Thursday, January 7, 2010

It's a Special Day Over at Our Home



It's time to Celebrate!

Throw a Party!

Eat Cake!!



Are you wondering why??

Well,



it's our youngest daughter, Callie's
13th birthday!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY CALLIE!!!!

Do you remember when you turned 13?
I remember being so excited to finally be a "teenager"

Tonight we are celebrating with a family dinner of her favorite...
pizza!

Dessert will be cheesecake with strawberries and chocolate chips...
her special request.

So you know me...I had to decorate!

We decided on a aqua/brown/white crown theme. Not princess...that would be too juvenile. So we call it crown party!

Aubrie, the big sis made these adorable crown sugar cookies for Callie and she helped me with all the decorations


Matching Gift Wrap


Streamers, pearls, garlands oh my!


How do you like the brown jeweled crown I found at Hobby Lobby??
I think it's perfect for the theme!


We added brown feathers around the stems of the glasses.
We even have a special aqua colored drink to put in the glasses.


I wish I would have had brown or silver chargers..oh well.










And here's my sweet baby Callie!
Callie, can I still call you my baby even though your now a TEEN??












We Love You Callie!



This post is part of Tablescape Thursday. So to see more fabulous tablescapes be sure to go on over to Between Naps On The Porch.














Tuesday, January 5, 2010

Top Projects of 2009

Did you get alot of projects completed in 2009?
Do you have alot of projects planned for 2010? I do!
Rhoda from Southern Hospitality is letting us all showcase our top projects for 2009.
I'm sure by looking at what others completed it will inspire us for our own projects this year!


2009 was filled with a finishing a project that we started in 2008, a few other smaller projects and some unexpected projects. Have any clue what I'm talking about?

The project that we FINALLY completed in 2009 that was started in 2008 was our kitchen.
Here is the before:



And after many months of us working on it off & on...the after:







If you would like to see the whole story on the kitchen makeover, click Here


I wanted a large chalkboard for one of the walls in my kitchen, so I went searching the thrift stores & garage sales for the perfect piece I could transform and this is what I found.





After some handy dandy spray paint and taking the mirror out, replacing it with mdf painted with chalkboard paint...it went from YUCK to this.......






After all our hard work on our kitchen, we left for a 1 week vacation to Myrtle Beach,SC. Guess what we returned home to??? Well, it wasn't a "welcome home" sign..unfortunately. It was a flooded house and mainly the NEW kitchen. Only 1 month after we finished the kitchen..insert tears!





Not only was the kitchen damaged, but the whole house other than the upstairs had to be gutted. We ended up having $20,000 worth of water damage all because a pipe fitting for the kitchen faucet broke. Lesson: DO NOT USE PLASTIC FITTINGS AND TURN OFF YOUR MAIN WATER WHEN GOING ON VACATION!

So we had to move out for 2 months while house was fixed. This allowed us to make a few upgrades, ah some more projects.....
Awe pretty new hardwood floors...a blessing out of the flood.




Oh and we decided that since the house was torn up that it was the perfect time to have the popcorn (acoustic) stuff scraped off the ceilings. Yeah to no more popcorn ceilings!
We also updated a few paint colors and replaced bath/shower unit while we were at it. I won't bore you with photos of our ceilings and paint colors.

So hmmm, I thought what can I do while moved out of my home for 2 months?? I know, I can refinish our oak dining room table. I always liked the table, but really didn't like the golden country oak color. Oh and I bought new chairs.





Ok so that was the big projects that we did in 2009. Now if you will excuse me, I have to get busy on the projects for 2010. Wanna come help?
Darlene

Friday, January 1, 2010

Dream Home 2010

Have you all seen the HGTV Dream Home 2010? It is in New Mexico. Personally I've lived in the desert before and can say I'm not the desert living type. So if I win this dream home...I'll be selling it.

I do however like the interior of the home, especially the master bedroom. I copied the photos to my inspiration file folder so that I remember certain elements of the bedroom when I redo my bedroom this year.

I Love the color scheme...so relaxing!

Check out those doors...love!











To see more of the HGTV Dream Home 2010 just click HERE
Would you like to live in Albuquerque??
Darlene


The Family

The Family