Sunday, May 18, 2014

Sunday Scripture Printable 7

I've been working on some verses lately to hang in our home.  Deuteronomy 11:18 says, "Fix these words of mine in your hearts and minds; tie them as symbols on your hands, and bind them on your foreheads."  In an effort to keep God's word in the forefront of our minds, I've decided that the more scripture we readily see, the better!  Today's print is hanging in my laundry room, and I changed the colors and it'll hang in Rylea's Frozen themed bedroom as well.  Two for one!  Enjoy!

Sugarplum Cuties: Sunday Scripture Printable 6

Sugarplum Cuties: Sunday Scripture Printable 6


Click on the picture and save it to your desktop to print out or click this link here and here for a higher quality version to print and use.  Happy Sunday!

Monday, May 12, 2014

Home Reveal: How We Hid All those Cords

After I got the fireplace painted and we managed to mount the TV into the brick, we had this horrible cord problem.  We've got a cable box and a blu ray player that hook into the TV and hiding the cords in the wall behind the brick wasn't really an option like it is with drywall, so the husband and I had to come up with a different solution.  I don't have a picture of it so this drawing will have to do.

The boxes were on the hearth and all the cords were hanging down and then they were also running across the floor to the nearest outlet.  The TV worked, but it was hideous not to mention a hazard for the baby who is obsessed with cords.

After a couple failed attempts at various solutions we decided we needed a shelf under the TV that would hold the component boxes and then we'd run the cords up the wall and over the top of the fireplace.  So I searched for corner component shelves that were a gazillion dollars and then decided I'd build one myself instead.  And by "myself" I mean, I drew a picture with measurements on it and gave it to the husband and he did the sawing.

The shelf is a triangle with a curved front side to match the curve of the hearth in a pie shape.

I measured the size of the cable box and then designed the shape based on that.  The husband cut two straight pieces of a 2 x 2 based on my measurements.  (At this point, our garage was still full of boxes so his workbench was on the floor of the garage!)


Then, he mounted them to the wall using masonry screws.  This picture gives you a good idea of the ugly cord situation.


Once he had the frame up, he went back out to the garage and cut our pie shaped shelf using a jigsaw.  I don't have a pic of just the shelf piece, we did this at midnight after the kids were in bed so I was tired and slacking.

While he was cutting the shelf, I was inside painting the frame white to blend in with the fireplace.


Then we painted the shelf black, and, once it was dry we just drilled from the top into the wood frame.  Here are a few close ups




Once it was all up I went to Lowe's and got a corner shaped cord channel from the electrical outlet cover aisle and I ran the cords from the outlet through the channel.  The corner channel is barely noticeable and it just sticks to the wall with some double side tape.


The cords go up one side of the fireplace, over the top and down the back.  We've got a surge protector back there that everything plugs into.  I zip tied all the cords together up high to keep them as hidden as possible.


A big thanks goes out to my husband and his handy woodwork on this one.  He's the best!

Sunday, May 11, 2014

Sunday Scripture Printable 6

Here's today's scripture printable, I pray that these words ring as true in your hearts as it does in mine.   I made this one for my own home.  I'm going to print it at Staples, frame it, and stick it in the dining room where we eat all our meals.  I'm hoping to cover our new home in scripture so we can all memorize more and keep it in the front of our minds!

Sugarplum Cuties: Sunday Scripture Printable Psalm 34:8


Click on the picture and save it to your desktop to print out or click this link here for a higher quality version to print and use.  Happy Sunday!


Disclaimer & Terms of Use: This printable art was designed for personal use. Please do not share or redistribute this artwork or use for commercial purposes in any way without express written consent from me, Kirsten DeWitt.

Saturday, May 10, 2014

Happy 30th Birthday Devin!

Devin turned 30 on April 10th!!!  I can't even believe it.  My main man.  30.  When we started dating he was 22.  Um, what?  What just happened?  Mind = blown.


We had a little family party for him the weekend before his birthday because on his actual birthday he had to accept a million pieces of gym equipment because he was about to open his new Planet Fitness.  But, I still wanted to do something special for him on his actual birthday so the kids and I made cupcakes that morning after he went to work.  Purple and yellow with sprinkles of course.


We brought them to him at work and then came home to work on the second surprise of the day which involved me blowing up 30 balloons throughout the course of the day.  Less than fun.  I made little note cards in picmonkey and numbered them from 1-30.




I printed them all out on cardstock and cut them out and then the kids an I all thought of 30 reasons why we love Devin.  Rylea wrote some and I wrote some and we helped Dieter write some and then we rolled all those little notes up and put them into 30 different deflated balloons and then I blew them up, knotted them and threw them all over the house.


I wish I had a picture of the balloons but I forgot.  When Devin got home the kids were oozing with excitement to pop all the balloons so daddy could read his notes.  Devin had a sharp object and the kids would throw the balloons into the air and Devin would pop them. (Be safe friends.)  Super fun, and now Devin has 30 little notes that we're going to laminate and bind for him so he can always remember how much we love him.

I'm hoping that when I turn 30 in another 6 months that no one will notice.  I can't possibly be that old yet.

Friday, May 9, 2014

Home Reveal: Wood Stove

So, when we were looking at this house we really loved the space and the layout and we new it would be great for our family but there was this problem of this HUGE wood stove and brink inlay in the corner of the great room.


It's big, the brick is was dark and dirty, and where in the world were we going to put our TV?


We still wanted the stove to be a focal point in the room but we initially couldn't figure out how the flow of the room was going to work for a sitting/TV area with this giant eye sore in the way, and there was no way a brick demo was going to be in the budget after buying the house.  Enter: Pinterest.

I did some searches for some corner fireplaces and paid attention to the finish, layout, and where they put their TV.  I knew there was no way I could live in this house and look at that hideous dark red brick everyday of my life.  Then I finally figured it out, I'll paint it.  And then I found this:

Source

Color me sold on painting the brick.  Amazing.  I've never done anything like this before, but that never really stops me anyway so I just went for it.  First I washed all the brick with an old rag and water.  Just to get all the brick dust and ash and whatever else off.  Then I used one coat of an oil based primer on the whole thing.  I used a brush to paint the entire thing.  I used a roller at one point and all it did was splatter paint all over the black wood stove and it wasn't getting all the holes and cracks anyway so I just brushed that bad boy for hours.

Sugarplum Cuties: Painting a Brick Fireplace

And brushed... (in this one you can see that we had the TV on the floor at this point which is a really smart idea for parents with three kids under the age of 4 to do.  Real smart.  We didn't have a couch or chairs for about 3 weeks too.  Our couch was being custom made at that point. (I can't wait to show that to you too!)

Sugarplum Cuties: Painting a Brick Fireplace

When one is painting brick, one must paint in the following clothes: your husband's Coast Guard sweatshirt that you accidentally bleached while cleaning the house, your husband's soccer shorts from college, and a pair of Ugg boots because your feet are cold and they were the closest.  (My sister thinks this picture is hilarious and she'll be happy I included it. haha)

Sugarplum Cuties: Painting a Brick Fireplace
Just keep painting and painting and painting and then caulk and paint some more and eventually it will start to look like this.  I used Ultra White Valspar Paint and Primer in one for the top coat in semi gloss.  It's the same stuff I'm painting all our trim with and I highly recommend it.  It's expensive so I saved money on the paint by going for a cheaper paint for the walls themselves.  I wanted to use semi-gloss on the brick because I knew it'd be far easier to dust and keep clean, and brick looks great in slightly shiny finish.  I read that somewhere on the internet, so you know it's true.
Sugarplum Cuties: Painting a Brick Fireplace

 And then, when you're all done, step back and admire your handiwork!  Things to ignore in this picture are: the popcorn ceiling, the reflection of a mess in the TV screen, bad track lighting, lack of pretty things flanking the wood stove.  Things not to ignore: Gunner's very cute butt as he stands on the gate which is supposed to prevent him from being interested in the fireplace.

Sugarplum Cuties: Painting a Brick Fireplace

It probably took me about 8-10 hours over the course of about 5 days to get this done.  I could only work on it while Gunner was napping and Devin was working so much the poor man didn't even have time to breathe so I just chugged along and finally got it done.  My sister, Mel, came to visit from New York and helped me paint the bottom part under the stove itself too.  Bam.  Done. (Eventually, I'll replace that track lighting with something more modern and relevant to our decor, and I need two tall somethings on either side of the wood stove but I haven't figured that out yet either.)

Once it was all painted and dried, we mounted our 50 pound TV.  Thank you God for bringing Mel to us to help with house stuff that week.  Her and Devin held the TV up while I screwed it into the mount.  It's actually mounted on the right side of the brick as you look at this picture and it swivels into the corner.  Here's the mount that I researched and bought in case you're looking for one.

Once we had it mounted there was a big cord and cable box and blu ray player problem that we finally figured out an answer to after a few failed attempts.  But, since this post is getting lengthy, I'll save that for another day.

Sugarplum Cuties: Painting a Brick Fireplace


Whew!  One project down, 80 gazillion left to go.

Thursday, May 8, 2014

We Moved!

Ok ok ok.  I realize I haven't blogged on here in a VERY long time, but there's good reason.  For one, we had a baby in July last year.


Little Gunner Mapes DeWitt was born on July 11, 2013.  And he's now 10 (?!) months old.  He is highly loved and adored by his big brother and sister and his mommy and daddy.  How blessed we are.

After having a baby, Devin got a new job as the General Manager of Planet Fitness in Muncie, IN. We're so proud of him and the example of a hard-working man that he is for my boys and the example of a loving and selfless husband that he is for Rylea.  During his grand opening of the facility, Devin worked 90 hours from one Thursday to the next.  90 hours in 7 days.  That's more than 2 full time jobs crammed into one week.  He's amazing.  I just love him.  Now, Planet Fitness, give me my husband back.  Thanks.

Anyway, in light of Devin's new job, we moved!  We went house shopping, saw a million houses with 3 kids in tow (not recommended), and finally found one we both loved.


It already looks a bunch different on the outside than it does in that picture, but I'll be blogging all the changes on here so we can always look back at our very first house and see how far we've come.  Here's some specs.  It's a 1,900 sq foot house built in 1984 (and all the really dark wood trim inside screams 1984) that sits on .5 acres.  She has 3 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, and a loft off the master bedroom.  We're on a cul-de-sac in a housing development and the neighbors are all very awesome.  We've been here since the first week in March and changes are happening on the inside.  Slowly but surely.  Devin gave me free reign on paint colors and designing and decorating things (as long as they're in the budget) so I'm having a lot of fun with that.  I've been upcycling things in the yard from previous owners and painting and spray painting and hanging things and taking things down all while taking care of the kids in the midst so things are a mess at times, and there are days when I get no house stuff done, but I just love it all and I'm so thankful for God's provision of a house right now!

The plan is to show you the inside of my house room by room before and after as I get it all going.  Thanks for joining in and multiplying our joy in this season of our lives!


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