It's beginning to look a lot like...

CHRISTMAS!

Hello All!

I'm sure that gets a little old but it seemed appropriate since Northern Virginia is seeing some wintry weather. The ice is not my cup of tea but the snow is a welcomed sight .  I'm originally from the midwest so seeing that fluffy white stuff falling lifts my spirits!  I am also in full-on Christmas decorating mode since Jenna's cookie swap party is a little over a week away with Christmas right on its heels!  While I'm making my way through the house, I realized I have a couple of great thrift finds I hadn't shared with you yet!  I'm not quite finished with the Christmas decorating but was planning to share with you all once it's done...and look what I found out about today:

Linda from Coastal Charm will be hosting a Christmas Home Tour Linky Party next week, December 16, 2013!!!  Woo Hoo.  So, now I not only have the motivation needed to keep going and finish up, I get the chance to see how you all have been decorating!  It's so inspiring to me to see all different ideas, styles and themes, etc., out there.  Don't forget to mark your calendar!

Ok, so, on with the thrift finds!

I was browsing through B-thrifty, minding my own business, when I happened upon this:

Folks, these are the actual photos I sent to Dan to see if he was thinking what I was thinking (~soon to be the property of the Jacksons~) and he was (*smooches*)!  $80 and this thing is solid wood.  It's also huge = 3' x 6'!   I went directly to the furniture pick up area and an extremely nice associate helped me pull it off the floor for pick up.  I had to laugh because he asked me if it was a bed.  This thing is so huge, it totally could be (don't give me any ideas...)  Ha!

We had a small square coffee table that wasn't solid wood.   Sadly, we paid far more for it than this behemoth.  This was an upgrade for all all the way around.  The piece had a tag on the bottom that said "Poor Richard Wood Coffee Table" and was sporting a price tag of $650.  There was also what looked like a barcode but it was missing barcode numbers.  I was hoping by using one of those barcode apps, I would be able to find out where this came from, but none of the apps came through.  Most asked for the barcode number to be entered and a couple said the information was no longer available.

Anyway, here it is at home:

Our square table was donated to Goodwill and we moved ol' Richard in.  It needed a good cleaning and in time, I will paint the bottom something else (something in the Annie Sloan chalk paint realm) as soon as I figured out what color.

Do you see the chaise lounge in the background there?  That's the second thrifty find!  $35.  It's microfiber and was a dream to clean (and Febreze).  It didn't have any feet, though it did at one time, so I replaced them which cost about $30.

Not bad for $65, right?  Oooooo, and you get a little sneak peak at my Christmas decorations.  Come back next week and I'll take you on a tour :)  !!!

I'm linking up!

Coastal Charm:  Nifty Thrifty Tuesday No. 191
From My Porch to Yours, Treasure Hunt Thursday #136

Have a good week!

Out of the Closet!

The master bedroom closet is finally finished!

In an effort to make the most of the time we were sidelined due to the Government shutdown, Dan and I gutted our closet!  When we did our bedroom makeover, we bought enough flooring to do the closet too but hadn't gotten to it.  I was totally dragging my feet because the thought of cleaning out the closet and temporarily relocating all the junk contents while the floor was going in just seemed like wayyyyy too much work.  Umm, I was right - LOL!  But, in the end, it was totally worth it!

*Caution* - this is extremely pic heavy!  Here are some before pictures:

The model home of the house plan we chose had recessed shelving right inside the doorway of the master bedroom closet.  They were swoon-worthy.  I *loved* those shelves and couldn't wait to have some of my very own.  Unfortunately, and during the final walk-through, I discovered the builder left out (forgot?) my shelves completely - UGH.  So, they crammed some shelving in.  I never loved them like the recessed ones.  This is why:

Open the door and BOOM!  shelves in your face.  Grrrr.  It's awkward and difficult to photograph.  The opening to the closet isn't as small as it appears in this picture but still, they jutted out AND the light switch was on the inside of the shelving so you would have to walk into the closet, and stick your hand into the shelves to get the light switch.  FAIL.  We had the light switch relocated before we moved in and that helped ease the pain...a little.   Here's a shot of the doorway from a different angle:

Not horrible but not the sleek and chic of recessed shelves!  I snapped these pictures during the renovation of our room and we used the closet to pile up stuff from the room too (my excuse for the clutter!).  

The closet was outfitted with two rows of bars and there were shelves above each row of bars.  Beige walls, beige carpet.  We cleared it out and then removed all the hardware.

The shoe shelves --GONE!  Laaaaaa (signifies heavenly singing.  Ha ha).  The light fixtures needed to go too.  I never realized until I started DIYing and reading decorating blogs that these were "boob" lights.  Now that I have learned, I can't see them any other way - LOL!

Some of the brackets were GLUED on --which I think is outrageous!  Talk about shortcuts!  Unfortunately, that time-saving trick for the builder wreaked havoc on the drywall and took days for us to repair.

So much damage to the walls - unbelievable!

Don't mind the General Contractor there. LOL!  He's making sure there's no more gluing of things.
Finally, we could paint.  We used Glidden "White Lagoon".  It's a very pale blue/green - beautiful with the gray in the bedroom.  The second it was dry, up went the lights :) 

We painted the ceiling white.  It is amazing to me what a white ceiling does for light!  Look how bright it is in there - love it!

The light fixtures came from Home Depot and I am proud to say they were particularly inexpensive.  I had picked fixtures that were going for about $140/ea.  They were lovely, but not budget friendly.  I went back to the drawing board and when I saw these:

A clear glass bubble with a frosted glass shade - definitely appealing to a glass hound like me - ah, but the $49.95 sealed the deal.  The paint in here is very pale and very tricky to photograph!  The pic below shows more the true color (around the door).

Uh oh, the GC is back - look busy - LOL!  Next the floor went in; then the closet organizers and last, all the trim.  Here it is finished:

These pieces are for my accessories.  The picture is one that my step daughter took for her photography class in high school.  She took her favorite purses and borrowed my favorite purses and then took a series of photos of them and their different features.  Then she created a collage.

She got an A+ on the project and then, gifted it to me!  I had it framed at Michaels several years ago and always pictured it in the closet.  Now, my treasured gift hangs in its rightful place :)

All the organizer pieces are by Closet Maid; the bench is Martha Stewart.  Everything, including the mirror, came from Home Depot.  The rug is from Ikea.

And finally, finally --the clothes & stuff went in:

I did a major purge on the contents of the closet and am still going through some bins.  I also pulled out any summer or spring clothing and will keep those in storage until it's time to switch it out.  It's so funny, going through clothes, I ask myself, is it closet-worthy - LOL!  I hope that attitude lasts; it will sure help me keep it looking this neat!

Ahhhh.  It's wonderful to have this project DONE.  My craft room is next on the agenda but I think we'll take a little break with Christmas right around the corner.

I'm linking up!

Elizabeth & Co:  Be Inspired Features and Link Party #97

Hope your week is going well!

Jingle Bell Shaker Box Invites!

Hello All!  I wanted to pop in and share some invitations I created for a Christmas cookie swap party Jenna is hosting in a few weeks.

She really liked this craft she'd seen on Pinterest:

Here is the link for this project:  http://www.kerribradford.com/2013/10/20/jingle-all-the-way/, but I used this for the inspiration for the invitations since Jenna like it so much.  Here's what I came up with:

I used the shaker box with window cut from the Tags, Bags, & More  Cricut cartridge.  I used Bazzill diamond cardstock and the box is about 6"x6".  The "jingle all the way" is a dollar stamp from JoAnns.  I used Staz On ink and stamped it on craft plastic and then coated the word "jingle" with Stickles (on the opposite side of the plastic).  I used snowflake patterned paper for the back of the shaker box.  The bells are 9mm and there are 26 in each.  The box is mounted on Bazzill cardstock.  Here is the inside of the card:

The cardstock came from Michaels and has a slight sparkle to it.  I designed them on the computer, printed them and then embossed it with a Darice embossing folder (I found it at AC Moore).  I'm really excited about the party!

Hope you have a great week!

Ghost Tour!

Hello All!

Dan, Jenna and I took a carriage ride through Fredericksburg last night called the "Witches, Ghosts, Thieves, Murder and Mayhem Tour."  It was a lot of fun and we got to hear some spooky and creepy ghost tales!  We wanted to do something different for Halloween and this sounded like just the thing.

It all starts here:

Our tour began at 6 p.m. so I was able to get some pics before dark :)  I loved walking along the streets looking at the historic buildings and signs of Halloween!

Check out this window display!  I wished we had come into town sooner so we could have window shopped.  

There were pumpkins on every stoop:

and some in unexpected places too!

We grabbed a bite to eat at Soup & Taco.  Jenna and Dan were quite ready to eat so they ducked into the doorway as I snapped the picture.  The gentleman standing by the light post didn't mind the photo op and busted out the zombie walk!  

The food was delicious!

Then, it was time to wait at the stop:

The small white sign told us it was the carriage stop.  And not long after, our carriage arrived!

I had taken this picture before the tour and while we were waiting:

As it turned out, the tour began by telling the ghost stories of this house!  It is reportedly haunted by the spirits of children who died here of scarlet fever.  As we continued to stroll down the street, the historian began describing the horrors of the Civil War and the thousands of soldiers who died.  

I can see why people freak out about orbs showing up in pictures!  As the historian described the stacks of bodies lining the streets, I was snapping pics left and right.  Later when I looked at the pic and I saw all these orbs, it made it easy to imagine all those spirits!  I know, I know orbs are just the reflection of light off dust or pollen, or whatever, and yes, there were lights everywhere--street lamps, headlights, the flash on my camera...but still, it's kinda creepy :)

Sammy T's has some wonderful ghost stories!

I am bummed my pics didn't turn out better!  The historic buildings and  homes were awesome and some were decorated to the hilt!  

This is the Hugh Mercer apothecary shop.  It's a museum and offers tours also and I definitely want to check it out.

This is also a shot of the apothecary - check out the giant orb and the strange mist (right hand corner just under the carriage canopy!):

Spooky!  LOL!  It was a really fun and festive way to celebrate Halloween and now, I want to do it every year!  

Happy Belated Halloween :)