Mudroom Makeover

Happy Fall!!! Tis the season for boots, sneakers and winter jackets galore.  We found ourselves having a pile of our shoes in the mudroom (the small area when coming in from the garage), my purse, and our work bags on the island chairs, and our keys strewn about the kitchen. We had this bench in our basement being unused, so we measured it and decided that it would fit perfectly in the mudroom. With this, we have a place to put our shoes and our work bags when we come right in the door.

Here's the transformation!

Before:

Ha! Don't mind Mia, she's taking the opportunity to sneak into the garage. 

After:

The chalkboard frame is also from Home Goods. Our favorite!  

Hopefully in the next few weeks I'll have completed my DIY cushion for this bench. I had an unproductive trip to G Street Fabrics last weekend for a pattern I like, so hopefully I'll find something on my next trip. I want to continue the blues and yellows into here too, and I'm thinking an indoor/outdoor fabric will be the best because I see this getting a lot of wear and tear over time. I'm thinking something in this realm of patterns:

Credit: Savvy Design

Credit: Seawater Style

Credit: Home Design Handbook

First Home DIY Project

So I try to refrain from using iPhone photos, but I don't know when I'll get around to posting about it this, and I have other things in the queue! So here it is, my first DIY project in the new house. I'm not sure what triggered me wanting to do something so quickly, but I was in the Spring mood and wanted to jazz up the house since the Easter flowers were dying. I've always loved wreaths but really only saw them at Christmas time. I then went on Pinterest and saw so many Spring wreaths so I decided I'd give that a shot. I know I've said it before that I'm really not a very creative person when it comes to crafting, so this was a big thing for me. I looked up a couple ideas online then went to Michael's to see what I could find without spending a lot of money.

I knew I wanted flowers of some kind, and Ashland was having a huge 50% sale on their spring stems, so I bought some. A couple that were in my basket weren't their Spring collection though so they were pretty pricey. "No thanks," I said. So I bought a couple stems, a rustic bow, wreath and wreath hanger. After I return the flowers I didn't use, it probably will have cost me around $12. After I got home, I remembered that I had leftover flowers from our DIY wedding cocktail table centerpieces, so I gathered those up and used those instead. I just cut the stems, stuck them into the wreath, tied the bow and called it a day. I thought about adding the letter "K" to the other side, but for now, I love the way it turned out!

My DIY Valentine's Day Plans

Do you struggle when it comes to Valentine's Day and figuring out what to do and/or get for your husband? Are you not into Valentine's Day at all? The saying goes that "every day should be like Valentine's Day." Yes, it's true, you should always want to spoil your significant other, and shower them with nothing but love, hugs, kisses and presents. Love should come in constant, small reminders throughout the day. Mr. K is great at reminding me how much he loves me every day in small ways (sometimes he might not know it). But, if you are one of those who does like to take advantage of Valentine's Day as yet another celebration of your love for one another, but don't necessarily know how or what to do, I've thought of a couple things.

When we first started dating, Valentine's Day was a bigger deal for us. Mr. K took me to a Disney on Ice performance, we went out to a nice dinner even when I was sick one year (probably because we felt like it was what we should do since it was Valentine's Day. Ok, and maybe he probably thought we had to because I liked the day). But the last couple years, I have approached Valentine's Day as a DIY opportunity for a sweet, personal and unique gift. I've said it before and I'll say it again, I am in no way a very creative person, so my DIY projects tend to look more like a 10 year old did it. However, Mr. K seems to love them nonetheless. His little chuckle and funny smile make it known that it was a cute gesture. Coupon books are always fun. Last year was a somewhat off-year for us around this time, so I can't quite remember what we did. One year I made a shoe box (covered in pink and red paper) full of romantic night things: candles, wine glasses, a nice bottle of red wine, chocolates and other fun, more personal things between him and me. Last night I found the perfect card, which I can reveal after he gets in on Friday (it has to do with me loving him more than being right ;) Perfect for any woman, I know). And with that card, I'm not quite sure yet what there will be. But I do know that I'll be planning dinner and I plan to make it a special one. See, he's on a cruise this week for a bachelor party, so this chick is flying solo, getting ample time to prep for dinner after I pick him up at the airport on Friday. It excites me knowing I can (try) to create something delicious for him since he cooks the majority of the time for us. You can imagine my panic when I realized he'd be gone for a whole (work) week and I'd have to fend for myself for dinner. But that's another story.

Anyways, so far I've got some sort of red/pink drink on the menu - I bought Cran-Rasberry drink this weekend at the store so I'm hoping to tie that in, with maybe some pink lemonade mix we have at home. Of course there will be red wine too, that's a given. Then I'm thinking some sort of red velvet dessert. If I'm daring enough, homemade chocolate-covered strawberries might be on the menu too, we'll see how that works out. Apps and entree will be decided soon. I'm looking at articles for healthy and romantic meals for Valentine's Day. And putting in our own favorite twists, too.

Overall, I want this menu to scream, "I tried!!" haha. No, more than that, I want this menu to say, "I love you. Thanks for doing so much for me all the time, here is my contribution to the dinner table!"

If a nice homemade meal and alone time isn't all you want to do, here are a few fun gifts I've seen:
Every guy loves bacon. Check out these homemade bacon roses for your man. Seriously, I'd say these are a given way to say "I love you." However, I don't necessarily like the idea of drilling holes in my muffin pan, so I might have to find another way to do it. I don't think the wedding gift-bearer of our baking tools will be too thrilled if I say, "Hey, thanks for giving us these really nice, expensive baking dishes. I'm going to go ahead and drill holes in them for the sake of a really awesome Valentine's Day gift." No, definitely not doing that.

Here's an easy one: a heart-shaped pizza!! This requires no drill bit, wrench, saw or other tools only found in your garage work bench. Just some love, pepperoni, pizza dough cut in triangles, and wine (not optional on Valentine's Day).

If you have any fun, creative ideas that you plan on doing for your boyfriend, fiance, husband or significant other, pass it along! Also, check out my Pinterest boards for other Gift Ideas, Holiday Ideas and fun Sweets and drinks I've thought about for Friday.

More on our house coming this week!