Sunday, October 31, 2010

halloween festivities

we had such a great time tonight with our sweet friends & neighbors!
we passed out candy to lots of cute little trick-or-treaters,
and then moved the party out back to roast marshmallows at the fire pit.
here are some pics to re-cap our halloween evening...

our little one was a pirate....ARRRRR
we snapped this shot on his pirate ship in the backyard!

he loved keeping an eye out for the little witches, animals, superheros, & princesses

our cute little neighbors were a robot and an army general!




and we all had a fabulous time hanging out & making s'mores at the great fire pit that hubby built!
 the guys got into the costume theme..kinda...a viking, a sailor, and a baylor bear!

my favorite part of the night was the surprises that we stuck on the trick-or-treaters candy. 
i wanted to make sure that each one knew that Jesus loved them. 
so that's exactly what the note said. they were super easy to make...
we just typed out the phrase and a coinciding Bible verse,
cut them out with cute scissors,
 and taped them onto the candy bars
one little boy said" o, wow, she gives stickers, too!"
the greatest joy in the world is knowing the love of Jesus,
so i decided to take this chance to share it with all the kiddos who stopped by.
hope all of you had a blessed time with your family and friends, too! 

Friday, October 29, 2010

cali antique market treasures!

a couple of weeks ago the fam flew out to cali to visit our siblings & we had a fabulous time!
the weather was a tad cloudy, but it was cool, and when the sun popped out it was just beautiful!

kisses in malibu

dada and little one playing in the sand

and before we headed home on sunday, we shopped for local treasures at the long beach antique market!
if i lived anywhere close, i would have rented the largest u-haul possible and filled it to the brim!

long beach antique market 
the entire back lot is full of furniture!

 
long beach antique market
 check out that aerial view!

long beach antique market 
antiques of all kinds!

oh. my. goodness.
hub's had to reign me in & remind me that what we bought had to fit in a suitcase,
along with everything we'd packed going out there, and still be under 50lbs.
i love a challenge :)
we bought three pillow shams and a gorgeous rug! yes, a 5x8 rug!
hubby rolled the rug tighter than tight and packed it in his carry on bag.
wow. a man after my own heart!
it definitely wouldn't have fit in my bag...

here are my treasures...


  initial burlap & linen pillow
$15.00
from the tarnished crown...she's super sweet and sells precious things!

light brown trellis-ish pillows. so lovely.


 the brown really anchors the colors on that side of the room
both for only $30!

and my favorite find of all...
this amazing cream and brown rug! pictures don't do it justice.
it was truly a steal at only $40.


i think it ties the whole space together beautifully!

next time we go to cali, we're driving a u-haul!

and if you live there
{1} i'm seriously jealous.
{2} you should go every chance you get!

**linking up at Shabby Nest Frugal Friday**

pillows, pillows, pillows. never too many pillows.

our first fight argument as an engaged couple was over the number of pillows we would have on our couch.
we were in the middle of a large furniture store.  we'd gone to get ideas of each others "style."
he saw a staged living area, and the couch had 7 or 8 pillows on it.  
then went on to say "we'll never have more than two pillows on our couch. ever."
i laughed out loud.
but he was serious. 
we politely argued our points in the middle of the store... 
until a nosy sales lady came up and asked if there was a problem.
he said we couldn't decide about the number of pillows.
she said to pick the piece of furniture first.
...which makes sense b/c her job is to sell furniture.

here we are 3 1/2 years later and he has a much softer side for decorating now.
as he takes pillows off the couch when he lays down he says,
"babe, i sure love your pillows."

wanna guess how many pillows are on our bed?
we have 9 ...but until the other day we just had 8...
{4 of the pillows are behind the decorative pillows. we each sleep with 2.}



do you ever have a moment when you walk into a room and wonder 
"why did i make that decorating decision?"

a couple of weeks ago i noticed that something about the pillows on our bed seemed off...
then i realized that i only had 2 euro shams and 3 sure would fill in the extra space nicely.


i ordered 1 additional green apple pearl embroidered sham from the fabulous pb

pottery barn
a few days later it arrived at my door.
i opened up the pkg to find my euro sham, stuffed it, put it on the bed, and ta-da!
what a difference it makes!
now i just wonder why it took me so long to notice...



i didn't tell hubby about the additional sham, i wanted to see how long it would take him to catch on.
it took about 1.5 days, and he is totally ok with it :)

**linking up at Tidy Mom's Lovin' It**

Wednesday, October 27, 2010

project::office eclectic wall display

i am drooling over this wall, and have most of the items needed to create my own pb look alike.



this wall is in need of some serious attention.
especially because as you walk into our home, you can see it through the french doors into the office.



pb even supplies an informational video
so you can get the measurements and spacing just. right. 

can't wait to see how it transforms hubby's office!

Tuesday, October 26, 2010

project::office inspiration board


Here is the inspiration board that I created for Hubby's office:
hubby's office
hubby's office by peaceofhome 

some of these pieces are toooo expensive for my budget,
but now i have ideas for what will work together in the space
i can't wait to make more!

my lovely corner hutch

a few months ago i asked for suggestions on how to paint my corner hutch 
when i bought her from c-list she was a distressed navy & her colors didn't work well in our home
but her shape and size were just right!

i finally decided to paint her white and stain her blonde wood the same stain as the dining table,
now she's absolutely divine.
here is the story of how she was transformed...

{1}
we took apart the top and bottom pieces for easier access


{2}
we removed the glass pieces from the doors
and removed the doors before sanding

{3}
after I had sanded all of the areas using this handy dandy little guy from a previous project 
it was time to start painting!

{4}
i began with the brown spray paint. i wanted to distress the piece after i had finished painting,
so I sprayed the spots that i'd want to distress with the brown spray paint, knowing the brown 
would pop through once i finished.


{5}
next up spraying the hutch white! i didn't use a primer because i was hurrying,
but i wish i had because it ended up taking 2 coats and some touch ups.
but i learned from my mistakes - so next time will be easier!


{6}
when i began staining the blonde wood, i noticed that it wasn't being absorbed very well.
i waited the 15-20 minutes that you're supposed to, but still the stain was sitting on the wood.
i wiped away the excess and was left with this...

I re-sanded and even used some liquid varnish remover, which gave me this result...


and now i was definitely ready to stain!

I distressed some of the edges with medium grit sand paper, bought some precious knobs
1/2 off at hob lob, and hubby helped me put it all back together!

i just love it.

she fills the space and fits the decor of the breakfast room perfectly!
we filled her with wine glasses up top and serving ware down bottom.
now she's purposeful, too!


thanks for sticking me with me through this lengthy ::how to:: post!

Monday, October 25, 2010

project::office these are a few of his favorite things

after we moved the bookcases around here,
 it was time to organize and create a purposeful space.


not purposeful. uck.

in this picture, the items are in disarray and the shelves look junky,
even though there are some super sentimental items amongst the junkyness.
so, we sifted through and placed some items in a box for goodwill,
while setting aside other items that were really important to hubby.

below are the items we deemed worthy of a spot on the shelves:

a calligraphy of Proverbs 3:16 to remind him to commit all of his creative, entrepreneur ideas to the Lord


an autographed football. can't quite figure out who signed it, but i'm sure he knows.


one of his best friends flew this flag over Iraq in his fighter plane on hubby's birthday. 

hubby's first captains hat. it's sailed over many oceans and seas.

our first sail boat. hopefully someday we'll buy one that we can actually sail on together!


quite purposeful.


what are some of the sentimentals that fill your shelves and bookcases?


Saturday, October 23, 2010

project::office switch it, change it, rearrange it

this particle board bookshelf has been used in hubby's office as a storage spot for all of his junk things :)
it was free...but i am not its biggest fan.
 this piece seems to throw off the traditional decor of the room


enter: solid wood bookshelf from family room

we purchased this bookshelf after we were married, 
and it's always been in our family room....
but our little guy can reach everything on two of the shelves,
and in the bottom sets of drawers.
 i would venture to say it no longer works best for our family in that spot.
it's looks so sad with decor on only 2 shelves.

guess where it's going...
hubby's office.


 it's time to switch it, change it, rearrange it!
i can't wait to see how it changes up both rooms.


office:
the bookshelf is so much happier in its new home, full of hubby's organized things
family room:
yeah, that's right. a blank wall 
now with an empty wall, i'm on the lookout for a beautiful tv armoire...
yes. that definitely means the tv is coming down from the mantle!
it's obviously difficult to decorate with...
i'm glad i never spent too much time answering this question regarding our tv.


sweet hubby has finally agreed that an armoire is the best place for it.
{1} we decided that having it above the fireplace makes it a focal point,
which it's really not. we hardly ever watch tv.
{2} it's incredibly difficult to decorate with/ around
{3} the room will feel much warmer and inviting without a big, black box on the wall

watch out craigslist, here i come! 

Friday, October 22, 2010

busy as the bees ... literally

yes, that is the bee man sucking a colony of bees out of our oak tree.


those bees were swarming and buzzing around like crazy - nonstop.
mr. bee man told us they were congregating in our tree to determine a spot for their new hive. 
yikes! 
i didn't want that spot to be anywhere near our house...
they were sucked up and gone in no time!

our last few months have been as busy as those bees.
we've done lots of traveling & hubby has also been adjusting to his new, fantastic job
...but it comes with a commute now.
sooo we've been schedule juggling and adjusting to it all as a family.
we also were busy, busy around the house with new projects.
i just haven't had time to sit down and blog about them...until now!
many, many, many more posts to come with home updates.

so glad to be back!


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