Easter Egg Tutorial

I'm not a huge fan of ripping off ideas from other people's blogs, but this past week has been CRAZY busy, and besides, this idea is too darn cute to not share :) I LOVE this fabric and I'm actually ordering some today from www.quiltersdailydeal.com. If you haven't been on Missouri Star Quilt Company's website, and seen their daily deals and youtube tutorials, you are missing out indeed! More about Missouri Star Quilt Company later.

Any way, here's an adorable Easter idea by the fabulous Angela Yosten! If you go on her blog you'll find a whole bunch of amazing craft and sewing projects that will inspire you to fire up your sewing machine. Why not make some bunny eggs and display them as a center piece for this year's Easter feast?

For complete directions for this craft click here!

Happy Easter Everyone!
- Elisabeth

Happy Saint Paddy's Day!!!

In honor of Saint Patrick's Day (did you know that I'm 1/4 Irish?) I'm showing you some of the most BEAUTIFUL green rooms... unfortunately not my green rooms, maybe someday. I'm actually planning on painting my kitchen Cooking Apple Green by Farrow and Ball this summer because I think it's the PERFECT green. Any way, enjoy these pictures and hopefully it'll inspire you to be brave, not beige :)

DYI - Organize your Front Hall Closet

Like I've said before, a clean and organized house is a nice house. Our house doesn't exactly have a front hall. You basically walk straight into our front room, so you can see how important it is to keep it clutter free. Our front closet was looking pretty messy. We had winter hats, scarves, bike helmets, tennis balls, you name it, and all that stuff was piled on shelves. At least they were on shelves and not all over the floor, but I knew it could be better organized. I bought some white bins for $3.50 each and labeled them with wooden letters from the dollar store (although looking at the picture now, I noticed that the letters aren't perfectly straight. Oh well that's what happenes when you do crafts at 1:00 am). I think it's rather cute (and inexpensive).
BEFORE AFTER

Bathroom Makeover

BEFORE
When we first looked at this house, the downstairs powder room was... well... hideous! They sponge painted the walls red, green, and gold and hung golf themed wall paper boarder. They used a golf club as a towel rack and had golf trophies and pictures on the wall, but that wasn't the worst part. They had green CARPET on the floor *gasp*! Who puts carpet in a bathroom? How unsanitary!!! What if someone has bad aim (and I know it's bound to happen)? There were other ugly features, the vanity, lights, mirror, wooden toilet seat... it was all ugly. We knew that if we bought this house, a bathroom reno was in store.
So first things first! Dave and I ripped out that carpet and replaced it with tile. After we decided on the tile it was time to pick out paint.

Next we were off to Home Depot to pick out a new toilet, light fixture, towel rack, and toilet paper holder.
Later, we went to Ikea to choose the sink, vanity, and mirror.

With the help of my father-in-law, and Dave's painter friend Jason, we were able to turn this bathroom into something great. For the final touches, I bought some accessories, towels, soap, pictures, and really brought some personality into the space. Finally the bathroom went from "ugly golf" to "clean and inviting".

AFTER
Resources
paint - CIL Church Street
tile - Giant Carpet
vanity - Ikea
sink - Ikea
mirror - Ikea
toilet - The Home Depot
towel and toilet roll holder - The Home Depot
decorative mirrors - Ikea
pictures and frames - Ikea
towels - Zellers
soap - Bath and Body Works
candles - Ikea