Powder Room (AFTER)

So here it is, my post about what I did to our teeny tiny powder room, and it only took a day!  First, I want to show you some photos of things that inspired me to do this: 

The first two pictures show you where I'm headed with the color in the room, the bottom two picures have a great contrast with the grey and the addition to of white throughout the bathroom. 

With such a small room (it is pretty tiny) I didn't want to bring in a very dark grey color that would shrink the room while you're in it.  I wanted a dove grey, something soft and soothing, but still sort of tough.  It says, "Hey, I'm grey.  How you doin'?" 

Then I took our existing yellow towels and rug into account and chose it as an accent color.  As I continued, I picked up a yellow vase (thanks Lauren!) and some yellow ribbon for the picture frames that were a bit brighter and popped a little more.  I'm going to hunt down towels and rugs that match this brighter and stronger yellow.  I like it way more! 

So, drumroll please!  Here it is.  A few shots of my non-orange powder room! 

Here's where the yellow ribbon came into play, I used it to "hang" three frames.  I just tucked it into the back of the frame with a little bit of adhesive.  It isn't really holding up the frames, I don't trust it to do so. 

In this picture, you can see the old yellow rugs on the our dark flooring, and it simply isn't yellow enough for me.  I think I'll look for a brighter yellow rug, or maybe just a dark grey one?  I'm not sure yet. 

And that yellowvase is the right is sort of a nice pop of color, and I'm looking for one more frame or framed artwork to hang on that blank piece of wall you see above. 

I've been crushing on this eye chart from Etsy for a while now, and I think it would look rad in there.  Then again, this fading set of prints also seems like one or all of them would look good there.  And in that same breath, my new obsession with spinning makes me want to order this one in canary yellow and put it up on the wall!  I could spend all day on Etsy and still not make up my mind! 

Powder Room (BEFORE)

On MLK, Jr day, I lost my mind.  I had hated the color of our downstairs powder room for about 6 months now, and I decided I needed to change it.  You see, when we moved in, I did very neutral colors throughout the house and decided to be "daring" in the small powder room.  I went with a creamy peach, which translated to a room that no matter how your makeup was done, you looked like you were an oompa loompa in this room! 

This is what it looked like before I painted it the first time: 

The previous owner had painted the smallest room in the house a blood red color.  It felt so ridiculously small!  I was claustrophobic in this room! 

Then I painted it a creamy peach color.  At first I loved it, simple yet slightly feminine.  Then I looked at myself in the mirror.  I don't have BIG shots of the actual powder room itself, only myself in it.  Here are some examples:

This is a photo that is not from the bathroom.  Please note, I am not orange here.  In real life, I am not orange! 

This photo is from the powder room.  Look at that!  I'm orange!  Imagine doing your hair or make up in this room.  It is an absolute nightmare. 

So stay tuned to find out what I did to change this, and if it worked out well for me! 

Trying to Put things to good use!

So, what do you do with all of last year's Christmas cards? 

Yah, I didn't know what to do either.  So I put them away for a year so I could figure it out. 

That's when I came up with this:

I trimmed up all of the cards we had from 2010, punched a whole in the top, and tied them to a string of ribbon.  Boom!  Instant garland! 

It was inexpensive (I already had scissors and a spool of ribbon) and sentimental.  I made sure to write who sent us the card and 2010 on the back of each cut out, so that next year I'll have a new one with new people and a new year to hang and I can tell the two apart. 

3rd Annual Cookie Exchange!!!

I attended my first "Cookie Exchange" in 2010, and I'm lucky enough that my dear friend, Shannon, has decided to continue her tradition for the third year in a row!  So Saturday evening, I packed up five dozen of my favorite home made chocolate chip cookies and a wrapped ornament and set off for Shannon's home. 

Upon arrival, we played a few party games and ate some delicious soup!  It was such a wonderful mixture of friends, both new and old, that time absolutely flew by!  There was also a selection of various snacks and beverages, including a delightful "Poinsetta Punch" which was a coctail made with vodka, cranberry juice, and a sparkling wine.  It was so good! 

Following dinner, we had an ornament exchange structured like a "White Elephant" exchange.  The rules allowed each ornament to be opened, and stolen up to three times and allowing it to rest with the fourth person.  This provided for quite a few laughs as we all recalled which ornament was so highly covetted last year: a glass pickle!  Well there was a glass pickle again this year, as well as wine glass ornaments, high heel ornaments, a reindeer, a sparkling snowflake, and even a whale! 

After everyone settled in with their new ornaments, we all began the cookie portion of our evening.  Everyone's cookies had been arranged around the main table, and each person was given an adorable platter (that our lovely hostess picked up for us) to fill with their own choice of delicious baked goods! 

There were so many choices, but the lovely part was that you didn't have to choose!  You filled your platter and tasted whichever cookies or bars you liked, and when you were satisfied you simply wrapped your platter up with plastic wrap and you were able to take it home with you to take with friends and family! 

So next year, I highly suggest you gather your lady friends together for a cookie exchange.  Tell them recipe cards are highly suggested, buy a bunch of cookie platters, and party away! 

Traditional Toilets!

So most of you as you move out of your parents' house grabbed a few sentimental items, right?  You took a photo, a pillow, a blanket, or something that as you were headed out the door just screamed "HEY!  THIS IS HOME!" 

For me, it was holiday items.  I love the holidays.  The smell, the feeling, the weather.  I could go on and on.  But probably one of the most important things I took from my parents house is also one of the most odd.  Well, Big Mike thinks it is definitely odd.  It's the santa toilet seat cover that someone made for my parents. 

It's odd. 

I'll prove it. 

I know, I know.  It's sort of creepy.  But come on, Santa hides his face when the lid is up!  He's not looking!  Ha ha!  I love this thing! 

So happy holidays, and remember, SANTA'S WATCHING!

I Can't Get Enough of This!

Two months ago, I had the incredible honor of serving as a bridesmaid for a most dear friend of mine.  Before the wedding we discussed every detail: shoes, hair, dress, food, wine, and most importantly, music. 

You see, each and every friend of mine has a special bond with me.  We share love of certain foods, a drink, a book, a moment in time, well you get the point.   This friend and I happen to share music.  I remember a time in my life after a break up when I hopped in her car for a night out and she said, "I've got this album, and it might be sort of weird, but this is what I think is going on between you and him." 

As she played it, she was right, and to be completely honest, that album and her friendship brought me through that break up.  (For the record, the album was Miranda Lambert's Kerosene album, and the song in particular was "What About Georgia?")

So when we talked about her wedding, and the music, and the people, it came down to two songs: the first dance and the father-daughter dance.  Now, in my head I've already got my father-daughter dance music picked, so I'm not going to steal this one.  However, I have to share hers with you all.  I love the words.  I love the tempo.  I love her.  I love her father.  I just love this song and the special meaning it now has to me.  I love that I cried just hearing it from my table during the dances. 

So enjoy, share it, share this love and blessing with those that you love.  I know I will! 

Photo Bomb!

I've been asked lately why I haven't been blogging, and I suppose the real answer is that I've just taken a cyber break.  I've been favoring the real relationships I have with people in my life instead of the online versions.  Too often I have found that people will say things online that they generally are too scared to say to your face, and it has been tiring to my mind. 

But I'm back!  With a photo bomb!  I'm sure the rest of these will go up on the Fairy Godmother Site in a few days, but for now, this will have to do. 

Here he is, the most amazing Godson I could have asked for.  He's riding the ponies at a local Christmas tree farm and before you know it, the pony handler PHOTO BOMBED HIM!  Too funny!  If it wasn't funny, I'd actually be mad because I really like this photo of him!