A house full of color.

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If there's one thing I cannot do, it's white walls.  To me, they're a blank canvas just begging for some kind of color.  And little by little over the 7+ years we've lived in this home, we've splashed color here and there.  As they say, a fresh coat of paint is the easiest and quickest way to totally transform a room. 

Thanks to my husband, a neighbor, and some friends who are handy DIY'ers, we're currently re-painting the outside of our house and doing some renovations on the inside.  Whenever we're thinking of adding a new color to our house, I first add it to our overall house color palette {below} to see how it flows.   Now I'll probably stop adding new colors and just use one of the current colors to paint the bathrooms - the only rooms left to be painted!

{click to download PDF}

baileyhousecolors.jpg

There's dust on every square surface of our kitchen right now, but when it's all said and done, it's going to be an even brighter and more colorful place to cook with our family and friends.  We ripped up the gross, broken tile and found a layer of vinyl flooring underneath.  And under that, we found the original hardwoods!  They're in pretty bad shape, and I've always wanted a painted wood floor, so....we painted the wood floors a nice, fresh green (Moss Print by Behr).  For the kitchen walls, I'm thinking a very pale blue (perhaps Waterfall Mist by Behr), inspired by this kitchen and this one.  All the cabinets and trim will be white (goodbye to the orange window trim for now).  If you have another idea for the kitchen walls, let me know!

We'll also be painting the hallway a calming, neutral khaki (Comforting by Behr), and all the picture frames will be shades of white to make it like a photo gallery.  We'll frame lots of photos of people we love and places we've been to tell the complete story of our journey.  It seems we have about a bazillion photos so it's going to be quite daunting deciding which ones will be framed.  To finish the hallway, perhaps we'll add a bright runner like this one from World Market.

Currently, the outside of the house is being painted a happy, peaceful combo of grey tones and yellow. 

Main part of the house: light grey

Small accent trim: dark grey

Main trim: white

Doors: bright yellow

Can you think of a more welcoming color for a front door than "yellow rain coat"?   Um, I think not.  The house colors are all Benjamin Moore, but I had Home Depot match them to Behr paint.

I'll share the final results soon!  Stay tuned.  In the meantime, I hope the colorfulness has inspired you!

Pinterest project: DIY birdfeeders using bird seed, cookie cutters, & gelatin.

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These adorable birdfeeders are the perfect winter project to foster creativity and also make the birds happy!  I saw this on Pinterest and thought it would be a fun and inexpensive way to provide food for the birdies all winter.   Do it on your own, or with kiddos!

You only need a few items:

  • Bag of bird seed for small birds {I got mine at Target.}
  • Box of Knox Gelatine {Get at any grocery store.  The box has 4 packets inside.  Gelatin is completely safe for all birds as well as weatherproof!}
  • Water
  • Cookie cutters in various shapes
  • String or twine
  • Wax or parchment paper

For the cookie cutters, use simple shapes such as a star, heart, or circle.  You don't want to use very complex designs because they won't hold together well.

Here's the tutorial that I used - so easy! 

After taking about 30 seconds to make the birdseed mixture, I pressed it into the shapes and added string and let it dry overnight...

Come morning, I simply removed them from the cookie cutters.

Cute, eh?

Ready to hang them from the trees!

Come, birdies, COME!

3 reasons why I love Pinterest.

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I am completely in love with Pinterest.  Have you tried it yet?  Several friends told me about it, but I was hesitant to take the plunge, because I just knew I'd love it.  Well, that's the understatement of the year.

"What's Pinterest?" some of you might be asking.  It's a site where you can create virtual "pinboards" of anything on the web and browse through what your friends have pinned and repin the things you like to your own boards.  For instance, I have a pinboard to collect ideas for creative ways to use chalkboards.  Or wood pallets. Or color inspiration or inspiring words.  Check out all my pinboards for yourself!

So, why do I love Pinterest so much?

  1. It's inspiring.  Finding moments to be creative everyday is an absolute necessity for an artistic soul like myself.  Taking just 5 minutes to browse through Pinterest satisfies that need, even if I don't have time to actually do a craft that day.
  2. It makes both the left and right sides of my brain happy.  My creative side loves browsing all the photos, especially how they're arranged as collages on the page.  My organized side finds it a wee bit too fulfilling to put all my pinned items into neat little categories.
  3. Easy and fun DIY ideas.  Previously, I bookmarked ideas for DIY projects or crafts in various places on my computer but never did anything with them. Now they're all in one place and for some reason, I'm actually doing them - score!  Most of them I can do with materials I already have, or for just a few dollars.  Here are the links to each project I've done so far and then my version below...

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Fall yarn wreath

This was so much fun and a lot easier than I thought it would be.  I'm also now nerdily obsessed with felt.  There's so much you can do with it!  I used the wreath tutorial above and also this easy tutorial on how to make felt flowers.  Doesn't it look purty with our orange door?

 

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Autumn leaf garland

I do like how this turned out, but next time, instead of using thick yarn, I'll probably use a needle and thick thread or at least a thinner yarn.  To make this garland, I had to cut 5 small notches in each leaf and hand-thread the yarn through.  I asked my husband what he thought of it when it was done and he said, "Nice!  What are they?  Kites?"  Awesome.  So I think I'd like the effect a lot better if it was hand-stitched with thread like this so it creates a more realistic "vein" line down the center of the leaf.  I'd also love to try using textured felt.


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Paper punch heart garland

This was totally free.  I already had a heart paper punch and a bag full of paint color samples I'd collected over the years.  Add a needle and thread, and voila, a cute little garland for above the door in Luci Belle's room.

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Mason jars with acorns

It was fun walking the neighborhood collecting all different types of acorns for this project!  I used a hot glue gun to add some burlap trim and a green felt heart around the rim of each jar.  They made great decorations for a fall-themed baby shower I threw yesterday, and I love them so much they're staying on the table!

Other projects I can't wait to try...

AHHHHH!  See?  I'm outta control!

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Have you tried Pinterest?  How has it inspired you?