Front Door Transformation

We moved into our forever home a few months back.  I want to start off by saying that I am in LOVE with the house and adore our new neighborhood.  It is a newer build, however, and while it is what we wanted, I find that it lacks a lot of the charm I swoon over.  Our previous house was built in 1910 and was dripping with character.  Every section of the house told a story about it’s history (good and bad) and it felt so warm and cozy.  I’ve been struggling to make our new home have the same feeling and since adding crown molding in every room is out of the budget right now, I thought a quick and easy way to start would be the front door.  Here is the before:

It’s nice, but kind of blah.  We needed some color on that door, but picking one out was agonizing.  I know, I know, first world problems.  I couldn’t decide between Benjamin Moore’s Wyeth blue or something in the navy family.  After many Pinterest searches and input from friends, we picked Benjamin Moore’s Mysterious.  I liked that it was nice and dark, but has a softness to it in the light.

I wanted to leave the interior portion of the door white so I taped the sides and door handle with FrogTape.  I do find that it leaves cleaner lines than the blue stuff and it did a good job for this project.  Just make sure you take the tape off immediately after you are done or you will be sorry.  I used a high quality hand held brush for the panels and then rolled out the long lines using a small foam roller.  There is a proper way to paint a door in order to look professional.  I followed Sarah’s tutorial over at The Ugly Duckling House.  Two coats did the trick.  Here is the door after Mysterious:

I adored the color, but it still needed something.  Enter the hubby.  He thought of getting a new door handle and I knew I wanted a kick plate.  We went with brushed nickel for both.  I’m sure I could have done at least the kick plate myself, but I’ve been banned from drilling.  He says I destroyed a wall, I can’t disagree :).  It’s still a work in progress and I have some cleaning to do (always), but here is the completed door.  I’m telling you, it’s all about the kick plate.  It makes such a dramatic difference!

Side by side:

 

Carson’s Elena of Avalor Party

My youngest, Carson, turned three years old in May.  She is amazingly sweet and incredibly salty all wrapped up in an adorably feisty little package.  This kid will charm the pants off of you then steal your half empty juice box while you aren’t looking and run for the woods to drink it (sorry little boy at the playground last week).  As crazy as having a three year old is, however, I love it because they begin to truly understand what is going on.  Carson had been to a few birthday parties this Spring and figured out quickly that birthdays are awesome because you get to eat cake.  She was beyond excited for her birthday party this year.  All she wanted was a Princess Elena of Avalor theme and a “big, big cake”.  Ok, kid, you got it!

Carson wasn’t the only one excited for her birthday.  I love making my babies smile, but I also just heart party decor and can’t hold myself back.  Sorry.  We went with red, coral, gold and teal for her party colors and I used her dress as a focal point for the decor.  I made all of her party decorations using my Cricut Explore and am beyond excited with how it all turned out.  Everything is available for sale in my Etsy shop.  A tutorial on the tulle table skirt will be coming soon!

Birthday Banner

Chair Banner

Centerpieces

Favor Tags

Carson’s “big, big cake” was a huge source of anxiety.  We usually buy our cakes, but we recently moved to rural Rhode Island from Massachusetts and have not been able to find a good bakery.  My family is tough because my older kids need gluten free ingredients and Carson is dairy free.  I’m not a huge baker so I bought Bob’s Red Mill new and improved gluten free chocolate cake mix and let me tell you, it was phenomenal.  I was not a fan of their mixes in the past because they used bean flour and this new one doesn’t have it.  I also used Wholesome organic vanilla frosting because I can’t make my own to save my life.  Seriously.  It was also so yummy!  A little on the super sweet side, but definitely try it.  Food dye is our enemy because it makes my son CRAZY so I try to avoid it when I can.  I used India Tree natural food color.  The color was not a vibrant red, but created an orangey coral color and it was perfect!  You can find the cake topper in my shop.

Cake Topper

By far the highlight of Carson’s party was meeting Elena herself.  I was psyched when I came across Dreams Come True and they did not disappoint.  Seeing Carson’s eyes light up when she first saw Elena arrive to her party was worth Every. Single. Penny.  My mom said I should hire her full time because Carson listened and did everything Elena told her to, which she doesn’t do for me.  I should have been offended, but I don’t think she’s wrong.  Here is the birthday girl with her favorite princess.  Her dress was purchased from EndForever and her hair clip was purchased from LittleEmsDivineHats, both on Etsy.