right now.

right now i am... 

watching:  quints by surprise, sometimes.  have to admit, i am not a big tv or movie watcher.  quints by surprise is interesting.  i respect the family dynamic that casey and ethan jones (mom and dad) try to establish, considering.  a day in their life is sometimes reassuring and humorous too.   this show holds no comparison to j and k plus eight, thankfully.  i like casey's style.  you would never believe she is the mother of six children.  cute. cute. cute.

eating:  too many sweets.

drinking:  not enough water.  too much coffee.

wearing:  layers.  our weather has been so mild here that i am almost too warm in stores with my down jacket on.  home- always covered up in my throw. fireplace on.  still chilly.

avoiding:  exercise.  january 1 will be here soon.  i don't really believe in new year's resolutions, but i do have a must keep goal this year.

feeling:  content.  very grateful.  worn-out by the end of the day = early bedtime.

missing:  ali girl

thankful:  always for my family.  re-kindled friendship.

weather:  no snow and ice yet.  yes, thankful.  safer travels for all.

praying:  jeremy and hannah plus...

thinking:  a lot about a new endeavor. sort of.  more details to come...

loving:  skinny, vanilla lattes.  husband taking care of lila (puppy) mornings when he is home, and starting coffee.  sometimes it's the simple things.  isn't it?
spirit-filled (lots of energy) school program, choir concert, etc.
christmas cards.

listening:  new cd. advent. by jeremy erickson.  can be heard. purchased. and shared above.

decorating:  not today.  reminiscing.  heather



Our Holiday Favorites...

Advent: the coming of the king

by: jeremy erickson (you can play Jeremy's songs up above)

Here is the link to Advent. The music is beautiful. After reading Jeremy's story you will see how beautiful he is also. 

"I sing. I speak. I write. I survive."  Jeremy. 

Jeremy, his wife, Jenny, and their three boys are in my heart.

*~Christmas is soon here... Please enjoy this Holiday tour of a few of our family favorites~*

 

We all have to eat.

In my last post I showed you our wood wall in the kitchen. 
We still LOVE it.  Did I mention how good it smells? {Maybe I am crazy???, but I like the smell of stain and poly}

Something I saved mentioning until this week is our 6' x 24" kitchen table my husband recently built.  In prep for the wood wall we removed our table and chairs.  It was so open with them gone.  I didn't want to put them back. 

Our dining room is where we eat the majority of our meals, but I like having a place in the kitchen for homework, a quick bowl of cereal, kid crafts, etc.

We decided to re-use our four chairs and build a more narrow table for the kitchen.  About $40 in materials, and husband's time equals a new table for our family.  At 6' long, only three chairs fit underneath.  The fourth, sits at the side, and frequently collects my purse.  We have four children, but they never all sit there at one time, anyway. 

I like having the kids in the kitchen doing homework while I make supper.  It gives meaning to the old saying "killing two birds with one stone".  Moms and dads need to be good at multi-tasking.

Here is our simple, eat-in kitchen before the new table and wood wall.   

 

After...

Everyday...

Design has to be functional and practical.  This works for us. 

I could show you several eat-in kitchens I adore, but truth is... most I cannot afford.  Here are a couple that caught my eye.

 

Pinterest

I like the softness that the pillows add.  This wouldn't work the best for my "crew" though.

Pinterest

Beautiful and Practical~ 

It's about time for me to start decorating for the Holidays, isn't it?  We have no snow.  It almost seems surreal.  Thank you for checking in with me today ~ Heather     



           

Every Wall has a Story

A first glimpse of the wall... 

The prep work was time consuming, but the install went very smooth.  We were fortunate to read a blog post prior to the installation that had a lot of helpful hints.  Thank you, Just a Girl Blog your timing couldn't have been more perfect.  They installed a wall out of wood pallets in their boy's bedroom.  It turned out amazing! 

Every wall that I have seen looks different, so neat.  Whether it be pallet wood or barn wood the concept is about the same. 

I am going to share an overview of our application, but if you are looking for more detail please check out the link above.

• Our kitchen wall was already painted a neutral, khaki brown.  It is necessary to start out with a base wall color that will blend and help conceal imperfections.

• Reminder... we are using old, reclaimed barn wood.  Each piece is different in width, thickness, and quality.  My husband and I decided to cut down all our pieces of wood to the same height of 3 inches.  Originally, some boards were 12" wide, some 5", etc.  Cutting them down to the same height eliminated the need to "puzzle piece" boards in.  We had different lengths to work with, but width-wise they were the same.

• My husband added an outlet extender to the plug in, as shown.  If an extender is not added the outlet would be recessed due to the thickness of the boards.  It is personal preference, but considering ours' is a main wall he chose to change it out.  I appreciated his extra work.  It really finished it off nicely.



• We located the studs in the wall, and drew pencil lines vertically.

  

• We started installing at the ceiling and worked our way down.  This is to prevent a "squished" look up at the top {plain view}.  Rather, any boards "cut to fit" would be hidden at the bottom.

• My husband and I decided to leave our Pita {creamy white} colored baseboards on and work down to them.  All our base and trim throughout the house is this consistent color.

• I chose to take an eclectic approach with the boards.  I left some natural, stained some in varied shades, and even white-washed some.  White-washing implemented the light trim, and gave the wall a little modern edge.  

• I love all the imperfections.  The old nail holes, color variations, and distressed wood are so reminiscent of the barn it came from. 

This wall has added so much warmth by color and story.  It has been a family project all the way. 

We are very proud of it. 

~Heather

A perfect nursery for "Mr. Baby"

Finally...
       Baby Heiser's Room!

Welcome to Mr. Baby's (my temporary name for him) little space.

Enjoy my picture tour~

I used a 6 ft. piece of barn wood along with some wooden letters and numbers of different sizes and fonts.  I painted them in colors complimenting the nursery, and sanded to give them that rustic look.  This just may be my favorite piece in the room.?.  Above the closet was the perfect spot.

The crib bedding is primarily browns and greens, your traditional woodland colors.
 
We decided a rust orange would be a unique choice for the accent wall.

It isn't your "typical" nursery color, and I like that.

The picture below shows the barn wood frame my husband made.  He attached chicken wire to the back so it could be used to hold pictures, etc.  I stained the boards in varying shades to tie in the different wood tones in the room.
  

Lo-Ove this rug!



I cut out a couple animal silhouettes to use until we have "real" Mr. Baby pics. 

I picked up these tiny clothespins at Michaels.

Baby's room is little.

A perfect size for a nursery.

It was hard to take pictures that show his room as a whole.
 
I am sure you can see how all the pictures fit together.





This dresser was given to Holly and Chris.  It had a couple scratches, so I de-stressed it a bit more by sanding the edges.  They had many things around their home we re-used in baby's room.  The rug (shown in a photo above) for one, is perfect.  The lamp (as shown in this photo) fit right in, too.  I enjoy re-purposing items.  It is always my goal to design a charming, unique room without "breaking the bank".  We all worked very hard on this room and now just need the lil' baby.  January will be here very soon!  Thanks for sharing this with us ~ Heather

.some projects must wait.

Almost always I start a project and can't seem to focus on anything else until it is completed.
That is not the case this time.  I have started... stopped... and started again... several times now. 

The past few weeks have been so busy.  Other things {and people}, much more important, have occupied our time.

This is what we have started, and when time allows, we will finish.



~Pinterest~

As you can see by the picture, this is a "big" project and a lot of work, starting with the old barn we helped {a little} tear down. 

One Sunday afternoon, my husband, our boys, and I drove to the "country" and claimed our barn wood.  It took up the afternoon, but was so worth it!  We have finished all the prep work, and are ready to make-over our main kitchen wall. 
Soon ... 
---------------------------------------------------

... But, for now I have a nursery to do!

A little nephew is coming in January.  My sister, Holly and brother-in-law, Chris are becoming parents for the first time.  We are all so happy and excited!

My husband and I are spending the weekend with them, helping turn their spare bedroom into the little nursery. 

I plan to take lots of before/after pictures to share with you.  Sometimes, I get so into my project I forget to.  *I will remember this time.

Have a happy weekend too!  Heather       
 
I encourage any questions or comments to be left in the comment section right below this post. Comments, suggestions, and feedback are greatly appreciated!Thanks for taking the time.

.Unexpectedly Creative.

Happy Halloween to you~

I have excited kids at my house!  Oh, to be young again.

Now that I am old, I seem to be more practical. 

I have a couple main priorities... keep the kids warm, and get them home around bedtime.

Oh, and have a lot of fun too!

---------------------------------------------------------

I had to share these unexpectedly creative ideas with you.  I love to see things used in unconventional ways.  Often times, you have many of the items around your own home.  Get creative. 

This is just plain neat.  Red Hen Home created this focal wall and it is so clever.  It would be fun to change out the accents with the varying holidays. 

 
I saw old suitcases this past weekend at our local antique mall, and they were not very expensive.

~Pinterest~  Molding, hooks, and a bench cushion is all you would need for this beautiful headboard.

What is Pinterest?

Pinterest is a Virtual Pinboard

(description taken directly from Pinterest site).

Pinterest lets you organize and share all the beautiful things you find on the web. People use pinboards to plan their weddings, decorate their homes, and organize their favorite recipes.

Best of all, you can browse pinboards created by other people. Browsing pinboards is a fun way to discover new things and get inspiration from people who share your interests. To get started, request an invite. 

 www.pinterest.com

You will be amazed!  *Be sure to "follow" my pinboards.  I would love to follow yours.

~Pinterest~
.Lighted, old suitcase, medicine cabinet.  Too creative.

~Pinterest~
.Coffee Beans.

~it's just me...~
.Sand.



~Pinterest~
.I keep my cookie cutters in a big Ziploc.  This is a much better way to organize them.

 

~Pinterest~
.Floating shelves.

I am up to something again.  Yep, a good-sized project is in the works.  I am really excited to share it with you.  I will...very soon.   

 

I encourage any questions or comments to be left in the section just below this post. Comments, suggestions, and feedback are greatly appreciated, and so fun to get too! Thanks for taking the time.  ~Heather

.The Designated Day.

D day {designated day} as I like to call it is the one day of the week I go through, and put away misplaced items around my house.  "Stuff" accumulates everywhere it seems.  Mostly, it collects in the kitchen on the counter tops and table. 

School papers, coupons, mismatched socks, toys, game pieces, receipts, etc. all find a new home throughout the week.  Days get busy and things get put aside.  Of course, it worsens as the week goes on.

An hour of "putting away" while kids are at school can do wonders.  Where do you hide store the things that are keepers?  Let's face it, everyone has things we need to hold onto, but do not want to display.

 

I keep a basket on top of my refrigerator for recipes, paperwork, spelling words, appointment cards, etc.  It is my "go to" spot.  I have to check it often, but can count on finding the items in there. 

~This may work well for a household with 4 kids~



~The Pleated Poppy~

 

~full of craft supplies, fabric, paper, small paints~

 

~perfect for keys, phone books, receipts, small tools, etc.~

 



~ The large, bottom basket stores all our bathroom extras~



~Pinterest~



 I encourage any questions or comments to be left in the section directly below this post. Comments, suggestions, and feedback are greatly appreciated, and so fun to get too! Thanks for taking the time.

~Heather~