Head Over Heels DIY Friday: Heather's Master Bedroom Update

A couple week's ago my cousin's wife Heather asked me for some decor advice for their Master Bedroom so I decided to pull together some ideas that she'd (hopefully) be Head Over Heels for! 

Heather purchased the Lucianna Duvet from Pottery Barn to kick off her redecorating project and hoped to add in a robin's egg blue as an accent color.  To get an idea of the space, I asked her to sent a couple photos so I could get an idea of how to bring the colors together...

She also mentioned that she needed ideas for wall art above their headboard.  So, after a little online "window" shopping, here's what I came up with....

Pillow Target $33.00  Diamond Pillow: Target $16.99  Threshold Fretwork Border Window Panel: Target $24.99  Threshold Tear Drop Glass Lamp Base: Target $46.99  Threshold Burlap Lamp Shade: Target $15.79   Ribba Photo Frames: Ikea $14.99

Since the wood tone of the headboard felt similar to the wall color, I thought it would pop better if it were painted white (gotta have a little DIY action right?) and the white matches the wood trim in the room as well.  The rest of the accessories all came from Target (Heather already has the lamp & shade) except the photo wall frames, but I imagine Target has similar frames too.  I even found a few things I wanted for our house during my online "window" shopping which includes those Fretwork window panels, they come in like five colors and I love them all!

Now Heather can decide if she is Head Over Heels for look or not but I hope she is (I know I am)!  I had fun putting together the idea board too, so if anyone else needs some ideas for a room feel free to send me an email!

What do you think of the look? 
What other ideas do you have for Heather for their Bedroom?

Last Minute Fourth of July Decor at the Hammers and High Heels House

Happy Fourth of July everybody!  Although it was kind of last minute, we decided that it'd be fun to just have a low-key kind of backyard barbecue with some friends and neighbors.  Naturally, I had to do some last minute decorating to give our home some patriotic spirit (which included our dogs too, they're proud little American pups)!

All I used to decorate were six flags (2 small, 2 medium, and 2 large sizes) and four rolls of decorative ribbon from JoAnne's which totalled under $10!   I hung the flags from our mantel with some galvanized metal ribbons I had from Bachmans, so simple and I love the classic American look!

In the Dining Room, I hung the flags similar to the mantel over our sideboard then wrapped some ribbon around the lanterns, wreath, and a small floral centerpiece.  Super simple right?  But it totally fits the feel of the Fourth!

Honestly, I'm pretty surprised with how nice my last minute decorating efforts turned out! Usually last minute doesn't go that well for me.  I wish I decorated a couple weeks ago so I could enjoy the look a bit longer :)


How about you? 
What kind of simple Fourth of July decor tips do you have?
What will you be doing to celebrate the Fourth?

Have fun celebrating our country's independence and freedom today!  Happy Fourth of July!

Uncle Alex Good, Auntie Carla Bad

You can't win them all right?  Well, that saying was especially true this weekend when my sister Holly, brother-in-law Brian, and our (almost) one year old niece Brynnan came from Michigan to Minneapolis for a visit.  Why you ask?  Well on the very first day they arrived, Brynnan warmed up to her Uncle Alex right away and when it came to her Auntie Carla, well you get the idea based on Exhibit A below....

Exhibit A

Yep, Uncle Alex got sweet, cute, snuggly, cuddly love from Brynn and the reaction I got was an expression of shear terror followed by loud cries for mom.   It was so sad!  I thought if either of us could have the upper hand in the like-ability area with Brynn it would be me considering I look like her mom and for petes-sake am blood related to her mom. 

Yep, this type of reaction happened over and over as shown in Exhibit B.  Perhaps the worst though was seeing Alex's smug grin when he would happily hold her with no cries or sign or terror in her eyes.  Ugh, it was so, so, so smug. 

Exhibit B

I know it might be because we live far away and she doesn't see us much (which alone makes me feel sad) but I hope it won't be that way next time I see her. Who wouldn't feel sad making a cute baby cry?  Feels pretty crummy especially when you are her Auntie!

Despite feeling bummed that I couldn't hold Brynn as much as I wanted to, we still had lots of fun hanging out and catching up over the weekend. A few highlights included lunch and pictures by the Mississippi Riverfront...

Lots of playing at home and out-and-about with Brynn...

Goodness, that blonde hair and those blue eyes are the sweetest thing right?!?!
But our favorite of the weekend visit was the Como Zoo and Conservatory.  Brynn liked the action at the Zoo but I think she loved the trees and plants at the Conservatory even more! 

... and Auntie Carla loved that she got to take some adorable photos of a very happy Brynnan!

Now before I end this post, wouldn't ya know it-  There's a surprise-twist ending! (Thankfully)

Just before their Minnesota visit came to a close, I sat down with Brynn at the bottom of our staircase and she didn't get upset... she SMILED!  Yaaayyy!  I was so happy and even happier that Brian had a camera close enough to capture the moment.  I love our photo together, makes me a happy Auntie Carla :)

PS- did you notice the unhappy furry little head in the corner of the photo?  Perhaps my first born was jealous like I was of Alex?!?!?  Probably not, but it's pretty strange/funny that Rocco managed to wedge his head in my glorious moment, ha!

Well that was it for our family visit and we loved every minute! 
Now, how about you? Will you have family visiting over the Fourth of July holiday?  If you do and you have little nieces or nephews, I wish you better luck than I had at the beginning :) I hope everyone has a wonderful 4th and remembers to be thankful for our country's independence. I also must say thank you to all of the men and women that still protect our freedoms everyday!

Be safe, have lots of fun, and enjoy the fireworks! 

Head Over Heels DIY Friday: One Room, Three Ways

For this week's DIY, I was inspired by Layla's One Room, Three Ways post over at The Lettered Cottage and thought the Dining Room would be fun to use for the challenge!  Afterall, we've revamped the space in stages, so it's fun to see the different looks as it evolved and who knows how long it'll be until I start itching for a fresh look.  Gotta keep dreaming right?!?

So, here's the room in three different looks- two actual looks and one faux photoshopped look of a whole new scheme I had been pondering about...

I have to say, it was pretty fun to compare the three looks side-by-side and for fun I guess I could say it's One Room, Four Ways if you count the very, very "before" look of the space when we moved in...

From there, we added fresh paint (Behr's Sequoia Grove), a sideboard from Ikea, new pendant light fixture, and my DIY Numbered Chair Covers (click here for the tutorial to make your own!).

About two years later, we grew tired of the look and thought it was missing something.  It needed some depth/dimension and character, so Alex added in wainscoting to freshen up the space. 

Ahhh!  It did look fresher, brighter, and it certainly added some character that it lacked with the plain flat painted walls.  From there, I've only changed up the table and sideboard decor but that is how the space has remained for the most part. 

I guess the only question I have about the newest look was "where did the chair covers go?" and I still have them but I don't always keep them on since the leather is much easier to care for when it comes to the day-to-day.  But I do admit that when I look back at the photos, they do look nice and maybe I should keep them on the chairs more often?  They do brighten up the look of our dining room and give it a unique look...

So for my dreamed-up third dining room version I started there, then wondered how a lighter paint color would look, and a new light fixture.  Wowzers!  It had a whole different vibe and I kinda love it!

When I look at all the looks side-by-side, I really do love the idea of completely revamping the space (again) but I still love the warmth of the red-ish paint tone in our dining space.  Perhaps it's because in the summer I want things lighter and brighter but I don't think I'm ready to commit to a new color just yet. 

I will say, this photoshopped image makes me want a new light fixture and right now.  I loved that pendant light when we bought four and a half years ago but I'm not loving it as much now.  Who knew it'd look so blah after just 4.5 years, or maybe I just love the look of that drum shade pendant light a whole lot more right now?  I know we don't need it, so if you have recommendations for a place to buy a drum shade light fixture at a reasonable price please let me know! 

Which Dining Room look are you Head Over Heels for?

Where can I find a nice drum shade light fixture at a good price?

Hope everyone has a great weekend, I know we will with my sister, brother-in-law, and (almost) 1 year old niece here for a visit!!!  I'm sure I'll have lots of cute pics to share with you later!  Now, time to link this post up over at The Lettered Cottage "One Room, Three Ways" Linky Party!

I'd Like 2 Garden Beds, 1 Paver Path, 2 Painted Chairs on the Side, and Hold the Firepit

Can someone take the order I just placed?  Oh wait, that's what we do around here :) so there's a lot going on in our backyard! 

It's one of those strange times when it feels like we're doing nothing important but really we are tackling a bunch of little stuff that just feels less important, ya know what I mean?  That or it just feels like that way because we don't feel like doing it right now LOL!  The truth is that we have family coming for a visit this Friday so we are trying to check off a few little projects we have been dragging our feet on, most of which needed to happen in the backyard.  Here's a rundown on all the action...

It's been a long awaited project- completing the paver path that was destroyed when we removed "Mega Stump" following the 2011 tornado (click here to familiarize with "Mega Stump"!). Might sound crazy that we haven't done this yet, but we had to get concrete by the garage, a new fence, and we worked on getting grass planted (currently a lot of weeds, ugh!).  

(In Progress)

Thankfully after the above photo was taken, Alex finished up this little five foot paver path section that connects the path from our house to the garage entry just before the sun went down last night!  I am pumped that my heels won't sink in the dirt at any point during a walk to the garage, woot! (sad but true, little things = big things with all the things to fix here!)

But before the paver path, Alex finished building the other two raised garden beds on Sunday to complete the stretch along the border of our yard.  We haven't added the other plants though because we're planning on moving some of the fruits and veggies from the first box based on what we learned from experience and comments since building it.  A few people commented that the tomatoes wouldn't have enough space to grow- true!  We also learned that we needed more soil- seems to be true especially for the plants that are growing like crazy!  But the biggest learning...

... from our commenters (and biggest reason for all the plant moving) is that treated wood is full of chemicals that can leach out toxins into the soil when wet... Yep, that is an important issue so I am very thankful for the comment!  I also must admit that any kind of mistake makes us feel silly but we're DIY-ers, not experts and we're not afraid to talk about them!  So, to correct the issue (since we already purchased and cut all the wood) we found that we can line the raised bed with an impermeable layer to prevent any moisture from the wood getting into the soil.  The easiest to use is the thick plastic pond liner that you can find at most garden stores.  We still have to line and move plants, stay tuned :)

You might be wondering what I was doing during all of this.  I'd love to say I was pulling a Peg Bundy and sat inside wearing stretch pants, teasing my hair, and eating bon-bons but I was working too! 

Althought not "man" labor intensive, my to-do's included a lot of cleaning, laundry, and I finally painted the set of chairs I've been wanting to redo!  So if you have been following along on the chairs, I decided not to use the vintage fabric I picked out.  I still love it but I worry it will start looking more like a Hawaiian shirt than the cute pattern if upholstered- and I know my flip-flopping on this chair is annoying (heck I am annoyed) but I loved this spray paint color that I found at Menards- Rustoleum's Night Tide.

PS- I usually hate Menards because of it's strange moving walkway and selection of Larry the Cable Guy snacks, but they do have the best spray paint selection. I love the color of the chairs now and I just want to find the perfect color or pattern to compliment it perfectly!  I am open to suggestions of course, and include links if you have them!

The last backyard topic to touch on is our potential Firepit Project (click here to see our idea).  We're still learning all the details about the type of bricks you can use which could effect the cost of the project.  So, I just thought I'd give you a very mini update in case you wondered.  As you can see from the projects above, Alex didn't need to be "Antsy in the Pantsy" for very long, LOL! 

*** Phew!  There's all the action from us so I'd love some action from you too!***

-Do you have a link to a cute fabric pattern to match the color of the chairs?

-Any advice or tips for a DIY brick firepit ring?

-Do you think Menards is kinda or a whole-lotta strange too sometimes?

Head Over Heels DIY Friday: A "Winey" Juice Box Delight!

Get ready, this DIY is totally silly but I know you're going to love it!  Who couldn't love this "Winey Juice" adult juice box creation?  What way to enjoy some boxed chardonnay right?!?!

Before I explain how I made it I guess I have to tell you why I did, here's the story...
Remember the talented gal named Kayd that gave Hammers and High Heels a makeover last year?  Well, I've been wanting to get her something and it was LONG overdue!  Not just for the amazing blog design but she has helped me out here and there with all of my blog or social media questions.  The girl's got mad skills I tell ya!  I thought wine would be a nice thank you gift so I asked her what kind she liked and she said something like "whatever, I am not too particular", so I jokingly said "well okay, I'll just get you a box of the Franz (Franzia), so you can enjoy an adult juice box!" 

We both got a laugh, but then I thought- hmmm, that would be pretty hilarious to turn a box of Franzia into an oversized looking juice box.  I HAD to do it!  But don't get me wrong I still got her a nice bottle of Malbec as a real thank you which I must admit felt pretty odd to purchase along with a box of Fanzia.  I swear people judge you if you're buying that stuff, I felt like I had to explain to the clerk that I was making a giant juice box out of it... but figured that everyone would assume I was drunk and/or crazy with that explanation.  Anyways, that's how this project came about.  Now to how I made it!

To make it funny it had to really look like a juice box so I thought about all the juice boxes out there- Hi-C, Capri Sun, Juicy Juice, etc.  Capri Sun wouldn't work unless I just covered the Franzia bag in tin foil, but that'd be a mess.  Hi-C didn't have much of a title to work with so I chose Juicy Juice as my design inspiration and I got help from my friend Kellie on the title- Winey Juice.  It was simple and the letters "Winey" fit nicely in place of "Juicy", perfect!

I put the design together using a combination of Photoshop and Illustrator.  I found a Juicy Juice label image online and started tweaking it in Photoshop.  I removed the Nestle logo, added Franzia in it's place, and instead of "100% All Natural Juice" I thought of nothing better and called it like it is "Cheap Chardonnay".  Which is not meant to sound mean or snotty but it is true, five liters of wine for like $12.99 is in fact cheap.

When the design was ready, I measured the size of my Franzia box and made my own little packaging template in Illustrator.  Then, all I had to do was print it, cut out the box shape from the template print out, cut out a hole for a straw, and tape the print out/faux juice box cover to my Franzia box using double sided tape.

For the straw, I found a large red and white stripe pattern, printed it, and rolled it diagonally until it looked like an oversized straw.  I also put some thicker rolled up card stock inside the printed paper straw so it had some more structure to it. 

The final step was adding the straw to the hole at the top, and in case you aren't familiar with boxed wine- the straw just goes where the handle cut out is, not actually in a place where you can access the wine from the plastic bag.  But I hope most of you have seen how boxed wine works?  (I know my first encounter was in college, Slap the Bag anyone?) 

I couldn't stop laughing at my Winey Juice Box creation once it was complete, I thought it was hilarious!  Before presenting it to Kayd (along with the real wine) I proudly showed a few friends and it made everyone smile that saw it :)  haha!

I know it is totally silly, but I think it's one of my favorite DIY's ever!  It's just so stinkin' silly, super Head Over Heels for this one!  How about you?!? Do you want to make your own Winey Juice Box too?

Disclaimer: I'm not affiliated in any way with Juicy Juice or Franzia brands/products, I also hope no one is offended by this post as it was written with a light heart and humorous spirit :)

Hammers and High Heels is Getting Social!

Hammers and High Heels is now on Pinterest, Instagram, and Facebook!  You might already know that we've had a Facebook page, but I'm excited that we're getting on board with more social media sites!

I know you might be thinking, "well duh, it's about time!," but I'm an old fart when it comes to social media stuff, it makes me feel overwhelmed!  I worried for a while that adding all the other sites/places to connect with people would be too much for me to figure out and manage, I still struggle to keep up with emails for poops-sake!  But, as I jumped onto Pinterest and Instagram I found that they are fun, easy to use or link up automatically, and pretty darn addicting (in a good way).  Twitter is still TBD because I kind of still don't get it, need to research more info on that... remember it's my old fart attitude :)

At least now I don't have to hear my friends say, "What?!  You're not on Pinterest, that's crazy you'd love it!" and ya'll were right, I totally do!  Same with Instagram, I love taking photos and I think it might be a fun way to show project progress in real time!

So if you'd like to follow Hammers and High Heels on social media, here are the links to our Pinterest, Instagram, and Facebook pages (also in our right sidebar).  I'm also working on adding share buttons/ Pin It buttons for post photos too, stay tuned!

I think I'm MOST excited to share my Pinterest boards with you and hopefully get some ideas from your boards too!  Also know that I am still getting the hang of Instagram- so if you have tips let me know (or really I'd just love any tips on simplifying things in the social media universe)!  Goodness knows I don't want to get overwhelmed with all this techie stuff :)

I'll see you tomorrow for a JUICY Head Over Heels Friday, weeeeee!

***UPDATE: Issues with Instagram and Facebook linking, I will fix ASAP!