Snippets of Home

My new weekly project has been to share a few of the little things in our home I like most.
As mentioned last week I got this idea from Blueberrys Blog. I found myself always looking for this post. I just love the little details we put into our homes... So I thought I would start sharing mine.

1. A caterpillar my Uncle Dave made for me when I was born. I love this thing. It went to college with me, was in Maddux's nursery. Now sits in on a shelf in our playroom. I believe this will always be on display somewhere in my home... at all times.

2. I built Maddux a new play table a week ago (still working on the seats before I share it) But the entire time I made it. He sat next to me oohing and ahhing about how cool it is. He plays on this thing every single day. He loves it. It is so fun building him things because of how much he appreciates it even at such a young age. He is so excited.

3. The boys reading in the playroom :) I love anytime Maddux decided to whip out his books.

4. Engineer print framed. I love this thing. it is 3 ft long and 2 ft tall. Easiest thing in the world. Best part. the print was only 4 bucks so this will be simple to change out whenever we want.

5. Best greeting card ever. Ever.

6. And new art piece that came from the Foundry. I love this thing. It just makes me laugh. It currently hangs in the entryway. :)

So there are a few of my favorite things in our house I wanted to share that may have been missed on my blog. What makes a home unique always lays in the details. I tend to like a lot of turquoise and a lot of random :)

What makes you happy?

Black doors

I pinned this a few weeks ago

Source: southernhospitalityblog.com via Patricia on Pinterest

I have been contemplating jumping on the black door band wagon for a while now. And I decided I do prefer the contrast against the white trim. So I went to Sherwin Williams and decided on the color Urban Bronze.

Which you can see here.

Source: google.com via riley on Pinterest

It is not exactly black, which I liked. I thought black was just... umm. Too black?

So I took my doors off the hinges. Primed them. Added some moulding so they were not flat and boring. Painted them. once. twice. Three times.

Then after they dried. hung them back up... I only wanted to do a few doors just to make sure I liked it. Or to see if I liked this moulding. There are a few tutorials out there and I wasn't sure which one I wanted to try.

But at the end of the day. I love them. It looks so much better!

Here is the before...

And here they are today!

I am still waiting on the new door knobs to come in the mail :) I am adding vintage glass knobs to these doors! Cannot wait for this project to be finished!

And do not mind that ugly orange stained banister. That is on my to-do list this year... give that a much needed makeover... :)

So what do you think? Hate the black door trend? or thinking about doing it yourself?

Dear Maddux

Dear Maddux,

There is so much to say about you lately. You are growing up so fast... I cannot even believe it. What once was my baby... is determined to do everything on his own. Except... the one thing I am still good for is stuffing your weapons down the back of your shirts so you can have sneak attacks on the imaginary bad guys you are fighting tonight.  You are so determined even at the age of three, you are eager to do the same things as everyone else around you. Yet at the same time... you could sit and play alone and ignore everyone around you for hours. Your imagination gets me the most... I am in awe of it. I have never in my life had an imagination like you. You come up with story lines and get completely lost inside a world you create. It is incredible.

You are currently playing soccer which you seem to enjoy. You are excited to be there every single week. And you are one of the few that honestly listen to your coaches. I love how well you pay attention and that at such a young age you are so eager to please those who are teaching you.

You currently wake up in the middle of the night and climb into my bed. I have had people tell me this is a bad habit, but I do not mind at all. I know someday you will grow out of this... So I try to take my time and appreciate these moments with you because I know just how quickly they will fade.

You love puzzles... and you can work your way around an Ipad faster than I can most days. Its surprising to me how quick you catch on to technology... really how quick you catch on to anything. The one concept you don't fully grab onto yet (which cracks me up) is the whole Easter Bunny/Santa/Etc... I explained the bunny to you and said that the Easter bunny is like Ho Ho. So you immediately figured out just what toy you wanted... Darkside (an action figure from the 80s... apparently) so this weekend we went to an egg hunt where you met the Easter bunny... and you told him repeatedly about darkside... and when in return you got a piece of candy and stickers you were devastated because you were expecting your action figure in that moment. Pure devastation.
So we got home... and I tried to explain the bunny was coming to our house... so everyday for the past week you run around and look for that bunny every.single.morning.

You currently are eating me out of house and home. You are eating 2nds... 3rds... 3-4 snacks... a couple pieces of fruit... all before bed time. I have no idea where you are putting it. And everyone in the family is telling me to be ready for you to shoot out of your clothes overnight. So we are just waiting on that growing spurt at the moment.

Right now your dad is coaching volleyball, so your grandpa Mark is taking you over to your Aunt Holly's for an hour every night. Which you are loving. I have heard that there is crying and lots of I don't want to go homes... And even your cousin Aurora is in on it... shutting you in the bedroom and trying to convince your dad that you left and were no longer there :) I am glad that you are having so much fun with your cousins. My best memories are with my cousins... So it has always been important to me for you guys to be close.

You are also in the phase where we watch the same movie for a few weeks straight. Not once a night but sometimes 2-3 times a night.  So that has been.... fun :)

You also love to help. Whatever is going around in the house... (which we always have 1000 projects going on) You love to be right in the middle of all of it.. Your toy toolbox in hand and ready to go. Cutest thing ever.

You come home from daycare now with stories... so many stories and jokes where you will crack yourself up :) It is so crazy to me that we can sit at dinner and ask you about your day and you just go on and on and on.

Little man, you are growing so fast.... I cannot believe how fast this all goes. I try to remember to soak in all the small moments with you. You are the happiest kid with by far the biggest imagination I have seen. You are lovable and say I love you on your own which makes the sweetest moments.

Thank you Maddux for bringing so much laughter and so much happiness every single day. Your laughter is contagious... and you make me so proud...
The smallest moments.... the ninja fighting, hulk impersonations, you trying to convince me that we need to throw away all your toys and buy new ones because dad put them in the bath, your requests for peanut butter tacos... all these moments are by far the biggest moments of my life.

Love,
Mom

Growth Chart Winner!

Random.Org chose Jessica Stubbs as the winner!

Jessica shoot me a message so I can get this to you!

Thanks everyone for entering the giveaway!!!!! :)

PInterest Inspiration for this week

I thought I would share some of my curtain projects coming up that have been inspired by ... Pinterest.
And explain to you plans... the work in progress and hopefully this will be motivation to get my butt moving on some of these :)

1. I went and had an Engineer Print printed off at Staples. One of the photos Melody took of Maddux this winter. I finally just got to framing it out this weekend. And I will be showing my version this week, but here is one of the pins that inspired me to do so

Source: thepotters-place.com via Fawn on Pinterest

2.  I recently purchased the e-book from TheHandmadeHome.net - a blog that I simply adore. If you haven't been over there. You should. She captures everything I love about a home...Mainly photos. I love photos. Her and her husband built all the frames they use in their house and most of the artwork too. Her book has a lot of plans for these frames. I just put up 4 gallery ledges in the bedroom so I cannot wait to use my scrap wood to start filling this up. This may take while to share we will have to see how many frames I can create... considering I have 4 empty shelves... but I will definitely be using this book for inspiration.

Source: thehandmadehome.net via Fawn on Pinterest

3.  My sliding doors have seen their last day.... hello french doors. How I love the black in the kitchen mixed in with all the white. Once these babies get installed I am whipping out that paint brush!

Source: playingsublimely.com via Fawn on Pinterest

4.  Current furniture plans I am building for Melody. This thing is built... Finishing up painting it this week.

Source: ana-white.com via Fawn on Pinterest

5.  The basement is still being worked on. We are hoping to have it mudded within the next few weeks. Once that gets done, I am planning on adding a similar wall treatment to the basement stairs as this.

Source: newlywoodwards.com via Fawn on Pinterest

6.  Now I am planning on building both of these things for me. I need crates for storage always. And the idea of having a chalkboard front... that I can change out is also calling my name! And this little IPad holder is ingenious, I always have mine in the kitchen for recipes and what not.

Now... question. Which would you rather see as a giveaway? Ipad holder or a couple of chalkboard crates? Anyone care to win either of these?

Source: ana-white.com via Fawn on Pinterest

Source: shanty-2-chic.com via Fawn on Pinterest

Tonight, I am having a skyping chat with another blogger. Hoping to work with her and have some custom made plans for my dining room library plans. So exciting! Let's hope it goes well and I can share all the details with you :)

Snippets of Home

I started following Emily at BlueBerrysBlog over a year ago. I believe I found it through embrace the camera that we both participated in and I love popping in over there and seeing what she has been up to. I love her writing style, her fashion style, and now with her new series her decorating. They recently bought a home and she started a series she calls Snippets of Home. That I have fell in love with. I love that she is concentrating on the small things as well as some of the larger decorating projects she has done. And I have looked forward to seeing this... You should check out where it all started for her over Here

I recently told her how much I loved this series and I was hoping to use it. Which she agreed :)

So I thought I would just start off this week showing some areas... that may have been parts of other posts. but just the small/quirky/simple/thrifty/sentimental..... all the things in our home that make me happy.


1. Photo books created thanks go Groupon. Made from Mypublisher, Mixbook, Shutterfly, etc.
I love having these books out and at anytime can flip through my favorite photos.  Along with the giant butterfly (sticker still attached) That has now served its purpose at Giant bug that attacks Maddux's superheroes.

2. Cow creamers in a variety of colors. These make me happy every single time I walk into the kitchen. Every single time.

3. Collection of Star burst Mirrors in the entryway :)

4. Vintage camera. And my personal favorite photo of my in-laws. I love everything about that photo.

5. Snowflake my grandfather gave me on my wedding day. I attached put burlap through an embroidery hoop and pinned it on. It hangs in the upstairs hall gallery.

6. Adventure is out there!!!! US Map of all the cities Maddux has been too. This is currently in our entryway gallery.

7. I originally found this chandelier at the Habitat Re-store for five dollars and it was shiny ugly gold. After some spray paint... and some very cheap hanging beads... this offered a simple temporary solution in our dining room

So there are some of my favorite snippets from our home this week. I am hoping to continue this here and there with a few small details from our house. The little things that make me happy :)

Thanks Emily for such a great idea. And thank you for letting me use it!

Growth Chart Giveaway

I love our ruler growth chart we made for Maddux a few years ago. I love that we can take it with us whenever we move and we never lose these markings as opposed to marking it on our wall like we did when we were kids. I like the idea that he can use it with his kids someday and maybe can be passed down.  I pretty much just love this thing. The vintage ruler is easy to tie in with decor and adds some whimsy to our walls as well as purpose.

You Can see the original post HERE

So after looking around on Pinterest, I have noticed the popularity has gone up. And there have been some very creative ideas on how to do these.

A couple of my favorites

Source: etsy.com via Liz on Pinterest

Source: knockoffdecor.com via Valerie on Pinterest

I looked at these on Etsy and realized these sell between 50-85 bucks!

So I decided I would do my own and host another giveaway.
I decided to go with a traditional ruler design since it would be for a giveaway and I wasn't sure
I got to work this weekend and here is the one I will be giving away.

As with the photo shelves, If you do not win but was wanting one of these for yourself or a gift. I can make these customized how you want. Stained, striped, painted, etc. for $35. Just shoot me an email here at alwayschasinglife@gmail.com or shoot me a message on my facebook page.

This would be great to document your children growing on or even as a gift!

Same rules to enter.

1. You must be a follower of this blog. To do this you will go to the right where it says Followers. Click Join this site. Put in your information. Come back and comment for each entry

For additional entries.
1. Like my page on Facebook Here.
2. Refer friends to be a follower of either the blog or facebook and earn an additional entry for each friend that becomes a follower.

The giveaway will close on Monday March 25th @ 9:00PM.
Winner will be announced Tuesday March 26th.

Winner needs to be local. Or if it is a gift, know someone local. Local meaning... Rockford to Chicago land area. If you have any questions on if you are in an area that I could deliver the winning to feel free to message me!

Thanks for stopping by! :)

Photo Ledges Winner

The giveaway closed last night. I had 33 entries total. (after adding up each way every person entered)

So i went onto Random.org. put in my range. I put in a range of 33. I have no idea why this posts back to 100. If anyone knows a better way to get this to show up on my blog I would love to know!

and out popped this screen shot.

True Random Number GeneratorMin: Max: Result:11

Which in order of how many entries each person put up.

The winner is.... Amy Johns

Amy -  Please contact me via facebook or email me at alwayschasinglife@gmail.com
to give me your shelf measurements and the finish you would like these done it.

I look forward to hearing from you! :)

** Did you like this giveaway?
 A new giveaway will be posted soon! Check back!

Kidspiration :)

I have been looking around on Pinterest and there are quite a few things I am planning on building for Maddux's room. And quite a few Kid Items I plan on building for some giveaways.
So while we are in the middle of a few projects I thought I would share some of my inspiration


I am planning on building a table and chairs for the playroom. Somewhere Maddux can sit and color. Or more likely... some where to sit and play with his action figures. These are the chairs I am loving

Source: roamandhome.com via Roam & Home on Pinterest

How fun would this be in his room? I am loving this idea. Easy enough of a project... If only I could sew

Source: khdesigns-khdesigns.blogspot.com via Kellie on Pinterest

Thinking about a new twist to the growth chart I made. Maybe for a giveaway? I love mine I use for Maddux. Plus these make awesome gifts... :)

Source: u-createcrafts.com via Teresa on Pinterest

I have been dying to build a girly kitchen. Giveaway Maybe?

Source: lifeasathrifter.blogspot.com via Samantha on Pinterest

Source: grandpins.com via Lizzy (Eventful Creations) on Pinterest

This would be perfect to hold all of his action figures... Hmmm

Source: knockoffdecor.com via Haley on Pinterest

Table I plan on building for the play room

Source: potterybarnkids.com via Elissa on Pinterest

Desperately needing some closet organization. I really like the shelves in this one

Source: bhg.com via Noura on Pinterest

This picture is adorable. But i was thinking some chalkboard crates to hold toys would be great. I could re-label :)

Source: facebook.com via It's Bliss Photography on Pinterest

So keep watching. I should have some new furniture for Maddux after this weekend. And possibly...  a new giveaway :)

Does Pinterest have you building anything this weekend?

Photo Ledges Giveaway!

I love using photos to decorate my house. My son is adorable so why wouldn't I want that face everywhere? Seriously. And I am sure you all feel the way about your kids. Or family. Or pets. Whatever makes you happy.

I believe adding photos brings a lot of warmth to your home. For me, I want our home to be nice, clean, but lived in. I want to be surrounded by things that make us who we are.

Photo Gallery shelves provide us with the opportunity to fill them with as many photos as you could imagine, without putting nails in your walls. They are easy to change out. And you can change the frames, photos...basically anything you want. You can mix photos and prints. Fill them with canvases. Use them to hold your kid's books. Pretty much whatever your little heart desires.

I found them first on Pottery Barn

And a little Pinterest Inspiration for possibilities

Source: splendidwillow.com viaJanis on Pinterest

Source: Sharon on Pinterest

Source: bandbbuildalife.com viaSarah on Pinterest

Source: twotwentyone.net via Merianne on Pinterest

Source: home-designing.com via Cyndy on Pinterest

Source: kentuckymonthly.com via Debbie on Pinterest

I made a few for my house and currently in the process of making a few more.

I had a friend of mine order some from me. And here is the photo of the ones I made her that are hanging up in her dining room.

So this giveaway is for 2 photo ledges that I will make for you. I will make 2 any size you want under 6 feet long a piece.  I will stain them, paint them white, or black. It will be customized to what you want.

The rules of the giveaway.

To enter the giveaway you must become a follower of my blog (what you are currently reading). Under followers click _ join this site. To become a follower

For additional entries.

Like my page on Facebook HERE
Refer a friend to become a follower of my blog
Refer a friend to like my Facebook page

Come back here and comment for every entry you did. The person you referred will need to leave a comment saying who they were referred by and you will both receive an additional entry.

The giveaway ends on Monday March 18th at 9PM
Winner will be chosen by Random.Org

I will announce the winner on my blog Tuesday March 19th. The winner will need to contact me.
Due to this being custom built furniture the winner will need to be local in the Rockford area. Anywhere between Rockford and Tinley Park suburbs (since we are known to head out in that direction)

Winners have one week to get back to me before a new one is chosen



**For anyone interested I will make these if you email me. I charge 20 dollars for each shelf over 4 ft long up to 8ft long.  If you order 2 under 4ft. I will charge 10 dollars per shelf. Just shoot me an email. My email address can be found under the Contact Me Tab on my blog. If you order them during the giveaway I will give you a 10% discount on your whole order.