Holiday Preparations

I found this picture on Pinterest and knew I wanted to make one to remember my son's 1st Christmas.

My first attempt was not successful so I gave it another try once he fell asleep :) Here's how it turned out.

That's my husband's thumbprint, my son's and mine.

I put it in a cheap-o frame from Ikea.

And now it sits on the sidetable near the Christmas tree. And I plan to bring it back every year as part of the holiday decor.

And this is our Christmas tree this year. My son conveniently learned to crawl just in time for Christmas so if you look closely there are no ornaments on the bottom half of the tree :)

I swap out the fillers in this vase with the corresponding season. For winter I added some evergreen branches with pinecones and a glittered, bronze colored poinsettia.

This is the table below our living room TV. I added some garland and my favorite pinecone lights I found at Target 3 years ago.

Tiki found a comfy spot on a bright pink and red throw.

This is the holiday dining room table and buffet. I LOVE those candle holders from Hobby Lobby. I'm mad for plaid!! And some appetizer plates that have various types of evergreen on them.

A matching tablecloth covers my kitchen table.

Got my cookie recipe book out and ready to fill the cookie jar with some goodies.

And lastly, here is our Christmas card this year. I am so proud of taking these pictures myself! I set up a faux studio in our living room, using a white curtain as a backdrop. I ordered my cards from Photo Affections for the third year now and am so impressed with them. I took these pictures on a Monday and uploaded and ordered them online shortly after. My cards arrived at my door that same Friday! Awesome!

Hope everyone is enjoying the holiday season!

Centsational Girl's Holiday Craft Link Party

Hi Sugarplum! Holiday Craft Link Party

Very Pinteresting

Here are some photos I have pinned on Pinterest that I would love to replicate.

I would love to transform my Ikea dressers into something like this. Just a little bit of paint and a product called O'verlays. It's a wooden design that you add to the front of a dresser drawer.

This could be made into any shape using antique brooches.

Printing photos on tissue paper and then gluing them to a canvas.

Love love LOVE this! Painted numbers on a kids table to resemble letterpress.

Felt lettering sewn onto a pillow. Could be done for Christmas with the words peace or joy.

Beads glued to an ornament.

Ornament vases.

Thumbprint reindeer. I tried to do this the other day with Beckett's thumb and was unsuccessful. Maybe I'll try again when he's asleep :)

Desk Progress

My built-in desk is 99% done!

The only thing left is to install some drawer pulls and base trim on the walls.

My shelves have been hung and accessorized.

Loving my bookends :)

These are vintage spice jars with a rack to hold them all.

Inside they hold all my buttons, ribbons and scrapbooking odds & ends.

Check out my magnetic board.

Such a great space to work, blog, craft, organize...

Happy Fall

Today we spent our Sunday at the pumpkin patch.

This was Beckett's first encounter with pumpkins.

He was a big fan of hay!

What a great day.

Hope you're enjoying the season :)

Basement Re-do/ Built-in Desk

Here was our basement just after we bought it. The previous owners had a bar and refrigerator at the back wall of the room. We decided to remove all of this to make room for a desk and craft area.

Before:

After some new carpet and dry wall this was the new built-in space.

Next step: paint the walls a darker gray color.

And here was my design plan for the built-in desk.

Here's the basement after the painting was done.

And here is the HUGE mess of desk and crafting items.

After lots of shopping around, my husband and I decided to go with Ikea kitchen cabinets for the desk base and an Ikea kitchen counter as the desk countertop. We just cut the counter down to size and gave it 2 coats of dark walnut stain.

And here's the after.

These are Ikea's Akurum kitchen cabinets. You can customize the cabinet size and shelving or drawer layout. This side has shelving that hides the printer and storage boxes.

This side has 3 drawers for filing folders and desk accessories.

I love the dark wood against the white cabinets.

And since we used kitchen cabinets, the desk height is a little higher than the norm so we needed a new height-adjustable chair. This chair is of course from Ikea :)

I found this antiqued brass lamp from HomeGoods. Love that it has outlets on the base for easy access.

And for my favorite piece...a framed magnetic board. I found this at an antique store in Milwaukee.

The owners of this store covered the board in a beautiful gold/black fabric. It also came with these magnets made from antique brooches.

This frame will eventually be hung on the blank wall to the left of the desk.

(Almost) After:

I have a few more projects to work on before the desk is complete. I plan to stain 2 shelves to hang above the desk for extra storage and to add a few more touches. Stay tuned...

Before & After Party with Thrifty Decor Chick