Emmit: A Year In Review

We recently celebrated another birthday in the 'burbs. 

Happy 2nd birthday to our handsome hound, Emmit. We can't imagine our lives without him let alone remember our dull lives pre-Emmit. The hubs and I love him more each day. Seriously, I didn't think two people could be that in love with ANYTHING. 
We are head over heals for this hound. 

What a year it has been...

Favorite Pastime: sleeping

Favorite Game: fetch at the park

Worst Habit: licking

Loves riding in cars and makes an excellent co-pilot.

Favorite Place: Dogtopia Daycare! 

He yawns more than any dog I have ever known.

But don't let this cute face fool you.

He is high-energy, has the bark of a 100lb German Shepard, despises the mailman and loves to play with anyone, everyone and anyTHING. He's chewed through the heel on a pair of my pumps, ripped the cashmere lining out of my brand new leather glove and loves to bark like a maniac when we go for a walk and pass another dog. Perhaps we need a visit from Cesar Milan? :)

But we wouldn't trade him for the world. 
Happy 2nd birthday Emmit. 

Chair Envy

chair envy [chare en-vee] verb:
a feeling of covetousness in regard to another's fabulously decorated chair

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Despite what you may think, it IS possible to have chair envy. Yup. I have it. And I have Pinterest to thank for this. I have an affinity to old chairs in need of TLC. I will never pass up a deal on a chair with good bones. Nope. Never. In fact, I have a few in my inventory that are awaiting my attention to be re-invented. I may or may not have scored 2 chairs from my neighbors trash-pile at the curb. Shhh....don't tell anyone.

Pinterest has been a great inspiration for chair re-furbishing ideas. Here are a few looks I am coveting these days...

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I guess this means I need to get my act together and start working on the chairs in my inventory. Embarrassing confession: I've had one of these chairs for over 2 years! What do you think? Should I go fun and funky or rustic and muted?

Blonde Moment #4352

This is just too funny not to share...

Yesterday, I leave the house and get in my car to drive to work...just like every other Monday. I go to start my car and my car key, ONLY my car key, is MISSING from my key ring. For a brief moment I think may be still asleep in bed and this is all a bad dream. Think again....this is REAL.

The icing on the cake was the spare key is on the hubs key ring - and he's already at work. DOH!

I tear my purse apart, check all around my car 6,233 times and basically tear my house apart. NO KEY. Not even a trace of a key....nothing. Call it dumb luck, a joke, plain old blonde moment...what-have-you. Yes, this really happened to me and NO I don't have any idea how the heck this can happen! 

MISSING:

 One 2002 Jeep car key. 

If found please call 555-BLONDE. Thanks!

Easy DIY Valentine's Day Decorations

Once all the holiday decorations came down and our house was naked, I couldn't wait to put up some decorations for the next holiday, Valentine's Day. Only problem is that we are seriously lacking in the Valentine's day decor. I know it takes time (a.k.a years) to accumulate this kind of stuff.

I was in Michael's this weekend picking up some supplies for a project I saw on Pinterest (more on that soon!). I came across these paper mache hearts in the dollar isle. That's right, they were $1.00 each.

I especially loved the ones that were music paper mache.

Although I loved them "as is" I wasn't convinced these screamed Valentine's Day. So I decided to put a glaze over these guys...

I used watered down brown paint for

 the one on the RIGHT to give it an aged look. 

I used watered down pink paint for the one on the LEFT. 

I decided to paint the other 3 plain ones...

I had the pink and red paint and paint brush, so this project still stands at $5.00!

Here is the finished product...

Now the question was, "Where do I put these?" Most of them ended up on the mantle....

These mantle decorations are pretty simple and cheap. 

*Candy hearts in the candle holders

*Pink carnations in old milk bottles

*DIY'd paper mache hearts 

*Red felt heart garland was one of the first sewing projects I tackled (you can tell by some of the wonky hearts...I think these add character!)

*White tin heart hanging with pink ribbon 

came from Michaels ($3.00!)

*The rest of the items I had laying around the house

What do you think? 

What do you decorate with for Valentine's Day? 

I would love to see some of your ideas!

The Quest For A Console Table

I never imagined that finding a small-scale console table would be so difficult. I have been looking for one for several months now and feel like I have exhausted all possibilities. Don't get me wrong, there are plenty of options, however, they fall out of budget or are way to large for our small hallway.

Let me back up for a second. Here is the next item on the decor "to-do" list...decorate our front hallway/large living room wall. 

 The 1/2 walls and columns separate the living room and create a small hallway that runs from our front door to our kitchen/bathroom/guest room area. I am sick of looking at the giant BLANK wall.

 It screams BORING and BLAH! I am desperate to decorate this area. Here is another perspective of the "hallway". It's pretty narrow so there is limited space to work with. 40 inches!

(Please excuse Emmit's butt in the above photo!) 

I would love to put a small console table along the right wall and maybe do a small gallery wall with different sized matching frames. 

Here are some photos I tagged on Pinterest for 

inspiration....

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Bottom line is that I am on the eternal quest for a console table that is 12 inches in depth or smaller...anyone have any ideas?