tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27109390442118483412024-02-18T20:23:14.857-06:00a paige in historypaige reneehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00044535276318816102noreply@blogger.comBlogger233125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2710939044211848341.post-41039518967600110072012-01-22T21:52:00.000-06:002012-01-22T21:52:12.818-06:00Opportunity...<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Recently I have been reading the book <i><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Transform-Your-Life-Brilliant-Ideas/dp/1904902650/ref=sr_1_2?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1327267900&sr=1-2" target="_blank">Transform Your Life</a> </i>by Penny Ferguson and one section in particular has really stuck in my mind...</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEja-zT5m4ROWLU8qh-Q1QgnA27XmUNX5s1aSZwPCh5YRgwA7ovudxxVmh9d0DbkGRBcV0jeGLaks7tkOzFF_zVeQG6hj1En-sM8pLabuU8MLjRlNF0TuH8wRq2nTigt8mUlWyd9h9FMWJQK/s1600/Slide3.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="247" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEja-zT5m4ROWLU8qh-Q1QgnA27XmUNX5s1aSZwPCh5YRgwA7ovudxxVmh9d0DbkGRBcV0jeGLaks7tkOzFF_zVeQG6hj1En-sM8pLabuU8MLjRlNF0TuH8wRq2nTigt8mUlWyd9h9FMWJQK/s320/Slide3.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">The book goes on to say that "your attitude towards the things you have to do makes the difference between getting the most out of them and seeing them as chores that are impossible to enjoy." So true.</span></div>
<div class="" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">This year I want to look at every situation and every day as an <b>opportunity</b> to <i>fill my glass</i> and <i>make the most of it</i>...</span></div>
<div class="" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiD3YgFrIG6S0Y2V7VZI9xCOw0GnGSC5lpgc39pKwR68mNzORK6W8MNy4mJ0G7P3sLHkX5J52P2Wm_JUqkyVjpvAQwSP5YMj4MKQaSuyQBOh5GvN2Gbn3jx2PDuLNSmEfxerkle06C8yWu0/s1600/Slide1.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="247" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiD3YgFrIG6S0Y2V7VZI9xCOw0GnGSC5lpgc39pKwR68mNzORK6W8MNy4mJ0G7P3sLHkX5J52P2Wm_JUqkyVjpvAQwSP5YMj4MKQaSuyQBOh5GvN2Gbn3jx2PDuLNSmEfxerkle06C8yWu0/s320/Slide1.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
<ul>
<li><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">When I am extra busy at work, I want to see it as an <b>opportunity</b> to learn and develop.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">When I have to clean the house, I want to see it as an <b>opportunity </b>to show my gratitude for beautiful home and help my husband.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">When I am feeling down about living so far from our families, I want to see it as an <b>opportunity</b> to build my marriage even stronger and enjoy all the wonderful things our new city has to offer.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">When I am stuck in traffic, I want to see it as an <b>opportunity</b> for a few extra minutes to enjoy the music on the radio.</span></li>
</ul>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilxV07TV89z21-lllSulLCgUzQnp3NbcxS9MuV-oO8b8IFMDS2tknKSLcY7jVdd9i8aBoxq5GduWOilDE36gtoqUNrkdW4KrgI87_RB3ZUml_-40G4kiqmELqAzBQKSRMDvCAT5S9VPQZ2/s1600/Slide2.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="247" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilxV07TV89z21-lllSulLCgUzQnp3NbcxS9MuV-oO8b8IFMDS2tknKSLcY7jVdd9i8aBoxq5GduWOilDE36gtoqUNrkdW4KrgI87_RB3ZUml_-40G4kiqmELqAzBQKSRMDvCAT5S9VPQZ2/s320/Slide2.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Every day is an <b>opportunity</b>..<b>.</b></span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">to learn something new, to show kindness to others, to give God the glory, and to love my family fully.</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKgvBsrHmKPnUTh5tgy2wpvUueEiDbFtEjDaPa-snBJZFXIVP0R1POFTNSx201jmhBfTBtQ27NXEgDEYmFuc705ia6UABpDWHMcIUQUdkjGUmk1nkW6t4Lb7ts4w9Y0Jq1zDhWwGj2RMhT/s1600/Opportunity.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="247" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKgvBsrHmKPnUTh5tgy2wpvUueEiDbFtEjDaPa-snBJZFXIVP0R1POFTNSx201jmhBfTBtQ27NXEgDEYmFuc705ia6UABpDWHMcIUQUdkjGUmk1nkW6t4Lb7ts4w9Y0Jq1zDhWwGj2RMhT/s320/Opportunity.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">[Want more inspiration for 2012? Check out the <a href="http://theletteredcottage.net/word-of-the-year-link-party-2012/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed:+TheLetteredCottage+(The+Lettered+Cottage)&utm_content=Google+Reader" target="_blank">Word of the Year party</a>.]</span></div>paige reneehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00044535276318816102noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2710939044211848341.post-32255985089752923812012-01-17T22:08:00.000-06:002012-01-17T22:08:26.504-06:002012 | Home goals...<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">It's January. So, of course, we should talk about goals. :) I have goals for pretty much everything - literally, reading goals, fitness goals, work goals, relationship goals, life goals, everything. But I'll start with my goals for our home during 2012 as part of the <a href="http://www.thenester.com/2012/01/2012-home-goals-party.html" target="_blank">Home Goals Party</a> at the Nesting Place. </span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUi_X5MrSeqmYPhp9gz0wPpH0cO6zHSDCzExkun32XkRqIkQqNJZKH3Y2hCxtRGHV9O2CSazYtVOOEbQx3QF0JKq3P3ARgFp4lUy2ViIJAaBx4HOuMVebvDWcfo5o1Ob8IOl2bMKldXkTo/s1600/2012+Home+Goals.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUi_X5MrSeqmYPhp9gz0wPpH0cO6zHSDCzExkun32XkRqIkQqNJZKH3Y2hCxtRGHV9O2CSazYtVOOEbQx3QF0JKq3P3ARgFp4lUy2ViIJAaBx4HOuMVebvDWcfo5o1Ob8IOl2bMKldXkTo/s320/2012+Home+Goals.jpg" width="246" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">I also shared my <a href="http://apaigeinhistory.blogspot.com/2011/01/2011-home-goals.html" target="_blank">home goals in 2011</a> and promise to share a full update at how I did soon. But this year, my goals are all about showing some love. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br /></span><br />
<b style="color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">*Show our loves...</span></b><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">This year I want to continue to make our house reflect <i>us</i>. I want our home to be full of things that Nick and I love - our faith, our families, our passions. I want our decorating choices, artwork, etc. to show how important these things are to us. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br /></span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">I do not want our house to be full of </span><i style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">stuff </i><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">that we do not need or truly care about, which brings me to my next goal...</span><br />
<b style="color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br /></b><br />
<b style="color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">*Show others some love...</span></b><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">That same <i>stuff</i> that we do not need anymore could be just what someone else needs. I want to focus on cleaning out and donating things that we no longer need...including those boxes that have been in my car to take to Goodwill for, oh, about nine months now. Oops.</span><br />
<b style="color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br /></b><br />
<b style="color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">*Show our house the love...</span></b><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">I honestly love everything about our home. But...I don't always show our house the love in the form of cleaning. This year I want to get into and maintain good cleaning routines, rather than the massive rush when company is on its way. :) </span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br /></span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">I also want to show our house some organizing love. There are areas of our home that are super organized [like our bathroom], but others that still have unpacked boxes [like our offices]. This year I want to organize the house as much as possible. Being organized makes me feel more relaxed, which will only allow me to enjoy and love our home even more. </span><br />
<b style="color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br /></b><br />
<b style="color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">*Show the tools the love...</span></b><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">This year I would love to do some furniture makeovers and build some shelves. More on those ideas soon. :)</span><br />
<b style="color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br /></b><br />
<b style="color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">*Show y'all the love...</span></b><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">I want to take more pictures of our home and projects to share with y'all and to have this little journal to look back on someday. I also want to share all my project ideas. I definitely have more ideas for our home than I have hours [or money] to do them, but I'm going to share those ideas here anyway. :)</span>paige reneehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00044535276318816102noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2710939044211848341.post-18685476869921978782012-01-12T20:53:00.000-06:002012-01-17T21:34:23.847-06:00A little sparkle...<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">I love a little sparkle. Seriously, how can you not smile when you are wearing something sparkly? I've been wanting to participate in <a href="http://prettyshinysparkly.com/bloggers-do-it-better-series/" target="_blank">Bloggers Do it Better</a> for a long time but never have. But say "sequins" and I'm there! :)</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://prettyshinysparkly.com/bloggers-do-it-better-series/" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;" title="Bloggers Do It Better"><img alt="Bloggers Do It Better" src="http://static2.prettyshinysparkly.com/images/buttons/bdib1.png" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">My sequins outfit is super simple...a cute little comfy top from Kohls. And my photo is super awkward...I'm terrible at being the only person in a photo. And it definitely didn't help that we took these photos at night. My husband is going to looove that I made him lay on the floor to take a photo of my whole outfit and then I got picky about the lighting and how I looked and didn't even include those photos. Sorry! </span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9_ZiLeqjQ5mn3FTKNRFeZV9Qoa0tWdEn1-kUZO-7cK7YIXC68MO8anym0giHMQD5VhvwJ-09SlJSalFJoOYWu-ODCt-ypI4tyZioIpt7fzWDAEtP-aLr4Eo0qd_fP8mt-CFYi79l_dztF/s1600/Sequins+-+A+Paige+In+History.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9_ZiLeqjQ5mn3FTKNRFeZV9Qoa0tWdEn1-kUZO-7cK7YIXC68MO8anym0giHMQD5VhvwJ-09SlJSalFJoOYWu-ODCt-ypI4tyZioIpt7fzWDAEtP-aLr4Eo0qd_fP8mt-CFYi79l_dztF/s320/Sequins+-+A+Paige+In+History.jpg" width="275" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Since you can't see it all, I was wearing the sequin top with cuffed jeans and a cute pair of suede heels. And to help make up for my bad photo / modeling skills, here is my new <a href="http://pinterest.com/paigewoolery/sparkle/" target="_blank">Pinterest Sparkle! board</a>. It's full of all sorts of sparkly fashion, DIY, and decor ideas. </span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-N05yAW0y9A2wYWCMY0hIULFJHOhgbSqUEBpwThDZcbLsSjMWFxyE_eFgeZYMVNHWOhZqgv1dw4e7qdwYWQTNZuSsMxm6gP6bJQVAzclkUnpjBlVp8c1X-w0k4RXkfRbas1nM0tD2W8Lo/s1600/Sparkle.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="308" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-N05yAW0y9A2wYWCMY0hIULFJHOhgbSqUEBpwThDZcbLsSjMWFxyE_eFgeZYMVNHWOhZqgv1dw4e7qdwYWQTNZuSsMxm6gP6bJQVAzclkUnpjBlVp8c1X-w0k4RXkfRbas1nM0tD2W8Lo/s400/Sparkle.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>paige reneehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00044535276318816102noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2710939044211848341.post-89419861958832613322012-01-05T23:28:00.000-06:002012-01-17T21:33:49.809-06:00Confessions of a missing blogger...<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">So...it's been a long time. A really long time. </span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">I've missed this little blog of mine and decided it was well past time to get back to it. But before I get back into the swing of things, here are my confessions as to why I went missing...</span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxbD_vUpEEWJP5p1epjyv7Qi2NGXN5nyzPGIVNTwwEykxLyVaEEMsf9uX0amukMvOCeLhDqtKAI3-notynBPIBJkkqyvjGV37odR2pnHbXHFQijPm1QPhShyphenhyphencaFKx-NiNZm1y7FzXqs1KA/s1600/Slide1.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="306" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxbD_vUpEEWJP5p1epjyv7Qi2NGXN5nyzPGIVNTwwEykxLyVaEEMsf9uX0amukMvOCeLhDqtKAI3-notynBPIBJkkqyvjGV37odR2pnHbXHFQijPm1QPhShyphenhyphencaFKx-NiNZm1y7FzXqs1KA/s400/Slide1.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
<span style="color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><b>Confessions of a busy blogger...</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Honestly, over the past year I have been very busy at work and with work trips. It sounds a little boring, but it did result in five work trips to the Bahamas. No complaints here. However, but it definitely took my time away from my blog. Don't worry though <span style="font-size: x-small;">[okay, who am I kidding, nobody is worried about me now that I said I went to the Bahamas five times...]</span>, there was also plenty of fun mixed in over the last year. :)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br /></span><br />
<span style="color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><b>Confessions of an over-thinking blogger...</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">There were a lot of times over the past year that I wanted to start my blog back up...but then I would start over-thinking it. Conversations like this were happening in my head:</span><br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><i>Paige</i> - "I really miss my blog and have a great idea - I'm going to go post it!"</span> </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><i>Over-thinking Paige</i> - "That's a nice idea, but remember how you might want to open an Etsy shop someday? Are you sure you want to name it <i>A Paige in History</i>?"</span> </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><i>Paige</i> - "Well, I'm not sure...but that won't happen for a while. And what does it have to do with my post?"</span> </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><i>Over-thinking Paige </i>- "Don't you remember anything from all your business classes? All of the names should be the same to help with your marketing. Maybe you should start a new blog. And does that post even have to do with your <i>message</i>?"</span></blockquote>
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">So, I think you get the point. And it's not that I'm a crazy person with conversations in my head. :)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br /></span><br />
<span style="color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><b>Confessions of a perfectionist... </b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">There were also times when I would look at my blog and just not think it was good enough. Take the header for example...</span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixtBHaJprDULCkUZtOHdmqv93S3aVfO0zfJ_VbKWaAbRTCpexBf-cHJS3tUiwZU9h_h1kN8eK_zhFnMAGtVjU2NSkU_E7jDgt_R1_yAVLB8rTtmhEZDiCgvqU9r8C68e3eYZuCC3lDwGAS/s1600/Slide2.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="308" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixtBHaJprDULCkUZtOHdmqv93S3aVfO0zfJ_VbKWaAbRTCpexBf-cHJS3tUiwZU9h_h1kN8eK_zhFnMAGtVjU2NSkU_E7jDgt_R1_yAVLB8rTtmhEZDiCgvqU9r8C68e3eYZuCC3lDwGAS/s400/Slide2.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Yep, it's pretty annoying how it didn't line up right. But should it keep me from ever posting anything? Nope! And check it out, it wasn't at all difficult to update my header. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br /></span><br />
<span style="color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><b>To summarize...</b></span><br />
<ul>
<li><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Sorry I went missing for so long! As much as I will try not to disappear again, I also know that with my busy schedule it is definitely a possibility. <b>But, </b>I also know that I really missed my little creative blog outlet, so I'll try to find a balance.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">My posts may not always be perfect. <b>But, </b>I promise they will be <i>me</i>. <span style="font-size: x-small;">[Well, the part of me that's not busy over-thinking everything...] </span></span></li>
</ul>paige reneehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00044535276318816102noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2710939044211848341.post-71126951573816677142011-02-18T18:09:00.002-06:002011-02-18T18:09:00.261-06:00Projects teaser...<div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> Here's a little sneak peak at some of my upcoming projects...</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZXPnSJk1wnMRDsR4y3OnJXrwbmTKGC7QUZrwXlmZCUpN4QG3lyTEFRZazJcPFoQw7ONoYs8d1j6ijtQkaNdHo6qWCxH107cRLFw0mIfIEX117_RByx04CQKaUDlvr7jdVHgQRT4PRgv29/s1600/in+progress.jpg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="184" j6="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZXPnSJk1wnMRDsR4y3OnJXrwbmTKGC7QUZrwXlmZCUpN4QG3lyTEFRZazJcPFoQw7ONoYs8d1j6ijtQkaNdHo6qWCxH107cRLFw0mIfIEX117_RByx04CQKaUDlvr7jdVHgQRT4PRgv29/s400/in+progress.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br />
<div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">These are clearly all <em>before</em> pictures. I have big plans for them though and, of course, the plans include some spray paint love. :)</span></div><br />
<div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">My list of projects for after I finish my test is growing quite long...</span><a href="http://apaigeinhistory.blogspot.com/2011/02/fabric-delivery.html"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">sewing</span></a><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">, these three projects, some organizing, some artwork, some decorating, some gifts, and lots more. Time to go study so I can actually work on all these projects sometime.</span></div>paige reneehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00044535276318816102noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2710939044211848341.post-39417668546984819162011-02-17T18:33:00.001-06:002011-02-17T18:33:00.281-06:00I heart you...<div style="text-align: justify;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtTkoiDvoLA-ALNwAeI4A3UXiq7gMSlMn_04YtJ0eijKNp33WFexl7uTRqbsV7gycDJLPnbJ2vVfWbxK6kCAaKN2kNSAnuZspvqhm4qdM2SuhV4FCFDeFXYjMIJ02oXHbxsNNQ-MtRPfqI/s1600/i+heart+you.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" j6="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtTkoiDvoLA-ALNwAeI4A3UXiq7gMSlMn_04YtJ0eijKNp33WFexl7uTRqbsV7gycDJLPnbJ2vVfWbxK6kCAaKN2kNSAnuZspvqhm4qdM2SuhV4FCFDeFXYjMIJ02oXHbxsNNQ-MtRPfqI/s400/i+heart+you.jpg" width="308" /></a></div></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Mr. W was out of town the day before Valentine's Day, so while he was gone I used post-it notes to make this message on his mirror.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">I wrote cute little notes on the leftover post-its and left them all over the house...on the door from the garage, the microwave, the fridge, his closet door, his pillow, everywhere. Very simple, but a fun surprise for him to come home too. </span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">We also had been needing a new wine stopper for a while, so I picked one up from Pier1 and left it on the counter with a post-it saying "<em>Your smile can stop my heart</em>." Awe. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">We had a wonderful evening together with a delicious meal at a Brazilian steakhouse. <span style="font-size: x-small;">[Yum!]</span> </span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Hope you all had a wonderful Valentine's Day also!</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS; font-size: x-small;">P.S. Our walls do not actually look yellow-ish like they do in this picture. That's just my not-so-awesome photo taking skills at work again. :)</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS; font-size: x-small;">P.S. [Again] I think it's funny that you can see my peaking out from my closet where I was trying to hide from being in the mirror. </span></div>paige reneehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00044535276318816102noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2710939044211848341.post-12942458711900712102011-02-10T18:05:00.001-06:002011-02-10T18:05:00.770-06:00World Market + Polyvore = Love...<div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">I love World Market. I love Polyvore. Put them together like they did on the </span><a href="http://www.worldmarket.com/category/index.jsp?categoryId=4273959&ab=home:wk2:b:1:polyvore"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">World Market website</span></a><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> and it is <em>amazing</em>. I couldn't resist playing around and making a few "vision boards" as they call them. Actually, I couldn't resist making five. :)</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Each "vision board" I made is an idea for an entryway into a house. I love homes with pretty entryways - it is just so inviting and a great way to show off the home's character the second guests walk in the door. Our entry way is currently empty. Completely empty. We even have an art niche...with no art. Hopefully, that will all change soon. :)</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">In the meantime, here are my five entryway "vision boards." <span style="font-size: x-small;">[Click the link below each to go to Polyvore for the product details.]</span></span></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvzxWtslvw4H0gj1zdo-C7h3pXtR6RMz4T8jDIuWedA8r7Rs_i-khFpIw4bgwMccBS6CjylpTqZho75agZ1TeUpkFHKtxleW0vJh5VT46ODBfpHI0h51uHlSLACuxcAdNLkseSQf6zZL6m/s1600/entry+mood+board+5.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" h5="true" height="253" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvzxWtslvw4H0gj1zdo-C7h3pXtR6RMz4T8jDIuWedA8r7Rs_i-khFpIw4bgwMccBS6CjylpTqZho75agZ1TeUpkFHKtxleW0vJh5VT46ODBfpHI0h51uHlSLACuxcAdNLkseSQf6zZL6m/s400/entry+mood+board+5.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.polyvore.com/cgi/set?id=28116914"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">details</span></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhitY9P-1cJnq631vMmwc1vsQhaZmti3OSXRMJvA9A1N8yfGpB9j5DgX8woTXUYL9GqVXUZ-0CGVlE08bykXqwmj-O2LAg62eywwk22_BvufGOX5yZfDJ6L6eo4MJR_vkjIeIkd-2mOC6Z9/s1600/entry+mood+board+1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" h5="true" height="253" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhitY9P-1cJnq631vMmwc1vsQhaZmti3OSXRMJvA9A1N8yfGpB9j5DgX8woTXUYL9GqVXUZ-0CGVlE08bykXqwmj-O2LAg62eywwk22_BvufGOX5yZfDJ6L6eo4MJR_vkjIeIkd-2mOC6Z9/s400/entry+mood+board+1.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.polyvore.com/cgi/set?id=28117262"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">details</span></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYFHoKgV_zpQXjjP5NudfF49eiiKNvRUhe0-a1zRjJR04nyXEm9X-L8Wzq-WCqGThqfvM4y-fjIExOPgjY1F6d6rCMzlQ6kchLkUlzxR51vcT6p7100s-eP45xlmFxsMGeqHaQibC2byV5/s1600/entry+mood+board+2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" h5="true" height="253" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYFHoKgV_zpQXjjP5NudfF49eiiKNvRUhe0-a1zRjJR04nyXEm9X-L8Wzq-WCqGThqfvM4y-fjIExOPgjY1F6d6rCMzlQ6kchLkUlzxR51vcT6p7100s-eP45xlmFxsMGeqHaQibC2byV5/s400/entry+mood+board+2.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.polyvore.com/cgi/set?id=28117192"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">details </span></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZp29pXc7_S8PRXcqw4-PRnYGO8bQR2v3M4Jl6xqu4nxHlcu_-lr00e2BdUItsAgH4r5knvlQAWZSh6brPj9sfKHYtRGcx6oyomKZPr1u3yBu2_Vy5WvPgxv0ccfdwvz1yA5KSszbD_jrS/s1600/entry+mood+board+4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" h5="true" height="253" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZp29pXc7_S8PRXcqw4-PRnYGO8bQR2v3M4Jl6xqu4nxHlcu_-lr00e2BdUItsAgH4r5knvlQAWZSh6brPj9sfKHYtRGcx6oyomKZPr1u3yBu2_Vy5WvPgxv0ccfdwvz1yA5KSszbD_jrS/s400/entry+mood+board+4.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.polyvore.com/cgi/set?id=28117017"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">details</span></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiS-0Sh7cUFn7PtJA5MjcuhKYSYtGjhO_I4RfNerdWzibK6exo0OOu6xIRE_VOCkQ8bn-QwXV_iUt4b3lDUe-w7PhBlf2CzVyp3zlQD930MgUabyTf0qs-UaQuhJBE2gZxdJoZTH1oiMRs9/s1600/entry+mood+board+3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" h5="true" height="253" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiS-0Sh7cUFn7PtJA5MjcuhKYSYtGjhO_I4RfNerdWzibK6exo0OOu6xIRE_VOCkQ8bn-QwXV_iUt4b3lDUe-w7PhBlf2CzVyp3zlQD930MgUabyTf0qs-UaQuhJBE2gZxdJoZTH1oiMRs9/s400/entry+mood+board+3.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.polyvore.com/cgi/set?id=28117117"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">details</span></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">A few notes about the "vision boards":</span></div><ul><li><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS;">I want to go buy the media stand in the first board <strong>right now</strong>. I love, love, love it.</span></div></li>
<li><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS;">The five boards are posted in order of how likely they would be to end up in our house. Okay, more like how much I would like it if they were in our house. <span style="font-size: x-small;">[This is primarily based on the color scheme of our house.]</span></span></div></li>
<li><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS;">Did you notice that there aren't any products used in more than one board? That's because I'm a crazy person who randomly gives myself rules like that. :)</span></div></li>
</ul>paige reneehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00044535276318816102noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2710939044211848341.post-84071463249234852242011-02-10T06:34:00.001-06:002011-02-10T06:34:00.331-06:0010marifet.org...<div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Yesterday my Google Analytics malfunctioned. I truly thought it had a glitch and was making things up because it said that 83 visitors had come from </span><a href="http://10marifet.org/"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">10marifet.org</span></a><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">. Let me put the confusion into perspective for you, but be prepared for some major jealousy due to these awesome stats. Or maybe not. :) Anyways, the most visitors I have ever had in a <em>month</em> was 425 visitors in January. That is an average of 14 visitors a day <span style="font-size: x-small;">[if I round up...]</span>, so basically the amount of visitors coming from just one site yesterday was about six normal days worth of visitors. And actually was more than the <em>total</em> number of visitors for some months.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">See why I thought Analytics had lost it?</span></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEJrjJWqlurBBeNzsylbT8mXePMa93Z5bC73lghrxEczVlEJrDmmzvnbcVG26xdWCRT4c1jgdcxAOniJcGw-qFsWUI16kgq_kEmlvA5VxhWsNVQjiFL3lkkokC1p0jrOF3lCbPwSP5DHPF/s1600/10marifet.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" h5="true" height="90" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEJrjJWqlurBBeNzsylbT8mXePMa93Z5bC73lghrxEczVlEJrDmmzvnbcVG26xdWCRT4c1jgdcxAOniJcGw-qFsWUI16kgq_kEmlvA5VxhWsNVQjiFL3lkkokC1p0jrOF3lCbPwSP5DHPF/s400/10marifet.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Also, I had never heard of 10marifet.org...probably because it is in Turkish and I can't understand anything it says. A quick translation search told me that the blog slogan translates to "yaratici becerileri handmade and ideas hayatinizini will colour jinn". Uh...turns out that didn't help all too much. But I do understand <span style="font-size: x-small;">[and like]</span> the words "handmade" and "ideas". :)</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">A little more searching and site exploring told me that the site is <strong>full </strong>of awesome crafty and DIY projects. And somehow my </span><a href="http://apaigeinhistory.blogspot.com/2010/10/bench-before-and-after.html"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">bench makeover</span></a><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> was selected to be featured. Woohoo! Check it out </span><a href="http://www.10marifet.org/yazi/oncesi-sonrasi-bank"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">here</span></a><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdHmx8bNcYF-ke65i5Bzm2MWEAZOO__LueqMRQZX8PqkVH6-CLVKD_kTJwn5dF4LUMNVPDqSVsOFQNRSJZKapA7s6XWWzu9xbR5asTV7b9w7a4OR-U011XI-bSAln3eDBsrTLFcaFFww4D/s1600/bench+feature.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" h5="true" height="307" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdHmx8bNcYF-ke65i5Bzm2MWEAZOO__LueqMRQZX8PqkVH6-CLVKD_kTJwn5dF4LUMNVPDqSVsOFQNRSJZKapA7s6XWWzu9xbR5asTV7b9w7a4OR-U011XI-bSAln3eDBsrTLFcaFFww4D/s400/bench+feature.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Again, I had to do a translation search to see what the site said about my bench before and after. It came back as "is with roses empty beautifully but is blue has become very chic." Somehow I get the feeling this may not be a perfect translation, but I like the "very chic" part. :) Thanks so much to 10marifet.org for including my bench on the site - so fun!</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: 'Calibri','sans-serif'; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Speaking of fun, check out these great posts I found via the site:</span></span></div><ul><li><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: 'Calibri','sans-serif'; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">A cute </span><a href="http://www.10marifet.org/yazi/ponponlu-kokteyl-susleri"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">cocktail set</span></a><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> from </span><a href="http://www.marthastewart.com/article/raffia-cocktail-set"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Martha Stewart</span></a></span></div></li>
<li><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: 'Calibri','sans-serif'; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Beautiful </span><a href="http://www.10marifet.org/yazi/kurutulmus-cicekli-cerceveler"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">framed flowers</span></a><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> from </span><a href="http://abbysgarden.blogspot.com/2011/01/while-waiting-for-spring.html"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Abby's Garden</span></a></span></div></li>
<li><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: 'Calibri','sans-serif'; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">A fun, statement-making </span><a href="http://www.10marifet.org/yazi/cicekli-obi-kemer-yapimi"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">belt</span></a><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> from </span><a href="http://etcetorize.blogspot.com/2011/02/extra-special-obi-belt.html"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Etcetorize</span></a></span></div></li>
<li><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: 'Calibri','sans-serif'; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Adorable Valentine's Day </span><a href="http://www.10marifet.org/yazi/ask-oklari"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">treat ideas</span></a><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> from </span><a href="http://www.creaturecomfortsblog.com/home/2011/2/3/diy-cupids-arrow-cupcake-treat-bag-toppers.html"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Creature Comforts</span></a><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> </span></span></div></li>
<li><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: 'Calibri','sans-serif'; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Valentine-inspired </span><a href="http://www.10marifet.org/yazi/dallarda-kalpler"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">dinner party ideas</span></a><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> from </span><a href="http://littlethingsbringsmiles.blogspot.com/2011/02/simple-rustic-valentine-inspireddinner.html"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Little Things Bring Smiles</span></a> </span></div></li>
</ul>paige reneehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00044535276318816102noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2710939044211848341.post-29221971303497393242011-02-09T22:19:00.000-06:002011-02-09T22:19:22.592-06:00Fabric delivery...<div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">My big box of fabric has arrived! </span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Let me back up a second...For Christmas my wonderful parents gave me my first-ever sewing machine. I haven't mentioned it yet because I have forbid myself to even open the box until I finish my Certified Internal Auditor exam. I did not, however, forbid myself from buying fabric in the meantime. :)</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">After I take the last part of the exam in March, I will be all set to start sewing with these awesome fabrics <span style="font-size: x-small;">[nevermind the fact that I don't really know <em>how</em> to sew yet]</span>...</span></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOQbgCuh7pEQgRRWJQVZjhqueqSz4ACy5snG6UiexCxovDy4xS7mGayvL_0Lzgm8Q99jcJ3zfgriLLZhKcOtrMM3fFtu9tXArkVneBQLwhk58e5FOS6Ye4imMqShkI4FUGbDeGKRefP8FE/s1600/fabric.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" h5="true" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOQbgCuh7pEQgRRWJQVZjhqueqSz4ACy5snG6UiexCxovDy4xS7mGayvL_0Lzgm8Q99jcJ3zfgriLLZhKcOtrMM3fFtu9tXArkVneBQLwhk58e5FOS6Ye4imMqShkI4FUGbDeGKRefP8FE/s400/fabric.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">I ordered the five fabrics from </span><a href="http://www.fabric.com/"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">www.fabric.com</span></a><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> for a great deal with some coupon codes. And yes, I realize there are only four above, the fifth appears to be sold out. Here's what I got:</span></div><ol><li><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><a href="https://www.fabric.com/ProductDetail.aspx?ProductID=55fe00a7-0d1e-438a-afbb-2cea6d9c6815"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Sky blue stretch cotton</span></a></div></li>
<li><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><a href="https://www.fabric.com/ProductDetail.aspx?ProductID=739977d3-eb23-491c-b4e8-eb1d9d8f9830"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Golden sage dots</span></a></div></li>
<li><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><a href="https://www.fabric.com/ProductDetail.aspx?ProductID=33e9dab5-1f58-404f-b34b-e470be5de0df"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Blue and natural zig zag</span></a></div></li>
<li><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><a href="https://www.fabric.com/ProductDetail.aspx?ProductID=8c8a442f-238a-4644-afc4-d46ef7778b5d"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Silver grey felt</span></a></div></li>
<li><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">White cotton with royal blue stripes</span></div></li>
</ol><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">I have plans to make napkins, placemats, pillows and other things that only require limited sewing knowledge. The zig zag fabric may not ever make it to the sewing machine though, because once it got here I came up with a new idea for it. Stay tuned to see where they all end up. :)</span></div>paige reneehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00044535276318816102noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2710939044211848341.post-69132073611894378852011-02-09T17:43:00.001-06:002011-02-09T17:43:01.025-06:00The summer camp feeling [and a slightly random post transition]…<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Tahoma; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">Throughout college, I worked for my school newspaper <span style="font-size: x-small;">[<a href="http://www.washburnreview.org/">the Washburn Review</a>]</span>. I started at the same time as two other girls and we decided it would be fun to write a column called “The Freshmen View” to talk about our experiences as freshmen on campus. In one of the columns I wrote, I talked about my transition from living at home with my parents to living in a dorm three hours away. I compared it to feeling like I was just away at summer camp. Between classes, extracurricular activities, hanging out with friends, and everything else, it just didn’t really <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">feel </i>like I had moved. I was so busy that it hadn’t actually sunk in that I <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">lived there</i></span> and wasn’t just away at camp for a few weeks.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Since moving to Houston <span style="font-size: x-small;">[nearly six months ago now]</span>, I’ve had this same “summer camp feeling”. A few examples from the past couple of weeks:</span></div><ul><li><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">When filling out a form for work, I put that I was from the Kansas City office…oops.</span></div></li>
<li><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">I told someone that I have only ever eaten at the Grand Lux Café when I was out of town. This was the day after I ate lunch there <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">in Houston</i>.</span></div></li>
<li><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">When a friend asked me how long it took for our new house to <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">really feel </i>like it was ours, my response was that the house felt like ours pretty quickly. But that it <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">still</i> feels weird that the house is <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">in Texas. </i></span></div></li>
</ul><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Tahoma; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Don’t get me wrong, I am absolutely loving living here - it is just taking me a while to realize that we <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">live</i> 13 hours <span style="font-size: x-small;">[approximately 800 miles]</span> away from the place we had always called home. It still feels more like we are just here at summer camp for a while. </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8K84Y0adVx9PDpRWECAcNVdgswOr61-oRrtGIQDy21vD32zlSRr6QHVu88i116T9FU8CrfG3qf_uvn0ZTtn4tyDPIzwOdHYXzYKNiRBqadDqZTkYQvbdkQTTXBfgV4SFHJvJiKA-PbK9Z/s1600/high+gloss.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" h5="true" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8K84Y0adVx9PDpRWECAcNVdgswOr61-oRrtGIQDy21vD32zlSRr6QHVu88i116T9FU8CrfG3qf_uvn0ZTtn4tyDPIzwOdHYXzYKNiRBqadDqZTkYQvbdkQTTXBfgV4SFHJvJiKA-PbK9Z/s400/high+gloss.jpg" width="308" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Tahoma; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">But one clear sign that Houston is becoming more like home was how excited I got that an amazing new e-zine was founded by someone from <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">my city</i>. <em>My city</em> being Houston. If you haven’t checked it out yet, you need to go read the premier issue of <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><a href="http://www.highglossmagazine.com/read">High Gloss</a> </i>right away. It is amazing. All 181 pages are packed with great style tips, beautiful home decor inspiration, fun party ideas, gorgeous photos, interesting articles, and just all around incredible-ness. My favorite articles were:</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Tahoma; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"></span></span></div><ul><li><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Tahoma; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Modern Makeover</span></span></div></li>
<li><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Tahoma; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Putting on the Glitz</span></span></div></li>
<li><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Tahoma; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Striking a Balance</span></span></div></li>
<li><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Tahoma; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Valentine’s in the Valley</span></span></div></li>
<li><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Tahoma; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">La Vie en Roses</span></span></div></li>
</ul>paige reneehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00044535276318816102noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2710939044211848341.post-89896544400536990352011-02-05T00:22:00.004-06:002011-04-06T13:35:05.051-05:00Baseball gallery wall...<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Baseball gallery wall = DONE! Yay! :)</span></div><br />
<div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS;">In laying out the pattern for the wall, I had a pretty good methodology. I started in the middle with the biggest piece that we wanted to be the main focus. From there, I put the other pictures in order of largest to smallest. I started with the largest, picked a place for it, then moved to the next. I tried to somewhat keep in mind things like not having too many horizontal <span style="font-size: x-small;">[or vertical]</span> frames in a row, the colors, etc. But the main thing I kept in mind was <em>not to over think it, </em>since I generally tend to be super planned out and symmetrical <span style="font-size: x-small;">[which is not what we were going for]</span>.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS;">As far as actually hanging the frames, I couldn't really decide on a good method. </span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS;">I've read a bunch of places about using wrapping paper to make cut-outs of each frame to arrange on the wall first. But I also had read that the wrapping paper rolls up and is annoying. So, I thought I would use the random stack of yellow paper we have. Well, you can see how long that lasted before I got bored of doing that...</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvdiMAc5zSSXPOzHOXVAluOrQ6DLgiiqso_i9pA0toqw5DeV1jttOnc3xYa13Tf_EHF8GK56rlnv9l4Gkl8G21YyUcGjITrBipH8Rq_RumcUO42eA34wE7mviqwFF-17bPW7riSCGpeDSy/s1600/frames+%252B+paper.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" h5="true" height="308" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvdiMAc5zSSXPOzHOXVAluOrQ6DLgiiqso_i9pA0toqw5DeV1jttOnc3xYa13Tf_EHF8GK56rlnv9l4Gkl8G21YyUcGjITrBipH8Rq_RumcUO42eA34wE7mviqwFF-17bPW7riSCGpeDSy/s400/frames+%252B+paper.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Then, I decided to just make pencil marks on the wall of where the edges and middle of the arrangement should be. That was definitely helpful but didn't really give the same effect as seeing something on the wall <span style="font-size: x-small;">[teensy-tiny, little pencil dashes don't count as seeing something on the wall in my book]</span>. So, I decided to use tape to mark out some key parts of the arrangement to make sure it looked right. It looks pretty random, but was helpful. After seeing it on the wall, I knew I wanted to move the arrangement up some from what I originally thought.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSZizV12z-EOxT6Rr7wu3TwVG73cOsEI3NoJS-4QZ55hp_dSNNhEmqODonTOnMXi0LC7TlhvddESYPbzr76QhLIMp9Ddxd6TCnmRSo3maI8mekH92xd6_TiTiTwPM9s2avx8AuLYXiCCbz/s1600/wall+%252B+tape.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" h5="true" height="308" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSZizV12z-EOxT6Rr7wu3TwVG73cOsEI3NoJS-4QZ55hp_dSNNhEmqODonTOnMXi0LC7TlhvddESYPbzr76QhLIMp9Ddxd6TCnmRSo3maI8mekH92xd6_TiTiTwPM9s2avx8AuLYXiCCbz/s400/wall+%252B+tape.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Then, I was almost ready to start <em>actually hanging </em>things on the wall. Again, I knew I wanted to start by hanging the big piece in the middle to anchor the arrangement. I numbered each piece to know which should go next, which was <em>very helpful. </em>The sides of my arrangement are in a line, so I numbered in a way that I would do those and then space the frames in the middle so that they would fit in between. It was probably especially helpful since I didn't have any real measuring going on. Sure, I knew I wanted some things three fingers apart, but I don't think that counts as <em>real measuring.</em> I actually think my lack of real measuring helped make it easier though, since then I wasn't worried about hanging things so they were exactly two inches apart or something like that. </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiW5xkbIPMeeoUjyeMNmo_dd8Z9YZe8Vjf5QtXpNS9GgCcOMo8QruekxpC038yt8QZHUt03NEe_8bTo3WH9VeTYzcazmOVhBS5_jBbYfUdRxFvLELvmzbcNH64_cRErdTy7Cl194EYnvhyz/s1600/frames+%252B+numbers.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" h5="true" height="308" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiW5xkbIPMeeoUjyeMNmo_dd8Z9YZe8Vjf5QtXpNS9GgCcOMo8QruekxpC038yt8QZHUt03NEe_8bTo3WH9VeTYzcazmOVhBS5_jBbYfUdRxFvLELvmzbcNH64_cRErdTy7Cl194EYnvhyz/s400/frames+%252B+numbers.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Okay, enough babbling. Here's how it turned out - first, the view as you walk up the stairs...</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjoBsJcaGXzmkyTbX9wG-9BB7KFGNdcjz6BjWPJJotnBfyoouyVxw7V3RM2Eozi9VZodqpFNIamVSTnLks_toG_cOHv71oO_MbmxuuD_EOOagPNDCKqpQpS8IYzpiS8ltfe2iwyDrhGe2IM/s1600/stairs+view.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" h5="true" height="308" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjoBsJcaGXzmkyTbX9wG-9BB7KFGNdcjz6BjWPJJotnBfyoouyVxw7V3RM2Eozi9VZodqpFNIamVSTnLks_toG_cOHv71oO_MbmxuuD_EOOagPNDCKqpQpS8IYzpiS8ltfe2iwyDrhGe2IM/s400/stairs+view.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Next, as you round the corner into the upstairs area...</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6Fg-5niM-6LK-Zvo5zSO8ijwoTyMTEG31_WZpMfDZ-oPBuYBc86TK8hpkpEnP3BpvWQ5VZa7kXOYKcxx1hJ2KVe1U3hY32iwL5fk1JYVg3Egzc9uvAD7O_GbgLCxmQKXWMI_ZlbvR1r4F/s1600/view+from+hall.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" h5="true" height="308" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6Fg-5niM-6LK-Zvo5zSO8ijwoTyMTEG31_WZpMfDZ-oPBuYBc86TK8hpkpEnP3BpvWQ5VZa7kXOYKcxx1hJ2KVe1U3hY32iwL5fk1JYVg3Egzc9uvAD7O_GbgLCxmQKXWMI_ZlbvR1r4F/s400/view+from+hall.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">And then, the view from in the rec room...</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTF29JcJTE6FlhiA2vMpMkLYcCcoZzxdD9eJLr97-qCQXaWke_tzcJHRJ08Nd0F3xPBO-4dsoIeN8iYwLOmqNFNgs6PwpwRGDB-3_PG7Xmkoeg535jNvfaV3I1fm0LQ_zofDf6YLx5R-a7/s1600/rec+room+view.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" h5="true" height="308" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTF29JcJTE6FlhiA2vMpMkLYcCcoZzxdD9eJLr97-qCQXaWke_tzcJHRJ08Nd0F3xPBO-4dsoIeN8iYwLOmqNFNgs6PwpwRGDB-3_PG7Xmkoeg535jNvfaV3I1fm0LQ_zofDf6YLx5R-a7/s400/rec+room+view.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">And just for fun <span style="font-size: x-small;">[and because I'm very proud of it :)]</span>, here is the before and after...</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZMix29oxim7arTVeYk3LGLqeFSOHj-B40MQC4fqdtUSCH64aQ7IHKK082LeOcMehHcz-IL5930kXVCMzv1QlrEW5FxMqpNsqVaqP6SKjxi0C5DNcmDnUKgjUPueZQQQgzGnXUcy3fmte2/s1600/wall+before.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" h5="true" height="308" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZMix29oxim7arTVeYk3LGLqeFSOHj-B40MQC4fqdtUSCH64aQ7IHKK082LeOcMehHcz-IL5930kXVCMzv1QlrEW5FxMqpNsqVaqP6SKjxi0C5DNcmDnUKgjUPueZQQQgzGnXUcy3fmte2/s400/wall+before.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghM-Bq6oct0x8ttwQUhD8LdWJLWb_u_81frTLpCqLINujUFOeFr9d6Au395x6pZ7gYFTijjU567Hg6glApNutO8x6mA1XNx_DKmB6Q-Xe_GSCyrzfDBly6ZcYoyLSyP5wMOY4Z9JyNob1t/s1600/wall+after.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" h5="true" height="308" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghM-Bq6oct0x8ttwQUhD8LdWJLWb_u_81frTLpCqLINujUFOeFr9d6Au395x6pZ7gYFTijjU567Hg6glApNutO8x6mA1XNx_DKmB6Q-Xe_GSCyrzfDBly6ZcYoyLSyP5wMOY4Z9JyNob1t/s400/wall+after.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><img border="0" h5="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjoKQI3_g3Mpxbx6DarW3aF_p9neH2y2faGfb1xtlBXShbIcIiBERFy1pCGOfpdu9cpGhPUuQezTUOG3mdqREqF097Bd7SzunhspoVkkgLPjGWRGSXuR0l6qicY8-THbUUNrMsPzfJOvyHD/s1600/satbutton.gif" /> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRPQk2VxJ_aPiUPB4PFfHudNIWp_hd4fUH1dEhlwAT2Zo4EmktSGk3hSiUXgSzsscD6BpEILw-VGSCGdBdFin2nuUxnXlxsMLWLChKvRK9_HVLJe1CGFZay-j0dyKXWr1EP6M_Hz77nFm_/s1600/beforeAndAfterButton_thumb.gif" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" h5="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRPQk2VxJ_aPiUPB4PFfHudNIWp_hd4fUH1dEhlwAT2Zo4EmktSGk3hSiUXgSzsscD6BpEILw-VGSCGdBdFin2nuUxnXlxsMLWLChKvRK9_HVLJe1CGFZay-j0dyKXWr1EP6M_Hz77nFm_/s1600/beforeAndAfterButton_thumb.gif" /></a><a href="http://theinspiredroom.net/2011/04/05/gallery-wall/" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" h5="true" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiemEC4Lj1oBpWTF0I9UkNQlHwJUCQQI0OxV9uewIAzEb_zZ93MUlX10GoTBwQqUSDRRtpaqBiGJMKNh5QHop2_H9r3gmG2q7UgEPhQB06m-VIYAO9eRydZFsfmgB9zvbucmZzX-DIA7FFo/s200/DIY_Blog_button.jpg" width="168" /></a><img border="0" height="200" r6="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVZwaht9P4u6ytFu5peu2U-v9Ba7W82BPQfTKq2utQBWqgbnblrETr9GIqzgv0yM68iDDV6qNnyLEcPuIx0P5r4JuI_NWxsT4_RzfCy9styV8bqIpjnltTB80q2R0KZNtMri3X5eYZ7Vsh/s200/GalleryWALLS9.jpg" width="200" /></div>paige reneehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00044535276318816102noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2710939044211848341.post-62185992301321634982011-02-04T17:36:00.001-06:002011-02-04T17:36:00.380-06:00Frame "shopping"...<div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">I </span><a href="http://apaigeinhistory.blogspot.com/2011/02/home-goals-progress-update.html"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">showed you</span></a><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> that we have been working on a gallery wall of pictures for our rec room. The rec room is also known as <em>the baseball room</em>. Yep, we are really cool <span style="font-size: x-small;">[and obsessed with baseball]</span>, so we have an entire room dedicated to baseball. When I last updated you on the progress, I had just laid out all of the pictures for the baseball gallery wall. Most of the pictures were already framed, but there were five things that needed frames.</span></div><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div></span><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">So I got busy shopping...our house. </span></div><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div></span><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">All of the pictures and art already coordinated <span style="font-size: x-small;">[since it is all baseball-related]</span> but I wanted all of the frames to also be black to help tie it together even better. Here are the results of my frame "shopping"...</span></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7C-ni2f9AyZ2K7D1fvL1UJdbs0_dl5DFNCAD_EMQDqtXs40CLormAQlTGXaElJTAYof3UhOim7kR-TyKp5tRbyfykOBAo8ZsVvXM6rNidY3XeacRhsXxe6DnC6gWSakdrbZm8E6lXpEMK/s1600/frame+shopping.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" h5="true" height="308" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7C-ni2f9AyZ2K7D1fvL1UJdbs0_dl5DFNCAD_EMQDqtXs40CLormAQlTGXaElJTAYof3UhOim7kR-TyKp5tRbyfykOBAo8ZsVvXM6rNidY3XeacRhsXxe6DnC6gWSakdrbZm8E6lXpEMK/s400/frame+shopping.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br />
<div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">The first few were pretty easy. First, there were two frames that were in the </span><a href="http://apaigeinhistory.blogspot.com/2009/10/redecorating-guest-bedroom.html"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">guest bedroom</span></a><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> at our old house but weren't currently being used.</span></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfkpV1eMVPJ9mjsvI-0z79u5R67XJ22e7qOnH_HGcvRIpAEiCpceUSJr5ZoaszqdN5P3-dJCeYqgFs3SjDpUGAMj-KZMkY-ui3dUVRBZerwEt2001qGn0y2UsIpK7Q9tLCNcDw811UMmmV/s1600/this+%252B+that+frames.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" h5="true" height="308" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfkpV1eMVPJ9mjsvI-0z79u5R67XJ22e7qOnH_HGcvRIpAEiCpceUSJr5ZoaszqdN5P3-dJCeYqgFs3SjDpUGAMj-KZMkY-ui3dUVRBZerwEt2001qGn0y2UsIpK7Q9tLCNcDw811UMmmV/s400/this+%252B+that+frames.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br />
<div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><em>This</em> one was used for this picture...</span></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTpxevffyz5HoO-z6xNb4lZd4NME7tHatblbZ6KPzZ6z6nb5qr2tIHcIJaBPgAcNp92CNpdtYgA0PPL-dynJYODvpGQXPJFJRqdd3lHOneJAQPfyDlouMcJybM2tQ_bh__4-8mej-7SGsl/s1600/royal+reflections+framed.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" h5="true" height="308" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTpxevffyz5HoO-z6xNb4lZd4NME7tHatblbZ6KPzZ6z6nb5qr2tIHcIJaBPgAcNp92CNpdtYgA0PPL-dynJYODvpGQXPJFJRqdd3lHOneJAQPfyDlouMcJybM2tQ_bh__4-8mej-7SGsl/s400/royal+reflections+framed.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">And <em>that</em> one was used for this picture...</span></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjF94An8h1KZkWy9jI88FK_2xLdfESDql2hk0dic4lXRIknQ6dX7dcyPvmNWb1nCGQHKw6vkoPnaTNic_mh_aTx_9oky8Tgu4Rtld_i8apUvzjt3lpgu0fnR8Ua9UzGp4bpdia9YIXy_Lqf/s1600/home+run+derby+framed.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" h5="true" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjF94An8h1KZkWy9jI88FK_2xLdfESDql2hk0dic4lXRIknQ6dX7dcyPvmNWb1nCGQHKw6vkoPnaTNic_mh_aTx_9oky8Tgu4Rtld_i8apUvzjt3lpgu0fnR8Ua9UzGp4bpdia9YIXy_Lqf/s400/home+run+derby+framed.jpg" width="308" /></a></div><br />
<div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Then, I found this frame in our office with a picture from <em>The Today Show</em> during our service trip to New York in college...</span></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSsDitDHiUcL5yNR0LLWp1Hxs7XlYI2usUCzPvX0tQEQGpghS99-ltwKQjaZkIhjvAR2KWSRlIhzRKprFoJCuCFm0L639FdsiN_wXd_hZjbcfX9uix4Kbu0Xj6Wv7K7TTetSISiyV2Ysy7/s1600/ichabod+%252B+frame.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" h5="true" height="308" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSsDitDHiUcL5yNR0LLWp1Hxs7XlYI2usUCzPvX0tQEQGpghS99-ltwKQjaZkIhjvAR2KWSRlIhzRKprFoJCuCFm0L639FdsiN_wXd_hZjbcfX9uix4Kbu0Xj6Wv7K7TTetSISiyV2Ysy7/s400/ichabod+%252B+frame.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br />
<div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">I'll find a different frame for that picture, because this one was the perfect size for this...</span></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjU-caQVbLyWoH6GwBROJaFKJ8pnWf5oBNL_XBmEM9Tkl72j3cGlcL3AkSBp5jlb11SK-8dqMcCaxx1rUyiyloKQbrnQd5tGDm-mP7K1ARqlwzGvGwLho6inYRlcileDhe7gVpObWVqJB3E/s1600/montgomery+%252B+frame.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" h5="true" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjU-caQVbLyWoH6GwBROJaFKJ8pnWf5oBNL_XBmEM9Tkl72j3cGlcL3AkSBp5jlb11SK-8dqMcCaxx1rUyiyloKQbrnQd5tGDm-mP7K1ARqlwzGvGwLho6inYRlcileDhe7gVpObWVqJB3E/s400/montgomery+%252B+frame.jpg" width="308" /></a></div><br />
<div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">The last two were the perfect size too, but not quite the perfect look. It was nothing that a couple quick coats of black spraypaint couldn't solve though. First, I took a brown document frame from scholarly to sporty...</span></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMDZepJSP_lBHlxRhedFZpIYqbMQnj3VkuDmkXJRd1CJRWQ_sUyyO7C6d-R2oT96-50xbz5Uyz7aGYnLo08CCGUjezg6LX58RYem9zrmZA6AaTN79JHCgTkXfVvaIbiVNOCND35cyN_lxi/s1600/scholarly+frame.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" h5="true" height="308" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMDZepJSP_lBHlxRhedFZpIYqbMQnj3VkuDmkXJRd1CJRWQ_sUyyO7C6d-R2oT96-50xbz5Uyz7aGYnLo08CCGUjezg6LX58RYem9zrmZA6AaTN79JHCgTkXfVvaIbiVNOCND35cyN_lxi/s400/scholarly+frame.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFEx4xXb53G1SR_bxsHgkvRmSTbZd5CgxFOjDs5wqiiHB9te3Nl5_uFO2smSaheW5ZrJ9Nun9eJ0CzVmr3pUeZNEbUvqsRSwaHBsNh0DIkVYtTTtsvyW3Ve7inn3lVf4a5Q2CsDgPFkw8S/s1600/so-so+frame.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" h5="true" height="308" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFEx4xXb53G1SR_bxsHgkvRmSTbZd5CgxFOjDs5wqiiHB9te3Nl5_uFO2smSaheW5ZrJ9Nun9eJ0CzVmr3pUeZNEbUvqsRSwaHBsNh0DIkVYtTTtsvyW3Ve7inn3lVf4a5Q2CsDgPFkw8S/s400/so-so+frame.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOOp0pMA4hRUU1dszy4pndfJgu778YacTkhRTiQ6hdV8KRvWQxujofqkkZWejYmzEHGmiLnSL_O3Qo_4Fd_VjSxO_lTtTTRtJUIdM3pb5DvzXBLxduOyNI-eIRF1RXvjjPMPlKjp4hTg8d/s1600/sporty+frame.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" h5="true" height="308" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOOp0pMA4hRUU1dszy4pndfJgu778YacTkhRTiQ6hdV8KRvWQxujofqkkZWejYmzEHGmiLnSL_O3Qo_4Fd_VjSxO_lTtTTRtJUIdM3pb5DvzXBLxduOyNI-eIRF1RXvjjPMPlKjp4hTg8d/s400/sporty+frame.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Then, I changed a cute, pink and black frame to a cool, black frame...</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjy1BXarEN60z6jUhBY1fEKx2fhYrR5ZvQCe1SZ5ejNOcozpP-LkUvkXJOn5gSj-DSkLDfB2E8rvYLRMf4IPahEMM8DSDiwqG0Zw1ueMemBmD4NLZ0eSL4bcwSdP_omb7ek1qA4ejgwtgn/s1600/cute+frame.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" h5="true" height="308" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjy1BXarEN60z6jUhBY1fEKx2fhYrR5ZvQCe1SZ5ejNOcozpP-LkUvkXJOn5gSj-DSkLDfB2E8rvYLRMf4IPahEMM8DSDiwqG0Zw1ueMemBmD4NLZ0eSL4bcwSdP_omb7ek1qA4ejgwtgn/s400/cute+frame.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFQQIvXdOPM3i53Q-p8sCvBcff2PrM0aD-ahS-_gkBoyKh9hhlEx2YCwC3rdUi_Z4PIHUVvgETK-HclPVWpVYfVIlEUN7bhy4RcQBuadSufriRCAcrWrWvlQBD55pW52ga2ecM9fQNrCUl/s1600/creepy+frame.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" h5="true" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFQQIvXdOPM3i53Q-p8sCvBcff2PrM0aD-ahS-_gkBoyKh9hhlEx2YCwC3rdUi_Z4PIHUVvgETK-HclPVWpVYfVIlEUN7bhy4RcQBuadSufriRCAcrWrWvlQBD55pW52ga2ecM9fQNrCUl/s400/creepy+frame.jpg" width="308" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiilL945iUKNM6lnFcjRFWTIJ68fXUL8r_bB62caKBbWbuEqt2ThuO_BOZjSZUOqgailefeC3n-_EgCZGeV7MILQz1lOo43c9I_3clYtDv96NWQjgN77qK1IbBcECEBLEhurXqkPd6Lw5vZ/s1600/cool+frame.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" h5="true" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiilL945iUKNM6lnFcjRFWTIJ68fXUL8r_bB62caKBbWbuEqt2ThuO_BOZjSZUOqgailefeC3n-_EgCZGeV7MILQz1lOo43c9I_3clYtDv96NWQjgN77qK1IbBcECEBLEhurXqkPd6Lw5vZ/s400/cool+frame.jpg" width="308" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">All in all, I'd say it was a very successful "shopping" trip. :)</span></div>paige reneehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00044535276318816102noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2710939044211848341.post-64839524390496648992011-02-03T17:18:00.000-06:002011-02-03T17:18:00.265-06:00Twine vases...<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">I made these </span><a href="http://apaigeinhistory.blogspot.com/2009/12/something-not-from-hotel.html"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">tw<span id="goog_1723484817"></span>ine-wrapped vases</span></a><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> <span id="goog_1723484818"></span>over a year ago and still love them. The problem is...I just can't seem to find a good home for them in our new home. In </span><a href="http://apaigeinhistory.blogspot.com/2010/04/how-i-met-my-house.html"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">our first house</span></a><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> they had a happy little home on top of the bookshelf by the front door. Their contents changed, but they were always there:</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">First, they had plain sticks from our yard. Then, I gave the sticks a quick coat of silvery spraypaint to give them some winter-ish shimmer. Then, the sticks were replaced by some cheery, Spring-y flowers.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglrSjRKqMiF6mTpBHCMu2WqzUFN0QdXJT6MJjO0UftAUKPXTuqZFbpAgv62ddn8egYQDFJDgMIw3WP8AGj58E5ZSEiV3qqWKK6uskms9jJqJWmxXfervf_2cKTLAnWTVvIyVKYEQISJLxt/s1600/Twine+vases.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" n4="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglrSjRKqMiF6mTpBHCMu2WqzUFN0QdXJT6MJjO0UftAUKPXTuqZFbpAgv62ddn8egYQDFJDgMIw3WP8AGj58E5ZSEiV3qqWKK6uskms9jJqJWmxXfervf_2cKTLAnWTVvIyVKYEQISJLxt/s1600/Twine+vases.jpg" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">I actually think that the only time they moved from their spot by the door was when I filled them with clippings from our bushes to be used in the </span><a href="http://apaigeinhistory.blogspot.com/2010/06/couples-shower-more-decor.html"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">decor for the couples' shower</span></a><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> we hosted last Spring. But in our new house, there is no bookcase by the door for them to live on. <span style="font-size: x-small;">[In my dream world, I'm going to find an awesome - yet very inexpensive - console table to refinish for our new entryway, but that might be a while.]</span> </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS;">Currently, the vases are on the built-in shelves in our sitting room. The problem is the shelves are too low to really put anything in the vases. Kind of awkward. I also tried them on a side table in the living room, but they looked too bare there. Also, kind of awkward. I'm thinking that next I am going to move them upstairs to the guest bedroom - oddly, they would probably go on the same bookcase they were on in our first house. I have some fun DIY ideas for that room that hopefully I'll be tackling in the next few months - and the twine vases will fit in perfectly. :)</span></div>paige reneehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00044535276318816102noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2710939044211848341.post-49793689969059413532011-02-03T06:11:00.003-06:002011-02-03T06:11:00.473-06:00White, gray and blue table setting...<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Tahoma; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">As I showed you, our <a href="http://apaigeinhistory.blogspot.com/2011/02/home-goals-progress-update.html">rec room</a> upstairs is currently in a state of disaster. It looks like a hurricane blew through it and now the flooding from the storm is reaching neighboring areas. Which in this case means that the boxes, tubs, pictures and baseball paraphernalia are temporarily taking over other rooms too...the guest bedroom, office, stairs and garage. <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Awesome.</i> </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Tahoma; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">But there is one area of our home that I can <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">always </i>count on to be clean, orderly and pretty – our table. And as much as I always love a pretty table setting, I love it <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">even more</i> when other areas are temporarily in need of disaster recovery. :)</span><span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Tahoma; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"> </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Tahoma; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">So, let’s take a look at our current table setting…</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiicRNmmOkq7KrC2ojo7VtDl3Esc1j5Dv9vNi14XQmfq231H7yLv0DXx7FPJBcuwtlFBtsqx_XPBoYN1u6vRP7LnGWr6AJCmr00a8Gh_ha_W9U6GV_WvESNmgC0rJFn7WDSTBZLV1nvxV8x/s1600/january+table.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="308" s5="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiicRNmmOkq7KrC2ojo7VtDl3Esc1j5Dv9vNi14XQmfq231H7yLv0DXx7FPJBcuwtlFBtsqx_XPBoYN1u6vRP7LnGWr6AJCmr00a8Gh_ha_W9U6GV_WvESNmgC0rJFn7WDSTBZLV1nvxV8x/s400/january+table.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Tahoma; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">This table setting was done using entirely things I already owned…or was recently gifted. :)</span><span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Tahoma; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"> <span style="font-size: x-small;">[The blue placemats were a Christmas gift from my in-laws</span> - <span style="font-size: x-small;">thanks again!]</span> The rest of the items are frequent players in my table settings, such the candle holders used in <a href="http://apaigeinhistory.blogspot.com/2011/01/our-christmas-table.html">our Christmas table</a>, and the trifle dish* used <a href="http://apaigeinhistory.blogspot.com/2011/01/random-table-photos.html">here</a>.</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZKIz3lKX8JbA1daNANlB8O8ZzHq9402ba4rM84UQEXW5fePhzMvrnpHa8sFWo7rP6qvqiuKMbQx2_NHQ8d2UqQQ5T9q51CrRUxKJaVkc_tPpIbOKbXzizLK2xCQzjRp15N9SVdFaoCfkr/s1600/january+table+close-up.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="308" s5="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZKIz3lKX8JbA1daNANlB8O8ZzHq9402ba4rM84UQEXW5fePhzMvrnpHa8sFWo7rP6qvqiuKMbQx2_NHQ8d2UqQQ5T9q51CrRUxKJaVkc_tPpIbOKbXzizLK2xCQzjRp15N9SVdFaoCfkr/s400/january+table+close-up.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Tahoma; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">This time I changed up the trifle dish filler <span style="font-size: x-small;">[from my go-to cork collection]</span> and used clear glass marbles. I love the way they shimmer a little in the light and almost look like water or ice. I also like that once again there are items from our wedding used in the table setting – including the trifle dish, the glass marbles and candles. Even the candle holders were a wedding gift. Looking at the pretty table, especially with the wedding memories, makes me smile every time…even if other parts of the house are chaotic. </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-eJboh89WSLymlgAIflWuU6TpC9bh-UcnsDgmIrz1OdMc3s7MKJUaaE9xmYkVPXKwQqjNHS1-2pUJ3HFr9xgMMCfFbh8iDv_vu1R8tWtrC-loewyFC-ifqEv30NW-rMyKabyEdoI3K6Jc/s1600/january+table+detail.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" s5="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-eJboh89WSLymlgAIflWuU6TpC9bh-UcnsDgmIrz1OdMc3s7MKJUaaE9xmYkVPXKwQqjNHS1-2pUJ3HFr9xgMMCfFbh8iDv_vu1R8tWtrC-loewyFC-ifqEv30NW-rMyKabyEdoI3K6Jc/s400/january+table+detail.jpg" width="307" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Tahoma; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">*I think it’s funny that the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">trifle dish</i> has never been used for a <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">trifle. </i>Actually, the only times it has ever even been used for food were to hold </span><a href="http://apaigeinhistory.blogspot.com/2009/07/wedding-memory-six-details.html"><span style="font-size: x-small;">candy at our wedding</span></a><span style="font-size: x-small;"> and </span><a href="http://apaigeinhistory.blogspot.com/2010/06/couples-shower-yummy-desserts.html"><span style="font-size: x-small;">fruit kabobs</span></a><span style="font-size: x-small;"> at a couples’ shower. But this </span><a href="http://www.ifood.tv/recipe/berry-trifle"><span style="font-size: x-small;">berry trifle recipe</span></a><span style="font-size: x-small;"> looks really good, so I may have to try it out soon. :)</span></span></span></div>paige reneehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00044535276318816102noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2710939044211848341.post-11606255708066466982011-02-02T17:43:00.003-06:002011-02-02T17:43:00.896-06:00Home goals | Progress update...<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Tahoma; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">It’s hard to believe we are already <span style="font-size: x-small;">[more than]</span> a month into 2011. And perhaps even harder to believe, we have already made progress towards our <a href="http://apaigeinhistory.blogspot.com/2011/01/2011-home-goals.html">2011 home goals</a>. <strong>Yay!</strong> </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Tahoma; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">So, I thought I would give a little progress update:</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Tahoma; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><strong><u>Laundry</u></strong> – I am doing surprisingly well at keeping my closet picked up all the time. It is amazing how if you just hang things back up one at a time, it is a lot quicker than trying to deal with a giant pile of who knows what. :)</span><span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Tahoma; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"> I also have a new routine for “laundry Sundays” that is working out very well*. I do laundry throughout the day on Sunday while we hang out, do stuff around the house, work, whatever. And then I fold it all Sunday evening while I watch Desperate Housewives and Brothers & Sisters. I have even managed to plan ahead to still do laundry once a week if I won’t be home on Laundry Sunday. So far, so good. </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Tahoma; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><u><strong>Kitchen</strong></u> – I can’t take <s>much</s> any credit for this one, but Mr. W is doing awesome at keeping our kitchen looking great all the time. I can’t even explain how lucky, spoiled, blessed, and thankful I am for all he does. He does 99% of the grocery shopping, cooking, and kitchen-cleaning. Seriously, he is amazing.</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Tahoma; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><strong><u>Rec Room</u></strong> – We are well underway making some major progress up there. We are currently in the state where it looks like we have made no progress, or even negative progress…</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6Cq_1F-w11KD-Pqu2wPR64_S76fkLuyCWIDcl0BPGJAQCrAFWwaf5WQ1ekCtiskQyvH5KmVQWH08u17ChWw-858T7QCPlYgA7KgeQvNlab4CuEonvcsIDxfP9gPmPWjnX44MH6WEL6G50/s1600/rec+room+chaos.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="308" s5="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6Cq_1F-w11KD-Pqu2wPR64_S76fkLuyCWIDcl0BPGJAQCrAFWwaf5WQ1ekCtiskQyvH5KmVQWH08u17ChWw-858T7QCPlYgA7KgeQvNlab4CuEonvcsIDxfP9gPmPWjnX44MH6WEL6G50/s400/rec+room+chaos.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDAQfD4-HJWG3muf-tk1NdFmME5cHMe_YrLon44Nt0LNuYc1S8E11zJ5BLQnb3tl07q8wEsP9zdgi9OuePdcgrEjr1J-fmJZ5fYV1aBqMkYwulVYdPPrRzW_OK40XRtrLJsISeGcKPBqte/s1600/rec+room+chaos+2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="308" s5="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDAQfD4-HJWG3muf-tk1NdFmME5cHMe_YrLon44Nt0LNuYc1S8E11zJ5BLQnb3tl07q8wEsP9zdgi9OuePdcgrEjr1J-fmJZ5fYV1aBqMkYwulVYdPPrRzW_OK40XRtrLJsISeGcKPBqte/s400/rec+room+chaos+2.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Tahoma; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">But so far we have:</span></span></div><ul><li><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Tahoma; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"></span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Tahoma; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">Purchased and assembled the futon</span></span></div></li>
<li><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Tahoma; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"></span></span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Tahoma; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">Finally </span></i><span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Tahoma; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">assembled our boxing stand</span></span></div></li>
<li><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Tahoma; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"></span></span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Tahoma; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">Started going through the bazillion boxes and tubs of baseball stuff</span></span></div></li>
<li><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Tahoma; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"></span></span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Tahoma; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">Moved the TV and TV stand upstairs from the family room</span></span></div></li>
<li><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Tahoma; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"></span></span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Tahoma; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">Started to mount the TV on the wall <span style="font-size: x-small;">[in doing this, Mr. W is definitely getting to use some cool tools, which was another one of our home goals]</span></span></span></div></li>
<li><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Tahoma; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"></span></span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Tahoma; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">Started a pile of Goodwill donations</span></span></div></li>
<li><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Tahoma; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"></span></span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Tahoma; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">Started to determine where things will be hung, including this future gallery wall of pictures…</span></span></div></li>
</ul><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhGkHCqu04LLVZMw1a-nr0Lcv99WQKMqiy9czPYJxZBzXdaUGNo3pdovDZSkcL5o2VRt2OOFFygeYQjr-Chj-sqv0Ip1Aho4J86wu7WBso1aSLaVddy6ycLJS2Pz7p4R_K6jJKwbqJggHo/s1600/baseball+gallery.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="308" s5="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhGkHCqu04LLVZMw1a-nr0Lcv99WQKMqiy9czPYJxZBzXdaUGNo3pdovDZSkcL5o2VRt2OOFFygeYQjr-Chj-sqv0Ip1Aho4J86wu7WBso1aSLaVddy6ycLJS2Pz7p4R_K6jJKwbqJggHo/s400/baseball+gallery.jpg" width="400" /></a><span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Tahoma; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Tahoma; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">On our to-do list before Sunday:</span></span></div><ul><li><div class="MsoNormal" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Tahoma; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"></span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Tahoma; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">Finish mounting the TV</span></span></div></li>
<li><div class="MsoNormal" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Tahoma; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"></span></span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Tahoma; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">Actually hang things on the wall <span style="font-size: x-small;">[also gets double-points on our home goals – put more stuff on the walls and work on rec room] </span></span></span></div></li>
<li><div class="MsoNormal" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Tahoma; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"></span></span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Tahoma; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">Secure the bookcase to the wall and start accessorizing it</span></span></div></li>
<li><div class="MsoNormal" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Tahoma; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"></span></span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Tahoma; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">Move the bazillion boxes and tubs out of the way to make the room presentable until we have time to finish it</span></span></div></li>
</ul><div class="MsoNormal" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Tahoma; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><strong><u>Hosting more people</u></strong> – On Sunday, we are having a small SuperBowl party at our house. So I need to stop writing this post and get to work - nothing like a deadline to get you motivated. :)</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Tahoma; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">*I did have one slight laundry mishap during the month…Mr. W was sorting through [what I thought was] a big pile of shirts to help me with the laundry. Being the sweet wife that I am, I told him not to worry about it and I would separate out the dress shirts that needed dry cleaning. He happily agreed and just asked me to make sure to pull out the Nautica’s. I finished the sorting without finding the so-called Nautica shirts he was talking about…umm, because he was talking about the three pairs of dry-clean only Nautica pants that I washed. Woops. But with my mad ironing skills [or something like that], I was able to make them look normal again [I think].</span></span></div>paige reneehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00044535276318816102noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2710939044211848341.post-12224592479181813502011-01-30T14:30:00.002-06:002011-02-05T08:28:08.377-06:00Gifts | stationary sets<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;">This is the last installment of the wrap-up of my homemade Christmas gifts. Well, not quite. There are two homemade gifts that I have yet to gift...so I can't post about them yet. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;">Anyways, this was one of my favorite gifts I made this year, because not only do I really like how it turned out, but also since it was <em>perfect</em> for the recipient. My sister <em>loves</em> sending hand-written cards <span style="font-size: x-small;">[and I <em>love </em>receiving them]</span>, so I made her eight different styles of cards. I am always impressed by how often my sister takes the time to write and send cards. She sends cards for all holidays, including Christmas, birthdays, Halloween, Valentine's Day, etc. <span style="font-size: x-small;">[And the cards are always on time, which is extra impressive to me, since I can never seem to send cards on time.]</span> She is also great about sending thank you cards, cards with pictures of my cutie nephew, cards to just say hi, and anything else you can imagine. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;">When I was cleaning out my old room at my parents' house a few months ago [fun, fun], I found a entire stack of cards, notes and letters my sister sent me while I was in college. When I say stack, I seriously mean a stack that was at least four inches high. Isn't that so sweet? And anybody that sweet deserves some personalized cards to send. :)</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgKqsJI4p7HTQS4N8FNBecOv979P8zHo3OWttGz2ApwJSF2Y-G3SCJ2-oiSdIKXfGiJAbAmUMTxnDVMhmXFYK_cc9p2GfX2lPkGfL3C6Z13hG0CKlr57PKCTaf1Bqi74uc_yRwNRyCGK_W/s1600/card+set+one.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="308" s5="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgKqsJI4p7HTQS4N8FNBecOv979P8zHo3OWttGz2ApwJSF2Y-G3SCJ2-oiSdIKXfGiJAbAmUMTxnDVMhmXFYK_cc9p2GfX2lPkGfL3C6Z13hG0CKlr57PKCTaf1Bqi74uc_yRwNRyCGK_W/s400/card+set+one.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">The letters and designs were all made using my Cricut. The cards include her first and last initial, thank you's, and just fun designs that can be used for anything. </div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNVsmVF0MqdZ3EFowDdxP5qYkWxyNMcJbP2vD-nsgG-ykH8_PlWFyjxKtMRfBCBD_HOvg28QocikZELhJgyy43jb1y3PL6YRsvYB0GeKoqytVIfaa-YVYA8hM0fTEPYq7LalpZreSHy-lr/s1600/card+set+two.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="308" s5="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNVsmVF0MqdZ3EFowDdxP5qYkWxyNMcJbP2vD-nsgG-ykH8_PlWFyjxKtMRfBCBD_HOvg28QocikZELhJgyy43jb1y3PL6YRsvYB0GeKoqytVIfaa-YVYA8hM0fTEPYq7LalpZreSHy-lr/s400/card+set+two.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">I punched circles from each of the papers and ran them through my sticker machine for her to use as coordinating envelope seals. I also made stickers out of more K and D cut-outs so she can further embellish the cards or envelopes. I wrapped the cards, envelopes, stickers, an address rubber stamp, and some matching pens all up in a pretty box - that way everything she needs to send a cute card is all together and ready to go. :)<br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">[I linked up to the <a href="http://thediyshowoff.blogspot.com/2011/01/diy-project-parade_30.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+blogspot%2FpuSM+%28The+DIY+Show+Off%29&utm_content=Google+Reader">DIY Project Parade</a> and <a href="http://www.lovelycraftyhome.com/?p=1152">Lovely Crafty Home</a> - check them out for some DIY, crafty awesomeness.]</span></div>paige reneehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00044535276318816102noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2710939044211848341.post-5725105576846096962011-01-24T23:29:00.000-06:002011-01-24T23:29:56.797-06:00Gifts | bulletin and magnet board...<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtBVwslGMP5v0EHBgLZVcP86ni9My6a95s08xzMmaIxBfiJ0FPLdUJ99ZfEbA95EGoIb8FdUbxTwHusdOkVlxpQMcehb2dt-x3JffjNkgoT6Yadgwr1toBiqFFje8gHQ6tJYLE8PUx2HxO/s1600/bulletin+board.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="308" s5="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtBVwslGMP5v0EHBgLZVcP86ni9My6a95s08xzMmaIxBfiJ0FPLdUJ99ZfEbA95EGoIb8FdUbxTwHusdOkVlxpQMcehb2dt-x3JffjNkgoT6Yadgwr1toBiqFFje8gHQ6tJYLE8PUx2HxO/s400/bulletin+board.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">I <strike>made</strike> customized this bulletin / magnetic board for my precious little <a href="http://apaigeinhistory.blogspot.com/2010/08/cutest-nephew-ever.html">nephew</a>'s first Christmas. I painted the cork board on the left side with orange craft paint, so it would be a little more exciting looking and match his nursery. <span style="font-size: x-small;">[I also painted the push pins, because once I start painting I just don't stop.] </span><span style="font-size: small;">Also, the gift will totally grow with him, because I'm sure as his room evolves over the years, there will always be plenty of Longhorn's orange around. :)</span></div><br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">The cute little wooden jungle animals were originally from his <a href="http://apaigeinhistory.blogspot.com/2010/06/baby-shower.html">baby shower</a> - I just glued some magnets on the back. The animals make me smile every time I see them, not only because they are so cute, but also from the memory of when we bought them. At one point while my sister was pregnant, I was shopping with my parents at Jo-Ann's and we must have been hilarious to listen to - literally, every aisle we walked into, at least one of us found something the baby would <em>have to have</em>. Everything from fabric, to stickers, to books, to stuffed animals, to little wood animals - we wanted to get him everything. We were probably the most excited, proudest family to ever shop the aisles of Jo-Ann's. :)</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">And in true, proudest-aunt-ever fashion, here is the adorable little guy with his first snowman...</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhje7xCn_-nTVpNyar-0i9GddT_xyO0V3HVLBFwtWMlBaU3KXPp3pv7bUepQ8p4vqyYnHeXF3eUuWwpEimtu4sfExB1femMrZQi6Ck7rwn1ypwIqYwwj9zxiVUaxZ6AWeZj1R9hTwsRnPXT/s1600/first+snowman.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="308" s5="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhje7xCn_-nTVpNyar-0i9GddT_xyO0V3HVLBFwtWMlBaU3KXPp3pv7bUepQ8p4vqyYnHeXF3eUuWwpEimtu4sfExB1femMrZQi6Ck7rwn1ypwIqYwwj9zxiVUaxZ6AWeZj1R9hTwsRnPXT/s400/first+snowman.jpg" width="400" /></a></div></div>paige reneehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00044535276318816102noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2710939044211848341.post-20567903091287057302011-01-21T18:03:00.001-06:002011-01-21T18:03:00.338-06:00Gifts | fun frosted flower-holders for family...<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvo3_3QmMCFXhl9DA5FuaRi_6ZoGzz_B4XrU96CupweXGkRv-73b-N0_Ll2_2iKM7CSG_eAHRMX-e_B2W7LIzkk-HwQ5Yi6OtExkOQyMtVCIardmp7sQoV9WXxCTXMqQ7I-q_KM7-Y__1-/s1600/frosted+vases.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" n4="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvo3_3QmMCFXhl9DA5FuaRi_6ZoGzz_B4XrU96CupweXGkRv-73b-N0_Ll2_2iKM7CSG_eAHRMX-e_B2W7LIzkk-HwQ5Yi6OtExkOQyMtVCIardmp7sQoV9WXxCTXMqQ7I-q_KM7-Y__1-/s400/frosted+vases.jpg" width="308" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;">Are you impressed by my awesome alliteration in the post title? No? Sorry, I just get super excited when I get to use my frosted glass spraypaint. :)</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;">I made these vases <span style="font-size: x-small;">[three of the </span><a href="http://apaigeinhistory.blogspot.com/2009/09/oh-possibilities.html"><span style="font-size: x-small;">bazillion vases</span></a><span style="font-size: x-small;"> from our wedding]</span> for my sister using simple techniques with my favorite frosted glass spraypaint. Seriously, it is so fun. And there are so many ways you can use it to personalize things around your home or as gifts. I also used it to make these <a href="http://apaigeinhistory.blogspot.com/2009/12/very-belated-birthday-gift.html">Longhorns glasses</a>.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;">But back to the vases <span style="font-size: x-small;">[aka fun frosted flower-holders]</span>. Here's the lowdown on each of them...</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><blockquote><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><strong>Left: </strong>Wrap painters tape <span style="font-size: x-small;">[masking tape works too]</span> around the vase in straight lines. Or you could do diagonal lines for more of a candy cane effect. Give the vase a few light coats of frosted glass spraypaint and then remove the tape carefully.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><strong>Center:</strong> Do not spray with any spraypaint. Clearly. :)</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><strong>Right:</strong> Put circle-shaped stickers on the vase in your desired design. Give the vase a few light coats of frosted glass spraypaint and then remove the stickers carefully. For these vases, I used silly "You're #1" stickers from the dollar store and they worked <em>perfectly</em>. I have also tried nice scrapbooking stickers that I got on sale and they did not work <em>at all. </em>They were much too high of quality and stuck too well. This is definitely a time when cheaper, less sticky, stickers are better. :)</div></blockquote>paige reneehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00044535276318816102noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2710939044211848341.post-82549048816833646782011-01-18T05:54:00.001-06:002011-01-18T05:54:00.974-06:00Gifts | paw necklace...<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">So, have you ever seen anything cuter than this picture?</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPPavSCAN1fwI1iGhKuvKov_HefYFCCdYewuswbwRP5WoJXwlsopYOovXsNgw-gU6AjPaoK_gA3jaU-i-tHV090Jcp1SNSBq5xutx2vaMBHvdZg2rFO5Nr4BzadCNLbTfSt4geMKA8s44l/s1600/puppy+love.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="308" n4="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPPavSCAN1fwI1iGhKuvKov_HefYFCCdYewuswbwRP5WoJXwlsopYOovXsNgw-gU6AjPaoK_gA3jaU-i-tHV090Jcp1SNSBq5xutx2vaMBHvdZg2rFO5Nr4BzadCNLbTfSt4geMKA8s44l/s400/puppy+love.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">It's Mr. W's little sister and their family dog, Goldie. Incredibly sweet, huh? His sister is a huge animal lover and especially loves Goldie, who just joined their family last summer. For Christmas, I made her this little paw necklace using a chain from Michaels and a cute black paw charm from Hobby Lobby. I like how it is very simple but <em>totally </em>fits her personality. :)</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4sTSYko6fwWcXGRJZYW7rqqOPspaqsBasaQEhRNAA5y4_fkoeBd5JTqVQ1LPDXjNh-NL357KHRpix6yvW077z0NXHjS_fKrp-M2p3WaE3ZJYbzxBctG-u0LQBgtMhscq8tdtpw3IBDMhe/s1600/paw+necklace.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" n4="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4sTSYko6fwWcXGRJZYW7rqqOPspaqsBasaQEhRNAA5y4_fkoeBd5JTqVQ1LPDXjNh-NL357KHRpix6yvW077z0NXHjS_fKrp-M2p3WaE3ZJYbzxBctG-u0LQBgtMhscq8tdtpw3IBDMhe/s320/paw+necklace.jpg" width="246" /></a></div>paige reneehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00044535276318816102noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2710939044211848341.post-67751483688833862642011-01-17T17:57:00.001-06:002011-01-17T17:57:00.443-06:00Gifts | desk calendar...<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMXozbS8KGbmH9iV2nJfxzK3-ElScUsbFfr836PDRrk_8x6I7gPgE77z6IwugKBHMXaNyVyfF6AOIVBw6MkFqId6RH8whkdSLW-nMtehmQ1KlP1Zr69V06uUid1t_vvCjSqZWAnKkn_xoZ/s1600/calendar.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="250" n4="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMXozbS8KGbmH9iV2nJfxzK3-ElScUsbFfr836PDRrk_8x6I7gPgE77z6IwugKBHMXaNyVyfF6AOIVBw6MkFqId6RH8whkdSLW-nMtehmQ1KlP1Zr69V06uUid1t_vvCjSqZWAnKkn_xoZ/s400/calendar.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br />
<div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">I made this calendar for Mr. W this year using a simple template I created in PowerPoint <span style="font-size: x-small;">[I clearly have a strange obsession with PowerPoint and use it for everything]</span>. I added major holidays, birthdays and anniversaries to the calendar. Since Mr. W works in public administration, each month has a picture of a city hall from a city we have visited together. I got the calendar pages printed to Office Depot, cut them to size, and then punched a hole in the tops for him to hang the calendar on the wall in his office. </span></div>paige reneehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00044535276318816102noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2710939044211848341.post-37008933450305147312011-01-16T20:43:00.000-06:002011-01-16T20:43:25.091-06:00Gifts | Big E...<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">My dad has always gone by Big E <span style="font-size: x-small;">[or Dad E to my sister and I]</span>, so gifts with a big E are clearly perfect for him. When I saw a big metal E hook in the clearance aisle of Hobby Lobby, I knew I had to get it for him. The hooks come painted white and look like this...</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIyDOVrLLMwCwLk9jO4sHl1h15vqb773WEPknMOJ7B4gRbhHBVRepad1beumbSykvHi1VxY3ne0egRNu58YijIQnBfcyj1qzI50IuvjZlgfsL-9j4CiCVXFfh35x1FgmiO8ZP4b6oMTi2o/s1600/coats+hooks.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" n4="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIyDOVrLLMwCwLk9jO4sHl1h15vqb773WEPknMOJ7B4gRbhHBVRepad1beumbSykvHi1VxY3ne0egRNu58YijIQnBfcyj1qzI50IuvjZlgfsL-9j4CiCVXFfh35x1FgmiO8ZP4b6oMTi2o/s400/coats+hooks.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">This picture is from </span><a href="http://rockyriverfarmhouse.blogspot.com/"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Rocky River Farmhouse</span></a><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">, partially because I forgot to take a before picture of what they look like to start out. But more importantly, because the project she made with the hooks she bought is <strong><em>amazing</em></strong>. You seriously have to </span><a href="http://rockyriverfarmhouse.blogspot.com/2010/04/2-frying-pans-and-coat-rack.html"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">check it out.</span></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">My project with the hook is a little less amazing, but was still a fun, personalized gift. I just spraypainted the hook a dark silver, so it would fit in well at my dad's man shed at our family farm. :)</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCkdrMgufH_fzOLLa9Ngdrfo8VXvXG032Vv6Y0CwD4aHcxw5q2RRKUa0auYbLQnTTbcCpwsxYCvDAWlU9KdPWBstika9mmTZepveVqL04bBiDEvj3vL5sclvlXyl84uYS1ua3IUPRAYJLg/s1600/e+hook.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" n4="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCkdrMgufH_fzOLLa9Ngdrfo8VXvXG032Vv6Y0CwD4aHcxw5q2RRKUa0auYbLQnTTbcCpwsxYCvDAWlU9KdPWBstika9mmTZepveVqL04bBiDEvj3vL5sclvlXyl84uYS1ua3IUPRAYJLg/s400/e+hook.jpg" width="308" /></a></div>paige reneehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00044535276318816102noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2710939044211848341.post-15213281367033474762011-01-15T17:37:00.000-06:002011-01-15T17:37:27.891-06:00Gifts | tile and coaster sets...<div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">This Christmas I made many personalized, handmade gifts for our family. The first of which were these tile sets which included a plague on a wooden stand and four coordinating coasters. They were made using the same method as this </span><a href="http://apaigeinhistory.blogspot.com/2010/09/diy-monogram-tiles.html"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">monogram tile set</span></a><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">. </span></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">The first set was made for my mother and father-in-law. Tiles similar to this would also make a great gift for a wedding, shower, anniversary, or even Valentine's Day gift....</span></div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDREos-GAM48ZoInyj1YeNaAAcbQ3GxiDBYXP94f8iFP0tBHQkK4UrPSt2hEIsepRsXKaPxDXzcpQ-54f0QZrc19BhRAkPOu5RlBEpnUqdBITVRlVbSjvNyrDqAcrDuj04-FItHpFCGzb8/s1600/t+tile+set.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="308" n4="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDREos-GAM48ZoInyj1YeNaAAcbQ3GxiDBYXP94f8iFP0tBHQkK4UrPSt2hEIsepRsXKaPxDXzcpQ-54f0QZrc19BhRAkPOu5RlBEpnUqdBITVRlVbSjvNyrDqAcrDuj04-FItHpFCGzb8/s400/t+tile+set.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">The next set was made for Mr. W's stepmom. I love the saying that is on them. I also like how the tiles can use any quote you want, which means they can also be good gifts for birthdays, graduations, or any other occasion. :)</span></div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEheLf66Cpz7doEWXGfPF5uSqAf2aG2tDJ4WbIgLI0Zk5kBDZYbsDdNvQa3bDQAmOkad7g_0KY-i2B_-MN2AFD_gvoqo7CsdEojQsheUtz2tt9eyxxB6pUvhZvVN5i4BUF0yOPv2AW0V5Wi4/s1600/little+things+tiles.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="308" n4="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEheLf66Cpz7doEWXGfPF5uSqAf2aG2tDJ4WbIgLI0Zk5kBDZYbsDdNvQa3bDQAmOkad7g_0KY-i2B_-MN2AFD_gvoqo7CsdEojQsheUtz2tt9eyxxB6pUvhZvVN5i4BUF0yOPv2AW0V5Wi4/s400/little+things+tiles.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">I don't use anything fancy at all to make my tile designs...actually, I just used PowerPoint for each of these using a variety of different fonts and lines. </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZcSPSy2b1u9UXTeBLLdfXi5ACs9GkRPj4EIqTjczfaoXnywGJ8szYQbLC0oc_yJ2H0h81Ut1UYR1Vxlh7J7Ve94cVdb6BTr_lAOX_g_h2hQhSIKz-Oara3bE3dNcu8fdi5oxVu3DTv24k/s1600/tile.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" n4="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZcSPSy2b1u9UXTeBLLdfXi5ACs9GkRPj4EIqTjczfaoXnywGJ8szYQbLC0oc_yJ2H0h81Ut1UYR1Vxlh7J7Ve94cVdb6BTr_lAOX_g_h2hQhSIKz-Oara3bE3dNcu8fdi5oxVu3DTv24k/s400/tile.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br />
<div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">To make the tiles, you have to flip the design over for it to transfer properly. So I "grouped" each of the text boxes and lines. Then I copied the design and did a "paste special" to paste it as a JPEG picture. Then, you can use the rotate option of flip horizontal. </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9GKwNipXhDQTdNAK-lw125lwRiMnbjkd7sLuDa2tjagjrksspPchOKQv3We1dJejMMpeGan97ezxJbn0e92Y-9-NyTt0p1DVt8AxUanQXUf4lishxp4c7GfawvvPCVsmgcTXsXhfzTjEz/s1600/flipped+tile.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" n4="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9GKwNipXhDQTdNAK-lw125lwRiMnbjkd7sLuDa2tjagjrksspPchOKQv3We1dJejMMpeGan97ezxJbn0e92Y-9-NyTt0p1DVt8AxUanQXUf4lishxp4c7GfawvvPCVsmgcTXsXhfzTjEz/s400/flipped+tile.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>paige reneehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00044535276318816102noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2710939044211848341.post-44955504500757517012011-01-12T21:35:00.000-06:002011-01-12T21:35:26.335-06:00DIY ornaments...<div style="text-align: justify;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">So, I realize most people have probably put away all of their Christmas decorations already and are not thinking about making any new ones at the moment...but I still wanted to share the three types of ornaments I made this season. And actually the last of the three types was made after Christmas. :) </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS;"><strong>Glittered cookie cutters:</strong></span> </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhS5RnRkDNFYJw9f1Jq9jRg_UNdoIPFUPLISbCayTVAcHA9WMWQ3WdJqtiDEo0GqZj0tBn6Yx0rZwo2pFJ6JeiVsracjGL_iTstAJkU-mZ4NtGL8XDZ013aM8-SIH8tdO04ScBq_JH0w7v-/s1600/Cookie+cutter+ornament.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" n4="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhS5RnRkDNFYJw9f1Jq9jRg_UNdoIPFUPLISbCayTVAcHA9WMWQ3WdJqtiDEo0GqZj0tBn6Yx0rZwo2pFJ6JeiVsracjGL_iTstAJkU-mZ4NtGL8XDZ013aM8-SIH8tdO04ScBq_JH0w7v-/s320/Cookie+cutter+ornament.jpg" width="247" /></a></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">I have wanted to make these ever since I saw them last year at </span><a href="http://www.centsationalgirl.com/2009/12/an-ornament-party/"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Centsational Girl</span></a><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> and even </span><a href="http://apaigeinhistory.blogspot.com/2009/12/more-diy-ornaments.html"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">posted</span></a><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> about them. They were incredibly easy to make and free, since I already had the plastic cookie cutters on hand and the glitter was from my magazine tree project <span style="font-size: x-small;">[seen </span></span><a href="http://apaigeinhistory.blogspot.com/2011/01/christmas-home-tour.html"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">here</span></a><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">]. Here's how I made them:</span></div><ol><li><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Spray paint the cookie cutters the same color as the glitter. In my case this was white <span style="font-size: x-small;">[actually white primer to be exact, because that's what I happened to have on hand]</span>. </span></div></li>
<li><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">While the paint is still wet, sprinkle glitter all over them. </span></div></li>
<li><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Let the ornament dry and then tie on a ribbon. <span style="font-size: x-small;">[As I side note, last year I tied sparkly silver ribbon on all of my ornaments in place of the standard ornament hooks and it was definitely time well spent. I was able to catch up on my soap opera and easily add a little extra pizazz to my Christmas tree.]</span></span></div></li>
</ol><div style="text-align: justify;"><strong><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Metal stars:</span></strong></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4RURPdXqtU5_05-RyYSUGUs5438fRtPdpbYM9i7QDaYMJj9tcWE9r-DtTMsOP9jqM7827WR_q86AiBgqvf_O71bacGFq2F2xZgy8vOkX6uM0zgqEkjnCaS_yk6oMTIllqaFQ7IV-aLJhu/s1600/Star+Ornament.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" n4="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4RURPdXqtU5_05-RyYSUGUs5438fRtPdpbYM9i7QDaYMJj9tcWE9r-DtTMsOP9jqM7827WR_q86AiBgqvf_O71bacGFq2F2xZgy8vOkX6uM0zgqEkjnCaS_yk6oMTIllqaFQ7IV-aLJhu/s320/Star+Ornament.jpg" width="247" /></a></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Amazingly, the second set of DIY ornaments I made was even easier than the first. :) Also, I made five ornaments for $1. I found a pack of five simple metal stars at a dollar store last summer. They were originally a brassy gold, but I spray painted them a pretty silver instead. I just hung them directly on the tree. In future years, I think they would also be fun hung with ribbon from door knobs or in the center of a wreaths. I love simple, cheap, versatile things. :)</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
<strong><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Spool Christmas trees:</span></strong></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwJrxJrnX0Qzx2r9satQDRb2UsMQE7DfuMw2BiAEOsmKn2codBAZ34Dd923Y5aej1vVhqmlhJ6hf_cKmHSTQVeIdo8LRhyAE2nUSPPOrlCUyr2abIopowtIyZ2UhdnBn5uqdXEaq94XrMm/s1600/Spool+Ornament.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" n4="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwJrxJrnX0Qzx2r9satQDRb2UsMQE7DfuMw2BiAEOsmKn2codBAZ34Dd923Y5aej1vVhqmlhJ6hf_cKmHSTQVeIdo8LRhyAE2nUSPPOrlCUyr2abIopowtIyZ2UhdnBn5uqdXEaq94XrMm/s320/Spool+Ornament.jpg" width="247" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">I made these spool ornaments with my mom and although more time intensive than the others, they are a lot of fun to make. To make your own, you need 1/2 inch wooden craft spools <span style="font-size: x-small;">[we got these at Hobby Lobby]</span>, various colors of embroidery floss, clear craft glue <span style="font-size: x-small;">[<strong>not </strong>hot glue]</span>, and ribbon. Here's how:</span></div><ol><li><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Cover a wooden spool with clear glue and wrap tightly with floss. Put another dot of glue at the end. You will need to make eleven spools for each tree. We always use brown for the tree trunk, yellow for the "star", and all different colors for in between. </span></div></li>
<li><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">After completing the spools, glue them together in the bowling pin formation. We found it is easier to glue each line together first <span style="font-size: x-small;">[i.e., three for the bottom and two for the middle]</span>. Then glue the lines together and add the star and trunk. </span></div></li>
<li><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Cut a piece of ribbon to the desired size to hang your ornament from. Loop the ribbon and make a small knot with the cut ends. Put a drop of the clear glue into the hole in the star spool. Use a toothpick the push the knot of the ribbon into the hole.</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">[I'm not sure these directions made much sense, but they really are very easy to make. :)]</span></div></li>
</ol>paige reneehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00044535276318816102noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2710939044211848341.post-46541694040403452512011-01-11T06:04:00.001-06:002011-01-11T06:04:00.667-06:00Goodwill Christmas trees...<div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Last year after Christmas I picked up these two glass trees at Goodwill. <span style="font-size: x-small;">[If I recall correctly, they were $1 each.]</span> They were so much fun to play with during the Christmas season...</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">First I left them empty for a while. Then I filled them with red and silver strands of beads from IKEA. Then I swirled the red and silver strands together. Here's the evolution: </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBsG2WlqHAkLKx1YADT-n8xnIT4irJRN2pQ8SfhucKj5pwLzAxZHRqT6vICE8A9WrjisECh3TDLT_QJ-0VpN-xpEBk-vZLgCEtjGDFIU7DHQ-jkCAkmShDwaHlpoOn1THlvQMXY-932fXM/s1600/GoodwillTrees.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" n4="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBsG2WlqHAkLKx1YADT-n8xnIT4irJRN2pQ8SfhucKj5pwLzAxZHRqT6vICE8A9WrjisECh3TDLT_QJ-0VpN-xpEBk-vZLgCEtjGDFIU7DHQ-jkCAkmShDwaHlpoOn1THlvQMXY-932fXM/s640/GoodwillTrees.jpg" width="280" /></a></div><br />
<div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">I also think they would be cute filled with candies like M&Ms, kisses, or peppermints. Or I could fill them with something like acorns for a more natural look. So many possibilities. This reminds me that I still need to go check if Goodwill has any good Christmas decor this year. :)</span></div>paige reneehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00044535276318816102noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2710939044211848341.post-79965576423977007112011-01-10T22:52:00.000-06:002011-01-10T22:52:20.035-06:00Christmas home tour...<div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Mr. W and I had a great time decorating our new home for Christmas. Mr. W did the lights outside and I did the inside. Here are <span style="font-size: x-small;">[were]</span> the highlights from the inside...</span></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhowTdgTzAFDke_tCCh_DhkjCX-MOJ9KplkBDowJ_j7dYXRFC23aQRcPg7G14uIC4FYDNI85VFbTk_nSMVhxVzAfyyxycSKIhE2Gxndj7gR_MLKIOVYU8OwRMArk-YWMmkMi2AO65UCaQ9/s1600/Christmas+tree.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" n4="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhowTdgTzAFDke_tCCh_DhkjCX-MOJ9KplkBDowJ_j7dYXRFC23aQRcPg7G14uIC4FYDNI85VFbTk_nSMVhxVzAfyyxycSKIhE2Gxndj7gR_MLKIOVYU8OwRMArk-YWMmkMi2AO65UCaQ9/s320/Christmas+tree.jpg" width="247" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgB7Mmagjv3vfioCK9T0uDOQDQTYUNVmdp2OovHV8VyKl6s6vvKCAu3dlYiTNeGqA26LkoSeARqclb-nM9sHk2EDvCvVlnvH6Lqum2tryaoTWv52MI4Cm4IyT-ksVTobbJq-tFv3VJdbf11/s1600/Card+holder.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" n4="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgB7Mmagjv3vfioCK9T0uDOQDQTYUNVmdp2OovHV8VyKl6s6vvKCAu3dlYiTNeGqA26LkoSeARqclb-nM9sHk2EDvCvVlnvH6Lqum2tryaoTWv52MI4Cm4IyT-ksVTobbJq-tFv3VJdbf11/s320/Card+holder.jpg" width="247" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">The card holder was simply a red ribbon <span style="font-size: x-small;">[hung by a push pin]</span> with clothespins to hold the cards. I spray painted the clothespins a shiny silver to make them a little more festive. :)</span></div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWjPPLx3HS9X6O0D5H-PsDbmoKSiutvxCQNOARFC6LbOZy3mTrC87z954JRtfmYtoxmn15ULja1hzmQXdpPR-SB31EEbuZ7-YaVknQykhw8TSaY9MQBNihCzUVdfkovJaf1GY0u2Rv7hjz/s1600/stockings.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" n4="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWjPPLx3HS9X6O0D5H-PsDbmoKSiutvxCQNOARFC6LbOZy3mTrC87z954JRtfmYtoxmn15ULja1hzmQXdpPR-SB31EEbuZ7-YaVknQykhw8TSaY9MQBNihCzUVdfkovJaf1GY0u2Rv7hjz/s320/stockings.jpg" width="246" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8z6yW7yhseeB0y0BQVr6HE1aboGVkdEzab8r3TewTz9rbab0cvWuoOE9-Y6x3MoULg5MWo2e4UDTkW4jz555vU3nNK8kcWH8w4wo7gyyClosWml3o_Pi33SA311x4DUB2Cp1960SrzztU/s1600/kc+christmas.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="247" n4="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8z6yW7yhseeB0y0BQVr6HE1aboGVkdEzab8r3TewTz9rbab0cvWuoOE9-Y6x3MoULg5MWo2e4UDTkW4jz555vU3nNK8kcWH8w4wo7gyyClosWml3o_Pi33SA311x4DUB2Cp1960SrzztU/s320/kc+christmas.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtCEQ1QKd5wPxKm1VeMJb-rfsVNfbdpc5HcVbkXnrxU_yzuiHbPmZORpywoJcSkfHAr02-L2nLOW6lbQjMdB0hS7Sqq2ihyxQ-E_rqClc0ZOF7Qp-rJ3mpZLr2cnKKyRNahwtCBFzC__FK/s1600/little+village.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="247" n4="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtCEQ1QKd5wPxKm1VeMJb-rfsVNfbdpc5HcVbkXnrxU_yzuiHbPmZORpywoJcSkfHAr02-L2nLOW6lbQjMdB0hS7Sqq2ihyxQ-E_rqClc0ZOF7Qp-rJ3mpZLr2cnKKyRNahwtCBFzC__FK/s320/little+village.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_VpkgO4o6ficuIUA239Cv16gB2kLv9nN_VePtB3VCJe7cenMO2Zjg-SFha8-CJmbjh7x5LndfrxzHlQxS0Z6_cGsJuenHUSXC4Yc7Amt32jKlRPD4ELVe0z1UqoXQK8MIO2fh6P2bNn-v/s1600/n+stocking.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" n4="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_VpkgO4o6ficuIUA239Cv16gB2kLv9nN_VePtB3VCJe7cenMO2Zjg-SFha8-CJmbjh7x5LndfrxzHlQxS0Z6_cGsJuenHUSXC4Yc7Amt32jKlRPD4ELVe0z1UqoXQK8MIO2fh6P2bNn-v/s320/n+stocking.jpg" width="247" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsf5hcstPvHNR-gT3aNugTGtcvU2YjKZ6RVsh1l7NSMB-6UhgjSDJixTqXG-ruN8s5O4ZIriwrrOYaxdfvPX4gT4lIU73ry6anFcFDm-DaOJczEK8fn3KPKQChbX_kNsJ5QAGVI_Azic3I/s1600/p+stocking.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" n4="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsf5hcstPvHNR-gT3aNugTGtcvU2YjKZ6RVsh1l7NSMB-6UhgjSDJixTqXG-ruN8s5O4ZIriwrrOYaxdfvPX4gT4lIU73ry6anFcFDm-DaOJczEK8fn3KPKQChbX_kNsJ5QAGVI_Azic3I/s320/p+stocking.jpg" width="247" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9VPJTKLS9ytgrhaK3RhPnyCZadA6BNKkCsIpgKSLD397hU4boNMz2ScYwjp-8BuJaqfhP9bi5HcEhvIKIYla_vsZWAHYATsrOLcnuW7HzpcRpUf8sBRbM5Y9Ljng-rIh7nEXpIFWRckeu/s1600/railing.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="247" n4="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9VPJTKLS9ytgrhaK3RhPnyCZadA6BNKkCsIpgKSLD397hU4boNMz2ScYwjp-8BuJaqfhP9bi5HcEhvIKIYla_vsZWAHYATsrOLcnuW7HzpcRpUf8sBRbM5Y9Ljng-rIh7nEXpIFWRckeu/s320/railing.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEnaiHMFOW0mJiTABfzjrQ1JfPUM_zzgrkaXpZ-K4EBhn_WZE_7l3sa55GkKdyC5oeNQQcUPWMVRhfA3ScJ8i5Ay0f1B48rT7NXv1stDLeaLfqn7Ol5W3FlHz2uSKob5zRVZbU2ykphh6p/s1600/railing+2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="247" n4="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEnaiHMFOW0mJiTABfzjrQ1JfPUM_zzgrkaXpZ-K4EBhn_WZE_7l3sa55GkKdyC5oeNQQcUPWMVRhfA3ScJ8i5Ay0f1B48rT7NXv1stDLeaLfqn7Ol5W3FlHz2uSKob5zRVZbU2ykphh6p/s320/railing+2.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">The garland on the railing was one of the very few purchases made this year for the Christmas decor. It was $2/strand at Walmart and was quite possibly the best $12 I have ever spent. I wrapped it with extra lights and added in some red and silver ornaments.</span></div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMW8knbUgsP2NZihxa732UqJ3_lFIQVMtVVrnWMdZRLKf9IlBEakHrlBu1irHjYcTOrxePCusVNhmmDEU16SuKMHHA_Q7HezstTcDyIGchS7048FgSs2DYq4JMQDFBj7Rr_iVmRGyUvEW-/s1600/wreath.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" n4="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMW8knbUgsP2NZihxa732UqJ3_lFIQVMtVVrnWMdZRLKf9IlBEakHrlBu1irHjYcTOrxePCusVNhmmDEU16SuKMHHA_Q7HezstTcDyIGchS7048FgSs2DYq4JMQDFBj7Rr_iVmRGyUvEW-/s320/wreath.jpg" width="247" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgX6Yf_8XNjy9NfvuoAXSXf69mNYnxQtQUN5dIYjzZKR9-aE2UrEYHys4NfKQdvcgH9V7p1zpz9D5Y9TNtePrMl8iVwJRI_N9Qcn3h6tIKEvA_Une0NufPXbSx71B1YtMR_4HCPJ2xz-50D/s1600/Little+tree+and+book.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" n4="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgX6Yf_8XNjy9NfvuoAXSXf69mNYnxQtQUN5dIYjzZKR9-aE2UrEYHys4NfKQdvcgH9V7p1zpz9D5Y9TNtePrMl8iVwJRI_N9Qcn3h6tIKEvA_Une0NufPXbSx71B1YtMR_4HCPJ2xz-50D/s320/Little+tree+and+book.jpg" width="247" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjboX3BZlBdeK03e5IiwptJx-CafO5fYgWb0vuA35vkKLB5xoFmuiX8ZYM6E_7WF1OJTfN3FQKA0zKdfZgapLT3-K8B3NtW8HhiBe0-kafwMSC2mfep80Oa8q1eemaMCseOTT9ftPkoVUHF/s1600/Server.jpg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="320" n4="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjboX3BZlBdeK03e5IiwptJx-CafO5fYgWb0vuA35vkKLB5xoFmuiX8ZYM6E_7WF1OJTfN3FQKA0zKdfZgapLT3-K8B3NtW8HhiBe0-kafwMSC2mfep80Oa8q1eemaMCseOTT9ftPkoVUHF/s320/Server.jpg" width="247" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgLNub0XHoPZHR3JcVkWWex5cakUzcwKMeTQf6kQo4oz-iEkrUdCzdOL13xGp4LEbSd5U7tN97ySiRifHR79Qq0TAf2f-VvqRtsGsJrfpuyLnFjSPYJC7C9aGTQpozKMFnFAXS-w0bX5_x/s1600/magazine+trees.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" n4="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgLNub0XHoPZHR3JcVkWWex5cakUzcwKMeTQf6kQo4oz-iEkrUdCzdOL13xGp4LEbSd5U7tN97ySiRifHR79Qq0TAf2f-VvqRtsGsJrfpuyLnFjSPYJC7C9aGTQpozKMFnFAXS-w0bX5_x/s320/magazine+trees.jpg" width="247" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">The </span><a href="http://www.marthastewart.com/article/magazine-christmas-trees"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">magazine trees</span></a><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> were </span><a href="http://one16ten.blogspot.com/2010/12/little-merry-christmas-to-all.html"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">inspired by my friend</span></a><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> and I loved how they turned out. If you want to make some yourself next year, I suggest using Real Simple magazine - the pages are thicker than most magazines so they are very sturdy. The red sign in the background is a canvas painting temporarily covered in wrapping paper.</span></div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxtWSpUMBmGYiQzUXzgk-tjOoXsN6H2Casx_BX1Hl2MmynQkTsPhvEh1-cB4bx0493KIOKXZRBb4HOghBbzdJcNtAWbTgIjFawQo2DsDkFH9-dntGUhjT69RHd2ybHrdywSR4lLXPrsO0Y/s1600/decanter+and+ornaments.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="247" n4="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxtWSpUMBmGYiQzUXzgk-tjOoXsN6H2Casx_BX1Hl2MmynQkTsPhvEh1-cB4bx0493KIOKXZRBb4HOghBbzdJcNtAWbTgIjFawQo2DsDkFH9-dntGUhjT69RHd2ybHrdywSR4lLXPrsO0Y/s320/decanter+and+ornaments.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">This was one of my favorite areas - I just added the candle in the background and some pretty dollar store ornaments. Love them! </span></div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Thanks for checking out my very late Christmas home tour. Hope you all had a very merry Christmas and New Year! :)</span></div>paige reneehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00044535276318816102noreply@blogger.com0