New Do

Just got back from getting my hair trimmed and decided to do something a little different!

It may be hard to tell, but one side is a little shorter then the other. What can I say?! It's sassy!

Winter Blues

How I would love if this was a fun post about some decorating tip for the winter. I love blue and it would be lovely to have some nook looking magical with faux snow and ice. But this post is about the other winter blue.

I have always had a hard time during the winter months and for some reason this year is really getting to me, especially on cold gloomy days like today. I can't seem to figure out why this year would be harder. My only explanation is that I am living in a new house that doesn't feel like my own yet.

I literally have to drag myself out of bed each morning and simply have no desire to do anything. Later in the day I get down on myself for all the things I could have done but didn't. Let me ask you, how do you beat the winter blues?

I just starting adding some additional vitamins to my one a day multi after reading about Vitamin D deficiency and I am looking into a Litebook. I hope to feel some major difference soon!

Another way that I am trying to tackle the winter blues, is by spending my time with this cute kid. We had a fun snowy afternoon on Monday. I look forward to the spring when Livy will be able to enjoy her house better.

Inside her house in the back yard. I love that smile!

Photo shoot....I don't think so

Ever so often I like to do a mini photo shoot with Livy to document her growth and fun character changes. This past one was a complete failure!

Too close! Livy wanting to touch the camera.

Picture?! How about a close-up of a sock?

Don't think so!

Best that we could do for the day. Perhaps next time she will be in more of a picture taking mood!

My Holiday Nook

I simply can't decorate my entire house for each holiday. So that I can have a little holiday cheer whether for Valentines, Independence Day or Thanksgiving, I have a small area that I will decorate for each holiday.

The view from the front door. It is a small area and I plan to keep it simple. There is a lot going on in this room, especially with the dust-trap plant shelf above it.

Aren't those fun decorations! I can't tell you how many stores I went to. It seems that people don't decorate for Valentines.

The two smaller frames I will change out with various things from new embroidery, vintage cards or small prints.

The vintage Valentine that I found on the Internet. It says, I came to inquire if you found a little heart that perhaps belongs to me.

Finally finished!

I have been slaving away on my most recent craft project. For years I have wanted to learn to embroider and this past week I finally had that opportunity. I found it to be an easy craft that seemed to occupy a lot of my time. (Maybe that is why I haven't blogged for a while!)

There is a particular wall in my living room that I plan on turning into my holiday corner. I simply can't decorate for every season for the entire house, so I am making a nook to help celebrate. Valentines is right around the corner and my latest project will be hung on the wall. I will show my holiday corner soon!

Since this was my first ever embroidery project, I turned to a GREAT website, Needle 'n Thread, with video tutorial on how to do different stitches. A perfect resource for beginners or for those wanted to improve a stitch.

Color, Height, and Texture!

So what do you do after being sick for over a week? You go shopping of course!

I have a large "plant shelf" (I guess that is what it is called. It should be named, "huge dust trap that needs an enormous ladder to get to shelf." ) in the living room that needed something up there. I had several items from our previous house and needed to find a few more special items to really make it pop. So off to two of my favorite decorating stores! Tai Pan Trading and Rod Works.

A few of the goods. (Except for the first photo. That came from the store called Mom's)

Let's put it all together.....

First the mantle. I wanted something to contrast the white of the mantle and the softness or brightness of the gold walls. I choose a large black/brown mirror from our last house and objects that balanced all of the colors. My original plan was to decorate in gold, black and white. It's funny that things never go quite as planned, and honestly I love how things turned out. The colors for my living room are gold, black, brown, white and green. This space also needed to be kept simple to balance out the busy display on the plant shelf.

Simple but elegant.

For the plant shelf. I need a variety of color (sticking with my chosen colors), height and texture. This is what I came up with....

Head over to The Lazy Organizer for more Talk About Tuesday.