Christmas in the 'Burbs

Better late then never, right?!


I love everything about decorating for the holiday season. Our holiday decor "collection" grows every year. Whether it's something I buy at Home goods, a gift we receive, or something I craft...I just can't get enough.


Here is a look at some of our holiday decorations this year...

This Santa Clause was carved by hand by my father-in-law. 

Our tree...

And our tree would not be complete without 

the hubs' duck boot ornaments!

Outside of the house...

The mancave tree...

Remember the tobacco basket I bought at the Country Living Fair?

And Emmit had an exhausting holiday...

We had a wonderful Christmas here in the 'burbs with all of our family. We wish you all the best this holiday season!

Blonde Bathroom Blunders

(This post is loooong over due, but thought I would share anyway!)

Although the hubs and I live in a house built in 1959, 

I would like to think that those that live in a 1980's, 90's or even newer (oh la la!) house also experience the dreaded clogged 

drain from time to time. 

We have two full bathrooms in our house, one on the main floor and one on the 2nd floor - this is the one we use most often. Our tub drain in this bathroom became clogged. So I tried Drano...twice. Didn't work. I would have rather flushed my $3 down our 1959 toilet. At least that wasn't clogged.

I couldn't bare the 3 inches of standing water in the tub anymore. Gross. I tried the home remedy of baking soda and vinegar. Didn't work. Then I tried shoving a hanger wire down the drain...thanks to Youtube. But that didn't work either. Then I tried the plunger about 999 times. Still no success. Wow, we are 0 for 4 at this point. We even borrowed my dad's drain snake (he's got every tool known to man - thank god). But thanks to our 1959 tub drain, it didn't fit. Wow, 0 for 5. 

This is what our bathroom looked like for 3 days...

Our last resort (before having to call my dad a plumber) was our wet/dry vac. Here is the hubs hard at work. 

After several minutes of "vacuuming", out came the gross clog! Who would have thought? Thanks to the hubs - my hero! So if you have a clogged drain and own a wet/dry vac...it's worth a try!

Busy in the 'Burbs..

I blinked and Thanksgiving went by in a blur. 

Now I am frantically trying to get my act together 

for this holiday season. Here is my motto these days.....

The hubs and I "decked the halls" in the 'burbs this weekend. 

In fact, the most important decoration of all was purchased...

We purchased our tree this year from the local Kiwanis Club. 

While we were there I couldn't help but think about my late Grampy. He was always very active in his local Kiwanis Club. 

The men working at this tree sale this year reminded 

me exactly of him and put a smile on my face.

We still have some decorating to finish up but will 

share it all with you here soon! Promise!

Fabulous $5 Find - FINALE!

Finally...the "$5 fabulous find" chair has been refinished!

I wasn't loving the original cherry wood finish 

but I knew she had great potential.

 

So I sanded her down and applied Briwax Liming Wax, 

which I had never ever used before and ended up loving. Here she is with her new wax job...

Ahhhh, so much better.

The next step was to reupholster the seat. Overall she was was in great condition. For extra padding, I added a layer of cotton batting to the top of the seat and covered with a layer of muslin (no pics of this step - sorry!). 

Next was the bottom of the seat. I didn't want to mess with the internal springs and whatnot, so with some help from the hubs, I just reinforced the bottom. Here is what it the bottom looked like originally. The jute webbing was a tad old.

Unfortunately when I went to the fabric store and asked where to find the "jute webbing", the woman looked at me like I had just asked her for the a shirt off her own back and proceeded to show me to the "belt section". Hhmm, thanks lady. Clearly she had never reupholstered anything before but I took her direction just to be nice. Rather than delay this chair makeover any longer, I settled on some canvas webbing. 

 Not ideal by any means, but let's be honest, this was my first forte into reupholstering and was going to have to "make-do".

I also found this great striped fabric to cover the seat...

Several hours later, with some creative folding and stapling (and many curse words)I was finished. 

The upholstery tacks were by far THE HARDEST part about this project. Let's just say that I have a new appreciation for people who do furniture upholstery for a living. Their hands must be torn to shreds because mine were after hammering in a total of 12 upholstery tacks. I may never use them again - not kidding!

But I thought they gave her the right finishing touch. 

Do you like her fabric? I love it and must credit the hubs with steering me in the "bold" fabric direction. 

I was on the path to drab-city with the original muted solid fabric I picked out for her.

I just adore her! What do you think?

"Fab $5 Find" Finale - Sneak Preview

Stay tuned for the full reveal!

Happy Halloween!

Hope you all have a SPOOKtacular Halloween! 

We managed to get our act together here in the 'burbs, despite how busy things have been, and actually enjoy the festivities. 

Yes, that handsome hound in the middle 

of the collage is Emmit in his Halloween costume. 

His custom-made tie was sewn by yours truly!

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

Bored In The 'Burbs

October has been a busy month in the 'burbs. So I am thoroughly enjoying spending this rainy Saturday indoors. I've made progress on the "fab $5 find" chair - but will share 

more about on that later. 

I was a bit bored after fiddling with my $5 chair project, and I was dying to test out my Annie Sloan Chalk Paint (ASCP) on something small before I paint my dining room furniture with it. I was worried about the Duck Egg blue being too blue. So when I came across this $4 wood frame at Michael's, I knew this was the perfect way to test the paint. I modeled this painted frame after the fabulous Sugarbooo frames that I just ADORE. 

In case you can't ready my free-hand script, it says, "Learn from yesterday, Live for today, Hope for tomorrow". 

I finished the frame with the Annie Sloan dark wax 

which gave not only toned down the blue paint, but also gave it a rustic look. What do you think?

From One Blonde To Another

Remember my fabulous $5 find from last year? She's great, isn't she? Well pathetically enough I am only just getting around to refurbishing her. 

Over all she's in great shape, just needs a some TLC. I think she's pretty old because from what I can tell she's still got her original horse hair cushion. Ummm, eww?

Anyway, I got to sanding her down FINALLY. And guess what? 

SHE'S BLONDE. Can you believe it?!

Here she is in all her naked glory.

She doesn't have a ton of detail 

but she's got great lines and legs.

It took me so long to start this refurbish project partly because I just wasn't sure  what do do with her. 

Until I came across this new product by Briwax. 

It's called liming wax. Gives natural wood a pickled look (which I love). So I decided to give it a try.

This was was super easy to work with. It's very creamy and soft. Just apply it with a clean cloth directly onto the natural wood.

Then once you are done applying it, 

simply rub the excess off with another clean cloth and buff. 

Here she is after her full wax job. From one blonde to another, you look great girl!

I just love her. I still need to refurbish the cushion, but can't get my eyes of her new finish. Here she is up close.

The wax is light enough that you still see her natural wood grain but gives her just the right white-wash look. 

What do you think of her new look? 

I. Adore. Her.

Stay tuned for her cushion makeover!

Burrrrr in the 'Burbs

The first cool Fall weather has arrived in the 'burbs this weekend. And you-know-who decided to snuggle on the couch

 this Saturday morning under the blanket.

I couldn't bare to disturb him....

This is Emmit's favorite time of year.

What a handsome hound. He loves to snuggle in our green blanket.

Stay tuned for more furniture features. I finally got started on refurbishing one of the chairs I have in my inventory. I will also be sharing more of my purchases from the Country Living Fair & 2 blondes and a truck road trip!

Road Trip Recap

I know the anticipation is killing you all...I am finally back with a recap of the "2 blondes & a truck road trip" to the 2011 Country Living Fair. I have two words....wow and, uh, WOW!

 

As you can see above, I settled in quite nicely driving the big-rig truck (That's me top left). Thank god the seat was totally adjustable as were the gas and brake pedals!

And since I seem to be a magnet for traffic jams, it was fitting that we stumble upon it when I was driving. Perfect. 

 

But for the most part, our trip looked like this....

We even managed to find a great antique mall along the way. 

 

420 miles and 7 hours later we reached our destination. 

Columbus, OH. 

The next morning we were giddy with wallets in hand and off 

to the County Living Fair (CLF). Can you tell we were a 

little bit excited to be there?

The CLF was huge and we needed a map to navigate. Despite my perplexed look, yes I know how to read a map!

After we figured it out, I navigated myself to my first purchase of the day! A great shabby chic architectural thingy 

- not sure what to call it, but I love it!

Oh, and here I am lugging our "granny cart" around. I look like a serious woman on a mission. Don't mess with me!

Shut up. I know what you are thinking. Why would we lug such a cart around and look like idiots? Hands down the best idea ever. And every other person was lugging the exact same cart. So there.

Both my sister and I were in awe of all the great vendors and their fabulous stuff. Here is some of what we saw....

There was a ton of Fall/Halloween decor!

 

Cute!

Why I didn't take more pictures of the vendors is beyond me. But then again, I was navigating my "granny cart" among 800 people and 150 booths worth of stuff with my camera strapped around my neck. 

I am kicking myself for not buying more stuff. Both my sister and I were a lot more "tame" with our purchases than I anticipated. 

Here is my last and best purchase of the day...

 This is an old (very rustic)tobacco basket. Best part is that I scored it for $30! Not sure where I will put it yet but am confident it will find the perfect spot in our house.

The CLF was hands down THE best fair I have ever been too. The 2 blondes & a truck road trip was a success. 

Can't wait to do it all over again next year!