Happy Halloween From a Bunch of Jokesters.

We are excited to put Greta to bed early tonight and pass out candy to all of the cute trick-or-treaters in the neighborhood.  We all dressed up for our party on Friday night--Chris was a hobo clown, Greta was a mime and I was a jester. 

The party was a blast and a success.  It was fun to see all of our friends, family and neighbors dressed up--some I didn't even recognize, which was especially awkward when I was nearly in tears as a witch was seriously freaking me out and I later found out this witch was Chris's sister.  What a transformation!  She fully deserved her win of "Best Adult Costume."  We picked up a 4 best costume trophies for the party and had all of our guests vote on ballots for Best Adult Costume, Best Child's Costume and Best Group or Couple's Costume. The fourth trophy Chris and I gave to the person who put the least amount of effort into their costume--for laughs.

The voting was close, but Erica the witch, Baby Jack as Jack Jack Incredible, the O'Farrells dressed up as the Flinstones and our neighbor boys who threw on a wig and a mask all took home the trophies and posed for a picture.

There was lots of picture-taking that night.  We hung up the area rug from our dining room to serve as a  backdrop for our "photo booth."

It felt vintage and a little creepy to us and worked pretty well.  The kids especially loved striking a pose in their costumes.  We also hung 50 bats from the ceiling stretching from the living room and into the kitchen.  I cut the bats out of black poster board and strung various lengths of fishing line through them and Chris helped hang each one from the ceiling.

In real life, the effect was really cool, especially when we had the fan on and the bats were all moving around a little bit.  I didn't get a photo of the food table in time (mostly because we were getting all the food out as people were arriving.  hectic!)  but Chris prepared all sorts of good eats.  We decided to have all dippable things.  Our dips included guacamole, onion dip,  cheese sauce, chocolate hazelnut and caramel--all of which Chris made himself.  Beside the dip we had a spread of black tortilla chips (and regular potato chips, too), sourdough pretzel pieces, angel food cake, cinnamon graham crackers, apples, broccoli, green peppers, asparagus, and wings with a black sauce on them all to dip in the different sauces.  For drinks, Chris whipped up an amazing mulled apple cider and homemade root beer that fogged through most of the party.  

Our little mime was a little freaked out the whole party.  She didn't let go of Chris or I the entire time.  And an hour or so into the party, it was apparent she was ready to go to bed.  She went straight to sleep (after a quick bath) even with all the noise downstairs.

We have no doubt that Halloween--the parties, the costumes, the candy--will grow on her.  Afterall, both of her parents lurrrvveee Halloween.  In fact, we already talked about making the party an annual thing.  How could we pass up the opportunity to dress up, be with our friends and eat good food?  We'll see you next year, folks!

New Set of Wheels

This past week we said goodbye to our Acura (we sold it ourselves online in less than 6 hours!) and we traded in my Ford Focus that I have had since I was 16 years old.  Chris and I have decided to become a one-car family for now.  After lots of research and patience, waiting for the right car for the right price, we landed ourselves a 2010 Toyota Camry Hybrid: 

We are in looovvvveeeee.  And every time we take it for a spin and watch the miles per gallon climb (it gets an average of 38 mpg), we swoon some more.

October 2011 Chalkboard Drawing

Chris built me a very large chalkboard (3'x5'6") in our laundry room so I would have a large canvas for revolving art--drawing, painting, etc. is a pretty big passion of mine.  Every month I will be doing a new drawing.  Even if October is almost over, I didn't want the chance to pass me by to draw something a little spooky:

Laundry Room Revamp Reveal

This is the official "House Tour" before picture of our laundry room.  It was taken before I got my new camera with a wider lense, so you can't really see the whole room--but all you are missing are stacks of boxes on the left side of the room.    

Here's a wider semi-before shot.  This photo was taken after we cleared out the boxes and those grimy blue carpets.  By the time this picture was taken, we had already changed the light fixture and the toilet seat: 

And here's how our laundry room looks today:

I can't call it an "after" because we still can't wait to tackle those floors and tweak a few other things,  but we are loving the mini-makeover and the extra bathroom we gained (we never even used this bathroom in its "before" stages. bleh!).  Removing the wallpaper border and painting the room did wonders, you can read about that here.  Originally we had planned to move the washer and dryer to the back wall, but with the hookups on the right, and after moving them back and forth 3 times, we decided to keep them put and add a cabinet above to conceal the hookups and add storage to the room.  

Unfortunately, our cabinet that we removed from our kitchen when we added open shelving was too tall for the space, so we headed to the ReStore and found this really nice, sturdy, then honey-colored cabinet.  We loved the luxe look of the finished side and I knew I could put some white paint on it and new knobs and it would work perfectly and look awesome.  Not cheap ($40), but definitely a huge improvement to our laundry room so we were happy forking out the cash...well, actually, we used a gift card.  :)

The weird shelf adjacent to the laundry (we have a lot of these jolting walls and shelves in our home) we used as an art ledge.  The three pieces on the right are all originals by me.  The small on the left is the back of our wedding announcement and I also leaned our little ironing board up on the shelf, too.  If you haven't heard, the board got a new look and I couldn't help displaying it.  I LOVE how it ties in with the rest of the room.  Plus, it's Amy Butler fabric--that stuff has got to be seen.

On the left wall in the room is a giant chalkboard (3'x5.5') that Chris made for me.  I am going to be doing monthly chalkboard drawings (you will see October's tomorrow) so this is the only time the board will look like this.  I love the idea of revolving artwork.  I hate messy chalkboards.  Love art.  Hate dustiness. Can't wait to show you my oversized drawing every month.  

Opposite the room, I ORBed a towel rack (to match all the hardware in the room and the mirror) that we had on hand and hung a single charcoal towel (that really needs to be ironed, egads!) to keep things clean and crisp looking.  

On top of the toilet is where my magazine art landed and a vase that I had that happened to match this room perfectly.  Score. 

I already told you about painting the vanity, and changing out the mirrors, but if you you missed it, you can read that here.  

Because the laundry, toilet and sink are all lined up, we were left with a galley type room, ripe for a runner.  We cannot WAIT to redo these floors, but that wasn't in the time frame (our party is mañana!) or the budget right now.  So, I found a natural runner at Ikea for $25 to disguise the floor without calling attention to it.  Here's hoping it flattens out in the next 24 hours.

That's all she wrote for now.  One last look at where we came from. 

Before:

After:

Psst! Paula, from Compelled to Craft, is letting a lucky reader choose one of her 91covers for their ironing board. Click here to enter if you haven't already. 

Seize the Ad

Our little laundry room makeover is almost complete and we can't wait to let you all take a peak.  We are just waiting on a few final details to come together and paint to dry.  I had a small, white frame from Ikea that I wanted to set on the back of the toilet paired with a vase.  However, I thought a photo in the frame would be a little weird on the back of the toilet--like, "we're wattcchhhinnnggg youuu."  So, I set out to find something else to frame.  Enter my Elle Decor that arrived yesterday:

I took the mat out of the frame I had so I could better visualize the different ads and pictures as they would look framed.  Suddenly I was overwhelmed by all of the possible pages I could fill my white frame with:

Although, I could have easily framed every page in the magazine--some serious eye candy in there--I only had one frame.  And that's how this ad:

got in this little frame:

Giveaway Gold: Time to Dress up!

This Giveaway is now Closed.  Congratulations to #20, Christy, our WINNER!

Our laundry room mini-makeover involves more than just walls, mirrors and vanities.  We are adding lots of artwork, cabinetry and even sprucing up our ironing board to match (you'll see all those details in the days to come).  When I stumbled upon Paula's Etsy shop, Compelled to Craft, I knew it was something I wanted to share with all of you.  She has 91 different ironing board covers to choose from.  Ninety. One.  It took me 2 days to decide which one we wanted in our laundry room (Hint: Ours is an Amy Butler fabric. EEEeee!), which means you better start narrowing it down now because Paula is gonna send one of her contemporary covers to a lucky reader as well.  

Whether your ironing board is standard size or one of the countertop ones like we have (she can whip up a mini cover in almost any fabric), it's time to dress it up.

The Nitty Gritty--

Prize: An ironing board cover of your choice from Compelled to Craft.

Number of Winners: One

To Enter: While you're busy deciding which fabric you are gonna dress up your ironing board with, we'd also love to hear about YOU dressing up--tis the season, afterall.  Leave a comment with the words "Dress Up" and tell us all about your best or favorite costume. One year, when I was like 8, me and all 4 of my sisters were Chaquita Banana Girls.  The next year, we were all nuns.  I have never seen my grandmother happier.  :)

Details: Prize ships anywhere in the United States. Giveaway closes Friday, October 28th at 9pm MST. One Entry per person.  Winner will be chosen using Random.org and announced right here on Saturday, the 29th.

Pickled Vanity.

We had a busy weekend.  A few family events mingled with lots of home projects, including the laundry room vanity.  This is what it looked like originally:

Removing the wallpaper and painting the room improved things, but the oval mirror that was losing its frame and the worn and stained wood on the bottom had seen better days--maybe.  Obviously the sink and faucet need replacing, but we are not sure we have the budget to do that right now--so I did what we could afford to do.  The mini makeover cost me zero dollars and zero cents.  (Try to look past to sink....plleeassseeee!)

I was not afraid to paint the vanity cabinet a bold color--and Martha Stewart's Cornichon (leftover from this idea) was the perfect choice.  It's bold, but not crazy and it plays nicely with our home's color palette of blues, purples, greens and neutral grays.  The cabinet got a coat of primer, two coats of Cornichon, and a topcoat of clear, glossy sealant.

Another theme throughout our home is oil-rubbed bronze (ORB) details, so hanging our ORB mirror from Target that has been in storage since we moved was a no-brainer.  I also spray-painted the little gold knobs with some Rustoleum oil-rubbed bronze that I always seem to have on hand.

While we need a new sink and faucet (I can't look at these pictures without cringing.  Why is everything in this home bisque-colored?!) we definitely bought the vanity cabinet some time, don't ya think?  At least that is what I am guessing Greta told me (we don't understand a word she says) when she tested it out:

Psst.  Did you know that "Cornichon" is the french word for "Gherkin?"  Love me some pickles!

Downsizing.

Those of you that guessed "concrete floor" in yesterday's post were right!  That was a very close photo of our newly stained concrete floors in our guest room.  The project was intense and long and we just finished filming the last details last night and submitted our video to True Value this morning (it will go live next week).  We are so happy with the results and we can't wait to show you all how it turned out and the entire process.  That project being finished and turned in is a huge weight off my shoulders.  

We had another huge weight lifted yesterday--we sold our Acura, "Harrison."  We only got Harrison last June, but we have decided to be a one-car family and a big, gas-guzzling, SUV (that was truly the lap of luxury) seemed like too much for the three of us. 

After getting lots of low-ball trade-in offers from a variety of dealers, we decided to try to sell it ourselves.  So, yesterday, I cleaned him up real good and snapped a variety of pictures and posted them on the online classifieds with a short list of perks and the current mileage on the car.  I also included a screen shot of the Kelly Blue Book Value to prove that we were selling it below the lowest value of the car.

6 hours, 3 inquiries and 2 test drives later, we were writing up a Bill of Sale and had cash in our hand.  We had sold our Acura.  All day yesterday we were both in a state of shock.  Shocked that it sold so fast.  Shocked that it was gone.  Shocked that all we had now was our little 2002 Red Ford Focus.  Our plan for now is to drive our Focus around for the next month or so until we trade it in for something more fuel efficient and reliable.  We are currently leaning toward a Toyota Camry Hybrid, but for now we are enjoying no car payment. :)

Anyone else surviving as a one-car family?  Is it really possible to live without a SUV?  Ha!  We feel pretty good about our choice and we are dreaming of saving loads of gas money on a hybrid.

Where in our home?

New game!  I get to take a really close photo of a spot or object in our home and you get to guess where or what it is.  Ready? Go. 

It's magic.

Magic,  leftover paint from the basement and about 2 hours. Getting the wallpaper border off was pie.  The walls in the laundry room are very textured, which isn't close to ideal to start with, so the paper was already pealing in some places.  I just sprayed it down with water and scraped it off a minute later.  A 30 minute job.  Thank goodness.  Painting this room was actually harder than most rooms.  Constantly shifting the washer and dryer to paint around them was not fun and painting around toilets is definitely not pleasant.  Add super textured walls to the equation and I was ready for a nap after what I thought was gonna be an easy and quick task (instead of a nap, Chris and I prepped the floors in the basement).  Deciding on a light gray was a no-brainer.  This room has no windows and we had leftover paint.  We do have big plans to inject some bold color in this room though--and it has something to do with all those cords hangin' out on the left. 

We are going to be hanging a large art installment that will not only serve as a box for those cords but also the color element--I got a pretty good idea of what I'm gonna be doing.  As you can see from the photo above, we have a lot of other plans for this room before our big party next week.  We probably won't have time to redo the floors before next Friday, but I am certain I can improve them.  The other projects are pretty straightforward (we hope) and budget-friendly.  You'll be seeing a lot more of this little laundry room over the next week through all the tweaks.

Secrets of the Guest Room

Anyone want to guess what color we painted the guest room?  And no, I'm not talking about the color we chose our first go at it.  If you remember, we didn't quite get the color right the first time.  The black-splattered, tortured teen's room desperately needed a paint job:

Initially we painted it this warm, tan-gray called Closeout (by True Value).  

We got one coat almost on all the walls before I started having an anxiety attack.  We went from black-splattered walls to poop splattered walls.  And that's where our last segment in our online mini series ended (you can watch that video here).  Oh the suspense!  This weekend our long list of projects included repainting that room.   Technically, we should wait until the next video to show you the new wall color, but our next video is going to be so jam-packed, you aren't even gonna notice the new paint color.  So, newsflash!--we went with a light gray.  Shocker, I know.  I guess we know what we like, and also we wanted to keep things light because it is a basement room.  The color of choice--Benjamin Moore's Moonshine, color matched to True Value's paint because they are picking up the tab on everything we do to this room.  And after our fastest painting session to date--just 90 minutes!--we had the whole room painted soft Moonshine:

*Sigh* So much better, right?  And if you are wondering what that blue strip is near the baseboard--it is blue paint that was under the carpet.  There are no baseboards in this room, yet.  While I am spilling secrets, also this weekend, after painting, we ripped out all the carpet in this room (the carpet extended up onto the walls--scroll up to see) to prep the room for our next project--staining the concrete.  You'll see all of those details in our next online video due this week (it will go live next Friday).  We have tons of work to do in the next 3 days on this floor, but we can't wait to show you the results.  We think it is going to look amazing. We think.