Tips that Might Keep You Sane While Moving~

Happy June everybody!  It's crunch time around the old nest...T minus 1 month to moving day.  Now's when I start to get all jittery and my eye starts to twitch and the family knows that when they see that crazed look on my face, it's better to just smile and leave the room.  Ha ha! 



source

 But seriously, we've moved a lot in our 15 years of marriage.  And I can tell you one thing about moving...it never gets any easier.  But I have learned a few things in our many moves...and today I thought I'd share a few tips...

1. Start Early.  If you have the luxury of knowing a while in advance when you will be moving, don't procrastinate.  Giving yourself plenty of time to declutter and pack is THE KEY to sanity while moving. 

2. Pack Items from a single room together.  This might seem like a no-brainer.  But you may be surprised.  So make sure that items from one room are packed in the same box.  Then make sure that box is clearly labelled with the room it belongs in.  If you have the time (and energy)  you can even label each box more specifically...such as "Home office"  "Desk drawer items".  Can you see the logic?  ;-)

3. Make sure that you pack items separately that you will need upon arrival at your new house, and then  make sure you keep them with you (in your car for example).  For instance, make sure you have some clothing, personal hygiene items including toilet paper, cleaning supplies, important papers, bedding, etc.  available when you arrive so that you aren't ransacking the house trying to find where you packed the toothpaste.

In addition, make sure that you set up beds first thing when you arrive at your new place.  It's always nice to have a bed to sleep in when you're surrounded by boxes.

4. Make all necessary arrangements for utilities, mail changes, and kids' schooling as soon as possible.  Nothing like showing up at your new place and having no power.  And little people transition easier when Mom and Dad already have things arranged at their new school.

5. Find Free Boxes.  This is always an issue for us.  We ALWAYS move ourselves.  And we have rarely had enough room to store moving  boxes from previous moves, so we always find ourselves in need of moving boxes.  But here's a great tip on how to get FREE  moving boxes.  Look on Craig's List or on your local on-line classified ads in the Free Section.  You will almost always find someone who is trying to get rid of moving boxes. 

6. Purge Before You Pack.  This might not save you time while you're packing, but it will definitely be worth it once you arrive at your new place.   I hate to admit it, but there are boxes in my basement right now that the Hubby and I have lugged from place to place for at least the last 10 years.  And here's a hint..if we haven't needed the stuff in 10 years..we're not going to need it.  So this move, we're getting rid of the stuff before we move it one more time. 

7. Breathe.  If all else fails, just remember, this too shall pass.  When I get stressed out, I just visualize myself in my new space...with everything put away, and I realize that in a few short weeks, all the chaos will be over, and I'll have a new place to decorate.  And that just puts a smile on my face.

If you're moving, or just thinking about moving, I hope you'll be able to use some of these tips to help you stay sane in the process.

Have a great day~

Spring Posy Shadowbox

Spellbinder dies

Today I created a shadow box using a new LaBlanche stamp that will be released next month.  The name of this stamp is "Spring Posy".  The image was colored with Copic markers.  A second image was stamped and the posies along the bottom of the image were colored and cut out.  These were attached to the back of the top of the shadow box to give the image dimension. 

The top of the shadow box was covered with a piece of yellow stripped design paper from a new "Dots and Strips" paper pack from Joan's Gardens.  You will love the two paper packs shown above because they are full of dots and striped papers.   The largest Spellbinders, "Fleur De Lis Rectangles" die was cut and placed around the opening in the shadow box.  This die does not cut an opening in the center but I just used a craft knife and cut along the edge of the die before removing the piece from the die.  Yellow posies were created using the large daisy punch shown in the photo above.  They were punched out using white card stock and sponged with yellow ink.   For each flower, two daisies were shaped with the tools in the Flower Tool Kit and glued together.  A mixture of black and brown Flower Soft was added to the center of the punched flowers as well as the flowers in the stamped design.   Green Cheery Lynn Ferns were added under the punched flowers.  These leaves come two to a package, each facing a different direction.  A pretty yellow silk bow was added to complete this shadow box.

You can preorder this cute LaBlanche stamp, and purchase all other supplies used on this card, from Joan's Gardens.  

The junk style one board tool box build

When Julie introduced the idea of all of us trying to build a tool box, my first thought was, "But I like old authentic stuff... and I can make most anything work that I find, so why build one?"

Well, Miss Julie made me put my thinking cap on. I've never built one before but my criteria quickly became all nit picky like and soon realized I needed to build my own after all. :)

I wanted it a certain size.
I wanted it to look old, authentic and in my trademarked woodsy preference.
I wanted it original in some way.
I wanted it to be easy to build. (read: CHEAT)

Could I do it? Well by golly, I was gonna give it my best shot!

How I built my toolbox...

out of 1 board
 

Front, back and bottom

1 2 3 - I measured out how long I wanted my toolbox and cut the first piece. I then used that piece as a guide for the other two. These pieces would become the front, back and bottom.

4 - I dry fit it to get a visual. LOVED the wood patina and nail holes. :)

 Sides

Once I decided how tall I desired the sides to rise, I cut a board twice that long so I could make both sides at once.

5 - The board was clamped to two sawhorses for stability while cutting with a jigsaw. I drew one side, then cut it. (with a dull blade... use a sharp one!)

6 - I used the cut piece to transfer the design to the other side.

7 - The old board got a good sanding.

8 - The middle of the board was measured out.

9 - The board was cut in the middle, creating the two sides.

10 - Everything got another good sanding, especially the edges and ends, but care was given to not overdo it as I wanted to maintain the squareness of the edges.

11 - I dry fit to ensure it was working. It was! So hmmm... what's that old tyme drill for anyway? You shall soon see. :)

12 - I used a spade bit in the cordless drill to drill the holes in the sides for the handle.

13 - After one hole was drilled, I used it as a template for the next hole position.

14 and 15 - I didn't drill right through this time. Yet.

16 - I re clamped the board back onto the saw horse and jigsawed two small cuts leading up to the intended hole.

17 and 18 - I then finished drilling the hole. You see, I needed a slot for...

19 - the drill handle of course! The blade end of the (VERY DULL) drill slips into one hole, and the handle slips into the slot of the other.

20 - I predrilled and nailed all of the pieces together....

And called it done. :)

 I loved it but it needed a small tweak....

 So I added an authentic cow tag from my parent's farm onto the box. Perfect!

It now tells a story. My dad's back shed was all about rusty tools. This little tool box most certainly brings back farm life memories.

And with an authentic keepsake from that very place. :)

While I loved it as is, I really needed the toolbox for a different purpose.

 So it became a kitchen essential.

 It's the perfect little telephone companion! 

It holds just what I need with junk style, looks pretty authentic, is indeed original with that handle, and I now can proudly say I built a tool box! Thanks Julie!

But that's not all.

Tune in Friday night at Saturday Nite Special to see the OTHER one I made for the flowers. :) Make sure your builds are ready too cuz we're gonna party with them!

Did you miss the toolbox series?

Part 1 - inspiration

Part 2 - how to build one

A mini toolbox to entice you was HERE


Are old boards safe to use? Read HERE on how to work safely with pallet wood.




The one board toolbox build. Way easy.
What's stopping you now? :)

The Boycott That Occurred In My House

I liked the color, a great coral called Charisma. The powder bathroom was certainly lacking any traces of that characteristic and I was yearning for a wonderful pop of fabulous color in this room.

But as soon as the paint covered the walls the boycott began. The kids would come home from school, rush to find a bathroom, only to skid to a stop yelling out, "I'm not going into that room!"

So I asked my husband. "What do you think?"

"Did you see my reaction when I went in", he replied, insinuating the answer was obvious.

"No, I missed that."

"Here, let me reenact the moment."

Hilarious. I get your point.

So I stepped out into garage to see if there was a quick fix and spied a nearly full can of Quietude. Exactly what was required to calm this family down.

As soon as a big swatch of the new color was painted, the thank yous and the happy dances began.

Must they be so dramatic. It's just paint for goodness sake.

I myself liked the color. I had even planned on adding a wash for a subtle striae effect and to add depth.

But peace within the family is more important, (not to mention accessible bathrooms)..and I do like the Quietude. Now I just need to run the new color to the ceiling. Or perhaps I'll skip that and just add some crown molding!

And I still like the idea of adding a wash, to add depth. 

But good grief, decorating has apparently become a democratic process in my house.

NestKeeping: Monthly Recap~

Hello out there in blogland.  I'm so glad you could join me today, because today I am starting a new feature here at The Shabby Nest.  I'm calling it NestKeeping, and basically it is going to be a recap of  my blog posts from the past month that I think had the best ideas, were the most informative, or offered the best inspiration.

I'm hoping that by featuring these links all together in one post at the end of each month, you, my dear readers, will  have a go-to resource for the best of The Shabby Nest!  (That's what I'm hoping, anyway!)

So without further ado,  here is my Monthly Recap for May...

Idea-filled posts to get you ready for summer-

An Easy Summer Centerpiece:  These candle-filled mason jars are so simple and pretty, you'll see why I love them so much.

Cowboy Caviar: A favorite summer recipe that you'll want to make again and again.

My Beachy Summer Mantel:  Putting those Easy Summer Centerpieces to work as focal points in my summer mantel decor.

Informative posts to help you get organized (and make some great art.) -

Since we are getting ready to move, I've been decluttering.  And this month I shared some of my best decluttering tips .

I also shared the way I keep my blog organized and running smoothly with my Blog Notebook.

Want to make a sentimental piece of art that is also chic and stylish?  Try Personalized Subway Art.  This month I offered a tutorial on how to create your own.

Finally, some fabulous decorating inspiration:

In our new place, our boys are going to be sharing a room...I'd love to have a bunkroom for them.  Here are some fabulous bunkrooms I've been looking at for inspiration.



Via BHG

 And while I'm on the subject of boys' rooms, here are some more inspiring boys' rooms.

Via Restoration Hardware Baby and Kids

Have a great day~

Getting from good to great photos

Hello and happy Memorial Day! I hope you had a wonderful holiday weekend! We got a lot done outside, went to the pool, got a nap in, played in the sprinkler, the Pup got lots of rolling-around-in-the-grass time, and we generally had a beautiful weekend. :)

First up, I need to announce the winner of the Heal My Sole giveaway! The lucky gal is Teresa at teresacline2001(at)yahoo(dot)com – Teresa be sure to email me and I’ll get you hooked up with your winnings! For everyone else, don’t forget all orders of $30 or more will get $5 off through May 31st (Tuesday) using the coupon code “maydays.”

I got my order this week and have only tried the lip balm so far but I LOVE it!

So anyhoo, I’ve been meaning to do this post for awhile cause it’s a topic I get a lot of questions about. I’ve mentioned a few photography tips in the past, but I’ve learned a lot since then.

This photo post will be a bit different than most though, because I still don’t have a clue what I’m doing. Really. :) This isn’t going to be a how-to on how to use your camera.

And you don’t need a fancy schmancy camera to get good shots. For REAL. Up till last September, I used a simple point and shoot:

So all of my pics up till that point are from that cutie. It works GREAT.

Because I enjoy photography and it’s kind of a hobby of mine, I bit the bullet and bought the Canon Rebel:

And I LOVE it. It’s fantastic. I still don’t know how to do everything (anything?)though. I know, it’s ridiculous. I’ve found plenty of great photography sites with how-to’s, and I do have that thing called the manual that has some pretty useful info in it too. ;)

But I just haven’t dedicated the time to it. Someday. I don’t keep it on the automatic setting, so I guess that’s something. All I have down is how to change the aperture setting – beyond that I’m still clueless.

There is one thing I know for SURE in the three years I’ve been blogging. You do NOT need a fancy camera to take great pictures.

You need three things in my opinion – good light (but even that can be corrected), good composition and good editing.

I use Picnik to edit all of my photos and I love it! It’s so easy to use, has some fun tools, and most of them are FREE.

I took a few pictures on a recent trip to the zoo to explain how I take pictures and how I edit them.

My biggest tip is to get. up. on. it.

Most pictures (depending on the subject) look better close up. With my point and shoot, I used the macro setting ALL the time.

Here’s a series of pictures I took far away to close up:

   

In the first one, you mostly notice the leaves in the background. In the last one, you see the flowers.

Now it’s time to make those flowers POP!

Enter Picnik. My first step is to hit Auto-fix. It brightens, sharpens, adjusts the picture to where it should be. Sometimes it doesn’t change my pics much, sometimes it makes ALL the difference.

Then I go to the Effects tab and hit Vibrance:

You can adjust how much vibrance you want – but even a little bit makes the colors go padow!

I usually do a little “Boost” action as well, which boosts (duh) the colors even more.

And after some zooming a little clicking, I go from this:

To this:

It took about 30 seconds.

I adjust almost every single picture you see on this blog. If anything, I auto-fix as many pics as I can. (Which you can usually do in the photo software that comes with your camera – you don’t need Picnik to do that.)

I used the same process with the next set of pictures:

   

The first picture is pretty, but you see the not-so-pretty structure in the background. The middle picture is better, but I’m a close up girl, so I went in even further.

This is where the composition comes in – you don’t always have to center your subject. The flower off to the left adds some interest and gives the photo some movement. (Again, in my non-professional, barely know what I’m doing opinion.)

Remember you can simply crop your photos so the subject isn’t centered – you don’t need any special photo takin’ skills to do this.

Again, this one went from this:

To this:

BOOYAH!

Love it! Isn’t that beautiful?

Sometimes the background is a good thing though – the first photo below was centered, but I noticed the little stream in the background, so I changed my position a bit to give the stream a little more presence:

With the help of Picnik, this is how it turned out:

Frame-worthy people. Frame. worthy. :)

Another example of moving in close and using the surroundings – the one on the left was from further away, but I knew it would be even better close up:

  

Now lattice behind doesn’t take away from the picture, it enhances it:

Beautiful!

I should mention another big tip – I get loooooow. :) I get down, sometimes all the way on the ground to take pics. You can see above that I was standing up for the first one, and was level with the flowers for the second one.

You can see the before and afters from some of my recent posts – my window boxes from this post:

   

Before on the left, after on the right. I like to add the “vignette” to some of my pics, which is the dark shadow around the outside. It just adds a little somethin’.

Using the editing tools just makes the colors pop and brings them to life:

And it takes no time at all! The vibrance tool I use is a “premium” tool through Picnik, but they have a TON of free tools that will help your photos immensely.

I love playing around with photos and seeing all of the possibilities. I used some Picnik options to amp up one of the photos just to show you the fun that can be had. (Each is labeled with the effect I used.):

 
(Lomo)

 

 
(Sepia)

 

 
(Sketch)

 

 
(Texture)

 

(Duotone)

 

 
(HDR)

Ack! I love them all! Which one is your favorite? (Most of these effects are FREE, by the way.)

So…that’s my secret. Picnik baby – it’s how I get great photos. :) I do try to start with some decent shots, but the editing makes all the difference! And did I mention…fareeeee? :)

**No, Picnik is not paying me to say any of this. They have no idea who I am. I just love them and love to share things that I love.

Love, me.

 

I have to give a BIG shout out and lots of love to all of our past, current and future service men and women and their families!

We thank you for your sacrifices!!!