Mykayla Update- Petite Powerhouse!

Google search Mykayla Skinner. Check out her gymnastics here on youtube. As of late, she's been in the Arizona Republic, front page of Gilbert Republic, LDS Church News, the New Era magazine, interviewed live on Channel 12, and becoming known as the Petite Powerhouse. She made it to the National Team! There are 13 girls on, but only 8 of them will go to the Olympics. We are so proud of her and hope her dream of being an Olympic Champ comes true!

Mother-in-law, Kym, on left and little sis-in-law a.k.a Gollygol. Our oldest son, Brayden, couldn't pronounce Mykayla when he was little, so he called her Gollygol. Not sure why, but we all started calling her that, ha. More Mykayla

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Find her Official Website here.

Oh, the Joy of Paint Colors

We like neutral colors and wanted a subtle color throughout the house. Thought it be easy picking out a simple light tan color, but there are SO many different colors! This was in every room of the house... 

The light grayish looking one is called Balanced Beige, which is just a tad lighter than Tony Taupe by Sherwin Williams (SW). The green one to the left of it is called Victorian Garden by SW also (which we are using in the family room.) The tan one on the far right is Basket Beige by SW. The very first one on the left is Sandy Motif by Behr. I don't remember the other ones.

We paint matched ALL of these at Home Depot (HD) because we wanted primer in the paint and SW doesn't offer that. Plus SW paints are more expensive and we wanted to cut the paint time in half.

We thought we liked Sandy Motif and so we decided to start in the boys room (which was light blue, btw). But a little patch of color on the wall is A LOT different than an entire room. The tan color is nice, but not what we thought it would look like. It's more of a yellowish tan. So it stayed in the boys room and we chose another color for the rest of the house. (I didn't take a pic of the boys room, but I will and post that later)

We decided we wanted more of a taupe tan and were advised by a professional interior designer to go with Tony Taupe, but thought it might be a smidge too dark. So we chose to go with Balanced Beige (one notch up on the color wheel) and started in the master bedroom (which was maroon, yuck). At first, it looked like the perfect color. Then it turned grey. We didn't like it, but didn't want to paint it again, so we left it. I swear over a week, the paint curred and now it is taupe! I think it's pretty, clean, crisp, and I love it. Will look so much better too once we put up crown moulding. There was some up already, but the cut lines were so uneven, we tore it down.

(Balanced Beige by Sherwinn Williams in Satin)

...But what's weird is, the color patch in the hallway still looks grey. And we labeled each color with a pencil on the wall so it for sure is Balanced Beige. The lighting is a little different I guess, but our room never looks grey in any lighting and we have dimmer lights. Hmm.
Since we thought the walls in the master were forever grey, we picked out a different color, and went away from the greyish tans. We chose Basket Beige by SW, but again, matched at HD. I love it. I'm not a very colorful person. I like pops of color, but nothing bold. I wanted something colorfully rich, but subtle at the same time without looking brown. Can't wait to get up the crown moulding, but I'm afraid it won't be til early next year. We've got so many other projects going.

 (Basket Beige by Sherwinn Williams in Satin)

Alas, I got started on Averi's nursery. I went with Mauve Morning by Behr at Home Depot in satin finish. Luckily, there was at least one room in the house without a paint color.

Before...

filthy and missing blinds are coming down. 

And here is...

Mauve Morning by Behr in Satin

I wanted a light lavender something with a greyish tint and this is perfect. It goes great with the new fabric I found for only $1.50/yrd !! I know! You can't even find clearance fabric that cheap. They must have marked it wrong by mistake. ...but finders keepers, hee hee.

Pics of that later.

I looove paint and primer in one. It's de best.

These rollers at Home Depo are WON-DER-FUL. [don't pay any attention to my ugly, kid-friendly carpet] The coverage they give make painting a heckuva lot easier. Spend a little extra and go with better rollers. You'll be painting less coats if you do. You get what you pay for if you choose the crappy cheap ones. They don't paint the same.

Painting Tip:

If you need to take a break on your painting project, put your roller in a large plastic Ziploc bag and put it in the fridge. Squeeze all the air out of the bag and it will keep for a week in there. Plus you're not wasting any expensive paint by cleaning it out. You can also put them in freezer bags and freeze them for 2 months.

Tomorrow's Project-

more painting. surprise surprise.

My Home Tour

Wanna see a tour of my dream home?

Here is my front room...

 Then you waltz into the dining room...

And to your left is the kitchen...

 And to your right is the family room...

 Here is the boy's room...

 Here is Averi's nursery...

And here is my master bedroom...

Well, this is what I want my new house to look like once we fix it up :) I had fun with OlioBoard creating these rooms just the way I want. Still want to create one for Bryce's room, the guest bedroom, and a bathroom. It's nice to have a visual of what I want each room to look like.

This site is addicting.

Exciting News!

We bought our first house! Yay for no more renting!! After 3 months of waiting anxiously, everything went through. The longest and most stressful 3 months of my life. 4 kids: piece of cake. Buying a house: head full of silver!
It all worked out and we are so happy.
We didn't buy a 'fixer-upper' but the place does need some love - all cosmetic. Walls & ceilings are filthy. Non-smoking home, but it seems they had indoor food fights, and possibly shook a soda can and let it explode in one of the bedrooms. Cupboard in the kitchen is missing, cupboard in bathroom is broken, outdated light fixtures, lots of gum underneath counter top bar, kids colored all over walls, all faucets leak, and the WORST paint job ever. BUT...5 bedrooms, 2 bath, 2 living rooms, fire place/wood stove, 2 reg size pantries, 1 lrg walk-in pantry, storage shed, wood shop, chicken coop, large fenced yard, apple & pear trees, grape vines, raspberry & blackberry bushes and super nice neighbors.
We didn't have the luxury of getting the place move-in ready, so we're living there with all our stuff in boxes still. Our plan of action is to tackle one room at a time, making each room sparkle (if we don't do it now, we never will)...but with 4 little constant interruptions, it's going slower than we'd like. Plus, having to use a metal scraper to scrape gum and jolly ranchers off the ceiling may have contributed to the 8 hour-long bedroom scrubbing party. Yes, that is how long it took to clean walls, ceiling, baseboards, doors, and shelves inside closet in just ONE bedroom. Thanks to Emma Age 6. And that does not include the time it took to paint. I wanted to take a before pic of the light blue, dirty walls for proof ;) - but once I get in that 'cleaning mode' I don't want to stop.
So far, the walls, ceiling and doors all have a fresh new coat of paint. I love that new, clean feeling. ah. Once the other half of the closet is painted, we'll put up the boys' bunk beds and move on to room #2 - master bedroom.
Working on matching duvet covers for their beds and accompanying valance for the window. Need to get them a new dresser that matches their bed. The one they currently have is hideous. It was ugly to begin with, then we painted it, and its still ugly. Can you say curbside?
Pics coming soon :)

Nursery Inspiration

I've been trying to decide how I want to decorate my little girl's room once we move. I've searched the Internet for a picture of the perfect nursery that I would want, but I cannot find anything. It's all so themed with flowers and ladybugs and too bright of colors for me. I guess I'm too picky. I know what I want in my mind and so I'll just have to make it myself. I'm on the lookout for the perfect fabric - maybe a damask print in lilac with a coordinating plum print. Throw in some cream colors, off-white, or white. Haven't decided. I did however, find some pictures for the inspiration of Averi Brooke's new nursery. (Yes, Averi is a girl name. Especially when you put a heart instead of a dot over the i )

love the idea/colors of this pillow and would be super easy to make

 cute little table to sit next to the rocking chair. Maybe painted a distressed plum color.

 this nursery is a bit too modern for me, but i like the feeling it gives. it's refreshing.

 white chandelier with white pearls/beads is a must. adds such feminine charm.

 Love the color on the walls- purplish gray. Also love the iron rod crib and all the fabrics.

 Pearls! I have some great ideas for decorating with sweet pearls.

 flowers on the side instead of being the focal point is much more my style



Excited to find the perfect fabrics and get to sewing and creating. Might be a while til it's all finished since I've got a lot going on, but I'll be posting as I go.

Jimmy Rigged Candle Making

So...a blog I read made candle making look super easy. "Oh ya just melt this and pour that, and walla!" Since I had a candle that melted the wax right on top of it's own wick, I thought I'd give it a whirl and try to reuse the wax. Plus it smells amazingly tropical. You can use the microwave, but since mine had that little metal thing at the bottom of the wick somewhere inside the glass, I didn't have that option. So I patiently waited for the wax to melt upon my stove top over medium-low heat for 30 minutes.

 candlewicks and jar...check!

 This blog I read (really don't remember whose) said you simply dip the little metal part in the melted wax...

 ...and stick it down in the bottom center of your new glass. Once it dries, pour in the wax and it will stay.

Simple enough, right?

WRONG!!!

Once the hot wax touches it, it melts again! I should have known.

This is where the jimmy rigged part comes in...

I used bamboo skewers to hold the little metal knobs down on the bottom of the glass while snuggling frozen veggies to the sides to get it to cool faster. The hardest part was trying to get the stupid wicks to stay straight in the wax!

 So once I got the wicks to stay a little straight, I used the skewers to hold the wicks upright while it cooled completely. (I dipped my finger in the hot wax and put a dab on each side of the wick where it meets the skewer so when it dries, it would hold it in place and I could let go.)

Once you get it just right, DON'T BUMP IT! like i did.

 Then I used my new nifty candlewick trimmers (that I pretty much got for free at that sidewalk sale) to trim down both wicks once it dried- which took another 30 minutes

 I had a little wax left over and made a mini one in a tiny ketchup bottle.

Once it all cooled, I was happy.



I'm sure those of you, who actually know how to make candles, have some neat little tricks and/or gadgets to make this easy and are probably laughing at this post, but idc. 

Jimmy rigged or not, it worked out eventually.

:)

Framed Tin Magnet Board

This project cost me under $7- which was just for the sheet of tin (on sale at Home Depot.)

Frame from my mom's garage, already had the ribbon, mod podge, paint,and screws.

If you want to make your own, hit up your mom's garage. or your own. or a thrift store, yard sale, whatev.

 

I'm sure this was nice to someone sometime, but not so much anymore. Outdated to say the least.

(Sorry to whoever painted this. Good things don't last forever, ya know?)

Which is why my mom was excited to get rid of it. Lucky for me.

Paper border? yep.

Most of it peeled right off, but for the stubborn areas, a wet washcloth dipped in fabric softener works miracles. and a butter knife :)

After I got all that fabulous paper off, I painted it white with a foam brush.

(Foam brushes work best if you have to paint over lots of groves.)

While waiting for the paint to dry, cut out strips of ribbon to make a border. You can use fabric, wall paper, scrapbook paper, etc. Using a foam brush, paint a layer of mod podge directly onto the artwork and lay down the ribbon. If your frame came without pretty art (lucky you), cut out a thick piece of cardboard, cork board, or thin plywood. Rub out any wrinkles or air bubbles in your border. Then paint a layer of mod podge right on top to seal it.

 Once it's all painted with mod podge, let it dry. Go back and paint a second coat on your frame, if necessary.

Then make your husband drill a hole in each corner of the tin.

Unless you're one of those cool chics and can do it yourself.

Twist those screws right down into the artwork/cardboard.

Yes, it actually stays. I'm amazed too.

Then have your husband cut off the sharp ends in the back with his Dremmel tool.

Again, unless you're a cool chic.

and make your husband hold it up while you take a picture :)

...and enjoy decorating with these easy and cute magnets you can make yourself.

I'm pretty sure you can also use dry erase markers on tin, but I haven't actually tried it.

You can use for pictures, notes, whatever.

I love how it turned out.

Thanks for your help, babe.

Oh Happy Day

One would think there aren't very many perks to living in a small town, but I totally disagree in a non-biased way and this proves it...
What do you get when a boutique, who sells their adorable, over-priced pottery barn style home decor inside the pharmacy, has a sidewalk sale that no one knows about?
Delight aaaaaallllll over it.
That's right.
$5 per bag, whatever you can fit in it.
$5 for whatever you can't.
Um, are you sure you only want $5 for this?
There were so many cute things, I couldn't grab it all quick enough. The best part was that it was just me. (...well, almost. two other women, but whatev) Price tags were still on everything.

For $60 total, I got all this...
- Beautiful cream colored large ceramic bowl with the matching pitcher ($59)

- 4' 5" brand new decorative Christmas tree that sits inside a lovely piece of pottery ($120)
- Large high-quality wooden basket ($55)
- Small off-white rustic wired basket ($40)
- Fancy porcelain Santa Clause ($80)
- 2 Glass decorative bowls/vases ($30 ea)
- Glass tiered candle holder ($25)
- Wooden decorative house ($40) [sounds odd, but it's super cute. I'll have to post a pic]
- Beautiful, sparkly, Christmasy table centerpiece ($60)
- Muslin tablecloth ($50)
- Table runner ($30)
- 8 faux pears ($2 ea)
- 4 cute little xmas tree ornaments ($6 ea)
- Wooden letter 'A' ($8) - [for Averi]
- 3 small faux potted plants that sit together on a rectangular plate ($25)
- 8 classy candlesticks ($30)
- Fancy candlewic trimmer ($10)
- Reading glasses that fold up in this mini suitcase thing ($15) [I don't even use reading glasses, I just thought they were cute cause they were small, ha.]
- Wooden picture frame ($25)

I can't believe it either.
Did I luck out or did I luck out?
I should have taken pics, but I packed it all up in boxes over the weekend (except the pitcher)- now it will be like Christmas when we unpack at our new place. Yes, we're moving. Which is why I spent $60 on useless home decor. New house means new space, means new ideas, means new decor! Get my drift? If not, you'll see for yourself as I post pics of the new pad.

...got something great to post tomorrow. A lil som'n som'n I made Saturday night while the kids were sleeping. It turned out just the way I imagined it.

Til next time

Stayin' Alive

My friend, Heather, wrote this and I'm stealing it from her blog. It's the only thing that perfectly describes my absence...

Staying Alive by: Heather Shill

Well, you can tell my the way I neglect my blog
I'm a wanted mom, and I miss my dog.
Kids are loud and it's gettin' warm
I can't hear when I'm on the phone.
And now it's alright, that's okay
I dare not look the other way
Please just try to understand
My house looks this way thanks to little hands.
(Chorus)
Whether you're a brother or whether you're a mother
you're stayin' alive, stayin' alive.
Wake me, am I dreamin'- will someone stop the screamin'
Oh, I'm stayin' alive, stayin' alive.
Ah, ah, ah, ah,stayin' alive, stayin' alive
ah, ah, ah, ah, s-t-a-y-i-n'------a-l--i--v--e (and fade)

I found myself singing this yesterday (with her lyrics) as I was washing dishes. lol.
thanks Heather, you're so cute. and such a good mom.

PS. I do plan on posting still. Stay tunned.