K-Cup Storage

We got a Keurig for Christmas!  I had no idea I even wanted one, that is, until I went to a "favorite things" party with all the preschool moms from my son's school.  Seriously, I thought these women were in a cult or something the way they spoke of this machine.  I thought to myself, "Really people?  It's a coffee machine.  Get over it."  But seriously, it is that awesome.  I'm all cult-y now about it and I want to tell the world.

One of my original issues with the Keurig was the K-cup.  I saw it as expensive, wasteful and bad for the environment.  Then my mom showed me that the Keurig comes with this! 

source

You can put your own coffee in this thing!  Yay!  And if you're running low on time or just feelin' lazy, you can pop in a disposable K-cup.  Who am I kidding?  We've only used that my K-cup coffee filter thing a handful of times so far.  My parents got us a plethora of pinatas Starbucks and Italian Roast K-cups so we are using them like they're going out of style.

Anyway, I'm not fond of that rotating wire K-cup holder.  We just don't have the counter space in our kitchen and there is something about it that irks me.  I wanted the cups on the counter, near the Keurig, so that we could grab one quickly if we wanted it.  So I pulled out the trusty ice bucket!

Yes?  I don't know if you like it, but I love it.  It was making me angry that we registered for this beautiful stainless ice bucket for our wedding and it was collecting dust in our cupboard (obviously I anger easily).  Now it's a K-bucket and it makes me happy.

Or you could put them in a glass canister or apothocary jar... those K-cups are cuties so put them on display!

Thanks for stopping by and listening to me babble about my fav Christmas present.  My parents rocked it this year... maybe even better than the year they got me the 10-speed bike for Christmas.  Have a safe and happy New Year everyone!

Blessings,

Jamie

Stairway Gallery Wall

Merry Christmas everyone!  What's that you say?  I'm a few days late?  I know I have been MIA for a while, but I can't wait to show you all of the things I've been working on.  I kind of overcommitted myself this December, but I am so happy with the way our family got through it.  More on all that in future posts...

For now, I want to show you what I did yesterday at my mom and dad's house

My mom has been bugging asking me to help her hang pictures for over a year now.  Seriously, I was happy to do it, but I knew it would take a major time commitment and some concentration to get it done.

Here is what her stairway looked like before.  It's beautiful, but needed something.  Ignore the Christmas garland.

I'm sure you've seen tutorials before on how to go about assembling a gallery wall.  I took a few of my favorite techniques and merged them for this project.

We started gathering all her favorite frames.  We decided to include both a cherry stained wood and painted black styles of frames, some with and without mats and a few mod podge photo canvases that my sister and I made my mom for Christmas.  For now we weren't concerned with what was going into them, just the shape and size of each frame.

We laid everything out on the floor to get an idea of how everything would look on the wall.  I took rough measurements of how tall and wide it should be and went to work.

We started with the biggest pieces, which we wanted to use as focal points, and began arranging around them.  I approximated 2 inches between each frame and tried to be sure not all the frame edges matched up exactly.  We didn't want it to look sloppy, but we didn't want it to look like a team of mathemeticians put this thing together either.

Next we got our tools for hanging the frames:

2" blue tape

hammer

nails

ook hooks (for frames with a wire or hook on the back)

level

picture-hanger contraption thingy

this thing was awesome and we couldn't have done the project without it.  I first saw the idea at the Scrap Shoppe blog.  She used a clothespin; we knew we would need something longer and flatter so we used an old piece of wood.  You hang the frame from the nail on the wood, lightly tap the frame to make a small hole where your nail hole needs to be, and then take the frame away and hammer your nail into the wall.

The big frame went up first and we worked our way around it.  I took the photo of all the frames laid out on the floor and used it as a basic reference.  We used the blue tape as spacers between the frames.  It ensured everything was approximately 2" apart.

Here it is as a work in progress

closer

and done!

Let me know what you think!  This was a gargantuan project compared to the gallery wall in my son's room.  I think it was worth all the work, though!

Thanks for stopping by; I'll be back soon (I promise)!

Blessings,

Jamie

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Naptime Crafters Whipperberry delightful order blissful and domestic

Christmas House Tour!

I thought I'd share a few more pics from the house before Christmas; plus the Nester is having a Christmas home tour link party so I couldn't pass that up.  Let's start with the tree!

I still want to change a few things but it will probably have to wait till next year.

I'm still just smitten with the striped ruffle skirt

And I love my "new" gold birds

I added these dollar store styrofoam ornaments to my branches this year... I had originally planned on doing something to them, but I'm really liking the white

up close

And here is the ledge between the kitchen and the living room

We have a bell on the ledge that I will 'ding' and say "order up!" when I put food there for the kids.  Now my son says, "order up in the snow!" since I have the fake snow there.

We can't forget about the marshmallow tree

Or the dry erase Oh Holy Night lamp

Looking at these pics, I can't believe how white/neutral our Christmas decor has become since last year.  The mantel in the basement has a lot of white too

Here's a detail from the Glory to the newborn King sign

Here's the yarn and jingle bell wreath on the front door

Thanks so much for stopping by!

Blessings,

Jamie

Golden Birds

Once I changed out our Christmas tree skirt, everything else on the tree looked jacked up.  Little by little I'm trying to change a few things...

These birds just got upgraded.

They used to look like this

so I sprayed them with gold spray paint

Much better, right?

That is, unless you are a St. Louis Cardinals fan.  I originally bought all the birds as a nod to my dear husband's favorite team.  Sorry babe, the red birds just weren't cutting it anymore!  I did leave a few red just because the kids love cardinals.

Thanks for stopping by!  Let me know what you think of my "new" blinged-out birds!

Blessings,

Jamie

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This post is linked here:  Today's Creative Blog Blue Cricket Design Kurtz Corner Mommy by Day Crafter by Night Cherished Bliss Lines Across My Face Southern Lovely Bear Rabbit Bear French Country Cottage Craft Junkie Too DIY Home Sweet Home Saved by Love Domestically Speaking Funky Junk Interiors Homemaker on a Dime Eisy Morgan The Answer is Chocolate Making the World Cuter Craft-O-Maniac lolly jane 504 Main I Heart Naptime Singing Three Little Birds mad in crafts House of Hepworths Somewhat Simple Chic on a Shoestring Keeping it Simple Be Different Act Normal Sew Can Do Sew Chatty Pinkapotamus The Girl Creative Flamingo Toes Tatertots and Jello Sisters of the Wild West Reasons to Skip the Housework Giggles Glitz and Glam Tip JunkieThe Trendy Treehouse Ladybug Blessings Night Owl Crafting Tea Rose Home My Girlish Whims Allie Makes Gluesticks Thrifty 101 Momnivores Dilemma A Little Knick Knack Miss Mustard Seed Freckled Laundry kojo designs A vision to remember Primitive and Proper 733 Rook no 17 Home Stories A to Z
Naptime Crafters Whipperberry delightful order

A Painted Sign for Christmas

I wanted a sign for our mantel this Christmas (and was looking for an excuse to pull the Silhouette back out)

It is actually the backside of this sign

I painted base coat of gray and then dry brushed a little white on top

Cut the vinyl stencil with the Silhouette and laid it on top

I painted the bold letters with a color called "cinnamon"... I really wanted to make sure the color didn't end up looking pink

and I painted the script letters in black

This is what I ended up with!

Here it is with the entire mantel... it isn't quite finished yet for Christmas, but I like the sign as an addition this year

Thanks for stopping by!
Blessings,
Jamie

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This post is featured here: 


This post is linked here:
Today's Creative Blog Blue Cricket Design Kurtz Corner Mommy by Day Crafter by Night Cherished Bliss Lines Across My Face Southern Lovely Bear Rabbit Bear French Country Cottage Craft Junkie Too DIY Home Sweet Home Saved by Love Domestically Speaking Funky Junk Interiors Homemaker on a Dime Eisy Morgan The Answer is Chocolate Making the World Cuter Craft-O-Maniac lolly jane 504 Main I Heart Naptime Singing Three Little Birds mad in crafts House of Hepworths Somewhat Simple Chic on a Shoestring Keeping it Simple Be Different Act Normal Sew Can Do Sew Chatty Pinkapotamus The Girl Creative Flamingo Toes Tatertots and Jello Sisters of the Wild West Reasons to Skip the Housework Giggles Glitz and Glam Tip JunkieThe Trendy Treehouse Ladybug Blessings Night Owl Crafting Tea Rose Home My Girlish Whims Allie Makes Gluesticks Thrifty 101 Momnivores Dilemma A Little Knick Knack Miss Mustard Seed Freckled Laundry kojo designs A vision to remember Primitive and Proper 733 Rook no 17 Home Stories A to Z
Naptime Crafters Whipperberry delightful order