A little of this, and a little of that

I received a question from Suzy this week, which I'm just now getting around to answering (sorry). But first, Ta Da ... here is the $15 dollar rug (regular price $399). It was just the thing I was patiently waiting for to bring the room together. I also figured out what I'm going to use to slipcover the love seat. I finished the pattern, but have been waiting to find just the right fabric ~ has to meet the criteria of the right color, price and texture ... so I decided last night that I'm going to use Wal-mart burgundy velvet curtain panels. I think they will be nice and cozy, and the price is right (here's a tip: sometimes curtain panels are cheaper per yard than fabric if you have a tight budget. I've used them for pillos, too). I'll keep you posted on that project after the holidays.

Here are some pictures from my dining room. I bought this tassel at Wal-mart last year and couldn't find a place for it. I think it works on the chandelier.
Some Martha Stewart ornaments I found at K-mart thanks to Liz, and also just happened to find a robin's egg blue vase on the clearance aisle while I was there (I think I'm on a lucky streak - right when I'm NOT supposed to be spending money!)

I was sick of the gold paint on these angel candlestick holders, so I painted them cream. I stuck some shells in there too. The garland is actually a really nice one that I got at Michael's clearance last year. It was $30 marked down to about $1.50. You've got to check out their blow-out sales after the holiday.
Suzy asked the other day about what magazines I love. Here are a few of my favorites. As far as decorating goes, just a few years ago, my hubby was the only decorator in this family. When we moved into our new house, I went into overdrive. But I wouldn't come up with an original decorating idea if it walked up and slapped me across the face. That is why I am obsessed with seeing other peoples houses (thank heaven for blogs!), I memorize magazines and save any pages with good ideas in an "inspiration" folder, and if I come across a good idea on the internet, I double-click on the picture and save it to my computer. I also love catalogs like Ballard Design and Pottery Barn. Another thing about my decorating abilities is, I got over my fear of trying things. There are a lot of holes in my walls where I hung things in the wrong spot, and Mr. Jones has done a teeeny bit of re-painting for me. I also regularly move furniture around. The next 2 projects I have worked up the guts to do are tiling (taking a class thanks to Martha), and I'm going to rip the carpet off my stairs and paint the pine underneath. Oh yeah, you heard me right. My poor, patient husband is holding back on this idea, I know it. "Yeah, honey." Poor guy. I got this idea from Manuela.

I have been liking a lot of the special interest Better Homes and Gardens publications on decorating lately. Creative Home is my absolute favorite. They spell out how to do a lot of projects.
Here is another favorite of mine ... Romantic Homes.
And last, but not least, Country Living magazine. These are the 3 magazines I never throw out. Southern Living has some good ideas, too, but I stopped getting those. I love to look at the Southern Living At Home catalogs, and those consultants always have great ideas!

I got the Underblogger Award! Wooohoooo!!

My good friend Martha tagged me with this, most special award the other day.

Isn't it lovely! I'm touched. No, really I am. Martha gave this to me for being a loyal reader, but how couldn't I be?!! She is so funny, I actually laugh out loud when I read her blog. And she gives really cool house tours, which I love because my favorite thing to do is to look inside people's homes.

Ok, so it is my understanding that this award goes to bloggers who deserve a little recognition for their blogs, even though they may not have a ton of traffic yet. Or maybe loyal, wonderful readers who faithfully read on a regular basis.

So here are my tags:

1. Martha, of course ... right back at ya' babe! I think Martha and I started blogging about the same time, and clicked right away. She has been reading the bologna I've been writing since the start, and that definitely deserves an award. Thanks girlfriend!

2. I know Martha already tagged her, but I've got to add her to the list. Linda is always stopping by to say "hi" and always has the most amazing design pictures on her blog. Always inspirational!

3. Liz at Mabel's House is deserving of this award. You need to see her cute dog (who happens to be in one of the most adorable banners I've seen) and her adorable house. This girl's got great style.

4. Penny, amazing Triathlon woman and loyal commenter. She has some great Thursday Thirteen posts you should check out. (Oh, and Penny, your new banner looks awesome!)

5. Trish at Harmony Hill Music, another loyal reader and just about the sweetest person I know!

6. Dawn at The Feathered Nest is a sweetheart who visits me. She always says the nicest things, like you've known her your whole life. And you're going to drool over her blog, folks.

7. Elzie all the way over there in Sweden, who has an adorable blog, and got me hooked on Swedish blogs. There are all kinds of fun things over there!

8. I also have to give this award to every single person who reads or has posted on this blog. It gives me great joy to know that you have stopped by, and if I haven't made it back to your blog to say "hi", please forgive me. I have the best of intentions, but my kids keep me so busy, my head is spinning, miscellaneous words come out of my mouth when I think I'm speaking clearly, and, well, I completely forgot that last thing I was going to write. Well, anyway, consider yourselves tagged because you are all awesome.

A couple people have asked me questions this week, and I will try to post on Friday to answer them. Also, I have to share this with you now but I will post a picture tomorrow: I have wanted a natural fiber rug for my living room for quite a while now. On my budget of $20, I haven't found one yet ... until now. Oh, yes, I pulled up to the thrift store today, and rolled up, folded up, sitting in the drizzle was a lonely pottery barn bound sisal rug (7' x 9') just waiting to go home with someone for the price of $15. Oh, yes, I snatched that baby up and paid for it without even unrolling it and looking at it. It is hands-down, the best thrifting find *ever* in my life!

All I Want For Christmas Is My Two Front Teeth!

Well, my baby lost his first tooth a couple nights ago. It had gotten so loose that when he spoke, it went back and forth with his breath. So he decided to hit a basketball on his face, and it popped out! The Tooth Fairy actually remembered to visit our house this time ... you know, sometimes she gets to watching Oprah and Everest and *completely* forgets about her most important job. Then, in the morning, she has to crawl across the upstairs hallway and sneak into the room in broad daylight. "Oh, Hey honey, did you check behind the bed? Maybe it just fell while you were sleeping? Oh, yeah, see ... here it is." See what a stellar mother I am?!!

Here is a little chair I picked up for a couple bucks. It wasn't sturdy enough to use because the bar at the bottom is missing. I painted it red for Christmas and put the Grinch on it. It's like his little time out chair.


This is a picture of what is on top of our entertainment center. I had flying reindeer up their last year, but I think Santa looks better.
This is the advent calendar I picked up at Costco last year. I love it!

These are some vintage-looking ornaments I bought at Joanne Fabrics and the pine cone ornaments I bought at the dollar store.
And this one's for Elzie, who couldn't quite figure out what I put on the top of my tree. It is an angel, and I draped some of the sheer ribbon I used on the banister over her because she was just a little too gold for me.
I'm almost done with the curtains and I think they are looking good. I made one small change to the way I hung them that made a HUGE difference. I'll show you more pictures Monday. Thanks to everyone for your help with this project!

You have got to do this ...

Ok, I'm back people. It's been a busy week, so I'm having no time to post or visit my bbf's (best-blogging-friends). And no bad jokes about my lame acronym.

Anyway, the kids had a 2 hour snow delay this morning, so I used my extra time wisely and played around on the internet. Hadn't planned on it, but a got an e-mail from Photojojo, and in this e-mail was a link to the most hilarious websites. You upload photos of yourself (in my case, Mr. Jones was the victim), and it makes a dancing scrooge video or a dancing elf video. Since Mr. Jones would not appreciate a scrooge video of himself on the internet, I have made new ones with dog pictures to share with you. Check them both out, and then for the love of all things good, put a picture of your spouse in the video and send it to his whole family (yes, folks, that's what I did).

Elfs:  http://www.elfyourself.com/?id=1193815782


Scrooge:  http://www.scroogeyourself.com/?id=1193882543