42,000 hits. A Diny. And more.

First of all, y'all who make their beds every day...seriously. You make all us slackers look soooo bad!! (50 percent of you said you make your bed every day on my poll. Gag.) I only make fun because I am seriously jealous. I tried to do this for about three days straight...and was way too lazy to keep it going. I love how I feel when I walk in our bedroom and the bed is made though. You may have inspired me. (Not really, just saying that.)


Also, I have to give out a big Whoot Whoot to all you who have checked out my blog in the past month. I went from 2,000 hits to 44 thousand plus hits in just the month of October. I know, hits don't really tell you much about how many visits you really have, blah blah blah, but I'm happy, OK? I love hits and I love comments!! Yay!! I have to give a shout out to all my friends who got me to 2,000 -- Jenny, AnNicole, Cheryl, the BC girls, the Rocks ladies, and all my girlfriends who supported me from the start. Love you.


Beware if you see this tonight:



It's a ferocious Diny -- a Triceratops to be exact. Thing is, this Diny doesn't like to wear his head, which is the best part of the costume. Really. But we trick-or-treated around Daddy's school today and he at least wore most of it. And he won't take a nap today, which is going to make for a real fun night. Roar.



OK, my next poll is about the music thingys people put on their blogs. I have a love/hate relationship with these. Love them because I love to hear what music people listen to. Hate them because I'll forget to turn my sound down and will wake sleeping Hubby or scare the beejeebies out of the cats. You tell me if you want it on here. I don't care either way. Just so you know, I swear, promise, cross my heart, assure you that I won't play all NKOTB music on mine. (I'm totally lying.)

OH, and

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!!

Have fun with your goblins!!

P.S. It's ON tomorrow ladies...get to the Christmasy crafting!!

P.S.S.S.S. I got my necklace from Glitter and Bliss yesterday and it is GORG! Go check her out!

Last minute Halloween.

First of all, drop everything and get to Target!! ALL their Halloween scrapbooking stuff is on clearance! They have some caaute stuff!

Second of all, Good LORD, when did candy get so expensive?? I dropped $25 on candy and I still doubt we'll have enough for all the kiddos. (Need to keep a few for me. Shhh!)

Third, here we go with a few last minute Halloween stuff I've put together in the past week or so. I had some leftover wood from my laundry room table, so I made an itty bitty Eek sign. Price: free!!


I actually have a ton of extra wood I'm going to try making some fun Christmas stuff with. :) I saw these labels here a couple weeks ago, and have been looking for bottles since. I finally found bud vases at WalMart the other day. (I HATE Walmart!! I just took a quick trip in and was so happy I found them.) I had the cork stoppers, and used green food coloring with water. So fun:



Cheap glitteries (made that word up, thanks) from Joann Etc. stuck in my fake foliage. Yes, I like fake foliage. Sheesh, that bottom greenery looks so bad close up though! Ack!!





I find the BEST stuff at thrift stores and consignment shops!! I told you about my love of them here. The thrift shops I frequent are various Goodwill stores. Consignment shops are a bit different -- they sell items that people like YOU bring in. It's a great set up -- take advantage of it if you have one nearby!! When I decluttered this year I took a TON of stuff to a local shop. I have received many checks in the mail, but the best part is if you catch them before they send out checks, you have a credit in their computer. So credit = free fun things for you!! I also took a ton of our clothes to a couple shops and we've made $60 so far. Try it out. I found this fun Halloween garland for $3:

These were Goodwill finds. The thingy on the left was a cheese platter -- I painted the wood platter black and added a pedestal to the bottom. Now it's kinda like a cloche. Love it. The little cloche on the right is one of my all time finds just because it's so fun! I think it was a candle holder that sat in a holder. But turned upside down, on a $.35 wooden pedestal I painted black, it's a teeny tiny cloche!

This was the find of the season...the easel part on the back was broken off, so I got 70 percent off...the SALE price!! It was $20 and I got it for $3.50. I was going to string cobwebs all over it but I'm pooping out...Christmas is on the brain you know...

Finally, my little pumpkin/candle my stepmom got me for my birthday. So fun! I threw some little ceramic pumpkins in there:

I made a promise to myself I would NOT work on anything Christmas-related till November 1. I've been pretty good. The projects are lined up, ready to go...but I've been good. We're busy all day Saturday though, so I may have to start around 11 p.m. on the 31st. Shhh!! Don't tell!!

P.S. I said "fun" about 20 times.

P.P.S. Our son is doing great!! Still sore, with a nasty bruise over the fracture, but doing so well. Thanks again for your well wishes. We really do appreciate it. :)

P.P.S.S. (??) OK, I played a kid's Christmas CD in the car for my son last week. Shut it.

P.P.P.P.S.S. I just ate a whole bag of popcorn by myself.

Third time is a charm?

I'm on drapery No. 3 in our dining room. And I think I'm finally happy...but not done yet! More about that later. First, another short TOOT on drapery-making on the cheap:

Let's review. Hemming tape: (Have you gotten some yet?? I mean, reallllllly...)


Put your good side of the fabric against the lining and hem. Do I have to remind you how easy this is??




If you are just doing simple drapes, just leave a little hole at the bottom, and turn the drape inside out. Then iron the hem like this, and use the tape to iron the hole shut:




If this is all your doing...you're DONE!!! Done, I tell you! EASY!!! But I like to add a little somethin' somethin' to mine so I kept going. First, I must show the transition of these drapes so you get the full effect. This is another Before and After that I kind of cringe at...I shouldn't, but I just don't like them now. These are the drapes I made when we moved in...



I shouldn't hate on myself like this, I mean, they were pretty. They were a gold and cream stripe. But I was trying to be thrifty so I cut the width of fabric in half, so they were too skimpy. And the color was completely lost against the wall.

So I moved onto to this -- got a deal on the fabric and LOVED. IT. Gorg!! But again, was being cheap thrifty, and did a half panel on each side. And they STILL melted right into the wall. Did I learn the first time? NO:



But you'll notice I did replace the itty bitty teeny tiny candle on that huge massive long table with more appropriately sized candles. I'm getting there, I swear.

So let's continue the Toot. I ended up using some of the flowery fabric in combination with the red fabric, but because I'm lazy, I just hemmed the old drapes onto the new and this left the lining hanging out (yes, I know you can barely see it. I was bothered by it, OK??):



So what's a lazy, thrifty girl to do? Trim!!



Isn't it perfect?? And it was less than $7!!

And this is what I ended up with:

I think I love them. I really think I do. Now, I'm going to work on a new method of hanging them and I have an idea I think will work great...I'll let you know if it works. I'm sure some cussing will be involved, but you'll be spared that. I also have some fun ideas in store for the cabinet...again, that looks fantastic in my mind...but we'll see how it turns out. :) The ceiling is going to get a new treatment too -- but I can just feel the crick in my neck just thinking about it, so that may be awhile. I am trying to get this little redo done before the holidays so it is spiffy for the lavish dinners we make for all our dinner parties. HA!!! Not.

Thanks SO MUCH for your sweet thoughts and prayers for our sweet Bub. He is doing SO much better!! The resilience of children simply amazes me. He had a great night's sleep and was playing like normal most of the day. Every once and a while he moves the wrong way and makes the cutest scrunched up owwie face. And sometimes he still gets upset, but he's doing fantastic. I can't thank you enough for your kind thoughts and words.

P.S. Annoying!! I loaded my pics first and they still won't enlarge! Argggh!

P.P.S. Don't look too close...the trim on the left panel is about half an inch lower than the one on the right. Seriously. Don't look. I only wish you could see the back of these!! Scary.

My poor Bub.

Just wanted to leave a quick note tonight -- would love some thoughts and prayers for our sweet Boy. Nothing too serious, but he's in a whole lot of pain. We were with family tonight...kids were playing...long story short...our Bub got checked big time by a much older kiddo (by accident of course).

We soon realized it was serious, went to the ER and he has a fractured clavicle bone. Should heal in one to two weeks, but he is in a serious amount of pain. Our tough guy has never cried in his life like he has tonight. Momma and Dadda have cried a bit too...as you all know, it's so hard to see your baby (no matter the age) in that kind of pain.

Just wanted to let you all know in case I'm not able to post much this week. I hope that he'll be on the upswing soon, but there's no telling how he'll feel in the next few days. Take care all!!

An announcement and a few things

Well, I am completely humbled by all your sweet comments on my laundry room. You all know how to make a girl feel good about herself, really. :) I am SO thrilled when I hear that I have inspired you. That is what I'm here for and why I started this blog!!

Also, so glad you like the new background. Dunce that I am, I finally figured out how to change it! And the little ghosts and bat (aren't they freakin' cauuuute??) are from http://www.pyzam.com/. It's super easy to install them. (Thanks Jen!!) My son loves them too and is on my lap begging for them right now!! :)

I must say I am humbled by the poll I posted as well -- almost 60 percent of you said you would spend a lot less on the holidays this year. I guess I was expecting it, with the times we are in, but it was a good reminder. So I will do my best to try to include some thrifty gift ideas as well as decorating ideas for the season, of course!

Quick question -- anyone know why my pictures won't enlarge when they are clicked? I love being able to enlarge pics on blogs and haven't figured out how to do that on mine. Any suggestions are appreciated!!

Finally, I am thrilled to announce that I have been asked to contribute to the Blissfully Domestic Web site, under the Creative Bliss section. I am SO excited and honored to be involved with this great site. It's funny how things come full circle -- I have my bachelor's and (research paper short of) my master's in journalism/public relations. I've always been a writer at heart. So between this new gig and this blog, I am so happy I get to combine my two loves -- decorating and writing. I will let you know when I post my first article. (Should be sometime this week.)

Thanks again ladies! I'll be back soon with another drapery redo! Stay tuned!

Spray paint finger.

Does anyone have a cure for the pain of spray painting? I have spray painted SO MANY THINGS over the past five days, I've lost count. I even had to sleep with a heating pad wrapped around my arm one night. Not kidding.

So I was trying not to spend any money last weekend, (STOP laughing, I'm for real!), so I figured I'd do a few things in our laundry/mud room. A few things turned into about 25, but I'm so pleased with how it turned out. About a year ago, I had added the black beadboard to the room. I loved the black and yellow combo, so I kept going with that. This is some of the before:

I took the wire shelving down, bought a piece of MDF (for less than $5) and had it cut to size. I painted it black, and used iron shelf brackets (that I already had -- the were cream, now they're black) to put the shelf up:

I found two more canvas storage cubes a few weeks ago on sale at Target, and put all the odds and ends in those. I found a black and white ribbon that I loved, but the white was a little too stark. I actually soaked it in tea and yellow food coloring and it did the trick! Here they are all dressed up!: (By the way, the little white trash can is for the lint from the dryer. I don't know what I'd do without it there!)

The art is another poster from Hobby Lobby that was only $5! I cut them up and framed them:

I'm going to change this one out with the larger frames like up above once I get another mat made. I love the look of lamps in the laundry room, but for more than FOUR years, I've thought didn't have enough outlets. Duh, once I looked, I had plenty to work with. I got the lamp at Goodwill for $6! (It had a price tag of $49 on the bottom, NOT kidding!!) I covered the shade with $1 fabric. I also got the tray for a buck. Spray painted that too. Poor finger! I got the little ceramic container for $3 at a consignment shop, spray painted that! Poor, poor finger!!:

I LOVE how it looks with just the lamp on! So cozy!

I like having a towel near the washer, so I found a little $1 tray thingy at Goodwill, spray painted it, (shocking!) added fabric to the middle, and a cute knob at the bottom:

My favorite part of the redo was another consignment find -- the area next to the door was so bare, and I couldn't decide what I wanted there. I thought, maybe a clock, maybe a chalkboard...and at the consignment shop today...I found THIS!! It's BOTH!! And it was only $9!!!

Whooty who!! Can you even believe how perfect it is?? I will probably add some magnetic paint that I already have to it soon, and then another chalkboard layer. Loooove it!

Here are a few other views of the room -- my Ballard Designs rug that is just perfect and was less than $40 (I got this awhile back):

I got the idea for the table for between the washer and dryer from Shannon -- all it took was wood I already had, cut to size for the top and bottom, 1 x 2 wood cut to size for the legs, and brackets to hold it together. Then I painted the top and added the fabric to the front. I can use it for storage underneath!:

I added the new hardware the folding doors a long time ago. They were brass before (ew!) but now I love them:

The bench was from Overstock.com a couple years ago. The baskets hide the shoes perfectly:

I found little clothespins at Hobby Lobby, and yes, painted them black:

The vinyl lettering is from Uppercase Living. It makes the whole room:

The Southern Living hooks keep everything out of the way, and the little organizer by the door makes it so I HAVE to open and sort the mail as soon as I get in the door. Hate but love that thing!!

Soon I want to continue the black beadboard behind the washer and dryer (I was way too lazy to do it before) and add chunky black crown molding:

I will be sure to show you all when I do it! Here are some of the goodies before -- the topiary thing is the black towel holder now! And check out that tray! Sheesh!:

Oh, and I'm NOT spray painting another thing for a MONTH!! OK, maybe a week!! OK, really, probably tomorrow.

Have you been BOOED?

Our neighborhood does this little tradition every year, and it's one of those little things about the holidays that I love. This year no one has started it yet, so I gathered the goodies and the Bub and I pulled it together tonight.

If you haven't done this, you'll need some gift bags, candy, and your printer. This time I used this little poem:

The air is cool, the season fall,

Soon Halloween will come to all.

Ghosts and goblins, spooks galore...

Tricky witches at your door.

The spooks are after things to do,

In fact a spook brought this "Boo" to you!

The excitement comes when friends like you,

Copy this note and make it two.

We'll all have smiles upon our faces,

No one will know who "BOO"ed who's places!

Just two short days to work your spell,

Keep it secret, hide it well.

Please join the fun, the seasons here.

Just spread these "BOO's" and Halloween cheer.

And this cute ghost:

Gather everything and put it in the bags...

Then you sneak to the front porch of three random neighbors and leave the treat for them! Oh, and FYI, not so easy to sneak with an almost two-year-old giggling the whole way. ;)

You can find the poem and directions here and the ghost here (or you can copy and paste it from this post.)

I have a few more little Halloween decorations to share and my mud room project -- I'll be back tomorrow!

Things that make you go hmmmm...

How does this:

Become this:

In less than five minutes?

But it takes about twenty to clean it up? And the bigger question -- why do I continue to clean it? What's that definition of insanity again?

More about me and nap time for you.

OK, so I guess one of these wasn't really an award, I was tagged. I was still super excited though, so I'm going to say it was an award. Alrighty? OK.

So Suzi over at Pink Vanilla Cupcakes tagged me and this is what I have to do:

Link to the person who tagged you and post the rules in your post.
Share 7 random/weird facts about yourself.
Tag 7 random people at the end of your blog and link to their blogs.
Let each person know they've been tagged by leaving a comment in their blog.

Here we go -- this was hard for me to come up with!!

1. My ears stick out BIG time. I was thrown an occasional "Dumbo" in elementary school even. (I'm over it now though! Kinda.) So for all of my 33 years, or at least as long as I can remember, I have been trying to get my hair to cover them. Every. single. time. I go to the salon, I say, can we do a lot of layers to hide these?? I've had long hair all my life until about six months ago when I got it cut fairly short, and it's stayed like that cause it gives my lifeless hair some body and covers the ears.

2. I'm a political junky. Love this time of year!! (Said in a sing song voice.) My family has always been into politics and it's trickled down to me. Election night is a freakin' event in our home, I'm kinda sick with it. I am very passionate about my beliefs, but what's most important to me is that people really learn about the candidates. And I would NEVER bash anyone for their choice. As much as I lean to one side, I would vote for the other side in a heartbeat if I thought the person was capable.

3. I think I'm a very odd, atypical woman. We didn't have a big wedding, in fact, we took three close family members to New York City and got married there. And we planned it that way for months. I had no desire to have a big wedding, or to spend money on a wedding. I'm a freak!! Also, I didn't get married till I was 29 -- and we were together for a LONG time before that. There were many times I wanted to just do it, but now I'm glad we waited. Finally, I do all the painting, woodworking, repairs, etc. in our home. I get it from my Dad and Grandfathers. There is nothing more fun to me than working on our home with my hands and seeing the result.

4. I have SIX siblings, but I was an only child for almost ten years. My parents had my sister right before they divorced, and I have two additional half sisters, a half brother, a stepsister and stepbrother. My Dad loves kids. ;) I love that I've had both -- being an only and now having so many siblings. But on the flip side, Hubby and I will probably not have any more children. Not because we can't, we are just so content with our family as it is right now.

5. I check to see if my curling iron is off and unplugged about ten times before I leave for the day. EVERY time I use it. I used to be a lot worse at this -- I would have to check it more than that. Now I have to look at it, say out loud to myself -- "Sarah, it's off!" and then remember where the plug is laying so I can remind myself of that later on. I have turned around in the car and ran up the stairs many a time to check. Freak, I tell you!! I don't do this with anything else and I swear I'm not OCD!!

6. I've mentioned this here, but I'm a total New Kids on the Block fan. I was originally about, oh....18 years ago or so. And I mean, we were fans. Like -- I'm at a concert in the 350th row, but I know you see me Jonathan, I know you're looking right into my eyes and you're falling in love and you're going to send someone out here to the 350th row to bring me backstage and we're going to fall in love and have 15 kids -- kind of fans. So now that they've reemerged it's been so fun for all of us to reminisce. Shout out to all my fellow NKOTB lovas!!!

7. Geez, this is HARD!! Ummm...well, I have to sleep with about 15 pillows to sleep. (A bit of an exaggeration, yes.) I used to only need two. Then pregnancy happened and I needed about 20. So I'm down from that number. I used to always tell Hubby, don't worry, you'll have room in the bed again after the Bub is born. Nope, sorry 'bout ya Love. Still loving all my pillows.

OK, are you asleep yet?? WAKE UP!! There's MORE!! Yaaaeeeeeee!!

Lynette over at Lynette's L.A.M. Blog was so sweet to give me this:

I have to list six things I value and six I don't:

1. Of course, my sweet husband, my patootie Bub, my stepdaughter, my family and friends. (Like how I snuck about 16 in there?)

2. Our health.

3. Fountain drinks. Ahhhhh...I love me a good, crisp fountain Coke. LOVE 'em!!

4. My time with my son. I am so fortunate that my husband was so willing for me to leave the 9 to 5 world so I could follow my dream of being a decorator. And along with that dream comes a dream work schedule -- I only "work" about 20 hours a week. And I say "work" cause I don't feel like it's work, and the days I work are rarely full. I don't take this lightly -- I feel so completely blessed and fortunate for this life and I thank God every day.

5. This country. I've been lucky enough to travel overseas to some amazing places, but they make me even more thankful for home. I know there are plenty of issues we need to deal with, but this country is great and I feel lucky to be able to live in the USA.

6. Our home. It's not about material things -- but I do love them because they make this house a home. I love everything in our home. (Well, almost!!) But what I love most is the way we feel when we walk in the door. And it's makes my heart smile when a friend tells me how comfy and at home they feel here too.

Things I don't value:

1. People who crinkle in the movie theater, musical, play, whatever. QUIT IT!!! And don't drag it out for five minutes! Just tear the wrapper off the candy and EAT IT!

2. Judgemental people. I learned a long time ago -- as soon as you judge, karma comes around and bites you in the butt!! I have experienced enough in my life to know that you never know what you're going to do until the day you have to do it.

3. People who wave for you to go ahead at a four way stop when you SO OBVIOUSLY STOPPED WAY BEFORE THEM. This drives me nuts. And what's more annoying is that I slow down on purpose to avoid this and people still do it ALL the time. Argh!! (Dangit, why do they have to be so NICE??)

4. The kids who wear their jeans down to their knees. Ew. I just want to go yank them down.

5. Spiders. All I'm going to say about that.

6. Solicitors. Except the cute little Girl Scouts and Boy Scouts!

I have to add one because of the time of year:

7. Kids who are, ohh, I dunno, like 18 who trick or treat?! Or kids who are 18 and trick or treat and don't dress up?!

OK, you can get up from your nap now...I'm done. Did you enjoy your five minute snooze? I've got your back, I know it's been a long day and you needed that. I'm all about YOU!!

So I have to pass this onto some ladies don't I? Here we go:

1. Bella over at Bella Casa.

2. Erin at Shades of Color.

3. Kara at Inspired Kara.

4. Jen at Time Out For Me.

5. Lorie at Be Different...Act Normal.

6. Angie at The Happy Homebody.

All of these ladies have amazing, creative sites that you must check out! I know I was supposed to pick some for each award (OK, I know one was just a tag!!) but it's late and I'm whooped. I'll let these ladies know tomorrow, but if you get a chance, stop by to see them! And thanks Lynette and Suzi! I'm honored!