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? 

Fun Ways to Dress Up Your Party Invitations

I love sending out paper invitations for parties and gatherings. I think invitations set the tone for your events and I love picking out pretty ones to compliment the design and feel that I'm going for. I've had so much fun the last three years designing and picking out some of the prettiest invites for my daughter's birthday parties! If the invitation sets the tone of your party, then the envelope is also an extension of that. 

Today I want to share with you some fun ways you can dress up your envelopes before you put the stamp on them and hand them to the post man! 

1. Envelope Wraps
These adorable address wraps are a fun way to put the to and from on your envelopes! With fun designs on both the front and back and tons of options to choose from you're sure to find one that suits your personality. 


Do you love washi tape? I do. Over Christmas I was telling my sister about the wonderful world of washi, she'd never heard of it before. I had to do my sisterly duty and show her all the fun things you can do with washi tape! 

If you're like me you have a few rolls of washi around your house. Mines been sitting in tin buckets in my craft closet for sometime now. Then I discovered this cute little washi tape dispenser, you can hold tons of washi and big plus is that it's a dispenser so you can tear it off and use it when you need it. 

Also, these can be stacked on top of each other with the center pole. So if you're collection is ever growing you can just stack other dispenser on top and call it a day! Pretty clever huh?

2. Seal the back with washi tape. 

I love using washi tape to seal the back. No nasty glue taste, and it's much prettier. WeR has tons to choose from, see them here.

3. Use stamps to embellish.
I love using fun and clever stamps to embellish my envelopes. You can get ones with fun sayings or phrases or pictures too. I like these Doodle Stampers that you can use to run along the edges. I used the XOXO one below.

Did you fall in love with the washi tape dispenser? Or the envelope wraps?

Good news, use code WORLEYHOUSE for 20% off your purchase on any of these items and more at the WeR Memory Keepers website!

Do you like to send out party invitations? What's your favorite way to embellish your envelopes?  

Our Christmas Advent Calendar

This year I was excited to introduce some new family traditions into our home. One of which was adding a Christmas Advent calendar. I whipped up my own with some supplies I already had around the house and added some fun activities for us to do. Here's how I made mine. 

The supplies I used are listed above. The paper bags were a purchase from Pick Your Plum. I made mine for 25 days ending on Christmas. I used index cards to write each of our activities on. 

Then I used the silver seals that I got in the dollar spot at Target and wrote the numbers on them. After I was done I punched a hole in them on the side.

I grabbed some ribbon I had on hand, cut them in strips and looped them on to the cards. 

Repeat the steps till all your ribbons are tied and place the cards inside your bags. 

I used bakers twine and clothes pins to hang them up. 

I found these awesome gold bows at Wal-Mart and added them to the ends of each string. 

We've been having fun so far doing the activities on the cards. Here's the ideas that are on each card; 

1. Decorate the tree
2. bake cookies
3. hot cocoa & stories
4. send out Christmas cards
5. take a picture in front of the tree
6. build a gingerbread house
7. set up Nativity scene
8. write letters to Santa
9. drive around and see Christmas lights
10. buy toys for children in need
11. read the Night Before Christmas
12. make candy pretzels
13. make paper snowflakes & watch ELF
14. wrap Christmas gifts together
15. go see Santa
16. make festive garlands to hang up
17. go to a tree lighting
18. make Christmas gifts for Ava's teachers
19. make a festive holiday breakfast
20. paint our nails red
21. make a snowman
22. pay for someone's coffee
23. watch Christmas movies with the cousins
24. make ornaments
25. read the Christmas story of Jesus' birth, prayer and open gifts

{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. 

5 Ways to Repurpose a Brown Paper Bag

This post originally appeared on Mom Endeavors, but I wanted to share it here too. 

Brown paper bags aren't just for packing your kiddos lunches anymore! I've rounded up some awesome ways to repurpose those brown paper bags into really fun crafts and DIY projects. Since these bags come in packs of 50 for under two dollars you can re make these awesome crafts for just mere pennies per project!

1. Brown Paper Flowers by A Place for Us
2. Simple Brown Paper Gift Packaging by yours truly
3. Holiday Halloween Bunting Banner by Little Miss Marmalade
4. Brown Paper Bag Pinwheel by Style Me Pretty
5. Brown Paper Bag Baskets by Martha Stewart

Pretty awesome right?! Think twice before you throw away those bags, make yourself something pretty!

{DIY} Gold Dot Coffee Mugs with #MarthaStewartCrafts #MothersDay

Mother's Day is fast approaching us, it's a great time to make some lovely DIY gifts for your special Mom. My mother lives out of state, and every time she visits it's so special. I love to soak up those moments with her sharing coffee together in my kitchen. 

I wanted to make some special mugs for us to enjoy when she comes to visit us next week. 

I used these Martha Stewart Crafts glass paint in metallic gold for this project. I'm really on a gold kick lately, I just love it. These mugs are totally Kate Spade inspired. 

I bought two plain white mugs from the Dollar Tree, cleaned them with rubbing alcohol per the instructions on the paint box. Let them dry before applying the paint. 

I started by putting a quarter size amount of paint on a plate, using a foam round brush (you can get these at any craft store.) I dabbed some gold dots around my mug. No pattern just randomly around the mug.

It'll look something like this once you're done. 

Make sure you get the back side too.

Then do your other one. You need a pair to have coffee with mom ;)

You can air cure these for 21 days, or cure them in the oven. I chose to do mine in the oven. Set your oven to 350 degrees and place them in the oven right away before it's fully preheated. DO NOT place these in an already hot oven or it will not cure properly. Set your timer for 30 minutes. Let them cool in the oven and wait 72 hours before using them. 

Now you have a pretty pair of mugs for your next coffee date! 

Want to make your own mugs? Michaels is celebrating Moms with a special coupon! Click here to SAVE on your next shopping trip!

This post as part of a sponsored campaign with Plaid and The Blueprint Social. All opinions and love of Martha Stewart Crafts are my own, as always I only recommend & use products I really love and feel are a good fit for myself and my readers.

{DIY} Tissue Paper Tassels

Hello, friends!

Today, I want to share with you another element from Ava's third birthday party. I made simple tissue paper tassels to decorate the dessert table for her party. These are really simple to make, and really add a fun element to your party decor.

Let's make our own, shall we? I bought my tissue paper at World Market it's a little pricey there but I had a coupon for 10% off so it was little better. I just loved there metallic color selection and colors. You can use any tissue paper you like, I choose three colors that matched her party decor.



First grab one sheet of paper and fold in half the long way, then fold it in half again as show below in the first two pictures on top.

Then cut your paper into strips across. Mine were about half an inch apart, as you can see the cuts weren't always straight either. That doesn't matter much since they are going to be folded just go with it.  After you're done cutting your paper cut it again down the middle.


You'll then have two separate pieces. Open it up and roll it down the center, then once it's all rolled twist the paper around tightly but not to much you don't want it to tear or rip.



Then fold it over to make a loop. I used some masking tape to keep my tassels from unraveling. Each piece of tissue paper will make two tassels. Keep repeating the steps till you're all done with your tissue paper. Then string on some twine (I used some gold bakers twine) in a repeating pattern.

Then they are ready to hang for your party! These are so impressive I think and add a great touch to party decor!

Now that her party is over I just love them so much I want to hang them in her room. I'll be back in a few days with a full post of her beautiful birthday party!

************************

Golden & Glitter Jars

Today, I'm excited to share with you a quick and easy DIY that really makes a fun statement. Golden and Glittery jars! You can use these as a centerpiece for tables or place them on shelves in your kitchen or bedroom really the possibilities are endless. I made these for Ava's 3rd birthday party, and they turned out beautiful. 

Let's get started, you'll need:

some glass jars (mine are old salsa & spaghetti sauce jars)

modge podge

foam brush

frog tape

gold glitter

gold spray paint (I used Rustoleum Metallic Gold) 

Start by cleaning your jars and removing all the labels off of them. I used Goo Gone to help get the sticky off my glass. I also used a rough scour pad to get the writing off them as well. Once clean make sure you dry them before moving on. 

Place Frog tape around the jar where you want to block off where the glitter goes. I wanted mine to be half way up the jar so that's where I placed my tape. Make sure the tape is pressed down and sealed. 

Then take your modge podge and brush it all over the bottom of the jar. You don't need a lot of this a little goes along way. Then dump mass amounts of gold glitter covering all over the jar. Make sure you so this in a cardboard box so that it catches the excess glitter. Let dry. Once it's all dry add another thing layer of modge podge to the top coating it so that your glitter doesn't fall off. No one wants mass amounts of glitter falling onto their table right? This will help seal it, and don't worry the modge podge dries clear so you can still see all the glittery sparkle! 

Lastly peel off your tape when done. Now, time to move onto the gold painted ones. Repeat the same above washing and taking the labels off your jars. Take them outside lay them on a sheet and spray the outside of the glass, not the inside making sure it's evenly coated. I did two coats on these jars. 

Then once they are all dry and ready to go arrange them how you'd like and fill them with pretty flowers. I used mine as a centerpiece for Ava's birthday party. I love the color combo of soft pink with the gold. 

It's so pretty and girly, which is exactly what I was going for. 

{DIY} Numbered Canvas Bins

I'm back with another post on Zane's nursery, last time I showed you his gallery wall in his nursery. Today I want to share with you the canvas bins that I dressed up for his changing station. I'm excited about how these turned out, I originally saw these bins at Land of Nod for the nursery.

Source: landofnod.com via Andrea on Pinterest

But at $12.95 a pop I knew I needed to find something a bit more affordable. I love the idea of numbered bins and I thought they went well with the vintage football theme I was going for.

So I made my own for $39 instead of $77. I bought canvas bins at Target for $12.99 for packages of two I got three packs. I already had the paint, stencils and brushes on hand so there was no cost just the cost of the bins. Here's what I did:



First I taped my stencils to the bins, I found these stencils at JoAnns a while back and I've used them for several projects. I used Frog Tape to place them on the bins.

I used a small amount of white fabric paint that I already had, and put it on a paper plate and used a foam brush to paint the numbers. 

Using a small amount I started painting the bins just dabing it on the stencils. I did two coats of paint making sure there was even coverage on each bin. Once they were dry I peeled the numbers off and here's what they look like now:

They are the perfect solution to hold all of our diapers, wipes, burp cloths and other baby related items. So much storage and I love the numbers on them and how they turned out in the room. They really add something special to the over all feel of the room.

Linking up here: Overflowing with Creativity, Sundae Scoop, Weekend Wrap Up, Create & Inspire.