Tree Wall Art Mural

My friends are in the finishing stages of building their wonderful home on a hill top bluff with magnificent views of the valley below and the mountains beyond. Just about every window in the house has this breathtaking view…except for their teenage daughter’s bathroom! She loves the view from her bedroom window and found this picture of wallpaper that features a white weeping tree on a grey background. Wouldn’t it look cool in her bathroom?

Cool’s the word! I used Benjamin Moore’s Cumulus Cloud and let the paint brush go.

The tree and limbs touch all 5 walls with blank spaces for mirrors. Sorry that the images are dark…still no power in the house yet!

Their Little Place in the Country…Updated!

I’ve spent the last several months updating the Elwood’s wonderful home in the country…it sits on a pond nestled in between the rolling hills. Horses graze in the fields, two ducks hang out around the house and the main entertainment is watching the bird feeder outside the kitchen table window. So peaceful…and a bit outdated! They have lived here for more than 15 years and were ready to make some changes. Joe has some great ideas about what he wanted to accomplish with colors and we put the color wheels into motion.

Here’s the den before…

and after. The country red fireplace is a Joe original…don’t you think it makes the room?! The room looks larger with a cleaner palette. Joe wanted to showcase his many pottery and wood carving collections in this room. He loves to go to auctions and he found great pieces to secure them.

The new leather furniture is very comfortable…we’re still looking for an additional accent chair and pillow fabrics. On the walls: Benj. Moore 1039 Stone House.

Meet Shuma, the Elwood’s 17 year old cat. He’s modeling his favorite pose!

The kitchen houses a lot of American oak pieces in the cabinetry and furniture. Not easy to find complimentary colors!

We think Benj. Moore Honeymoon is the perfect solution! New window treatments, lighting hanging Laura and Joe’s Fiesta Ware on the wall makes the room come alive.

Laundry room and now that I’ve left the room, Shuma starts looking around for me!

The powder room…

and the master bedroom…sunshine yellow keeps them up at night!!

Now they enjoy a relaxing room with Benj. Moore HC#146 Wedgewood Gray on the walls, beautiful linens on the bed and silk curtains on the windows.

We’re still working on the rest of the rooms…it takes time to get out to the country!

Digital Decorations…

I received a text from a fellow junior high mom that she was just told that she was in charge of table decorations for the 9th grade graduation reception and they didn’t have a lot of money. Oh, and she needs to make about 30 of these!

I’m all for not spending lots of bucks on decorations and then recycling them whenever possible. There’s so much waste on something that most people won’t even remember an hour after they had to sit there and look at it for 60 minutes… much less the following year.

Paper and cardstock are great options for decorations and especially if your school will help you with the printing and maybe even the manpower to cut out the shapes and images, gluing things together and assembly line production from careful students.

I suggested that they reuse some clay pots the school had spray painted silver and make an accordion pleated sleeve from cardstock to camouflage. I created a mortar board and diploma from paper and hot glued them to skewers found at Wally World. The pic below was just a prototype but I included the school’s logo, the class year, etc. and made each one two sided. I also took chenille stems and twirled them around a pencil and took shredded paper and used to cover up the pot. The skewers are anchored in the pot with newspaper.

Derby Hats

Guess which one won the contest at Cousin Molly’s Derby Birthday party?

Peyton’s pink bird hat…

Taylor’s zinnia and poppies hat…

or Jennifer’s black feathers, pink gerbers and rhinestones?

Jennifer’s won! Look how cute her mom looks in her hat!

Sarah’s Sweet Sixteen!

What a fun family birthday party for a fabulous young lady! Miss Sarah’s favorite color is blue (you should see her eyes!) and her Stepmom wanted it everywhere. We set two tables for sixteen family members and close friends and Sarah’s little sisters and cousin helped set the tables. Such good helpers!

The second table was set in the foyer.

Sarah and her family…Happy Birthday!