Christmas Sneak Peak

It’s starting to look a bit like Christmas around the roost! I’m still working on making a few decorations, but I thought I’d give you a sneak peak.

I usually hang our stockings from the shelf over the sofa, but I have a secret fear that one day someone will lean back and find themselves bonked on the head by a rogue stocking hanger. So… this year I moved the stockings to the neatened bookshelves.

I think I like ‘em here! At least until we build our dream house, complete with dream fireplace.

I went super simple with the coffee table décor.

A few Christmassy books, a white plate, a small wreath, and a soy candle work together to make some Christmas cheer.

I had to move these frames to make way for the tree, so I gave them their own cozy spot on the stairs.

I found this felt tree at the Dollar Tree and I bought the mini Polar Express for Brad our first Christmas together.

So there you have it – the first bits of Christmas fun to appear in the roost!

How do you start your Christmas decorating? Are you an “a little bit at a time” kind of decorator, or do you marathon it?

<3
Hattie

Happy Thanksgiving

May you have a day filled with family and friends, love, good food, and thankful hearts!

<3

Hattie

Turkey Table

Brad and I got into the Thanksgiving spirit a little early this year due a fun and yummy Friendsgiving hosted

by our friends Tracy and Tim.

In addition to cooking, eating, and game playing, Tracy invited me to help her jazz up the table.

Decking out this beautiful table with my best friend? Sign me up! Tracy had a great base going with a simple burlap runner and three wonderfully chunky candles.

To add a little extra Thanksgiving punch, I brought out the twine, a vintage thesaurus, and a leaf plucked from the yard.

We traced the leaves onto the yellowed pages and cut them out. I also free handed some more whimsical-looking leaves to breakup all the maple shapes.

Then, it was as simple as twisting the paper stems around a long length of twine.

We looped the garland around and in between the candles until we liked the look.

Easy peasy! This look could easily be changes up with tree or snowflake shapes for Christmas or hearts for Valentine’s Day.

The muted colors and fun textures played nicely with Tracy’s formal family china.

Of course, the friends and food were what really brought the table to life!

Tracy, I think Friendsgiving should be a yearly tradition – hint, hint!

<3
Hattie



a little trashy

When Brad and I gave the bedroom a mini-makeover, it left us without a spot to hide a trash can. So, I’ve gotten to look at this little guy everyday – yay!

I decided this IKEA cheap-o deserved a mini-makeover of his own. I wanted to make a slipcover, but I only had random scraps of drop cloth fabric left from the bookcase skirt project, so it was hot glue to the rescue!

I cut strips of fabric and glued them around the trashcan in rows.

Next, I took coordinating ribbon and glued it around each row of fabric. I also added a fold of fabric to the top rim of the trashcan to help hide the trash bag.

This was a super easy way to spruce up an otherwise utilitarian eyesore.

I think my new motto may be, “If you can’t hide it – make it cute!”

Any other trashcan dresser-uppers out there? Or maybe you use an unusual container to stash your trash?

<3
Hattie

Along came spider...

Hello, blogland friends!


I missed posting last week thanks to a nasty little sore throat and ear ache, but now that I’m back to normal, I have some fun stuff to share with you this week.

I actually got to pull out my sewing machine this weekend and work on a few projects, this one is all thanks to a spider.

You see, our bedroom closet used to have louvered doors, but when we moved in we replaced them with hanging curtains from Plow and Hearth.

I love how they add some softness to the room and take up much less space than folding doors. The curtains were working great until a very brave and stupid spider decided to take a little climbing expedition up the left curtain. Spiders don’t really bother me, so I would have had no problem plucking him from the curtain and sending him on a little water thrill ride to the septic tank. Unfortunately, I didn’t spot him first. A shrill, “Spider!” alerted me to the fact that Brad saw the spider. While I’m pretty Ok with them, he hates them with every fiber of his being and likes to set an example for other spiders by dramatically killing any he finds. This particular spider met his end by a powerful whap from a men’s dress shoe. Brad hit the spider with such force, that two of the curtain tabs came loose.

So, for the last week a few clothespins have been holding our curtains up.

The repair job was pretty simple. I stuck the tabs right back in the top of the curtain and sewed them back, then I reinforced the whole thing with heavy thread to protect against any future spider incidents.

Now our curtains are back to work and the spiders around the roost are shaking in their imaginary boots.

Have you ever had a home improvment project resulting from ridiculously improbable circumstances? Any other home destruction by spider stories?

<3
Hattie

Thrifty additions

Real life is seriously interfering with my creative/blogging life. This is the busiest and most exhausting fall I’ve had for a long, long time. I really, super really, want to carve out some time and energy to make some fun décor and clothing items to share with you, my blogland friends. In the meantime, I thought I’d share some recent thrifty additions to the roost.

My parents, knowing my love for all things nautical and paint-by-numbers, picked up with awesome piece at a thrift store this summer.

I gave the frame a few coats of white paint, and now it’s happily balancing the other side of the valance turned shelf.

I think this wall is complete, which means no more paint-by-numbers for me until we build our house.

I’ve been hunting for a globe for almost a year now, so when I found this one at a thrift store for five smackers, I had to bring it home.

I can’t believe how much the bookcases have changed in just a year!

I’m really digging the much improved new look!

Have you found any awesome thrifty treasures lately?

<3

Hattie