$5 DIY Chevron Frame

I was at Lowes the other day (you're shocked, I'm sure), for something totally unrelated, and just HAD to walk down the aisle with all the wood, moldings, you know the one. I never imagined myself thoroughly enjoying looking at this kind of stuff, but ideas pop into my head more when I'm in that aisle than anywhere else. Like this piece of wood I spotted:

It cost less than $5. The wheels started turning, and I thought maybe I could paint it white, do some stripes, and attach a picture in the center and make a large frame for next to nothing. I knew just the picture, and just the place to hang it - my master bedroom. And then I got the idea, maybe chevron stripes! Yes! This is the stuff that happens to me at Lowes. Who knew?

So I sanded it just a tad, then primed it, and gave it a white coat of flat spray paint. Then I googled painting chevron, and got zillions of results, all well thought out, detailed, precise directions. I don't do well with well thought out or precise. I got T-2 hours until the kiddos awake, so I just got a ruler, a pencil, and drew my own. No measuring whatsoever, so I don't recommend you copying my methods if you want everything exact, but that stuff doesn't phase me for some reason. I'm a weirdo, I know;)

I eyeballed it, and it was good enough for me! I did erase a couple lines that were drastically wide/thin/uneven, but for the most part they're pretty close. And it went a whole heckuva lot quicker!

Then I got my angled brush and a leftover paint sample I had (Valspar Lament Blue - GORGE!), and filled in the stripes.

Then while it was drying, I got my picture ready. I had just ordered a bunch of prints from Shutterfly, and in the bunch was this 8 x 10 shot of Paul and me at the beach this summer:

*A little tip: This photo was in color, and not as zoomed in. When you order it, you can crop it how ever you like, make it black and white, sepia, whatever, in just a click. So easy. This is what that photo originally looked like:

Wouldn't look nearly as good in my bedroom in its original state, but changing it to black and white, and zooming it, it's a totally different picture. And you get rid of the condos in the back too.

So the frame I have it in is from the Dollar Tree! I chose it because, well, you can't beat a buck first of all, but it's also SO light, so it's not like I have to mount a super heavy frame, and pray it never falls. This one, all you have to do is use your glue gun and (I'm assuming - it's only been a day;) lol) it'll stay put. Just be sure to remove that piece that's on the back to hold the picture up on a tabletop, so it's nice and flush:

This is what it looked like when I was done.

Or so I thought.

Silly me thought it might look better if I distressed it a bit, give it an ol' beachy feel perhaps...so I got out a piece of sandpaper and got to work.

Should've left well enough alone on this one, I think. I like the un-distressed version a lot more. Oh well.

But this got the wheels moving...there are ENDLESS possibilities with the whole piece of wood/frame idea. You could do two of these guys next to each other, maybe over your bed, or if you have a large wall above your couch, and a few kids, you could do one large picture of each of them, even paint each one a different color. You could do thick horizontal stripes, or vertical, or a stencil...or I was even wondering about mod podging some beautiful cardstock onto it. And the pictures can have options too - you could do a much larger picture on there, like a 16x20, or two centered on top of one another (or next to)...SO many choices! I was thinking about freehanding with my Sharpie paint markers our favorite quote, or simply writing the word "us," but in the end decided to let it be.

 So for about $5, I've filled a pretty big chunk of our bedroom wall. Even if I do think I botched it at the end with the whole distressing thing. Oh well, for that price, I can start over, right?!


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I linked this up...

My Father, The Fairy

My dad is an intimidating man. He's known for his firm handshake, loud voice, loud presence. Growing up, my boyfriends always said they thought their hand would break off when he shook it. When my siblings and I would misbehave, all my mom had to say was, "Just wait until your father comes home," and we'd whip back into shape faster than you could blink. He wanted us to be respectful, first and foremost, not EVER be flip, and don't do anything half-way. He's an old school kind of guy. You don't mess with him. If you're sitting in his chair when he gets home from work, you GET UP. If he tells you to eat your veggies, well, not only will you eat them, but you will ENJOY them.

This was the man I grew up with. And as intimidating as he was, I never for a second stopped thinking he was the greatest man alive. For as hard as he disciplined, he loved 1 zillion times harder. He was our biggest fan. He was the only dad on ALL the field trips. He was embarrassing, loud, and an awkward teenage girl's nightmare, but as a grown up, I see just how awesome he was, and is. And that tough, intimidating man who scares the you-know-what out of people? These days he can be seen donning fairy wings and learning how to fly like a fairy, from his favorite 5 year old in the entire universe...

This is one of my favorite stories. Ever. One day not long ago, my daughter (who lives, eats, sleeps, and breathes fairies), was teaching my dad all about fairies. He asked her if she would someday teach him how to fly like a fairy, and she said, "But you don't have wings, Dad Dad." DUH. So a couple days later, on one of those freak gorgeous January days, that Maryland doesn't typically get, there was a knock at the door. In walks my dad, the very same tough, intimidating man I told you about, wearing white glittery fairy wings. He was ready for his flying lessons.

The look on my daughter's face was priceless.

She grabbed her "Magikel Fairy Dust" (aka glitter in a Kraft Parmesan Cheese container) and they headed outside.

The funny thing is, Dad went to a party store, and asked one of the workers to help him try these on, then wore them in line, in the parking lot, in the car, and to our house. In wings. Glittery wings. 67 year old man. All to make his granddaughter happy. I love it.

So they 'flew and flew' until the pixie dust was all gone. Dad went home, and I told Reese she had a very special granddad. She was still smiling, and said, "I know, Mommy."

Oh, and when we visit, should one of my kids ever sit in Dad's chair when he comes home from work, know what he does?

He sits somewhere else.

I linked this up at

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Kitchen Makeover Part 4: Gettin' Out the Paint!

As much as I would love to keep the kitchen a total surprise, when it's all 110% done and everything, I feel like I owe you a little somethin' somethin'...I've gotten emails from readers saying they check the blog daily awaiting to see the kitchen, and let's face it. When you've got 3 small children to take care of every day, we're talking just a couple hours at naptime to complete a kitchen. Trust me, nothing would make me happier than getting this sucker D-O-N-E, but Mommy Guilt gets me, and playing with the kids kinda trumps finishing this kitchen in a timely manner;). And I don't know about you, but after they go to bed, even I can't summon the energy to work on moldings or bust out a paintbrush! This momma's got just about enough energy to scoop out some ice cream and plop on the couch come 8pm.

So I decided to show some pics of what I'll call the '50% Complete Kitchen Makeover.' Paint is done, cabinets are done, but a LOT is left to do...molding around those cabinets still need to be put up, I would like some corbels underneath them, some lighting underneath the cabinets, new island counter, curtains, trim around the beadboard, new accessories, baskets for the island shelves...the list goes on...wow, now sounds like more than 50%, doesn't it?! Oh well, here's what I've been working on this week anyhow...

I gave the Chalkboard menu a little facelift.

I just painted the trim blue, and decided to trace the word 'menu' at the top (once again, using my Hobby Lobby 4 inch Rustic Alphabet letter stencils...LOVE THEM!), and filled in with white paint. Here's what it used to look like:

To make that menu, all I did was paint a rectangular shape (didn't measure - just slopped some paint on the wall in an approximate shape), using chalkboard paint, then mitered some molding to fit, and nailed it up there.

I also got out some spray paint and gave a hideous pitcher with a early 1990's fruit pattern all over it a little updating with Valspar Tropical Oasis spray paint...

I also did a few other items...the cookbook stand, a bowl (Krylon Banner Red)...

Save yourself some money, and just grab a can of spray paint to update your existing things, if you can. I also did the curtain rod (that has no curtains yet!), and the towel holder - both were black, and now they are silver. (Valspar Metallics)

Ok, here's the island update...check out the before:

And the after...

OH - that reminds me! I have an idea for the stools - they're getting a little makeover too, but haven't had chance to do those yet.
(Paint: Olympic Kingston Aqua)

I decided to go with white on the walls, and I think I'm going to stick with it. Once the accessories are all up, i think the white will do just fine. If I'm dying to put up some color after it's all said and done, I can always do that later. I'd go with the lightest lightest blue. We'll just wait and see...

I thought I was really going to hate the light wood top on the island, but it's actually not driving me crazy - I kinda dig it. Still want to darken the stain, but it's liveable for the moment;)

So for fun, let's take a look at the old kitchen next to the new one (well, 50% new one - lol)

HA! I have the E-A-T letters (paper mache ones from Hob Lob sprayed in red gloss) still just leaning (didn't want to hang them until the molding went up), and it looks like F-A-T from here! Ooops. Like the empty curtain rod above the window? ;) hehehe...we'll get there.
And for even more fun, let's look at what this kitchen looked like when we moved here, almost 6 years ago...

We've come a long way, baby!

Hope you like how things are shaping up...I'm loving how much brighter it is in here already!


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Comfort Food at its Best: Mom's Chicken Tettrazini

Taking a little detour from my usual decorating posts (as I tend to do from time to time;), and while I was cooking dinner the other night, the idea popped into my head to share this recipe with you. I know a lot pretty much ALL of us are busy - either with work, kids, both - sometimes it's hard to find the time to make a home-cooked, hearty, warm-you-to-the-bones, make-you-feel-good dinner. This is one of my very favorite Mom recipes, and it can be on your table in less than half an hour, with just a little bit of prep work. Who doesn't love a cozy comforting dinner that's super easy AND super quick?! I figured we could all use another dish like that to add to our menu rotation. This meal instantly takes me back to being a kid in the dining room of my childhood home, surrounded by my family and lots of love...and just plain makes me feel good.

Dinners at my parents' house were (and still are) good times. My husband has said most of his favorite memories with my family happened around that table. It's loud, it's chaotic, it's hilarious. It's the stuff a family with 5 kids is made of. Before the kids, we'd all sit and linger with coffee and dessert, and talk forever, but now it's more of a "quick, devour this so we can make sure the kids aren't breaking anything" kind of experience. We'll get in the car to go home and say, "Did we even eat?" But it's still a fun and happy time nonetheless.

I have the recipe to Mom's Chicken Tettrazini scribbled on a piece of paper - there are no directions, just ingredients, and I'm not even sure this is exactly as she makes it, but it tastes exactly like hers. And it smells exactly like hers. I take a couple shortcuts, like I use chopped up rotisserie chicken to save time, where she used to poach hers. But again, the end result is the same, so I'm good with that.

Mom's Chicken Tettrazini:
1 c sliced mushrooms (you can omit if there aren't any mushroom lovers in your house, but we LOVE them)
5 T butter
1/4 c flour
salt and pepper
2 c milk
1/4 c white wine
2 c cooked chicken (shredded or cubed)
1/4 c broken cooked spaghetti (I use about half a box - I never measure this one;)
1/3 c grated parmesan (yes, the one in the green container works just fine)
1 c soft bread crumbs

(Preheat oven to 400 degrees)
1. Saute mushrooms in 1 T of the butter.

I should go ahead and apologize now for these not-so-desirable pics...it was 5:30, kids were starving, and I was trying to juggle keeping them happy, making dinner, setting the table, and taking pics of these steps at once. Not enough time to play around with settings or anything - I turned the camera ON and snapped away;)
2. Once they've softened a bit, remove from the pan. Melt 3 T of the butter, then add flour. Cook for a minute or so. Add salt and pepper and milk. Cook for a few minutes, until milk thickens a bit.
3. Add wine, cook for a couple minutes. (see, told you these aren't exactly precise directions;) but trust me, you can't mess this up!)
4. Add the cooked chicken, the cooked spaghetti, and the mushrooms back into the pan.

Note: I already cut up the chicken and cooked the spaghetti earlier in the day, so they're all set to go. If you have that step done, this takes no time.
5. Once you mixed this altogether, pour in a greased (or cooking spray) 13 x 9 baking dish.
6. Sprinkle grated parmesan on top, then bread crumbs (I just tear apart a piece of bread), and dot with remaining tablespoon on butter.

7. Bake for 15-20 minutes (usually mine is more like 20, since the chicken and spaghetti are cold from preparing them earlier). And you're done!

I serve it with either a green vegetable (the kids like peas), or a nice salad and crusty rolls.

Now, I'm sure you won't have quite the strong reaction to this, unless your mom happened to make this exact same recipe when you were a kid;), but to me, when I make this for our family, it's like there's a warm blanket wrapped around us, and all is right with the world. And on a cold winter's night, you can't beat that, right? Ultimate Comfort Food. Thanks, Mom.

Hope you enjoy!

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Kitchen Makeover Parts 1 and 2: Open Shelves and Painting Cabinets

Wow. Has hardly been a month since I posted my ideas for a new kitchen, and just a few months since the fiasco when I painted my kitchen green - for three days - then back to red because I just LOVED it SOOO much...I'm starting to think I may just be 100% insane. I tell you, I get these ideas in my head and they won't EVER leave me alone! I kid you not. I wake up in the middle of the night thinking about this stuff. It's no joke. So I decided I was D-O-N-E with the red. (Well, not completely - we'll get to that;)...). So here I go, back to the drawing board. Glutton for punishment? Perhaps. Let's hope not, this time around. I have a good feeling about the kitchen now. You might ask yourself, how does a stay at home mom, with a 2 1/2 year old, an almost 4 year old, and a 5 year old find the time (and ENERGY!) (and MONEY!) to give their kitchen a makeover twice (kinda sorta) in a matter of months? I'm here to divulge my master plan. It all pretty much boils down to one principle: BREAK. IT. DOWN. In other words, I do little bits here and there (I do follow sort of a schedule, like, what I want to start with, what comes second, third etc.), and I'm pretty crazy about not starting something else until what I'm working on is DONE. A kitchen, of all places, is one room I do NOT want chaotic. I need to cook three meals a day in there. I need to go in and get snacks and drinks 2 times a day. We LIVE in our kitchen. The island is where you will find my kids many times a day, either drawing, or coloring, or play-dough-ing, or "helping" me bake something. It's truly the heart of our home, and I would flip my flippin' lid (ha!) if it was filled with paintbrushes, emptied contents of drawers and cabinets that are in the midst of being painted, etc etc. So even though it might take longer, in order to keep my sanity, I like to break it down. I decided the very first thing I wanted to tackle was removing a few cabinet doors, and creating some open shelves. I started one day just clearing out our dishes, wiping down the inside, and before I knew it, I was unscrewing the cabinet fronts and priming away!

 Now, we have our original 1960s cabinets (are you surprised, after seeing our 1960s bathroom?!), and we (and by 'we' I mean, my husband since I was 8+ months pregnant with our first when we moved in and did the kitchen!) painted the fronts only. We picked Shwerin Williams Jersey Cream, to go with our SW Pottery Red. I love Jersey Cream - it's a nice buttery creamy yellow, and complimented the red well. So the inside of the cabinets were nice and raw - I just had to clean them and fill the holes from the door hinges with wood filler (sand those spots only), prime them, then slap some white semi-gloss on them. It took what seemed like 800 coats, but was probably more like 3, maybe 4. I kept feeling like I could see the wood - I wanted to be good and sure they were nice and white! Here's what that cabinet looks like now:

I picked up a few dishes at the Dollar Tree, and had a few red bowls to include (yep, I'm still holding onto a **LITTLE** bit of red...told ya;), and threw a couple natural items, like the salad bowl and basket (which hold tupperware!) in the mix. Not 100% how I want it yet, but we'll get there.

Here's the other cabinet I did:

Then when I saw how much I loved them, I did a skinny cabinet over by the fridge - you can see it in this pic:

Here it is now - I picked up a few baskets (at the Dollar Tree! They're not the best - I want to replace them sometime, when I find the perfect baskets, but for now they'll work).

Okay. So that was Phase One of the Kitchen Project. The Open Shelves took a day - I did ONLY the open shelves, hadn't started painting the cabinets yet (even though in these pics the cabs are painted) and this is what it looked like when I was done.

 It was getting close to the bewitching hour, so I cleaned up this mess and kept the pile of dishes on the Dining Room buffet table while the shelves were drying. The next morning I put the dishes away and our open shelves were complete.

The next day, I decided to tackle the upper cabinets only. This happened to fall on a Saturday, so I took full advantage of Paul being home and got it all done. We ran some errands that morning, played a while, then naptime came, and the rest of the day was yucky out, so while he kept the kids entertained, I got them painted. I just gave them a light sanding, wiped them clean, and painted, since they were such a light color to begin with. Giving them a light sanding gives them some 'teeth' - something for the paint to hold onto, instead of the glossy finish they had from the Jersey Cream. When I removed each cabinet front, I placed EACH doors' hinges, knobs, etc, in a bag and labeled the EXACT location of the cabinet. Makes it nice and easy when you know exactly what hinge goes where. I finished around dinnertime, and the next morning, I replaced all the hinges, handles, etc, which took no time at all, and since it was the Superbowl, I left Sunday at that.;)

So today...I decided to attack half of the bottom cabinets. Since it's a weekday, I don't have the luxury of spending the entire day painting, so I broke it down like this:
8:55: See the kindergartener off on the bus.
9:00: Remove all drawer pulls and hinges from half of the bottom cabinets while the other 2 kids are finishing up breakfast and playing nicely (gotta take advantage when that happens, right!?). Give them a quick sand and wipe clean. Totally ready for paint.
9:15: Get dressed, play a while, go to Mom's to borrow a table, kids play, eat lunch there, leave without said table.
12:30: Come home, put kids down for nap, bust out the paint, get rolling.
2:02: For some ungodly reason, the 2 year old, who's famous for his amazing 3+ hour naps every day of his life, wakes up. I did somehow manage to get half done though, and they dry while we go outside to play until big sis gets home at 4.
4:00: come in, kids have snack while I screw all the hinges and handles on. PLENTY of time before the madness of 5pm, when I start cooking dinner.

I have to say, this 'little bit at a time' method might be a lot longer than say, knocking it all out in a weekend, but at least there's order, and if there ain't order, this momma ain't happy!


So tomorrow I'll finish up the last of the cabinets, and they'll be completely done. Next thing I'm tackling is the backsplash. I won't ruin any surprises, so I'll keep you in suspense until then;). Then the paint and molding around the cabinets. They are far from done; I think some nice molding around them will really give them a finished look. Still haven't committed to a color for the rest of the kitchen, I just know it'll be in the blue family. Stay tuned;)

It's funny, I had always thought our cabinets were so light, but check out how nice and fresh the white looks compared to the Jersey Cream:

WOW. Can't wait to see how this all turns out. White paint is like a breath of fresh air!

So as far as the open shelving, I thank you all for your wonderful comments/advice/words of wisdom and experience. One major issue that seems to come up a lot, is the order thing. Yes, you will have to be somewhat tidy, but I only opened up a couple, I still have a few left that can go untidy;) When it comes to the plates/cups/bowls cabinets, we've always been fairly neat about those anyway, so I wasn't concerned about that. (Now, the pots/pans/baking dishes cabinets...you'd be afraid...VERY afraid.) And I just decided to put the kids' plastic plates, bowls, sippy cups in a couple of those drawers.

 We're down to just one sippy cup kid, so while we used to have 1,000 of them, we have just a few left. CRAZY!!
And the favorite mugs, cups, etc. that we didn't want to get rid of, but don't look too purdy on display, I have them in this closed cabinet.

So it all works out:)

WHEW! I rambled quite a bit on this post, didn't I?! Sorry, a little excited about this whole kitchen redo!

Still a lottttt ahead of me, but it's a start!