Autumn Amelia

Hello everyone! 

I hope you all had an amazing Memorial Day weekend.

I have been searching for the perfect baskets for our entry way for quite sometime.

As you may recall from the entry design post, I originally planned on having gold baskets underneath our entry way table.

I wasn't able to find any gold baskets that I liked AND that would fit underneath. 

I found these baskets that were the perfect size at Target but I didn't love the color.

They blended into the gray background too easily.

So I thought, why not paint them?

After seeing how the silver blended into the gray background I decided I wanted more of a pop of color and thought black would be a better fit than gold.

It fit in with the color scheme of the entry and living room and matched the black knobs of the entry way table.

I scored the baskets when they were on sale and picked up some black spray paint.

I went over the baskets twice with the spray paint and gave them plenty of time to dry.

I went with a satin finish so they had a bit of shine once they dried.

I absolutely love how they turned out!

The black makes the baskets really stand out.

Now our guests have somewhere to put their shoes and keep them safe from Scout.

How do you think they turned out?

Hello everyone!

Happy Memorial Day weekend!

Since barbecue season has officially begun I thought I would share one of my favorite pasta salads.

We always whip this up to go with our barbecues.

You will need:

1 large head of Broccoli
1/2 a pound of bow tie pasta
2 Tablespoons of butter
2 Tablespoons olive oil
1 Teaspoon of minced garlic
Zest of one lemon
1 Teaspoon of pepper
1 Teaspoon of salt
1 Teaspoon of lemon juice
Fresh parmesan cheese

Fill pot with water and bring to a boil.
Add a pinch of salt.
Cut broccoli into florets and add to boiling water.
Cook three minutes.
Remove broccoli and in the same boiling water add pasta.
Cook pasta for twelve minutes.
Drain well and add to broccoli.
In a small sauce pan add butter, olive oil, garlic, and lemon zest over low medium heat.
Cook for one minute.
Remove from heat.
Add salt, pepper and lemon juice and stir.
Add mixture to the pasta and broccoli.
Mix well.
Sprinkle with parmesan cheese.


You can also add pine nuts if you desire.
What do you like to have with your barbecues?

Hello everyone!

Happy Monday!

Today is the last concept design for our Master Bedroom.

It's nothing fancy but it felt weird to leave one wall out.

This wall is located to the right of our last design post.

The wall is painted the same light blue as the other walls.

It has very limited space due to our closet and bathroom door.

We discovered that a tall dresser fit perfectly between the two.

On top of the dresser is our TV.

I wish there were a way to hide it but it will remain here for now.

The dresser offers a lot of storage and I think the top two drawers will be perfect to hide our DVD and PS3 in.

Erik and I our big TV and Movie watchers...

Do you have a TV in your room?

Friday May 12th

My sister and I had the opportunity to see Andrew McMahon.

It meant so much to me as she introduced me to his music when I was very young.

This was our third time seeing him together and it was the best!

Who is your favorite musician?

Hello everyone!

As you probably know Mother's Day is this Sunday.

Every year I like to give something to my Sisters because they are amazing Mamas!

I never do anything too fancy just a little something to let them know I am thinking of them.

This year I decided to give them bath bombs because who doesn't love to have a good soak?

I placed the bath bombs in a clear baggy, tied them with gold ribbon and added these cute tags that say "You're the bomb."

I found the tags on Pinterest.

There were many other designs but I thought these were the best fit for Mother's Day. 

I am always looking for quick simple gifts.

You could also take the time to make your own bath bombs or make your wrapping a little more fancy if you want it to feel more special.

What are you giving to the ladies in your life this year?

Wednesday May 3rd

My niece Baylee had her first dance recital!

It was so fun to see her up on stage for the first time.

After the recital we went out for shakes with the family to celebrate.

What is your favorite kind of shake?

Hello everyone!

Today I am going to show you the concept design for the third wall in our Master Bedroom.

It is located to the left of our last concept design post.

This wall is a little tricky as it has a window, bathroom door and is located right next to our bed.

It didn't leave much space.

I originally didn't plan on putting anything in this area.

I was only going to had curtains to the window.

I have always liked the idea of having a bench at the end of our bed but our current set up does not have enough room.

So I thought, "Why not put the bench under the window?"

It works perfectly!

The wall is painted a light blue like the rest of the room.

I thought the curtains would be a perfect way to add in some more deep purple.

I chose a black curtain rod to match the rest of the hardware in the room.

Underneath the window is where I added the bench.

It's gray and matches our bedding well.

I loved that the legs were gold to tie in with the rest of the gold accents in the room.

I added a gray furry pillow on top to match the elegant feel of the bench.

Even though the space was cramped due to the window and bathroom door I think it will match the overall feel of the rest of our bedroom.

What do you think?

Hello everyone!

Happy Cinco De Mayo!

Erik and I celebrate every year by grabbing some Cafe Rio and watching a movie at home.

We put up a few decorations to make the house feel more festive.

While organizing my craft room a little while ago I discovered I had a lot of crepe paper.

Like a lot...

What was I going to do with all of it?

I thought it would be perfect to create a Cinco De Mayo backdrop!

I started by creating a pattern on the wall.

Three strips of green crepe paper, three pink, three orange, etc and cut them to my desired length.

Then I went over the top of the pattern layer and added in single strips of crepe paper.

I didn't really use a pattern for the single strips layer.

I just tried to make it so that there was a mixture of color.

I love how it turned out!

This was my first time doing a crepe paper background.

I usually place a single colored tablecloth behind the table as a backdrop.

About half way through creating the backdrop I realized there was an easier way.

I should have still used a tablecloth, taped the crepe paper to it and then hung it up.

No up and down on my ladder!

I was already half way through so I continued onward and gave my legs a killer workout.

After the background was finished I set up our banquet table with our Cinco De Mayo decorations.

The process was so easy but it was a little time consuming.

I would do it again just maybe all on the tablecloth as we discussed.

What do you do for Cinco De Mayo?

Hello everyone!

And hello May.
I can't believe we have already made it to May.
Probably because we are still getting snow around here...

We finally got some nice weather this weekend so I took advantage and painted our front door.

The exterior of our house is a light blue.

We thought painting the front door a deeper blue would give our house a nice pop and would flow well with the exterior. 

Here is the before:

And here is the after.