Custom (kind of) tray

Ok so it's not really a home DIY but it's a DIY nonetheless, more of the decorative persuasion.  I have become insanely addicted to Modge Podge!  (For those of you who aren't up on the crafters lingo, it's basically glue but so much better and you can do SO much with it!!)  We've had a little wooden tray on the ottoman for a couple of years, just to have a flat surface for whatever reason (although it's become more of a catchall than anything).  Unfortunately it was an imitation bamboo look and I never was really digging it but what can you do?  Well apparently for under 10 bucks at Hobby Lobby and an afternoon you can make it over!  I am so happy to finally have it suit the the living room, a little bit anyway.  Take a peek:


BEFORE:

Some brown spray paint, fabric, and Modge Podge later.....

AFTER:

It still needs trimming and probably won't add value to our house when it's time to sell, but dang it, it makes me happy!!

Is the grass always greener?

In our yard...YEP! 

I know you've all been anxiously awaiting a new post, well folks, here we go! 

After months of looking at a jungle (see previous post) and then a mud pit, we finally have a green lawn to peek at through the window.

This was our mud pit (pre-mud)

One week after seeding....yep, that's right, one week!!  Thanks to the week of never ending rain for this one

Two weeks later....GREEN!! (And Ellis cleaning his grill)

It's still pretty patchy but we'll probably have to wait a little bit to fill in some.  It was a much longer road than I anticipated but we met the goal of grass before winter!

Every morning has been like Christmas for Ellis, he runs downstairs to see how the grass looks and gets all giddy that it's so green!

Welcome to the jungle

Our once jungle of a backyard has been tamed...finally!!

Before:

During:

After:

First of all, how cool is my phone with the panoramic shots?!  Secondly, how happy are we that this is finally done?  Well, I'm not nearly as happy as Ellis but we're both pretty happy!  Now to seed it and turn that dirt garden into a lawn!

Storm door

We finally...FINALLY...got the storm door!  We've had it picked out since last year but since our wonderfully quirky home's door frame was a whole half inch smaller than standard size we just couldn't justify forking over the extra money to make it fit.  Fortunately the wait is over!  

Before...with our new mailbox!

After...the top half pulls down to a screen

Niellei still isn't sure about it, but she's getting there.  It's a small thing but I suppose they all add up!

A small break...no pun intended

So as many of you know I am on the mend.  Unfortunately having two broken elbows doesn't lend itself to home/outside projects (of course neither does 100 degree weather).  Because of this we've had to go on a small DIY hiatus, which is driving me nuts!!  My poor flower bed is screaming for attention (pictures soon!) 

In other news, our connecting neighbor finally moved in.  He's a nice guy, single, and has lots of plans for his half, so we're pleased! 

Hope everyone's having a great weekend!  Thank you all for your thoughts and prayers, hopefully we'll get back to the fun stuff soon enough!

Patio Party

**I actually wrote this the day after we finished the patio (6/1), I just knew that I wanted to do a slideshow of pictures and haven't felt like compiling that until now...sad, I know**

I don't know that I'd call it a party per se, it was more like a patio laying/bake in the sun/kill you muscles work out!  But we've finally accomplished our first major project, the very large paver patio.

When we moved in (giant cement blocks)

During (no blocks....just dirt)

After (FINALLY a patio we can use!)

After four long days of work in the crazy heat and sun it's officially done!

All ready to entertain

We are SO, SO thankful for ALL of the help from family, friends, and neighbors & for no rain all weekend (however, a little rain may have been welcome to cool things down a bit).

If a tree falls in the forest....

 ...and no one's around to hear it, does it make a sound? 

I don't know, but when it falls in my back yard it is VERY noisy!


After hours of loud chainsaws, ear-splitting wood chippers, and deafening stump grinding the tree is officially gone and the backyard has taken one giant step in the right direction!

Now you see it...

....now you don't

     

I have to admit, I already miss the shade it provided and the yard looks a little bare without it but I know when we get done I'll be happy we did it.

In other news:  We've spent the last week pricing materials to put in the patio.   Two more weeks and we'll have a new fabulous patio to spend the summer on!

Next up, cleaning up the jungle that is our back fence line...

Revamped Pantry

The kitchen pantry was a huge selling point for me when we bought our house (it kind of made up for the fact that there was no linen closet).  It is by far one of my favorite parts of the house.  Unfortunately, when we moved in the hubby was working out of state so I was here alone and, with a full school course load and work, the unpacking process was slow and sloppy, we're still getting things organized.  The food was pretty much thrown in the pantry just to get it out of the kitchen and since then it has become the dumping ground for all things kitchen related.  

A few weeks ago we bought two pantry racks to hang in there to better use the space, my plan to do this over Spring Break just didn't happen though.  But for some reason I'd just had enough today and needed to get it done.  So....here it is!

       Before.....                                                                               After.....  

  

 I know, I know, it doesn't look like much but trust me it's a TREMENDOUS improvement!  Here are my fabulous pantry racks and my formerly under-utilized corner.

  I'm so happy to finally have gotten around to this!  Maybe now I'll cook more, I'm sure the hubby would appreciate it!  It's the small things......

The tarps are GONE!

The infamous blue tarps that colored our house for months!

As of yesterday the colorful roof is back to normal!  The roofers came and repaired all the damage and re-nailed the rest of the shingles.  Now, to get the hole in the ceiling patched....

 

Next up....pantry

Progress....sort of

This past weekend we finally got a decent day to get started in the back yard, our big project for this year.  After picking up the many shingles, pulling up the mystery bricks, and getting the sticks from the dying tree contained this is what we've got.....

 

This is the yard when we bought the house last June

Last summer after pulling up the 'patio' and killing the grass and weeds

And this spring...some how the weeds survived but the grass did not

Another view

Our prior 'patio', rubble, and ALL the shingles that used to be on our roof

There's much more to come: new patio, tree removal, and even living grass!

Getting started...

So I figured since we'd be working on the house and probably taking pictures of the progress it would help to keep us motivated to see it actually put out there.  AND it keeps all of our pictures in one place so everyone can get to them easier. 

We've gotten a few small things done in the past year but we've got big plans for the summer!! 

Enjoy!