2012 April | Beneath My Heart

“Best DIY Projects of April” Linky Party!

April 30, 2012 AT 11:12 pm 17 Comments

April 30, 2012 By traci 17 Comments

Welcome to the “Best DIY Projects of April” linky party!

I am so glad you are here!

I KNOW you have been busy little bees this past month, so I cannot wait to catch up on all you’ve been up to.

My best project of the month was the little DIY Cook Book holder that my husband made me. I just posted about it yesterday.

I’ve also been busy working on my sister’s laundry room reveal, but we are not quite ready, so I can’t share that yet. {bummer}

Anywho, it’s time to get this party started!

Here are the party guidelines {PLEASE READ CAREFULLY}:

Your project MUST be about DIY home decor or home improvement.
Only ONE project per blogger, please.
Your project needs to be from the month of April, 2012.
Please enjoy visiting other great projects by other bloggers and leave some comment love.
Please link back to the party somewhere in your post. (Only those with a link back to the party will be considered to be featured on my blog.)

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Filed Under DIY projects 17 Comments

Our DIY Under the Cabinet Cook Book Holder

April 30, 2012 AT 10:10 am 24 Comments

April 30, 2012 By traci 24 Comments

Last week, I wrote a post called Simple Ways to Store Your Cookbooks.

I shared that post because I knew I would be showing you how we created a DIY Cook Book Holder for our kitchen.

Before I show you my new Cook Book Holder, let’s take a quick look back at what this part of my kitchen looked like about 5 short months ago.

WOW! We’ve come a long way baby! Smile

Notice the soffit above our cabinets. We tore out the soffit and moved our cabinet boxes up to the ceiling.

We also tore out our old pantry to the left of our oven, and created new cabinet space and a new, bigger pantry.

This is what our finished kitchen looked like the day before Christmas…

Much better!

Since we moved our cabinets up to the ceiling, we created some space under our cabinets for additional storage.

I thought this would be a great place to store my cook books and spices.

So I told Cy what I was kind of thinking about doing, and while I was in Utah at the SNAP! Conference, he made me a new shelf for my cook books.

Here is a video he shot of the process while I was gone…

I love this new storage space!

And I cannot wait to make another one like it on the other side of the microwave for my spices!

So if you are thinking about remodeling your kitchen, maybe you could move your existing cabinets up higher to create some under cabinet shelving as well.

If you would like to view the before and after pictures of our kitchen makeover again, just click on the picture below.

Do you have under cabinet shelving in your kitchen?

Do you have a space you would like to add some under cabinet shelving?

See you tonight for my “Best DIY Projects of April” linky Party!

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Filed Under kitchen inspiration, kitchen makeover, My Kitchen, New Home, New Kitchen Makover 24 Comments

Favorite “PIN” Friday

April 27, 2012 AT 10:53 am 2 Comments

April 27, 2012 By traci 2 Comments

Happy Friday, Friends!!!

I hope you have had a wonderful week! Can you believe this was the last week of April? Yikes!

I wanted to remind you of my “Best DIY Projects of April” linky party on April 30th. Be there or be square. {hee.hee.}

Now for my favorite PIN of the week!

Source: desiretoinspire.net via Traci on Pinterest

I absolutely LOVE this pin because of those red stairs!

We are building a reading nook upstairs in our addition, and I am thinking red stairs up to the “nook” would look so great!

I also love that barn door, don’t you?

The bead board drawers for extra storage are a must, and bead board on the walls is so charming.

I also love the pillow choices on the bed.

The only thing I would change about this space is the window treatment. I’m not really diggin’ it. I think I would also paint the trim on the window white to match the bed and help it to stand out some more.

What do you like or dislike about this pin?

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Filed Under Uncategorized 2 Comments

Update on my Sister’s Laundry Room

April 26, 2012 AT 4:43 pm 23 Comments

April 26, 2012 By traci 23 Comments

Well, many of you have asked about my sister’s laundry room, and if we were ever going to finish it.

If it were up to me, I would have totally had this laundry room finished by now. However, my sister kept holding me up.

Here’s how it went down…

1. I showed you my sister’s laundry room “as was.”

2. I introduced my sister to the Habitat Store, and we shopped for cabinets.

You can check out a pretty funny video of our trip HERE.

3. I painted the green walls in her laundry room, and Eli helped me clean up.

4. My sister didn’t buy enough paint, so I had to wait weeks and weeks and weeks for her to buy more!!

5. In the mean time, I bought some white cabinets from ReStore for her laundry room, and our Dad and her husband, Wayne, hung up the cabinets while I was in Utah.

6. Yesterday, I went by to check out the laundry room to see what else needs to be completed.

7. We still need to add shelves between the two cabinets, a new light, and accessories.

8. Today, my sister and I went to Home Goods and bought some accessories for the laundry room. I love spending my sister’s money!!

Here’s a sneak peak of what we bought…

9. I’m headed back over there tomorrow to finish things up, and I plan on revealing her new laundry room next week! Yay!!

10. She owes me big time.

Just curious, what is your favorite color to decorate with right now?

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Simple Ways to Store Your Cookbooks

April 25, 2012 AT 10:55 am 13 Comments

April 25, 2012 By traci 13 Comments

Hello,

While I was away at the SNAP! Conference, my husband built a new shelf for me to store my cookbooks on. I still have to paint it before I show it to you, so in the mean time I wanted to share with you some beautiful and simple ways to store your cookbooks.

The first simple way is to store you cookbooks in a cute basket right on your countertop.

via ABowlFullOfLemons

Or you can place your cookbooks in baskets before putting them on a shelf…

via HappilyHomeAfter

Here is a very functional way of storing your cookbooks…

Make a Wall o’ Cookbooks!

via TheKitchn

via IKEA

Of course, cookbooks store nicely in built-in cabinets on the wall…

via ContentInACottage

via Dunlap Design Group

Or they can make a beautiful display in your open cabinet shelves…

via Centsational Girl

If you do not have room for your cookbooks on a shelf, maybe you can store them on the bottom of a piece of furniture in your kitchen…

via TheKitchn

Or maybe make room for your cookbooks in your kitchen island…

via BHG.com

All of these ideas make finding and using your cookbooks easy and convenient.

Where do you store your cookbooks?

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Filed Under kitchen inspiration, organization 13 Comments

Oh SNAP! My Camera Broke!

April 24, 2012 AT 4:56 pm 11 Comments

April 24, 2012 By traci 11 Comments

Well, I left last Thursday to head out to Salt Lake City, Utah for the SNAP! Conference.

I was sooo excited for this conference! I absolutely love flying on planes, and I snapped some pictures of the gorgeous sunrise as I left Lexington around 6:00 am that morning.

Have you ever seen anything so amazing?!!! My heart was singing praises to God and His beautiful creation. I truly do not understand how a person can look at this and not know that there is a God.

When I arrived in Chicago for my next flight, I had a couple of hours to work on my computer. I was able to get a lot of work finished and even get a post published. Then it was time for my next flight to Utah. I decided to use the bathroom before getting on the plane.

I hung my carry on bag on the hook on the back of the bathroom stall door. Then I went to hang my camera on the hook as well.

Well, the hook was not long enough, and my camera strap slipped right off the hook and my camera went crashing down on the hard bathroom floor.

My heart sank, and I almost let out a huge scream. But, I didn’t want anyone to think I was giving birth in the stall!

My camera broke into three pieces.

I couldn’t believe it. This is my new Nikon that I have had less than a year. For a blogger, your camera is one of your most important business tools. I was sick.

So I will be borrowing pictures from my friends who went to SNAP! and hopefully will be sharing them with you soon.

But for now, Homes.com was at the SNAP! conference, and I was able to find these photos on their facebook page.

These were my fabulous roomies at SNAP!

Beth (Home Stories A2Z), Beckie (Infarrantly Creative), and Rhoda (Southern Hospitality)

I LOVE these women!!!! I cannot say enough about how amazing each one of them are.

I miss them bunches!

I guess until I can get another camera or get this one fixed, I’ll be snapping pictures on my iphone. Will see how that goes! Smile

Oh well, it could have been something worse, right? I’m counting my blessing that it was only my camera.

Have a blessed day!

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Darphin Skin Products Giveaway!

April 23, 2012 AT 9:02 am 118 Comments

April 23, 2012 By traci 118 Comments

I am so happy about this giveaway opportunity! It makes me so happy to think that one sweet Beneath My Heart reader will be able to pamper themselves with luxurious Darphin Skin Care products.

Have you heard of Darphin Skin Care products?

They were created in Paris, France over 50 years ago by a man named Pierre Darphin. The philosophy of Darphin continues to be “a unique and luxurious approach to skincare that uses plant extracts and botanical aromas to provide an extraordinary feeling and extraordinary results.”

I was given the opportunity to try a couple of skin care products from Darphin.

The first product I have been using for several weeks now is Stimulskin Plus Eye Contour Cream.

If your eyes need rejuvenating, if you have pronounced lines and wrinkles, or if you have dark circles, this is a product you will love.

When applying a small amount of this cream to the eye area, you will see a firmer, younger-looking eye area, diminished appearance of dark circles, visibly smoothed lines and wrinkles, and a renewed radiance and suppleness.

I would have to agree with this!

I definitely think the wrinkles around my eyes have diminished a little. Even my sister thinks so! I am so very pleased with this product.

The next product I have been using is the 8-Flower Nectar.

This stuff smells so good! It is made from the oils of 8 exotic flowers from around the world. “Rejuvenating, nourishing and it helps to firm and minimize the appearance of lines and wrinkles, restores natural radiance, suppleness and resilience for overall youthful-looking skin.”

I feel like I am doing something very special for my skin when I use these products.

You know that I am thrifty when it comes to home décor, but skin care products are something I have been a little more willing to spend some extra money on lately.

Let’s face it (no pun intended), I’m not getting any younger! And the lines on my face are proof of that. Smile

I cannot stop time, but I can try and take the best care of my skin as I possibly can.

If you feel the same way I do, you may want to try Darphin Skin Care products as well. Darphin products provide “a privileged moment between you and your skin.”

Now it is time to enter this fabulous giveaway!

Here’s how to enter for a chance to win

Darphin products valued at a minimum of $100!

*Leave a comment telling me What Darphin product would you want to try and why?

Plus, Darphin has a special offer (one of their best!) just for readers of this post: Get a free Age Defying Dermabrasion Deluxe Sample, Dark Circles and De-puffing Eye Serum Deluxe Sample and Spa Headband with any order at Darphin.com through 5/31/12. Use code BLOGGER at checkout.

Sweepstakes Rules:

No duplicate comments.

You may receive (2) total entries by selecting from the following entry methods:

a) Leave a comment in response to the sweepstakes prompt on this post

b) Tweet about this promotion and leave the URL to that tweet in a comment on this post

c) Blog about this promotion and leave the URL to that post in a comment on this post

d) For those with no Twitter or blog, read the official rules to learn about an alternate form of entry.

This giveaway is open to US Residents age 18 or older. Winners will be selected via random draw, and will be notified by e-mail. You have 72 hours to get back to me, otherwise a new winner will be selected.

The Official Rules are available here.

This sweepstakes runs from 4/23 – 5/24

Be sure to visit the Darphin brand page on BlogHer.com where you can read other bloggers’ reviews and find more chances to win!

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Beneath My Heart Gets a New Look!

April 22, 2012 AT 3:33 pm 18 Comments

April 22, 2012 By traci 18 Comments

Hey Friends!

I am sitting in the airport in Utah waiting for my flight home.

I had an absolutely wonderful time at the SNAP! Conference, and I look forward to sharing some pictures with you. Although I will be sharing pictures from other bloggers since I broke my camera the first day of my trip. (I’ll tell you that story later.”)

But for now, I wanted to talk to you about my new blog design!

I am soooo very super excited about this design. It is so much more “me.”

Some of you may be wondering why I changed the look of my design, and I will share with you the number one reason.

When I chose my blog name three years ago, I had NO idea that my blog would become my business. I chose the name “Beneath My Heart” because I wanted to share on my blog all the things I love most in my life and hold dear to my heart: my family, my faith, and my home.

Over the years, my blog has become my business, and it focuses mostly on DIY home décor and home improvement. However, when someone visits my blog for the first time, my blog name does not give the reader any clue as to what my blog is actually about.

I came up with my tagline, “Striving to Create Beauty in my Heart and in my Home” last year as an attempt to give a new reader a clue that my blog is about my home.

But still many times, readers could not tell what my blog was about when they first visited it.

The main thing that I did not like about my old design was that you could only view two posts at a time on the main page. When I took a survey about my blog last year, I had some readers tell me that it frustrated them that they couldn’t see more of my posts at a time on the main page.

I also didn’t like that it only showed two posts on my home page at a time because if those two posts where about non-home stuff, new visitors wouldn’t know what my blog was about.

For example, if I had a post about Jonathan singing at the Ky Opry and the next post was about a jewelry giveaway, a new visitor would have NO idea what my blog was about. Because my blog title surely wasn’t going to help!

I have absolutely love my friend, Layla’s, design every since she changed hers.

I love that she has a home page that I can easily view all of her recent posts to see if I have missed any. She and I discussed my switch to this new layout when we ate lunch together in Nashville before Christmas.

She told me that a new reader only has seconds to decide whether they like your blog and want to stay and read more. She chose her new design so a new visitor could easily scroll down her page and view the thumbnail posts to see what her blog is about.

That is what I am hoping for my blog. I am hoping that when someone visits, or even for my current readers, that this new layout will help you navigate my site more easily and be able to see any posts that you want to read or catch up on.

I am also going to try and keep “home-y” pictures in my new slide show to help better depict what my blog is about.

If you currently read my blog through a reader or through email, NOTHING HAS CHANGED FOR. You will see my most current post in its entirety just like you always have. I will NOT truncate (shorten) my posts in a reader or email.

Another great change is that each of my post has the date on them now! Whew!

My last design didn’t have that and it even drove ME crazy. Now, you can see which days I posted and be able to tell if you have missed any older posts. Smile

I still have some “tweaks” I need to make to the design. Right now, the thumbnail picture just shows the first picture in the post. My blog designer is working to change that so I can pick which picture goes there.

I am also going to work on putting my older projects in a gallery style format to make them easy to find.

Anyway, I am SUPER thrilled with my new design, and I hope you enjoy it too.

Thank you so much for being such faithful readers and for always supporting my blog. I cannot tell you how full my heart is because of this blog and because of YOU!

I pray you have a blessed day!

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