The Extra Room

My house has a “formal” living room.  It is in the front of the house.  I have seen other homes in our neighborhood use it as a formal dining area.  We are not formal so it  is neither a formal living area or a formal dining area.  It is kind of a dog house.  My dog thinks the room is hers.  She spends her day laying on different pieces of furniture.  Sometimes she favors the loveseat and sometimes the chair.  She uses the big sofa to watch us leave and bark at us.  My son also uses this room to do his  homework or watch TV. 

This is the first room we painted when we moved here 6 years ago.  It is Tatami Tan.  A while back I sewed new throw pillows to change the look of the furniture.  I like the touch of red they add. 

So here is a little tour of the room if you would like to see it.

My son loves to watch Pawn Stars and American Pickers in here.  If you haven’t seen these shows you need to check them out.   Fun and interesting shows.   American Pickers is about 2 guys that go junk finding. 

This is the top of the entertainment center.  My husband had this when we got married and it is the only item he requested we keep.

See the large magazine holder?  I got that in March.  I am thinking of making it my chalkboard project.  I just haven’t decided exactly what to do with it yet. 

This is a close up of the coffee table and pillows.

Here is what the old pillows looked like.  So not me.

I have had these sweet little prints on either side of the couch for a long time.  I love them and plan to always keep them. 

I am still working on this table.  I can’t seem to find the right items to place on it.  I like the  shade but not the lamps.  I am still searching for the right ones. 

 

Thanks for visiting.

Linking to

Sunday Showcase @ Under the Table and Dreaming

Bright Spot Submersible LED Light Ideas

Most of you know that I am obsessed with all lights.  I bet the majority of my posts are about  lighting.   So you can imagine how excited I was today when I discovered Bright Spot submersible LED accent lights made by Aqua Gems.  So many ideas where running through my head, but I just chose one project to make.  I found my stuff at JoAnn’s Fabric and Craft store.  

Here are my supplies.

Closer view of the light package.

And the beautiful rocks I bought.  They look like sea glass so this would go great with all of the costal decor I have seen.  The glass also comes in blue, but I am a green fan.

I put half of the rocks into the bowl and added the light.  I placed the rest of my rocks on top of the light.  The bummer thing is you have to fish the light out to turn it off.  

Voila!

UPDATE:  I had to add this.  I had someone tell me it looks like kryptonite.  It does!!!  Now I keep thinking Superman will never come to visit.  I always thought kryptonite was cool looking when I watched Superman shows so maybe this would be fun for a kid’s room!  : )

It can be used outside.

Or inside.

These lights can be used under water and last for 48 hours.  They are not meant to be removed if under water. It is a one time use.  If not under water then they can last 100 hours.  They are advertised to go with the Aqua Gem liquid marbles. I liked the rocks better.  They aren’t meant to go with the rocks but I am a rebel.   These can be used for decor or to hold live plants.  Here are some samples from their website.

I thought these were fun and full of endless possibilities.  My favorite idea is to use them at night outside during a cookout or party.  What would you do with them? 

Linking to

Weekend Wrap Up Party @ Tatertots and Jello

DIY Landscaping

I have lived in my house for 6 years.   My front porch faces the west and it gets hot!  I have to be very careful when choosing plants for my flower beds because of the intense sun.  When we first moved here big full bushes filled the front flower bed.  You couldn’t see out when you sat on the  porch.  We used my husband’s 4 wheel drive truck and pulled them out with a chain or a rope. I can’t remember which.  It was very redneck, but it worked.

The only before photo I could find was the one I took when we came to look at the house to see if we wanted to buy it.  See all bushes and no front porch. 

 

So after ripping them up I planted more bushes!  Seems silly huh?  I knew I wouldn’t let these get so big.  I planted lots of flowers which only looked good for so long.  Because this flower bed is surrounded by concrete and faces west the flowers need constant watering.  Also in the winter the flower bed looked sad.

 

So the next year I did less flowers.  You can tell I have an obsession with symmetry.

The white plant is dusty miller and it comes back every year.  The red geraniums do not and they get pricey replacing them year after year.  The boxwoods in the back bit the dust last spring when we had a horrible late snow.  I had to redo the flower bed again.  This time I wanted to give it more interest and not plant things in a horizontal row.  I went to Lowe’s in the fall and everything was on sale at awesome prices.  I hit the jackpot and went to work.

I kept 4 of the boxwoods.  They finally look better this year.  Last year they had lots of dead yellow leaves.  I kept 2 of the dusty miller plants.  You can tell that the left side grows bigger than the right side of the flower bed.  Always has.  I think because it gets more sunlight.  I still have some symmetry going on.  I just can’t help myself.

I love this variegated litho trope.  It is a perennial and comes back yearly.  I bought these last fall.

  

I just recently found this plant.  Not sure what it is but it loves sun and has a great color.  I bought 2 of  them at Walmart.

I also found this flowering plant at Walmart and I love my stacked rocks behind it.  The rocks help fill up the bed and give it texture and color.

This was one of my bargains at Lowe’s.  I think it was originally $60 and I got it for $15.  It is a bush shaped liked a tree.  I like that it gives the bed some height and the landscaping isn’t just horizontal anymore.

I did some bushes on either side of the bed in groups of 3.  Still being symmetrical but in a better way than before. 

These are boxwoods on the left.

And I forgot what these are on the right, but I really like them.

A  couple more shots of the entire bed.

I like how the bed looks good on it’s own because it  has lots of perennials and evergreens.  If I want to add flowers I can and I won’t have to buy so many. 

A quick word of caution.  A few weeks ago I thought I wanted another boxwood in front the stacked rocks.  I was going to shape it like a topiary.  I dug a hole and pulled the plant out of the container.  I was holding onto the roots and trying to fit it in the hole when I noticed the dirt moving.  There were I bet 100 creepy crawly centipedes living in the dirt that I was holding in my  hands!   They looked like this.

I freaked.  I don’t know if I can every buy plants from Home Depot again.  I now carefully check my plants before touching them.

Celebrate summer and get out and plant something, but look at your plant before you touch it. 

Linking to

Feature Yourself Friday @ Fingerprints on the Fridge

  Garden Party @ Southern Fried Dreams

Show and Tell Friday @ My Romantic Home

Saturday Night Special @ Funky Junk Interiors

Craft Frame Ideas

One of my favorite ways to decorate is with framed photos.   I often paint my store bought  frames to make them more my style or I buy wooden craft frames and decorate them. 

There are many ways you can decorate the wood frames from Michael’s Craft store.  I think they cost $1. 

They look like this.

They can be painted.

 

I use my acrylic paints all the time.  I am addicted to buying them.  They work great on the frames.  I had one of those cheap plastic photos holders with a magnet on the back  on my fridge.  It wasn’t all the appealing even if it did have my favorite photo of my son and dog in it.

I knew a painted wooden frame would make it much better.

Much better huh?

I used magnets that had adhesive on one side to keep the frame on the fridge and the plastic photo holder fit perfectly inside  the frame.

Here is a close up of the paint.  I used a green and then lightly brushed the edges with a brown.  I also flicked brown paint onto it using a toothbrush.  I stamped a carrot onto the frame and painted it.

Another idea is using mosaic tiles.

You can buy marbles, glass, break old chipped plates, etc.  I used some small square tiles that came in a container similar to this one.

I glued the tiles on with this and let it dry.

And then used a dark gray grout just like this one.  This one is just a different color.

It turned out like this.

And of course you can never go wrong with Mod Podge and scrapbook paper. 

I have made several of these frames.  I usually paint the edge a color that goes with the paper.  I also like to paint the Mod Podge  onto the top of the paper so it leaves it glossy and acts as glue for any embellishments I might add like this cross.

Here is the side and you can see I didn’t cut the paper perfectly to size.  You can’t really tell unless you get a close up photo like this.

I used the same cross on this next frame and added some stickers.

It’s pretty obvious my favorite photo subjects are my son and dog. 

I hope you are inspired to make some frames and display your favorite subject.  I also have a photo tidbit for ya.

My nephew graduated Friday.  My sister’s camera was broken and I took the only photos of the ceremony and then……. I accidentally deleted all of them.  My sister was very sad.  I got online and learned that you can get them back!!!!  I bought online software and it can retrieve your photos as long as you don’t take pics over them.  I bought my software for $30 and it was very user friendly. 

Thanks for stopping by.

Linking to

Get Your Craft On @ Today’s Creative Blog

Anything Related @ All Thingz Related

Power of Paint @ Domestically Speaking

Whatever Goes Wednesday @ Someday Crafts

Strut Your Stuff Thursday @ Somewhat Simple

Show and Tell Friday @ My Romantic Home

Feature Yourself Friday @ Fingerprints on the Fridge

Saturday Night Special @ Funky Junk Interiors