Simplicity - A Guest Post by Kasey of Lola B's~

For those of you who have never met my dear friend Kasey, you are in for a treat. She is amazingly stylish with a FABULOUS home. And if you don't know already, you will soon find out that she has a hilarious tongue-in-cheek sense of humor. In fact, since I am not funny at all, you may read this post, visit her blog, and never come back. Please come back. Please.

Hello there. I'm the one in the picture above ....you might know me...you might not....

i am a married mother of three kids...

though sometimes i think they aren't really mine..or better yet...

i will pretend that they are not mine...and wait for someone to raise their hand to claim my

children...

but that's never happened...

so here we are....

and i still have three children. Don't get me wrong though...i desperately love my

wee one's..

but a girl's got to admit...

life in my house is not full of cherries...

you end up with a lot of pits sitting around.

hold on....

wait a minute...

i don't even think i introduced myself properly...

and here i am...

totally opening up my can of worms to you...

and you might not even know who i am.

My name is Allison and i live outside of chicago...

grrr....

you got me....my name isn't really Allison...

it's Kasey.....but the truth is...

my parents almost named me allison...

so i have every right to use that name...

sheesh....

once again i am so off track....

but that's me..

and wendy kindly asked me to pop over here and

do a little guest post.

I hope she approves...

otherwise...

well....

i know the first names of her children...and they are definitely

not called #1, #2, #3, and #4 in her house.




The first thing i thought when wendy asked me to be a guest on her lovely blog..is what the heck am i going to chat about...

because wendy is the all knowing..

the all creative...

and she knows how to sew....

with a needle and thread...

yup...

not me...

i don't have an ounce of creativity in me..

let alone...

do i know how to thread a needle..

but..what i can do, is style my home.

that i know.






So, with the holidays right around the corner...i just thought i would share with you some really simple...

ways to freshen up a room with a minimalistic look.

One thing you won't find in my home are the ever popular

red and greens.

nope.

not here.

I love grey...i love cream...

and i love simple.





I also love the idea of simple ways to give a gift....especially if you are like me..

and on a total budget this season.

no wrapping paper in sight.

Use a simple brown kraft box....some twine...and a hand stamped tag to pull it all together.

I actually got these tags from Etsy....and you can find them {here }.






Right now i'm really into a clean natural look in my home....and a good way to bring

the word natural in...is by really bringing it in.

yes....

what you see is a branch....

and i am using it as a curtain rod...

and it hangs on some crown hooks.

You don't have to worry...

i did let my kids play with the stick first...

and once i made sure there were no

bugs or foreign creepy crawly things on it..

i brought it in and

voila...

a totally free curtain rod....

ahem

it made up for the price i paid for the french curtain.










And here is the twine again....

i used it to tie the curtain back....

so easy and once again...

a bargain.

which is my middle name in case you were wondering....

but don't get it confused with

the town in the south of france called

bargein.








It's been a pleasure chatting with you...and letting you see just a few things i've done.




xo




So didn't I tell you she has fabulous style? Thanks for stopping by today, Kasey!!

Coming up this week: A glittery Christmas project

A Christmas family tree

Have a great day~

My Home Office - The Built-in Desk~

Ever since we moved into the house 2 1/2 years ago, I have wanted to turn this strange closet in our library into a useful built-in desk. Well, as you may remember, our house is on the market, and since not everyone wants a built-in desk, we had to modify our original plan just a bit.


As I showed you in the slideshow yesterday, after removing the doors to the closet, we finished the interior and the Hubby built a shelf. We had planned on building the desk portion as well, but opted instead to use a fabulous $10 yard sale table that we found a couple of years back which just happens to fit perfectly in the closet. (Yes, that was just good fortune!)

I skirted the bottom to hide all my computer paraphenalia, because as you can see in the pictures, my computer is ancient-of-days and is about to wheeze it's last wheeze. But it still does the job, so I can't complain (or replace it just yet.)

To make the space my own, I added my pretty pinboards, a few of our vintage cameras (turns out HUGE computer monitors make good display shelves), some cute white baskets with little chalkboard tags, and bits of this and that to make me smile. If we were planning on staying in the house, I would add a permanent light fixture of some sort, but for now, the light clip does the trick - even if the cord is a little unsightly.

Some of you may know that I work from home as a part-time editorial assistant , so between that and blogging, I spend a lot of hours sitting in front of the computer. Now it makes me smile everytime I sit down. And the moral of this story is...persistence definitely pays off!

Just love my vintage printing block "H" and my cute damask stamp (found in the Dollar Spot at Tar-jay!)

I love the texture of the folded book, the twine and the starfish on linen. mmmmmmm.

I love this vignette...a photo of me and the l'il sis, a rubberband ball that the kiddos helped me make out of rubberbands my mother sent home with us this summer, and the hubby's birthday pixie.

A few of our vintage cameras.

And the winner of the Single Stone Studios $40 gift certificate is Mary Ellen (Megardengal) from Mary's Meanderings. Congratulations! Drop me an email and we'll get you set up!

Have a great day~

Frugal Friday - the built-in desk~

I've had a project on our to-do list since we moved into the house 2 1/2 years ago. And today it finally got finished. I took some pictures, but the lighting was not very good...so I'm going to take better ones tomorrow. In the meantime, here's a little slideshow of the process...starring... The Hubby (yes, he did all the hard work except the paint job...thanks sweetie!!) I'm posting a couple of little teaser photos of the finished product as well...hopefully they'll make you want to come back.

Edited to add: I've had a couple of comments about the slide show...it does end at slide 10...for anyone who wants to know. (leaves you hangin' huh?) ;-)

Make a Smilebox slideshow

Why, you may ask, is this project featured on Frugal Friday? The only things we purchased to finish this were 2 sheets of drywall. Grand total...less than $20.

Teaser photos ...

Come back tomorrow to see the finished project and find out the winner of the Single Stone Studios giveaway!

Have a great Friday night!

Gobble Gobble~

Just some of the things I am thankful for today...

My loving husband
My beautiful children
A roof over our heads
Warm beds at night
Food in our bellies
Friends who sincerely care
A steady income
The therapeutic effects of writing this blog
My wonderful readers who keep me motivated
The ability to chase my dreams

Wishing you all many reasons to be grateful this Thanksgiving Day!

This I Love: Swedish Clock Edition~

I have a bit of an obsession with Swedish clocks. I. heart. them. The curvy silhouette, the neutral colors. Swoon.

I saw this little beauty at Brimfield this summer.

Love the color of this one...it would be perfect in my living room! (Of course it would...heck, they all would!) Found here.

This is Brook Gianetti's entry hall. Love it! Adore that Swedish clock...love the juxtaposition of sizes against the oversize clock face behind it. Sigh.

I found this little lovely online at The Swedish Chair.

Of course, this idea may be a bit more within my budget...a trompe l'oeil clock. Love this!

If you haven't had a chance to enter yesterday's drawing for a $40 gift certificate to Single Stone Studios scroll down to the next post! Drawing open until Friday at 11:59 pm EST.

And speaking of giveaways...pop over to my good friend Kasey's blog to enter for a chance to win a gorgeous, and I'm talking gorgeous necklace!

Have a great Wednesday~

Great Day for a Giveaway~

Hello out there in Blogland! So glad you popped in today because I want to introduce you to the newest Sponsor here at The Shabby Nest! Single Stone Studios.


Single Stone Studios is a design company specializing in vinyl wall decals. They have an absolutely amazing selection of designs. Literally, something for everyone!



Check out these amazing trees....I. heart. them. They lend such a serene feeling to a room.

Always love a chandelier! Perfect for adding a little glamour to a room!

These sweet birds on a cherry branch really speak to me. They'd look amazing over your sofa or in a dining room over a buffet!

They have a great selection of word art as well. Love this!!

And for the kiddos, check out this great personalized growth chart! How fun is that?

Or, if you love a monogram as much as I do, they have plenty to choose from.

They have a great selection of more sophisticated designs as well to add the perfect touch to just about any room. Or if you want something a little different, they can even customize a decal for you!

Single Stone Studios has generously offered to give a $40 gift certificate to one reader here at The Shabby Nest. To enter for a chance to win, pop over and check out their site, then leave a comment telling me what you might spend your $40 gift certificate on if you should win! Giveaway is open until Friday, November 27 at 11:59 EST. Random.org will help pick a winner who will be announced Saturday.

Good luck and have a great Tuesday~

Linky Party Round-up~

You all did it again!!! Such great Frugal OCD* inspiration! I thoroughly enjoyed going through each and every link and seeing all the great ideas.
*Obsessively Consumed with Decorating

If you didn't get a chance to click through and check out the great posts, here are some highlights!


Tiffany at la*T*da shared this fabulous idea for a kid's Thanksgiving table....chalkboard placemats! Brilliant!

Image from La*T*Da

Jennifer at Studio JRU shared this amazing makeover of a FREE cabinet. Perfection!

Photo from Studio JRU

Carolyn at My Backyard Eden created these great PB knock-off pillows and shares the freezer paper stencil process that she used to make them. Love them!

Photo from My Backyard Eden

I have a weakness for buttons, so I loved this tutorial from Ashley at Shanty2Chic! What a fabulous ornament!

Photo from Shanty2Chic

Love this post by PK at Room Remix about turning some chairs into a mudroom bench. I have some old chairs that I've been wanting to use for a project just like this, and PK's fabulous bench inspired me to give it a go!

Photo from Room Remix

If you haven't had a chance to look through the rest of the posts, do yourself a favor and check out last Friday's post! Great inpiration!!


Have a wonderful Monday~

Frugal Friday Linky Party~

Welcome to this month's edition of the Frugal Friday Linky Party here at The Shabby Nest! I can't wait to see what you all come up with this month!

The Rules:

1. Please link directly to your Frugal Friday post, not just to your blog.

2. Please link back to this party so that others can enjoy the Frugal goodness.

3. Most important, please leave comments for the participants. Blogging is hard work, so let's all show our appreciation for those who post!

4. Kick up your feet and enjoy!!

A Thankful Tree and A Project Teaser~

Thanksgiving is one of my very favorite holidays. And I feel like it is often overlooked. I want my children to know the meaning behind the turkey and mashed potatoes. I want them to celebrate with a grateful heart. So today I wanted to share with you all a fun tradition that puts the focus on gratitude....the Thankful Tree.

Our family takes an evening at the beginning of the month of November to talk about what it means to be thankful. Then we write some of the things we are grateful for on leaves cut from cardstock and hang them from a "tree" made of branches collected in our backyard. (These pics are from last year, however, since our house is in the staged-to-sell mode.)

Just thought I'd share with you a couple of the things my little ones are thankful for...


Oh, yes, Mr. Two and Mr. Three are very grateful for Spongebob (and, to be honest, during the "witching" hour around dinner time, I am very grateful for Spongebob as well!)

Mr. One is grateful for hot cocoa on snowy days. And yes, I must admit, that is one thing I am very grateful for as well. Well, as long as I'm being honest, I'm grateful for hot chocolate pretty much any day. ;-)




And because I promised a project teaser...here's a photo of the "lovely" closet in our library. Any guesses what this is going to become? Hint: my pretty new pinboards will find a home here. I'll show you all next week.



Don't forget, tomorrow is the Frugal Friday Linky Party here at the Shabby Nest. For all of you night owls, MckLinky will go up tonight at 12:01 am EST. Can't wait to see what you all have up your sleeves this time!



Have a great Thursday~

The Amazing Transforming Sofa~

This is how my living room normally looks. Note the sofa. Tan slipcover. Very non-confrontational. But also, just a little....um...dull. Don't get me wrong. The tan is a nice supporting color. It goes well with almost any other color I throw at it. It. hides. dirt.

But the other day, my little boys (aka The Toddler Demolition Team) decided to draw on the couch. With marker. Washable marker, luckily. But we happened to have a showing scheduled for the next day. Not enough time to wash the slipcovers and let them dry.

White slipcovers to the rescue. We used these white slipcovers in our former house when the sofa was in a lower traffic area. I love them. I repeat. I love them. It was like breathing fresh air into the house when I slipped them on. Of course, I don't think the color scheme in this house lends itself well to the white, but I enjoyed piling all of my pale pillows on both the sofa and the big cushy chair.

I'm thinking in our next house, I'll try to use the white again.

Sources:

Sofa and chair: Ektorp from Ikea

Throw Pillows: Most available in my Etsy store

Don't forget The Frugal Friday Linky Party here at The Shabby Nest this Friday! Get your frugal decorating ideas ready to share and come here to link up!

Have a great Wednesday~

This I Love: Ruffles and Pleats~

I found this chair a while back. I am in love!! Those pleats appeal to me on so many levels and the grey/beige fabric is amazing too. I forgot to save the link. Anyone know who makes this little beauty?

The pleats on the chair remind me of this little pillow I made a while ago (still available in my Etsy store, if you'd like one. hint. hint.) I love the crisp look of the pleats. Feminine, but tailored at the same time.


Then there is this fabulous bathroom sink by Lauren Ross. Pleats that create a flowing, almost ruffled, skirt.

Which brings me to ruffles...

This pillow is making me drool. Seriously folks. Simply gorgeous. Found here.

Another great Etsy find. Simple. Pretty. Ruffly. (is that a word?) Found here.

'Nuff said. Found here.

And last, this pretty shirt by J Crew. Lovin' those ruffles. They'd make a pretty pillow too, don't you think?

So, my dear readers, pleats or ruffles? Or, like me, both?

Don't forget Friday is the Frugal Friday Linky Party here at the Shabby Nest! Get those Frugal OCD* decorating ideas and projects ready to share, then link up here on Friday!!

*Obsessively Consumed with Decorating.

Have a great Tuesday~