The good, the bad, and the totally half way finished

Let me tell you about the state of affairs around here....I am currently working on re-doing my living room, but in actuality, the entire house needs to be re-done.  I've slowly changed things here and there over the years, but to be honest, we moved into this house as a VERY young couple.  We had a one year old child and poor "house habits".  I kind of....didn't have a clue about how to care for a home and how to be a grown-up and have a house.  Fast forward a few years and we had two boys and they proceeded to DESTROY our lovely home (we had built brand new).  I started to pick up the pieces and figure out how to run a home and started decorating and trying to fix things.....and then I became pregnant with my daughter, and then my second daughter a year later. Those last two pregnancies almost killed me....or at least it felt that way. I was horribly sick with a pregnancy only heart problem.  The doctors couldn't figure it out for the longest...but let's just say that during all of that, our poor home went from a lovely place to live, to something you might buy after a foreclosure.  Just keeping it real here.

 So for the last few years, we've done a good bit, but you will get to watch me pretty much do a gut job on our home in the coming months.

Up on the list first is:

My entryway/mudroom
(It's all in one room)

       This is already finished, but I will go over how I did this first up

and.....
A built-in TV, fireplace, bookshelves combo. I'm building it from scratch baby!

This is in the works right now.  I'll share my progress soon!

Happy DIY!!!!

Xoxo!

Anna

Temple Picture

Just a quick post to show you a craft I made the other day just in time for Christmas.  A good friend of mine just recently had a little baby girl, and a tradition of mine lately has been to make one of these cute temple silhouette pictures for the new babies in our church.  This could be done with any kind of silhouette, a different kind of church building, a person, your house....the sky is the limit.  I have been making our LDS temple because it is a pure, lovely symbol and reminder of the things we believe. Many people in our faith put temple pictures up in their kids' rooms, but I've never really seen any around that are really CUTE.  They are all nice and I have no problem with any of the ones that I've seen, but they just aren't as cute as I would wish they would be.

 Here is the most recent picture I've made:

The empty space at the bottom of the picture will have the saying "I love to see the temple" in it, in gold letters....I'm just waiting to get the vinyl from my girlfriend who has a silhouette (I neeeeed a silhouette).  I'm impatient, though....and I wanted to share :) 

 I love it and hopefully it will be a reminder to this sweet girl that she is a lovely daughter of god on a daily basis.

I will be back tomorrow with a rundown of my current DIY plans for this house of mine.

xoxoxo!!!!
Anna

the ny melrose family

someday crafts

crafty allie

ginger snap crafts

just a girl and her blog

the happy housie

ivy and elephants

cupcakes and crowbars

live laugh rowe

living well spending less

from my front porch to yours

design dining and diapers

artsy fartsy mama

polkadots on parade

cherished bliss

b inspired mama

The Beginning

So...this is my very first blog post.  I have decided to join the countless others who have come before me in the world of DIY/home and design blogs!  I'm thrilled at the prospect of this new adventure and the things it will add to our life.  Primarily a swift kick in the pants that will keep me going and FINISHING the projects around here.  I am a stay at home mom of four kids.  They are 11, 7, 4 and 3.  My oldest two are boys and my youngest two are girls.  They (and my husband) are the loves of my life.  My hubby is an amazing man who has sacrificed the spoils that could have been made in life with his astounding intellect and hard core work ethic for a life of service to his fellow man, which still requires an astounding intellect and a hard core work ethic...but makes much less money....which means I have to get creative when it comes to financing my projects around here.  I hope to be able to share my creative ideas with all of those out there in blogland.   

 I have been an avid reader of many ....many blogs for the past three or so years.  It was like a light bulb went off for me when I read my very first blog post and realized there was this incredible community of women with amazing ideas out there for the taking. I began voraciously devouring as much as I could read and then putting those ideas to task in my home.  I've been in project mode ever since.  I have been wanting to start my own blog for the longest, and with the acquisition of a brand spankin new laptop....I have begun! 

 My hope is to show you some of my projects that I have completed over the past few years at first in addition to updates with what I am currently working on at the moment.  Let's start this new year off with a BANG!  or should I have said BLOG!  

this is the last family shot we've taken.

Disclaimer***  I am not taller than my husband....and I don't know why it seems like it in this picture. (ha!) and I've totally lost 35 pounds since this photo was taken (yesss!)...and my poor second son, bless his heart....he's still trying to figure out how to pose for a picture.  He's not crying....that's his attempt at "cheeeeese".  He gets it from his daddy!  

xoxoxo!

Anna