Monday, December 31, 2012

Favorite Things {January Mantel}

Every year, once all the Christmas decorations come down, I tend to scale back on my décor.  I think it's the overabundance of Christmas that just makes me want to streamline for the new year.


Saturday, December 29, 2012

Top 5 Most Viewed Posts of 2012

First of all, this whole blogging experience, which I started on a whim back in the spring, has been so fantastic. I love the outlet of being able to share my creativity, ideas and projects with others.

And, I'm so thankful for all of you! Every comment, new follower or feature makes me smile and brightens my day.

This is probably my lack of self confidence talking, but I sometimes can't believe that others are inspired by my posts and want to keep coming back to my blog.  Thank you! This is truly my outlet on tough days. Here I can separate myself from being the homeschooling mom of two brilliant boys with autism, ADHD, anxiety, OCD and vision problems and just be Angela, thrifter and DIYer. The funny thing is, even when my boys are having rough days they totally support my blogging. They get that this is important to me and will give me the time to work on projects and write blog posts.

Friday, December 28, 2012

Top 5 Furniture Makeovers of 2012

Hi everyone!  It's been so fun for me to go through my old posts from the past several months since I started blogging.

If you follow along than you know I really love to paint furniture.  Most of my projects start with a thrift store or tag sale find. A couple of pieces I even happened upon for free.

The best part about painting furniture is that you can take a seriously worn piece and make it new with very little time and money. I usually will take a risk with pieces like these; painting them fun colors or reupholstering them in bold prints. I think they add such a great touch to a room, especially since I tend to decorate in primarily neutral tones.

Below you'll find my Top 5 Furniture Makeovers of 2012



Amped-Up Telephone/Gossip Chair

 

Thursday, December 27, 2012

Holiday Home Tour Collage

I can't believe that December is almost over and that tomorrow my oldest son turns 11! Time is seriously going by too fast!

Our 'Tis the Season Holiday Link Party is still going strong.  Have you linked up yet? You can check out my party here.  In preparation of the holiday home tour party that will be starting on Saturday (info at end of this post), I put together a collage of all my Christmas decorating from this year.

Enjoy!



Thursday, December 20, 2012

A Twiggy Tree

Do you remember for Thanksgiving when I made a Chalkboard Leafed Thankful Tree?  Well, I loved the branch I found so much that I decided to reuse it for my Christmas décor.

Wednesday, December 19, 2012

[Project Notebook]

(I always have a ton of decorating and DIY ideas floating around in my head. Many of them end up in my project notebook that I keep in my nightstand. I thought it would be fun if I shared some of my ideas with you all each week.)


I've been slowly painting my bedroom. Seriously, what typically would take me a day I have been working on for two months. Anyway, with the painting now complete I have been adding in little touches to make the space more personal, but I am really struggling with styling my dresser.  Here are some possibilities...


Styling Your Home: Dresser Edition
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Monday, December 17, 2012

Favorite & Tested Holiday Recipe

I'm just going to come right out and say that I am not a huge fan of chocolate. I know it's crazy, but I seriously like veggies better. My husband, however, is the exact opposite. This is one of his all time favorite desserts that I make for special occasions.

It's really not all that complex and comes together quite quickly.

Dark-Chocolate Soufflé Cake
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Sunday, December 16, 2012

Christmas Crafting {Repurposed Decorations}

We got a new, much larger artificial tree for our living room this year.  You can see what I did with our old tree here.

Anyway, I thought the new tree needed something large and festive to balance out the height of it.

Enter my white, glittery, sparkly Merry Christmas garland.



Thursday, December 13, 2012

Repurposed Tree with Thrift Store Silver

I'm gearing up to host the 'Tis the Season Holiday Link Party on December 22nd. My theme for the party is Christmas trees and I thought I would share this fun little tree that we have in our dining room because it has such an interesting backstory!

Wednesday, December 12, 2012

[Project Notebook]

(I always have a ton of decorating and DIY ideas floating around in my head. Many of them end up in my project notebook that I keep in my nightstand. I thought it would be fun if I shared some of my ideas with you all each week.)


Every year, as part of my Mom's Christmas present, I make her a mini scrapbook album.  Actually, I make two (the second being an identical copy to keep at our house). Of course, I always have plans that are way too grand and it takes me much longer than I anticipate and inevitably I am working like crazy to finish the last details on Christmas Eve night.  I just went and got all my pictures printed, bought paper and supplies and I'm ready to begin! Here are some mini books that are inspiring me this year:


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Tuesday, December 11, 2012

5 (More) Awesome Outfits

Picking up where I left off a couple of weeks ago in this post, I found another five outfits that I absolutely love!



Clothes
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Monday, December 10, 2012

Our No-Cost, Crafty, Wintery Outside Decor

Welcome to Number Fifty-Three!  I usually don't do a lot of outside decorating at this time of year. One, because we don't have outside outlets so I can't plug in lights, and two, because sometimes it snows so much up here in New England that everything gets buried anyway.

However, this past weekend my husband and I put up a few wintry touches to welcome guests.  And guess what? We spent $0 to do it!




Sunday, December 9, 2012

Our Holiday Entry

Like my mantel, I kept my entry simple and woodsy for the Christmas holiday; adding in elements like rosemary, twigs and pine.


Saturday, December 8, 2012

'Tis the Season Holiday Link Party!

Happy Saturday everyone!
 
Just a reminder that today starts the fantastic 'Tis the Season 2012 Holiday Link Party!
 
Me, along with nine other bloggers will take turns hosting a themed link party.  Stacey from Embracing Change will start us out today with Christmas Mantels.
 
A Holiday Linky Party Is Coming Your Way!
 
 
Here are links for all of the party hosts in case you want to check out their blogs ahead of time. They are some seriously talented ladies!
 
Stacey of Embracing Change
 
Laura of  The Ironstone Nest
 
 
Sarah of Alderberry Hill
 
Jessica of Dear Emmeline
 
Lindsay of Southern Lovely
 
Julia of 551 East
 
Lisa of CreateInspire
 
Bliss of Bliss Ranch
 
 
I hope to see you all at the first party later today!
 
 
 

Thursday, December 6, 2012

Woodland Christmas Mantel & a Fun Announcement

As with my other seasonal decorations I like to keep it simple and just add in little touches throughout my home.
 
This year, my Christmas mantel is casually decorated in shades of white, green and gray/silver.
 
 

Wednesday, December 5, 2012

[Project Notebook]

(I always have a ton of decorating and DIY ideas floating around in my head. Many of them end up in my project notebook that I keep in my nightstand. I thought it would be fun if I shared some of my ideas with you all each week.)


I have so much going on lately, but I'm really wanting to do some ornament crafting. These are my inspirations...


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Tuesday, December 4, 2012

5 Fantastic Hair & Skin Products

 
Hi there. I don't think I've ever mentioned this, but I'm a bit of a product junky.

It stems from two things:  1. I do not want to see any sign of wrinkles, and 2. I do not tolerate any frizz in my hair. Not the easiest task given that I'm 37 and have naturally frizzy curly hair.

Anyway, I'm always trying new things and these are my current favorites:



Ouidad Climate Control® Heat & Humidity Gel

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Monday, December 3, 2012

November Rewind...

Can you believe it is December already?

Below are my favorite projects from the past month. You can click on the links below to read the entire post.



 

Sunday, December 2, 2012

Easy, Vintage Holiday Decorating

We're full-on holiday decorating over here and my absolute favorite decorations for the season are vintage ornaments.

Wednesday, November 28, 2012

[Project Notebook]

(I always have a ton of decorating and DIY ideas floating around in my head. Many of them end up in my project notebook that I keep in my nightstand. I thought it would be fun if I shared some of my ideas with you all each week.)


Christmas trees. I totally want to do something different this year! Something simple and unexpected. Here are some ideas that I'm considering...


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Tuesday, November 27, 2012

5 Awesome Outfit Finds

I love clothes and putting together outfits.

But seriously, with being home for most (sometimes all) of the day homeschooling and working on various projects, looking decent sometimes gets lost in the mix.


And I end up like this...

 

Monday, November 26, 2012

DIY Cranberry & Bay Leaf Garland

Last week, just before Thanksgiving, while I was at BJs lamenting over the fact that they had run out of my absolute favorite fall vegetable (Brussels sprout, FYI), I decided that, since I was already there, I would pick up a huge bag of cranberries for sauce and baking and a container of bay leaves.



Sunday, November 25, 2012

Fresh Herb Wreath

So, last week, after I posted about my Thanksgiving table and menu, here, our computer completely died.

Like totally, unexpectedly, you need to go buy a new computer, died. And, it may have been my fault. So totally unintentional...but apparently I cannot have the computer and space heater on in one room while I blow dry my hair in a totally other part of my home.

Lesson learned; new computer and state of the art surge protector bought and set up and now I'm ready to catch up on all things blog.


Hi everyone! I'll be back tomorrow with a great new project for the holidays after taking a very unintentional break from blogging (totally dead computer!). In the meantime head on over to A Woman's Haven where my house tour is being featured today!

Tuesday, November 20, 2012

Our Thanksgiving Table and Menu

Happy almost Thanksgiving everyone!

I thought I would share two things with you all today; the first being my Thanksgiving table scape...



Thursday, November 15, 2012

Chandelier Stenciled Chair


I recently refinished this chair that my husband had gotten for free while out at a tag sale a few months ago.


Wednesday, November 14, 2012

[Project Notebook]

(I always have a ton of decorating and DIY ideas floating around in my head. Many of them end up in my project notebook that I keep in my nightstand. I thought it would be fun if I shared some of my ideas with you all each week.)

This week I'm thinking about cute, comfy, winter fashion. It's freezing here today and I'm always on the lookout for wearable outfits.  I typically stick with jeans, tanks, sweaters and flats (boots when it gets really chilly!):




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Monday, November 12, 2012

Chalkboard Leafed Thankful Tree

Hi everyone!  I'm still in full-blown Thanksgiving/Autumn decorating and crafting mode around here and I wanted to share with you all my latest project!



Sunday, November 11, 2012

Carving out a Library

We don't have one of those long, narrow traditional type of hallways.  Ours is shaped more like a square, located at the top of our stairs on the second floor of our home.

It's almost like a little room; having more than ample space for furniture and accessories.


Thursday, November 8, 2012

[Project Notebook] and a Winner!

(I always have a ton of decorating and DIY ideas floating around in my head. Many of them end up in my project notebook that I keep in my nightstand. I thought it would be fun if I shared some of my ideas with you all each week.)

This week I'm thinking about simple Thanksgiving decor. I don't want to rush this season one bit. I love this time of year, even more so than Christmas. I plan to incorporate some of the following into our home:

1.  A thankful tree--I love the idea of this!



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Tuesday, November 6, 2012

My Thanks and Giving Owl

Gorgeous owls and helping children with cancer.

Every fall I try to make a purchase for St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital® Thanks and Giving® campaign.

 

Monday, November 5, 2012

Pin Board and Burlap Wall Art


Hi everyone! I had a large, empty wall in our kitchen. It used to have our subway art, but then I rearranged a bunch of furniture and accessories a couple of weekends ago and the art from the kitchen was moved into the living room.  You know how it is, right?

Well, on top of it, I have been trying extra hard to be frugal and to use what I have on hand to decorate.

So, I came up with the idea of using a thrifted $4.99 bulletin board that had been stored in my basement and some burlap from my fabric stash to create an easy and natural wall hanging.



Sunday, November 4, 2012

Thursday, November 1, 2012

October Rewind...

I can't believe it's already November 1st!

Below are my favorite projects from the past month. You can click on the links below to read the entire post.



1. Super Easy, DIY Bittersweet Wreath    2. My Hutch. Round Two.    3. Our Revamped Entry    4. MyColor™ inspired by Pantone® Painting Party!    5. Milk Glass and Silhouettes

Wednesday, October 31, 2012

[Project Notebook] & A Giveaway!

(I always have a ton of decorating and DIY ideas floating around in my head. Many of them end up in my project notebook that I keep in my nightstand. I thought it would be fun if I shared some of my ideas with you all each week.)

I'm not sure if I ever mentioned this, but I'm not a huge fan of red. That said, the previous owners of our house must have loved it.  I mean they did leave us with a red front door, red foundation, red walkway, red detached garage, red concrete bench in the garden and a painted red fence surrounding our property. So, if I had the motivation of rid our property of all the excessive red, this is what I would do.



1. Black Door

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Tuesday, October 23, 2012

[My Project Notebook]

(I always have a ton of decorating and DIY ideas floating around in my head. Many of them end up in my project notebook that I keep in my nightstand. I thought it would be fun if I shared some of my ideas with you all each week.)

So, if you saw my post about adding in my new settee, than you know that I've had entryway design on my mind lately.  Here are some ideas I kept in mind when updating my own area.


1.  A comfy place to sit.

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Monday, October 22, 2012

Milk Glass and Silhouettes

If you stopped by last week to see my MyColor™ inspired by Pantone® Painting Party project than you may have noticed my little silhouette gallery wall.  (You can check out that full post here and also enter to win your own paint!)
 
 


Sunday, October 21, 2012

Our Revamped Entry...

Do you ever go to change one thing in your house and it snowballs into this major, never-ending ordeal?


I so did that this weekend. 



Thursday, October 18, 2012

[My Project Notebook]

(I always have a ton of decorating and DIY ideas floating around in my head. Many of them end up in my project notebook that I keep in my nightstand. I thought it would be fun if I shared some of my ideas with you all each week.)

I sort of have this little obsession with furniture.  Luckily, I only shop thrift and tag sales so the expense is kept relatively minimum.  Here are some of my dream pieces of furniture that I have pinned on my Pinterest boards.

1. Vintage Brass Chest

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