FREE Advent Calendar

I am a sucker for freebies. I love them. I have been searching the internet for a cool advent calendar idea. There are many great ideas out there, but most of them are just too small for a family with FOUR children. This year I want to be able to put a variety of things inside each day. I was thrilled when I came across this on one of my favorite blogs, Eighteen25:
It's a shoe organizer turned Advent Calendar!

I found a linen shoe organizer at Fred Meyer for $15.

The next step is to go HERE to download the cute (free) numbers from Eighteen25 and then get my stuffing supplies ready. Ho, ho, ho!

Halloween Lunch Fun

Here are some cute Halloween joke cards you can download for FREE! I found these at the blog "LiveLaughGrow". Click HERE to get the joke cards and start slipping them in some one's lunch bag!

Burlap Eye Candy

I love burlap for home decor! It seems to match almost any style and it adds a fun texture. Here are some pictures I gathered:

An adorable fall decoration from Brown Paper Packages. Click HERE to link to this tutorial.

What a fun footstool featured in Country Living Magazine.

Cute pillows from Dovetales Antiques & Home Magazine.

I LOVE this simple table runner from Living With Lindsay.

I may try this burlap wrap idea from ELLE Decor.

What a relaxing looking room shown by House Beautiful. Let's eat lunch there!

Doesn't this just beckon you to come curl up here with a book? (source unknown).

I want a burlap banner! (source unknown).

If you want one too, you can buy this one for $20 by clicking HERE.

It can even be made into jewelry! By BlissTree.

I have a general weakness for any pillow cover. Want it? Buy it for $24 HERE.

Remember the Pottery Barn $10,000 Giveaway??? If I win, I will be adding these to my cart:

I hope you enjoyed virtual window shopping with me. If you are feeling inspired, I have seen burlap at Walmart...

Getting Crafty

When Summer heads somewhere else in the world and Fall creeps its way into my life, I start feeling an itch to make crafts. I am not sure if I have conditioned myself to feel this or if it happens all on it's own. But it happens. I also start wanting heartier meals, snugglie sweaters, and great books!

Yesterday my friend April and I made some Halloween advent "calendars". Really they are blocks that allow the kiddos to count down the days until it's CANDY TIME :)

While the moms were getting crafty, the little girls created their own fun. We heard giggling and looked over to see both girls under one of the living room side tables having a great time! I am not sure what was so engaging about being there, but they thought it was exciting.

More Projects

I found this fabulous idea for making fabric wall hangings from a friend's blog "Make It and Love It". She has terrific make-it-yourself home decor and sewing ideas.

Confession: My guest room has been a dumping spot for stuff we don't need/want for awhile now.

It's time to come clean in the guest room. My sweetie helped me clear out the sleeping bags, moose antlers, old dining room chairs, a dusty elliptical machine, paint supplies, etc, etc...Once the debris was gone I suddenly felt inspired to give this room a face lift. The challenge is I do not want to spend very much money.

My Game Plan: #1 Re-purpose as many items as possible. #2 Buy on sale what I can't find around the house.

The bedding in the guest room was old and tired. Last Fall I bought a cute quilt for our RV. It dawned on me that I could use the quilt in the guest room for the majority of the time and take it to the RV when we go on a trip. Eureka!

Next I updated the brass lamps by adding a coat of metallic paint to give them a more modern look. These lamps were the first ones we bought as a married couple years ago. They are solid brass and sentimental to me so I wanted to make them work in our home. This picture shows the original brass (around the light bulb) and the new, spray painted color.



Don't these lamps look great? The paint cost me $5.


Then I went to Joann's and bought 1/2 yard of three different fabrics (on sale) that match the quilt and three 11 x 30 canvas artist frames (used 50% off coupon) to cover with the fabric.


This is my week for trying new things. I have not used a heavy duty staple gun before. All I did was pull the fabric tight and staple away!


I hung the pieces over the bed in the guest room. As you can see I still need to buy more bedding- it's a work in progress.


I may change the fabrics if I find something I like better. I have also thought of adding metal decor near the fabric wall hangings to add interest. I am sure it will evolve over time.

Craft Therapy: Mosaic Tile Frame

About three years ago I started to make this mosaic tile frame. A friend and I went to a local art shop and spent a couple of hours gluing tiny mosaic pieces onto our frames. I bought the grout to complete the project and went home with the intention of finishing it within a few days. Then three years passed! I have been looking at this frame over the past few weeks and thinking to myself that it is about time I finished it. I detest an unfinished project! I have never grouted anything before and I was unsure how it would go. Today was the day I finally completed it! Here is how you grout a mosaic:

Grout is messy. I put the frame on plastic garbage bags to protect my counters.


Add a bit of water to the dry grout until it has the consistency of oatmeal.


Start spreading the grout between the tiles. I used gloves keep it off my hands.


Keep pushing the grout into the crevices until everything is covered.


Let the grout dry until it becomes chalky. I used my gloved fingers to gently wipe away excess grout as it dried.


Once the grout is mostly dry, use a slightly damp cloth to wipe down the tiles.


It may have taken three years to complete this project, but I can finally say "It's done!" and I had fun doing it.


A side benefit was using my camera. Taking the time to capture what is happening in my life or just documenting this beautiful world ALWAYS improves my mood. I hardly noticed the slushy snow falling outside my window today.

A new hobby

Last week old man Winter decided to return. I was sad. I was totally out of the winter mind-set and ready for Spring. My flowers were just beginning to push their heads up through the soil. Sigh. Despite this the snow began to fall again for the first time in over a month.

My response to this? Crafting!

I have been working on a new hobby called "Scrapboxing" or shadowboxing. This is 3D scrapbooking.

Yesterday I took my girls to JoAnn's and I found lots of projects to distract me from the weather conditions. I will post more of my "craft therapy" projects shortly.

Something NEW to Love

Do you have mementos that will not fit in a flat memory book? Here is the answer!

It's called "Scrapboxing". A hybrid of scrapbooking and shadowboxing.

I love it and can't wait to get started.

Isn't life so fun? We have the ability to add to our interests, talents & hobbies throughout our lives.

To learn more about Scraboxing, click HERE.