It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas

Has anyone started putting up their Christmas decor?

Today was a fun day for us as I traded fall leaves for red berries, pumpkins for nutcrackers, and autumn twigs for Christmas Santas! Yes, it's beginning to look a lot like Christmas 'round here.

Today, as I was resurrecting the Christmas decorations from our storage bins, I came across some ideas for crafts...

Check out these candle holders! These belonged to my Mom and I don't remember a single Christmas where we used them. I really am not digging the dull brass look though and I just bought some ORB (oil rubbed bronze) spray paint. I have been looking for something to use it on and I think this will look divine! A couple of coats of ORB, some white candles wrapped in ribbon and these babies will be a perfect centerpiece.

These things have been in our bins for the last two years and I'm not even sure where they came from...

Can you picture them added to Christmas presents instead of the typical bows? With a little bit of jute I have from a previous project, my presents will have a fun, festive touch.

Besides all the cute decor I continue to dig out of storage, I am most excited that my fireplace mantle is starting to look nice! Ever since we moved in, I have been struggling to decorate it. For the most part, this is what it has looked like...

hehe, I told you I wouldn't use the monogrammed tray for keys because I loved it so stinkin' much!

I have never had a fireplace mantle and was clueless on what I wanted it to look like. I really don't want to fill it with knickknacks that will only collect dust. I would like to place a huge mirror above it but have yet to find a mirror I like for a reasonable price. So, it has remained a bit... empty. That is, until now...

A picture of my favorite day, a huge Christmas wreath, some Christmas angels, and St. Nick hanging out with the nutcracker. FINALLY, my mantle is looking pretty! I would love to still hang a pine needle garland on there, but for now, it's lovely.

Christmas is creeping its way in our home and I wish it could last longer than a month.

our scaled down tree this year because we will never be able to fit our 9 foot tree in our home. Funny story - my baby was following me around the tree as I hung the lights, and she kept trying to blow them out. It was the funniest sight.

This house was made by my aunt years ago and again, my baby tried blowing out the lights.

Remember that thrift store candlestick I found and decorated it with a pumpkin? I replaced the pumpkin with this heavy, crystal snow orb. It has a snowflake when you look down in it. Pretty!

When do you put up Christmas decorations? Are you like me and put them up the weekend after Thanksgiving?

Busy November

 Hello Blogland!!!

Anyone still swinging by here? If you are... THANK YOU!

Once Halloween is over, our life is usually a blur during November and December. We have had so many gatherings, holiday parties, and out of town family visiting that I haven't done one single thing to our home. Not one craft. Not one update. Nothing!

I'll put that contact paper on my garage windows one day. Or tile my 9 year old's room before the year is over. Or finish painting the bathroom ceiling. However, right now I can't stop wrapping presents, cutting out coupons, washing laundry, keeping ice stocked for parties, or trying to catch at least 6 hours of sleep.

I'm so dramatic. hehe. Things aren't that bad around here...

a load of laundry scattered over couches, waiting for someone to put them away... everyone has that lying around...

a garage so disastrous you can't park a single car in it... typical...

a baby taking apart clothes you finally made time to hang... nothing out of the ordinary...

See? Dramatic, I am. Things are chaotic every holiday season and my home is really not THAT bad. I hope.

Tomorrow is Sunday, and the hubby's day off, so I will be storing away my fall stuff and bringing out the Christmas decor!!! I am so glad no one was home to hear the squeal I just did. I love Christmas time.

Hoping everyone had a great Thanksgiving. See you tomorrow!

$5 Lampshade Transformation

My toddler's room is nearly done!

 It still needs some minor updates and baby decor to make it her own fun room, but all the pricey difficult redos are finished. I am ready to check her room off my list and move on to my tween's room!

In an effort to get the ball rolling on decorating the room, I decided to do a small project with the lamp that sits on her dresser.

Hardly a lamp for a girl's nursery/toddler room, but I could never find a lampshade I loved for a reasonable price. So, I found some pretty fabric at Hobby Lobby and transformed this black shade into a fun, cute, baby-approved shade. ;)

First, I bought a yard of fabric (on clearance) and laid it down on the floor, back side facing up. I placed the lampshade on top, and rolled it to either side to trace it onto the fabric, using chalk. Like so...

Chalk is more forgivable for mistakes than a marker and easier to wipe off so nothing shows through on the right side.

Once your pattern is drawn, cut 1'' further from the line so that you can fold this part under the shade rim. Since this was my first time working with fabric, I cut about 3'' past the line and had a big mess of extra fabric getting in the way.

TIP: A friend told me to first cut out the pattern on a newspaper, wrapping the shade with it, just to make sure it would fit... and I didn't. And I regret it. Friend, you were right. Not even halfway through, my fabric wasn't lining up and I was making a big mess of my shade.

So, after you test the shade with a "practice pattern" (ahem), now it's time to glue on the fabric. I used super glue but I'm sure fabric glue would work just as well.

Start at the lampshade seam and glue small sections at a time, using something (clothespins) to secure the fabric. Work the top and bottom at the same time to ensure your fabric is smooth and wrapping around correctly. I also cut slits every half inch to make the fabric easier to fold around.

If you failed to do a practice run with newspaper first, like me, this might happen before you even get halfway...

Point of no return.

The fabric was shifting up and when I tried to correct it, I pulled off fabric from the original lampshade. It was either start over, and put new fabric over the first attempt, or throw it away. 

So, I started over and secured the fabric all over (top and bottom) with clothespins FIRST, then glued very small sections at a time.

It was an inexpensive project and took about an hour to complete. Even though it looks cute, the backside didn't line up right...

Do I care? Not one bit! That side is facing the wall and no one will ever know. :)

For future reference I know not to buy fabric with stinking stripes.

Before:

After:

With the light on...

Cute!

Total project cost:

$4.89 for the fabric.

HOLLA!

Crockpot Bean Recipe

Haaaaappy Fridaaaaay!

OK, here is a fact...

I don't consider myself a cook by any means. My rice always turns out either undercooked or overcooked, my chicken is always dry, my eggs are never fluffy, and my cakes are far from moist. My husband would probably disagree, but that's just a reflection of what a polite man he is and not a sign that I'm being too hard on myself.

I suck.

FACT!

However, last weekend I hosted our first party in our new home and I decided to try making my Grandma's "Re-fried but not fried BEANS!" No, they're not really called that but I needed to point that out before you said "ew, fried... next!"

I was so scared of how they would taste and even more terrified when the chef, known as Grandma, tried them.

And would you believe it?

They were fantastically yummy!!!!

I didn't even take a single picture because I was sure the entire thing would be another cooking disaster that ended up being given to the dogs. Next time I try this, I'll remember to take pics.

For this recipe, I used a crockpot (sssh, don't tell Grandma!), but any large pot on the stove will be fine. My 1 year old can reach the knobs on our stove and likes to adjust the flame when we step away for a second. Then, I have to figure out why my chicken isn't cooking. Yes, I blame her when meals turn out bad.

Here is what you will need:

Crockpot (or large pot)

2 lb. of Pinto Beans

1/2 lb. of chorizo, cooked

1 package of American Cheese

1 onion cut in half

1/2 tsp of ginger

4 large garlic cloves

1 red bell pepper, diced

First, you want to discard any cracked, or shriveled beans and small rocks. Then, rinse them really well to remove any dirt. Next, soak your beans in cold water for 6 hours. This step is optional but beans cook a lot faster if they are soaked first. Word of caution: place the beans in a LARGE bucket pot for soaking. They will become 3x their original size and you don't want them spilling over.

Next, drain the water and rinse them once more. Place the beans in the pot they will be cooked in and fill the water close to the top. For crockpots, place the setting on "high." For a regular pot, you want them to simmer for 3 hours or until they are easy to mash. Throw in the onion, ginger, garlic cloves, and bell pepper. Leave the beans alone to cook. For the crockpot, this took about 5 hours. You want the beans to be soft and easy to mash.

Once the beans are done, remove the onion pieces and garlic (if you wish) and drain the water from the beans. Next, add the cooked chorizo to the beans and mash with a potato masher. While mashing, add 12 slices of American Cheese.

In my opinion, the cheese really didn't make a difference. My beans weren't "cheesy" so you can skip the cheese if you want to make this healthier.

The finished product, once all the mashing is done, will look like "refried beans" and you didn't even fry a thing!

The beans were a hit at our party and even the next day as a chip dip for football games.

I'm sorry for the lack of pictures. I will try this again soon and will document.

Enjoy and let me know how it turns out!

Guest Bath Reveal!

I am finally ready to post my bathroom redo pics!

(listening for cheers and applause...)

This particular project was such a pain in the booty. I couldn't make up my mind on a color! After throwing 4 different samples on our wall, I was about ready to give up and paint it all white. Nothing wrong with white, but I grew up in an all white-walled home and now that I have my own family, I want color on the walls. (throwing fists in the air) COLOR!

Here is what our guest bath looked like when we moved in:

Nice sized guest bath but in need of a paint job. I found the shower curtain at Target and loved it, although I knew with the grey designs I would have to go with a grey bathroom. When I think of grey in the home, I think of "modern" and I am faaaaaar from modern. So, with the shower curtain, came the grey mats, and inevitably, grey paint samples from Home Depot. Here is what I sampled...

Left - Right:
Glidden "Pearl Grey," Behr "Subtle Touch," Glidden "Smooth Stone," and Behr "Gentle Rain"

In my opinion, the "Pearl Grey" and "Subtle Touch" were too blue-ish. I left these samples on the wall for a week and sometimes during the day, the far left one looked like an icy blue. Neither one matched my curtain and I really, really, really didn't want a blue and grey bathroom (too close to the Dallas Cowboys colors.. BLAH!). haha, sorry Cowboy fans.

The "Smooth Stone" matched my curtain perfectly but I was worried it would be too dark. "Gentle Rain" was way too dark so that was another "no." Plus, it also had hints of blue during certain times of the day. It was only after a friend commented on the color "Smooth Stone" and how it cordinated with what we were doing that I decided to take a risk and "go dark."

HARDLY A RISK AT ALL!

Note: When you order the paint samples, they come in a "flat" or "eggshell" finish. Well, when you are painting a bathroom, you order the paint in a "semi-gloss." This change in sheen completely lightened up the color about two shades. I love it! It's not too dark at all. It's subtle. Soft. It doesn't completely take over the room. Even my Grandma, after walking in, thought the walls were white. haha. Love Grandma. It's not that light.

Am I right? It's not white. Shower curtain = white. Walls = subtle grey.

And remember that lovely patch next to the sink?

These pictures are taken with the light on, and even then, it looks darker on camera.

Here is with the light off and the light coming in from the skylight:

We still have work to do in here and we updated the towel rack:

Since our laminate tiles have asbestos, we get to tile right over them instead of remove them first. YAY FOR ASBESTOS!

So, there is our halfway redo. I still would like to:

frame the mirror in white trim

update the light fixture

put a fresh white coat on the ceiling and cabinets

replace the cabinet top and faucet

tile the floor

paint the trim white

replace the door with a white one

and of course...

add some decor to make it homey.

Privacy Windows

I started this blog as a sort of "public record" of all the transformations we are doing in our home. I guess I kind of thought no one would care to read about them. Now, I find it flattering when I receive a phone call from a friend and they are wanting to know where my "bathroom redo pics are." I had no clue some of my friends and acquaintances were following along. Anyhoo.. bathroom pics are coming. I promise! My entire life was thrown upside down last week with a very sick baby that required a trip to the ER. (she's fine now).

When it comes to ideas for decorating or remodeling, I often look at catalogs and magazines and copy what I love. However, a year ago I discovered this lady. Her name is Sarah and she is oh-so-talented! She can copy $100 projects for  less than $20. She is my inspiration for a good chunk of my projects.

Once again, Sarah inspired a project that would fix my less-than-private backyard doors.

We have these gorgeous, country, white doors that were covered up with sheer curtains. Where we live, houses are built practically on top of each other and I was sure our neighbors would be able to see through our sheer curtains as we gathered around the dinner table.

That fence separates me from my neighbors. Can we say peeping Tom?

Not only that, but every time we gathered for dinner, this guy would stare at us the-entire-time.

Cute dog. Bad manners.

So, again, I was inspired with what Sarah did to her pantry doors, and figured this would be the perfect solution for some privacy, without completely blocking out all the light that comes through our doors.

For this project, you will need scissors, contact paper ($5 at Walmart), window cleaner, and a firm (old) card, such as an ID or used gift card.

First, I had to clean paint off from the windows.

With a bit of Windex and a used up JC Penny's gift card, I was able to scrape the paint right off.

If your windows have little spots of paint, clean them as best as possible because this will show through your contact paper.

Next, I measured my windows and cut the contact paper.

Then I trimmed.

And trimmed some more.

This was the most tedious part because none of my windows were the same size (of course). So each window took a good 10 minutes to get it exact. This is why my starting pictures were in the afternoon and the below ones were at night. Fun times.

Once you have the measurement exact, or as close to exact as you can get, spritz window cleaner all over the window pane.

This will allow you some room to move the contact paper around (or completely flip it upside down) if the corners aren't lining up right.



Next, get your firm card (or whatever you choose to use) and push the bubbles out from the contact paper. You will need a paper towel for this since the window cleaner will be dripping out.

This project could have taken 2 hours, tops, but with a very fussy baby, dinner cooking on the stove, and a 9 year old doing homework, this took more time than I care to say. Around 11pm, I called it quits when I reached my halfway point.

Without the contact paper on the right side...

With the contact paper on the left...

Don't you just love that soft glow?! It's so warm and romantic almost. LOVE!

The next morning, when one child was off at school and the other was still sleeping, I was finally able to finish!

BEFORE:

AFTER:

Perfect amount of privacy while still letting in the light! And no more cute dog watching us eat! YAY! All this, for $5!

I am linking this to:
Sarah's Before and After Party