Simple Tip: Ornament Hooks Turned Into Gorgeous Holders

Today beautiful Miss Hannah is here. She is my niece, and one of the most beautiful girls in the world in my biased opinion. Here she is with my incredibly handsome son :))) Well, this picture is taken in April 09, on the shores of Lake Michigan. It just speaks volumes of their wonderful personalities as cousins and kids go.

Chance is teaching Hannah how to skip rocks, always a helpful lesson especially for little girls.

It is so cold here, I think even Penguins went up further south to march around. It is supposed to snow again, about well only 10 inches the everwrong weatherman announced. Chance & Hannah are thrilled at the thought of " a snow day". For their sake, I do too... I think sledding is much more fun than homework. But I won't tell them that. Yet!

Oh another (according to my friends & family) good news is that I finally figured out how to create a facebook page. I am so good at cooking, reading, discussing politics, history and movies; and very modest at times. However when it came to facebook, I was like "why?". Apparently, that was the wrong question.

If you want to be "hip/cool" you may need to get yourself acquainted with a facebook page, (usually kids under 14 are great at helping with these things.) I now have a facebook page and already have 45 friends in 24 hours... Who knew... The number keeps growing... Good Lord. It feels good to be popular :)))

I had to go to Target the other day (well,ok did not have to but really created multiple reasons to go). Such as " how I needed to look at stuff like hangers?" One can never have too many hangers. Plus, I love Target!

I mean who doesn't? It is like a shopping therapy paradise. Great clerks that always smile, orderly, clean spaces filled with things I probably do not need but feel as though I should. And, to make it better, they have sales... Yes!!! When my relatives and friends from overseas visit me, I always make a point to take them to Target. They have all said the following: " I wish we had a Target in our country ". Yes it is retail heaven.

Anyways, while I was walking around, I came across these gorgeous beaded ornament hooks. I do not need hooks for my Christmas tree as I have at last count 1,879. But they looked so adorable, so I thought I will come up with an idea to use them. And I did. Yes you can see the beaded hooks below, and I put them on a hanger to put my scarves (you can put ties, belts etc)...I just love them, I keep opening up the closet door to look at them. Yes, I know I can be such a girl :))) But being a girl is so much fun! Snows of love...

Simple Tips for Decorating & Renovating Old Furniture

Pottery Barn Dining Room from PB Catalog

Decorating can be expensive: check out any Crate & Barrell, Pier One, Pottery Barn store or catalog... (all my favorite eye candy stores). However, once one can discover that you do not have to sell your kidney to replace your grandma's hand me down couch from circa 1952, by copying (note not stealing) ideas from these gorgeous catalogs; decorating can be sooooo much fun and INexpensive. Yes, copying with pride almost sets the inner hunter - gatherer free to go wild around flea markets, goodwill stores, rummage sales... When you can pay a $10 for an old coffee table (stay with me here, I will lead you to see the potential of that $10 invested in that old coffee table, which you know it will bring better returns than your damaged 401K), you will sense such a high that no amount of Prozac or a good bottle of pinot would bring...

• First start looking around your house/apartment; try to figure out which room to start first. You don't want to boil the ocean and so start small. I say, best rooms to experiment are 2nd bedrooms/guest rooms/study etc; cause if the whole thing becomes an eyesore, you can revert to Plan B: Shut the door!



• Well, let's start by picking a color palette for the walls, if you are renting then ask the kind landlord if this is ok. As in the past I had some ex-Nazis that were landlords in US, but some are just lovely they let you paint, as long as you paint it back to its original color.



• Then start by painting either all the walls, or pick a nice backdrop color and paint one wall... (I highly recommend just paint one wall, especially as a FIRST project)... Then scour catalogs online and in print, for a room you would like to replicate.



• Next, ask family and friends for stuff they want to get rid of... Trust me, free is better than inexpensive. Then start by searching in goodwill, rummage sales, etc. Once you found a piece, we will start the renovation process.

I really love these sites, that give you great ideas about turning the old into new...

http://livingthehomelife.blogspot.com/

http://decor8blog.com/

• One of the first steps of turning old into new; is seeing the potential, so visit home DIY stores, to pick colors or stains (stain removers). Then start by renovating that old coffee table, whether you want to paint it fire engine red (make sure the area is well ventilated), or you want to bring out the wood grain with a cherry stain... Unleash your inner decorator.

Here are some pictures of old battered table turned into a new treasure of a gorgeous desk. But your imaginations has inifinite ideas, so bring them to life...

Pictures are from Doubell Woodware, South Africa

Till next time, snows of hugs...