Poor Layla-Butt

via

We just returned home from dropping Layla off at the vet. Last week at her check up we asked about a lump that has been under her eye since the spring and they recommended having it removed. This morning bright and early we took her to her least favorite place in the world and had to help the nurse force her out of the waiting room and into the back room. The look she gave as we pushed her away is seared into my brain forever.

I already have plans to make it up to her when she gets home. Some rice and chicken broth to ease her stomach after the anesthesia, her bed washed and plumped, and furniture moved so she can walk around easier with her cone of shame. 

It's Not Thanksgiving Yet

I'm still a relatively new blogger and this is my first time blogging through the holiday season. I'm looking forward to sharing inspiration, excitement, and holiday cheer with one another and being the nosy person I am, I can't wait to see how others decorate their houses for the holidays. I've already seen some amazingly scary, fun, and classy Halloween homes and boy was that great.

I worked for a major retail store one year and was shocked with how early the store began planning for Christmas, decorating for Christmas, and overall pretending it was Christmas.  It seems as though every year the retail world decides to ignore more and more days between the end of summer and Christmas. I went into Joanns a couple weeks before Halloween and found more Christmas decor than fall and Halloween decor!

I don't know about you, but I feel jibed when people fast forward.  I personally like to experience the present rather than wish it was the future. When people around me are fast fowarding, skipping and ignoring an entire month, a month with a fabulous Thanksgiving holiday and tradition galore, I become saddened.

And so, when I woke up on Tuesday, November 1, and noticed that many in the blogosphere had taken down their Halloween fall decor and are now sharing and planning their Christmas and winter decor, I looked wildly at the calendar and realized we still have an entire wonderful month to enjoy the pinecones, the rustic wreaths, the corn and pumpkin decorations and the tradition of being thankful.

So, I just wanted to let you know that I will not be publishing Christmas and winter-themed posts on Turning a House into a Home until the day after Thanksgiving.  With Christmas music blasting on the radio and the turkey in my belly, I will only then say goodbye to the fall, the wonderful holiday of Thankgiving, and embrace December and all that it brings.

On that note, these are my latest love for the month of November:

via

via

via

via

via

Happy November!!!

Free DIY Wooden Frames

Growing up in Albuquerque, New Mexico, I am mildly obsessed with the Sandia Mountains. These majestic mountains can be seen from literally every spot in the city. Just look east and there they are. After moving to the east coast ten years ago, I still find myself scanning the horizon for my mountains much like a toddler blindly reaches for her blanket in moments of stress.

When I went to college in Virginia, I tried to placate myself with photos of the mountains pasted on every inch of my cinder block dorm room. The above photo is actually a card that followed me to every dorm room and apartment until I graduated. For the past six years it's been in a box of mementos hidden from view because I now require my art framed instead of merely taped to the wall.

After finishing my take on the recent pallet art phenomenon (check it out here), I began brainstorming other ways of using paint stir sticks. With the help of my trusty miter saw I knew I could easily make a picture frame.

After few 45 degree angle cuts I had the beginnings of a frame.  I took the scraps of some stir sticks and used them to secure the sticks together at the angles with gorilla glue.

Voila!  A simple frame was created...for free!  Add some paint, glue on a sawtooth hanger, and throw in a picture - you've got yourself a piece of art worthy of more than a dorm room wall.

Now when I find myself homesick and needing some comfort, I can glance over at my mountains and feel a bit calmer.

Wood Plus Stain Equals Art Tutorial

I feel as though I could start every single post with the sentence, "I was looking at Pinterest recently and...."  I spend entirely too much time on that amazing site (by the way, check out my boards on pinterest) but I love being awed and wowed and inspired by the amazing things I see there. All summer I kept noticing fabulous art created by pallets people were finding. After staining them and painting quotes or silhouettes, those free pieces of wood became beautiful.

I was torn by these beauties. You see, I desperately wanted to make some art with wooden planks but, as a former manager of a store that used thousands of pallets a week, I saw what most planks are coated with, how unsanitary they are treated, and how disgusting many of them are. I did not want to bring disease-invested wood into our home so I decided to find another way to create some free wooden plank art.

Enter paint stir sticks. I had a handful of these awesome, crafty sticks leftover from a previous project and pulled them out of the closet. They were perfect for what I had in mind!

After cutting off the beveled edges and picking out the most interesting sticks, I was left with the perfect little square of wood.  Taking some leftover stain from our branch bench (check it out here), I stained each stick. I wanted to stain them separately rather than all together once they were attached to one another in order to get a varied and non-uniform stain. My goal was to make this look as rustic and plank-like as possible.

The stain went on beautifully - check out the personality that little paint stir sticks can have.

Once they were dry, I used gorilla glue to glue the scraps I had sawed off earlier. 

Waiting 2 hours for the glue to dry was torture but I used the time to decide what I wanted to paint on my lovely canvas.

Now I have my very own faux pallet art!  Oh, and while working with the paint stir sticks, I started a couple more projects...stay tuned to see what else I can make out of these free pieces of wood!

Autumn Branch

If you've read any of my previous projects you know that I love incorporating sticks nature into our decor.  We've made benches and plant stands, art, pom pom flowers, and even a jewelry holder out of sticks. The most unique stick project we've done, however, has been the focal point of our living room. Above our television we have a huge branch.  We've decorated it with spring-like leaves, summery flowers, and now it's covered in fall leaves.

My personal favorite is the brown, glittery leaf. It adds just the right amount of sparkle to keep the branch's fall leaves from seeming too sad and death-like.

I am already planning on our Christmas-themed decorations...I'm thinking a colorful garland and perhaps some lights....

But for now, we have welcomed the colorful autumn season into our home.

Happy Halloween

via

Happy Halloween! I am off to accompany Layla-Butt to the vet but I will be back soon to show off the new branch decorations (take a look at the original branch and her summer decorations).

Dreary Friday

I had plans to take pictures of a few recent projects around the house with the bright morning light that streams in our windows. Instead I woke up to rain and dreariness so I chose to sip a homemade latte instead of finding my camera.  I wonder if a good latte has the power to make the rain go away...

Last night my mind was racing with creative ideas.  I only wish I had jotted them down with a sketch because I'm worried my creative juices may have leaked throughout the night.  I wonder where awesome ideas go when you lose or forget them? Someone somewhere must be hoarding them.

Small Bedroom Lessons

via

I found myself loving this photo that I found of a bedroom and didn't realize immediately how small the room actually was.  That, my friends, is how you know you've decorated a small room well.  Despite the size of the bedroom, the scale of the painting doesn't overwhelm; instead it detracts from it and becomes the wonderfully colorful and playful focal point. Lesson learned - don't be afraid of size and colors when dealing with a teeny room.

via Pinterest

After seeing the fabulous yellow room, I became inspired to check out some other marvelous small rooms.  The bed barely fits in this room, but it feels so comfortable and homey that size doesn't matter.  The layers of blankets, the mirror headboard, and the pillows galore help to keep your eye traveling around and noticing the many patterns and colors.  Lesson learned: use patterns to keep the eye busy and create a comfortable sanctuary with layers of blankets and pillows.

via

I'm sure I'm not alone when I share that I was always under the impression that dark colors make a room seem smaller. So, why would one decorate a teeny room in dark colors? It seems the photo of this lush purple room shows that dark colors create cocoons of  luxury.  The deep colors, the gold lampshades, the various fabrics on the bed make you feel like royalty.  Lesson learned: when dealing with a small room, create a cocoon.

via Pinterest

Here we have another large focal point in a teeny tiny room. This room is different from the first, in that the room is bathed in neutral colors and accessories...all but the lively goldfish on the wall. Lesson learned: Punch up a small, neutral room with a quirky piece of art.

via Pinterest

This room just feels like a sanctuary to me. From the lighting to the headboard to the enveloping use of colors, I feel like I could spend all day in this small room and not feel boxed in.  I can't decide on my favorite feature of this room - the fun curtains, the fabulous chandelier, the plush headboard, or the painted ceiling.  Luckily these many features work together rather than compete against one another and you're left with a room you can't get enough of. Lesson learned: just because it's a small space, don't be afraid to accessorize with glamorous chandeliers and beds.

via

This is the definition of teeny tiny room.  Despite the physical limitations, this room features a bed, storage, and awesome accessories.  With a feature wall of wood from an old gym floor, they decided to keep everything else light and airy. Color was added to increase interest and I love the mini gallery wall. Lesson learned: Accessories, when done right, don't cramp or clutter a small bedroom but create a legitimate bedroom.

via

Here is another example of accessorizing a small bedroom without cramping or cluttering the small space. A mirror is useful in using optical illusion to create more space. The gallery wall is a wonderful focal point, but notice that even the photos take on a neutral tone to match the subtle gray walls and airy, light curtains. Lesson learned: Maintain a neutral color palette when using many accessories to help combat a cluttery feel.