Staging Your Comeback

Well, at this point I am out of my big cast, and in a velcro thing. And my doctor said that I might not need surgery after all. I go back in about a month for more x-rays. At some point I will start rehab. He told me that it was going to be many months before my hand will be back to its full use and full strength.

SO, I had to quit my job at Hobby Lobby. So now I have more time to pursue some other things in life. No money, but more time. I bought this book - "Staging Your Comeback: A Complete Beauty Revival for Women Over 45." I have been dressing in middle-age mom frump for many years now. This book just really struck me, and encouraged me to jump into a full makeover.

Step One - My Closet

The day after I finished the book, I emptied my closet. Most of it was stuff I had not worn in many years. And the rest of it was ugly frump.

This pile is PART of what did NOT go back into my closet. I filled up four trash bags that I threw away, and I filled up five trash bags that I took to Goodwill.

This is what my closet looks like now. And there is only one shirt that I actually really like. The rest I kept because if I only kept one shirt, I wouldn't be able to leave my house.

The bottom rod only has a few things that I kept from my kids childhood, and a lot of empty hangers. I only kept TWO pair of shoes - my tennis shoes, and that one pair of black shoes for church. The rest went in the trash.

A couple of days later I went shopping. I bought one pair of black slacks and a few new shirts - but NO MIDDLE-AGE MOM FRUMP! I put on the clothes that I bought to show my kids, and they told me I looked stylish. Now, you should know that the word stylish has never been used in the same sentence with my name. Unless, of course, there was a big, fat "NOT" thrown in there. So that made me really happy. Ugly mom frump is outta here.

Ok, so about this book. If you are in need of knowing what style/shape of clothes will look best on your body shape, and what type of accessories you should or should not wear for your body shape, what make-up and haircut you need to look your best, then you NEED this book, too. I'm telling you, it is the best book I have ever read.

Next up - my new haircut.

Shannon

Some Lessons Learned

A few of the things I learned as we closed out 2009 and started into 2010~

1. Pay attention and hold on when you are going down the stairs with a broom

because if you don't, you might get tangled up with the broom and fall down the stairs. And break your hand and one bone in your arm and your elbow. And jam your toe. And pull or tear something in your other elbow. And bruise yourself in several other places. And have surgery on your hand coming soon.

2. You really should strive to be 90% ready for Christmas the first week of December

because if you do fall down the stairs the first week of December and are limping and swollen and hauling around a huge cast and have to keep your arm OVER your head for two full weeks, if you have not finished decorating and have not even STARTED Christmas shopping, you will be very sorry that you are not one of those on-top-of-it people who are ready for Christmas.

3. Sometimes you have to let go of your perfectionist, controlling ideas and plans

and just say, "yes, that's good enough" ~ and then really enjoy the "good enough." (And, hopefully, you can always remember this lesson so that you do not get crazy and obsessive about events and occasions in the future.)

4. Your haircut is important - spend the money to go to a really good stylist - and go often

because if you do fall down the stairs and are one-handed for awhile, you need a cut that is manageable. If you have not gotten your hair cut in months, and have a long, droopy look you will be unhappy. And you will look like a scarecrow when you try to do your hair.

If you do find yourself in this scarecrow situation, go to a really good stylist and tell him that you need a cut that can be managed with one hand. Then - be patient - in a couple of weeks you will have figured out little tricks for drying and curling with one hand, and you will get to the point that you can achieve a moderate degree of success most days. Most. And on those other days, just stay at home in your pj's all day, claiming that your arm is really hurting, and send your kids out to do your errands.

5. While we are on the subject of hair -

do not try to use a round brush to blow dry your hair if you are one-handed. Unless your mom is in town for Christmas and can disentangle you.

6. You do not have to do it all!

It will not be easy to get ready with one arm that is also hurt. It will take forever to get ready to leave the house. It is ok to choose to skip some functions or events that you would normally go to. And it is ok if you look around your house and see the piles growing. Because eventually you will feel better and be able to do a little more. You do not have to be superwoman and do it all to perfection. (This should apply to all of us all the time.)

7. God might just want you to slow down and reorganize your time and priorities

He might just want you to simplify a little bit.

8. And God might be reminding you that you are supposed to also take care of yourself

because as mothers we tend to put ourselves at the bottom of the list and do not even keep up with some of our basic needs. So take your vitamins, get a good haircut, and spend some money on a couple of new shirts that will go over your cast - this will make you SO very happy. (Of course, I am not saying to put yourself first and become all witchy - just take care of yourself. It will actually help you to be able to care for your family even better.)

9. Just because you can type at a reasonable speed without looking at the keyboard, does NOT mean that you know where the letters are on the keyboard

but after typing with one hand for awhile, you will learn where the letters are and get surprisingly quick at one-handed typing. Which will also help you when you are using your new Droid phone with TWO nifty qwerty keypads!

10. Speaking of Droids -

can I just tell you that I LOVE having a phone with 2 qwerty keypads, TONS of apps that I can download in the middle of the night when I should be sleeping, and INTERNET ACCESS everywhere I go - anytime I want!!!!! And calendars to organize myself and set event reminders, and places to store all kinds of contact information, and fun background pictures, Christmas trees and mantles I can DECORATE, games like Bejeweled that I can play when I am waiting for my son at the dentist or orthodontist, and the list goes on...

Thank you again to my hubby - this was a great Christmas present!

11. Speaking of typing, if you abandon your poor little blog for almost 2 months, it will forgive you and welcome you back with open armS (because it is not in a cast)

and you will be very happy to be reunited.

12. 14 year old sons who happen to have the gift of service can be an amazing blessing

because they will constantly be noticing that you need a drink refill, will be able to tell that you need some tylenol and bring it to you without being asked, will jump up and open the back door when they see that you are having a hot flash, and can decorate a beautiful Christmas tree (since you did not get all your trees up before you fell down the stairs)!

13. A daughter who has worked with horses for several years can be very efficient at wrapping ace bandages when you are still in a temporary splint before your cast goes on. And she will be very efficient at taping your arm up in a plastic bag so you can take a shower.

When you tell her that she is quick and efficient, she will tell you that she has wrapped a lot of horses legs. (Do you think that means she is comparing me to a horse? Let's just not ask her that question, okay?)

14. It is very handy to have another daughter that has worked at Dream Dinners for years and is very efficient in the kitchen

and is a very good cook! And did NOT learn her skills from a horse.

I am sure that I can think of many more lessons learned, but it has taken me all morning to do this post (even though I am getting much faster at typing one-handed). My hubby is flying back into town today. I am still in my pj's. I should probably go get dressed, and turn the lights on, and open the blinds before he gets home.

Shannon

Christmas Feather Wreaths

This week at Red Writing's is all about wreaths and door decor. So I am going with my feather wreaths. This little red feather wreath lives on my mantel most of the year. And at Christmas I add this great stem to it to dress it up. I start with a little feather wreath. . .

Add one great stem. This one has a little greenery and a velvet and glitter chocolate poinsettia.

I also use one long silver glittery fern leaf.

I just curve the stem and glittery leaf and let them hang in front of the little red feather wreath. Here she is all dressed up for Christmas . . .I absolutely love feather wreaths. But they are really expensive! When I was doing my fall mantel I wanted a chocolate feather wreath, but didn't want to spend $40-$50 for one. So I made one with a feather boa. It really turned out great.

I used one of these wire wreath forms and a chocolate feather boa from Hobby Lobby.

I just cut lengths of wire and wired the feather boa to the wreath frame - put a wire about every 2" to 3" so that it stays in a nice full circle shape.

I wired all the way around the outside wire of the wreath frame, then wired all the way around the inside-middle of the wreath frame.

One feather boa was the perfect length to go around twice on the 12" wreath frame from Hobby Lobby. The frame was $1.99. The feather boa was $6.99 (I think) - and you can use a 40% off coupon on the feathers.

This only took me about 30 minutes and about $6. And it looks really good. I'm going to make a black one next.

For more great Christmas wreaths and door decor, click below to go to Red Writing's.

Shannon

Thanksgiving Table and Mantel Decorations

Before my house goes fully Christmas, I wanted to show you my fall mantel and dinner table. I went with chocolate, green and silver for the most part. I love those colors together.

I love the way my mantel worked out this fall. And I would just leave it like this for Christmas, but then where would I put my stocking holders? So I might go back to this after Christmas.

I love the chocolate, green and silver in my dining room. I am planning on sticking with these colors in here for Christmas, too.

We eat in this room every day. So I just leave the table set like this all the time. The silver chargers are silverplate trays I have been picking up at Bonne Volonte over time.

I have one more of these nickel-plated candelabras that I am going to list on my website this week.

I filled my tiered tray with some gilded fruit, wood fruit and some sparkly picks.

In a couple of days I will put up another post from the Holiday Tables event I attended. Beautifully decorated tables for Christmas! So please come back soon for some wonderful ideas.

Shannon

Holiday Tables - Thanksgiving & a Christmas Sideboard

Reflection of Thanks

This first table has a very traditional Thanksgiving look. I love the arrangement they made for the centerpiece - traditional Thanksgiving colors and filling the vase with nuts. It looked really pretty on the table.

This table was called "Reflection of Thanks." It was a theme of family. They had some old family photos on the wall, and some small photos in frames on the table.
And at each place setting they had used an old family photo under a glass plate. I thought this was a neat idea.

Blitz, Glitz and Fun

This next "room" was not a dinner table. They had decorated a long, narrow table that could be a sideboard or buffet, or an entry hall table. I love the way they decorated the spiral topiaries. And, of course, I love all the shine and glitter! That gold arrangement up front is just gold-glittered sticks. Easy, but so effective!

I love this old cabinet door made into a tray!
Some of my favorite Holiday Tables from this event are still to come! So check back in next week for more!

Thanks for stopping by!

Shannon

Kids Christmas Craft - Clay Pot Snowman

This week of 12 Weeks of Christmas is another Christmas craft. My girls made this snowman out of clay pots when they were preschoolers. Now they are 19 and 21! And I still love putting this snowman out at Christmas!
First glue two clay pots together, one upside down on top of the other. Probably any type of glue that is permanent. Cover both pots with a "texture" paint - you can find "snow" paint or some other texture paint in the paint aisle of your craft store. After that dries, paint the whole thing white with craft paint.

For the hat, paint a smaller clay pot with the same texture paint. Then paint over that with black craft paint. For the bill of the hat I cut a circle out of poster board (use a plate as a circle pattern - you just need it to be a size that seems to fit with the sizes of clay pots you are using). Paint the poster board circle with the texture paint, then paint over that with black craft paint (both sides of the poster board circle need to be painted).

At this point you can paint holly leaves or some other decoration on the hat with craft paint.

Now glue the poster circle to the top of his head, then glue the small pot upside down onto the poster circle. (I think I used hot glue so that we didn't have to wait a long time for glue to dry.)

Because I was making this with preschool age kids, I painted circle outlines for his eyes, mouth and buttons. Then the girls filled in the circles with paint.

To make his nose, I twisted white copy paper into a cone shape and glued it together. Then the girls painted it orange. I stuffed it with tissue paper (and glued this into the inside of the cone) - this gave me a "flat" surface that I could apply glue to and then stick to his face.

Then we tied a Christmas ribbon around his neck to cover up where the two big pots meet. We glued this ribbon to him in a few places so that it would not slide off.

You could use any sizes of clay pots you want to - he could be tiny, or as big as you want him to be. For his body we used pots that are 4 1/2" tall, and for the hat we used a smaller pot that is 2 3/4" tall. So ours is about a foot tall.

He is very cute in person!

For more Christmas crafts, click below to go to Red Writing's!

Thanks for stopping by!

I am doing a little series on Holiday Tables right now, so go to my main page to find those posts.

Shannon

Holiday Tables

Today I have three more tablescapes to show you from the "Holiday Tables" event I attended. The first two are autumn-inspired. The third is more Christmas-y.

Autumn Supper in the Colorado Forest

Isn't this outdoorsy tablescape fun? I like the way they mixed the stemware.

Three Generations

This table setting is so traditional and elegant. Never out of style. I love it. And the harvest topiary is nice for this time of year. It would not be very hard to make!

Toasting the Season
This next tablescape would be a great way to set up a serving table or buffet for the drinks for your party, or maybe for the dessert bar. A great floral piece on the back of the table with some glittery reindeer or some other glittery elements. And use the front half for glasses and drinks, or plates and desserts.

The way they decorated the chairs was nice - very simple to do, but it really dressed them up.
I am linking this post to today's Tablescape Thursday. If you click below you will find so many more beautiful tablescapes!
And be sure to come back early next week - I have some incredible tables to show you that are completely decked out for Christmas! Some of my favorites are still to come!

Shannon

Shopping on Black Friday

There is something I just have to say on behalf of all the checkers out there in any retail store. So here goes.

Black Friday should be re-named. It should become a national holiday called "Be Kind to your Checker Day."

I work at a register at Hobby Lobby. If you are in my line on Black Friday, or any other day for that matter, you should just expect to be there for a long time. For many reasons. All of which are completely out of my control.

I cannot change the fact that Hobby Lobby does NOT (and probably will not ever) have scanners. I have to type in the price of every item from the sticker that other employees have stuck to that item.

I cannot change the fact that those stickers FALL OFF. And when they do fall off I have NO way of knowing what the price is unless it is something I have checked out a gillion times and just happen to remember. I have to call a floor person. They have to look for another of that item and hope that there is another and that it has a price sticker on it. And if there is not one with a price sticker they have to go look it up in an order BOOK. Because that is how HL functions. NO SCANNERS.

I cannot help it that a few of the customers in front of you have probably picked up an item with NO price sticker, thereby setting off this LONG chain of events.

I cannot change the fact that half of the customers in front of you will argue with me and tell me that EVERYTHING in the store is supposed to be half off. And they will not take my word for it that it is only select items. So I will have to call a manager so that they can also argue with the manager.

I cannot change the fact that there will be at least one person in front of you that will be very s - l - o - w to give me all of their items. And very s - l - o - w to get out their credit card or, worse yet, check. And even s - - l - - o - - w - - e - - r to write out their check and find their license.

And I cannot change the fact that most of those s - - l - - o - - w people are that slow because they are on their CELL PHONE and cannot stop talking long enough to pay attention and hand over their stuff and pay and get OUT of my line.

So when you finally do get to the register, slamming your stuff down and cussing at the checker and ranting about the fact that HL (or wherever you are) is THE most irritating place to shop in the whole world and that their policies and procedures are RIDICULOUS is really not going to help in the least.

You see, checkers are just the peon employees - corporate offices don't even know checkers exist. And wouldn't care if they did know. So it's not like your poor little checker can DO anything about all of those issues that you are mad about. That poor little checker is just STUCK with the system - just like you are. So yelling at the checker and making those poor little teen-age girls CRY at their registers is NOT going to solve ANYTHING!!!!

Ok, yes, I know that most of the people reading this will not be one of those irritating customers. But there is something you can do to help counter-act the effects of those people.

Be extra nice to ALL of your checkers - especially at this time of year when we all feel like this -

Ok, I'm done with my rant now. It's time to put my smile on and go stand behind my counter. Maybe I will wear armor today.

Please come back again! I promise my next post will be pretty! And I will not rant! Really!

Shannon

12 Weeks of Christmas - Shopping!

There are a lot of "little traditions" that I have about Christmas shopping - one of which is always going to certain stores. One of my favorite stores to go to is called Seasonal Decorating. It is located in an old fire station. It is always decked out for whatever season we are in. But at Christmas, it is especially wonderful. Every fall when my mom and sister are here, we make certain to go to this store. Often we end up buying Christmas presents for each other here! This year was no exception. We found some wonderful things.

This tree was done in browns, coppers and silver with nature-inspired ornaments. And he used a gorgeous feather boa for a garland! I loved this tree!

Everywhere you look in this store there is something beautiful and unique to look at.

How cute are these snowmen plates?

This is the outside of his store. And trust me, when you go through the door, you enter a Christmas-wonderland.

One of my favorite things about the Christmas season is the decorations. I love to walk through stores like this and get inspiring ideas. We move every few years because my husband is in the military, and everywhere we go I love to find these little retail gems that are full of beauty and inspiration! And when I find a wonderful store like this, I make it one of my regular stops every year.

To see more Christmas shopping traditions and tips, go to Red Writing's 12 Weeks of Christmas.

Thanks for stopping by.

Come back by in a couple of days for more in my Holiday Tables series!

Shannon

Holiday Tables - A Christmas Buffet

"Party On"

Yesterday I went to a local event called "Holiday Tables" that is sponsored by our Center for the Arts. Local businesses and individuals set up dinner tables, or sometimes even a room vignette, and decorate the tables for Thanksgiving or Christmas. It is a room full of wonderful ideas! It is one of my favorite events to go to! So over the next few weeks I will show you some of the tables I took pictures of. Check back every few days because I am sure that you will see something you will love - there are some very talented people out there!

This room vignette is titled "Party On." It is a splendid buffet set up for entertaining. You really need to click on the pictures to enlarge them so you can take in all the details.

I love the layering of table linens. And the variety of china and glass plates stacked for your guests to use. If you mix your plates, stemware, and even your flatware it adds so much more interest to your table.

I love the mix of cranberry and apple green stemware. And, of course, I love the silver trays they used - just the simple placement of stemware on a silver tray instead of just placing it directly on the table adds more sparkle and glitz!

And I like how they not only put some of the fruit in beautiful serving bowls, but scattered more fruit all around the table - it creates that feeling of overflowing abundance that will make your family and friends feel happy and content to be at your party.

You don't have to spend a fortune to create this look. Most of my silver has come from estate sales and thrift stores (very inexpensively). And using a lot of fresh fruits and breads in your buffet, along with a few other "fancy" foods, will not be that expensive. I think I may host a party this Christmas season and set up a buffet with a lot of fruits, cheeses, breads, and a couple of cooked holiday-ish dishes.

Do I need to even point out this silver server? Oh. I. want.

Using your dinner table as the buffet is a wonderful solution if you are having a large gathering. Just make sure that you have plenty of seating around for your guests so they have a spot to sit and eat.

And if you have a buffet in your dining room use that to serve coffee and dessert.

I like the greenery, lights and ornaments they layered across the back of the buffet.

One of my favorite parts of this "room" was what they did under the front of the table. I LOVE these deer sitting in all this Christmas greenery - deer, bows, greenery, shiny ornaments. I think I may be on the lookout for some bronze deer!

And all of this greenery over the table. Such an impact. You could create a similar feel on your chandelier. Click on the picture so you can see all the elements they used to get this full, sparkly look.

I hope you got some ideas from this vignette that you can use in your own home.

I will post another Holiday Table in a few days, so be sure to check back!

Shannon

Handmade Gifts for 12 Weeks of Christmas

This week at Red Writing's is all about hand-crafted gifts for Christmas. And it's time to get busy - only 50 Days till Christmas!
This pink and green arrangement is one I put together in a vintage sugar bowl. I am about to list this arrangement on my website, so if you are interested in it, let me know.

The next arrangement is done in copper and silver - two of my favorite colors. I have this in my sitting room right now. Either of these little arrangements could be used on a dinner table, buffet, coffee table, built-ins, etc. This copper and silver arrangement is done in a silver-plate tea caddy. Anything silver catches my eye! If you haven't ever tried making your own arrangements, you should give it a try! It's very fun to do.

To see more hand-crafted Christmas, go to Red Writing's - there are some great ideas there!
I will be starting a series on Holiday Tables tomorrow. Please check back in a few times each week - I have some beautiful tables to show you - you will get some wonderful ideas!

Shannon

Decorating with Pumpkins

I found these two pictures on Better Homes and Gardens. Sooo cute!
This first idea could be done with real pumpkins and fresh flowers. Or you could buy a pumpkin from the craft store and glue silk flowers onto it - then you could re-use it every year! Which is what I would do.

And this next picture is just so clever. Cinderella's coach - made out of junk and a pumpkin! How cute is that? This would be an adorable centerpiece for your dinner table.

Shannon

All About the Food - 12 Weeks of Christmas

Week 4 of Red Writing's 12 Weeks of Christmas is All About the Food.

For Thanksgiving and Christmas Day we have the same menu every year. It's my favorite meal!

Turkey, Dressing, Gravy and Cranberry Sauce
Sweet Potato Casserole
Green Beans
Cranberry Freeze Salad
Chocolate Pie
Pumpkin Pie
all the traditional southern holiday foods

But sometimes I like to make a "holiday-ish" meal that we can eat any day, but that won't take two days to cook!

This recipe is for Yum-Yum Chicken. It is layered chicken, a layer of sauce and dressing on top. It is reaaally good.

Layer the chicken, then the sauce. . .

then the stove top dressing on top . . .

and bake. It is saucy and yummy! And it's a little bit of Thanksgiving that you can make any day of the week.

Yum-Yum Chicken

6-8 pcs of chicken, boiled and cut up

2 cans cream of chicken soup

16 oz. sour cream

2 boxes dry stove top stuffing mix

2 cups chicken broth

1 stick butter, melted

onion and celery, chopped and sauteed

Boil and cut up chicken. Spread in the bottom of a 9 x 13 pan. Mix 2 cans cream of chicken soup and 16 oz sour cream. Spread this on top of chicken. Pour 2 boxes of dry stove top stuffing over the sauce. Spread sauteed onion and celery over stuffing. Mix 2 cups chicken broth and 1 stick melted butter, and pour over the top of the stuffing.

Bake uncovered at 350 degrees for 45 minutes.

Serve with cranberry sauce.

So easy and so good.

To see more holiday food ideas, go to Red Writing's.

Shannon

Christmas Accent Craft - 12 Weeks of Christmas

Red Writing's 12 Weeks of Christmas - Week 3 is a Christmas Accent Craft. I posted about this last Christmas, but it is so easy, and turns out so pretty, that I thought I would share it with you again. I am really late joining in this week - but I hope this is something you will enjoy.

If you love vintage Christmas balls and you love silver, this project is for you!

I have bought a few boxes of old glass Christmas ornaments at Goodwill and un-painted them to get this look. It's soooo easy! Hopefully in these first two pictures you can tell that some of them have an old, faded silver look. Those are the Shiny Brite or other really old ornaments. The shinier silver balls are "newer" old ornaments that the color does come off of, but the silver inside is a more solid bright silver look. I do not un-paint the balls that start out silver or gold, because a mixture of those two colors is what I am going for. I love the old, faded look. And mixing it with the shinier silver gives more dimension. So - I will buy any of the old balls - but definitely the Shiny Brites.

Just hold a ball UPSIDE DOWN under hot running water. You do not want the water to go inside the ball, because if it is one of the older balls, the hot water will wash all the silver out of the inside. After just a few seconds under the hot water, you will be able to rub off the colored paint. It usually just rubs off with your finger. Every now and then you may have to scratch at it with your fingernails. But it is really soooo quick and easy!

To see more great Christmas accent crafts, go to Red Writing's!

Shannon

Procrastinator Party - The Reveal

This is my new favorite thing in our house!

But I am not sure that you will think my Procrastinator's Project was completely successful. It has some issues. And it underwent some changes-of-plans. I started out with the plan to paint and hang four different large frames in four different rooms - each with it's own design plan. Well, two of them did not work out quite like I envisioned. So I have not hung them where I had originally planned to. I have to do some more thinking about them.

BUT last Friday I just suddenly decided that I HAD to paint our bathroom so that I could do this wall with one of the large frames. I have had this plan in my mind for awhile. But my bathroom has been painted in a lovely Kilz-Primer-over-ugly-70's-blue-striped-wallpaper for a very long time. I couldn't very well hang all of this pretty stuff on that Kilz primered wallpaper! So Friday I bought paint and painted (most of) my bathroom so that I could assemble this wall. All of this came from Goodwill - I mean, Bonne Volonte - or estate or garage sales. I paid $6 for the large frame on clearance at Hobby Lobby, $1 for the round frame and $1.49 for the rectangle frame at Bonne Volonte, $1 for the pair of silhouettes, and all the necklaces were $1.49 or less at Bonne Volonte or garage sales. I did buy the hooks new at Hobby Lobby. But they were not much.

I even hung all of this by myself. (I know - So what?) But in the past I have always gotten my hubby to help if I had much to hang, especially if I had to screw something into the wall. I don't know why. But this time I hung it all, and even screwed the hooks to the wall myself. And it's all straight!

Oh, yes. I am woman! Hear me roar!

Ok, now that I have shown you the pretty part, I have to confess. I did not finish my bathroom. I could have finished the ceiling, but I ran out of steam. And I knew that I could not paint around the tub, because my hubby has to finish floating out and sanding the new sheetrock here. Soooo, this is what part of it looks like. I know. Pathetic. But now that I have gotten this far, it will inspire hubby to finish around the tub, and then I will finish the paint. AND then I will get the black toile shower curtain that I want! I will show you when all of that is finished.
So, do you see why I say that my project was not entirely successful? But I have a good start on my bathroom, which otherwise would still be really ugly all over!

The frames below are what I had planned on painting for my project. Only one is up on the wall.
But I did get these two painted - so now I just have to decide what to do with them. So, even though I did not do exactly what I had planned, I did get a good start on my bathroom. So I am still happy. And without the push from Melissa at The Inspired Room and her Procrastinator's Party, I would not have even started any of this. So, many thanks to you, Melissa!

To see more Procrastinator's Projects, go to The Inspired Room!

Shannon

Guest Post On Decorating

My name is Peter. I’m a freshman in high school. I’ve been homeschooled all my life. I’m writing a guest post on my mom’s blog. I take a few classes a year in a homeschool co-op and one of them is writing composition. I have to write a ‘human interest story’ for my assignment. So I have decided to write a guest post about ways my mom likes to make her house beautiful. I figured since her blog is about decorating, I should go into decorating here.

My mom loves to decorate. Especially at Christmas time. That’s her favorite time of the year. She starts listening to Christmas music in September! Sometimes even earlier than that! There are lots of things my mom decorates with that are beautiful. Like her three-tiered tray that she sets on a small old table, which she has currently decorated for fall.
My mom loves to stain furniture to a dark brown color and she likes to put old books, keys, jewelry and so forth on the furniture. One of her oddest decorations is the feather trees that she puts around the house. My family always teases her about her weird feather trees.

My mom also loves to decorate her dress form which I call a ‘crash dummy.’ She writes posts and takes picture after picture after picture about her dress form! I just think to myself, “What is so interesting about a limbless, body-shaped crash dummy that you can put clothes on?”

She gets various ideas from decorating shows, decorating magazines, other blogs and so on for new ideas to decorate with. Some of her ideas I think are plain weird, but they always turn out good in the end. Even if I do think they’re weird.

Well, writing this post was a lot easier than I thought because I didn’t have to worry about formal writing rules, such as sentence fragments or run-on sentences. Writing conversationally is a lot easier than the paper I now have to write about blogging for my co-op teacher. Who, I might add, is a groovy teacher.

Peter

70 Days Until Christmas!

bh&g

Just thought you might need a reminder.

Shannon

How to Make A Feather Wreath - Cheap!

I absolutely LOVE feather wreaths. But they are really expensive! I have an adorable little red feather wreath that is usually on my wreath hanger on the mantel. But this year I was trying to decorate my fall mantel in chocolate, green and silver. So I realllly wanted a brown feather wreath. Cheap.

So I thought I would try to use a cheap feather boa from Hobby Lobby. And one of these wire wreath frames from Hobby Lobby.

I just cut lengths of wire and wired the feather boa to the wreath frame - put a wire about every 2 to 3" so that it stays in a nice full circle shape.

I wired all the way around the outside wire of the wreath frame, then wired all the way around the inside-middle of the wreath frame.

One feather boa was the perfect length to go around twice on the 12" wreath frame from Hobby Lobby. The frame was $1.99. The feather boa was $6.99 (I think) - and you could use a 40% off coupon on the feathers!

It was a little tedious. So you might not want to do this on a day that people have been getting on your last nerve like I did. But even on a day when I had used up all my patience at work, this only took me about 30 minutes.

And then I had a great, cheap, chocolate-colored feather wreath for my fall mantel. It looks great!

I'm going to make a black one sometime soon! Because every room needs a little touch of black!

Shannon