Chicken Pocket Letter Process Video, Episode #10

Wrap it Up Wednesday! #3, Christmas Album, Episode #9

Back to School Pocket Letter

Hello there!  I have recently started doing pocket letters and I LOVE it!  Here is the latest video on how I make mine.  Enjoy!

Happy Valentine's Day!!

Hello there!!  It has been forever since I have posted to this blog.  This year I hope to change all of that.

When we last left off, I was in the middle of a huge built in desk, which consumed most of time, and working, and being a mom, etc, you know the drill. 

This week I will be posting the results of that built in desk along with some other updates to the house we USED to live in.  That's right folks!  We have moved yet again.  This time we were transferred to sunny Phoenix, AZ.  So, now I will be providing updates to my home here and other crafting adventures.

I'm looking forward to getting back on track with my blog and sharing my experiences with you.

One room.  One day at a time.
Cara-Lyn

What's going on with that house??

I have not been on here for a few months, but it hasn't been because I have nothing to share, because I totally do!  I have been busy working on building a built in desk for my back office.  If you are out in the bloggin world, then you may have heard of this amazing woman, Sandra, from sawdustgirl.com and you may have even seen my work on there.  Head on over and check out my diary entries, under Cara's desk, here!

It's been an exciting journey, and it is coming to an end, so watch for the final update in the next couple of weeks!

Cara-Lyn

Dining Room Makeover, Part One

This past weekend we worked on tackling the ugliest room in the house.  Not necessarily because it was the brightest room in the house, but more because it is the first room in the house when you walk in the front door.  I also work from home and my office looks directly into the yellow abyss and was giving me a headache.  Therefore, on Friday night, I loaded up my daughter and husband and headed to our neighborhood Home Depot and purchases everything we needed to get this room tackled.  I had been surfing Houzz for some time and had really fell in love with the grey walls for the dining room.  Here are a few of photos that inspired our color selections.
  

Modern Dining Room by Addison Interior Designer RSVP Design Services

Traditional Dining Room by Downers Grove Design-build Oakley Home Builders

and

Traditional Dining Room by Minneapolis Interior Designer Twist Interior Design

This is the first time that I have decided to make a departure from my safe colors of red, gold, and green and go with something totally different in this house.  My husband and I were ready for a change, and hey, we are in New Orleans now, so why not go with some bolder colors??  Ultimately we decided to go with a darker gray and a teal/blue accent color.  I love the first photo above, but the color was a little too blue for my taste, and I didn't have the step ceiling. So I selected a color with more green in it and used it on one wall only.  

Now, the previous owners had added the crown and baseboards and colors, however, they didn't caulk any of the trim and weren't not necessarily accurate in their painting techniques, therefore we had a lot of work ahead of us.  We decided that we would rather do things right and not fast and have a better outcome.  Now, you will see a lot of boxes in the photos, again we have only been in the house about 3 weeks and we are still unpacking, but we are underway in our remodel. 

Here are some before photos.

Here is a rundown of what we did to the room:

1. Wiped down all of the crown and baseboards with spic and span to remove the years of dust and dirt build up.
2. Caulked all of the crown and baseboards
3. Used dry decking to build up the corners of the window sills where the previous owners dogs and chewed them off.  (in the future these boards will eventually be replaced)
4. Pulled out all of the nails the previous owner had put in and filled with dry decking
5. Sanded down huge texture globs that were left from the previous owners
6. Repainted all crown and baseboards
7. Repainted back of front door and closet door
8. Painted walls grey, two coats
9. Painted wall teal, two coats
10. Removed old cream switches and plugs and re-wired both with new white ones.  
11. Removed old cream switch and plug faces and replaced with fresh white ones.
12. Leveled out table and china cabinet with shims (because the flooring is so unlevel)
13. Unpacked all china dishes and put in cabinet.

Here are the during photos.

And the after, as of today.

This picture is probably the closest depiction of the true teal color.

Still on the to-do list for this room:

1. Hire electrician to come out and remove the old chandelier and hang the two that I have ordered.  Here are the two that I ordered to go above the table from Overstock.com

2. Find an entry way rug
3. Buy and hang a new entry way light
4. Buy and hang the new single light spot light that shines on the china cabinet
5. Hang wall decor
6. Order and install plantation shutters!

So, we still have a ways to go, but we are getting there.  I want this room wrapped up by the end of March, so you know, like in 13 days!!

Linking up to:

Between Naps on the Porch 

Monday Funday

Coastal Charm

Not JUST A Houswife

Hope Studios

Cedar Hill Ranch

Domestically Speaking

Trendy Treehouse

Savvy Southern Style

House of the Hepworths

The Shabby Creek Cottage

Somewhat Simple

The Brambleberry Cottage

It's a Hodgepodge Life

The Shabby Nest

My Romantic Home

What-About.co

French Country Cottage

One room, one day at a time,

Cara-Lyn

Moving isn't Bad, It's the UNPACKING that is BAD!!

Yep!  The moving wasn't all that bad.

We were relocated to the New Orleans area for my husband's career.  It was nice to have a company come in and pack everything and move us, but now is the fun (?) part of moving, the unpacking.  I am so grateful that someone else packed up my belongings, but seriously, they use a lot of paper and boxes!!

But in the spirit of keeping things real around here, I am posting several pictures of our house in it's current state.  NOT because I think it looks great or anything, but mainly because we have a lot of plans for this house and I wanted some "Before" photos.  Besides which, if I was going to wait until everything looked "picture perfect", we would all be waiting for a very, very, very long time.  We have been in this house for 2 1/2 weeks and I am almost done unpacking most of the boxes.  However, unpacking does not equate to decorated or organized :)  My husband and I both work full-time outside of the home, so unpacking has been done at night and on the weekends.  Also, we downsized from over 3,000 to a little over 2,400, so I have lost my craft room and separate office, but like I said we have some plans in store for this house to make up for the lost rooms and storage.  My husband and I are excited to see our plans come to life and make this house our home.  I hope you will join us on our journey.  We have a budget, a saw, and a plan, and now we just need to make time :)

Here is our house as it is today, enjoy!

Front Entry

Dining room off of the entry way

Dining room an door way to the kitchen

See all of those boxes we have unpacked?

open concept living room

World's longest kitchen

Hallway to all of the bedrooms

Guest bedroom

Laundry across from guest bedroom

Miss C's room

Hallway bath across from Miss C's room

Master Bedroom

Master Bathroom

Master Closet

Breakfast area

Back Den/Office

Aww, best part of the house, the pool!