Fess Up Friday- My Real Life

A lot of times it’s easy to assume a bloggers house is always clean, the children are always amazing and the dinners always fabulous! (I mean that’s all I show you – right?)  So I thought a "fun" fess up  post about the reality of my new home would be “eventful”.

Within the first few weeks of living in the new house we have had:


1.) A broken door.

HOW did that happen? you might ask.  

Contrary to popular grandparent belief my kids aren’t actually perfect but they are children that run around the house like wild animals tantalizing each other and slamming doors while the other sibling runs into it.   And THAT is how you crack a solid wood door.    We made them pitch in $30.00 of their hard earned money and told them  NO MORE MONKEY’s JUMPING ON THE BED!!! (in other words, no more slamming doors in the other siblings face or there will be a price to pay!!!)

2.) A laundry soap disaster.


The two older children do their laundry every Saturday and I understand when the kids are ages 8 and 11 you can only expect that a few things might go wrong. (I know, it’s not their fault) but they put the laundry soap on top of the washing machine without the lid and you guessed it, it jiggled to the edge until it fell off and I didn’t catch it till it was WAY to late. (Note to self, check out things RIGHT away when you smell very strong lavender scents upstairs.)

Photo I sent to carpet guy! (by this time I had already cleaned up the floor)

The condensed soap went all on the floor and seeped into the carpet and pad.  I had no idea what to do so after emailing a carpet guy with pictures (believe me, I was way too upset to take that picture just for my blog!)  he told me to just cut away the damaged pad, buy new pad, suck up as much as the soap as possible and hope for the best.  (as in hope that we don’t have to replace our BRAND NEW CARPET within the first few weeks.)



3.)  Received a fun (house warming?) gift of ORBEEZ for the kids.

Anyone ever heard of these fascinating toys?  They are tiny little beads the size of a pin head that expand a gazillion times their size in a matter of 3-4 hours.  What it meant for me was finding soft gelatin like balls  everywhere in my house…..in sinks, in bathtubs, under kids beds, in kids beds…….you get the picture.


4.) And I found out my dog is the worst culprit of all when it comes to keeping my house clean. (and that’s saying a LOT!)

We don’t have grass yet which means what we do have is MUD, lots and lots of slimy dark mud.  Our dog is an indoor dog so everyday, multiple times a day, he is let out to “use the restroom” and comes back in with his muddy paws.  I honestly just give up.  His nose is also a problem.  He stares outside the back glass door and rubs it all over the glass.  To clean it, is worse than shoveling snow while it is still snowing.

So, here’s the deal, if you were to drop in on me to say hi, I can guarantee you that there would be a door full of dog snot and a floor full of muddy paw prints.  (sounds like the perfect clean house you see in those pictures –huh!)

Anyone out there have any advice how to keep prints (like dog snot) off the windows?? Is there any spray I could put on it that would help repel it?


And just to mention a few more……..


My living room is turned into forts

I have already spilled on and stained my oven and range

(for the first few weeks I hated cooking in/on it because without fail I constantly spilled things.)

Kids make thier own food and it goes EVERYWHERE

The list could go on and on……

So there you have it.  A not so perfect glimpse into my REAL home!

My kids would stay in their pajamas and play on my iPhone/iPod all day if I let them, and sometimes I do!

Here’s to keeping it real!!! 

If you want to feel really good about yourself (hee,hee) read more of my "fess ups" just enter FESS UP in my Search This Blog bar. (on right)

Linking up to 
 blog!

~ Selina ~

House Tour part THREE - Kid Cubbies and Powder Room

Alright, now you get to see what is behind curtain # 3 the arched hallway. My very favorite thing……the kids CUBBIES!

NO more coats, lunchboxes and school work thrown around the house.  You have no idea how happy this makes me! This is actually not a built in, I purchased pieces from HuntWood cabinets and had them install them along with the kitchen cabinets!

I bought the baskets at Michaels - baskets are amazing. They hide a multitude of sins :-)  

And you see that shiny bowl in the corner of the photo above??? You didn’t think I forgot to have a place for the dog’s dishes do you?  hee,hee

Oh he’s a little spoiled……but he sure is cute   I mean just look, that IS a smile on his face – right?

Almost forgot, the powder room (bathroom) is also past the hall.

Upclose of the clay wall.  I tried to make it look like a crumbled concrete wall :-)  I know, some people might think I'm werid......

Alight – up the stairs and to the kids rooms next

                                                                  Explorer Room

Pink Clay Princess Room

……OR maybe the master bedroom

Enjoy!!!  ~ Selina

Linking to Remodelaholic Mud Room Post!

Bedroom Decor Inspirations - Hanging Plates and Iron Beds

Hi friends!

Here is some Eye Candy that I fell in love with. 

Isn’t the placement of these plates GORGEOUS?! 

Collecting a plate theme at a thrift store can be so cheap and fun to do. 

Start collecting now so that one day you’ll have all your plates to decorate like this. 

The wall is art in itself…..look at the soft robins egg blue peeking through the mustard yellows, and the bolder patchwork quilt offsetting the pink and blues on the plates. 

OK, I could go on and on, but I’ll stop!

thehandmadehome via pinterest.

I’m pretty sure if this was my bedroom I’d never leave it.  (Agree?)

On to the next photo.....

Don’t you just love the bookshelf above the bed, the rustic beams on the ceiling and the old wooden doors?

I love how the black iron POPS out from the soft subtle textured cream walls.  *LOVE*

DressDesignDecor via Pinterest

If you would like to see how I made my OWN FREE plate hangers click to the post - you will LOVE how I did it!!!

I’ll keep searching for the best inspirational photos to stir all your creative juices!  Till next post.

~CreativeJuicesDecor~

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How to Bring an Old Antique Chair back to Life!

I see these types of chairs all the time at my local thrift store and on Wednesday they are half off bringing it down to a whopping 5 bucks a chair!

The thing that I find interesting is that they NEVER have any cushioning on them……I mean did they just not NEED a soft seat back then?  Did it make them sit up straighter???  Maybe that’s it??



I like to relax and slouch in a chair I guess so I need LOTS of cushioning……:-)


Since I already posted how to add foam to a chair like this I’ll just link to the post.  I also showed you how to upholster fabric on a seat in this post so check those out if you need help!

I always just lightly sand off or wipe down the blemishes and use my trusty stain pen on scratches.  It totally does the trick for what I need.

And now for the fun AFTER (this really only took about 30 minutes!)

Chair $5.00

Fabric $1.00 (was a pillow sham at the thrift store)

Grand Total $6 bucks!!! 

I bet you guy know where I am going to put this – right???

It will be for my daughters cute French Linen Blue Antique Desk.  Click the link for a complete step by step of that project using Annie Sloan Chalk Paint.

So excited to show you her room all put together!!! Linking up to Southern Hospitality

The Best Way to Hang Frames for a Gallery Wall

I had a bunch of family picture frames just leaning against the wall in hopes that someday, they would all crawl up the wall, find a nail and look amazing.


Unfortunately that never happened so I knew my next best chance was Pinterest to find a solution. (Can you believe I didn’t Google it?  Pinterest is awesome!)   I ran across Marissa’s blog Roost  via Pinterest and found this great idea on how to get my pictures off the floor and on the wall.


I have to say, her technique turned out GREAT!  Not just great, I'd say amazing.  It is fairly simple, not too time consuming and I didn’t have 50 holes in my wall trying to make it look right!!!!!  Yeah!!


First lay out your frames on the floor how you would like to see them on the wall.  Have fun with it, try all different arrangements.  (hey, it’s just the floor, no nails yet.)

Next tape together long sheets of wax paper.

Turn all your frames upside down and lay the wax paper over the top of the frames.

Take a black marker and mark all the spots where the hangers are. I'd also recommend drawing  a few lines on just the outside edges of where your frames will be, or the entire set of frames.  This will help with making sure the frames are level.  (I ran out of wax paper, that is why mine doesn’t go all the way to the edges.)

Next, carefully lift the wax paper off your frame collage and tape it to the wall.  If you have a big collage, I would use 2 people to hang the wax paper.  Just make sure it’s level and tape it up. 

Pound in the nails in the black spots you marked!! Yes, it is that easy!

Now gently take off the wax paper (you can just rip it) and the nails will  be there waiting for those pretty little pictures,  :-)   Transfer them one at a time from the floor collage.

And the FINAL WALL GALLERY photos!!!

There you have it!!  SO easy. A lot better than my collection on the floor.  If you like this PIN IT 

so that you can remember this fun techniques and others can use this great idea too.  :-)

Linking up to YHL - filling your entier wall with frames was project #125 in their new book!

House Tour Part TWO - Tuscan Themed Kitchen with Honed Granite

OK, I’ll head right into the next part of the house…….so sit back, drink your coffee and enjoy. 


The Kitchen:

Consists of engineered hardwood floors, knotty alder cabinets, tumbled stone back splash laid brick style, honed granite and American Clay plaster walls.

Kitchen granite sink:

I have had a few people ask me "Where did you get your sink!?"  I love having the big open (non divided) area.  I am really happy with the purchase. :-)

The appliance garage!!!  (I think I just heard Handel's Hallelujah Chorus!  I can now hide all my STUFF)

All the Knotty Alder kitchen cabinets by Huntwood (click on this post to see how I installed the handles and knobs)

Kitchen Bar:

Off kitchen computer nook:

Computer nook open: (yes, with the wine above…..perfect combo, blogging station and wine….

Remember me writing a post about re-doing this chair?  I had it in my head since the first time I saw it months ago to put it here!

That wraps up my kitchen!!!

It will be fun putting all my junk pretty décor stuff up on top of the cabinets!  I have banned myself from any more thrift store shopping.  I just can’t keep collecting pretty stuff even if it is only $1.00 – I’m SERIOUS! 

Next post will be down that fun arched hallway,  I call it the hallway of happiness because it has my very favorite part of the house right behind it   (don't forget to check out the beginning of the tour with the ENTRY if you haven't done it yet!)

STAY TUNED for the final decorated reveal!!!  I'll tell you some tips and tricks how to decorate shelves and the tops of cabinets.

Ok I finished the kitchen so I'll update this post!! 

Here are some of the final photos :-)