Let the decorating begin ~

It's official - the boxes are out of the attic - let's decorate!

 A simple vine wreath, burlap bow and greenery.

Something about popping some greenery in here and there that makes me happy!

(maybe it's because the greenery is from the ground outside,

 and can be replaced weekly if necessary?)

So much more to do - hope you'll come back to visit.

 Have you started your holiday decorating?

I'm linking to the following parties:

Show & Share at Southern Lovely 

Whatcha Work Up Wednesday at DIY Crafty Projects 

~ Petie

Christmas Is Coming Early

My daughter is 11 years old (she'll be 12 in January) and she has developed some design ideas of her own when it comes to her bedroom.

She's wanted her bedroom painted blue for a while now (it's been pale green, lavender, and most recently, a neutral tan color....see here).  If you're doing the math, that's a new paint color every three years!!!

So, for her Christmas/Birthday presents this year....she's getting a blue room with a few added projects! 

We started on the blue bedroom this weekend.  It's kind of hard to tell here, but it's really more of a robins egg blue. 

 

She's also asked for a sign like this. 

She wants to have either the word SMILE or LAUGH defined. 

(Pottery Barn Teen)

And, she needs a desk.  

 This one has made it's home in my sons room for the past

 few years with a 20  gallon gecko house on top of it.  

Wonder if that's how it got the crack in it?

 (it's going to be painted white just as soon as I repair it)

I have a few projects to keep me busy this week!

I'm hoping to keep some of them a secret so she won't see everything before Christmas day :)  

Are you working on any handmade or DIY Christmas presents?

Petie

Thanksgiving 2012

We had a great Thanksgiving with friends!

We were in charge of bringing desserts and a fruit platter.  

This is our Pinterest inspired fruit platter. 

Hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving.

The boxes are down from the attic....let the Christmas decorating begin!

I'm linking to the following party:

 Cream of the Crop at Barnes and Noodles

Have a great weekend!

Petie

Dollar Store Clipboards

Another office organization project ~

No matter how hard I try to corral the paper in our house, there's always some flyer, application, schedule, etc that needs to be visible or it will be forgotten!

This is my latest solution ~ dollar store clipboards and scrapbook paper.  Cut the paper to size with an exact-o knife and attach with spray adhesive.

I had this extra large bulletin board in the attic.  

The clipboards are attached with thumbtacks.

Now, I should be able to see everything from the desk where I'm typing this post.

I'm linking to the following parties:

Show and Share at Southern Lovely

Link Party at Somewhat Simple

100 Ideas Under 100 at Beyond the Picket Fence
Saturday Style Linky Party at Scandi Coast Home 

Hope you're having a great week and looking 

forward to a great Thanksgiving with

family & friends! 

Petie

Office Organization

 My latest attempt at office organization.

  Do you have anything that looks like this in your house?

Cables, cords, manuals and chargers for every computer, camera, ipod and phone in the house.

I decided to hide it all away in pretty baskets and boxes.  The only problem with doing that is I need to remember what is where, and be able to direct my husband and kids to a charger and manual  without having to get up and find it myself. 

I downloaded pictures of a camera, ipod and computer and copied them into Word. 

These mail tags were some I tea-dyed last year to give them an aged look.

I taped the tags over the image on the paper and ran it through the printer.

This is how they come out.

Carefully remove the tape and voila'! 

I'm happy to report I tested them out on my daughter and she was able to find everything she needed.

Have you been doing any organizing lately?

I'm linking to the following parties:

Blog Link Party at Somewhat Simple

Under $100 Linky Party at Beyond The Picket Fence

Frugalicious Friday at Finding Fabulous 

Inspiration Friday At The Picket Fence

Overflowing with Creativity at It's Overflowing

Petie

Checking Things Off My Christmas "To Do" List

I spent most of this weekend with my new best friend....Shutterfly! 

I'm getting a jump start on our Christmas card this year.  

They have a great selection of cards.

I started making photo calendars for grandparents Christmas gifts years ago. 

I've done everything from current photos, to photos from when my husband and I were kids

 (these had to be scanned into the computer), to my kids baby pictures for a walk down memory lane. 

They loved those.

I used to be a big scrapbooker, but now we do photo books to highlight the family year.  

They're a great way to contain the memories each year, and they take up less room on the bookshelf.

Shuttefly is offering these great sale prices through November 14th.  

And, free shipping on orders over $30! 

It feels pretty good to have a few things checked off my holiday "to do" list. 

Have a great week!

Petie

Updated Gel Rug

Are you familiar with "gel" rugs? 

Gel rugs have a spongy thickness, and they're supposed to make standing for any length of time; say washing dishes,  a little more comfortable.

I've seen them in lots of catalogs for anywhere from $70 - $100.  Luckily, I found mine a few years ago at TJ Maxx for about $20.

I recently saw this gel rug 'cover' advertised in the Solutions catalog.  

It inspired me to paint my rug.

I decided to update mine with  a chevron pattern.

  

The rug has a basket weave pattern already, so it was really easy to tape off for the chevron pattern.

                     

I used Rust-Oleum spray paint that I had on hand (ivory silk), and added 

a top coat to protect the finish .  

 

I may add a coat of polyurethane later just to be sure it's sealed well.

This is what I got when I peeled off the tape....like Christmas morning!

 

I'm linking to the following parties:

Frugalicious Friday @ Finding Fabulous 

Overflowing with Creativity @ It's Overflowing 

Creative Bloggers Party & Hop @ Homemaker On A Dime 

Have a wonderful weekend!

Petie

New Window Treatment for the Master Bath

We had awesome weather this past summer, so much so that I had to pull our old ugly bathroom curtains completely shut to keep some of the heat out.  I needed a shade!

I found a standard size shade at Home Depot for just $20.  I bought it knowing that I would have to trim a couple of inches from each side in order to make it fit inside the master bath window.

I used garden shears to carefully trim right along the thread line.

The garden shears left a bit of a rough edge that I sanded down to smooth it out some.

The header piece required a little sawing.

And here's the final result...fits perfectly!

I just hung it with these little hooks knowing that they'd never be seen once the curtain was up.

Next came a new curtain. 

This is a basic valance (because my sewing ability is very basic) on a tension rod....with a couple of layered pleats at the hem.

The vanity area.....trust me, it never looks this clean.

I'm linking to the following parties:

Wow Us Wednesdays at Savvy Southern Style

Show & Share at Southern Lovely
Fall into Fall at DIY by Design 

Under $100 linky party at Beyond the Picket Fence
Inspiration Friday At The Picket Fence 

Thanks for hosting, ladies!

Petie