Show Us Your Life-Foyers

Hi everyone!  I hope you're enjoying your summer so far.  I must admit though, I can't wait for autumn to get here.  It's my favorite time of year and a few of my favorite blogs have showcased their homes decorated for the season.  With this heat, it seems so far off...so we'll just have to keep on enjoying our summer until then.

This week, I'm joining up with Kelly again as she is spotlighting the foyer.  Our foyer is very long as you can see from the picture.

I would love to put a pair of tall candlesticks by the door, but it gets super windy here at a moments notice.  You wouldn't believe all the things that have broken just from the wind.

Here's a closeup of a table I got from HomeGoods.  I love that store!  It's really heavy and has that Tuscan look to it.  I would love to put a lamp in here.  We have high ceilings with recessed lighting and I think the glow of a lamp would really warm up the space.  The only problem is that the cord will show.  Any suggestions?  Have a great weekend and try to stay cool.

Show Us Your Life-Mantles

Hello again!  Kelly is featuring mantles this week in her series of home tours.  And I'm really looking forward to getting some fresh inspirations.  Unless it's the holidays, our mantle is pretty plain.  I painted the niche above the fireplace a dark brown to feature the picture of the kids but other than that, I'm not sure how to accessorize it. 

 Here's a close-up of the mantle.  I have some simple accessories and one of my favorite family photos.  It was taken at a really fun restaurant, Buca di Beppo's.  I love Italian food!  The food is served family style so you get to eat a bit of everything.  We had a great time!

So there you have it, our mantle.  Now I get to see all of yours!

My Latest Finds

Don't you just LOVE a good sale!  I was actually out and about looking for a bathing suit but I couldn't resist stopping into Michaels.  So happy to find this embellishment on sale for 70% off!  I think I ended up paying $11 for it.  I've had my eye on it for some time now but didn't want to spend $36.00 for it.  It's silver so I plan on touching it up with some brown paint so it'll go with my decor.  I'm not sure where I'm going to put it yet, but I'll find a spot.

 I also picked up some greens and a cute Tuscan pot, perfect for an arrangement.  This pot was on sale too, I think I paid $2 for it and their fall color bunches were on sale too.  I can't believe fall color is already on sale!  With all this heat, I can't even think about autumn yet.

 I made this in no time at all.  I really want to add  more red to my living room, it such a bright , happy color.

Here it is on my side table.  It really needed a pop of color.

All that shopping and yes, I did find a bathing suit.  Now we're off to my dad's to go swimming and try to keep cool in this heat.  

I'm linking up to Kristen's Creations Party.  Have a great day!

Show Us Your Life-Bathrooms

It's that time again!  Kelly is featuring bathrooms this week in her series of home tours.  So come on in.  My favorite bathroom in the house is our master bathroom.

 The surround sound is even in here.  I love to listen to music when I take a bath, very relaxing.  Even the kids like it.  We have a full shower on the other side by the walk-in closet.  You can kind of see it through the mirror.

 I got this picture at Kirklands a few years ago and I still love it.  I'd like to add more color in here though.

Here's the kids bathroom.  I like to tease them them that they fool around like a bunch of monkeys, so that's the "theme" of the bathroom.  The double sinks really come in handy in the mornings, but they still find a way to fight over them.

 There is a door that separates the toilet and shower from the sink area and I really like that design.  That way, while one is taking a bath the other is brushing their teeth and it saves time.  Scott made two step-stools for the little ones out of extra pieces of wood and I painted them.

We also have a bathroom downstairs.  I have a lot of shells on display in there.  For our anniversary, we went to Coronado and we found sand dollars on the beach so those are my newest additions.

 Hope your enjoyed the little tour and I'm looking forward to seeing yours!  Have a great weekend.

Happy Independence Day, America!

I saw this little Uncle Sam vase project when I was searching for 4th of July decorations.  I thought he was so cute and pretty easy to make.  All you need is a terracotta pot, saucer, wooden stars, and an empty can.  I tried to copy the face as closely as possible but I'm no artist.  Nonetheless, I like him.  I have some roses from my garden in it right now but you could easily stuff the top with plastic cutlery for a party.

I love all holidays and the fourth is no exception.  We're really looking forward to some grilled ribs, burgers, potato salad, desserts and of course, fireworks!  But first, I wanted to share some highlights from our camping trip to Lake Arrowhead.  It was Allie and Ethan's very first time and we had a great time.  It was so beautiful!!  This was our spot.  The views were amazing!!!

We stopped by the village to feed the ducks.

We went on hikes.

We even went out on the lake.  The paddle boats were a lot of fun, just tiring!

And there you have it, our family's camping trip.  Now I really want to watch the movie The Great Outdoors with Dan Aykroyd and John Candy.  Lucky for us, we never saw any bears.  I can't wait to go back next year.

So here's to a relaxing, safe, and fun-filled 4th of July.  Happy Independence Day, America!

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!!