A Bit About Me

Hi Everyone!  Jenna is doing a blog commenting challenge which is perfect for me since I love to look at blogs but I rarely leave comments.  I know, it's a bit stalker-esque!  So that changes today.  Come to think of it, I've been a fan of Jenna's blogs for years and it was one of the first blogs I ever read.  But to date, I've never even left a comment, which is a shame because I've gotten some really good recipes from her.

Today's topic is to share a little bit about yourself so here it goes.  My name is Dani (short for Danielle) and I'm married to my best friend, Scott.  We have four kids: Brenndan (16), Maddie (11), Allie (6), and Ethan (4).  I'm a stay-at-home mom and I homeschooled my kindergartner last year which was a new challenge for me.  I love the Lord and He has completely changed my life for the better.  I like to bake and craft but my real passion is decorating.  On our honeymoon, we toured Italy.  We saw the sights of Rome and Venice was absolutely magical but I completely fell in love with the Tuscan region-love, love, love!  While there, we stayed in a villa that made their own wine and olive oil.  It was so beautiful!  I loved the food, the landscape, and the way of life.  In fact, I try to decorate with those tones just because it reminds me of what a wonderful, relaxing time we had there.  God willing, we'll be able to go back there with the kids soon.

Okay, so that's a bit about me and now I'm off to find out about all of you..only this time I'll comment.  Have a great day!

Show Us Your Life-Dining Rooms

It's that time again!  This week, Kelly is featuring dining rooms so come on in and take a look around. 

We have an open floor plan so our living room, dining room, and foyer are all in this section downstairs.  I love the colors in here, dark walnut, pops of red, and all shades of green.  To me, these colors are very relaxing and warm.

Here's a close-up of my current centerpiece.  The container was a jar from Kirklands that I decided to use as a vase.  I filled it up with faux pears as filler so you wouldn't see the stems and added some flowers from Hobby Lobby.  I threw in some feathers too!

I made all the curtains too.  I used green silt fabric that I bought from JoAnn's and lined them with a blackout material.  I hung them up with the hardware from Lowes.  To cut down on the cost, we used large dowels and stained them to match the brackets, clips, and finials.  

So that is our dining room and I can't wait to see all the others.  Have a great weekend!!

Finishing some projects

We are definitely loving the slower pace that summer brings!  What is it about summer that turns me into a couch potato?  And to think, it's not even that hot here yet!  I was able to pull it together and finish a couple of projects that I had been meaning to do.

First off was this container with greenery.  My husband picked up the pot at the dollar tree and thought I could do something with it.  I had some left over floral foam from another project so I put that in and added some ivy I already had.  I scored the grapevine ball at Michael's with a 50% off coupon and I had a craft stick that I simply colored with Allie's brown marker.

 I hot glued the stick to the grapevine ball and added it to the pot.  Then I cut the ivy leaves and individually glued them to the ball.  I love topiaries and I wanted this one to have more of the grapevine showing just to mix it up a bit.  Here's the finished project in the foyer, easy peasy!

Also, Scott was inspired to finish the trim on the entertainment center in our room that he built earlier this year.  I think it had something to do with me posting pictures of our master bedroom.  So, here is the before shot.

And here is the after.  I love how it turned out and I think he did a wonderful job!  You can't see it, but I'm still doing the happy dance that it's completed.  I just finished painting it this morning.

So that's what I've been up to so far.  I'm going to link up to Kristen's for her Creations Party and see what is being shared.  Have a great week!

Show Us Your Life-Master Bedroom

Hi everyone!  Thank you for writing such sweet comments about our kitchen.  This week in the Show Us Your Life series, Kelly is featuring the master bedroom.  So come on in and let me give you a little tour.

We bought this bedroom set about two years ago now.  We both loved the collection but I didn't really like the mirror that went with it.  I got this one at Home Goods for a lot less money and it worked out perfectly.  The leather recliner chair was a Father's Day present to Scott a few years ago.  It's really comfy.

Here's our fireplace and entertainment center.  Scott built the built-in so all he has to do now is finish the trim.  I'm hoping this summer, he'll put up the mantel too;)  I love that he is so handy.

This is our newest addition, surround sound stereo speakers.  I love them!  The kids are always in here watching movies.  And I really like to have background music playing while I'm cleaning. It's nice to walk into another room and not miss a beat.

And finally, here's the morning bar.  I had never even heard of one until we toured the model home of this house. We have a little fridge and coffee maker to help start the day.  I keep a few dishes on the shelf because my goodies are in the cabinets for those late night snacks.

So there you have it.  I hope you enjoyed the little tour and I look forward to seeing all of yours.  Have a wonderful Father's Day weekend!

Summer Love

Finally, all the kids are out of school!  Another year of school is finally completed.  In honor of Maddie and Allie's achievements this year, we took the kids to Farrells's Ice Cream Parlour.  I remember going as a little girl, and I was thrilled to see one in our area.

Okay, now it feels like summer.  To kick things off, we thought it would be fun to have dinner in reverse.  So we started things off with dessert.  We ordered The Pig's Trough, Ice Cream Nachos, and (my favorite) the Triple Chocolate Brownie Sundae, yummy.

Then we went home and the guys began setting up the tent.  We're going to do some backyard camping tonight.  The tent was an early father's day present for Scott. 

Now, to build a fire and roast some hot dogs.  We've promised the kids this for weeks and I'm so glad we finally did it.  Bren was really happy to make his hot dog roaster.  We go on our camping trip in less than two weeks so we're really starting to get excited.

I'm hoping the stars will be out tonight.  Scott found an app to see the constellations.  Here's to more fun summer nights!

Show Us Your Life-Kitchens

Hi everyone!  I'm joining the party again at Kelly's Korner.  This week on the Show Us Your Life series, we're in the kitchen.  Hands down, the most used room in the house!  I'm in here all the time...my family loves to eat.  Okay, they probably get that from me so I guess it's a good thing I don't mind cooking.  And this is a great kitchen to cook in.  We have lots of deep cabinets and storage space but my favorite thing here is the island.  It really comes in handy for food prep and baking.

Here's a full picture of the kitchen area.  It's a really open floor plan which is great when we entertain.

This scroll embellishment is my latest find at Hobby Lobby.  I'm lovin' that store and soooo glad they're finally here in California!  We have really high ceilings and I thought the picture needed a little something extra to fill up the space. 

Here's our coffee station.  My husband got this for me for my birthday and it's great!  So many times in the afternoon, I'd like a cup of coffee but didn't want to make a pot.  Now I can have a flavored coffee anytime I'd like (thanks honey).

Here's a picture of it at night.  There's a really nice, cozy glow.  

I love roosters.  My husband teases me that I'm turning the kitchen into a rooster shrine.  To be honest, I really didn't realize I had so many in the kitchen until this post.

So that's the tour for this week.  We have plans to redo the counters, add a backsplash, and install granite later on this year.  But for now, we are just really blessed and thankful for what we have.  I'm looking forward to seeing all of your kitchens.  Have a fabulous weekend!

Show Us Your Life-Living Rooms

I'm joining up with Kelly for her Show Us Your Life series.  This week is all about living rooms.  I'm really excited about it because I'd love to get some fresh ideas.  Our living room really hasn't changed much since we moved in and painted.  Sometimes I'll change out the pictures in the frames but not much else unless it's Fall or Christmas time.  Okay, so here's the tour.

As you walk through the front door, we have a really long foyer.  I'd like to add some plants (but I kill them) and I just haven't found the right silk plants yet so I'm still on the lookout.

Admittedly, my photos are pretty bad.  The true colors of the room are very deep and warm and it just didn't translate.  This is probably my favorite room in the house.  We have a lot of trees in the front so even in the summer, it stays pretty cool in here.  I know the trend seems to favor lighter colors but I still love that Tuscan look and palette.

We have a very open floor plan so I'm including the dining room section as well.  I love this set!  The chairs are heavy but super comfortable.  We eat our Sunday dinners in here each week.  It's our little way of making Sunday more special and set apart.

Well, that's it.  I'm looking forward to seeing all the other living rooms, especially the coffee tables.  I'd love to do something different in here.  Have a great weekend!