Give Me a ‘P’!

Give me a ‘p’… ‘o’… ‘m’!  Pom pom!  Yes, dear readers, it’s true.  During a short stint in high school, I was a cheerleader.  Which means I know a bit about pom poms.  Fortunately for you, these mini poms are way cuter than what I used back in the 90s and there are no splits involved—unless, of course, you have a hankering to break out the moves in your own living room.  Anyone?

Since a picture is worth a thousand words, I’ll let them speak for themselves.  Don’t be overwhelmed by the amount of photos, as this is a really easy project that adds instant cheer (pun definitely intended) to any gift. 

Be sure to give the pom a haircut to trim up loose ends!

Thanks again to my sis Hannah for sharing her creativity with us.  Happy pomming! 

It’s a Wrap

It’s a wrap for 2011, that is.  Onward to 2012!  I don’t know if it’s the fresh start of a new year, the fact that I’m now in my second trimester, or being back under the delicious sun and blue skies of Colorado, but I’m just itching to do things!  I’m back to making lists, hunting down bargains, planning meals, spending time with friends, and just plain enjoying life.  It’s been great!  Some of that is probably also due to the delightful pampering of being at my parent’s house for 10 days, enjoying some of my favorite people, good eats, a golden birthday on December 28, and of course, the annual (err…multi-annual?) shopping excursion.  What about that wouldn’t make a girl feel energized going into the new year? 

Over Christmas, my sister, Hannah (cutie on the left—would you ever guess I’m older by eight years?), who is a sophomore at Purdue University, wrapped all her packages using brown butcher paper, twine, buttons, maps, pom poms, and hand made chalkboard name tags. 

Here’s a peek at them just sittin’ pretty under the tree.

Take a closer look…

(Lest you think we just snapped these photos on the fly, it was quite the contrary.  Since we decided to host our photo shoot near midnight, we had to improvise on the lighting.  It was comical, to say the least.) 

I love the natural, easy look of these gifts, plus the recycled embellishments!  This type of gift wrap can be used all year round, and it won’t lighten your wallet too much either.  The butcher paper came from Walmart at under $5 for a roll that apparently lasts forever, the maps stem from an atlas found in a used bookstore, the button was a lost soul without a mate, the tags were wooden ornaments from Michael’s—painted with a tiny bottle of Martha Steward chalkboard paint—and the pom poms were hand made using stolen leftover yarn from Mom’s knitting bag.  *I’ll be posting a pom pom tutorial soon!*

Snootz, thanks for sharing your creative juices!  I’m headed to Wally World tomorrow to snag some of that butcher paper and twine, and I’m definitely keeping my eyes peeled for an old atlas. 

Don’t you love how one person’s ideas and projects can inspire you to tackle your own?  Inspiration simply leads to more inspiration.  And that, folks, is a wrap!

It’s Beginning to Look Like Christmas

While I love Christmas decorations, we don’t own too many, and since we’ve never hosted Christmas at our house, I haven’t ever had that urge to go all out. 

But we do enjoy pulling out a few items that are special to us each year, so I thought I would share them with you.  Keep in mind that most of these were either hand-me-downs, gifts, or items we collected at yard sales. 

Sadly, we’ve never had a full-size Christmas tree since being married (I’m hoping to cut down our own next year), but I did snag this petite tree at a yard sale several years ago.  This year it found its home as the centerpiece on our dining room table and we even splurged and bought some porcelain ornaments for it while we were perusing downtown shops in Indianapolis last year.  They were on super clearance and I get all giddy every time I look at them.  Since I tend to be a window shopper, Matt had to push for these, and I love that we picked them out together.  Also, the rustic, textured garland was picked up in Shipshewana, which is a crafty Amish town in rural Indiana where we spent Thanksgiving with my extended family a year ago.

The garland on the mantel was stolen from my parent’s storage room a few years ago.  Somehow I packed that puppy into my suitcase and hauled it back to Colorado on the airplane!  A hint of greenery always makes the room feel cozier around the holidays.

Then there’s our open shelving, which tends to get a makeover as each new season rolls around.  This year we housed our nativity scene—which was gifted to me by my parents over many Christmases—on the bottom shelf.  This is one of my favorite pieces to rediscover every year.  If you’re wondering what would be a meaningful and lasting gift for your college student, this is a great set to gift piece by piece.

And of course, we always have to find a spot for our other nativity scene, which is handcrafted from Germany and was gifted to me by the family I nannied for in college.  When the four corner candles are lit, the fan spins!  This is one I can’t wait to share with our kiddos someday. 

Lastly, we’ve got ornaments gracing various knobs and baskets around the house.  Many of them were gifted to me by previous students, which is usually always a fun walk down memory lane.  One of my favorites is this sparkly reindeer. 

Yes, it’s simple and not overly flashy, but it just seems to fit this year.  We like being surrounded by meaningful pieces and not being stressed by the pressure that sometimes seems to come with the Christmas season.  Most of all, we are reminded that Christmas is all about celebrating the birthday of our King.  May we never forget to celebrate the true meaning of the season, and may it remain at the forefront of our hearts and minds amidst all the preparations of the next few weeks.  We are truly blessed!

Reality Check

Our house has been looking a little lot like this lately…

and this…

and this…

Let me just say that pregnancy has been…harder than I expected.  While I haven’t been super sick, I definitely have not felt like myself.  As in, my body feels “off” and my energy is far lower than before.  Funny how I thought I would beat all those symptoms before getting pregnant… In some ways, it’s been a healthy wake-up call to realizing that I’m not super woman, nor do I have to be.  Since this might be the last time I can really rest when the mood strikes me, I’ve been taking full advantage of it.  As my good friend keeps telling me, take advantage of it while you can!  For those of you who’ve been pregnant before, you know that almost every symptom can be blamed on pregnancy—and there’s documentation somewhere to back it up!  Needless to say, blogging—and most extra activities in general—have been

low

on

the

priority

list.

Oh, who am I kidding?  What list?!  I haven’t made a list in two months.  If you think I’m kidding, just ask my husband!  It’s true.  While it’s been freeing in some ways, I’ve also started feeling slightly better this week, which has me chomping at the bit to do something a little extra.  Hence, this wee little post.

If I sound like I’m complaining about pregnancy, I’m not.  I’m just facing the reality of what my body is going through—and because I’ve been busy creating another human being—that’s right—I haven’t been creating much else.  But I do have a few things up my sleeve which I hope to share over the next few days, so I plan to be back before too long.  Did I just make a list?  Hmmm…kinda.  If anything, I think I just planned ahead!  Feels good.

I’m Dreaming of…

 

That’s right.  Baby nurseries.  Any guesses why? 

Something Blue

It’s no secret that I’m a neutral gal when it comes to house décor, but I do like to play things up with interesting accessories from time to time.  Enter the exterior of our house.  (Is that an oxymoron?)  Clearly we played it neutral with our new stucco…

We also stuck with white trim—although we love how fresh white trim pops in such a clean and crisp way.

But doors present a whole new world of possibilities—hmm…that could get very philosophical.  The door within…the door to your heart….  The point is that doors can be punchy and fun, or they can be handsome and stately.  Since our house is small and doesn’t offer much in the way of interesting architecture—unless you just happen to love boxes—we figured that dressing up our front door would add a bit of splash to our otherwise plain Jane exterior. 

Choosing paint colors can be overwhelming, which is why I started pinning my favorites on Pinterest.  Check out my inspiration.

Honestly, I love love love the deep earthy tones of the last door (not to mention the awesome and super functional entryway—is anyone else drooling over those brick floors and plank walls?).  It just look so sleek!  But I also have been swooning over blue-grey tones.  Maybe it's because they evoke nautical themes, or maybe it’s because they are so playful and pretty at the same time.  Whatever the case, I printed a few inspirational doors off the color printer at work (shhh…) and then tried to find close matches at Sherwin-Williams, Lowe’s, Home Depot, and Ace.  The good news is that blue-grey tones are super popular right now (at least that’s what I tell myself), so there are a myriad to choose from.  The hard part was narrowing down our options. 

For about two weeks, twenty or so paint swatches graced our doorway.  In the end, we went with Slate Tile, by Sherwin-Williams.  I actually had Lowe’s color-match it to their Duramax paint in semi-gloss, which allowed us to use quality exterior paint for only $15 buckaroos. 

Right before we painted, I began wondering if we should stick with a clean white door, but my mom encouraged me to try something different—and I don’t regret it!

We feel like it gives the front of our house a bit of distinction and helps to ground the neutrals.  Doesn’t our door look dapper?!  (Unfortunately, it looks a bit cold and stark in these pictures, as all the leaves have fallen and everything is beginning to look wintery.)

By the way, I’ve been listening to Christmas music for about a month now.  Yep, I’m one of those rebels who doesn’t believe in waiting until after Thanksgiving to break out the Christmas spirit—one month is simply not enough time!  Is anyone else out there a closet Christmas music listener?  Please tell me I’m not alone!

And The Winner Is…

To see if you are the winner of My Chic Shanty’s first giveaway, click here!  Thanks to those who participated, and especially to Ginelle Irene and her sweet Etsy shop!