My Favorite Room Re-Do

From Doo-doo

To Re-do:

Happy New Year!

I'm linking to one of my very favorite blogs, The Lettered Cottage.

We bought our home about three years ago. It still had window units - no central air conditioning system (in Alabama- ugh!! Can you imagine!?). The house had been built in 1940 and had been lived in by the same family the entire time. The owner's husband died in the 1970s, and everything remained the same from then on. When you walked into the foyer, bi-centennial wallpaper greeted you. The walls were all plaster and were covered in layers upon layers of wallpaper. It was really interesting to remove one layer of wallpaper only to see the previous decade 's wallpaper completely reflective of that decade. I remember wondering if we would EVER finish. M and I completed most of the labor ourselves. We were adding an addition that we contracted out, but to save $$, we decided to "do" most of the existing house ourselves. The house was VERY well built, but it needed lots of TLC.

The bedroom above seemed overwhelming. M (my husband) really wanted to just take the built-ins to the side of the curb. Honestly, I kind of wanted to, too. There was SO much work to do and I wasn't sure I had it in me to approach this seemingly overwhelming task. But I decided that I would try to tackle the project and it soon became a labor of love. And it is now my favorite room in the house!

Alright...I've just decided....I'm going to commit the month of January to blogging about the process of transforming this old house. I love my house. There, I said it. I love it. That felt great. :)

So stay tuned. I can't wait to show you the Before and After of the outside of the house. Unreal.

(p.s. If it sounds like I'm "bragging" on my house...I totally am! I am so sorry! I can't help it! It was HARD WORK and I'm so proud of the finished result! So now I'm bragging and I'm proud!?

Yikes! I'll work on these "issues" in 2010 - I promise. Resloution #1: Find some humility, please.)

New Year's Eve Gift Baskets

Need a quick, easy, cute, and inexpensive gift for someone by New Year's Day? How about a hostess gift for the New Year's Eve party? A gift for a neighbor? Or a gift for the friend who unexpectedly gave you a Christmas gift but you didn't have one for him/her? Well I've gotcha covered! I transformed these old baskets:

Into the above New Year''s Day gift baskets.

I made MANY of these baskets this morning with just a few ingredients and just a few steps.

I transferred store bought bags of black-eyes peas and rice to clear cellophane bags that I then tied off with half-price Christmas ribbon.
Then I added a bow to a box of Jiffy corn bread mix (49 cents - can't beat that!)
A added a little curly ribbon around a bottle of Tabasco.

And voila!

I went to the thrift store this morning and bought several 50 cent wicker and Easter baskets. I sprayed them with gold paint (I didn't worry about spraying the bottom of the baskets or even the inside of the basket because I lined it with gold tissue paper - also half off from Christmas). I added the "Happy New Year" hat in the larger baskets. I found them for 59 cents at Walgreens. You could also add some noisemakers or blowers, just for fun.

I made up this little poem that I attached to the top of each basket:

In the South, it is tradition

to get your black-eyed pea nutrition

So simmer the peas,

Boil the rice,

Bake the cornbread,

then add some spice.

From our house to yours, Happy New Year, friend.

Best Wishes to you in 2010!

(FYI - I just heard this today. We are supposed to pronounce the year "2010" "Twenty ten" not "two thousand and ten).

Have fun! And Happy New Year to you and yours!

Linking to Today's Creative Blog
A Soft Place to Land ,
and Toot Your Horn Tuesday.

On Wednesday, I'm linking to We are that Family, The Thrifty Homehttp://www.thethriftyhome.com/2009/12/14th-penny-pinching-party.html,

Reindeer Moonpie

Hi Friends! I'm sooooo sorry that it has been so long since I've posted! I just haven't had a whole lot of time to blog, but I've got a lot of stuff to show you over the next few days.

We're making these Reindeer Moon pies for all of the kids in my daughter's kindergarten class. I thought they turned out pretty cute and they were super EZ to make!

If you are "Room Mom of the Year", you could do these as a craft during their Christmas party!

I buy my MoonPies from the Cracker Barrel. If you don't have a Cracker Barrel in your town, just drive a little further. You're bound to come across one in just a few miles. :)

You'll also need some Nilla Wafers that you will "glue" to the MoonPie with regular white icing (Betty Crocker, in the tub container).

I used these Atomic Fire Bombs from Cracker Barrel for Rudolph's nose. But you could also use a red gumball or even an M & M (although I think that the bigger nose it what makes it so cute).

Once you've assembled the face with the Nilla wafers, red nose, and M & Ms for eyes, you can serve it "as is", or you can put it on a lollipop stick. I think they're a little cuter on a stick.

For the "antlers", I used Kroger brand pretzel twist. I simply broke off the top portion so that they were no longer connected. They don't have to be perfect and the pair of antlers don't even have to match. It's kind of hard to break them off with your fingers, so if you are doing these for your own family, just bite them off! It's much easier!

I then wrapped them in cellophane and added a bow.

Helpful hint: Let the icing dry completely before attempting to wrap the MoonPie in cellophane. The nose tends to come off if the icing isn't completely dry.

Enjoy!

Hope you're all having a great holiday season!

I'm linking up to Reinvented, http://betweennapsontheporch.blogspot.com/2009/11/welcome-to-46th-metamorphosis-monday.htmlBetween Naps on the Porch

Last Minute Kid's Dessert for Thanksgiving

Cornucopia Cupcake!

If your kids (or grandkids) are anything like mine, they won't touch a pecan pie or a pumpkin pie with a ten-foot pole. ( I still won't taste a pumpkin pie!) As I was trying to decide what type of kid-friendly dessert to have for Thanksgiving, I remembered a cupcake that I had when I was little. I honestly don't think I've seen one on over 20 years.

The "cornucopia" is actually a Bugle. Hint: These are hard to find! In my grocery store, they are not sold by the chips. They are sold by the roasted peanuts and other nuts. The "fruit and veg tables" are Runts candy. These can be hard to find, too. If you can't find them at your grocery store, try a gas station/convenient store. I have even seen them sold out of a bubblegum type dispenser for 25 cents a handful.

Happy Turkey Day!!

Easy Christmas Countdown

Here's a quick and easy (and very cheap!) Christmas countdown:

I used the webbing (I really don't know what it's called) that is used for reupholstering furniture. You can find it at Hobby Lobby or at the fabric section in Wal-Mart. It comes on a roll and is sold by the yard (under $1.00 per yard).

I then hot-glued 25 strips of ribbon to the burlap strip. I found this ribbon at Hobby Lobby for half off (so that's 10 yards for $1.50. Wow!)

Then I tied the ribbon around the peppermints. I was trying to think of what else you could use instead of peppermint. You could use candy canes or lollipops, or even sticks of gum.

I attached 25 pieces of candy. On December 1st, we will begin counting down the days to Christmas by untying one piece of candy.

Hope you have a wonderful Holiday Season!!



I'm linking to Today's Creative Blog ,

A Soft Place to Land, Reinvented, and Tackle it Tuesday, and The DIY Showoff and Between Naps on the Porch.

Fun Thanksgiving Kid's Table

This was such a fun table to assemble!! The placemats are actually chalkboards that I made from 1/4" plywood. Don't let that scare you! This was EZ and cheap!! Buy a piece of finsihed 1/4" plywood from Lowes or HomeDepot and have them cut it for you (for free) before you leave. Two coats of chalkboard paint, and you're ready to go! I tied a pice of chalk to the little bag that holds their napkin and utensils. Hopefully this will keep the little turkeys busy while Mommy and Daddy enjoy some adult conversation!



I wrote their names on the placemat in chalk, as well. I used paper plates from Wal-MArt. The brown paper bags were free from the local gas station. I noticed them on the counter and asked the attendant if I could have a few.

I couldn't come up with a clever centerpice, so I just propped one of the chalkboards on an easel and wrote a fun message on it. I used the Turkey Moon Pies from this post to add a little fun to the place setting. I tried to coordiate the table around the ribbon that I tied onto the lollipop stick of the Turkey Moon Pie.

I hot glued a coordianting grosgrain ribbon onto the Gatorade bottle. I had some sunflower trim, so I added that, as well.

The kids were really excited when they walked in the kitchen tonight! Maybe I'll let them start using the chalkboard placemats tomorrow. Maybe.

I'm linking to Between Naps on the Porch and The Shabby Nest. Enjoy!

Turkey Moon Pies (yes,you read that correctly)

How fun are these turkey Moon Pies!?

My sister shared a picture with me a few weeks ago of Moon Pies made to look like owls. Which got me thinking...how can I make them look like turkeys for Thanksgiving?!

It was actually really simple! Cracker Barrel sells a box of Moon Pies (12) for $4.99. I used leftover Halloween candy corn for the tail feathers. I dipped the ends in white icing (just regular Duncan Hines) to act as glue. I inserted them into the marshmallow part of the Moon Pie. Then I spread a little white icing on the back of a Nutter Butter cookie. I used white icing to attach mini M&M's as eyes, and a red Jelly Belly as the gobbler-thingy.

I think they'd be cute with a name card attached to the stick (lollipop sticks from Hobby Lobby or Michael's), then just set on a plate on the "kid's table" at your Thanksgiving feast!

Some weekend eye candy

Now that the chaos of the Holidays is almost among us, sit back and enjoy the simplicity of this house. This is my younger sister's house. Her style is a mix of modern and fine antiques. The entire house is painted the same shade of white. Her furnishings really "pop" against her white background.

When you first open the front door, this is what you see straight ahead. The mirror is actually a door to the powder room. So rather than being greeted by a bathroom door when you first walk in, you are greeted with a n antiqued full-length mirror. Cool, huh?!

This is actually her dining room. The round table in the center of the room has 6 leaves that convert this small table into a substantial-sized dining room table. When it's not functioning as a dining room, it's looking good as a sitting room.

LOVE the antique screens against the back wall. She hung them rather than keeping them ion the floor.

This little area is one end of her breakfast nook. The adjacent wall looks the very same.

Take a look at this room!

Here's a close up of the chandelier hanging above the pool table. Notice the white beams, as well.

Here's a picture of the pool table that they had bleached so that would fit into their neutral color scheme. They had the green felt replaced with a taupe colored felt.

She loves her angel painting!

The following pics are of the angel staues that she has placed in her courtyard.

Hope you enjoyed!

Have a lovely weekend!