My everlasting Project....my bedroom. Oh and I HATE my headboard.

So my big ongoing project has been my bedroom. I occationally buy a new Duvet cover and than I just rearrange everything from that pattern. Well, I get so tired of it all so I decided to go with something simple. All White. Well, mostly white. I have wanted all white for a while now, but have always veired away from it because I have little kids. Well, I tried it out and it really isnt that bad. I have actually never had any blueberry, strawberry, rasberry or sippycup juice stains on it AT ALL since I have had this, and it has been a good 3 months or so! (My 3 yr old eats fresh berries for breakfast). 

I have an obsession with Potterybarn. If you know me I alwasys try to copy their ideas and make my own version of their stuff but for cheap., And when I found this PB Duvet set at a discount store so I was ecstatic! It even had our initials embroidered on it! And I LOVE monogrammed stuff (when its done right). I still have ALOT to do with this room before I will be totally satisfied. 

Nr.1 is to get a new bed! I HATE, no I loathe my bedframe!! My hubby bought it a few months before we met when he moved into his new place. It is totally NOT my style, and I have wanted to chuck it out the window like....forever ago! Instead I will have to work around it, since we dont have room for a new bed or bedroom furniture in our tiny "Master"11x12 bedroom. No fun architectural details to work with either so That doesn't help either. It will have to wait until we move to our Dream Home. Someday....sigh.

BUT I do want to get a new headboard for this Queen Sized bed. If I can find an old one and repurpose it, or just make my own for less I will do it! 

Nr. 2 Make curtains

Nr.3 Make more pillows! and get a new "throw with some color perhaps".

Nr. 4 Paint my bedroom grey or a dusty blue color. 

Anyhow here it is....in all its "glory" hahaha!

I made the 3 square pillows. Cream ones are burlap. NOt the most comfy, but it works for some Texture.

Now, these are the beds I love. Any votes? What one do you like and think would work best?

I would take this one in chocolate or black distressed. I love this all white cover.

LOVE LOVE LOVE THE CREAM

Absolutely I adore tufted headboards!!!!! This one is DARLING (and the bedding too!!!) I have a pale blue duvet cover too that I like to alternate my white with. It blends in well. For a switch up.

Hello 2011 and I am just a blogger slacker!

Well hello and good morning! Yes, I know it has been 2 whole months since I last posted anything on my creative corner. SORRY from the bottom of my heart to my readers. So much has gone on in my personal life that projects have really been put on the back burner for a bit. Well, there was Christmas and New Years, my Hubbies 30th birthday and than My other big reason is well, my little baby boy started crawling on Dec 20th, and than now that he is 9 mtnhs old he is trying to walk! And can I just tell ya, there isnt much time for me to be kickin' it back, with all my fun little projects. Instead I have been running around after this little tornado (and his big sister too), trying to clean up after them, feed them, change them, play with them, bathe them, etc, etc, etc! Whew, being a Mom is crazy sometimes. But crazy WONDERFUL! And so I finally have a few minutes to spare to try and make some sense of all this chaos, and step into my blogging world again.
So welcome back to me, I will try harder to post more things. AND start back into my Creative Corner:-)

(Seriously though, I feel like sometimes I am BACKED into my creative corner and my kiddies are just pulling at me for attention) LOL!


~Cat

Vintage Antique Heirloom Stockings

Do you ever wonder what to do with your heirloom nicknacks? You know, your Grandmas old antique pillow cases, old coins and things? Well, since we added a new little person to our family 7 months ago, it was time to make a Christmas stocking for my little man. Only the ones I made for my husband, my daughter and I , were a little outdates. Or shall we say, I just got tired of them. So I came up with this idea. I was going to take an old pillowcase that used to be my husbands Grandmothers. When we got it, I always wondered what I would use it for, since it was so old and all, but I kept them and they have sure come in handy! I also have collected many little treasures, things that used to be my great grandmothers, old coins from when I grew up in Denmark, old Danish "Nipse Naale"= antique glass needles, etc. This is what I created with it. I used;

• Antique pillow case (my husbands belated Grandmothers)
• 1 "Nipse Naal"= Antique glass needles; super traditionally antique from Denmark that I used to collect as a little girl. You could buy them at this specialty antique toy giftshop found in my hometown of Odense down this little cobblestone street, located in a over 100 yr old building. 
• Antique silver necklace (used to be my great grandmother Alices's)
• Antique button pouch found in my great grandmothers 1920's sewing machine (she was a seamstress in Denmark)
• A few old Danish coins 
• Ribbon, Toile, pompom ribbon edging, initial letters ($1 each at Target), and some additional "Jewel-Bling"
• Self adhesive iron on felt, and a few extra scraps of cream colored fabric to substitute for more stockings when i ran out of my pillowcase.

If You want to make your own version of these, just look thru your old stuff and use whatever means something to you. It is always a waste it seems to me to keep all the lovely heirlooms we get in a closet or such, I make it my goal to find new, fun, modern ways to display these treasures that I may enjoy them as much as the last person did. Most of my Christmas decor is inspired from this idea. Well most of EVERYTHING I have is. I love it.

Here are my knick knacks;

And old Mccalls stocking pattern

Iron on self adhedseve linning, to make the stocking "thicker".

my hubbys stocking with my great grandmothers old button pouch and my "nipse naale"

My Daughters stocking, blinged out, toile and a little piece of my great grandmothers necklace

My Stocking, with an added coin from Denmark, that is the Queen of Denmark on there...fitting for myself, hehehe:-) Also a piece of my great grandmothers necklace.

And this is my baby boys stocking, a few old coins, and again the old necklace.

All together. I CANT TELL you how MUCH these mean to me! Something special I can for sure pass down to my own kiddies. I AM IN LOVE! 

Merry Advent!

Its the first day of ADVENT today:-) Hooray!
YES, I do know it is a little early, but I have started the tradition of putting up all of our Christmas Decor the day after Thanksgiving. This all stemmed from my American In-laws, and I was a totally strict on when we should put our tree and things up; the first week or two of December.BUT...THAN I saw how cute and excited they all got, and well, I joined them (because of jealousy, I was like "Hey I want to do that too, they are so Happy"! And now I am Happy too!! :-) Lol)
Here is what I have been busy with this weekend. We have a little apartment that we live in. Well it is more like a condo. We want to build our Dream Home someday, but until than this is home. Our living room is SUPER, I mean SUPER narrow. Not even room for a coffee table so a big old Christmas tree just doesn't fit. (Oh Coffee table how I long for you to be part of my life someday!) We use instead these 3 small skinny trees.  They work and are super cute, plus when we do move I can use them as my front porch lighted trees:-) 

Next is my makeshift Mantle. No I dont have a fireplace, BUT I I have used this cute bookcase that I redid this summer instead as my focal point. And OHHH HOW I LOVE IT!  I really cant wait to have a real mantle with this antique cream color. Divine! :-) 

Who needs a mantle ANYWAYS, hehehe! No really, I want one, but right now this will do:-) A girl can dream right? :-)

And now last but not least my homemade ADVENT WREATH. I am sure you have heard of the ADVENT CALENDARS, but the WREATH is also something we do in Denmark as a special tradition. Here is the definition of what it is all about;

The Advent wreath, or Advent crown, is a Christian tradition that symbolizes the passage of the four weeks of Advent in the liturgical calendar of the Western church. It is usually a horizontal evergreen wreath with four candles. Beginning with the First Sunday of Advent, the lighting of a candle can be accompanied by a Bible reading and prayers. An additional candle is lit during each subsequent week until, by the last Sunday before Christmas, all four candles are lit. Some Advent wreaths include a fifth, "Christ" candle which can be lit at Christmas. The custom is observed both in family settings and at public church services.

And here is mine!; We add singing Christmas carols too when we light ours. So "HYGGELIGHT" =danish word for Cozy.

Well there u have it! Oh and if u want me to post a "how to" on the Advent wreath I would be more than happy to do so, I just get so busy around here with my kiddies and my growing photography business, I forget when I am creating to write and photograph for a tutorial as I go. BUT I would love to share if anyone wants:-)

HAPPY HOLIDAYS EVERYONE!

SUPER SOFT GINGER SNAPS; my Favorite

I have two favorite cookies: Oatmeal Raisin and of course Chocolate chip. But I think that these are a good contender for either of those! Soft Gingersnap Cookies. I saw this recipe on TV the other day and simply had to try them. HOME RUN, there were THE BEST!

Ok, let me say it again....;"Oh my goodness, these are GOOD"! I absolutely love the molasses cookies you can buy in the store, but these homemade soft gingersnaps are even better! One must try these :-) My little 3 yr old could not stop sneaking her little hands into the cookies jar for the next few days, until they were all gone!

And best of all they are a "Snap" to make!
I think that perhaps next time I make these I will add a bit more ginger, to give it a little "kick" and than perhaps Bella will stay away from my cookies;-)

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup butter, softened
• 1/4 c. corn oil
• 1 egg
• 1 cup sugar
• 1/4 c. molasses
• 2 cups + 2 T. flour
• 2 t. baking soda
• 1 t. ground ginger
• 1 t. cinnamon
• 1/2 t. salt

Method:

Combine butter and oil in mixer bowl and beat until smooth. Beat in the egg, sugar and molasses. Sift the flour, baking soda, ginger, cinnamon and salt together. Add to the egg mixture to form a dough.

Roll into 1" balls and coat with additional sugar. Place on ungreased cookie sheets. Bake at 350° for 8 to 10 minutes or until puffed. Cook on the cookie sheet for several minutes. Remove to wire rack to cool completely.

Makes 4 dozen.

Recipe from the Junior League of Salt Lake City's Always in Season Cookbook featured on Studio 5 KSL

http://www.ksl.com/index.php?nid=204&sid=13101061

Ready~ Set~ GO!

I am just anxiously awaiting for Friday, so I can start putting up my Christmas Decor! More to come soon:-)...No I will not be shopping....I value my life too much! :-) Will be doing a bit shopping ONLINE though, with a cup of Hot cocoa, and in my PJ's:-)

Simple Fall Decor~ Very simple

~Simple small REAL pumpkins~

The other day I took my babies out for a "Nature" outing. I wanted to check out a new photo shoot location, a nearby park. We started gathering all the bright colored leaves and a few pinecones and took them home. Pulled out an old Harvest Figurine that I had,  added a few nuts to the ensemble and now, presto, we have our fall decor! All natural...all FREE! lol! And kind of Pottery Barnish'. So there you have it, a fall decor idea! So easy, so fun!