Pumpkins

It's October, and that means lots of holidays are around the corner and we get to celebrate with family and friends.  I have never been really interested in decorating for such events until this year.  Perhaps it is more fun with children around, or perhaps it is all the great ideas that are on Pinterest.  Either way, what fun I had with pumpkins. 

Trick or Treat pumpkins: approximately $5.99 for the large pumpkins, $4.99 for the smaller one, one can of white spray paint, black paint, ribbons (not shown here, but wrap around the stems).  I had so much fun making these and I am excited that they can be used throughout the years considering they are FAKE!

This is Matt's artistic talent at work!  We went pumpkin picking with the kids on Saturday at the Graves Mill Farm.  Matt searched for a while to find the perfect two pumpkins for his design, which I found on Pinterest.  Super spooky pumpkin with a skull inside.  At night it looks fabulous all lit up. 

 These three were super simple!  Just add glitter.  Again, we will have these for years to come since they are also faux pumpkins. 

This little guy was "our pumpkin."  He has fake teeth which are a great new idea for pumpkins.  Just loves him.  I know I look really tired, but keep in mind I decorated like 10 pumpkins in one day.  That is tiring work!



Pinterest and DIY!

Pinterest!  What is that you ask?  Why it's the most amazing site ever.  It's a place where people can post pictures of things that inspire them, things they want to experience, trips they want to take, food they want to cook, the list is endless.  You post these pictures to your "boards" and arrange them accordingly.  Request an invite here:  http://pinterest.com/

I'm on Pinterest just about every waking moment of the day to see what people are posting.  It's a great place to get ideas such as these two I'll show here. 

This is an easy DIY wreath that I saw on Pinterest. 

You will need: 1 wreath, silk flowers, numbers, paint/paint brush.  I painted my address to match the color of the flowers.  Time to complete: 1 hour

Love this idea!  Do you ever wonder what happens to socks in the washing machine?  I ponder this all the time because I just know that I put both socks into the washer, but only 1 ever comes out.  We stenciled our laundry room wall and hung the socks up.  Hopefully, we will find some matches soon now that we can see them all clearly.  Not to mention our laundry room is much tidier.   We bought our stencil at Michael's however you can request a personalized wall quote here: http://www.quotethewalls.com/

You will need: alphabet stencils, paint/paint brush, clothes pins, string, and hooks for the wall.  Time to complete: a week  - only because we did a few letters a night and let it dry so we didn't smudge them. 

What will I discover next on Pinterest?  I don't know but I can hardly wait. 

BEAT THE HEAT

Quick before the summer is in full bloom and hot as HELL let's get everything on that list

D

O
 
N
 
E

done!

Attempting to make the most of our 3 gloriously work free Memorial Day weekend, Matt and I decided to concur the remaining backyard items on our list.  On Saturday morning, we rushed to Lowes and bought pavers for our landing at the bottom of the deck stairs.  Previously this area was overrun with grass/mud as it was a quick fix to a muddy paws problem.

We opted for an L shaped pattern with the bricks.  Perhaps our math was a little off and we had to cut some of the bricks but I like the outcome and I think it looks fabulous.

On Monday, we started fresh again and decided to take on both the table and the chiminea.  I was smoking something strong that day I guess because I had no clue what I was in for and am asking myself does Matt have no limit to his energy? 

My mistake, but I have no pictures of Matt's step by step process of making the table... this blog thing is still new to me and I'm not used to taking pictures of every second of my life.  I'm learning fast though. 

Imagine wood, and Matt cutting said wood, maybe adding some nails and joints, sanding it down, putting it together, yadda - yadda - yadda.  Poof you have a table! 

Matt "discovered" this chiminea and decided to take it home, nurture it, and bring it back to good health.   You can see this baby needs some help.  Together we sanded that thing for what seemed like a month, or maybe just a few hours, but still it was a long time!  My obsessive personality would have allowed me to sand the chiminea down until it was fresh again, but alas Matt stopped me. (Thank God!) 

a nice addition to the deck

BAR-B-Q SEASON

The list of things we want to do around the house is getting long and just when I remove an item, another one sneaks it's way onto it.  Granted it's not as long as a YoungHouseLove list, but let's face it anything over 5 items stresses me out.  And just so you know, the task isn't removed from my list until it is 100% finished, complete, done! 

Here is our current list (or so i think)
1) Redo master bedroom
2) Redo master bathroom
3) Redo H's bedroom
4) Redo dining room
5) Refinish back deck
6) Address the forest that is taking over the backyard
7) Finish a table that Matt is building
8) Refinish a chiminae (sp?)
9) Place new bricks around the stairs of the back deck

That doesn't sound so bad, right?  But the thought of doing these tasks puts me into full heart attack mode.  Probably because I don't feel like we have the time and because I'm simultaneously planning a wedding. 

Saturday morning I woke up at 11:00 (gasp) however, let me just add that due to weather issues in Texas I didn't get home from a conference until Saturday morning at 5:00 AM.  I deserved a little sleeping in time! 
Anyhoooooo - I woke up to find that all of our deck furniture had been removed - which I deduced to mean that task #5 was on my weekend agenda. 

Here are some pictures throughout the process.

Lots of railings.  Lots and lots of railings!

Lower deck finished.

Add some furniture...

and some accessories

Notice the lantern on the right

Looks awesome!

My fun find for this deck are the lanterns I got from Lowes for $5.00 each.  I bought four of them and since they are made of glass, Matt screwed them onto the railing.  I was hoping to find some LED candles but so far nadda.  Regular candles will have to do.  You can see the candles in the picture above (sorta). 

If you are looking for us in the evenings, come on around the house to the back porch.  We love it on our porch and we plan on utilizing it as much as possible this summer.  My hope for this Saturday is to complete task #9 before we have visitors.  Maybe with enough time, I can tackle some of #6 while Matt works on #8. 

 Memorial Day is this weekend, so I'm planning not 1 but 2 bar-b-q's to show off our hard work.  Enjoy your holiday weekend and the start of summer!!! 

You Rock!

Engaged At Last!!!

Who knew that when I put together a Ragnar Relay team in August 2010 that I would discover the man of my dreams?  As captain of the Black Toes team, I was tasked with putting together a fun, energetic team to run the 190 miles from Miami to Key West Florida.  Instantly I knew of a group of friends to ask, but not enough to cover the 12 man team.  So, my original invite was extended to friends of friends and we ended up with 10 amazing runners, that I now consider great friends.
 
Fast forward to January 2011, my last days as a single woman.

Picture it! Sicily! 1926. Ok negative on Sicily and 1926 but for the next 30+ hours starting in Miami, Matt would position himself next to me at every possible moment: in the car, walking outside of the vans, in pictures, etc.  Bless his heart he even met up with me during my first leg and ran to the exchange with me. 

Upon arrival in Key West, Matt and I were inseparable and spent every minute together.  Matt says he knew he was going to marry me when we spent a luxurious day sitting on a bench watching the boats come and go.  That moment and so many others have been magical. 

Matt and I have had a whirlwind romance of only 4 months, and I know that sounds ri-donculous; however, who can put a time limit on true love? 

Matt proposed to me last night and I of course never hesitated.  He is my everything and I couldn't possibly dream of anyone I would rather spend the rest of my life with.  I love you Matt!!! 

Question: For better or for worse?
Answer: for better please....

GREENISH - BROWN

MASTER BEDROOM RENOVATIONS

Painting, is an quick and easy way to take a drab room and make it POP.  The master bedroom in our home was in need of some pizazz, so off to the color aisle of Lowe's we went.  We found an amazing pattern which required 3 different colors of paint.  This did not scare me or discourage me at all because I love the whole new feel of a room after a good paint job.  Maybe I should have been concerned considering how very large the room is and possibly I shouldn't have started priming on the same day I ran a half marathon.  Just saying...



Pre-Remodel | Nice and clean before the demolition starts.

 Master Bedroom (from doorway) 

    Right & back wall

 Exercise Area (in nook off of master bedroom) 

Master Bedroom (looking at door)

                                                                                                           

Preparation/Priming | Warning this area is under construction!

Master Bedroom (from doorway)                         

Right & back wall

Exercise Area                                                                          

Is Matt working hard, or hardly working???

Master Bedroom

 

In Progress |

Master Bedroom

Right & back wall 

Exercise Area     















Boom Done!

There you have it, our beautiful new master bedroom, complete with bedding and snow board.  Evenutally we are going to add curtains and a new rug that will match.  Stay tuned for an interesting idea behind the headboard...  

I love love love this room.  It's so comfortable and welcoming I just might never leave.