Christmas Decor

Happy Christmas Eve! I don't even know how Christmas is tomorrow.  The older I get the faster time flies.  Is that normal?  Here are some pictures of our dusty, under construction, partly decorated house.  :)

I finally found a use for the crystal garlands I used in our wedding centerpieces. 

I hope you and your family have a wonderful Christmas!

{LJ}

2014 Christmas Cards

I looove Christmas cards!!! I have been checking the mailbox like a senior in high school waiting for graduation gifts.  We decided to use our brand new casa as the backdrop this year. 

& here is the back!  

Here's the close second:

I kept waiting for the first snow to take these pictures, because our yard is terrible {the left side has no grass}.  The first snow happened when my cousin/best friend/photographer was in town visiting.  I'd say that is perfect timing!  I do love this years card because it reminds me of how God took care of the house buying process {I definitely should of trusted him a little more than I did...}.  I still think last years card will be my favorite for a long while...

First comes marriage, then the house, what do y'all think should come next? ;)

{LJ}

Best ever white elephant gift...

Hello!  How was your Monday?   I am totally not ready for Christmas.  I should be out finishing my shopping, but I am busy spray painting elephants in the backyard.  Our neighbors officially think we are crazy!  When trying to find the perfect white elephant gift there are many funny options, but we decided to take a more literal approach...

I found the elephants at Target in the black hole I like to call the dollar spot.  They were $3 and all I did was paint them with a coat of primer and regular ole' white paint {i had primer so i used it, i think you could get away with skipping it}.  

Alright, it's finals week!  It is so much more enjoyable on the teachers side.  :)

{LJ}

Linking Up:  Craft Blog Stalker, The Blissful Bee , Living Well Spending Less

What's going on in the kitchen...

but I don't know what's cooking.  They say I gotta learn, but nobody's here to teach me. If they can't understand it, how can they teach me.  I guess they can't, I guess they won't. I guess they front, that's why I know my life is out of luck, fool. 

You know, just a little Coolio to start off this Friday.  Our kitchen has been quiet the project.  It was last remodeled in 1982.  I bet you would of never guessed...

 The remodel was probably top notch back in the 80s but we wanted our kitchen to be a little more...spacious

Yeah, the island made unloading the dishwasher a little tricky.  I know what your thinking, get rid of the island...no other option.  I agreed, trust me but it was more complicated than that.  We had our gas stove in the island.  I just KNEW moving the gas line would cost a fortune so I was going to try to live with it.  Then these guys came in town...

My cousin Meghann, her hubby Shaun and baby Mason came to visit and get their hands dirty.  Oh, and that is just one of there three precious children!  They convinced me that moving the line would be easy because we have a basement {aka the gas line was visible}.  The guys decided to get to work and we decided to get to the mall.  When we got home our living room had the kitchen island in it. 

The guys didn't stop there.  They worked on installing the recessed lights which looks AWESOME! 

Okay, here is another before...

PROGRESS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Ahhhh so much progress!  The gas line was successfully moved {without blowing up the house}!  Tall Tan Man's resume is growing every weekend! 

I'm thankful for our weekend with some of my favorite people!

{LJ}

P.S. We found this under the island...Pretty cool!

Linking Up with: DIY Vintage Chic, Blissful Bee

DIY Tufted Bench from Drop Cloth

I finally have a tufted piece of furniture!  This has been on my "wanna try list" for some time now and it was a lot easier than I expected.  When Tall Tan Man and I were cleaning out his Grandpa's house, I found this bench under a bunch of boxes in his hot tub room.  Yes, hot tub room.  In the basement.  Don't ask.  Everyone was automatically thinking it would be sent to Good Will, but I said not so fast!  I was going to do a step by step tutorial but {Addicted 2 Decorating's tutorial} was so good, I decided not to.  House remodel + holidays + time change = lazy post.  Here are some really great pics that  I took during the process. 

  

My tufts are far from perfect, but I am pretty proud of our new bench!

Cost Breakdown:

$9 ORB Spray Paint

$37 Foam {40% off + 15% off coupon}

$8 Adhesive Spray {used coupon}

$9 Twin Quilting Batting

$6 Drop Cloth

$4 Screws and Washers

Total:$73

{LJ}

Linking Up:
The Crafty Blog Stalker
Blissful Bee
Living Well Spending Less
Miss Mustard Seed 
DIY Vintage Chic
Monday Funday

Transitioning our Table from Thanksgiving to Christmas

 I am a sucker for a pretty table.  I think a pretty table makes food taste better.  Including frozen pizza.  Tall Tan Man doesn't agree with that, but that's okay.  :) The day before Thanksgiving I ran over to our local supermarket to find some flowers, but I didn't love any of the arrangements.  I don't like spending a lot on flowers, so I was thrilled when I found two packs of assorted greenery for $6 each!  Now, I do not claim to know the first thing about making flower arrangements, but I do my best. 

The vases I used are from World Market that were originally used for our wedding centerpieces. The burlap runner was an online purchase for our rehearsal dinner, and the pumpkins are way old, like from my college days old. Shortly after we cleared the table off from Thanksgiving dinner, I moved into Christmas mode. 

I changed out the burlap runners for these black and white ones I made for our wedding {ikea fabric + fabric shears = awesome runners}. Lastly, I added some old PB plaid napkins, and added some red berries.  Simple, fast and cheap!  :)  Hope y'all are having a great week!  

{LJ}

Linking Up:
Nap Time Creations
Blissful Bee
Living Well Spending Less
DIY Vintage Chic

Leftover Sweet Potato Casserole Pancakes

Hi y'all!  How was your Thanksgiving?!  We hosted Thanksgiving for the first time ever, and I am proud to say that nothing caught on fire and no one got food poisoning.  :)  I am not a big leftovers person.  This might make me sound crazy...but I am all about eating bad on Thanksgiving and then I want all the food to go away.  Tall Tan Man on the other-hand loooves left overs.  He came to bed the other night with a plate of leftovers!!  Men... {Women, we are all jealous of this, can I get an amen?}.  I was googling last night "what to make with leftovers" and nothing sounded too tempting until I saw {this recipe} from Serious Eats. I made a few minor changes to the recipe, and all I have to say is, 'Does any one have any leftover sweet potato casserole I can have???'  

Sweet Potato Casserole Pancakes
 
Ingredients:

1-1/4 Cups Sweet Potato Casserole {I tried to scrape off the marshmallows}
1/2 Cup Greek Yogurt
3/4 Cup Milk
1 TBSP Maple Syrup
2 TBSP Melted Butter {Plus more for cooking the pancakes}
1 Cup Flour
3/4 tsp Baking Powder
1/4 tsp Baking Soda
1/4 tsp Kosher Salt
Pinch of Cinnamon and Nutmeg

Directions:

1. Whisk together casserole, yogurt, milk, syrup, and butter until well combined.  

2.  Add in flour, baking powder, soda, salt, cinnamon, and nutmeg.  Whisk/stir until well combined.  

3.  Melt additional butter on a griddle or large frying pan.  Drop pancake mixture on to the griddle using a 1/4 cup.  Using the back of the 1/4 cup and smooth out the pancake to a nice even circle {or oval/octagon/square}.  After about 1 - 2 minutes the edge of the pancakes should be brown and then you will gracefully flip them.  

4.  Add more butter and maple syrup if your heart so desires.  Now enjoy.  

I wonder if I can make left-over stuffing pancakes? Jk... This is my new favorite way to enjoy leftovers!  Do you have any great leftover recipes? Please share if you do! 

{LJ} 

Linking Up
The Blissful Bee
 Living Well Spending Less
DIY Vintage Chic

Sources from our Sun Room

Hi there!  Here are some of the sources from Tuesday's post.  As you will see, we should totally be friends if you are a walk around the outside aisle of target {where all the sales are}, and refuse to pay full price for anything. :)

Our World Market {Metal Orb Chandelier} might be my new favorite decor item in our house.  Isn't it lovely?  World Market currently has it priced at $119 which is 20% off the normal the normal price.  We lucked out because we got the chandelier when all the lighting was 25% off. 

I totally died {I can be a little dramatic} when I saw our metal chairs on Craig's List.  I talked the seller down to $25, which I was pretty proud of.  :)

The {Chevron Rug} was another lucky purchase from Target.  It is an indoor/outdoor rug which I thought would be perfect for under the kitchen table.  At the end of the summer I crossed my fingers {and checked the outdoor section a million times a week} until it went on sale.  I waited until it was marked down twice...from $250 to $58!!! 

We have had this {Indonesian Daybed} from World Market for about a year and still love it.  I love how unique and comfy it is.  :)  

Tall Tan Man built us this {coffee table} last year, because the one I had before was a bit girly. 

Let me know if you have an questions or suggestion on what to do to our UGLY floor!

{LJ}

Progress in our Sun Room

 Hello! First off, I want to apologize for being a pitiful home remodel blogger.  I kind of feel like I am either extremely motivated and working on our house, or too exhausted to get off the couch {or even think}.  I am going to try to actually have TWO posts this week.  First post; the sun room!  Here is how it started out:

I am not sure why the old residents decided to have a random dividing wall. The room is definitely not big enough to have a dividing wall.  We spent a lot of time during our first month in the house on this half of the room. 

The first project we took on was the ceiling.  The wood on the ceiling made the room feel shorter and cheap.

We threw around a bunch of ideas, but then we decided to paint it white because it was the cheapest option.  

Then a few weeks ago one of Tall Tan Man's friend and his awesome wife came in town and destroyed the wall! 

YAY!

The room looked so good right?! Up next was removing the carpet.  And no.  Your eyes are seeing correctly.  The carpet was two different colors...  Unfortunately, the concrete underneath is in BAD shape.  I really wanted to stain it but the previous owners painted it green, booooo.  We still have to remove the carpet glue but the room will have to do for now.

Here is the to do list:

• Repair the drywall where we removed the wall
• Texture the walls
• Paint the walls
• Remove the wood paneling from brick
• Remove liquid nails from the brick
• Hang lights on the wall with the big window
• Install curtains
• Paint the built in shelves white
• Do SOMETHING with the floors
• Decorate

I do not know if making that list made me feel better or worse...

{LJ}

Linking Up With:

House of Hipsters
The Blissful Bee