I love the over the garage door pergola.  I would love to add this to our house eventually.

One thing we did add to our garage doors that only costs about $20 are the decorative hardware. (below)

We have an extra long garage door and I really wish we would have doubled up on the hardware like the above pictures to give the appearance of 2 carriage house doors.  So if your garage door is extra long be sure to buy 2 sets of hardware.  (learn from my mistakes) ;)  That's what I always tell my kids.

I've found articles on reputable online design sites that say you can go either way, eclectic or matching.

Eclectic, via houzz
Match-it (with exceptions), via addicted2decorating

Here's my game plan:

Living & Dinning Room (they are open and connect) - oil rubbed bronze

Sun Room - oil rubbed bronze

Kitchen & back entryway - brushed nickel 


and we'll just go from there to the rest of the home....  fixing it up as we go. 

For Madeline's Birthday this year we had a High Tea Party (it was a "high tea" because it was at 5pm). I don't think that is the proper definition of a high tea but, we used it.  And we're a bunch of Westerners, so what do we know? ;)


When the girls arrived they put on vintage hats and jewelry and we had tea (pink lemonade).
The above cake was made by my dear friend in our ward.  If you live near Salt Lake and would like her to make you one as wall contact me. She does amazing work and is very affordable.


It was fun for the girls but exhausting for mom.  If anyone plans on doing this, make sure you have friends or family close by to help out.  Because if you don't (like me) you do 98% on your own and a party should fun and happy.  Not stressful. ;)  My words of wisdom for the day.

For the 4th-24th of July I just took off the burlap decorative tie and added this large piece of red burlap fabric and hung it over the door.  Now the back side of my door looks strange, I don't know how to inconspicuously attach it to the door yet.  Any ideas?

The red ribbon/fabic comes in a large roll from Hobby Lobby and was $9.99 -50%.  So it was around $5 and there is a lot left over for other projects....

...In fact I used some (very little) of the red burlap to make a star to put on my chevron garden flag out front.  I make these garden flags and will have to do a tutorial on them soon.  All I did was cut out the red burlap (free hand, not too perfect) and then painted on a star with regular craft paint (free hand as well) and then sprayed it with one of my favorite products ever, Mod Podge spray enamel.  If it gets wet the paint won't run.



ps the flag above looks crooked but it's not.  I took it at a weird angle so it looks like one of the sleeves is shorter than the other.  But they are even.

Oh and that last picture is a random picture of some cute kids I found. ;)

A friend of my daughter's has the most darling wreath on her front door.  It is a large burlap wreath with a large piece of burlap fabric wrapped around it that attaches to the door.

I sat there looking at the wreath (for too long I'm sure, creepy) and then booked it to Hobby Lobby the next day to see how I could make something similar (on a dime).  Well, my wreath looks nothing like hers but I love how it turned out.

I knew I wanted a large, thick wreath but couldn't find one.  When this happens I stand there until I figure out a solution.  And I did!  Here is how:

1&2 buy 2 wreaths, one smaller than the other.  I bought a 14" and an 18" hay wreath.
(I used Hobby Lobby's 40% off coupon for the larger one).

3&4 remove sticker but keep wrapper so it doesn't "shed", stack on top of each other and pin in place


5&6 buy the type of ribbon you like, these were 50% off cause Hobby Lobby was having a ribbon sale.

7 using sewing pins, pin the ribbon in place on the wreath and wrap.  When you end, pin that in place as well.

8 take a coordinating ribbon and make a bow or tie on top to connect to the door. Attach with sewing pins.


...et Voila!  You have a wreath.  Attach to your door any way you like. (because my door is old I just have a nail in it that I hang wreaths from).  I've found that the 3M hooks work well too!


Grand Total - $17.00

*Chevron ribbon ~ $9.99 -50% = $5'ish

*Jumbo roll burlap ribbon ~ $9.99 -50% =$5'ish

*14" wreath ~ $3.99

*18" wreath ~ $4.99 -40% =$3'ish

I found the most beautifully written article in Southern Living about Motherhood.  It encapsulates almost perfectly what I feel like as a mother.

I'm back?  I don't know yet.  When I began this blog I wanted it to be a place where I could get out all the fun design, sewing, painting, party planning etc. ideas I had out of my brain and put them somewhere.  It was a much needed escape into a wonderful world where things were pretty and friends & family were aplenty.

Since being a stay at home mom and battling the ups and downs of life I hope to get back on my game and post all the amazing ideas in my head.  Ideas that will blow your minds and could probably revolutionize the designing world as we know it.

Love, moi

ps. that last part was laced with sarcasm