It's Beginning to Look a lot like Christmas...

Hello?

tap...tap...

Anybody out there?

Or did you all give up on me...

Thanks so much to all of you who have left me messages, emails, comments, etc! It's been a rough few months, and I'm reeeeeeally hoping that the worst is over. I'm still having to take the nausea meds every day, and I will be quite happy when I don't need them anymore. The best way I can describe being on phenergan is, it makes you feel like it's always about 3 o'clock in the morning. And I don't do mornings.  

I haven't felt well enough to do much decorating for Christmas, so the living room was the only room that got "decked".

And I'm so glad I finally got some lights up! There's just nothing like snuggling up in a blanket, sipping hot chocolate by the glowing lights of the tree. I think it has some medicinal value - it makes me feel a little better.

Lookie there, I even got a few presents wrapped! Had it not been for amazon.com we wouldn't even HAVE presents this year. Thank goodness for online shopping.

I love this little birdie ornament...

Oh yeah...almost forgot - I got the living room painted ages ago, then I got too sick to care about showing it to you. Sooo...here's a sneak peak of the new look.

It's much more toned down, and I'm enjoying it soooo much better. 

I did toss a Christmasy wreath up on the old window. Because it was looking kinda sad and lonely. 

And that, my friends, is the extent of my Holiday decorating this year. Now you know I must really be sick, right?! I think last year I had 7 trees. 

Ugh, I don't even wanna think about it. 

Now if I could just get well enough to do some baking... It's killing me. I neeeeed some oreo truffles, and frosted cookies, and toffee, and turtles, and....phooey. It's just not happening.

I hope to be back to my regular blogging self soon, if the little one will be nice to mommy and cooperate! Thanks again for all the prayers and notes of encouragement - y'all are awesome. 

A very Merry Christmas to every one of you peeps!

Surprise??!!!!

I'm sorry I haven't posted in a while! The fact is....
I am Sick. As. A. Dog.  

But it's a good thing.

We're expecting a new little one! And boy, were we ever surprised! After 12 years of marriage, and 2 in vitro babies, we didn't think a "surprise" was possible. We're super duper excited, but sooooooo sick. I get this way every time. I just hope it goes by quickly this time. Oh, and I've pretty much tried everything...ginger ale (YUCK!), ginger snaps, tea, saltines, etc, etc.... I'm on zofran, but can't seem to notice any improvement. Nothing tastes good, and nothing takes the nausea away. Popsicles seem to help for a few minutes, so I'm existing on those! 

I really hope to feel up to blogging soon - I've missed you all! Right now I'm in survival mode. Please help us pray that the sickness goes away quickly - I'm having a very difficult time keeping up with my 2 lil guys! They need their mommy back. 

Finished Object Friday

I've had this trusty little mixer for years. Looking at it the other day, I just got to thinking...

I wonder what it would look like to 50's it up a bit, maybe with a new seafoam green paint job...

I LOVE it!! 

Hi, my name is Brittany, and I love spray paint.

"Hi, Brittany"...

But honestly, doesn't it make life so much more interesting?! I always find it amazing what a little color can do.  And I am now more convinced than ever, you can paint anything.

Happy Friday, y'all! And be sure to check out the other Finished Object Friday projects at the Chari Tree =)

More fall pics...

I'm finally finishing up our fall "photo shoot".

 I thought I'd share a few of my favorites :)

I think this one is my favorite, I love those little smiles and chubby cheeks! =)

Love my lil buddies!

A Tale of a Table...

This table was given to me about 8 years ago, after a family had let their children completely ruin creatively use it for a "craft" table. They did a super job of leaving their mark on it. I'm ashamed to say, we've used it like this all those years, covering up the mess with tablecloths that hated me. 

Here she is in all her glory, covered in glitter, glue, and total gooeyness. 

 It may have taken me 8 years, but finally, I. HAD. ENOUGH. 

First, working in smallish sections, we sprayed it with stripper, scraped most of the gunk off, then sanded.

And sanded.

And sanded some more...

See that pretty wood hiding under all the gunk?!

Then, after searching the house in its entirety for some rubber gloves, and finding none, I tied a lovely blue plastic bag on my hands and applied a light coat of dark walnut stain.
Whatever works...

After the stain was good and dry, I put 5 or 6 coats of satin poly on it, then we promptly went on vacation for a week. I planned it that way, in an effort to save it from little fingers, cheetos, and dinosaurs, before it had the chance to "cure". 

It took several days from start to finish, but I'm Sooooo glad I ventured out (waaaayy out...) of my comfort zone and got 'er done. I've only been too happy to 

kiss those tablecloths good bye!

Dining Room Update

Here's where we are so far...

Let me dig up an older piccy...

Can you find the differences?

I'll help ya...

1. Crown Molding is up!

2. Tall cabinets are actually built in, trimmed out, and painted. Now I don't freak out that they might fall over on somebody. They were leaning terribly. Old houses...

3. Table is Refinished! Well, all but the leaves. I'll get to it...

4. Chairs have been recovered.

(Eventually the space between the 2 cabinets will be a built in window seat - I can just see it!) 

Special thanks to my handy man for putting all the trim up - that's not exactly in my line of expertise. But he got a brand new nail gun outta the deal, so he's happy. And I'm happy.

Having the definite opinion that table cloths are a curse from the devil himself, let me just say how much I'm enjoying the "new" table! I'd enjoy it even more if I'd finish those 2 dreaded leaves...

I've got some before and after pics, as well as a few "how-to's" coming up, just to share with you what I learned in the whole refinishing process.  One thing I learned for certain - I'd rather be spray painting!

Fall Photo Shoot

My poor blog has suffered much neglect lately. That means I've been BUSY! I did slow down long enough today to take some fall pics of the boys, before my leaf mulching man does away with all the fall leaves. So for my Finished Object Friday, I'll share a photo before and after.

This shot of Carson is SOOC (straight out of camera) :

It's pretty cute, but rather dull and lifeless.

 And this one is after a little tweaking in picnik.

Much more zippy and interesting! 

My wonderful hubs got me Photoshop Elements for my birthday this week, and I've spent hours trying to figure it out, and from all indications, it's gonna take a few more hours. Or more...

I did edit this photo in PS first, but it ended up pathetic, so I tossed it and went back to trusty ole picnik. It's like PS for blondes. I'm not giving up - I'm much too stubborn for that. I'll keep plugging away till it "clicks". 

Stay tuned for some more cuteness from our photo shoot! (I just need to weed through a few hundred pics...) I will also be sharing about some projects we've been finishing around the house in the next few days. I told you I'd been busy...

Linking up with Chari's Finished Object Friday!

Fallishness Continued...

You'll be proud to know that I finally gave in

 and tossed the very dead ferns. 

(I guess it's time to end the denial. Summer IS over. Sniffle...) 

I replaced them with some fallish mums. We'll see how long they can survive my black thumb of death...

 I totally cheated with the wreath. I just jabbed some fall picks from my stash down into the boxwood wreath that was already there.
I never even took it off the door.
(cuz I'm lazy like that...)
They may all fall out in a few days, but I'm cool with that. 

When they fall out, I'll just poke some Christmas picks in there and I'm all set for the next season. 

Now, that's what I call efficiency. 

(Ok. So maybe it just sounds better than "lazy"...)

Just a Touch of Fallishness...

I'm gradually making peace with fall. Having a few slight flip flop withdrawals, but then, that's to be expected. Still trying to remember to grab my jacket on the way out the door in the mornings... am I the only one that despises wearing a coat?! Oh wait, this post is supposed to be about some fall decor...

I'm not going all out this year. 

I'm enjoying keeping things simple. 

You know...less is more...

And it's a whole lot cheaper.

This corner of the dining room is dressed up with a few simple white punkins and a mason jar filled with acorns and a fallish candle.

The centerpiece on the dining room table is quite simple, too. I spray painted a faux pumpkin, glazed it, then plopped it down on top of some moss on a cake plate. 

I'm going to try to remain calm...(deep breaths....) and quietly mention that you can see here the NEWLY REFINISHED TABLE!!! I'm just a little bit excited to be done with that little project. (I'll tell ya all about it in a later post.) 

 The buffet decor is...yep, you guessed it...SIMPLE! 

 Nothin fancy about an old pitcher full of sticks and a plate of  green apples and acorns. 

By the way... I was reeeally happy to find this big platter at Wal Mart.
 ( Just thought you might like to know that. )

The little old Sunday School chair is looking sweet with some fallishness on it.

That's it! Now I'm gonna go help my sweet and handsome handy man, he just finished installing some pretty crown molding in the dining room, and now he's working on the caulking and painting. And he's probably wondering where his "help" has run off to...

Fall Getaway

We took a little fall vacation last week and it's taking me awhile to get back in the groove. I must be getting old... I've missed visiting with you all, but we did have a nice time in the Great Smoky Mountains!

The weather was beautiful.

We went to the Dixie Stampede again, and Carson got to be one of the chicken chasers - his chickens won the race, but I think they did it on their own. lol! He was just having a great time running around in that big ole arena! I really wish I had a picture of it, but they wouldn't let me take any :(

We visited the Titanic Museum...

Played some mini-golf... (Carson was a total HOOT!)

We also spent a day in Dollywood...too many pics to post them all!

On the way home, we stopped at Rock City on Lookout Mountain in Chattanooga.

What a neat place!

It's wonderful to get away for a few days, but it's always wonderful to be back home, too :)

 Now I need to catch up with all of you!

The Kitchen. Take Two.

The kitchen is slowly evolving. I finally got some color on the walls - painted them "Tidewater" by Sherwin Williams. Of course, there's not much wall space in there. Painted the whole thing with a sample can and still have half of it left! The aqua color definitely adds to the retro feel.

 I also put up some beadboard wallpaper as a backsplash. See it? Me neither. That's the problem. After I painted it, it just blended in and you can hardly even tell it's beadboard unless you get reeeally close. I may try some glazing, or maybe even paint it the same blue color as the walls. Ideas? 

Obviously, I still have not mastered the art of photographing a window. Tips would be appreciated. 

 The sun was shining in on the apples today, and it looked so pretty I couldn't resist a piccy - even though I know I've already shown you the red scales...

My absolute favorite addition has got to be this apron. 

Hands down.

I found it on Etsy, and I love the colors!

I can't bring myself to wear it - I'm afraid 

I might get it dirty! 

 I also have a thing for vintage towels, vintage plates, vintage drain racks...

Ok, I'll stop now. Sorry for the photo overload.  I get all shutter finger happy and don't know when to quit :)