Deck the halls

We did a little decorating (and dejunking at the same time) this week. We got our tree trimmed, stocked hung and house decked out!

I tried to put out all the decorations this year and got rid of anything that we didn't use. It seemed to work and the house feels less cluttered.

I'm taking an online class (12 artsy ornaments) and have made this cool star for our mantel. Nicholas helped and he made this smaller version.  

Halloween banner

Halloween is one if my favorite holidays because it is just so fun to decorate for.

Last week I met up with Paula and we stopped by Tai Pan. The place was decked out with crazy Halloween decor. Usually I find Tai pan somewhat inexpensive - not this time around. While there we saw a super cute, small Halloween banner. Not wanting to spend the $30.00 we decided to make one. 

After little time and a lot of conversation we finished our banners. Much cuter and a little larger than the original. Besides our time, it was basically FREE.  Another excuse to use up some of my crafting stash.  

Most product is SU. The base is made from large manilla folder tags (penny a piece). Letters use black glitter paper.

Paula's house always has cool decor. Check out this amazing Halloween advent she made a few years ago (hopefully you can see it well enough with the crappy phone photo). Totally awesome!

Foyer Light

When we moved into this home the first thing I wanted to update was our foyer light. Four years later we finally did it! Out with that huge contractor chandelier!!!

After an exhaustive light search, I finally found one I liked at West Elm (eclipse chandelier). We had an electrician come to work on some wiring for our basement bathroom, and while he was here we had him tag on this additional project.

I love how simple and understated this light is. The blown glass is perfect for hiding dust. amazing how a simple update can make such a huge difference. 

Thanks Joellyn for validating the light choice!

Magic of paint

I love paint! The smell, the action, & how it looks when done. Like magic.

Our entry way railing was on my list to update ever since we moved into this house. The old railing (while nice) is not really my style and I wanted a more modern and updated look. It would have been crazy expensive & silly to replace (it's functionally perfect). Enter paint.

I love how it turned out! And it gave me a chance/reason to pull down all the frames on the wall and clean them. Double win.

We also painted the mantle... More on that later.

Here is a before and after and some alternate views.

BTW - For me phone blogging/phone photos (crappy as they may be) are the way to go... I actually blog real time! This happen now.