Christmas Card Display

Here is my super cheap and super easy method of displaying all those beautiful Christmas cards we receive.

All I did was grab 3 pieces of ribbon and hung them from some hooks on the wall.  Then I use clothes pins to attach the cards as they come.  It's easy and cheap, and you can see all those great cards.

DIY Jewelry Holders

I saw this idea & knew I had to try it.  For a while now I've been wanting to organize my mess of earrings & necklaces.  This was the perfect solution.  Plus I had everything in my garage!

You'll need a frame with the glass & backing removed, wire, staple gun, & hot glue.  This is how the back looks.  Super easy.  Decide where you want to put your wires & cut them accordingly.

Simple staple the wire to the back of the frame & curl the wire around the staple to prevent it from sliding.  I had to use heavy duty staples because my staple gun grew legs & walked away.  I think it had an accomplice who lives in my very own home & is married to me, but I'm not going to name any names.  Anywho, lightweight staple gun will work just fine.

I wanted some hooks for my bracelets so I made some by twisting & bending the wire.

These I hot glued onto the back to get them more flush, but you could staple them as well.  Just make sure they won't slide out of the staple.  You could put some of these on the bottom for necklaces as well & they would work great.

That's it, your done.  Hang it on the wall & organize away.  I love having my earrings laid out before me & not having to dig for the mate to the one i want to wear.  Plus this project reminded me of some jewelry I had forgotten about.  It looks pretty nifty in my room as well.

I also wanted to organize my mass amounts of necklaces.  I found these hook like things in our barn.  I'm not sure what they are for.  Maybe a towel rack?  All I knew was that I could screw them to the wall & hang necklaces off of them.  So I did just that.

They were white porcelain, so I spray painted them a color I liked.  I also sprayed the screws I was going to us.  I attached them to the wall & my work was done & my necklaces organized.  These also look very nice on the wall of my room.  A sort of practical decorating I guess.

So dig around for an old frame & found objects.  Your jewelry will be organized & displayed in no time!

The Office Light

When we moved into our house we turned the little loft space into my husbands office.  Since our house was built in the 1970's and apparently ceiling lights were out-lawed then (I'd love any architectural insight into this), our house mostly has sconces.

Such was the case in my husbands office.  not only was it a sconce, but it was a very dim & not very attractive sconce.  Two bad qualities for a light to posses.

For a long time now we've wanted to make a permanent light fixture out of an old latern.  We saw it in one of our rustic decor books.  We took our our bad office lighting as an opportunity to make the light fixture we'd always wanted to try.  So I sold that ol' sconce & three others that matched it our our bedroom on Craiglist & my hubby got to work creating his masterpiece.

It really was quite easy.  He took the bottom out of the lantern & installed a lamp socket.  Then just attached some wire to the socket & hooked er' all up.  (I'm keeping details kind of vague because I'm not a professional electrician.  So if you have no idea what I'm talking about then get someone who knows the business to help you.)

Then he built a base out of barn wood & we screwed it into the wall & it was done.  I love how it looks & how we've taken something forgotten about in our bunkhouse & revived it into a light we use everyday.  It looks so cool at night shining through the old sixteen pain window we reclaimed.  It gives our house personality & cost way less than a new light fixture.  Kuddos to my hubby for getting this done.

A Few Of My Favorite Things

Here are a few things that I absolutely adore right now...

Lightweight v-neck tees from Old Navy.  I discovered these t-shirts this past summer & I love 'em.  I bought a bunch of different colors & I wear them all the time.  They are so comfy, not too tight on the tummy, & look cute.  Perfect.

Cuties.  Have you had these amazing little oranges yet?  They are the perfect size, super yummy, & easy to peel.  So easy, in fact, that my three year old can do it.  I've found myself buying a bag of these each time I'm at Costco.  They are a perfect little snack.

Mini Vaseline container.  I found this at Target & just had to have it.  Winter up here in the Mountains can really do a number on your lips.  I have a standard size Vaseline container that I keep hidden in my desk drawer because let's face it, they're unsightly & make me look like a grandma.  But this cute little Vaseline I can stick on the windowsill above my kitchen sink & it looks just fine.  Plus is easy to access to moisturize my lips or smear on my kiddos chapped cheeks.  Thank you Vaseline for making your cute little container so I don't have to look like a grandma.  (& now I feel the uncontrollable need to put some on my lips.)

Stackable mugs from Pier One.  My friend got me these for my past birthday.  I love how little space they use & that I can just stick this whole set by my coffee maker & it looks good.  The mugs are a great shape as well.  I'm a big believer in a mug not only looking good but being comfortable to hold.  They have to fit just right in your hand if ya' know what I mean.  These mugs are great.

While we're on the topic of caffeinated beverages, may I just say that I am totally addicted to peppermint mochas.  My sis-in-law surprised me with one earlier this winter & I've been hooked ever since.  This is a big step for me because I almost religiously drink iced mochas (no matter how cold it is outside I order a iced mocha light on the chocolate).  So for me to love a hot mocha this much is a milestone.  I also have to say, I've tried these at various places & so far Starbucks does the best job.  For me to say that is another big step.  Crucify me if you like, but I'm not a huge fan of Starbucks.  I think they are overpriced and a little snobby.  I generally try to hit local coffee shops.  But I'll give credit where credit is due, Starbucks makes the best peppermint mochas.

This is our kitty Zamies (if you can name that movie in the comments section below I will buy you a coffee, scouts honor).  Josh got me Zamies out of the "to giveaways" as a mouser.  It was when we were first married & living out on the ranch.  The little farmhouse we were in had a colony of pocket gophers in the front yard & mice in the crawl space.  So Zamies was our exterminator, and she proved to be a good one.  Beyond mice & pocket gophers Zamies has "taken care of" wiesles, pack rats, & gophers.  When we moved into town we left our kitty at the ranch because she just wasn't a town kind of cat.  She mostly lives outside & sleeps in the tack room.  She is the best barn cat ever because she's not mean & loves to cuddle, yet she's tough & a survivor.  We brought Zamies into town with us a couple weeks ago for some r & r.  She has spent the last two weeks eating well, sleeping on the couch & enjoying the warm fire.  It's nice to have a pet around & she's still sweet as can be.  Towards the end of the month we'll return her to her stopping grounds at the ranch, but for now she's living large & being an indoor cat.

I always paint my toenails, always.  I'm generally a red or French pedicure kind of girl, but this pas week while I was sick I decided to try something different.  I have a big bin of polish because my daughters love to paint their toes, my Mom also gives them polish whenever they ask, and because I have this habit of buying pretty colors of polish & then never really using them.


Well, this is a color that my Mom gave them & I love it.  I wish I would have discovered it this Fall because it is the perfect Autumn color.  It's pretty & sparkly, what more could you want.




I'm not in habit of taking pictures of my feet & sharing them with the world, but I wanted you to see the beauty of this color.  Plus getting this shot gave my hamstrings a good stretch.

These locally made earrings from Tailfeathers are some of my favorite ear wear yet.  I've gotten both of these pairs from friends & I love them.  They are unique & adorable.  You can buy them on Etsy, or if you live in the Missoula area just email the owner & she'll let you swing by her house where she has a huge selection & better prices.  Yay for cute jewelry.

I can't live without my knee-high socks.  I know it's a little nerdy, but I need my tall socks.  Mostly because I wear cowboy boots a lot & I don't like the feel of the boots against my skin (especially in hot weather).  So I use my beloved knee-high socks to create a barrier between my shins & my boots.  It was a good day when Target started carrying knee-highs in their "cheap socks bin" (as I call it) & in super cute prints.  It may be a little 1970's, but I got to have me some knee-high socks.

Well, now ya' know what I like.  Not that you really need that knowledge, but maybe you saw something you like too.  Anyway, I've got to go make some  mac & cheese for my monkeys before they riot.  Ten four.

House Reveal: Living Room

We have been in remodeling stage of our house since July.  And although it's not totally done, we are getting close.  Today I thought I'd share our living/dining room with you.  Here are the before & afters.

We decided to do a whitewash style of stain on the main wall in the living room.  I wanted to brighten the room up a bit & decrease yet another version of wood grain in the room.  A lot of different wood grains in this house... a lot.

I love our living room.  The cathedral ceilings make it feel so open.

And there are so many windows that no matter what the weather it is bright inside.  I love having a 180 degree view our of my living room.  

The major change we did in this room is replacing the banister with a wall.  We had to have the banister replaced & brought to code before closing because it was so dangerous.  I was afraid that I myself would fall through those pickets.  So this project was one of the first on our list.  I decided to do a wall because A)I needed more wall space in this room, there was very little on account of all the windows.  B) It closed off the family room/kid zone in the basement & greatly decreased noise between the main & bottom floors.  I love my new wall.

The fireplace makes this room so cozy & inviting.  (Those hieroglyphics are an old fan system that was in the fireplace before the gas insert.  I have plans to put mortar over the black caulking to make it blend in with the rest of the fireplace.  Or maybe I'll leave it so people can wonder what kind of weird stuff I'm into :)

It is a great place to gather.  The other major change we made in the living room was we added the dining area to it.  Before the dining room was over there to the right, directly in front of the sliders.  We use the sliders as our main door for the most part.  So having a big table in front of it was not good.  I didn't like the flow of it from the moment we first saw this house, & I knew I would change it right away.

So we placed it over on the other end of the living room creating more of a great room feel.  It works great with the flow of life & allows for a big table, which we need with a family of six.  Now we have a big entryway as well where you can sit & slip off your shoes.  Everything is almost done in this room.  Just two ceiling light fixtures & the top of the banister to finish it up.  I'm really happy with how it turned out.

Candy Displays

Since today is pretty much dedicated to candy.  & since I will be pillaging my kiddos candy bags at about 9:30pm tonight, I thought I would dedicated today's post to candy.  I saw this cute idea on farm chicks the other week.  I had all the elements at my house so I gave 'er a go.

Super easy, just super glue paper plates & little pumpkins together.  BTW, have you been introduced to GEL super glue?!  It's amazing because it doesn't run & I don't glue my index finger & my thumb together on accident.

I used a dinner plate for the bottom & a dessert plate for the top.  I doubled the plates up for strength & glued them together first.  Then I glued them to the pumpkins starting from the bottom up.  I had a large, medium & small pumpkin that ascended upwards from big to small.

And voila!  I adorned them with candy & my display was completed.

On the top plate I have these cute cookies from Trader Joe's.  They're called JoeJoes & are like an Oreo with orange filling.  But each one has a different cute Jack-o-lantern face.

For my second display I simply filled up some little silver pieces I have.

I generally I'm not sure what to do with these mismatched containers, but this candy thing really worked out.  I also left them tarnished because I thought it added to the whole Fall feel (I don't know why, it just does).

Enjoy your Halloween & eats lots of candy!

Punkins

I think this should be the new official spelling of said word "pumpkin".  We all say it the other way anyhow.  But last I checked Merian-Webster wasn't asking me.  Let's move on.  Don't you just love a season where you can decorate with vegetables & dead foliage... & it looks good.

I love buying tons of pumpkins & gords at a local farm that sits right in town.  I love it for a couple reasons.  First of all I've been going to this farm for produce & pumpkins since I can remember.  & now I take my kids there.

Secondly, I love how this family farm has been in the same spot since the 50's (I think) & the town just had to deal & build up around it.  I love that you drive down the busiest street in our town & you go buy corn fields & pumpkin patches.  I love that this family has sustained their farm & is making a living at it.  Go farmers & ranchers!

Lastly, I love that I found these stinkin' cute mini white pumpkins there this year.  I immediately snatched them up & took them home.

Look how tiny they are.  & the fact that their white makes me so happy.  I don't know why, it just does.

Here they are working their magic.  If I had more money I would buy bucket fulls of these little guys & put them everywhere.