Spoiled

That's me.

I just got to enjoy the most wonderful day with my sweet friends. Yes, after I went shopping all day yesterday in the city.

We all went to the spa this morning and chatted the day away soaking in the hot tub and getting pampered with massages, facials, and pedicures. Plus the complimentary chocolate bowl they left out took quite a beating. (No it was not mostly me....pssh)

Follow that up by lunch at my favorite restaurant, Laughing Ladies (in Salida), and you can call it a glorious day! Oh, and presents. For you knitters out there, I am the proud owner of a new set of addi click knitting needles. I love my friends.

This little post is just to show you what I've been doing with my time lately. I promise you I have crafts on the list...I've just been enjoying myself a little too much lately:) Although I did sew my friend Jami a pretty cute little burlap table runner with white ruffles. Compliments of The Beast (that's what I decided to call my new sewing machine:) And of course I didn't take a picture. Bad Blogger.

Enjoy your beautiful weekend!!!

Oh happy day (of birth)

Or rather week, that is! Yes, today is my birthday and what a wonderful one it was!

My mom called to sing me a happy birthday this morning and tell me that I had a birthday *pumpkin cranberry walnut* muffin awaiting me (she is a baker at a local coffee shop). So that was good thing #1. I mean reallllllly good. Lick your lips and ask for another good.

Then my sweet husband got home from work at 10:00 this morning (ugh!) bearing gifts! Gorgeous flowers and a HUGE box. I was giddy with excitement as I tore into it. What was it you ask? A sewing machine case. That's right. JUST a case. I looked up from the package with what I can only imagine as a look of bewilderment. "Is that it?" (thankful I know) "Ya," he replied, "I couldn't afford the actual machine."

People. He got me a machine. Not just a machine. The machine.

Yes. I'm spoiled.

I proceeded to spend the next 2 hours reading the manual and playing with it. This thing does EVERYTHING. I mean, it could probably cook you dinner if you asked it nicely. It is totally computerized (I wasn't too keen on this at first...I'm old fashioned), it has an LED display, 100 stitch options, and, get this, an automatic needle threader. Not sure if I'll use that one or not. Isn't there a line between convenience and laziness people?

 It. is. AWESOME. Especially compared to my old one. 

Anywho. On with the terrificness.

Then our dear friends, Steve and Leslie, took us out for lunch. Mmm.

Then I got to go shop around downtown Salida (Who doesn't love to shop?!)

Then some other great friends, the Saewerts, brought me roses and cheesecake.

Then I went out to my parents house (sadly Robin had to work) for pot roast (my absolute fave) and cheesecake! Oh, and don't forget the presents:)

And throughout this whole gem of a day, all of my friends and family called. I LOVE this day. 

OH! I forgot to tell you the best part! This came in the mail today:

from Shelley @ Custom Slipcovers by Shelly

I won it. That's right. F-R-E-E. I entered the giveaway at Playful Decor! Nan was giving one away and I won. I never win anything. And it's my birthday! And I just got a new sewing machine! And there's a hole in my couch cushion (from Bella's not so sweet puppy days)!

It's Fate.

Leslie told me that if she came over and my dog was slipcovered, there would be an intervention. Watch out Bella. My new machine is unstoppable.

DIY Chandelier

Hi my name is Rachelle and I have a Chandelier addiction. Can you be addicted if you've never had one?

This was what used to hang in my living room:

Oh sweetness. That is hideous. 

Something had to be done. I had seen chandeliers online and in antique stores going for $150+...way over my teeny budget. What is a DIYer to do? I think you know. I knew that I wanted one with a fairly classic shape. It has been my mission every time I go to the B (thrift store) or the ReStore to find a chandelier with potential minus the hefty price tag. This is what I came up with:

Don't be alarmed. There is a happy ending to this story.

One of the best things about this beauty? $5. That's right. Now one thing that I would recommend before you put a bunch of time and effort into making over your ugly duckling of a chandy--make SURE it works. I'm not quite speaking from experience (I was lucky) but I will tell you I almost had a heart attack from the anticipation as it was being hung. Like oh-goodness-what-if-i-just-spent-all-that-time-and-valuable-spray-paint-on-this-POS-and-now-the-darn-thing-won't-work type of heart attack. The kind where you hold your breath. But TA-DA!

Joy of all joys, it worked. Now here's what I did-

:: Gather supplies
             :: Chandy,
             :: spray paint
             :: wire (whatever gauge you prefer)
             :: cheap-o pearls ($.50 @the B)
             :: crystal looking beads (Hobby Lobby $5 (except they were 50% off God bless HL) so $2.50)
:: Wipe the thing down.
:: Put tin foil in the sockets to avoid getting paint on them...don't know if this matters, but I didn't want to chance it.
:: Spray Paint!! I used Krylon's Coral Isle. Perfection.
:: Prep your little dangle-y things (that's what she said...excuse me, I have been watching quite a bit of The Office lately). I threaded 4-ish beads on a wire and curled both ends of the wire into a circle to hold them on. You'll need as many of these as there are arms + 1 for the center. I made the center one with more beads.
:: Cut your pearl strands (mine were about 12" each)
:: Wire the pearls to the arms, and then to the middle (each Chandy is different, so it's hard to tell you how to do this part. Use your best judgement. I just made it up as I went along)
:: Add your little dangle-y crystals, and Voila! Cake easy.

And there you have it, folks.

P.s. Has anyone ever told you how hard it is to take a picture of lighting? I had about 80 pictures that turned out like this before I got a good one:

Have any of you done something fun with lighting lately?

Linking up to:

Fall Centerpiece

I have never had a dining room table to decorate before.  I have never had a dining room table to eat at before. I have never had a dining room before. Before our house remodel that is.

So you can imagine my excitement at the thought of having a place to put a centerpiece! I realize this is sad. Don't judge me.

Anyway.

This is my pretty fall centerpiece.

I had all of this in my house (with the exception of the cute fruit basket--Alco $3, 50% off-- aka dirt cheap. Like me.) 

The little kerr canning jar was from a dear friend's wedding. She used them to hold cookies as favors for the guests. I will proudly ashamedly admit that I hoarded them.  Yes. I went around to all the tables when the reception was over and collected the ones that people left sad and neglected. (do they not realize the decorative value of such an object?)

The runner is just a couple of napkins with some fabric on top. I didn't want to sew it so that I could use the material for something else later:) Also, I tend to take the easy way out.

The wheat was leftover from a flower arrangement I did.

The fruit basket looked like this when I bought it:

Sweet, I know. (ew)

And became this with a little fabric:

Side note: Are peaches not the best thing about fall? I think so.

My favorite part of the centerpiece is the sweet candleholder. I found it at the Habitat Restore for $4. It was originally an old light fixture ;) I love it when something repurposes so easily. You should see the wiring on this baby. Talk about vintage.

This makes me smile. 

And there you have it. Sweet festivity.

I do what I love, I love what I do

Can I just say that I love my job?!

I do hair. In a small teeny town. My job is to...get this...talk to people, catch up on life, and make them feel great about themselves. Um, jealous much? I don't blame you.

I love nothing more than when a woman leaves my chair thrilled with how she looks. There is no single thing more empowering to me than a woman with confidence, and I get to see that confidence sparked. Heck, I get to be the one who sparks it. I am too blessed.

Not only that, but I work from home so I have plenty of time to craft and blog. Who could ask for anything better?

So thank you miss Sarah A if you read this. You made me realize that I love what I do. Priceless.

Fall Wreath

Ah, Fall. My favorite time of the year. Time to break out my cardigans (my favorite article of clothing if you care to know that fun fact) and scarves. And the peaches....oh, the peaches. Peach cobbler, peaches on my cereal, peaches and ice cream, peaches and whipped cream, peaches and just plain cream. You name it, it's good with a peach.
Fall also means inspiration. It's my favorite season to decorate the house. After my Shabby Door makeover I decided that I needed a pretty fall wreath to grace the wonderfully distressed mustard paint. So this lovely wreath is the product of my motivation:

Ok, so this is SO easy. You serious DIYer's can just look at this and know what I did, but I will explain for those of us a little more challenged ;)

First :: Get your supplies

                 :: Wreath form (Hobby Lobby $2)

                 :: Burlap cut into 3" strips

                 :: Eyelet / lace fabric

                 :: Florals and/or dried wheat etc.

                 :: Hot glue gun

                 :: Wire (for hanging)

::  Wrap Burlap around wreath form hot gluing every couple times around until form is covered

::  Wrap Lace around the form and tie a nice perdy bow

::  Hot glue the loops of the bow to the form so they stay looking nice

::  Make a nice arrangement of your flowers and hot glue them under the lace bow

::  Make a loop with your wire and hot glue it to the backside on the top, covering the glue with another scrap piece of burlap to stabilize it. This loop is great for hanging if you have a nail already in your door.

And you're done!! I think this took me a total of 20 minutes!

Looking at this just makes me want to drink a mug of cider and curl up under a blanket. And don't forget the peaches :)

Shabby Door

I started a tradition of painting my door with the seasons last summer. I think it started out as just an ugly wooden door. Then I moved on to a bright orange for the summer (this was before I began taking before and afters of every minuscule change in my home. Thank you blogland. So no pic). And then I chose a REALLY beautiful plum color for fall. I mean, I loved it. So that is where the tradition ended due to my stubborn attachment to the aforementioned hue. Well with the ushering in of fall, my creativity was finally reignited...I give you my shabby door---

Oh man. I don't know if I'll really be able to start the tradition up again :\  I love this door!

So just so you have a frame of reference... BEFORE:

AFTER:

And again with my pretty fall wreath. (tutorial coming soon!)

Do any of you recognize the color? Remember Mustard Mishap? This is the product of that color choice...only I still added a ton of brown. Now I really love the color:) 

As I was painting, I decided that it would be really fun to do some distressing. I'm so happy with how it turned out! I just ordered a little detail sander on ebay two nights ago, so I ended up having to sand by hand (took forever). But now you can see a little of the plum through the yellow...

Oh! And I found this little number at the B (local thrift store) for $2, and Robin oh-so-kindly installed it for me.

Goodness I love you doorknob.

Thus ends my Sunday motivation. 

Linking up to:

Thrifty Decor Chick