A Hopeful Project for 2011

We are hoping to begin a new home project in the Spring. It looks as though the time is right for renovating our downstairs bathroom.

I have found some of the most inspiring bathroom photos, however, these rooms seem to be quite large...bigger-than-our-master-bedroom...large. Our bathroom is tiny. TINY. I'm sure many of you have closets bigger than our bathroom. It's maybe 6 foot by 7 foot?

Seriously. Our house was built in 1933 so I guess bathrooms back then were not the big relaxing spaces you see today. More like get in, do your business & get out kind of spaces! :-D

Here are some photos that I love...









Wait a minute!

I think I'm seeing a pattern here. If nothing else, these photos show that I love wainscoting & pedestal sinks. How strange. I never realized how similar these photos were while I was collecting them until now. Hmmmm. I guess I know where to start.

Joining Debbie

I am joining Debbie today for her Newbie link up party! I would love to tell you so many wonderful things about Debbie but I'm afraid I could never do her justice. (Words like creative, genuine, sincere & hilarious come to mind.) Honestly, she really is an original. If you don't know about her or her blog, go on over, take a look, you won't be disappointed.

If you are visiting here from Debbie's link party, I would like to welcome you. Look around, stay awhile & I hope that we become great friends. Wishing you a wonderful week!

Love is in the Air

As Valentine's Day approaches, I put together a little Valentine's vignette to share with you. I don't have alot of Valentine's Day decorations, just a few things here & there.

I bought this little Dee Foust Cupid box this year. I love him!



The fact that he was adorned with gold presented a challenge to me...I don't have much in the way of gold decor. Then I remembered these candle holders that I bought from Michael's back around Christmas 2002. I dug them out & they were perfect.





Some Dollar Tree vases filled with heart picks (also from Dollar Tree) & red votives from Target several Christmases ago.

I framed a free subway art printable that I found on line (I wish I could remember where so I could give credit) and a vintage valentine. I added a glittery BE MINE sign from Hobby Lobby.

Of course, I topped it off with the felt heart wreath that I made. And there you have it...a Valentine's vignette!





I'll be linking this over at Marty's blog, A Stroll Thru Life, for Tablescape Tuesday. I'm also linking to Beth's blog, The Stories of A 2 Z for her Valentine's Day Mantel Party.





So tell me, have you done any decorating for Valentine's Day?

A discount is in the stars

As we are hunkered down with anticipated temperatures reaching -16 degrees, I've been hanging out on my computer with cup of hot tea partaking in one of my favorite pasttimes...internet shopping.

I have always had a fondness for star shapes. I love clothing with stars on it, star-shaped jewelry or star-clad handbags, really anything with a star pattern greatly appeals to me. Yes, even Old Glory makes me happy.

While surfing around Overstock.com, I have found so many wonderful star products! You just know I have to share them with you, don't you?

I think this rug is adorable. I love the bright, primary colors. It makes me want to redecorate my son's room!



This necklace is perfect. I love it & it's quite large too, just over 2 inches wide.



I love stained glass lamps. Look at this one with stars.



Oh how I wish I could buy this Burberry tote right now. I adore it!



How stinkin' cool is this pewter sink?



That's what's so great about places like Overstock.com. The products are so varied, you can find almost anything from stars soup to nuts!

So my friends, Overstock.com would like to offer my readers a 10% discount on all items (excluding movies, books & electronics)! That's all you have to do is enter code 121745 at checkout. This discount does not expire, however, it can only be used once per email address. Pretty cool, huh? And don't forget Overstock.com has $2.95 shipping.

Let the shopping begin!

All the ideas and opinions expressed are my own. No monetary compensation was received for doing this post, however, I was provided with a discount code.

Valentine's crafting

One day while searching through blogland, I came across a pretty red felt heart wreath and thought, "Why can't I make that?"

So I set out to do just that. I gathered the required materials & got to work. I tried to switch it up from the one I saw online though. I wanted to make a white heart wreath. (That's why you see white felt here.) I cut up circle after circle after circle from the white felt.



I then began folding & pinning the circles to my styrofoam heart form. After filling half the heart, I thought, "Hmmm, I wonder what would happen if I added cream colored felt too?" I then cut circle after circle after circle from cream felt. Once I had removed some of the white & added the cream with it, I thought, "Ugh, this is looking too wedding-y!"

I then removed everything from the wreath form (ready to scream at this point) & went back to the original plan. Red. So I now cut circle after circle after circle from red felt. Good plan.

I give you, my felt heart wreath...



My thumb was in pain from all the excessive pinning (I should have bought a thimble) but I'm so happy with how it turned out.

In case you're wondering where I found the wreath tutorial, here's the link.

Now what was I going to do with all the white & cream felt circles that I didn't use?

I quickly put the cream ones to use...



I had this blue pot for awhile but never knew what to do with it.

As for the white circles? Well, I made a topiary, but it didn't turn out quite as I had envisioned, so I guess I still need to find a use for all the white felt circles. Any ideas?

How about you? Have you got any crafting projects under way?

My Golden Globe Favorites

Can you even imagine being a celebrity and getting to wear fabulous designer gowns? For me, that would be one of the greatest parts of being a celebrity.

E! interviewed Tina Fey last night at the Red Carpet Pre-Show and she said she doesn't like to spend days trying on gowns. What?? Seriously?? If famous designers wanted to throw gowns at me, I would gladly spend days trying them on... the hidden fashionista in me would be in heaven!

Color was huge this year...lots of green and a large range of pink hues. Because I simply cannot resist, here are some of my favorites from last night:

Olivia Wilde. Wow. I thought the gown was black, but later heard it was chocolate brown. It's a beauty!



Kyra Sedgwick. This color is gorgeous. I wish I had a close up of the turquoise earrings she wore with this...stunning!



Claire Danes. Simple but in such a great color. She's so thin too, it really looks like it's made for her.



Eva Longoria. What can I say? Eva never disappoints. That neckline is so damn flattering.



Emma Stone. Another simple one. The color is so beautiful and to be able to wear something like this...so plain...so straight & fitted...you can't have one.single.figure.flaw. Just saying.



Lea Michele. Perfect glam and again, fabulous color.



Tell me, did you watch the Globes last night? Let's talk fashion...who were your favorites?

A Snowy Day

And finally Winter, with its bitin', whinin' wind,
and all the land will be mantled with snow.
--Roy Bean



We are enjoying a snow day today. The kids & I are thrilled. We have already baked chocolate chip cookies...



and will curl up on the couch with a movie soon. My son & I are still in our pajamas @ 1:30 in the afternoon! It doesn't get any better than this. I love a good snow day. There is nothing like being cozy & warm in my home while nature does its thing.

Everytime we have a snow day, I am reminded of this old scrapbook layout from 2003. One of my favorite snow pictures of my husband & son in the quiet of winter.



Yes, I was once an avid scrapbooker. Not so much anymore though.

Whether you are experiencing a snow day, just a little snow or even if it's bright & sunny day where you are, I hope it's a good one!

A Winter's Mantel

I wanted to share my mantel with you this morning.

As I spent weeks figuring out how to decorate the mantel for Christmas, at the same time, I couldn't help think about how I was going to decorate the mantel after Christmas.

I finally thought that a winter theme might be nice and something that I hadn't done before.

I saw a few pretty yarn & Christmas ball wreaths in blogland, and I loved them. (There's a really beautiful one here.) So, I decided to make one for myself...minus the Christmas balls.

I would sit on the couch at night, watch a movie & wrap yarn around styrofoam balls. I cannot tell you the amount of times that I dropped a ball and my yarn unraveled as the ball rolled around the floor. It got so that my husband silently watched me with utter amusement every single time I scrambled around after the ball, yelling my head off. I can only imagine what he was thinking in his head. What can I say, I provide cheap entertainment. :)

So my friends, here is my version of the yarn ball wreath:



I think it turned out fairly well. (Of course not quite as lovely as the one I showed you in the link above, but I'm still happy with it.)

And here is my winter mantel:







I'm linking this up at Marty's blog A Stroll Thru Life. Every Tuesday, Marty graciously hosts Tabletop Tuesday. Go on over and take a peek.



Wishing you a warm & cozy week!

Moving into 2011

I find it hard to believe that it is already January 7th and this is my first post of the New Year!

We were having computer troubles. What can you expect, honestly? Our computer was a good 6+ years old. It had seriously seen better days. It took a little convincing of the husband, but eventually he saw that it was time to put our old one out of its misery.

Why are there so many decisions to make when buying a computer?

We did buy a new one and I thought it might be amusing to list some of the features of this computer that make me happy.



Keep in mind: My husband & I are so computer illiterate it's almost embarrassing. Actually, it is embarrassing.

Our new computer has...a touch screen. Our son quite possibly has the greasiest hand prints on Earth, so we try not to encourage use of the touch screen for said reason. But it's fun to play with nonetheless.

Our new computer has....a DVD drive. Yeah. Hugely excited about that. That's just how much of an antique the old one was...No DVD (or even CD) drive.

Our new computer is...all in one. Say goodbye to that annoying tower-thingy, we now have one piece. The speakers are built in too. I just know the salesperson wanted to laugh when my husband asked where the speakers were.

Our new computer has...a huge screen. I think our old one was like 13 or 14 inches. This one is 20 inches. I feel like I'm sitting in front of a small flat screen TV which probably means I'll end up needing glasses soon. (When I was a kid, they always said if you sat too close to the TV, you'd need glasses. Do they say that anymore?)

Our new computer has...USB ports on the side of the monitor. I no longer have to look like a circus performer trying to plug my camera or ipod into the old computer's not-so-easily-located USB ports.

Don't even got me started on the graphics & color & who knows what! I'm sure there are features that I'm yet to discover. Would you believe we even have a Webcam? Not that I have any clue how to operate it, but I feel like I've traveled light years overnight.

OK,I think I've gone on enough about the computer...I'm off to play & discover.

Have a wonderful weekend!