My 5 Fall Favorites…

Today I am guest posting over at Living Savvy for Tiffany’s series…

 

  Be sure to stop on over to Living Savvy for a visit, and see my fabulous fall favorites. After working with my Annie Sloan Chalk Paint this week, I could have added her chalk paint to my favorites list!

Here is a look at my very first chalk paint project…

 

 

I purchased this little 3 tier wooden corner shelf at the thrift store for $3.00 -  just to practice my chalk paint technique…

 

 

 

 

Yes…it definitely needed a make-over! After painting it with a first coat of white chalk paint and then another coat of ASCP in Paris Gray, here is what it looks like now…

 

 

Cute!

 

 

I decided to try a little of the distressing method to let the white paint and dark wood color show through…

 

 

 

 

Turns out this cute little shelf is the perfect place to display my Gold Leaf Paper Mache Bowls…

 

 

I am sold on chalk paint! It covered wonderfully, and without any prep at all. No sanding, no stripping, no problem! After distressing with a fine grit sanding block, I applied a coat of the ASCP Clear Wax to seal the paint. It now has a smooth and subtle sheen…I love it!

Next chalk paint project will be my antique dresser…

Stay tuned!

 

Paper Mache Bowls…

Last week I decided to take on the Fall Pinterest Challenge after reading the post by Sherry over at Young House Love seen here.

For my project, I opted  to make some paper mache bowls that I first pinned from a post on the blog Kelly Murray Art & Design.

Here are how my bowls turned out…

Kelly gives an excellent tutorial here…so I will save the step by step and just share a bit of my experience with this DIY project/challenge.


I started out with Kelly’s technique of applying strips of newsprint to an inflated balloon…

 

 

 

 

 

I was able to make 3 graduated size bowls just by inflating each balloon differently. Once they have dried, and you pop the balloon, you have your bowl shape...

 

 

Just trim the edges with scissors, then spray paint…

So far so good! Now for the first mistake…

 

 

DO NOT use children’s craft stickers to make your polka dots! After applying several to my first bowl I had a bad feeling they were not going to peel off easily. And I was right! When I tried to remove them either the paper backing stayed or the white paint came off…UGH!

 

 

Be sure to use REMOVEABLE stickers for this project! I purchased some small dots and for the larger dots, I used some leftover garage sale tags…that say “Removeable” on the packaging…

 

 

 

 

After applying your gold leaf, you can then remove each dot. I found this to be pretty easy with my needle nose tweezers…

 

 

 

 

It takes some time, but the bowls are so pretty when you are done…

 

 

 

How are you doing on the Fall Pinterest Challenge?

Have you completed a DIY project inspired by Pinterest lately? 

 

 

 

 

 Sharing at...The Dedicated House, The Girl Creative, Young House Love, Our Fifth House,
My Uncommon Slice of Suburbia, Home Stories A to Z, Between Naps on the Porch, Not Just a Housewife, Bower Power, The Ugly Duckling House, The Inspired Room, Uncommon Designs, {Primp}, Savvy Southern Style, House of Hepworths, Beyond the Picket Fence, The Shabby Nest, 2805, Chic on a Shoestring, Stuff & Nonsense, Classy Clutter, Serenity Now

 

Falling for Oxfords…

One of my favorite things about fall…besides the cool crisp weather and the beauty of the changing leaves on the trees…is the fashion!


After wearing sun dresses and sandals all summer, I happy to pull out my jeans and boots! This year I am loving the look of Oxford shoes for women…

via

 

 

via

 

 

via

 

 

This versatile shoe can be worn so many ways…

 

 

 

 

With dresses, skirts, skinny jeans and more…I love this classic look. Here are a few of my favorites…

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I found a pair I loved, at Marshalls one day…unfortunately they did not have my size in stock. No worries…just look online!

I was so happy to find these Dolce Vita Marcel Oxfords in Taupe on the shopping website 6pm.com. Better yet, they were much cheaper than the in store pair – Marshalls price $69 and the 6pm.com price $39. I love it when that happens!


Visit 6pm.com for incredible deals of up to 75% off of name brand clothing, shoes, bags, and accessories – for men, women and children too! I ordered my shoes and they were delivered in 3 days. I am not being compensated for this post…it is just my honest opinion about a great resource…and I love passing it on to you!


They have become my favorite fall shoe…

 

 

 

 

What are you falling for in fashion this season?



Image sources – 1/2/3/4/5

Fall Pinterest Challenge…

When I opened up my e-mail inbox today, I was excited to see this post from one of my favorite blogs Young House Love.

 

 

 

Now, if any of you are like me…you browse Pinterest regularly and collect A LOT of inspiration and ideas. The problem is…I just keep collecting and not creating! Just look at a few of my pins on my Pinterest DIY Idea’s board…

bean trim frames via Martha Stewart

 

 

 

lace print candles via Eddie Ross

 

 

 

yarn wrapped bottles via More Design Please

 

 

 

All great ideas, and fun DIY projects. Some of these would even make great gifts…you do realize that Christmas is only 9 weeks from today don’t you? Yikes!

 

 

Yesterday I went out and bought all the supplies to make the following project…

 

 

via Kelly Murray Art & Design

 

 

 

I love the look of these gold leaf paper mache bowls. They are so cute with their white polka dots! I think they would make perfect little jewelry cups, or sitting on your desk to hold paper clips.

 

 

So I am taking the challenge! I will be working on this project this week and sharing next Tuesday, October 30, over on Young House Love.

 

 

What are you working on this week?

 

 

 

 

Mother & Son Weekend…

My youngest son, Andrew, and I are taking off today and driving up to the beautiful Northstar Resort at Lake Tahoe!

 

 

A friend of mine invited us up to her condo in the village. We are taking our sons for a little Moms & Sons weekend…fun! Although there is not any snow in the mountains just yet, Northstar is a wonderful weekend getaway during any season!

 

 

 

 

With the outdoor ice rink, fire pits, and incredible restaurants, we are sure to have a great time. We can go biking, hiking, or make the short drive over to the lake. Just spending this quality time with our sons is so wonderful.

 

 

 

 

Feeling so fortunate to live in such a beautiful area and being able to take advantage of all there is to see and do!

 

 

..autumn in Lake Tahoe via

 

 

How are you spending your weekend? What are your favorite weekend getaways?

 

 

Have a safe and fun weekend!

 

 

 

 

 

A friendly reminder…

Last Saturday night was a great night. Homecoming Dance for my High School sophomore…

getting ready…

 

 

 

some of the guys…

 

 

 

Andrew and friends…

 

 

Sushi dinner at our favorite restaurant…

 

 

yummy…

 

 

Quiet evening at home with the first fire for the season…

 

 

Ginger loves to lay by the fire…

All is well with the world right?  Well not for long.  About 30 seconds after this somewhat fuzzy
i-phone picture was taken, we heard a loud WHOOSH!…like a freight train coming down the chimney! Ginger jumped up and started barking…I jumped up and ran for the phone. 911!

 

 

 

…not a sight anyone wants in front of their house!

 

 

Our cozy little fire turned in a flash into a chimney fire, and began filling the house with smoke! SCARY! Two fire trucks arrived and confirmed the chimney fire and checked the house, including the attic space.

 

Please be sure to have your chimneys checked and cleaned this season!

 

 

Dick Van Dyke from Mary Poppins via

 

 

For recommended guidelines and FAQ’s visit the Chimney Safety Institute of America website here.

 

 

 

Thankfully all was fine. The fire was contained to the chimney and no other damage was done…except for the smoke. Now the house just smells like a campfire! Hopefully that will dissipate in a few more days.

 

 

Remember to be safe and prepared this winter season, and remember just how quickly a great evening can turn into a scary moment!