Favorite Projects of 2011

After going through this years posts, it seems like I did not get very many projects done.  When in reality I have gotten quite a few more done than I have posted about.  I better get on that.  *New  goal for 2012:  Be a better and more frequent blogger!   So here are my favorite projects this year  (and in no particular order)....

 

1. Board and Batten in the living room.  You can read about it here, here, and here.

2.  Shelving for our food storage.

3.  New flower garden for next year (2012).

4. Book page wreath.

5.  My Halloween table scape.

6.  Room redo on a very tight budget.

7.  Our ADULT Christmas tree.              

Hope your have had a wonderful 2011 and here's to making 2012 the BEST ever! 

Our Christmas Tree

I thought it was about time to show you our finished Christmas tree  that is in our living room.  I decorated this tree by myself this year.  I let the kids loose on their own trees this year.  I will show those to you starting tomorrow.  I still have one thing to get for this tree.  I ran out of the string of pearls that I just can not seem to live without every year.  So I will have to make a trip up to Hobby Lobby to get another strand.  So no judging the bottom of the tree.  So on with the show..

 I decided to use some new, old, and even older ornaments this year and make the tree I have always wanted.  My colors this year are:  turquoise, lime green, red, pearly white, soft gold, and mercury glass.  I am in L.O.V.E. with this tree this year.

 The next pictures are of the "NEW" Mercury Glass ornaments that I actually bought last year but did not use.  Bummer because they are soooooo  beautiful.  Just look for your self.

 This next picture has both new sparkly lime green and red ornaments and the red long ornament that the Hubs uncle gave us for our wedding present 14 years ago.  He is/was a florist with his own business.  He even was one of the designers for FTD.  Anyways, he would decorate Christmas trees in his shop and then gave us everything for one the trees.  Can I just say GORGEOUS.  I love them all.  You can also see the pearl white and soft gold ornaments in this picture.  I bought those during the AFTER Christmas sale at Kmart like 10 years ago.

 This turquoise bulb is also from the Hubs' uncle.  They are soooooooo  pretty.  Love the hash marks.

 These blown glass heart ornaments are the kids FAVORITE.  I got them way before I met my husband.  So they are the oldest ones we have.  I got them from the catalog LTD.  I do not know if they carry them anymore.  But I sure do love the way the lights on the tree glisten off of them.

 So there you have it.  My ADULT tree.  Hopefully you like it as much as I do.  But, if you don't that is alright because I am the one that has to look at it every day...  :O)

Come back tomorrow to see the tree that the kids did in the family room.  It is a fun one.  :O)

Sugar over load......

*Caution:  These are "real life" everyday photos. Please ignore the mess..  AND other things..     

So today was the Hubs Birthday.  We spent the day together and had a great time while the kids were at school.  We did have the youngest with us as he does not have preschool on Thursdays.  When I asked the Hubs what he wanted for his Birthday he came up with a great easy and super fun present from the kids.  He asked if they could make his cake and decorate it themselves.  I was in.  So off to the store to get the proper ingredients.  Cake mix, check.  Frosting, check.  Frosting in cans with tips, check.  And of course candles, check.  So on to the decorating.  I divided up the cake into sections so each kid had their own section to decorate.  That way there was no fighting. ( please ignore the outlet hinging off the tile back splash.  It does not work and needs to be fixed.)

                   First up was Nate and he went a little over board with the frosting.

                                          Next up was Jordan.  She loved it.

                               Cameron thought it was great but needed a little help.

 Then there was Colby.  He had determination on his face.  He ended up writing something on the cake.  He thought he was being funny.

 Here is the end result.  Can you tell what Colby wrote?  No, well it says DUM BO..  Like I said before, he thought he was being funny.

 So here is the Diabetic Coma Cake.  One small bite of frosting was all I needed.  If you know me I do not like frosting.  Except if it is made by a friend that runs the bakery at the Allen's grocery store in Springville, Utah.  He makes the best cakes EVER!!!  Try the chocolate cake with the double fudge frosting.  It is rich but OH SO GOOD...  Just tell him I sent you and he will set you up...  :O)  (And ignore the following: 1. doorbell thingy on the hallway wall that has no cover.  I can not find it.   I think the Hubs threw it away.  2. The pin wheel that started coming apart.  3. The super UGLY dirty ceiling fan that needs to come down. On a side note I do have a replacement for it.  Just need to do the old switch-a-roo.)

 Anyways, I did get a bit off the subject.  HA HA.  Time for the Hubs to enter the picture..  Yes I did that play on words on purpose.  I tickle myself some times.  :O)  We sang to him then showed him the cake.

                                              He LOVED it. 

                  He asked the kids to help blow out the candles as he is "getting to old" for it.

                                  Everyone loves to lick the frosting off the candles.

                  He was having a little too much fun with it.   Then he posed for some pictures.

Love you babe!  Happy Birthday.  Doesn't he look good for an old man?

Decking our halls for the holiday's.....

Wow, has is really been a month since my last post?  Time is sure getting away from me.  I/we have been really busy.  Always something that needs to get done.  We are in the middle of a big project for the kids.  We are moving what seems like the whole house around to accommodate the older boys having their own rooms.  But, that is another post for another time.  Well, tis the season  that the Christmas elves come and make a mess of the house for the holiday's.  Thought I would show their progress thus far.

                 Thought I would start off with a nice picture then show you all the real mess..

                            Why does Christmas decoration have to take up so much space?

See my lanterns on the bench?  I got those from a store here in Utah called RC Willey for, wait for it, $10.00...  Yep you read that right.  $10 for all THREE.  I love them.

See I told you it is a mess..  Cleaning up after these Christmas elves is my top priority right now.

They did happen to get the tree up in the living room.  PLEASE ignore the half covered wing back chairs.  They are still a work in really bad progress.  My sewing machine is still broken so I am trying to cover them at little expense as possible until either I get a new machine or mine fixed OR I go buy new slip covers from Sure fit.  We shall wait and see.  Anyhoo,  to the rest of the pictures.  This next one is actually very promising.

The snowmen will be finding another home.  Just needed to get them up off the floor so the dog does not chew them up.  Still working on that with him.  See the table in the left corner?  That is the table from this post.

Here is a better view of the start of our holiday decorating.  This table was the only thing decorated for like a week until the elves decided to come and help out.  I love its' simplicity.

 We also had a little help from Rocco.    Thanks for coming.  Have a great weekend and enjoy getting your house ready for the holiday's.  :O)