caught in a trap

photo courtesy of  Lowe's Creative Ideas

have you seen this awesome DIY project in the new Lowe's Creative Ideas?

it's lil' ole' mouse traps! made into memo holders! how genius! i love it so much that not only am i going to end every freakin' sentence in this post with exclamation marks, but i'm also going to make some this weekend!

seriously, these could be used to hold grocery lists, coupons, business cards, paint chips, the list goes on and on. 

mama, you are going to love making these for all your little school children, aren't you?  i can already see your wheels turning.


click here see the how-to.

!!!!!!

lacy vase

lacy pink nightie.....check.

5 gorgeous full roses.....check.

a sweet Valentine's Day card.....check.

2 cans of spray paint, a leftover can and some tape.....check.

(insert sound of screeching brakes here)

what?

throw it all together and here's what you get:

okay, so here's something i found at a thrift store with no intentions, again i repeat, no intentions of ever wearing.  there are many things i can find second use for from thrift stores and whatnot, but lingerie and underwear just isn't one of them.  

i bought it for $1 with this project in mind.

after washing it (twice), i started cutting the lace off the bottom (wearing rubber gloves just in case, mind you.)

then i took this leftover can from some wonderful pirouettes that i did NOT eat with ice cream and coffee...  :-)

i first spray painted the can turquoise and let that dry.  then i wrapped it with the lace, taping the lace at the seam on the can.

then i spray painted on top of that white and let it dry. 

i removed the lace and voila!  a shabby little vase just perfect for some flowers!

this sweet little gift is going with me tomorrow to my MeMa who is in the nursing home. roses are her favorite flower and when they're dried up, she can use the little vase to put other things in next to her bed.

oh, and here's what the nightie looks like now.  

oh, my poor hubby.  his wife buys sexy lingerie and cuts it up for DIY projects.  and she does those projects in the most unsexy flannel jammy pants and old sweatshirts she owns. 

{sigh.}

thankfully, he loves me just the same. 

so that you can all see just how cute he is....here's me and my valentine.

happy V day!

Christmas '09 recap (pic heavy!)

where did the holidays go? one minute i was having my latte out of the special, red holiday cup from Starbucks, now, back to the plain ole white one. it reminds of the line from the wizard of oz, "my! things come and go so quickly around here!" Christmas did come and go so fast, but we tried to stretch it out and celebrate as much as we could!

this year found us celebrating Christmas together for the first time since we've been married. how is this, you ask? well, jeff has worked every single Christmas for the past seven years. here's a pic from last year's' Christmas morning...me and my invisible husband!


but this year was different. and it was SO nice to have him home. it makes me really hurt for those husbands and wives who have spouses serving in the military not just on holidays, but every single day.

one of my favorite parts of the holidays is the music and the decorating. i love getting the house all Christmasy smelling, lit up and cozy. it's my happy place.

this year, it was our turn to host Christmas eve for Jeff's family at our house. we always have a big dinner, and this year, we decided to require everyone to wear pajamas. not only because it made for cute pictures, but also because pj pants have elastic waistbands, so everyone could eat as much as they wanted!

so here's how our Christmas went down:

to start, i sent out these invitations. i know, i'm a dork, but i love stuff like this!


and here are some pics of the house all gussied up! man, i wish we could leave it up all year long.

the living room:

the main tree:

the mantle (and check out our new easel from mom and dad...for playing Pictionary!)

the dining room tree:

table's all set!

view from jeff's head of the table seat. i surprised everyone with personalized pics of themselves as their place card.

handmade wreath that i worked on for 3 solid hours (but it was worth it!)


the scene on Christmas eve

We basically chilled on Christmas Day and enjoyed the drizzle and gray. My family came over Christmas night for our annual Christmas Miracle dinner. The miracle is the spaghetti that mama makes (long story.) Next Christmas will be even more of a miracle dinner, as Zack's girlfriend, Ashton, is expecting and due the day before my birthday. It will be fun to have a little one at the table next year. :-)

Here's Zack with his slippers mom got him. She didn't realize there were two different slippers in the box!

Ashton and her new windchimes:

Mama and Daddy

our new black bear ornament...to remember our encounter with a big black bear earlier this year in Tennessee!

And the next day, we went to visit Mema and then on to my Grandmama and Papa's to finish out all the celebrating.

Daddy and Mema

Grandmama sharing her new photobook with Don


Jennifer with her new cookbook. we had cookbooks made this year with all of Grandmama's best recipes in them to give to all of the grandkids. they were a hit!


grandmama and her fried pies...one of the many things that caused my pants to be too tight this morning, i'm sure!



What a whirlwind of fun! Now we are back to the real world, the decorations are all down and safely in the Christmas closet until next year. the fattening foods are all eaten and carrots and celery and Boca burgers now take their place in the fridge.

a new year has begun and we wish you all a healthy, prosperous 2010~