Best Projects of 2010

I’m a late joiner to Rhoda’s party over at Southern Hospitality and Layla’s party over at The Lettered Cottage, but I thought I would post and link up anyway just to do a re-cap of my favorite projects of 2010.  You can click on any of the links or photos below to see the original post.

My husband helped me out with a few organizational projects around the house this year, first completing this drying rack inspired by Ballard Designs:

and later building a new TV stand for our entertainment center:

And we teamed up to tackle perhaps my favorite project of 2010, our kitchen transformation!

BEFORE

AFTER

I had re-stained the cabinets a couple years ago.  We transformed our countertops with a concrete overlay and installed a new glass tile backsplash.  The look was completed with a new sink and my innovative table runner window treatments.

I had a few popular crafty projects as well, the first of which was my DIY curly ribbon wreath:

and some DIY textured artwork:

I got colorful with these DIY beaded plant hangers:

and these beaded plant stakes:

In May I featured several projects created by my best friend after our trip to Canton.  The recap can be seen in this post, and features such projects as a flea market transformation, salvaged shutter wall art and a DIY burlap table runner.

I also featured a couple projects from my mom & dad, including their front door and French door transformations.

Finally, I wrapped up the year with some holiday crafts, like my ghost candle shades, beaded spider headband, and glitter dot ornaments:

Whew!! That’s a lot of favorites for 2010! I don’t know if I’ll be able to keep up in 2011…

I’ll be back after the New Year with another thrift store transformation, so stay tuned! I hope everyone has a blessed 2011!

Happy New Year!

Merry Christmas!

Wishing everyone a bright & happy holiday filled with lots of love and laughter!  I truly appreciate all who read my blog and offer comments and encouragement, and I hope 2011 brings good things to every one of my readers.

I’ll be back some time after the holidays with some new projects to share.  Until then, go busy yourselves with good food, good company, and good cheer!

Simple, Elegant Christmas Centerpiece

Today Cheryl at Tidy Mom will host a Christmas edition of her I'm Lovin' It event to share anything from a product, to a recipe, a picture you took, a project, or even your children or family…..really anything Christmas-related that you are loving right now!  So here’s mine….

I’m totally loving using ornaments to create simple, elegant centerpieces!  All it takes are a few sparkly balls nestled in a dish, bowl, or other container to make a stunning display.  Use different sizes and textures to create some visual interest. 

I paired ornaments with tree candles to make a simple centerpiece for the kitchen table:

Since I automatically gravitate to anything purple and gold, especially if it is coated in glitter, I have accumulated a plethora of ornaments in this theme.  Too many to fit on the tree, so they make perfect decorations in other spots around the house.  I sued them in several places throughout the living room to carry out my purple and gold theme:

An easy and elegant way to add holiday sparkle to your decor!

Holiday Baking

Today’s link-up is over at Simply Sweet Home and we’re sharing our Christmas recipes.  Here’s a re-post of my Christmas cookie post from last year:

Cookies: The Smell of Christmas

I’ve been so busy with work (both my normal job and some Etsy orders) that I haven’t done any Christmas baking yet, but I plan to fire the oven up this weekend to make a few batches of my favorite Christmas cookies.

We’re still rolling in pecans, so I can’t wait to make some Lacey Cookies.  Here’s the recipe my mom and I use:

Lacey Cookies

2 cups oats

1 tbsp. flour

1/2 tsp. salt

1/2 tsp. vanilla

2 sticks melted butter

2 cups sugar

2 eggs, beaten

1 cup finely chopped pecans

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Mix oats, flour, sugar and salt in a bowl.  Pour hot butter over mixture.  Add eggs, vanilla, and pecans. Drop 1/2 tsp. (use a demi-tass spoon) 2 inches apart onto a foil lined cookie sheet. Bake for 10-20 minutes.  Let cookies cool and peel from foil.

Yes, you really do spoon them out that small and that far apart!  The cookies will spread a lot while baking.  This recipe makes a ton since you spoon them out so small. I love these because they are so buttery and delicate.

Of course I’ve got to make some traditional sugar cookies.  I would love to get all ambitious and make some of these cookies I saw over on We Are That Family (from a guest post by Bake at 350):

How cute are they?!? But I’ll probably just be boring and go with some basic round cookies with red & green sprinkles!  Here is the recipe I use for soft sugar cookies:

Sandy’s Sugar Cookies

Blend: 1/2 cup shortening, 3/4 cup sugar, 1 egg

Add: 1 tbsp. milk, 1 tsp. vanilla or lemon

Mix: 1 1/4 cup flour, 1 tsp. salt, 1/4 tsp. baking powder

Roll into balls and flatten slightly.  Sprinkle with colored sugar or desired decorations.  Bake at 425 degrees for 5-7 minutes. Makes about 2.5 dozen.

Make sure you don’t over-bake these so they will stay soft and slightly crisp on the edges.

If you are making cookies to share, check out this cute packaging idea from Martha Stewart:

Get creative with your containers by using vintage glassware, compotes, or milk glass and keep it thrifty by seeing what you can find at Goodwill, estate sales, and your garage sale stash!   Be sure and visit Simply Sweet Home for more yummy recipes!

My Christmas Decor

Today is the day to show off our Christmas Decor for the Holly Bloggy Christmas link-up over at The Shabby Chic Cottage..  My decor hasn’t changed much from last year (you can see last year’s post HERE), but I snapped a few new photos anyway.

Here’s our “ol’ faithful” artificial tree as it looks in the daytime.  I didn’t take any nighttime photos this year, but you can see them in last year’s post.

And my little LSU tree in the dining room….I picked up a real tree for $15 at Lowe’s.  It’s tiny, but it’s cute!

In the living room, I decorated with lots of sparkly and glass trees and plenty of purple and gold ornaments!  I especially love this gold candle I got at Pier One last year:

I was so excited to discover the set of 3 grapevine trees I bought after Christmas at Target last year for 75% off, I had forgotten about them! The sparkly gold and purple was just perfect for my theme and I love the texture they give. 

Somehow I ended up with three beautiful glass blown tree toppers, so one is on the tree and the other two are displayed in candlesticks in the foyer:

In the kitchen eating area, more trees and glass ball ornaments:

 

And last but not least, my Lenox manger scene.  This is one of my favorite things to display every year.

 

Thanks for looking! Hopefully I’ll have time this week to visit some of the other posts…..share your Decked Halls, Christmas Trees, Mantels, Home Tours and more with Gina over at The Shabby Chic Cottage.