I’ve been browsing around Pinterest and the internet looking for some cute ideas for my boys’ Valentine cards.

My oldest, Jonathan, is in middle school, so I won’t be making Valentine cards for him this year. (sad face)

But I can still have fun with Luke, Adam, and Eli!

So here are 15 cute Valentine ideas I found.  (Some are kind of boyish…well…because I have all boys!)

Just click on “source” below each picture to see how each was made. 

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I am loving this one!

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Great idea for popcorn!

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My friend, Beth, made these last year, and I just LOVE them!

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Here are the two of the Valentines I made for my boys last year.

For Luke’s third grade class, I made these IPhones with Brach’s candy hearts…

(not my picture.)

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And for Adam’s class, I made these paper hearts full of candy….

(again, not my picture.)

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I also wanted to add these two cute ideas for teacher Valentines gifts!

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This is made from a pack of Rolo’s and a Hershey Kiss!

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Aren’t these ideas adorable?!

Do you have any cute ideas to share with me? 

Send me the link in the comments, please!

Reminder:

The Hadley Pottery giveaway ends tonight. 

Click on the picture to enter:

Wow! You guys rocked January!

Thank you so much for linking up to my “Best DIY Projects of January” linky party!

I have had a lot of fun looking through your projects and visiting some of your blogs.  

Many of you didn’t just complete small DIY projects, but actually tackled complete spaces!

Here are some DIY spaces that caught my eye…

I am loving this craft space from Being Brook!  Can you even imagine having this much space to create in?!  I love that they built almost every piece of furniture in this room by themselves.  Great job!  Click on the picture to check it out.

My upcoming Blissdom roomie, Tonya, from Love of Family and Home

did a fabulous job giving her closet a makeover.  She is so stinkin’ organized!  And tulips in a closet?  I’m loving it!

I enjoyed looking at Katie’s, from Creatively Living master bedroom reveal.  Isn’t it great?  Look at that delicious chandelier!  Click on the picture to take a complete tour of the room.

I really, really wish I had a laundry room like this one at Strawberries and Sweet Love!

I know it would make doing laundry so much more enjoyable.  Don’t you think?

Iesha, from The Uncluttered Lifestyle, took a small room in her house and gave it some wonderful character and charm.  Would you look at those wood walls?  Click on the picture to see the other half of the room.  Great job, Iesha!

Amy, one of the three beautiful ladies from Magnolia Lane, shared the progress on her kitchen makeover.  I love that open shelving!

I just had to share Stacy’s, from Not Just a Housewife, polka-dotted hallway!  How cute is that?!  And would you please notice the gorgeous wood floors and the glass door knobs. 

Here are a couple of DIY projects that made me smile too.

Look at this adorable burlap wreath that Janet, from Today’s Fabulous Finds, made.

And isn’t that vinyl saying on the door just precious?

I always love a good furniture makeover too.

Cyndi, from Blue Star Antiques did a wonderful job with this old desk.  Click on the pictures to view the before picture.

I will be sharing some more great DIY projects in a couple of weeks. 

But for now, I am off to a day full of basketball games.

Have a blessed day!

Happy Friday, friends!

I have a wonderful giveaway to tell you about!

Have you ever heard of Hadley Pottery?

Well, I have because I am a Kentucky Girl!

I have seen these beautiful pieces of Hadley Pottery in different stores throughout Kentucky.

click on “read more” to enter this giveaway!

Hadley Pottery was first made in Louisville, Kentucky by a young lady by the name of Mary Alice Hadley.

I love the whimsical and unique feel of this pottery. 

There are many different collections of Hadley Pottery, like Beach, Traditional, Fishing, Western, and more!

Hadley Pottery also makes beautiful personalized pieces.

They create many other unique pieces as well…

Now to the giveaway!!

There are 2 parts to this giveaway!

Part One:

The first 100 people to go to the Hadley Pottery website will get

a FREE spoon rest!!

($4.00 shipping will apply). 

To get your FREE spoon rest:

• Click HERE to go to the spoon rest page.
  • Put one of the spoon rests (pig or fish) into your shopping bag.
  • When you’re finished shopping, go to check out, and on the first page of the process, enter the word "spoon" into the box marked "discount code."  The price of the spoon rest ($11.75) will be deducted from your order total.  Choose $4.00 shipping and proceed through the checkout process.
• If you aren’t one of the first 100 participants, when you enter the discount code "spoon" you will get a notification that the code is no longer valid, before you have to give your shipping or payment information.

Part Two:

Hadley will also give away a casserole dish in the winner’s choice of pattern! 

(A $57.50 Value!)

To be entered into this contest,

• simply visit Hadley Pottery’s website to take a look around and then come and leave a comment about which Hadley Pattern is your favorite. 

You can earn additional entries by

• liking Hadley Pottery on Facebook 
• or by following them on Twitter  
• or by tweeting about this giveaway       

     You can copy and paste this tweet if you’d like:

Come enter the Hadley Pottery giveaway @beneathmyheart…http://www.beneathmyheart.net/?p=6793 @Hadley_Pottery

**Just be sure to leave a separate comment for each entry.

This giveaway will run through Monday, February 6th at 9:00 pm EST, and I will announce the winner on Tuesday, February 7th!

Goodluck!

I wondered what you thought of when you read this title.

Do you remember your first?

Did you think I was talking about your first love?

Or first kiss?

Well, that’s not what I was thinking about this week.

I was thinking about my first blog follower!

Do you remember yours?

I started my blog in Blogger almost 3 years ago.  My 3 year anniversary is coming up in March.

I had nooooo idea what a BIG part of my life my blog would become in the next three years.

My first header looked like this….

I made it myself.

Does anyone besides my sister remember it?    (Cyndi, do you remember it?!)

I wrote several posts before I finally got my very first follower.

You know, one besides my sister and my mom.

A follower that I had never met and someone who lived far away from me.

Cindy from Applestone Cottage.  (Same name as my sister!  How cool is that?!)

Over a year ago, I told her that I wanted to do a post about her blog someday as a thank you for being my first follower, and though I am a little late in doing it, I wanted to keep good to my promise.

She will never know how much it meant to me when she clicked that “follow” button on my blog, and her cute little face appeared in my Google Connect box.

Each of you know what I am talking about.  Having a follower finally gives you an audience, a purpose, an excitement about blogging!

So thank you, Cindy!

Cindy lives in the most beautiful area of Wisconsin.  Her and her husband bought a cute little stone cottage surrounded by apples trees on two acres.  Doesn’t it sound amazing?

And look at that beautiful snowscape!

She creates some beautiful tablescapes too, and is always up to something fun.

Wanna do me a favor?

Wanna  help me say “thank you” to Cindy for being my first follower?

I would love it if tons of my readers would pop over to Cindy’s blog and just say, “Hi!”

Maybe you could say, “Traci wants to thank you for being her first blog follower!”

Wouldn’t that be awesome?

If she got like over 100 comments on her blog today?!!

Wouldn’t YOU love to get that many comments on your blog?

So can you help me out?

Click HERE to leave a comment on her blog.  And THANK YOU too!

BTW,

Did you notice that my Google Friend Connect box was missing from my sidebar?

Google no longer lets WordPress sites show up in Google Readers.

And I don’t want to lose you!!!

So in order to keep getting posts from Beneath My Heart,

you need to pick a new way to follow.

Here are a few…

You can subscribe by email by clicking below.

Or you can subscribe through a reader by clicking below,

Or through Google Connect…

Or my new favorite, Bloglovin’!

And of course, do not forget to keep up with Beneath My Heart on Twitter and Facebook!

Thank you so much for following my blog and encouraging me along the way!

Blessings,

Traci

I FINALLY ordered the shower faucets for both bathrooms in our new addition.

We are not able to get the final inspection on the new plumbing until we install the shower/tub faucets.  So hopefully our new faucets will come in this week, and we can get the plumbing inspected next week!

Once that is complete, we can get rolling on the dry wall!  WHoop! WHoop!

I have to share this great deal I got on Amazon last night.

I was hoping to get a one handle shower faucet to somewhat match the handles on our claw foot tub.  The tub faucet has cross handles, so I was so excited when I found this shower set from Belle Foret!

Every where I looked online, this same shower faucet was $150 or more!

But I got it on Amazon for $59.61!!

Plus, I had a $25 gift card to Amazon, so I really only paid $35.00!  And it had FREE shipping!

That’s one of the best deals I have gotten in a long time.  Especially for a brand new product.

Right now, our shower looks like this…

But I am hoping for it to have pretty white tile like this….

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And I want Cy to add trim around door frame like this…

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The shower at our previous house looked like this…(and I loved it too!)

What color tile do you think I should use in my shower?

I also got a shower/tub faucet for the boys’ new bathroom.

We got it from Home Depot online.

I think this is a pretty good price for the set.

Right now, the boys’ bathroom looks like this…

Here are a couple pictures that I’m using for inspiration…

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I REALLY want to do a split curtain.

Probably in stripes, like this one.

And I’m considering white tile for their shower too.  Am I crazy?

I like these cabinet mirrors, and I’m considering doing bead board half way up the wall.  Maybe.

How cool is that double sink?

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And Cy is going to make a barn door for the bathroom entry.  Kind of like this one…

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Wouldn’t it be cool painted red?

We are hoping in a couple of weeks to finally get back to rolling on the addition.

Cy has gotten a little drywall up, and now you can see the doorway to our master bedroom.

Yay!

So excited to share all the progress with you!

Have you gotten any great deals lately?

Wow!  The first month of the year is over!

What have you been up to??

I looked back through my January posts, and I didn’t really have any new DIY projects.  We are still recovering from our crazy fast Kitchen makeover in December.

I did remove our shower door, but it was not an impressive project, so I’m not gonna share it again.   

You’re welcome.

But I know a lot of you have been super busy this past month!

I cannot wait to see your BEST DIY project of January, 2012!

Here is a reminder of the party guidelines…

• 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 January, 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.)

Welcome to the final step in this series!

**Please be sure to take time to read the final thoughts at the end of this post.

Here is a recap of all the posts in this series:

Step 1: Add wood ceilings.

Step 2: Replace your builder’s grade doors with paneled doors.

Step 3: Replace your builder’s grade light fixtures with ones that possess more

            character and charm.

Step 4: Add Character to Your Home with New “Old” Hardware.

Step 5:  Add Character and Charm to Your Home with Finish Trim Work.

Today’s step is a no-brainer. 

Step 6: 

Add Wood Flooring!

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There is nothing more characteristic of older homes than wood flooring.

The charm and beauty is hard to match!

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I could spend time in this post talking about all different types of wood flooring, but I’m not.

Everyone has different tastes when it comes to wood flooring.  Some like light wood.  Some dark.

Some like thin planks. Some like wider.

There is soft wood, hard wood, engineered wood, and laminate wood.

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Whichever type of wood flooring you chose, I can guarantee one thing…

It will add instant warmth and beauty to your home!

My personal favorite is a dark stain on real wood planks.  And I prefer the planks to be 5 inches wide or wider.

We used pine wood for our kitchen floors which is a softer wood.  It does show wear and tear more than the harder woods.  If you do not like to see some wear on your floors, then you would definitely want to go with a harder wood.  But keep in mind that the harder the wood, the more expensive it will be.

I don’t mind a little wear on my floors because I think it gives my  home that old farmhouse feel that I love.

We are planning on adding the same hard wood flooring in our master bedroom and master bath in our addition.

Here are some beautiful pictures I found of wood flooring in a bathroom.

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We also plan on putting wood on our stairs in our addition.

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My friend, Sarah, from Thrifty Décor Chick removed the carpet from her stairs in her newer home to create beautiful wood steps!

If you have stair rails on your stairs, one thing that you might consider adding for some extra “old house” character is an antique newel post.

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I love the look of the top of the newel post stained to match the steps and the bottom half painted white.

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I am hoping to find a newel post at an architectural salvage place for our new staircase. It will give our stairs instant charm!

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Painted wood floors are beautiful too.

Look how fabulous these red wood floors look!

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Here is an adorable nursery with painted floors…

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Though I love the look of stained wood flooring, if I owned an older home with wood floors that were in really bad shape, and they had stains that couldn’t be sanded out, I would definitely consider painting them. 

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Another flooring choice that creates that “old house” feel is hexagonal tile.

I absolutely love this type of tile!

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I am considering hexagonal tile for when we redo the guest bath by our kitchen this year. 

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Don’t ya love it?

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Lastly, I also think brick flooring is a great choice for an mudroom or back hallway.

I think brick flooring is going to be showing up more and more in home interiors.

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Here is a picture of brick flooring in the kitchen…

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Well, that’s it!

I hope you have enjoyed this series as much as I have!

I would love to hear your thoughts about this series in the comments!

Final Thoughts on this Series

I just had to end this series with a word of encouragement to you!

I have loved posting these steps about how to create a charming home full of “old house” character.

And I have loved sharing all of these amazing inspiration pictures to help get your creative juices flowing.

But one thing I want to make sure I haven’t done is create discontentment in your heart about what you have.

Maybe your home looks NOTHING like these inspiration pictures.

Maybe your renting.

Maybe you are in a starter home, and it isn’t really the type of home you want.

Wherever you may be living, I pray that you are content.

This series is meant to inspire you to think out of the box when it comes to decorating your home.

It is not meant for you to feel frustrated with all the things you wish you could do to your home.

Remember to be patient.  It takes time to get your home looking the way you want it to.  Enjoy the process!

Start on a small room in your home, like a bathroom, and following these steps a little at a time to create a space you love.

But in the meantime, while you may not have wood floors, or pretty light fixtures, fancy trim, or whatever else you may want, count your blessings.

Let’s thank God for the roof over our heads.

For warm beds to sleep in at night.

For bellies that are full.

For family and friends to love.

And then….smile.

You are loved by your heavenly Father more than you will ever know!

Welcome to Step 5 in this series!

Here is a recap of the first 4 steps if you missed them and want to get caught up!

Step 1: Add wood ceilings.

Step 2: Replace your builder’s grade doors with paneled doors.

Step 3:  Replace your builder’s grade light fixtures with ones that possess more

            character and charm.

Step 4:  Add Character to Your Home with New “Old” Hardware.

And now for the next step!

Step 5:

Add Character and Charm

to your Home with

Finish Trim Work

One of the elements that always catches my eye when I walk into an older home is all of the detail in the Finish Trim Work.

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It is beyond gorgeous!

I love the high baseboards, thick crown molding, beautiful door casings, and more!

In almost every home we’ve owned, we have had basic finish trim work.  Much like what was in our previous master bedroom.

Just imagine how much more character our bedroom would have had with thick crown molding and high baseboards!

So today, we are going to talk about wood.

Wood. wood. and more wood.

Finish trim work can make a big impact in a room for little money.

Look at the beautiful door casing in this historic home…

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I found this link that shows you how to make this type of trim work.

And look at the trim work on these windows..

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Who needs window treatments with beautiful trim like that?!  I am hoping to add some trim to the top of my kitchen window.

Another striking feature of older homes is transom windows above a doorway.

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There are many different types of finish trim work for walls, but there are two that I want to focus on today.

1.  Flat Panels (Board and Batten): Indicative of Arts and crafts style

2.  Bead board: Classic cottage style

Flat Panels

or

Board and Batten

Here are a couple examples of Flat Panels or Board and Batten finish work:

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We did a board and batten treatment in our previous laundry room.

You can read the tutorial of how we did it Here.

And I will forever be in love with my friends, Layla and Kevin’s, amazing reading room re-do!  They have flat panels on one wall, gymnasium wood floors on the back wall, plank ceilings, and built-ins (which we will take about in a minute)!

Love, love, love this room!

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Bead Board

Next, we have bead board finish work.  This is such a classic look for older homes, and is especially indicative of the cottage style.

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I love bead board in a bathroom!  It gives a lot of visual lift to a small space.

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Bead board also looks great in a kitchen!

It can be used on cabinet fronts, on the walls, or in the backsplash.

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This may not be considered “trim work”, but I have to share some pictures of the beauty of wood walls.

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Wood planks or paneling on the wall is all the rage right now.  (At least I think so.) 

It seems like every magazine I pick up has beautiful rooms featured with wood on the walls.

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We are planning on doing wood walls in our master bathroom, and maybe one wall of our master bedroom.  This can get a little costly, so we will just do what we can afford.

Lastly, I wanted to share with you another feature of finish trim work in older homes and that is built-ins.

How about creating a built in china cabinet in  your dining room for some character and charm?

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Or maybe some beautiful bookcases and a window seat in a bedroom?

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Check out that adorable little built in spice rack on the wall.  I want one of those!!

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And what is an older home without gorgeous fireplace built-ins?! 

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Such a classic look!

So have you enjoyed looking at all of theses amazing photos?!

I have had fun finding them for you. 

Have you gotten any ideas of ways you can add character and charm to your home with finish trim work?

If you would like to see even more great photos, check out my Pinterest boards!

You can follow me by clicking on the button below.

See you tomorrow for Step 6!

Welcome to Day 4 of this series!!

If you missed one of the first 3 days, here’s a re-cap.  Just click on the title to view them!

Step 1: Add wood ceilings.

Step 2: Replace your builder’s grade doors with paneled doors.

Step 3:  Replace your builder’s grade light fixtures with ones that possess more

             character and charm.

Let’s keep going!!  Here’s the next step:

Step 4:

Add Character to your

Home with new “old”

Hardware.

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Yesterday, we talked about how much changing out your light fixtures can improve the look and feel of your room.  Well, hardware has the same effect as well.

While searching the internet for inspiration pictures, I realized two things about changing the hardware in your home.

1.  You can replace your hardware with actual antique pieces of hardware.

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2.  Or you can purchase new hardware that is reminiscent of an older period in time.

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There are so many different types of hardware, that I would never be able to talk about them all in one post, but I will focus a just a few.

Of course, you know my love for farmhouses, so I am drawn to hardware that represents that feel.

I was wanting to put latches like the ones below in our new kitchen, but my cabinet fronts were not flat enough to accommodate them. 

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These latches are definitely representative of an older home.

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Look how amazing they look on the cabinets in the picture below!  This picture makes me melt!  It is soooo “pin-worthy!”

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Some more hardware that gives a great “older home” feel are these Classic Cup pulls.

They are one of the most popular type of hardware out right now.  The most popular finishes are brushed nickel and oil rubbed bronze, but chrome is gaining some ground.

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You can see in the picture below how they used cup pulls and latches on their cabinets.  Gorge!

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The next kitchen used the cup pulls in old rubbed bronze.  Oil rubbed bronze looks amazing on white cabinets!  Btw, check out that wood ceiling, would ya?!

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It’s also very acceptable to mix hardware finishes.  Talk about character!  Look how oil rubbed bronze and chrome hardware were used in this kitchen from For the Love of a House.  If you have never been to this blog, and you want to seen “old house” character at it’s best, you need to click on over there and check it out.  (And then be sure to come back and see me!) 

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These cup pulls are not just for a kitchen.  They look great on a piece of furniture too!

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I had a cherry piece of furniture that Mom gave me many years ago that just didn’t look like me at all.  Unfortunately, I don’t have a picture of it because it was before my blogging days. It looked a little like this one, but was less “Queen Anne-ish.”

Mom told me to paint it black so it would match my décor more, so I did.  I also added cup pulls.

But when I decided to use it on my back patio, I painted it white, distressed it, and added different pulls to create a totally different look.  I loved it!

It definitely gave it more of a farmhouse look.

See the difference changing the

hardware can make?

The last type of hardware I love is glass knobs and handles.  They are so beautiful no matter where you put them!

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Glass knobs can add lots of charm in a bathroom.

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Or a kitchen…

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I also found this link at Shelterific on How to Refinish Door Hardware in Six Steps.

I also wanted to share how my blog friend, Jen, from Tatertots and Jello shared in a post how she changed her brass handle to a glass handle on her pantry door in her kitchen. Click on the picture to read about it.

IMPORTANT:  You do not have to have a lot of money to change the hardware in your home.

Have you ever looked at the hardware aisle at Hobby Lobby!  They have knobs for days!

And if you purchase knobs when they are half off, you can get some beautiful knobs for very little money!

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ALSO…You can always spray paint the hardware you already have to give it a completely different look!

I’m sure you’ve seen many posts about how bloggers have spray painted their door handles oil rubbed bronze.  It takes some time, but very little money to update the look of your home!

Here is a tutorial from Carrie at Dittle Dattle where she shows you how to change your brass door knobs to oil-rubbed bronze ones.

You can also easily spray paint outdated knobs on your cabinets.

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So don’t feel like you have to spend a ton of money to get a new look. 

Remember that you might find some pretty hardware at thrift stores or yard sales that can be cleaned up or painted to look like new!

Do you have hardware in your home that needs updating?  Or could you replace it with hardware that adds more character and charm?

See you tomorrow for step #5!

Welcome back!

I hope you are enjoying this series!

Let’s recap the first two steps in creating “Old House” character and charm in your newer home…

Step 1:  Add wood ceilings.

Step 2:  Replace your builder’s grade doors with paneled doors.

And now to the next step!

Step 3:

Replace your builder’s grade

light fixtures with ones that

possess more character and

charm!

For instance, look at this beautiful kitchen!  First of all, notice those fabulous wood ceilings.  Okay, now look at the lights!  I call those “school house” lights, although I am sure they have another name.  They add so much charm to that kitchen, don’t ya think?!

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But let’s be honest.

Unfortunately, many of us have these on our ceilings…

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The dreaded “boob” light!

(Yep, look at it.  You know I’m right.)

Raise your hand if you have a “boob” light or two in  your house.   Come on, don’t be ashamed.  Own it!

I have some of these lights in my home, but slowly and surely, I am going to change them out.

Now really, there is nothing horribly wrong with these lights, but they certainly do not possess much charm and character.

So I would like to declare 2012, “The Year of De-Boobing!”

Will you join me?

Now don’t go getting’ a screw driver today and start taking all your “boobs” down. Your husband will come home and think you’ve lost your mind, and he will not like me much either!  He may want to keep the “boobs.”  (I am so sorry, I just couldn’t help myself.)

Take your time de-boobing.  Look around for the right light fixture to take its place before you start removing them.

Maybe you could score a cute light at a ReStore shop or thrift store.

I got this ugly brass light at my Habitat store for $3.00!

I cut the curly-que thingys off and spray painted it black for our previous laundry room.

It added sooo much character to our laundry room!  (And so did that bead board ceiling!) 

So much more character than a “boob” light would have. 

And it was only $3.00!!

Whenever you see a brass light at Goodwill or a yard sale, and you like the shape of it, REMEMBER it can be painted!!!

My friend, Melissa, from 320 Sycamore had this very dated light in her entry way.  

She scored a $5.00 brass light off of Craigslist and painted it black.  Here it is…

Doesn’t it look so much better than what she originally had?!  And it looks an awful-lot like this one from Pottery Barn, doesn’t it?

But Melissa’s was only 5 bucks!  BIG difference!  You can check her post out HERE.

Lanterns are very “in” right now, and I am so glad.  I think they are beautiful, especially in a kitchen.

They make a beautiful statement above a kitchen island or dining table.

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Chandeliers are also reminiscent of the past and add a wealth of charm to a room.

These can get very expensive.  I’ve been looking for an old one for a while now, but they have been out of my price range.

But I’m gonna keep on looking!

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Pottery Barn has some beautiful chandeliers to choose from.

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Look at the charm this old chandelier brings to the room…

Although chandeliers look great over a dining table, why not change out the “boob” light over your bed for a chandelier?

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Or maybe over your bathtub?…

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Unfortunately, I am not an expert in light fixtures that were used in older homes, but there are many companies out there that sell light fixtures from all different time periods and decorating styles.  Just google, “antique lighting” and see what comes up.

Here are a few more pictures I found online of some of my favorite types of light fixtures.

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So there you have it!

I want  you to take a tour around your home today and see how much de-boobing you are going to need to do.  Then start thinking about what type of light fixture would look better in the “boob’s” place.

Don’t go out and start buying a bunch of expensive light fixtures.  Wait until they go on sale, or maybe you will find one at a thrift store that you can paint.

Be creative!

I would have to say that besides painting a room, changing the light fixtures can make the next biggest difference in the feel of a room.

Do you have some light fixtures in your home in need of some updating?

See ya tomorrow for the next step in adding “old house” character and charm to your home!