Ladies...Start Your Saws!

Nicole shared a GREAT blog with me the other day...

It's called Knock-Off Wood. If you can build, would like to learn or have someone in you life that just loves to build you things...than this is the blog for you!

Truly inspiring!

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Did You Even Know?

Look what I found! Chalkboard paint in a whole lot of different colors...24 to be exact! Check out Hudson Paint to view them all! I've seen black, green and blue before...but this blows my mind!

And don't forget about Martha....she came up with instructions on how to make your own custom colored chalkboard paint! Check it out here!

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Source: Overstock.com

Are you familiar with overstock.com?

If not, you should be ;)

When we were building our house, I would find a sink or faucet I liked and then would search for the best price, and usually that search would lead me to overstock. (plus shipping is very affordable, and often free!)

Below is the sink we picked for our powder room. I saved about $75 on it, compared to the one I found on ebay!

(click on pics to be taken to the overstock.com page)

I thought this bed was very vintage looking...and you can't find a true vintage bed in a queen size!

Here's the best surprise I discovered while shopping at overstock.com.....(drumroll)

I think Pottery Barn sends them their unsold light fixtures!

I was looking through a PB catalog that was about a year or two old and saw the middle chandelier below....for twice as much as what overstock was now selling it for!

Other ways I make overstock.com more affordable is:

I do a google search for overstock.com coupon codes. Usually I could find a 10% off code.

I start my purchase at Big Crumbs for another 6.3% back.

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Another Christmas Post?

Yes, I'm doing it again....another post about Christmas.

This time I thought I would share with you a gift(s) that I received this year...

Click here to see

I LOVE all of them...but if I had to pick a favorite (picture, not child) it would be the last one, of my little 2 year old Sophia.

It captures so much...the sweet days of pigtails and baby curls....of her sitting on my lap and me putting my nose in her hair that smells still of baby shampoo.

The messy craziness that is Sophia.

The artist, Leia, is a friend of my sister (who was the gift giver). She's a very talented artist who has a blog and an etsy shop. Check her out.

Those beauties are still not hung up though...I know exactly where I will put them...but am waiting to do a wall collage until I find the right piece of furniture to hang them above.

Side note...a batch of these just came out of the oven...I may have a burned tongue in a few minutes!

(FYI-I omit about a 1/4 cup of oatmeal and replace it with ground flax seed)

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Solution: Laundry Day

Check this out:

a cute furniture piece that does double duty as a dirty laundry organizer! Love it! You could put this in a hallway and no one would know the dirt it hides.

You could even change out the knobs on it to label pulls that you could label with words or colors for the littlest to sort their laundry for you!

Find it here...along with a single, double and triple. In white, black or wood. Whatever your needs are!

Here are some more hamper furniture pieces...whatever your style or color preference is.

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Our Homemade Christmas

Christmas is done...in fact Christmas decorations were taken down yesterday.
But, I realized I hadn't shown the homemade gifts we gave each other on Christmas Eve.

Below: my husband made a puppet theater for all 3 girls. Chalkboard on the top to write the name of the show and curtains with stars. This has also been used already for a store.

Below: For Sophia, I found an unfinished dollhouse at Gordman's for $14.99! It came with all the furniture and 2 dolls! I just used paint and fabric I already had. Wall artwork came from gardening and a Land of Nod catalog!

2 Pictures below: The silk scarves that Ella (age 5)made for her sisters. We used the basic instructions here. Used the 22x 72" silk scarves from here. Used rubber bands to make the white lines that separated the colors.
Ella made one for Hannah and one for Sophia. I surprised her with one I made.

Something I did learn in making these:

I decided to do some in bright colors and some in pastels (example red and pink) I thought what was important was how long I left the scarves in the color (example: take the one I wanted pink out of the dye before the one I wanted red) What I learned was that whatever one you put in first will pick up the majority of the color immediately...making it the more intense one. So the one I wanted red went in first, and a little later went the one I wanted pink.

I also rinsed in my sink like the instructions said. But I also sent each scarf individually through the rinse cycle on my washer. Then I dried it on the absolute lowest setting in my dryer.

Below: Sophia (age 2 1/2) made these playsilks for her sisters. We used the same instructions we used above. I purchased the 35x 35 silk. I ended up leaving one un-dyed(white) to be used as a veil, snow, etc.

I had seen these around a lot the last few years...but never really thought my kids would use these. It was only until I started noticing that they had this one yard of scrape fabric that I was constantly tying for a dress, cape, skirt, baby blanket, the list goes on and on. This has been the most played with Christmas gift...one day the long scarves became hammocks for the all the (stuffed) animals at the rescue center.

Below: Hannah (age 8) made tied-fleece blankets for her sisters. She picked out the fabric (pattern on one side and solid on the other) I cut all the "fringe" for her to tie. The narrow fringe ties better than a thicker fringe. This was a perfect project for an 8 year old +.

Sophia's Blanket above

Below: I secretly made Hannah her own blanket. With the fabric that she liked when we were buying for her sisters.

Below:Ella's blanket.

These blankets are sooo warm...double thickness of fleece...so cozy!

Here's another example of a semi-homemade Christmas gift. I love the idea...but mostly the thoughtfulness, the knowing of that particular child, that went into it.

One more example from them.

Designmom is where I first came across the idea of the homemade Christmas gifts. Here is her list of some her kids have made in the past.

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Wanted: Your Input

I Need Your Advice....

in a few weeks I am one of the speakers at a morning of workshops for women at a local church.

My workshop is "Getting The Look for Less" ... Love it!

My direction will be to encourage these "makers of the home" to strive to make their home an En Gedi . An oasis...a place of peace...of refreshment. And certainly this can be done on a budget.

But I'm curious...if you were to sign up for this workshop titled "Getting The Look for Less"

• what would you expect to get out of it?
• how would you like my information and ideas to be shared?
• would a question/answer time be helpful?

I would love any ideas you may have.

Please don't be scared to leave a comment (even anonymous) or contact me through email. Thank-you in advance!

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A Great Resource

Happy 2010 everyone! Hope the holidays were good ones!

I wanted to share a website my sis shared with me.

It's houzz.com

It's like having 100 great design and decorating magazines at your fingertips...and without all the advertisements!

Search by your pesonal style and room.

Check it out and enjoy!

(Vicki-I picked this pic for you...fireplace along the long wall...vaulted beamed ceiling...beautiful windows for the view!)

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