Merry Christmas!

 

(our white & gold tree this year)

Have a fantastic holiday!

Oh, and my Christmas present to you is that calories don't count on the 24th OR the 25th :)

Christmas comes early at our house....

I'm not very patient. 
The boy and I have already opened our gifts to each other.
AND now I'm going to give you a peek at some of the gifts I got made for other people.
I like to do at least one handmade gift for the girls in the family, they appreciate it much more than boys.
My mom and my grandmother are getting monogrammed linen table runners.

I had to make one for myself too, you know, to make sure they came out okay and that I got the size right :)


My favorite gift to give is this one :

I designed a growth chart for my neice Kendall and had it printed on canvas through Uprinting.  I still need to get a ribbon to hang it, but I know my mom has some at home that I can use.  Her room has a pink and giraffe theme and I think this is going to look so awesome on her wall!  Plus now I'll get an answer when I call and ask "How big is she now?!"


What gift are you most excited to give?

Free Dining Room Chairs....

Scene : Me on the couch, snuggled in blankets watching Christmas movies.

The phone rings, it’s my mom. 

Me : ‘Hi, whats up?’

Mom : ‘Are you still in bed?’

Me : ‘No….but I’m not dressed yet.’

Mom : ‘Okay, well remember those molded plastic chairs you saw at an auction two years ago?’

Me : ‘Yes…..the ones that were sitting in the corner of the room where the hot dogs were’ (I’ve since realized it’s very sad that I map things by their proximity to food)

Mom : ‘Well Mr. X just bought 40 of them for $5, do you want me to go see if I can buy a few for you?’

Me : (Sitting up now) ‘Yes!  How many do you think we can get?  What colors do they have?’

Mom : ‘There is a yellow and an orange.  Do you want me to take a picture?  How many do you want? 4?’

Me : ‘Sure, see if you can get 4 orange ones.’

Mom : ‘Okay bye’.

Me : ‘Bye’

Me : ‘WAAIT’

Mom : ‘Yes’.

Me : ‘I want 6, see if you can get 6.’

Well, I got 6 – for $10.  I was a little surprised at first since Mr. X paid $5 total for all 40 that he would charge my mom $10 for 6, but she offered him $10 so she could go through the stack and pick out all the best ones (she’s a thinker).  BUT THEN, my mom decided to buy an office (not the actual building just all the furniture inside it).  [Sidenote: they were at an auction for a furniture manufacturer going out of business that has been based in my hometown for a very very long time].  She bought the whole office because my dad needed more file cabinets? and Mr. X (the same Mr. X who bought the chairs) was eyeing the file cabinets and said that he could use one of those.  She said $10 and you can have one – he said ‘Here’s your $10 back’.  So I *think* the chairs were technically free!

Short Version : We have chairs for the dining room.  Yay!  They look very similar to the molded plastic Eames chairs, but I haven’t seen them in person yet to confirm their origins.  And the picture my mom sent seems to look exactly like a certain classic and will never go out of style Hermes orange.

Poor lighting cell phone pic from my mom

source

Maybe something like this? (above)

And I'm thinking that the hutch I picked up here, would get painted Farrow & Ball Mouse's Back (like the cabinets in the photo below) with a Hermes orange interior to let all the white china that is inside really pop.

I'm excited to have some type of plan, even if it doesn't pan out -

What do you think?

4th & Folded GIVEAWAY

There is a giveaway up on the Fourth & Folded blog today.
Click HERE to check it out!

Even if it doesn't tickle your fancy, it would make a great stocking stuffer :)
Sneak peek below -

Good Luck!

DIY : Geometric Rug

Last weekend when we went home for Thanksgiving we picked up a table for the dining room.  Meaning, maybe its time to start pulling that room together........I had been looking online for an inexpensive rug for the room without much luck.  I wanted something geometric and fairly neutral; but didn't want to spend a fortune on it since my husband is prone to spilling.

I picked up this $40 rug at Ikea, and got to work laying out a link pattern with 1" blue painters tape.

I'm not going to lie, taping everything off was not a quick process.

After everything was taped off I started painting.  I'm not going to say this was a huge success, the paint is pretty uneven in places.  I would recommend doing a less contrasting color (if I were doing it again).  But o'well.  I used Benjamin Moore flat paint, in Weimaraner.

I still need to touch up the edges, so I haven't pulled off the tape there yet.

Is it perfect? Nope.
But for ~$60, its good enough for me, for now :)

Supplies : 
1 Ikea Erslev Cotton Rug  (5'11" x 8'2") ~$40
2 Rolls 1" Painters Tape (used just a little over one roll) ~$4
1 Quart Paint (only used about half) ~$15

Knock, Knock....

To go along with our new black front door, we need a door knocker.  The door used to have one, and the previous owners decided to take it with them (along with the vanities in the bathrooms and 90% of the outlet covers - so odd).  Anyways, I turned to my standby - Etsy :)

The first one that came up on my search was this :

I guess it serves as a reminder that if the house is a rock'n don't come a knock'n?  I'm very weirded out by this. 

But in all seriousness -

Option A : Vintage Brass with an area to engrave our last name $25+s/h
This is the most traditional option -

Option B : Vintage Brass Lion (awwww) $28 + s/h
He's cute and he reminds me of The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe

Option 3 : Solid Brass Pinapple $15 + s/h
This reminds me of college, I went to school in Rhode Island and there were pineapples on 80% of the doors of the older homes in Newport and Providence since pineapples are a symbol of hospitality.  According to the legend, it began with New England sea captains, who would spear pineapples on a fence post outside their homes after returning from the Caribbean islands, to let friends know of his safe return from sea. The pineapple was an invitation for them to visit, share his food and drink, and listen to tales of his voyage.

Option 4 : Vintage Brass Whale $68 + s/h (most $$ but he's so cute and comes from Maine)
I'm not sure how I feel about whatever is coming out of his belly; but I kind of love him.....a lot.  Although we are not near the water, so it might be odd to have a whale on our door?

Please tell me which is your favorite, because as it stands right now we might end up with 4 door knockers on our door, which is probably overkill.

Our house is getting GRILLZ....

It's been a while since I posted about our house, things are progressing, but I have a problem where I never fully finish something and therefore never take pictures.  Examples to include: Island that is still missing hardware, striped stair railing that needs new paint, kitchen that still needs paint on 1 wall, half done molding in the bedroom, half built wreath on the living room floor....
I could go on, I get so excited about new projects and then the old ones just seem 'eh'.  This weekend is dedicated to finishing SOME of the projects...and cleaning.  I have an overwhelming urge to purge.

Anyways, I know Christmas hasn't even rolled around yet, but I'm already planning out our spring to-do list.  I've been LOVING glossy black front doors recently, and really want for my own. 
This is the current state of the exterior.

This is what my glossy black front door might look like :
(Plus, we have to buy a cute new knocker since the previous owners TOOK it, and left two holes in the front door - awesome right?)

Okay, clearly I cannot add another color to the exterior scheme, plus EW! baby blue trim needs to GO! (what were they thinking?) and we might as well match the shutters to the door since evergreen and yellow combo isn't really my thing either.

Much better already right?

And maybe a little detail would help the situation.  The windows are actually good quality windows, that tilt in for washing (bonus) so we don't want to replace them, but they are boring, and I want to add grillz.

No, not those kind :)

See, more character right?

And while we are at it.....

Lets help out that lawn situation a bit (boy job).

And ideally, there will be some hydrangea bushes in my future.

What do you think? 

Minimal investment for increased curb apeal?  Or do you like the evergreen/baby blue combo?

*Please excuse my photoshop skills, I really do know how to use the program, but I made these in all of 5 minutes while waiting for something at work :)