China Cabinet Make-Over

I broke one of the panes of glass in my china the

very day 

I brought it home from a FABULOUS moving sale in St. Louis. 

I was so mad at myself for ruining it the same day I found it! 

For years I just ignored the fact that there was no glass

in one of the panes...and *hoped* other people

would ignore it as well. 

One day I just got fed up though.

I decided enough was enough and that I could do better, 

dang it! 

So, I went to Joann's and picked out a super-cute fabric

and fixed 'er up right quick.

Loved the outcome, but it was too busy for the room.

I really did love it like that...but remember that rug in the front room?

(Stop looking at my hideous chairs. NO...I
haven't painted them yet!)

Yeah. That one. 

Well the two together...it felt like I was having

a seizure every time I came into the room!

so...here's a shot during the makeover:

and AFTER:

I used burlap.

I love burlap. You could definitely

say that I'm in a burlap phase.

So, my vision all along was to have the simplicity of the burlap,

with a little elegance/ bling.

This is what I came up with:

I think they're a tad bit too small

for the space.

But I LOVE them!

I'm linking up with 

Oops, I Craft My Pants!

Oh, Snap! Somebody's Awesome!

Looky Looky what I did! I'm so beyond proud of how these turned out! Can you tell?

I got the frames at IKEA for $5 each. I downloaded lots of crazy cool fonts and just played around with them until I found what I wanted for each letter. Then I blew the font up to 300- 400 per letter and cut them out. By hand. That "I" was a devil, let me tell you, but well worth it! It's my favorite letter!

After YEARS of trying to hang up frames next to one another and messing up time after time, I finally learned how to do it right the first time!

I measured and used the level, rather than 

eyeing it like usual.

Thank you very much.

Dreaming of Gorgeous Tables

I love these tables from

Ballard Designs. 

Don't you?

Happy Favorite Things Friday!!!

I'm so excited to tell you about my favorite thing this week!

I've always hated our brass hardware...

since the day we moved in 

I've been looking forward to buying 

new ones.

(the hideous blue counter tops are a different
story all together!)

Our kitchen has over 40 knobs. 

I wasn't thrilled at the prospect of dropping $100 or more on hardware,

So, searched around and 

found this:

Oil Rubbed Bronze spray paint!!!

I know what you're thinking,
"Yeah, but does it look like the
real thing?"

Yes. It does!

I did my entire kitchen with one can of spray paint
for about $4.00!
To make sure it stayed put
I did a clear matte top coat.

I love the way it turned out
so much that I've been
spray painting
everything sitting still!

I bought these at a thrift store.
Ugly as all get-out!
Nothing a little oil rubbed bronze
can't fix!

Oh, and then there's the picture frame
that I've always hated!
It was navy and gold.
Navy and gold.

and after:

Don't mind the smudges on the
glass! That's because rather
than ruining the backing and
taking the picture out,
I painted it right there
above the fireplace!

Yes, I did!

I didn't spray paint it though,
I sprayed some paint in an old bowl
and used a brush.

Voila!


Now, go to Home Depot,
get you some
Oil Rubbed Bronze spray paint
and get to work!

You won't regret it!

Home Goods, How I Love Thee

This is the coolest thing ever! 

The other day I was at Home Goods

(love, love, LOVE that store!). 

I found this star/mirror for $14.99

and decided I had to have it. 

 

Well, I toyed with what I was going to do with it, 

knowing that the hubs

would not like it hanging on a wall.

Then it hit me.

I knew exactly where it belonged.

Ta Da:

 

Okay. Terrible picture, but

I love it there!

It was made to go there! 

And the best part?

You're not gonna believe this!

I was on Ballard Designs's website, checking

out their clearance items, as I do 

from time to time, and 

guess what I 

found!

YUP!

 

     

$79.99, folks! 
(and that's the clearance price...down from $200!)

Sweet Baby Lincoln, that's a good find!

Help a Girl Out!

Tonight I went to Joann's. I was on a mission to buy new fabric to upholster my dining room chairs. I picked up some fabric, started to walk to the counter to get it cut for me, and then found another fabric I liked, so I put the other one back. This continued four or five times, until I realized I was not ready to make a purchase!

So, maybe you can help me decide:

1) My chairs are hideous! (Now...but I'm going to be painting them antique white before I upholster them. I saw some very similar recently and fell in love! I can't wait!).

So, here's my hideous chairs:

told you!

2) My table is black. I like the fact that it's black, but with the white chairs, I'm  little afraid that it's going to look monochromatic. 

Kind of like this:

Don't get me wrong! I LOVE this. It's totally my style. But I simply can't have a black and white theme, because I already have a brown and blue theme in the living room, which is adjoined:

See table and hideous chairs in the background?

I have lots of adorable pillows

that normally sit on the couch. 

The boys must have been using the couch as a

boat that day.

And here's my rug that you can't see in the above pic. 

See what I mean?
Blue and Brown
every
where
you
look.

I'm over it. 

Trying to bring more colors into the mix.

I have some yellow in the room now.
A lilttle green too.

I love, love, love that rug.
I just can't see myself getting rid of it.
(ugh. I shutter to think!)

So...this whole dining room re-vamp is my opportunity to
bring a little more life to the space.

should I go somewhere along the lines of

This? I really like that it has
all of the colors I want.
I think I can
definitely do better though,
right?


Then there's this:


Hmmmm....maybe. Definitely has some possibilities here.
Think of it in terms of kids spilling things on it,
or using it for a napkin.
The design would be great...
but maybe not the white.
Though, I do love it!

This one is
definitely a contender!


Love how different it is...
and it has the brown and blue,
with a lot of the yellow...


 This one would be nice with the white chairs.
Again...I'm digging the yellow...


Oooohhh...THIS:

NO, Traci! Walk away from the black and white damask!

I had a fabric very similar to this in my basket
tonight. I love the idea of it with the
black table and white chairs.
I also love how it would disguise a
multitude of sins!
I just don't know if I want to go this route:

Okay...one more...
what do you think about this?


I love that it has the color scheme I want...
but not too monochromatic...
and I love the idea of it with a white chair!


Definitely need some feedback here, peeps!

I need help! 

Favorite Things Friday

Ooooohhhhh....I have a good one!

First of all yesterday was a looooong day in the Romine house.  It started at 6:30 in the morning when Carson decided to get out of his bed, climb over the child fence in front of his door (I still have no idea how he pulled that off!), go upstairs and turn on every light in the house and make tons of noise until he made sure every person in the house was awake.

Cade needs lots of sleep. When he doesn't get the right amount, there are consequences. My sweet, gentle, obedient boy becomes a crazy person! By the time he came home from school yesterday, he was in tears about every tiny thing that went wrong...which eventually led to a huge melt-down that looked a lot like the kind of fits his 3 year old brother throws! 

That is not my favorite thing! 

THIS is:

Have you seen these???

I was at our Christian bookstore one day when I spotted these. As you can see there's a whole series of them. They're really short, and they're fun for the kids, but they teach great biblical lessons about every topic you can imagine. They're really cheap too-- I think about $2 a piece. I knew they would come in handy with three boys, so I loaded up on them. And boy have they been handy! Every time we experience a "situation" with Cade we pull out these handy books and send him to his room to read them and talk to God about what he's going through. 

Cade loves these books! When we hand them to him, it's a time where he can go to his room, cool off, and get some clarity of mind. He likes them so much he asks for them sometimes when he's not in trouble! (I keep them in a special place so that I always have them when I need them)

Carson is still a little young to "get it", but as you can see, he's watching big brother and learning from him!

Somebody else is watching too...

He had to read while Bubba was.I cringe to think that we might be dealing with the same kind of behavior in him in a few years! 

But for now, we've got some great resources to help us through the rough patches. 

My favorite!