Office & Guest Room Makeover Inspiration and Blank Slate.

I've been working on making over my guest room for the last couple weeks. During the last year this room has served primarly as our guest room, and a place where I keep all my craft supplies and sew in there from time to time. My parents were the last guest to stay in there over Thanksgiving, but with a queen size bed and a sewing table set up it was getting kinda cramped. 

So we decided to get rid of the big bed in there, and make this room more into my office/ guest room. We don't have guests often so I think a smaller bed or pull out sofa is what we're going to put back in there. 

I've been saving my pennies, and used my earnings from my garage sale to start buying things for the room makeover. To see more of my inspiration & ideas for this space visit my pin board here. This room is small, but it has a decent size closet for storage. I want the space to be light, bright and airy with lots of white, icy blues, soft pinks and touches of gold. I've already been gathering some inspiration and pieces for the room, you can see where I'm going with the mood board below.

I love Ikea for simple storage solutions, you can't beat their prices on some of their office stuff. Last weekend I scooped up some shelves to add to my office, and some simple white boxes and magazine files to store more things in. 

The gold table is from Target and I found it on clearance back at the beginning of January, it quickly went into my cart at $24.99! I'm still on the hunt for the perfect couch to add to the room. It needs to be able to fold out into a bed so when we do have guest they have a place to sleep. 

Here's how the room looked once we cleared everything out of it to start from scratch. 

The view looking in from the doorway, and as you can see below the closet as well. So we're starting with a pretty blank canvas. 

My goal is to DIY this room for $500 or under! I'm pretty sure with my savvy skills I can make it happen. Check back later in the week to see the progress I've made in this room. 

Have you attempted any room makeovers lately? 

Christmas Sleepover with Party Details from WeR Memory Keepers

We're headed to Iowa for Christmas vacation with the family soon. I'm so excited, this will be the first time we'll be home for Christmas in a couple years. I'm excited for Ava to spent Christmas with her cousins and extended family. 

Christmas is a amazing season to spend with family and friends. A time to share love and laughter and make memories. As my children get older and more into what Christmas is all about it becomes more and more fun sharing this season with them. 

I've been a brand ambassador for Lifestyle Crafts for a while now, and I will now be apart of their Lifestyle Studios teams specializing in the party decor portion. So, I'm excited to be sharing different projects every month using some of their awesome tools and accessories. 

Today I'm teaming up with my friend Destiny from the blog A Place for Us and sharing with you this adorable Christmas sleepover you can easily put together for your little ones. Perfect for sharing with little cousins or play date friends. 

Grab your blankets, books and pillows and set the scene under this adorable handmade tent. I made this tent for my family pictures a few weeks back, we also use it and have it set up in our home. Ava loves to read books in there and play. If you would like to purchase one, you can here.
With some simple supplies from around the house you can set up your own Christmas Sleepover too! Plus I'm going to show you some products from We R that you can use to create some special details. 

I used the food tray die to make these little trays to hold sugar cookies in. I simply used the die and cut the shapes and then folded on the lines and used the Sticky Thumb Adhesive to keep it glued together. 

Fun tip, add some syrup to the rim of your bottle and dip it in sprinkles or sugar for a fun and festive garnish. 

I also used the snowflake die to make these snowflake wraps and put them around the glass bottles. These glass bottles are just empty Starbucks Frap bottles that I've cleaned and saved to re use. They have come in really handy. Destiny made these adorable drink flags to go with. Check them out here. 

Destiny also made these really cute snack trays. Visit her blog here to get the scoop on the projects she made for the Christmas Sleepover including this snack caddy shown above.

With a few little elements you can create a magical setting for your little ones. Snuggle up and grab a few books while enjoying your snacks under the tent. 

These girls, they are sooo cute! I just love watching them together. 

Find all the products I used linked below. If you're interested in creating some of these crafts and having your own Christmas Sleepover be sure to check them out and use code WORLEYHOUSE for 20% off your purchase. Shop here. Visit the We R Memory Keepers website here for their full line of craft supplies. They also have other fun items like photo albums, washi tape and scrapbook supplies.

Products I used:

Sticky Thumb Adhesive

Food Tray

Snowflake Punches

Use code WORLEYHOUSE for 20% off your purchase from WeR Memory Keepers. 

To find out more about WeR visit them on Facebook & Follow them on Twitter.

{DIY} Creating a Family Rules Sign

Three years ago when I was pregnant with Ava I read a book called Five Star Families, in this book it talked about creating a family mission statement.  (read the review here. ) I loved this book so much, and what it had to say about creating family dynamics, and growing families. After reading that book I really wanted Orion and I to create our own family mission statement.

What were going to be the standards we held our family to?

What things did we want to teach our kids?

What legacy were we going to leave when people saw our family?

We began brainstorming and writing down all sorts of things. I've kept this small notebook paper with our mission statement on it tucked away just waiting to do something with it. Here's what I came up with.

I created my sign in PicMonkey, opened up a collage and made it grey. Then opened it in the editor and  in the basic edits changed the size. This size is an 11x14.  Then from there I just started taking the phrases we wrote down and used different fonts layered on top of each other to create this Subway art effect. 

I printed it at Staples using their engineering prints. Total cost $5! I liked the thick white border on the print so I didn't have them trim it down but you could it you wanted to. Then I picked out this frame from Target and popped my print in. 

I read an interview once from Sherry at Young House Love, when asked the question "What's one thing every room in your house should have?" she replied, "Something personal."

I loved this, and I couldn't agree more. I really love what these words represent about us and my family. A standard that we can hold ourselves to. I hung it on the wall across from the door, so that you see it when you enter our home. It's perfect there. 

Making the Most of Instagram with PRINTIC + A FREE PRINTIC for YOU!

It's no secret that I have a love for Instagram! I love taking and sharing pics with friends and family. One thing I have never done yet was print of my Instagrams from my account. I was excited when Printic contacted me about trying out their app. I couldn't wait to get my hands on some tiny little instas and figure out something creative to do with them. 

Printic is an app you can download right to your phone for free for printing & sharing with friends and family. From there you just create and account and login into Instagram from the app. 

Choose the pictures you want to print, you can add text if you'd like or order them as is. Follow the prompts to finish ordering and in no time a pretty orange envelope will arrive with your prints.


 

















Then you'll have to decide what to do with them! I decided to whip up a little DIY project to display mine. Follow along below for more on that.



JoAnn Fabrics has these awesome open back white frames in many different sizes and shapes. I scooped this one up when it was 60% off making it $12. I bought a can of spray paint to match my children's bath decor.



Couple coats of paint. Wait for it to dry. After it was all done drying I took some left over twine and stapled it to the back of the frame. I did two rows with my twine. 


Next it was time to hang my frame up! I've been slowly decorating my children's bathroom so I decided to hang it there. I choose prints that had both kids in them since this is "their" bathroom. 

Aren't they so sweet? I love personal touches like this in my home. I love how this project turned out and can't wait to order more. Getting the prints off my phone and into my hands is so fun! 

Want to try Printic for FREE? Printic is offering all Worley House readers the chance to try them for free. Simply create and account, and enter the code below at checkout:

2E3918

code is valid until Dec. 31st.

Connect with Printic 

FACEBOOK // TWITTER // PINTEREST 

This is a sponsored post on behalf of myself and Printic. I received product in exchange for this post. As always I only recommend products and or services that I love and would personally use.  

Zane's Nursery

I'm excited to finally share with you Zane's completed nursery! His room has been completed for the most part for a few months. There were just some finishing touches I wanted to add before I showed it to everyone. When we found out that we were having a boy I knew somehow I wanted to encorporate my Husband's love for the Oklahoma Sooners into our baby's room decor. 

However, I didn't want it to be all football themed in every corner. I dreamed up a mood board of reds, creams and neutral colored walls with hints of red and football. See the original mood board here. 

I love how it turned out, I can't wait to take you on a tour! Let's go!

This is the view from the doorway. When we moved into our new home and finally got furniture in, the room ended up being to small to add the dresser I wanted. Instead we used the furniture that was in Ava's nursery. Someday we'll add the dresser when there's no longer a need for the changing table. 

curtains & rug: Ikea
white furniture: Graco Lauren Edition Babies R Us
Paint color: Natural Linen by Glidden

Above Zane's closet is a banner that was made by a friend and hung at my baby shower. I brought it home that day knew that I wanted to use it in his room. I decided to hang it above the closet, I love that it was handmade by a friend and is something personal in the nursery decor. 

The crib skirt and the quilt are two of my faves of the whole room. They really are huge focal points and add so much to this room. The fabric was one of the first things I picked out for the room, I knew I wanted something red and you can't go wrong with chevron. The quilt was a gift from a former co worker who made this for me. I came into work one day to find it on my desk, it's such a beautiful piece to have in his room and a wonderful reminder of a great friendship. 

The glider and ottoman are just on the opposite wall. I made the pillow with some of the leftover fabric I had on hand. 

glider: Babies R US
pillow: made by me
red chevron fabric: www.fabric.com
crib skirt: made by me
quilt: gift

This little shelf is one of my faves in the room. Above it sits one of Zane's newborn photos that I took. One the shelf I placed a few of my Husband's personal football items. The mini helmet is my husband's that he's had forever that was just sitting in a box of personal items. It now sits on the shelf and had a permanent home. 

shelf: Lowes

Sock monkey: gift

newborn photo: taken by me

I wanted to display some of the children's books we have, since Ava we've accumulated a ton of books. I wanted to display a few of them and create a little toy nook in the corner of the room. Ava was a little hesitant to "give" her brother some of "her" books but it was a good lesson in sharing. ;)

The shelves are just photo ledges from Ikea that we already had, they make great shelves for displaying books. 

shelves: Ikea
red toy bin: DownEast Home

I shared with you already the gallery wall I put together for the room, I love how this came together. Below it sits the changing table and the canvas bins I re did. They hold all sorts of baby things in each bin. I love the idea of numbered bins, my interpretation of the numbers on a football field. 

hamper: Babies R Us

changing pad: Babies R Us

canvas bins: Target, hand painted by me

Just a few more details of the room. The big "Z" was a paper mache letter from JoAnn's that I spray painted red and hung on the wall. 

I had so much fun creating this nursery for our sweet little boy. I love seeing him in his room, and I love creating rooms for our little ones. I love everything about this room, but if I had to pick a favorite thing it would probably have to be the gallery wall. It was so fun collecting all those elements. Thank you for letting me take you on a little tour today. 

{Our Home} Defining an Entry Way

Hi friends! We're back from vacation and refreshed just like the way it should be. We enjoyed a week with my family in Iowa, I can't wait to share some snippets from our trip.

Today I'm excited to share with you a project that we did to help define our entry way. We started this project on 4th of July weekend, but it always takes us longer than expected to complete projects than I think. We actually finished it a couple days before leaving on vacation. Here's what that space looked like before;

I realized that I didn't get the best before picture and when I was going through them this was the best one, but we're talking about that wall to the right. I've starred at this wall so much over the last couple months. We don't have a really big entry way, it all just leads right into an open living room. We wanted to define this space as an entry way as much as we could, after browsing a few blogs and coming up with some ideas I showed Hubby this post which was our inspiration for the project.

We decided to screw our boards right into the studs like the tutorial suggested. We headed to Home Depot to get our supplies. We ended up using a thinner bender board than what was originally in the tutorial since our space wasn't as big and these boards are a little thinner. Everything else we did the same as the tutorial.

We used Frog tape to keep the boards in place while we measured and checked to make sure things we level. 

After screwing all the boards down it was time to fill in the holes and sand things down. 

Filling, sanding, repeat.

After that we painted them a crisp white. Olympics "Snow" in semi gloss. We used the paint + primer for even coverage since I didn't want to do two steps. Which worked great and covered well. 

Here's the completed after; we wanted this space to have the style meets function factor. We wanted it to look pretty but also be a space where we could hang coats and put our shoes.

We both really love how it turned out after it was all painted and the hooks were in. I love the clean lines and the crisp look with all the white. 

We added three brushed nickel hooks for hanging coats and bags when we aren't using them. And it's easy access for when guests come over and when we come home to kick off our shoes and hang my purse. 

We added a basket to store one or two pairs of shoes when we're not wearing them. It helps keep the shoe clutter at bay. 

Let's take a look up close at this frame. I took an old frame I had sitting around and took some hymns out of a book and placed them in the frame. These five hymns are my faves and they mean a great deal to me, I placed them right where I will see them every time I walk into our home. 

We both love how this project turned out, and we love the look and the character it adds to our home.

What projects are you currently working on? Does anyone else like me take forever to complete a home project? I wanna hear about them! Leave your thoughts in the comments below. 

Budget Breakdown: 

bender board sheet $40 (cut to our specifications)
paint $14
hooks $9
caulk, screws, sandpaper, wood filler we already had on hand

Source List:
basket: World Market
silver frame: Ikea
Hooks: Home Depot
White Paint: Olympic Paint + Primer in Snow

My Fave Instagram Apps + A Few Instagram Taking Tips

Happy Monday Friends! I hope you all had a wonderful weekend! Summer is fully upon us!

Today, I want to share with you my fave apps for Instagram. Instagram is my fave social media tool right now, I love sharing pictures and I love even more the handiness of capturing moments with my phone and not lugging around my DSLR everywhere I go.

First up, the apps I love & use frequently:

1. Instagram- (free) you need to get this one first so that you can share photos. There's a lot of in app filters you can use my faves are Amaro, Rise, Valencia, Nashville. You can also do basic crops & small edits in Instagram. 

But to really kick your photos up a notch you'll want to download, use and play with the following apps:

2. Phonto-(free) This is my fave app for adding text to your photos! They have a ton of free fonts already in the app. I've had this app for over a year now and never added any fonts to it, there's so many to choose from. You can adjust the size, color and angle of each font as well. It's a great go to app! Here's a few examples from my feed showing you this app:

3. PicFrame- (99 cents) I use this app to make collages of photos like the one you see above. They have so many different layouts to choose from too, you can really add a lot of photos in one Instagram with this app. Plus you can adjust the spacing width too. Also you can add color to your spacing if you don't like the white grid, you can make it any color of the rainbow. 

4. BokehCamFX- (free) Want to add a cool bokeh effect to your photos? This is my go to app, you can add circle or heart bokeh with this free app. and also adjust the size of them. The only down side to this app is because it's a "free" version of the regular app you have to deal with some pop up adds in the app. Here's an example of some bokeh added to some of my photos:

5. Over HD- (1.99) When I bought this app it was on sale in the app store, so I wanted to try it out after seeing it with a friend's instagrams. What I liked about this app was the collection of fonts it has, this is the only other font app I use along with Phonto. It has a few fonts that Phonto doesn't have which I like. 

6. Afterlight- (99 cents) This is a great photo editing app, and one that I use often. It has great filters, my faves are Frost & Glacier. Plus it has some awesome frames that you can put around your photos. Some examples:

7. BeautifulMess- (99 cents) This app has only been out a couple weeks and it's quickly becoming a fave of everyone on Instagram. The gals over at A Beautiful Mess blog did it right! This fun app allows you to add cool frames, doodles and drawings. There's a ton of in app add ons you can make, I've just been using the basic ones that came with the download and so far I'm loving this app A LOT! Here's a few examples from my feed:

Aren't those so fun!?! 

And lastly, 

3 Tips for Using Instagram

1. Take your photos with your phone camera and not the Instagram app. Taking your photos with your phone camera and importing them into Instagram will make them less grainey and more clear. The camera in the Instagram app itself is not that great and leaves your photos very grainy. You don't want this when sharing your best photos. 

2. Have fun & be creative

The best photos I see on Instagram are the ones that are creative using many of the apps I've shared above. Get creative with your angles and how you take photos. Just like your regular camera shoot above and below to get different shots. Get creative with it and have fun.

3. Share your real and everyday life

The great thing about Instagram is that it's all about real life, what you're doing in the moment. That's what make these photos taken with your phone so special I think. They are quick fleeting moments that you've been able to capture. People want to see that, I want to see that. Share your kids playing, date night, your messy house, whatever captures your life, share it. 

What about you, are there any apps that you love? Share them with me in the comments below! If you're on Instagram too leave your username below, I wanna find you and follow you. Happy Instagramming friends! 

Make sure you're following me here @photosbyandrea on Instagram.