WAIT! Don't Put Away All Those Decorations yet!

If you are like me, you have your Christmas decorations up the day after Thanksgiving (if not even a day or two earlier!), but once Christmas has ended, you can't wait to put it all away until next year. I packed up all of our ornaments, and most of the decorations, and put them back in the attic. When the attic door closed, my almost 3 yr old, Emmy, said a sweetly "Bye Bye, Christmas! See you next year!". Christmas may be over, but as nature as shown us recently, we are still in the midst of winter, so perhaps some of those less Christmas-y and more Winter-y decorations can stay! Besides that, I hit all the post-holiday sales and I want to get some use out of my purchases before I have to pack them away! Here you will see my "Winter" entryway..... a bench I bought for 10 bucks at Crumpton, painted white, the mirror I purchased from The Barn,

adorned with my clearance wreath from Michael's and the lovely "B" Ornament from Pottery Barn.

I also received as a gift a beautiful set of 3 softly glittered candle holders,

and had some little white houses, and a snowman purchased at the beginning of the season from Marshall's for $2.99. If you can't make it out, his little banner reads, "Winter Frolic".

And check out the swirly shining silver orbs bought on sale at Crate & Barrel!

On the dining table, I placed some vintage silver candlesticks I had, and a funky snowflake wire ornament also from Crate & Barrel. On the sideboard behind, you can see the silver twig reindeer purchased on sale at Pottery Barn, a gorgeous silver snowflake I received as a gift from my parents, a piece of an old mirror, some silver twigs and candles.

So all the colorful vintage ornaments have been sent packing until Christmas 2010, but Winter is still in full play in shades of silver and white! SO go ahead and keep some of your decor out! You have 3 more months of winter- enjoy it!

Snow Sweet Snow

WOW! I don't even know where to begin this post as I have not seen this much snow since my childhood in New England. I was thrilled, ecstatic, elated, when I saw the forecast of anywhere from 8-30 inches of snow. My husband, Chris, born and raised in Miami, not so much....
We were so excited to take the kids out to play in the snow today! We also hosted a small graham cracker house decorating party for our kids and their friends today. We all sat in the dining room, helping our kids with their creations, drinking coffee, and chatting, enjoying being in warm cozy house filled with friends and love! It really felt like Christmas today. Hope you all were able to play in the snow with your children, or re-discover your own inner child! The only problem with all this snow is that it reminds me that all good things must come to an end, just as the snow will soon melt away. Take the time to enjoy it before it's too late. You never know when we will have a storm like this again!

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My Dresser Finds a New Home!

There are so many rewarding aspects to refinishing furniture: the landfill is lessened, I have a creative outlet which reduces stress, and one of the happiest moments for me is when the piece I worked on finds it way into a happy home! I recently met Aaron and his beautiful girlfriend, Jess, when they came to check out this white cottage style dresser. I was thrilled that they decided to purchase it because they are such a nice young couple, and I knew they would appreciate and love it. Aaron was gracious enough to send me a picture of the dresser in its new home, and doesn't it look like it was just meant to be there!?!?! They have done a fabulous job of decorating- I just LOVE the shelves above displaying the butterfly artwork, and the stack of vintage suitcases. And the dresser helps to anchor all of their faulous art. Please keep sending me pictures of what you purchase in your home! To others it gives ideas and inspiration, and to me it gives warm fuzzies all over!

Sweet and Simple Dresser Makeover

The last dresser makeover I showed you went from blah to va-va-va voom bright turquoise! This one went in the opposite direction. As you can see in the before picture, it was hot pink. Now I am not opposed to hot pink on the right dresser, and have used it several times on more glamorous pieces, but this one was hot pink with poorly stampled flowers and butterflies as well as fairy stickers on top. It definitely looked as if it had been done by a child (at least I hope so!). The pink paint was not sticking either, as it had not been primed and the paint was just scraping right off. After scraping much of the paint off, I filled holes for hardware, painted it a warm white, and added new nickel cup pulls. It's much simpler this way, but sometimes understated is the way to go. Understated pieces are the best places to display your glamorous collections, as they don't take the attention away, and give you a nice calm backdrop.

My Christmas "Barn Show" Finds

My friend Gail Kramer (thekramerangle.com) is, among many other roles, a Barn Girl. Each Spring and Fall the Barn Girls put an "upscale yardsale" together with all sorts of fabulous chic finds, architectural pieces, and loads of eye candy! They also have a Christmas show which started yesterday and ends today. If you have time, get on over there (thebarnshow.com)! My two children were in school this morning, so I had some time to get over there kid-free, and wanted to share the fabulous finds I scored!

I had been looking for a long and narrow mirror for my entry way, and spotted this one 9from an old vanity) for a mere $30! I also purchased this adorable miniature wreath for $4, and these gorgeous white glass curtain tie-backs for $6 each. (I showed the effect in the whole master bedroom because I also wanted to show off my new IKEA flokati rug that I love!). I found this wonderful antique copper numeric stencil plate for a birthday gift for my mom, who loves to stencil, and loves antiques, so it was the perfect unique gift and just $36! Not pictured is also a cute square mirror from an antique mantle mirror that I am using as a decorative plate on my sideboard. I was so excited to come home and put my new items in place- thanks ladies!

Cool Gray of Winter

I love gray, and I am so happy that it is making a big design impact these days. It is classic, but not as formal as black, and comes in so many shades. I was shopping in IKEA today, and noticed some lovely dressers in a stunning charcoal gray. I was thrilled because I had just put the first coat of charcoal paint on a piece I was working on..... coming soon!

In the meantime, check out these gorgeous grays I found while doing some googling!