Liebster Award

Meet the B's was nominated for a Liebster Award by the sweet Allie at Cute Kid, Ugly House!!!!! Thanks, Allie!

What is the Liebster award, you ask? Based on my research, its a way to help introduce new bloggers to each other and help build a blogging community. It's tough to get started in the blogging world, especially in the very beginning when you just hear crickets chirping.... But us newbies should be there to help each other grow! That's where the Liebster Award comes in!
So basically, a blog nominates you. You answer the 11 questions they posted on their blog. Then you nominate 11 more blogs who are either new or may have been dabbling in blogging for a while but don't yet have many followers (I found many different lists of rules, but most lists seem to say blogs with less than 200, 500, or 1000 followers) and ask them 11 questions (I have no clue how to tell how many followers someone has, so I aimed for blogs that have been around for a year or less if I could find that info. So my apologies if I've made a mistake!! It's still fun to make new blog friends anyway!). They answer your questions and nominate 11 more blogs. So on and so forth. 
So here are the questions that Allie asked me...
1. What is the funnest kind of post to write? Well, clearly, I like posting about decorating! I also love posting step by steps of DIY projects, but I always tend to forget to take progress pictures!! I'm getting better at that as I get more involved in this blog though :) 
2.Where do you find most of your home decor inspiration? EVERYWHERE. Before making dream home boards on Pinterest existed, I was google searching and saving images to my computer and cutting out pictures from magazines. I have a zillion home decorating books, some which I bought before I even had anything to decorate back in high school. I could also spend hours in any decor store (especially Crate and Barrel, Pottery Barn, and Ikea to name a few). I just love decorating and see inspiration every where I go.
3. What is the most difficult thing about blogging? I think putting yourself out there is tough! Even if you're not writing super personal stuff, it's still a view into your life and your passions. There are still very few people in my personal life that know I have a blog. But I'm definitely becoming less afraid of the blogging community. Let's be friends :)
4. What is your favorite book?  Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte. I can't tell you exactly why, but I LOVE that book. I could read it over and over.
5. Metallic finishes or natural fibers? That's a tough one! I LOVE rustic glam which is a combination of metallic and natural! I would say currently my house is leaning towards more natural fibers although we do still have one room that has tons of metallic finishes in it.
6. What historical figure would you most like to meet? Can I meet Addy from the American Girl collection? lol does that count? She was so brave! On a more serious note, I would love to meet Abraham Lincoln. He has the same birthday as my mom, which I thought was super cool, so growing up I learned a ton about him.
7. What is the most memorable place to which you've traveled? I would have to say Bermuda. That's where Pete proposed to me! It was also our first big trip together alone. But in addition to that amazing memory, it was a beautiful place with SO much culture. I've been to a few islands and Bermuda was by far my favorite.
8. What do you want to be when you grow up? A mom. Seriously. I love being a nurse, but my whole life all I've ever wanted was to be a mommy. Hopefully that will happen in the not too distant future :)
9. Would you rather have a $5,000 clothing shopping spree or a $5,000 home decor shopping spree? I should say clothing shopping because I'm super unfashionable and have no cute clothes, but HANDS DOWN home decor shopping spree!!!
10. What is the best, or most successful, room makeover/reno/update/furniture salvage you've ever completed? I think my parent's kitchen. I'll have to dig out some pictures to share sometime. A couple years back, I lead them in a super budget friendly kitchen reno that turned out great! Updating paint, fixtures, countertops, and decor are such easy fixes!!
11. What are your favorite kinds of DIY projects? I love painting projects. I like any DIY, but if it involves a paint brush or a roller, I'm all in!

And here are my questions for the nominees....1. How long have you been blogging?2. What made you decide to start blogging?3. What is your favorite blog to read and what draws you to them?4. What is your decorating style?5. What is your favorite color?6. What type of food do you enjoy cooking the most? 7. Do you have any pets? Tell us about them!8. What is your favorite room in your house and why?9. Describe yourself in three words.10. Does anyone in your personal life know that you blog?11. Where do you see your blog one year from now?
And now for the nominees!! And while we're at it, let's make this a little more fun. If I nominated you, follow me AND the rest of the 11 nominees on some form of social media. Let's GROW together!You can follow me on BlogLovin, Google+, or Pinterest! Check the other blogger's main pages for links to their social media. Don't forget to link back to this post if you accept the award :)
The Honest RoomThe Little Love NestA Savory FeastKraft & MintMaking It in the MountainsDandelion PatinaTen Eighty BlogPatina House and StudioThe ABC's of LifeDefining My HappyTeaspoon of Life
Have a great rest of the week everyone!!!

How NOT to paint a mirror

Happy Friday, everyone! Hope you're all enjoying the first few days of spring... and maybe enjoying some March Madness fun too! I'm not big on sports, but bracket fever gets me. Maybe because I can eat lots of delicious appetizers for FOUR days. Or maybe because I make half of my bracket based on which mascots I like best!! Ha :)
Anyway, I haven't gotten many projects done lately due to night shift. As I shared with you last week, I'm pretty much useless during night shift. Say I'm working three nights in a row. I have to stay up late the day before my first shift in order to prepare. Then I attempt to sleep all day the day of the first night shift. After the three nights are done, I have to sleep most of the day that day, and then somehow try to get back to normal life for a few days. I'm usually feeling very backwards and zombie-like. I feel like it takes me days to recover. Needless to say, nightshift is NOT my favorite. It totally works for some people, but I am most definitely not a night owl.
So since I haven't gotten anything new completed (several things in the works though!), I'm going to share my mirror disaster as I promised in my entryway post. 

Since I couldn't find a white mirror, I bought this black one on clearance and thought I could just paint it white. Sounds easy enough, right?

Mistake #1: I covered the mirror itself with newspaper. It slid easily under the edges and I thought it would be easier than trying to perfectly tape around the edges.

Little did I know, the paint would end up seeping through and causing the paper to get STUCK to my mirror UNDER the edges. Ugh! 

Mistake #2: I spray painted outside. This was bad in two ways. First, little tiny bugs found their way into the paint and got stuck. Second, turns out if you spray paint when it's less than 50 degrees outside, the paint will bubble and crack (I googled it. Apparently this is a common mistake. Oopsy!). It was NOT pretty.

So how did I fix these mistakes? I did a lot of sanding with a fine grit paper in between coats of paint to try to remove the BUGS (yuck) and the bubbles and cracked paint. Sand, paint, dry. Over and over. For at least 5 coats.

To fix my paper under the edges and seeping paint problems, I used a razor blade. It took a longggg time. 

Since it took so long, I decided it would be a good idea to make Mistake #3....

I used a green Scotch Brite pad directly on the mirror thinking it would remove paint faster than the razor blade. Well folks, don't EVER do this. I learned quickly that Scotch pads scratch mirrors!!! I was horrified. I still haven't found a way to fix this, but at least it's just a small area, and nobody probably notices but me and the hubby.

It all turned out okay in the end. I like how it turned out, but boy, was it a struggle getting there!!

If I were to do this again, I would...

1. Lightly sand before painting.

2. Tape around the edges of the mirror instead of using paper.

3. Paint in the garage (with the doors open) to prevent bugs.

4. Paint on a warm day.

5. Most definitely not use a Scotch Brite pad to clean off excess paint!

Has anyone else made some DIY mistakes they are willing to share?

Linking up at I Heart Naptime, City Farmhouse

DIY St. Patrick's Day Necklace

Hello, everyone! I'm back on night shift for a few weeks, so pardon me if I'm a little quiet on the blog for a bit while I live the zombie night life. Sooooo tiredddd!
We're meeting some friends for some St. Patrick's day festivities tomorrow, so I've been on the hunt for something to wear. We've had these plans for a while, so I started the hunt early. Apparently, it's tough to find green too far in advance. I did eventually find some mint green pants, but even as it got closer, I couldn't find any festive jewelry!! All I wanted was a simple gold chain with a shamrock on it. I would have taken any clover themed jewelry though! But I couldn't find anything. 
So naturally, I decided to attempt a DIY!

So today, very last minute, I went out and bought a random gold necklace at Kohl's for $11. You could also buy some chain at the craft store to make it whatever length you want. Michael's was right next door, so I headed over to pick up the rest of my materials.
You will need...

• a chain/necklace
• jump rings
• pliers to close your jump rings
• leather
• hole punch
• gold leaf kit

First, I printed out a clover template which I found at Everything Etsy. I couldn't decide what size what best, so I used them all! I cut out the shapes and traced them onto the back of the leather. 

Next, cut the shapes out of the leather. Turns out, it's hard to cut leather!!! Look at the poor clover at the top! Use your sharpest pair of scissors!

Next, I used the adhesive pen to cover the front of the clovers. Let dry 5 to 10 minutes. There are other adhesives available for gold foiling, but I thought this seemed the easiest. And it was cheaper to buy it as a kit together instead of buying the adhesive and gold foil separately.

Once the adhesive dries, press the sheet of gold foil onto the clover. Smooth it out so that there are no bubbles. Carefully brush away the excess foil. I used a small paint brush to smooth out the edges of my clover.

Use a small hole punch to make a hole in the leather. Then, use pliers to insert and close a jump ring.

Thread your chain through the jump ring. Then go show off your fancy new St. Patrick's day necklace! :)

Sharing at: Tatertots & Jello, The SITS Girls, The 36th Avenue

Using typography as art inspiration

While working on living room decor, I bought lots of picture frames to put around the room. Soon enough, I realized that I don't have many pictures to display that aren't of just Pete and I. As much as I love our engagement and wedding photos, I can't have a whole house full of them! So I started looking for ideas for art to fill some of the frames until I can come up with some good family and friend photos to display.
I ran across this typography that someone posted on tumblr. Inspiration! 
I wanted to add some color to it, but I really really liked the font they used so I didn't want completely wing it. So I printed out the typography as a visual guide and free handed it onto my paper with a pencil.

Then I got my paint ready. I ended up adding some grey to tone down the color a little bit.

I took my brush and traced the letters. I did a few coats in order to clean up the lines. The paint kept feathering out due to to the texture of the paper, so it definitely took some patience!

I put it in a frame I bought on clearance at A.C. Moore. I love sales :)

Tah dah!

Modified Mason Jar "Bride" Cup

My sister-in-law's bridal shower is this coming Sunday! Woohoo! Currently we are both named Nicole Brzuchalski (although she goes by Nikki), so we both can't wait til she changes her name. It will be slightly less confusing! It's amusing when we go out to dinner and order drinks. They ask to see our ID's and we watch their faces as they realize they've looked at two ID's with same exact name! Ha ha!
Anyway, myself and Pete's other two sisters are putting together the bridal shower. The theme is pink and burlap. We're using lots of mason jars in the decor, so we decided we wanted to make Nikki a special bridal cup out of a mason jar to drink out of at the shower. I had been brainstorming ideas for a while, but while aimlessly wandering the aisles of Homegoods (don't you love wandering in there?!?) the other day I stumbled across a mason jar mug with a chalkboard label painted on it for $2!!! Perfect! Just needs a little dressing up :)

So, I cut the rafia bow off, used some Goo-Gone on the price sticker, and got to painting. I used a light pink paint to go with our shower decor and just traced the outline of the chalkboard label. I then painted the word "bride" on it. 

I promise it's pink! It just looks white in the photo!
Then I gathered some accessories to make it a little more chic :)

I used my hot glue gone to attach the lace around the rim of the glass. Just add a dot on under the cut ends.

And then I tied the twine and light pink ribbon into a bow!

Voila! An easy update!

Sharing at Design,Dining, and Diapers and Tatertots and Jello

Creating a welcoming entryway

Happy Monday everyone! We're having a snowy Monday which means Pete gets to work from home today. I love when he can stay home with me! :) Here's the view from my window today...

I love snow. Anyway, I'm finally sharing our new entryway with you! I had some struggles with the mirror (which I'll tell you about another time) so it delayed taking pictures a few days. But it's finally done and I'm so so happy with how it turned out :)
I've been trying to train myself to say "entryway." Growing up in Louisiana, we always called it the foyer (and not pronounced like the classy foy-ay... but foy-errrrr. Ha!). Here in Maryland, I seem to only hear entryway. So bear with me while I stutter over that word.
The entryway (or foyer!) is one of the most important parts of a house. It's your chance to make a first impression. It's what people see as soon as they walk through the front door. It sets the tone for the rest of your house. It gives your home its personality. 
In planning the decor for our entryway, I looked at lots of pictures and tried to decide what the necessary components for a great entryway are. (Check out some gorgeous entryways on my Pinterest board!) So here's what I decided are the important details.
1. Try to decide on the look and feel you want for your home. Pete and I want our home to feel cozy and welcoming. We also are aiming for a sort of modern-rustic look throughout the downstairs. We also wanted this space to feel bright because the rest of our home doesn't get much light. This is the one room that gets great natural light. All of these things were thought about in choosing each piece for this room.

2. Choose an awesome paint color. Again, think about the feel of your house. If you're going with neutrals, start in this room. If you're going bold, make the entry a nice bright color. Are you going with a specific color palette for your home? Remember, you're setting the stage. We chose a nice light greige color (Sherwin Williams "Mindful Grey") which actually carries into the living room because they share a wall with no good way to transition colors. We needed a neutral that could work for both rooms.

3. Find an entry table that works for your space. If you have a really big entryway or a long wall, choose a larger table. Our entry is pretty small, so we chose a shorter and more narrow table. We chose a white table to give that bright feel we were looking for. The table has distressed edges which ties in the rustic furniture we have in the rest of the downstairs. It gave the room a shabby chic vibe. I love it!

4. Look for a great mirror. I struggled with this one. I really wanted a quatrefoil mirror to add a little bit of something modern, but I couldn't find any white ones! Finally I found a black one on clearance at Hobby Lobby, so I bought it and spray painted it (which was actually a bit of a disaster. More on that later!). In the end, it turned out great and I love it. Don't be afraid to modify something if you can't find exactly what you're looking for :)

5. Choose statement lighting. When we moved in, we had the traditional gold light fixtures everywhere. I thought about painting them with oil rubbed bronze paint, but I'm glad I didn't. When I uninstalled the old ones, they were definitely burnt. Fire waiting to happen!! But if yours aren't hazardous, go for it!! You don't need to really expensive light fixtures, just something that makes a statement. We went with two of these guys.

6. You need a rug! At first I didn't want a rug. I didn't want to hide our pretty new floors since the room is so small. But the longer I live here, the more I realize we need SOMETHING at the door. Dirt tracks all over the house! So, I haven't purchased a rug yet, but I'm still searching. I'll be looking for a small rug, but if you have a large entryway, a rug is a great chance to add some texture, color, or patterns to your space. I'm thinking this one. Thoughts?

(picture a rug in front of the door!!)
7. Add artwork. This is the fun part! I made some welcoming signs on the computer (inspired by Shayna at The Wood Grain Cottage. And check out her beautiful textured walls! Love it!) and then spray painted some ornate frames that I found on clearance at JoAnn's. (Love clearance items!). I also painted a cute little canvas to put on the entry table. You can see the details here. Artwork doesn't have to be homemade though. Or even in the form of pictures! Add some accessories like we did with the antique keys, the calendar, and the grapevine ball. 

Well that's it! Things we still plan on doing in the future for this room: buying a rug, building a shelf for that long blank wall to display pictures on, finding something to go on the shelf of the table, and eventually getting a brand new door and sidelights!!
Please let me know if you have any ideas for me! And I would LOVE to see your entryways too :)
Linking up: City Farmhouse, Liz Marie Blog This post was featured at Blissfully Everafter!