Decorating

11.25.

Tissue Paper Pom Pom

When I was in Catholic school, I was a Cheerleader.

It was actually pretty fun. Except for the fact that it was a CATHOLIC school! I really loved my school. However, instead of having sassy short skirts, we had knee length ones.

Instead of having really cool sleeveless tank style tops, we had sweaters. Have you ever seen a hot sweaty girl who’s cheeks get really flushed on a regular basis without even having to move…………. try to cheer in a hot itchy sweater? Let me just tell you………… It ain’t pretty!

Plus, I’m pretty sure I was still rockin my “waved” bangs and sides. (*Don’t even try to lie and act like you didn’t ! You know you were right there with me……… PLEASE say you were right there with me.)

*SIDEBAR: They got the cool uniforms the year AFTER I cheered. I still harbor resentment.

*Well, fast forward to 2013 and I am not talking about the pom poms that come with a skirt…….. or a sweater for that matter.

I’m talking about the fun, cute ones you make for parties. They take about 5 minutes TOPS and would be adorable at the next little birthday party you throw for a loved one. They also double as cute room decorations. Just group them with a few others at different lengths hanging from the ceiling and instant CHEAP accessory!

Here is what you need to do:

You will need a pack of tissue paper, one pipe cleaner (or something sturdy to fasten the middle of the pom pom, and some ribbon to hang it with).

I get the packs that have 8 sheets, but you can always buy one with more. It would just be fuller. This pack only cost $ .99 at Walmart. I already had the pipe cleaner and ribbon, so it only cost me the amount of the tissue paper.

Unfold the tissue paper and leave all the sheets still stacked on top of each other.

Start to fold the tissue paper in an accordion style. Fold one way, then the opposite way. Do this until you have folded the entire stack.

Since the paper comes folded already, you will have somewhat of a template to follow. However, I fold mine slightly smaller than the width they have.

Like so…..

When gathered in the middle, this is what it should look like.

Now, gather in the middle and secure a pipe cleaner to the middle of the folded tissue paper.

Either cut off the excess pipe cleaner or wrap the extra around like I did.

Now, one by one, starting pulling back the individual sheets on each side. Be careful not to rip the sheets. They are fragile.

I like to pull one on each side, working my way towards the middle until all of them have been done.

This is what it should look like when you have completed one side. Now, just repeat the same steps on the other side.

Looking straight through to the middle, this is what it will look like.

Now, take your ribbon and cut the desired length.

Attach around the pipe cleaner in the middle.

Make sure you fluff around where the center is in order to hide the opening.

AND VOILA!

Mix colors and have fun! We did this for the 4 Year Anniversary at my Church a few months back and hung them everywhere. At the end of service, we let all the little kiddies take one home.

Here is a picture of some from the 4 Year Anniversary Party:

Pom Poms

Happy Partying and Happy Decorating!

XOXO,

Esther

Tags: Accordion Fold, Catholic, Cheerleading, Decorating, Kids, Parties, Pipe Cleaner, Pom Pom, Ribbon, Sweaters, Tissue Paper, Tops

11.22.

Simple Thanksgiving Table Setting

I am beyond excited for Thanksgiving this year!

I thought I would share some of my ideas with you all in hopes that you may get a few ideas of your own. You know, in case you are in the same kind of tizzy. 🙂 (That IS a word, right?)

I am definitely a color person and I have been getting bored with my regular old white plates as of lately. I decided to go to Homegoods and “look” around.

However, I had a Starbucks in my hand and I can never just “look” when I have a Starbucks in my hand. All I will say is stores who have Starbucks in their stores know what they are doing. It’s like having waitresses serve you drinks when you are gambling in Vegas. The more you drink, the more you spend. It’s NO DIFFERENT with coffee. You are high on caffeine and BUY BUY BUY! Well, at least I do. LOL!

I fell in love with this blue and really built the color palette around this one plate. All the plates were $4.99 ea. at Homegoods.

Now, my centerpiece will be a little different come Turkey Day. I plan on lining mason jars down the center. Some with flowers and some with candles. I just didn’t have any flowers or candles on hand, so I thought this would look better than empty mason jars.

These Turkey salt and pepper shakers might get lucky enough to stay though……

I definitely have quite an eclectic taste, as you can see. I still get all googly eyed when I look at my new chandelier.

I firmly believe in using lots of natural looking elements like Burlap. I found this Burlap Runner at Target a while back for about $17.00. I love it because it is so versatile. It usually stays on the Coffee Center, but I’m going to use it here for the dinner.

I know you are probably thinking to yourself by now, where are the glasses? The answer to that is I haven’t figured that part out yet. If I don’t by the actual day, then I guess we will be drinking out of Solo Cups. 😉

Or, I guess I could just toss the flowers out of the mason jars and use them instead…….. RIGHT?

So, what kind of table setting are you doing this year? I would love to know!

XOXO,

Esther

Tags: Burlap Runner, Candles, Centerpiece, Homegoods, Mason Jars, Solo Cups, Starbucks, Table Setting, Thanksgiving, Turkey Day, Vegas

10.04.

Don’t “Be Afraid” of Halloween Decorating

It’s that Ghostly, Ghoulish, Wonderful time of the year again and I can hardly contain myself. I absolutely love Halloween!

Who doesn’t? I mean, it’s like the launch party for a new Album!

Halloween is the kickoff party to the Holiday Season!

I always do a few things around the house. A little here and a little there. Last year, I did a similar post that showed a few of the decorations I did. If you missed that one, you can check it out here.

I reused most of my decorations from last year and added just a few new ones.

It occurred to me after I decorated, that I must REALLY be into skulls.

I contribute that to the 2 weeks that I sat in a room by myself and did nothing else but watch Sons of Anarchy.

skull

(*Enough Said)

Hey! Who is up for a little game? Let’s see how many skulls I used in my decorating…… (ANSWER AT THE END OF THIS POST!)

I love this in the front entry way. This is the “kid’s center” with all their craft supplies and books that they like to read (when I make them).

The cute “Be Afraid” vinyl stickers with bats, I picked up at all places, Kroger’s, for only $4.99 for the entire set.

I already had the other decorations. I picked them all up at Walmart last year.

The Entertainment center has a few surprises too! Again……. more Skulls…..

(Further Away Look)

(Left Side)

Can’t forget the legs of whatever my house “fell” on. Would it be creepy to put some ruby red slippers on the feet? Pretty sure my children would forever be scarred and never be able to watch The Wizard of OZ again. 😉 *I might do it!

My coffee center never looked so festive.

Bats, Spiders and All!

However, I do have to admit that I have been a little slack on the housecleaning as of lately.

I’ll have to work on that.

😉

*By the way, if you guessed 5 Skulls, you got it right!*

Did you miss the one on the tombstone in the entertainment center? I almost did!

XOXO!

Esther

Tags: Bats, Be Afraid, Coffee Center, Decorations, Festive, Halloween, Kroger's, Skulls, Sons of Anarchy, Spiders, Walmart

07.13.

Office Makeover

You know those days when you fly away to an exotic destination and forget the mess that you call an office?

Or better yet…… Snap your fingers and it’s clean, organized, and redecorated?????

Then you ACTUALLY WAKE UP and realize that it was all one mean dream? That you aren’t actually about to board a plane to your dream vacation. That you don’t possess magical powers that allow you to snap your fingers and things just fix themselves. No! The reality is that you have to go through every cluttered box you own and piece by piece, organize it!

BLAH!

Well, luckily……… that’s not how I role.

I love looking at organized stuff and my things may have some rhyme or reason to why they are all grouped in one general location, but I am definitely NOT a self professed organizer.

Oh yes, I have very ambitious thoughts from time to time, but then I get distracted by more important things…… like ice cream and chocolate.

I am, however, VERY happy with the way it turned out!

The lighting was hideous the day I tried to take these pics, thanks to all the rain we have gotten.

It’s not completely finished yet. I still have a few things left to do, but for the most part it’s complete.

I wanted more of an open concept than the one I had before. Before, the desk on the right was in the middle of the office, which really cut off the room visually.

I’m still brainstorming with ideas for that open wall above the desk, but nothing concrete yet. I’ll update once I’ve decided.

Also, as you will notice, my lovely hubby still needs to go and finish painting the baseboards. (I’ll do a post soon on how to build up your baseboards for practically nothing!)

I am notorious for painting my ceilings. It gives the room such a custom look. Plus, when you have high ceilings, the height can make your room seem too empty. Painting your ceilings can either give you the illusion of higher ceilings or lower, depending on the color you choose. Painting the ceiling a neutral tan color in this room, really “cozied” it up for me.

Paint colors:

Benjamin Moore’s At Sea – Walls

Benjamin Moore’s Bleeker Beige – Ceiling

High Gloss White – Trim

On the left side of the room is where all the organizational stuff is. I decided to not have any closed storage. This kept things open for me to just grab when I needed. Instead, I chose to go to Target and Homegoods for all my containers and idea boards.

I found the 3 shelf bookcases at Walmart for only $17 each. When it came to the idea boards on top, I almost splurged on Pottery Barn. The thought of spending over $700 on boards that I was going to hang on the wall, made me sick to my stomach, so instead, I went to my trusty ole’ Homegoods store to see what I could find first. I’m so happy I did! Not only did I find something, in my opinion, prettier……… They were far CHEAPER! I only spent $40 on the big one in the middle, and $20 each for the ones on the sides! Woot! Woot!

I felt like the colors were perfect. Lighter is what I was going for. So, when I start to put my ideas on the board, they will really POP!

I am so happy that most stores in general are really starting to amp up their office storage. All the designs are so nice these days. You can find cute stuff everywhere! AND CHEAP!

I got the brown storage boxes and multi colored file box from Target.

The cream colored baskets (set of 3), grey woven boxes (set of 2) from Homegoods.

The black boxes from Walmart.

Pattern file folders from Office Max.

This table was a MUST have! I could see in my mind what I wanted and how I wanted the office to turn out. I just couldn’t find a white pedestal table to go in the middle…….. that I could ACTUALLY afford!

I found plenty online! But they were all a small fortune and I just didn’t want to spend it.

Then, one night when I was searching Target’s website, I found it! Their new line Threshold, had the perfect one. It was so late and I was literally about to go to bed. So, when I saw that it was only $120, I thought my eyes were playing tricks on me! It happened to be on sale because I think it is normally around $150. Plus, if you use your Target red card, which is the Debit card, you get free shipping even if it isn’t supposed to be. Not to mention you get the 5% discount.

I’m in love with it! The great thing is that it is a dining table, so it can double duty as extra eating space if you ever have people over! 🙂

This chandelier was originally meant for the girl’s room at our previous house. I had just bought it when we decided that we were going to sell our home. So, I held onto it hoping that I could find a nice spot for it here. So happy that it worked out for the office. I think it gives it an unexpected chic feel.