If you’re a holiday decorating junkie like me head over to see Kim at NewlyWoodwards and check out (and join!) the DIY Blogging party that is going to be happening throughout the rest of Nov and Dec! I’m so excited that Kim, Emily, and the rest came up with this idea. Not only will it be fun to see what everyone else does, but it also sets some deadlines for getting things done and (of course) blogging about it!

Here’s the plan:

Monday, Nov. 16 – Dare to… be thankful!
Monday, Nov. 23 – Dare to… entertain! (Tablescapes)
Monday, Nov. 30 – Dare to… eat cookies! (YUM-O!)
Monday, Dec. 7 – Dare to… give homemade gifts!
Monday, Dec. 14 – Dare to… deck the halls!
Monday, Dec. 21 – Dare to… have traditions!

C’mon and join the party!

I’ve been debating on what to do with my pumpkin this year. We waited WAY too long to go to the pumpkin patch (last Sunday) so by the time we got there they were out.of.pumpkins. Seriously? Yes. Crazy! Okay, okay they had like 70 left with about 250+ families out and all the ones left were rotting, scratched, and uncarvable so J and I left the patch empty handed… but not before checking out these cute little dudes:

I get my love of little piggys from my Aunt. She’s awesome, and every year for Christmas I send her some little pigs – I don’t know when (or how) it started but its a fun challenge trying to find something new and pig themed for her each year. Really, how can you NOT love piglets?

Takin a Snooze in the Sun

ANYWAY… back to the original point of this post. Pumpkins. Our failed pumpkin patch trip sent me on a pumpkin hunt this week. I went to Wal-Mart (out), Publix (out), and then Fresh Market (who didn’t let me down!). I was able to pick up 2 large pumpkins and a small white one. So tonight/tomorrow J and I will carve out pumpkins and light ‘em up for the kiddos to admire run over in a mad dash for candy on the one night where it IS perfectly acceptable to get candy from complete strangers.

I’ve decided that since I waited so long this year, I am going to carve something that will add to my decor until Thanksgiving… assuming, hoping, praying, and crossing my fingers that my pumpkin can hold itself together that long.

Here is what I think I might attempt for my cute, un-halloweenish pumpkin:

Little Tree Pumpkin

Here’s to hoping I don’t completely botch the project… I’ve never tried to vary the depth of my carving – and Fresh Market is about out of pumkins too so this is a one shot deal!

Happy Halloween Weekend!

I’ll be honest… I’m having a hard time getting things in the house “put together”. We’ve been spending so much time outside cleaning up the yard that the inside has been slightly neglected. So I’m turning to blogland for help and suggestions. We have a breakfast nook in our kitchen (which is actually where all of our meals take place at the moment) and I can’t figure out what to do.

Wall 1:

Entry door to the far right, laundry door in the middle

Wall 2:

I thought about a plate rack, but then we have SO MUCH cabinet space that it doesn’t make sense. Plus the rack would jut out from the wall and when the leaf is in the table it would make a rather tight fit.

I have really liked the idea of doing some kind of silverware art on the walls. Maybe some larger-than-life utensil sets, like these:

Or just taking some black and whites of our silverware and framing them in thick black frames in a set of three. Something like this:

more spaced out on the wall - 8x10 each?

The walls are going to be changing colors (most likely another neutral — greyish tinted something), the countertops will go grey — not sure light or dark yet and we still have to decide on what hardware we’re going with (dark or brushed nickel… but that’s another debate)

Wall 1 definitely cannot be anything that sticks out b/c of the way our entry door opens. I’ve thought about a large chalkboard or something for that space… but I don’t think I’d use it.

If you were in my shoes, what would you do with these walls???

We are a long (loooooong) way from needing to have a play room, but I can’t help but share this cute idea with blogland.

I have walked by the window several times, and just kept thinking how creative and awesome the idea is. Thanks JCrew, not only do you have great clothes for tall women, but now you’re giving me home inspiration too!

*Excuse the photo, I had to take it from DwellingAndDesign’s blog b/c I didn’t have my iphone handy when we went to the mall this weekend.

Book Tree

I love the fact that you could actually create this easily with a low budget. You could use old books around the house or garage sales/thrift store books. The tree could be themed in a certain color and you could make it as large or small as you wanted. Personally, I’d go with a skinnier trunk, but keep the tree pretty tall. I’m a little puzzled on how to do the branches, but I’m sure with a little glue and hub’s help – we could figure it out!

Happy Monday.

Gotta love a GREAT before and after. And its always best to keep them close by when planning to attack home improvements on the weekend.

Heres what we were faced with on Day 1 :

YIKES!

Here’s the plan of attack:

Plan: Take Back Our "Yard" (if you can even call it that)

And here is what I was able to snap with my iPhone on my way to work today:

Ohh - Ahh

Please note you can now: 1) See our front door  2) See ALL of our windows 3) See the neighbor’s house (thru the trees, not just b/c I was further away)

Just excuse the little blue tarp up there… we’re *hopefully* getting a new roof next week after the roofers come out, find hail damage extensive enough for a new roof, and our insurance company agrees. This would be a HUGE blessing… although the soaked, mildewing cieling in the unused bedroom at the moment is not such a blessing – thank you flood-of-the-century ‘09. BACK to what this post is truly about…

Remeber we’ve only been here since July. I’m 100% positive we have succesfully saved a TON of money by doing all this work ourselves (with help from awesome friends and family – shout out Matt, Dad, & Claw). We’ve also increased the value on our house – I don’t know by how much (any guesses) but curb appeal is definitely a HUGE part of selling a house (we’re not), and ours now looks like the cute little ranch we just knew was hiding behind all that green. We still have our work cut out for us — seeding/sodding, taking back our backyard jungle, and general landscaping — but for now, I’m ignoring that list and thanking my husband over and over for the last patch of bushes he ripped up last night (which we might have just thrown in the ivy laying down so we I could take this picture and share with all of you).

So… I guess now go find your best before and after and use that feeling of accomplishment to get some project done this weekend — or take a weekend off and bask in the awesomeness of what you were able to do!

Happy Friday

Woo-hoo! The floors are FINALLY finished and they look great! The grout is still drying so that will lighten a tad but I absolutely love how the dark grey slate color compliments all the white in the kitchen.

I’m still searching for some new, dark, affordable hardware for the cabinets and a new oven – but its coming along really well! I’ll take full shots once everything is back in place… but I couldn’t resist sharing the few iPhone shots I grabbed this AM on my way out the door to work.

How can you NOT love it?!

Up Close & ... Gorgeous!

PS This also means our dog, Toby, will be coming back home! Another woo-hoo!

Jeff’s little  twin brothers turn 18 today! Here are some fun pics of the boys from Charleston. I think the individual shots show off their personality…

Happy Birthday!

Jackson

Richard

Happy Birthday Guys. Have a great day!

Jeff’s Mom had her birthday on the 10th and the in-town henry’s were able to get together and celebrate! We headed over to Sean and Ness’ to have cake and ice cream.

Happy Birthday!

Ness made the cake – isn’t it cute?! She used Mom’s favorite candy (maltballs) to go around the edges and make the numbers in the center. The combination of maltballs and cake is surprisingly delicious. It got me thinking, and I bet the strawberry (pink) maltballs would be darling on a cake for a pink-and-brown wedding shower, or a little girl. I’ll have to store that in the ‘for-the-future’ file!

Happy (belated) Birthday, Mom! Glad we could get together and celebrate. We love you!

Photo from The Land of Nod

Aren’t these little pumpkin turkeys adorable? I can see these guys adorning my mantle or table around November – plus you get to repurpose the leftover pumpkins from halloween (FREE).

I may even try making one of our big pumpkins into a turkey after the trick-or-treaters come by. You can pick up your own set for $9.95 (on sale from 24.95) OR you can be like me and use some good ol’ scissors and construction paper. The only tricky part will be the feet… any ideas on how to do those? I may just have ’sitting’ turkeys.

So last weekend and this week have both gotten away from me. The fall decor didn’t get purchased or put up and I’ve still got pretty much everything left from last weekends post to do this weekend.

However, we have been making home headway. Our house was almost clean from head to toe – only a few minor areas that need organizing so everything will have a ‘home’. I vow NEVER again to let my mail piles get so high and the clutter bug is officially uninvited… Now that things are spiffing up, I’ll be in with photos soon.

Enough with the boring stuff… The exciting news (and header of this post) is that J and I are putting down new slate tiled floor in our kitchen. I couldn’t be more excited! Heres a little design I came up with to insert into the floor… excuse the unrealistic look of the squres, it was just for the shape:

New Floor

This pattern will be used in 2 places. A smaller version here:

Breakfast Nook

Kitchen - Working Area

 (my appologies for the old photos, these are from the seller’s website… things have changed since then…)

The design will not take up all of that space, but the rest of the tiles with just be laid parallel to the counters/walls. I am so excited and want this done – yesterday But patience will pay off. We also had our new fridge delivered – TWICE. The first time they banged it up getting it thru the door, so they had to come back with a new-new maytag stainless steel beauty and man will she ever shine once those floors are spiffed up! Ow!

 The only things left will be replacing the cabinet hardware and replacing the one that won’t happen in for a LONG time countertops with some mid-tone grey to compliment the cabinets AND the flooring.