2011 Ornaments

Each year, I make ornaments for my family and this year I have taken on a MacKenzie Childs look. I hope they like them.

I purchased these wooden stockings unfinished at Hobby Lobby last year...after Christmas. Then I painted them this year. Do you think I captured the essence of MacKenzie Childs?

I also made the black and white check balls too and will share with you a tutorial on that soon.

I

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Wine What!

While on a shopping trip, I purchased this wine rack.I liked the way it looked vine-like. This is the wine rack holding wine bottles.
It's what it was made for, right?OKAY, let's think outside the box, but not too far, because it's been done many times before.
Yes, as a hand towel holder in a guest bath.
Not a huge stretch, but fun and pretty.
NOTE: You should be able to click on most of the

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Bye, Bye Valance!

I made a pretty valance, for the bay window in my dining room, a year or so ago.I decided to take the Christmas holiday as my opportunity to put up what I really wanted, a white wooden rod with rings.


Why mess with a good thing you ask? Well, I have made the decision to use the rings during the month of December to hang Christmas decor. This forces my hand to...
Make a NEW Valance AFTER

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Revisiting Last Year's Christmas Mantel ...

I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving with family and friends!  Are you still full?  I sure am!

Before I share our holiday home, I thought I'd show my sweet, new blogging buddies what our Christmas mantel looked like for the past few years:

It was filled with sequined nutcrackers of varying sizes:

Littles fellas perched on top of festive holiday nuts:

And, lots of sparkle and beaded garland:

It glowed and shimmered when it was all lit up at night:

While I loved the *blingy* look, I decided to do something different this year.  Lemme tell ya' ... I was stumped what to do until my sweet 5 year old kiddo inspired me ... can't wait to share it with you !!



Have a great day and happy decorating!

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Let The Dance Begin

Goodbye Fall...


Ready to go to the basement for another year!
Hello Christmas...

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Client's Great Room ~ Coming Along!

My current client's

Great Room


is coming along nicely so I thought I would share what I have done so far.

Upon my first visit, there was only one thing in the room...a new leather sectional. Oh, and a ton of baby gear.  This is all I had to go on...

So the first thing that I did was go shopping! Yeah...fun, fun, spending someone else's money!
I found a large wool rug at Sam's Club for an

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When Creative Juices Flow: DIY clay pot

Its been long that I have posted about DIY project. So here's one for you. I saw this pot and liked its shape. Since then every new idea had been replacing the older one and I was just wondering what I'm gonna do with this pot. Then came this wonerful idea of transforming this pot by clay work. Clay, stones, glue and lot patience and output is one HAPPY ORANGE POT :-)))
                                                              

And this pot now can serve in different ways.....how??? come have a look........

On side table in living room..........



In Kitchen as spoon holder (going well with orange backsplash)..........

As a planter for your lucky plant (lovely combination of orange and green isn't it)........

Near besin with lot of flowers to bring big smile on your face every morning.......

So let me know friends which one is the best way to use it....or do you have some more ideas.... come on and share with me.

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Happy Thanksgiving!

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A Bunch of Before & Afters V

I decided to keep better track of my projects with combining each in a simple collage of Before and After. Here is a sample of past projects.













NOTE: You should be able to click on most of the pictures to enlarge to see further details.
These parties I love to link up to or check out my Blog Parties tab
Party Time @ It's So Very Cheri
Metamorphosis Monday @ Between Naps On The Porch

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"IT'S ...

beginning to look a LOT like Christmas (sing it with me now) ... EVERYwhere you gooooo !!"  Yes, folks, Dasher and Dancer; elves; Santa; and the "reason for the season" have landed in our home. 

Being the tease that I am, thought I'd share a few peeks!

I love our cute visitors we get to enjoy for the season!

I look forward to showing you more very soon.  For now, I'm enjoying decorating others' homes for the holidays, too !!

I'm linking up with:

Dittle Dattle/Amaze Me Monday

Coastal Charm/Nifty Thrifty Tuesday

My Uncommon Slice of Suburbia/Tuesday's Treasures

My Backyard Eden/Make it Yours

At the Picket Fence/Inspiration Friday

Have a great day and thanks for stopping by.

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All That Glitters Wreath Tutorial

Don't you really love the long, wide mesh product that has been out on the market for the past couple of years? It is very glittery and it makes a beautiful garland for trees and other uses. And it's softer than it looks to the touch. I also think it's fun to work with and thought you would enjoy this quick tutorial on making a mesh wreath.

Step 1: Gather your supplies



Glittery Stems,

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Nautical Christmas Tree ...

Last year, I was truly flattered to have been hired by local business owners, to decorate the Christmas tree in their shop, Marine Service Center (where they sell all things fast and fun on the water), as well as to spread Christmas around their home.  In years past, the Christmas tree at their store had been a nautical themed tree in blue, red, white and gold.  With the permission of the owners, last year, I traded out the gold accents for silvers ones ... added nautical rope and burlap, along with snowflakes and branches at the top.

This year, I was happy when the owners asked me to come back and "play" again.  They didn't want to change anything from what I had done last year, so, I was happy to recreate the nautical tree again ...

Just a few pics:

I loved adding the nautical rope ... truly something one wouldn't expect to see on a Christmas tree!

Down below, I wrapped the presents in blue paper, along with white boxes (with red ribbon). 



I'm now busy splashing Christmas around their home and look forward to sharing those pics with you, too!

In the meantime ... LOOOOOK what is FINALLY up and blinging away in our dining room !!  I'm in LOVE and can't wait to show you our Christmas dining room!

As always, thanks for stopping by, friends ...

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Meet Cute Little Mr. Gajraj

You must have seen and participated in this giveaway sponsored by IndyaKaleidoscope here on Sudha's lovely blog Design Enthusiast. Believe me friends the moment I saw that elephant I just wanted it desperately and then came the day when Sudha announced the winner. I was so amazed and shocked to see my name as winner.....yay....I got it....finally it arrived at my home and I am so very happy to see Mr. Gajraj. This Cute elephant is from online store IndyaKaleidoscope owned by  Preethi. This beautiful store has vast variety of artifacts and they are all drool worthy.

I love the fine details and color of this elephant.

A closer look can give you little idea about this beautifully carved elephant.  I am very happy to have Mr. Gajraj.

A big thank to Sudha & Preethi. Don't forget to check their lovely blogs.

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Holly Jolly Tutorial

I finally did IT! I made a stencil with freezer paper. I had seen this on blogland and wanted to try it. My excuse...Hubby was out of town and I wanted to do a fast, fun and easy project.
Here are the steps to making a stencil.

ONE: Find a graphic that you like. You will have to cut out all the design, so choose carefully.
I chose this from Google Images by doing a search for Christmas letter

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Blogversary Today and Winner!

Today is a very special day for me. A year ago, I decided to share not only my voice, but my creations with you and started my blog. Today, my stats are:

904 Followers
432,930 Pageviews
250 Posts

That's more than one new post every other day!!!  I didn't know I had that much to share:)

I decided to give, to one lucky follower, this hand-painted tray, table scarf, teacup and various teas/

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Fall Breakfast Area

Happy Sunday, folks ... and, come on in!  Welcome to what *used* to be our Fall breakfast area.  It's all looking like Christmas right now, but I wanted to share with you what it looked like just last week! 

There are a few changes to this area since I shared it last time.

The biggest change being that I painted the table base Annie Sloane Old White, and I also asked my sweet friend to recover our chairs.  It's actually extra fabric that I had stored away! 

I also added a bit of this fabric to the center of the table, layered on top of a *burlap-y* looking fabric.  I then placed a grapevine pumpkin on a cream cake stand and covered all of that with a large glass cloche.

I also added "EAT" above the window ... I painted the letters Old White, followed by Chateaux Grey (to tie in with the neighboring dry bar, which is done in the same colors).

A view of the breakfast area from the great room ... you'll spy our Family Fall tree, which has become a tradition in our home every Fall now.  For the last two years, it has been in our sitting room, but, this year, I decided to place it by our breakfast table so that it would feel more "present" during the Fall.  I loved sitting at the table, and staring at all of the pics ... lots of memories always come flooding back, and I love that:

Crazy tree topper:

I fill this tree with special family pictures ... moments which we are so thankful for ... like the first moment I held my son:

Special sayings:

And, fun times with friends (like the day last year that my husband and I renewed our vows for our 15th wedding anniversary, surrounded by great friends, on the beaches of Punta Cana):

The family tree has since been moved to another room, and I look forward to sharing that, along with the rest of our house, which is now all dressed up for Christmas!

In the meantime, come on over and party at these wonderful blogs:

Dittle Dattle/Amaze Me Monday
Kristen's Creations/Share Your Creations Party

Thanks for stopping by,



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