Blog Of The Week {My Sister!}

This week's Blog of the Week is my sister's blog, One Cheap B*tch. {That's her blog name; I'm not calling her that ~ right now}.

My sister's blog is fairly new and covers beauty, fashion, home, family and more. Recent posts have been leaning toward holiday decorating and home decor items.

For instance, like me, she loves Ballard Designs. She loved the crown plaques Ballards had, but they were out of stock until March, 2010! So she purchased a few off of Etsy and painted them. You can read about that here.

See that mirror in the lower left corner? That was mine. We did a garage sale together and way too much of each other's stuff wound up going home with the other.

She also did a version of Shanty2Chic's Christmas Joy candleholder plaque thingys. Didn't these come out cute?

I requested these as my Christmas present. No, I have no shame in asking for things.

She dressed up these Home Goods candleholders with one of her fleur tags {you can really tell we're sisters now, right?}. She makes these tags and sells them in her Etsy shop.

Finally, how cute is this decoration?!? This could stay up all winter! You can read where she found her inspiration for this project here.

So pop over if you get a chance and say "hello" to my sister!

Make sure you check out the current giveaway ~ PaperAddict.com! Ends Friday!

Christmas Gifts That Won't Break The Bank

What do you get when you take

3 cylindrical glass vases
2 short glass vases
5 glass candlesticks
2 small glass prayer candles
Some ornaments, ribbon and peppermint sticks

. . . all from the Dollar Tree?

You get Christmas gifts that won't break the bank {and a hubby that says "what the heck are you making now?"}.

I read a blog post by Melissa at 320 Sycamore {she has such fabulous ideas; you have to check out her blog if you haven't yet}. I've already copied/adapted a couple of her projects. Melissa's inspiration came from the Williams Sonoma hurricane.

Melissa at 320 Sycamore

While I could not find the large vase she used at my Dollar Tree, I got the largest I could find. Unfortunately, the large glass prayer candle stuck out of the top, so I had to skip it.

Here are mine:

I used Gorilla glue {a favorite, I'm finding, among many bloggers}. Like Melissa, for the short vase I glued the candle inside the vase first. Then glued that to the candleholder. Vase, candleholder and candle ~ total $3.00.

The larger vases really became two gifts in one. After gluing the vase to the candleholder, I filled one with ornaments and one with peppermint sticks. The recipient can use the ornaments on their tree and the holder for one of their own candles or filler. Vase, candleholder, and one sleeve of ornaments ~ $3.00.

You can add ribbon or other embellishment, and if you get that at the dollar store, too, it's still under $5.00! Here's one with what was labeled a "mini wreath".



You could even monogram these with stickers! I think the possibilities are endless to what you could add to these.

Yes, these are gifts ~ I'm only keeping one for myself! Four gifts put together in about an hour at under $5.00 each ~ can't beat that!

Linking up with Metamorphosis Monday at Between Naps on the Porch.

It's So Very Creative over at It's So Very Cheri

DIY Day over at A Soft Place To Land.

Frugalicious Friday at Finding Fabulous.

Be sure to check out our current giveaway from PaperAddict.com ~ ends Friday, November 27th!

Are You A Paper Addict? Giveaway!

This Giveaway has ended.

I am not a scrapbooker {is that even the correct terminology?}, but I do love scrapbook papers. They lend themselves to so many different projects whether craft or interior decor related. Having said that, I am very excited to share with you that Marisa of PaperAddict.com has generously offered a $35.00 gift certificate to be used at PaperAddict.com!

I had to control myself with the images I picked to show you ~ Marisa has so much to offer on her website; this is such a small sampling below.


Serenity Expressions paper

The Narratives collection is one of my favorites.

Narratives mini epoxy stickers


I had to include this one for the teal lovers out there!



Narratives Floral Teal

Narratives Cream Scroll

Making Memories Cosmopolitan Pink

K & Co. sticker labels

glue dots

You had to know I would work a harlequin or fleur de lis design in here somewhere!

Chatterbox Cottage paper

Amy Butler scrap kit

I had to add a Christmas one in since that's the next holiday coming up.

Bohemia Frost accessory sheet

Here are the rules for entry:

Visit PaperAddict.com, then come back and leave a comment telling me some or one of your favorite things. I know. It will be difficult. Don't forget to leave me an email if you do not have a blog so I have a way to contact you.

You can gain additional entries by doing the following:

1. Become or if you are a follower of my blog. {I check because I have to ~ sorry, some people try to work the system}. Leave a comment letting me know.

2. Blog about this giveaway or put it on your sidebar and leave me a comment with the link.

3. Tweet about this giveaway and let me know in a comment with your @ name.

4. Make a purchase from PaperAddict.com, come back and let me know in a comment.

Each of the above are separate comments, so make sure you leave them separately.

That's up to 5 entries into this fantastic giveaway! If you are making gifts for the holidays this year, this is a giveaway not to be missed! Giveaway ends Friday, November 27, 2009.

~ Winner Alert ~

Using random.org, the winner of the Signs of Obsession Giveaway is . . .

Mary K. from Ottawana, MN!!!!

Congratulations Mary!

Frugal Fleurs

I spent some time with my daughter Wednesday evening at a gluten free cooking demonstration at a bookstore that, happily, was a few doors away from our local Joann's. Without a list and measurement of things, I was really unprepared for a trip into Joann's, but {sigh} I forced myself.

They really had some lovely Christmas decorations out ~ really large ornaments, large pair of bells, bows and more. A bit rich for my blood at $25.00 and up, but it did lead me to a clearance shelf where I found this:





My daughter was quick to point them out to me because she knows I love them. They only had the two and I grabbed one ~ and took about 10 seconds to consider if I should just get both of them. Yeah. I did. I couldn't just leave one behind ~ what if no one bought it.







On clearance at $5.97 each, originally $19.99 each. A real steal as far as I'm concerned! These will be making their way into my living room refresher.

Hooking this find up with Frugalicious Fridays at Finding Fabulous.



This week's giveaway will end at midnight, so make sure you enter!

Time For Some Eye Candy!

I came across the bookcase pictured above in a magazine ad, which led me to a website for a company called Grange. The following pictures are from their website and are just so striking.

Grange is a leading French furniture manufacturer dating back to 1904.

Some of these pictures reminded me of furniture pieces that I have seen many of our talented bloggy friends transform. I'm sure a promising Goodwill or thrift store find {even something off the curb} could be transformed in a budget friendly way to something like these.

I know that I've seen dressers with these same lines transformed by some creative DIYers; Donna at Decorated House is one.

This red piece reminds me of something Miss Mustard Seed or Kim of Twice Remembered would have.

This room below I just love! Even without an area rug, I think it looks quite comfy. This room looks like it is perfect for today's family ~ a place to watch TV, entertain, read, work on your laptop. . .

This piece below made me think of Rhoda at Southern Hospitality and her beadboard wallpaper project. I'll bet you could take a paintable wallpaper and insert it into a piece that has similar lines as this one.

How many china cabinets have we seen redone? This piece made me think of all the beauties I have seen.

This next piece I thought of Jennifer at The Old Painted Cottage and her dining room.

5 Things You Didn't Know About . . . .

Welcome to 5 Things You Didn't Know About . . ., a weekly feature here, where we visit with a different blogger every week to find out a little more about them. This week we are visiting with Debbie from Love The Decor!

Favorite music at the moment: Christmas (we start playing it on Halloween in our home :) I think this tradition started when my girls were little and it started snowing on halloween. We all thought it felt like Christmas, so out came the music. We have continued the tradition. Hubby is not too keen on this idea (bah humbug) so we try not to play it when he is home :)

If you didn't live where you do, where would you live: Italy but only for a year. Then I would move to the city my oldest daughter lives in to be close to my first grandchild due in April

Favorite cocktail: I am not much of a drinker, but I do like a margarita now and then. My beverage of choice is a Venti nonfat white mocha from Starbucks

Best advice you ever received: Be yourself and don't worry so much about what other think. I used to let my actions be determined by what others would think of me. this can be so limiting and inhibit creativity. It is so much more freeing to just be yourself.

Person you most admire: Just one? There are so many people I admire for different reasons. My hubby for one. Beth Moore( author, teacher) is another. She is a very Godly woman and I always say I want to be like her when I "grow up."

Thank you, Debbie!

I hope you'll come back next week for another session of 5 Things You Didn't Know About . . . .

Don't miss our Blog Of The Week this week ~ Signs of Obsession. There is a giveaway along with it!