Wednesday, December 29, 2010

Christmas Tablescape

I always love when it's time to set the table for Christmas dinner.

My china is  Bernardaud Limoge Artois Green, the glasses are Maeve by Waterford and the silverware is Grand Baroque by Wallace. I have service for 12 for all of them and used to use all 12 when I lived in California and invited my whole family over. Six place setting of the Grand Baroque were my grandmother's. The chargers are from Target.

The white cut lace tablecloth was a fabulous find from the Goodwill. Candleholders from HomeGoods.


I am half Italian, so that red stuff in the center of the table is homemade ravioli and meatballs.

Mr. Fanatic does the cooking. Usually he makes a second main dish, such as goose or duck, but this year we kept it simple. Dinner was so delicious!

Jenny's boyfriend was over, so he took the photo. He is tall so the photo was taken higher than usual and I really like it. I'm going to have to remember to set the tripod higher when I use one. Jess was working :( so she missed dinner. Of course, she was loving getting paid double-time!

We did manage to get everyone together for a photo for the Christmas card a week earlier though!

Hope you had a wonderful Christmas celebration!
Joining:



thanks for stopping by,
Pam

2010 Projects Wrap Up

It's been a busy year for projects around here...seriously busy! All of the big projects, except for one were finished in July because we put our house on the market. From January through the end of June there wasn't one single weekend that we didn't work on projects. Most weekends we worked both days. A few weekends we only worked one day.
Here they are:

Guest Room:
new curtains & bedcover- not much of a project, but big impact!


 Master Bath and Master Closet:
installed tile floor, raised vanity.

Master Bedroom
Made draperies and found new nightstands.


Bonus Room:
Installed a closet(it was a nook) & built & installed a closet organizer


Upstairs Bath: 
Almost a total reno.
Painted walls & vanity light, installed tile floor, added a small cabinet, new towel bars and new accessories.


Powder Room:
painted walls and  mirror.


Oldest Daughter's Bedroom:
Lots of projects in this room! See other link here.


Youngest Daughter's Bedroom:
Another one of my favorites, but we still have to make some bookcases for the window wall.
Painted and decorated. There are a lot of smaller projects within this room. Look under the labels section on the sidebar.


Foyer: 
Added crown molding and lighting below shelf above Front Door


Basement:
This was done a few days before Christmas last year.
Built mantel shelf 
Had the stonework installed

Laundry Room:
installed new tile floor and added accessories


Garage: 
painted floor and walls



















Kitchen:
Had new granite counterops installed & we did the tile backsplash  and added new corbels on back of the bar.


Front Yard:
We installed an irrigation system ourselves.



A Big Project Within A Project: Daughter's Armoire

There were a few small projects I didn't mention, but the above were the big ones. It's been a very productive year for us and it has been rewarding to see them all done. 
I've already started a project list for 2011, but will share that with you another time!


Happy New Year to all!!!


Pam

Tuesday, December 28, 2010

My Favorite Project of 2010

Now that 2010 is coming to a close, I would like to thank all of you for stopping by to see my projects and for all the sweet and encouraging comments! I have also enjoyed visiting all of you and have been AMAZED at all of your talent. You all inspire me! Thank you, Thank you, Thank you!!!

  My favorite project was a toss up between my youngest daughter's Shabby Chic Coastal bedroom and my oldest daughter's bedroom. I really loved doing both, but we still have to build some bookcases in my youngest daughter's bedroom and my oldest daughter's bedroom is 99% finished. The only thing I want to do in this room is make an upholstered headboard. Soooo, my favorite project is.....
My Oldest Daughter's Bedroom.
My daughter  chose the fabulous paint color and the inspiration for her room started with the black and white pillow I purchased for her bed.


The projects for this room were really fun....From the trivet/placemats I found at HomeGoods (I spray painted the silver ones)...

...to organizing my daughter's armoire (my favorite)...

to the stapled bedskirt...I know...I cheated on this one, but it looks good!


The accessories were easy to find, too.

My daughter loves  the black wire dress form.


The birdcage is cute, too.


BEFORE:


AFTER:
Overall, it was a fun project that turned out well!


Thanks for stopping by!

Pam


Here’s the breakdown of expenses:

Black Furniture from Craigslist                                       $250
Paint and supplies                                                              $100
Window Panels from Target (curtains and bedskirt)   $108
Window blinds (Home Depot)                                         $ 60
Lamps, bedding and Accessories (HomeGoods)           $250
Organization for the armoire                                            $ 50
Bed Frame                                                                            $ 10
Total                                                                                     $828

*The paint color is Lowe's Valspar Lucent Purple in a Satin finish 

Wednesday, December 22, 2010

An Early Christmas Present!

An early Christmas present arrived for me yesterday from  Willow House aka/formerly known as Southern Living at home. I won a fantastic giveaway from Debbie at Love the Decor. She has a link to Willow House on her blog. 
There were so many wonderful things to choose from and I had a difficult time making up my mind! It arrived in this big box.


an inside the big box was a a smaller box...

And the large Tuscan bowl was inside the smaller box. Mr. Fanatic said it went perfectly with my other green kitchen accessories.



Isn't it pretty?  I love it!

A big thanks to Debbie for the wonderful giveaway and the early Christmas present! 
Hmmm, now what to fill it with?


Hope you all have a great day!!!

Pam

p.s. Yesterday I found 2 gifts for my oldest daughter, so now all I have to do is have fun baking a few things & wrapping gifts (my favorite part)!

Monday, December 20, 2010

Final Countdown...

How are you all doing? I'm sure you have been busy with all the last minute details for Christmas. We finally were able to get everyone together for the Christmas card photo. It was sooooo much easier this year. Jenny's (youngest daughter's) boyfriend snapped the photo and it was so much easier to smile at a person instead of having one of us set the timer and run to their place! We only took about 40 photos to get it right...and it only took about 15 or 20 minutes! Usually we take well over 100 and it takes at least an hour because we have to set the timer! It's difficult to get one photo where everyone likes how they look! And...we were still all in a good mood when we finished! Yay! Is is just us or does this happen at your house too???


All of the gifts that need to be shipped are in the mail!! Did that last Friday! 
Yesterday I made pumpkin bread and I wrapped up some buckeyes for the neighbors. Going to give those out this evening.

I don't have too much left to do, maybe another batch of buckeyes and some cookies...and wrap gifts. EXCEPT...we still don't have a gift for my oldest daughter! The girl has everything....a car, an ipod, a laptop, a great camera. The only thing she could think of that she wanted was a book that takes a month to order, and some Jeffrey Cambell shoes. Seriously, the darn things are $170 and I'm not sure I can get them here in time.
Gonna have to get something today! This is the first time I've had this trouble!
Hope you all are hanging in there and not stressing too much!
Ok, so the question I have for you is...are you all finished or do you still have lots to do? I would love to hear about it!

Thanks for stopping by

Pam

Wednesday, December 15, 2010

Daniel Stowe Botanical Gardens

Last Friday night my oldest daughter was working and my youngest daughter went to a friends house, so Mr. Fanatic and I went out on a date. We went to see the lights at Daniel Stowe Botanical garden in Belmont NC. 
This is the view upon walking up to the gardens.


Even though it was really cold, walking through the gardens was really nice with all the light displays.





There is a pretty spectacular greenhouse at the gardens with all kinds of orchids. I wish I had brought my camera! The orchids and all the other plants were so beautiful!
They also had carriage rides, tram rides, carols and an area to have baked treats. 
It had been several years since I had visited Daniel Stowe Botanical Gardens - I don't think we will wait so long to go back. It was definitely a nice place for a date!

Hope you all are having a great week and are finished or almost finished with your Christmas shopping!


Pam