Wednesday

..

The more we continue to plan and plan our lives out and leave God out of it.. the more he will continue to lead us to know that ultimately he is in control.

A couple large events have panned out since this summer and when these things happen I always think why.. sometimes I feel like it is always an uphill battle.

Than I am reminded things can always be worse. There is always someone else with bigger problems at the end of the day and ultimately it isn't my wants that truely matter.. it is his plan for me.

I am starting to realize his plans and I am so glad I didn't lose sight of what are my talents and abilities he has created me to use..

Remember it isn't what we want but what God wants..

My Mentors Classroom

I told you all I would show you my mentor's classroom. I have been so busy.. I forgot.

My mentoring teacher did a camping theme last year, but this year we wanted to change it up a tad. So we made it a nature them with owls!!
Here is her work display board that says: Something to Hoot About with owls at the top!
 Below her chalk board is a pond with 4 animals and she writes their reading groups under each animal.
 Above the chalk board is Work Habits with Owls and in the corner is the reading tent and and Owl in the tree saying "HOOT HOOT HORRAY FOR READING".
 Along the next wall is her wall word wall which is "Take a picnic with WOW Words"
 The back wall has checkered pinic border with ants and parts of speech.
 In the front corner opposite the reading wall is the Mrs. Henry's Peak! She has her calendar and behavior chart up on the mountain now.
Tara is a great teacher, but she felt her downfall last year was organization. So she spent the first week back at school organizing while all of us decorated our rooms. We literally decorated her class in two days and I would have to say we did a fine job!!

Tuesday

Labor Day Weekend..

The three day weekend was full of catching up around the house, DIY Projects and School work.

I came home Friday and decided the small changes I made in the entryway were nice but the gallery wall looked empty above the lamp.  Below  is the pic of the small changes I made last week.. but for some reason it just didn't seem like it fit. So I sat and stared at it till I could refigure it in my head..
 Here is what I did.. I added two new pictures and reworked the ones I had.
 First I added this color one here with the scenic view of Hawaii and moved the pic of my sisters with Nate next to the lamp. Above the lamp I added a vintage map print of Hawaii. I think it evens it all out perfectly! It really makes it seem like the shorter glass lamp is meant to be there now. (Remember I had the lamp that is in the dining room there before and it is taller.)

Than on Sunday I went to my mom's to sew the curtains for our third bedroom. I forgot that I needed 4 panels.. I was just thinking curtains for the window(2 panels for the closet and 2 panels for the window). So I ordered more fabric for the windows with pom pom trim in green! Which we'll finish those next weekend. But we did get the curtains for the closet up so I can hide all our junk now! I love love chevron.. so I chose a fabric that is gender neutral and would be perfect for a baby (if we are blessed with one) or an older child (if we end up adopting later).  This room will eventually be a child's room so I wanted something that was timeless and fun yet neutral enough to go boy or girl.

The fabric I chose is by Annette Tatum and panels would sell for $180.00 each. I spent less than $12 a panel and I will have four panels and tie backs!! Plus we had extra for pillows.   I love the results. The chevron has a lighter aqua that blends with the walls and a teal plus lime green. So if we have a girl we can add pinks and if it's a boy more greens and browns!



Here it is closed with my grandma's stool recovered in the same fabric as the rocker.


Here is open.. Mom and I are working on Tie backs so we can tie it back if needed or close them. The tie backs are going to be made with Annette Tatum Blue Alphabet material. It is so adorable and we'll make extra pillows with it too.  I think kids will have fun with this being a stage or reading nook later.

We had extra fabric so we made a regular pillow case cover and a lumbar pillow. When my additional fabric comes in we will make more pillows and it will become a reading nook like YOUNG HOUSE LOVE did in Clara's Room here:

Plus I figure it never hurts to have additional matching pillows. I really believe in pushing your children to be creative and push literacy. So if I can make a small cool nook for them to play games and read than it's an extra plus! I mean it already hides the clutter!

Than yesterday, I went shopping with one of my BFF's Kourtney to find decor for these cuties (Kylie & Chole) big girl room. Love these girls and their need to accessorize!! LOL..

We had a great time eating lunch and buying goodies for their big girl room which I will show you soon!

But Kourtney wanted a solution to cover all her clutter in her laundry room too. I suggested wood blinds like YHL did in their last house. But we couldn't find an affordable solution. So I suggested curtains.

Here is the before with all the clutter we all have.. and here is the after with no sew curtains!!

Kourtney wanted a traditional fabric that would match the rest of her house.. we found this on clearance at Hobby Lobby and it coordinates so well. I love that it instanly streamlined the laundry room. We made two panels so she can easily access her laundry supplies and there is room next to the washer to hang clothes on the rod that the curtains hang on. The curtains cost $10!  Next on the list is painting her laundry room (which will be free since we already have it) and organizing her 3rd bedroom once we finish the girls' big girl rooms!

Hope you enjoyed my projects. I have more curtains DIY projects coming soon..plus the girls' room. I hope everyone had a great labor day and please pray for all those in Texas that are being effected by the wild fires. Two people I work with had to evacuate their homes and still don't know if their homes  are ok.

Friday

Changes around the house..

This is what our dining room looked like this summer.. I love this room because it is cozy and my fav seagrass chairs. This summer  I updated it with a latern on the bar cart and new latern on the table. But it was missing a mirror.. I always wanted a large oversized mirror to reflect the light that comes in from the front door. But the budget at casa de Embley has been zip..and I can't afford the price  tag of those large beautiful mirrors. So I shopped the house like Nester suggests and used what I had.
I had purchased a large mirror last year for the third bedroom. But it was too large to go over the dresser in that room and was missing hardware to hang it .. so I decided to lean the mirror on the bar cart like Inspired Room does! Boy that Mirror is heavy but sure do love it leaned! I like that the it accents the moldings above the french door well.

I love  love the brightness the mirror brings from all the light in the middle of the day! I felt like the cork wreath fit nicely over the large mirror but needed something else. So I stole the lamp from the entryway and added it over on the bar cart! Perfection! I think the lamp compliments the chandelier also. Here are some more pics taken at different times.. notice in one the linen runner on table is missing. We had a mishap and it needed to be washed.. We do live here!!
I also think I might have a lamp obession. I have a lamp in the dining room, a floor lamp & table lamp in living room and a lamp in the entryway. But I love the light lamps give off verses overhead lighting.



Little Blurry Sorry!


Because I stole the entryway lamp, we needed one in there. So I shopped the house again..
I came up with the Home Goods Pottery Barn Lamp.. I love this lamp because it is full of Hawaii wedding sand, seashells, sea glass and coral from our anniversary trip to Belize! The lamp was originally bought for our third bedroom (eventually a nursery).  It will be in the third bedroom eventually.. but as of now no one is staying in that room and we needed it down stairs. I want to replace it with a fun turqouise lamp later. But that isn't in the budget now!! Here's a shot of the whole view.. at night and during early morning.. I love all the light that comes in our house thru the front frosted door and the back with the french doors.
 


So those are the changes made.. small but I am very pleased. If you noticed I removed coral and a tray from the entry way also.. simplize the look. 
 Nate really likes the mirror in the dining room. I have caught him checking himself out before he leaves the house..lol.

But let's look one more time at the dining room..

It's still missing something.. I think it's curtains.. So with my magic couponing skills I got these awesome Ikat Curtains in my fav color Turqouise and Nate's fav color red. Can't wait to put them up and show yall.. I'm gonna hang them high above the door and they will never be closed to allow all that light in and let us still have a view of the pool (who's brick is red and water/tile is blue).. curtains are going to look fabulous with the pool behind the doors and my PB rug!
Here is a thumbnail of it from the website. Ikat is all the rave right now and I am so excited to find some in colors that match our home's personality and budget (20 bucks a panel). I have found ikat curtains every where but selling for over 100 a panel!!
As soon as I finish DIYing the third bedrooms panels and hang these I'll be posting pics.
Have a great Labor Day Weekend.

PS the curtains aren't 20 bucks a panel.. it's just I am pulling a Young House Love Trick and splitting one panel to make skinner panels.. which will lower the cost of panels and allow light to still come in the french doors.