Big Red Barn Blog

Hello all! I hope your year has started off well. Once the New Year started I wanted to freshen things up a bit. I decided to start with our bedroom. I did a good deep cleaning, purchased a new comforter and organized the book shelves. I felt it needed something else, a finishing touch. I then decided to tackle the fireplace mantle.

When you decide to make a statement focal point in a room you should start with a blank canvas. This blank canvas was milled from a tree we had to cut down to build our home. We have a second mantle made just the same for the other side. I love that this mantle has a story.

You will then start brainstorming and collecting ideas for your space. I knew I wanted to put several pictures on the mantle so I began to piece together picture frames. You can find frames at garage sale, hobby stores and estate sales. You can also repaint or stain old frames to fit your new decorating scheme.

Once you have all of your frames you can start by putting the bigger frames up first. Then you will want to place your medium and smaller frames in places to break up the skyline. Once you have the frames all settled you can insert a few decorative items. The large canister is a vintage ammunition shell that I purchased at a craft show. I feel like it helps add some height to the mantle.

I’ve always wanted to have a gallery of pictures I just never took the leap to get started. I’m so glad that I did because I think it turned out great and really makes our room feel cozy and finished. I hope you enjoyed this post and that it provided some inspiration for your next project!

-Cristie

Greetings all! I hope you all had a nice Christmas and are planning a very happy New Year. As the year comes to an end it is time to start planning for next year. Each year I like to pick a word that will help to guide and inspire me to live my best life and grow as a person.

Last year my word was give. I tied this word into all aspects of my life the best that I could and I found it to be really helpful to keep me on track with my goals. This year I have decided to use the word balance. With me being a new mom I feel like balance will become very important in my day to day life.

I like to start by putting the word in my planner. At the beginning of each month there is space for me to write a quote relating to my word. Some people like to put up sticky notes with their word around the house or in their car. I think it’s important to place your word where you will see it everyday.

Next I like to create a few goals relating to my word. This year I know it will be important to balance my work life and my home life. I will be making a goal of using my planner religiously to make sure I have enough time to do all of the things I want to do with my new little one! Another goal is to be balancing my personal time. We have four parents and three grandparents for our son to spend time with so I will need to balance the time spent with them. I also need a little time to myself to practice self care.

One I have made my goals I start writing out how I am going to accomplish them and how I can measure my progress. I also create a timeline for each goal. For example, I want to make a goal to start exercising again now that I am postpartum. I will make it a goal for the first quarter of the year to exercise one day a week. In the second quarter two days, third quarter three days and fourth quarter four days. I will make similar timelines for each of my other goals.

As you can see I can use a lot of balance in my life this year. I hope you each can find a word to propel you into 2022 and to reach each of your goals this year!

Happy New Year,

Cristie

Christmas is a magical time of year. It’s hard not to get excited when December rolls around. I actually don’t even have to wait for December as I always think about my Christmas wrapping theme months in advance. I like to think about it early so I can pull all of the pieces in to create a beautiful theme that everyone can enjoy! You can do this too with a few easy steps.

You will start by picking out a wrapping paper. This year I went with a hunter green paper with gold deer, white snowflakes and trees in a lighter green. I purchased this at Sams Club. Now if you know anything about Sam’s Club it is that they have very large quantities. Their wrapping paper is no exception. With wrapping paper in this amount you will only have to buy one roll of your main paper.

Next you will want to pick out the accessories. You should pick a second basic wrapping paper, gift bags, tags, tissue paper and ribbon. You can get them at any super market or craft store or buy online. This year I went with a simple white paper, white and gold tags, gold and green tissue paper, white and gold bags and a variety of gold ribbons. You can experiment with different types of bows and other ways to use your ribbon.

Finally, you just start putting everything together and place the gifts under the tree. I thoroughly enjoy watching my loved ones open the gifts I have wrapped just for them. I hope I have sparked a little creativity in you to inspire your own wrapping theme!

Merry Christmas,

Cristie