that. Pack the rest. Use towels to pack breakable vases and such. ~Megan (9 military moves)

Pack your bedding in the dresser that goes in that bedroom.~Suzanne

I put all our clean clothes into those giant ziplock bags with dryer sheets, that way they stay reasonably folded and clean and don’t have that cardboard box smell. The movers just put the bags into boxes and also strange men aren’t pawing all the clothes. This has made unpacking the clothing of a family of 5 way easier on the other side. Good luck, we are up this summer, moving to Germany! ~ Allison {Thanks Allison, Good Luck to YOU!}

Go around the house now, open every drawer and closet and photograph- will really help if your whole shipment disappears or, more likely, you have a few missing or damaged items.~Mary (11 military moves)

Pack silverware and kitchen utensils in gallon ziplock bags and they stay clean….just empty into the new drawer at your destination.~Kate

Give the house a good cleaning before you start packing or packers and movers show up! Everywhere should be exactly where it’s “supposed” to be before you start packing (even if it hasn’t been in the right spot in years lol) It will keep you motivated and bring your stress level down when everything seems a little more organized and clean to start.~Tianna

Put all your breakables that are treasures in one spot, like on the dining room table. Have the packers pack them first when they are fresh for the day.~Lezlie

One of the best helps I’ve come up with is having 2 boxes. ONE for bedding and any household supplies, packed and ready to use upon arrival AND a box that I mark “PARTS”. Every top of a lampshade, every screw, every key, plug, wire etc etc etc goes into that box. Both boxes are LAST on the truck and first to come off. ~Kathleen

Christy gave me her tips {below}, these from the girl that if you visit her two weeks after she moves in, will already have her house perfectly squared away and probably be painting her cabinets. Trust me, I know.

I always try to pack and LABEL a box that has a hammer, nails, drill, picture hanging hooks, drywall anchors, doublestick tape and Command hooks, spackle and putty knife, etc. so that I can start hanging stuff as soon as I unpack it. And last, but definitely most important, keep your corkscrew, shaker, and coffee maker out because alcohol (and caffeine) consumption spikes sharply during a move! ~Christy {11Magnolialane, her 8th military move is coming up}

I am going to add in a few more tips, believe it or not we’ve moved nine times and we’re not even military. The first tip I always utilize originally came from my cousin-in-law, Mary, who was a military spouse. She said to put all the contents from each linen closet in a clear garbage bag, then pack it in a box. Then, when you unpack you can just drop the garbage bag in the closet and toss the box, that way you can unpack at your convenience but everything for the closet is already where it needs to go. Brilliant!

Here is my number one moving tip: prior to all of my moves, I take the kitchen layout, pour a cup of tea and sit down with a pencil, I plot and plan where my kitchen items will go. It saves a ton of time when you actually are unpacking not to have to think on the spot what cabinets to put the glasses in, what drawer for the silverware etc. My Mom was sweet enough to help with my last move and she could also reference my plan instead of asking me over and over where to put things, it was a great help.

Above is my diagram I did prior to moving into my current home, sorry, I know it’s hard to see as I wrote in pencil so I could adjust things accordingly. I used my cabinet layout provided by our builder, but this time I will work off a picture of the kitchen and just draw it out, then label where I think things should go.

I am a huge fan of the moving supplies at Home Depot {though no they aren’t sponsoring this post } but they have boxes super cheap, and I have found this green plastic shrink wrap works wonders. I shrink wrap what I can together, like these glass plates, and it keeps things from moving as much during the process and seems to help.

Also, I found these adorable labels {Via Pinterest} from onlinelabels.com to use on you boxes. I may not quite get as far with the “cute” factor this time, but had to share them none the less!

OK! I am off to pack boxes now…but thank you so much to those who shared tips, and for any tips we’ve missed please leave them in the comments section so that this will continue to be a great resource for all facing the FUN task of a move.

Thanks for stopping by!

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Posted in Organization, Projects & Printables, Tips & Tricks | Tagged military movinng tricks, move organization, moving, organization, packing, tips | 6 Comments

Ruler Growth Chart

Posted on March 15, 2013 by Amy

While I am slowly starting the purging, organizing and packing process that proceeds a move, one project I had to complete prior to leaving our home was to make a portable growth chart.

Soon after we moved in–it must have been all these plain white walls just calling out to me–we started marking our kids height on the wall next to our refrigerator. They have grown a TON this year, we’ve really gotten a kick out of looking back on how little they were when we first moved in this house not even two years ago.

So, not wanting to leave that precious little snapshot of their childhood behind, I had to move making a ruler growth chart from the “when I get to it” pile to the “today” pile. These abound on the internet, I think Pottery Barn might have originally introduced them but who can keep track these days?

My neighbor Ani has the most fabulous one. I pretty much knocked her version off because it already seemed perfect. Though when I went by to photograph it I realized hers is all cool and muted and distressed…of course it is, she is cool like that! This is hers below…

But for my version, I did this project fast, cheap and easy–the best kind, right? After all, I have boxes to get to packin’! Home Depot sells these boards already cut to size. I went with a 6′ board since my son is already the tallest kid in 2nd grade, so better to be safe then sorry, right?

I spray painted the board with heirloom white, giving it just a few quick coats so a little of the wood grain would still show through. Then, after measuring out the numbers, I used stencils to mark the numbers along the edge. I just used a black sharpie to color inside the stencil, and it worked perfectly.

Because my baseboards take up about the first 4 to 5 inches, I started my 1 foot closer then 12″ from the bottom, that way I could hang it slightly above the baseboard and be 12″ off the ground.

I just marked in pencil my kid’s height and age, matching what is on my {soon to be former} wall and I know we’ll keep going with it once we’re in our new home. They grow so fast, don’t they?