It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas...

I've always loved The Nutcracker....to me it just means Christmas is near. I would love to use the traditional wooden nutcracker in my home to decorate for Christmas. The problem is I like my Christmas decorations to match the rest of the house. I'm just never going to be one of those people that can put a giant red Santa and brightly colored ornaments everywhere. So when I saw this:

Source

on one of my favorite blogs 4 Men 1 Lady, I knew I had to make my own. I put this photo in the back of my mind, and kind of forgot about it (I know #winning) until I came across these in Dollar Tree:

ya know, the store where everything is $1...meaning this project cost me $2.....yea...

I did a little hair removal and sprayed them gold (surprise, surprise)..

and now I'm in love:

bad phone pic warning...

Yes, it's beginning to look a lot like Christmas around these parts:

 Now, let's hear from you? Are you a red and green only Christmas decorator? Are you like me and make your decorations match the rest of your home? Any totally crazy schemes out there? I want to know!
I've linked this project up at:
The Country Chic Cottage
Trendy Treehouse Create and Share Wednesdays
Red Head can Decorate Christmas Link Party
Hookin' up with House of Hepworths

So check 'em out...

My Favorite Home Blogs

I love blogs, have for years...especially home design blogs...Here are a few of my favorites for your reading pleasure...

Young House Love...you can barely discuss home decor blogs without discussing Young House Love..They are like the Oprah of design blogs...Great DIY instructions and they know how to work a budget...

 Source

 Source

Source 

Bower Power Blog...Katie's sense of humor make everyday home tasks way more fun..she has great taste, and once again can work a budget.

Source

Style By Emily Henderson...Design star winner, Emily Henderson (host of Secrets from a Stylist) has great style, and uses vintage almost all the time...Her blog is fun and an easy read..I really think we would be best friends in real life...

Source

6th Street Design School...Kirsten is a Utah based designer and probably has the closest to my style in home design. She mixes fabrics and colors flawlessly, which is the type of designer I aspire to be...

Source

4 Men 1 Lady... Love following her newest renovation. She has great simple and modern style..

Source

The House of Smiths...The Smith family seems to have a very positive attitude towards renovation and home projects, which is always a breath of fresh air.

Source

Teal and Lime...These are my favorite colors in a space too, so of course I clicked immediately with this blog. Great and fun style.

Source

Freckles Chic...She has a really fun take on renovation, a great sense of humor, and an adorable family to boot.

Source

And no, none of these bloggers have any idea who I am, but I feel like we're old friends and I love them nonetheless #onlyslightlycreepy.
How about you? Any favorite home blogs, I missed?
I love discovering new ones, so if you're a home design blogger, leave a comment below, so we can help all of my readers discover their new favorites too!

If you like it then you should of put some spray on it...

Yeah, that title might have been a reach.....and you are welcome for getting that song stuck in your head.
Moving on...
People apparently understand that I have a spray paint problem, and because of this they often seek me out for tips in using spray paint. I am in no way a professional, but I have learned a few things along the way. So here they are, my tips and tricks to spray painting pretty much anything:

Use good spray paint...Rustoleum is my favorite, but my rule of thumb is to spend at least $4 on spray paint. I learned my lesson here, for probably the thousandth time, that cheap spray paint never turns out the way you want it to, or it will take 20 coats, like it did on Ellie...

Three words, long even strokes...that's what she said...oops sorry, inappropriate...But really, you want a light even mist, your hand should never stop moving. It will take several coats this way, but trust me it's worth it.

Never stop or end on the thing you are spraying. Again, long and even sprays. Start spraying before you get to your object and end after your object. You should start and end on whatever your using to catch the over spray. 

When spraying anything that will get traffic (furniture) or is glossy (my green vase, below), sand it down or use a liquid deglosser. It will help rough up the surface, so that it will absorb the spray paint. 

Keep the nozzle at least 10" from whatever your spraying. Nuff' said.

Spray paint has yet to go no VOC (as far as I know), so you should apply it outside or if you're like me, in the garage with the garage door open, and you should wear a mask. You should also leave it in the ventilated area for 24 hours to prevent off-gassing, before bringing it into your home.

Any other good spray painting tips out there? I'd love to hear them!

P.S. I want to take a quick second to thank my friends, family, and readers for your donations to Isaac and his family! We raised over $2000 in just a couple days! Your generosity has been overwhelming, and is a great reminder of all of the good people that are still left in this world. If you would still like to donate go here for more information (or check out Erin's blog, who created this entire campaign) or simply click on the widget in the right sidebar! 

Cover those things up...

Now back to our regular scheduled blogging:
My living room Expedit bookcase has slowly been evolving with all it's new styling. Remember when it looked like this:

Ugh...so boring...than it looked like this:

Better, but not quite there...Part of the problem was this:

The keys, I love, only because they have sentimental value (they are each a key from a past home we had separate and together, and they key to the jewelry box my engagement ring was in)...and I'm nothing if not sentimental. The books though, weren't meshing well with my new styling. They were boring and beige. So I took a tip from 5th grade me and covered them. Instead of the old school kraft paper, however, I used fabric. And because, I used no tape/glue, and just covered and tucked the fabric around the book, it is in no way permanent....and because I used fabric that I had lying around, it was free...although I would love to find some fun/bright fabric (maybe in the $1 sample bin)...
This is what they look like now:

A small update but, one step closer to being finished with this little "moment" in my living room....on a side note, does anyone else find it kind of odd when designers say "moment."

 How about you guys? Anybody else channeling your 5th grade self for decorating tips? There would be a lot of posters of Devon Sawa and possibly the Spice Girls...probably...

Those could look better...

Good Monday, and I hope you all had a fabulous Thanksgiving weekend!
Here's a story...about a woman that can never leave things alone....In fact, she cannot sit through a movie, without rearranging furniture or spray painting something...true story.
She was always thinking that things could look better...
She might be slightly insane...
It was no secret that she was obsessed with the gold dipped trend that's been going on lately...

Source

Source

Source

...so it should be no surprise, that she wanted to try her hand at it herself...

The supplies:

Please excuse the dirty dishes in the sink, she had just finished eating dinner...and she is quite lazy...

Taped off:

Sprayed..
and
Done:

It was pure love, I tell ya. 

oh, and by the way she is me...Enter shocking gasps..

I cannot wait to break out those champagne glasses for holiday parties!!

For the top three I used metallic spray paint...and yes, I may have gone over board...that is champagne glasses and a hurricane..

The bowl I found in my attic awhile back, I have no idea where it came from, and it was hot pink. I sprayed it white and  literally just dipped the edges in gold metallic craft paint that I had spread all over a paper plate (I know, real genius stuff going on over here, people).

It's worth mentioning, that I never planned on using this bowl for food, in fact I plan to use it to corral some of my jewelry that ends up EVERYWHERE throughout the house, if you want them to be food safe, make sure you buy paint that is non-toxic and meant for porcelain.

How about you guys? Any dipping projects lately?
And, there you go Cici, I helped a sister out :)
I'm sharing this over at:
Homemade Gingers Ginger Jamboree
Made in a Day's Christmas Holiday Craft and Recipe Link Up 
Boogie Board Cottage's Masterpiece Monday
Sumo's Sweet Stuff 's Market Yourself Monday
Red Head can Decorate's Christmas Link Party
Craftaholics Anonymous' Christmas Craft Link Party
Hookin' up with the House of Hepworths