let's spring it up in this joint

Fall, Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas -- all are decorated for in great amounts in my house. Love it! But past January, the snowmen & general wintry decor come down. I feel it leaves the house drab until September when I break out the harvesty fall stuff.

I decided I need to decorate for Spring. What is Springy? Tulips, bunny rabbits, little blue birds, lilacs & anything pastel. Well, that's what I think is springy.

I'm on a mission. And I'm on a budget. Who isn't? $4.09 for a gallon of gas, you feel me?!

So I hit up my favorite budget friendly store -- The Dollar Tree. I also hit up Pier One, not so much on the budget friendly side. But it did give me some good ideas. (and left me envious of the people with hands full of crap.)

Anywho, at the Dollar Tree I found these ugly & quite frankly frightening looking bunny figurines. I bought 2 super ugly albino ones. Red eyes aren't a good look for anyone.






And this cute little brown one.





I painted the albino ones cream. They turned out cute even though they don't have eyes anymore. And they found a home on my hutch.






I also found some ugly little birdies. They were quite sad looking.










They needed spruced up too. I'm seeing this bright blue & bright spring green all over. And by all over I mean at the little craft store in town. Haha. In fact, I almost replicated the $10 little blue birdie they had for sale.










And my new springy mantle is done. My wreath has seen better days. The berries used to be red. I painted them the same blue.





Well, done for now. I'm still thinking I need some flowers. So far, it's springy for the low budget price of $9 bunnies & birdies and 3 $.97 craft paints. Not too shabby.

Santa Visit & Christmas Decor

We went & saw Santa Claus yesterday. This year was a smashing success. No tears by either girl! 

Olivia was very shy. She wouldn't say what she wanted right away. But eventually he got her to tell him what she wanted.

Rachel wasn't scared at all this year. She went right up & told him exactly what she wanted.

The girls & I, or just me, decorated the house for Christmas last weekend. It looks great.

The tree. Best pic I have so far. With flash doesn't do it justice. Without flash & it ends up a little blurry. 6 of 1 & half dozen of another. Oh well....

I need to get a real wreath so I have the pine scent in the house. I miss that having a fake tree. What I don't miss is the bazillion pine needles on the floor.

signs, signs, everywhere there's signs

ever have one of those days where you cannot stand anything about your house & you want to change every single thing? well, i'm not just having one of those days, i'm having one of those years. i think it's because i was home so much when i was sickly. anyway, i want to change everything! i decided to start easy - signs. why not? jarrett refuses to let me paint the interior of our home since every room is this tongue & groove knotty pine panelling. seriously, it's like living in a cabin. i digress. signs, pictures, prints, etc... anything that will work to cover those walls & make it look less like a ski lodge.

nothing new...i just still love this one. i moved it back over the window seat.

new sign i made - my mom got me this vinyl lettering & i fashioned myself a sign.

what better to go with my sign than pictures of my family?

(family picture courtesy of my bestie)

i won this vinyl print from a give away many moons ago. i stole this wooden plaque thing from my grandpa's stash this winter. i finally go around to making the sign this weekend. i love how it turned out.

yea, this thing is heavy! i couldnt' find anything to hang it from so i just set it on my mason jars filled with gravel from my driveway (don't tell jarrett that's where i got the gravel)

(laura, i bet you are cringing at how off center that candle holder on the right is? i corrected it after i took this picture just for you)

slowly but surely, one sign at a time, i am changing up my house.

i also splurged (read spent $20 at wal-mart) on a big ol' clock. i love how it looks. and i bought some red accents (towels, pot holders, & rug) for the kitchen. i was really in the mood to change things up. it's a little sad how excited i was to buy a stinkin red dish towel, but whatever floats my boat. ha! now i just have to convince jarrett that we need new cabinets, countertops, & flooring for the kitchen. need/want - what's the difference really?

it's beginning to look a lot like Christmas

YAY ME!!!

Let's take a look at this, shall we?!

What you are looking at, my friends, is 1 of the 2 new nightstands for my bedroom. They are pretty nice aren't they.

Oh yea...and I made these myself - without a man. Well, for the most part anyway. A nice young man at Lowes did some of the cuts for me, and my father-in-law did some more cuts for me.

"Holy Schnikes! Where do I start?!"

But the construction, that was all me. WOOT WOOT! I can't lie, the first one...whew! It took 2 hours. And I think the majority of that time was spent trying to actually start. The website I got the plans from said "start with the simple box". Well, the simple box wasn't so simple. I finally said "come on Grandpa, give me a sign - something to show me how to get this started." I took a deep breath & I got it done. I'm pretty proud of myself.

Not too shabby for my first attempt at woodworking. {pats self on back} I'm excited to finish these bad boys. I can't decide yet what color to paint them. I need to decide on new bedding first. So excited!

I ♥ Fall

Fall is my absolute favorite time of year! Have I told you that before??? Oh well, even if I have it bares repeating. I. LOVE. FALL. Everything about it: the cooler weather, the leaves changing, the smells, you name it - I love it!

I have never really been much of a decorator, I really never took the time. But this year, I feel compelled to decorate! Maybe it's because Olivia is 5 now & she can help me with projects. Or maybe it is because Olivia is 5 now & can ask me why everyone else decorates for the changing season/Halloween & I don't. Take your pick...

Anywho, remember this little beauty that I made?

I decided that she needed a little something extra. And that my friends was jute & a pretty ribbon. I simply hot-glued some jute (twine) onto my pot & tied a pretty bow. I love it!

This "FAITH - FAMILY - FARMING" sign I have had hung up for a few months now. I bought it at Country Junction & thought this weird-closet-sticking-out wall made the perfect home for it.

I got the "Trick or Treat" sign at Apple & Pork. I love it!

I got the Indian corn also at Apple & Pork. They had bundles tied together in three's of the little ears of corn (and I mean little) for $3.oo a piece. But then there were the bigger/regular sized ears for 50 cents a piece. So I bought 6 of the big ones & tied them up myself.

I think it looks good, don't you?!

I was feeling crafty, so I mod-podged this little "boo" decoration for my mother-in-law. I super-glued the wooden letters from Michaels onto my festive paper. I love how stinkin easy & cheap project was. I plan on making several more for all different seasons/holidays.

I made this trio for myself. I have like ZERO Halloween decorations. I used 2x4 scraps & mod-podged on Halloween-ish paper. Then super-glued on my chipboard letters. Olivia loves it!

I am sure I will come up with some more decorations...just gotta keep looking!

Good-Bye Avacado

You want to know what I did this weekend???

Come on, I know you do....It's very exciting!!!!!!!

I spent my weekend turning this:

into this:

This is how I did it. I bought a kit from http://www.liquidstainlesssteel.com/giani/products.html

It was so easy, and inexpensive, I was cursing myself for not doing it sooner. I have only hated our lovely-avacodo-60's-green countertops for the 7 years we have had our house. So when I found the site during my blog hopping, I was literally giddy with excitement. Let me tell you, I ordered the kit & was counting the hours until it was in my hands! $39.95 + $10 shipping = $50 and I have brand spankin new counters that look FAB!!!! (Ok, I don't want to break my arm patting myself on the back...or maybe I do.) I just cannot get over the transformation. And all in 3 days & for $50. I am one happy lady!!!

It is so easy, even my non crafty BFF LAURA can do it!

*Sorry, Laura, I let the cat out of the bag for the whole world to see. I love you, but crafty you are not :)*

Here is how you do it. The kit comes with:

• primer
• 3 mineral color paints
• sealer/clear coat
• paint roller (the best roller I have ever used)
• sponge
• foam paint brush
• instructional DVD

additional things you will need:

• paint tray - check
• kitchen cleaner/degreaser - check
• muscles - check
• patience - (I usually lack this, but I made an exception)
• ugly countertops that are in excellent shape - check
  

STEP 1: Clean your counters!

This took a good bit of muscle on my part. Because, let's face it, I don't regularly move my microwave & clean behind it. I know, disgusting...but out of sight, out of mind.

Here they are clean & green in all their glory!

STEP 2: Primer!

I was really impressed with how well the primer covered the hideousness of the green. And that was just 1 coat. I contemplated leaving them as is (***rolling my eyes at the very thought***) and Jarrett actually thought this was it.

STEP 3: Sponge on your colors!

I did exactly what the DVD said to do. Work in 3 foot sections sponging on your first color (light brown), 2nd color (goldish-tan), & 3rd color (white). The paint cans are actually numbered, this is why I say it is fool-proof! I allowed it to dry for 2 hours & then decided I needed it to be a little lighter. That was easy enough, I just put some more white on!

Sorry I didn't take any pictures from this step (my hands were filthy with paint & I didn't want to ruin my new camera that my Mommy bought me for my b-day).

Here is what it looked like with all 3 colors

STEP 4: Clear Coat/Sealer!

This is where patience comes in. You have to wait for your colors to dry completely. Put on your first coat of sealer & then wait 8 hours to put on the 2nd coat. And you have to allow 24 hours for the 2nd clear coat to dry before you can use your countertops again.

I really don't think I could be more happy with how they turned out. We were going to redo the countertops anyway. We were going to buy new ones, but then they would have a seam & it would cost a couple hundred bucks. This way I have the look of brand new countertops at a FRACTION of the cost & there are no seams! WOOT WOOT!!!

(Let's ignore the fact that I have no backsplash & that I have tried painting a few colors on the lovely wallpaper. The backsplash will come in due time & I'm pretty excited about that too!)

Let me know what you think, or if you are planning on trying this. I'm not going to get any additional compensation/goodies from the company - because I am not by any means an "endorser" (is that a word?) I just LOVE the product. And I am quite proud of myself!