Window art

I picked up an old window free from leftovers after a yardsale. It was just begging for a transformation.

This is what I came up with:

Sorry, this first one's a touch on the blurry side.

I just grabbed a package of letter stencils at Hobby Lobby and stenciled them backwards on the backside of the window. Then I added some white paint behind as an outline to the letters. Last I modpodged some torn pages of a novel that I had lying around. Easy peasy!

The quote is from a Drew Holcomb and the Neighbors song...one of my favorites:)

Christmas tree!

Oh Christmas, how I love thee. We started a tradition last year of picking and cutting our own Christmas tree. We take a whole crew and make a day of it. Afterwards, we go back to the Q's home to celebrate Steve Q's (Robin's bestie) birthday with some stew and pie. Oh what fun:)

Here are a couple pictures from the adventure and a few of the finished product.

Our cute little tree!

Robin loves his hatchet:)

The Quilicos. The Birthday Boy himself on the left.

The Ismerts

And here's the final product!

It's not super full, but I love how bright the green is. It is perfect:)

Robin made this heart for me on our first christmas...I love it:)

My sweet modpodged ornaments

Button garland. Made using twine and a lot of white buttons I bought on eBay. Oh, and hot glue:)

Be still my heart. Man I love it.

Along with a couple other additions...turquoise snowflakes, red berries, gold balls (why is it that I laugh every time I say that word?), and pinecones. But I didn't even have to add those, they just came with the tree:) Oh, and my globe lights...I love my globe lights. They just add that extra special touch.

So what's your Christmas tree tradition?

Blue Chair mini makeover

I bought this blue armchair at a thriftstore for $20 a few months ago and it has been sitting in my living room staring at me. I cringed every time I looked at it because I knew it needed some TLC.

I actually really loved the original upholstery, but it had been totally scratched up (cat maybe?) On the front of the arms.

The other day I was talking with Robin and saying how I wished there was a way that I could just recover that front panel...as I was saying those exact words I stuck my finger in the crack and pulled...lo and behold, it came off !!! So this previously daunting reupholstery job that I had been dreading turned into a 10 minute transformation! I just grabbed some lace fabric that I had lying around along with a staple gun and this is what I came up with...

Ugh!! Sweet holy goodness, I LOVE it!!

Too bad it now has a new home in The Barn:(

Any other vintage crazy chair lovers out there?

Crazy-mad black friday

First I'll tell you about our wonderful Thanksgiving with friends, and then I'll recap the crazy.

Most of my good friends aren't from good ol' BV, so they typically go out of town for Thanksgiving, but not so this year! All of us were home and so, wonder of all wonders, we decided to do a potluck style dinner.

This was our cute little table. It was so fun to have everyone sit together!

We did this in our church's basement, so photo quality is not the best, sorry:/

Look at that beautiful setting! It was so fun to have fine china to eat from (Thanks Jami!)

Some of the cute faces that attended. CJ and William Wild.

Georgia Grace. Oh goodness her eyelashes are gorgeous!

Husband. The back a yo' head is ri-dic-uh-lous. He had just gotten off work;)

Cynthia and Andee. Obviously I had a hard time focusing my camera...(that's why I left it small;)

Lisa and Campbell Jane

And all the Ladies!

This is a good picture to end with because at this point was when we started to dream up our Black Friday adventure. We decided it would be a fine idea to leave for Denver (a 2 hour drive) at 7:30 pm on Thanksgiving. We did not return until the following evening at 7:30. No, we did not sleep. We ran on pure adrenaline. Oh, and Starbucks...can't forget the Starbucks. Total time awake: 40 hours. Um, I think that was the most tired I have ever been in my whole life. I actually fell asleep IN THE MIDDLE of a conversation. 

But oh, sweet victory! Christmas shopping was conquered (plus a few personal transactions. Who can resist a $3 skirt from Gap or a $12 J Crew necklace...not this girl). 

I believe we decided to make this an annual tradition. Are we crazy? Deliciously so.

Family pictures:)

A good friend of mine, Sharon Clark at Smitten Photography, took our pictures last month and I thought I would share them with you all! They are insanely beautiful. Prepare yourself for jealousy.

This is the one I chose for our Christmas card! (above)

Holy golden sunlight batman.

Um, ya. Random Teepee.

This is a throw that my grandma and aunt crocheted for me. It is probably one of my most prized possessions.

This was the burlap bow that I made for Bella. I feel that it was in vain because the stinkin' dog acted like she was on crack. She wouldn't hold still for anything.

Oh dog. Why can't you sit still for a picture?

Whew! That was a lot of pictures! But wasn't it so worth it?

Homemade Vanilla

Ok, so this is the best neighbor/family gift ever! And it's under $10! Win win.

I got the idea from this post over at Whipperberry. She gives a great tutorial and the sites where you can get your beans. The one thing I will say is that the vanilla needs to 'steep', if you will, for at least a month. So if you decide to do this as a last minute gift make sure you tell the recipient to wait to use it.

I also took pointers from her packaging because I thought it was the cutest thing I'd ever seen!
I ended up hand lettering my muslin labels and adhering them using spray adhesive.

Then I finished it with some red and white baker's twine and a 'v' wax seal (I got it off of etsy)

What a fun gift!! What other homemade gifts have you loved giving or receiving?

The Winds of Change

Hey! It's been awhile!
For good reason, I promise.
Just so that you can give me your pardon, I'll let you know what I've been up to this last month...
A great friend of mine, Traci over at All Things Luci Rae, and I have started a store!! Crazy? I think so. If you live in Colorado, you've probably heard of The Barn in Castle Rock. It's only one of the most well known antique/home goods stores in the state! It truly has been a dream of ours to own a shop one day and, as of December 1st, that dream has come true!  We are both so excited to have an outlet to express our creativity (and a reason to buy that extra piece of furniture that we have no place for;)

So be happy for us. Very happy.

Me and Traci in front of The Barn

Our space! (filled with the previous shop owners' stuff)

Proud owners of The Dented Lampshade! (Did I forget to mention that's our name?)

YAY!!!