The Fogue Abode

The Mr and I hope you all had a wonderful Easter weekend.  Ours was crammed full with family fun.  Some people love to spend time at the beach, or a weekend get away from the madness, but my heart is happiest when we are with family.  It doesn't hurt any that I have 6 siblings, and that the Mr. has a secret bro-mance with my 2 brother-in-laws, oh and that we have 3 (soon to be 4 when baby Parker arrives in July) of the cutest nieces and nephew.  It certainly makes for a fun packed weekend when everyone gets together.  This weekend we decided on a big get together at our house (yes, the first time my big house will really be put to use, don't let us down Ethel!)   Here is a little breakdown of the festivities including some fun crafts we did with the kids which I will post a breakdown of later.

We started the weekend off on Friday, Good Friday that is.  I love that I work for a company who still acknowledges this as a "holiday" so I enjoyed the day off making sure the house was spotless and ready for the crowd we were expecting.  I also got to baby-sit my 2 nieces that afternoon.  I had a little craft project in mind for the girls.  Since I'm not a parent, I certainly had my hands full helping the girls paint the letters.  I planned to be able to post a breakdown of this little project but with no pictures that would be a tiny bit boring.  Here are the after pictures.

And I have outlined the step-by-step of how to create this little banner:
Step 1: Walmart shopping, I got a yard of burlap (which really was to much), white craft paint, and some sponge paint brushes.
Step 2: I created a Word document with a triangle and the letters I would need to spell out easter.  I made sure to put them in bold and big enough that I would be able to cut them out.
Step 3: I took the cut out triangles and traced them onto the burlap and cut those out.
Step 4: The girls took turns while I held our stencil down blotting the white paint onto the burlap to create the letters.  Make sure that you have something under this as the paint will go through the holes.
Step 5: I also printed out a bunny rabbit that the girls painted then we hot glued a cotton ball for its tail.
Step 6: I hot glued a string of jute rope to hang it  by
The END



While we were letting that dry we did a little bit of cleaning to get ready for all the company we would have this weekend.  The girls actually begged me to clean the shower (free labor!) 



 While I made up this cute little basket full of essentials for our guests.  Every time I stay at a hotel I swipe the shampoos, conditioners, and body washes for any guests we may have.  I also use the toothpaste, toothbrush, and floss we get when we go to the dentist.  It was easy to whip this up and a cute little perk to the guest bathroom (that desperately needs my attention.)



Saturday was spent with the entire family out at our Pappy and Granny's pond fishing and grilling burgers.  Sophie was the cat's me-ow when it came to fishing.  



Peyton even had his own fishing pole just like his daddy.



We even had a contest of who could catch the smallest fish.





And Sophie won the prize of the biggest with this cat!



And the Easter Bunny (aka Buckwheat) came for a visit.



Sunday we cooked a huge easter lunch and had our first big party at the new house.  I think we counted close to 20 folks.  Good thing we didn't have living room furniture yet.  It was a nice place to set up the table.

  For a total of $14 I made these little table arrangements.  They had tulips on sale at the grocery store and I snagged two bundles and I got colorful grass at the Dollar Tree.  I used the kids Easter Eggs as a little add on.  





How did you celebrate Easter this past weekend?

First off many apologize on the absence of posts lately.  I've started a project I'm very excited to share with y'all once it gets done; however, it is taking longer then expected. 

A couple of days ago I whipped up a mood board for a friend who is getting ready to paint her living room. This was definitely a fun little project imagining it up from scratch.  All of the pieces I included could be fun DIY projects that could take any room from drab to FAB!  Listed below are where the pieces I've pictured actually came from, and below that I will explain how you can create this yourself at home on a budget.


So how can you DIY it?

1. A cream base paint and Fire Red Accent Wall Ok, this is one of my favorite looks. For those who know me, my former house had this in the living room. For about $40 you can recreate this in your room. Right now Sherwin Williams has some awesome coupons if you sign up online.

2. Cream Couch Who doesn't love this classic look. It can easily be yours for around $40. How you say, by simply buying a slip cover to go over your already existing couch. I found several at overstock.com plus they are currently running a 10% promo...who doesn't love money back in your pocket.

3. Navy Accent Chair Its all about the accents that bring this room to life.  This chair can be recreated several ways.  You can always add a slip cover over an exsisting chair, or I've seen a ton of classic wing-backed chairs at local flee-markets on the cheap if your willing to try reupholstery (which is on my to-do list.)

4. Pallet Coffee Table  My favorite piece here (which I plan on diy-ing myself soon) is the pallet coffee table.  Find a local buisiness who is willing to give or sale on the cheap a large pallet, sand it down and either stain it or paint it, add the wheels that can be found at any local hardware store, and ta-da you have a coffee table.  I could see this project being $25-30 tops. 

5. Accents Again, this is all about the accents.  And who doesn't need accent pillows.  You can easily find these for mear pocket change at a local thrift store or even Walmart or Target. 

6. Lamps Every room, in my opinion, needs a lamp.  The more light in a room the better.  One thing no one wants (unless your hibernating for the winter) is a dark room.  This lamp again can easily be done at home if you don't want to spend $200.  Search those swap shops and thrift stores for any kind of lamp.  A can of white spray paint for the base and a cool fabric applied to the shade and you have yourself a new lamp!

7. Art  I love the blue art in this board.  Have fun with it.  Have your kids splash a canvise with blue paint.   Find some greenery outside and dip in paint.  Let your imagination run wild.  If you don't want to get messy, find a cool swatch of fabric and frame it. 

If you ever feel like redoing a room, don't let the price tags from the beautiful rooms in the magazines fool you.  Do some research, get creative.  There are a ton of ways to redo any room on any budget.  Don't be afraid to try it. 

It's almost spring time and we have been some busy bee's around the Fogue House!!! We spent a weekend getting our yard cleaned up including raking up ga-billions of leaves (yes I just created a new word) and cleaning up the flower beds in the front of the house.


We bought a couple of new toys from Lowe's, a lawn rake which came in very handy. I think the Mr enjoyed riding around on the mower as opposed to raking. And I got a leaf blower to help me get in and around the flower beds we have all along the front of the house. I even added this cute little Welcome flag that just makes it look so homey.


This plus my new metal chairs, all we need is a few hanging plants and a wind chime, and maybe some planters by the door and this front will look quiet swanky!

We also built a little shelf for behind the washer and dryer. I love how it took this room from just bluh to FABULOUS!!! This is an easy way to hide all those cords and hoses and add a little delight to your laundry room. We just took a plain jane piece of lumber we got at Lowe's, painted it black, and sat it on a couple of L-brackets. It was a really easy DIY project and the Mr got to use his power tools that were collecting dust! (Don't worry little fella's, I have lots to do that will get you back out during the daylight.)


So...what's next for the Fogue Abode? Stay tuned!

Note: We are not affiliated with Lowe's nor did they pay for us to make these statements.