Boo!

The air is cool, the season is fall,
Soon Halloween will come to all.
Ghosts and goblins, spooks galore...
Tricky witches at your door.
The spooks are after things to do,
In fact, a spook brought this "BOO" to you.
The excitement comes when friends like you,
Copy this note and make it two.
We'll all have smiles on our faces,
When we see who Boo'd who's places.

I was Boo'd by Heidi at the Craft Monkey. Now I get to pass the Boo onto 4 of my favorite blogs.


1. Roeshel at The DIY Showoff- Obviously one of my favorite blogs, if you are an avid reader of mine. Not only does she have awesome projects and remodels of her own, but she showcases tons of other people's projects and remodels. Her blog is my go-to site whenever I need a little inspiration.

2. Whitney and Ashley (sisters) at Shanty2Chic- These girls can turn ANYTHING into something gorgeous! I've been breathless at some of their projects. Everytime I read their blog, I want to head to a salvage yard. Their taste is so elegant!

3. The Nesting Place- I wish I knew her name. She refers to herself as "The Nester." Her projects and advice are amazing, and also the inspiration to one of my coming-up posts. I'm posting my chronicles of her "31 Days to a Better Dressed Nest."

4. Kim at Twice Remembered- Her home transformations are amazing. She recently did a brick backsplash that I'm completely jelous of.




This BOO party was started by Toni@The Tattered Cottage.
Please keep the fun going by following these instructions.

1. You have 24 hours to work your spell

2. Copy and post the Halloween Boo Poem with the instructions for playing.

3. Pick 4 blogs you enjoying visiting and tell why you enjoy visiting them, with a link to their blog and remember to link back to me.

4. Go to the original BOO Party post at the Tattered Cottage and add your MckLinky.

5. Let's see how fast and far this spreads between now and Halloween.

Needing Advice

I have these twin archways in my very formal dining room:
Though they aren't the best arches I've ever seen, I still think they should be highlighted better.

Having someone come in and make custom trim is way to expensive.

I know that I can make decorative accents for them, but my only problem is the curves.

How on earth do you make your own arch trim?!

Any crafty advice would be much appreciated. I'm usually good at coming up with awesome ideas, but this is leaving me stumped.

Any and all suggestions are very VERY welcome!

Now that we got that done, I carved pumpkins with the munchkins last night!

From left to right: Will's scary pumpkin that he got to carve all by himself (1st year!), John's very happy pumpkin that he drew and gutted, and Hailey's random drawing that I managed to squeeze out of her (such a cranky girl....)

Need any more proof that she was crazy tired? Haha.

Alright, I've been really chugging along on this big reveal, so it should be done in the next few days. I'm almost done with the staircase hallway as well. Here's a peek at the BIG REVEAL:

Gorgeous detail!

Rustic Contempo Wreath

Rustic Contempo Wreath

---------------------------

This wreath is part of my plans for my staircase walls. I wanted it to be contemporary with a rustic flare. Best yet, this only cost me $1! Who couldn't afford that?!


Supplies
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Wreath form (I got it from the Dollar Tree)
Black spray paint
Twine
Hot glue

Steps
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1. Spray paint your entire wreath on a protected surface, being sure to get in all the nooks and crannies. Let dry.
2. Glue one end of twine to the backside of your wreath and start twisting it around the form.
3. Once you get to the desired width, hot glue the other end to the backside.
4. Make your flower: Make several loops (the petals) and hot glue it to the center. Make a button (refer to picture if you have no idea what I'm talking about.) Glue down the button.
5. Hang!

Not your usual wreath =) I can't wait to hang it up in that hallway.

Here's another peek at my BIG REVEAL:

White yarn? Now what could I be up to?

Plans

Always go in with a plan. Okay, okay, usually I wing it, but this time I have a plan.

So remember how I want to redo the walls going up the staircase. Here's my sketches of what I would like to see go up there.

It's a rough sketch, but it gives me a lot of ideas on how to play with the space. Hopefully I will get it done in the next few days, and you'll get the chance to see that.


Here's a look at my next BIG REVEAL:

Oooo, what pretty fabric!

Photoshopped Staircase

I finally got the faces of my staircase painted. After touching up some of the white that came off with the painter's tape, hiding some scratches in the stained wood with a stain pen (darn dog), I finally got it done.

Here's what it looked like before:

And here's what it looks like now:

I got some great advice from Jenn at Motocross Momma and from Roeshel at The DIY Show Off about adding numbers to the stairs.

Here's what it would look like if I did it:
I love Photoshop, it helps me visualize! Anyways, do you like it?

My options are:

House Numbers--a bit pricey, but would add even more character.

OR

Stencils--the cheap route, since I already have stencils and paint, but sacrifice on quality.

What should I do? Any advice would be greatly appreciated!

Anyways , this is what the walls look like above this staircase. I liked this years ago, but I'm starting to think that it looks too cluttered. So I'm thinking about making some black floating shelves, put some pictures and nick knacks on the shelves.

What do you think?

Starting on the stairs

I lost my pumpkin pie recipe that I was going to share! Once I find it, I promise you, you'll get my recipe!

Anyways, I have a cold, work is giving me more hours (not to even mention the hours I'm stuck in a classroom), and I really am trying to plug away at some of these projects.

Here's a picture to tide you over in the meantime.

Yep, I'm finally tackling those stairs.

My Wish List

Vintage Junky is having a wish list party! I'm a big daydreamer, so of course I have to show you what I daydream about!
A KitchenAid stand mixer from Younkers in stainless steel. And all of the fun attachments!

A stainless steel side by side fridge like this one from Sears

Unfortunately, I don't have that kind of money, but I'm picking up a white used side by side with water and ice this Saturday!

A pergola. Pictured is one from Sears. (Throw in that hot tub, too!) I've had plans drawn out for making my own for years now. Some day....

I would give my firstborn for this exact shed from Sears. (not really, don't freak out....)

My husband and I have wanted a shed since we bought our house.

Do you notice that I seem to love Sears??

A drill press. Pictured above is a nice one from Sears, but I'm not picky, I just want a drill press!

A white peacoat. I have a black one that I pretty much live in, but I think white would be classy when I go on a date with my husband, or any other time my kids aren't smearing grape jelly all over me. This one's from The Burlington Coat Factory.

Oh, how I've always wanted a 1968 Chevy Camaro. Someday we will be united.... I found this bad boy on Ebay Motors. If you bid and buy this thing, PLEASE come to my house just so that I can drool =)

I want my gym membership back. I absolutely loved going to this place every night. Just have to save a little bit of money first....Check out Anytime Fitness to see if there's a gym near you!

A three season porch, like this one pictured at Better Homes and Gardens. Then again, I would settle for any covered porch at this point.

I REALLY want to back to Disney World with my husband. We went there when I was 18, and I've been wanting to go back ever since. We never got to have a honeymoon, so maybe we'll take our honeymoon this year ;)

That's kind of a big-ticket-item list. Let's scale it back for a little bit.

Stemware like these from Living Quarters from Younkers.


Younker's version of Spanx. Muffin-top be gone!


This robe from Younkers, but in white.

I love Willow Tree and Comfort Candles. Here's the ones I want. You can find them at Younkers.
Brothers---isn't that perfect for my boys?

Mother & Daughter

Quest---for the avid reader, William
Brother and Sister---my little poops
Promise----It reminds me of my wedding <3 align="center">
A mother's love----wouldn't this go great in my bathroom?



Silk trees for my back porch from Younkers. Okay, they are a bit pricey, but a girl can dream, right?


Whew! I think that's enough for right now! I could be doing this all day long. Maybe I have a shopping problem....haha.

Bathroom Decal

It finally came in! My decal!

Isn't it lovely?

My dream bathroom.....

For All Things Chalkboard

I love chalkboard paint. I bought a small can 3 years ago, and it's still going strong in my house.

Here's some things I used it on so far:

1. The back of my son's door. His room used to be a playroom, and I've gotten so many uses off of it. I taught my step-son to count by two's on that door.

2. The backside of my kitchen cabinets. It holds my shopping list, grocery list, appointment dates, love notes from my husband, house to-do lists, and a "yuck" face where the cleaning supplies are.

3. A cute little area on a planter. My husband laughed that I'm giving the plant directions. I should have put "Please Stop Growing!" This bugger has been re potted 3 times already.

4. A cute glass jar that I've had forever. Here's the process of it being made:

Love this jar with it's cork top!

Tape off an area, paint with chalkboard paint.

I put a twine ribbon on it again (I love twine!), then labeled it.

5. This is a find from Goodwill. I already started putting chalkboard paint on it. It's part of my next BIG PROJECT. Stick around for that!






I also have this staircase that I'm going to redo very soon. But I haven't decided on exactly how I want it. I was kind of thinking putting chalkboard paint on the vertical parts of the stairs. We could put cute little messages, or I can just draw on any design I like at the moment. It's part of that "Don't take life so seriously" thing I was talking about. Then put white on the horizontal parts.

Or I would do white vertically.

I don't know.....

Any advice???




Switching gears, I want to show you what my mom gave me:
She didn't want it, and I loved it. I still don't have a place for it. I'm thinking it will be part of my next BIG PROJECT.