Room to Create

I’m fighting the perfectionist side of me big time this morning in that I didn’t want to post the final photos of my room until it was complete. 

Until all the clutter was put away in proper places, on some bookcases_ 

cute framed prints hung on the wall_ a rug put down that would bring it all together…. I could go on and on but let’s face it, I’m not sure when I’ll be able to get all of that. 

And for now, this is what I have and this is what it looks like… clutter and all. :)

The color is a PPG color called Serendipity and at first sight I really felt it was too bold/ dark. It's a pretty aqua color but I was originally thinking of something a little lighter…It wore on me though, and I wonder now why I even had an issue with it. I do the same thing with my hair. When I first see the new color I’m like ooooooooh, it’s pretty bold and then after a week I’m like it’s fine. 

Cray, cray…i tell ya!

Jode has been a painting little machine man. He painted 2 desks_ a frame_ the lamp_ dream sign_ 2 shelves_ and painting takes time, doesn’t it? I get a tad impatient and want it dry and ready to go but it doesn’t work that way. The weather plays a huge part in it as well as having the right equipment. I have to admit, I’m a little fearful of doing our kitchen. I just know how big of a job it’s going to be…. Worth it_ but just not anticipating it really well.

Did I tell you that I purchased this table with 3 chairs at the Salvation Army about 5 months ago for $45? At the time I wasn’t sure what I was going to do with it. I just knew that I wanted it bc of it’s character. It has a leaf that extends it out too, but now I think I've found the perfect spot. The chairs I use over in our dining room.

I’m so thankful for this space to dream_ create_ and make a mess in.

Hope you have mucho fun this weekend, too. Whether you do something or nothing_ clean or mess things up_ happy weekend to ya!

heather.

Carv 'n' out Memories

I’m so glad you’re here and hope that you will hang around_

maybe even introduce yourself…I would love to get to know you, too.

This blog of mine I started to document our life.

To share our loves_ our joys_ our pains_ our struggles_

our day-to-day_our randomness.

It has become so much more than I ever could have imagined.

This is our family of 5_ Jode. Heather. Grayson. Gabi. & Kayli_

and we are the holdens.

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 If you were to come and visit me today…walking up to my door you would find it decorated with a few odds & ends.

I’ve kinda gone Cra-z-y over all the bunting & pennants lately.

I’m shooting for a goal to have one hanging in each room of the house.

So of course, I had to add in one over the doorway.

The big ole’ pumpkin on the urn we bought like 3 weeks ago and he has lasted quite well.

 I was concerned he may not make it through, but he has,

and will hopefully be here for Thanksgiving time, too.

I decorate more for Fall that way when Thanksgiving is over I can go straight into my Christmas things. And Christmas is my fave.

This little guy I purchased from Wal-Mart around 5 years ago. 

He is fiber optic and the kids when they were smaller liked him because of all the pretty colors he would change into.

Well this year I hadn't put him out and the then unloading some more boxes the other day I found him and brought him in the kitchen. 

That's all it took, the kids got one look at him and said he had to be put out. 

I thought they were over him...but I guess not. I guess he's a keeper. 

I’m not exactly sure what the pumpkin roll is???

All I know is it sounded good and so I went with it.

We’ll just make it up as we go along... and have fun doing it.:)

This weekend we were invited over to some friend’s house for a

Pumpkin Carving Party.

The invitation said “BYOP”….bring your own pumpkin.

We arrived to find they had supplied all of the tools needed to carve out the pumpkins, tons of books with templates, and plenty of table space for all to gather round’

 and get to creating.

Middle didn't like the guts part. So she let youngest take them out for her.

After you carved your pumpkins it was time to have your picture made

by Mr. Frankenstein.

He was gi-normous and pretty spooky looking. 

They even had a smoke machine going for an added effect to your photo.

Hubs tried to do a mustache man and I tried to do a hoot owl.

Overall they came out pretty good.

We stood back admiring our lighted pumpkins and then...

we did the pumpkin roll.

Happy Friday!

Heather :)

Tourin' the Youngest & a Curtain Tutorial

Little by little we continue to fix-up and make our new house "ours".

By putting our fingerprints on it_ in it_ by weaving them through the walls as we paint, or on the floors as we scrub…

The people inside are what make up our home

of this I'm sure.

But this process of taking what the Lord has given and turning it back over in anyway that we can is exciting and fun and I can’t wait to see ultimately how He chooses to use it.

It will be a process that we’re in no hurry to finish.

We just want to take it one step at a time and do a little as we live... we haven't had that option since renting/leasing most of our lives.

So it feels nice to paint my sons' wall purple because he loves LSU...ha, kidding, I mean he would absolutely love that, but I told him we've got to find a happy-medium here.

That's the thing when they’re little, you can do their room really cute and such...but not so much as they get older and have their own likes/dislikes. They think they know what looks best and so i have to take the back seat with my great ideas and go with their great ideas and sometimes i have to bite my lip...hard, real hard...and just bare it..because after all it is their room and i want their creativeness to shine through.

Ok. anyways, moving on..youngest had a trundle that she

slept on until moving here. Her and middle shared a room and there

wasn't enough space for 2 beds so it worked perfectly.

She used that for the first couple of weeks and we knew we had to find her a bed. 

That.. and she kept reminding us that she didn’t have a bed and everyone else did. Craigslist is the bestest sometimes and we were able to find her the cutest kind

 of Pottery Barn-ish looking one.

Then came Target's hu-ge clearance in their bedding dept. and waa-lah her 

bedroom is pretty much completed on a very limited budget.

This is one of my fav things..the ruffly cotton sheets...pure sweetness..

and $4.94 from the Target clearance things.

For her curtains I bought a $5 twin flat sheet from Wal-mart and cut it in half.

I'm not big on measurements and in hindsight probably should have measured her windows or thought about getting a Full sheet for the extra width...but i was thinking cheapness and doing it for less and so the $5 seemed to be the better choice at the time. If you want more coverage I recommend going with the

Full instead.

Next i found Fabric tacks at Hobby Lobby and then i got 6yds of red pompom fringe and hot glued it onto the inside edges of the sheet.I was pleased with how it came out and $11 for cuteness window treatments isn’t too bad.

Now we're on to getting middle's room done. 

Then we'll do oldest's and lastly I'll think about me & hubs. 

Until then I'm just enjoying the process ...
Heather :)

DIY Chandy - Chandeliers

The choice between what color I should paint my chandy's was H.a.r.d.
I have trouble sometimes making that final decision. I like so many different color schemes that sometimes my decor, to me, can get all jumboggled{my made up word}. I think it has something to do with the perfectionist syndrome. Yes, it's a syndrome and I'm really, really aware of it...:)

I want it to be right the first time and not have to re-do or re-paint or re-hang. But it's just not realistic...like, I need to see it. And I may have to re-do the whole scenario if it's not working. So I had to really focus on what look I was trying to achieve and what worked with the accessories I already had. We decided to paint the chandy over the breakfast area a blue because I really like pops of color, here & there.. I'm incorporating a lot of robin egg blue throughout the house so this seemed to fit.

Before

We put a thin coat of primer on them first and then sprayed 2 coats of color. Hanging them in the tree made them easy to get under & around. And at one point we moved them into the garage_ and worked on them in there, too.

After

In the dining room we went with a yellow...swoon_ still just swooning over it.
I have pops of yellow in some pillows and my Anthro curtains so I pulled from those.

Instead of putting the candle looking bulbs back in I replaced them with round ones. 2 in a pack for like $2 from Wal-Mart. I think it gave it a whole new twist. 

The house came with all brass knobs/ hardware. So over the next few weeks we are working on getting them all painted. We've already done the ones in the guest bathroom and it seriously is amazing at the difference it has made. I'll keep you posted on what's next....

Because working with what you have and turning it into a statement piece in your home...always makes life a little more lovely.

Heather :)

Linking up with Inspiration: DIY 

Just pick a color

We have been in our house for 1 week and 3 days as of today and it feels like forever 

since I've blogged. I really needed the time to just focus on unpacking_ kiddos_ 

& to have some down time... and it has been nice. sigh....Did I mention we still haven't 

closed on our house yet? Ummm, yea you read that right... our close keeps getting pushed back. 

It was supposed to be last week..then yesterday...and now they're saying by the end of 

this week. I've just had to give that one up because otherwise I would let it worry me silly, 

know what I mean.

So far, we've managed to unpack a whole slew of boxes_ we hung curtains in the downstairs 

over the weekend_ and Jode painted our dining room on Thursday a pretty color 

called Comfort Grey.

before picture

After

I can't decide if I'm keeping the rug or not. Also, i haven't hung anything in here yet...still just working it all out in my head. And sometimes I have to work it out on the wall. 

Like hang something to have it not work and then re-hang...yea, I'm thankful Jode is a handy little man. Wait, he's not little though...

K, and this light fixture made me want this house even more the first time we walked inside. 

I think I've envisioned it every color imaginable in my head...and they all look so darn cute. 

Which leads me to the problem of what color should I paint it? 

I think I'm leaning towards yellow right now. Like this....

These fire hydrants are all throughout our neighborhood and they just make me smile.  

I have a lot of accents within the house in yellow and I think it will be fun...but then 

I start thinking maybe I should just do like a white or grey to stay kind 

of neutral and it is in the dining room. 

I've decided on painting the living room in grey.. and our bathroom. So grey just seems to be the color. But I really have to decide fun/eclectic or neutral/constant... 

see the madness that goes on in this head of mine.

Comfort Grey is really a Sherwin Williams color but Jode works for Pittsburgh Paint 

so they were able to match it in their paint and he managed to keep his job that way. jk. 

So it all worked out perfectly. 

We also got to have some friends over on Monday for Labor Day. 

Our first get-together_ with friends_ hang-out. 

That's the best part of having a house... getting to have people over. 

Jode grilled up some chicken, hamburgers & hot dogs, while I made baked beans, 

broccoli, grape, & pasta salad, and skillet apple pie.  

The salad and pie are 2 new recipes in the September issue of Southern Living magazine and 

let me just tell you..Oh my goodness! The pasta salad I could make myself sick on...

I like it that much. They have a section in there with nothing but apple desserts and since 

I'm rushing Fall in our house I seriously can't wait to try them all... Like before next week....:)

Anyhoo, back to paint colors. Right now our front door is black but I've always looked at pictures of homes with their cute colorful ones. Like turquoise or red... so all those thoughts are swirling around in my head, too. What color should I paint the front door? Because the holidays are coming and I have this thing for cute wreaths/ front door decorations... and it would be super cute to have it a fun color.

From younghouselove.com via Pinterest

From tinywhitedaisies.tumblr.comvia Pinterest

I've said it before, but I gotta say it again... my man is awesome. 

Because all this craziness he is for_ and all about. 

He loves doing these things for me and I love that we get to share this journey with each other..

can't imagine getting to do life with anyone else.

Heather :)

House Tour (Part 2)

Like I promised.. here are some more photos of our home....and while working on this post I realized this is the last of our home all put together nice & neat. We are starting to take down/ dis-assemble our belongings and totally get into "moving" mode. This ole' house has been a blessing to us..when moving here to S.C. we didn't have a home secured. There had been none available that fit us. So we rolled into town with our U-Hauls packed not knowing exactly where we were going to live. And by no coincidence drove by and spotted this house for sale. 

That same day we unpacked our "things" (cause' it's all just things) and were met in the driveway by every kid in the neighborhood. We had specifically prayed that God would make up those friendships that were lost and He did..as He always does.

So anyhoo, before I get too uber sentimental... come sit down in our home and have a chat with me..because that's what I would luv for us all to do anyway. :)

Brown chair I bought from a yard sale for $25. The big chest came from a church sale for $30 and I had it in front of the couch forever until recently when we found a white coffee table off of Craigslist, which originally came from IKEA. So I kinda just stuck it back there..but it works. The lamp came from Habitat and was gold...I spray painted it the gloss white and picked the lampshade up from a garage sale for $2...originally from IKEA too. Thank goodness for IKEA and garage sales, huh?

This picture showcases my hubs prize possessions... he plays music/ sings so I love that we get to display some of his love's on the wall...

This is the chair I wrote about in the first "tour" post. I got the dresser and this chair for $6..it is one of my favorites. I so need to have the cushion re-done but I could eat the fabric and the nailhead trim.

This piece came from the christian bookstore. When I saw it I knew I had to have it.. it just represents "us" and the faith we have had to have in our journey. 

Faith= "The confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see." Hebrews 11:1

If you really were here I'd probably put you to work a packin'...or wrappin' with some bubble wrap.

Those empty boxes are calling my name... hope you have a Happy Tuesday! :) 

Heather :)