Day 29 of 31 days of prepping for the Holidays ~ Keep it Simple

So have I told you yet I am a VERY slow painter.....yep I am STILL painting that living room....geez one would think I was channeling Michelangelo or something.

Well the good thing is while painting away my mind has the opportunity to think of all kinds of things.  Since I seem to have a one track mind at the moment I was up on that ladder thinking about my Thanksgiving table and how I was going to decorate it.   I suppose I could have been thinking about something a tad bit more important....but nope my mind was fixated on  

Thanksgiving Table Settings.

A series of little things happened which led me to a fabulous conclusion. 

It was like a chain reaction in my little ole brain.  

Here is what happened:

While taking a little break from painting I was in serious contemplation and reached into the kitchen cupboard for a glass to get a drink of water.   I got out a glass which in our house is a Mason jar.  I happened to look up on a display shelf and sitting there all nice and pretty are three antique mason jars.   I looked out into that living room that used to be dark and dank and saw nothing but creamy white walls.  Then out of the corner of my eye I saw one of my favorite wall decors.  

It says

"Keep It Simple"

Then I had an epiphany of sorts.   Hmmm.....why don't I just keep it simple. 

Mason jars, White pumpkins, creamy white walls, and a simple inviting warm table scape.

Here are some of my inspiration photos.

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There is just something so simple and devine about Mason Jars.

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"SIMPLY GORGEOUS"   

Yep that is my theme for the holidays.

How do you decorate your holiday table?

Day 28 of 31 days of prepping for the Holidays -Favorite Cocktails for the Holidays

So I am still painting away but while I am up on that ladder my mind does wander and today I was thinking about what kind of Cocktails to serve for the Holidays. 

Here are some of my favorites. 

Cranberry Champagne Cocktail

Ingredients

• 8 tablespoons Cointreau, chilled
• 12 teaspoons frozen cranberry juice cocktail concentrate, thawed
• 1 750-ml bottle Champagne, chilled
• 8 fresh or frozen cranberries

Preparation

• Place 1 tablespoon Cointreau and 1 1/2 teaspoons cranberry juice concentrate in each of 8 Champagne flutes. Top with Champagne. Drop 1 cranberry into each cocktail and serve.

Read More http://www.bonappetit.com/recipes/2010/12/cranberry_champagne_cocktail#ixzz1c9401o2V

CLASSIC GIN AND TONIC

The Classic T&T

• 1.25 oz Tanqueray London Dry Gin
• 4 oz high-quality Tonic Water (try Fever Tree)
• Fresh Lime Wedges

Squeeze the juice of a lime wedge into the bottom of tapered modern highball glass. Fill the glass two-thirds with ice, then add the gin and tonic water. Stir well. Run a lime wedge around the rim of the glass, drop another wedge in the glass and serve. Best enjoyed reclining on a sofa or lounge chair, or on the grass under a tall shade tree.

Link to Gin and Tonic Recipe

Of course........ last but not least

TEQUILA GIMLET

Ingredients

• 2 ounces Tequila ( A good Reposado)
• 4 ice cubes
• 1 teaspoon of Cointreau
• Twist of lime zest 
• 1/2 of Sweetened lime juice

Directions

In a pitcher or a cocktail shaker, combine the tequila, lime juice and the ice cubes and stir or shake 20 times. Place the Cointreau in a chilled cocktail glass, swirl it around to coat the inside of the glass, and discard it. Strain the tequila into the glass. Place the twist of lime perch it on the rim of the glass, and serve at once.

What cocktails are you going to serve for the Holidays?

Day 27 of 31 days of prepping for the Holidays - A Sybil Moment

 My living room is having a Sybil moment.

But her true personality will soon be revealed.

The right side of the walls have been painted and I am ready to move on to the left side of the room.

So as you can see I still have a lot of work ahead of me.

And yes before you ask the question.......I do intend on painting the ceiling and the beams however that will be Phase 2 because it will need to be sprayed.....and I need to practice (PLAY) outside with my paint sprayer

before I bring those newly learned skills inside.

But I have to say although there is a lot going on in the room......I know it is going to look amazing when it is completed.

Goodbye Cabin......Hello Cottage!!

I would love to hear your comments and questions.   

(And can you believe I photographed my house in this state.)

DAY 26 OF 31 DAYS OF PREPPING FOR THE HOLIDAYS - GONE PAINTING

I AM PAINTING AWAY.

I will be back tomorrow with a progress report.

Good news is we are loving the color!!!

Weekly Wowzers - Wallpaper makes a BIG IMPACT

To be honest until recently I was never a fan of wallpaper.  I always felt it was too permanent and since I have a tendency to change my mind quite often I felt it would be limiting.

Hmmm.....boy was I wrong!!

Wallpaper can add that little extra oomph to a space and I am so happy I decided to finally venture into the world of "Oomph"  

I recently hung wallpaper in the guest bathroom and the master bathroom....and seriously if I can do it
....you can too!!

It also doesn't have to cost a fortune!!  I always thought wallpaper was expensive but really it isn't in the grand scheme of things.

In the guest bathroom I went with a real simple cream white ceramic tile and and a decorator strip with an embossed feature outlined in black pencil.  The entire room is black and cream white but it needed a little oomph so I added an embossed wallpaper.

The wallpaper totally makes the room and I found it at Lowes for $22.00 a roll.  I did the entire bathroom with two rolls for a total cost of $44.00.   I also had some left and will be lining the vanity drawers.

In the master bedroom I hung a faux grasscloth.   I am really loving the way it turned out and again it only took two rolls for a whopping $44.00 bucks.

These are simple patterns and so the matching was pretty easy.  They are prepasted and although I used additional paste it really isn't  necessary.....I just have a tendency to "always be prepared"  It is that girl scout curse.

Look at these amazing rooms......They are definitely WOWZER Spaces and it is the wallpaper that makes the difference.

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So step out of your comfort zone find a space you feel you can tackle and go for it!!

Make a WOWZER statement with wallpaper.

Day 25 of 31 days of prepping for the Holidays - Making progress

Well I did it.....after much encouragement from my husband 

I opened that can of paint!!

However I have to confess I opened a bunch of other cans of paint too!!

Wow I am telling you color is such an amazing thing!!!

And I am always amazed how unpredictable color can be.

I wanted to make sure I was committed to the White Sand so I tried a few other colors.

I put Linen white on the wall and while it is a lovely white it just seemed too harsh.

 Linen white 912

White linen will probably be the trim and ceiling color.

I also tried Navajo White

Navajo White 947
It had a little more color than the linen white but I was certain this was not the one...so Navajo White was nixed as well.

I happened to have two gallons of Behr paint in Haze so I put that on the wall as well.

Haze was quickly eliminated....ugh!!

So I looked at that White Sand and painted it on three walls and then sat back and watched the paint dry.....yes I mean I really sat and watched the paint dry.

White sand oc-10
It changed from a plaster white to a beautiful creamy white as it dried.

Also as the light changed in the room it was a really complex color that changed from warm white to a neutral taupe.    

My husband and I sat and stared at those walls and finally agreed we were sold.......
and the full on painting began.

I think that the Benjamin Moore description of White Sand describes the color perfectly.

"This versatile off-white captures subtle shifts of light, much like the dunes along the shoreline. White Sand is a soothing tone that will warm up any interior."

Tomorrow there will be lots of painting and a lot of progress!!!

Woo Hoo!!!

Day 24 of 31 days of prepping for the Holidays - It is confirmed

This weekend was spent enjoying a visit from my daughter along with some serious wine research.

It was a great weekend and a much needed break.

But yikes as I look at the calendar and realize that there is only one week left in the month 

I have serious doubts if I will be able to finish all that was intended.

The paint debacle has really thrown a kink in the works and today I needed to take the wrong paint back to the store and figure out how it was going to be resolved.

First of all

it has been confirmed

I am not

crazy. 

Because let me tell you I was really thinking I had lost it because of the paint. 

And thank god I have enough sense not to video these events because somehow someway I think that video might have ended up on the news and someone would be saying

"Film at eleven"

and my children would promptly change their last names.

Oh yeah.....the reason I am 

NOT CRAZY

 is because the paint store confirmed that indeed the paint had been mixed wrong.

The very day I purchased the paint their machine was evidently not dropping enough 

red into the paint.

(Hence the reason for that yucky icky green undertone.)

It is a computerized system which has to be calibrated correctly and if not.....you end up with a 

BAD BATCH OF PAINT.

I wonder sometimes why am I the lucky one to have 

weird things like this happen.....

a little too often!!

The paint store did the best they could and ended up crediting me 4 cans of paint or the equivalent of about $225.00.

Now if I could find a painter that would take the job for $225.00 all would be right in the world.

So to be on the safe side I had the paint store make up only one can of the paint.

Now I really intended to start painting today

but

I am afraid to open that can of paint.

So all day long that paint can sat on the floor and I just looked at it.   

I wonder if I will be brave enough to open the can of paint tomorrow?

Day 23 of 31 days of prepping for the Holidays - Winter outdoor containers

I currently have no formal landscaping and since it is too late up in the mountains to do any landscaping I decided to put cool weather plants in my outdoor containers that will provide some much needed 

COLOR!!

So today on day 23 of prepping for the Holidays I did something that I love....

 

I got my hands in the dirt and instantly felt grounded.

It is such a weird feeling but when I am planting I am in another world. 

I am so content, relaxed and at peace.

So after all that digging and planting I got 12 of my outdoor containers filled with 

ornamental cabbage and pansies.

 

Woo Hoo!!....I am so excited to watch these pretties grow!!

I have never planted ornamental cabbage before but I just love the way it looks.

These are some of my inspiration images for ornamental cabbage.

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I think the color and texture of these plants are amazing!!