Category Archives: House to Home

Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree…

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O.K, maybe the sweetie and I really aren’t “rockin'” around the tree as much as we are chillin’ around the tree. We aren’t exactly the “rockin'” types. And apparently this year we really aren’t the decking the hall types either, since there hasn’t been as much decking of the halls as there was this time last year. It might have something to do with a certain “event” on the horizon, or we could just be getting more lazy in our old age. The Sweets turned the big 3-1 yesterday, and I will be leaving my 20’s behind this coming April.  Eek…

But enough about getting old and being lazy, on with the Christmas cheer!

 

My sweet mother bought me this tree at an after Christmas sale. Apparently it was less than $20 bucks, so I’d say it was well worth the money since it’s been 7 years and she’s still shining bright (the tree, but my mom is still shining bright too!). The star was a recent purchase at Big Lots, I’ve had differing varieties of bows and snow flakes topping my tree for the past several years. But this year, I decided it was time to finally get a star to top our tree. How traditional of me.

And speaking of traditional, I always decorate my tree with memories and family tradition in mind. So, ornaments from childhood, or that are reminiscent of childhood are a must. For me, the Pokey Little Puppy and Starbright, sum up my childhood interests.

And for the Sweetie…

Why Pacman of course. The man is still obsessed!

And if you look to the right of the tree, you will see our stockings that have been hung with care. Too bad the picture wasn’t taken with care, my camera doesn’t seem to have a shaky hands setting.

The three stockings are for the Sweetie, myself, and yes, we’re the weirdos that hang a stocking for the dog.

Above the stockings, is the mirror. I used a sharpie (no, worries it comes out with Windex and some elbow grease) to write a verse from Luke 2:14:

“Glory to God in the Highest, and on earth, peace, goodwill toward men.”

Although, I might switch it out for Luke 2:10-11:

“And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people.

For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord.”

And Christmas wouldn’t be Christmas without a nativity scene.

It’s not the most elegant nativity, but it holds special meaning for me. My mom purchased this at a discount store 25 years ago, back when I was in Kindergarten (Yup, I’m that old). I remember playing with these figures year after year. My mom gave in and finally let me take it home with me 4 years ago. And now it’s one of my prized possessions, and definitely the first of the Christmas decorations to come out of the bins.

I would love to share more, but that’s all I’ve got up so far. There’s still the Christmas table scape to do, and some finishing touches on the outdoor display. Or maybe not, like other bloggers out there, I am trying to make this Christmas a simpler one.

Hello Pinky…

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Over the long weekend, I thought it would be nice to complete the painting of my bathroom. If you remember correctly, I had started painting ole peachy blue way back in May. Being the procrastinator that I am, I’ve put off completing this little project until now. Actually, to be honest, it’s really not done yet. I still have some cutting in to do, and the cupboard doors still need to be painted. Unfortunately, those are still lime green, completely throwing off my soft blue soothing vibe.

Anywho, the ceiling of the bathroom was still the same old grubby white it was when we bought our little castle. So, off to Home Depot I went to purchase paint for ceiling. Now, being the novice I am, I thought that picking out paint for the ceiling would be a no brainer. I just wanted a boring white ceiling, that wouldn’t grow fun little organisms. A paint by Glidden seemed to fit the bill, it went on pink and dried bright white. Perfect! I would know where I had missed so that none of the old grubby white would show through my pretty new clean white ceiling.

Happily I went a painting, within an hour or so, my ceiling was pink, and slowly turning to white. Had I been thinking like a blogger I would have taking a picture at this point. But unfortunately, I was being very task minded and just wanted to gitter dun. And gitter dun I did. Within another couple of hours, my ceiling was bright white and pretty! I was thrilled! Until the next day, when the morning showers were finished. And I discovered to my horror that bathroom ceilings do not stay dry….

The above picture was taken after the ceiling had time to dry, so it was even pinker before. And no, that’s not something growing on the shower wall, that’s the plastic surround that we are planning on changing out someday. Hopefully soon….

Here you can see the pink spots more clearly.

But I would like to mention that after a week or so the ceiling paint seems to have “aged” so the pink isn’t as abundant. I guess I’ll just have to chalk this up to another home improvement lesson. Paint that goes on pink when wet, but dries white, does not stay white in a bathroom with poor ventilation.

Give Thanks

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“1O give thanks unto the LORD; for He is good: for His mercy endureth for ever.”

Psalm 136:1(KJV)

Happy Thanksgiving all!! I hope your Thanksgiving is just as bountiful as ours. Remember to give thanks to those you love and to the One who is good!!



Weekend Ideas

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So, to start the weekend off, I thought I’d share some quick projects that could be done in one weekend. These are courtesy of County Living. Feel free to click on a picture for more information.

Update your kitchen sink. Now this is something our kitchen could stand, a new faucet. Actually, our kitchen could stand some new cabinets, new flooring, and dishwasher. But that’s another post for another time.

Conquer your closet. Funny that this one was on Country Living’s weekend list, because it’s on my list as well. Honestly, though, it’s been on my list for months. But this weekend, I am determined to at least tame the shoe jungle that’s going on at the floor of my closet.

Re-do your front door. Yeah, I know, I included a red door in my post yesterday. But I just can’t seem to get enough of them. Especially after painting my own front door red. I’m still working on the accessories though.

Create a mudroom. Now this might be hard for me to accomplish in my little casa. There really isn’t much of an entry way. But with some thought, and little bit of furniture re-configuration I bet I could figure something out.

Convert Closet into office. And once I get my closets all organized and pretty, I wonder if one of them couldn’t be converted into a mini-office.

So many things to check off of my to-do list! I’m off to organize, paint, clean, and hopefully photograph my progress to share on this little bl0g that could!

Have a great weekend!!

Wreathing in Autumn!

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After hanging my old fall wreath on my door over a month ago, I realized how beat up the poor little guy was starting to look.  So, I started the search for a new wreath. I found some really pretty ideas over at my old faithful, Better Homes and Gardens. Or as the writers of the Simpson’s would say, “Better Homes than Yours”, which I find hilarious and can’t help but call BHG that in my head. But, without further ado, here are the wreaths according to BHG. As always, feel free to click on a picture for more information:

Feather me tickled! Or however that saying goes. I don’t know if I would use feathers, but I still like the visual appeal this wreath has.

I really liked this one, because it could be used through Christmas. Gotta love something that can work for multiple seasons!

So, simply yet so elegant.

A Star A Star, Dancing in the Night!!! Don’t you think this could be used from the fall all the way through Christmas?

I had to include this one because of the red door. I love red doors!

 

Here’s a pretty yellow wreath, gotta love yellow it’s so warm and cheery!

Here’s a wreath made out of a re-purposed serving tray. What a great way to use an item in an unexpected way!

So many great ideas, and so many pictures! I really do love this time year!

 

Punkin’s

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Since Halloween is coming upon us on Sunday I thought I’d share some spooktacular ideas. They are all courtesy of Martha Stewart. If you would like to find more information about a certain project just click on the picture.

These jack-o-lanterns look so warm. I wish I had made the time to carve a couple this year.

 

I guess I’m really liking the jack-o-lantern this year. Maybe tonight I will pull out the ol’ carving knife and whip up a glowing beaut of my own!

Creeping up with the Jones’s

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This year it seems that my neighborhood is celebrating that impending spooky holiday more so than in years past. Well, in the two years past since I’ve lived in the ‘hood. Anywho, while browsing through Better Homes and Gardens I came across some pretty spooky but sweet ideas to Halloween-ify my front porch. Maybe I’ll even venture out into the yard with the Halloween cheer! *GASP* As always, feel free to click on the picture to find out more information from the original source, bhg.com.

I’ll start off with my favorite idea they had to offer.Witches Parking!!! Who doesn’t feel like they deserve a broom to ride around on every once in a while?

I know I shared some spooky sillouhettes yesterday, but I like this idea so much more. It seems a bit easier than painting a shape on to a white curtain. And the good folks at Better Homes and Gardens are even giving away the templates for these cute shadows!

These ghosts look easy to make. With just a few cheap bed sheets and maybe some old broomsticks you could have a ghostly trio of your very own!

In the background of the above picture you can see a garage door all decked out for the most ghostly of holidays. They suggest using some 2in to3in black cloth tape to make these shapes. It could work, but I wonder what happens in it rains and the stick wheres off. Maybe they are just meant for one time use???

I really like the idea of these window webs, but after reading the instructions it seems a bit too complicated and time consuming for me. Anything requires straight pins is out of the questions for me. I always poke myself on those things. But I wonder if a couple of wooden dowels pained black and some black yarn wouldn’t do the trick?

It’s time to hit up the dollar store for some spooky supplies. We’ll see how my spooky crafting goes!

Spooky Crafts

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Planning a wedding has become so much more time consuming than I could have ever imagined. So, needless to say (and I’ll say it anyways), my Halloween and Fall decorating ideas haven’t been done. I really don’t forsee them getting accomplished this year, but at least I can blog about my favorite crafts ideas this year and dream. So, thanks to Martha Stewart I’ve found some pretty cute craft ideas for Halloween. Feel free to click on the pictures to find out how to do these cute little projects for yourself.

These cute tin pumpkins are so sweet. With  just a few cans of left over paint, a hammer, and an awe, you’ve got some pretty AWEsome pumpkins. And the best part about these is that they can be used year after year. That is, if they don’t get lost in the garage.

This jar idea is cute, and I bet you  could even implement this idea for other holidays. For Christmas you could paint your jars red and green with cute little elf faces. At Valentines Day they could be red and pink, at Easter you could have happy pastel bunny jars.  And they don’t necessarily have to have faces. But I think those smiling faces are just too adorable not to use!

Good ol’ Martha Stewart called these “funkins”, and they could be fun to make. Glow in the dark powder and inexpensive fake but carveable pumpkins and a black light is all you really need to make these. Since this project sounds so easy and quick it might be something I could actually complete!

This project seems a bit time consuming for me, but I thought they were creepy yet understated. Which is what your Halloween decor should be right?

If you’re going to dress up for Halloween why not dress up your candles too? This little craft only requires some tissue paper, tape, an exacto knife, and of course a candle holder with a candle. I really like this idea, because for one it’s not permanent, and you won’t have to worry about storing a season specific item all year long.

These ideas definitely got my crafty wheels turning! If I try any of these projects I’ll be sure to post about it. But don’t keep your fingers crossed, the headless horseman might come and make chocolate bars out of them! MAHAHAW….

This Gourds Mine!

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I know, my posts about fall decorating are coming in a little late and few and far between. But I am working on some totally gourdge ideas to inject that harvest spirit into my casa. Sorry, I just couldn’t resist the pun!

A couple weeks ago, I went pumpkin shopping for real pumpkins. If you remember from this post I went crazy with the fuax pumpkins from our local handy dandy dollar store. Well, this time, I finally gave in and brought home some real pumpkins to put outside. You know the, the kind that won’t blow away! Here are a few of the small ones. Aren’t they cute?

But they looked a little plain to me, so I thought I would brand them with a couple monograms. I decided to use the first initial of mine and the sweetie’s first names, A and J. So, I took some stencils, some black paint, and a sharpie…

I ended up forgoing the V and replaced it with an &, which I thought was a lot cuter. And much safer so that we don’t have all of our initials hanging out on the front porch.

So, i began the process by taping the stencil to the pumpkin:

And then using the sharpie to outline the letter:

Then filling in the letter with my black paint, using dollar store water color brushes. I really do love the dollar store, there are so many treasures to be had there!! If I had remembered to take a photo of my pumpkin at this stage, you would see a photo here. That’s what I get for watching the late show while doing  a craft.

Here are my sweet little pumpkins all done up and displayed on the front porch:

They look kind of sad there, sitting next to a naked pumpkin. I think I’ll have to do some more dressing up on the front porch. My poor pumpkins need something to sit on. I’ll have to go shopping around the casa to find a “free” something to use up here.  What do you suggest I add to bring in more pizazz? Maybe a mini scare crow? Some autumn leaves?

Shopping Saturday

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Yeah, I know it’s actually Monday. But I want to share with you the treasures I found during my Saturday shopping trip. Plus it gives me a good excuse to re-live the shopping high and take my mind off of the fact that it’s Monday!

Well, all that shopping made everyone so tired, we definitely shopped till we dropped. Even Annie Dog partook in the dropping!

Anyhoo, Saturday I went shopping as I frequently do on weekends. Just ask my debit card. The poor thing has burn marks from being swiped so often! Well, this weekend was no different from any other, but  I ended up scoring some awesome treasures. First up, a pretty vase I found at Hobby Lobby:

I probably should have removed the stickers from the apples before shooting this picture, but I guess that’s just keepin’ it real!  Actually, I ended up with two of these pretty vases, and will probably use them as center pieces in an upcoming event. By the way this event I am referring to is my wedding. Calling it an event seems to be a lot less stress inducing than calling it a wedding! So, after the “event”, I can use these pretty vases for so many different uses. At Christmas time I can put some pretty glass balls in them, at Valentines Day something pretty pink and red, at Easter time some sweet looking wooden eggs. The possibilities are endless.

And then we went to Big Lots. That’s where I spent the most, but I found the coolest little treasures!

These little candles are about the size of a shot glass, from what I’ve heard. I don’t have any personal experience with a shot glass. But, these candles came a dozen to a pack for $7 bucks. You can’t beat that, less than a buck a pop! And here they are all lit up:

And here’s Annie giving me the evil eye for taking pictures of candles instead of her:

Then we have my Corelle Hearthstone plates. I loved them because they had a nice heavy weight to them and they were yellow! I just couldn’t pass them up, especially at $3  a plate! I picked up 4 of them, so,  for a grand total of $12 I now have some pretty plates to set out for my fall meals. Aren’t they the perfect color for it?! They are yellow on top and black on the bottom. The yellow keeps them cheery enough to use on a summer table too.

I usually do a lot of window shopping during my weekend treasure hunting trips, but this week I just couldn’t resist. Don’t you think these treasures were worthy of residing in  casa de yellow?