Haul Out The Holly

I think we finally have our home dudded up for the holidays.
I found some beautiful garlands at JoAnn's last week (60% off!). One for the mirror in the formal living room.

And the china cabinet as well.

We love the bird nests on this one.


Our tree is a "family " tree, with the kids being in charge of decorating. Every year they receive a new ornament from my parents on Thanksgiving. Also new this year are home made bird ornaments.

And a souvenir from our trip to California.

Nothing better than cuddling up under a quilt in front of the fire.

This quilt is made from the Moda Peace on Earth fabric line.

I made 5 of these Christmas stockings a few years ago when I was pregnant with my 3rd and absolutely sure that baby would be our last. Yet, I still saved the pattern and extra fabric - just in case. I think this is proof that deep down I knew we would have one more...and we did (she's almost 2!).

The little blue chalkboard (that was never hung on the pantry door like I intended) has been spruced up as well.

And a little belief in the miracle of the Savior's birth. So grateful we can spend this time of year celebrating Him and his life.

Merry Christmas!

To see more (700 + more!) beautiful holiday homes check out the Christmas Tour of Homes at the Nesting Place.

Painted Plates

I've been playing around with the china cabinet again. Well not so much the cabinet itself, but rather its contents. I thought it needed a new color palette for the holiday season. And well, I just can't seem to leave things alone.

This is how it looked before...

I put away most of the dishes and plates on display and started fresh. The good news: I didn't spend any money, just made-over stuff we already had.

For instance, we had an old scratched up platter. It wasn't much to look at, and we never used it. So I spray painted it red (with paint from the garage stash) and then antiqued it.

Also had a thrifted Waverly tablecloth I found a while back. Wasn't using it either. I cut out part of the floral pattern...

And Modge Podged it onto the platter.

Earlier this year I found some plates at the Salvation Army that were 25 cents each. They had a few minor chips and scratches, but really pretty details. Also not being used.

I spray painted some of these red, like the platter, and some Sea Glass (also left over from previous projects). Then they were also antiqued.

There were a couple of old frames collecting dust in storage, so they too were given a fresh coat of paint.

And set on top of the china cabinet.

A whole new, budget friendly, look.

I still want to embellish it with a pine garland laced with clear lights, just as soon as I catch my breath. So much to do - concerts, recitals and parties...and oh the shopping that still needs to happen. Tis the season.

Happy Holidays!

Little Vintage Mirror Re-do

This one is pretty self explanatory. For a while now, I've had a little vintage mirror. The same one that used to hang in my grandparents bedroom, but it has been in need of a bit of work.

Today I decided it was time. I was the crazy lady outside spray painting in my pajamas before the kids woke up.

I enlisted 2 of my favorite makeover tools...

Sprayed and then went to work with the "Purdy" brush. See how easy antiquing is? Just wiped off the extra glaze with a wet cloth.

And after drying in the morning sun for a 1/2 hour, it was ready to hang.

A Little "Loo" Re-do

Not much going on in my neck of the woods, so on a whim, I decided to link up to the Nester's "10 Minutes to a Room you Love" Linky Party.

Our kid's bathroom is growing up. It went from fishy . . .

To beach house chic . . .

Amazing how much it improved just by changing the shower curtain. The new colors are some of my current favorites: soft aqua's and coral pinks (bet you never would have guessed). I LOVE this fabric!

I threw into the mix some photos of my favorite little beach bums (there were fish pictures in these frames) . . .

Spruced up some beachy knick-knacks . . .

Found a friend (she was in the bedroom) . . .

Added some cottonball storage (I found this one at the thrift store for $1.50 - matches perfectly!) . . .

Pilfered an iron basket from the kitchen to house a few rolled up towels (just trying to spa it up a bit) . . .

And Wa-La . . . a whole new look! Wonder how long it will last. Now I need to quit playing around and go fold some laundry. To see more 10 minute makeovers check out the Nesting Place. I am sure that is what I will really be doing.

Got Clutter?

Wendy over at The Shabby Nest is having a Taming Kid Clutter party, since clutter is definitely my forte (not necessarily the taming part) I thought it would be fun to play along. I am the lucky mom of 4 very lively offspring. They are messy and they have oodles of kid stuff, so clutter is an all too real part of our life. For me the idea of truly conquering our kid clutter is akin to believing in the tooth fairy, but I have found a few ways to help tame the clutter beast.

FAMILY ROOM: Our main floor family room is right off of our kitchen, so we spend a lot of time in this space. As much as I would like for it to be free of kid stuff, it's not gonna happen. The solution: a coffee and 2 end tables with drawers. Affordable ones, so we don't freak out when the inevitable scratches occur.

Most of the time the contents of these drawers (2 more on the other side) are on the floor. Thanks to my one year old. But it is a quick clean up, and I can keep an eye on her while I am cooking.

Both end table drawers contain books. We read every day so it is important to keep a few handy.

PLAY ROOM: We actually do have a play area downstairs. My favorite storage item in this room is Big Red (originally posted about here). It was a hand-me-down eyesore, but now it is a real work horse.

It can hold all sorts of kid stuff, from games,

to Littlest People.

LAUNDRY/MUDROOM: This room has been a major problem area for clutter. It's the dumping ground where shoes, coats & backpacks are discarded as soon as we walk in the door. There is a coat closet in this space, but most of our kids are too small to reach the hangers so their coats would end up in a pile on the countertop, or on the floor. Our solution was a wall of hooks.

It has made a huge difference, and was a piece of cake to make: wide molding & trim, spray paint & heavy duty iron hooks.

BATHROOM: The downstairs bathroom is equipped with a black armoire to help store beach towels, bath toys, hair things and anything else that you would find in a kids bathroom.

BEDROOMS: My kids are obsessed with all things miniature.

I made my boys denim quilts with pocket borders to store their tiny treasures.

Perfect for rocks, coins and even Mater.

I posted about this changing table not so long ago. It's another piece of old furniture we refinished.

I love keeping all of the diapering gear out of sight.

Now my six year old daughter is the queen of clutter at our house. She's a pack-rat supreme who loves keeping her goods in close proximity. Nesting boxes come in handy for storing some of her loot.

As well as her nightstand (another refurbished piece), which doubles as a toy box.

And I am all over using the under the bed storage space. All of my kids have tubs that slide under their beds. There are tubs everywhere in our house.

There you have it. Are we clutter free? Not even close. But I try. OK, somedays I try. Other days we just look the other way and play.