DIY boxwood wreath tutorial

One of my favorite things about my home gym spruce up has to be the boxwood wreath that I created.  Since I'm not a huge wreath person, I wanted a small, inexpensive and naturally relaxed one.  It was hard to find one (I'm too picky) so I made my own.  And since it was so easy, I thought I would share how I made mine.  Here's what you need:

{It was $12.99 for that sprig of boxwood so use that Hobby Lobby coupon!}

Pull off the leaves instead of cutting them with wire cutters.  I'm all about not cramping up my hand with those blasted wire cutters.  Maybe if I bought some better ones? One more thing to add to the list.    

Place individual leaves on and inside the vines of the wreath.  Then wrap the thin wire around and around.  Take care to arrange the leaves in a circular pattern and not straight up and down.  

Keep going until you either run out (like I did) or the wreath is as full as you like it.  

Don't look too closely because you will see the wires.  But that's ok with me because I follow 

Nester's rules of It Doesn't Have to be Perfect to be Beautiful.  

This exact same scenario happened with the topiary in the the first picture.  I saw, I hunted, I got discouraged, I thought, and then I just made one myself.  Except I didn't take any pictures when I was creating it.  I'm itching to make another one so I just might be doing a tutorial on a topiary soon.

Linked up to:
Nutmeg Place
Funky Junk Interiors

My home gym spruce up

I've been sprucing up my home gym for months now.  I stand in front of the this TV and setup everyday working out and I wanted it to be more motivating.  It was around Christmastime when I got the urge to paint the backs of my bookshelves black.  You know, with all of the extra time that I had.  I'm pretty sure I was painting the day before my in-laws arrived.  

 

I got the idea from Edie's place to paint the back black to sort of hide the TV.  I've always thought mine stuck out like a sore thumb.  

I used some leftover chalkboard paint so I could add and change out quotes easily.

It makes me happy that the TV isn't the first thing seen anymore.

For me, the things that should stick out the most are the inspirational ones.  Like Tony Horton's motto:  "Do your best, and forget the rest" and a Spartan helmet.  Yes, a Spartan helmet.  This became a must because hubby and I just signed up to run a Spartan race in the Spring.  I need some serious motivation staring me in the face while I work out to get myself ready for it!

And my favorite pictures of my family are definitely not up to date but I chose them because they make me smile.  It motivates me to work hard and stay healthy for them.

Here is the saying in the frame:

{I found it on Pinterest but unfortunately it's not a direct link}

It's a great quote for all areas of my life right now.  Blogging, volunteering, mothering, etc.....

Since I'm such a visual person all of these things help me to stay on track.  What about you?  Do you have things around your house to hold you accountable and motivate you?  

I would love to hear about them. 

A corner just for me

I didn't mean to take such a bloggy break.  It just happened.  I have some projects going on but they involve painting and I can't go outside to do it.  My town is getting swarmed by mosquitoes so we have been stuck inside.  They are so bad that we had to run all the way home from school the other day and soccer practices were cancelled.  

Anyway, I did do a little rearranging though.  I'm slowly but surely adding furniture to my empty front room and it makes me very happy.  

 This area of our house is right by the front door in formal living room that we now use as our workout room.  I don't want it to be empty but we still need space to move, jump and lunge around.

I bought the rocker at a local antique store.  This chair is very comfortable even though it doesn't look like it.  The table is a hand me down from my house growing up.  It has moved with us umpteen times and I so glad that I still have it.  I remember dusting this sucker when I was younger and it was a pain to get in between all those grooves!

Here is a closeup of the detail on the chair.  

The lamp was on clearance last year at Target but it took me forever to find and make over a shade.  When I found one, I spray painted it and then hot glued rope around it.  Two hours later and a few burned fingers and I have a new lamp.  But wouldn't you know that I would run out of rope at the VERY last second.

That's OK, I just turn it around and no one can see it!

Fall Entryway "Mantel"

I've been getting ready for Fall even though it is still 100 degrees outside.  I was hoping it would make me feel cooler.  I don't feel any cooler but I'm happier to have something new and different to look at while I work out in my front room.

Before:

After:

I found some old and dirty antique drawers the other day at a local shop and was glad to incorporate one of them in the mix.  It holds the flowers nicely and I love the lights behind it for some "umpf".    

I printed the leaf from a google search and popped it in a frame.  

I am really digging the simplicity of it all.

  (The flames are so yellow because of the battery operated tea lights.)  

I'm thinking of leaving the Jig Saw label on the drawer.  What do you think?

I'm linking up to Layla's Fall Mantel party at the Lettered Cottage.  

I finally did it!

I have been wanting to do a gallery wall forever.  I took these down because I was over the blue and . . .

Ta Da!  Here it is:

I gotta tell ya, it wasn't easy and it took me most of the day.  But I wanted to do it right and with minimal holes in the wall.  (You're welcome hubby!)  There are so many tutorials out there for gallery walls.  I'll spare you another one and just let you in a few things that helped me.  

Don't skip this step.  I know it's a pain but it's worth it.  Oh, and I would suggest 

using flat paper so yours don't roll up like mine.   

Make yourself one of these.  

I saw it on a show with Sabrina Soto once and have used this sucker so many times.  

Hang the picture from the screw and once it is where you want it, push the frame into the wall.  It will leave a little hole indicating where you need to hammer in your nail.

And lastly, don't get discouraged.  Things will go wrong.  Like hardware mishaps and lack of nails but find a way to make it work.  I hot glued brackets onto the back of some of the frames and stapled string to another.

This wall is more than just pretty pictures on the wall.  

It tells a story about me and my precious family.

 1.  I have a fascination with keys.   I think it has something to do with independence.  It started with keys to the house when my mom went back to work for a while.  My sister and I came home after school and ate jelly sandwiches (because we weren't allowed to use the stove) and watched Gilligan's island until she returned.  Then my keys to my car.  Which led to keys to a yogurt store that I was entrusted to close up on my own.  And onto to keys to an unfamiliar dorm.  And, most recently, keys to our first house.  I secretly wish that I had saved them all.

2.  This little symbol screamed my name in Hobby Lobby.  It is a perfect reminder to just BE here.  Not in the past and not in the future.  I am @ home.

3.  A memorable wedding present.

4.  This plaque hung in hubby's grandparents house for ages.  When they moved out of that house they had to downsize and this was the only thing hubby chose.  High Flight is the name of the poem.  Since Popo recently passed away it is especially dear to us.

5.  A pretty framed mirror I found on a "Honey, I have GOT get out of this house" trip to the local antique store.

6. Simple words to live by.

7.  I printed this up for a social at another house years ago.  It says:
For each new morning with its light,
For rest and shelter of the night,
For health and food,
For love and friends,
For everything Thy goodness sends. Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882)
I don't do socials anymore and I sure do miss them.

8.  My bridal portrait that, in twelve years, has never been hung on a wall.  In my life, I have been taken care of.  The woman that I babysat for every week in my first two years of college was taking up photography.  She offered to take my pics to practice so I got a session for free.  I got my hair done, my mom picked up roses from the pricey grocery store and she hung up a sheet in her living room for a backdrop.  A priceless memory since we really didn't have the funds for a formal session and it couldn't have been more perfect.

9.  My beautiful kids and my first "bloggy" project after moving into this house.  I don't remember who came up with the idea to trace over your kids profile on the computer screen and then fill it in with a sharpie but it was genius.

If you're still here.  Thanks for reading.  I had fun sharing it with you.

{Linked up to:  http://southernlovely.blogspot.com/2011/08/show-share-3.html}

This is my home gym

I have had a really hard time with my front room since we moved in.  We didn't have any furniture to put in it so it is pretty bare.  That was three years ago! About a year ago we took one of the gigantic built in desks in our home office from the previous owners and painted it white.  That was pre blogging so no pics here.  This room is the first thing you see when you come into our house.  Nice, right?  Right after I was going to turn this beautiful white desk into a "me zone" complete with a skirted chair and a new laptop, we decided to work out at home.  Since then, it has become even more cluttered with our gear and unbearable. 

I got to work and used Command hooks in the inside to hang up our bands. 

Then it was just a matter of sorting through and organizing.  We also play all of our board games in here since it is close to the kitchen and we don't have an official play room.

I added a cheap and easy skirt made out of a tension rod and a scrap of a left over drop cloth from a previous project.  I didn't sew, I hot-glued and it was glorious.

  I love working out at home.  All you need is a little space devoted to it.  My mother in law moved the coffee table in their family room every morning before the kids got up to exercise with her "tapes". (-:   I'm researching bloggers that can give me advice on how to use this space for working out and family time.  I would also like a picture or mock up of what the room will look like.  Anyone have any referrals for someone who could do that for me? More to come on this room that drives me crazy but is the most used room in the house!