First tree up!

We bought a new tree at Anderson Seed last year and this it was fun to set up.  It was a bit of a challenge to decorate the top since it is 13 feet tall, but it is a fun addition for my holiday decor next to the fireplace.

Oh! How I love Fall Decorations

I have had these decorations up now since August. We are having thanksgiving at our house this year and the atmosphere is set! I will miss them when I sadly take them down this weekend and get ready for Christmas Season.

Christmas Decor' 2009

Tis the season....
To break out all the winter and holiday decor'. I really love to decorate for all of the Holidays. Fall time and the Christmas Season are my favorite. I have it strung all around the house, but to remember this year, here are a few of our favorites.

The kids each have a small tree in their own rooms which they decorate with their own ornaments that they have collected through the years.

We have two trees downstairs that we share. They turned out beautiful. Ofcourse, they look better in person, so stop in a make a visit.

Each year I add to my homemade decor'. I see an idea and I just have to make it. This year I made the "days till Christmas Blocks and the WINTER frames.

There are only 18 days until Christmas... this year has gone by sooo fast. I have a lot to do to get ready. Happy Holidays!

Family Thanksgiving

Well another Thanksgiving done, which means another couple of Turkeys and a pig have lost their lives for our benefit. We had a full house with most of my family in attendance. Bonka Don and Rachel joined us too! The food was good and the company was great! Happy Thanksgiving!

Gobble! Gobble!

Thanksgiving OR is it?...

I am crazy. I have been working on some new ornaments for our tree and instead of putting them away, I put them up. This is only one of our trees, so I hope I am safe putting it up so early. I still have all the Thanksgiving Decor up, so I couldn't mesh them too much. Only a few more days until I put up the other. I love the holidays!

They just keep coming

It seems with the start of all the major holidays, it sets many into the crafty mood. I started one project the other day and decided to keep them coming. I post them mostly for my sake. I want to remember all the things that I have done and can do. It will be helpful when I become less creative and burned out. I do have less energy than before, but I love to create and change it up around the house. I hope that looking back at these will inspire me to keep going.

" A happy home is made not bought."

20 Minute Project

Okay, so this is not an original idea. I stole it from a friends blog who stole the idea from another blog. And so it goes..... Dollar store frames, scrapbook paper and a few letters with my cricut and wala! Six letters for an easy change each season ( Summer, Autumn, Thanks, Winter, Spring) Cute, easy and inexpensive. All three favorites in my house.
(Thanks for the idea Cami! :)

Fall is in the air but changing fast

I needed to get a shot of the MANY fall decorations around our home. I love to decorate for the fall season most of all. I love fall. The cool temperatures are a sure sign that it won't last much longer.

What to do on a Sunday Afternoon??

I pulled out the "BATH" letters that I had cut . Ada and I traced the letters on scrapbook paper, then painted the edges of the wood, then Mod Podged the paper to both sides. They were fun and easy.

It was a great activity to do with my little girl.

We have also found another hobby together with making watch bands. We have a couple that match eachother. I have gone a little overboard with it. It is fun though. I have a few watches, so I shouldn't have an excuse for not knowing what time it is.

Ada'a comment today was, " It is fun doing all this "girly" stuff with you.

I love my daughter!

The Next Old Door Project!

I bought this old door at a garage sale in Park City for $5.00. I had the idea already set in my mind, but lacked the time. Well, I begged my husband AGAIN to build this crazy desk for me. I then painted and glazed it. It now sits in my craft room. I intended it to be the home for my laptop, but it may end up being the watch band area. Nevertheless, I have another unique piece of furniture in my home.

I love it! Here are a couple more fun projects that we made from doors.

Progress

I find myself each year, prematurely planting my flowers around my house. They say it is pretty safe to plant any time after Memorial. I always hit it a week or two earlier. Everyday after planting, I walk around, weeding, clipping, watering , etc. I love playing in my flowerbeds. However, I have found that it is kind of like watching your fingernails grow. Of course they are growing and changing, but it isn't noticeable day to day. I look forward to the end of summer to see how full and colorful the flowerbeds have become. I just wish that that time would come a lot earlier, so that I could enjoy it longer before the crazy winter comes.
Oh, to have summer all year long. I really wouldn't mind.

Finally- Before and After

I finally tackled the next old door project! Here are the results. I am now labled the "REPURPOSER" by my hubby! I love to find a new use for old stuff!
Now if I could find a new use for me :)

Monday!- Day Off!- Project!

Riddle: What do you get when you cross an

old solid wood door with a twin bed head/footboards?

(from the D.I. -BTW)

Answer: a unique coffee table!

First, we shortened the door, then cut the head/foot boards down with the jigsaw, screwed/glued in the posts as legs to the door.

What we came up with was an unique looking coffee table.

After a coat of paint, sanding and a black glaze treatment, the end result is FUN! I still plan to fill the doorknob hole with an old rustic door knob. I know- I know- I am sooooo weird. Ammon just bites his tongue, but I think that it is fun to make my own furniture. Nobody else will ever have one like it. Besides, what's the harm. Sure was nice to have a day off to do one of my many projects bouncing around in my head.

Who needs flowers, When you can have JUNK from the DI

It is Parent Teacher Conference this week, which meant that I had Wed- Friday off. The kids still went to school half day on Wed. I seized the opportunity to go out and be by myself before they came home at noon. Well, I did some shopping and of course browsed the DI before I came home. I spotted a two piece Entertainment Center that I pictured as a corner hutch in my Sun room. After looking at the price tag of $70.00, I passed it up but still really wanted it. I got home and found a message from Ammon to call him. I called and at the end of our conversation I told him that I just came from the DI and saw this "cool" Entertainment Center that was $7o.oo, but didn't know if I should have bought it. It seemed like a lot for DI.. I told him he could go and look at it and get it if he wanted. I left it at that and secretly really wanted him to get it, but doubted that he would. Long Story- LONG, about an hour later he pulled up and needed help to unload it. WHAT A GREAT HUBBY I HAVE!!

I get so excited about a good find. Well, I went to work the same day .

and a day later- here's the result. I love it. We put bead board on the back and it looks awesome. I told Ammon that this could be my Valentines Present. He was so helpful and understanding of my weird ideas.

Thursday Morning as I was finishing up the painting, the doorbell rang and I made him answer it because I was still in my PJ's. It was flowers from him. What a sweetie! They are so pretty. The funny thing about the flowers was that the night before as we watched TV, a commercial came on advertising flowers for Valentines and I made the comment that he didn't need to get me flowers. I am more of a practical person. Needless to say, he had already ordered them and I am glad that he did. They are beautiful and the fact that he thought ahead was even greater.

We have names for each other that are rather mean if you think about it. But, we know the true meaning and it is all out of fun. He calls me "Big Mama" because of my rather LARGE physical appearance (HA!) So, I just return the comment with Fat Daddy and it has kind of stuck.

HAPPY VALENTINES DAY!!!! I am a very lucky lady. Ammon is so good to me and loves me despite of all my weird hobbies. Thanks hon- for EVERYTHING. You're the best.

Sonny's Spot

I have been spending little bits of time here and there this past week and a half redoing my craft room.. I forgot to take the before pictures. As you may recall, it was three different shades of purple with the checkered wall. I really liked it, but have since grown tired of it. Besides, purple is just not in flow with the rest of the decor. I painted the new room two different shades of brown with the black band around the room. It was a lot of painting. The ceiling was purple, the floor was purple, the shelves were purple, as were all the walls. The counter top was purple and white, which got a faux finish on it. It looks "Similar" to what a granite top looks like. I am happy with it. I had to do many steps, but it was worth it. It is much more organized right now and I hope that it will stay that way. What room next??? Maybe a bathroom.

Early Christmas! Or Late Christmas?

Ammon promised me a fireplace last year about this time. A year later it has come to pass. He thought that he better pay his dues since he has gone on many biking trips lately. I am so grateful for a handy hubby! We looked for the surround and found one with the lines that I wanted, but it was Oak and I really dislike Oak, so of course we painted it. He first built it up to make it higher. Our great room ceiling is 16 feet, so it needed to be higher to look better.

Who's the hottie with the paint sprayer?


After it was painted, he installed it and I informed him that I was now going to sand off all his nice paint. He contested for a bit. I won, I always do when it comes to decorating. Anyway, he did admit that it looked better roughed up. SEE!



Next came the Faux Chimney. The fireplace is electric, so we just plug it in. It is for looks- I guess that tells you the kind of person I am. It does give some heat, but it mostly to fill some space on our HUGE wall in our great room.

After testing many different shades and techniques, I came back to black as my antiquing color. It turned out okay for my first go at this .

Here is the finished product. I will love hanging my stockings from it and decorating on it for the seasons. Thanks Ammon, you're the greatest!

Mom and Dad's After Pictures

Well, the flooring is done and I think that it has turned out pretty well. Ammon and I painted all the pale blue and pink walls. Ryan and Sam helped me prep for all the flooring and painting. Needless to say, I think that it looks a lot better than the blue and pink carpeting throughout the whole house- including the kitchen and bathrooms. Sorry, that I forgot to take pictures of the new carpeting. You can see it next to the laminate flooring in the front room picture. I need to repair some of the baseboards that had to come off for the flooring and touch up some painting and it should look like a new place. I hope mom and dad like the choices I made. They trusted me to pick all the materials and colors. I guess, I went by what I would like.

From Trash to Treasure

What do I like to do in my "spare" time? I convert trash into treasures- at least in my eyes. I love to find things at the DI or at garage sells and find a new use for them. I found this old twin headboard and foot board and while Ammon was away and his tools were accessible, I went to it and made this cute bench for Ada's room. I even upholstered the seat. I have two more sets of twin head/foot boards to do two more. Not bad for $8.00!

Those of you-mostly family have seen all the things in my house that I have salvaged. It is a fun hobby- Next project is to make three more corner shelves like the black one in my kitchen. I bought three more old doors at a garage sell that are going to be fun to do this with! One is going in my newly decorated Piano room- I will post pictures when it is complete.

If any of you come across "trash" - let me know and we can make some cool stuff.

A Glimpse Of Mom And Dads New Pad

Hello family. I thought that the siblings that have not seen mom and dads place in Logan would like to see the "Before" shots before we paint and re carpet. The upstairs has stunning pale blue paint with matching blue carpeting throughout. The downstairs is lovely as well with matching pink walls and carpeting. The kitchen comes fully carpeted as well as both bathrooms. The curtains are foo foo and frilly lacy. All kidding aside, yes the colors are not ideal for mom and dad, but the layout, structure and area are ideal. It will really be a great place for mom and dad to spend the next 20-30 years. The laminate, vinyl and carpeting are all ordered. I have picked out a neutral paint color and have been busy prepping the walls with caulk, spackle, putty, etc. Ammon plans on painting everything on Monday. I will have it masked and ready to go, so that he can paint and the flooring can come in on Wednesday the 16th. It will look like a whole new place. With the Beauty of the Temple a block up the road, the flooring could probably stay in and this place will be the most beautiful place for mom and dad to live. Keep looking for updates of the "After" pictures.