. . . Family Room Tour . . .

I don't think I've ever done a room tour on my blog but our family room is my favorite room in the house so I thought I'd share!  I wanted it to be very colorful because I knew it would be where we spent most of our time and when I think of color I think of fun!  We never use our living room so this is the central gathering spot where we all spend our time.  The walls haven't changed color in a long time but we've recently updated the carpet and furniture and some of the decor.  I'm always changing something or I get bored.

I love that this room is so open and bright with the morning light coming in the windows!  

 

The artwork on the walls is one of my favorite things and came from Target years ago.

 This bowling pin was a thrift store find that I'm obsessed with.  I passed it up a couple times thinking it was probably a silly purchase but couldn't get it out of my head.  I went back to the shop a third time and it was still there so I figured it must be a sign that it was meant to be mine!  My dad saw it and just loved it so I got one for him for Father's Day and he couldn't be happier!

When we moved into our house this 2 story family room really intimidated me because I had no idea how to fill the wall space without spending a fortune on huge artwork.  That was before Pinterest became popular so it was a challenge I had to work on without the help of my favorite addiction.  How did we survive without Pinterest?  I found a couple cool plates and picked them up and then when we finished painting the idea came to me and I started hitting the clearance sales, garage sales and even gathering a few from my grandmother's basement.  I had these shelves from when I was a kid and just painted them to coordinate with the room and then my mom and I spent hours laying out the design and hanging the plates.  It was a great way to decorate this big wall on a budget but still bring in a lot of color.  These plates have received many compliments over the years and still remain something I love about this room.

 

There is something I just love about blue and yellow so it only seems right that I would pick out blue furniture.  This is from La-Z-Boy and we have been very pleased with it and how well it cleans up.  The colorful throw pillows were made by my mom and the quilt was made by my grandmother.

 This chest needs painted again but this was a curbside find which my son and husband are appalled by but we sure have gotten serious use out of it.  Inside we keep tons of video games and game accessories so it isn't right out in the open.  The pepsi crate I picked up at a flea market after begging the man to sell it to me.  He was using it as a display but I loved it and wasn't taking no for an answer so finally I wore him down.  I have made it into a charging station of sorts because of the open slats at the bottom.  I just run our cords up through the slats and plug in our devices.  It also serves as storage for my son's stuff.

This little table was another thrift store find.  I think I'm going to paint it but I haven't decided on what color so for now it is staying white.  

 

The window treatments were made by my grandmother and I.  I can't get enough of circles so when I saw that fabric I knew it would be perfect for this colorful room.

Don't mind the outlet in this photo other than to know it's a USB outlet we recently put in several of the rooms of our house and we are completely obsessed with them!  Easy to do and they work great for just plugging in your devices and still have 2 outlets free.

To add some more pops of color I painted blocks of color on two of the walls as you can see here.  Clearly I should have straightened up those candles that are in the stars.  Just pretend you didn't notice how crooked they are.

 

My husband works in aviation so when my mom found these airplane book ends she immediately bought them for him.  They don't have any books in them now but they go well with the transportation artwork above the fireplace.

This is my favorite little corner.  I curl up in the corner of the loveseat and watch tv or read and everyone knows that is mom's spot.  Maggie thought she needed in the picture too and who am I to say no to her?

These lamps were a recent find at Target.  I had been wanting to brighten up the lamps in this room but just hadn't found the right look so when I was cruising Target I found these and knew they were perfect.  It took 4 Target stores to finally get both of them but it was worth the running around trying to find them.

This small wall is at the bottom of our steps and divides up the kitchen and dining room from the family room.  I picked up the plates at Target, the Love artwork from Christmas Tree Shop and the Flower artwork from Hobby Lobby.

 

This ottoman opens up for storage and we keep extra pillows and blankets in it for sleepovers my son has.  It also serves as Charley's favorite spot to hang out when we are in here.

These lanterns are from a local gift shop and have my favorite flameless candle in them...Luminara.  They look so incredibly real!  If you haven't seen them or tried them you should.

 

The wooden crate in the corner is from La-Z-Boy and stores blankets in it.  The candle holders are from a flea market and I painted them white to make them pop.

Thanks for stopping by!  Now I'm off to curl up in my favorite spot to read a book on this rainy day.

. . . Homemade Peppermints . . .

I realize that technically Valentine's Day is over but due to our snowstorm last week my son's school rescheduled Valentine's Day to today.  I didn't want to make these too early so they would be fresh so I waited until after Valentine's Day to make them so you'll have to excuse me for being so late.  I decided to share because they are so good and it is easy to adapt them for any holiday or occasion.  I'm thinking pastel colors for Easter cut out in mini eggs and 4th of July in red, white and blue cut into little stars and baby or bridal showers in the color of your choice...the list could go on since they are so versatile!

This recipe came from Mom on Timeout and she really has a winner with this one!  They are creamy and minty and are the perfect amount of sweet.  You could use any flavoring you'd like.  I chose mint but was thinking I'd like cinnamon or lemon for them.  Whatever flavor you choose will be awesome I'm sure.

I have actually made these a couple times and learned a lot on my first round.  I had no idea that the mixture never really forms a ball until you knead it and I also learned that the food coloring doesn't absorb real well until you knead it to blend it all in.  My favorite thing is to mix up the colors to create a tie dyed effect.  These would be so cute for a tie dye party with all bright colors mixed together.  

 . . . you will need . . .

1/4 cup butter, softened
1/3 cup light corn syrup
4 cups powdered sugar, divided
1 - 2 tsp your choice of extract or candy flavoring

**if you are using mint extract add it by 1/4 teaspoonfuls at a time,

tasting between due to the strength of mint extract.  
food coloring - preferably gel to achieve bold colors

White sugar to roll the rolled balls in

Fork

Combine butter and corn syrup together in a small bowl with electric mixer.  Add 2 cups powdered sugar and your choice of extract and beat until well combined. Add extract 1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon at a time until the mixture reaches your desired flavor.  Remember if you are using mint to be very careful how much you add.  It is very potent.  Mix in an additional cup of powdered sugar.
Turn bowl onto a cutting board or counter sprinkled with last cup of powdered sugar.
Knead the mixture until sugar is absorbed and is completely smooth. Divide dough into as many portions as you want so you can color them with food coloring. Tint with color of your choice but if you want bold colors be sure to use food coloring gel which can be found at stores like Michael's and Hobby Lobby.  Shape into 3/4 inch balls and roll in granulated sugar.  Flatten balls gently with a fork.
Use a small heart shaped (or any shape you want) cookie cutter to cut. Let candies stand, uncovered, at room temperature for 1 day. Store in an airtight container or package up for gift giving.  

 Mix your butter and powdered sugar together with electric mixer.  Add 2 cups of powdered sugar and flavoring extract and mix well.  Add one more cup of powdered sugar until you have what looks like fine powder.  It is not going to form a dough until the next step.

 Dump 1 cup of powdered sugar on a cutting board or your counter (I used a marble pastry board) and add the flavored mixture to this.  Knead the mixture into the powdered sugar until you get a smooth ball of "dough" as seen below.

 Divide your dough into separate bowls for coloring or if you are just using one color place in one bowl.  Add food coloring gel for bold colors.  I used Wilton Gel Purple and Rose Pink to get my colors.

 Food coloring may not get mixed in completely with your mixer so you will have to knead it again until it's well blended.  

 Roll the dough into 3/4 inch balls and roll in granulated sugar.

 Flatten ball gently with a fork so your finished mints have little ridges in them.  It works best to do the ridges before you cut them or you end up flattening your shape.

 Use a small heart shaped cookie cutter to create your finished mint.  You could use any shape cookie cutter as long as they are small.

 

 Save all your scraps and roll them together to create a tie dyed look.  These are my favorites.

 . . . pretty enough to eat . . .

. . . perfection . . .

 . . . yummy in the tummy . . .

 I packaged mine in plastic Valentine's cups and wrapped them in cellophane and tied a cute "Mint" to be tag to them with tulle ribbon.  Perfect gift for teachers and principals for Valentine's Day!

. . . mint to be my valentine . . .

 This is just a bonus picture to show you what I sent in for my son's classmates.  Grabbed a package of Valentine's Day gummy bears and tied this cute tag to each bag with some baker's twine.  

. . . easy peasy . . .

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. . . Crates into Bookshelf . . .

We are in the process of doing a room makeover for our son's room.  We haven't painted his room since it was a nursery and that was 11 years ago so it was time to get it repainted.  He wanted orange and I didn't but we made a compromise and decided to do the walls orange below the chair rail and a pale blue above the chair rail.  We are all very happy with how it turned out and I will be sure to post finished photos of his room soon.  

We have a million and one comics and books and no where great to store them so they have taken over the family room in piles and in baskets and I have had enough of that.  We just ordered new furniture for our family room and decided to straighten it up to get ready for that so I was trying to think of a way to store all these books without doing a boring old book shelf in his room.  I was cruising Michael's to pick up a frame when I saw the unfinished wooden crates and had a brainstorm to paint them and stack them for book storage.  I bought three and ran home and pulled out my white paint and go to work.  

My son couldn't be happier and we are too because we have all his books out of the family room!  The crates ended up serving three purposes which is an even bigger benefit.  They are book storage and an end table and even a charging station for his iPad and Beats Pill.  Love that they worked out so well!  It's always nice when a plan comes together.

You can't beat this super simple project.  You could paint them and line them up under a window if your space is tight.  You could stack them going the opposite direction for larger books and even store lots of other things other than books.  I for sure think you need to do this easy peasy project for your space!

 

 I think for safety reasons it would be smart to use an "L" bracket on the back of each shelf to hook them all together in case they would fall but honestly with the weight of the books these bad boys don't move at all.  

 So perfect for all his needs--books, charging and an end table all in one spot!

 I was amazed at how many books each of these crates held.  It was amazing how I kept adding and they had enough space.

 DIY Success!

 Love it!