Grown up Christmas Gifts

I love, love, love all my gifts this year. Hubby bought me a tablet so I can check all my blogs while I’m sitting on the couch. Awesome gift. My kids bought me a case for my tablet in my favorite color "orange.” An outfit to walk the dog,so now I will be styling when I’m dog walking. This awesome pillow that my daughter ordered for me from Feather Hen.etsy.com

And this book. …………….

I’m 99% sure that my daughter did all the shopping for her brother too. So thank you so much Kylee Elizabeth you did a great job. I love all my gifts, they are the perfect size and color you know me so well. I love having a grown up daughter/best friend.

RUSTOLEUM MAGNETIC PAINT

First let me say that I love this product.

This is my first attempt and it worked perfect for my project. If you follow my blog you know that I have a huge family and so does my husband. Every year we receive family pictures from both our extended families. I always display them on the side of my refrigerator.

After some remodeling this year we recessed our refrigerator so I don’t have the space for my family pictures. I was determined that I was going to come up with a new solution. Here is what I came up with….

I painted a large square on our old ugly pantry door. This was another remodel project, this door used to be the entrance to our screened in porch but hubby knocked out the window beside it and added a sliding glass door, which is now the new entrance to the porch. He built a closet behind the old door and it’s now our pantry that holds all my big kitchen appliances. This door is original to the house and it’s in the perfect location to house all our family pictures. I measured the size of the square that I wanted. I layed out all my pictures and decided the size that I needed. I marked it all off with a sharpie and a level and just started to paint.

 After painting the first coat and letting  it dry the magnets weren’t sticking. I was starting to panic. Coat number 2 was a little better but still not perfect. I was determined that this was going to work because I did not want to hear the hubs complaining that I ruined the ugly door. For some reason when he complains that makes me more determined to prove that my project “is” going to work. Before I painted coat number 3 I stirred and stirred the paint and stirred it again. I read somewhere that all the magnetic chips end up at the bottom of the paint can. This time it worked like a charm. Here’s the finished product.

Now when I get new pictures I just slide out the old one and add the new one.Our extended family keeps growing so I made sure I have space left for new additions. I purchased all of these magnetic sleeves from Walmart. They hold a 4x6 picture.

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Santa Puppy

Here are two more of my favorite things.  My puppy and my Granddaughter.

This is Windsor all dressed up for his Christmas picture.  Ha ha ha, my hubby and son were not very happy with me.  I bought him a size large Santa suit and he was stuffed in it like a sausage.  I couldn't even get the santa hat up on his head.  Well I think he looks adorable. I had Christmas cards made up to send to a few family members, neighbors and friends.  Hubby thinks I've lost my mind.

easy dog bed cover Take II

Our  golden doodle or as my Granddaughter calls him a "wacka doodle" has chewed threw his bed twice already.  First cover I made out of an old sheet and just slipped his bed into it.  After a couple months he chewed threw the sheet so I decided to go with something a little heavier.  I found some duck cloth in my fabric stash and covered it again.

All I did was measure the size of his bed and cut the fabric 1 inch wider and longer.  I folded the fabric in half. 

I folded the front and back of the fabric  down about 1/2" and ironed it.  Right sides together.  Just sew down both sides of the fabric.  Leaving the top folded side open.  I reinforced the seams so Wacka doodle couldn't rip them apart.  Snip your corners and turn the cover right side out.

You should end up with a big square that is closed on 3 sides and opened on one side.  Slip your dog bed inside and hand sew the open edge.  This will give you the ability to rip out the hand sewing and take off the cover to launder it.

I thinks he likes it.  I told him if he chews threw this one he is sleeping on the floor. So far so good.

Thank god I know how to sew or I would have had to buy 3 dog beds and at $35.00 a shot I would not be a very happy camper.  

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small table redo

This is another of my yard sale purchases.  This small table was very sturdy but just a little too boring for my liking. For $1.00 she was coming home with me.

I added some black paint to the top.

Still seemed a little to boring. So I got hubby to drill some holes in the top so I could add upholstery tacs.

Still needs a little something..............

I found a stencil that I thought would work well.  I added some gray homemade chalk paint and here she is, looking much better.

One coat of hand wax later and she is ready for resale.

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Thank you gifts

Here's a thank you gift idea that I made for all my customers.  Just a little something to say Happy Holidays and thank you for your business.



purse size hand sanitizers in 3 different styles



Close up of the tags

Behind the glass door

If you follow my blog, you know that we have a new puppy.  I figured I was going to get out of putting up a tree this year and I could use the excuse that Windsor would knock it over.  Hubby had a different option in mind.  He thought we could put the tree up in our new porch.  I hate to admit it but it was a very good idea.  We have a sliding glass door between the dining room and the porch so Windsor can't get to the tree. 

The tricky part was the tree was 9 foot.  Solution, we just didn't put the top part on the tree.  I added a topper so you can't even tell that the tree is missing it's top.  It really was a great idea, because now you can see it if you are in the porch, the dining room or the living room.  My hubby is pretty smart!

I doubt that this will be it's permanent home for the coming years, but it worked out great for this year.  I keep asking how old do you have to be to just put up a table top Christmas tree.  My family doesn't find the humor in that, but they don't have to do all the work. 

One Valance to Two

I love to change my curtains from room to room. This valance was in my dining room but I decided It would look great in my bathroom because it matched the shower curtain that I like to use for Christmas.  The only problem was I only had one valance and I have 2 windows in the bathroom. Not a problem for me thanks to my dear mother I have some pretty great sewing skills. 

I cut the valance in half and finished the side seams.

I used a zig zag stitch so it would look professional.  Here's where it got a little tricky, I didn't finish the end where the curtain rod would go thru.  I left it open.  I finished above and below that part.  (Now don't tell my mother, she wouldn't approve of that edge not being finished.) 

It worked out fine.  I was able to slide the rod in and just turn the seam under and no one will know that it's not finished.

See how it all coordinates.  I had to move those curtains to the bathroom. If you are wondering, I happened to have another valance that I used for my dining room.  It matches better with my color scheme. Stay tuned for that post coming soon. 

If you are lucky enough to live near an Ollies Outlet you can get great deals on curtains. That valance was $2.99. So not bad for two window, right.  I can't seem to go in that store without checking out the curtain section.

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Snowman made from wreaths

It's beginning to look alot like Christmas at my house. I wanted to change up my front door a little this year, so I started checking my favorite blogs and I found this over at East Coast Creative.

 
http://www.eastcoastcreativeblog.com/2012/11/seasonal-front-door-decor-diy-snowman.html

I decided to try my hand at this snowman.  I found two of my wreaths at The Dollar tree and the larger wreath I purchased at a yard sale.  I used an old fleece scarf that I had made when my son was playing high school football.  His name and number are embroidered on the end but I turned it so you couldn't see them.  I found the Santa hat at Walgreens for $2.99. 

I wired the 3 wreaths together.  I did add a little spray snow to the wreaths because Hubby said they were too shiny.  I added the scarf and hat and here is what my version looks like.

Pretty cheap and cute little snowman if I do say so myself. 

can of snow  $1.75

3 wreaths $1.00 each

Santa hat $2.99

Scarf (no charge)

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New swag for my mantle

I've been wanting to change my mantle decorations for the last couple years but didn't want to spend a lot of money.  I found this swag for $5.00 this summer at a yard sale.  It was still in the box.

Here she is on my mantle all light up.

I love it.  This is exactly what I have been wanting for this spot but was to cheap to pay the price.  Most yard sale purchases get flipped for my resale shop but every once in a while something gets to stay in my own house.  This one was a "keeper."

Vanity update

This vanity needed a little clean up and some color and I knew she would be a beauty.  Here's how she started out.





A little paint, new hardware and new fabric on the seat and this is how she looks all dressed up.

I found this retro fabric in my stash and it was the perfect color combination.



BEFORE



AFTER

Isn't she pretty all dressed up?  She is going to the shop for resale. 


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