Meet Mercedes!

Hi, all!

Sorry for the silence over here! I've been fighting with a sore throat for a week now, and just this past week we added another member to our family because I am crazy and apparently not nearly overwhelmed enough!

Meet Mercedes:

Mercedes is an 8 year old Black and Tan Coonhound that we adopted from the local humane society. She had been over bred, starved, and given her manners I seriously doubt she was let in the house very often!

Our Chocolate lab, Moose, like any new big brother, was super excited at their first meeting. Day two, he was exhausted. By day three, he was following me around and staring at me as if wondering when we were taking her back. They have now comfortable settled into a love/hate relationship. If they are not playing together, patrolling the yard, or snoozing, then they are growling over each others treats and toys.

She really is so beautiful, I don't know who could get rid of such a sweet girl. With a little training on household etiquette, she will make a great addition to our family!

 Xoxo,

Natasha

Home Tour: Living Room

It's almost Friday! To kick off the weekend, I finally got around to photographing our living room this morning. Fair warning, it's still coming together. I have a few window treatments to finish, the furniture is a little mis-matched (and not necessarily in a good way, can't get that recliner away from my husband) and I didn't take any photos facing the dining room because I currently have every project I've never finished in my life piled up on the table. But here goes!

The before:

Huge, right? This has been the most challenging for me. The sheer size of this room makes it very difficult to arrange furniture. And while I have a vision in my head of how I want everything set up, I am still missing several key pieces and until such a time as I acquire them... this is what we've come up with:

It's crazy how much smaller the room feels now. I'm not sure if that's a good thing or a bad thing. :) But it's certainly better for conversation and getting closer to the fire! (Excuse the Iron Man clips on the television, Have to keep the little man happy and I was far to lazy to Photoshop it out.)

Moose has claimed this beautiful blue sofa (that my amazing friend Becky found for me - love you Becky!!) as his own. It is ten feet long, people. Ten feet. And unfortunately I did not photograph it because it would mean facing that mound I was telling you about in the dining room... ahem.

Sources:

Grey Sofa: Walmart.Com
Tan Loveseat: Ashley Furniture
Coffee Table: Ashley Furniture
Pink Pillows: DIY
White Pillow: TJ Maxx
Kids Chairs: Ikea
Louis Chair: Thrifted
Mirrors: Target
Black Octagonal Table: Target
Mirrored Table: Michael's

Have a great weekend!
Xoxo, Natasha

DIY: Updating a plain black Hobby Lobby canvas frame.

Quick and easy DIY (aren't all my DIYs quick and easy) for you today! Updating a simple canvas frame with a little gold spray paint!

I had been meaning to get my son's art framed and finally the week had come when these frames were 50% off at Hobby Lobby. I got the size I needed but it just needed a little something...

I love black and white but this was a little too boring, even for me. So I simply taped off the majority of the frame, except for a little strip lined up with the inner bevel.

Then I hit it with the gold spray paint. I love the result:

Happy Hobby Lobby-ing, everyone!
Xoxo, Natasha

DIY: Marble Photo Frame

Hey, everyone!

Today I am excited to share this super easy and super chic DIY project with you!

What could be more glam than a marble photo frame? Such a pretty way to display a favorite photo! Let me show you how!

You will need:

Marble Contact Paper, sold here:



Scissors
Scotch Tape
Picture Frame (flat on all sides, not beveled)

Start by measuring your frame against the back of the contact paper. There is a handy grid and ruler on the back so it is super easy!

Figure out the width of the sides plus the front,

and the depth. I had to guess at this, and I gave myself a bit extra, just incase.

Figure out the height you will need and cut out the first strip.

I did the long sides first, and once you have your first strip cut, you can simply trace that piece and cut another.

Lay your first piece, starting at the back and wrapping towards the front. The paper is not super sticky which is good and bad. Good because you can easily adjust it. Bad because it can tend to lift in the corners. That's where the Scotch tape will come in later.

Once you have it smoothed down in the front, grab your scissors and make a small cut in towards the frame. This will allow you to wrap it inside..

 like so:

Then do the same at the outside corners. I covered my corners in a bit of Scotch tape to help them hold. You can't see it at all if you're careful!

Both sides completed:

Now I again measured the top and bottom. I just remember my previous width and adjusted the height.

Wrap back to front and snip the corners. Seal any questionable places with Scotch tape and...

Voila!

So pretty! You will have seams, but you can't tell at all!

This took very little contact paper and the roll comes with a LOT. I had this left over from another (several) projects I was working on, so you get a lot of bang for your buck with this paper.

I love how it looks with my other frames! Happy crafting, everyone!

baby photography courtesty of: Thompson Digital Image

Xoxo,
Natasha

How To: Deep Clean Your Shark Navigator

Happy Wednesday, everyone!

Mid-week is usually a good time to break down and get serious about cleaning my house. I've recovered from the last weekend and Monday, and need to gear up for another one.

When it comes to cleaning, my Mom (who owns her own cleaning company) has me hooked on Shark products, especially the Shark Navigator. It's affordable, lightweight, and cleans like a champ. Another one of my favorite features? It is easy to disassemble to give it a good cleaning, because, let's face it, no matter what brand of vacuum you use, you always need to give it a good cleaning. I would say at least every 6 months, for me it's about every 3 (think two kids, a dog, a cat and a husband).

Here's my process:

Star with a filthy vacuum. Then gather several rags, cleaner of choice, scissors and a screwdriver (or something pointy to get into those tight crannies).

Go ahead and remove the tank and the main filter.

One you remove the dark grey piece that holds the filter, flip it upside down and you will find another.

Pop out the front piece and remove that filter as well. I throw these in the washing machine on speed wash with a teensy tinsy bit of detergent and a little bleach. Do not put them in alone, you don't want to ruin your washing machine with an excess of water. I usually throw in a towel or my other cleaning supplies (mopheads, dusters, etc).

 Detach the hose as well.

Lay it on it's back and grab those scissors! The scissors allow you to cut all the hair, strings, etc that have wound around the brush. Keep on clipping and pulling. 

Then I grab my screwdriver to scrape all the dust and debris that has plastered itself to the inside.

I washed off the brush bar with my cleaner, and then wrap it around the end of the screwdriver to scrub in the crannies.

Flip it over onto it's front and lets start scrubbing the outside. I start with the wheels as they are usually the dirtiest and then wipe down the rest.

Now stand it back up and clean off the front, top and handles. Make sure to get into the hose openings.

Now onto the sink! 

Spray the canisters with cleaner, scrub and rinse. 

 I lay the main canister out to dry on a kitchen mat.
 

 By this point, my filters have finished washing and I have thrown them in the dryer with a towel to dry. They dry very fast. In fact, they are nearly dry coming out of the wash, but you want to make sure they are completely dry. Otherwise all that dust and dirt you are vacuuming will stick to the filters and you will have a nastier mess than you started with.

Go ahead and reassemble and test it out!

 Can you feel the power??

Happy hump-day!
Xo, Natasha