Tuesday, November 30, 2010

Lower Level Mantel


Today I decorated the mantel in the lower level Family Room. Since our house is up for sale through the end of December, I wanted to keep it simple.

My youngest daughter always has a party with her friends on New Years Eve . I really wanted to decorate the hearth, but that seems to be the first place people are drawn to when they come downstairs and I wanted to keep it clear for potential homebuyers.


I really love the fireplace screen I found online last year.


There are shelves on either side of the stone fireplace. This is the shelf to the right.


Thanks for stopping by!
I am linking up with The Lettered Cottage for their mantel party!
Head on over to seem some FABULOUS mantels!
Tomorrow I will show you how the vinyl artwork I made over the weekend looks on my daughter's wall.

Pam

Monday, November 29, 2010

Deck the Halls

I know many of you have your whole house decorated by the end of Thanksgiving weekend, but I'm one of those who usually waits to decorate. 
Back when we lived in SoCal, we would go get our tree mid December, but  would leave the decorations up until New Years day. After all, the 25th is the FIRST day of  Christmas, not the last. (guess I'm dating myself here)  It seems like over the years, everyone starts earlier and earlier. I LOVE seeing everyone's Christmas decorations going up, but it seems so sad to see  Christmas trees in the trash the day after Christmas. Just doesn't seem right to me...just sayin'.

Anyway, I started taking out the Christmas decorations yesterday. Here are a few things I put out:

I took the birdcage I found in Blowing Rock this past fall and tied a big green wired bow on it. (I LOVE bows!)

I used the same green ribbon on the candlesticks in the dining room. I also found the Christmas centerpiece.


On the Breakfast Table, I used the black tray from the kitchen and filled it with greenery, pine cones and a hurricane filled with a candle & faux acorns. The hurricane is wrapped with a bow made of the same green wired ribbon.

I put up a smaller pre-lit tree in the living room, but still have to decorate it. Can't wait to see all of your beautiful Christmas decorations!

Pam





Sunday, November 28, 2010

If It Was So Easy, Why Did It Take So Long???

I bought this vinyl art several months ago last Spring to put over my oldest daughter's bed. I mentioned it back in a post in June when I showed you her room.



Since we were planning to put our house on the market in July, I thought it would be better to make it as art so we could take it with us if the house sold. So, Mr. Fanatic glued two pieces of hardboard together.

I painted the hardboard with the same paint as what we painted my daughter's room.


This took me no time at all...so WHY did I wait so long?

Next, I cut apart the pieces of vinyl and placed them where I wanted them on the painted backerboard.

 I peeled of the thicker white paper backing and then burnished the vinyl onto the board through the see through thinner paper. Then I peeled the thin paper off.


Here's how it turned out. I will show you how it looks on the wall another time. Hopefully, it won't take me six months to put it up on the wall!!! LOL!!!
Hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving!

Pam


UPDATE: You can see the artwork on the wall by clicking HERE!














Tuesday, November 23, 2010

Color For Winter

It's a little sad when the last of the fall color is gone. This fall has been pretty spectacular, though, and the fall colors have really lingered.
We still have a teenie bit of color around town, but we're expected to get rain tonight all of the rest color will be gone by this weekend. That's where pansies come in! Their sweet colorful flowers last all winter and through May in our part of the country.


My  planters were looking a little sad after my chrysanthemums died because it stayed so hot through the end of September.

These flowers make me smile just looking at them!

The planters on the deck were looking pretty sad too!


Here, they are after. My cat Buddy sleeps in the center pot, so I can't plant anything in there!




Hope everyone has a wonderful Thanksgiving!

Pam

Sunday, November 21, 2010

Organized Armoire

Storage can be pretty as well as functional. 
Our oldest daughter's room was totally disorganized and needed a place for all her girl stuff.
I thought an armoire would be perfect for her so I scoured Craigslist and found one that could be transformed.

 I turned a regular old armoire found on Craigslist to an totally organized jewelry/makeup/t shirt cabinet. 
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We bought an armoire almost a year ago on Craigslist.
Our oldest daughter had an overflowing walk in closet and she had a difficult finding everything. 
She does her hair in her bedroom because the upstairs bath she shares with her sister is small and couldn't hold all of her things. 
You'll understand why by the time you get to the end of this post.
The armoire was partially organized, but it was still a mess because she still didn't have enough space. It looked like this:
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I took inventory of my daughter's things and felt she needed one more 1/2 shelf on the top part of the armoire and she really needed more shelves in the bottom of the armoire. She had well over 200 tops in the hanging part of her closet. It was so crammed that it was difficult to hang things up...so they ended up on the floor.
 If her junk stuff in the bottom of the armoire could be put somewhere else, then the tops that could be folded, would fit in the lower section.
The first thing we did was order some adjustable bed risers so that the clear boxes would fit under the bed.
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The previous owner of the armoire cut out the back for the TV and this had to be fixed.
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So, Mr. Fanatic cut some a thin sheet of backer board, 2 full shelves and a 1/2 shelf & I painted them with some leftover oil base black paint.
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Since it was so dark inside on the top and a girl needs to see what she's got, we thought it would be a good idea to install a fluorescent light inside. 
Here's what the top looks like now
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Awhile back I ordered Bling-eez  online (link on Amazon below) and put them on the top left door. She still needed more room to hold all of her rings and bracelets.
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So, I used a box lid for her bracelets(in back), and a divided tray for her rings and other miscellaneous jewelry. Yes, those are 4 sections of rings, plus all the ones on the left door! The girl loves to dress up.
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She keeps all her curling irons and flat irons in one of the baskets, and hair products in the other basket. There is a switched outlet strip between the baskets, so she can leave the curling irons plugged in and just turn off the switch.  I LOVE that! My daughter hooks the curling irons on the edge of the basket to cool.
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We installed a mirror on the right top door so she can do her hair here.
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Ah, much better!!!
The half shelf on top really freed up some space and doesn't cover up the things below because it's only 10" deep.
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Here's what we did on the bottom...
There was already a shallow roll out shelf in the lower portion of the armoire which is perfect for my daughter's hair extensions. Yep, she's got a lot of hair!
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We had some drawer guides left over from when we installed her closet several years ago,  (yes, we keep EVERYTHING!), so I thought it would be wonderful to have the shelves roll out. This is important especially because the armoire is very deep.
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All three shelves roll out.
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I told you she had a lot of tops! Remember, these are only her folded tops! She has two hanging racks of tops in her closet! You should see her shoes! But, that's another story.
Bottom Before:
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Bottom After:
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Top Before:
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Top After:
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Armoire Before:
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Armoire After:
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I really love organizing things and love when the project comes out being so functional and looks great!

If you liked the above post, you might like to see how we organized our youngest daughter's jewelry. You can find the post by clicking here.
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Pam

update: my daughter has since moved all the way across the country and was unable to take her "command center" with her. The armoire is still in her old room waiting for a new purpose.

P.S: the  dimensions of the armoire are 68 1/2" tall x 21 1/2" deep x 38" wide.






Friday, November 19, 2010

Happy Friday Everyone!

I know, I know, I've been MIA. Haven't had much time this week to do much of anything except shop and do errands. Before you get all excited, it's mostly been grocery shopping. Seems my pantry got a little low with me being sick for over a week! (I still have a cough that won't go away) So, it was off to Walmart, Costco, Trader Joe's, the pharmacy, the Vet and of course, Marshalls (twice) and HomeGoods. 
As for home projects, I am still working on the inside of my oldest daughter's armoire:


Because it looked like this inside!

The girl has a walk in closet, but it is overflowing with her over 200 tops, 50 pair of shoes, numerous dresses, handbags and scarves! I needed to organize the armoire so some of her 200+ tops would fit in here and be accessible.

It will definitely be ready to show you on Sunday evening for Metamorphosis Monday and DIY Project Parade, so I hope you will stop by and see it.

Hope you have a great weekend!

Pam

Monday, November 15, 2010

For All Those Flying This Holiday Season

Sorry this is so off topic, but I wanted to spread the word so you could be aware of what is going on and so you won't get caught off guard if you are going to fly this Holiday Season, especially in the next week.
Many people are upset by the new procedures at airports in the past week or so and hopefully something can be done about it. Search the Internet as this is going on in all US airports & there are many other complaints besides the one in the following link:


You should never have to explain to your children, "remember, that no stranger can touch or see your private area, unless it's a government employee, then it's ok."

Needless to say, I have written my Congressperson, both my Senators and have posted on many politicians' Facebook page to stop this insanity!

Thanks for listening!
Pam


Wednesday, November 10, 2010

JACK!E MCFEE

Mr. Fanatic sent me a link this morning about designer Jackie McFee who lives in our area. You might own some of her work and not even know it - I have several of her designs and I didn't! Her fun and splashy designs are everywhere! Ever been to Walmart or Target?


All of her designs are super cute. She has several collections, but my favorite is the Kendall Kollection which was inspired by Jackie's two year old cousin being diagnosed with Leukemia. You can read about it here.



Ok, I like the Cotton Candy collection, too...

And, who couldn't LOVE the Hot Chocolate collection!!!

Jackie's designs are getting pretty popular these days and have been seen around Hollywood
Miley Cyrus loves them!
And they on the ever popular Glee!
Thanks to all of you who came by yesterday and said that you hoped I'd get better soon...All of those well wishes definitely worked as I am feeling much better today! Now I just have to try hard not to overdo it trying to catch up on everything!
Have a wonderful day!
Pam