A Very Thrifty Halloween

Pinterest. You've done it again. You've styled my house oh so fly & all for less than a dolla.

Holla.

I don't know about you all but there's just something about this time of year that gets me feelin' all crafty. 

On this weeks episode of Pinterest Production, I bring to you the super easy & super cheap....

When I saw this pic, off to the nearest Walmart I went. 

                          (Source)

A few hours later & lots of practice sketches, I had my witch silhouette.

Supplies: Black Posterboard, Chalk, Scissors, Black Electrical Tape & A Window! 

The hardest part was DEFINITELY the sketching. 

I definitely plan to keep my day job as I am definitely no Van Gogh and boy was that glaringly obvious. I draw like a kindergartner & always have. I'm talking huge balloon fingers & beak like noses. Luckily, you can use a damp paper towel to wipe & re-start. 

Thankfully, the husband came to the rescue & I think it turned out pretty cool!

On another note, a year ago today, we took off on our Caribbean adventure. 

Now, it was no Caribbean Cruise Ship, but we loved our pontoon equally as much. However, it's that time....

Time to pull her out of the water & let her rest for the winter. And as I type, I just realized our boat became a female. 

Girl power. 

But before we pulled her out, we took one last stroll...

There are still moments where I have to pinch myself & ask, do I really live here?!

We are very blessed & thankful everyday. 

On that note, I'm signing off. Happy Monday, ya 'all!! Make it a good one! 

SPD: Antique Window Pane

If you've been following along for awhile now, you know I'm no stranger to my local antique stores.  It's far & away Jon & I's FAVORITE thing to do on  a Saturday afternoon. 

You know how some people get a high from doing really scary things like skydiving? 

Well, we get high from this.

 Image Courtesy of Rewind Designs 

As of late, I've been on the hunt for a few pieces to compliment two empty walls behind our dining room table.  When I saw these two panes for around $10 bucks a piece, it was love at first sight. 

They were in definite need of some TLC (most are), but I was happy to give 'em some love.

Since our walls in our living room are striped two different tones, we painted the panes the contrasting color from the stripes. Lucky us, we had some paint leftover from our striping project I wanted to rip my hair out project so we were able to save some $$$$ there. 

And hey, I always dig that.

We taped them off & painted both. 

I then used a razor blade to shave off the nastiness that had accumulated over the years.  Once I completed this step, I hit a faux  brick WALL. 

I just could NOT decide what to do with them! 

I searched Pinterest for inspiration & just wasn't digging anything I saw.

There's nothing wrong with these ideas, in fact, I love 'em.

But they just didn't seem to fit for our home.

So I pinned my own.

I tampered around with a few different looks & finally decided on this one.

With all the windows we have in our living room, I figured why not add a few more.

Once they were ready to hang.....the real project began.

1.) Window Pane

                           2.)  Lace Curtain Panel (Walmart)

3.) Hot Glue Gun

    4.) Command Strips

And my favorite....

5.)  A handsome gentleman to hold them up while you decide where to hang 'em

A few notes; I did have to trim the panels to size, so keep that in mind.  Also, I chose to use hot glue because quite frankly, I use hot glue for everything.  Some call it lazy. I call it resourceful.

If you don't have a hot glue gun, you could use just about anything to attach the curtain to the panel.

Haven't decided on the style of tie-backs I want to go with.

I'm sure that'll be another 3 months in the making.

But hey, at least the panes are finally up.

Linking up with Katie & Steph.

And you should too.

 

You know you wish you lived in Kansas.

Well, we're snowed in.

 

Again.

 

And it doesn't look like we'll be enjoying an afternoon on our patio....

 

 

 

 

 

Or fishing off our dock....

 

 

 

 

Or grilling out anytime soon....

 

 

But the ducks sure don't seem to mind....

 

 Looks like I have an afternoon date with my fireplace.

 

I'll take it.

 

 

 

That time we moved our bed into the closet.

What. A. Weekend.

 

If you couldn't tell by my Instagram pics Saturday afternoon, we enjoyed ourselves.  But I promise, our weekend wasn't all play. 

 

We've been working on our master bedroom "project" for the past month or so & I'm happy to say, we finally, finally  got 'er finished up.  But not without a few wrenches. Isn't that how all DIY's go?

 

When we bought the house, we knew we wanted to take on this project early on. As some know, Jon built me a dressing room attached to our master bedroom....

 

 

 

....so there was no need for the measly old closet in our actual bedroom. 

 

So, why not move our bed into it? 

 

First we had to remove the shelving & rod.

 

 

Then we had to mud & sand it down.

 

And mind you, in these photos it looks like Jon is doing all the work, but this photo was totally staged.  I promise. I sanded the ENTIRE wall myself.  And then had to scrub every frickin' inch of the bedroom because that crap gets everywhere!  I took a pic of the headboard just to prove it.

 After we got 'er all sanded down, time to bust out the paint.  I wanted to paint the closet to match the darker trim & baseboards surrounding it.  Instead of taking a wood sample with me to select the paint color, I decided to "eyeball" it. 

 

Bad idea.  Very bad idea.

It turned out super red, so we ended up having to paint the entire space.

Twice.

We installed a new light fixture with a dimmer switch. 

 

 

The dimmer allows for a nice ambiance in the room & I just love it.
Who knew a dimmer could be so  romantic? ;)

 

Then off to Etsy I went in search of the perfect monogram to hang above our bed.

 

I swear I must've looked at over 100 different fonts...GOOD LORD.  I had no idea there were that many to frickin' choose from!!

 

I finally found one I fell in love with, ordered that sucker & as soon as we got it up on the wall we realized the sucker didn't stick to the paint we used on the wall.

 

Awesome.  Just awesome.

 

So we beat the system.  We hand painted that sucker.  She ain't goin' nowhere now.

 

 

 

I'm exhausted just thinking about it.  But hey, it was worth it.

 

Hope you all had an amazing  weekend, not involving hand painting a monogram on your wall.

 

 

Linking up with Carly & Molly .  And you should too.

 

And as always, Sami & Leeann.  Thanks ladies for hosting one of my favorite link ups week after week!




Tootles! And please, say a prayer for me to make it thru this Monday.

Ugghh.

 



SPD Link Up: Ice Skate Edition

Can I just say.....how is it that Christmas is a measly 2 week away?  This December has flown by...and for the gal that's spent more time crafting this holiday season versus holiday shopping, no bueno.

No bueno for my Christmas list, but MUY BUENO for my little lake house.

When I saw this pin my heart just melted.  It was love at first sight.

As much as I LOVED having an April wedding, a winter wonderland would've been my second choice FOR SURE.  I mean, look at these centerpieces! 

So off to the antique store we went.  We snagged a little pair of skates, hit up our local Walmart for some spraypaint, and after a pit stop at Michael's we were ready to go.

I just LOVE how they turned out.  Next year I'm going to add some sparkle...but to be honest, I am all crafted out for the season.

We crafted, we drank, we glued & now time to sit back & enjoy how it all turned out! 

Now honey, go pour me another.

Don't forget to link up with Katie & Steph to show off your goods! 

  

What's your favorite piece of decor you have laying around the house this holiday season?

Santa wants to know....

Saw It. Pinned It. Did It. Christmas 2012 Edition.

Ok, ok...enough about the cruise.  Hope you enjoyed all the recaps & photos.  We had  a great time & I loved having the chance to share some of our memories with you all.

Moving onto all things CHRISTMAS!  I have had TWO different people wish me a happy holiday this morning, just in case they don't see me beforehand. 

PEOPLE. 

We still have 3 weeeeeeeks.

And this sistah hasn't purchased ONE gift yet.

So please stop wishing me a happy holiday.  Your stressing me out.

But not the kind of stress that a glass of Pinot Noir can't take care of. 

Thanks for the love on my Instagram (@annexenos) last night. 
You gals sure love seeing pics of VINO. 
And that's why I love all of you.

Linking up today with Katie & Steph with what this crazy crafter has been up to these past couple weeks.  I saw this pin and feel in love instantly. 

I love the rustic look.  Love the color, love the writing & I absolutely LOVE everything about the poem it came from. 

And the idea just grew from there...

So off to Michael's I went. 

Went home, painted them.  Let them dry overnight and sanded the hell out of the eges.

Then grabbed one of these....

(Sharpie makes the ABSOLUTE best paint pens.  TRUST ME. I've done lots of trial & error)

And wrote away!

Since I have LOTS of built in shelves on each side of the fireplace, I chose several of my favorite verses & spread them out around the room.

I ended up hanging my sign from the mantle with burlap ribbon.  I then drilled a couple holes & twisted in the burlap knobs...

Whipped together the stockings & hung them up!

The stockings are a little project that perhaps I'll share next week.

They are a work in progress, but I'm loving them more & more as they come together.

These signs are the perfect rustic touch to our rustic holiday decor this year.  I just love 'em.

Thank you Pinterest for the inspiration!

And while we're talking all things holiday, I'll leave you with this little heartthrob.

19 days and counting..........

Now go link up & join in the fun!