A Scrooge No More

Until earlier this week, I had always been a Scrooge about Christmas.  Oh sure, I loved it when I was little just like the rest of you.  But for some reason, I have always preferred Thanksgiving as an adult.  I just don't like redecorating my house, shopping with crowds, spending lots of money on other people, and stressing about what to get everyone.  But some time at the beginning of this week, all of that changed.  I committed to Christmas!  Ryan showed up at our house with two 3 foot light up reindeer, Alli's eyes lit up, and that was the end of it.  We added peppermints and plan to light the whole house tomorrow.

So this weekend, I spent a  LOT of time in the frou frou Little Rock decor stores my mother and I adore - such as Silks-A-Bloom, Phoenix Interiors, Austin's, Claybourne's, and Pazzazz.  And I was bombarded with the over-the-top Christmas decorations that  I love, envy, and assumed I could never afford.  Until...I noticed they were selling everything you needed to make all of it.  And it wasn't that expensive.  So I bought some large ornaments, about $5 each, some swag, and 10 yards of the floral decor mesh and thought I'd give it a try.  Below is the end result, hanging on my mom's door.

Pretty awesome, huh?  The wreath itself was half off at Hobby Lobby.  I wound the decor mesh through it, added the ornaments, made the bow, and voila!  They sell these wreaths for $250-300, and I made this one for just under $100.  Not half bad!  So of course I went back and spent another hundred, because one is never enough, and made this little beauty:

I don't think that one is quite done, but it's close.  It will hang on the window behind the reindeer.  And I still have enough leftover to do garland over our fireplace!  I am so excited to get back home and finish decorating!  More pics to come, I hope, if the fireplace turns out as well as the wreaths!

The Hizzle Dizzle

Drumroll, please!  The master bathroom is officially painted!  Oh, sure, I have a touchup or two to do on the ceiling.  And yes, I need to order new artwork.  Just three pieces though.  And I eternally question what one is to do with a tiny frosted window next to a toilet.  But maybe, just maybe, by the end of this week, I will declare it officially done.

Aren't you proud of me?  Just a few days after I griped about myself, I semi-finished a project!  And I made Ryan patch the wall where he put a hole in it hanging new cabinets in our laundry room, so as soon as he sands that, I can paint it too.  AND I painted over the stripes of sample paint in the living room and the guest bedroom.  I have a love-hate relationship with our living room color.  It's a spectacular teal with red and gold accents.

So I go back and forth with repainting this room a more toned down version of the teal about every other month or so, but then realize that I love it as is as soon as I try to pick out a new color.  Also, I regularly toy with changing up our master bedroom.  I find it to be a bit masculine and dark for me.

So I think that will be the next project - a complete overhaul.  I don't even know what I am considering in that room.  Sometimes, I think baby blue and deep purple, and others I think a more green and blue scheme.  I think I'll have to wait for that right inspiration to hit me.  Also, we're planning to darken the guest bedroom as soon as I find the right green.  The last green I tested turned a putrid puke color in the sunlight, so back to the drawing board.  Here it is right now (that's Ginger on the bed, it's her favorite spot):

I think that's the room that looks the most incomplete.  It needs curtains, another lamp, and some more wall art.  And could probably use a bigger nicer bed, but who wants to spend money on a guest bed?  So we'll probably darken the whole thing, once I find the right green, get some curtains, and call it a day.

So those are my current musings on my house.  By the time I get it just about perfect, I think it will probably be time to move again.  Oh well...that's the fun, right?

Unfinished Projects

I am officially one of those people.  Yes, I have unfinished projects.  It horrifies me to even type it, but it's true.  I used to scoff at people whose remodeling, repair, and small project list went unchecked for months on end.  I was so smug.  How could they stand half-painted rooms, missing moldings, and art propped up against the wall for more than ten minutes?  Once I started on a project, I obsessed until the project was done.  I threw myself in wholeheartedly, despite the toll it took on my sleep, job performance, family life, or, most importantly, TV watching. 

But here I sit, in a living room that has a few teal stripes on it (considering a new LR color for some reason), a few unpainted moldings (untouched since Ryan finished the hardwood floors a few months ago).  My master bedroom only has one coat of paint on the ceiling.  It's been like that since Ryan got home from Iraq.  Ryan got home from Iraq 11 months ago.  And last week, I got a wild hair and repainted the master bathroom.  But I've only done one coat.  It covered relatively well, thanks to the new Behr Ultra paint with primer in it.  So I'm trying to convince myself that a slight bit of hot pink shining through an othwewise sage green wall will be all the rage any day now.

Why can I not finished projects these days?  I am going to blame part of this on my husband.  Mostly, because I don't want to accept the responsibility and because he doesn't read my blog much.  But he is not a project person.  He would much rather watch DVR'd Jeopardy and play Farmville than spend an hour painting a bathroom.  I don't blame him much, but I do wish he would step up and take charge of at least some of the unfinished projects.  You can't tell me he's sad to see the pink bathroom go.  He should at least stick the paint brush in my hand when I say "I think I am going to go reread Twilight again."  I had no trouble finishing projects when he wasn't here, and it wasn't for lack of things to do, was it?

Okay, okay.  Clearly this is not all his fault.  I generally take on more than I can handle and then take a few weeks off.  Or months.  I think the root cause of this situation is football season.  By Thanksgiving, I will have seen the Hogs play in 9 games this year.  That is a lot.  So here's hoping, after the holidays I get my rear in gear.  Or that pink/green streaked bathrooms get popular.

I can check one thing off my unfinished project list, for another few weeks anyway:  Blog updated.