Prepared for Christmas

I just did my last wrapping this morning after touching up the last of the paint in the bathroom. I sent a gift to my friend and I updated an address and sent out another Christmas card. I think I'm officially ready to celebrate. Now, I just have to wait for Christmas to get here.

Bathroom MakeOver

Since I was so far ahead on the HHP and I have spare time I decided we should do a little updating in the upstairs bathroom. We put in a new vinyl floor ourselves. It was a little difficult and we didn't do the trimming perfect, but that's what trim is for.

I painted the sink cabinet to match the new medicine cabinet. It's called Black Raisin and I think it matches pretty well for just grabbing a bunch of swatches and then holding it up to the display in the store.

This is the new medicine cabinet. It's a little classier than the builder's grade one we had. I think it all looks nice together. I put the snowman angel on the sink up there because I thought it needed something different with the new look. I had a basket with a couple of towels in it, but it wasn't quite right.

Rudolph Activity

I picked up all of the gift cards and stocking stuffers I need the other day. I wrapped some gifts that day too. I need to have one more wrapping session and I'll be done. I did all of the Christmas cards yesterday. They are stamped and ready to mail the first week of December. We're going grocery shopping tonight and I'll pick up a frozen turkey for Thistmaster next Spring and the ingredients for Thanksgiving dessert.

New Table

My Mom is having her kitchen redone and she doesn't need this table anymore. I put it in place of the blue kitchen cart we had here. I love the blue cart, but I thought the black table would look nicer in the dining room. It was a little smaller than the cart so I had to get rid of some stuff and move some other stuff around. I rubbed the scratches and dings with black stain and it looks great.

Stitching

I finished my latest cross stitch in time to put it up for a little while.

All Done

I finished cleaning the house this past weekend. The kitchen was the last room to do. I did all the windows as I did each room so they are done now too. I cleaned out the fridge yesterday and I took a chicken out of the freezer to roast next weekend. I just have a few odds and ends left in a couple of rooms and then to take pictures of the last 2 rooms. I've taken updated pictures of each room as I cleaned them so we can document our belongings and so we can see the improvements we've made. I think I'm just about done Christmas shopping too. I just have gift cards and stocking stuffers left to get. I've been in high gear this year and I'm way ahead. Time to start relaxing!

More Updates

This is the new valance I got for the downstairs bathroom. I thought it would be nice for the Winter since it's layered and heavy.

This is the little piece of railing we put on the edge of the stairs to finish it off. It's the only solution we could come up with to eliminate the raw carpet edge and the raw moulding edge. Also notice the nice new carpet.

Stair Decorations

This morning I cleaned the stairs. I got these decals for the risers and put them on the other day. I wanted a big star in the middle and then berries on either side, but those decals were too big so I improvised with some smaller stars. One of the stars had berries in the wrong place so I cut them off and moved them to a better place. I think it's cute and now I have the huge star and berries to put somewhere else. I'm thinking over a doorway. Just have to figure out where.

New Carpets

We got the new carpets upstairs this week. It wasn't as messy as I thought. I vac'd the rooms before moving all the stuff in. They scratched up the wood work a lot, but the best part about having stained wood is you can just color it in with a stain pen and the scratches virtually disappear. Also because we had to empty the closets I cleaned them out so that's part of this week's HHP.

HHP Plus

Over the weekend I cleaned the dining room. I put up the curtains that my Mom gave me. I think they look perfect for Fall and Winter.

Rudolph Day Again

Yesterday was Rudolph Day again. I made a small quick order. I hope that's the last of it for Hubby. I just got a gift for my Aunt too. I also ordered some gel fuel for the fireplace. I moved some more dirt today. Got half of one side of the house done. It's raining on and off today so it's free watering.

HHP

I deep cleaned the downstairs bathroom this morning. It's also the laundry room. I finished up a few loose ends from other rooms I've already cleaned like touching up paint and cleaning the hallway light glass. We decided to get the new carpet upstairs so in the next couple of weeks that should arrive. I'll have to vac and clean quickly before putting the furniture back in. I hope it doesn't make too much of a mess. Over the weekend we moved a lot of dirt. We created a nice neat Jeep parking area with blocks and crushed rock and then we moved at least a yard and half of crushed rock out of the area. We have fresh dirt and seeds around the area. It looks so much better. I will take pix when the grass starts coming in. I'll be moving more dirt after lunch today.

HHP

I've been keeping way ahead in the cleaning department. I cleaned the spare bedroom and the upstairs hallway so all the carpets upstairs have been cleaned. However, we're considering just getting the new carpet for up there now and the thing holding me back is that I already cleaned the rooms, but maybe it won't be bad to get the new carpet anyway. The seams in the cheap carpets upstairs are showing. We started to put in the little railing at the top of the stairs to finish off the raw carpet edge so once we finish that it would be nice to have the new carpet to finish it off even more. We'll see. Anyway, today I cleaned the living room a little off plan, but it's the last room that has carpet that needed cleaning. I just have to clean the rug under the dining table and then the steam cleaner can return to the basement. Yesterday, we waxed one of our cars after washing and cleaned the inside. Now when it's time to put it away for the Winter we just have to do a quick wash and cover it. We still have 2 cars that need a wash and wax before Winter. The weather got cooler and we really want to work on the yard, but there's never enough time in the day.

A Little Update

I updated the seasons pictures in the exercise room. I had the Winter picture with the cow and I picked up the other three from the same artist. They're a little more polished than the old pictures that were there.

Let The Cleaning Begin!

The Houseworks Holiday Plan starts today although I started 2 weeks ago. I cleaned the computer room and the file cabinet. I even cleaned the little hallway downstairs. Since, Hubby is working the entire Labor Day weekend I'm taking advantage of it and getting a big jump on the cleaning part of the plan. Yesterday, I cleaned out the craft/exercise room. I made a list of things that need attention (like the window needs cleaning after the AC is taken out, but that won't be for another month probably and I need to switch to the Winter curtains in there). I decluttered a couple of things from that room too. Today, I cleaned the master bedroom and steam cleaned the carpet in there. That room is big and I'm pretty tired, but our room smells wonderfully fresh and clean now. Tomorrow, I'm going to take a little detour from the plan and clean the mud room and decorate it for Fall. It's just a small "room" in the basement so it will be quick and decorating will be fun. I also worked on my master gift list this week and it's all written out. I just have to pick things up in the next few months. I think I have finished Hubby except for stocking stuffers.

New Cabinet

I got a cheap little cabinet for our upstairs bathroom instead of the bath stand we had. I liked how I could hide our stuff inside and it's the only place I could think of to put the new cabinet and I really liked it.

It didn't have a towel bar like the old bath stand so I didn't know where I'd put my decorative towels.

I got a large drawer pull and Hubby drilled holes and screwed it on and it works perfect as a towel bar.

It's Rudolph Day Again!

I didn't do much on Rudolph Day, but I did quite a bit during the month. I made another order for Hubby and I'm just about done with him. I ordered something for my brother so he'll be done with a gift card. I know what I'm getting for my Mom, I just have to order it. I need to have another wrapping session and I just might do it later today. I wrote out our Christmas lists for my Mom and gave them to her so she can start and finish her shopping early. I made a fabric scrap wreath for Halloween a few weeks ago and I did one for Christmas yesterday. You'll see pictures when they are hanging. Hope everyone has a good chunk of Christmas prep done. The Houseworks Holiday Plan starts next week and I've already started that too.

New Stairs

We decided to take the carpet off our stairs and we bought tread kits to make them into wooden stairs. We painted the risers white and stained the steps to match our other stain. I think it looks way better than before. Here's the ugly carpeted stairs.

Here's the cheap pressboard stairs we found under the carpet. Oh and Max.

Here's the new fancy stairs. Next, there's an overhang at the top of the stairs that we will be putting a small section of railing along to clean up the edge and make it look more finished.

I still have to touch up the white paint where the nails went in and touch up the stain on the sides and hubby is painting the railing brackets black instead of brass so it looks like a brand new stairwell. I think this is the last major project for this year. If it ever cools off around here we might try to do some yard work this Fall. We'll see...

Laundry Stitching

I finally finished my laundry room cross stitch. It seems like it took forever. My next stitching is an easier one of a scarecrow lady. I framed and hung the new cross stitch over the laundry machines.

Rudolph in July

For this Rudolph day I'm watching The Happy Elf. We had HD Tivo installed yesterday as a fun Christmas in July gift. It's been so long since we had Tivo we are happy to have it back. In order to off set the cost I cut our phone plan. That will force us to use our cell phones more, but that's good because we pay too much for those and don't use them enough. I made some gift orders last week and they should be arriving today. I'm well on my way to finishing up Hubby's gifts. I can't wait for the Houseworks plan to start. I just hope it cools off here. I can't work in this heat.

New Things

I picked up this crazy looking cat and I put together the colander on the left.

I just got the little cow calendar on the right.

I got this cute shelf in Maine on vacation. It was unfinished inside, but I stained it. I also got the cow on the bottom shelf at the same place.

June Rudolph Day

Looks like June Rudolph Day is a bust. I didn't do anything Christmasy. We're half way to Christmas now. I'm doing pretty good. I have a few gifts and even wrapped a few. Our vacation and Anniversary is coming up soon so I'm focusing more on that for now. I've also been working on decluttering the house. That's slowed a bit lately too, but still chugging along. Hopefully I'll have some more ideas for Christmas by next Rudolph Day. I might make a fabric scrap wreath for Christmas like the one I just made for the 4th. There, a Christmas thought :)

4th Of July Wreath

I saw the idea for this wreath in Woman's Day magazine. It's supposed to be cheap to make, but I don't have any scrap fabric so I had to buy a bundle, but it's cute and different for the 4th of July. I think I might make one for Christmas too. We'll see.

Bath Update

This is the upstairs medicine cabinet, but it's exactly the same as the downstairs one was. We added the knob ourselves.


This is the upstairs cabinet and it's the same as the downstairs was too.
This is the downstairs sink cabinet now painted white. I used Gripper primer and semi gloss white.
I think it came out pretty good.

This is the new downstairs medicine cabinet. It's a little fancier with the crown molding on top and it's a little bigger than the old one. We even got a new light.

Some More Light

I got a matching light for the kitchen so that all the lights in the area go together now. I added some berry rings to the hall light and the dining light. I will change them for the seasons.

The new kitchen light matches the pattern on the witch's hat over the sink.

Our Long Weekend

Over the weekend, we ripped up the old carpet in the exercise/craft/music room.

Then I decided the walls could use some fresh paint.

I wanted a rustic knotty pine and luckily the pine look was one of the cheapest.

I chose a pale yellow with a tiny hint of green for the walls so that it would match the border that was already up. All the same stuff is going back on the walls. Nothing new for this makeover except the floor and paint, of course. Oh, and the 3 rugs under the exercise equipment. I even found a new place for my daisy valance for the summer yay!

Happy Rudolph Day (Early)

I spent some time this morning doing Rudolph things. I updated the gift list and I put some aside into other holiday piles. I wrapped 4 presents while listening to Christmas music. I have emailed myself several ideas for gifts. This month is recipe prep which I don't really have to do. I usually make the same things or repeat a few things so I pick and prepare closer to the holidays. I don't change themes each year either, it's always the same colorful festive decorations for me. I will take a peek at catalogs for ideas or gifts when they come, but I don't think I will be buying much that way this year. All in all, I think I'm doing pretty well so far and I hope everyone else is too.

Shed Some Light On Things

I got some new ceiling lights to replace the boring old globes our house came with. This one is in the downstairs hallway. I'm going to get a little candle ring to put around the base and change the color of it for the seasons.

I got the little witch's hat for over the kitchen sink. I'm thinking about getting a punched tin square light for the kitchen and then all the lights will go together. We took the white globe that was here and put it in the upstairs hallway and I used a clear glass globe on it. It's better than the brassy color I suppose.

Utensil Crock

I went back to the country store near us and bought this pitcher to use as a utensil crock. I got coupons last time that are good for May. I really liked the pattern on this, but I was afraid all the utensils wouldn't fit because the neck is narrower than my other crock. I took out the spaghetti spoon and put it in the drawer because I don't use it very much and got rid of one spatula (because I don't really need three) and everything else fits fine.

New Lamp and Pillows

I got this little lamp as my Thistmaster gift. I've liked the lamp ever since my Mom got one so I decided to go for it even though I had no idea where to put it. I decided on the mantle because the cord wasn't long enough for the kitchen cart. I added the candle ring to it the other day. I think it looks cute and I'm going to try to get one in better colors next time I go to the store. The lighted box that was on the mantle is now on the kitchen cart because that cord is longer.

I ordered a spare pet cover for the new couch so I can have one ready while washing the other one. I got matching pillow covers too so no more 70's looking pillows, yay!

Spring Cleaning

Sunday, I Spring cleaned our bedroom. It was the last room left for cleaning. I just have a few small cleaning tasks left on the Spring cleaning list. I am hoping to finish staining the porch today. I have to wait until it warms up a little, so I'll probably wait until after lunch. I'm guessing I have about 3.5 hours left. Right now I'm going to do some laundry and clean up the kitchen a bit.

Thistmaster

Hubby and I celebrated a new holiday Saturday, Thistmaster (Thanksgiving, Christmas, and Easter all rolled into one). Every year around Thanksgiving I buy a small frozen turkey to make in the Spring so my Mom and I can have turkey soup one more time before Summer. Saturday, I cooked the turkey with most of the usual fixings. We watched youtube videos of people at the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade and then listened to Christmas music and then we ate some Easter candy as dessert. We were so into the spirit that we went out and bought ourselves a couple of gifts. Next year we'll have some small gifts ready when this holiday comes again. It was a super fun day!

New Couch

So here is a picture of our new reclining love seat with the pet cover. I am so happy it matches perfectly. You can see the forsythia picture now in a frame. I think it looks nice and at least it's protected. I also got the little rug under the "coffee table" on clearance at Target. The table is actually a toy box, but it's not too big and it has storage for blankets. The rug blocks the space under the table so Max can't shove his toys under it and annoy us trying to dig them out.

Happy Rudolph Day

Our new couch is coming today so I'm not really doing anything Christmasy, but last week I ordered some gifts and I picked them up yesterday. I've started staining the porch and I painted the porch door so it matches the front door. I think I'm going to buy a poster frame for my forsythia picture I had blown up so that I will feel more comfortable storing it behind the couch when the other picture is up. I was afraid of dust and the canvas getting ruined. I will be happy once the living room is put back together with the new couch. I'll probably get a picture soon. I ordered a pet cover for it so Max won't ruin it, but it's not here yet. I'll have to cover it with other blankets in the mean time. I'm going to head over to OC and MHH to look for the assignments and see if I need to do anything to be more prepared for Christmas.

Blog Refurbish

I decided to update my blog a little. The picture of the quilt in the title is the one I want to use on the new couch. I just have to wash it when I have some extra time. I wanted to make the font bigger because most blogs I read have it bigger than mine was and I found it easier to read. I love the colors in the quilt so I thought I'd coordinate the rest of the blog with it. I think it's cool and soothing.

Painting, Staining, Cleaning...

All day Saturday I helped my Mom paint her living room. It's a nice neutral brownish color. She helped me paint all the rooms in our house when we first moved in, so I try to help her do hers too.

Sunday morning I stained the front of the porch stuff. Two coats on the railings and one on the lattice. It went much faster than the front stairs. I just have the side and back lattice left.

Today I cleaned the spare bedroom. The only room left for Spring cleaning is our bedroom, but I've been putting it off until the weather gets more consistant. I want to wash the bedding and put a lighter quilt on for the Summer, but some days it's 80 degrees (today) and some days it's chilly. I only have a few odds and ends left besides our room for Spring cleaning. I'm ahead of the game this year.

Friday, I think we'll go look at new couches. I hope to get it ordered and have that done with. I think I will take a quilt from our bedroom chair and put it on the new couch for a blanket. It's got many shades of blue and it will go with the curtains and be another pop of color. I want a tan/brown couch so it will be neutral and the quilt will add a some color since I won't be able to use my slipcovers anymore if we get a reclining one.

The city called and said they would be flushing water in our area over the next week so every time I do laundry or run the dishwasher I have to check the water first and make sure they don't come while it's running. Nice of them to be specific. I did as much laundry yesterday as I could because I figured they wouldn't work on Sunday. I had washed the stuff in the spare bedroom too in case. That made it easy and quick to clean today. I think our bedroom will be faster to clean as well since I redid it when I painted in December.

Back To Cleaning

We've been cleaning up the yard recently. We did around the new porch except for grass seed because we might be getting loam and trying to improve the back yard. We'd have to go through the side yard so we'll have to wait on that. It looks much better anyway with the decorative rock trim. Today I cleaned the craft/exercise room quickly. I don't know if it went quickly because I already got rid of the clutter in there or if I just didn't do a thorough job because we want to try our hand at putting a laminate floor in there and it will need cleaning before putting everything back. I cleaned everything in there I think so I hope it's the former reason. I want to try to clean the spare bedroom Sunday while Hubby works.

Fancy Art

Here's my new picture of forsythia. I took the picture of the branches with my fancy new camera and had it blown up. I think it came out nice. Now that I know it comes out good, we can make our own Fall pictures.

New Things

I went shopping with my Mom and Aunt this weekend. We were all on a curtain mission. I needed a couple of extra valances for the big windows on the porch. We went to a few places. I got this new wreath and I put it in place of the big picture that's been up for about 10 years. It's refreshing to have something different and new. I also got the carrot on top of the shelf.

The little mouse on the top shelf is new from this weekend. It reminded me of a mouse my Grandmother had and I loved when I was a kid. The little black thing is a cute sheep I got last weekend. I was going to put it on the printer's box, but you can't see his face good so for now it's on this shelf.

The bunny on the left is also new from last weekend too. I got a $10 coupon so it was only $4.75.

My Aunt spotted these curtains. They were cute and marked down so they were perfect for me. The blue will play nicely off the blue in my new forsythia picture that I should be getting today. The tan check sheers I had up were just too blah with all the other neutral colors so I wanted something with some color.

Did More Cleaning

I cleaned the stairwell and upstairs hallway today. It's pretty small so it didn't take too long. I have a stair basket that always needs cleaning out so that's done. I just have the 3 bedrooms left to clean. I started a new donate box. It's filling up more slowly than the ones before so I think it's good that I have less and less stuff that I want to get rid of. I threw a pair of shoes in that were in the mud room when I cleaned yesterday. There will probably be a few things from the bedrooms to throw in. I put a few Easter decorations in because I scored a few things from my Mom and I'm trying to keep the decorations under control. It seems that no matter how many decorations I get rid of, I still have way too many. I used my fancy new camera to take pictures of the Forsythia branches the other day and I ordered a blown up canvas of one of the pictures to go over the couch. I can't wait to see how it comes out. If it's nice, I'll do one for Fall too.

Happy Rudolph Day!

I can't believe it's March Rudolph Day already. The birthday gift buying strategy just doesn't work for me because everyone's birthday is right around Christmas anyway. I do have a supply of cards in my card organizing book and I don't think I need any more right now. My Christmas dishes are all together under my hutch. I'm not sure I will need them again anytime soon. I'm considering donating them and just using the China for special dinners, we'll have to wait and see on that. I just ordered a couple of gifts for Hubby from my Amazon cart. Of course, a pan that I had in there got cheaper today so I ordered that too. I recently went through my Christmas notebook and wrote down some more ideas. I think that's about all the Christmas-y things I'll be doing today. I've been a little under the weather for the past few days, but I've been pushing through it. I cleaned the mud room this morning and put away the last of the Winter decor from the house. I just have to change out the wreath on the garage and the shed doors. It's rainy today, so that will have to wait a little longer.

I Can See Clearly Now

I finished cleaning the windows this morning. I have the last of the curtains in the dryer now. I would love to be able to line dry stuff, but the pollen would kill me. I can't even open the windows in our bedroom and I really want to because it's so stuffy in there with the very warm temps this week. I'm going to inspect the forsythia today to see if it's ready for pictures yet. I don't know if I said on here, but I'm going to take pictures of it with my fancy new camera to have blown up and put over the couch for the Summer. If that works, I'm going to do a Fall picture for me and my Mom because we can't find Fall pictures big enough.

Dining Room "Beadboard"

I love this product! It's fairly cheap (under $20 a roll) and it's super easy to put up. The only thing harder than regular wallpaper is trimming, you need a very sharp knife or it snags and tears the edge. I used a break off knife and kept breaking it off and it came out pretty good. I caulked the seams and a couple of edges that snagged and you can't even tell. After it's painted it looks and feels like real beadboard.


This is the wall with the bottom of the wallpaper scraped off. It took 3 days just to do 30 inches in here, but worth it.



This is the wall with the "beadboard" up.



This is what the room looks like finished. My Mom has some Winter curtains that are perfect for the new Honey Beige color on the bottom so if she gets new curtains I will take them for the Winter in here. It will look so warm and cozy.

Back To Cleaning

I finished my dining room project Saturday. There will be pictures soon. I washed all the first floor windows and curtains and I'm drying the curtains right now. I decorated for Easter this morning and after lunch I'll iron the curtains and put them up and take pictures. I have to go around the room to make sure no more touch ups are needed in the paint and then get rid of the painting stuff so it's not in my pictures. I plan on Spring cleaning the downstairs bathroom today and then the whole first floor will be done.

Update: I cleaned the downstairs bath/laundry room. The washing machine is running cleaner right now. The first floor is done and it's only March! I just have the 3 bedrooms upstairs and the mud room to do. I have to do the mud room soon because it still has Winter decorations out. I'm sitting on the porch and I can't believe how warm it is. I'm going to read for a while and then watch some TV out here. Perfect afternoon!

Spring Cleaning On Hold

So another project has interrupted my Spring cleaning. I wanted to put a chair rail in the dining room this Spring (waiting until warm enough to stain it outside because of the stink) ever since my Aunt redid her kitchen/dining nook and she put beadboard on the bottom and it looked so cute. I wanted to do beadboard, but gave up on that because I'd have to take the baseboards out and then all the floor trim which I can't do because the laminate floor goes down the hall into the computer room and all of it has trim. I decided I'd just strip the bottom of the wallpaper and paint under the chair rail for a similar look. Then last friday I saw some wood patterned wallpaper in a magazine so I started looking for beadboard patterned ones but couldn't find it in white. Then on one of my searches beadboard textured wallpaper popped up and people love it and it's paintable. So needless to say, we went to Lowes Friday night and I picked some up with some paint chips. The wallpaper stripping isn't going very quickly though and it might be my own fault. My Mom and I started using paste on already prepasted wallpaper because it's way less messy than dunking in water and the glue squishing out the ends. I've been scraping for 3 days now and they are only 30" pieces. I think someday when I do the top of the walls I'll have to get one of those things that poke holes in it and use gel remover because I will never be able to take it all off like this. Anyway, I bought paste for prepasted wallpaper to put the bead board stuff up. I think we just used regular paste on the paper so hopefully this will work.

The weather will be gorgeous this week, especially today so I'm hoping to finish scraping in time to sit on the porch for a while. I cleaned the living room the other day so I only have the downstairs bathroom left on the first floor. I want to do windows and curtains, but now the project has to be finished first so I will be waiting a little longer. I'm pretty dumb for starting it right after cleaning, so I'll have to do touch ups in there too. I think it will be worth it though.

And Then What

I'm getting my hair done today. What will I do after? I have 3 choices. I can deep clean the living room. It wouldn't take too long since I did regular downstairs cleaning yesterday along with upstairs since I had hair this morning. I can do windows and curtains on the first floor since I changed out the computer room and living room curtains yesterday because they didn't need ironing. I can just sit out on the porch and not get anything done since the weather will be balmy for this time of year, but really windy. The porch is calling me, but I could take my laptop out there later and watch TV in the nice weather and still get something else done. I think I will try for deep cleaning the living room because it should be quick and it's supposed to rain a lot next week and I hate washing the windows and having them get spotted up soon after. That's the plan for today then.

Cleaned Again

Over the weekend I scrubbed the upstairs bathroom. I even changed out the Winter curtains for the Summer ones. Everything is clean and bright. Since we took the VCR out of the TV stand we went through all of the VHS tapes and I got rid of a bunch and the rest we packed into a box, labeled it and put it on a shelf in the basement. Then, I took the rest of the DVD's that were under the couch (not in albums) and put them into the TV stand cabinets. I will get another album and put some into that soon. Still haven't looked for a new couch, but now it's empty under the couch in case we do.

New TV Stand

I got this new TV stand because I thought it would be nice to have a corner one. It's bigger than I expected, but it was the only one that would fit all of our components. We had the VCR in it too, but when we pulled out the DVR to connect more wires it was really hot and we thought we better give it more room for air to circulate. Part of the reason the VCR was staying is because it was the only thing with a clock. I will try to find a small clock to put on top of the DVR I guess. The Wii fits in the side cabinet and I put the basket of Wii accessories and "now playing" DVD's on my end table shelf. The sub speaker is still in the corner which is why the stand is a few inches from the walls. At least now the TV is viewable from anywhere in the room and easier for me to watch while I cook at the stove. The back is still a mess of wires, but we can never make it look neat. I guess we have too many things connected to the TV. Now we need to buy a longer HDMI cable for the DVD player because it won't reach the TV in the new stand. Always something...

Cleaning Again

I ended up cleaning the computer room the other day when I didn't have much energy along with the hallway closet. I felt like I had spare time and figured I should get something accomplished instead of just sitting around. I should have put on Christmas music while doing it, but I never thought of it. We will be looking for a new couch soon. Hubby is made of lead or something and crushes everything he sits on. I saw a nice streamlined reclining loveseat online at the place near us so we might stop in and see if we can sit on it. If we get that one I'll put our storage foot stools under the window and that way we can still have the storage and Max can sit on them to see outside. I think he would love that. I'll try to get a pic of the new TV stand up later today. We have to pull out the DVR again to hook up more wires so it's not quite ready.

Rudolph Day

I didn't do anything for Rudolph Day this month. I got a new car at the end of last month so I don't have extra money for a gift order right now. Plus I ordered a new TV stand that is arriving tomorrow. I can't wait for that and I'm sure there will be a picture on here. I went through my Christmas notebook last month and started some lists. I don't think I'm making anything for gifts this year. I'm just working on my laundry room cross stitch right now. I might check my Amazon cart to see if anything is on sale since Hubby should be getting paid today. I got the dining room deep cleaned so the kitchen and dining are done. I might do the hallway closet today. I don't have a lot of energy to do the computer room.

Update: I just added an item to my Amazon cart so I did a tiny Christmas task today.

Cleaning Stuff

Over the weekend I cleaned out the fridge. Never exciting, but I love how everything is neat and all the almost empty bottles are gone. I also cleaned out under the kitchen sink and I put Contact paper down. It looks so much cleaner and it will help protect the bottom of the cabinet in case of future leaks. I think today I might start cleaning the kitchen cabinets. I've got another box almost full to donate so maybe I can finish filling that up.

Rudolph Day 2012

Happy Rudolph day! I just made an amazon order for a few items. I also ordered a new soup pot, but that has nothing to do with Rudolph day. I already went through my Christmas notebook and I updated the addresses as I got cards so that's done. I might go write down the stuff I already have and plan out what holidays I'll give them to Hubby. No other big plans today, but at least I've started preparing.

Little Things

I stained the bathroom shelf black. I'm working on a cross stitch that will go in here where the other picture is and I thought the black shelf would look better with a black frame on the stitching.




This is a little basket I bought for the bathroom to go with the newly stained shelf.




I got this chair a while ago, but hadn't put it up until now. I hung it on the wall in the living room as a little shelf. The items on it in the picture are no longer on it because they are on another new shelf I just bought.




This is the other new shelf in the dining room. I am having trouble finding things to go on the new shelves. I guess I'll have to do some more shopping.




Hubby sprayed this frame black. It was white and looked washed out in the living room against the light colored wall. Now it stands out.




This is a new printer's box I got from my Mom. I put it in place of a barn shaped shelf that held items that were a little bigger. I've been trying to find places for my bigger items now.




This is a little pan I had on the barn shelf that doesn't fit on the printer's box. I put a little candle ring and a tea light in it.