Decorating

12.14.

Christmas: Chalkboard Decorating

I love my little Chalkboard that I bought from Etsy last year.

Come to think of it, I just love Chalkboards in general.

They are so much fun to play with and they work for any season.

Whether you just want to write down a shopping list, or if you want to give your kids a cool spot to draw!

Since our “Theme” for Christmas is the Grinch who Stole Christmas, I figured I would quote him.

Now, I did my best attempt at fitting the whole quote on the board.

I started out larger than I should have and realized that as I started to get towards the bottom.

By the end, I was itty bitty, but I didn’t erase and start over because, umm… well….

“That was the look I was going for?”

Yup! That’s it!

Have fun with it!

Add an ornament here or there.

Use different sayings. Famous quotes from Christmas movies past are the best!

I think I am even going to use this quote on the Teacher Christmas Presents my little ones do.

(Other than the fact that I just realized I misspelled Virginia,)

This one reminds me of a time when I was little when I wrote Santa a letter and asked him if he was real.

I think we all have that moment at some point.

I remember getting a rolled up typed letter that was secured by a single red ribbon.

It was addressed: Dear Esther,

It went on to talk about how he was just as real as I was and how he believed in me just like I believed in him……

I found out my mother typed that letter…..

LAST YEAR!

THIS IS WHY I HAVE TRUST ISSUES, PEOPLE!

OK, Moving on! : D

You should, however, be warned.

If you leave your Chalkboard left alone for any length of time, it could end up like this….

Hearts drawn all over it.

Pretty sure she is the culprit….

Come to think of it, it’s not so bad.

Think I’ll keep it. : )

Tags: Chalkboard, Draw, Etsy, Ornament, Santa, Season, Teacher Presents, The Grinch Who Stole Christmas

12.05.

UPDATE: Master Bathroom Shower

So, as you know, a couple of weeks ago, I gave you the week of the “Ewws, the Yucks, and the Awes!”

You got your fair share of the Ewws and Yucks.

If you don’t remember, allow me to remind you:

Remember Exibit A???

No?

What about……

Exibit B????

(Don’t worry. I’m not going to show anymore.)

We had to make the decision to redo our Master Shower after finding out that it was leaking water into our bedroom when we were installing new flooring.

Well, the shower looks a lot different now! Think I finally got my Awe!

After all that dark gunky mess, all I wanted to see was light and bright!

I am very pleased with how it turned out!

I wanted the look to be vintage, so I went with an octogonal designed tile for the floor. We used this for the flooring in the rest of the bathroom as well. The grout color was a dark grey. From what I have seen, charcoal is a common color for vintage bathroom grout, but I didn’t want it to look black, so I chose to go this route instead.

I chose a plain white subway tile for the wall with white grout. I really wanted things to look bright and I figured that using white grout would give me that look. The best part was all the tile was bought at either my local Lowe’s or Home Depot store. When I cleaned Home Depot out of their stock, I went right over to Lowe’s. They were different name brands, but the look and dimensions were the same, so you can’t tell the difference in product.

The contractor suggested going all the way to the ceiling with the tile and I’m glad he did. It really gives it a much grander look and draws your eye upwards, so it makes the shower look bigger than it really is.

Is it possible to be in love with a shower fixture? Because I think I am. Pretty sure I understand the meaning to “love at first sight” now.

It has a shower head and a seperate hand held. For me, this was so important, because I hate cleaning showers and a hand held shower head really makes this so much easier to get to all the nooks and crannies.

I really felt like the exposed plumbing pipe of the fixture added to it’s vintage charm, so I really wanted a face plate that would continue that look. The porcelain knobs that say Hot and Cold, as well as the Arrow, helped add to it.

I absolutely love this shower head. The lady at the store was really nice and was looking out for me. The original shower head that was on the faucet in the display room was different and she told me that with the thick hair I had, I would be standing there for years trying to rinse the shampoo out due to no water pressure in it. She suggested I go with this one instead and it has really made a difference. I haven’t had any problems.

HOWEVER! BE WARNED! When you go into a Kitchen and Bath store to buy a faucet, it is like going into an expensive restaurant where everything on the menu is a la carte! The pole and cord to my hand held was one price. Then the shower head was another, then the hand held was another, and then the face plate was another.

Needless to say, I paid a bit for my faucet.

It was definitely a SPLURGE, but I feel it was worth it because I know that I will be in this house for quite some time and it will probably be a nice selling feature when the times comes. I did manage to make up for it a little because my shower doors should have been $300, but were on sale for only $79. SCORE!

Those were all views from the outside looking in. But this is usually my view from the inside looking out.

Yes, Buster always guards the shower when I’m taking one.

However, below is a more accurate picture of what my view usually is from the inside looking out.

No, privacy is not something we get much in this household as of yet.

-Esther

Tags: Awe, Bathroom, Eww, Flooring, Grey Grout, Hand Held Faucet, Home Depot, Lowe's, Master Shower Makeover, Porcelain Knobs, Privacy, Shower Faucet, Tile, Vintage, Yuck

12.04.

Dr. Seuss Themed Christmas Tree

I love Dr. Seuss……. ANYTHING!

So, it is probably no surprise to most that I would do a “Dr. Seuss” themed Christmas Tree. Specifically “The Grinch Who Stole Christmas”.

I love how in the cartoon and the movie alike, they had random things on the trees. In the cartoon, they even had presents. I couldn’t pull that off, but it gave me the idea to put random things, like silk flowers.

But, not just any silk flowers.

The “loudest” and most “sparkliest” of all flowers.

Most of the ornaments, I have collected over the past few years. However, every year, I add to it a little.

I love ornaments, but picks are what give my tree the look I wanted. I got these in a kit from Sam’s Club this season. They should still have some.

This is as close as I could get to putting actual presents ON my tree instead of UNDER it. I got these from Michael’s craft store three years ago when they went on sale. I think I ended up paying $.89 for them in the end. They also make a great idea as a present topper. One year, I wrapped all my presents in brown paper. I then embellished them with these picks and everyone thought they were so pretty, they didn’t want to open their presents and mess it up.

I also bought these at my local craft store 3 years ago. They haven’t had any since. I have gone back optimistically each year to hopefully buy more, but still get dissapointed. I call these my Peacock feathers!

This is what I found instead this year. The lighting in the photo keeps you from seeing the pretty sparkle these flowers have. I bought these and the blue one at the top from the craft store this season for 50 % off already. They are a little pricey, but are sturdy and worth it in my opinion. They were $5.99 each after the 50% off. Again, at Michael’s.

I bought a set of these, and…………..

these 3 years ago at Target. I think I’m addicted to GLITTER!

These green swirly picks were in the same kit from Sam’s Club and I used them at the top.

These snowflakes were in it too and I felt like it symbolized the Snowflake that Whoville was in.

Last but not least, these are the puffs in the tree. This is new this year for me. I really felt like this made my tree this year. This is a great idea to help hide “holes” in the tree. Picks are too, but these can hide so much more than they can. Plus it just really adds something to your tree. AND! It is ridiculously EASY!

I bought the fabric in a roll of 10 yrds. from Sam’s Club and cut every 1ft. or so. Then I just gathered all four ends and twisted a pipe cleaner I had cut in half to it. Puff it up and stick it in the tree! That’s IT!

SO! That’s it! Hope you like my tree and I hope I have given you some ideas to try out on your own!

-Esther

Tags: Brown Paper, Cartoon, Christmas Tree, Dr. Seuss, Fabric, Holes in tree, Michae's Craft Store, Ornaments, Pipe Cleaner, Presents, Puffs, Sam's Club, Silk Flowers, Snowflakes, Sparkliest, The Grinch Who Stole Christmas, Whoville

12.01.

Oh Christmas Tree!

Like most, my family was on the road this past Thanksgiving.

And also, like most, we always get our Christmas Tree right after Thanksgiving.

When we first moved almost 3 years ago, we couldn’t seem to find a Christmas Tree stand around our new house, which was completely crazy to me since there were probably Christmas Tree stands just about every 5 miles where we were from.

SO!

After the first year where I had to suck it up and go to Food Lion (which I will never do again)…….. (No OFFENSE Food Lion), and got a tree that DIED (I’m talking Brittle Dry Twigs People!) within the first week……

We decided that we would always get our tree while we were visiting home for Thanksgiving.

This year, I was VERY excited. This year would be the first year I wouldn’t have to measure anything. This is because our new house has 12 ft. ceilings. I know, I can hardly believe it myself.

I have NEVER, EVER, EVER, EVER had a house with 12 ft. ceilings.

The kids on the other hand, just wanted to play hide and seek.

Aidan was really the first one. I lost him for a while, but thankfully he showed back up again before we were ready to leave. I know, great parenting.

Even Z was playing….. ok, not really.

Now was time to get down to business. Would it be that one?

Or that one? Or that one? Or that one?

And then, there I stood…. across the ~~room~~ grass. I could have sworn I heard music playing, something like “Why do birds…… suddenly appear….. everytime! You are near!”