42,000 hits. A Diny. And more.

First of all, y'all who make their beds every day...seriously. You make all us slackers look soooo bad!! (50 percent of you said you make your bed every day on my poll. Gag.) I only make fun because I am seriously jealous. I tried to do this for about three days straight...and was way too lazy to keep it going. I love how I feel when I walk in our bedroom and the bed is made though. You may have inspired me. (Not really, just saying that.)


Also, I have to give out a big Whoot Whoot to all you who have checked out my blog in the past month. I went from 2,000 hits to 44 thousand plus hits in just the month of October. I know, hits don't really tell you much about how many visits you really have, blah blah blah, but I'm happy, OK? I love hits and I love comments!! Yay!! I have to give a shout out to all my friends who got me to 2,000 -- Jenny, AnNicole, Cheryl, the BC girls, the Rocks ladies, and all my girlfriends who supported me from the start. Love you.


Beware if you see this tonight:



It's a ferocious Diny -- a Triceratops to be exact. Thing is, this Diny doesn't like to wear his head, which is the best part of the costume. Really. But we trick-or-treated around Daddy's school today and he at least wore most of it. And he won't take a nap today, which is going to make for a real fun night. Roar.



OK, my next poll is about the music thingys people put on their blogs. I have a love/hate relationship with these. Love them because I love to hear what music people listen to. Hate them because I'll forget to turn my sound down and will wake sleeping Hubby or scare the beejeebies out of the cats. You tell me if you want it on here. I don't care either way. Just so you know, I swear, promise, cross my heart, assure you that I won't play all NKOTB music on mine. (I'm totally lying.)

OH, and

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!!

Have fun with your goblins!!

P.S. It's ON tomorrow ladies...get to the Christmasy crafting!!

P.S.S.S.S. I got my necklace from Glitter and Bliss yesterday and it is GORG! Go check her out!

Halloween Wishes

WISHING YOU A

SPOOKTACULAR HALLOWEEN
AND A
WONDERFUL WEEKEND!

Laundry/Half Bath Reveal...Finally!

Today is the long-awaited, much anticipated (by me at least) reveal of our laundry room/half bath! I believe in giving credit where credit is due, so I want to start out by saying that this whole design was really a collaborative effort between me and the Hubby. He has a great eye for design, and we really planned this thing together right from the start. Besides that, he did all the hard stuff in here (anything construction related) I painted and did the decorating. So, ya know, he deserves a little pat on the back.


And now for those of you who care at all why it has taken so long for us to finish, I have a little story about the reason (I promise to be brief). Some very good friends of ours had a "minor" catastrophe with their house. What started out as simply having a french door to their deck replaced ended up being a major remodel of one side of their house. The contractor who was putting in the door discovered a problem with their subfloor which was rotting. (Hey the house is over 200 years old, so what do you expect?) The rotting floor discovery led to a cracked beam discovery which led to a structural engineer telling them that they had to brace up the second floor...yada yada yada. So since the Hubby is a home improvement contractor, he helped them put the whole thing back together. And since this project was in addition to his other job commitments, he spent his spare time there working on their house instead of at our house. And you know what? That's okay with me. We love our friends. Their house is now fine. And our laundry room/bathroom is now finished. Sooooo after that super long explanation....here's the laundry/bath...



We went for a cottage-y farmhouse feel...
I really wish I had some before pictures, but the Hubby had torn out everything before we even moved in. I'm not exaggerating. There was no floor, no vanity, not even a toilet. He had to put a toilet in the first day we lived in the house. True story.

I love this mirror. Picked it up forever ago. It's followed us from house to house, but it looks perfect here. (I'll have to take it with us if we ever move though!)

One of my favorite things about this bathroom...the little vanity and the faucet! We had to have storage, but didn't want to take up too much room so we found this little darlin' at Home Depot. I love the fact that it looks cottagy like an old farm sink. And I *heart* that faucet!


Here is one of the locker baskets I had tucked away, it was too wide for the shelves I'll show you in a minute, but it looks great on the floor with extra towels tucked inside!

Uh, so yeah, what do I say about this...it's the toilet. Ahem. But what I really wanted to show is the beadboard wainscotting....it's 4 feet high with a great ledge on it. The wall behind the washer and dryer has beadboard all the way up to the ceiling...a focal wall if you will! And on the window...a little mistreatment. Just used remnant fabric from my mudbench and upholstery tacks.

This is the shelf on the other wall above the washer and dryer. I adore how it turned out! My cute feather lamp found a home there. And I love the idea of the old farm wire basket holding extra TP. Hey, at least my guests will know where it is if they should run out ;-) The sign reminds me that I should make things easy on myself (even though I do at least 10-12 loads of laundry of week.)

A great idea for holding those pesky drier sheets. (And q-tips - never know when you might need 'em.)

The shelf with the washer/dryer...see the little green light on the washer...yeah, it's running...pretty much always! :)

A little side note for those of you with design-oriented minds. We decided to go ahead and mix metals here...all of the fixtures are a brushed nickel, and the accents are an oil rubbed bronze (or a painted black...it all looks the same to me) but we figured, if we're aiming to look cottage, then we can mix and match finishes because it gives it an acquired-over-time feel. Besides I like the way it all looks together - which is what really matters.



Oh, and these pumpkins? Not in the bathroom...in the kitchen....just here to remind me to say Happy Halloween!

Have a lovely weekend~

Master Bath Redesign

Over the next several posts I will be reporting on the progress of a master bathroom redesign. I'll detail the various resources used, discuss the various projects undertaken and outline the design decision process.

The master bath is shown in the photo, prior to any work. It is actually a very nice bathroom in a recently built home, with no real problems. However...can any sense of style be found?! No. Therefore, my aim is to infuse the room with a wonderful sense of style, a bit of whimsy and drama, through decorating. Let's see how I succeed!

If I had been involved with the original design of this room I would have made different tile and finish choices, but I wasn't and will need to work with these previous selections. I think, even with these restrictions, a significant change can be achieved. So, to that end, the following tasks are planned for this project:

1)paint/wall design
2)replace recessed lighting with light fixtures
3)window coverings
4)seating
5)dressing mirror
6)mill work around vanity mirror
7)vanity lighting
8)painting of the cabinetry
9)bath accessories and artwork....and anything else I dream up along the way!

Until next time...

I Want My Mummy

I try to give my family a little holiday inspired dinner
every Halloween.
This stuffed bread mummy is one of their favorites.
It's really quite easy to make.
First, you'll need two loaves of frozen bread dough,
thawed & risen. Flatten the dough.Cream 8 ounces of cream cheese with
enough milk to make it easy to spread.

Add fresh chopped or dehydrated onion to the mixture to taste.
With a sharp knife cut the edges of the flattened dough
into 1" strips, leaving 3" down the center of the dough.
Spread the cream cheese mixture down the center of the dough.Add your choice of sliced meat. We like ham &/or turkey.Pull the edges of the dough across the filling,
crisscrossing the strips.You can bake the two braided loaves
or cut the loaves into sections and

assemble the pieces to look like a mummy.Bake at 350 degrees for 20-25 minutes or until golden brown.

Add olives for eyes, and enjoy your spooky treat.

Edited to add:
I've been boo-ed by Tidymom and Mrs. B.

THANKS SO MUCH, LADIES!!!

Snow Flurries...and Silhouettes

Some unexpected snow flurries kept me from raking up the leaves like I had planned (well, that and the fact that it was freeeeeezing here yesterday). But since I wasn't able to willing to work outside, I had a little extra time to finish a project I've been wanting to get to...silhouettes of my kiddos.

I cheated a little bit on these. I took photos of the kiddos and then rather than tracing their silhouettes onto black paper, I simply printed the photos out on regular heavyweight printer paper, and colored them in with a black Sharpie! It was so easy. The hardest part was cutting them out. I couldn't find an exacto (spelling?) knife anywhere...so I had to use scissors - that was a little challenging! Then I framed them up and added them to a photo collage I have at the top of my stairs! So classic. Love it.

Last minute Halloween.

First of all, drop everything and get to Target!! ALL their Halloween scrapbooking stuff is on clearance! They have some caaute stuff!

Second of all, Good LORD, when did candy get so expensive?? I dropped $25 on candy and I still doubt we'll have enough for all the kiddos. (Need to keep a few for me. Shhh!)

Third, here we go with a few last minute Halloween stuff I've put together in the past week or so. I had some leftover wood from my laundry room table, so I made an itty bitty Eek sign. Price: free!!


I actually have a ton of extra wood I'm going to try making some fun Christmas stuff with. :) I saw these labels here a couple weeks ago, and have been looking for bottles since. I finally found bud vases at WalMart the other day. (I HATE Walmart!! I just took a quick trip in and was so happy I found them.) I had the cork stoppers, and used green food coloring with water. So fun:



Cheap glitteries (made that word up, thanks) from Joann Etc. stuck in my fake foliage. Yes, I like fake foliage. Sheesh, that bottom greenery looks so bad close up though! Ack!!





I find the BEST stuff at thrift stores and consignment shops!! I told you about my love of them here. The thrift shops I frequent are various Goodwill stores. Consignment shops are a bit different -- they sell items that people like YOU bring in. It's a great set up -- take advantage of it if you have one nearby!! When I decluttered this year I took a TON of stuff to a local shop. I have received many checks in the mail, but the best part is if you catch them before they send out checks, you have a credit in their computer. So credit = free fun things for you!! I also took a ton of our clothes to a couple shops and we've made $60 so far. Try it out. I found this fun Halloween garland for $3:

These were Goodwill finds. The thingy on the left was a cheese platter -- I painted the wood platter black and added a pedestal to the bottom. Now it's kinda like a cloche. Love it. The little cloche on the right is one of my all time finds just because it's so fun! I think it was a candle holder that sat in a holder. But turned upside down, on a $.35 wooden pedestal I painted black, it's a teeny tiny cloche!

This was the find of the season...the easel part on the back was broken off, so I got 70 percent off...the SALE price!! It was $20 and I got it for $3.50. I was going to string cobwebs all over it but I'm pooping out...Christmas is on the brain you know...

Finally, my little pumpkin/candle my stepmom got me for my birthday. So fun! I threw some little ceramic pumpkins in there:

I made a promise to myself I would NOT work on anything Christmas-related till November 1. I've been pretty good. The projects are lined up, ready to go...but I've been good. We're busy all day Saturday though, so I may have to start around 11 p.m. on the 31st. Shhh!! Don't tell!!

P.S. I said "fun" about 20 times.

P.P.S. Our son is doing great!! Still sore, with a nasty bruise over the fracture, but doing so well. Thanks again for your well wishes. We really do appreciate it. :)

P.P.S.S. (??) OK, I played a kid's Christmas CD in the car for my son last week. Shut it.

P.P.P.P.S.S. I just ate a whole bag of popcorn by myself.

Bon Appetit!

On a rare occasion I will purchase home accessories at other stores than the thrift store. Last year I bought a little tin sign at a high end furniture store. They gave me a coupon for a percentage off of one accessory. I wandered the store picking up piece after piece looking for something I could afford, even with the discount. Finally I found this: I probably would have bought it without the discount because I really liked it. I've enjoyed displaying it on a wire easel in my kitchen.

Last week I decided that I wanted to make it a bit more substantial, as well as give it a more permanent home. I bought some molding and asked my supportive husband to make me a frame.

I then spray painted the frame black.

After it was dry, I spray painted it white.
I didn't do this because I changed my mind.
I gave it the two coat treatment because
I knew I wanted to sand it and distress it.
Sanding the white paint made the black show through. Then I glazed it with a dark brown stain.
I used a hot glue to adhere the sign
on top of the frame.I added heavy duty hook and loop tape
to the back of the frame and stuck it
to the granite back splash above my stove.Now that's a substantial accessory
that looks like it came from a high end furniture store!

Today's Agenda

Fall has definitely fallen... On today's agenda...a little leaf clean-up (okay, a lot of leaf clean-up...and maybe a little fun).

And thanks to Holly for this pretty award. She claims that there is no nepotism involved in the giving of this award. I'm not so sure, but I am grateful. It's so pretty! I'm supposed to list 6 things I love. It's always hard for me to do these things...I want to preface this by saying that I, of course, love my family, my friends and my religion, the important stuff said...here are some of my more frivolous loves...

1. Chocolate. (especially a good cup of hot cocoa)

2. Decorating (a room, a house, the Princess' doll house...nothing is safe)

3. Creating (drawing, sewing, crafting, you name it)

4. Jane Austen's books (no explanation needed)

5. A good romantic comedy (I'm a sucker for happy endings)

6. Photography (although I'm still learning)

Have a lovely Wednesday~

A Quick One

This little door shelf was our very first piece of door furniture---even though it was actually our second. We were in the middle of building our entertainment unit and things were going very slow. I was frustrated, so I brought out another old door, and various wood pieces. I told my husband that I needed a project with immediate gratification. I drew up a design plan and then left for a meeting. While I was gone, the sweet man I married started building. When I came home, a couple of hours later, the project was ready for me to paint. It was just what we needed. I had a project that I could work on while waiting for the completion of the entertainment unit, and since this project came together so quickly, it gave my hubby the excitement and confidence and to finish the next.
For years I used this piece in a corner of my kitchen to display antiques and other pretties. About a year ago I decided that I needed a change and the door shelf was moved to the basement. I walked past it last week and it caught my attention. It looked unloved and neglected. I knew, that with a little paint makeover, it could be a cherished piece again. So now it stands in it's glory, ready to live in my son's room (as soon as I paint the walls).

Let me tell you a little about it.
The back is an old door.
The legs are two stair balusters. The top piece was a part of a crib headboard
I found at the thrift store.We used fencing material to build the shelves.
It's rough and gives it a more rustic quality.
We added an old hinge above the door knob
to hide the hole left from a deadbolt. I painted it satin black,
then heavily distressed it with the sander.
I finished it off with a coat of maple stain.
I wanted it to look like it's been stored for years
out in grandpa's barn.
It's going to look great in my youngest son's room
and I won't have to worry about
the extra distressing it will get.

Inspire Me Tuesday

So, I've been thinking that I would make Tuesdays a day to share inspiration from magazines or catalogs. You know I love a good catalog. Yesterday, I got my Restoration Hardware Baby catalog in the mail. Did you all know that they now do a line of kids bedding and accessories? Their kid's stuff is great...it's classic but with a little bit of whimsy. Dots, paisley, bees...

I just love bees. Check out these great towels and bedding!

Photos from Restoration Hardware Baby

I love the chocolate brown with the pink. They also have designs in sage green and brown, and blue and brown. And some with black instead of brown. Makes it super simple to mix and match. Stress free decorating! Hooray for Restoration Hardware!!

Third time is a charm?

I'm on drapery No. 3 in our dining room. And I think I'm finally happy...but not done yet! More about that later. First, another short TOOT on drapery-making on the cheap:

Let's review. Hemming tape: (Have you gotten some yet?? I mean, reallllllly...)


Put your good side of the fabric against the lining and hem. Do I have to remind you how easy this is??




If you are just doing simple drapes, just leave a little hole at the bottom, and turn the drape inside out. Then iron the hem like this, and use the tape to iron the hole shut:




If this is all your doing...you're DONE!!! Done, I tell you! EASY!!! But I like to add a little somethin' somethin' to mine so I kept going. First, I must show the transition of these drapes so you get the full effect. This is another Before and After that I kind of cringe at...I shouldn't, but I just don't like them now. These are the drapes I made when we moved in...



I shouldn't hate on myself like this, I mean, they were pretty. They were a gold and cream stripe. But I was trying to be thrifty so I cut the width of fabric in half, so they were too skimpy. And the color was completely lost against the wall.

So I moved onto to this -- got a deal on the fabric and LOVED. IT. Gorg!! But again, was being cheap thrifty, and did a half panel on each side. And they STILL melted right into the wall. Did I learn the first time? NO:



But you'll notice I did replace the itty bitty teeny tiny candle on that huge massive long table with more appropriately sized candles. I'm getting there, I swear.

So let's continue the Toot. I ended up using some of the flowery fabric in combination with the red fabric, but because I'm lazy, I just hemmed the old drapes onto the new and this left the lining hanging out (yes, I know you can barely see it. I was bothered by it, OK??):



So what's a lazy, thrifty girl to do? Trim!!



Isn't it perfect?? And it was less than $7!!

And this is what I ended up with:

I think I love them. I really think I do. Now, I'm going to work on a new method of hanging them and I have an idea I think will work great...I'll let you know if it works. I'm sure some cussing will be involved, but you'll be spared that. I also have some fun ideas in store for the cabinet...again, that looks fantastic in my mind...but we'll see how it turns out. :) The ceiling is going to get a new treatment too -- but I can just feel the crick in my neck just thinking about it, so that may be awhile. I am trying to get this little redo done before the holidays so it is spiffy for the lavish dinners we make for all our dinner parties. HA!!! Not.

Thanks SO MUCH for your sweet thoughts and prayers for our sweet Bub. He is doing SO much better!! The resilience of children simply amazes me. He had a great night's sleep and was playing like normal most of the day. Every once and a while he moves the wrong way and makes the cutest scrunched up owwie face. And sometimes he still gets upset, but he's doing fantastic. I can't thank you enough for your kind thoughts and words.

P.S. Annoying!! I loaded my pics first and they still won't enlarge! Argggh!

P.P.S. Don't look too close...the trim on the left panel is about half an inch lower than the one on the right. Seriously. Don't look. I only wish you could see the back of these!! Scary.