WILW

This week I am loving:

that I only have to work 4 days this week! Woo! Another long weekend, too bad the hubby isn't off too though :(

that my little sista Alexis moved in with us this weekend. It was a crazy two days but we are so happy to have her!

that it is almost Thanksgiving, which means lots of tasty food and family time!

that we are having a yard sale this weekend so maybe I can get rid of some of the junk in my house!!

that my Dad's friend John came over and installed a pendant light in my kitchen last night. I have been wanting one since we moved in a year ago and finally got it. It looks amazing!!!

and as always I am loving this amazing life I have been blessed with. For my family, friends, adorable pups, and my most amazing husband :)

Framing a bathroom mirror

My most recent home project was framing our downstairs bathroom mirror. This was a super easy and cost effective way to spruce up our little bathroom and get rid of the BORING contractor style mirror. In total the project cost me $21 and I have tons of extra tiles I plan on using for another project!
So here is what I did.... Went to Lowes and bought a pack of tile like this:

and a tube of adhesive. Make sure you get something that says it works with ceramic tile. Then I took all the tiles off the backing and separated them into piles, decided on the pattern I wanted, and started gluing. When I reached the point where the tiles were going across the top of the mirror I used painters tape to hold them in place. Like this:

Make sure you let the tiles set overnight! Trying to see if they are dry sooner than that will only result in wiggling the tile loose, some cursing, and a little more gluing. After the tiles were completely set I took off the painters tape, cleaned the mirror, and took a step back to admire my handy work. I am totally in love with how it turned out!!

Morning love notes

One of my favorite things to wake up to is the cute little love notes Justin leaves me on the mirror. And sometimes I just don't want to erase them, but it's hard to clean the mirror around them. So I came up with a solution.... a love note chalkboard!! All I did was tape off a square, paint it with chalkboard paint, and hang an empty frame around it. It's perfection!!

Backyard progress...

There are still a few small things we would like to do to finish up our B-E-A-UTIFUL backyard, but here it is in all it's glory! I can't wait for the weather to cool down so we can sit outside and enjoy all our hard work:)
I would like to thank our families for all of their help with this project. I unfortunately didn't take any "before" pictures, but just imagine the EXACT opposite of what it is now. Without the help of our families we NEVER would have been able to get this done. Love you all!

BINGO! and Home upgrades :)

Last Monday Justin and I went to BINGO for the first time with a couple friends.... we are now addicts! It is so much fun and super cheap entertainment! We ended up going Friday and Saturday too... we are also going tonight! The plan is to start a Monday BINGO team. We haven't won anything yet... but it's still totally fun!

This weekend I was able to get a few things done around the house that I had been seriously putting off! For instance my craft room has looked like a war zone for at least a month now, not anymore! Woo hoo! Now maybe I will actually use it :) A few posts back I had mentioned that my mom helped me figure out how I can make the side of my cupboard a chalkboard without ruining the cupboard... so what I did was bought a roll of contact paper at Walmart for $4, cut a piece to fit my cupboard, painted it with chalkboard paint (I had to paint a coat let it dry completely, then paint another coat), Stuck it up on my cupboard, added vinyl, and TA-DA! My very own chalkboard menu! I totally love it and love my momma for helping me with the idea :)

I also got around to hanging these adorable teal shelves I bought at Target a couple weeks ago. I was able to almost fill them with things I had been hoarding! This process also renewed my love for spray paint. The bottles on the top shelf are old Orange Crush bottles I took out of our recycling, the little candle holder in the middle shelf used to be hot pink, and the little drawer thing is something my sister Britny gave me a million years ago. Took a can of gray Valspar spray paint to them and they are like a brand new item :)

Tipful Thursday.... on Friday

So my tip for this week goes along nicely with last weeks! I read online some time ago that while painting, instead of rinsing out your brush and roller in between steps you just wrap the brush/roller in aluminum foil. I thought this sounded to good to be true but let me tell you it totally works! I am currently repainting our bathroom but due to my crazy busy life I can sometimes only paint for a few minutes at a time. So instead of rising my brush everytime I just wrap it in aluminum foil, push out all the air and set it aside until I have time to paint again. Saves so much time and paint :)

Tipful Thursday...

My tip for this week is a REALLY good one :) I have been wanting to paint stripes in my hallway for a while now, but was putting it off because they are such a HUGE pain!! Then I thought to myself..."Self, why don't you post on FB if anyone knows how to do it?" So I did and guess what?!?! Someone did! Well actually two someones.

So here is what you do:

• Tape off the wall (I suggest the green Frog tape, it is cheaper than the blue painters tape but works much better. In my opinion!)
  


• Paint a thin layer of the original wall color on the edge of the tape. This will create a seal so the new color won't leak through.



• Let that dry completely. Then paint your new color. Let dry completely!!!



• When you peel the tape off make sure you peel it down (like into the painted stripe). I only had 2 very small places to touch up!
  

Seriously the easiest thing I have ever done! Too bad I didn't know this little trick when I painted my laundry room! I will post pictures as soon as I get everything back up on my wall :)

Thanks for stopping by! Much love :)