Monday, February 25, 2013

[free fun: journal pages]




I found something super fun today and of course I have to share.
I stumbled across a website called “grace is overrated” by Christie Zimmer. She has awesome, printable journal pages you can quickly fill in and then put them in a binder for memory keeping. I’m already addicted. J

Happy Monday indeed! J



Friday, February 22, 2013

Thursday, February 21, 2013

[good heart attack]


Here’s a sweet idea to do with your kiddo. We found sticky hearts from a dollar store (cheap!) and went to my husband’s workplace to put them all over his car windows. A sweet little love surprise he found when it was time to go home.
We did this on Valentine’s Day but I think this would be even better on a boring January day, for example. We also put a heart balloon inside the car.

Friday, February 15, 2013

[laundry room photos]


I have a laundry room! I’m in love with this little room down the hall from the kitchen. Cupboards to store things in, big sink for dirtier cleaning jobs, built in drying rack…
I spent couple of hours cleaning the room this morning and now doing laundry will even be enjoyable.
The baseboards still need to be nailed in again. I also filled up the sink with water and cleaning solution to soak up the dried up paint before cleaning the tub super well.




These are the only magnets I’m putting on the fridge. Clean look is it for our new home.


Our dishes are in these large drawers instead of in higher cupboards. Easy access even for little ones.


Some Valentine’s Day fun even though things are not done yet.


And here’s my Valentine’s Day gift.
Jay knows me well. I'd rather have something like this than flowers.

Happy Friday everyone! J

Wednesday, February 13, 2013

[new Etsy shop items + free printables]







These new items were added to my Etsy shop. Love themed Project Life Journaling Cards (or can be used as gift tags) + LOVE themed banner (21 sayings to choose from + white heart flags)






And here are some freebies:






Tuesday, February 12, 2013

Monday, February 11, 2013

[new home renovations, part II]


I finally downloaded some renovation pictures. These photos will show the major renovating we are doing to our new home. If you want to see the "before" pictures, click here.
This first photo is taken from the kitchen, looking towards the dining area and then family room. We opened up the two walls. All the rooms were closed up before.


Another picture from the kitchen. On the right is the hallway that leads to the front entrance. We took the french doors off and left it open.


This is looking from the hallway towards the dining area and the family room is on the right. How much do you love the old fashioned doorbell on the wall? Ha haa. Needless to say it was replaced already.


Family room. Baseboards are being painted. Built in shelves (kept them, just painted them). We haven't decided what to do with the fireplace yet. It looks dirty/spotty in real life. The rocks are expensive but we still want to do something to it to modernize it.



There are three bedrooms upstairs plus the master bedroom. Two bathrooms. White laminate being put in. Bye bye yucky wall-to-wall carpet, won't miss you one little bit!


Master bedroom. The paint color is light gray (Chincilla White by C.I.L.).


Kitchen cabinets being put together.


Upstairs hallway. The railing will be replaced with something more modern and simple.


Master bedroom. Yucky light fixtures everywhere. Will be replaced when we have time to look for new ones.


Looking from family room towards the dining area and kitchen. 


We wanted to rip down the wall between family room and living room but the engineer told us that we can't unless we're willing to do extensive work to strengthen the supporting beams. Too much work right now so we will be rebuilding this wall.
Our cat Africa scared us after we moved in by going into the heating duct. Needless to say the holes are covered now.


Little by little things get done.


Dining area/family room.


Kitchen.
Cupboards still covered with blue protective film.


Looking from dining area towards kitchen. We opened up this wall. Love it.


The family room and behind the opened up wall (which needs to be rebuilt) is the living room.


Sienna's room. The window will be replaced. The wall color is light gray (Wayside Inn by C.I.L.). Hard to see the actual color in these photos. I love the colors I chose.



We salvaged the laminate flooring from downstairs and used it in two of the other bedrooms upstairs.


Going downstairs from upstairs. On the right, living room (that little bit of wall was removed to open it up a bit). In the middle the family room. On the left the dining area. 


And these next photos show how everything looked the day before moving in. As you can see, lots to do still. The front door will be replaced eventually. 


The living room. Ran out of laminate and had to reorder some more.


Hallway, dining area (there will be bar stools by the counter) and the kitchen.


The stairway. It was a real pain in the butt to get rid of the million nails and staples that held the carpet together. The stairs will have the same white laminate eventually. The railing will most likely be simple brushed aluminum.


Dining area. The old fence will be rebuilt in the summer. Pile of wood left from removal of huge evergreen trees (three in the back yard, nine or ten in the front beside the driveway, blocked all the light). The previous home owners left us the wooden play set.


Dining area/kitchen.


Kitchen.



Hallway to laundry room, wash room, garage and side door. Will have tile eventually.


I had to take a picture of this. One of our neighbors (75-year-old lady) dropped us off a casserole in this grandmaish casserole bag. I couldn't find the salad bowl so made the salad into a Halloween bucket. :) Three people dropped us off chili & buns, we also were given perogies, a meatball crock-pot meal and homemade pumpkin bread. We were so grateful for all the food and help during our renovating/move. Felt loved and taken care off.


One of our neighbor's weathervane.


Here's what our kitchen cupboards look like now. Glossy white from Ikea. We are still waiting for the counter tops and haven't had time to do the backsplash yet.


Like I mentioned before, I love our new pantry shelves. I was able to fit ton of food in here and it's so easy to find everything and to restock. Now I better go and keep unpacking and trying to figure out where everything goes.

Happy Monday everyone! J