Mom News
Holiday Home Tour: Casa Verde
WARNING!!!! This is a long post…… which you will love and not mind sitting and looking at. Women, prepare to drool. Men, prepare to hold onto your wallets, while your lady loves get more decorating ideas. In fact, Men, you might just go shopping too!
I am soooooo excited about this Holiday Home Tour!
I have the sweetest friends who were nice enough to let me invade their BEAUTIFUL home the other morning and take a few pictures. When I first thought about doing a Holiday Home Tour, they were the first ones I thought of and I am just so happy that they agreed to let me come on in!
Machel and Jerrad are the very talented owners of Vintage Marquee Lights. They create the COOLEST Lighting Art you will ever see. If you get a chance, check out their site here.
They have a Charleston style home in a neighborhood near mine and let me just tell you, it is GORGEOUS!
Inside, the foyer welcomes you in with a stunning white Christmas tree, decorated with vintage style ornaments. Machel painted the wall treatment herself that stands behind it. The garland that goes up the stair case is adorned with the same style ornaments.
The grand light in the foyer is practically an art sculpture itself.
To the left of the foyer is the most adorable little playroom/den for their son. I’m so jealous of these sliding barn doors that Jerrad and a friend made themselves. At least I know who to call when I want to tackle the project in my own home!
Here is a view looking in to the room from the foyer. Seriously! They have more creative talent in their pinky finger than I have in my ENTIRE body!
I love how they decorate with their products throughout their home.
Towards the back of the house is the living room and kitchen area, with the most adorable little fireplace. The chalkboard fire casts the cutest little “glow”. 😉
Machel didn’t want to go for just ordinary white cabinets when she was decorating her kitchen. So, she took some of her favorite fabric and pieced it behind the wood trim, hiding the seam. The shelves also help keep it in place. The result is stunning!
I really love this idea, so grab those extra remnants of fabric people and DO NOT throw them out!
A set of old vintage lockers hold their stockings in the corner, while a surfboard still reminds you that the beach is only minutes away.
The industrial style light fixture (WHICH I ABSOLUTELY LOVE) hangs over the bar area, where a cute little table top tree stands watch.
Towards the middle of the house, a magnificent display of twinkling lights and paper stars hang.
View from the dining room.
A quick peek inside the downstairs bathroom, shows a chalkboard lined with garland made from ornaments, a DIY project of Machel’s. “Casa Verde” is the name Machel and Jerrad gave to their home. Mine would read more like “Casa Loco”. In case you are wondering what mine might translate to, it would be “CRAZY HOUSE”!
Another DIY project in the dining room, is the Chandelier. If you take a closer look, you will see that it is clothes pins that make up the body of the chandelier. CLOTHES PINS, PEOPLE! Why didn’t I think of that?
The letters that spell “Joy”, very appropriate for the Holidays, is a creation of Machel and Jerrad’s and can be purchased on their site as well.
If I ever convince my hubby to let me remove the carpet on our stairs, this is exactly what will go in it’s place. I cannot express how much I love this!
I love how the stairs continue to count up as you go. It adds so much character to the home.
It just goes to show you that you don’t have to buy an old home in order to obtain that character. You can have a new home and put some of that character into it yourself!
On to the baby’s room! This little boy is very lucky! This is one of the most stylish baby rooms I have ever seen.
Christmas books double as art pieces on IKEA shelves, lining the wall.
Who wouldn’t want to sit a while and read a Christmas book or two in this corner?
An upstairs bathroom gets in the spirit too with an “I Believe in Santa Clause” picture and a series of Nutcrackers keeping watch.
The Master Bedroom gets festive too. Lit garland drapes the top of the headboard, while the lit Peace Symbol can’t help but remind you of John Lennon’s “Imagine” song.
The vanity’s mirror is not forgotten. Nor is the modern reindeer head that shows so distinctly. Frosted garland and a festive wreath dress the two.
Jewelry is displayed in the corner, while a dazzling full length mirror helps Machel get ready for her Holiday parties.
I couldn’t finish up this post without talking about the Master Bath. The rustic peace symbol over the tub and the Capiz shell chandelier make such a great combo with their eclectic married look.
When Machel found out she couldn’t actually put a hanging chandelier over the tub, she didn’t let that stop her. She knew what look she wanted, so she decided to secure a non lit capiz shell chandelier around the existing standard light, giving the allusion of having a chandelier. BRILLIANT IDEA! *The girl knows what she wants! 😉
Instead of using interior lights to go over the vanity, she used exterior ones. I love how they both have such an aged look patina.
A quick look from the upstairs looking down.
Before we finish, take a look at their front doorway. It’s amazing what using some interior pieces outside can do for a space. They talk about bringing the outdoors in, but I say take the indoors out! This is such a cozy look and you haven’t even gone in yet!
I am such a sucker for chalkboards and I think I might just have to steal this idea! Too cute!
See! I told you, you would love every minute of this post! I think the only thing left to ask here is when can I move in?
*A special thank you to Machel and Jerrad for letting me invade “Casa Verde” and take these pictures. They are an amazingly talented couple with great design ideas. I pray they do more projects, which I will gladly come back and take more photographs of for you and I to drool over.
Check them out on Facebook and while you are there, give them a “like” so you can stay up to date with all the new exciting stuff they are working on! Don’t forget to visit their site to!
Happy Decorating!
XOXO,
Esther
Let it Snow!
First off, let me just say that I hope you had an AMAZING Thanksgiving. My family visited me and I’m so thankful for it. I’m also thankful that know one got killed in the process, seeing as this was the first time we tried this! LOL!
While my family was down, I decided to have some fun and take their family pictures. I love fun, creative pictures, so I searched and searched Pinterest for some great ideas. I stumbled across the idea of using glitter.
The idea is to stand in front of the camera and blow the glitter towards the lens. The end result is supposed to give a cool effect. However, I wasn’t too keen on the idea of glitter getting stuck on my lens so I bought some big fake snow flakes to play with instead. They were only $5 from Target.
We thought it would be fun to act like the snow was falling down on everyone. So one by one, we had my sister’s husband sprinkling the snow from up high down onto whoever was the subject.
I wanted them to look like they were standing out in the snow and just loving it coming down on them. I think it turned out so sweet.
The trick to getting these shots were to use my 50 mm. I’m not sure the look would be the same if I had used my regular lens. The 50mm blurs out the background better and concentrates on the person or object in front much better, making the picture pop more!
My poor niece got it on her eye lashes and being the good Aunt that I am…………….
told her to sit still so I could take a picture of it!
Doesn’t that look cool? Of course, I helped her afterwards. LOL!
For my sister and her husband, we thought it would be sweet to make it look like they were kissing in the snow. I love how this turned out!
If you could have seen what it really looked like throwing those flakes, you would have died laughing! I was standing on the back of Z’s truck while my 9 year old daughter was literally throwing the snow by the handfuls at them while standing next to me. Let’s just say I have a new major appreciation for what goes on behind the scenes of a photo shoot! Haha!
He decided to dip her and I think it came out ADORABLY! 🙂
The snowflakes are in the Christmas decorations at Target. I wasn’t smart enough to take a picture of them before I threw the bag away. 🙁 They are only $5 like I said before, so for an inexpensive price, I think you can have such a cool look for your Christmas pictures this year.
The only downside to this is that because the flakes are so large, you look like you have MONSTER size dandruff flakes afterwards! LOL! Just make sure you shake a lot afterwards or go home after the shots.
Oh yeah! And don’t eat it either! I’m thinking you might get a big tummy ache! LOL!
Isn’t she cute? Um, I should probably add she didn’t really eat them! 😉
I definitely do NOT claim to be a photographer by any means, but this was so much fun to do and I just had to share them with you all!
Happy Holidays!
XOXO,
Esther
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:
Happy Partying and Happy Decorating!
XOXO,
Esther
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
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