111 Things in 1/11 - The Beginning

Before things can get better, they usually get worse. That is what today's post is about, the areas in my house that are in dire need of losing 111 of their belongings. :-) This is, in effect, me airing my dirty laundry. It is also the result of a month of holiday preparations, and no time to organize or even fold clothes. :-) And, I am sure that I could come up with a few other disclaimers before I let you see my nasty before pictures. :-)

I'll be working on my dresser drawers;



As well as my junk drawers;



I'll be cleaning out my craft supplies,



and cleaning out this awful closet,

I'll even by sorting out my cupboards on either side of the fireplace

And I am sure there will be more areas, but I didn't want to overwhelm you with all the nasty pictures. :-) Now I want to see yours! Let's give ourselves the motivation to seriously purge some items! :-)

Favorites from 2010

Do you ever think of an idea and start to do it, and then realize that everyone else has already beat you to the punch? Yesterday I had the brilliant (and original) idea that I should recap my favorite projects from 2010. Not long after that, I realized that EVERYone else has already done that. Rhoda from Southern Hospitality is even hosting a party with that theme! So yeah, I am SO not original. But here are my favorite projects from 2010. :-)

Organized Linen Closet

Fall Mantel

Making a Mirror My Own

Deck makeover

What's Better than Free?

Coat Tree

Dining Room Rehab

Living Room Lamps

Pretty Painted Paneling

Cheap and Easy Wall Art

So those are my favorite projects. Tomorrow I will show you the areas I will be working on for 111 Things in 1/11. See you then!

Linked to Southern Hospitality

111 Things in 1/11

Well, the holidays are quickly drawing to a close and all the festivities are coming to an end. Sadness! And I don't know about you, but we have a whole bunch of shiny new stuff to find new homes for - I got the greatest pair of furry gloves that I absolutely love! (amidst lots of other stuff) This got me thinking, I need to do another one of my semi-annual house purges where I go through every room, closet and drawer. It is so cathartic.

And then I figured, why not challenge myself and make it even more interesting by trying to get rid of 111 things in 1/11? Wouldn't that be fun? So I thought about it for a while, and decided that yes, it would be really fun. And then I thought, you know what would make this even more fun? If a bunch of my blogging buddies wanted to do this with me!

Here's the plan. This Friday the 31st I'll do a quick post showing some areas of my house that need some slimming down. (It is possible that I may just put up a picture of my whole house) :-) I'll have a Linky at the end so that you can link up and show us all where you'll be working too.

Then every Friday throughout January (there are four) we'll meet back here and report on our progress. We can show pictures, tell stories, cry about how hard it is to get rid of stuff or how fun it is to toss stuff. :-) Whichever you prefer. :-)

111 things divided by four weeks comes out to approximately 28 things a week. This breaks down to six things per work day. How easy is it to pull out six things Monday through Friday and throw them in the toss pile? Super easy.

So, would you like to join me? There are no rules. You can link up every week, or just once. You can do 111 things all at once, or over four weeks. Whichever you prefer. :-)

Let's get rid of 111 things in 1/11!!!

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas from our house to yours!

Our 2010 Christmas Card

Forward a Year Ago

As the new year approaches, I have been thinking about my goals for 2011. I try to come up with things that are true goals that I can reach for throughout the year, and not just well meaning New Year's resolutions that fall by the wayside after the first two weeks. Here's what's cluttering up my mind these days;

True Christianity. Christ calls us to be in the world, not of the world. Christians so often squabble over things like clothing, celebrating holidays and movies watched, but I think the intent that Christ meant here was much, much deeper and far reaching. We know from 1 Samuel that God looks straight past what we do on the outside and examines our heart and motives. So, to make a trivial example, he doesn't care that my socks don't match my shirt, but it saddens him to see me angry at a friend over something inconsequential.

This last year I have been overwhelmed by the power that Christ can have in my life when I step back and allow him to lead. With his help, I've accomplished things I never thought were possible, and I've seen it in ways I never imagined. I've always believed in the power of prayer, but this year I saw it in tangible, measurable, mind-blowing ways. I always believed that His strength was made perfect in weakness, but never did I see it more clearly than throughout this trying and stressful year, in which I hardly ever felt stressed.

As I look at next year, and I set goals for myself, my marriage and my family, I want to spend more time meditating on that power, and how to allow it to overtake my life. I don't want to separate myself from the world, I want to be in it and have people notice that there's something different about me. You know the Maybelline commercials? "Maybe she's born with it. Maybe it's Maybelline." In a sense, that's what I want to be whispered behind my back. "Isn't she nice? It's gotta be God."

My brothers and I have been spending a lot of time lately talking about cherished memories from growing up. There have been several embarrassing stories about my less than stellar babysitting skills which pretty much consisted of yelling at them until my parents came home. Not my proudest moments, to be sure. But you know what? I don't yell at them anymore. The power of God in my life can do monumental things, but it can also do simple things like change family dynamics and help brothers and sisters to love each other.

My family in Christ is a bigger example of that family dynamic. I love my brothers, with all their faults, and they love me, with all of mine. Taken to a larger scale, I have millions of brothers and sisters around the world that I am to love, and they love me in return. With the love of God flowing through me, there should never be a time when I utter the words "I just can't stand that girl." Because she is either my sister in Christ, or she is my potential future sister in Christ. Isn't His love amazing?

As I look at the next year of my life, my goal is simple: to allow Christ to shine through me.

Simple, but that one goal impacts every single area of my life. I can't get caught up in petty Christian arguments like whether or not we should have a Christmas tree. But, I also must remember that those petty Christians are my spiritual siblings, and I need to love them, not just be frustrated by them.

Each day is a choice. I can choose to make my own decisions and live in my own strength, or I can look to Christ for the strength, grace and love to make it through each day, and to leave others better than I found them.

Winter Wonderland

Yesterday we had our first snow of the season. It started around 12:30, and we got a couple of inches over the next few hours.  I love watching snow fall, it is so beautiful. I know that snow means winter and cold and soggy wet shoes all season, but this year I am finding so many things to be thankful for about the snow.



The morning sunlight streaming through these bushes was so beautiful. In spite of the frigid temperatures, I grabbed my camera and braved the cold to play with the light streaming through the ice crystals that formed last night.



With such dark days lately, I am thankful for how much brighter the snow makes everything during the day.



We had a long, hot and humid spring and summer this year, so many of our plants got sick. Fungus, black spot and the like. I am thankful that the cold of snow and winter will kill off the diseases and allow my plants to be healthy again next year.



Snow reminds me to rest. Everything is so beautiful and peaceful, and it reminds me to slow down and enjoy my life. There will always be errands, cleaning and busyness. I need to take time each day to enjoy the beauty that God has surrounded me with.



I had an "argument" the other day with a friend. We were arguing over whether the good weather we had been having lately (with all the sunshine!) was God's gift to me, or to her. We had a good time laughing over which one of us God loved more, and which of us was more blessed to have the sunshine. :-) I've been overwhelmed lately with God's blessing on my life. So many little things that he puts into each of my days, just to make them more beautiful. Like snow and ice crystals. :-)

It's the second day of December, and I know things are starting to get really hectic for Christmas, but take a moment today to look around you and enjoy the beauty that God has surrounded you with.

An Organized Linen Closet

Wendhurst Castle has been our home now for two and a half years. In that time we've fixed up a bunch of the rooms, and we're working on a bunch more of them. (Like always) So there is always renovation going on, but one of the less talked about things I am always doing in our house is finding ways to make it work better for us. I remember when we moved in, because we were working on so many rooms at once, we put all the boxes into the dining room. Then, after they were unpacked, and the items placed in their appropriate rooms, I lamented to Lover the fact that we actually had less storage in this new house than we had in our apartment. Lover looked at me like I was insane. To his credit, the house has 1,600 square feet plus a finished basement and attic, effectively making our square footage closer to 3,000. And our apartment had about 700 sq ft. So I do see his point. But, in my defense, the problem was I hadn't figured out how to use this new space efficiently. Yes, it had tons more room (especially storage room) but I hadn't yet figured out how to make it work for us.

That's a long winded way of telling you that I recently revamped our linen closet, and I love how it's working out.  It took me two and a half years to figure out how to best make it fit our needs, and while I am sure that I will continue to tweak it in the future, for right now it makes me absolutely happy.



One of my biggest hangups, oddly enough, is that it is called a linen closet. See, we have huge, deep builtin chests in the bedrooms that store all our extra sheets and blankets. But our bathroom is super duper small, so there's lots of extra stuff like toilet paper, hair dryers and extra soap that doesn't fit in the bathroom. Do you see where I am going with this? I needed to convert the linen closet into a simple storage closet.

(the before)

Now you might think that when I say "convert" I meant a massive construction overhaul. Actually, I didn't change anything about the way the closet is laid out. The shelves are exactly the same. I just changed how I stored things on the shelves, what I stored in there, and most importantly, how I thought of that little closet. I know, I am weird. Whatev. :-)

Okay. Back on task. A while back Jen from A Thousand Words suggested that I buy bins that were the depth of my very deep shelves and use those to corral everything inside them. This was a brilliant suggestion. I found the perfect blue and brown, lightweight ones at Lowes, and hauled them home to try them out. One corrals toilet paper, and the other wrangles all the unwieldy hair stuff - hair dryer, curling iron, clippers, etc.





The towel shelf got a makeover when I put our infrequently used beach towels behind our regular towels, so that now the ones we use regularly are front and center.

Toiletries are corralled into four smaller bins on the top shelf, and small toiletries like new razors and sundries are in two teeny baskets at the very top.



The bin at the very bottom holds some miscellaneous decorating supplies. I used to have a bin of decorating stuff for every season, but now I've pared down quite a bit, and I just have one for fall. So this one in the closet holds miscellaneous other decorating baubles. It's working out perfectly so far. :-)

So that's the story of how I managed to find a sliver of organization in this huge house that "has no storage" ;-) I know, I'm crazy, but I have to say, I love how this little closet is working out for us. Oh, and the best part? Somehow I managed to free up two vanity drawers during this overhaul. Who hoo! :o)

Dare to be... Thankful!

Well, you know what they say, better late than never, right? I am fashionably late to the Dare to DIY party at Kim's, but I am so excited to be participating again this year! :-)



This week's theme was:

Dare to... be thankful! by making a fun Thanksgiving project. I chose to make two simple little Thankful notecards to be sent out to friends that I am especially thankful this year.



One of the things I love about scrapbooking is that I always have a boatload of crafty supplies laying around that are perfect for whipping up little notecards and the like. This first card is made out of card stock, regular paper and dollar store glitter glue. I love how the little pumpkin turned out, even if it is a little lopsided. :-)



The second card was super easy as well. The paper was two sided, so I simply trimmed the fold so that the under side showed, and added a "metal" plate that says Give Thanks. It's much easier to read in real life. Trust me.



So there you go. Simple and easy, but hopefully they will make someone's day. I am so thankful for friends! :-) Make sure to go check out the other girls' awesome crafts!

Fall Mantel Decorating

I have to say, I am loving the fall mantel that I created this year. Last year, if you remember way back then, we had just finished up the living room's multiple projects, so I didn't feel like covering up all of our hard work with fall decorations. But this year, after enjoying the work of our hands for over a year, I was ready to change things up a bit. I generally change the mantel a few times a year, but I also usually work with the same elements, so things don't look terribly different. This time my goal was to change things up quite a bit, achieve a fall feel, and not spend any money. :-) Here's the result:



I love how simple and clean it is. The geese silhouettes are just cut out of cardstock (I printed out silhouettes I found online and transfered them to cardstock.) The grass is from our backyard. I've had the picture for forever, it's a print of The Gleaners by Jean Francois Millet - this one:

I've always thought is was beautiful, and it reminds me of the story of Ruth. The rest of the mantel is just stuff I've collected, that all seemed to go together. One of the books is Kidnapped by Robert Louis Stevenson. I hope to read that this fall, as one of my six classics I'm trying to read this year. (I've read three so far)

I also love the little grouping on the right of the mantel. Again, it's just some books, a photo of Lover and I, and some Dollar Tree ceramic pumpkins. But I love it. Maybe it's because it's Lover and I, and that makes me smile. Dunno, but I know that it makes me smile every time I look at it.



Sorry for the not so great pictures. I promise to try and take better ones in the future :-) Have a wonderful day!

When I have a million hours of free time...

Whenever I get caught up on my current list of fun projects, I am going straight to this post for my next set. Here's what caught my eye this week:

Modern Family Tree

I am obsessed with genealogies and our family tree. I would love to sit down with the grandparents on both sides of the family, and pick their brains for all of the family history they can recall. In a totally non-Sylar-picking your brain kind of way. :-) I love how the tree became three dimensional with the addition of the frames over the vinyl tree. I especially love that Natalie made the vinyl decal herself! Awesomeness!

Canning Jar Soap Dispensers

I'm always a fan of repurposing something, and I also love using pretty glass to hold my liquids (like my makeup remover), so you can imagine how much I love these blue canning jar soap dispensers! They look easy enough too, and how cute would they be beside your bathroom or kitchen sink? Jan even has a few for sale in her Etsy shop, if you don't feel like making your own.

Upcycled Sweater

I shop for all my clothes almost exclusively at thrift stores now. I have so much fun, and I feel like my wardrobe is much more me and eclectic. Sometimes though, there's a certain new trend I like that hasn't made its way to the thrift stores. Sara shows you how to makeover a large men's sweater into a trendy sweater dress! And it's only a couple of seams for all you sewing-phobes. :-)

And now for the grand finale of my finds this week - a faux capiz chandelier!

DIY Capiz Chandelier

Erin spent a little bit of money, and a lot of bit of time :-) to make this super convincing knockoff capiz chandelier. I'm thinking that it would be super easy to adapt this idea for any size light that you might want in your home, and I am specifically considering this for my far-off-in-the-future office.  The "shells" are made out of wax paper - how cool is that?

So that rounds up this week's inspiring projects. And someday when I think "gee, I have nothing to do today!" I will know right where to go for more ideas! :-) Yeah, right, like that day will ever come....

Fall Pictures and Christmas Deals

I'm sure you will recognize this pretty little girl. We had so much fun exploring a new location, and Makayla is such a doll! Her monkey costume was perfectly suited for her personality! :-)













We're also offering some special portrait sessions for your holiday cards. Here are all the details:

I am only offering a few of these slots for the holiday season, so if you are interested in booking a session for your Christmas cards, make sure to do it right away!