A Bright Idea? or.....

   So all of the lighting in our home are these big glass globes - very 70's - We call them "Glenda" like the Good-Witch who travels via floating, glowing, bubble-globe in The Wizard of Oz.
   Anyway! The globes cast a not-so-pleasant orange glow - not good for ACTUALLY lighting the room + not really our style...

   
   Out of 3 big "Glendas" - we decided to tackle the dining room first. We just bought a new dining room table (chairs are coming soon...) so we are really looking forward to starting on this room in general.
   Not wanting to spend a lot, we ended up at Home Depot, hoping to come up with something that wasn't super genaric. We found this fixture, originally $200 something, clearanced 5 times down to $34.99 - so we say "why the heck not?" The finish on the box says "Antique Brass" - RED FLAG! for brushed nickel/stainless steel folks like ourselves. But the display in store looked like a slightly warmed brushed nickel. + At that price = Let's do it.

   So! Out of the box, in our house, the finish = super gold/brass. REALLY not pleasant just off the kitchen with all the gray and stainless.

Question: So do we:
A - Return the Light Fixture?
B - Make Do and hang it anyway?
C - Bust out the silver spray paint and have at it?

The answer of course is C - Why not? If it turns out crappy, we're out $40, but if it looks good, we got a super good deal on a chandelier right? This cheap girl is willing to gamble. (If you remember my mirror project from back in May/June or so, you'll know that we're kind of on this spray paint kick) 

In Progress:

Here's how it turned out!

Hooray! We think it looks pretty darn good

$40 + $2 or so for spray paint = not too shabby!

BRIGHT IDEA!!

* NOW AVAILABLE: 1 Glass Globe Light Fixture perfect for you retro style - FREE + 2 more to be available soon!

Just Married

So yesterday morning, after the big party that was Kyle and Heidi's Wedding reception Friday night Kevin and I snuck out of the hotel to write on the newlyweds car windows. With our glass/window marker, we located the silver Nissan Xterra in the parking lot, complete with car seat in back and set to work...

Then Kevin and I drove down the street to Target to take advantage of their Starbucks and upon re-entering the hotel parking lot, we noticed ANOTHER silver Nissan Xterra complete with car seat in back


After further inspection (window peeping) we found evidence that THIS vehicle was indeed Kyle and Heidi's car - SO! The photo above is NOT actually of the newlywed's car. We DID get our marker back out and write on the correct vehicle...


Looks like one lucky hotel guest got a little surprise when they went to their car that day....
Whoops!

A Gift Only a Brother Could Love

MY brother, Kyle, to be exact. As SOON as he and Heidi completed their registry at Target, we were online scoping it out - I like to buy off registries right away so I can get what I want to get and not just what is leftover.

  Since Kyle and Heidi recently moved into a new house, they had registered for all sorts of new home stuff - including a toilet seat. This struck me as particularly amusing since Kyle is pretty much the king of bathroom humor. Hey, there is nothing wrong with a good fart joke every now and then! (It just happens a bit more frequently in my family...)

  So I came up with a themed idea for Kyle and Heidi's wedding gift - and yes, it includes the toilet seat.

Step 1 of Operation Toilet Gift: Find the right box + buy the right gifts

This large high chair box will do the trick (leftover from moving...) - the toilet seat fits right on top nicely.
In addition to the toilet seat, we bought the crock pot (you know, for beans...), toilet paper holder, and corn on the cob holders from off their registry. + then we added a few more fun items...

some room refreshers for Kyle
and a potty book for Brooke (for when she ready to start training) complete with flush sounds.

Step 2 of Operation Toilet Gift: Wrap it all up in Wedding White

All wrapped up!
We used a 6pk of TP for the tank in back, reinforced that box, and bolted the seat on top.

Step 3 of Operation Toilet Gift: Add the finishing touches

a little "Just Married" TP taped to come in between the seats
open up and reach on in to pull out the gifts!
(The crock pot is in there too - they'll have to rip the big box open to get in there at the end.)
and a lovely TP card signed with love from Elisa and Kevin on top!
perfect!

Although it was kind of tricky to get in the back of the car and into the hotel reception,

it was totally worth it.

Kyle & Heidi's Wedding!

It's finally here! My brother, Kyle, and Heidi are getting married! Hooray!
Rehearsal and Groom's Dinner last night went well - fun! - now for the big show.

Kevin and I are about to jump into action:
- drop of Finch at Kevin's mom's
- get my 'hair did' (10am)
- pack up the cooler to take with us on the limo-bus later
- grab Kevin's tux, my dress, our overnight stuff, and GIFT! heh heh heh - we'll show you that later...
- to the hotel by 12noon to get ready

Here's a look at the invites, etc. I designed for the event

+ Here's a little something I've prepared for our niece Brooke - it's not every day that your mom and dad get married! so - Bride + Groom Love-Bird Nuggets! (in the wedding colors: Black, White + Pink)

Okay: Wedding photos to follow soon!

Welcome to Our Home

  Our new house has an actual entry way space - a foyer if you will - unlike the Mpls House which barely had enough room to turn around in let alone take off your shoes + add Finch in there because he HAS to know everything that going on, especially when guests arriving = pretty tight on space. So now we have some more space - and get this! A front closet! People in 1923 didn't have those...but luckily for us, the good people of 1971 did.
  So we tore up the tile in the entry way when we did the kitchen since they're connected - so we have our new gray tile, and we painted the same barely neutral (Behr "Sandstone Cove") that we have out in the living room + down the hall - but that's it. Okay, we have a rug - but that's really it. "Welcome to our house! It's bare and boring!"

Wish List:
- Table to drop keys, mail, etc. The Catch: With this narrow space, the table will have to be pretty narrow. Most hallway and console tables out there are 14"-16" deep min. - We need to find something more along the lines of 12" deep.
- Wall Mirror - to check yourself on the way out the door :) We have a round mirror with brushed nickel frame from the Mpls house that might just do the trick.
- Little Bench? Something to sit on when tying your shoes or trying to get those stubborn boots off. Not too big, not too heavy...
- Artwork, Shelves... Something that might finally make the place feel like we live there. You know that when I see a wall I imagine a shelf on it - Shelves everywhere! - so perhaps a shelf and some framed artwork.

I don't think this is too much to wish for...

Stay tuned...