I wasn't blogging, but I was still creating...

Despite my lack of blogging, I have still been creating. Here are some of my creations:

Every girl needs a coordinating holiday hair piece!
A turkey clip from felt and ribbon for my baby girl to wear on Thanksgiving.

A Thanksgiving table

Creating a little holiday magic for my kiddos.
I love watching little kids decorate the Christmas tree!

I made an outdoor Christmas tree by wrapping garland around a tomato cage and adding a strand of white lights (an idea I got from Pinterest. You can follow me on Pinterest HERE.)It looks really nice all lit up at night and was made with items I had on hand. Here it is with a light dusting of snow from a winter storm last week:

I'm lovin' our Christmas mantle this year!
Some fluffy garland decorated with glittery, gold snowflakes, gold stars, and
some chocolate brown, sparkly ornaments.
All this highlights the large nativity picture that depicts the reason for the season.
*sigh*
I think it is beautiful.

And I couldn't forget our annual gingerbread house decorating. I was the architect and my son was the decorator. It is my way of conquering my OCD ways by allowing my son to place the candy wherever he wants, in whatever pattern he wants. It is a really great exercise for me in letting go. My son loves it and I love making memories with him!

So there you have it. If you have any questions about the details of any project, let me know. And I will try not to wait so long to blog about my projects.
Happy Holidays!

A fall mantel with my new wreath

Ahhh how I love this. Doesn't my new wreath look great over the mantel? I usually go for more of a Halloween mantel this time of year but my wreath needed a home...and I loved all the amazing fall mantel decorating going on in blog land right now. I decorated with items I already had, with the exception of the cute ceramic owl. Owls are quite popular this year for fall decorating and though I originally was not a fan, this little guy has grown on me.

I used popcorn kernels in the hurricane to fill the space around the orange candle.
I love the touch of gold color it adds.
The white pumpkin came from Dollar Tree
and the gold leaf plate I found for $1 on clearance at TJ Max a couple years ago.

More beaded pumpkins, leftover from my wreath decorating, stacked in a Dollar Tree Hurricane.

Isn't he cute? I love that wide-eyed look!
(I found him at World Market.)

I love how the wreath looks layered over the mirror.
Displaying a wreath over a mirror is one of my favorite ways to showcase it.

My love for all things fall continues...

I am linking up to The Lettered Cottage's Fall Mantel Link Party.

A Patriotic Wreath

I had a foam wreath form left over from my Easter Peeps wreath that was just crying out to be used creatively. Now I must say that I am not as in love with this wreath as I was with my Peeps wreath, but it is growing on me. I found my inspiration HERE as a Halloween wreath. Here is how my red, white, and blue version turned out:

I ended up using satin ribbon, but if I were to do it over again, I would stick with the grosgrain ribbon like the original inspiration wreath. And I think the ribbon strips are a little long...I would probably trim a few inches off. But it does add a patriotic touch to the front door:

What do you think?
Does it work or is it a little too much?

Happy 4th of July!

A Lamp - Pottery Barn Style

While looking for baby girl inspiration in the pages of my Pottery Barn catalog, I came across these adorable lamps with a hefty price tag. The lamp shade itself sells for $99! Add the $50 lamp base to it and you are shelling out $150+ for a lamp! Cute, but not in my price range!

I found this mini-lamp at Target several months ago for $8 (yeah, I could have done better on the price but I just couldn't resist that curvy base...) and the plain white shade was just screaming out for something to jazz it up. I added some pink, mini roses with hot glue all around the shade....

The rose bushes were 1/2 off at Hobby Lobby and I used almost 4 full bushes to cover the shade.

Total for flowers: $14 ($3.50 per bush) + Lamp: $8 = $22

I love the way it turned out!

I think I could get used to this pink thing... :)

(The color is coming across more red in the picture, but it really is a deep pink color).

I think it will look simply stunning in baby girl Davis's room -

if I ever have a room to decorate for her... baby steps, baby steps.

Linking to:

Baby Girl Inspiration

I wanted to share some of the inspiration I have been collecting for baby girl davis's nursery. While I don't have a space to decorate as a nursery yet, a girl must be prepared for these things right?

I struggle a little with the color pink. It is not my favorite-especially pastel pink. I don't wear pink, I don't decorate with pink, I don't gravitate towards pink in any way. But nothing says "little girl" better than pink. It is starting to grow on me. I love this crib bedding:

I love all the different shades of pink combined with green.

Here's a look at some of the pages I have collected from Pottery Barn Kids catalogs. You can sign up to get the Pottery Barn Kids catalog for free HERE. I may not be able to afford Pottery Barn prices but I love to get inspiration from the beautifully decorated rooms they feature.

I LOVE pink when paired with green! And I love the chandelier hanging above the crib...

Isn't that bed skirt gorgeous? I like that pink and blue color together too.

Aren't those canopies cute?

I could see modifying the no-sew canopy/mosquito net I made HERE to look like one of these...hmmm....

I'm not sure if you can see that adorable lamp, but the pink roses all over the lampshade would be SO easy to recreate.

I love the wreath of flowers suspended over the crib like a mobile.

The tissue pom poms hanging from the branches are so fun and whimsical.

Some more nursery inspiration can be found HERE. I am completely in love with this nursery even though it is very different from my style. Maybe it is the neutral color palate that I love? I'm not sure, but it is absolutely gorgeous and really looks like it could be featured in the pages of a Pottery Barn catalog!

I am looking forward to decorating for a baby girl and I will of course keep you updated on any projects I attempt to recreate.

Easter Greetings for your Front Door

I was inspired by Kimberly over at Mommy Savers to make an adorable Easter wreath from Peeps! Isn't it heavenly? It makes me smile everytime I come through the front door :).

This lovely wreath greets visitors who come to our house with some bright Easter cheer and fabulous, chocolate colored, satin ribbon (Doesn't that just sound luscious? You know I love me some satin ribbon...).

*Sigh* ... I do love that satin ribbon bow

Now I must warn you. I have had Peeps lovin' family members threaten to nibble at my wreath. So you may find that one of your bunny Peeps is missing an ear after assembling this wreath. I am not a Peeps lover, so I had no problem using them for my crafting purposes. But, I'm just sayin' . You may want to keep this out of reach of small, marshmallow-loving children :). What you will need to assemble a Peeps wreath:

12" foam wreath (I found one at Dollar Tree but you can find them at Michaels or Hobby Lobby)

brown satin ribbon

2 packs of peeps - about 22 peeps

glue gun

This wreath is very easy to assemble. Just start wrapping your satin ribbon around your wreath form and hot glue it in place. Then hot glue your Peeps around the wreath and finish it off with a big bow. I used 1" brown satin ribbon and it took about 12 yards, but if you used bigger ribbon it would take less. Kimberly at Mommy Savers said it only took her 5 yards of 2" ribbon to cover her wreath form. I hope you enjoy your Peeps wreath as much as we have! Happy crafting!

I couldn't resist the urge to spray paint...

Well, we are finally back in our house after the fire we had last month. Things are still not completely finished but we are getting there.

Unfortunately, my entire spray paint collection was destroyed in the fire and I have had this overwhelming desire to have some pretty colors of spray paint in my life again. I used this spray paint desire to make a change in our bathroom. We recently redid our bathroom (you can see the transformation HERE) and I found this lovely shower curtain at Target.com. It brightens the room, hides the hideous accordion shower doors that are currently there, and brings in some delicious color. I seriously love it. I will be taking the shower curtain with me when I move from my in-laws house because I love it that much.

Yes, I know. It's gorgeous (needs ironing...). But I needed some gorgeous bathroom accessories to compliment this new brightness. And my thrifty calendar art was not cutting it...

Thrifty, but not bright.

So I found this beauty at Kohls on clearance and with a coupon I paid $10.

I loved the look but not the color.

Took a little Krylon Ivy Leaf Spray Paint to it...

Now it simply pops off the wall and pulls out some of that bright green color from the shower curtain. (Like my can of Oust and roll of TP? Just keepin' it real.)

I love the impact a little spray paint can make!

More spray paint makeovers to come!

Adding Some Christmas Pizzaz to the Picture Wall

Do you remember the picture wall I put together for my in-laws? You can see more details HERE. I decided it needed a little touch of Christmas so here it is looking a little more Christmasy:

It was so easy - I just wrapped a few of the picture frames with Christmas wrapping paper (I'm a polka-dots kinda girl) and added a bow. It doesn't take much wrapping paper and if you are like me, you shop the after Christmas sales and get wrapping paper cheap! So easy, fast, and thrifty and it gives just a little touch of Christmas cheer to this wall. I also tied another glittery reindeer ornament, like the one I used HERE from the Dollar Tree, onto the big 'D' with a red ribbon.

Add a sparkly "Merry" ornament and your finished...

Just the right touch of cheer and whimsy for the holidays!

Feelings of Fall

I walked into my sister-in-law's house yesterday night and was immediately overcome with that fall feeling. Do you know what I am talking about? Cozy. Warm. Beautiful. Familiar. Peaceful. I am not sure I can capture that feeling in words, but it made me want to smile.

I was so impressed with the impact of walking into my sister-in-law's home. She had simple yet beautiful fall decorations. The soft glow of candlelight made the house more cozy (candlelight always seems to make things simply stunning). I was surrounded by the sounds of family togetherness. The smell of a home cooked meal permeated the air. But more importantly, it was a feeling that the Spirit was there. And it made me happy. If you are a part of my faith, you know what I am talking about.

So I thought I would share a little fall goodness courtesy of the Cluff family. Thanks for letting me share a part of your home, Erica! And if you are ever longing for that feeling, visit the Cluff's home...

Spooky to Spectacular

Here is my transformation from a Halloween mantel to a more fallish, Thanksgiving mantel:

Remember my 25 cent green garage sale vase (spray painted Heirloom White) that showcased my Halloween branches?

Here it is all prettied up with a pumpkin topiary on the mantel! I love it...

* sigh *

I love fall :)

I know it won't be long before we are decorating for Christmas, but I just wanted to prolong the fall goodness for a little longer.

And I did it using things I already had around the house.

Gotta love a beautiful change that didn't cost a dime!