WINNER of the Halloween Ornaments

It's time to announce the winner of these cute little ornaments!

Are you READY?!?!

The winner is:

CONGRATULATIONS, LESLIE ANN!! Send me an email and we'll get you your Halloween decor right out!

Thanks again to my awesome sponsors, Stacey & Nicole at Shamble Ramble!

 

Historic Places from our Road Trip

Last week I shared with you a few pictures from our road trip  -- and today I get to share some more! :)

I think you'll be able to tell from these pictures -- but I LOVE history.  I love learning new things about the history of our country and hearing stories of our ancestors' pasts.  So that being said, I'm going to show you some historic places we got to visit on our trip.  

The first historic stop we made was in Kentucky; we stopped at Lincoln's Birthplace.  I would definitely recommend this park to anyone who's going to be nearby.  It was really interesting to learn all about the Lincoln's story and see just where our President came from; a teeny tiny one room cabin.  And from there he became one of our greatest Presidents -- amazing.

And not too far from there is the Lincoln Museum and his childhood home.  

Inside this monument is their little one room cabin.

The next historic place we got to visit was by far one of my favorite places of our trip.  I will be back some day to explore more of this little city and learn more about our Nation's start.  Maybe you guessed it -- we visited Colonial Williamsburg.  I'm absolutely in love with this historic city.  I can remember being in grade school and wanting to visit this adorable little place ..... and I finally did. :) 

We were only able to stay here a day and a half -- but if I were to go back I think I could spend a whole week.  There was so much to do, see and learn.  We got to take a tour of the original courthouse (below) and see where so many decisions were made.  We also got to tour many of the famous homes that have been preserved or reconstructed.  

I've honestly NEVER been to a place even close to this -- it's so unique and full of character and personality -- if I lived nearby I'd buy myself a year pass and be there every week -- no lie! :)

Nearby Colonial Williamsburg is Yorktown and Jamestown -- which both have the same feel. 

This is our Country's very first capital -- although it has been reconstructed to look like the original, it's still amazing.

We even got to stay right in Williamsburg.  We tried out the Fife & Drum Bed and Breakfast -- LOVE this place.  It was just as charming as the city around it. 

There's just one more installment to come -- the final part of our Road Trip.  :)  So stay tuned!

 

 

Thanksgiving Nested Boxes

While we were on vacation I got to visit lots of cute, unique little stores filled with lots of Thanksgiving and Christmas decorations -- yes, Christmas.   And while I was so inspired by seeing all the beautiful decor for Christmas; Thanksgiving does come first -- so I focused my boutique-shopping-inspiration on a cute little Thanksigivng project.  I was SO happy with how it turned out I just HAD to share with you guys!

Here's a list of the materials you'll need to get started:

Nested Paper Mache box set:  $3.65 (at Joanne's with a 50% off coupon)
Scrapbook Paper in Fall Colors and Patterns:  $1.20
Metal Book Plates:  $1.95
Mod Podge of your choosing
Paint Brush

Each box will get three different types of paper:  one for the top of the lid, one pattern for the side of the lid and one pattern for around the box.

Knowing that, you'll need to measure each box lid, lid side and side of base and cut your paper to those measured sizes.

Once you have everything cut paint some Mod Podge on the lid top and lay your paper on top of it.  Then go ahead and paint the Mod Podge over the paper.  Then let it dry while you Mod Podge the side of the base.

I found it was easiest to do the lid side last -- but I think you could do the paper adhering in any order.

Once the paper is on and dry, it's time to add the book plates with the Thanksgiving words of your choosing. :)  I could only find silver book plates, but I just didn't like the look of them on my boxes -- I needed them to stand out a lot more.

So of course I spray painted them -- the solution to everything, right?!  I also had to bend them slightly so they matched the curve of the box.

Once the book plates were ready I attached them with some brads and inserted my printed words.

The boxes are done!  Now stack them up....

 and maybe add some ribbon to the top.

With Thanksgiving around the corner I think these cute little boxes are just the decorations I needed!

 

Linking up to:

Mondays:Between Naps on the Porch ; C.R.A.F.T; Craft-O-Maniac; Keeping it Simple; Mad in Crafts; Making the World Cuter; The DIY Showoff; The Girl Creative Tuesdays:  All Thingz Related; House of Grace; I'm Topsy Turvy; Lucky Star Lane; Sugar Bee Craft Edition; The CSI Project; These Creative Juices; Today's Creative Blog Wednesdays:  Blue Cricket Design; Creations by Kara; Debbiedoos; Domestically Speaking; My Backyard Eden; Night Owl Crafting; Seven Thirty Three; Someday Crafts; The Thrifty Home; Trendy Treehouse Thursdays: Beyond the Picket Fence; Craftastical!; Fireflies & Jellybeans; House of Hepworths; Life as Lori; Somewhat Simple; The Shabby Chic Cottage Fridays:  Chic on a Shoestring; Finding Fabulous; Fingerprints on the Fridge; Frou Frou Decor; Frugal & Fabulous Design; It's a Hodge Podge Life; It's Fun to Craft!: Just a Girl; Remodelaholic; Simply Designing; The Shabby Nest; Tatertots & Jello Weekend:  A  Little Lovely; Be Different Act Normal; Funky Junk Interiors; House of Thrifty Decor; I Heart Naptime; Kuzak's Closet; Under the Table & Dreaming

Sun Room Goodies (plus a coupon code for YOU)

Well as you guys know, I've been searching high and low for some fun things to put in our newly finished sun room (you can catch up here if you missed our sun room).  I'm still up in the air about what type of rug to put in and what exactly I want to do with furniture.  I've been looking at Overstock.com lately -- I mean they have EVERYTHING you could ever imagine on their site.  And their prices are honestly some of the best I've seen.  So I thought I would share with you some of the pretty decor I found that maybe I could use. 

Aaaaand, they've also provided me (and YOU) with a coupon code -- which will be at the bottom of the post. EEEEK!

FURNITURE
Seating Option One:  I'm thinking maybe I could do two cozy arm chairs like these

or these;

or these?

Seating Option Two:  I could do two day beds like this?

I also think I'd like to put a small writing table in there as well -- maybe like this one?

CEILING FANS
And how about the lighting?  What do you think of these fan fixtures -- yes we know for sure we want a fan -- even though chandeliers are SO much prettier. :)

And they even have these to replace the blades with:

AREA RUGS
And for rugs, I'm thinking about these:

And that's just a few of the goodies they have on their awesome site -- I could spend all day there, I think!  I could barely pick the items I showed you -- let alone pick between them!

Are you ready for your coupon code!?!  (Like you would need one with their prices!!)




Isn't that awesome!?!  Now start shopping!! :)



Disclaimer: All the ideas and opinions expressed are my own. No monetary compensation was received for doing this post, however, I was provided with a discount code.

 

Rustic Photo Board Display

Well I FINALLY have a project to share with you today.  This is a little something I put together a while ago -- so I haven't actually DONE any sort of home improvement/crafty project in like THREE weeks.  Seriously.  I walked into Joanne's last night and I was there for over an hour -- as if I had never been in a craft store before.  I was finding all kinds of things to make and craft.  I'm sure I looked a little on the nuts-o side.   But I was feeling some withdrawal after being on vacation!

But enough of that -- let's get to this long-overdue project!  

A few months ago we went on a our annual family vacation to a lake up north, where my very talented hubby took this picture:

It's turned into one of my absolute favorite pictures -- it's so beautifully framed and the colors are just perfect.  Like I said, I have a talented hubby!

I wanted to frame this picture, but I didn't want to just throw it in any old frame -- it's a special picture and I wanted to do something special to it.  So I decided to make a distressed photo board. 

I started out with a 16 x 20 print of my photograph (which cost me about $17.00 -- but I'm sure you could find a better deal if you looked around for coupons and online shopping codes).  I also used a pallet that we had in our garage from a Menard's Delivery earlier in the summer.

Now comes a little bit of math -- I cut my boards to be 16" long (the same height as my photo I ordered).  I decided to cut five boards to stack across and left an equal amount of spacing between them to be a little more rustic looking.

I laid all my boards out on a flat surface and used a strait edge to keep them even while I used a screw as a spacer to equally space all my boards (real technical, I know).  Then I took another board and laid it across all my boards and nailed it in place -- this is to keep my measured 16" boards in place.

So when I was all done assembling my boards it looks something like this:

Now comes the fun part -- adding the photo.  I used Mod Podge (of course!  Would I really use anything else!?!)  and attached the back of the photo to the boards, and then I went over the top.  Don't worry about the edges really laying flat -- we'll fix that later.

Once it was Mod Podged on (and not fully dry) I took the end of a paint brush and scored my picture where the gaps in my boards are.  A word of warning though -- be careful that you don't scratch the picture when you are scoring -- just a light scare should do the trick.

Let the Mod Podge dry, and you should have something like this.  I originally planned on stopping here, but I just didn't like it.  It needed a little something more.  

 It needed to be more rustic.  And what doesn't say rustic like distressing?  

I ripped my photo around the edges to give it a more natural feel.  I didn't worry too much about keeping the edges strait since I wanted it to look unintentional.  

Then I took a clothe and my favorite dark walnut stain and rubbed it along the edges of my photo, the edges of the boards and then along the sides of the boards. 

NOW it feels finished.  I'm not sure where to hang it yet; but I'm thinking MAYBE in our newly refinished sun room.   You could do this with any picture you wanted to though  -- it's a fun way to make a special picture stand out from the rest.

 

 

Linking up to:

Mondays:Between Naps on the Porch ; C.R.A.F.T; Craft-O-Maniac; Keeping it Simple; Mad in Crafts; Making the World Cuter; The DIY Showoff; The Girl Creative Tuesdays:  All Thingz Related; House of Grace; I'm Topsy Turvy; Lucky Star Lane; Sugar Bee Craft Edition; The CSI Project; These Creative Juices; Today's Creative Blog Wednesdays:  Blue Cricket Design; Creations by Kara; Debbiedoos; Domestically Speaking; My Backyard Eden; Night Owl Crafting; Seven Thirty Three; Someday Crafts; The Thrifty Home; Trendy Treehouse Thursdays: Beyond the Picket Fence; Craftastical!; Fireflies & Jellybeans; House of Hepworths; Life as Lori; Somewhat Simple; The Shabby Chic Cottage Fridays:  Chic on a Shoestring; Finding Fabulous; Fingerprints on the Fridge; Frou Frou Decor; Frugal & Fabulous Design; It's a Hodge Podge Life; It's Fun to Craft!: Just a Girl; Remodelaholic; Simply Designing; The Shabby Nest; Tatertots & Jello Weekend:  A  Little Lovely; Be Different Act Normal; Funky Junk Interiors; House of Thrifty Decor; I Heart Naptime; Kuzak's Closet; Under the Table & Dreaming

WINNER of the Purdy Paint & Prep Kit! :)

It's time to announce the winner of the Purdy Giveaway!  This is such an awesome set of tools -- it's something EVERYONE should have!  I wish I had one for each of you :)

So, on to the winner......

Nesiejean said... 63

I'm already a follower and I love your blog!

October 14, 2010 7:43 AM

CONGRATULATIONS!!!

Even if you didn't win; be sure to visit Purdy's Save the Walls website and you can enter to win THEIR giveaway EVERY day!

Thanks again to Jennifer and the team at Purdy for their fantastic giveaway(and their fantastic products!!)! 

Historic Hotels of our Road Trip

Well I finally got to look through our pictures from our trip last week and I wanted to share with you guys some of the wonderful places we got to visit.  We decided to take a road trip and visit lots of points of interest and see a few different parts of the Country.  There are definitely places we would go back to and definitely places we wouldn't. :)  But all in all we enjoyed the places we got to see. 

First, I want to show you two Historic Hotels we got to stay at.  We found them through the Historic Hotels of America Site and fell in love with them (and it did help that they weren't going to cost us an arm and a leg like some of the ones we found).

THE DEER PATH INN

The very first place we stayed was in Lake Forest, IL.  This little city is adorable!  The houses are gorgeous; there are tree-lined boulevards -- I absolutely loved driving and walking through their beautiful town.  The hotel sits nestled in an adorable little neighborhood of historic homes that are very well kept. We stayed at the Deer Path Inn because of it's charm and uniqueness.  It's definitely like no other hotel I've been to.  It's fashioned after an inn in England; so there was lots of historic charm.

 It was definitely a lovely little place to start our trip.  And here's the view from our room -- it looked out onto a little terrace where they served dinner, lunch and breakfast.   Sorry I don't have any great pictures of the rooms; but they were VERY nice as well.  :)

UNION STATION HOTEL

The other historic hotel we stayed at was in one of my FAVORITE places that we stopped: Nashville.  I LOVED this city!  It was the cleanest downtown area I've ever seen.  Both Kevin and I decided that we would LOVE to go back and visit again.  

The Union Station Hotel was at the beginning of their lovely downtown area.  This hotel was absolutely GORGEOUS inside.  It was so breathtaking.  It used to be a train station and was restored keeping it's historic decor and architecture to be a beautiful hotel.

And again, the rooms were just as gorgeous -- they were recently renovated and I honestly wanted to decorate my own room and bathroom to model them.  (You can see more pictures of the rooms on their website).

We loved downtown -- and we ate at an awesome barbecue place.  It was completely packed in there and you could tell it was THE PLACE for good barbecue food.  I would definitely recommend it. :)

So there you have it -- the two historic hotels we got to stay at on our trip South East.  I would have LOVED to stay at other historic hotels too, but some cities we were staying in didn't have a lot of historic hotels and some were just out of our price range -- you still gotta be thrifty on vacation, too! :)

Definitely more to come....