christmas goods: front door decor diy

have you seen this pin yet?

 {look at that fun hat with the bird on it!}

or this one?

 {i love these fresh pine wreaths and the snazzy mittens}

or this one?

 {this one really pops with the use of white snowy wreaths}

cute, right?

here is my version:

i would estimate that mr. snoman here cost me about $12.00. i bought everything at my (not so) local craft store. (my friend rachel told me the other day that her craft store is less than a mile from her house. ummmm...jealous much?)

ok, here goes: 

gather three wreaths in graduating sizes.

grab pipe cleaners from your kid's craft stash:

cut a few green ones in half:

lay the wreaths out upside-down, like this:

and tie them together with the pipe cleaners like this:

find a couple of sticks in your backyard (or "help" your neighbor "clean" up their yard), and stick them through the wreaths...(the sticks not your neighbor)

...and then secure with pipe cleaners.

accessorize your man however you choose!

i ended up stuffing a couple grocery bags in the hat to help it keep it's shape. to hold the hat on to the wreath i just used my regular old office stapler and stapled it to the wreath stems in three or four different spots.

don't forget to fluff fluff fluff!

i think it could be a fun tradition to dress him up differently each year, take pictures and see how he evolves throughout the years.

at night i have a big spotlight that shines on our front door so our snowman is center stage all night long!

do you have a special wreath or decoration that you put on your front door?

to read about how i hang my window wreaths go here.

xoxo,

elisabeth

cb2 goods from charleston home mag.

it had been a few hours awhile since i had flipped through my fall/winter issue of charleston home magazine.

(i sort of still can't believe that my dining room is actually in a real magazine.)

i am so in love with Ann Ladson Stafford's home featured in the story "talent show".

i always find myself stopped at page 59...

...lovin' that green cb2 bench.

the rest of her home is equally awesome. 

check out here.

two other things i am loving from cb2 right now:

the go-cart desk and the knitted pouf. 

love that bright turquoise color!

all three have been pinned and pondered!

xoxo,

elisabeth

pinned goods of the day

working on these today! love this recipe. sounds so easy.

{from pinterest here}

christmas goods: how i hang my window wreaths

for as long as i can remember we have been hanging wreaths on our windows for christmas.

the style of our house really screams, "wreaths on the windows!"

i'm not sure how other people get their wreaths to stay up there on the windows. suction cups? nails? command strip hooks?

this is my no ladder, no tools, no gadgets method.

the first thing i do is fluff the wreaths. 

nobody likes a smashed up mashed down window wreath.

after fluffing, i separate the branches and make a spot for the ribbon to nestle into.

then i buy some pretty red outdoor ribbon like this:

measure how long i need the ribbon to be (depends on the size of your windows and where you want the wreaths to hit.)

and tie the ribbon around the wreath.

i make a loose knot like this:

to hang the wreaths like this i have to remove our window screens. (we never leave them in anyway. we can't really open the windows here much due to allergies, weather, construction dust, etc. plus it's so much nicer to look out a window that doesn't have a screen. try it. you'll like it.)

hopefully you have windows that tilt open like this:

so that you can open the window, and do this:

then i close and lock (always remember to lock!) the windows like this:

the knot keeps the wreath from sliding down or falling out completely. also, a loose knot will allow you to adjust the length of the ribbon. i use the window panes as a guide so that all my wreaths are hung at the same height.

and there you have it! i hung these yesterday and it took me just a few minutes per wreath. no ladders involved!

i just love how the wreaths are actually "hanging" from something instead of just stuck on. but i will take a wreath on a window pretty much any way!

 

i think it would be really pretty to hang the wreaths all the way at the tops of the windows. if the tops of your windows tilt in for cleaning you could do this. 

i put candles in the windows too, so i hang my wreaths high enough to allow the candles to be seen from the outside.

isn't holiday decorating fun? i wish i could leave these wreaths up all year!

xoxo,

elisabeth

ps. this year i bought a couple of extra wreaths and candles and put them on the sides of our house as well as the front. i am SOOO glad i did this! it really completes the look. i just love it when people decorate the whole house and not just the front. it's so pretty.  most craft stores have great deals going on right now. i think my extra wreaths were only $2.99 each!

garage goods: $100 corner re-do details

Our garage is a total basement wannabe. (We don't have a basement....it pains me.)

We HAVE to store lots of things in here and i am on a mission to make every corner work efficiently.

It's the first space we see when we come home and it's just stressful to walk into this mess every day.

After Jen revealed her garage a few months ago, I was really inspired,

especially by this little corner in her garage:

 {image via i heart organizing}

I bet that little corner is the most underutilized space in every garage in America.

It certainly was underutilized in my garage!

See those big huge slabs of counter top? Yeeeahhh......i may have been hording those...

...for eight a few years which may or may not have included two moves and three houses. It was time for them to GO!

Off to the Habitat ReStore!

I was also inspired by this photo from BHG. I love the use of pegboard and i have been dying to use it in a project.

 {image via bhg}

Ok here we go. 

I started with this table that my husband made long long ago. It was the desk he built for himself when we were in college.

I primed it with my favorite oil based Zinsser Cover Stain. I used a sponge brush and tossed the brush the trash for easy clean up!

Then I painted the table with two coats of a sample paint from Sherwin-Williams. (Note: sample paint is not durable. You will want to use a durable clear coat on top if you use it on something that will get a lot of use.)

I bought a peg board at Lowes. It comes in a few different sizes. This size is 4ft X 2ft.  Perfect for my space.

Enter my best friend spray paint!!!  This peg board really soaks up the paint, so I primed first. I think rolling the paint on would be a more efficient method, but I already had yellow spray paint.

I added a little strip of wood (on the right side) so that the peg board would fit nicely. See how that works? The board is screwed into the wood pieces on the right and left to allow space behind the board.

I also left a space of about an inch at the bottom of the board. (Unfortunately, we share our garage with gross little critters that like to crawl along that ledge. ewww...) The last thing I wanted was for one of our "friends" to get stuck behind the board. That would certainly not end well for anyone involved.

Next I hung the support strips for the shelves.

This required using power tools, a level, and some math. Impressive, aren't I?

These are the shelf brackets. They go into the white support strip things.

and there you have it!

Here is a break down of what I bought and how much it cost. (Store prices vs. online prices do vary. I find that things are usually cheaper in the store.)

FREE     table, already had

FREE     paint for table- Sherwin Williams sample paint, already had

FREE     spray paint and Zinsser primer, already had

$12.00  Real Organized 43 piece pegboard organizer kit (buy here)

$6.00    24"X48" pegboard  (buy similar here)

$28.00  2 rectangular galvanized bins bought at Lowes (similar here)

$12.00  6 single track shelf brackets (buy similar here)

$6.00    2 single track shelf tracks (buy here)

$30.00  3 melamine white shelves (similar here)

$8.00    4 yellow storage bins (similar here)

_______

$102.00 Total

*The cute little galvanized bin under the table is also from Lowes. I ended up returning it, as I didn't really need it. I think it was about $15-$20. It has a lid and would be perfect in the garage for dog food, potting soil, etc. 

**These specialty galvanized bins can be found in a few different departments at Lowes. Check the trash can isle or the closet and storage isle. There is also an area at Lowes near the paint brushes that has empty paint cans, buckets and other galvanized items. Check all three of these locations for handy storage.

***Other ways to save money would be to cut your own shelves...if you already have the wood on hand. I priced out whole pieces of plywood and also pre-cut wood boards. The price wouldn't have been much cheaper, and I would've had to take the time to prime and paint the boards.

I know in most of the country now is not a good time to be reorganizing the garage, given the weather. So, pin this bad boy and tuck it away for the spring! Your spring self will thank you.

xoxo,

Elisabeth

garage goods: $100 garage corner re-do

Welcome to the most only organized corner of my garage.

Details coming soon!

xoxo,

Elisabeth

giving goods: spread some sunshine!

my good friend rachel over at polkadots and puppies is doing a "spread some sunshine" series. 

 {beautiful picture, right? check out her blog...it will make you smile.}

rachel is hoping to spread a little love to those in need this holiday season. after reading her posts i was inspired to share with you how the bova family is spreading some sunshine.

after putting up our christmas tree this year i thought to myself, "wow, this tree is definitely NOT blog-worthy".  but, as it turns out, it is TOTALLY blog-worthy.

see, we decided NOT to spend $80 on a fresh gorgeous 8ft. frasier this year. instead, we put up our sad little fake 6ft tree. (6ft is real stretch people. i'm not sure how they are even allowed to write that on the box.) i bought this tree a few years back at big lots for a whole $24. you see where i am going with this, right? NOT blog worthy.

my husband had the brilliant idea to use the $80 we would've spent on the gorgeous frasier and buy toys for children in need. so, we will give the girls each $40 in cash, take them to big lots and help them make their money go as far as possible. there are two toys for tots drop off locations right down the street from us. i am so excited to do this!

now, that is definitely blog-worthy.

and as it turns out, when you put a 6ft tree on a coffee table, it makes it 8ft. tall!

 {not quite finished decorating it yet...hence, no ornaments at the top.}

if you spread some sunshine this holiday season, i would love to hear all about it. i'm sure rachel would too, head on over here and let her know! 

xoxo,

elisabeth