Saturday Surprise!

I love Saturdays.  Especially the ones where Ben doesn't have to work and is home to help out.  I spend all week planning the Saturday projects.  This week our jobs to tackle were to 1. touch up the paint in the family room, 2. hang that blasted door, and 3. borrow a truck to haul our yard debris to the dump (there is a lot of it).  Those were our objectives.  So at 8:00 after making breakfast I took what I thought was the right old paint color to get a match so I could touch up the paint.  Long story short it wasn't right and while looking for the right stuff I opened up a can of purple paint.  I don't know what it was bought for by the old owners but this whole time I've wanted to paint Heidi's room purple!!  So here was a free quart of purple paint-a cute purple even-that saved me not only money but also the stress I have over picking paint.  I second guess myself over and over about paint color.  But this was already bought so I didn't have to agonize over it.  I promptly started putting tape up while the rest of the family watched Home Alone.  Here is Heidi's weekend room makeover!!

BEFORE:

Love the bay window but it had no way to utilize it for storage.  And the closet doors are broken (that is still going to have to wait)

MIDDLE:

This was her set up when we got here.  I love her bed but wanted it to stand out instead of blend with the white.  Her comforter is new since I like purple and blue right now.  She kept the pillows from my old bed set specifically for her bay window-they don't match at all.  It just looks messy.

AFTER!!!!

I LOVE IT!!!  Can you believe that such a cute paint color was just sitting in our garage waiting to be used?!?!?!  I love it, love it, love it.  Not only was it the perfect color but it was magical.  It was like when Jesus fed the 5000 where not only did the food last but there was food to spare!  That was this paint.  It was just a quart and I did stripes because I didn't think I would have enough for a whole wall.  But then I decided to also do the bay window since there was a lot left.  And then there was still more so I did the closet wall.  I figured I would run out so it wouldn't be as nice but not only was I able to finish that but I also painted some shelves, a mirror and have more leftover!!  CRAZY!!

That wood shutter over her bed was a yard sale find.  $1.  I knew I wanted it for something but wasn't sure.  Last night I stained it and hung it up!  I love it.  I plan to have the quote "A good book is the best of friends" written on it.  I just have to see which of my sisters wants to be my favorite sister and do it for me.  I love that quote and it fits Heidi.  Should she one day grow out of the quote I will still use it elsewhere in my house.  With the dark wood it ties in the dark pillows from my old bed set.  We are planning to put dark hinges on the bay window too because we finally pried that thing opened!  I'm excited for the dark brown accent in her room.  

PS-I was working on this late last night.  The girls finally conked out around 11:00 but when I vacuumed at midnight Daisy plugged her ears in her sleep.  Cute.

I try to have a temple picture in each room.  In the past they have just been thumb tacked up.  However I had a friend who gave me a box of frames months ago when they moved in and didn't want them.  I happen to find this frame in the box that perfectly fit the odd size of a 25 cent temple picture from the distribution center.  This picture is right as you walk into her room and also ties in the dark wood.  Can you tell which temple it is?

This is the last thing to be done.  I painted the shelves with the miracle paint to bring in the purple.  They are holding Heidi's oddball stuff like weird glass figurines she got from the treasure box at school.  We tacked up the cheap articles of faith you can get from the church.  It needs a frame.  I'm going to try and find a cheap frame that will be nice and dark and tie the whole room together.  I would also like to find a cheap stand to go by her bed because she reads at night and has a lamp that needs somewhere to stand.  Once I find those things her room will be complete.  

It was so fun yesterday.  There are times when I feel so blessed.  I know painting a room is not some churchy thing but for me it does confirm my testimony that God knows us and loves us.  It was an answer to a prayer not yet asked because I felt like I shouldn't dare ask for even more in life than He has already blessed me with.  This is exactly how I wanted this room to come together and it happened without me even trying.  I wasn't going to get this done for months but Heavenly Father blessed me with a way to complete it at just the right time.  So to recap...we did not touch up the paint in the family room, didn't hang the door or find a truck to move our yard debris.  Instead it was a very productive day where Heidi's room looks better than I ever expected, my testimony grew a little more and we did get the front yard cleaned up.  Saturdays are a special day.

Nonstop Work

I love living in a house that is my own.  It's a new experience for us after ten years of renting.  The biggest change is that it is SO MUCH WORK!!  I can't believe the nonstop list that I've been working on and then adding more to.  For every one thing I get done four more get added to the list.  Everyone tells me it doesn't change however if they knew me they would know I want to have everything done and completed!  I don't like the feeling of having things that need to be done.  So I have been working nonstop.  If the weather is nice I go outside.  If not I tackle projects inside.  And then I always throw in unnecessary things like having everyone over for Halloween, my family coming for Thanksgiving and Ben's family for Christmas.  It adds more stress but I love having people over.  

Halloween definitely took a back seat this year to the rest of my life.  No costumes made.  No thought in to what they were going to wear.  Just a nagging thought each day and then I would push it aside as I worked on the house.  In the end We had a Taylor Swift, a Merida, a Lightning McQueen suit and Silvermist from Secret of the Wings.

I tried to make cute pumpkins like on pintrest but they came out ugly.  Oh well.  At least I didn't have to gut them.

Ben has been gone this weekend.  He would have had to work this weekend anyway but while he was away I made a new bunny hutch!!  It's totally ghetto.  But it will now allow Hershey to A. be outside.  B. have three times the amount of space.  C. Live in a more natural setting like a real bunny that can dig and run in the grass.  I think it's great.  We will see how she does.  Who knows...now we may have enough room to get her a playmate!

Another, and really my final thing, to get finished is this door.  My friend gave it to me and I put some scrapbook paper on it and it will eventually hang on my wall.  I have a huge wall with a vaulted cieling and it needs something big.  This is it.  I'm pretty excited about it really.  I think it will tie everything in so nicely.  Plus I just happen to have that scrapbook paper available so this craft cost me all of about nothing!  I am little worried about it in the event of an earthquake.  It is heavy and could do some real damage is anyone is under it when the shaking starts.  My only consolation is that I don't we have earthquakes up here. 

The other wall opposite.  I plan to put a wide dresser underneath it.  I thought of a table but I'm finding that a dresser is much more practical because it gives you storage space.  

Added this today.  I love it and am so glad I bought it.  $12 at Target.  So worth it.  

This is right by the front door.  When we bought the house there was landscaping throughout.  Or so we thought.  Turns out there are a few nice plants and the rest are a bunch of over grown weeds/bushes.  I've been digging them out all week.  And even the nice bushes needed a good trim.  Now there are branches strewn all over my yard.  Guess that will be next week's project. 

My mom keeps asking for pictures.  I finally took some with my phone.  It's nighttime though so you can't really see anything.  Funny, huh, Mom?  It does remind me of something my Kaylee would do though.  Maybe that's where she gets it.  I ripped the bushes out of this planter as well.  I left on the maple tree and the dead tree with vines (that's going next).

Here is the pool gate as it wanders down to the fence.  He put this fence in.  Switch it around a new way.  Then redid the new way to make it look nicer.  We are finally done and the pool is finally fenced off.  It looks nice.  We also cut off part of the lawn and are planning the extra behind the fence will be our garden area in the future.  I love that idea!  

So we are super busy all the time.  It's nice but I'm exhausted.  I just want a nap.  I miss those days of laying down with Daisy and sleeping.  I didn't finish my whole list today but I did get the bunny hutch done, fixed the moulding that had been ripped out for the fridge, and got the anchors to hang the door.  I'm getting there.  It should all be finished by the time Thanksgiving rolls around.  I'm excited for my family to see what we spent so much time trying to get.