Zombie Apocalypse

We got a little crazy with the cheese wiz this year for Halloween...(I don't know what that means but my brother says it so it must be cool!) We are usually so busy getting the kids ready for Halloween we don't have much time for creative costumes. A witch hat is my go-to most years. But all of the stars aligned this year for EPIC costumes for my hubby and me. So many people have been affected by Hurricane Sandy and we have felt separated from most of the devastation here in Utah, but as there often is, the silver lining to a hurricane is interrupted air travel. A "silver lining" you say?! Yep! My brother is a commercial airline pilot by day, but his real talent lies in scary Zombie make-up! He was a Music Dance Theatre major in College and ROCKED his theatre makeup class. He hasn't flown much in the last week because of the crazy flight cancellations. Soooo I got a call at 6:30 A.M. on Halloween from him offering his services. Did we want scary Zombie make-up? Uhh yes. By far the best part was the costumes were 100% FREE. I love that!! The clothes came from my thrift pile and the blood was a recipe I found online that is super simple. Our teenage boys thought we were Rock Stars (and they are not easily impressed.)  3 hours later we looked like this.... 

In case you can't remember what we look like in "Real Life Pre-Zombie Apocalypse"

Off to Mexico today to get some sun on our pale undead cheeks and sand between our rotted off toes.... 

linking up here

styled 2.0

As promised I am posting the rest of the pictures from my Texas re-do. By far the most fun I had all week was the night I stayed up {way too late} to paint stripes on one of the bedroom walls. Maybe part of the fun was because I set my Pandora to Johnny Cash! Because I was styling the house to sell, not necessarily to live in, I felt like the design for the bedrooms needed to be gender-neutral. The stripey bedroom was called the "yellow" bedroom by the homeowner and I think it could still be called that, but with ALOT of grey and pops of bright coral. My inspiration came from a quilt that I found in the hall closet. I was happy to discover that It was a family heirloom...all the better!


hand quilted family heirloom 

 Here are some before pictures of the bedroom
before:

after:


funny, that this little yellow dresser was such an eyesore and now it just looks PERFECT!




a bright and cheery bedroom!




I couldn't find pillows I liked so I made these for the bed, the Chevron striped pillows are actually shams.




I moved these watercolors to a different wall and hung them together for more impact.

 The pictures above the bed are from old encyclopedias that I bought. They were $20 for the entire set. I used very inexpensive frames for from IKEA, I think they were $10 each. The entire room including a new coverlet for the bed cost about $100. A little money for a BIG impact. I painted the cute headboard a bright coral red and found a few accessories the homeowner had to complete the bedroom.

before:




second guest bedroom, alot of heavy dark furniture and bedding.




after:



I love the way this room turned out. (I am missing pictures of the cute black and white graphic curtains that I was literally hanging as I was walking out the door to the airport to fly home!)

One of my favorite things about the room is the wall of frames. I needed a cheap and easy art piece for the wall, It is a big wall! I bought all of the frames at Goodwill and Salvation Army and popped out the glass and "art" that was in them. I bought the big "S" on sale at Hobby Lobby and painted it the same color as the nightstand to unify the room. I sewed all the pillows (again, I couldn't find what I wanted) and simplified the accessories and changed the bedding.

here is another view of the turquoise nightstand. I really had to talk the homeowner into it, but I'm glad I did! I used Krylon spray paint (can't remember the color) and then lightly distressed it with sand paper and put a light coat of non-yellowing varnish.

I spent about $120 on this bedroom, including curtains, new bedding and pillows, paint artwork and accessories.

this is one of the bathrooms that I did. Unfortunately I don't have any before pictures. but the room was all peach. So much so that the tile and the cupboards looked peach also. As soon as I changed out the shower curtain, artwork, towels and rug, I was bright and white and FUN!

The Aspen branch art is vinyl from Target. I'm a little "over" vinyl lettering, but I loved this wall treatment. It was just enough to make the bathroom feel "decorated".

I spent about $100 on the bathroom.

When the house was all done this is what I did....

so happy to be FINISHED!....

and then I flew home to my chicks...and spotted the most handsome pilot EVER at the airport when I landed.....

I look tired....(my handsome little brother and me)

Linking up here,here,

and here

styled

I had the awesome {and by "awesome" I mean BIG and DAUNTING} opportunity to completely restyle, and decorate a family members house last week. They are trying to sell it and the feedback that they recieved was that the house looked "dated". It is only 12 years old. The problem was that the furniture placement and most of the linens light fixtures and accessories were dated. The house has beautiful light and a great floor plan. It just needed some updating. Of course the budget was VERY tight, but that never seems to scare me. I love a challenge. I found out they needed some help and jumped on a plane to Texas less than a week later. I had 4 1/2 days to work my magic on 3 bedrooms, a kitchen and breakfast area, dining room, family room and 3 bathrooms.
big breath....

        The Big Reveal

                  (I really felt like I was hosting my very own D.I.Y. show!)

***disclaimer: most of the "before" pictures came from the MLS...not great quality, but you get the idea

Family Room before:

                                          and after....





The Entry:


My intention was to paint this dresser, but the homeowner wanted to leave the natural wood so I framed a map I found in a vintage board game and added a few new and thrifted accessories. voila!




a new rug



vintage bag I found at the Goodwill for $3.99....a steal




The Kitchen/ Breakfast Room:



this table was FREE! I just painted and distressed it to add some color to a very beige kitchen.









still a few holes in the ceiling to fix...but what a difference from the lighting fixture before!

Here is a sneak peek of the rest of the house....



Coming soon.....

linking up here:

crickets....

No I haven't been abducted by Aliens! I was knee deep in a Style/Redo/ Ginormous project in Texas last week and I'm working hard to get pictures up. Until then....


image via

Happy {almost} Halloween!



sewing advice...

I was knee deep in a new sewing project this weekend when I came across this {very popular} image on pinterest...I could definitely use this advice. Maybe this is why I have had a creative block lately? My sink full of dirty dishes and 5-day-in-a-row-crazybun-hairdo is wreaking havoc on my sewing mojo. Really girls, would you ever get any sewing done if you checked off all these boxes?

Army Party

Every year I start to get anxiety the first of September. It always hits right after the kids start back to school. The cause of my stress? 3 birthdays in 2 days! My oldest son was born 18 years ago on my husband's birthday. Okay so not uncommon. However, then 2 years later my next son was born the day after their birthday! ugh.  Not to mention MINE is a week later. But really, by that point we are pretty "birthdayed" out.
This year we celebrated BIG milestone birthdays, a 16 and an 18. When they were little, we had fun with a different theme each year. One year it was a farm party (yes we rented a pony...so worth it.) that was followed by a Star Wars, Art Party, Carnival, a few Pirate parties, and even a Halloween theme thrown in. I struggled with ideas for teenage appropriate themes this year. I wanted It to be special and memorable because this is my oldest son's last year living at home. So, I finally settled on an Army/Camouflage party. Note to self..there is NOTHING on the web for teenage boys that is remotely do-able. So here's ONE.

For the decor and party favors I picked up some dog tags, parachute guys, army men amd temporary tattoos. They were a big hit even with the girls.

I originally bought some paper camo tablecloths (for easy clean up) but when I put them on the table they were too cheap looking. So I raided my fabric stash and found a large (2-3 yd) peice of cotton camo fabric. It worked perfectly and I just threw it in the wash after! I added a few flags and red, white and blue accents for variety.

                        I snuck in a few vintage props and some Mexican Coca Cola.

 The menu was simple:
Shredded chicken sandwiches with homemade buns
Bread sticks with Marinara dipping sauce
Chocolate Cake Pops
White Chocolate dipped Marshmallows
Fruit platter
Chips and Candy for the Movie

I didn't overdo it on decorations because I knew my boys would think it was too girly. One thing I did have fun with was Crepe Paper Fringe.

Here's what I did:

I chose three colors to look "camo" ish. Cream, green and brown. Each package was 20"x7.5 ft and I sewed 2 of each color end on end for a long piece that I could drape.

I folded once long ways and once again then sewed a seam up the middle.

Use scissors to cut the "fringe" but do not cut past the sewn seam!

Fluff it up a bit and drape it how you like.

I spent $1.75 on each package and I bought 6, so roughly $11.00 with tax and it was a big impact decoration.

The Boys had a great time with their friends and told me later it was just like the big birthday bashes I used to have when they were little. AWW what more could a mom ask for?
Linking up here