A Strict Blogger

I am usually a strictly blogging on weekdays kind of girl, that wasn't really much of a possibility this week. In my mind, if my blog gets really famous, I don't want to have to work on weekends and people expect a post. Hey, it makes sense.

Back to reality...

I made these necklaces a couple of weeks ago and haven't shared. With Christmas coming up, there are lots of gifties for people to buy. What about a Governor's Daughter necklace? These can be purchased at Chrysalis or check out my etsy site.

Happy Birthday to me!

Well, Happy Birthday to me a couple of weeks ago. I am slowing down in my old age so it took me awhile to post this:) Or maybe its the fact I am a stay at home mama with 2 little ones...

On a side note, I am pretty excited because I finally got some laundry put away while my two littles played on my bed. Simple and happy. 

For my birthday, my parents fixed us supper. My mom did her table all up. Isn't it lovely? Wonder where I get it from...

The contrast of the brown with the yellow is so pleasant and the decor on the chandelier is a nice added bonus. I especially liked the use of the crops. I don't know why I used the word crops. Well, certainly, they were someones crops and we are enjoying the fruits( literally!) of their labor.

I also got a kick out of this. Thank you Dad for using the sign from last year.

I had such a nice birthday and I am so thankful for such great friends and family. The Lord has blessed my greatly in my 31 years. Yay!

DIY Princess Dress: I costumed it!

For Halloween, my daughter wanted to be a princess. Well, of course! We visited my sister for Halloween and since Halloween was on a Wednesday, we went to her church that night and they had the kids dress up as saints. I liked the idea. I did some research and came upon St. Elizabeth of Hungary. She was a saint, check, and she was a princess, check. We did our artistic interpretation of what we thought she might wear.

I had pinned a cute dress awhile ago I wanted to make. I "costumed" it. Yes, I like that term. I used an old
t-shirt for the top and found super shiny fabric for the bottom. Here is the original tutorial.

Now, I am thinking about making another one, less costumey.

*I might want to take a little tutorial on photo editing:)

To Dye or not to dye

I am fevershly trying to finish Halloween costumes. I dyed one costume. On a sad note, it did not turn out the red I was looking for but on a happy note, my washing machine did. Haha. Sad. The fabric I was dying did turn out a really nice shade of pink. We will just make it work. Thank you Tim Gunn. One of my other costumes really could get me on Project Runway or maybe a low budget version. I couldn't believe it stayed together and fit! More to come on that manana! 

Falled up the place

I recently wrote a post about outside fall decorating here. I pinned all these great ideas and then when it came down to it, I realized it would cost me a small fortune to outfit my whole front porch with pumpkins. However, I bought new flowers for my pots and it really falled up the place. Yes, falled, as in spruced up the place...? Its reaching, I know.

The galvanized pots my husband found underneath the house after we moved in. The former owners were into flowers, plants, trees and especially camellias. Lucky for us! He, of the past homeowners, brought cameliias in from California and grafted some in to already existing camellias. He also tagged each tree, which some of the names can still be seen. Its fun to walk around the yard and try to find the tags and ohh  and ahh over the names. And the point was..... Oh, yes, the pots. I have 2 in front and 2 on my back steps.

crotan, pentas, marigold, sweet potato vine, tea olive, dusty miller, lariope

I am also thinking of putting more eye popping pillows on the chairs out front. These are the two fabrics I have been looking at...

this picture does not do this fabric justice...

So, thats the end. Happy Thursday. In and out of sleep this morning, I thought it was Saturday... weird. And to see autumn inspired front door decor( say it 3 times and its yours!) check out my Autumn Board.

Gator Nation

Gator Nation

My house, being a seminole house, cringed a bit when I made this. However, it looks really nice and I like the way it turned out. And let's face it, as far as colors go, I like the orangeys and blues better than the golds and the garnets.  I am thinking about doing others. What say you?

Before and After: A Face recently "lifted"

Hello. I talked about this DIY the other day but I didn't put up Before and After photos. Oh, the horror! Everyone loves a good before and after photo whether its a bedroom makeover, Stacey and Clinton redoing the frumpy Mom or a face recently "lifted." So, here are my before and afters of my home ( without paint and with.)

Before:

orange brick( the day girlie #1 came home)

door had been painted but this was just the beginning!

 After:

view from the bridge across the street at dusk

doing sparklers with Girlie #1

the day Girlie #2 came home

pond across the street