The Fake Chimney
This ancient house once had a chimney, two actually. In fact, one is still partially there. In the living room, you can see the shape of the old chimney up one wall. Usually I love character and uniqueness from times past. In this case, though, they covered this chimney up since there was no longer a fireplace. Then, since you could still see the shape of it, they added faux brick to it. Horrible, ugly, pinkish faux brick. It didn’t stand out nearly so bad when the little old lady who lived here previously had the room dark, dingy, and covered in nude paint and odd decor. But once we painted the walls grey, lightened the room, and completed changed the style, the chimney stood out like a sad, sore thumb.
You get the picture here, but unfortunately this is even a mid-project shot. I really wish I had a picture of the drab room when the previous owner lived here to show!
We debated for a while. Do we tear it out? Do we paint it? Do we just take the faux brick off and embrace the odd shape in the room?
One day I said I was painting the bricks white and because we owned the paint and this was “free”, it would at the very least be a temporary solution and that we could always do something different down the road when we had more time. (Ha!)
No one stopped me, so I went forward with a brush and some paint. My plan was to add a couple of coats and make them completely white. One coat in I found that it was actually a bit difficult to get the paint down in all the crevices. We left the one, imperfect coat to dry for a night. The next day we realized the this “whitewashed” look was it. I didn’t need a second coat at all.
Then I wanted a faux mantel to finish it off. Several weeks of debating with each other ensued. I had a very specific picture in my mind of color, shape and size.
We finally have that little mantel, made of 100-some year old barnwood, added to our chimney. And I LOVE it.
Sometimes tiny, simple, easy projects turn into more lengthy and complex ones. Ok, usually. But, when you are done and sit back and look at your work, that makes it all worth it
Don’t mind the empty wall next to it, at least the Christmas tree fills the space for now. I have plans for huge floating shelves all up and down there as “built-ins” for the room. Any guess how long that will take us? 😂
Teen Bedroom Redo
So, I’ve mentioned that this new-to-us old house is in pretty ugly shape and that we have been redoing all the rooms bit by bit. One of the rooms that hadn’t gotten any love since we moved in was Jordin’s room. Check out these dingy, bland, old lady looking photos:
We hadn’t even hung anything on the walls because we knew we wanted to paint. Poor girl! Plus, the rooms all need to have more outlets put in (how is one outlet nearly enough?!) and overhead lights with switches added (hello?!). Needless to say, she was not thrilled in her set up. But, enter her 16th birthday, and we had the perfect excuse to make ourselves get the room beautified and surprise her with completely glammed out digs. Annnd… after:
Ta da! Total teen girl. Her jaw dropped. Win!
This was the mint turquoise color she had picked for her bedroom at our previous house and she was really wanting it again. It is super pretty, and not quite as bright in person. She also loves pink and peach. I added some navy to calm and tie the colors in and some gold hints for glam factor. Sounds busy. Totally goes.
Some old, some new, plenty of Hobby Lobby help. She wanted a little girly and a little rustic. She also wanted “fairy lights” so fairy lights she got.
We can’t change the brown furniture (it was her grandmas), and new carpet isn’t going to happen just yet, so working with what you’ve got sometimes has to just work… but…
Truly I love how it turned out. Dont tell her but Santa is thinking about a rug and a chandelier, along with new knobs for the drawers. 😍
Favorite Mom Beauty Products
Pregnant, post-partum, sleep deprived, hormonal, in a rush. Mama needs are constantly changing, especially when it comes to beauty products and routines. Add to that the struggle with trying to find natural, healthy products. So after trying it all (or what feels like it) here is a look at some things I am loving right now!
I try to use natural products when I can, especially while breastfeeding. However, not everyone of these products is. I try to research the products the best I can to make informed decisions on what is safe. Also, every one of the products I’ve listed is linked HERE on my Amazon page in my Beauty Products tab!
Hair.
Thick and lustrous while pregnant. Scarily thin afterwards. I am totally in the struggle currently of losing my hair post-partum and hating it. So, I have tried numerous products to not only make my hair feel more full, but to also actually help regrow it. First, Regenepure has seemed to be helping me so far in the re-grow department. I like the refreshing smell and feel, and see some baby hairs starting already. I also love a good volume shampoo and conditioner, so this new Love Beauty and Planet was an immediate tester for me. I loved it so much that I bought full sized bottles before my sample sizes were gone. This is the best lathering shampoo I’ve found in a long time, it leaves me with an amazing smell, and I do feel soft and bouncy after. I use the St. Tropica coconut oil mask every now and again for a deep condition and love how silky my hair comes out, because let’s face it, not only do you lose your hair after baby, but it, along with skin and nails, seems to get dry and brittle as well from all the hormones. Fun. Styling? Who has time for that with little ones. At least not on the daily. So for a boost in style along with speed, I have two go-two products. One is Coconut Water Sea Salt Spray. After my shower I spritz on and let dry. Nice waves. The other is Living Proof In Shower Styler. You apply in the shower after you shampoo and condition and then lightly rinse out. I also air dry after this one and scrunch a bit. Again, nice waves. My go to style. Up or down, the waves helps hide the fact that I didn’t have time for am actual style and also the fact that I’m balding. Which brings me to the Wet Brush. I don’t want to pull out any more hair than necessary, and this amazing brush gently combs out anything. If you’ve never tried one, they are life changing. Lastly, every mama needs a good dry shampoo. Some days thats all that make me look like I’ve showered. Right now mine is this one by Rusk. Light and doesn’t make a horrible mess of dark hair.
Body.
First you try to combat stretch marks. Then you are trying to tighten, hydrate, and fight acne. Everywhere. Also fun times. During pregnancy, and even now after, Belli Elasticity Belly Oil has been wonderful. I am prone to stretch marks, but this has minimized them and helped keep the tight itching skin soft. Glow 9 Organics makes several amazing scrubs like this foot and hand one. This is for a little extra pampering that every mom needs. Bean Body Coffee Scrub not only invigorates through smell, it is supposed to help reduce stretch marks and cellulite. I’m not sure I see a huge difference, but I love feeling awakened by coffee in the shower, and the scrub makes your skin so smooth. I love Nivea’s new mousse body wash too. Its smells great and goes on and rinses off so silky yet clean.
Face.
Dark circles, bags, dry skin and more acne. I didn’t include my whole makeup routine here (I hardly ever have time for all that anyway!) but I did add a few essentials. Miss Spa coconut sheet mask, to pamper yourself every now and again. Seeing a coconut trend? Yes, give me ANYTHING coconut. The Anna Lisa cotton pads are awesome for anything, but I especially use them with Green and Lovely toner. I use this anywhere on my body I might get a little breakout too. All natural and helps with acne. Grown Alchemist face polish is one of my favorite fave washes right now. I feel moisturized without being greasy. This eye cream from Farmacy is also a current favorite. I am always using eye creams. Blast those dark circles and bags. They are never ending for me. Banana setting powder helps me keep everything from getting too oily. Those extra hormones make my skin do big rollercoasters, and oily is where I’m at post-partum. Neutrogena is what I’m using for a makeup right now. This one is like a tinted moisturizer, light and sheer, but buildable, plus it has the things you need, like sunscreen. Adding all the benefits in one makes for a quick prep in the morning. My eyelashes were getting brittle also, so I treat them with the SOS lash booster first, which actually makes an awesome primer, and then use Lash Princess mascara. This makes for an easy, quick, healthy duo and long, full looking lashes. Last, I love this lip balm. It’s so smooth and feels great on my lips.
I found many of these new products through Bump Boxes. I adored getting these. Definitely worth a try if you are expecting or just had a baby! The trimester box is also in my Amazon link, along with all of the other products here.
There you have it, my lists of go-tos currently. What are some products you love? What else would you like me to share?
What’s In My Pump Bag
Well, no house projects finished recently. No fun ones at least 😂. I’ve been mom level busy lately. But, this post is for all of you other busy moms out there. I wanted to stop by and show you all what’s in my pump bag. I will also have a what’s in the diaper bag post coming soon. Hopefully sharing what works for me will help you all out too!
To start, I am using a Medela Pump In Style pump again with this baby. It’s not the best out there, but it works. Unfortunately, my favorite part with my first baby was that it came in a handy little backpack. This time, insurance decided that they no longer pay for the bag. Had I know that insurance will cover all or most of almost any brand pump, I would have chosen differently this time. But, I did not know this.
So, this brings me to choosing a bag to carry my pump and supplies in. I have to pump a lot now that I am back to work, so I need space for quite an array of things to come with me. I love the gorgeous Sara Wells pump bags. But, I initially grabbed what I had, and it has worked, so here I am. This is a Mary Kay bag I had. Big enough for everything, sturdy, straps that are long enough to sling onto my shoulder with one arm, and a zipper, for just in case. It’s also best suited to be a pump bag if the bottom is flat like this one. It would be even better if the inside were a wipeable plastic material, but the silky inside of this one cleans out ok when needed.
I keep a car plug adapter in my car at all times. I pump while I drive. A lot. Why not multitask during that time available? You can get these at Walmart.
So that brings me to my hands free pumping bra. I never used one of these last time, but it is super handy this time. This one is from Simple Wishes. I only use it when I dont have a stretchy bra on, so I didn’t need something super expensive or fancy. This one fit the bill with its low price and strapless zip-on design.
Water and snacks are a must have. These Coconut Butter Biscuits from Nature Valley are a big favorite right now. I also love my lactation bars from Oat Mama.
Nipple cream is also a must, especially at first. Now, I just carry a little packet for just in case.
The La Vie massager has been a huge help to me with this baby. It massages out clogged ducts, whclich I’ve had a bunch of, so it stays with me at all times
As do my Lactalite pump lights. I was using my cell phone to light up the flanges and make sure I had everything on straight at night. But when I saw these I knew they would be a life saver. Anything that helps me keep the room dark and quiet to not wake the babe is a win for me!
When I started pumping, I was barely keeping up with how much milk baby wanted. So I started trying lactation bars and supplements. Ask me anytime if you want more info on what I use. I am Hypothyroid, so I can’t take supplements with fenugreek in them. It limits my options a bit. But one thing that helped a lot is this oil roller all from Harper Apothecary called Mama Milk Boost.
I also started carrying this rose water Soothing Facial Mist from Garnier. Like all moms, I am exhausted right now and sometimes I feel even more drowsy when I pump. A little refresh with this spray helps perk me up!
I have this mini lavender hand lotion from Tree to Tub in there too. Not because you need it to pump, but because sometime it’s nice to have a little relaxing treat while you work so hard!
I carry a burp cloth because it is the perfect size to throw in and I need something to dry off or even wipe up any spills (gah!).
I also carry a notebook. This is not a necessity, but so handy. Your phone would also work. I jot notes while I’m tied down to the pump, and I also note how much I pump so that I can see progress and try to figure out what affects my supply.
Since my pump bag goes pretty much everywhere with me, even up to bed at night, I also throw in things I might need. Almost like a little diaper bag to go. For a while it was the aspirator, then it was a thermometer and tylenol, etc.
I dont carry spare pump parts, although it’s sometimes wise. I keep a few things like new membranes at home. When I am out for work I know that fortunately Medela stuff is carried at stores around me if an emergency ever arises. I used to carry a Haakaa pump for use while feeding on the other side when I was first starting out and often engorged. A manual pump is often also a good idea to carry or at least own in case of electricity outages and such. We did lose power one night in a storm and I had gotten rid of my manual, thinking I never used it. I ended up pumping out in the car in the storm. 
I do carry 2 Avent bottles to fill and if I am going to be gone for a while or it is hot out I bring a soft cooler bag (Dr. Brown’s) with ice packs. The other times, I leave my milk in the bottles in the bag. Milk can sit out fresh for up to 6 hours. I then feed it or refrigerate it. Makes things simple.
There you have it. I try not to get too weighed down with lots of stuff, but I have to have a few necessities.
What else would you add? And don’t hesitate to ask questions!
Is It An Entryway or a Mudroom?
Do you call your door area an entryway or a mudroom? Or a foyer? Sometimes we even just call it “by the backdoor” 😝. For us, this is one of the most heavily used areas of our home. But it is ug-ly. Think 70’s dark faux wood paneling floor to ceiling. Yeah. So this area has been on my re-do-it radar since we moved. I hope to at least paint the paneling, if not possibly remove it all someday. There is even a little mudroom sink next to the closet. Handy if you are a farmer, but we aren’t farmers. So I plan to remove it and make the closet double it’s current width. The extra cost storage will be much appreciated. And here I’m thinking sliding barn door! But all of this is way ahead of where I’m at today. I just wanted some coat hooks. That’s it, simple request. They had 2. Two measly hooks. They were skinny, pokey, ugly little hooks, that weren’t even hung at the same height. Starting to envision just how ugly? So we made a coat rack. Bear with me, I know the paneling is still ugly! Have some vision, and try to focus on the coat rack!
Isn’t that pretty? Just the rack here. We found a stack of nice barn boards in the back barn (there are several outbuildings on this property, one cute little guy that even used to be a milk house for selling milk- think “she shed” in the future!) We cut the board to the right width and added a sealing wax. This darkened it and brought out the rustic-ness (totally a word) without making it shiny. Then I found some antique hooks hung all around the walls of a closet room (which I plan to be a second bathrom) upstairs. We heated the hooks up on the stove, in hopes of burning off any extra rust so that they wouldn’t run anything off onto the coats, but helped me avoid painting them a fresh black, which seemed to “new” for this project. We picked 5 hooks, one for each family member. You get 2 necessary items hung, ie one coat and one bag, or whatever. The rest goes into the closet. Mama hates clutter. And this is what we ended up with.
Someone (Jason) hung it without asking me, so it’s a bit higher than I planned. I wanted kids to be able 5o hang their own things up. But, we added Brantley’s little step stool to the wall, and viola, Jason’s off the hook.
Here’s what the whole half of the mudroom (or entryway?) Looks like.
Not exciting. Yet. I do think it will be much better in white with a pretty light fixture, a bit of color, maybe something other than brown. But the coat rack, what do you think of that mini project?
Where Have You Been, Girl?!
Hi all! Yes, yes. It’s been forever. BUT, I am back. And with lots to share.
One more kiddo and a new (to us) house have kept us very, very busy. But this new house has also given us a TON of new projects to show you while we go. So, I’m back and full of fun stuff to document.
The house. If you have been following along here for very long, you know I love me some old houses. And old projects. And old antiques. Everything with a story. Let me tell you, this house had lots of stories. Built in 1860, and sadly remodeled in the 70’s, we have our hands full, both with old stories and new ideas.
So, here she is. All potential and boring right now.
Pretty cool, right?! And a ton of work, a few headaches, blood, sweat, tears… and love. I’m excited to be getting all creative again. As the new little one allows, of course. 😂
As many of you know, this space was created years ago when I got my first house to document and share all of my remodeling and decorating ideas, trials, errors, and adventures. This is where a plan to keep most of my focus now that I am back with plenty to keep sharing. But, I also plan to share some family, kids, health, and even personal stuff. Let me know if there’s something you would like to see!
And finally, I haven’t shared about myself in a very long time. So, my name is Jessica. I am a social worker with a Bachelor’s in Psychology and a Master’s in Forensic Psychology. I love to be outdoors, camp, and travel, decorate, refinish and repurpose furniture, and and hunt for bargains and hidden gems. I live in Iowa with my significant other, Jason, my 15 year old step-daughter, Jordin, my 5 year old son, Brantley, and my 4 month old son, Barrett. Oh, and our little growing crew of pets. Every farm needs chickens and goats, right? We not only love making our new old house a home, but we also love trying out new things along the way. I hope we can inspire you!
Glad you are here! It should be fun, and a little new, so stick around!
DIY Wreath
Winter makes me a little stir crazy. Luckily Pinterest has many many cures for that! Enter my new wreath project. Bonus: I love a project that has quick and easy payoff! 😉
I picked up a wire wreath form at Joann craft store for a few dollars. I also grabbed a remnant of burgundy fabric and a pack of colored leaf print fabric squares. I cut tons and tons and tons of fabric strips about 5 inches long. Then I tied the oodles of strips in knots around the wire wreath form. I also added some strips of burlap to give a rustic look. Simple.
Here is a close up of my strips of fabric.
I also painted a wood letter T to hang in the center if I choose.
And for the winter season I hung a seasons greetings basket in the center that I already had. Cute, no? 🙂
Yellow Chair Love
Maybe it’s because yellow is so pretty. Or maybe it’s because I am already itching for spring. Either way, I am loving these bits of yellow…
Little Engagement Gift Project
I was in need of a fun, quick project. And I have a friend who is planning a wedding. Light bulb (or Pinterest flash).
What do you think? I wood plaque with a heart cut out, chalkboard painted back board, twine.. fun! I paineed the wood a light gray, sanded, then waxed with a white wax. I lined the back with burlap. It turned out super cute 🙂
