December 30, 2013

Favorite projects of 2013 & what is to come in 2014!

I have to say that I am so excited for this next year coming up! We just arrived back from traveling to North Carolina for the holidays and I came back, revived and ready to work! Tonight I wanted to recap on a few of my favorite projects from this past year and later in the week, I will share what my plans are for 2014 and the projects I plan to take on.

Earlier in the year before we even seriously started looking at homes to purchase for ourselves, we were renting out of military housing. I yearned to make it feel less like a house and more like "our home…" I think I achieved that in our time there and looking back at the pictures, I really worked with what I had well… or at least I would say so. It felt much like a home when we left it. We added these lovely rug originally purchased from Target which instantly gave the whole kitchen a new feeling. You can read more about our rental and this kitchen here.


While we lived in our rental, I wanted it to look like ours and more importantly, to look very well maintained and cute of course. We did some small and very inexpensive projects to update the curb appeal in our rental. You can read about those changes here.


We also had our fair share of furniture makeovers, a few repurpose sales and I moved into my space that I share with Lucky Day at the antique mall here locally. So far so good with that… although I have to encourage all of you to come visit more often! SO MANY treasures to be found! Below is a triple mirrored antique dresser. These beauty was drop dead gorgeous. A furniture sale, a month in the garage and no more of its matching paint later, it had a few scratch marks and dings… so I repainted it and sold it to a very dear friend of mine…get this…BRIGHT YELLOW! I love it, it had such personality. This dresser and the entryway table were my favorite furniture projects. You can read about the dresser here. You can read about the entryway table here.





We bought a house! This was definitely the highlight of our year and we are so happy to be homeowners… although we did have a scare a few weeks back with a freak accident leak! You can read all about it here as well as seeing a few sneak peeks into the blank slate...and I'll be sharing my plans for it later this week...


The last project I wanted to share with you that is definitely up there with buying our first home was flipping the outside of this house around! As they say… it went from drab to fab! ALOT of sweat equity and of course doing everything on a budget really satisfied us in the end. Here are a few peeks below of the before and afters of our exterior. You can find our source list and read the whole post including seeing all the pictures and details by clicking here.





I just wanted to say thank you to y'all for all of your continued support. I feel like 2014 will be good to us…or at least I hope. I know for sure we will have more projects, more DIYS and more HOME TOURS finally! Thanks for listening as always and please have a safe and happy new year!

December 17, 2013

Balsam Hill Wreath- How to use a wreath three different ways

A few weeks ago, I was contacted by Balsam Hill to review a wreath of my choosing from their company and make a video tutorial on a few ways to decorate/use the wreath. I wanted to quickly show y'all what I did. And currently, I'm a little embarrassed to show the video so for now, just a few pretty photos for you to enjoy tonight! Hopefully I'll be back this week with a post on a few signs!


I choose the 18" battery operated Frasier Fir wreath with white lights. It's super petite and cute and I figured I could use it multiple places each year, just in case I wanted to change my mind.


Up close view. They use a true needle technology so these babies look about as real as they come! But even better… not real. And no mess. Hallelujah!


This was my favorite vignette. I hung the wreath with a 3M command hook on my entryway mirror and layered the look after that with an old, rustic beat up bowl filled with pinecones, signature boxwood, some architectural salvage and a pre-made bow from Kirklands that I bought a few months back…. The mirror I actually found at Ross. One of my best finds there, ever!


I also added the wreath in the bowl and adorned the top with pinecones. This looks especially pretty at night with the lights on. I was challenged to think outside the box while using their wreath and although I'm sure that I could have thought of more ways… I narrowed it down to these traditional ways to keep it simple. I mentioned in the video I did for them that you can shop your own home to also decorate this wreath or any wreath. Ornaments from your tree, small scale photo frame, cotton balls, garland, etc. 

Get creative and remember it doesn't have to be perfect to be beautiful. Embrace the "not so perfect." I'm trying to.


-Ally

December 3, 2013

Fisher Price Video- Sponsored Post



This is a sponsored VIDEO/post from Fisher Price and Unruly Media. 
I was compensated for this post and video but all opinions are my own.


'Twas the night before Christmas...and all she wants are Fisher-Price toys. Stay up late with the baby who can't sleep because she's so excited for Santa to come- in an updated Deck the Halls version that lets you see exactly what baby is dreaming of playing with. Isn't the video darling? I have to kind of admit, I'm a little in love with the blonde baby girl in the video. I imagine our child to look the same, wouldn't you? It is just simply one of those "aw" videos that you can't help but watch and smile.


I remember growing up as a child playing with Fisher-Price toys and to this day and since 1930, to be exact, Fisher-Price has been with many children as they grow older, develop and go out into our world. It was 1930 when Herman Fisher, Irving Price and Helen Schelle combined their talents to create a different kind of toy company. With the Great Depression looming, it may not have been the best time to launch a new business but obviously enough, something caught everyone's attention and they are still around today and better than ever.

Did you know that Fisher-Price is one of the world’s top leading manufacturers of babygear and preschool toys,? Fisher-Price believes deeply in the power of innovation and fun to bring out the full potential of the world’s children. They continue to grow around the world, conducting business in 145 countries and producing toys in more than 37 languages. Isn't that amazing? I am thrilled to be apart of this post and honored to write about this company as I have been pleased with their products for many, many years and more, once I have children, I am sure.

Please enjoy the video above and always consider giving Fisher-Price a chance for your child's needs and wants this Christmas. I'm sure that you will not be dissapointed.

XO,
Ally

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