{ Our Last Week with Mr. G-ding }

St. Patrick's Day is tomorrow & I think Mr. G-ding. will be going back to Ireland to be with his family.

Tomorrow will be our last day with him.

He raided our fridge!

Woke up one morning to find him watching cartoons.

Playing Peanut's Leapster that she left out.

Finishing a puzzle that Boo & I were working on.

How did he get in there?

The little girls woke up this morning to a TPd room!

We will sure miss Mr. G-ding, but I'm sure he'll come visit us next year around this time. :)

{ Shinanagins }

Mr. Greenalingading's shinanagins this week...

Somehow he locked himself in the lantern on the coffee table.

Getting into the Cheerios in the pantry.

Reading about specialized bikes.

Swinging from the chandelier.

Flirting with the Willow Tree ladies.

{ Mr. Greenalingading }

Look who showed up at our house on March 1st...

My kids named him Mr. Greenalingading.

I think he's cousins with one of those Elf on a Shelf guys.

Every day we find him in a different place than the day before.

The girls loooove him.

I'm sure glad he found his way into our home.

{ Peddler's Market }

Good morning!

Last weekend, my friend asked if I would like to go to a huge garage sale thing she found & wanted to check out.

It is called Piecemaker's Peddlers Market and of course I wanted to go.

It turned out to be a success!

Here are a few of the great deals that I found...

Little Christmas mugs $11

Miniature dollhouse items $20

Quilted Year baby blanket $7

{ each fabric square represents a month }

Globe bank $8

It was a lot of fun & we are ready for the next one in August!

{ Shark/Ocean Party }

Hey all!

Sorry we've been MIA.

The holidays were crazy for all of us & our niece {Sheri's daughter} got married right afterwards.

She will be posting pictures of that soon, hopefully.

Anyway, my Little Boo just had her birthday party & I wanted to share it with you.

To say she loves animals is an understatement.

She is head over heels, crazy about them...

especially sea animals...

especially sharks.

As much as I tried to sway her towards a rainbow, unicorn party...she wanted sharks.

So, that's what we did.

I got a lot of ideas from blogs & the internet.

There are tons of cute ocean parties out there!

Bottled ocean water {idea found here}.

I decided to go with a variety of blues for the color scheme.

Then I scoured the internet to find clipart of a shark that wasn't too scary to use on water bottles, banners, tags, etc.

We used Boo's stuffed animal, Bruce, {from Pier 1} and some aqua tissue paper as the centerpiece.

The stripes in the middle of the table is wrapping paper from Target as are the plates & napkins.

Simple banner I made using the shark clipart, printing out letters & cutting them out in circles.

Lunch menu:

PB&J fish & seastar sandwiches

fish crackers

grapes

 Shark fin cupcakes {idea found here}

I used thick black foam from Michaels for the fins.

The frosting was blue, but you can't tell in this picture.

Paper plate shark {idea found here}.

The kids loved this!

Goodie buckets {idea found here}.

Filled with: shark fruit snacks, CapriSuns, beach stickers, etc.

The buckets were found in the $1 bins at Target.

We also covered the ceiling with zig zag accordion paper streamers like these...

{idea found here}

They were all in shades of blue so it looked "oceany".

I'm so mad I didn't get a picture!

That's about it except for one last thing.

I was on Oriental Trading's website & saw that they had an ocean photo prop that would be fun for our party & even better it was on clearance for $1.50! So I ordered it.

Well, when it came I I realized why it was on clearance.

Now, please don't get me wrong...I have nothing against crosses or Bibles or religion, but I wanted it to be a bit more birthdayish for Boo's friends so I changed it a bit...

We took each child's picture with it & we are going to include them in the thank you notes.

Well, that's about it.

Say goodbye, Bruce.

{Living Room After}

It has been an insane whirlwind during the last few weeks as I worked on the house with HOURS of painting to the point that I think I might have Carpel Tunnel in my painting wrist (this is no joke. I went downstairs to paint a chalkboard wall in my basement this morning and as I started cutting in I got shooting pains in my wrist and my fingers went numb. Yikes!) But so much progress has been made!

For starters, here are some after pictures of our Living Room now that we've moved in. I wanted to grab a few quick pics before the christmas tree went up. Just out of frame is a half assembled tree I started before I realized I forgot to take pictures!

{after}

{before}

{another after, as a side note, the clock above the couch is now hanging in the center of the bookcase. Our painting affectionally named "George" now resides above the couch.}

{recognize those bookcases?}

{Here they are in the apartment. I swapped the backs out with beadboard and gave them a fresh white coat of paint... or two... or three}

{This is the entry way. Yes the dresser REALLY need a new coat of paint, I'm thinking turquoise. At least I replaced the knobs. And I have finally hung the mirror. }

{before of the entry}

{Loving the chandelier, before it was a dated brass and wood ceiling fan. What a huge difference a light makes! I got this from Laurel a couple years ago but never had just the right place to hang it before. I love it in here!}

{New pillow I made. I'll give details later}

{I never did show the before and after on my $10 coffee table. The chess set was made from a serving tray. My kids play chess all the time!}

{I am loving the new living room. And huge thanks to my dad for helping me install the batten board and window trim!}

Coming soon, kitchen or laundry room, I can't decide...

{ Not on the List }

Does this ever happen to you?

You have so much to do...lists a mile long...and you end up getting totally sidetracked by something so unnecessary, but fun?

Yeah, that probably doesn't happen to you...but it happens to me a lot!

Here's what I did...

My friend sent me a link to Box o' Princesses from Lilli Boo.

When I saw this cuteness...

I couldn't wait to give a try.

I didn't make the princess from The Princess & the Frog because we haven't seen that one yet.

But, I added Pocahantos... 

and Mulan {she's my favorite}... 

They fit perfectly in the little paper mache box... 

I downloaded the artwork for the top of the box & little town scenery from the amazing artist Stephanie Corfee here.

It is so much fun & Boo is loving it.

The hardest part was trying to glue the teeny tiny jewels on.

Now, back to the lists. :)

{ Autumn Decor }

Well, Thanksgiving is right around the corner.

Are you ready?

I am so excited to be hosting my family this year!

I made the menu & shopping list yesterday.

Nothing fancy, just good ole' traditional Thanksgiving dinner food.

My Thanksgiving decor is very simple.

I used the leftover Halloween pumpkins & grouped them together on top of the piano.

Have I mentioned how big the surface is on the piano?

It makes it a bit difficult to decorate sometimes.

After grouping the pumpkins I needed to balance out the other side so I used an empty frame for height.

The frame seemed a bit too empty, but I didn't want to get my sewing machine out, so I gathered fabric scraps from my stash, used some fabric bonding, cut out triangles & just used my mini clothspins to hang them on the wire that was already attached to the back of the frame.

Easy & quick!

Here's a broader view.

 { By the way, I've been wanting to change the finish on my piano...paint, restain...what do you think? }

Here's a few pictures of some of my other Autumn decor... 

I've had these Pilgrims & Indians for quite a while.

I love them.

Quick & easy arrangement on the dining room table.

Can you see the empty frame peeking out in the background?

I found it at an antique store.

I think there's a few people who come over & wonder why I have empty frames hanging in my home.

That's okay, they make me happy.

The little shelf with my two oldest kids' silhouettes when they were 4 years old.

They are 16 & 13 now.

Where does the time go?

Next week will be crazy.

My kids are out of school all week & our company is coming.

I can't wait!