My Christmas “Mantel”

Everywhere you look, it’s beginning to look like Christmas.  I got a kind of late start this year.  Well, a little later than I normally do.  My usual M.O. is we (meaning myself, my sister, and my 2 daughters) get up at the crack of dawn on Black Friday and go shopping to get in on all those wonderful deals.  Once we finish shopping, usually around noon or early afternoon I would go home and start the decorating process.  This year really threw me for a loop with the stores opening at midnight instead of their usual 4:00 or 5:00 am.  We didn’t let that discourage us though, no we were some of those crazy fools out at Target at midnight!  I didn’t go to the earlier sales though.  I decided I was boycotting any store that opened earlier than midnight.  I just think it’s unfair to employees to make them give up their Thanksgiving to go to work.  Thus Toys R Us and Wal-mart…you missed me this year!  Actually, I did go to both of those stores, but not until much later in the shopping experience.  But I digress.  So, we started at midnight and we were done around 8:00 am.  But, instead of going home and sleeping or actually getting started on my decorating I went home and just vegged in front of the TV all day and night.  I didn’t start my decorating until Saturday afternoon.  Thus, I’m still not done with everything and usually I would be done with everything by Sunday night.  Oh well, I wanted to show off a few of the things I’ve done so far though.

I am one of those people that doesn’t have a fire place so I don’t have a mantel, but what I do have is a very old upright piano that has served as my mantle for many many years.  I changed a few things up on it this year so I wanted to show it off.  First of all I have a brand new grand baby so we needed to add a new stocking!  Luckily when I bought the stockings we have now I thought ahead and bought 2 extra ones for the first 2 grandchildren.  I figured after that we would probably need all new ones by then anyway.  What I didn’t think ahead about was getting extra stocking holders though when I bought the ones I had…so new stocking holders were a necessity.  Hot Rod couldn’t understand why I couldn’t just get one new one and keep the same old 6 ones that I had….Uh NO!  So, I went to Hobby Lobby the other day and bought these…

I just love the reindeers!  I really like the swirly antlers too.  Here is a picture of the entire “mantle” put together.

The 2 apothecary jars stay on the mantle year round.  I just replace what goes in them each season.  The pine cone “trees” I got at Stein Mart after Christmas last year.  They are really pretty too.  The red and gold trees on either side are Hobby Lobby items.  The sled I got at a garage sale a few years ago for a dollar!  The reindeer pulling the sleigh are also garage sale finds, they were a dollar for both!  The greenery is just some Christmas greenery from Hobby Lobby.  The stockings are also from Hobby Lobby.  Obviously I’m missing the new letter for my sweet sweet Grandbaby.  I’ll be making that soon and get her stocking done.  The only thing I’m not really happy with is the picture above the mantel.  Now, don’t get me wrong, I love my kids and I love this picture but I really want a Christmasy picture there.  I’ve been looking online and I just can’t seem to find the perfect one yet.  I think in the meantime I’m going to put a mirror there instead.  So, what do you think of my “mantel”?  Oh, don’t worry, I’m replacing the lights in the apothecary jar on the right today.  That set was burned out when I got them out this year.  Ugh!  Why do lights burn out so bad each year??????  Inquiring minds want to know!

A few close ups…

Stay tuned tomorrow for my dining room table reveal.  It’s super pretty too!

Our Christmas Miracle!!!!!

Our miracle transformation that is.  It is finally done!!!!!  We have been renovating our main hall bathroom for the last few months and it is finally complete.  I’ve been so anxious to share this with you so let’s just get started, shall we?

First of all, once again I screwed up and didn’t get a true before picture.  I remembered to take the first picture AFTER Hot Rod had already demolished the tub and shower surround.  So, you’ll just have to take my word for it, it was AWFUL!  We installed the tub ourselves about 10 years ago and it was a square tub.  The tile surround was a gray (cheap as you can possibly get tile) on 2 sides and then glass bricks on one side.  It sounds pretty, but alas it was not.  The glass bricks were installed by a friend and let’s just be generous and say he didn’t know what he was doing.  They were awful!  We also didn’t know what we were doing when we installed the tile so there was a huge gap between the top of the tub and the bottom of the tile.  It was filled with caulk that got coated in mildew so it was this really ugly black all around the tub.  We did the demo ourselves and this was taken after the demo…

These are the glass bricks that we removed from the end of the tub. 

The next step was to clean up the mess and remove the tub.  This actually went a lot easier than we thought it would.

What was left was a big empty clod of dirt!  After removing the tub we turned it over to the construction crew we hired to do the bulk of the work.  The following pictures were taken as the work progressed.

Our plan was to keep the tile floor and to keep the vanity.  They removed the vanity first to make room for the plumbing work that had to be done.  We went from one sink to dual sinks.

They redid all of the plumbing for the tub and shower.

The new frame for the new tub.

They scraped off the popcorn ceiling and redid the texture on it as well. 

The new tub deck coming together and the new backerboard for the back walls of the tub.

The new wall and ceiling color with the new crown molding.  I LOVE it!!!!  The walls are a slightly darker shade of gray than the ceiling and the trim is all bright white.  The vanity was painted bright white as well.

The new closet doors…and they actually fit and close!  The last ones we had didn’t really fit the space so they wouldn’t close completely. 

Our new granite!  It is a beautiful sparkly black granite.  You can also see the vessel sink we chose and the faucet.  We bought the sinks, the faucets, and even the tub all online for about half the price we could have gotten them all in town.  The tub we got for half price of everywhere else we looked!

Both sinks installed as well as the mirrors and the lights.  I got the mirrors at Hobby Lobby at half price.  The lights came from Lowes. 

The new tile almost done.  We went with the white subway tiles with a black and white checked accent row about eye level.

A close up picture of the new lights above the sinks.

We did the same checked row as a backsplash on the sink counters.

Finally finished!  The tub is installed along with the shower and tub faucet.  I went with the same red accents that I had before.  They still looked good and gave the room the splash of color I wanted and I didn’t have to buy new rugs!  I did buy a new curtain as well as some new towels. 

Behold our new bathroom!!!!!

Just in time for Christmas and my Texas Tech décor looks great in here. 

So, what do you think?  I’ll be honest, we’ve already tried the jacuzzi tub out and it is AMAZING!  Both of us fit perfectly in it and a hot bubbly jacuzzi is just what the doctor ordered after a long day at work or play. 

So, there is our Christmas miracle transformation.  Total cost of the renovation was about $12K.  Needless to say this is our Christmas present to each other this year.  But, I am very happy with this gift.  One more room done, now on to the next room, the guest room!  I think that will have to wait until after the first of the year before we can begin.  We need to recoup a little from this one first!  At least on the guest room we are doing all of the work ourselves so the costs should be minimal!  (famous last words right?)

Life is Messy!

If you have never seen the movie “Parenthood” I urge you to rent it today and watch it.  It is probably one of the best movies ever on parenting and just life in general.  At one point in the movie Steve Martin is complaining about the kids and just life in general and his wife played by Mary Steenburgeon says one of the best things ever “What do you want Gill, guarantees?  Well, you can’t have guarantees.  These are kids.  This is life and LIFE IS MESSY!” 

Lately I’ve been going through an identity crisis of sorts and I’ve found myself flailing.  I haven’t posted here in so long now and the simple truth is I really haven’t done anything worth posting about.  I go to work, I go home, I sit on the couch until I move to the bed and I go to bed.  Not much else is getting done…and boy howdy does it show!  The house is in complete disarray!  All of my wonderful projects and grandiose ideas are just sitting in piles gathering dust and wishing for an industrious go-getter to grab them and finish them.  Unfortunately that has not been me lately.  And, to make matters worse, I am beating myself up over it too.  I KNOW I need to get off the couch.  I KNOW I need to get that plate wall hung.  I KNOW I need to finish up the presents for co-workers and friends for Christmas.  I KNOW I need to figure out what in the heck I’m going to do for Christmas cards.  I KNOW I need to get that damn buffet out of my entry room and refinished and put to use.  But knowing and actually DOING are two entirely different things. 

So, why do we as humans do this?  Why do we let life get in the way of…well…life?  If I had the answer then my plate wall would be done, my TV would be sitting on my beautiful new buffet turned media center, my gifts for co-workers would be done, and my Christmas cards would at least be planned.  Alas, I don’t have the answers.  What I do have though is this blog and today I’m taking the time to write this all out in hopes that if maybe I just put it all in writing it will help me move on and give me the freedom to forgive myself for being the lazy cow I have been and to tell myself, it’s ok.  Life is Messy!

Now get busy lady!  OK, OK…just one more show and I’ll get busy!

Falling for Fall

To say that Autumn is my favorite season is a HUGE understatement!  I have been really busy decorating the house and porch to go with the season.  I apologize for the lack of posting, I kept thinking “oh I’ll post it when I finish it all.”  Well, that just never seems to be happening so I decided to go ahead and show what I have so far. 

My front porch has definitely been a work in progress.  I wanted to put a bunch of pumpkins and flowers out in the oranges, yellows, reds, and greens of the seasons.  So, I’ve been arranging and re-arranging things.  At the same time we’ve been having quite a bit of work being done in the house.  They are steadily working on the hall bathroom and I’m totally thrilled with how it’s coming.  I am so pumped about the wall color I chose.  The walls are a medium gray and the ceiling is a lighter gray.  All of the trim is bright white with large crown molding and baseboards.  The sink cabinet is white, as is the floor tile.  The new jacuzzi tub is also white.  They came today to measure for the granite for the top of the sink cabinet and the tub deck.  The granite we chose is black.  I think we’ve FINALLY decided on the tile for the tub surround.  We are going to go with white subway tiles with a black and white checkered accent strip about half way up.  It will be a week before the granite is put in and then they should be able to finish all the plumbing, electrical, and tile work.  I’m guessing it will all be totally done in about 3 more weeks.  Once it’s done I will be sharing the total transformation.  I’ve been taking a picture every day to track progress but I don’t want to show any of it until it’s done. 

In addition to the bathroom, we had a little mishap in the house.  A friend of mine came over to run cable in the attic so we can connect our TV and DirecTV to the internet.  He was running the cable through the attic and slipped and fell through the ceiling in the hallway from the garage into the house.  Luckily he didn’t fall all the way through and he didn’t get hurt too bad, but I can’t say the same for my poor ceiling.  I ended up with the internet at the TV but I also ended up with a rather large hole in my ceiling.  Needless to say we had to get someone out to fix the ceiling.  They did that this week and then we repainted the hallway afterwards.  Now I’m in the progress of redecorating it.  Pictures will be coming soon of it too. 

Well, that’s a lot of text and nothing to ooh and ahh over so without further adieu here are a few pictures of some of my fall inspired decor.  Enjoy!

I put a bunch of fall garlands in the wire baskets.  Then I loaded up the top basket with some miniature gourds and pumpkins purchased from Hobby Lobby.  I centered the ceramic pumpkin with our initial in the top of the top basket.  Since this picture was taken I removed everything from the bottom basket and filled it with real pumpkins.  They weigh it all down to help keep things steady in our West Texas wind and they are really pretty too!

I put the old wooden cart/table in the corner and put flowers on the top.  In front of it I stacked some fake hay stacks (purchased from Hobby Lobby) and then perched a lighted jack-o-lantern on top.  The wooden pumpkin greeting sign I set behind it all.  It says Autumn Greetings.  I also changed up my front door wreath since this picture too.  I will share that soon!

A closer picture of the corner table.

Well, that was sooner than I thought!  ha ha ha.  Here is my front door wreath just revamped for Fall.  I just removed the red flowers, added the fall foliage from the garlands from Hobby Lobby and some fabric flowers I made. 

A close-up of the fabric flowers on the wreath.  I made these out of Stampin Up fabric using a flower die and the Big Shot also from Stampin Up.  No, I’m not a Stampin Up dealer but I do happen to love love mine and I really do love their products!

Almost done now.  Just imagine that bottom basket filled with pumpkins and you can see how it looks now!  I’m seriously loving it.  Isn’t Fall just wonderful?

Now on the inside…

My new dining room table décor.  I just added some fall style flowers in the vases, set out the white ceramic pumpkin on a candle stick, set out the “Give Thanks” wooden set and the fabric pumpkin behind it.  Simple but lovely. 

I found the “Give Thanks” set up in my attic.  I’ve had them for years.  I think they are an old purchase from LTD back in the day when I was buying stuff from them.  The fabric pumpkin was given to me by my mother-in-law years and years ago.  I also found it in the attic when I was up there looking for stuff.

I couldn’t just stop there though, oh no!  I wanted to bring a little cheer and décor to work too, so I made this…

I just stamped the image in versa-mark and then embossed it with shiny black embossing powder.  The backing is just one of those cheap thin canvases from Hobby Lobby (the kind that comes 3 in a package.)  I covered it with scrapbook paper, sanded the edges and inked up the edges a little.  Then I put the stamped image on the colored paper with dimensionals to pop it up a little.  After it as all done, I just set it on a mini-easel and set it on my desk.  Voila…instant Halloween décor at work!

I hope I inspired you to do a little Fall/Halloween decorating for yourself.  Have a great weekend!

So Pretty!

So, yesterday I was sitting at work and got a text from my brother-in-law.  You see we are in the midst of yet another remodel…this time our hall bathroom.  My brother-in-law is basically our contractor for all intents and purposes.  He stays at the house during the day while Hot Rod and I work to watch over the workers and let them in and such.  Well, he sent a text saying “look what I just found in your backyard.”  Then this picture followed…

Isn’t it so pretty!  I immediately texted him back and told him please don’t kill him or let Charlie kill him.  You see my dog will pretty much kill anything that ever comes in our back yard.  Well, turns out we have figured out the one thing that apparently put Charlie in his place…an owl!  My brother-in-law said that Charlie went over to it then quickly retreated.  I think those talons of the owl are pretty intimidating.  So my brother-in-law texted me back and said the owl has a broken wing and he had already called SPCA to come and get him.  They are going to nurse him back to health!  So, we rescued a beautiful owl yesterday.  I think it is so pretty too!  I showed the picture to everyone and my sister responded “It’s Hedgewig”  ha ha ha  What are the odds of finding an owl in your backyard in West Texas?  I’m guessing they aren’t that big but apparently we are just special that way.

I hope they fix his wing and he gets all better and comes back and visits!

Reflections

I know I'm about 4 days late for this post and I know I don't usually post about serious or thoughtful things here but I'm making an exception today. I've just been incredibly tired lately and last night I decided to just lay in bed from the moment I got home from work. Hot Rod laid with me and watched TV. He somehow managed to navigate to the History Channel and they were having the 9/11 shows on. I must of dozed off for awhile because I woke up around 9:00 and I was starving. I got up and got some cheese and crackers and brought them back to bed to share with him (and the dogs of course!) and after we finished and I put the paper plate back in the kitchen and turned off the kitchen light and crawled back next to my husband he just grabbed me and hugged me and he was crying. He said he just never realized how many people got to call their one and only and tell them "I'm not going to make it out but I wanted you to know I love you." I can't imagine the heart break all of those people went through. I can't imagine that city, the city I love so much, coming to a stand still for days upon days. But, it happened. 10 years ago...it happened.

I'm sure all of us remember where we were that day. I know I do. I was sitting at home actually that day. I was taking my motorcycle into the shop to get a last minute oil change on it before we headed off to the Ruidoso Motorcycle Rally the next day and I was sitting at home waiting for 9:00 to come when the shop opened. I turned on the TV and actually saw the second plane hitting the 2nd tower. I was in shock. At first I thought I must be watching a movie or something, but to my dismay it was no movie. I picked up the phone and called my husband who was at work. He was already watching. We just sat on the phone with each other in shock. Later we went to the motorcycle shop and it was a very somber day there. The TV's were all on and everyone was just glued to the set. No one could even express anything at all. It was too shocking, too sad, too disturbing.

We left the next day for the bike rally and instead of a joyous event that year, it was very somber instead. But, the one good thing that I will ALWAYS remember is just about every single motorcycle there (at least 20,000 bikes) were all displaying the American flag. Hot Rod had a huge flag on his bike and I had 2 smaller ones. I will never forget how proud I was to be an American those next few days and to show the world, you may hit us and you may knock us down but we will rebuild and we are stronger than you think.

I went back to New York in the spring of 2002, just a few months after 9/11. I was on a work trip to Philadelphia actually and we went to New York for an afternoon. I was the only one in our group that had been there before. I was the only one that had seen the towers before they were destroyed. I was the only one that could truly comprehend how massive they were and how the sky line of New York will be changed forever. The thing I remember most about that day was seeing this metal orb that used to be displayed in the courtyard at the World Trade Center. They found it in the wreckage and it was displayed in Battery Park.  I just stared at that mangled piece of metal because I had taken a picture of that very thing the first time I went to New York in 1996. I took another picture and then scrapbooked the 2 pictures together as a tribute to our great country. Here is that scrapbook page that I did so long ago. ..

I dug this out of a very old scrapbook and then scanned it. I just have to give a small disclaimer that my scrapbooking has come a long way since this was done! But, I'm glad I had these pictures. I'm glad I took the time to actually document this time in our nation's history. I hope someday my grandchildren and their children will inherit my scrapbooks and they'll look at this and they will remember what our nation went through. They will know that their grandmother was one of the people that stood on the sidewalk across the street from all that destruction and cried.

So, if you haven't already today grab the people that mean the most to you and tell them you love them because you just never know if it will be the last time you get to do it.

Would You Buy It?

Once again I’m a little late to the party but I wanted to join Stephanie’s (aka Junker Newbie) Would You Buy It Wednesday. So, this week I am actually posting about something I bought a long time ago (so obviously I’ve already ruined the surprise and admitted I bought this!) but I just recently found the perfect place for it. Here it is…

It is a vintage mirror from a hat shop. I saw this at a city wide garage sale about a year or so ago and just had to have it. I just loved it at first sight! It has mirrors on both sides that slide into the metal frame. The frame itself has just the right amount of rust to give it the perfect patina. The bottom of the mirror has these little holes for hat pins and it even came with one hat pin.

So, I’ve had this sitting in my spare room basically being unused for the last year. However, a week ago I found this great table at the Salvation Army Store and it is perfect to go in my hallway from the garage. I’ve been looking for something like this for awhile. I wanted to come up with a space to check my makeup before walking out the door and also to have a space to drop the mail so it is all in one place. After all, we don’t use our front door, we come in through the garage so I really wanted a place for us to use. My entry room is coming along fabulously but it still is not where we come into the house, we use the garage and come into the house via this long hallway from the garage so this set up is going to be perfect for us.

(Sorry the picture is a little fuzzy). I didn’t do a single thing to this table either. I cleaned it up and put in the hallway as is. I was so happy because for once my husband really LOVED it. Usually he’s really not on board with all of my thrifting finds so I was really pleasantly surprised when he said “I love it” and he actually meant it! So, what do you think? Would you have bought the mirror? What about the table?

Turns out they were both the same price…$20. I think I scored, but I’m anxious to hear what you have to say. Do you like them? Would you have bought them? Do you think the price was fair for both of them?
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