The winter months in my town can get a bit gloomy.
Since we spend so much time inside this time of year, I thought it'd be fun so spruce up some of the rooms in our house.
(I'm apologizing in advance for all the boring details about these home improvements.
I love watching home improvement/home decor shows and hearing all the DIY details including where they found the items).
I started with our toy room. I found these wooden letters at Michael's and used some craft paint and ribbon I already had at home to make them look good. Oh, and I used some sandpaper on the edges of the letters to make them pop a bit.
And here's a simple banner I made using my glue gun, yarn,
and scrapbook paper that I already had at home.
I love banners. They are quick and easy to make.
Put these two crafts together and it makes for one nice looking wall. I decided to put this in the toy room because we already have a craft/homework table in the toy room.
I love the way it turned out.
The top and bottom items in the photo below were great finds ($1 each at my local Ross store).
The green frame in the middle is something I dug out of storage.
This arrangement added a nice touch to the toy room.
Moving right along to the office/guest room.
On the wall across from the guest bed, I created this photo banner.
These scenes of Cache Valley photos are all ones that I took over the last year.
I had all the craft supplies in my stash to create this banner.
For a extra pop of color, I added a small sheet of colored foam behind each photo.
I love nature photos.
And I love all the color this banner brings to the room.
This is my favorite craft that I made recently. The wooden frame was a D.I. find. I used my bright blue craft paint on the frame. The other supplies are things I had around my house: scrapbook paper, clear ribbon, a strip of champagne colored fabric, photos, and fun tiny and bright clothes pins.
This solid yet inexpensive frame was found at my local consignment shop.
I added the quote sticker to the trimmed down scrapbook paper.
Then I put the glass over it and stuck on the large googly eyes.
Here's a look at what the whole shelf arrangement looks like. The floating shelf was super discounted at Down East. It didn't hang well on our wall (it had a major sag to it) so we ended up purchasing the wooden shelf brackets at Lowes. I spray painted them an ivory white color that perfectly matched the original shelf. The black board under the shelf is actually a peg board that was left over from an old book shelf unit we had. The peg board proudly displays the Ward Family Calendar, some of my favorite seasonal cards from card club, and one of my favorite quotes.
"To excel is to know your greatest strengths and passions, and to
emphasize them while honestly admitting and managing your weaknesses." -Robert Cooper
And here's a view of our work station.
The desk was a steal of a deal at that same local consignment shop.
The desk is well used, so I don't have to worry about my kids using it.
It's a nice solid desk that boasts rounded edges, slanted file drawers, and plenty of space for our office supplies.
I love the wall ledge that holds more decor.
In the evenings, I especially love using the small white touch lamp behind the computer monitor.
I think it's fun for each room to have a evening lighting option.
Here's a cute antique white frame that I found for way cheap at a local consignment shop.
The photos inside are some of my all time favorites of my family.
The frame looks great next to the guest bed.
The charcoal gray and red striped rug use to be in the Brian and Tyler's bedroom.
I think that the rug ties the whole room together.
And stepping back, here's a view of the office/guest room.
In the future, I want to add a nice framed and laminated world map on the wall just to the right of the computer monitor.
I've always been a big fan of maps.
