Meet The Flintstones

Last year we did The Wizzard of Oz for Halloween. This year we are the Flintstones with a borrowed Rubble (Bam Bam).

Do I make a pretty prissy Wilma Flintstone? Check out Fred and those sexy legs. . .

Bam Bam and Pebbles are sure proud of their costumes this year! What did you dress up as for Halloween?

53 Yards of Taffeta

Current project: My Dad's master bedroom 3.5 hours away from where I live. . .

Since May I have been working on decorating my Dad's house he bought in the spring. In July I went down and did the entire upstairs. This past weekend I went and worked on his master bedroom. Th e picture above is the before picture in July. They had bought bedding they liked and now it was my turn to customize the premade bedding they had found with the fabric swatches above. . .

This is the after. . . I had taffeta drapes made, a new bed skirt to fit the bed,. . . (Why is it premade bed skirts never fit right?) I had extra throw pillows made out of the old bed skirt, tassel trim added to all the premade shams, had roman shades made, a table skirt, and table topper. . . I think that's all. . .

Also had to go out and find lamps and accessories for the room. . . .

All the drapes you see required 53 yards of taffeta, 53 yards of lining, & 53 yards of interlining! The result was luscious and rich looking though. . . .

Most accessories came from Hobby Lobby or Ross. . . gotta love those places. . . .

There is a sitting room connected to the master bedroom. The drapes on either side of it are made to function on this 17ft wall. . . . So, if they want the room closed off they can. I still have roman shades that need to be made of the sitting/exercise area. That area is just not quite complete yet.

This door leads out to the backyard where the pool is. . .There you have it this is what I was up to this weekend. I will have to post some of the other rooms I did in July. . .

Scooby Doo Party

So E.T. and Baby Girl turned "5" on the October 16th. I can't believe they are a whole hand old now :( They were born at 8:53am and 9:09am. E.T. was born first and 16 minutes later Baby Girl was born. This year they wanted a Scooby Doo party. So, come on in the front door and see what we did for our 5th birthday party.

So, when you got to the party, you were greeted by the front door with balloons mixed with our fall decor and a sign telling you to come on in and head to the backyard for the party fun.

Here is my antique buffet that displayed a cute photo of the kids, a copy of the party invitation, and two sign in sheets.

Every party we have I always have out two sign in sheets. There is one for each kid's scrapbook. I think it is fun to look back at the sign in sheets in their scrapbooks and see who came to their birthday party.

As you come through the entry and pass through the living room to go out to the party on the back porch, you can see all my balloon bouquets through the windows just inviting you to come on outside and check the party out.

Now that you are on the porch you see the snack table, cake table, and half of Ethan and Emma's head table.

Another view of the snack table, cake table, and head table.

Here is our Scooby Doo cake (yummy) I had it made at a favorite local bakery. Same place my 30th birthday cake came from this year.

Here is E.T. and Baby Girl's individual bone cakes. I like to give them little cakes of their own since they have to share a birthday. At least they don't have to share their cake.

Here is a cute little antique porcelain top table and bench that I pulled out of the garage to use for our gift table. To the right of the table are two baskets with party favors in them! Found the cutest Scooby Doo bubble bath to add to the party favor bags. I just love themed stuff!

As you step off the back porch and into the yard you see the guest tables set up with colored table cloths, mums covered with colored burlap and a balloon. I also had small little plates with graham cracker bone shaped Scooby Snacks to munch on. Off to the right of the picture we have a mystery machine Daddy helped me to make for kids to take photos behind.

Here is a closeup photo of the Mystery Machine and inside you find 4 of the gang members with a guest. My brother-in-law, sister-in-law, niece, and nephew dressed up as Scooby and part of the gang last year for Halloween, so I convinced them to pull out the costumes and be part of our entertainment. Not sure how many more years the kids will indulge me with a combined party, so every year could be our last, but no matter, it's always just as much fun for me planning it as it is for them the day of. Do you like to plan parties?

Maw Maw (1924 - 2008)

Proverbs 31:28 Her children (grandchildren too) arise and call her blessed; . . .

She always leaned to watch for us.

Anxious if we were late,

In winter by the window,

In summer by the gate;

And though we mocked her tenderly,

Who has such foolish care,

The long way home would seem more safe

Because she waited there.

Here thoughts were full of us-

She never could forget!

And so I think that where she is

She must be watching yet,

Waiting till we come home to her,

Anxious if we are late-

Watching from heaven's window,

Leaning from heaven's gate.

-Author Unknown

This is my Maw Maw and me, just a few weeks after I was born.

My Maw Maw influenced my life in so many ways. More ways than I had actually realized until she passed away this past Friday.

Here are some of the many ways she influenced who I am today. . .

If it were not for her, I would still be biting my fingernails. When I was in middle school she told me she would pay me $1 for each fingernail I grew out to be about 2 centimeters long. The bribe worked, I grew them out, got paid $10, and never bit them again.

She taught me to work when I needed money to do fun things. She had me clean her house for money, wash her car, and even pull weeds in the flower bed.

She nurtured many of my domestic skills today. . .

She taught me how to sew straight lines. I started learning by making little throw pillows and pillowcases.

She taught me how to craft things out of beads when I was a little girl. Just wait till you see the ornaments she taught me to make for my very first Christmas tree when I got married 12 years ago. I still use them to this day and will forever!

Many of the sweets I make today are her recipe. . .mini pecan pies, pound cake, and banana pudding.

She bought me my first mixer and taught me how to use it. I still use it. She even gave me her mixer that was about 50 years old when it broke and now it is in my kitchen being used as a decoration. She used to make cakes around the clock to take to people when they were sick, had a death, needed cheering up, fellowships at church, and for bake sales. . .

She taught me meal planning very early on when I got married and moved away. I used to spend many hours on the phone with her discussing different meal ideas when I was planning for guests to come over for dinner.

She kept her house very clean, neat, and decorated. She passed those skill right on to me. (I have probably taken it to a more OCD level though.)

I know how to plan baby showers, wedding showers, and parties because of her and my Aunt Pam too. Just wait till you see my post on the Scooby Doo party we are having tomorrow for E.T. and Baby Girl.

The list of ways she influenced me can go on and on so I will stop with this last thing before I bore you to death! The most important thing in my life that she influenced me in was church. If it were not for my Maw Maw taking me to church as a small girl, I might not be the person I am today. She took me as a child during a time when my parents did not go. My parents eventually ended up taking me years later and it was a different denomination than that of my Maw Maw's church, but if it was not for her that seed would have never been planted early on in my life. So for that I am thankful. I have learned most recently that it's not all about going to "church" but it is more about your personal relationship with God that is important and how you influence the lives of others for His kingdom. On Sunday, at the funeral, I saw many people that my Maw Maw influenced of the years out of her love of serving God. I hope to influence people like that in my life someday.

This is Maw Maw, E.T., and Baby Girl just a few weeks after they were born.

This is E.T. and Baby Girl taking an nap in Daddy's car before Maw Maw's funeral.

Here are the beautiful flowers and plants sent by friends and family to show their love and appreciation for Maw Maw.

From Simple To Simply FALLbulous

Saturday, was opening day for the local pumpkin farm. Daddy was going to be gone ALL day long doing his scuba certification, so I decided to embrace the Saturday with E.T. and Baby Girl! So, we loaded up and went on down to Moore Farms for a morning filled with a hayrides, pumpkin picking, corn mazes, hay mazes, and animal petting!

E.T. and Baby Girl had the best time searching for the perfect pumpkin.

Here is the front door to the house. This is what it looked like before we went to the pumpkin farm. Quite simple. . .

Here is the front door after our visit to the pumpkin farm simply FALLbulous. . .

E.T. and Baby Girl can't wait to carve these pumpkins when it gets closer to Halloween! Can't wait to see what they come up with for our pumpkin faces. . .Have you been to the pumpkin farm yet?

Last Visit To My Closet Retreat

Well, here is the last little bit to blog about in my closet retreat. . .

Yes, that is a McDreamy doll in his scrubs. Took him to the hospital with me when I had surgery last November. Everyone should have their own personal Dr. with them at all times! I also have my Oscar I recieved when I went to Hollywood this summer. . . it's for best all around woman (mistakes and all). Last, but not least, I have my tiara! Every princess needs one of these to remind herself that she is a child of the King.

Here we have pegboard. We have this mounted on either side of the window in our closet. We put pegboard hooks up to hang belts, scarves, hats, etc. You can find pegboard and pegboard hooks at Lowes or any other local hardware store.

Here I am showing you that I stuff all my purses that are not in use with paper before I store them on the shelf. This helps them to keep their shape just like it was when you first brought it home from the store.

I always keep a removable hamper bag in my closet for dirty dry cleaning clothes. When it fills up, off it goes to the cleaners. To the left of the hamper you see my extra ironing board. I keep one in the utility and one in my closet. Nice to have it handy when you need it. The extra iron is stored on a shelf above that is not pictured.

Yes, this is a steamer I purchased at Bed, Bath, and Beyond with a 20% off coupon. There are some things that are just not meant for the iron to touch, I learned that the hard way. . . melted some really cool pants with an iron one Easter Sunday morning :-( Never gonna have that happen again now that I have my handy dandy steamer!

Valet hooks are a must have, This one is right by the door in my closet. I hang my clothes for the next day there. When I am packing for a trip I pile everything up there. When I bring home clothes from the cleaners I hang them there and sort them to their spots from there. I sometimes hang my coat there or even my purse or a bag. It has tons of uses. I got this cute one at Anthropologie.

This is a valet hook that I got at Lowes, It stores all my robs on it. It hangs on the side of my purse shelves. What is it Bugs Bunny would say?. . . That's all folks!!!

Beautiful Feet

. . . "How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news!" Romans 10:15

I would so love to use this scripture as a defense for having great shoes, but I am sure that is not what this scripture means! :) I am quite certain this scripture is talking about those people who spread the good news of Christ's great sacrifice and love for us. It doesn't mean that the beautiful feet are just the feet of missionaries, pastors, etc. It actually applies to everyday ordinary people like you and me. We can bring this good news to people at the grocery store, dry cleaners, beauty salon, post office, work, etc. So, as you ponder this thought about beautiful feet, let's go back to my closet retreat and see I organize the hardware for my "beautiful feet". . .


So, here is how is organize my shoes. I use boxes I have bought by the case at The Container Store. Most of our shoes are in boxes. Some people label the outside of their shoe boxes and some take polaroids to tape the the outside of the box. I just put the shoes in there and look at the end of the clear box to know what is in there. The reason I do not use the labeling or the photo labeling method is because I purge and merge every now and then, so the shoes end up changing boxes etc. I just find this is the way that works best for me.



In this photo towards the bottom you can see my husband has a larger shoebox for men's shoes. Above the athletic shoes are the women's shoe boxes. All of these can be bought individually or by the case at The Container Store.

Many of my boxes have more than one pair of shoes in them, especially if the shoes are not bulky like these. This particular box is an older box from The Container Store. This was the box they sold before they patented their very own box with their logo on it. This box is a tiny bit wider than the newer ones, however it is very easy to get more than one non bulky pair in the newer boxes.

On the bottom few shelves you can see my boot boxes from The Container Store. I am able to put two pair of short boots in 1 box together. In some of these photos you see shoes out of boxes and the reason is because it is time to purge and merge. In this photo you can see I have a shelf that has some personal photos, a cell phone charger plug, and an iHome. I have photos in several places in my closet and my I love to listen to music when I am in the closet/bathroom area. So, my iHome allows me to listen to my ipod or the radio and it also where I can charge my ipod when not in use. Well, there you have it. . . this is how I organize my shoes in my closet retreat. I have two questions for you. . . How do you organize your shoes and more importantly do you make the best use of your "beautiful feet" everywhere you go?