Mantel is up!!!

Hey there!!

I have been waiting to put pics up of our mantel... and it is finally up and decorated for the holidays!

I LOVE IT!!
We don't have a fireplace.. but love mantels and the fun decorating you can do with them during the changing seasons! So here is my take on the fireplace mantel decor!

BTW.. The mantel idea was from Shabby-2-chic's blog.. They used it for an entry way shelf to display pics! Check it out if you want to make one for your home!

Without further delay...
 Here it is!

Perfect place for all my family photos!

Love the hooks!! Hobby Lobby peeps, where else?!

wrag garland wrapped around christmas lights.

Love christmas! This is perfect decor for my home!

P.S. Dont mind the areas that look wet. Its because they are. Had to fill the screws and paint..

Table refinished.. and love it!

I have been looking for an end table for sometime now. Now, I know there are tons out there.. but I am picky with what I want and what I come up with in my mind..
So I hunt till I find it.
I needed something with a large top for drinks, books, games, kids stuff, etc.. well... as time went on...and nothing was appearing.....

...Until a trip to DI and I found this beauty!!

Started priming once again.. The wood was in pretty rough shape. But nothing some good sanding couldn't fix.

 
Love it! Drop leaf end table.. perfect for when its card game time with the hubs or crafts with the little one.. I can close it up to put next to the couch and still have loads of room for my morning coffee or evening cup of tea..
YES!!
Now to refinish it!! Hate the brown!!!


So here is the after!
Hope you like!

So I didn't even clean the floors before taking the pics I was too excited!

Some more checked off the "To Do" list

As some of you read I had a long to do list for crafts and holiday decor on my previous post.. Well I happened to conquer some of them with a much needed ladies craft night! (a little help from the hubs with the kids, Thanks honey!)
Check it out.

Ruffle Pillows- Check!

Wrag garland- Check!

Stockings- Check! Those pics will be up shortly! I want to show them hung and not sadly laying down on a table waiting to be hung.. Poor things.. They deserve to be seen!
 Well..
ok..
Sneak Peek!

Christmas Tree painted by my little angel! Love it! and love pinterest for the idea!!

And a peek at our Christmas tree!

Please don't look at the paint in the back.. I was waiting for Mr. S to get home so he could move the tree!

We are completely getting in the holiday spirit this year! LOVE every second of it!

Holiday Craft Ideas... Some to make & some checked off the "To Do" list!

Hey everyone!!

I hope this finds you well.. and you had a wonderful Thanksgiving! We had lots of fun with family and friends! What a great time of year! Sigh...

I love this time of the year!

We finally put up all the fall decor and busted out the Christmas decorations! YAY!

LOVE- LOVE-LOVE Christmas! Who doesn't ? Seriously!

With all the holiday decorations going up, I always tend to donate some of the old hand me downs that we were given..
Well.. it helps decrease my 9 bins of Christmas stuff and it gives me an excuse to make some holiday stuff!

So here are some ideas!!!

TO MAKE:
Stockings
Ruffle Pillows
Coffee Filter wreaths for mirrors
Wrag garland
Tree Skirt
Canvas Pictures
Wood Frames

MADE:
Christmas wreath for front door

$10

 Small Chalkboard from frame

$1.10

Cute gift box

Made for less than $3.. Had most of the stuff.. Old box, little balls from $ tree, ribbon and spray paint!

Recipe/Pic Holder

Great gift idea

Mantel for stockings and decor on LR wall (IN LOVE) Idea came from Shanty-2-Chic's blog!! It looks just like it and I will post pics once I paint the wall its going on!!

Chalkboard coffee mugs

Definitely need to get a chalk pen!

 These are some of the simple ideas that I finally had a chance to conquer during nap times!
So excited to complete the "To Do" list so I can get my holiday decor in order and completed so we can enjoy this joyous time of year!
What have you made for the holidays? I would to see! Happy Crafting!

What have I been up to the last month!

So as you can tell its been a little while. WOW!! A month!! It has flown by!
Well here is a project that I have been working on for a little bit. I am glad to say it is done and I can display it for all you to see!! YAY!!
 My sister-in-law had found a hutch on craigslist for her front room.. Well to say the least, it wasnt the prettiest thing in the world when she bought it! But a transformation was due to give it new life!
Here you are...

Forgive me for taking this as I started priming... And the darkness..

During naps, and after bedtime has arrived is when I get to work on big projects.. So apologize for the dark pictures.. You will get the idea! U-G-L-Y!! It had cracks, sap build up.. Besides that it had good bones and I knew it could be amazing!!

Yes, I store stuff on top of my projects every now and again..

And are you ready for the after??!!

Black enamel with poly sealant! Awesome!!

It is officially done!! Distressed and everything! Love it!! Cant wait to see how she decorates it for the holidays! Thanks for allowing me to conquer this bad boy!! Enjoy it!


Linked up to:
YATTM

Featured!!!

Where has this week gone??! Seriously, One minute I said hello Monday and next I am ready to wind down and enjoy me some Grey's & PP.. Love my Thursdays!!
I wanted to share a quick note for you all.

I was...
ready??

Sure??

....I was featured.... on this super cute blog...

Its wreath week over at Sassy Style and she has lots of inspirational photos of wreaths. Some tutorials as well to help you get there! Go check it out you wont be disappointed.

So back to the feature! Sassy Style had a guest blogger from Tatertots & Jello and she featured my burlap wreath in her post featuring her favorite fall wreaths! YIPPEE!!

Another site re-U used it for inspiration to make her holiday wreath! Check hers out here!! Super cute!

This was a great honor to have it displayed for everyone to see!
Thanks for the feature ladies! And I hope everyone will go see their sites! Great btw...

And Im back in action..

For the past month I have been on hiatus (spelling, lol) from big home improvement projects. The backyard had taken over the mind, life, month, wallet, and sanity.

The backyard is a place I dream to relax when it starts to cool down. The past few years it has been.. well.. lets just put it this way.. NOT a place of relaxation.

So we have been working hard and getting it ready for a transformation.

Digging up the old grass that could never grow with this Arizona clay we have for dirt.
So here you go. Enough said.. here are some pictures of before and after.
The before is when we finally got the curbing in and were getting the sand down for the synthetic grass, but you will get the idea.. Its not hard to visualize ugly dead grass through out the entire area..

After removing all the dead grass. Curbing installed.

Can't stand messes.. UGh.. This drove me NUTS!

Ready for the after!
 I am so proud.. So proud of the hubby for keeping my eye on the prize.. As many times as I said "Its not gonna get done". He held strong, and like so.. we finished strong! Thanks honey!

Already grilling!! Yes!

Enjoying her new backyard!! Needed to spotlight my little angel for a second!

Now to start enjoying the fall weather as we Arizonians do! This is the best time of the year.. Better enjoy it while it last!
Now to build that outdoor sectional to relax on while little princess is playing! Hmm..
The job is never done is it??!
Oh well.. this one is! THANKFULLY!

Quick how to for Flower Pillows.

Hello Blog world.. If you haven't jumped on the wagon of pillow flowers, here is your chance.. I did and love the ride!
So cute these are. And so super simple.

Simple?
The point of my projects.. SIMPLE!!
Awwww.. sigh.

I had some leftover fabric from a chair I redid.. You will see shortly... and picked up a remnant of fall orange material.. Love remnants!

Ill move on.. So I made my simple little pillow, stuffed it with filling from a down pillow that we got along with our couch.. Hate the pillows that match the couch. Ick.. So I used the stuffing.. I have 3 1/2 more pillows to make.. Floor pillows here I come... anyway..

Distractions..

So make the pillow. Cut your flower fabric into strips. Now I used a iron on patch from the craft store as my backing of the flower. It was sturdy enough to hold the flower, stitching, hot glue (yes.. Hot glue) and normal wear and tear of my 16 month old.

Cut the patch a little bigger than you want your flower.

Next sew your first strip to the patch. You can hot glue it too.. I had the machine out, so i might as well use it.

I randomly sewed into a make-shift circle, starting from the center working your way around in a larger circle. Leave room for another strip to go on top of the sewn piece. My main reason to sew the first strip on was so the patch had something other than glue to hold onto in case the glue couldn't hold its own.. lol
Finish the entire strip that way.

Yea. not so pretty now.. But be patient!

Heat that glue gun up while you move on to stitching a light and long stitch across the middle of another strip and then on the edge of another strip. Then scrunch them up to your liking.

Start gluing the strip that you sewed down the middle on the center. Gluing the areas where the stitching are.
Again.. you could just glue all of the fabric and scrunch it as you glue to be way easier.. I make things not so simple sometimes.. I just wanted this pillow to hold up longer than this fall season.

Finished?
Be sure the cover your stitches with fabric, move it around till you get it just right..

After the second strip was glued to the center

Does this make any sense..
Easier DONE than SAID!?!

Ok.. Time to move onto the outer strip. That's why you did the stitch on the outer edge to avoid noticing it once you have glued it down. Start from the outer edge of the flower and glue around being sure to add the scrunch or bunch as you like.

After the outer edge was glued

After that.. Done.. Almost..
Cut any excess patch from the back of the flower. And get that pillow and hot glue that pretty flower onto your pillow. In any location you like. I like off centered.. so thats where mine went!

Be sure to glue down any edges that seem to be easy to pull up..
And throw it in a chair, on the sofa or bed and you are done!

Simple. Hope its as simple for you!
Did I mention this cost less than $5??! Yep.. it did!! Less than $2 if you count that I had the pillow fabric already as a leftover!! Just saying..
Comment if you have any questions or if you liked the tutorial! Good Luck!

Psst... Side note.. Ready for a little reupholstering?? I am!! That chair is in desperate need of a face lift.. Keep checking back to see how that goes.. Eek!!

Linked to:
YATTM

Member that chandelier I purchased over at GW??

Hey all.
So do you all remember that chandelier I found miraculously hiding in a box at Goodwill.. $15?? Anyone?? Check it out here.
Well. I have been hunting around for a place to get the prisms and beads. I had luck at save-on-crafts.com, and a website my grams had found. Although they were relatively cheap I wanted to go "cheaper". So here is the before and the after of what I came up with.. Tell me what you think.. Cheap to Chic??

Before

After

Here is a little way to update your chandelier on a serious dime.

I have a pretty small budget when it comes to decorating. So i make it go as far as I can.
So for this project I was not about to spend $40 on crystals to make this chandelier work.

Finally.. came up with some ideas..

One... in particular that worked...

Dollar tree.. Again??! yes.. I was inspired to check there first..

I found "Disco ball" bead necklaces in the party area. They were the exact size as the glass beads already on the chandelier. Score!!

So I got to work..
Black gloss spray paint, and a coat hanger.

break them apart to a single strand and take off any extra plastic pieces.

Spray paint.. Be patient here, dont miss any areas. You will notice!

I started measuring and playing around with them after they were done drying.

glue gun ready??

Check!

Scissors close?

Check!
Here we go!
I glued them to areas I thought they needed to go and added some to the bottom and voila! You have a completed chandelier for $2! They came in packs of 2, and I needed 2 packs!
Woo hoo!!

What do you think??
Like it?
Does it look cheap or chic??!

Comment and let me know what you think?

This was placed in my entry way.. I debated painting it a fun color, but thought black would be elegant and timeless. So it stayed black... uh humm.. for the time being anyway! 

 Linked to:
YATTM
 Coastal Charm
 The DIYshowoff
Addicted2Decorating
 Primp
Miss Mustard Seed
Now to actually work on the entry way.. Here is what it looks like now..

Pretty boring, right?? I have tried a few pics and mirrors, but thats it!! Its time for serious revamp!!