Averie Lane

Averie Lane Farmhouse - The Studio Part 1

2017-10-17T05:00:00.000-06:00

I'm super excited to share some details on the latest project at Averie Lane!

I wish I could say it was about our kitchen or maybe even an addition, but its not.

Even though our house is far from finished ...well, let's be truthful, not even really started, it might seem odd to turn our attention to an entirely new project, but as it goes ,we found what we really needed more than anything else right now was a dedicated work space.

Some of you may know, but many of you do not, that last year we took our side hustle and turned it into a full time gig. My husband left his state job and we dived head first in to running our traveling boutique. Its been nothing short of insane since then, but it also means that we outgrew our 8x10 office/studio rather quickly. With me painting hundreds of signs a week and my husband needing to sew in the same space it became a little too close for comfort. Not to mention it was in a basement with terrible light!

We decided we needed to get out of the basement and into a dedicated building. Ideally, if the budget had allowed, we would've went straight to building a large shop with a studio attached, but since we were trying to pay cash for the is new space we had to scale way back.

So, that brings us to the studio.

Several things went through my mind when deciding on how I wanted this studio to look. It wasn't going to be a big building, but I wanted it to have character. I needed the overall style to go with our existing outbuildings, but I wanted it to represent what the overall look of our property will eventually be like. The current garage is going to be getting a makeover and the house will to, so this studio is sort of like the practice building for it all.

I sketched out a design that captured my vision and showed it to the builders. Thankfully, they got it right away and we started the process.

We picked out 12x24 ft shed with 8ft walls and a metal roof. The builders provided the doors, but we were able to special order our windows. We also are doing all the finish work and will be subcontracting out a few other things, like electrical and possibly insulation.

I'm going to try and put together a design board for the space just so I can hammer out the details as we head towards the finish line, but until then I will leave you with the shed as it stands now (or how it stood around 9 am this morning! Paint update coming soon - if you're impatient you can sneak over to my Instagram for a peek! @averielaneblog )

Farmhouse Master Bedroom in Country Living Magazine!

2017-05-16T10:50:00.002-06:00

Wow wow wow!

I just had to pop on here and say thank you for all your kind words about our Country Living Magazine appearance!

It's such an honor to have our bedroom represent the great state of Idaho! There are some amazing homes in our state so its a little bit nuts that they chose ours!

I'm seriously still pinching myself because its been a dream of mine to be in a magazine! I'm very proud of the hard work we've put into our bedroom and its the first time I feel like I knew what I was doing in design. Really, I look back at my older work and I can see a drastic difference! I hope to bring that same level of design to the rest of our farmhouse as we move further along with projects. We've got big plans in the works!

Oh, I also wanted to point one of the small tweeks I made to the room...pillows! The tribal pillows are my own fabric designs! How cool is that! You can find my fabric here: Spoonflower.com/AverieLaneBoutique or on Amazon: Averie Lane Boutique Fabric

For a full list of sources & tons more photos please visit the original room tour: Averie Lane Farmhouse Master Bedroom

Thanks again for all the support!

-Amber

How to Make A Simple Rope Wreath

2017-03-14T11:49:00.000-06:00

This post first appeared at PinspirationMarket.com

Can I be honest with you all?

I don't make wreaths.
Wait, what? I can imagine you scrolling back up to the title to make sure you read it right....

Hear me out.

I have this old rope that has been hanging around and all I could think about was that it needed to be a wreath. I also thought this was an awesome original idea, but as it turns out many have thought of this before me. So, even though this isn't some amazing new idea, it was still such an easy project that I thought it would be the perfect thing to share here today. I mean, if I - the non wreath maker- can make this, I am SURE you can too!

Lets get started!

Supplies:
Rope/Lasso/Lariat style rope (mine was a vintage steer roping rope)
Greenery (real or faux)
Wire
Ribbon
Embellishments (I chose a metal letter )

Step 1:
Fashion your rope into a circle. I recommend enough rope to create 6 or seven loops.

Step 2:
Wire a small bunch of greenery to the rope. You can bend the foliage to follow the shape of the rope. I used wire at certain points to maintain the shape I wanted. I only attached the wire to one or two of the rope loops to disguise the wire. Repeat this step until you have all your greenery in place.

Step 3:
Wire on your embellishments. The metal letter had two spots that were meant to be used to hang it on the wall, but I used them to anchor my wire. Play around with the placement until you like the shape (... that's the best part about using wire!) After I attached the letter, I felt like there wasn't enough going on with the wreath, so I added some sprigs of faux gold berries. I tucked them in and wired them so they wouldn't come out.

Step 4:
The last step is adding your ribbon. I wrap the ribbon around my hand as many times as I want loops on my bow. In this case I wanted a very simple bow, so I just made one loop. Second I took another length of ribbon and added it behind the loop leaving the ends long. Finally, I pinched the middle of the ribbon pieces down and wrapped it with wire to hold it in place.

Step 5:

To add some detail on the bow tails, I folded the end like a hot dog and cut on a angle back up towards the middle. This creates nice pointy tips on the ribbon.

Step 6:

Using another length of ribbon cover the wire and tie a knot at the back of the rope. This ribbon can be used to hang your wreath as well.

There you have it! A simple winter rope wreath!

It looks right at home on our farmhouse door. The best part? I can leave it up the rest of winter without it feeling too Christmasy! That's my kind of decor!

Be sure to PIN this so you don't forget!

Farmhouse Ceiling - removing ceiling tiles

2017-01-23T00:00:00.000-07:00

Last week I talked about the studio, but I am jumping over to another project that happened last weekend as well. If you follow me on Instagram, you already know we did a little exploratory demo in our living room.

The ceilings in the living area were clearly several inches lower then in the rest of the house and I assumed that the tiles were glued to the old plaster, so I wasn't thinking we would be touching them anytime soon.

BUT....Curiosity got the best of me ( a trait I am sure many DIYers share with me) and I just had to know what was up there.

It started with just one tile, which I soon discovered was stapled to 1x4 wood boards and they were very easy to pull down...

I could see the old plaster ceiling up above and it looked in decent shape, so we kept pulling tiles down. (my nephew was happy to help!)

This was completely impromptu so we didn't even bother moving furniture or rugs.

As we progressed, we realized that the ceilings would not be salvageable. It was pretty clear that when its time to remove the wood strips we are going to lose our plaster as well. Which isn't necessarily the end of the world because I have some ideas for this room anyways, but it does put a hold on more demo until we can determine what the insulation is sitting on (aka is there decking in the attic or is it just sitting on the plaster?) Either way, its going to be a mess so not the project for a snowy day.

This means we are living with this...

Its not pretty folks. Who wants to come over and climb up in our attic?

***Update***
My almost bro-in-law was kind enough to climb up and scope things out for us last night. It looks like the insulation IS sitting on the plaster. So that means it will all come down when we remove the plaster. He also discovered the original exerior of the house is still up there as well...siding and all. So opening the ceilings just got a bit more complicated (not that is wasn'tt already). We knew the main living room was an addition in the 50's but weren't sure exactly how they had done it. It also explains all cracks in the plaster on the walls and on the ceiling. Fun fun.

Averie Lane Farmhouse : Studio Makeover Part 1

2017-01-11T10:02:00.000-07:00

We are kicking off the New Year with a tiny project in the basement...the studio!

If we are being technical, its the "temporary studio" makeover. We have plans to build an actual big studio eventually, but for now it is a small bedroom in the basement. Even though it is small, it is leaps and bounds better than my old studio, which was just the kitchen table!

You may remember this room from the Farmhouse Before Tour....

Not exactly a bright and welcoming space to spend 40+ hours a week is it?

Since we have a bit of a break between shows I decided to give it a makeover to not only brighten it up, but make it a lot more functional.

First up, paint! I decided to stick with the same color as in our Master Bedroom: BM Simply White. I intend to use it throughout the house so it was a no brainer.

I used a brush to fill all the grooves and then rolled the flat parts. It took 3 coats and could've probably used at least one more, but I was kind of over painting so I just left it.

Once the walls were painted I realized the ceiling and the door looked dingy, so they each got a coat of paint too.

Hopefully I can get my lighting right for the final photos, because the color of the door is a beautiful earthy blue green. (you may remember I used it on my laundry room cabinets at our last house!) Its pretty similar to the color Emily Henderson just chose for her new kitchen. Maybe she reads my blog? haha! Not.

The paint is done and I'll leave you with this teaser of my future farmhouse style desk! Its going to be amazing!!!

DIY Winter Wreath - Pinspiration Market Blog

2016-12-27T16:12:00.002-07:00

I thought I would pop in today to share some fun news!

I am now a contributor to the NEW PinspirationMarket.com Blog! My friend Linda, the creator of The Great Junk Hunt and Junk Salvation is starting new market designed to bring makers together in a unique shopping experience. These markets will allow you to shop the latest Pinterest trends all in one place without the work!

For those of you who still like a good project, I'll be writing about simple DIY and home decor projects that you can do yourselves! My first post is up now and I would love for you to pop over to learn how to make your own DIY holiday wreath! Its the perfect wreath to leave up the rest of winter!

DIY Winter Rope Wreath - Pinspiration Market Blog

Farmhouse Master Bedroom Reveal - One Room Challenge

2016-11-10T01:27:00.001-07:00

Its reveal day! I'm typing this late at night because we cut it pretty darn close on this one!

Even though this challenge was a 6 week challenge, we did most of the work over a period of 6 days. Approximately 1 day a week. I tell you this, not to brag or complain, but because I want you to see how doable a room makeover is, even when you don't have weeks and weeks to work on it!

I'm not going to spend a lot of time talking, but I do want to refresh your memory on where our room started. Keep in mind this room is the "master" at whopping 10x12.

We removed the carpet and stripped the floors before we moved in. Full disclosure? They're still unfinished. I couldn't decide what I wanted to do, so I left them for now. The addition of a rug is enough to make the room feel finished.

My original design board ended up being pretty accurate other than I switched the rug out.

Other things on the list included switching out the fan for a new light, adding trim work and painting the whole room.

Okay, now the pretty pictures!!

As you enter the room, the first thing you see is my wardrobe (and yes it really is my closet!) and a full length mirror that my dad built for me.

Cabinet/Wardrobe : vintage

Painted "Putty" by Fusion Mineral Paints

Painting: By Me

books, crocks, bowls, jars : vintage

Opposite the wardrobe is the bed.

Headboard : Vintage (tutorial here)

Nightstand : antique

Lamp: Target

Accessories : Vintage

A plant and a vintage crock help with the awkward layout of the room. I kept artwork minimal, instead allowing the trim work to add texture and interest.

I debated on what to do with the wall next to the closet. We talked about a barn door at one point, but instead we painted the door the same color as the rest of the room - BM Simply White (mixed in Glidden Diamond). The cow skull was a gift from my grandpa and the inspiration behind my blog logo. Its one of my favorite things ever.

That's right, the whole room is Simply White (flat finish!)...walls, trim, and ceiling. Its amazing how much it brightens the room and because we chose a flat finish it helps minimize all the imperfections in our plaster walls.

Light : Home Depot (spray painted this color)

Rug: eSale Rugs

Bedding: Target

Pink blanket : vintage

Kilim Pillow Cover: Hobby Lobby (in store)

I love our room!

Our last master bedroom (it's so different!) had many of the same elements, but this version is so much more us. It gives me a little taste of what the rest of the farmhouse can look like with with a lot of elbow grease. I can't even explain how excited I am to tackle another room! This room also gives me confidence in my design decisions. I am really good at getting the foundation of a room to look good, but this is the first room that I feel like my vision and the outcome matched perfectly! I am learning where to invest my money and where to take advantage of my love of vintage and antiques. We still have a few things to add and change, but for now, this room is a breathe of fresh air in a house that still needs a TON of work!

What do you think?
Also, I am happy to answer any questions you might have! I'm sure I missed some crucial detail.

Oh, and be sure to head over to Calling it Home to see the reveals from the other 200+ bloggers! Amazing stuff and I am honored to have my little room linked up among them! Also, a BIG thank you to Linda for hosting such an awesome event!

Click HERE

Thank you for stopping by!
-Amber

Farmhouse Master Bedroom - ORC week 5

2016-11-03T10:48:00.001-06:00

Its week 5...say what!?

I've accomplished almost nothing in the room itself. Yup, still not painted (that's on the list for Sunday...), but once the room IS painted we can load everything in.

I thrive under pressure. Trust me. haha!

So, what have I got done you wonder?

Well, I painted my wardrobe in a beautiful Putty color from Fusion Mineral Paint. I love this paint so much and can't wait to see it next to white walls! This shot doesn't do it justice! I'll be dedicating a whole post to it after the reveal when I have pretty pictures! (you can see the BEFORE here).

Other than that, I've been gathering accessories.

I especially love these vintagey bronze/brass pulls from Hobby Lobby! My husband found them and I think they will be perfect with all the other brass accessories!

I have a few other things, but I'll share those in the big reveal next week!!

As usual, head over to Calling it Home to see what the other guest participants are up too!

Click HERE!!

Farmhouse Master Bedroom - a rug and a wardrobe. Week 4 ORC

2016-10-27T10:49:00.000-06:00

Week 4.

We're over the hump and things should be wrapping up, but we still have a ways to go - like I haven't patched a single nail hole or even put a coat of paint on anything, but who cares about that? Especially when I have a gorgeous new rug to swoon over!

(source)

I was all set to order this rug, but in the last second I spied this kilim which happened to be the exact colors I was looking for. You may remember me saying in Week 2 that I didn't want this style of rug, but that's partly because I was having trouble finding one that wasn't predominantly red or if I was finding them, I couldn't justify spending $1000+ on a single rug. Ouch. I happened upon this one when I got smart and switched the sort method to "low to high" ...duh. Since it was one-of-a-kind, I got it ordered as quick as I could, figuring if I hated it I could return it and order the other one, but luckily I LOVE it!!

Getting the rug also allowed me to get going on another project. The wardrobe that will be my closet space...

Yesssss....

This will be all the closet space I get. ALL. OF. IT. I think that should be plenty of space for my six flannels and a couple pairs of boots (insert laughing/crying emjoii here) right? I've already started painting it a pretty putty color! I'll share more next week!

So that is all for this week! Not much, but lots of decisions made and ready for install as soon as I get the walls painted!

Be sure to head over to Calling It Home to see what the other guest participants are up too! There are some amazing spaces that I can't wait to see the final results of!!!

Farmhouse Trim - ORC Week 3

2016-10-19T22:55:00.000-06:00

Its week 3 of the ORC and all of a sudden things are happening (finally!)

I bought a few accessories this week, including this pretty lamp from Target. I sat it on my fireplace bookcase for safe keeping and couldn't get over how perfect it is for our living room too. I'm already getting some ideas for when I'm ready to tackle that space!

Crosby Gold Desk Lamp

You might be wondering why I only got one? Well, due to the window placement in our room, our bed will have to sit off center which means I will only have room for one night stand. By no means am I thrilled about this, but I have to make it work. I just WISH they made a matching floor lamp. Darn it.

I also settled on a rug and ordered it (if you know me this is a real shocker!) Its not the one from my original design board and its also a vintage kilim, which I said I didn't want, but I couldn't resist it and since it was one of a kind I just went for it. Call me crazy! I can't wait to see it in real life. I'll share pictures when I get it - probably on Instagram first, so be sure to follow!! ( @averielaneblog )

Ok, now to the meat and potatoes... farmhouse trim!

Here's what the trim looked like before...

Basic simple trim. The baseboards are about 6 inches tall which is awesome and the window trim is nice and chunky, but it lacked umph...ya know?

So after brainstorming we decided we needed to beef up the tops of the windows and add board and batten to the walls. The plan meant we could leave all the trim untouched except for the tops of the windows and doors. Obviously.

I got the job of removing the top piece of trim... (that door would be awesome in a mid century house, wouldn't it? I forgot to put it on my to do list, but it is definitely going...or changing...)

Next, we started installing the trim.

Let me back track one sec... we were all set to use pre-primed pine boards for this project, but when the hardware store didn't have enough of what we needed, we went to plan B instead. We bought 3/4 inch MDF (which is the equivalent to 1x material) cut to the exact size we wanted. The switch meant we also saved ourselves a couple hundred dollars in material. With the savings we actually bought a nicer table saw to cut all the MDF with. The initial money spent ended up being about the same, but since we have lots of trim work to do in the house, we will save money in the long run. Winning!

So like I said we chose to start with the header above the doors and windows.

It consisted of 5 pieces :
2- 3/4 x 1.5"
1- 3/4 x 6"
1- 3/4 x 2.25"
1- 3/4 x 3"

I know it looks a little crazy and overwhelming at the moment, but it really fills the space above the windows and doors and makes the room feel much grander. Maybe more grand than your average farmhouse bedroom should feel, but then again, we are working with such tiny rooms, anything we can do to make them feel bigger helps!

I created this handy little diagram in case you want to duplicate what we did....

Once we had the trim up we decided since it was so substantial maybe we needed to tame back my plans for floor to ceiling board and batten. My husband wasn't really going for it anyways so his idea of picture rail height won out. I actually really like it too and since I know that the walls and trim will all be the same color, I'm not worried about it breaking up the room to much.

We chose not to do paneling under the battens because we wanted to avoid removing all the trim. I'm planning to do a satin or eggshell finish on the trim so any texture on the walls should be hard to see. That's my hope at least!

To finish up the trim we still have to attach the last piece that goes on top of the wall trim. It will create a little ledge and help tie into the door headers. Then, I get to fill holes, prime, caulk and paint the whole room! Go me!!!

Since we are sharing this room in real time, there won't be any progress in here until next Monday. We are off to Ellensburg for a last minute vintage show and to hang with my parents for my birthday!!!! Yay!

Let me know what you think of our room so far and then head over to Calling it Home to see what the other guest participants are up too! Have fun and happy blog reading!

Click HEREto go to the link up!

Farmhouse Master Bedroom Design Plan - ORC Week 2

2016-10-13T00:00:00.000-06:00

Welcome to Week 2 of The One Room Challenge!

Last week I showed you my very boring and highly disorganized tiny "master" bedroom. It is a complete blank slate so I can take it any direction I want, but it also sets the tone and feeling of the rest of the house so I need to make some key decisions that we will repeat as we move forward on other rooms.

I want the room to feel light bright and airy, but I also love me some color so I will be bringing lots of that it too.

Lets walk through my design board, shall we?

Lets start with the foundation of the room. We are planning on doing a floor to ceiling board and batten wall treatment around the whole room. I haven't decided the exact color, but I'm leaning towards BM Simply white on the trim, walls and ceiling. So far, we've bought all the materials and mapped out where the battens will go on the wall. To solve a few issues (old house = crazy walls..) we will also be beefing up the window trim in a more farmhouse-y style.

..like this...

(source)

Please Pin from Original Source!

I haven't totally decided on what to do with our unfinished floors. I have some samples of lye & oil to try out and I have considered paint washing them, but we may just keep them raw and throw down a big rug for now.

Speaking of rugs, I think I've decided on a rug, but I haven't pulled the trigger yet, so that could change too. I love a good old vintage rug, but I want the rug to be plush and comfy to walk on, so that means most vintage flat weave rugs are out. Boo hoo...

Other things coming into the room include our bed & headboard. You can read about how we built it: HERE. I'm toying with the idea of painting the platform part of the bed, but that depends on what I end up using for a side table. I have an antique cabinet that I plan on using, but until I move it in, I won't know if it works. I also have to add storage for my clothes since the closets aren't exactly made for two, so I'm going to be refinishing an vintage wardrobe. I know I want it painted but I need to decide on the rug first! Ha! Better get on that.

Accessories and what-nots have yet to be purchased (we've got how many weeks left?), but you can see it will all be fairly simple, natural and vintage inspired.

Last, I can't wait to bring in some art!
I created my own paint-by-number style cow paintings to take to our vintage shows and I think one would be a PERFECT addition to our farmhouse bedroom!

Don't you think so?

Well, here's the official list of what needs to happen over the next 3 weeks...

Install Board & Batten
Beef up window trim
Paint
Order Rug
Shop for Accessories
Blinds? Curtains?
Paint vintage cabinet

My, oh, my!!! (any Dave Niehuas fans out there?) We've got lots to do don't we!?

Let me know what you think and be sure to visit www.callingithome.com to see what the other One Room Challenge participants are up to! My guess is some have actually made progress on their rooms!

Farmhouse Master Bedroom - ORC Week 1

2016-10-06T09:08:00.000-06:00

Its been awhile since I've joined up for a One Room Challenge.

My last one, the powder room, didn't get finished with the challenge (and I still haven't photographed it because it was near impossible to get any good shots of it) and the challenge after that whizzed right by while I was knee deep in vintage shows and really really pregnant, but this season it on!

If you haven't heard about The One Room Challenge, put on by Linda from Calling it Home, it is a challenge to makeover one room in your home in just 6 weeks. Each Wednesday a group of 20 bloggers will share their space progress and on Thursdays there is a link up where anyone can join and share their own ORC rooms. Its a great way to stay on track and be accountable! You can follow along each week on the link up page or with the One Room Challenge on Instagram!

Ok, now on to the good stuff and the all important question of what room to tackle?

We've lived in our farmhouse for a couple months now and well,...to put it nicely, its a total and complete disaster. My choices were numerous. I almost went with one of the kids rooms because they are the closest to being ready, but that would pretty much be a cop out. The room that needs the most help and drives me the most crazy is our master bedroom. Which if you look on the layout below is actually where it says "boys room".

The master isn't really very master-ish. In fact its just a few feet bigger than the other two rooms, but it is where we sleep so I want to make it feel like a master.

So here is what the room looks like right now...

(pardon the cell phone pic, but crappy before pictures make for good after photos, right?)

The only thing coming back into our room from the last house is our bed and a large mirror. You can see my last master bedroom reveal here: Master Bedroom Reveal

I have big plans for the room that I'll be sharing next week so be sure to come back by.

Click here to see what everyone is linking up!

The One Room Challenge Guest Participants

Rustic Wheelbarrow with interchangeable signs #DIHworkshop Virtual Party

2016-09-12T11:00:00.000-06:00

*This Post is sponsored by The Home Depot #DIHWorkshop

Hello everyone! I'm so excited to share my version of the rustic wheelbarrow with you today! If you are visiting from one of the other blogs in the tour, welcome to Averie Lane!

If you read last week's post, then you know that I'm usually NOT the builder around here. I'm the one who dreams up lots up fabulous ideas and then send my husband off to tackle them (it usually requires bribes...like a cigar or two!), so it was quite a shock to me that he expected ME to build this wheelbarrow...something about it being a do-it-HERSELF workshop...I don't know!?

But, guess what? I did build it!

Just to refresh, we were asked to take this basic wheelbarrow concept and customize it.

To be honest, I had several ideas right away that were crazy ambitious just for the sake of trying to over customize the wheelbarrow, but I soon realized that this project should represent me, this blog and my main side hustle.... hand painted signs.

Obviously, if I was going to paint a sign, just one wasn't going to cut it.

I totally needed a sign for each season, right?

This meant I needed an easy way of switching the signs out. The solution ended up being super simple, didn't require any additional tools or hardware (other than a bit of glue ) and utilized scraps from the original build!

Here's what I did....

The first thing I did was cut four 8x10" signs from 1/2 in plywood. (*tip: If you want to create something similar, you can buy small project sheets of plywood at The Home Depot and have them cut to size right in the store) Next, I stacked all 4 pieces of wood together and clamped them to one side of the crate I'd be using on my wheelbarrow. I made sure to position them exactly where I wanted them to hang.

Once clamped, I used a 1/2 drill bit to drill two holes, one through each corner of my stacked boards, making sure to drill through the crate as well. Once drilled, I removed the signs (*tip: mark which way is up on the signs if you eyeball drilling the holes like I did because the signs will only fit on one way) Next I cut two 1 1/2" dowels from the scrap material and glued them into the holes drilled in the crate.

After the glue set I slid my signs back over the pegs to test for fit. I ended up widening the holes just a bit by running the drill back thru the signs a few times. This allowed them to slide on and off easily, yet keep them snug enough to withstand the windy days we get around here.

After everything was working perfectly I went ahead and painted my wheelbarrow with white exterior paint and then sanded it heavily. The exposed wood looked too new for my liking so I watered down some gray paint and did a wash over the whole wheelbarrow. Wherever there was exposed wood it soaked up the gray paint and it immediately looked nice and old. Perfect for our old farmhouse!

Well, are you ready for lots of pretty pictures now? I hope so, because I took a lot since I created 4 different signs!

The first sign I made was for Averie Lane Farmhouse. We just bought our 1930's fixer upper farmhouse and I felt like it really needed a sign! Everything may be a hot mess around here, but gosh darnit, we can at least have a pretty sign!

The Farmhouse sign pretty much works year round, so I could've stopped there (seriously, that sign makes me really happy!), but it is fall, so I wanted a fall version too. I ended up creating two fall options because I couldn't decide between them.

First, Be Grateful....I love how the black background really pops off the white wheelbarrow. It may look like chalk, but since its paint, it will withstand the elements.

(this is my most favorite of my styled photos!!)

The other fall sign is a quote from Anne of Green Gables, "I'm so glad I live in a world where there are Octobers." Every girl with an October birthday totally needs this sign (me!)

Last, I created a Christmas sign, because obviously...

This one was a chore to style because #1 its still basically summer here in southern Idaho and #2 I couldn't find any of my Christmas stuff thanks to that whole just moved thing. Thankfully I had a box of vintage ornaments in my show stash!

So there we have it! A rustic wheelbarrow with interchangeable sings! What do you think? Do you have a favorite? This was so fun for me, because I rarely show off my sign making skills here on the blog and I got to work with The Home Depot (its our fav...like we actually went on a date to HD the other night...!!) Plus, it was my first time getting to utilize our barn for a photo shoot!

If you are interested in learning more about the workshops The Home Depot offers at all of their locations ( Workshops include Do-ItYourself (DIY), Do-It-Herself (DIH) and Kids where you can learn how to build décor projects, how to make easy home repairs and how to operate tools through demonstrations and step-by-step instructions. ) visit http://workshops.homedepot.com and don't forget to register to build your own rustic wheelbarrow by clicking HERE! (seriously, if I can build this so can you!)

Now head over to these other blogs to see how they customized their rustic wheelbarrows!

NewlyWoodwards

Fix This Build That

Keeping It Cozy

The Chronicles of Home

Field Treasure Design

*I acknowledge that The Home Depot is partnering with me to participate in this Workshops Program. As a part of the Program, I am receiving compensation in the form of products and services, for the purpose of promoting TheHome Depot. All expressed opinions and experiences are my own words.

The Home Depot Do-it-Herself Workshop + Virtual Party

2016-09-05T02:00:00.000-06:00

*This Post is sponsored by The Home Depot #DIHWorkshop

If you have followed us here at Averie Lane for very long you'll know that we love to DIY ALL. THE. THINGS. so it shouldn't be a surprise that I'd be all over the opportunity to work with The Home Depot and their Do-it-Herself Workshops to build my customized version of a Rustic Wheelbarrow!

Did you catch that "herself" part? Yea...I was all geared to pass this project off to my husband who does 90% of the grunt work around here, but then he spied that part of the title and was all like "guess this one is on you, babe. I'll grab a beer and watch this freak show happen!" (I'm not even kidding and he really did!)

Even though I had to figure out how to build this on my own, you don't have too! Did you know The Home Depot offers Workshops at all of their locations for do-it-yourselfers of all ages and experience levels? There are three types of Workshops offered – Do-ItYourself (DIY), Do-It-Herself (DIH) and Kids (my kids love these and if ever we don't have time to do one in the store we always grab a project to bring home with us!) In the workshop you can learn how to build décor projects, how to make easy home repairs and how to operate tools through demonstrations and step-by-step instructions. Basically its like a real live DIY blog post or you tube video which means you can ask all the questions you need to right there as you build! Brilliant I tell you!

Soooooo...you'll have to come back on Monday 9/12 for the DIH Workshop Virtual Party to see how my customized version of the project along with that of several other talented bloggers turned out! I'm can't wait!!

If you are interested in learning more about the workshops please visit http://workshops.homedepot.com to learn more and don't forget to register to build your own rustic wheelbarrow by clicking HERE! (seriously, if I can build this so can you!)

Restoring Old Floors - Averie Lane Farmhouse

2016-08-22T17:34:00.000-06:00

Hey Everyone!

I thought I would pop in for a short update about the farmhouse before starting on another big painting session...(oh hey, we will be in Kansas Ciry, MO for Vintage Whites Market THIS WEEKEND! yay!)

If you have been following on Instagram you might've seen that we decided to tackle the floors before moving into the farmhouse. We had a couple weeks before we needed to be out of the other house so it seemed like good timing.

I have to laugh now, because not so much! We severely underestimated what removing old flooring and restoring hardwood floors would entail! Justin got all the carpet out easy peasy, but under the tile we found another layer of tile and some other goodies like a LIVE plug in (gah!!) So. not. fun.

(btw...we assumed the black layer and tile contained

asbestos so we took precautions to contain it safely.)

Luckily the second layer of tile was only under one 10x10 ft section of floor, but it set us back several days in our floor overhaul. You can see in the picture below that under the tile was also a patched in section of floor.

Once all the tile was safely removed, we rented all the sanding equipment from our local Home Depot. Our floors had been primed over by the previous owners so we needed to sand off the primer and level the floors. Again, we underestimated how long this would take us. We spent a day and half sanding and only accomplished the first round of sanding. We didn't even touch the corners of the rooms that will all need sanded and scraped by hand. We both knew there was no way these floors would get done before our looming moving deadline so we aborted the mission and decided we could live on them unfinished for awhile.

A fun time-lapse of Justin using the edger (which holy moly is a beast to run!)

Hey, look pretty floors!

I kinda love how the fir and oak meet up with each other. It was very common to put the fancy wood in the main living area and the less expensive wood in the private areas.

I'm so glad we decided to stop the sanding process and move in. Sure the floors are a bit rough and there is still dust everywhere (SO MUCH DUST!), but its actually turning out to be a smart move. The floor finish I really want to do would not have happened in our time frame so we were planning on using a poly finish (which is NOT what I wanted at all) instead. I just received some samples of lye and oil to play with and will be tackling each room on its own whenever we have a break between shows. I think the combination will help marry the two types of flooring together and also keep things light and bright in the house.

Here's a short video I shot for Instagram stories that shows how the floors look and the lay of the land before we moved our crap in.

What do you think? What would you do if these were your floors?

Also, if you happen to be in Kansas City this weekend, I would love to meet you at the market. My girl crush Ree Drummond will be there Friday night too!! So fun!!

Averie Lane Farmhouse (empty house tour)

2016-07-29T17:15:00.000-06:00

My husband and I have been talking for years about how we want to live and raise our children. It always has included talks of living in the country and either building or fixing up a house. For years and years its just been a dream and quite honestly, I couldn't figure out how we would be able to make that dream a reality any time soon. We always pictured ourselves trying to get back to North Idaho, but without a job to go to or an affordable housing market, it wasn't really a viable option right now. Our current house is awesome, big enough, almost done being remodeled and really just a good place to be, except for one major thing: lack of work space for our growing business...think studio & wood shop. Our 2 car garage and the kitchen table weren't really cutting it anymore.

Then, one lazy evening I was flipping through the local real estate listing on my phone (because that's something that I just love doing. Call me cray-cray! Haha) when a little house in the next town over popped up. Most of the time, the houses in this area are super cute, but either way too small for our family or too big of a project for us to even consider, but this one was something special. Sitting on just over an acre surrounded by farmland, the house looked well maintained, but not completely remodeled so we could make it our own. Plus it had outbuildings! Just what we needed! This is when my mind started churning so I showed it to Justin and he liked it. It wasn't our dream property in North Idaho and it would mean that we would be staying in Southern Idaho for several more years, but we couldn't stop talking about it. We decided it was time to make our dreams reality. There is more to the story, that I will share in due time, but all I have to say right now, is this where we are suppose to be and even though its a bit scary, we are so ready!!!

Fast forward to today and the house is all ours....tiny bedrooms and all! The farmhouse is actually the same size as our current house, but is laid out completely differently. We're talking a single teeney tiny bathroom for all 6 of us...what are we thinking?! Thank goodness we aren't afraid to get our hands dirty because we have some grand plans to make it the perfect house for us and I'm hoping you will follow our journey!!

Enough chit chat, I know you are all eager to see what our little farmhouse looks like! I'll explain the different areas as we go so you can get an idea of what we have planned for in each space.

Front:

I love the exterior of this house! It will need new siding at some point, but for now I will just clean it up a bit and maybe give the trim a coat of paint. The stairs up to the front door should probably be updated at some point as well, but for now its a charming entrance,...I mean, come on...that door!!!

Before we head inside, I did a quick mock up of the floor plan so you have a better idea where each room is and how it relates to the next. I didn't manage to get closets on here or the basement, because ...learning curve, you'll get the idea tho!

Entry:

From the front door you walk right into the living room. Not much a true entry (I'm going to miss my current one!) but honestly, we won't use this door much. The back door is just more practical.

Living Room:

The living room has big windows that let in tons of light. It looks darker in these photos only because I took them in the later part of the day. I love the fireplace and shelves, but the paint, ceiling tiles and the flooring have to go. We've already started on some of it that you can see if you follow me on Instagram ( @averielaneblog ) We *hope* to eventually open the ceiling in here to the attic space, but we need to get some advice from a contractor before we move forward. Its something we think we can do ourselves to save on costs.

Looking back towards the front door...

Office (aka, the we have no idea what it is room):

Any thought on what this room is!? I think it might have been an old entry or something, but who knows! The previous owners used it as a computer area. I've already removed the doors since my kids thought they were the best thing to slam open and shut and I could foresee lots of pinched fingers in my future. No bueno!

Dining Room:

The only reason this gets called the dining room is because of the tile, which has already been demolished (praise be!). The lighting is awkward and those built-ins look better in photos than they do in real life. I do have some ideas about how to help them not look quite so janky. I love that window tho!!

Kitchen:

Haha! I have to laugh because this is barely a kitchen. Sure there are all the kitchen things, but its basically a glorified hallway. I will do a phase one makeover on it, but this thing will not cut it for very long. We have talked about adding on to the house and after we get through the kitchen you will see why!

Bedrooms:

There are technically 3 bedrooms, but Lord help me they are postage stamp size! We decided who got which room purely based on the beds that needed to go in each. A master bedroom does not exist in this house. Thank goodness I love small cozy spaces!

Bathroom:

Does this bathroom look small to you? Well, it is...maybe even smaller! How we are going to make this work with all 6 of us, I'm not sure. One thing I am sure about....there is a window hiding behind the shower and I'm determined to expose it!

Hallway:

Just so you can see how close everything is to everything! Haha...hold me!

Laundry/Basement:

The door off the kitchen leads into the laundry area. Its a later addition to the house and basically a hot mess. The washer and dryer can't even sit close to each other and the stairs leading to the stairs are a bit scary to say the least. We are hoping to rip this addition off and do a bigger better one, but until we can do that I will probably need to bump this room up on the priority list purely for saftery reasons. The basement itself is good sized at around 800 sqft, but its a bit awkward. We have plans for it too eventually!

This chimney vents the water heater and a few other things and I am 99.9% sure it runs up next to the stove area in the kitchen. You know what I'm thinking don't you!!??!!

Well, that ends the inside of the house tour! I will do a tour of the out buildings next week, because those areas are just as important and 100% why we committed ourselves to years worth of projects!

What do you think? I can't wait to inject our personalities into the space! SO. MANY. IDEAS!!!

You might be wondering what our plans are for our other house? We will actually be renting it out which means we have just a couple weeks to make the new house livable before we have to be out of the old one. I do plan on doing an "After" tour of it before we are out, so look for that next week along with updates on Farmhouse progress!

Newborn Photos - Edith Charlene

2016-07-25T15:20:00.000-06:00

Last week I shared Little Edee's birth story, so if you missed it you can read it HERE!

Even though I have no plans of doing monthly photo shoots like I did with Everett, I did want to make sure I got her newborn photos done. I have always taken these myself instead of hiring them out, because its fun for me to do. This time around I took advantage of the older kids being entertained by grandma and a stole away to our bedroom for a mini photo session. Since I was by myself, I stuck with a simple set up...my bed, a few blankets and one outfit. My lighting wasn't perfect and a few shots are a bit blurry, but I'm giving myself lots of grace because at least I took them, right?!

I love these extra large swaddles I made using my fabric designs printed on the Modern Jersey fabric from Spoonflower. The fabric has a nice stretch to it which makes a great swaddle blanket and they were super easy to sew. I literally cut a small part of the length off of one yard of fabric (4 inches or so) and then ran the edges through my serger. That's it!

If you don't own a serger, you can do a rolled hem on the edge or even just a zig zag stitch! If you want to make them no-sew, just pull the edges a bit until they roll. (For a more in depth instructions try this tutorial from The Sweeter Side of Mommyhood , it's awesome!) My version creates more of a rectangle shaped blanket instead of square one, but I like that better for bigger babies! Plus, you can use the scrap from the end to make a cute turban style headband! How cute!!

Fabric: Watercolor Dot in Gray | available at Spoonflower

(blurry, but couldn't you just die over her cute smile!)

One of my favorite backdrops is our headboard. The minty green is so cute with the pink and white outfit!

I also love this pink arrow fabric from my fabric collection. It comes in lots of other colors as well!

Fabric: Sketched Arrow with Pink Background | available at Spoonflower

baby yawn!

Before the baby woke up, I grabbed this beautiful crocheted blanket made by sister in law. She looks so cute against purple and I love using something so special for photos!

I hope you enjoyed getting to see my sweet little baby! As you can see, taking newborn photos doesn't have to complicated! If you'd like to see more of my fabric designs feel free to check out my my shop on Spoonflower!

Edith Charlene {a birth story}

2016-07-19T11:20:00.000-06:00

My oh my.... baby number six is finally here and what an entrance she made!
I planned on having this post up a few weeks ago, but life with four kids five and under (not to mention traveling to another vintage show with a newborn) hasn't made it easy! Its always amazing to me that with each additional child I have to totally rework when and how I can get things done. I sort of miss the old days of just one kid...hah! Just kidding! I love my ~~little~~ BIG tribe!

(This is a birth story, so be advised that I might use terms that make you uncomfortable, so proceed with caution! You've been warned.)

37-39 Weeks

So, little Miss Edee was hanging out pretty contently as I approached my due date of June 5th and I was convinced she would be late like Elynn . I was not feeling great, could barely walk and down right emotional. I cried for no reason at the drop of a hat which I'm sure Justin was loving. To encourage progress we were walking a lot (mostly at Home Depot!) but I could tell nothing was changing. At my 37 week appointment they did my Group B strep test and the doctor decided to check me. I was about 1.5 cm dilated, but she wasn't very optimistic that the baby was coming anytime soon so at my next appointment I opted not to be checked. Why bother, I know what labor feels like and I know what false labor feels like too. Each night I'd have plenty of contractions but they would always fade away by early morning. Super fun.

Tues May, 31

After a long Memorial Day weekend and still no baby, I was starting to feel anxious because Justin was due to leave for Army Annual Training at the end of the week. We made another trip to town and this time I was having some pretty good contractions while we were out. I was't thinking much of it, but as they continued throughout dinner I thought maybe this IS it. That evening I texted my mom to let her know what was going on, but I also told her that most likely they would stop. Either way she was on alert.

Wed June 1

I woke up that next morning after a long night of mild contractions and indeed they had stopped. COMPLETELY. I wasn't happy. I texted my mom again complaining that I was going to be pregnant forever and she encouraged me by telling me she spent 3 weeks having nightly contractions when she was pregnant with my little sister. Thanks mom. #sohelpful

So, there I was completely pissed that I was still pregnant after being awake off and all night with contractions that I did the only thing I could. I cleaned the house and rearranged all the rugs upstairs. I even pulled out the couch and cleaned behind it. It felt great to get stuff done.

Proof in these pictures I sent to Justin...(the rug I bought for the boys room is now in the office/family room and the old blue rug moved to Ellery's room...)

12:30 pm

The kids were happily zoned out with a movie so I sat down to do some computer work and all of a sudden I got the worst stomach pain ever! Just like that out of the blue. It did not feel like a labor pain, so I deiced we would head down for lunch. I got another sharp pain while I was making sandwiches, but again it did not feel like a labor pain. So I did the dishes while the kids ate. Then I got another one and I thought...hmmmm....maybe something is going on here. I messaged Justin at work to let him know something MIGHT be up, but that I was going to get the kids down for a nap and take a shower to see if any of that would make the pain stop.

1:30 pm

As I was getting the kids down for a nap I could feel pains coming pretty consistently, but even tho they were painful they were far apart. My aunt texted me to see if she could come by to look at some signs and I told her I was going to shower first. She agreed to come by around 4 instead. I then took a long hot shower and proceeded to get ready for the day.

2:00 pm

While doing my hair and make up I decided to start tracking my contractions with an app on my phone. Again, they hurt,but they were kinda random 4-7 minutes apart and only 30-40 secs long. I let Justin know my status, but I wasn't feeling a sense of urgency so we decided we would touch base after the meeting he was headed into.

3:00 pm

Justin was out of his meeting and I told him he batter head this way. My contractions were still short, but stronger and a little closer together. Since my Aunt was coming at four, I knew I could have her stay to watch the kids while we headed to the hospital. In my mind I knew we still had several hours of waiting ahead of us. I also messaged my mom to let her know to head my way as well, thinking even with a 5 hour drive she had plenty of time to make it before the baby came.

3: 15 or so

My Aunt texted me to say she got done early and could she come by? I messaged her back and said yes and that she would need to stay since I thought I was in labor, but she never read the message, so she walks in and I'm like "hi! I'm in labor, Justin is on his way and can you watch the kids?" I totally caught her off guard. Sorry Aunt Carmen!! While we waited for Justin to get there I helped her pick out signs (the reason she was actually there) in between contractions. Again, I was just pretty chill because I knew I had several more hours of labor to get through.

3:45 pm

Justin gets home, changes his clothes and looks at my contraction tracker and basically tells me to get my butt in the car and we are going NOW. I was just sitting chatting with my aunt and he couldn't figure out why I wasn't thinking we should get going. As we loaded up I told him that it was a good thing we were going in early because I need antibiotics for the group B strep.

3:50 pm

We get to the hospital and we accidentally parked at the main entrance, instead of Emergency entrance. The receptionist asks where we are headed and Justin says "we're having a baby!" and another receptionist tells us to head right up to Labor & Delivery. When we get there, the nurses are all surprised because they were not expecting us. I had a big long contraction right after getting off the elevator and they all looked at each other and decided they would deal with admitting me later.

4:00 pm

As soon as we got in our room I quickly got changed and into the bed so they could start tracking contractions. The nurses are rushing to get my IV in and hooking me up to the monitor because I was begging for the epidural. Once that was done the nurse decides its time to check where I'm at. She starts checking me and shes in there forever because she says she can't feel anything except my bag of water. Then I had a contraction and shes like "oh! I feel it now, your at an 8 and you won't have time for drugs!" I looked at Justin and started crying because I really didn't think I could handle the contractions for much longer. It freaked me out!

4:08 ish...

I am in tons of pain and I am crying because I don't get drugs and then my next contraction starts and I say to Justin and the nurse, "this one isn't going to be good" and the nurse says, "if you have to push its okay"... and so I did. Or my body did. I had absolutely no control over the urge and pretty soon I hear Justin and the nurses talking... "there's her head"..."the cords wrapped around"..."its off, give us one more push!" (Justin says the nurse had super ninja skills and had the cord off in one swift movement.)

4:10 pm

Just like that I had a baby laying on my chest. I looked at Justin in shock because, what the heck!? We had literally been in the room 10 minutes. TEN. It was chaos. There was no doctor yet, so I just laid there with my baby and kept repeating over and over "what just happened?" When Justin messaged the below picture to our family mere minutes after she was delivered and they all thought we were joking. It was that fast. No one except my Aunt knew we were even at the hospital.

Edith Charlene

8lbs 9oz

19.5 inches

After...

Eventually the doctor did make it in the room, delivered the placenta and did some other doctor things while I was laying there in shock. Edith needed a bit of blow by oxygen due to the cord being wrapped around her right after she was born and we had to stay a few days extra due to jaundice, but other than that she is a perfect little baby!

So that's it. I've officially documented Edith's birth story. Crazy thinking its the last one I will ever write. I can't even imagine attempting to have more babies after how close we were to having this one at home (not shooting down home births at all, its just not for me). Seriously...I was in active labor from 12:30 to 4:10. That's the shortest ever for me!

The Bigs meeting Edith

First family photo

Our little Glo-worm!

Thanks for stopping by to meet our new addition! Come back later this week for her newborn photos!

Floral Dresser Before & After | Tones for Tots Little Piggy

2016-06-01T00:00:00.000-06:00

Well, hello there!

Its been awhile hasn't it? I knew going into the spring show season I wouldn't have much time to blog, but I didn't realize just how crazy we were to try and do 6 shows in 3 months during my third trimester (and while my husband works a regular full time job!)! My signage was way more popular than I could've hoped for, so I did tons of painting on the off weeks between shows just to keep up with demand.

Anyways, during that time I was sent the new line of Fusion Mineral Paint to test out. Its called Tones for Tots and is formulated to be 100% safe to use around your little kiddos! It also comes in the prettiest shades of nursery friendly colors.

When I saw the new line of colors, I knew immediately what I wanted to use it on and exactly what color I wanted to use.

This dresser has been hanging out in our closet for a few years. We used it for storing baby clothes, but his stuff has since been moved to his new room and I didn't really want to use the dresser as in anywhere in the house since it doesn't really "go" with our other decor. The thing is though, its not a dresser I'm ever going to get rid of. It just happens to be part of a nursery set that my mother-in-law bought when my husband was born. Basically a 1980's family heirloom.

Good thing I have a little girl in need of a dresser, right!?

So I picked out the color Little Piggy and gave the dresser 3 coats of paint (after a cleaning and a light sanding). Even though I used a crappy brush the paint went on beautiful! I think it would've covered in less coats had I not started with such a dark dresser.

At this point, I could've been done. This paint finishes beautiful and doesn't require a topcoat so all I needed to do was distress the edges slightly and pop the knobs back on to be done, BUT(...haha...there's always a but, right?) my girl has been BEGGING me to paint her a flower picture for weeks and it occurred to me that this dresser was basically a giant blank canvas, so I let her pick a few colors - a couple of Tones for Tots colors, plus a few to aid in the design and I started free-handing some flowers on the dresser.

Then I added some detail (you've all been getting teasers on Instagram!) in the style I do on my signs.

Ready for the BIG reveal?

Ta-dah!

(Forgive my poor photos! Not only was I using my iPhone because my camera tripod is broken, but I had to stage this in my bedroom because I couldn't get the dresser upstairs by myself. Our room doesn't get the best light and I had to work around our bed too. Oh well! We are actually working on a solution to make photographing projects much easier...I can't wait to share more about it!)

What do you think? Its a bit crazy, but I love it! Especially how the floral wraps around the side as well!

I had so much fun styling this dresser using some of the signs from my shop: Averie Lane Boutique and a few props from around the house!

The best part is, my daughter freaking LOVES it. She picked out tiny pink glass knobs for the top drawer and I used the Tones for Tots paint color from the dresser to paint the original knobs for the rest of the dresser. I love how they just disappear and let the floral pattern shine.

I totally get that this style of painting isn't for everyone, but I think its the perfect thing for a little girls room! I plan on making a few tweaks to her Granny Chic Room (we've already changed out the bed) so the dresser fits in better and I have a sign project in the works to personalize her space even more! Eventually the room will become a shared space for our girls so I'm okay with giving it a little makeover.

Speaking of...maybe my next post will be introducing baby! She should be here any day!

(Disclosure: The paint for this post was provided to me for free, but all the opinions are completely my own and not influenced by the company providing the materials.)

Show Prep - Vintage Whites Market SLC 2016

2016-03-04T05:00:00.000-07:00

I promised you that I would be better at showing you what real life is like around here since its pretty obvious that I don't spend all my time on DIY projects and room makeovers. Today is just that. A glimpse into what my life looks like right now.

Trust me, there isn't anything pin-worthy about my house and I didn't even bother cleaning up for you because I've been painting nonstop in preparation for the first show of the season. That show just happens to be Vintage Whites Market (which is NEXT WEEK! eek!) and I'm so incredibly grateful that the founders of Vintage Whites (yes...the same ones with a killer blog and recently featured in Country Living Magazine!) chose me to be a part of their amazing show, that I don't even mind all the hard work and long hours I've been putting in.

Let's face it, the kids are watching way too many movies...

...the house is almost a lost cause and could really use a little attention...

...not to mention, my pregnant body aches from sitting on a hard metal chair for hours at a time.

Just when I think I can't paint any more, my husband comes home from a long day of work and immediately jumps in to help with framing signs, working on vintage furniture or anything else that might help me reach the end of my to do list.

In the end, I may not know exactly what the future holds or whether or not I will be successful in what I'm doing, but I have peace and faith in HIS plan for me no matter how crazy things are right now. So, if you need me, you know where to find me. I'll be the one covered in paint at my kitchen table painting the day away.

PS. I've added a list to the side bar of all the shows I'll be doing this spring!

Diy Little Mermaid Cake (no piping skills required!)

2016-02-26T00:00:00.000-07:00

I don't know about you, but when it comes to decorating cakes, I pretty much suck. It is not a skill set I possess and even though I've tried really hard to learn, it's just not happening. I can bake a cake, but when it comes to fancy frosting and piping....no. Just, no.

Lucky for me, I have some awesome relatives who DO possess said cake skills, so its not often the kids go without awesome birthday cakes (you can see what I'm talking about HERE, HERE, and HERE ), but what happens when mamma is on her own and the kid requests a Little Mermaid Cake?

Well, I discovered a little secret (well, its probably not really a secret) .... frosted, but NOT decorated cakes from the bakery! In my case I used a huge cake from Costco (hello...$18.99!!) Obviously, I could've just ordered something decorated from the grocery store bakery, but Costco cakes are a really good deal, taste super yummy(ours was chocolate cake with chocolate mousse filling) and are huge! There's only problem with Costco cakes...you are limited on what they will actually decorate your cake with and they don't offer any character cakes. Lame.

My solution?

How about a Costco cake combined with a cheap play set from Amazon? #winnerwinnerchickendinner !!

This is what you'll need to recreate your own Little Mermaid Cake:

Frosted (but not decorated) Cake
Little Mermaid Mini Castle Playset (*aff. link)
Crushed Graham Crackers
Blue Sanding Sugar (*aff link)
Assorted Candies in Coordinating Colors

Follow the steps below to easily build your cake!

If ordering a cake from Costco, just specify on the order form which flavor cake you want with white frosting and with piped edges, but no design.

My daughter loves these little sets and they are the perfect scale for a cake, not to mention its a built in gift for the birthday kid!

I place the castle first so that I can squish it into the frosting. This keeps it stable if you will be transporting the cake. Follow up by sprinkling crushed graham crackers around to resemble a beach.

Sprinkle the blue sugar where you want the ocean to be. I found it helpful to press the sugar into the icing slightly to help it stay in place.

Place your figurines around the cake. My daughter really wanted to recreate the scene where Ariel gets her legs, but I thought it was best if Ariel kept her clothes on for this one.

We happened to have leftover candy from our goodie bags so we used it to embellish the cake even more. My daughter had a lot of fun telling me where to put all of them.

It's that simple!!!

If I didn't know I made it, I would've totally thought it came done from the bakery, wouldn't you!?

Letter E - built by my husband | Cake Stand - Vintage | Plate - IKEA |

I almost didn't even write this tutorial because of how easy it was, but then I thought, why not!? I'm sure there are lots of times when we want to add our own DIY touches to a party, but things like frosting and piping a cake are out of our comfort zones. This solution is so easy that your kids could probably do it themselves!

I really hope you will give this idea a try and if you do, I want to see your cakes!

Using Restor-A-Finish or How to Restore a Vintage Bed Easily

2016-02-18T00:00:00.000-07:00

I have to say, this was one of the easiest things I have done in a long time. In fact it might have taken me longer to run to the store for supplies than it actually took me to give this bed a little makeover.

Now, I realize that keeping this bed the original finish might not be for everyone. Some people wouldn't hesitate to paint it (which could be beautiful too!) or there is the option of stripping the bed of its finish and either leaving it raw or staining it a new color, but honestly, non of these options were something I wanted to tackle at the moment. All I really wanted was to clean up the bed and it get in Ellery's room as soon as possible.

So, I turned to an option that I heard about, but never tried myself.... Howard's Restor-A-Finish. (aff. link)

My friend Jess at Bright Green Door has used this product on a mid century dresser with fab results and it worked great on my mom's kitchen cabinets so I thought it was worth a go!

Here's what I used:

Yup, just 3 things!

Before doing anything, I dusted the bed and got rid of any obvious dirt and grime. A little diluted vinegar is perfect for this job.

I chose to start with the bed rails since they were in pretty bad shape and if the Restor-a-Finish couldn't help them, I knew there would be no help for the rest of the bed.

I poured a little of the Restor-A-Finish on a cotton rag and rubbed it into the wood.

Rails before (sorry for the slightly blurry pic!):

In the next picture you can see that I used the Restor on the bottom rail, but not on the top. Quite the difference. You can barely see the scratches and dings from the before picture!

Here's another angle of the bed rails before:

And after- again with the Restor-A-Finish only applied to the bottom rail:

After I got the whole bed done, I went back and applied the Feed-N-Wax as directed. I figured a little added protection is never a bad thing when you've got a house full of kids. Obviously, its not a miracle product and you can still see some dings and scratches, but it is a massive improvement over how the bed started out! I would definitely recommend this product if you are trying to save the finish on wood furniture.

Here's the bed set up in her room before we added makeshift bed slats. You can see there are a few blemishes still, but overall, it looks pretty good and will work perfect while the kids are little. Nothing can be to precious right now if you know what I mean!

I'm still playing around with how to set up her room, but here's a iPhone shot so you can see how it works with some of the other items in her space. I'll do a full bedroom tour later when I get some decent light! (not to mention... all three kids are sleeping in Elle's room while I finish up the boys space which basically means its a hot mess!)

What do you think?
Have you ever tried this product?
I plan to try it on the vintage dressers that will be going in the boys room in hopes that it will tone down their orangey color. I'll keep you posted on the results!

Boy's Bedroom : The Plan

2016-02-09T00:00:00.000-07:00

So......remember a couple weeks ago when I talked about switching up the kid's rooms in attempt to get everyone sleeping in a real bed?

Well, two things have happened since that blog post:

1. We found out what our newest baby will be....

2. Our youngest decided that he will no longer sleep in his crib and also will not stay asleep unless someone is sitting in the room with him. (the shot below, was the last time I tried to get him to sleep in his crib...clearly he was not having it...)

So basically, all of this helped me nail down exactly what needed to happen in the bedrooms. Yay!

To start the shuffling process, we sold our daughters twin bed and she has now been upgraded to a full size bed (more on all that later this week). We will also be moving the blue crib into her room for when little baby sister is ready to join big sis in a shared space.

The boys will be moving into together (we did a trial run last night and it went AWESOME...aka, I actually got to sleep in my bed ALL night) and I will use the vintage cowboy beds in their room. I put together a design board so you can see where the room is headed. I started this when I thought the oldest two (boy & girl) would be sharing a room, but the design still works perfect for a shared boy's room.

As you can see, it will be a mix of rustic and colorful. The walls will be a light neutral color and all the other accents in the room will be pulled from colors in the rug. I plan on keeping most wall decor and accessories to a minimum. I have been drawn to clean minimal room designs lately and want to try my hand at it in this space.

This is a list of what I have planned to complete the room switch:

Paint the Room (we didn't paint it when we did the cowboy room a couple years ago)
Paint the vintage western beds - (I already bought the color which will not be as vibrant green as in the plan above.)
Clean up vintage western dressers (they are a very orangey color, but I don't know if I'm ready to tackle refinishing, so they will stay their current color)
Art/Wall Decor
Make/Source Kilim Style pillows
Make/Source Coordinating Bedding

This is a pretty simple plan and I have high hopes I can finish it by the end of next weekend. You will be able to follow real time progress on my instagram ( @averielaneblog ) or on my Facebook page ( Averie Lane )!

How To: Turning a Sketch into a Digital File

2016-02-01T00:00:00.000-07:00

How have you all been?

I hope your family escaped the wrath of the whatever tummy bug is going around? Our family was not so lucky and one by one we all went down over the past week. Having a house full of sick people obviously doesn't make for much getting done around the house, but it did give me A LOT of time for sketching.

Today, I thought it would be fun to share with you how I turn my rough sketches into digital files for use in my fabric designs and other products. I can't say my process will work for everyone, but its still fun to see how a sketch can evolve. Oh, and if you are professional designers out there, no judging...I'm pretty much self taught unless you count my one and only semester at the Art Institute.

(Disclaimer: I use *Photoshop Elements for all my design work. My version is old, PSE 9, but I make it work. If you are familiar with PSE this tutorial will make sense, if not, I suggest learning the basics before moving on to more advance techniques. I also use a *Bamboo Tablet instead of a mouse whenever I'm working in PSE--- *indicates affiliate links)

So where do I start?

First I start by sketching my design ideas on regular old paper. If I am stuck on how something looks, I might Google images for reference or I look at things around the house. One thing I try NOT to do is look at other fabric designs or artwork, so that I can keep my designs unique to me. Its amazing how much influence we glean from all the media available and it can be hard to stay original. As I develop my style I find it easier to not be influenced.

Next I take my sketches and transfer them to white paper using regular old carbon paper. During this step I have a chance to clean up my lines and simplify my design.

I then take these "cleaned up" drawings and scan them into the computer. Or if the image is too large for my scanner, I take a clear photo of the image and upload it my computer. Once on my computer, I use the "lasso" tool to isolate each image and move it to a new blank file. At this time, I can make the image as large or small as I want by sizing it to fit my new file. I don't worry if the image gets distorted or blurry, because in the next step I fix that!

After my image is opened in the new file and sized where I want it, I open a new layer and pick a paintbrush tool. Depending on what I'm after I may start by "painting" first or I might just outline the whole image. I won't go into to much detail about how I achieve the final result, but basically I start playing with different paint brushes, colors and textures until I get the look I'm after. I always work in layers so that I can add in and take away things as I progress. This is no different than what I do when I am painting in real life - just lots cleaner and easier to walk away from!

If you're not comfortable "painting" on the computer, you can also do a real painting and scan/upload it into the computer. I reference THIS tutorial from Jones Design Company whenever I'm turning paintings into digital files.

Once you have your completed digital image, you can use it in so many applications! I used the bunny to create this fun fabric design (coming soon to my Spoonflower shop!)

I also uploaded my design to my Society6.com shop so you can purchase my bunny design as art prints, pillows, and mugs!

I think this little lady would be the perfect addition to anyone's spring home decor! Or darling in a little girls room!

Bunny with Floral Crown | Society6

You can find her handsome companion there too!

Dapper Rabbit | Society6

Don't you think they make the cutest pair!?

These guys will also be available in my spring fabric collection. I'm just waiting to approve my designs and then they will be shoppable! Can you believe I submitted 28 new designs in just the last couple weeks. That's CRAZY!

New (cheap!) Rugs

2016-01-20T11:07:00.000-07:00

So, last week, one a my favorite blogs +ChrisLovesJulia.com did a post about the sources they used for all the pretty rugs around their house.

I decided to check out +eSaleRugs and ended up nabbing a couple of their Kilim Dhurrie rugs for a total steal!

They were having a 50% Off sale + Free Shipping (and returns!) not to mention an extra 10% off when you bought 2 or more rugs! I figured with deals like that, why not give it a go!?

So the first rug I ordered, is a small 2x3 that I'm hoping will work in our powder room. I have been looking everywhere, but just hadn't found the right combination of price & style. I found a few I loved, but the prices were all just a little high or the price was right, but it wasn't the "feel" I was going for in the room. The one I found at eSaleRugs was not only the style I wanted, but with all the discounts less than $20!

2' x 3' Kilim Rug

The other rug I nabbed was this fun 6x9 Kilim. It will be the perfect thing to kick off my kids bedroom makeover. I love the colors and think they could work for either a girl or a boy! Plus at less than $100, I don't think I can go wrong!

6' x 9' Kilim

(UPDATE: Both the rugs got here before I finished writing the post about them - hello 4 day shipping!)

I am super happy with how they look in real life. Some of the reviews warned that the colors were brighter in person, and they are, but I was hoping so!

They are both flat weave rugs and the pattern is pretty on both sides, which is always fun when you feel like switching things up. They also lay nicely over carpet. I don't have rug pads under any of my rugs and they rarely move. I might need a rug pad for the powder room, but only because the tile is slippery.

I love the pattern on the larger rug and briefly considered using it our living room (I'm now thinking I will just order another one in more of a blue/green pallet).

I'm over the moon with the size, color and quality of these rugs. They aren't vintage, but in this case, it doesn't bother me at all. Now I need to get to work on the kids's room! First order of business...painting their beds. I'm thinking green(don't worry I won't paint over the cowboys!)

Thoughts?

Vintage Western Beds