Giving Our Landscaping the Lumberjack Treatment

posted on: September 13, 2012 15 Comments
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Let’s start at the beginning, shall we? Here’s a picture from when we first took a tour of our house, August 2009. WOW. 3 years ago?! This is why our blog is called white house black shutters (even though our house is not white). We had old, dirty white siding that I thought we’d freshen up with new white paint, and I envisioned adding black shutters. The bushes and landscaping were outdated, but not too shabby. Here’s the house after we replaced the siding and windows, no shutters … [Read more...]

Filed Under: 2012 goals, DIY, outside, renovation


How to Make Homemade Deodorant

posted on: August 16, 2012 47 Comments
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Fun fact that I bet you didn’t know about me: I’ve been making (and wearing) homemade all-natural organic deodorant for a year now. My husband wears it too. It only is $1.89 a batch, I don’t have to reapply a few times a day, I don’t sweat like crazy, and I don’t smell like a dirty hippie. No offense to any hippies. In fact, I probably am a hippie. Not that there’s anything wrong with that. Ahem. That’s right, you won’t smell. My husband didn’t believe me and waited a … [Read more...]

Filed Under: DIY, GREEN LIVING


Second Hand Family Room Makeover

posted on: July 24, 2012 39 Comments
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Okay. I’ve been holding out on you guys. The family room remodel. Never posted it. But I made Doug hang the map over the couch last night just so I could post this for you. Cause I love you. So I’m going to zip my lip for a million pictures and just let you look at my new, completely remodeled, and almost all second-hand family room. Of course there’s still stuff we need to do, but whatever. HERE WE GO. New floors. Eeep! you’re going to hate me when I give you … [Read more...]

Filed Under: family room, garage saling, renovation


Spray Painted Tomato Cages!

posted on: July 11, 2012 11 Comments
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Our tomato cages were gross and junky looking, but I’m not about to pay $7 for the nice, painted ones! My friend Erin told me about how she spray painted tomato cages and got that fancy look for a fraction of the price. I tried it on our free, rusty ones (six from my dad, two from freecycle). It took two cans of $4 spray paint for eight cages. I thought a light blue would look nice outside. I love em! They stand out, they make it look pretty, they hold my tomatoes up when they’re feeling … [Read more...]

Filed Under: DIY, garden, GREEN LIVING, outside, simple tips, spray painted, summer


Built-In Shelf and Bookrack from an Old Window Opening

posted on: July 10, 2012 10 Comments
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What do you do with an old window opening when you add onto a house? Turn it into a bookshelf! This feature is one of my favorite features in our home, but I can’t take all of the credit for this one. This was taken when we were doing our final walkthrough before closing, so September 2009. I liked the idea of this bookshelf (although a bit narrow), but didn’t know the why behind it. Quirks of an old home. :) The day we closed, we ripped out the gross, fake wood paneling and had an … [Read more...]

Filed Under: DIY, kids, kids' room


Homemade Maple Iced Coffee

posted on: July 9, 2012 28 Comments
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I’m cheap, but iced coffee is the one thing I splurge on. It’s cold, it makes me happy, and it gives me energy. And I don’t care if that makes me sound like an addict, cause I flat out L-O-V-E love it and I don’t care who knows. But I hate spending money and regular homemade iced coffee doesn’t cut it. And then I tried cold brewed coffee. And coffee ice cubes. And maple syrup instead of sugar. Oh my gosh. I did it. And it only takes a minute to make, and costs $1.03 per … [Read more...]

Filed Under: recipes, SPONSORED


Yoga Cutoff Shorts

posted on: May 29, 2012 3 Comments
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I’ve got good news and bad news. Good news: After having Adam, I lost a lot of weight and went from a 10 to a 4/5. Bad news: I have no shorts that fit. Good news: I have no shorts that fit and I need to go shopping. I do have a lot of yoga capris, which now look like weird baggy gauchos on me. Why not make some yoga shorts? I grabbed some fabric scissors, eyeballed it, and cut them into shorts. I cut the hemmed bottoms off and saved ‘em to make headbands. The bagginess works … [Read more...]

Filed Under: recycling, repurposing


Colorful Striped Abstract (KIDS!) Art

posted on: May 25, 2012 23 Comments
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These abstract paintings look like something I would buy, but I didn’t buy them. Nor did I lift a paintbrush. I had a hard time titling this post, mostly because I didn’t want you to see the word “kid” and think that it was art that only a mom or grandma could love. But I have to give them credit! My kids LOVE to paint. When I go to paint something, I usually hear “where’s my paint?” I’ll usually get out their color wonder stuff, watercolors, or convince them that they want … [Read more...]

Filed Under: free projects, Goodwill, kid projects, painting, wall decor


Painted Glass Vase Advent Wreath

posted on: December 20, 2011 3 Comments
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Last year I forgot to take our Advent wreath out until after Christmas. This year I discovered that a hot attic is not a good place to put candles that can melt. On the third Sunday of Advent (raise your hand if you’re a slacker…), I decided I needed to do something in the way of an advent wreath. I took vases like these that I found at Goodwill and see there all the time glass vases image via Google I painted them using acrylic paint and inserted some candles I had in the … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Christmas, holiday decor, traditions


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